Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees...

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, * but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?' Then I will declare to them solemnly, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.' (Matthew 7: 21 – 23)

When our words are, indeed, BOLD… yet our deeds ARE LACKING, we are partaking of the yeast of the Pharisees. BEWARE….!

Pearls before swine...

"Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.” (Matthew 7: 6)

We, often, wonder why people keep giving what is holy to dogs and precious pearls before swine…

Beware that we do not act as dogs and swine when we are challenged to live the kingdom values… in our deeds and words.

In friendship and solidarity with the Tibetan monks as they struggle for freedom... 

Be quiet and be still...

Gosple reading for the 12th Sunday of the ordinary year (B)

On that day, as evening drew on, he said to them, "Let us cross to the other side." Leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats were with him. A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Quiet! Be still!" The wind ceased and there was great calm. Then he asked them, "Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?" They were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?" (Mark 4: 35-41)

We do have experiences of turbulence and storm in life...
In those times, we are invited to hear, once again, Jesus words: "Be quiet and be still!"...

The Newness in Christ Message...

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on (your) right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow. (Matthew 5: 38-42)

· No resistance to one who is evil…
· Turning the other cheek…
· Handing over your cloak, as well…
· Going the extra mile…
· Not turning of one’s back from the needy…

Are these the values we live by…?

Reality bites: Hunger in the midst of plenty... A call to solidarity and sharing of one bread and life!

Dhikr for the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ (B)

“While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, ‘Take it; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many’.” Mark 14: 22-24)

Corpus Christi Sunday reminds us that we are truly “partakers” of Jesus’ Body and Blood. As he is broken and shared for the many… so are we!

By partaking of his body and blood, we are called to share and shed, too, our life for the many... that they may have life to the full.

A Reminder of God's GENTLE PRESENCE in us...

Elijah's experience of God "passing by" is a reminder of God's gentle presence amid his people...

In 1 King 19: 11-13, " God said, 'Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD.' And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.
"Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by."

God's presence in our lives is often unobserved... because his passing by is like that "gentle breeze" or "still small voice"...

Dhikr is a praxis that makes us attentive to God's presence in the gentle breeze and the stillness of our surrounding...

Letting God be God...!

God is both ….
• the seen and the unseen…
• the known and the unknown…
• the evident and the hidden…
• the near and the far…
* the present and the absent...

Our refusal to let God BE God leads to the creation of idols unto our own image and likeness! Often ways, thoughts and deeds are NOT God’s. We begin to fashion our idols by…
• our refusal to be nobody compared to God the greatest of all…
• by transforming the God who cares to become our surety in our finger tips…
• by taking him for granted, especially when we do not need him,,,
• by our failure to follow the way of righteousness…
• by holding on to the inconsistencies between my knowing and reality…
• by believing our WRONG FOCUS on God...

LET US DESTROY THE IDOLS WE HAVE FASHIONED UNTO OUR IMGAE AND ALLOW GOD TO BE GOD!

The three young men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, in Daniel 3: 13-20 show us with GREAT COURAGE and FAITH what it means to believe in Yahweh. Before kings and potentates of this world, we have no need to present a defence in whom and what we believe. They invite us to confess, by our lives, words and deeds, that we shall not serve any other gods and we shall not worship gold, power and establishment that have long been our idols all these years…

John Paul II pursued the path of interreligious dialogue with great courage & love... 

The Spiritual Journey in the Writings of Christian de Chergé

Part 1. An appreciation of other religion through the eyes of a martyred friend…
The particular insight of the spiritual journey undertaken by the monks of the Atlas region lies in the innovative and likely to be of interest to the whole Church in the matter of approach to interreligious dialogue. It is not surprising that “a spirituality of the meeting of religions” should have emerged from the context of monastic life, because interreligious dialogue has its origin in spirituality.

With regard to dialogue, Christian de Chergé relies on the vision of John-Paul II. How can we appreciate the Pope’s thought, his daring? Where does it come from? We must know that John-Paul II lost his best female friend in a concentration camp; this explains how his urge towards interreligious dialogue begins in his own flesh.

As regards Christian de Chergé, the meeting with Mohammed, his friend (an Algerian field-guard) is at the basis of his thought. Christian had developed a friendship with Mohammed and committed himself to a deep relationship based on faith. Christian will state, “Mohammed brought freedom to my faith.” During an altercation in the street Mohammed tried to protect Christian, his friend, and to calm the aggressors.

The next day he was found assassinated. Christian understood this “event” as a sign from God, and this painful episode will never be forgotten. Christian comes back to it over the following years. “I know at least one much loved brother, a convinced Muslim, who gave his life out of love for another, concretely, by shedding his blood. It is an irrefutable testimony that I welcome as an incredible opportunity.

From that time on, in fact, I have been able to place, within my hope for the communion of all the chosen with Christ, that friend who lived, to the point of death, the one commandment” (in Journées Romaines: Chrétiens et Musulmans, pour un projet commun de société, 1989). Several years later, when preaching on the martyrdom of love (31st March 1994), he will say again, “I cannot forget Mohammed who one day saved my life by risking his own, and who was assassinated by his brothers because he refused to betray his friends into their hands. He did not want to choose between these and those. Ubi caritas … Deus ibi est!” (in L’invincible espérance, p. 203)

For Christian, the gift of Mohammed’s life led to the discovery of the Eucharist. The Eucharist means receiving one’s life from another. That is the meaning of the sacrifice: one cannot receive one’s life without giving one’s life. In Christian theology, Eucharist means receiving in order to give, but in the mind of Christian, there is a reversal of the meaning of sacrifice: to give in order to receive. His calling is profoundly Eucharistic, it is essential to him and is deeply embedded in him.

For Christian, “Mohammed gave his life as did Christ… Each Eucharist makes him infinitely present to me in the Glorified Body, for he lived the Eucharist to the end.” And if there is one text of this sort there are many. “The Eucharist is for all people, this very day,” and not just when all mankind will have become Catholic. Christian knew that Mohammed was in danger, and Mohammed, knowing he was threatened, accepted that Christian should pray for him, but he added, “I know you will pray for me . . . but you, Christians, don’t know how to pray.”

We need to discover, in the actual life of those Muslims whom we know, the “Eucharistic signs.” The vocation of Christian is, from this time on, to be Eucharistic, praying among others who are praying, in Algeria which is “That land where the love granted was the greatest.” He wed this land, its people. Once when he visited his mother, she told him, “My son, flowers do not move about to find the sun; it is the sun which comes to visit them.” All this will provide the basis of his Spirituality.

From this time onwards he understands that the vow of stability means stability within a people: to take up stability in the land of Algeria and therefore to be closely tied to the local Church.

Fifteen years later, on 1 October 1976, he made his solemn profession and in his request, drawn up on September14 of that year, he wrote, “I wish that my brothers who have taken the vow of stability in the Atlas should accept me permanently into their company, in the very name of that continuity, allowing me to live in PRAYER, in the service of the Church of Algeria, listening to the Muslim soul, if it please God, right to the final gift of my death ut in omnibus glorificetur Deus!” The Father Abbot Visitor and the Father Immediate, Abbot of Aiguebelle, wrote to the Abbot General, “. . . and I see in this solemn profession . . . and in the choice of those who have not yet taken the vow of stability to indeed undertake this vow in Algeria, as a conscious response made by the whole community to this action of God” (Report, 2 November, 1976).

A second key event, which took place in 1975, one year before his vows, (recounted in “Nuit de feu” , in L'invincible espérance, p. 33 f.) occurs while Christian is praying in the church during the night. Christian feels that someone is drawing close to him and saying “Pray for me”; and they start praying together the Our Father, the Magnificat, the fatihâ, prayers of praise, of thanks. Then, together with the Christian friend who had come with the Muslim, they pray for three hours. They will not see each other again. But before leaving, the Muslim goes round the monastery four times, dancing, and singing, he is so happy! Christian will not speak of this until his vows; then he will say “this event was not a dream, it is a fact”; it will be the affirmation of his vocation. Concerning this night Christian will say later, “These three hours made me live what my faith, for centuries and centuries, had known was possible.” The issue of hope is found there. The “theology of the meeting of religions” is based on eschatology; it is a matter of rethinking the theology of hope.

In 1979, he experiences a crisis (was he disappointed with the community?) and leaves for Assekrem for three months; he reads and prays a great deal on the Qur’an. By the time he comes back, the Rabat es-Salâm (the Link of Peace) has been founded by Claude Rault: prayer, sharing on themes with a Sufi community, “our Alawiya brothers of Médéa.”

Those are the key moments in the life of Christian de Chergé; we will constantly go from one to the other: from theological reflection to the key elements and vice versa. (Fr. Christian Salenson from Bulletin 76, January 2006)

Dhikr for Trinity Sunday (B)...

“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28: 19-20)

Trinity Sunday reminds us that we are “sealed” by our baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This “seal” is manifested in the FELLOWSHIP and COMMUNION by our common baptism – regardless of color, race, belief, language and gender.

My Christian Witness in a Community of Muslims…

My years of experience living in the midst of Islam in Southern Philippines have taught me that the endeavor to live together in respectful understanding for one another is a journey of thousands miles… Where to begin and what should be the first step are always the daunting challenges for people who have embark on the journey.

The first is best described by assuming an attitude and a disposition that a pilgrim takes as he/she embarks on the hajj. “Labbayka” is the word that comes out of his/her mouth as he/she begins the journey to God’s abode. Labbayka ‘inna hum - Here I am … ready to do your bidding…

In my desire to live and struggle with Muslim minorities in the Southern Philippines , I have always been guided by what the Qur’an positively says about the Christians… And through these, I continue to struggle to enflesh that type of Christian witnessing that my Muslim neighbors can easily understand.

Three (3) Quranic Passages…

The first text is from Sura 5: 82 that says… “and nearest among them in love to the believers wilt thou find those who say ‘we are Christians’, because amongst these are men who are devoted to learning and men who have renounced the world, and they are not arrogant.” (wa latajidanna aqrabahum mmawaddatan lilladhina amanu-l-lladhina qaalu nnaanasaaraa dhaalika bianna minhum qasisina waruhbaanaan wa annahum laa yastakbiruna.)

I resolve that I shall be true to this in my dealing with my Muslim neighbors… To be a…
• A person of learning;
• A person that renounces the world and NOT greedy; and
• A person who is not haughty or arrogant!

Yes, I strive to be that person nearest to them in Love… because I am a Christian.

The second text is taken from Qur’an 57: 27 that states… “…we sent after them Jesus the Son of Mary and bestowed on him the Gospel; and we ordained on the hearts of those who followed him COMPASSION AND MERCY’. (waja’aalnaa fi qulusbi-lladhina-ttaba’uhu raa’fatan wa –rahmatan).

The two key descriptions of Jesus’ followers are Compassion and Mercy… Is this NOT the very heart of religion and the very heart of God? God is Rahmaan and Rahim -“loving-kindness”. The heart of religion and a believer as described in Sura 50:37: "A believer who remembers the need for a feeling heart, a hearing mind and a present self… to his/her neighbor…" (“…inna fi dhalika la-dhikra li-man kana lahu qalb aw alqa al-sam’wa wa huwa shahid”)

Reflecting on this passage, I wander whether the call for us is precisely to retrieve these key descriptions and allow them to bear upon the relationship between the worship that we bring and the behavior that we come by… or putting it in another way, allowing the “coincidence” between the heart of God and the heart of the believer.

The third text is from Sura 49: 14 that says “…we made you into nations and tribes that you may know each other (not that you may despise each other). The most honored of you in the sight of God is the most righteous of you”. (Ya_ ay yuhal na_su in na_ halaqna_kum min zakariw wa unsa_ wa ja'alna_kum suu_baw wa qaba_ ila litaa_rafu_ in na akramakum indal la_hi atqa_kum in nal la_ha alimun kabir.)

Still in another Qur’anic passage, Sura 11: 118, it says: “If thy Lord had so willed He could have made mankind one People: but (he willed it otherwise, ands so) they will not cease to dispute.” (Wa lau sya_'a rabbuka laja'alan na_sa ummataw wa_hidataw wa la_ yaza_lu_na mukhtalifin(a).)

But what is this righteousness being asked of us…? Sura 2: 178 tells us… “It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces to the East and the West; but righteous is he who believeth in Allah and the Last Day and the angels and the Scripture and the Prophets; and giveth his wealth, for love of Him, to kinsfolk and to orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and to those who ask, and to set slaves free; and observeth proper worship and payeth the poor due. And those who keep their treaty when they make one, and the patient in tribulation and adversity and time of stress. Such are they who are sincere. Such are the God fearing.” (Ya_ ayyuhal lazina a_manu_ kutiba 'alaikumul qisa_su fil qatla_, al hurru bil hurri wal 'abdu bil 'abdi wal unsa_ bil unsa_, faman 'ufiya lahu_ min akhihi syai'un fat tiba_'um bil ma'ru_fi wa ada_'un ilaihi bi ihsa_n(in), za_lika takhfifum mir rabbikum wa rahmah(tun), fa mani'tada_ ba'da za_lika fa lahu_ 'aza_bun alim(un).)

This is the concrete response to the Qura’nic invitation to “excel each other in good deeds” that constitute true piety and righteousness. (Bapa Eliseo Mercado, OMI)

Dhikr as Remembrance of God in GOOD WORK...

Remembrance of God is the foundation of good deeds. Dhikr is a form of Sadaqa – generous charity. Sadaqa is the generous sharing of one’s life and property.

Dhikr leads to being charitable in all the senses.
* Becoming Charitable and Generous in our Knowing and Seeing…
* Becoming Charitable and Generous in our Hearing and in our Utterances
* Becoming Charitable and Generous in our Feeling and Loving…
* Becoming Charitable and Generous in our reaching out to our neighbors…

The coming down of the Spirit that renews the whole creation... May this Spirit of LOVE & FELLOWSHIP fill us all... 

Dhikr for Pentecost Sunday (B)

“Jesus breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." (John 20: 22-23)

We have received NOT the spirit of slavery and live in fear, but the spirit that makes us sons and daughters of God that empowers us to call God – Abba!

THE BROKEN CRUCIFIX SPRAYED BY BULLETS HAS BECOME THE SYMBOL OF MARTYRDOM IN SOUTHERN SUDAN 

Only one thing matters...

The gospel of today (03 May) tells how Jesus reproves Peter of having too many peripheral concerns… Only one thing matters: “YOU FOLLOW ME” (John 21:22).

Today, we celebrate the feast of the 22 martyrs of Uganda. There are three names that we easily remember: Charles Lwanga, Mattias Mulumba Kalemba and the boy Kitisto.

There were more than 22 martyrs of Uganda. Paul VI in his homily during the canonization rite also mentioned of other Christians who were martyred yet belonging to the Anglican confession.

The witness of these martyrs in the 19th century reminds us of the contemporary martyrdom of the many Christians in Southern Sudan during the more than two decades of civil war that ended with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in January 2006.

The Christians in Southern Sudan thought that they were abandoned by the world and by God during the times of persecution...

John Paul II during his historic visit in the Sudan in 1993 reminded the Christians that they are NOT forgotten nor abandoned by God... Their names are "written on the palm of the hands of Christ pierced by the nails of crucifixion."

Therefore, with full confidence we cry out: "The Lord is our help and our shield. In him do our hearts find joy. We trust in his holy name". (Psalm 28: 7)