austraLasia 1323
When cricket becomes a very serious matter
LAHORE: 10th November 2005 -- austraLasia has come to hear that an invitation has been extended, on the part of some Salesian institutions in India, to their counterparts in Pakistan, to take part in a schoolboys cricket series. Now this, if it is indeed true, is excellent news. It really is in the spirit of an earnestly desired peace between the ordinary folk from both neighbouring nations, and one that is already mirrored anyway at national level where the two sides, Pakistan and India, produce between them some of the most thrilling cricket competitions available to aficionados of the sport (which includes very many austraLasia readers, one hastens to add). One could readily understand if the invitation is not immediately taken up. Pakistan has some very public woes at present, and there is little doubt that many of the lads who would be amongst such a Pakistani Salesian cricket side are currently engaged in rescue operations already well publicised in these pages, and for which the entire Salesian world (and not only) holds them in great admiration.
But more than just physical tremors are involved - and this has come to us through the efforts of a Salesian aspirant in Pakistan who recently translated into English Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha's Pastoral Letter to his people. The reason for the pastoral letter is the recent and public conversion of the only Christian member of the national test team, Yousaf Youhani, to the Muslim religion. Yousaf, who now goes by the name of Mohammad Yousaf, is a stylish middle-order right-handed batsman. In most of his test match appearances he has attracted the media not only for his expertise with the bat, but for making the Sign of the Cross on arriving at 50 or a century. The conversion is a complex issue, perhaps also for Yousaf, but certainly for the rest of Pakistan, and has a strong potential to divide, not just at the level of words. Feelings have been running so high that the Archbishop felt it necessary to appeal to Catholics, but he speaks on behalf of all Christians in this, not to react violently. The difficulty was not only that Yousaf had converted to Islam but that he had invited other Christians to do similarly. And that prompted some very strong reactions. "Being a Christian, I regret the decision" says the Archbishop, but "I ask all of you to be very calm and please keep the scene peaceful...all pray for Yousaf and his family's safety". He drew on the Letter to the Romans, "never repay evil with evil...do all you can to live at peace with everyone".
VOCABULARY
cricket: oh dear, where do we start! Look it up in your encyclopedia.
aficionado: a Spanish word borrowed by English to describe one who is devoted to something....usually in a sporting or cultural context.
middle-order, right-handed: typical description for a batsman (who bats halfway through the list of 11 team mates)
______________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For RSS feeds, subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/rssala.xml. If you subscribe, email this information and your name will come off the regular email list. RSS eliminates problems such as multiple mailings, viruses, email bloat. Think about it!
When cricket becomes a very serious matter
LAHORE: 10th November 2005 -- austraLasia has come to hear that an invitation has been extended, on the part of some Salesian institutions in India, to their counterparts in Pakistan, to take part in a schoolboys cricket series. Now this, if it is indeed true, is excellent news. It really is in the spirit of an earnestly desired peace between the ordinary folk from both neighbouring nations, and one that is already mirrored anyway at national level where the two sides, Pakistan and India, produce between them some of the most thrilling cricket competitions available to aficionados of the sport (which includes very many austraLasia readers, one hastens to add). One could readily understand if the invitation is not immediately taken up. Pakistan has some very public woes at present, and there is little doubt that many of the lads who would be amongst such a Pakistani Salesian cricket side are currently engaged in rescue operations already well publicised in these pages, and for which the entire Salesian world (and not only) holds them in great admiration.
But more than just physical tremors are involved - and this has come to us through the efforts of a Salesian aspirant in Pakistan who recently translated into English Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha's Pastoral Letter to his people. The reason for the pastoral letter is the recent and public conversion of the only Christian member of the national test team, Yousaf Youhani, to the Muslim religion. Yousaf, who now goes by the name of Mohammad Yousaf, is a stylish middle-order right-handed batsman. In most of his test match appearances he has attracted the media not only for his expertise with the bat, but for making the Sign of the Cross on arriving at 50 or a century. The conversion is a complex issue, perhaps also for Yousaf, but certainly for the rest of Pakistan, and has a strong potential to divide, not just at the level of words. Feelings have been running so high that the Archbishop felt it necessary to appeal to Catholics, but he speaks on behalf of all Christians in this, not to react violently. The difficulty was not only that Yousaf had converted to Islam but that he had invited other Christians to do similarly. And that prompted some very strong reactions. "Being a Christian, I regret the decision" says the Archbishop, but "I ask all of you to be very calm and please keep the scene peaceful...all pray for Yousaf and his family's safety". He drew on the Letter to the Romans, "never repay evil with evil...do all you can to live at peace with everyone".
VOCABULARY
cricket: oh dear, where do we start! Look it up in your encyclopedia.
aficionado: a Spanish word borrowed by English to describe one who is devoted to something....usually in a sporting or cultural context.
middle-order, right-handed: typical description for a batsman (who bats halfway through the list of 11 team mates)
______________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For RSS feeds, subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/rssala.xml. If you subscribe, email this information and your name will come off the regular email list. RSS eliminates problems such as multiple mailings, viruses, email bloat. Think about it!
