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Our Faith
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 WHERE
IS GOD? HERE!
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By Father
Karel J Veeger, MSC
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Being
limited human beings of flesh and blood, we cannot experience and
define the
Kingdom of
God, who is infinite and pure Spirit. We can only talk about God
and His Kingdom if we take off from the contemporary experience of
our existence in the world and from within it. Jesus Himself had
to do so. For Him, too, it was impossible to explain His Father’s
project, for He lives in an “impenetrable light”. So, He offered
His disciples parables. A parable is a metaphor or simile from
nature or common life, that by its vividness or strangeness makes
a person stand still and selfless; it only indicates the direction
his thoughts should take towards the One who “IS” at immeasurable
distance, where He cannot be seen.
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Jesus’ story
of the women and her lost coin, of the shepherd and the sheep are
parables that reflected His time and the world He lived in. They
were drawn from the reality of daily life as it was experienced at
that time. U
 sing
the words “Father”, “Son” and “Holy Spirit”, Jesus used metaphors,
which should be understood as familiar indicators of God, who in
Himself still remains beyond comprehension. However, they tell us
that at the same time, God is giving and receiving, now and from
eternity, passive in His perfection and active, One and Many.
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Metaphors
and parables are always more or less bound by their own time. In
his spiritual
Readings,
Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church, (born in the
year 540), talks about the Omnipresence of God. In a monastery in
the territory of Laycaonia there was a monk of very holy life,
called Martyrius. One day, he was making his way from his own
monastery to another, in order to visit his spiritual director
there. As he was proceeding along the road, he came upon a leper,
whose limbs were covered with the sores caused by elephantiasis.
The leper said that he wanted to return to the place he was
staying, but was too exhausted to do so. He indicated that his
place was on the road along which Martyrius was hurrying. The man
of God pitied the leper’s exhaustion, and immediately spread out
the cloak he was wearing on the ground. He laid the leper on the
cloak and wrapped him in it, raised him upon his shoulders, and
bore him along with him. As Martyrius was approaching the
monastery, he began to cry out in a loud voice: “Hurry, open the
gates quickly! Bro. Martyrius is coming carrying the Lord!” As
soon as Martyrius reached the gates, the man he thought was a
leper, leapt down from his shoulders and revealed himself as
Jesus. As Martyrius looked on, He returned to heaven and while He
was ascending He said: “Martyrius, you did not feel shame for Me
on earth. I will not feel shame for you in Heaven”.
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As soon as
the holy man entered the monastery, the abbot said to him.
“Martyrius, where is the one you were carrying?” Martyrius
answered him: “If I had known who he was, I would have held on to
his feet”. Then he said that when he was carrying him, he had not
felt any weight at all. Are you surprised at this? How could he
feel the weight of one who was bearing his bearer?
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- In our
days, mass suffering seems to be on the increase and is of a scale
unheard of before. Just remember the millions of victims of the
genocide in Rwanda, the civil war in Sudan, and the September 11
disaster in New York and Washington. We have heard people saying,
“Where is God?” However, many more discovered how disaster and
suffering brought out the best in man. At times of suffering,
God’s Love is at work. When thousands of victims fled down the
stairs of the World Trade Center, rescue workers and fire fighters
rushed up the stairs not thinking of the risk that at any moment
the building might collapse. They just wanted to do whatever
possible, to help and save, and to assist those in extreme need.
Selflessness took over from selfishness! For some following days,
thousands of volunteers jointed together regardless of different
social class and position. They made God’s love and seeming
remoteness visible and touchable. They were the living parables of
our time. They were the living metaphors, by whom the infinite God
entered the finite experience of men on earth. They made numerous
people answer the question “Where is God?” with “He is here!” His
indescribable love manifested itself in the goodness of many, who
forgot themselves and thought of others only. They made many
others understand what the kingdom of God is really like.
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TELL US
LIKE IT IS!
- Has
something wonderful and unique happened in your life lately? Did
God answer your prayer in a very unexpected way? Did you, like
Isaiah, meet God’s whisper?
- Have
you felt His powerful hand working in your life recently?
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Everyday, people are experiencing God’s mighty Word in their
lives and it is a pity that very few know about it. Do you have
a story to tell? Some Good News to share?
- E-mail
us (genesis@catholic.org)
or fax us (021-6627384), and tell us about it. That’s right! You
don’t have to be a great writer to do this. We can help you
write it – just tell us like it is!
- Don’t
forget to write the subject: “Let Me Tell You A Story”
For comments, suggestions
or ideas:
Write us: Jl. Bacang No. 20
Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan, Indonesia
Call us: (6221) 720-3824
Fax us: (6221) 662-7384
Genesis
Catholic Community
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Rights Reserved 2003
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part of this website may be copied, reproduced or modified without
the permission from the webmaster.
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IN THIS ISSUE:
HIS Servant
by Bro. Pete Lapid
The Father Speaks
By Fr. S. Binzler, SJ
Our Faith
By Fr. KJ Veeger, MSC
Place of Refuge
By Philip Yuson
Surabaya Corner
By Ramon Martillano
Community Life
By Armand Sol
Sharing
By Princess Martillano
Straight from the Heart
By Carolle Bautista
God Answers Prayers
By Beth Manibog
On Focus
By Sansu Garin
Saint for the Month
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