Faith through Mysticism

FAITH THROUGH MYSTICISM

Being born into a Christian family and worshipping within a Christian church can give us a relationship to a religion, to an ideology, to a truth, and to a community of worship; but these things, of themselves, are not the same thing as an actual faith in God.

Just as we have people who believe but do not practice, many of us practice but do not believe. Subscribing to an ideology, however noble and inspirational it might be, is not the same thing as believing in and actually worshipping God.

To actually believe in God today, one must at some point in his or her life make a deep, private act of faith. That act is itself difficult because the very forces that help erode our cultural, communal faith also work against us making this private act of faith.

To make an act of faith requires an inner journey. There, in that journey into the deepest recesses of the soul, some of the things I must face are:

·      My weakness, my sin, my infidelities, my lies, my rationalizations, my constant avoiding of the searing truth.

·      My jealousies and angers, my bitterness that life has not been fair to me, that others have things  I don’t have, and that I never forgiven them nor made peace with my loss.

·      My sicknesses and addictions, the fact that I am not whole, that inside me there dark corners and dark demons that do not show up on my photographs, on my resume, and in the things my  friends know about me.

·      My godlessness, that black hole of fear, insecurity, chaos, and emptiness within me.

To read more click here or copy this address into your browser http://ronrolheiser.com/faith-through-mysticism/#.W8S5GhNKjq0

1st Sunday of Advent (C)

Short Reflection for the 1^st Sunday of Advent (C)

Readings: Jeremiah 33,14-16; 1 Thessalonians 3,12-4,2; Luke 21,25-28.34-36

Selected Gospel Passage:  "Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth.  Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man."  (Luke 21: 34-36)

Reflection:  Advent Season invites us to be vigilant, to be strong, to be prayerful, to be able to welcome the coming of the Lord. Beware that our hearts do not go astray by the trappings of Christmas. Our feasting, drinking and sometimes even our excesses in the celebration of Christmas draw us away to the true spirit of the preparation for  coming of the Lord.

In the coming Sundays, the readings will tells us of how truly we should prepare for Christmas – reject our sins and turn to the Lord; and reform our lives by making our crooked ways straight.  Let us then be VIGILANT at all times and pray that we have the strength to accept the Lord when he comes to our lives.

www.badaliyya.blogspot.com

DHIKR SIMPLE METHOD...

Folks,

1. The Dhikr prayer is intimately linked to the Badaliyya movement – a legacy identified with two witnesses of Christian presence in the world of Islam - Fr. Louis Massignon and Fr. Charles de Foucauld.
2. The association with the Badaliyya movement is one of the many legacies of my stay in Egypt.

1^st step: Write the Dhikr in your heart.

2^nd step: Let the Dhikr remain always in on your lips and mind - RECITING the dihkr silently as often as possible...

3^rd step:  Be attentive to the disclosure of the meaning/s of the Dhikr in your life.

Christ the King (B)

The Feast of Christ the King (B)

Readings: Daniel 7:13-14; Revelation 1:5-8; John 18:33b-37

Selected Passage:  “So Pilate said to him, ‘then you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say I am a king.  For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.  Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice’." (John 18: 37)

Meditation:  The true followers of Jesus Christ do not live in lies, fake news or  falsehood.  They belong to the truth and they listen to His voice. The truth is Jesus Christ who gave his life as a RANSOM for our sins – died and is RISEN! Cast off, then, all falsehood in our lives and in our work!

Moreover, Jesus’ kingdom is unlike the one that Pilate symbolizes and what the ‘establishment’ proclaims… a kingdom that is arbitrariness, privileges, and power. Jesus’ kingdom is built on love, service and justice.

Visit:  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…

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Short Reflections for the 33^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Readings: Daniel 12:1-3; Hebrews 10:11-14, 18; Mark 13:24-32

Selected Passage:  "Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near.” (Mark 13: 28)

Meditation: The presence of the Spirit in us is marked by our ability to read the signs of times.  Pray, therefore, for wisdom to be able to decipher the many writings on the wall else we find ourselves missing the points and worse - find ourselves opposing the Spirit. Amid extra-judicial killing, violations of human rights, and fake news, we are called to listen to the Spirit and read God’s will and discern his call in the signs of times.

Visit:  www.badaliyya.blogsot.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…

32 nd Sunday (B)

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Short Reflection for the 32^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Readings: 1 Kings 17:10-16; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44 or 12:41-44

Selected Gospel Passage: “In the course of his teaching he said, "Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets. They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation." (Mark 12: 38-40)

Meditation: Alas! Our lengthy prayers and our status and wealth cannot cover up for our neglect of the poor, orphans and the widows…

A reflection on our riches…

“Will our money be used to assist others, to make the world a better place? Will be it used to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, provide for the homeless and destitute poor? Will it be used to build a culture of life? Do our lives revolve around the money or are we dependent on God who truly makes us rich? Do we behave as owners or live as stewards?”  (Fr. Thomas Rosica)

Visit:  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…

God's Power as Powerlessness

GOD’S POWER AS POWERLESSNESS

When we examine the biblical account of Adam and Eve and original sin, we see that the primary motivation for eating the apple was their desire to somehow grasp at divinity, to become like God. They wanted Godlike power. But they, like us, badly misunderstood what makes for genuine power.

St. Paul writes in Philippians that Jesus did not deem equality with God something to be grasped at, but rather that he emptied himself of that power to become helpless, trusting that this emptying and helplessness would ultimately be the most transformative power of all. Jesus submitted to helplessness to become truly powerful.

That insight can shed light on how we understand God’s apparent absence in our world. How might we comprehend what is often called “the silence of God”? Where was God during the Holocaust? Where is God during natural disasters that kill thousands of people? Where is God when senseless accidents and illnesses take the lives of countless persons? Why doesn’t God forcefully intervene?

God is present and intervening in all these situations, but not in the way we ordinarily understand presence, power, and intervention. God is present the way beauty is present, in the way a helpless, innocent newborn is present, and in the way truth as a moral agent is always present.

God is never silent because beauty, innocence, helplessness, and truth are never silent. They’re always present and intervening, but unlike ordinary human power, they’re present in a way that is completely non-manipulative and fully respectful of your freedom. God’s power, like that of a new born, like the power of beauty itself, fully respects you.

When we look at the struggles within our world and within our private lives, it often seems like divine power is forever being trumped by human power.

But like David standing with a just a boy’s slingshot before Goliath, a giant who looks overpowering in terms of muscle and iron and like the apostles being asked to set five little loaves of bread and two tiny fish before a crowd of 5000, God always looks underwhelming in our world.

But we know how these stories end.

To read more click here or copy this address into your browser http://ronrolheiser.com/gods-power-as-powerlessness/#.W7NyIBNKhmA
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31st Sunday (B)

31st Sunday (B)

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

Readings: Deuteronomy 6:2-6 Hebrews 7:23-28 Mark 12:28-34

Gospel Passage: “The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, 'He is One and there is no other than he.' And 'to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself' is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." (Mk. 12: 32-33)

Meditation:  Take heed, loving God and neighbor NOT simply in words but in DEEDS is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.  The real measure of our love is in our deeds… our walking the extra mile… the giving of our ‘substance’ to those in need.

Visit:  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…