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Let me begin by thanking you, one and all, for the overwhelming response to the inaugural issue of The Alternative. One thousand copies were snapped up by different prayer groups and even some hospitals like St. John's. We are tremendously encouraged.We have received quite a few readers' suggestions, some of which you can read on page two . Keep it up, dear readers, we need the feedback.
September 8th was the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lady. She is venerated by the Church because God has honoured her. She went through immense pain and anguish, right from Jesus' infancy to the time when a sword pierced her heart and she endured the pain in silent grief as she watched her Son crucified. According to St. Bernard, "Mary was a martyr, not by the sword of the executioner, but by bitter sorrow of heart". We see that God rewards those who suffer. During a Mass I recently attended, the priest observed, in the homily, that just as failure is a stepping stone to success, suffering is a stepping stone to joy. A lot of heads in the congregation nodded in apparent agreement. However, I wouldn't wager on these people accepting their pains wholeheartedly. Too often, we fail to go beyond theory into practice. This is because we haven't really understood the implications of what we profess to believe in. I yearn for the time I will be sufficiently mature to accept life's sorrows with perfect equanimity.
Friends, therefore, let us learn to endure. The rich heritage of our Catholic Church should provide us with numerous inspiring examples of men and women of God triumphing through pain, thereby glorifying God. From time to time, The Alternative will focus on the lives of various Saints of the church.
Do write in and let me know what you expect from The Alternative. Remember, this is your magazine. Waiting to hear from you...
City dwellers often go on a vacation to a place which is located on the outskirts of cities or to the countryside. A striking feature in such a place, apart from its natural beauty is its Silence. If a Christian has to grow and sustain his New life in Christ (which began with a commitment of his life to Jesus in a personal and decisive way), it is very necessary to have a disciplined time of personal prayer every day and through this to experience the Power of Silence personally. It is the Lord's command , "Be still and know that I am God" (Ps 46:10). Silence is a time when one personally gets to know and experience God for who He really is ....
Silence, during times of personal prayer, has tremendous power for many reasons. Firstly, silence helps soothe one's disturbed spirit, for often, when one is distressed, one can only sit silently before the Lord with a broken heart. This is echoed by the Psalmist on certain occasions. Elsewhere, the Bible proclaims that "he who rules his spirit is better than one who takes the city".
Secondly, Silence helps one to cast all burdens on the Lord and then to surrender all plans to the Lord. This will help us to do what Jesus always did....
"Not my will, but Your Will be done". Thereby, we can discern God's Will in our lives by listening to His voice in our innermost being. A sure sign of confirming it is by experiencing the Peace of Christ deep within our hearts (Col 3:15).
Thirdly, silence makes us sensitive to the convictions of the Holy Spirit with respect to any particular sin and leads us to ask for God's forgiveness. His forgiveness is always accompanied by His healing which delivers and heals the damage that sin has caused to our body, mind or spirit.
Fourthly,it is during times of silence that the Lord teaches us many new things by speaking in the silence of our hearts, for He says, "I will teach you great and mighty things which you have not known" (Jer 33:3).
Finally, on discovering the Power of Silence, God will shower on us His greatest gift, WISDOM, for He says, "Be silent and I will teach you Wisdom" (Job 33:33) for "God loves nothing so much as a man who lives with Wisdom" (Wisdom 1:28).
Remember, if you cannot understand God's silence, you will never understand His words.
"You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image... for I, the Lord your God am a jealous God."(Ex 20:3-5 , Dt 5:7-9)
An idol is an image or a deity fashioned to be an object of worship. The prohibition against idol worship is to be placed in the context of the liberation of the Hebrews from the bondage of the Pharaoh in Egypt by God. He makes them His people on Mount Sinai. Israel agrees to worship Him alone (Ex 19:1-8).However the Israelites apostise from this fundamental commitment to Yahweh and opt for a graven image (golden calf). This is idol worship and is expressly forbidden by God. 1Kgs 12:28 relates Jeroboam's founding of counter shrines outside Jerusalem to this original apostasy.
However the statues we have in our church does not constitute idol worship. This is because the statue, in itself, does not lead us away from God (as the golden calf did with the Israelites.) Rather, it is a likeness that helps the worshipper to encounter God. In the Book of Exodus, the most sacred portion of the Temple in Jerusalem, the Holy of Holies, is described as being adorned with two statues, two images of cherubim (Ex 25:19-22). In another context, Yahweh Himself asked Moses to " make a bronze serpent" (Num 21:1-9) so that He could heal the Israelites from snakebite through this image. Here we see that the bronze serpent does not lead the people away from God, but in fact helps them to encounter His healing power. This, therefore is not idol worship.
We have to understand that it is when we deny our fundamental commitment to God and opt for a particular object (be it wealth, sex, power, a person etc.) that we are guilty of idol worship (Col 3:5,6 , Eph 5:5).
Bibliography
1.CLIFFORD, Richard 2. "Idol" Harpers Bible Dictionary, Paul J. Achtemeir (Ed.) p-416-417. Thanks to Br.SHAJI, St. Peter's Pontifical Institute of Theology.
The Christian concept of the universal Church is an assembly of all peoples belonging to Christ, his universal domain and heritage. When a man prays in the same way as Christians were taught by Christ Jesus, that the Kingdom of God may come, he is saying a universal prayer. Similarly, a Christian, irrespective of his denomination, belongs to the universal Church if he goes deeper into the values of the Gospel and encounters Jesus in a more personal way.
Accompanied by the power of the Gospel and in the name of Jesus Christ missionaries are sent by the Church all over the world to spread the message of universal Love. They are not emissaries of political or economic power and systems, they are not tourists of good will, nor preachers of alien cultures, but they, conforming to the spirit of the beatitudes, are living among peoples adapting themselves to their ways of living, learning their languages and absorbing their customs and cultures, without imposing themselves nor their creeds, but freely giving and sharing the universal gospel of a universal religion.
Youth is the springtime of life - a time when our innermost being is allowed to blossom and bear fruit in good works that redound to the glory of our great God.
Alas, we have fallen short of this ideal as today's youth are going through a crisis. To this the media contributes, in no small measure, by propagating anti-Christian values.
The crisis of adolescence has three basic dimensions:
The first is an identity crisis - a complex of physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual changes, which make for total insecurity, resulting in constant searching, questioning and wondering. It is a stage when the innocence of childhood is replaced by parental expectations and the burden of responsibility. Finding no approval at home, young people look for it among their peers. They try to "fit in " with their friends. Gone is their individuìal sense of morality. A herd mentality takes over. A futile search for identity begins. Along the way all that is new is lapped up - models, styles, dresses, fashions, etc.
A second dimension of adolescence is the desire for freedom. Having grown up under the watchful eyes of their parents they suddenly want to break free. These ideas are strongly projected in today's films and TV programmes, which distort the meaning of freedom, equating it with the permissive lifestyle of the West - The symbols of such freedom are familiar - ear rings, torn pants, unshaven faces.... The media encourages the confused adolescent to forget the past and flee from the insecure present into the sanctuary of drugs, alcohol and other dissipations.
Another casualty of the media is the understanding of matrimony. Accordingly, apart from arranged marriages and love marriages there is a third category - just living together. If it works continue, otherwise quit. Even marriage shouldn't hamper freedom.
The crisis of our youth is an opportunity knocking at our doors. If we don't respond we will be indirectly responsible for it. We can help our youth to experience life in all its fullness. Our rescue package would have three basic components: Make them aware of the reality of their lives. Help them to accept themselves as they are. Help them to set goals and be responsible for themselves. This will set the stage for growth, which is a constant striving towards a goal.
Our approach should be to identify ourselves with the youth and emphasise critical thinking and reflection, rather than pedantic advice and reflection. As the saying goes, "If you want to teach Mary Latin you must know Mary". Love what young people love and they'll be drawn to you. Thereby, they will learn genuine Christian values.
"The fact that more than two-thirds of the human race still do not know Christ, urges the Church to strive continually to prepare new generations of apostles and to intensify her prayerfulness and commitment."
Pope John Paul II
I was in Malta for the last 7 years with the International Catholic Programme for Evangelisation (ICPE)which is a group run by lay missionaries. The founders are people who have had a deep experience of God through the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and felt a great need for faith formation and evangelisation in the Church.The first school of evangelisation was started in 1985 for which 20 Catholics attended. Since then the Mission has grown. Today we have 3 mission centers at Malta, Germany and New Zealand. Our vision is to spread the mission world wide.We depend solely on providence.
I attended a school of evangelism in 1988. Through much prayer and discernment I felt God leading me to join the mission. That's how I landed in Malta. It has been an enriching experience for me. I learnt a lot here and my vision broadened. At Malta I realized the importance of community. At the mission we lived and worked together as one community. There are many advantages living like this;there is fellowship and help:we go out as teams to evangelize. It is a great place to be purified of one's selfishness. We live in close contact with one another. For a prayer meeting,you meet once a week,say hello and go your different ways. There is no rubbing shoulders,no stepping on one another's toes. In a community a lot of your independence and selfishness surfaces. If you are open to the Holy Spirit you will realize the need to change; change means on going repentance. You see how limited your view is, the lack of generosity,understanding,patience and a host of negative dispositions would surface which would not happen if you are merely part of a prayer meeting. A community is a place where you are challenged to conform more and more to the image and likeness of Jesus. Schools of evangelism are held every year and Catholics from all over the world attend this 4 to 5 months program. Students receive personal attention. There is always a brother or sister walking closely with each student.
On why it is not enough to "do good" as opposed to having a living relationship with God:
Romans 3:10 says that there's none that does good - no not one. In every good that we do there is a lot of selfishness. How many of us can bring forth goodness like Jesus on the cross ? That was pure goodness - the very ones whom he healed,comforted,and taught crucified him and in that rejection, He said,"Father,forgive them for they know not what they do." I believe we do not have such goodness unless it is the grace of God.
Some advise from Fritz:
Make time for Jesus everyday. Hunger for a deeper realistic relationship with Jesus,be faithful to the Eucharist,because that's where a lot of healing and spiritual renewal takes place And then of course evangelize. If you don't evangelize your religion is dead.
Keep evangelizing. Its only when we evangelize that we see how much more of Jesus we need. You see all your articulations are not sufficient - God has to move. It makes you humble and you see the need for the Holy Spirit to work. Evangelisation is vital to keep the fire burning,
Interviewed by Joseph George
This column is for our readers to express their views. Do write to us on a particular issue.
Today, watching TV dominates our prime time. Introspection demands that we ask ourselves a few questions. Do we decide on the nature of programmes we watch on the TV? What is the criteria we apply in this aspect? Do our hearts burn with indignation when disgusting scenes appear on screen?
What does Jesus ask of us? The answer is simple but direct. Jesus calls us to make Him the Lord of our lives. The Bible says "We have to be transformed by the renewing of minds" (Eph 4:23). Reading the Bible and good Christian literature, spending our free time with God and our near & dear ones would prove more profitable in our march to Eternity (if we earnestly desire to spend our Eternity in Heaven) than wasting time watching worthless programmes.
A person who discovered that he was `hooked' did what any addict should do, kick his habit : Abstain. He removed the TV from his home, altogether, as Scripture says, "If your eyes cause you to sin, pluck it out" (Mk 5:29). In other words, one has to pursue holiness as the Bible says "Pursue peace with all men and holiness, without which, no one shall see the Lord." Hence, if the Spirit convicts us, then let us bring TV under the Lordship of Jesus as He is bigger than any addiction. Surely, Jesus should be the Lord of our prime time. Hallelujah !
Monica Anthony
The Minister of Transport, Mr. Gumo said that the introduction of speed trains would not be an immediate undertaking. He said,"With speed trains one would arrive at one's destination too early.At the present time you get to your destination just at the right time."
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