A Letter to Friends of Badaliya...

Dear Friends of the Badaliya,

In the quiet of this intimate sacred space we continued to share our reflections on the importance of Abraham in Louis Massignon's spirituality and his vision of the profound connections of the three Abrahmic faith traditions.

We focus on an article by Fr. Paolo Dall'Oglio, SJ called In Praise of Syncretism: A message to Jesuits involved in Muslim-Christian Relations".

Paolo Dall'Oglio is an Italian Jesuit living in the Christian community and monastery of Deir Mar Musa near Damascus in Syria, a place that he considers as Christian as it is Muslim. Its members, he says, intend "to reinvent the positive relationship that existed between the first Muslims and the {Christian} monks on the borders of the Arabian desert". He also wrote: "Do I consider myself personally a Muslim? I think so, through evangelical grace and obedience. I am a Muslim because of the love of God for Muslims and Islam. I cannot but be a Muslim by way of the Spirit and not the letter. In the same way, like Jesus and the apostles, I am Jewish by way of the Spirit". This article can be found at http://justgoodcompany.com/1.2/dallogliotext.htm

We look forward to sharing our reflections and experience of this prayer as we deepen our commitment to open our hearts to be able to "cross over to the other" in compassion and hospitality.

Pace e Bene.
Bapa Jun Mercado, OMI
Cotabato City

January 4th, 2014