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“Blessed are those who are pure in heart for they shall see God” (Matthew 5.8) was the text of the message of comfort and the basis also of the soul-inspiring tribute paid by the Rt Rev Dr Daniel S Thiagarajah at the funeral service of Vinothini Rajakumar, Colombo June 19. She was called to eternal rest three days earlier.
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| This tribute was also an expression of gratitude, indeed a witnessing for sharing the ideals of genuine friendship.
Befitting as it was, Bishop Thiagarajah reflected on this verse which is part of the Beatitudes.
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| He continued: “When we read the Scripture we will come across the notion of ‘seeing God’ or people desiring to see God. What does it mean? |
| “For me, at least three basic understandings of ‘seeing God’ may be observed in the Bible. First, to see God is to be admitted into God’s presence. Book of Exodus may give us a clue. |
| “After the plague of darkness on Egypt, Pharaoh exploded to Moses with these words: ‘Get away from me; take heed to yourself; never see my face again; for in the day you see my face you shall die.’ |
| “Moses said, ‘As you say! I will not see your face again’ (Exodus 10:28–29).
“When a king says, ‘You will never see my face again,’ he means, ‘I will never grant you admission again into my presence.’
“Hence seeing God is to be admitted to God’s presence.
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| “Secondly, seeing God is also to be awestruck by God’s direct experience, God’s glory. Virtually all of our spiritual sight in this life is mediated to us through the Word of God or the work of God in providence. We ‘see’ images and reflections of his glory. We hear echoes and reverberations of his voice. But there will come a day when God himself will dwell among us. |
| “His glory will no longer be inferred from lightning and mountains and roaring seas and constellations of stars. Instead our experience of him will be direct. His glory will be the very light in which we move (Revelation 21:23) and the beauty of his holiness will be tasted directly like honey on the tongue. |
| Bishop Thiagarajah observed that seeing God means not only being admitted to his presence, but also being awestruck by a direct experience of his glory. He stressed seeing God means being comforted by his grace. |
| Referring to the psalmists’, he said, again and again the cry out to God was that God does not hide his face from them.
Quoting Psalm 27 (verses 7–9) he referred to what David said: “Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me! . . . Hide not thy face from me.
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| "Hide not thy face from me," is the same as saying, "Be gracious to me!" This means that seeing the face of God is considered to be a comforting experience. If God shows his face, we are helped. |
| “So when Jesus promises the reward of ‘seeing God’ there are at least these three things implied: we will be admitted to his presence, not just kept in the waiting room. We will be awestruck with a direct experience of his glory. And we will be helped and comforted by his grace. So when Jesus promises the reward of ‘seeing God’ there are at least these three things implied: we will be admitted to his presence. We will be awestruck with a direct experience of his glory. And we will be helped and comforted by his grace. |
| “Secondly, what do we understand by ‘purity of heart’? We start with the closest Old Testament parallel to this beatitude, namely, Psalm 24:3–4. “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false, and does not swear deceit fully |
| “We can see what David means by a "pure heart" in the phrases that follow it. A pure heart is a heart that has nothing to do with falsehood. It is painstakingly truthful and free from deceitfulness. Purity of heart is to will one thing, namely, to "seek the face of the Lord" (verse 6). It is quite appropriate that the philosopher Soren Kierkegaard has tilted one of his books, Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing.” |
| In paying his tribute to Vino Rajakumar, he said:
“Friends, my memory goes to 1972, forty years ago. It was the time when I first met Vino (nee Gunanayagam) at a gathering of JICCF (Jaffna Inter Collegiate Christian Fellowship). Ever since our friendship remained meaningful.
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| “Vino was a kind-hearted person. She always had a ready wit. Her jokes and humor entertained people. |
| “I still remember the days when she was seated with a group of girls from Vembadi Girls’ High School (VGHS) cheering the Centralites during the Central-St. John’s Big Match. I was much encouraged as a cricketer. |
| “I was happy to see Vino when I took charge of the JDCSI Colombo Church as priest-in-charge. She was very happy when I became the bishop. “She was there to encourage me during times of joy and happiness. She was also there to provide consolation and advice when in perplexity and uncertainty. Her loyalty to the diocese and to the bishop was absolute. She never wavered in her position. |
| “Vino was pure in her heart. As the Scripture says, Purity of heart is to will one thing, namely, full and total allegiance to God. There was no deception, no double-mindedness, no divided allegiance for Vino. “Few days ago when I was told by Rev. Pathmathayalan that Vino was admitted at Wellisara hospital we went to see her. |
| She saw me walking towards her at a distance. She was so happy.
“Even before I asked her how she was faring she was asking whether it was too long a distance for me to walk to that ward. She was asking me how I was faring with my ailments, whether I could move my legs, turn my neck and so on.
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| “That was Vino. When I offered a prayer with and for her I found she was much relieved. She said ‘good bye’ to us but we did not know that it was going to be the last good-bye. Perhaps she knew her time had come. |
| “Blessed are those who are pure in heart for they shall see God.” Jesus' point is the same as Hebrews 12:14, "Strive for . . . the holiness without which no one will see the Lord." |
| “In other words, blessed are the holy for they shall see God. There is a real purity and a real holiness which fits us to see the King of glory.” |
| Bishop Thiagarajah concluded: |
| “Friends, it is painful to think that Vino is no more with us. But we are comforted by the ‘Beatitude’ that since she was so pure in her heart she is in the presence of the Lord enjoying the glorious and direct presence of the Divine. It is our hope that when we receive our call we will also see God and in that seeing we will see Vino face to face. We pray that her husband Rajakumar, children Charles and Joel take comfort in these words. |
| ‘Blessed are those who are pure in heart for they shall see God.’ “Vinothini Rajakumar, he said, “was pure in her heart, she is seeing God. Amen.” |
| Tributes were also paid by Mrs T Simon, affectionately ‘Simon aunty’ and a long term pal of Vino and shared a lovely mutual friendship from their early Union College days, S Mahilrajan and a tribute also from V Gunaratnam a relative in Australia was read. They were all hallmark testimony to Vino who will be widely missed but comforted by the message especially form her friend of forty years, Bishop Daniel Thiagarajah. |
| In the service led by the Bishop and later at the committal rites, he was associated with the Rev V Pathmathayalan, her parish priest and the Rev Dr Gunalan Thiagarajah |
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