The Feast of the Epiphany (A)

Short Reflection for the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord (A)

 Short Reflection for the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord (A)

Readings: Isaiah 60: 1-6; Ephesians 3: 2-3a. 5-6; Matthew 2: 1-12

Selected Passage: “They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage.  Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”  (Matthew 2: 10-11)

Meditation: This feast celebrates the manifestation of the Lord to the Magi. They saw his star and followed it until they saw the child, the savior.  We need to see, too, his star, today, and follow it in our daily journey through life. Yes, his star continues to shine, but we need a discerning eyes and a heart attune to God so that we, too, one day, we find him and pay him homage. www.badaliyya.blogspot.com

DHIKR SIMPLE METHOD

1st step: Write the text or Dhikr (the Arabic word for REMEMBRANCE) in your heart.

2nd step: Let the text remain always in on your lips and mind - RECITING the text silently as often as possible...

3rd step:  Be attentive to the disclosure of the meaning/s of the text in your life.

Readings: Isaiah 60: 1-6; Ephesians 3: 2-3a. 5-6; Matthew 2: 1-12

Selected Passage: “They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage.  Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”  (Matthew 2: 10-11)

Meditation: This feast celebrates the manifestation of the Lord to the Magi. They saw his star and followed it until they saw the child, the savior.  We need to see, too, his star, today, and follow it in our daily journey through life. Yes, his star continues to shine, but we need a discerning eyes and a heart attune to God so that we, too, one day, we find him and pay him homage. www.badaliyya.blogspot.com

DHIKR SIMPLE METHOD

1st step: Write the text or Dhikr (the Arabic word for REMEMBRANCE) in your heart.

2nd step: Let the text remain always in on your lips and mind - RECITING the text silently as often as possible...

3rd step:  Be attentive to the disclosure of the meaning/s of the text in your life.

The Meaning of Christmas - Connecting the Dots between the Crib and the Cross

THE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS – CONNECTING THE DOTS BETWEEN THE CRIB AND THE CROSS

The Gospel stories about the birth of Jesus are not a simple retelling of the events that took place then, at the stable in Bethlehem.

In his commentaries on the birth of Jesus, the renowned scripture scholar, Raymond Brown, highlights that these narratives were written long after Jesus had already been crucified and had risen from the dead and that they are colored by what his death and resurrection mean.

At one level, they are as much stories about Jesus’ passion and death as they are about his birth. When the Gospel writers looked back at the birth of Jesus through the prism of the resurrection they saw in his birth already the pattern for both his active ministry and his death and resurrection: God comes into the world and some believe and accept him and others hate and reject him. For some, his person gives meaning, for others it causes confusion and anger.

There is an adult message about Christ in Christmas and the meaning of Christmas is to be understood as much by looking at the cross as by looking at the crib. Hardly the stuff of our Christmas lights, carols, cribs, and Santa. And yet, these too have their place. Karl Rahner, not naïve to what Raymond Brown asserts, argues that, even so, Christmas is still about happiness and the simple joy of children captures the meaning of Christmas more accurately than any adult cynicism.

At Christmas, Rahner contends, God gives us a special permission to be happy: “Do not be afraid to be happy, for ever since I [God] wept, joy is the standard of living that is really more suitable than the anxiety and grief of those who think they have no hope. … I no longer go away from the world, even if you do not see me now. … I am there. It is Christmas. Light the candles. They have more right to exist than all the darkness. It is Christmas. Christmas that lasts forever.”

To read more click here or copy this address into your browser http://ronrolheiser.com/the-meaning-of-christmas-connecting-the-dots-between-the-crib-and-the-cross/#.XfpH69ZKg_8
www.facebook.com/ronrolheiser

The Hiddenness of God

THE HIDDENNESS OF GOD AND THE DARKNESS OF FAITH

One of the standard answers to that question was this: If God did manifest himself plainly there wouldn’t be any need for faith. But that begged the question: Who wants faith? Wouldn’t it be better to just plainly see God?

There were other answers to that question of course, except I didn’t know them or didn’t grasp them with enough depth for them to be meaningful. For example, one such answer taught that God is pure Spirit and that spirit cannot be perceived through our normal human senses, but that seemed too abstract to me. And so, I began to search for different answers, and it led me to the mystics, particularly to John of the Cross, and to spiritual writers such as Carlo Carretto.

They offer no simple answers but offer various perspectives that throw light on the ineffability of God, the mystery of faith, and the mystery of human knowing in general.

In essence, how we know as human beings and how we know God is deeply paradoxical, that is, the more deeply we know anything, the more that person or object begins to become less conceptually clear.  One of the most famous mystics in history suggests that as we enter into deeper intimacy we concomitantly enter into a “cloud of unknowing”, namely, into a knowing so deep that it can no longer be conceptualized.

John of the Cross submits that the deeper we journey into intimacy, the more we will begin to understand by not understanding than by understanding. Our relationship to God works in the same way. Initially, when our intimacy is not so deep, we feel that we understand things and we have firm feelings and ideas about God. But the deeper we journey, the more those feelings and ideas will begin to feel false and empty because our growing intimacy is opening us to the fuller mystery of God. Paradoxically this feels like God is disappearing and becoming non-existent.

Faith, by definition, implies a paradoxical darkness, the closer we get to God in this life, the more God seems to disappear because overpowering light can seem like darkness.

To read more click here or copy this address into your browser http://ronrolheiser.com/the-hiddenness-of-god-and-the-darkness-of-faith/#.XeaK4ZNKg_8
www.facebook.com/ronrolheiser

4th Sunday of Advent (A)

Short Reflection for the 4^th Sunday of Advent (A)

Readings: Isaiah 7: 10-14; Romans 1: 1-7; Matthew 1: 18-24

Selected Passage: “The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.  She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins’."  (Matthew 1: 20-21)

Meditation:  In facing life’s challenges, we are, often, afraid.  The message to us is similar to Joseph: ‘DO NOT BE AFRAID’. Trust in God! Christmas is a celebration of God dwelling in us and in the world through Mary, our mother!

Today we, too, can give birth to Jesus, if we allow God to intervene in our lives.

Giving birth to Jesus in our own times, we need to hear his voice and heed the call to GIVE LIFE TO OTHERS, especially to those in need.

www.badaliyya.blogspot.com

DHIKR SIMPLE METHOD

1st step: Write the text or Dhikr (the Arabic word for REMEMBRANCE) in your heart.

2nd step: Let the text remain always in on your lips and mind - RECITING the text silently as often as possible...

3rd step:  Be attentive to the disclosure of the meaning/s of the text in your life.

The Shifting Sands of Muslim-Christian Relations

The Shifting of Sands in the Relationship of Muslims & Christians...

1. The Politics of Power between the Mighty vs. the Weak;

2. The Economics of Sharing between the Rich vs. the Poor;

3. The Condition of Despair vs. Hope;

4. The unstable Policy of War vs. Peace;

5. The reality of Exclusion vs. Inclusion;

6. The Ambiguity of who are Terrorists vs. Witnesses;

7. The bitter History of Conquests & Subjugation vs. Healing

THE CHOICE IS OURS TO MAKE... EITHER FOR DEATH OR FOR LIFE...!

CUIDADO!

Jun Mercado, OMI

#Badaliyya-Philippines

December 16, 2019