----- Forwarded Message ----- From: eric pinto <[email protected]> To: GOA2 <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, May 24, 2013 11:11 AM Subject: Lambert Mascarenhas - Ruminations. He wrote an article titled 'Re-Structuring Goan Christian Life' for the Saligao Seminary Souvenir in 2003. I have a special affection for him, a pillar of the Goan world of publication. His little junta of the 1955 Goan Tribune-Quit Goa movement included my late father, and they met in my home a few times as they plotted the launch of the weekly that was sent around the world. The venture also owed much to the late Prof. Aloysious Soares. Here are some excerpts from the article. The western bias of Goan Christianity has now to be eradicated, the proclivity that has bestowed on the people a sense of superiority and un-Indianness, more pronounced in Goans in diaspora, particularly in Canada and the USA. This sense is generated by the erroneous concept of 'civilization' which according to them is represented by Christianity: knife and fork at table, frock-hat and suits, and the consumption of liquor. Portugal must have introduced liquor to Goa to enhance the trade of Porto, Tinto and other spirits. When whisky-soda was passed around at four o'clock in the afternoon, tea time, at the Bishop'sPalace, I wrote him a letter about the lapse. The Rev. Rebelo gracefully acknowledged and promised "that liquor would not be served again on the premises." The Church in Goa must now act in diluting the westernization of its flock. As far as possible Goan Christians must not appear different from the Hindus of Goa. At the baptism of my daughter Nayantara in Bombay, the priest said to me, 'why don't you adda Christian name," so I added Ruth. The Christian names of saints have disappeared from usage. I encountered a group of four children in Colva recently: one was named Flinton, one was Kennedy, another Zarril. The girl was Zarrissa. We need to emphasize Christianity, not westernization.
