Dear
Friends of the Badaliyya,
This month of May we focus our attention on Inter-faith Dialogue. This theme is close to the Friends of Louis Massignon. On several occasions, this subject sparks a provocative discussion of "dialogue" with its current successes and failures despite good intentions.
This month of May we focus our attention on Inter-faith Dialogue. This theme is close to the Friends of Louis Massignon. On several occasions, this subject sparks a provocative discussion of "dialogue" with its current successes and failures despite good intentions.
This theme is responded to by several other
authors and all included their understanding of the uniqueness of Louis
Massignon on this issue. Here are two translations of his writings on dialogue
among cultures and between Muslims and Christians:
On the reciprocal knowledge and decentering - "We understand the other by mentally substituting ourselves for the other, by entering into the place inhabited by the other, by mirroring the structure of thought in the other within ourselves".
Without relativism or syncretism - "I am not one of those who think that we succeed if we look for common comparisons and common denominators... I believe that it is in that which is most authentic in the originality (uniqueness) of each religion that we must try to find convergence".
As each person in our prayer group reads aloud what they have found meaningful in their search for understanding and compassion we are struck at how there are thoughts from all three Abrahamic traditions, a reading from Isaiah, a reading from the Vatican II documents, and a reading from Karen Armstrong's "Muhammad: a biography of the Prophet".
In the midst of our difficult journey we continue our prayer this month holding out hope for peaceful reconciliation and compassionate listening for all our brothers and sisters in the Southern Philippines, the Middle East and the Holy Land. May we always be mindful that what we do for the least of our brothers and sisters, we do for God in Christ.
Pax et Bonun!
On the reciprocal knowledge and decentering - "We understand the other by mentally substituting ourselves for the other, by entering into the place inhabited by the other, by mirroring the structure of thought in the other within ourselves".
Without relativism or syncretism - "I am not one of those who think that we succeed if we look for common comparisons and common denominators... I believe that it is in that which is most authentic in the originality (uniqueness) of each religion that we must try to find convergence".
As each person in our prayer group reads aloud what they have found meaningful in their search for understanding and compassion we are struck at how there are thoughts from all three Abrahamic traditions, a reading from Isaiah, a reading from the Vatican II documents, and a reading from Karen Armstrong's "Muhammad: a biography of the Prophet".
In the midst of our difficult journey we continue our prayer this month holding out hope for peaceful reconciliation and compassionate listening for all our brothers and sisters in the Southern Philippines, the Middle East and the Holy Land. May we always be mindful that what we do for the least of our brothers and sisters, we do for God in Christ.
Pax et Bonun!
Bapa Eliseo ‘Jun’ Mercado, OMI
Badaliyya Philippines
May 09, 2015
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