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The
first chapter of the Catechism of the Catholic Church begins with the
following words: “The desire for God is written in the human heart,
because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw
man to Himself . Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never
stops searching for.” This
“desire for God” which is “written in the human heart” has found
expression in the various religious beliefs and practices that mankind has
had from the beginning of time – from ancestor worship to belief in
various gods, from reverence of various spirits to the great religions of
the world such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam and Christianity. In
the book “Crossing the Threshold of Hope” Pope John Paul II shares his
thoughts about the many different religions that exist in the world today.
On Islam, the Pope has this to say: “In Islam all the richness of
God’s self-revelation, which constitutes the heritage of the Old and New
Testaments, has definitely been set aside. Some of the most beautiful
names in the human language are given to the God of the Koran, but He is
ultimately a God outside of the world, a God who is only Majesty, never
Emmanuel, God-with-us. Islam is not a religion of redemption. There is no
room for the Cross and the Resurrection. Jesus is mentioned, but only as a
prophet who prepares for the last prophet, Mohammed. There is also mention
of Mary, His Virgin Mother, but the tragedy of redemption is completely
absent. Nevertheless, the religiosity of Muslims deserves respect. It is
impossible not to admire, for example, their fidelity to prayer. The image
of believers in Allah who, without caring about time or place, fall to
their knees and immerse themselves in prayer remains a model for all those
who invoke the true God, in particular for those Christians who, having
deserted their magnificent cathedrals, pray only a little or not at
all.” On
Judaism, the Holy Father shares his own experience as a young student in
his home country: “I remember, above all, the Wadowice elementary
school, where at least a fourth of the pupils in my class were Jewish. I
should mention my friendship at school with one of them, Jerzy Kluger, a
friendship that has lasted from my school days to the present. I can
vividly remember the Jews who gathered every Saturday at the synagogue
behind our school. Both religious groups, Catholics and Jews, were united,
I presume, by the awareness that they prayed to the same God. Despite
their different languages, prayers in the church and in the synagogue were
based to a considerable degree on the same texts.” On Buddhism, Pope John Paul II says: “The ‘enlightenment’ experienced by Buddha comes down to the conviction that the world is bad, that it is the source of evil and of suffering for man. To liberate oneself from this evil, one must free oneself from this world, necessitating a break with the ties that join us to external reality, ties existing in our human nature, in our psyche, in our bodies. The more we are liberated from these ties, the more we become indifferent to what is in the world, and the more we are freed from suffering, from the evil that has its source in the world. Do we draw near to God in this way? This is not mentioned in the ‘enlightenment’ conveyed by Buddha. We do not free ourselves from evil through the good which comes from God; we liberate ourselves only through detachment from the world. The fullness of such detachment is not union with God, but what is called nirvana, a state of perfect indifference with regard to the world.” On
Hinduism, the Pope quotes the Second Vatican Council: “In Hinduism men
explore the divine mystery and express it through an endless bounty of
myths and through penetrating philosophical insight. They seek freedom
from the anguish of our human condition, either by way of the ascetic
life, profound meditation, or by taking refuge in God with love and
trust.” On
the animist religions, the Pope says: “At this point it would be helpful
to recall all the primitive religions, the animistic religions which
stress ancestor worship. It seems that those who practice them
are particularly close to Christianity, and among them, the Church’s
missionaries also find it easier to speak a common language. Is there,
perhaps, in this veneration of ancestors a kind of preparation for the
Christian faith in the Communion of Saints, in which all believers whether
living or dead form a single community, a single body? And faith in the
Communion of Saints is, ultimately, faith in Christ, who alone is the
source of life and of holiness for all. There is nothing strange, then,
that the African and Asian animists would become believers in Christ more
easily than followers of the great religions of the Far East.” The
Pope cites the statement of the Second Vatican Council: “The Catholic
Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. The
Church has a high regard for their conduct and way of life, for those
precepts and doctrines which, although differing on many points from that
which the Church believes and propounds, often reflect a ray of that truth
which enlightens all men. However, the Church proclaims and is bound to
proclaim that Christ is ‘the way and the truth and the life’ (Jn
14:6), in whom men must find the fullness of religious life and in whom
God has reconciled everything to Himself.” My
brothers and sisters, almost from the time when Jean and I arrived in
Thailand in July last year, our thoughts and reflections have revolved
around the Church’s mission ad gentes. We are constantly reminded of
what the Holy Father has said that we are “bound to proclaim that Christ
is the way and the truth and the life.” Therefore, Jean and I could not
get over the fact that after almost 400 years of Christianity in Thailand,
there are a mere 300,000 Catholics in the country today. My
brothers and sisters, we would like to encourage you to ponder with us on
the words of the prophet Isaiah: Thus says the Lord: Observe what is
right, do what is just; for my salvation is about to come, my justice,
about to be revealed (Is 56:1). We feel that these words are being
addressed to the people of Thailand and to us. The redeeming grace of
Christ is about to come to Thailand. The Good News of Christ’s salvation
is about to be revealed. And therefore the Lord assures the people of
Thailand: Let not the foreigner say, when he would join himself to the
Lord, “The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.” And the
foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, ministering to him, loving the
name of the Lord, and becoming his servants – them I will bring to my
holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer; for my house shall be
called a house of prayer for all peoples (Is 56:3,6,7) With
this kind of assurance that can come only from the Lord, we are further
told: Others I will gather to him besides those already gathered (Is
56:8). Indeed the time has come for all the children of God, Buddhists or
Christians, to be gathered under the headship of Christ. The Lord has
planned it all along. He sent thousands of young Thai students to the
Philippines over a period of almost two decades so that they could meet
and marry Filipinos. Now God is calling them. He wants them to meet His
Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And He raised this community of
Couples for Christ to be His instrument for this wonderful work of
redemption. My brothers and sisters, we need to place ourselves in the hands of God. He has gathered us under the headship of Christ. Now He wants to gather others. Are you going to offer yourself as God’s instrument to bring others to Him? |
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