CIS NEWSLETTER 
No. 59 - November 2008

From History to Mystery

People want to live in history. They want to know what happened before and after; they want to know with any means possible, even if occult. Adam and Eve were the ones who led mankind into its quest for history; they wanted to know all wisdom.

History implies control in some form or another. Man always claims the right to interpret this world as he wants. Man wants to live in history which can be measured. Man wants to be the lord of all creation, of all, because it is claimed that there is only creation. Even God is forced into history and so controlled!

Death puts an end to history, so man tries to control death. Man, so it is claimed, will continue in a world he can control even when he leaves this known world. There is no mystery to death; man will simply come back from wherever he does go.

Man wants himself to be the point of reference for all creation, that is, all is to be understood in man himself and there is no explanation outside of man.

Life is full of mystery
Whether we like it or not there are always areas in which man has to go by trust, areas out of man’s control. Man knows that he reasons and decides. He knows the processes involved, but he does not know the why of these processes. How come a person is rational whilst animals are not? How come that a rational being produces another rational being? This is not a mystery that keeps us out (of forbidden areas). On the contrary it is a mystery that invites us to accept, to enter into its being. Mystery should not be reduced to the ‘unknowable’. Mystery is ‘knowable’ but not by the limitations of history. The ‘knowing’ of mystery is very different from that of history. The ‘knowing’ of mystery involves a letting go of all control. Man cannot command mystery, but lets himself into it, and paradoxically finds himself for who he really is. History divides man into two, body and soul. Mystery respects the unity of man: body and soul are really two aspects of one being who is within mystery.

Jesus is our great and wonderful Mystery.
No doubt he lived in history, the subject of historical research. History tries to limit Jesus by his birth and death. People have claimed that they found his bones, and that would put Jesus very firmly within history. Yet for two thousand years many have claimed that Jesus is alive, now in mystery. The mystery does not cut him off from us, but makes it possible for him to call us in our deepest self and for us to answer from our heart. The resurrection of Jesus liberates us from the limits of history, of materialism and secularity.

Deep within the self man feels the urge to transcend history, to escape its limitations, to be truly free. Man wants to be called out of history by something or someone who exists in mystery that is in complete freedom, not in the freedom of history, but of being. Man wants to be who he really is, a mysterious being, very firmly of this world, but within the wonder of mystery. Man wants to be with God, not within some god. God keeps alive within man a detachment from history by investing history itself with mystery. From this limited history man is called to live within ever lovable Mystery. Religious symbols are found everywhere even in history.


Questions for reflection:
 

Paul had a keen sense of the importance of God's plan for him.

1. What does baptism tell us about the passage from history to mystery?

2. Fr. John Main OSB used to say that the prayerful repeating of the word Maranatha (Come Lord Jesus) leads to the fullness of Christian life. Why, would you think he does make this assertion?

3. Why is a life of prayer essential for a Christian?

4. Living in this world, citizens of this world, Christians are called to be citizens of heaven. How is this possible?

Fr. Victor Degabriele SJ
 

Book Review

In the House of the Lord
Henri J M Nouwen
Darton, Longman & Todd, London, 1986.
ISBN 0-232-51707-X)
 

The book is not a recent one. More than two decades have passed since it was first published; yet its message is still relevant today.

Nouwen argues that one of the greatest evils harassing men in our times is fear. Maybe it was also the feeling which wrought havoc throughout the ages of human history. In his book he analyses how fear becomes disruptive both in individual lives and society in general.

“We are fearful people. The more people I come to know and the more I come to know people, the more I am overwhelmed by the negative power of fear. It often seems that fear has invaded every part of our being to such a degree that we do no longer know what a life without fear would be like.” (p.3)

As a Christian believer and writer Nouwen offers an antidote to this destructive feeling. As a matter of fact he invites his readers to take up the journey from fear to love, from the house of fear to the house of our loving Father in heaven.

Through this proposed journey the reader moves from fear into intimacy. The latter is not possible where fear exists. “Fear is the great enemy of intimacy. Fear makes us run away from each other or cling to each other but does not create true intimacy.” (p. 15)

Another benefit of the journey to the Father’s house, the house of love, is fecundity. Rightly so, Nouwen distinguishes between productivity and fecundity. Strangely enough, “Many people experience themselves as sterile, even when they have children, a job, money, and significant success in life.” (p.35) Maybe our frantic need of increasing productivity is in itself a sign of our sterility.

Thirdly, the journey Nouwen suggests will also lead to ecstasy. In our society, people try to buy or create happiness. “This happiness is as contrived as the good meal given to a man on death row before his execution. It tastes good but does not keep him alive.” (p. 64) In the Father’s house, the joy is Jesus’ own joy, which flows from his intimate communion with this loving Father.

Finally Nouwen ponders on what all this means on the international level: the self-destructive powers of fear and the road which leads to reconciliation and peace.

This book is not the fruit of speculation for Nouwen wrote it while making an experience at Vanier’s Arche for people with special needs in France.

The book is rather short; yet it offers abundant food for thought to anyone who would like to explore untrodden paths to wholeness and happiness.
 

Fr. Paul Zammit SJ
 

Prayer When Fearful

Lord, we ask you to deliver us from fear
of the unknown future:
from fear of failure; from fear of poverty;
from fear of bereavement;
from fear of loneliness;
from fear of sickness and pain;
from fear of age; and from fear of death.
Help us, Father, by your grace
to love you above all,
and to fear nothing.
Fill our hearts with cheerful courage
and loving trust in you;
Through our Lord and Master,
Jesus Christ. Amen.

Fr. Henri Nouwen
 

CIS programme

NOVEMBRU

Nitolbu bl-Evanġelju (Is-Sibtijiet ta’ matul l-Avvent)
Dati:      Is-Sibtijiet: 29 ta’ Novembru, 6, 13, u 20 ta’ Diċembru 2008 mill-4.00 sat-8.00p.m.
Imexxu; Fr Alfred Micallef, S.J. u Fr Mario Jaccarini, S.J.
Post:     Mount St Joseph Retreat House, Mosta
 

DIĊEMBRU

Inħejju ruħna biex nilqgħu lil Dak li ġej
Nixtieq nistiednek biex tiġi ghal dan l-irtir bi tħejjija ghaċ-ċelebrazzjoni tal-ġrajja l-aktar importanti fl-istorja tal-bniedem, it-Twelid tal-Iben ta’ Alla, il-Feddej. Ejja mhux biex tisma’ tagħrif ġdid iżda biex titlib, għax fit-talb biss nistgħu nilqgħu lill-Mulej Ġesù kif jixraqlu.

Data:     Mill-Ġimgħa, 12 ta’ Diċembru, 2008 fis-7.00 p.m., sal-Ħadd, 14 ta’ Diċembru wara l-pranzu.
Imexxi:  Fr Victor Degabriele, S.J.
Post:     Dar Manresa, Victoria, Għawdex

Irtiri ta’ ‘Weekend’ għall-Miżżewġin 

Il-Weekend huwa okkażjoni għall-dawk il-koppji miżżewġa li jixtiequ jġeddu u jiċċelebraw il-wegħediet taż-żwieġ tagħhom. Din hija esperjenza spiritwali b’differenza. Il-Weekend huwa mfassal li jkun kreattiv fejn il-partners jirriflettu u jitolbu flimkien. Ikun hemm ħin ta’ sharing fi grupp magħmul minn 8 koppji. Dan il-Weekend joffri opportunità lill-koppji parteċipanti sabiex jiskopru dejjem aktar l-imħabba li Alla għandu għall-miżżewġin u l-familji tagħhom.

Data: Mill-Ġimgħa 12 ta’ Diċembru, 2008, fis-6.00 p.m. sal-Ħadd 14 ta’ Diċembru, fil-5.00 p.m.
    
Jiffaċilitaw:   Il-Koppja Carmen u Karm Conti u Fr. Vince Magri S.J.
Post:           Mount St. Joseph Retreat House, Mosta
Parteċipanti: Mhux aktar minn 8 koppji.