Roots and belonging
(Fr. Maroun Moubarak, M.L.M.)
“Roots and belonging” by Fr. Maroun Moubarak, M.L.M.
The Family of Saint Sharbel
Spiritual Retreat: December 28, 2001
Annaya
http://www.ayletmarcharbel.org/content/altjzr-oualentma-alab-maroun-mbark-almrsl-allbnany
Introduction
We have previously talked about the “passover,” i.e., the entry into the third millennium, and we have focused our thoughts and prayers on the meaning of “passing over,” preparedness, and looking to the future with hope and readiness.
This year, as we usher in the third millennium, we look at the concept of “taking root and belonging,” because we have embarked upon a long and arduous journey in this demanding and progressive millennium.
2.Belonging gives us, especially during this season of the Birth of Our Lord, a new life, and what is even more, a new birth.
ii.It brings about joy. To be joyful does not mean to laugh, but to live in truth and peace of mind, and to work on expressing what’s inside of us with simplicity and fidelity.
iii.It is a calling to openness on two complementary levels: first, openness to the Lord Jesus through a spiritual life, which includes worship and a quality relationship based on various spiritual practices and on the spiritual experience that stems from being in contact with Him and living out a special relationship with Him; second, openness to our neighbor, i.e., every person we meet and live with, so we are no longer closed off and shackled by our selfishness, but, instead, we go out to meet and accept our neighbor as he or she is. This second level of openness is the fruit of the first level, inasmuch as a good relationship with the Lord undoubtedly results in a good relationship with our neighbor.
iv.It is living in communion: this communion is the other side, and the complement, of openness. Communion with the other means that the other now has a place in my mind and heart. The other is no longer absent from my mind, occupation, and service. We have acquired a sense of community and an open communal mentality. We are a Church wherever we go, because we have faith, we live love, and we realize hope. All this has been ingrained in us by the Holy Spirit.
3.As we stand before the manger to meditate and understand the meaning of God’s presence among us, and the meaning of our response to Him – which is how a Holy Day truly becomes a feast – we realize that this belonging requires us:
We conclude with the story of the four candles of the Temple that teaches us that “hope brings back belonging.”
The story goes: In a Temple there were four lighted candles, and the Temple was so quiet that the candles could be heard whispering to one another.
The first one said: “I am called ‘Peace.’ I do not believe that people can keep me. I must extinguish myself.” So its flame dimmed and went out.
The second one said: “I am called ‘Faith.’ Unfortunately, I have become superficial and people are not interested in knowing anything about me. There is no need for me to stay lit.” So its flame went out.
The third one said: “I am called ‘love.’ I no longer have the strength to stay lit. People ignore me, put me aside, and don’t care for me. They even forget those closest to them and don’t love them.” In an instant its flame went out.
Suddenly, a child walks into the Temple and sees the three candles extinguished. He wondered: What is the meaning of this? These candles should all be lit. And he starts to cry.
Then, the fourth candle said: “Fear not, little one. As long as my flame burns, we can always light up the other candles. I am called ‘Hope.’”
With bright eyes, the child took the candle of “hope,” and with it he lit the three other candles: Peace, Faith and Love.
This is the meaning of the story: the child is Jesus in the manger who brought us hope in order to rekindle the love, peace and faith which humanity has stopped practicing. This child also represents each one of us. We are called, through our belonging to the Lord, to be instruments that God and His people use to rekindle the flames of faith, love and peace. We do so by always holding fast to hope inside us, so that the hymn of the Angels at the birth of Jesus may come true: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and good will to all.”
In conclusion, belonging, which is a new birth, is a new identity modeled after the identity of Jesus which He reveals to us at His birth:
1.The identity of Jesus:
Name: Savior of the world.
Age: Eternity
Place of birth: Bethlehem – a cave. But the parents are heavenly.
File number: 1, because He is One in Three Persons.
2.Our identity:
Name: Christians, meaning helpers of Christ in the salvation of the world.
Age: We are born anew every second.
Place of birth: The baptismal font which is renewed through the Sacrament of reconciliation, and every time we live a rewarding experience with the Lord.
File number: 2001 (the current year), which is the age of the Church to which we belong and whose children we are.
Questions:
The Family of Saint Sharbel
Spiritual Retreat: December 28, 2001
Annaya
http://www.ayletmarcharbel.org/content/altjzr-oualentma-alab-maroun-mbark-almrsl-allbnany
Introduction
We have previously talked about the “passover,” i.e., the entry into the third millennium, and we have focused our thoughts and prayers on the meaning of “passing over,” preparedness, and looking to the future with hope and readiness.
This year, as we usher in the third millennium, we look at the concept of “taking root and belonging,” because we have embarked upon a long and arduous journey in this demanding and progressive millennium.
- Belonging, in Christian life, teaches us to live three truths that help us to bind our lives to the life of Christ, just as Christ bound His life to ours from the manger to the Cross. This is why we chant in the Syriac Tradition: “You have united, O Lord, your divinity with our humanity, and our humanity to your divinity…”
- Belonging is living out the “bond of love,” which is the foundation upon which belonging grows and develops. This binds our destiny to that of Jesus, as Jesus himself bound His destiny to ours from His birth, until His death and resurrection.
- Belonging is committing ourselves to joining together two journeys: Jesus’ journey and ours. We commit ourselves not only to the same destiny as His, but also to the same journey. It is He who says: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Mt 7: 21). We are talking here about a lifelong project, daily labor that unites us to Jesus in thought, intention, and deed.
- Belonging means “faithfulness through self-giving,” which means standing firm with Him until the end, at all cost, even to the point of sacrifice, because “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). Jesus gave and sacrificed himself from the very beginning, when He lowered himself by His incarnation, by sharing an earthly life of thirty-three years with us (the exact number here is not the point, but the fact that Jesus shared with us the totality of His life), and by sharing our weakness in continual humility, self-giving and sacrifice…the totality of His life. We are called to reflect on this self-giving.
2.Belonging gives us, especially during this season of the Birth of Our Lord, a new life, and what is even more, a new birth.
- By “new birth” we do not mean a return to the starting point, as Nicodemus mistakenly thought in his dialogue with Jesus, that this is about a return to the womb for a new start, a return to darkness and disconnectedness, to a sense of human and parental security. On the contrary, Jesus asked Nicodemus to move forward, not to regress. He called him to a birth from water and Spirit, meaning to be washed from sin, and to receive the gift and grace of the Holy Spirit that moves us to a new of life of quality.
- By “new birth” we do not mean a “psychological birth,” as when a person’s morale lifts up after an incident, thanks to success or achievement (for example, marriage, travel, or a new beginning), being released after imprisonment, or after overcoming sickness or misfortune…It is a spiritual birth, meaning a birth effected in us by the Holy Spirit.
- By “new birth” we mean the action in us of the Holy Spirit who confirms us in goodness despite all obstruction, strengthens us not only to face difficulties, but also to hold fast to our convictions, our faith and our love. The Holy Spirit does not train soldiers, but He forms souls who freely put themselves in the service of the Lord out of love for Him. This is why this birth is best understood through the lens of “belonging.”
ii.It brings about joy. To be joyful does not mean to laugh, but to live in truth and peace of mind, and to work on expressing what’s inside of us with simplicity and fidelity.
iii.It is a calling to openness on two complementary levels: first, openness to the Lord Jesus through a spiritual life, which includes worship and a quality relationship based on various spiritual practices and on the spiritual experience that stems from being in contact with Him and living out a special relationship with Him; second, openness to our neighbor, i.e., every person we meet and live with, so we are no longer closed off and shackled by our selfishness, but, instead, we go out to meet and accept our neighbor as he or she is. This second level of openness is the fruit of the first level, inasmuch as a good relationship with the Lord undoubtedly results in a good relationship with our neighbor.
iv.It is living in communion: this communion is the other side, and the complement, of openness. Communion with the other means that the other now has a place in my mind and heart. The other is no longer absent from my mind, occupation, and service. We have acquired a sense of community and an open communal mentality. We are a Church wherever we go, because we have faith, we live love, and we realize hope. All this has been ingrained in us by the Holy Spirit.
3.As we stand before the manger to meditate and understand the meaning of God’s presence among us, and the meaning of our response to Him – which is how a Holy Day truly becomes a feast – we realize that this belonging requires us:
- To read the signs (a child wrapped in swaddling clothes), which means to bring the sign to reality in order to give it meaning, and to avoid being trapped in superficial understanding.
- To live in the present, and to take all the time we need. Living in the past paralyzes us and makes us miss precious opportunities. Living in the future is living in a fantasy that may never come true. Living in the present is living in reality where we experience truth and beauty. Let us be mindful of time, because it goes by fast. But how are we to benefit from it? Recommended reading: the book “Le Moine et le Psychiatre” (The Monk and the Psychiatrist).
- Order and organization to create inner peace (Cf. St Augustine), which means placing everything where it should be, because chaos troubles the soul.
- To nourish a sincere, transparent, clear, and peaceful relationship with God. This, in turn, results in sincere and mature relationships with others, collaboration, sharing, and forgiveness. Consequently, the community thus strengthened benefits its members even more.
We conclude with the story of the four candles of the Temple that teaches us that “hope brings back belonging.”
The story goes: In a Temple there were four lighted candles, and the Temple was so quiet that the candles could be heard whispering to one another.
The first one said: “I am called ‘Peace.’ I do not believe that people can keep me. I must extinguish myself.” So its flame dimmed and went out.
The second one said: “I am called ‘Faith.’ Unfortunately, I have become superficial and people are not interested in knowing anything about me. There is no need for me to stay lit.” So its flame went out.
The third one said: “I am called ‘love.’ I no longer have the strength to stay lit. People ignore me, put me aside, and don’t care for me. They even forget those closest to them and don’t love them.” In an instant its flame went out.
Suddenly, a child walks into the Temple and sees the three candles extinguished. He wondered: What is the meaning of this? These candles should all be lit. And he starts to cry.
Then, the fourth candle said: “Fear not, little one. As long as my flame burns, we can always light up the other candles. I am called ‘Hope.’”
With bright eyes, the child took the candle of “hope,” and with it he lit the three other candles: Peace, Faith and Love.
This is the meaning of the story: the child is Jesus in the manger who brought us hope in order to rekindle the love, peace and faith which humanity has stopped practicing. This child also represents each one of us. We are called, through our belonging to the Lord, to be instruments that God and His people use to rekindle the flames of faith, love and peace. We do so by always holding fast to hope inside us, so that the hymn of the Angels at the birth of Jesus may come true: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and good will to all.”
In conclusion, belonging, which is a new birth, is a new identity modeled after the identity of Jesus which He reveals to us at His birth:
1.The identity of Jesus:
Name: Savior of the world.
Age: Eternity
Place of birth: Bethlehem – a cave. But the parents are heavenly.
File number: 1, because He is One in Three Persons.
2.Our identity:
Name: Christians, meaning helpers of Christ in the salvation of the world.
Age: We are born anew every second.
Place of birth: The baptismal font which is renewed through the Sacrament of reconciliation, and every time we live a rewarding experience with the Lord.
File number: 2001 (the current year), which is the age of the Church to which we belong and whose children we are.
Questions:
- In the cave of Bethlehem we contemplate Mary as she quietly contemplates Jesus, God’s Incarnate Word. Mary teaches us to belong to God’s word. How to achieve this?
- In the cave of Bethlehem we contemplate Joseph, standing by Jesus and Mary’s side, living faithfully for the Holy Family, teaching us to belong to the “family.” How can this be accomplished?
- In the cave of Bethlehem we contemplate the Shepherds and the Magi coming from far and near to adore Jesus and present him with offerings. They teach us to belong to the Church that Jesus gathers from all parts of the world and all races. How do we belong to the Church?
- In the cave of Bethlehem we contemplate the manger in which Jesus sleeps – the manger where animal food is placed. Jesus transformed this manger into a Cross on which He lay in order to give us His Body and Blood as nourishment. This teaches us to belong to the Eucharist. What does belonging to the Eucharist mean, and how to achieve it?
- In and outside the cave of Bethlehem, we find Jesus and contemplate how He handled opposition and quarrels: Herod wanted to kill Him and rejected Him. People in His own hometown rejected Him and wanted to throw Him out. Yet, Jesus held on to a sense of belonging to His home. He was a Nazarene who lived in His hometown, paid taxes, respected all laws, in order to teach us to belong to our home and country. How to accomplish this belonging?
