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CIS
NEWSLETTER
Believing in the spirit, in the supernatural, is fundamental and basic to any spirituality. Ultimately it is always believing in God, whatever one conceives him to be. For us Christians, we believe in the God of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ himself said: “… have you never read what God himself said to you: I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is God, not of the dead, but of the living.” (Mt 22, 31-32). This is the same God of the Old Testament. The Scriptures takes pains to identify this God as the Living God. In contrast “the idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands. These have mouths but say nothing, have eyes but see nothing, have ears but hear nothing, and they have no breath in their mouths.” (Ps 135, 15-17) Not so the God of Israel proclaims Jeremiah, “But Yahweh is the true God. He is the living God.” (Jer 10, 10) God himself declares to Ezekiel as the Living One” (Ez 33, 11). In the Psalms (as elsewhere in the Bible) this is affirmed over and over again: “I thirst for God, the living God.” (Ps 42, 2) and “My heart and body cry out for joy to the living God” (Ps 84, 2) Yet it is this reality that is most often missed. For many, God is a concept and not the Living God; very often, one concept amongst many other concepts one accumulates. He is an idea (at best) and not a reality one can encounter. Blessed George Preca used to say that for many people God is a big zero. They have the idea that he is big or omnipotent, but still a zero, something void, not a reality in their lives. Moses knew about God. He knew about the God of his ancestors, that is the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob. (Ex 3.6) He was of Jewish descent. It was because of this that he was herding sheep in the desert instead of sitting on a throne in Egypt. Yet it was here that he met God. He saw the burning bush and approached. God speaks to him from the burning bush, or perhaps it is better to say through it. God declares himself to be the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob, that is, of Moses’ ancestors. Moses answers: “Here I am.” (Ex 3, 4) He becomes aware of God. In this atmosphere, God reveals his name: “I am he who is” (Ex 3, 14). Moses discovers something very simple yet something so powerful that it changes his history. God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob is here, is active in history, and is someone that can be encountered. God lives; he is the Living One. God exists, He is existence, God is real; God becomes a reality in Moses’ life. It is this reality of God in their lives that most people lack today. Our culture has made God an idea, a concept, something intellectual, or even something not even worth to be thought about. No wonder we can do without him. No wonder western culture proclaimed that God is dead and we do not need him anymore. God is not a reality for most people; he is not a reality they encounter in their lives. We have testimonies and accounts of people who encountered God. The whole of human history is filled with them. The holy people of the Old Testament are some of them. The Bible gives their accounts. The saints and other holy people, even if not Christians, are others. Even ordinary people in their ordinary lives have encountered God, the Living God, perhaps even without making known the account of this encounter and its effect on their life. God, the Living God, can be encountered and becomes very real in people’s lives. Since God can be encountered because he is the living God, can we help people encounter him? First and foremost we ourselves must strive to encounter him. Then we can speak from our experience and we become witnesses rather then teachers. This is what the world needs today, as aptly pointed out by Pope Paul VI. It is only when the Living God is a reality in our life and we encounter him as living, as the Living God, that he becomes alive for us and touch us in our core. Secondly, since God is the Living God, we can build a relationship with him. We can speak to him, he speaks to us; we listen to him, he listens to us. We need to spend time in his presence, with him. This is prayer. Prayer is fundamental to encountering the Living God and come to know him as such. We must pray. We can help others to pray. Prayer is the way to encounter the Living God. Then, amongst others, we need to hear or read, meditate and be familiar with his Word, especially as set out in the Holy Bible. We need to meet him in the Sacraments, especially in the Eucharist because as Christ said: “anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” (Jn 14, 9) Getting to know Christ we come to know the Living God because “He (Christ) is the image of the unseen God.” (Col 1, 15) Questions for Reflection
Raymond Zammit
Book Review
The Art of the
Passingover
Whether we like or not, changes are constantly taking place in our lives. Some changes we anticipate with a sense of great expectations; others we dread, while others still could be traumatic. Francis Dorff’s book, The Art of Passingover, can be of great help especially in times when major changes are taking place in our lives. The author invites his readers to move in three directions in order to use change for their own growth. In faith, he invites "to let go", in hope "to let be", and in love "to let grow". He even explores the stage of the "in-betweens" which could be particularly difficult for most of us. Dorff speaks a lot in stories and parables and quotes various examples from the Bible and from other sources. The book reaches its climax in the last chapters where the reader is invited to grow messianically in the direction of life, peace, freedom and love, God and the new creation. It concludes with a series of meditative exercises in the art of passingover.
We are presented with a challenging piece of
literature. All readers can draw profit from it; yet it is highly
recommended to those who are going through periods of drastic
change, loss and bereavement. Paul Zammit SJ
Prayer for the
Gift to seek God
Father, in your goodness grant me the intellect to comprehend you,
the perception to discern you, and the reason to appreciate you. In
your kindness endow me with the diligence to look for you, the
wisdom to discover you, and the spirit to apprehend you. In your
graciousness bestow on me a heart to contemplate you, ears to hear
you, eyes to see you, and a tongue to speak of you. In your mercy
confer on me a conversation pleasing to you, the patience to wait
for you, and the perseverance to long for you. Grant me a perfect
end - your holy presence. Amen. From the CIS Programme
Retreat for Professional Men in English.
Dates:
30 March starting at 7.00 pm through to 3 April after lunch. Mejju 2007
"Agħmlu dan b’tifkira tiegħi"
Data: Mill-Ġimgħa 18 ta’ Mejju fis-7.00 ta’ filgħaxija sal-Ħadd 20
wara l-pranzu.
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