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Newsletter
No.27
November
2005
Christian Perspectives with Regards to Illegal Immigration
The fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 brought to an end the "cold war" between the West and the East. This bitter global conflict for supremacy between the capitalist West and the communist East conditioned and consumed most of the world's human and material energies and resources.
The world is now experiencing a new problem namely the problem of movement of peoples in search for better life conditions. Europe is encountering a shift of big numbers of people from the world's poor southern hemisphere to the affluent northern hemisphere.
As Malta lies squarely in the middle of this global passage it is no wonder that we are also feeling its consequences.
The magnitude of this problem is eliciting diverse reactions from various sectors in our society. This problem is not simply a political or economical one. It is a human problem. It touches human
persons…."you (God) have made them little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and
honour." Ps 8.5, and "So God created Adam (humankind) in his image, in the image of God he created
them…" Gen 1.27.
As Christians we cannot be indifferent in front of such human predicament.
"I was 'xenos' - a stranger and you welcomed me." Mt 25.36ss. In front of such a reality we are called to discern what is the Lord's will and not let our unbridled passions, unsubstantiated facts or irrational fears to get the better of us and obscure the good conduct of our Christian conscience.
The person of Jesus himself is a great educator in such circumstances. He himself was a stranger from
"Galilee of the gentiles" Mt 4, 5. Jesus is made refugee in Egypt, Mt 2.13-21. He always helped those who were not of his own… curing the Centurion's servant Mt 8.5-13. Jesus preaches that love can never be true if it is not open to the love of our neighbour and the parable of the Good Samaritan teaches us that "our neighbour" includes our adversaries and enemies, Lk 10.29-32. He even dismantles the inward looking and exclusive "fatherland" mentality which divides rather than brings people together. The Church that Jesus bequeaths to the apostles breaks down frontiers. The Church is born at Pentecost when the Good News is preached to all nations. Acts 2.5. St Paul says writing to the Ephesians… "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but your are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. Eph 2. 19-20. In the last Judgement we are all "one" in front of God the Father Ap 7.9.
As Christians we are called to cultivate and practice a spirituality of welcome and acceptance. Our faith is not simply an intellectual knowledge of what constitutes the Kingdom of God. Our faith becomes tangible when we live the Gospel values in real life situations… it is there that we find and build the Kingdom of God.
Every single illegal immigrant that has come to shore in our waters is not an economic or social liability. With the eyes of faith we see Christ himself in the person of every illegal immigrant… beseeching us to show love and compassion… i.e. to conduct ourselves in an ethically correct manner, to offer refuge, to show solidarity and behave with basic civility which are after all the hallmark of every civilised nation.
Vincent Magri SJ
Some questions that can be taken up for further reflection personally or in group meetings.
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Do I really know why people risk everything even their lives to find better living conditions?
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Do I really know all the facts that surround the problem of illegal immigration?
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Do I know what the Church's Social Teachings says with regards to this global problem?
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Am I aware of what the Church in Malta is doing to help these people?
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Am I aware of my feelings with regards to illegal immigrants and foreigners in our country?
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If Jesus happened to be visiting Malta what opinion would he have with regards to illegal immigrants in our detention centres?
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St. Alberto Hurtado
On the 23rd October, His Holiness Pope
Benedict XVI canonised the Jesuit Alberto Hurtado (1901-52). To get to know
better this Saint we are publishing some interesting links:
Padre A. Hurtado and Spiritual Direction
Habitual Practices: A spiritual companion must give the other
person tools to help him follow Jesus Christ in a free and effective manner.
In the following texts, Fr. Hurtado SJ mentions a few of these tools:
Learning to pray(...) Prayer is the breath of the religious
soul, for this reason the director has not done anything if he has not taught
his disciple to pray.
The first step is to teach vocal prayer although this
is not the most important; it must be done with the fervor of one who is
speaking with God; he should try to bring to it some special intention, for
example for the health of a friend, for the peace of the World etc, not being
preoccupied so much with multiplying prayers but rather making them with full
awareness and recollection.
"These vocal prayers need to be complemented with more
personal prayer. The personal prayer consists of a sincere, real, intimate
conversation with God, based upon the sentiments of gratitude, admiration,
respect, joy, hope. The one new to the interior life will make this prayer in
all the circumstances of his: in his travels, in sports, in the theatre, in
love. This prayer will be nothing more than the supernaturilization of
whatever he was doing in the natural form. It must be as frequent as
breathing. it can be said, without exaggeration, that the spiritual life of
young people depends largely upon taking advantage of these moments."
"Daily meditation, even for a quarter of an hour
each morning, is an excellent, indispensable practice for the supernatural
feeding of the soul; in it one goes deeper into great Christian truths and
acquires a supernatural sense of life."
Spiritual Exercises in retreat, for three or four days
each year, are the most powerful stimulus for detaching oneself from visible
and joining oneself with spirit and faith to invisible realities."
"Before going to sleep each night a few brief minutes of
examinations of conscience; the holy mass and communion as frequently as
possible, hopefully daily, constitute the program of a spiritual life...(PE,
pp. 214-216).
Taken from Jaime Castillon, CIS - Review of
Ignatian Spirituality no.1, 2005
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Book Review:
In Search of Thérèse ,
Patricia O'Connor, London , DLT, The Way of Christian Mystics.
One would have expected Thérèse to have been buried by now under the heap of canonizations mushrooming in the Catholic Church in the last twenty years! However, it seems that the originality of Thérèse's holiness still challenges and appeals to modern man or woman. There is a strong attractiveness in her particular way of doing very ordinary things in an extraordinary way, that is, out of sheer love.
Since the first scholar entered the Carmelite Archives of Lesieux in 1945 to examine Thérèse's original manuscripts, new facts, and quite revealing ones, have been unearthed about this young cloistered nun. As a result, the image of the Little Flower often depicted as a born saint strewn with flowers, has changed considerably. Thérèse has been discovered as a very human down-to-earth person who spent less than nine years in a monastery with the sole aim and firm decision of loving Jesus and serving the other nuns out of love. Hence, the title of this book is very revealing, for the real Thérèse cannot be disclosed without an earnest search.
Patricia O'Connor, who is also the author of a biography of St Thérèse
of Lesieux, does not give us here another biographical account, but a serious study of some of the saint's main traits of character and of her holiness.
In ten brief chapters the author studies the prime attitudes of Thérèse, drawing on the real sources and letting the authentic figure of the saint emerge. The correspondence between the nun and Maurice, a young seminarian far away in the missions, brings out strong human traits formerly unknown, and shows the warmth and affection of Thérèse for this young candidate to the priesthood.
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The most moving and heart-rending description is found in the author's documented account of the saint's trial of faith. The hard test of faith, which cost Thérèse the most excruciating suffering, purified her deep love for God and paved the way to salvation for many.
"In search of Thérèse" is recommended to all those who want to discover the true Thérèse, particularly to those who may still labour under some kind of prejudice misjudging her authentic strong spirituality.
Arthur G. Vella, S.J.
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All Will Be Well in the End
Thinking of calling fire to earth,
thinking of cold and lonely births,
I'm thinking of pain, thinking of peace,
broken people, songs of grief.
I'm thinking of trapped and twisted lives,
forgotten faces long before they died:
I've seen it all before,
so many voices longing to be told.
that all will be well for them
in the end, all will be well
in the end.
Poverty plans and welfare works
empty omens in the air
to haunt the poor, the little ones
with broken hearts and broken homes;
I've heard songs of hate and harsh belief,
songs of anger, so many songs
of grief, of grief,
but all they long for, all they seek
is not in the fire that burns across the sky,
not in the storm on the scatter stone mountain side;
not in the harsh lies, the earthquake scars,
not in the curse of endless wars
but the still, small voice of a silent flame
waiting in darkness, waiting to be named:
and guarding our hearts with our mantles
we waited at the entrance of the cave …
Hoping all will be well, all will be well in the end.
Hoping all will be well and all will be well in the end.
And all will be well for them in the end
and will be well, all manner of things for them
and for us will be well in the end,
All will be well
in the end.
Tom McGuinness S.J.
(In memory of the earthquake victims in Pakistan, remember them in your prayers - the editor)
From the CIS
Programme
Novembru 2005
Kors fuq kif Nitlob aħjar bit-Temperament tal-Personalita’ tiegħi?
X’temperament għandi? X’effett għandu t-temperament tiegħi fit-talb personali u fir-relazzjonijiet ma’ l-oħrajn? Il- kors huwa ta’ 5 laqghat u jesplora u jispjega kif żviluppa l-istudju fuq it-temperamenti sa l-aħħar teoriji li nsibu fil-Psikoloġija llum. Għal aktar tagħrif fuq il-kontenut tal-kors ċempel fl-uffiċju taċ-ĊIS.
Post: Mount St Joseph Retreat House - Mosta
Dati: Kull nhar ta’ Erbgħa: fis-16 u 23 ta’ Novembru u fit-30 u 7 ta’ Diċembru
Hin: Kull 'session' tibda mis-7.00 pm sat-8.30 pm
Jiggwidaw: Fr Alfred Micallef SJ
We
would like to remind you that the Centre for Ignatian
Spirituality offers personal spiritual direction to all
those who would like to have any kind of spiritual
experience like Ignatian retreats in every day life.
Retreats can be tailored according to the needs and
circumstances of the retreatant. CIS can call on experienced
Jesuits, other religious and trained lay people to accompany
retreatants through these experiences.
Anyone
interested can contact the Director on 21344349 or 99864561
or email vince@maltajesuitretreats.com.
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