Text: “Someone asked him, "Lord, will only a few people be saved?" He answered them, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.” (Luke 13: 23-24)
Meditation: To enter the Kingdom of God is not a question of strength and merit… No one is strong enough…and neither anyone is meritorious enough to win to Kingdom! It is a GIFT… so pray to begin this gift. The Kingdom is God’s gratuitous offer to all…!
DHIKR SIMPLE METHOD
1st step: Write the Dhikr (the Arabic word for REMEMBRANCE) in your heart.
2nd step: Let the Dhikr remain always in on your lips and mind - RECITING the Dhikr silently as often as possible...
3rd step: Be attentive to the disclosure of the meaning/s of the
Dhikr in your life.
Kargador at Dawn
Work in the Vineyard
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Beware of Idolatry...
The Old Testament reminds us that Idolatry makes us as lifeless as the idols that are worshipped...
Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.
They have mouths, but do not speak;
Eyes, but do not see.
They have ears, but do not hear;
Noses, but do not smell.
They have hands, but do not feel;
Feet, but do not walk;
And they do not make a sound in their throat.
Those who make them are like them;
So are all who trust in them.
(Psalm 115: 4-8)
Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.
They have mouths, but do not speak;
Eyes, but do not see.
They have ears, but do not hear;
Noses, but do not smell.
They have hands, but do not feel;
Feet, but do not walk;
And they do not make a sound in their throat.
Those who make them are like them;
So are all who trust in them.
(Psalm 115: 4-8)
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Experiencing our own "Nothingness"...
What does it mean to know and experience our own "nothingness"? It is
not enough to turn away in disgust from my illusions and faults and
mistakes, to separate myself from them as if they were not, and as if
I were someone other than myself. This kind of :self-annihilation"
is only a worse illusion, it is a pretended humility which, by saying
"I am nothing" I mean in effect " I wish I were not what I am.
To really know our "nothingness" we must also love it. And we cannot
love it unless we see that it is good. And we cannot see that it is
good unless we accept it.
A supernatural experience of our contingency is a humility which loves
and prizes above all else our state of helplessness before God. We
must see and admit that it is all ours and that it is all good: good
in its positive entity since it comes from God.
The proud man/woman loves his/her own illusion and sel-sufficiency.
The spiritually poor loves his/her very insufficiency. The proud
claims honor for having what no one else has. The humble begs for a
share in what everybody else has received. He/She too desires to be
filled to overflowing with the kindness and mercy of God.
(Thomas Merton)
not enough to turn away in disgust from my illusions and faults and
mistakes, to separate myself from them as if they were not, and as if
I were someone other than myself. This kind of :self-annihilation"
is only a worse illusion, it is a pretended humility which, by saying
"I am nothing" I mean in effect " I wish I were not what I am.
To really know our "nothingness" we must also love it. And we cannot
love it unless we see that it is good. And we cannot see that it is
good unless we accept it.
A supernatural experience of our contingency is a humility which loves
and prizes above all else our state of helplessness before God. We
must see and admit that it is all ours and that it is all good: good
in its positive entity since it comes from God.
The proud man/woman loves his/her own illusion and sel-sufficiency.
The spiritually poor loves his/her very insufficiency. The proud
claims honor for having what no one else has. The humble begs for a
share in what everybody else has received. He/She too desires to be
filled to overflowing with the kindness and mercy of God.
(Thomas Merton)
Friday, August 17, 2007
Dhikr for the 20th week in ordinary time (C)
Text: "I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! (Luke 12: 49-50)
Meditation: Jesus spoke of his own Baptism of fire – his suffering, death and resurrection that other may have life… It is the fire that burns yet purifies. The fire in our life is always the symbol of energy and zeal. Hold on to that fire else we become a "dead man/woman" walking…
DHIKR SIMPLE METHOD...
1st step: Write the text 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.
Meditation: Jesus spoke of his own Baptism of fire – his suffering, death and resurrection that other may have life… It is the fire that burns yet purifies. The fire in our life is always the symbol of energy and zeal. Hold on to that fire else we become a "dead man/woman" walking…
DHIKR SIMPLE METHOD...
1st step: Write the text 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.
Friday, August 10, 2007
To Wander in Hope...
To wander in hope, we must walk with people even at times we start off by walking in the wrong direction… Auschwitz is, often, described as the “end of the line”… Yet, even in this hell, there were persons like Edith Stein (St. Theresa Benedicta) who in their utter powerlessness walked around and gave their flickering light showing God's presence that gave hope to his people in their despair.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
People Living in HOPE....
"Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out." (Vaclav Havel)
Hope is the conviction that all that we live for, happiness and sorrow, victory and defeat, will be found to have some sense. Despite the LUNACY of the realities we often find ourselves... life is NOT doomed to absurdity! It is the ultimate and unimaginable victory of MEANING!
Hope is the conviction that all that we live for, happiness and sorrow, victory and defeat, will be found to have some sense. Despite the LUNACY of the realities we often find ourselves... life is NOT doomed to absurdity! It is the ultimate and unimaginable victory of MEANING!
Thursday, August 02, 2007
The Heart of Religion and the Heart of God...
What I should like to talk about has to do more with religion in general than with spirituality in particular: my subject is the heart of religion and the heart of God. I would like to share a story, if this were a sermon, would be absolutely the right one.
Some of you will know "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck, a novel about the migration of dispossessed small croppers from the state of Oklahoma to the vineyards of California. Their small and rather meager livelihood has been destroyed by capital financing making for large ranches that dispossessed the intimate peasantry.
They are trekking to a vision of a future in California. In the course of the journey old Grandpa Joad dies – a poor old man, his health undermined by the tribulations of his journey. They have no money for funerals, so they decide to bury him by the wayside. And then it occurs to them that they may be incurring suspicion of some foul play and, wanting to come clean, they say, “Let’s put a little notice on the grave: ‘Old Grandpa Joad died of natural causes. Old, decrepit, sick. His folks buried him.’” And so they get a piece of wood and fix on it their notice. It is all so intensely pathetic.
Travelling with them there is a derelict preacher who has attached himself to their party – a rather faded renegade pastor – and they say to him as a kind of afterthought, and this is the heart of it, “Couldn’t you put somepin [something] on it so that it’ll be religious? A text for example – ‘The Lord is my shepherd’, or maybe a snatch of a hymn – ‘Safe in the arms of Jesus’? Put somepin on it” – the notice that is – “so that it’ll be religious.”
Now, it seems fair to ask, What does that little text add to the integrity, the pathos, the good faith, the poverty, the suffering, the tragedy of that situation? What does it have to add? Is there not something already profoundly religious in all those qualities of good faith and integrity and a certain quiet heroism in the bearing of suffering?
You will all, I think, agree that the text has nothing basically to add to the solid religious quality of the situation and their behavior. But if they had not wanted the text, would they have been that sort of people? The answer surely has to be “No”. It was by association with “the arms of Jesus” or “the Lord is my shepherd”, through the tradition of their family worship that they had come to be that sort of people, wanting to behave with integrity, finding a certain nobility in the midst of poverty and standing in a reverent awe in the presence of their mortality. And in all those ways they are profoundly religious. There is a paradox present. The text that is added is the key to what is already there.
The point of this story is to have us capture the interrelationship between the worship that we bring and the behavior that we come by, or put another way, the heart of God and the heart of the believer. There has always been this interrelation between faith and faithful.
Spirituality is what believers find it and fulfill it to be, but how do we know them as believers except by their belonging to religion? It is like a circle. Come into the religion and you reach those who profess it. Meet those who profess it and you come into the knowledge of their faith. And this, of course, is true about all religions. So the point of the story is to have us think about how religions can fulfil authentic compassion in human society.
Now we come to the verse, in Sura 50 (Surat Qaf) 37: Inna fi dhalika la-dhikra li-man kana lahu qalb aw alqa al-samc wa huwa shahid, which translates: “Here verily is a reminder for him who has a heart, or gives ear with full intelligence” (Pickthall). It could be put into more literary, resonant English as: “A thing to ponder here for whoever has a heart, and who heeds with alert perception.” The passage is clearly talking about (1) a feeling heart, (2) a hearing mind and (3) a present self. These three belong together. But what is the context of “Here is something to reflect upon”? The context is human tragedy. (Kenneth Cragg)
Some of you will know "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck, a novel about the migration of dispossessed small croppers from the state of Oklahoma to the vineyards of California. Their small and rather meager livelihood has been destroyed by capital financing making for large ranches that dispossessed the intimate peasantry.
They are trekking to a vision of a future in California. In the course of the journey old Grandpa Joad dies – a poor old man, his health undermined by the tribulations of his journey. They have no money for funerals, so they decide to bury him by the wayside. And then it occurs to them that they may be incurring suspicion of some foul play and, wanting to come clean, they say, “Let’s put a little notice on the grave: ‘Old Grandpa Joad died of natural causes. Old, decrepit, sick. His folks buried him.’” And so they get a piece of wood and fix on it their notice. It is all so intensely pathetic.
Travelling with them there is a derelict preacher who has attached himself to their party – a rather faded renegade pastor – and they say to him as a kind of afterthought, and this is the heart of it, “Couldn’t you put somepin [something] on it so that it’ll be religious? A text for example – ‘The Lord is my shepherd’, or maybe a snatch of a hymn – ‘Safe in the arms of Jesus’? Put somepin on it” – the notice that is – “so that it’ll be religious.”
Now, it seems fair to ask, What does that little text add to the integrity, the pathos, the good faith, the poverty, the suffering, the tragedy of that situation? What does it have to add? Is there not something already profoundly religious in all those qualities of good faith and integrity and a certain quiet heroism in the bearing of suffering?
You will all, I think, agree that the text has nothing basically to add to the solid religious quality of the situation and their behavior. But if they had not wanted the text, would they have been that sort of people? The answer surely has to be “No”. It was by association with “the arms of Jesus” or “the Lord is my shepherd”, through the tradition of their family worship that they had come to be that sort of people, wanting to behave with integrity, finding a certain nobility in the midst of poverty and standing in a reverent awe in the presence of their mortality. And in all those ways they are profoundly religious. There is a paradox present. The text that is added is the key to what is already there.
The point of this story is to have us capture the interrelationship between the worship that we bring and the behavior that we come by, or put another way, the heart of God and the heart of the believer. There has always been this interrelation between faith and faithful.
Spirituality is what believers find it and fulfill it to be, but how do we know them as believers except by their belonging to religion? It is like a circle. Come into the religion and you reach those who profess it. Meet those who profess it and you come into the knowledge of their faith. And this, of course, is true about all religions. So the point of the story is to have us think about how religions can fulfil authentic compassion in human society.
Now we come to the verse, in Sura 50 (Surat Qaf) 37: Inna fi dhalika la-dhikra li-man kana lahu qalb aw alqa al-samc wa huwa shahid, which translates: “Here verily is a reminder for him who has a heart, or gives ear with full intelligence” (Pickthall). It could be put into more literary, resonant English as: “A thing to ponder here for whoever has a heart, and who heeds with alert perception.” The passage is clearly talking about (1) a feeling heart, (2) a hearing mind and (3) a present self. These three belong together. But what is the context of “Here is something to reflect upon”? The context is human tragedy. (Kenneth Cragg)
Remembrance Prayer for the 18th week in ordinary time (C)
Dhikr for the 18th week in ordinary time (C)
Text: "Then he said to the crowd, "Take care to guard against all
greed, for though one may be rich, one's life does not consist of
possessions." (Luke 12: 15)
Meditation: Often, we measure the person's worth by his/her
possession... We are wrong! The most important is to be rich in what
matters to God...
DHIKR SIMPLE METHOD...
1st step: Write the Dhikr (the Arabic word for REMEMBRANCE) in your
heart.
2nd step: Let the Dhikr remain always in on your lips and mind -
RECITING the Dhikr silently as often as possible...
3rd step: Be attentive to the disclosure of the meaning/s of the
Dhikr in your life.
Text: "Then he said to the crowd, "Take care to guard against all
greed, for though one may be rich, one's life does not consist of
possessions." (Luke 12: 15)
Meditation: Often, we measure the person's worth by his/her
possession... We are wrong! The most important is to be rich in what
matters to God...
DHIKR SIMPLE METHOD...
1st step: Write the Dhikr (the Arabic word for REMEMBRANCE) in your
heart.
2nd step: Let the Dhikr remain always in on your lips and mind -
RECITING the Dhikr silently as often as possible...
3rd step: Be attentive to the disclosure of the meaning/s of the
Dhikr in your life.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Dhikr for the 17th week in ordinary time (C)
Text: "And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Luke 11: 9-10)
Meditation: We need to hold on to our belief… they are the basis of our HOPE and do not tire in praying, asking, seeking and knocking…
Visit
www.badaliyya.blogspot.com
www.omigen.org/ipid
www.scbrc.net
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…
Meditation: We need to hold on to our belief… they are the basis of our HOPE and do not tire in praying, asking, seeking and knocking…
Visit
www.badaliyya.blogspot.com
www.omigen.org/ipid
www.scbrc.net
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…
Friday, July 20, 2007
Dhikr for the 16th week in ordinary time (C)
Dhikr for the 16th week of the ordinary year (C)
Text: “There is need only for one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” (Luke 10: 41-41)
Meditation: Like Martha, we are, often, burdened with so many worries… and forget what is very important… to simply accompany someone and listen.
Visit
www.badaliyya.blogspot.com
www.omigen.org/ipid
www.scbrc.net
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…
1. Make the same passage ever present in one’s lips.
2. 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…
Text: “There is need only for one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” (Luke 10: 41-41)
Meditation: Like Martha, we are, often, burdened with so many worries… and forget what is very important… to simply accompany someone and listen.
Visit
www.badaliyya.blogspot.com
www.omigen.org/ipid
www.scbrc.net
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…
1. Make the same passage ever present in one’s lips.
2. 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…
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Remembrance for he 15th week in ordinary time (C)
Dhikr for the 15th week of the ordinary year (C)
Text: "And who is my neighbor?" (Luke 10: 29)
Meditation: The parable of the Good Samaritan challenges us to “REVISE” our understanding of neighbor… The person in need is a neighbor to us… and people who need us most are our special neighbor…
Visit
www.badaliyya.blogspot.com
www.omigen.org/ipid
www.scbrc.net
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…
Text: "And who is my neighbor?" (Luke 10: 29)
Meditation: The parable of the Good Samaritan challenges us to “REVISE” our understanding of neighbor… The person in need is a neighbor to us… and people who need us most are our special neighbor…
Visit
www.badaliyya.blogspot.com
www.omigen.org/ipid
www.scbrc.net
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…
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
The Silence of God...
It is necessary that we find the silence of God not only in ourselves but also in one another. Unless some other person speaks to us in words that spring from God and communicate with the silence of God in our souls, we remain isolated in our own silence from which God tends to withdraw. For inner silence depends on a continual seeking, a continual crying in the night, a repeated bending over the abyss.
If we cling to a silence we think we have found forever, we stop seeking God and the silence goes dead within us. A silence in which God is no longer sought ceases to speak to Him. A silence from which God does not seem to be absent, dangerously threatens God's continued presence. For God is found when He is sought and when He is no longer sought God escapes us.
He is heard only when we hope to hear Him, and if, thinking our hope to be fulfilled, we cease to speak to be vivid and becomes dead, even though we recharge it with the echo of our own emotional noise. (Thomas Merton)
If we cling to a silence we think we have found forever, we stop seeking God and the silence goes dead within us. A silence in which God is no longer sought ceases to speak to Him. A silence from which God does not seem to be absent, dangerously threatens God's continued presence. For God is found when He is sought and when He is no longer sought God escapes us.
He is heard only when we hope to hear Him, and if, thinking our hope to be fulfilled, we cease to speak to be vivid and becomes dead, even though we recharge it with the echo of our own emotional noise. (Thomas Merton)
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Spirituality & Human Feelings...
If we are without human feelings we cannot love God in the way which we are meant to love Him - as human beings. If we do not respond to human affection we cannot be loved by God in the way in which He has willed to love us - with the HEART of Jesus -a Human Person who is God - the Son of God and the annointed Christ. (Thomas Merton)
Friday, June 29, 2007
Remembrance Prayer for the 13th week in ordinary time (C)
Text: On the way they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his reception there, 53 but they would not welcome him because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John saw this they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?" 55 Jesus turned and rebuked them. (Luke 9: 52-55)
Meditation: We do have prejudices and pre-judgment… The challenge of the Gospel is the question whether we can rise above our prejudices and be open to see and begin to understand with a “different eye”… Often we behave like the disciples – always ready to call down fire from heaven to consume those who are “different”…
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…
Meditation: We do have prejudices and pre-judgment… The challenge of the Gospel is the question whether we can rise above our prejudices and be open to see and begin to understand with a “different eye”… Often we behave like the disciples – always ready to call down fire from heaven to consume those who are “different”…
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…
Many Ways of Remembrance of God...
The first stage of Dhikr is the Remembrance of God in the utterance. This is called as the dhikr of the tongue.
The second stage is the dhikr of the heart. It consists in meditation and reflection on the text that point to God and His attributes.
The Dhikr both in the tongue and the in the heart will lead to the dhikr of the limbs or righteous life and good works. Through the praxis of the dhikr leads to the immersion of the “murid” (disciple) in a life of total abandon to God and his divine will.
It is reported from some of the “Knowers” of God that dhikr has seven aspects:
1. Dhikr of the eyes, which consists in weeping (buka');
2. Dhikr of the ears, which consists in listening (isgha');
3. Dhikr of the tongue, which consists in praise (thana');
4. Dhikr of the hands, which consists in giving (`ata');
5. Dhikr of the body, which consists in loyalty (wafa');
6. Dhikr of the heart, which consists in fear and hope (kawf wa raja');
7. Dhikr of the spirit, which consists of utter submission and acceptance (taslim wa rida')."
The second stage is the dhikr of the heart. It consists in meditation and reflection on the text that point to God and His attributes.
The Dhikr both in the tongue and the in the heart will lead to the dhikr of the limbs or righteous life and good works. Through the praxis of the dhikr leads to the immersion of the “murid” (disciple) in a life of total abandon to God and his divine will.
It is reported from some of the “Knowers” of God that dhikr has seven aspects:
1. Dhikr of the eyes, which consists in weeping (buka');
2. Dhikr of the ears, which consists in listening (isgha');
3. Dhikr of the tongue, which consists in praise (thana');
4. Dhikr of the hands, which consists in giving (`ata');
5. Dhikr of the body, which consists in loyalty (wafa');
6. Dhikr of the heart, which consists in fear and hope (kawf wa raja');
7. Dhikr of the spirit, which consists of utter submission and acceptance (taslim wa rida')."
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
On Temperament...
Temperament does not predestine one person to sanctity and another to reprobation. All temperaments can serve as the material for ruin or for salvation. We must learn to see that our temperament is a gift from God, a talent with which we must trade until he comes.
It does not matter how poor or how difficult a temperament we may be endowed with. If we make good use of what we have, if we make it serve our good desires, we can do better than another who merely serves his/her temperament instead of making it serve him/her. (Thomas Merton)
It does not matter how poor or how difficult a temperament we may be endowed with. If we make good use of what we have, if we make it serve our good desires, we can do better than another who merely serves his/her temperament instead of making it serve him/her. (Thomas Merton)
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Spirituality & Reality...
There is no greater disaster in the spiritual life than to be immersed in unreality, for life is maintained and nourished in us by our vital relation with realities outside and above us. When our life feeds on unreality, it must starve. It must therefore die. There is no greater misery than to mistake this fruitless death for the true, fruitful and sacrificial "death" by which we enter into life.
The death by which we enter into life is not an escape from reality, but a complete gift of ourselves which involves a total commitment to reality. It begins by renouncing the illusory reality which created things acquire when they are seen only in their relation to our own selfish interest. (Thomas Merton)
The death by which we enter into life is not an escape from reality, but a complete gift of ourselves which involves a total commitment to reality. It begins by renouncing the illusory reality which created things acquire when they are seen only in their relation to our own selfish interest. (Thomas Merton)
Friday, June 22, 2007
Dhikr for the 12th week of the ordinary time (C) & Feast of John the Baptist
Text: “Then he said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter said in reply, The Messiah of God." (Luke 9: 20)
Meditation: The issue at stake is the question: Who Jesus truly is in our life...? Do we truly TRUST GOD? Storm, pains, joy and sorrows do come our way… and as we journey through life we slowly know that God is with us… But in crucial moments of life… do we truly believe and trust…?
Solemnity of the Birth of John the Baptist - Feast
Text: “All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, what, then, this child will be for surely the hand of the Lord was with him.” (Luke 1: 66)
Meditation: We need to live and pray the make sure that the hand of Lord is with us, too…
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…
Meditation: The issue at stake is the question: Who Jesus truly is in our life...? Do we truly TRUST GOD? Storm, pains, joy and sorrows do come our way… and as we journey through life we slowly know that God is with us… But in crucial moments of life… do we truly believe and trust…?
Solemnity of the Birth of John the Baptist - Feast
Text: “All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, what, then, this child will be for surely the hand of the Lord was with him.” (Luke 1: 66)
Meditation: We need to live and pray the make sure that the hand of Lord is with us, too…
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…
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Dhikr for the 11th week in ordinary time (C)
Text: “So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little." (Luke 7: 47)
Meditation: The experience of God’s generosity, often, becomes the measure of our love and generosity… The woman in the Gospel is a witness of that great compassion of God and response of great LOVE!
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.
It takes a week of remembering (dhikr)…or even more days to relish the beauty of this method…
Meditation: The experience of God’s generosity, often, becomes the measure of our love and generosity… The woman in the Gospel is a witness of that great compassion of God and response of great LOVE!
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.
It takes a week of remembering (dhikr)…or even more days to relish the beauty of this method…
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Meister Eckhart (1260-1329)
APPREHEND GOD in all things,
for God is in all things.
Every single creature is full of God
and is a book about God.
Every creature is a word of God.
If I spent enough time with the tiniest creature--
even a caterpillar--
I would never have to prepare a sermon.
So full of God is every creature.
for God is in all things.
Every single creature is full of God
and is a book about God.
Every creature is a word of God.
If I spent enough time with the tiniest creature--
even a caterpillar--
I would never have to prepare a sermon.
So full of God is every creature.
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