Folks,
Peace!
We continuing
to reflect on the call to “substitutionary prayer” (Badaliyya). We can follow Fr. Louis
Massignon’s own suggestion to turn to Charles de Foucauld and Saint Francis of Assisi for
inspiration and enlightenment.
At Tamanrasset in the southern Algerian desert
Foucauld realized that he needed to know and understand theTouareg people in
order to truly live with them. In fact he wanted to assimilate himself into
their way of life, in a sense to “become Touareg”. Not only did he allow himself
to eat what those to whom he dedicated his life ate but he learned their
language as intimately as they knew it, as well as their history, traditions,
folklore, poetry and beliefs.”To make oneself understand is the beginning of
everything, in order to do something good”, he wrote. “It isn’t enough to pray
for the salvation of others, nor even to lovingingly give oneself to them, but
to offer oneself body and soul for their souls”.
“This is how Foucauld saw the sacrifice of Jesus at Golgotha; Christ so loved
humanity that he offered himself as a voluntary victim for the expiation of the
sin of the world. “There is no greater proof of love than to give one’s life
for those we love”, He told the apostles at the Last Supper. Substituting
himself for humanity, past, present and future, He had reconciled them to God
for eternity. Yet the Passion of Christ, the mystery of the economy of
Salvation, consumed and carried out once and for all, will last until the end
of human history. Thus, if we truly love, only one way offers itself to us: to
participate in His redemptive work and accept the sacrifice of ourselves”.
“Brother Charles’ impeccable logic brought him to this conclusion before which
all human reason either resists or gives way; Before God, Christians must
substitute themselves for others and take the burden of their sin or their
blindness onto their own shoulders in order to participate in the liberation of
captive souls...”
Brother Charles’ writings are filled with the theology of his time and yet his
message remains profoundly revolutionary.By choosing to live as he did he
defined and witnessed to a new attitude for Christians in the world. He defined
lay Christians as apostles of Christ and demonstrated how they were to be
shining witnesses to the Gospel message. He was a pioneer who planted the seeds
for a transformation of monastic life as well as lay participation, by
remaining paradoxically entirely faithful to the tradition and the Gospel
message.
It is clear that those who enter into the Badaliya prayer will be challenged by
Brother Charles’ life and witness, and in creating this prayer in 1934 Louis
Massignon was presenting a way to rise to that challenge. Our time and our
world is both radically different and yet sadly the same. May these reflections
serve to aid our prayer together and help us to open our hearts and minds to
truly understand those of other faiths, traditions and cultures. May we be
guided in planting our own seeds of hope in the world. (Dorothy Buck)
It
is my pleasure to announce the continuing Badaliya prayer session in Cotabato
City for SY 2014-15. We will gather monthly every last Thursday at
the Conference Hall of the Institute for Autonomy and Governance ( 2nd
Floor of the NDU Canteen). We begin the session at 4 pm to 5:30 pm.
Fr. Jun Mercado, OMI
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