Charles de Foucauld - part 5

Charles de Foucauld - part 5

 In a Trice

For three full years after leaving Morocco, Charles was wholly taken up with the work of his sizeable book – A journey through Morocco.

On May 23, 1884, He left Morocco. “Islam has had profound effect on me… Acquaintance with this faith… has allowed me to sense something much bigger and more true than this worldly preoccupation… I began to study Islam”.

Two years later, in February 1886, he settled in Paris. In the same month, he had his first meeting in Paris with the well-known priest Huvelin. His church was only a few steps away from Charles flat.

Towards the end of the same year: “I began to go to Church but without believing, for it was only there that I felt right and spent hours saying the same prayer: ‘may Go, if you exist, let me recognize you’.

On 28 or 29 October 1886, he said to his cousin: “you are happy to believe; I am looking for the light and I cannot find it”.

On the very next day, he went to see Fr. Huvelin in the Church of St. Augustine. “I as ked for religious instruction. He made me kneel and make my confession and sent me to take communion at once”.

Imagine a pair of dancers moving gracefully over the dance floor. One of the partners is dancing quite different steps and is supported by an invisible partner.  Until in a trice his dancing partner had taken the initiative.

‘As soon as I believed that there was a God, I understood that I could not do anything other than live for him.  My religious vocation dates from the same moment as my faith. God is so great’

‘At first, faith had many obstacles to overcome .I had doubted so very much that I did not believe everything all at once…

The countenance of the mysterious Partner in the dance remains invisible to us.  All that we can sense of Him is that strong hand which had started to guide Charles on the right way.  For him, the dance had only just begun.

(Jun Mercado, OMI – Badaliyya Philippines)

Prayer as Sanity and Balance

PRAYER AS SANITY AND BALANCE

Genuine prayer, in effect, fills us with divine energy and tells us at the same time that this energy isn’t our own; that it works through us, but that it’s not us. To be healthy, we need both: If we lose connection to divine energy we drain of energy, depress, and feel empty. Conversely if we let divine energy flow into us but identify with it, somehow thinking that it is our own, we become grandiose, inflate with self-importance and arrogance, and become selfish and destructive.

Deep prayer is what energizes us and grounds us, both at the same time. We see this, for example, in a person like Mother Teresa, who was bursting with creative energy but was always very clear that this energy did not come from her, but from God, and she was merely a humble human instrument.

Lack of real prayer makes for two kinds of antithesis to Mother Teresa: On the one hand, it makes for a wonderfully talented and energetic man or woman who is full of creative energy, but is also full of grandiosity and ego; or, on the other hand, it makes for a man or woman who feels empty and flat and cannot radiate any positive energy.

Without prayer we will forever be bouncing back and forth between grandiosity and depression. Without prayer we will always be either too empty of energy or too full of ourselves.

To read more click here or copy this address into your browser http://ronrolheiser.com/prayer-as-sanity-and-balance/#.WlTOPEtG1E4

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5th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Short Reflection for the 5^th Sunday of the Ordinary Time (B)

Readings: Job 7: 1-4. 6-7; 1 Corinthians 9: 16-19; Mark 1: 29-39

Selected Passages: “He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him. Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.”  (Mk.1: 34-35)

Meditation: After a day’s labor – healing the sick and casting out demons, Jesus went into a deserted place to rest and pray. We, too, have become “busy bodies”. We are caught up in our routine work and daily chores.  We need to find an appropriate time and place where we can rest and pray.  We need SILENCE to take stock of life and listen to God.    Cf. www.badaliyya.blogspot.com

DHIKR SIMPLE METHOD...

Dhikr is an Arabic word for remembrance. In the “tariqa” (the way) movement, dhikr developed into a form of prayer… It is a prayer of the heart… following three simple steps:

1.    Write in one’s heart a certain passage of the Holy Writ…

2.   Make the same passage ever present in one’s lips. 

3.   Then wait for God’s disclosure on the meaning of the passage…that interprets one’s life NOW…!

It takes a week of remembering (dhikr)…or even more days to relish the beauty of this method…

Charles de Foucauld - part 4

Charles de Foucauld - part 4

“I Won Through…”

“The rebels were squashed. But they had made Charles curious and awakened in this loner an irresistible desire to get to know other people, to know the unknown.

Charles learned Arabic and read the Qur’an. He asked the army for an opportunity to study the subject nation. The army refused. Thus surrendered again his commission and left the army.

He decided on a long trip of exploration through Morocco. The French Geographical Society sent him to map the desert.

 

The risk was considerable, suicidal.  Two Europeans traveled through Morocco at the same time and disappeared.  His family tried to dissuade him. In vain!  From Morocco, Charles wrote later to his sister: ‘if one leaves saying that one is going to do something, one must not return without having done it’.

Charles described his journey: ‘I always had a notebook five centimeters square hidden in my left hand.  Used a stub of pencil, which never left out on my other hand, to write down what I saw on either side… In that way I was almost always writing as I went along… I was careful enough to walk in front of ir behind my companions, so that with the aid of my capacious garments they would not notice the slight movements of my hands’.

Charles discovered the sacred law of hospitality among Muslims as well as Jews.  It was something entirely new to him.  He loved it.  Up to then Muslims had been the ‘enemy’.  Now he met them as friends.

Now and then some hosts sensed who he really was.  They made smiling allusions and offered him gifts most civilly.  One of them even risked his life for Charles. ‘From then on my relationship with him was that of a friend. I exchanged trust for trust… I told him clearly who I was…  his friendship was all the more secure’.

The danger was very great on three occasions.  And each time, a Muslim risked everything to save Charles.  The third time, he almost lost his life.

Charles told a friend: ‘it was tough but interesting and I won through’.

Charles de Foucauld had emerged from his shell – a friend of Muslims and Jews.”

(Jun Mercado, OMI 1/26/18)

Charles de Foucauld - part 3

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“Meeting at the Well”.

“A meeting with Musa had been arranged at the Well of In Ouzzei on 25 June 1905.  Since the meeting last year at In Salah, Musa had not been again and questions were being asked.

Everything went well, Musa with his Touareg elders met with the French Officer as they sat in a circle  and discussed practical matters.

It was not long before two men were studying one another attentively.  One was Musa, son of Amastane. He was staring at a short man hardly 5’ and 5”, wearing nothing impressive, and slightly bowed. His tanned face was framed in a poorly trimmed beard.  What struck one immediately was his eyes – both penetrating and gentle. A broad mouth with many missing teeth produced a heartfelt smile as warm as the sun at In Ouzzel.

On his almost baldhead he wore a kind of woolen hat fitted with a nape-guard against the sun. is white tunic was torn and too short, and held together awkwardly at the waist with a leather belt.  It was like the tunics of the northern nomads. A long pair of rosary beads of heavy back wood hung from his nbelt. A red heart with a cross on it was sewn on his chest.  He wore Saharan sandals that he had made himself.

The Captain performed the introductions: “Charles de Foucauld, servant of the one god. He loves solitude and wishes to learn the language of the Kel Ahaggar”.

Would have done, the French marabout had decided to remain withdrawn.  Far from be

Musa knew that already. News travels fast in the Sahara.  Almost involuntarily, Musa compared his ‘own’ marabout, Ba-i, with this marabout of the French. He was impressive by the latter’s simplicity. 

De Foucauld sat cross-legged beside the Captain, who was seated on a folding stool.  Far from trying to direct the conversation, as Ba-i would have done, the French marabout had decided to remain withdrawn. Far from keeping his distance and hiding his true feelings behind a mysterious expression, however, the French marabout gave all possible signs of friendliness.  Musa was surprised to discover that he already spoke the language of the Touareg.

De Foucauld immediately recorded in his notebook: “Musa is a good and pious Muslim, with the ideas and way of life, qualities and disadvantages of a Muslim who acts in strict accordance with his faith but at the same time keeps as open a mind as possible”.

Musa, on his part, must certainly have wondered what a marabout was doing among soldiers.

And the French marabout asked the same question: ‘will they be able to tell soldiers from priests and see us as God’s servants…? I don’t know’.

The French captain said: “the French marabout would like to settle in the Hoggar”.

Musa knew how suspicious his people were. But how could he refuse  a request from the French?  They were stronger.  Moreover, they seemed to trust him.  But what if something happened to this marabout?

Charles de Foucauld noted down: “Musa’s agreement and undertaking to ensure the marabout’s safety was certainly not based on whim.  He thought the matter out carefully” and decided himself the exact spot where de Foucauld’s dwelling was to be built.

This man with a heart sewn on is breast is the man we are looking for – Charles de Foucauld!

(Note: At the time, the red heart with a cross was a sign of renewal in the Catholic Church, of a desire to restore a heart to a Church suffering from institutionalization.)

Charles de Foucauld - part 2

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“The Victory of the Vanquished”

“The caravan of 24 Touraeg elders moved forward at camel’s pace. It had covered over 400 miles on its way northwards after leaving the Hoggar.  It was only a few miles from the oasis of In Salah, where there was an infidel garrison. Peace had to be made with the French.

Make peace? Not everyone agreed. But Musa thought this was the best course.

At a sword-point, Musa had won a chieftain’s reputation from one end of the Sahara to the other.

How could this warrior of nearly forty years of age make peace with the French?

The reason was to be found at the southern limits of the Sahara, a short way over the Mali frontier.  There Musa had known for some years a marabout, or a man of God, named Ba-i.  Ten years had passed since their first meeting.

Ba-I appeared with his face veiled, one thin hand wrapped in cloth and telling his beads of amber and coral.  H spoke of the horror of death in combat, of peace, of the protection of the poor, of prayer and of almsgiving.

Ba-I engraved on Musa’s heart the spirit of Islam and its sacred rites.  Musa for his part learned from Ba-i’s example and wide-ranging knowledge.

When Musa returned to Hoggar after the defeat of his tribe, he found anarchy reigning there.  There was no one to take command, apart from an aged chief.  Musa realized that his hour had come.  Blindly following Ba-I’s instruction and helped by considerable political acumen, he formed the “peace party”. He persuaded his followers to parley with the French.  Nevertheless, in a style proper to a proud Touareg, he would turn his submission to a political victory.

The parley lasted for hours. The two parties were still suspicious of one another. But peace was made.

Musa accepted the red burnous with gold tassels, which the French presented to the chiefs whom they nominated. For that reason, it lost some of its attraction for the Touareg.

Musa had been appointed chief by the French. But he had already imposed himself upon his own people.  He accepted the French commission, yes - but in his own way.  There was no reason for anyone to be any less respectful towards him. For when his eye grew fiery, the heat was strong enough to cook a goat.”

Reflecting on this account, I cannot help but remember the great warrior and the Paramount Lord of Cotabato – Datu Piang in relation to the American Conquerors when they took over the homeland.

The story of Musa of Hoggar  or the “Victory of the Vanquished” parallels the story of Datu Piang – the Lord of Cotabato.  He too parleyed with the Conquerors (the Americans) of his homeland. Like Musa, Dat Piang accepted the American Commission over the whole Cotabato. But he already was the paramount Datu of Cotabato. Datu Piang accepted the American Commission – yes – but in his own way!

Both the Muslims and the conquerors as in Musa’s case, the lasting impression that still remains is a TRIUMPHANT WARRIOR WHO PARLEYED WITH THE CONQUERORS OR A POWERFUL SOVEREIGN.  People did not witness any public submission…! (Jun Mercado, OMI)

  

Charles de Foucauld - part 1

Charles de Foucauld 001

“Defeat is no Dishonour”

For some unexplainable “itch”, I picked up a book on the Life of Charles de Foucauld from my Library and began re-reading the Man that has influenced me greatly in my study of Islam.

Charles the Foucauld was a graduate of the exclusive French Military School – St. Cyr.  He was commissioned in the famous and “ferocious” French Legion in the then French, particularly the Muslim Africa under the France.

I got this “itch” simply to relive the great battles between the modern army of the Colonizing Powers and the “rebels who opposed the subjugation of their lands and peoples.

In the case of Charles de Foucauld, it was the many battles between the ferocious Touareg Mujahidin and the equally ferocious French Legions.

A Touareg poem captured the “spirit” of these battles and I thought of sharing it with my many FB friends who are equally involved in the many battles between the Moro Mujahidin and the Colonizing Modern Army…

The Day of the Infidels

“At Amassara, both sides were pushed to the limit,

What with spears and the rifles of the infidels

And the unsheathed taheleh swords.

I ran u[on the enemy, I struck and was struck

Till I was covered with blood all over as with a coverlet,

Pouring all over my shoulders and arms.

The girls who make music will not hear it said

            Of me that I hide among the rocks.

It is not true that thrice I fell, and thrice I was picked up,

And that, unconscious, they tied me with cords

            On the back of a camel?

And because of that,

Defeat was no dishonour.

The infidels of old were victorious over the Prophet himself.”

(Note: The poem was written by the Tuoareg who was being carried on his camel. Amassara was the name of the Valley, which was fought over, near Tit.)

Simply change Amassara to Bud Bagsak or Bud Dajo and you have similar battles that were fought between the Moro Mujahidin and the Colonizers’ Modern and Superior Army. And as in the Valley of Amassara, so also in Bud Bagsak and Bud Dajo, defeat was no dishonor! (Jun Mercado, OMI)