Why Dialogue?
June 23, 2009
part 4 - PERSONAL BENEFITS
Enjoy friendship with people of different faiths. Enjoy different foods (and sometimes wine).
This year I was a chaplain on a ship for Easter, and was invited to the Seder of Jewish Passover that was held on board.
Move more freely: "I am not afraid ..."
Be more open to other people, cultures.
Be appreciative of the goodness of people
Urdu teacher: Sultan Ahmad, two generations of a Muslim family gave their lives to teaching Christian missionaries the language of Pakistan so that they could "preach the Gospel".
In Pakistan: We were building a parish church/community hall in Pakistan, and an adjacent mosque objected, saying "Go, build elsewhere, among the Christian community, but not here. You'll ruin the neighbourhood." This despite the fact that that property had been used for Christian gatherings for the previous 30 years, and on a weekly basis for the last ten years since the school was built. So the work was suspended.
I could easily have become angry and bitter about Muslims, except for one person. The engineer who worked for me - whose name was Muhammad Afzal. I remember in particular one night, we had a meeting with the contractor about quantities and costs that lasted till 4 am, and that on a night when his daughter was in hospital with a life-threatening illness. No one worked harder for the Church than Muhammad Afzal, and perhaps no one was happier when the building was completed and the first Mass was offered in it than one member of the congregation, Muhammad Afzal.
Deeper appreciation of the Gospel, and of its demands!
For example, the issue of law and freedom: A Muslim teacher once asked me about the account of the woman caught in adultery in chapter eight of John's Gospel (cf. Jn 8:3-11). He knew in his heart that the event showed Jesus' love, understanding, and forgiveness. But he was puzzled. He cited the words of Jesus, "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her" (Jn 8:7), and then he asked: "Why did Jesus give that order, and having given it, being himself sinless, why did he not carry it out?"
to end ...
A Native American grandfather was talking to his grandson about how he felt after a tragedy had occurred. He said: "I feel as if I have two wolves fighting in my heart. One wolf is the vengeful, angry, violent one. The other wolf is the loving compassionate one." The grandson asked him: "Which wolf will win the fight in your heart?" The grandfather answered: "The one I feed."
If you feed on ignorance, stereotypes, fears and suspicions about the 'stranger' among us who follows another religion, then there will be a clash of civilizations, but if you feed on knowledge, getting to know and appreciate your neighbour from other religions, cooperating with them, and they with you, then peace and harmony will flourish, "the developing history of humanity [will] be: a fraternal journey in which we accompany one another towards the transcendental goal which [God] sets for us." (DP, 79)
WHY DIALOGUE?
LIST OF REFERENCES
Arinze, Cardinal Francis.
Meeting Other Believers. Leominster, Herefordshire: Gracewing - Fowler Wright Books, 1997.
Bosch, David J.
Transforming Mission - Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission. Vol. 16, American Society of Missiology Series. New York: Orbis Books, 1991.
Catechism of the Catholic Church. Homebush, NSW: St Pauls, 1994.
Deen, Hanifa.
The Jihad Seminar. Crawley, WA: University of Western Australia Press, 2008.
Levine, Amy-Jill.
The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus. New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 2006.
May, John D'Arcy.
Interreligious Dialogue: The End of Ecumenism? 2001 [cited 9 March 2009].
available here
Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and Congregation for Evangelization of Peoples.
Dialogue and Proclamation: Reflections and Orientations on Interreligious Dialogue and the Proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Strathfield: Columban Mission Institute, 2008.
Secretariat for Non-Christians.
The Attitude of the Church Towards the Followers of Other Religions: Reflections and Orientations on Dialogue and Mission. Strathfield: Columban Mission Institute, 2008.
Swidler, Leonard, Khalid Duran, and Reuven Firestone.
Trialogue: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Dialogue. New London, CT: Twenty-Third Publications, 2007.
Teasdale, Wayne.
Catholicism in Dialogue: Conversations Across Traditions. Edited by Robert A Ludwig, Catholic Studies Series. Lanham; Boulder; New York; Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004.
Vatican II.
"Unitatis Redintegratio: Decree on Ecumenism." In The Basic Sixteen Documents Vatican Council II - A Completely Revised Translation in Inclusive Language, edited by Austin Flannery, O.P., 499-523. Northport, New York and Dublin: Costello Publishing Company and Dominican Publications, 1996.
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