Sunday Gospel Comment
Alberic Jacovone OSB
YEAR B FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER - 18.5.05 Acts 9,26-31; 1 Jn 3,18-24; Jn 15,1-8 United
in common values
Inter-Religions
Dialogue. In March this year, the
International Inter-Religions Dialogue Conference drew
politicians & dignitaries, scholars & people from the Jewish, Christian and Muslim
faith communities, the three main monotheistic re- ligions in the world. The war in
Iraq made more urgent the already existing need for working together towards
dialogue & respect, mutual understanding & peace. In our multi-cultural society, it
is vital that we work with one another & reach across the boundaries that separate us:
prejudices, cultural & religious misunderstandings, different world-views.
At the Melbourne Conference, speakers from the 3 Traditions explored the common fundamental
values of human experience. On behalf of Judaism Rabbi John Levi, spoke about the
longing for infinity in our life: ‘We nibble at the edge of infinity: the more I
know, the less I know, the more I want to know’. On behalf of Catholics, Mark
Coleridge, Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne, stressed the need to think and act in
personal terms: ‘I am not sitting here between a Jew and a Muslim, but between John
(Rabbi Levi) and Hadi (Professor Adanali). On behalf of Islam, Professor Hadi Adanali,
spoke on the need to hold as worthwhile the va- lues, that come to us our
different cultural and religious memory: ‘ the values that our common ancestry possesses, are
worthy for us now, thousands of years later’. If we in Australia seek harmony and
national cohesion, we cannot afford to let go of such values: longing for
infinity, quest for personal relationships and desire to honour our memory, history, culture and
faith. A
Challenging question: At this
Conference, at one of its workshops, a young Muslim man asked: ‘What do you
tell young people, who no longer attend Syna- gogue, Church or Mosque?’. To
which the speaker from the panel wisely answered: ‘You listen to them’. Yes,
and how true. In the task of giving time and life to our youth,
we will never do enough. Indeed,
precious little is achieved with condemna- tory statements and attitudes.
We need to experience with them the sense of wonder that surrounds us. No matter how
things may change, the eternal questions are still the same: Who am I? What do I
want to do with my life? Where is my self esteem, self confidence, self-worth? Our
young people may appear reckless, bullet-proof and decidedly tall, however they
still need our trust and support; and we must give them space, patience and
understanding. In this, the present Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, has been and is an
inspiration; he has a remarkable charism in addressing young people world wide. He was
the one who literally devised and established ‘World Youth Day’ every two
years. Even last Year at Toronto, knowing how fragile and shaky his health was, he was
still able to establish an incredible rapport with the youth, appealing to their
idealism, encouraging and challenging them. He said: ‘Young people of the third
millennium, young Christians, young people of every religion, I ask you to be like
Francis of Assisi, gentle and courageous guardians of true peace, based on justice and
forgiveness, truth and mercy!... Go forward into the future holding high the lamp
of peace. May the Pope’s example inspire us to work with and for our youth.
(From: ‘The Far East’ May 2003).
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