The Communion of Saints

THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS

Perhaps we had hurt that person, or he or she had hurt us, and it was never fully reconciled. Or we feel guilt, because while that person was alive, we should have given more of ourselves to him or her but were too busy with our own lives to reach out.

Worse still, perhaps someone has died for whom we had felt hatred and we should have made some gesture of reconciliation and we never did. Now it’s too late! Death has separated us, and some painful bitterness now lies irrevocably unresolved and we live with the guilt, wishing we had done something before it was too late.

But it’s not too late. It’s never too late if we take seriously the Christian doctrine of the communion of saints.  To believe in the communion of saints is to believe that those who have died are still alive and are linked to us in such a way that we can continue to talk with them, that our relationship with them can continue to grow, and that the reconciliation that wasn’t possible before their deaths can now occur.

“Today you will be with me in paradise!” Jesus speaks those words to the good thief on the cross and they’re meant for every one of us who dies without yet fully being a saint and without having had the time and opportunity to make all the amends and speak all the apologies that we owe to others. There is still time after death, on both sides, for reconciliation and healing to happen because inside the communion of saints we have privileged access to each other and there we can finally speak all of those words that we couldn’t speak before. We can reach across death’s divide.

It can be a great consolation to die a happy death, snug and reconciled in the arms of love, with no unfinished business. But, happily, there’s time still after death for this to happen for those of us who aren’t so lucky and who end up dying with some bitterness, anger, wound, and frustration still gnawing away.

To read more click here or copy this address into your browser http://ronrolheiser.com/the-communion-of-saints/#.X5HERFl7k_8
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Prayer for Stillness

A PRAYER FOR STILLNESS

God of stillness and of quiet …

• Still my anxiety, my heartaches, my worries, and stop me from always being outside the present moment. Give me the grace to know that you have pronounced my name in love, that my name is written in heaven, that I am free to live without anxiety.

• Still my unrelenting need to be busy all the time, to occupy myself, to be always planning for tomorrow, to fill every minute with some activity, to seek distraction rather than quiet. Give me the grace to accept what circumstance and failure have dealt me.

• Still in me the fear I feel in the face of the powerful, dark forces that unconsciously threaten me. Give me the courage to face my darkness as well as my luminosity. Give me the grace to not be fearful before my own complexity.

• Still in me the congenital fear that I’m unloved, that I’m unlovable, that love has to be earned, that I need to be more worthy. Give me the grace to know that I’m a beloved child of a God whose love need not be earned.

• Still in me my false fear of you, my need to treat you like a distant and feared dignitary rather than as a warm friend. Give me the grace to relate to you in a robust way, as a trusted friend with whom I can jest, wrestle, and relate to in humor and intimacy.

• Still in me my doubts, my anxieties about your existence, about your concern, and about your fidelity. Give me the grace to trust, even in darkness and doubt, that you will give me immortality.

Still my heart so that I may know that you are God, that I may know that you create and sustain my every breath, that everyone, myself no less than everyone else, is your beloved. Nothing falls outside of your love and care, and that everything and everybody is safe in your gentle, caring hands, in this world and the next.

To read more click here or copy this address into your browser http://ronrolheiser.com/a-prayer-for-stillness/#.X5HzhUJKg_8
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November 1st - Feast of All Saints

 Short Reflection for the Feast of All Saints

Readings: Revelations 7: 2-4, 9-14; 1 John 3: 1-3; Matthew 5: 1-12a

The Beatitudes: “Blessed are the poor; Blessed are they who mourn; Blessed are the meek; Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness; Blessed are the merciful; Blessed are the clean of heart; Blessed are the peacemakers;  and Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness…” (Matthew 5: 7-9)

Meditation: The Beatitudes remain the daunting challenges for every disciple of Jesus Christ. They are the keys to true happiness and true HOLINESS that we all seek as sons and daughters of God. 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…

 

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

Short Reflection for the 31st Sunday of the Ordinary Time (A)

 Readings: Malachi 1: 14b – 2:2b; 1Thessalonians 2: b – 9; Matthew 23: 1-12

 Selected Passage: “They tie up heavy burdens (hard to carry) and lay them on people's shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them. (Matthew 23: 4)

 Meditation: Three things to remember: Never put a heavy burden on people; Never ask people to do something that we never bother lift a finger to do it; and Never judge others that we shall not be judged! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees.  www.badaliyya.blogspot.com

 DHIKR SIMPLE METHOD

 Dhikr is an Arabic word which means REMEMBRANCE.

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.

 

  

Mary - a Model of Faith

MARY AS A MODEL OF FAITH

Looking at how Mary gave birth to Christ, we see that it’s not something that’s done in an instant. Faith, like biology, also relies on a process that has a number of distinct, organic moments. What is the process by which we give birth to faith in the world?

First, like Mary, we need to get pregnant by the Holy Spirit. We need to let the word take such root in us that it begins to become part of our actual flesh.

Then, we have to lovingly gestate, nurture, and protect what is growing inside us until it’s sufficiently strong so that it can live on its own, outside us.  Eventually, what we have nurtured and grown inside of us, when it is ready, must be given birth outside.

However, birth is only the beginning of motherhood. Mary gave birth to a baby, but she spent years nurturing, coaxing, and cajoling that infant into adulthood. The infant in the crib at Bethlehem is not yet the Christ who preaches, heals, and dies for us.

Finally, motherhood has still one more phase. As her child grows, matures, and takes on a personality and destiny of its own, the mother then must let herself be painfully stretched in understanding, and in letting go.

All of this is what Mary went through to give Christ to the world: Pregnancy by the Holy Spirit; gestation of that into a child inside of her; excruciating pain in birthing that to the outside; nurturing that new life into adulthood; and pondering, painfully letting go so that this new life can be its own, not hers.

Our task too is to give birth to Christ. From Mary we get the pattern: Let the word of God take root and make you pregnant; gestate that by giving it the nourishing sustenance of your own life; submit to the pain that is demanded for it to be born to the outside; then spend years coaxing it from infancy to adulthood; and finally, during and after all of this, do some pondering, accept the pain of not understanding and of letting go.

To read more click here or copy this address into your browser http://ronrolheiser.com/mary-as-a-model-of-faith/#.X3YQull7k_8
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28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

 

Short Reflection for the 28^th Sunday of the Ordinary Time (A)

 Sunday dedicated to REMEMBER and PRAY with our Indigenous Peoples

 Readings: Isaiah 25: 6-10; Philippians 4: 12-14; Matthew 22: 1-14

 Selected Passage: 'The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.' (Matthew 22: 8-9)

 Meditation: The Parable tells us of God’s invitation to ALL! One caveat is finding ourselves NOT WORTHY TO COME. We are preoccupied with other concerns, thus we miss God’s invitation… Cuidado!

 In responding to God’s call, we should do it properly. It is not enough to be present. We should show respect to the host, as well as, exhibit self-respect and exhibiting good behavior. We do not take the invitation for granted and neither do we trivialize God’s invitation. BEWARE! Cf. www.badaliyya.blogspot.com

DHIKR SIMPLE METHOD

Dhikr is an Arabic word which means REMEMBRANCE.

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.

 

 

Badaliyya October Session

Folks,

Peace!

The October Session of Badaliyya - Philippines on Shaping a Christian Spirituality in the midst of Islam...

Join the Webinar session and the schedule, ID and password are below...

Topic: IAG Philippines' Zoom Badaliyya Meeting

Time: FRIDAY, Oct 2, 2020 03:00 PM to 5 pm Asia/Manila

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81171954154?pwd=dzZHWTZjT01weWtYd3RrVXlsdld2QT09

Meeting ID: 811 7195 4154

Passcode: 219919

Fr. Jun Mercado, OMI

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Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbf7m82UjG

Thinking of Death...

SOME LIGHT-HEARTED THOUGHTS ON A VERY HEAVY SUBJECT

Some were old, some were young; some were prepared, some were not; some welcomed it, some met it with bitter resistance; some died from natural causes, some died through violence; some died surrounded by love and loved ones, some died alone without any human love whatsoever surrounding them; some died peacefully, some died crying out in fear; some died at a ripe old age, some died in the prime of their youth or even before that; some suffered for years from seemingly meaningless dementia with those around them wondering why God and nature seemed to cruelly keep them alive; others in robust physical health with seemingly everything to live for took their own lives; some died full of faith and hope, and some died feeling only darkness and despair; some died breathing out gratitude, and some died breathing out resentment; some died in the embrace of religion and their churches, some died completely outside of that embrace.

Every one of them somehow managed it, the great unknown, the greatest of all unknowns.

Most people, I suspect, have the same experience that I do when I think about the dead, particularly about persons I have known who died. The initial grief and sadness of their loss eventually wears off and is replaced by an inchoate sense that it’s alright, that they are alright, and that death has in some strange way washed things clean.

In the end, we have a pretty good feeling about our dead loved ones and about the dead in general, even if their departure from this earth was far from ideal, as for instance if they died angry, or through immaturity, or because they committed a crime, or by suicide. Somehow it eventually all washes clean and what remains is the inchoate sense, a solid intuition, that wherever they are they are now in better and safer hands than our own.

Our faith tells us that, given the benevolence of the God we believe in, happiness awaits us.

To read more click here or copy this address into your browser
http://ronrolheiser.com/some-light-hearted-thoughts-on-a-very-heavy-subject/#.X2zZIZNKg_8

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

Short Reflection for the 23^rd Sunday of the Ordinary Time (A)

 

Readings: Ezekiel 33: 7-9; Romans 13: 8-10; Matthew 18: 15-20

 

Text: “Again, (amen,) I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." (Matthew 18: 19-20)

 

Meditation: There is the call to gather in his name – to break bread, to pray and to act – together! The Church is, precisely, this assembly in his name. Integral to the Christian Community is to fraternally correct the erring brothers and sisters.  In our communities, we don’t tolerate evil deeds and behaviors unbecoming of a Christian. www.badaliyya.blogspot.com

 

DHIKR SIMPLE METHOD

 

Dhikr is an Arabic word which means REMEMBRANCE.

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.

 

 

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

Dhikr for the 22^nd Sunday of the Ordinary Time (A)

 

Readings: Jeremiah 20: 7-9; Romans 12: 1-2; Matthew 16: 21 -27

 

Selected Passage: What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? (Matthew 16: 26)

 

Meditation: The Gospel challenges us to take a second hard look at our values and integrity. Our words and deeds have become so “flexible” and “ambiguous” these days.  We NO longer draw the line between values and belief we stand by, on one hand, and our words and deeds, on the other. We, too, have our price tags. The passage above tells us to draw the line between what we believe and our deeds. We cannot put our life for sale or barter it for anything! www.badaliyya.blogspot.com

 

DHIKR SIMPLE METHOD

 

Dhikr is an Arabic word which means REMEMBRANCE.

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.

 

 

The Death of Innocence

THE DEATH OF INNOCENCE

We pride ourselves on our experience, our sophistication, and our lack of naivete. And we are ashamed to admit that we aren’t experienced, that we haven’t been everywhere, and that we don’t know everything.

Innocence is identified with naivete and is generally looked upon either with condescension or with positive disdain. Lack of sexual experience particularly is stigmatized. We see innocence as ignorance.

Moreover, our culture extends this equation to faith in God. Most of the culture, consciously or unconsciously, believes that contemporary experience and present development and insight, have unmasked faith as a superstition, an ignorance, a lack of nerve, a lack of sophistication, a narrowness, a fear, and even a bias.

The common perception, especially among intellectuals, is that contemporary experience has brought about a collective loss of faith because, at the end of the day, faith is an ignorance that is cast out by a fuller experience. To believe in God is to be naive, however sincere.

The French philosopher and historian Paul Ricoeur, whom nobody could ever accuse of being naive, tells us that as adults, the real goal of our lives is to come to something which he calls “second naivete”. Real maturity is ultimately about revirginizing and coming to a second innocence.

This however is not to be confused with first naivete and natural innocence. We are born naive and innocent and the task of growing up is precisely to move beyond this childishness to adulthood. This is done, as our culture rightly intuits, by growing in experience and sophistication.

For a while, this is good. First naivete in an adult is not innocence but ignorance.

Unfortunately, our culture misunderstands that growth beyond the natural ignorance of a child. Becoming sophisticated is itself meant to be a temporary step. Our real task is ultimately to become post-sophisticated – childlike and virgin again. 

Jesus tells us that children and virgins enter the kingdom of heaven quite naturally. A world that prides itself on its adultness, sophistication, and experience might want to ponder that.

To read more click here or copy this address into your browser http://ronrolheiser.com/the-death-of-innocence/#.Xx8QkPhKg_8

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19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

Short Reflection for the 19^th Sunday of the Ordinary Time (A)

 

Readings: 1 Kings 19: 9. 11-13; Romans 9: 1-5; Matthew 14: 22-33

 

Selected Passage: When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. "It is a ghost," they said, and they cried out in fear. At once (Jesus) spoke to them, "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid." (Matthew 14: 26-27)

 

Meditation: When we find ourselves in turbulent waters or when we are afraid, Jesus also appears to us in various ways telling us: “take courage, it is I and do not be afraid.”

 

Courage is one of the gifts of the Spirit.  For us to receive this gift, we need to TRUST the Lord. It is believing with our heart that whatever happens and whatever the challenge, the Lord is there at our side and he shares the load so we can dispel our fear, because with him we can carry our cross, too.

 

Visit: www.badaliyya.blogspot.com

 

DHIKR SIMPLE METHOD

 

Dhikr is an Arabic word which means REMEMBRANCE.

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.

 

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

Short Reflection for the 18^th Sunday of the Ordinary Time (A): The Feast of the Transfiguration

 

Readings:  Daniel 7: 9-10. 13 – 14; 2 Peter 1: 16 -19; Matthew 17: 1-9

 

Selected Passage: While he was still speaking, behold a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, “ this I my beloved Son, whom I am well pleased; listen to him." (Matthew 17: 5)

 

Meditation: The challenge of the Gospel today is to experience our own transformation. This is primarily a gift from God - a grace given to make us turn to the Lord by LISTENING to his beloved Son, Jesus Christ.  We need to experience our own transfiguration – that is being like to God!

Visit:  www.badaliyya.blogspot.com

 

DHIKR SIMPLE METHOD

 

Dhikr is an Arabic word which means REMEMBRANCE.

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.

 

 

Syria's Cathedral - Symbol of Hope

Syrian cathedral, a glimmer of hope in the midst of chaos

By Xavier Le Normand

Aleppo has long been a martyred city.

In the nine years since the outbreak of fighting in Syria, it has been at the heart of the clashes.

As a consequence, it has lost four-fifths of its diverse Christian population.

There are only about 30,000 people left from the various denominations. Most of them are elderly. Most of the younger Christians have fled the war torn country.

Despite this dramatic situation, Aleppo's newly restored Maronite Cathedral was due to be re-opened on July 20.

St. Elijah's Cathedral suffered severe damage from bombings. Its roof had been totally destroyed.

"It is a sign of hope after the feeling of having lost everything," rejoiced Archbishop Joseph Tobji, Maronite Archbishop of Aleppo.

"We need to send a message of faith to show that Eastern Christians still exist in Aleppo and that death does not prevail over us," he said.

(Le Croix Internationale, July 22/20)