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Fortunately, it is God Himself who looks after the Church making sure that she remains catholic and continually sends the Holy Spirit upon us to cultivate the ever–growing variety of ecclesial expressions of Christian life while, at the same time, ensuring that a truly universal communion among all grows deeper and develops at the same speed.
“Giving,” Maxwell believes, “is the highest level of living.” Duane Hulse puts it in another perspective, “We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.”
According to the Muslim witnesses who testified, in 1929, at the process to verify the sanctity of Daniel Comboni, he had been chosen by Allah as a “prophet” like Jesus, kind and charitable towards all, Blacks and Arabs, Christians and Muslims alike. Moreover, the miracle which opened the way to the canonization of Comboni, happened to a person of Muslim faith, Lubna Abdel Aziz. This is the only miracle of its kind which has ever come before the Congregation of the Causes of the Saints. What was God trying to tell us through this choice of a Muslim woman?
The Family of Hope is a new ecclesial community with more than 600 members. It runs 81 therapeutic communities (in Brazil and other countries) which host over 2,500 youth willing to recover from any kind of addiction, especially from drugs and alcohol. What was a little seed has become, in 30 years, a great tree with branches spread already in 10 countries. Nelson Giovanelli, its co-founder, says that the mission of giving hope to the youth has been entrusted to them by Pope Benedict XVI.
The Farms of Hope came about and exist to help young people to overcome their sick compulsions. Through their work and active participation in the running of the farm, the youth more easily forget their dependence, contribute to feed themselves, learn the dignity of work and put up model farms that could inspire a much-needed agricultural revolution.
In the three Philippines’ Farms of Hope, more than 80 youth have been helped to overcome their addiction, especially from drugs and alcohol, in the last eight years – through spirituality, manual work and community life. After rehabilitation, a good number of them have been joining the Family of Hope to dedicate their lives to help their peers build a new life in freedom.
So long have we been compliant backseat riders that it’s like lifting a 300-lb heavyweight to the front seat just to be a co-navigator. In this equation of lay empowerment, is the clergy disposed to give or let go of certain practices and prerogatives? And is the laity disposed to receive and take on certain rights and duties? These are some of the questions.
In Sri Lanka, a Buddhist state, December has always been a popular festive season. It’s harvest time. After the first conversions to Catholicism in the 16th century – even in the Sinhala Royal Court – the month was renamed “Nattal mase,” which literally means “Christmas month.” Till today, it remains a mixture of a harvest festival and Christian traditions.
Just as once the small imaginations of humanity created an elaborate divide between matter and spirit, time and eternity, holy and profane, now, it is
between ‘Church’ and secular. We live as if Christ has not already healed that breach, as if the Kingdom is not already ahead of us, independent of us, leaven-like and, as the mustard seed, beyond the confines of the Church.
It’s an almost incredible story: after centuries of relentless and cruel persecutions and a strict ban on everything Christian, thousands of Japanese, mainly farmers and fishermen, were able to keep their faith in secret. When they were found out, what remained was a mixed and vague cult, which had passed from generation to generation. But their heirs are now dedicated to deepening their understanding
of that faith for the sake of mission.
