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IN
THIS ISSUE:
Cover
Page
by Bro.
Pete Lapid
Our
Faith
By Fr. KJ Veeger, MSC
Place
of Refuge
By
Philip Yuson
Surabaya
Corner
By
Ramon Martillano
Sharing
By
Kathy Quiano
Here's
the Latest
Sharing
By
Dhany Handoyo Saputra
Sharing
By
Raul Loria
Sharing
by
Chris Kamaruddin
Saint
for the Month
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- OUR
FAITH
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  - The
words are saying in Holland: “hoe groter geest, hoe groter
beest.” They may evoke protest, as many highly intelligent
people, make responsible use of their specifically human faculties,
and contribute largely to the common good. Society shows an inborn
respect for people with impressive academic degrees and of high
ranking, who are source of man’s better understanding of himself.
On the other hand, more and more names of VIPs recently appear in
daily press in connection with crimes, which quantitatively stand in
no compare with theft of side mirrors, hub caps, handbags, cell
phones, vehicles, let alone with the numerous petty offences which
are mere flea-bites. Their value runs into millions and even
billions of US dollars.
-
- The
persons, who commit these crimes, are not the little ones, who
desperately try to sustain themselves and their families, but those
who, due to their high social position and high intelligence, are
enabled to commit crimes that are beyond reach of the common man. In
a shrewd way, they make use of opportunities and social setting
which are unknown to ordinary thieves and crooks that populate our
society. The excuse for their criminal behavior is no longer the
urge of making a living but the false belief that what they do is
“best” for the country in the long run, and this should be
“rewarded” right now. Unlike other people whose property is the
fruit of honest and hard work, their wealth smells of embezzlement,
deceit, and administrative malpractice, the help of influential
persons who also receive a share in the “reward.” They
skillfully make use of loopholes in the law and are always on the
alert not to leave behind any evidence. Are they happy people who
bless their good luck in life? I doubt it! We only hope that still a
little of conscience – or of God’s voice – be left in them.
And on time it will be conducive to a different life.
-
- Once
it happened that a man was talking to himself – or did he think
he was talking to himself? – and he heard a voice asking, “how
do you feel?” He was very rich! He lived in a beautiful mansion
with pillars on the front side, like so many in Pondok Indah,
Jakarta. There was a garden with flowers, pine trees and even a
fountain spouting water high in the air. His house was expensively
furnished! Anything people in the world could wish for was around
him – food and wine, oil paintings, entertainment – even good
health was his good luck. “How do you feel?” he heard himself
asking again. And then the answer came to his mind, “No, not
that good!” “Why?” was the next question. And he answered,
“Because I am alone by myself. Inside me everything is empty.
The beautiful flowers are over there in the garden. The walls of
my house are full of the finest paintings in the world, but my
soul is bare and ugly and wicked. The greed by which I collected
all these riches still sticks to my soul. My only faith and my
only love in life have always been “money.” Now I don’t care
any longer for money. However, there is nothing else that takes
its place. I am without love! I cannot love! My soul is impotent
of love as much as my body is! What else does remain when there is
no love?
-
- And
then there was again the voice “hasn’t there been someone who
ever said, WHAT DOES A MAN REALLY GAIN, IF HE OWNS THE WHOLE WORLD
BUT LOSES HIS SOUL IN THE PROCESS?” Indeed nothing! But in God’s
scale of values that comes directly beyond riches of the world. It
is something that comes directly from God Himself. It is LOVE.
People can get it only from Him. Day and night God searches their
heart and mind for it. And when He finds it, He collects it.
-
- But
how do we get it from God? Was love not called a treasure hidden in
the field, or a most precious pearl from the bottom of the deepest
ocean? Man should try to acquire it by selling all his superfluous
possessions and giving the proceeds to the needy.
-
- Months
later, the Good Lord came to visit the man. He had moved to Care
Centre. The walls of his room were bare. “How do you feel?” God
asked. And the immediate answer was “great!” Then he exclaimed
spontaneously, “So it has been YOU talking to me some time
ago…” The man had changed. He was not the angry old man anymore.
Pondering the words he had heard, he had learned that love was the
greatest gain in life. By the grace of God, the big beast in him had
been tamed. And the Good Lord acknowledged him as belonging to Him.
-
- (Ed's
note: Please join Fr. Veeger's 77th birthday celebration
on Aug.16 at 12:00 noon at the Pasturan MSC at Jl. Hasyim Ashari,
Jakarta Pusat.)
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