3rd Sunday of Advent (A)

The Highway of Holiness Passes through the Desert

December 9, 2013 by Fr. Thomas Rosica Leave a Comment

The Third Sunday of Advent, Year A – December 15th, 2013

In his moving homily for the Inauguration of his Petrine Ministry as Bishop of Rome on April 24, 2005, Pope Benedict XVI spoke these words:

The pastor must be inspired by Christ’s holy zeal: for him it is not a matter of indifference that so many people are living in the desert.  And there are so many kinds of desert.  There is the desert of poverty, the desert of hunger and thirst, the desert of abandonment, of loneliness, of destroyed love.  There is the desert of God’s darkness, the emptiness of souls no longer aware of their dignity or the goal of human life. The external deserts in the world are growing, because the internal deserts have become so vast. Therefore the earth’s treasures no longer serve to build God’s garden for all to live in, but they have been made to serve the powers of exploitation and destruction.  …The Church as a whole and all her Pastors, like Christ, must set out to lead people out of the desert, towards the place of life, towards friendship with the Son of God, towards the One who gives us life, and life in abundance.

The deserts of our lives

There is no better starting point to understand the Scripture readings for the third Sunday of Advent, especially today’s first reading from the prophet Isaiah [35:1-10], than by reflecting on Pope Benedict’s words.  The themes of geography and desert in both the Pope’s inaugural homily and Isaiah’s stirring reading invite us to reflect on the deserts of our own lives. How do we live in the midst of our own deserts?  How often have we become deserts of loneliness, desolation and emptiness, rather than flourishing gardens of community, joy and light for others?  How have we resisted transforming our own deserts into places of abundant life?  We may have to go into that wilderness where we realize we are lost, and alone, unfruitful and without resources – and only when we reach that point are we ready to meet God. 

The geography of salvation

We encounter the geography of salvation at many places in the Bible.  This geography forms the background for Isaiah’s portrayal of the coming of the Lord in chapter 35.  Whereas judgment of the nations is described in Isaiah 34, chapter 35 stands in stark contrast to the bleak picture of devastation and desolation in the preceding chapter as the Lord judges the land of Edom. Defeated in battle and driven from their homeland, the people of Israel were without hope.

Isaiah 35:1-10 announces the end of the Babylonian captivity, presenting a stirring vision of deliverance, freedom, and salvation.  The prophet recalls the joyous memories of the exodus from Egypt. A second exodus is in store, symbolized by the healing granted to the blind, the dead, the lame, and the mute. Israel’s singer of hope captured the paradox of barrenness and rejoicing – the paradox of Advent – as no other poet has.  Scanning the southern Negev desert’s gnarled surface he saw a vision of God’s new creation:  “The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing…”  [35:1].

A new exodus

Delivered and saved by God, all peoples shall return to their own land by way of the desert, in a new exodus. Salvation bursts onto the world scene through geography: highways, valleys, mountains, deserts, and plains!  The road, the desert, water, and joy are more than mere coincidence. Isaiah prophesies that there shall be one pure road and it will be called the way of holiness upon which the redeemed shall walk.  From desert to streams to the highway of holiness, Isaiah’s atlas of the geography of salvation leads us into the mountain of the presence of the Lord: The ransomed of the Lord will return and enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads.  Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away [35:10].

The desert as metaphor

The desert has become a metaphor to describe the sense of alienation and despair that are the effects of human sinfulness. How many times have we used the expression: “I’m living through a real desert experience” or “I feel so alienated from God and from other people” to describe what we are feeling because of our sinfulness.  If we are complacent and self-satisfied, we’ll never begin to long for the coming of the Lord, or make ready to meet him.  The ways of the desert were deep within the heart of Jesus, and it must be the same for all who would follow him.  In the midst of the desert we hear what God will do if we open our hearts to him and allow God to make our own deserts bloom.

The geography of salvation… today

God has revealed himself to us not only in specific periods of time, but also in very particular places in creation.  For many Christians, these very places conjure up images of shepherds and olive trees, high walls and enclosed, ancient cities and towns as they existed in the age of King David or Bethlehem at the time of Jesus.  The Holy Land is a land without history, its people and places frozen in a biblical time frame, or locked in an unending political battle.  As Catholics, we have a double obligation to thaw out the frozen biblical time frame and make it accessible and inviting for Christians.

A visit to the Holy Land reminds us that we are caught up not only in the History of Salvation but also in the Geography of Salvation.  Both the story of our own lives, coupled with the biblical stories, show us how God can write straight with our crooked lines.  The best-selling Holy Land Guides do not bear witness.  They merely indicate.  Only people, not stones and marbles can bear the most authentic and eloquent witness that at one shining moment in history, the Word became flesh and pitched his tent among us.  And we continue in our day to behold his glory.

Were the Holy Places turned into museums or archaeological curiosities as they have been in other countries, tangible historical links would be severed.  Without the presence of local churches and communities of Christians, the witness of Holy Land would be terribly diminished and even non-existent.

The word of God and the Holy Land

As we journey through this season of Advent, I encourage you to read Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Exhortation “Verbum Domini,” and especially the following section that speaks eloquently aboutthe word of God and the Holy Land:

89.  As we call to mind the Word of God who became flesh in the womb of Mary of Nazareth, our heart now turns to the land where the mystery of our salvation was accomplished, and from which the word of God spread to the ends of the earth. By the power of the Holy Spirit, the Word became flesh in a specific time and place, in a strip of land on the edges of the Roman Empire. The more we appreciate the universality and the uniqueness of Christ’s person, the more we look with gratitude to that land where Jesus was born, where he lived and where he gave his life for us.

The stones on which our Redeemer walked are still charged with his memory and continue to “cry out” the Good News. For this reason, the Synod Fathers recalled the felicitous phrase that speaks of the Holy Land as “the Fifth Gospel”.  How important it is that in those places there be Christian communities, notwithstanding any number of hardships! The Synod of Bishops expressed profound closeness to all those Christians who dwell in the land of Jesus and bear witness to their faith in the Risen One. Christians there are called to serve not only as “a beacon of faith for the universal Church, but also as a leaven of harmony, wisdom, and equilibrium in the life of a society which traditionally has been, and continues to be, pluralistic, multi-ethnic and multi-religious”.

The Holy Land today remains a goal of pilgrimage for the Christian people, a place of prayer and penance, as was testified to in antiquity by authors like Saint Jerome.  The more we turn our eyes and our hearts to the earthly Jerusalem, the more will our yearning be kindled for the heavenly Jerusalem, the true goal of every pilgrimage, along with our eager desire that the name of Jesus, the one name which brings salvation, may be acknowledged by all (cf. Acts 4:12). 

The Sunday of rejoicing

The way of Israel in the desert is the way for all of us.  As we celebrate the third Sunday of Advent,Gaudete Sunday or the day of rejoicing, we join with the exiles of Israel and the disciples of John the Baptist as we yearn for salvation, and long for new life to blossom. This week let us carve out some spiritual space in our lives where we can strip away the false things that cling to us and breathe new life into our dreams and begin again. In the midst of the desert we hear what God will do if we open our hearts to him and allow him to make our own deserts bloom.  What God does to the southern desert of Israel, God will do for us: transform our barrenness into life, and trace a highway and a holy way in places we believed to be lifeless and hopeless. 

 

Are we on the Highway of Holiness?  Are we making progress on it?  Are we enjoying the travel?  Are we inviting others to join us on the way?

Come, Lord Jesus!

We need you now more than ever.

Make our deserts bloom.

Quench our thirst with your living water.

Give us strength to follow you on the Highway of Holiness.

Fill our hearts and minds with rejoicing!

[The readings for the Third Sunday of Advent are: Isaiah 35.1-6a, 10; Psalm 146; James 5.7-10; and Matthew 11.2-11.]

 

Another South African Hero and Peace Laureate - Archbishop Desmond Tutu

2nd Sunday of Advent (A)

Dhikr for the 2^nd Sunday of Advent (A)

Readings: Isaiah 11: 1-10; Romans 15: 4-9; Matthew 3: 1-12

Text: In those days John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea (and) saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" (Matthew 3: 1-2)

Meditation:  The reign of God is at hand… it finds home only in a repentant heart.  Change our old ways and bad habits!  After receiving the Baptism of Repentance,  we make visible our commitment to new life.   This takes courage…!

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.

Christ the King NAILED and HANGING on the Cross

Dhikr for the 34th Sunday of the Year (Christ the King) Year C

Readings: 2 Samuel 5: 1-3; Colossians 1: 12-20; Luke 23: 35-43

Selected Gospel Passage: “Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingly power." And Jesus said to him: "truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." (Luke 23: 42-43

Meditation: Our King is Jesus hung on the Cross for his great love for us...  this reminds me of the story told by Elie Weisel at the Nazi Concentration Camp.  The night before a prison guard was killed. The camp rule said that for a guard killed, 10 prisoners were taken to be hung before all the prisoners of the camp.  So that morning, the Nazi gathered ten young boys... and they hung them before all the prisoners.  A loud cry came at the back: "'Where is Yahweh, our God!" And answer came back: 'There is Yahweh, our God, HANGING IN THE GALLOWS...'.  When we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King, NEVER forget that the Christ the King is NAILED and HANGING on the Cross.

Visit:  www.badaliyya.blogspot.com

Badaliyya

The “other” person that journeyed (mystically) with Fr. Charles de Foucauld in that “enterprise” (Badaliyya) in the world of Islam is Fr. Louis Massignon.  One of the great contributions of Fr. Massignon in Muslim-Christian Relations is his monumental studies on Islamic Mysticism, specifically on the Life and Martyrdom of the Great Sufi Al-Mansour Al Hallaj.

Louis Massignon’s Meditation on Badal (Ransom)

In Charity.  It is an active and sensitive charity.  Solidarity understood as the ability to suffer with those who suffer injustice.  It is an attempt to liberate … at least to know how to protest with sorrow.  It is to accompany the poor with help and sympathy. Charity is shown with great delicate respect to a person before many and varied religious option.
                                       

With the Figure of Abraham.  The figure of Abraham is a mystery of election and exclusion.  Is it also a mystery of acceptance and a mystery of rejection?  Ismael vs. Israel, David and Paul…  Hadith has it: “No one is truly a believer until one prefers not for his brother what one prefers for himself.”

Being Badal – Ransom/Substitution.  Louis Massignon had “discovered” the reality of BADAL – Ransom/Substitution for the reparation of injustices and for witnessing to the poor and victims of injustices.  Ransom/Substitution demands an offer of the total self – similar to the test of fire.  The witness “par excellence” is the one who does complete or offered as a total ransom for all that is lacking in truth that God knows… Massignon found this in the life and martyrdom of Husayn at Kerbala in the Shi’a Theology.  Husayn is the vivification of the mystery of redemption.

The Ram in place of Isaac/Ismael
The Paschal Lamb for the first born of Israel
The tribe of Levi for the nation of Israel
Jesus for humanity.

Examples used by Fr. Louis Massignon…
The demand on the part of Christians at Najran – the Test of Fire
The offer of St. Francis at Damietta – the Test of Fire
The Desire of St. Raymund of Lull - Ransom
The acceptance of Fr. Massignon mystically to become Badal…
In their lives, each person is assured by Christ, ransomed by him and in return they assure and ransom others … assuming unto themselves all others and standing in the place of others notwithstanding their weaknesses before the mystery of God through via dolorosa unto the violent death of the cross.

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…

Badaliyya Deepening...

Dear Friends of the Badaliya,

We are continuing to explore the meaning of the Badaliya by deepening our understanding of Louis Massignon's original intent. In our time we are called to a different expression of it yet realize that we also need to be grounded in the essence of Badaliya as a spiritual call.

Grounded in the monthly prayer gathering of the original Badaliya, Massignon grew to more and more involvement in the Muslim community and its well being. Beyond the Christian/Muslim dialogue and founding a shared pilgrimage that survives to this day, he volunteered for thirty years to teach French and Mathematics to Algerian political prisoners and finally in his late seventies marched in the streets of Paris for an Independent Algeria in the 1950's and early 1960's.
Today we are challenged to allow the Badaliya to open our hearts to welcome our Muslim neighbors and move us towards reconciliation through mutual trust and understanding. It is a journey that we must begin with our own conversion of hearts.

We welcome the many folks from around the world who are joining us in spirit at each of our gatherings held on the last Thursday of each month.

Pace e Bene,
Bapa Jun Mercado, OMI
November 18, 2013
Cotabato City

A Mystical Imagination

Dhikr for the 30^th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

Text:  “But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, 'O God, be merciful to me a sinner’.” (Luke 18: 13)

Meditation:  The Pharisee and the Publican offers to us two ways of “praying”… The former is self-righteous and the latter is asking for righteousness… The Publican went home justified, not the Pharisee. Beware!

Visit:  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.

A Mystical Imagination

A MYSTICAL IMAGINATION

For this reason, faith is a struggle, but so are a lot of other things. When the surface is all that there is, it's hard to be enchanted by anything, to see the depth that's uncovered by poetry, aesthetics, altruism, religion, faith, and love. And it's especially difficult to understand community.

When the physical is all that there is, it becomes virtually impossible to conceive of the body of Christ and it becomes difficult even just to understand our real connection with each other.

As human beings, we are connected to each other in ways beyond the physical, beyond time, beyond separation by distance, and even beyond separation by death. But to understand this we need a mystical imagination.

The mystical imagination is the other half of the scientific imagination and, like science, its purpose is to help us see, imagine, understand, speak about, and relate to reality in a way beyond fantasy and superstition. But the mystical imagination can show us something that science, wonderful though it is, cannot, namely, it can show us the many grace-drenched and spirit-laden layers of reality that are not perceived by our physical senses. The mystical imagination can show us how the Holy Spirit isn't just inside our churches, but is also inside the law of gravity.

But how do we learn that? A saint might say: "Meditate and pray long enough and you will open yourself up to the other world!" A poet might say: "Stare at a rose long enough and you'll see that there's more there than meets the eye!" A romantic might say: "Just fall in love real deeply or let your heart get broken and you'll soon know there's more to reality than can be empirically measured."

And the mystics of old would say: "Just honour fully what you meet each day and you will find it drenched with grace and divinity."

(Fr. Ron Rolheiser, OMI)

Religious Leaders and Building Peace - The Philippine Experience

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Our Common Search and Table...

Our Common Search...
By Fr. Eliseo “Jun” Mercado, OMI

The interreligious gap and misunderstanding in the Southern Philippines has a long history. It dates back from the period of colonialism when the Philippines was annexed by Spain in the 16th century and later by the US at the turn of the 1900.

The encounter with Spanish forces was characterized by continuous war, except for intermittent truces that resulted to alienation and opposition between the Christianized Filipinos and the Islamized Filipinos now known as the “Bangsamoro peoples”.

The period during the American period was also characterized by war, only this time, by military victory that put an end to the once powerful sultanates in Mindanao and their annexation to the Philippines. This annexation paved the way for the programs of pacification and assimilation which included among others the opening of Mindanao for migration from the Luzon and the Visayas.

These historical facts have given rise to three significant realities that continue to haunt Muslim-Christian relations in the Philippines, even today. To wit:

1. The lingering suspicion and lack of trust that continue to characterize the relations between Christians and Muslims;
2. The sense of injustice on the part of the Bangsamoro and the Indigenous peoples for their lost ancestral domain.  After years of migration, they have found themselves a minority in their traditional homeland.  The Muslims are now majority only in five provinces out of the 24 in Mindanao; and
3. Poverty and neglect that led to, among others, the highest in mortality, illiteracy rate, lowest in access to basic services, especially health and education.

The above three are few of the causes of the renewed rebellion in the Southern Philippines.  The peace process in the Southern Philippines follows the ever changing tide and wind of the government in Manila.

This is the context that has made urgent the interface of Christianity and Islam in the Philippines.

There is an urgent need to distance the face of our faith traditions from the stereotypes of rebels/terrorists, on the one hand and oppressors and the army of occupation, on the other.

Christians and Muslims of goodwill, specifically bishops, ulama, priest and lay leaders beginning in early 70’s stood for justice and respect for human rights even during the height of battles between the Philippine regular army and the Moro National liberation Front.  The provinces of Cotabato and Sulu – the lands of many battles have witnessed examples of solidarity of people of goodwill from Christianity and Islam who continued to stand for justice and human rights.  The first association of Christian-Muslim Religious Leaders in Mindanao began in 1973 few months after the declaration of Martial law.  Then following the Peace Agreement in 1976, a more formal national conference involving leaders of Catholics, Protestants and Muslims began to address the problems of the South and to bring these issues to the attention of the National government.

Again, following the 1996 Final Peace between the Philippine Government and the Moro national Liberation, the Notre Dame University Peace Center has been in the forefront of   support and a pillar in the peace process in the Southern Philippines and the implementation of the 1996 Peace Accord.

Both associations contributed, through conferences and consultations, to a formation of yet another ‘thread’ beyond the familiar stereotypes and slogans in southern Philippines.  This a partnership, albeit still a minority, that work for peace, reconciliation and partnership in building a more inclusive communities and governance.

Interreligious dialogue has a particular and peculiar history in the Philippines both in the local and national level given the situation of the war in Southern Philippines.  Simply to name a few:
• A partnership to stand for justice and defense of human rights;
• A support to the peace process in Southern Philippines that continues from 1976 to the present;
• An attempt of mutual accompaniment in celebrations of festivals like Duyog Ramadhan;
• A pressure on the protagonists of the war to go back to the negotiating table to settle their differences;
• Involvement of the religious from both sides of the divide in Tract II of the peace process in Southern Philippines.  The on-going consultation in Mindanao on peace is undertaken in the name of the Bishop Ulama Council, the former BUF.
• Adopting Peace Education in schools and institutions of higher learning to imbibe a culture of peace in campuses; and
• Assistance to the victims of war, specifically to the internally displaced.

In a similar vein, there are other movements and social formations that are of shared leadership of Muslims and Christians (Catholics and Protestants). These are active in various consultations and fora that seek to impact policies affecting the Southern Philippines.   These attempts to influence official policy formulation range from peacebuilding to the shape of peace agreement that will be acceptable to the major stakeholder in Mindanao.

The urgency for dialogue given the concrete context of the Southern Philippines and the attempts of leaders from both divides have greatly influenced the Philippine government to adopt interreligious dialogue as a priority in seeking a just and sustainable peace in Southern Philippines.  This has become an official policy that has marked the Philippines’ strong intervention and support to interreligious dialogue at the international bodies like UN and the Alliance of Civilizations, and of late in the Non Aligned Movement.

New Wind blowing and shaping…

Peacemaking is at the heart of our faith tradition…”Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons and daughters of God.”  Peacemaking demands for a new relationship – a new solidarity for all peoples across political and ideological boundaries, across cultures and religions.

I wish to echo the late Pope John Paul II’s message in Damascus at the Great Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, 6 May 2001.

“It is my ardent hope that Muslim and Christian religious leaders and teachers will present our two great religious communities as COMMUNITIES IN RESPECTFUL DIALOGUE, NEVER MORE AS COMMUNITIES IN CONFLICT”. It is crucial for the young to be taught the ways of respect and understanding, so that they will not be led to misuse religion itself to promote or justify hatred and violence.  Violence destroys the image of the Creator in his creatures, and should never be considered as the fruit of religious conviction.”

“Better mutual understanding will surely lead to a more objective and comprehensive knowledge of each other’s religious beliefs at the practical level, to a new way of presenting our two religions NOT IN OPPOSITION, as it happened too often in the past, BUT IN PARTNERSHIP FOR THE GOOD OF THE HUMAN FAMILY.”

In the same vein, I read the Common Word, with 138 signatories that speak of weight, influence and scholarship.  I personally consider the letter something historical with long enduring impact-

In the letter the Koran verse on tolerance is quoted: “Had God willed He could have made you one community. But that He may try you by that which He hath given you (He hath made you as ye are). So vie one with another in good works.  “Unto God ye will all return, and He will then inform you of that wherein ye differ” (Al-Ma’idah, S. 5:48).

This Letter is a very important step in dialogue between Christians and Muslims.  Often Christians have taken the initiative regarding dialogue, and they have so done well. It is important that this first step continues in this direction with increased clarity, even showing differences and the need for correction.

I believe that with time this Letter can create an opening and a greater convergence on the more delicate issues of religious freedom, the absolute value of human rights, the relationship between religion and society, the use of violence, etc.., in short current issues that worry all believers in our world today.


People, institution, nation, communities, in fact, individuals endure and are recognized by their fidelity to values and traditions they stand for.  And to us, the three values that stand are family, joyful hard work and our faith & traditions. Today people admire Mother Theresa or Oscar Romero or Martin Luther King Jr. or Desmond Tutu or Nelson Mandela, not because of their achievements but for the values and beliefs they stood for. They believed and lived with integrity and no embarrassment.

The need to provide the Story line…

Where do we locate ourselves within this flux and how do we view our confusion to say the least and deep crisis at worst in that new wind that blows and shapes a new world?

More than ever before, there is a need to “re-appreciate” and perhaps even “re-construct” the stories of successes and failures, of power and wealth in the present age now labeled as both “post modernism” and “post ideologies”.  I turn to Gil Bailie (cf. Violence Unveiled: Humanity at the Crossroads: 1996) for the apt description of this age. He takes the person of Bernard (a character in Virginia Woolf’s novel, The Waves) to depict the modern person.  In the novel, Bernard says: “I have made up thousand stories. I have filled up innumerable notebooks with phrases to be used when I have found the true story, the one story to which all the phrases refer, but I have never yet found that story.”

I believe that Christians and Muslims, notwithstanding the difficulties, have found the way to the writing of the needed story line… it is there in the story of our family, tribe and clan. It is a “kindredness” shaped not only by blood, but also by our community and eco-system.  And our story line rooted in faith and traditions that form our values that lay the foundational set of virtues to move together forward in achieving our goals for ourselves and for humankind. We are darn proud of our story and we share it with the world with smile in our faces and joy in our hearts.

In Conclusion

I will end this presentation with a quote from the martyred President of Egypt Anwar Sadat (yet another  Nobel Peace laureate) expressed at the Knesset during his historic visit of the Holy City of Jerusalem.

“… Yet, there remains another wall.  This wall continues and constitutes a psychological barrier between us, a barrier of suspicion, a barrier of rejection, a barrier of fear, of deception, a barrier of hallucination without any action, deeds or decision.  A barrier of distorted and eroded interpretation of every event and statement... It is this official statement as constituting 70% of the whole process. Today, through my visit to you, I ask why don’t we stretch out our hands with faith and sincerity so that together we might destroy this barrier?”

No doubt, we can lead the way by stretching our hands with faith and sincerity so that together we may build a new world with no borders and barriers yet preserving our identity as we tell and re-tell our story line with smile in our faces and joy in our hearts.

A final quote: “The age of nations is past. It remains for us now, if we do not wish to perish, to set aside the ancient prejudice, and build the earth.” (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ)

The Christian Witnessing that Muslims Understand - a Path for Interreligious Dialogue

Christian Witnessing that Muslims Understand… a Path and a Challenge for Interreligious Dialogue.

by Eliseo “Jun” Mercado, OMI

Today, the world faces myriads of problems… poverty, AIDS/HIV, Wars and Genocides, Terrorism, Human trafficking, etc… This reality urges believers to take a second look at their respective religion… and ask fundamental, perhaps revolutionary, questions. Is religion part of the problem or part of the solution to that problem that the world faces?  In the midst of these man-made tragedies, how do our religions fulfill authentic compassion in human society? 

It is this same reality that compels us to also take a second look at our relationships as men and women of differing faiths.  Thus the beginning of “interreligious” dialogue…

My years of experience living in the midst of Islam in Southern Philippines have taught me that interreligious dialogue is a continuing journey… that can be described by an attitude and a disposition that a pilgrim takes as he/she embarks on the hajj.  “Labbayka” is the word that comes out of his/her mouth as he/she begins the journey to God’s abode. Labbayka ‘inna hum - Here I am … ready to do your bidding… in awe and in solidarity with all who undertake the journey…

In many places, circles and communities, interreligious dialogue is akin to an exercise or a ratio studiorum.  But to many people struggling to survive… to retrieve their dignity and basic rights and freedom as human beings or as a community and nation, interreligious dialogues offers that HOPE for an alternative world where with all our differences we can feel at home – secure and happy as children of God .

In my desire to live and struggle with Muslim minorities in the Southern Philippines , I have always been guided by what the Qur’an positively says about the Christians… And through these, I continue to struggle to enflesh that type of Christian witnessing that my Muslim neighbors can easily understand…

Three (3) Passages…

The first text is from Sura 5: 82 that says… “and nearest among them in love to the believers wilt thou find those who say ‘we are Christians’, because amongst these are men who are devoted to learning and men who have renounced the world, and they are not arrogant.” (wa latajidanna aqrabahum mmawaddatan lilladhina amanu-l-lladhina qaalu nnaanasaaraa dhaalika bianna minhum qasisina waruhbaanaan wa annahum la yastakbiruna.) 

I resolve that I shall be true to this in my dealing with my Muslim neighbors… To be a…

·       A person of learning;

·       A person that renounces the world and NOT greedy; and

·       A person who is not haughty or arrogant!

Yes, I can be that person nearest to them in Love… because I am a Christian…

The second text is taken from Qur’an 57: 27 that states… “…we sent after them Jesus the Son of Mary and bestowed on him the Gospel; and we ordained on the hearts of those who followed him COMPASSION AND MERCY’.  (waja’aalnaa fi qulusbi-lladhina-ttaba’uhu raa’fatan wa –rahmatan).

The two key descriptions of Jesus’ followers are Compassion and Mercy… Is this NOT the very heart of religion and the very heart of God…? God is Rahmaan and Rahim!  “loving-kindness” The heart of religion and a believer as described in Sura 50:37… A believer who remembers the need for a feeling heart, a hearing mind and a present self… to his/her neighbor… (“…inna fi dhalika la-dhikra li-man kana lahu qalb aw alqa al-sam’wa wa huwa shahid”)

Reflecting on this passage, I wander whether the call for us is precisely to retrieve these key descriptions and allow them to bear upon the relationship between the worship that we bring and the behavior that we come by… or putting it in another way, allowing the “coincidence” between the heart of God and the heart of the believer.

The third text is from Sura 49: 14 that says “…we made you into nations and tribes that you may know each other (not that you may despise each other).  The most honored of you in the sight of God is the most righteous of you”.  (Ya_ ay yuhal na_su in na_ halaqna_kum min zakariw wa unsa_ wa ja'alna_kum suu_baw wa qaba_ ila litaa_rafu_ in na akramakum indal la_hi atqa_kum in nal la_ha alimun kabir.)

Still in another Qur’anic passage, Sura 11: 118, it says: “If thy Lord had so willed He could have made mankind one People: but (he willed it otherwise, ands so) they will not cease to dispute.” (Wa lau sya_'a rabbuka laja'alan na_sa ummataw wa_hidataw wa la_ yaza_lu_na  mukhtalifin(a).)

But what is this righteousness being asked of us…?  Sura 2: 178 tells us… “It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces to the East and the West; but righteous is he who believeth in Allah and the Last Day and the angels and the Scripture and the Prophets; and giveth his wealth, for love of Him, to kinsfolk and to orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and to those who ask, and to set slaves free; and observeth proper worship and payeth the poor due. And those who keep their treaty when they make one, and the patient in tribulation and adversity and time of stress. Such are they who are sincere. Such are the God fearing.” (Ya_ ayyuhal lazina a_manu_  kutiba 'alaikumul qisa_su  fil qatla_, al hurru bil  hurri wal 'abdu bil 'abdi wal unsa_ bil unsa_, faman 'ufiya lahu_ min akhihi syai'un fat tiba_'um bil ma'ru_fi wa ada_'un ilaihi bi ihsa_n(in), za_lika takhfifum mir rabbikum wa  rahmah(tun), fa mani'tada_  ba'da za_lika fa lahu_  'aza_bun alim(un).)

This is the concrete response to the Qura’nic invitation to “excel each other in good deeds” that constitute true piety and righteousness…

A Tradition….

When I was a young and idealistic priest… in search of a path on how to live and work among Muslims, I stumbled through the help of Frs. George Anawatti, OP and Jacques Jomier, OP and their Dominican companions in Cairo during the early 80’s to touch base with a tradition that began and identified with Frs. Louis Massignon and Charles de Foucauld.  It is the Badaliyya movement… or a Ransom Movement. 

It is a tradition that draws inspiration from the whole reality of “being a ransom” before the Lord beginning with Jesus Christ… to mark the relationships with our Muslim neighbors.

This a tradition retrieved by St. Francis of Assisi by being a threat to no one… loving in his powerlessness and poverty all without exclusion thus being empowered to call even the vowed enemies – called at that time as the “Saracens” as “brothers” and “sisters”.  Francis lived as a LITTLE and poor brother to all – semper minor!!!

In our contemporary times, Frs. Louis Massignon and and Charles de Foucauld through the mystical paths… discovered anew this inspiration and lived the hospitality as both guest and host and fulfilling in their lives and prayers whatever may be lacking or ambiguous in our relationship but at the same time always remaining as “little” brothers to their Muslim neighbors.

Last January 2006, I launched a blogspot on this particular path – the Badaliyya Movement.  I believe that by highlighting the examples of “Badals” in history of Muslim-Christian relations, we my find a key to a  life and community shared without exclusion.  Visit the blogspot at  http://badaliyya.blogspot.com/

In conclusion, I simply desire to reiterate what the Qur’an says about us and these remain formidable Challenges for us.

First is to become exemplar of  “la inna yastakbiruna”- not to be haughty…

Second is to enflesh in our life and action that raafatan wa rahmatan” - Mercy and compassion  - the urgent need today - a feeling heart, a hearing mind and a present self… to his/her neighbor.

Third is to follow the path that shows  “ila litaa_rafu_ in na akramakum indal la_hi “ - heeding invitation to “excel each other in good deeds.

And fourth is to retrieving the path of Jesus… who died for us while we were still sinners (Rom. 5:8). He was a ransom (BADAL) for us all that we may be saved and have life to the full (John 3: 16)