Presence Beyond Boundaries
By Joy Ampiloquio
This reflection is born from the writer’s experience of being in a multi-religious work context in Taiwan and journeying with young people who are searching for meaning in life. In many instances, students share that they feel so at home and able to open their hearts. The writer also has some Buddhist friends who marvel at the fact that a Catholic is willing to be nourished by their practice of meditation.
My vocation to the Teresian Association(www.institucionteresiana.org/asp_en/index.asp) is a call to live Jesus’ mission in a world of diverse and complex realities. The Association carries its mission in the style desired by St Pedro Poveda: ‘a transforming presence in the world’s realities, attentive to the signs of the times.’ The fulfillment of the mission is a challenge to be a committed presence, like leaven, through personal witness and through carrying out one’s profession. It is our mission as followers of Christ to share His values and bring about change in persons and situations.
Wealth of cultures
If you are living in Asia, particularly in India, Japan and Taiwan, you are in the midst of people of different religions with a long history and wealth of tradition. If you are in Israel or Jordan, you are mixing with other Christians, mostly Catholic and Orthodox, and with Jews and Muslims. If you are in the Philippines, you are part of a large majority of Catholics, with small minority of other Christians and believers of other faiths. Praise God ‘for the wealth of cultures, languages, traditions and religious sensibilities of this continent’ (Ecclesia in Asia, 50, John Paul II, 1999). In today’s world it is imperative that we open our minds and expand our vision towards the challenges brought about by its multi-faith and multi-cultural reality.
A friend of sinners
Being in Asia entails a sharing of a witnessing presence beyond boundaries. Our presence is rooted in the experience of God which flows from a living faith. Jesus’ mission was making people aware of God’s presence and to make this presence effective in their lives. He mixed with the ordinary citizens of his time, was a friend of sinners, tax collectors, the sick and even children. By accepting them, he brought them acceptance not only in the eyes of human beings but also the assurance that they were acceptable to God as well.
To make a difference
We, as followers of Jesus, begin with the step of making ourselves fully present to the context where we are; entering into dialogue with others with an attitude of openness and humility; learning, listening and loving and being a transforming presence. St Pedro Poveda said that the mission of the Teresian Association’s members – indeed of all Christians -- is ‘to season the tasteless wherever they go, in places where they live, among the persons with whom they come in contact; to make life pleasant, virtue fervent, penance joyful and suffering a consolation. They ought to work in such a manner, talk in such a way, always act with such good spirit, treat others with such friendliness, comfort them generously and bring to their spirit such conviction that their presence seasons their entire life.’ We are to emanate an attitude of ‘complementarity and harmony,’ as Jacob Kavunkal SVD puts it(www.sedos.org/english/JacobSVD.htm). We enter into inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue, which is a ‘new way of our being Christian’ not only in Asia but in every part of the world. We should know how to blend, get out from our comfort zones and allow ourselves to dissolve like salt to give flavor and make a difference to whoever we meet, regardless of race, color and creed, wherever we are. Our own faith must not stop nor limit us in relating with persons of other faiths or those with no faith. We should rathertrust, communicate and collaborate with them.
Essence of prayer
Jesus’ own mission sprang from a relationship with the Father. In his ministry, he would always withdraw to a quiet place and pray. In Asia, genuinely religious person readily wins respect and a following. Prayer, fasting and various forms of asceticism are held in high regard. Renunciation, detachment, humility, simplicity and silence are considered great values by all religions. A life of prayer is essential, as it is a source of strength and opens the way for communication with God and others. To offer a presence without boundaries, one must be determined to grow and persevere in prayer. One must be able to achieve a certain interior purity, thus, there is mindfulness of the exterior. We ‘need to pray day and night that the Lord will strengthen the purpose in our hearts,’ as St Pedro Poveda wrote in 1920. The purpose we have is to offer to the world a presence without boundaries, a presence that transforms!