User:Kithu Dana Pubuduwa/sandbox

Who We Are
A Prayer movement

Pubuduwa, a community led by the Holy Spirit, proclaiming that the Lord Jesus to be their Lord and master, are born with a heritage for a prayerful and praise-filled life. They give priority to prayer in order to seek the will of God and to be true followers of Jesus Christ who also gave a foremost place to prayer in His life. Therefore, Pubuduwa is a prayer movement.

A Marian movement

Through her own free will, the blessed Mother emptied herself in the presence of the Lord to fulfill His will. Her emptying experience was the result of the filling with the Holy Spirit. She was the one who completely emptied herself from her own rights, from having a good name, future hopes and aspirations. Gazing at her emptying experience is the first experience of the Pubuduwa journey. Then thirsting to posses or make one's own this same experience is the next step in the Pubudu journey. Hence, Pubuduwa is a movement of the Blessed Mother.

A movement in the Holy Spirit

Kithu Dana Pubuduwa started in 1971 by the direction of the Holy Spirit. Rev. Fr. Siri Oscar Abayaratne became the instrument of the Holy Spirit for this purpose. Pubudwa enjoys the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It has journeyed for 36 years in Sri Lanka focusing towards the leading of the Holy Spirit. Constant awareness of the Holy Spirit is the special feature of the Pubuduwa community. Therefore, Pubuduwa is a movement in the Holy Spirit.

An Apostolic and a Contemplative movement

It is not an ordinary a prayer movement, but a Movement called to go deep into prayer even to a state of contemplative prayer. It is a deep desire to experience at least in small measure the prayer life of our Lord Jesus. Yet Pubuduwa defines their prayer life in broad terms. It extends it's life of prayer to continue the work of the Holy apostles in building and spreading the kingdom of God, in villages, country, family, and in the environment, that they live in. (Acts 1:8, 2:42-47) Both these features, prayer and action are manifest in the life of the Pubuduwa community. Therefore, it is simultaneously a prayer movement and an apostolic movement.

A Journey - a Way of Life

Sharing in Community

Those who have been called by God have received a special grace (a charisma) (Ephesians 4:7). Lord has called us as a people and as a community. The greatest evidence for this is the Charisma we have received. There are four features in it. Let us now discuss them. a)What is the Pubudu Charisma ? How often do you practically experience the four basic gifts of the Charisma in your daily life? b)Let us look at our journey with praise to the Lord for bringing us thus far since our first ever, public rally of the Holy Spirit in 1976. The themes we received annually in our journey are our main halting places. They are the milestones. When we look at all, we could see how the Lord has brought Pubuduwa on journey to be in His presence.

We know Pubuduwa is a movement of the Holy Spirit. Awakening to the Holy Spirit is a special experience of the Pubuduwa community. It is the guidance of the Holy Spirit, that takes through the four steps in the Pubudu Charisma.


 * 1) Emptying experience of the Blessed Mother


 * 1) Gaze at the sonship of Lord Jesus


 * 1) Experience our own divine sonship

It is the Holy Spirit who guides and accompanies us through the above experiences and takes us to the presence of the Father. As we are called to a contemplative prayer life, we constantly surrender to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, to be in the presence of God the Father. We are guided to be in the bosom of God the Father.

Constant Awareness

In 1996 with the challenge to let go, the Pubudu community received a special grace to identify the gift we have received. That is the gift of "Awareness".. Awareness of and to the Holy Spirit has now become second nature to us. Awakening to the Holy Spirit is not merely a mental or an act of the intellect. Rather it is an experience. Therefore, awareness of the Holy Spirit is closely connected with an action. The action may manifest itself or it may be an internal occurrence.

Origin and Development
Vatican Council II (1962-1965) marks a very important turning-point in the Catholic Church. A very important and a drastic change in thinking took place during this period. This brought an end to the “dark era” of the church and the need for a new Pentecost was proclaimed. In the meantime the thinking about the people of God and laity underwent a revolutionary change. The fact that the laymen and women are called to have a great mission in the world was highlighted. Lay movements and organizations were given maximum encouragement.

Sri Lanka is a Buddhist country. Only 7% of the population are Catholics (about 1,350,000 in numbers). About 50% of the Catholics live in the Archdiocese of Colombo. Archdiocese of Colombo is considered by many to be the largest diocese in Asia. Towards the end of Vatican II the then Archbishop of Colombo His Eminence Thomas Benjamin Cardinal Cooray took steps to form a powerful Christian Lay-leadership. Lay movements and organizations were given maximum encouragement, as also the launching out into new experiments in the formation of the laity.

A structure to work out a basic-lay-apostolate with emphasis on youth was just one among these Apostolic initiatives. This basic lay Apostolate with a lot of success in a predominantly Catholic area was extended to serve the whole Archdiocese with an emphasis on the youth. It was generally known as the Youth Movement. Its orientations took into consideration:-

Pubuduwa Originates
 * Biblical, Liturgical, Catechetical and Ecumenical movements that paved the way for Vatican II and after
 * The insights and directions offered by Vatican II and after
 * Failures and successes of the renewal efforts of post Vatican II
 * The quest of man for liberation in all fronts, and the creation of a new society, that satisfies his inner most aspirations.

All forms of big gatherings or social analysis in groups were strictly forbidden during that time. Father was perforce led to form very small groups of people, beginning with the youth and later with adults to discuss the Bible. A new apostolate had sprung up. It happened. It was completely God’s work. These groups became life-sharing groups. The meetings were held either under coconut palms or on the sea beach. These began after dusk. The light to read the scriptures were from flash light torches or portable patromax lamps. Father went to the villages on a Lambretta Scooter with a load of Sinhala Bibles (about 25). He got back home invariably late in the night. His residence was a very old mission house in Colombo, and his room was very small. This place served as the headquarters of the new apostolate. A weekly prayer meeting was held here on Mondays. It was a small group of ten to twelve persons that met. This small group served the purpose of an inspirational team. At this stage this small group went over to a retreat house in Kandy for a week-end Spiritual Retreat. It was a great experience and they decided to share their experience with a large gathering. By then they have arrived at an unassailable conclusion, that an encounter with the Risen Lord was fundamental for all Christians. The themes for an initiation seminar of eight sessions were suggested while waiting for the bus to arrive.

Pubuduwa – Development

It had its origin in the Archdiocese of Colombo and now it has spread to other dioceses as well and in a very special way throughout the Diocese of Chilaw. It has spread in a limited way in the other Dioceses such as Kandy, Kurunegala, Ratnapura, Mannar and Jaffna. Kithu Dana Pubuduwa communities are now found in Australia, Italy, Lebanon, Oman, Abu Dhabi and England.

The name ‘Pubuduwa’

The movement was on for a few years without a name tag. The members wanted to be just a movement of inspiration without any structure. The people within and without started naming it in different names. Hence at a gathering of the leadership that had by then emerged (1975) the name “Kithu Dana Pubuduwa” came to the fore. It can be translated as ‘renewal of the Christian people’. An organization structure has willy-nilly grown. The principle however that is ever invoked is that ‘organization’ is only to serve the Spirit and not vice-versa. “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?” (Mathew 5/13). What is the use if Pubuduwa loses its “renewal”?