Pope Benedict XVI at Ground Zero
Pope Benedict XVI visits Ground Zero, site of the collapse of the World Trade Center in New York April 20, 2008.
Prayer of Pope Benedict XVI at Ground Zero
O God of love, compassion, and healing,
look on us, people of many different faiths
and traditions,
who gather today at this site,
the scene of incredible violence and pain.
We ask you in your goodness
to give eternal light and peace
to all who died here —
the heroic first-responders:
our fire fighters, police officers,
emergency service workers, and
Port Authority personnel,
along with all the innocent men and women
who were victims of this tragedy
simply because their work or service
brought them here on September 11, 2001.
We ask you, in your compassion
to bring healing to those
who, because of their presence here that day,
suffer from injuries and illness.
Heal, too, the pain of still-grieving families
and all who lost loved ones in this tragedy.
Give them strength to continue their lives
with courage and hope.
We are mindful as well
of those who suffered death, injury, and loss
on the same day at the Pentagon and in
Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Our hearts are one with theirs
as our prayer embraces their pain and suffering.
God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world:
peace in the hearts of all men and women
and peace among the nations of the earth.
Turn to your way of love
those whose hearts and minds
are consumed with hatred.
God of understanding,
overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy,
we seek your light and guidance
as we confront such terrible events.
Grant that those whose lives were spared
may live so that the lives lost here
may not have been lost in vain.
Comfort and console us,
strengthen us in hope,
and give us the wisdom and courage
to work tirelessly for a world
where true peace and love reign
among nations and in the hearts of all.
Inspired by a challenge from someone that I need to learn more about Islam combined with my own desire to check in on my thoughts, I have listen to 15 to 20 hours of podcasting from a few different web sites. I found a glimmer of hope from Zaid Shakir and website: http://www.zaidshakir.com titled New Islamic Directions. He’s the only Muslim I have discovered so far that has much positive to say about Christians. That’s unfortunate. I’ll keep looking and listening.
By the way, I think Zaid Shakir was invited to speak on Dutch TV after the release of Fitna.
From Pope Benedict’s prayer at the World Trade Center site in New York I noted…
“God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world:
peace in the hearts of all men and women
and peace among the nations of the earth.
Turn to your way of love
those whose hearts and minds
are consumed with hatred.
God of understanding,
overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy,
we seek your light and guidance
as we confront such terrible events.
Grant that those whose lives were spared
may live so that the lives lost here
may not have been lost in vain.
Comfort and console us,
strengthen us in hope,
and give us the wisdom and courage
to work tirelessly for a world
where true peace and love reign
among nations and in the hearts of all.”
This is in stark contrast to the better than 75% of the content I listened to from Islamic podcast sites im May 2008 that are still intent on bashing Christians. At three of the sites I learned that Muslims report that Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, David, John The Baptist, Mary, and Jesus are all identified as Muslim prophets…and Christians are confused followers that don’t yet understand the big picture of Islam.
I also googled Pope Benedict Islam and found quite a bit including a Wikipedia summary titled Pope Benedict XVI Islam controversy that recounted that in response to comments found objectionable, Muslim fundamentalists fire-bombed a Greek Orthodox Church and an Anglican Church in the West Bank by a group called the Lions of Monotheism (a poke at the Christian Trinitarian belief). A third church in Gaza City was fire bombed. And worst of all, five days later, 65 year old Sister Leonella Scobati was shot and killed at the Austrian run children’s hospital near Mogadishu, Somalia. A senior Somali Islamist indicated there was a link to the Pope’s speech on Islam.
“Out of our memory…of the Holocaust we must forge an unshakeable oath with all civilized people that never again will the world stand silent, never again will the world…fail to act in time to prevent this terrible crime of genocide….we must harness the outrage of our own memories to stamp out oppression wherever it exists. We must understand that human rights and human dignity are indivisible.” From the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. and Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States, Remarks at the Presentation of the Final Report of the President’s Commission on the Holocaust, September 27, 1979.
Reaching out to Muslims and Non-Muslims
There are a few Islamic web sites that invite Muslims and Non-Muslims to learn about Islam. In some of those web sites non-Muslims may also be invited to share thoughts. This may be a good place for dialogue…and hopefully this number will grow. Also consider reciprocating the invitation and inviting them to SQPN.
Start with the question…Are non-Muslims invited to post messages on this site?
I believe there are some Muslims that are trying to help build bridges between Muslims and Christians and they likely need our help so they will have good information that can be shared with their Muslim brothers and sisters that are also interested in building bridges.
A word of caution to people considering blogging on Islamic web sites. It’s a good idea to be clear to non-Christians that we do not speak from a position of authority in the church, rather we are one person sharing our understanding with another.
If we find a site where non-Muslims are invited to post input, we should periodically check in with the site and share our thoughts and should always be prepared to sign our own names to the thoughts we share. This will help us be careful to avoid messages that are controversial and could be misunderstood as personal challenges. Signing our own names help to also keep emotions in check.
It is my judgment there are two initial ways to safely reach out on web sites that seek our input:
(1) The Golden Rule. Matthew 7:12
(2) Share dialogue on our personal understanding of our Christian faith.
It has become all to clear to me that there are many Muslims that are very vocal in sharing an understanding of the Christian faith and they really don’t fully understand the Christian faith. Be prepared for these vocal challenges and be prepared to respond using good judgment that verifies your response with at least two reliable sources before it becomes posted on the internet forever.
Our initial efforts to reach out may be best limited to efforts that help clarify our personal understandings of Jesus’ teachings. This may be just the ticket to build bridges and win over the hearts and minds of Muslims along the way. Based on current tensions, it is very wise to avoid sharing our understanding of the Islamic faith with someone that is Muslim until you get to know them. Instead, ask a lot of open ended questions that may help Muslims think about their own faith. In early stages of dialog it is all too easy to have someone misinterpret what is being said and take offense.
If you do unfortunately get into a debate of Old Testament versus Sharia Law the opportunity to a build a bridge has been lost. Quickly shake the dust from your feet and move on to someone that wants dialogue and not debate.
__________________
One Catholic soundbite that can be easily understood comes from the Balimore Catechism … The purpose of our life is to know God, love God, and serve God in this world and to be happy with him forever in the next.
Some biblical readings that may be helpful places to start dialog include:
Jeremiah 31:31-34 A new covenant.
Matthew 22:36-40 The Greatest Commandment
Matthew 7:15-20 A tree and its fruits (also Matthew 12:33-37; Luke 6:43-45; Luke 13:6-9)
James 2:14-26 Faith and Works
Regarding an easy answer to questions on the Trinity: Christians believe God can be found in three places: (1) God is above and beyond all people at all times…he is across town, around the world, and out in the Universe right now in places we have never been and never will be (God the Father and Creator). (2) God is present among us when two or more people gather together in his name (Jesus the Son (and now the Body of Christ) walk among people). (3) God is within people whether they are alone or with others (The Holy Spirit - lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil)). God can be found in all three of these places right now. This is a simple explanation of what Christians mean by the Trinity.
___________________
IMPORTANT POINT — Avoid efforts for evangelization and conversion.
Once people are identified as belonging to a certain religion, they could be labeled as apostates by fundamental members of the religion if they abandon that religion. The Catholic Church may in certain circumstances respond to apostasy by excommunicating the apostate, while the traditional holy writings of both Judaism (Deuteronomy 13:6-10) and Islam (al-Bukhari, Diyat, bab 6) demand the death penalty for apostates. How tragic is that. The most weak and vulnerable become captive to their choice for religion with death threats. The labeling and threats will probably eliminate the possibility that someone would want to come back to that religion if they felt unsafe. Choices for faith should come from within each one of us.
One of the sources for growth in the Islamic religion stems from an enthusiastic group of converts that do a good job reaching out and harvesting low hanging fruit and bringing them into the Islamic group where they feel invited, safe, and part of a community.
Low hanging fruit ready for harvest include: (1) people wanting to belong to a community; (2) people that are economically vulnerable; (3) people that feel physically threatened in their neighborhood.
Low hanging fruit also include people wanting to know God yet struggle to understand such Christian concepts as The Trinity. The Islamic faith does a good job finding Catholics and Christians that struggle to understand their faith and offer them a few simple Islamic sound bites that can be easily understood.
__________________
(Matthew 9:9) As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man named Matthew (Levi) sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And Matthew got up and followed him. While he was at the table in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus heard this and said, “Those who are well do not need a doctor, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy not sacrifice’. I did not come to reach out to the righteous, I came to reach out to others.”
Jim in Columbus, Ohio May 6th, 2008 at 2:49 pm For the past two weeks I’ve been praying and processing quite a bit on the state of affairs in a few troubles spots around the globe.
I just listened to “Catholic Insider Episode 53″ that was recorded shortly after “The London Bombings”.
Anne Frank said in her famous diary, “I believe that people are basically good”. I concur with Anne’s statement.
I’ll even go so far as to say that 99.99% of people are basically good. The problem comes when we multiply (1 billion Catholics) x 99.99%; or (1 billion Protestants) x 99.99%; or (1 billion Muslims x 99.99%) we come to a possible 100,000 people that may not be so good. (Note: the innsurgent group in one of the trouble spots is estimated at 20,000 to 30,000 at the time of this posting.)
Looking at it another way, if an average person lives 75 years…
(75 years) x (365 days per year) x (24 hours per day) x 99.99% = 636,934 hours of basically good behavior.
Using a similar calculation with the 1/100th of 1% also suggests that there may be 65 hours of time in someone’s 75 year lifetime when they are not on their best behavior. It’s these 2 to 3 days of time in an average life where we are vulnerable for making huge mistakes that some may call acts of evil.
A solid foundation of prayer and support in a community that is based on a foundation of love, compassion, forgiveness, and restraint, will help one easily overcome those moments where there may be a tough inner struggle. If everyday we say “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” … that may be enough to get someone through their moment of struggle.
If on the other hand, a vulnerable person is invited into an extremist group (a group comprised of the 1/100th of 1% of the population that is not basically good) that encourages violence and works on plans for years on how to achieve a horrific event - we need to interject ourselves into these groups and these situation to reach out and help the vulnerable person overcome their potential moment of weakness.
Group behavior specialists have named the phenomenon “group think”.
The “group think” areas are where we need to interject ourselves. Into those areas where vulnerable hearts and minds can be reached before it is too late. Have a strong sense of purpose and thick skin and venture forth.
Ignoring the “political extremists” or “religious extremists” that are working on evil plans for months or years won’t get it done. I’ve heard the World Trade Center attack, Madrid Railway attack, and London Subway attack were planned for months and years before the vulnerable foot soldiers actually carried out the plans of the evil master mind. We might have been able to reach them because many of the foot soldiers in the terrorist attacks were highly educated and affluent people that only had a sense of belonging with the extremist groups.
We need to have messages of hope in will continually be in place and that will reach the vulnerable person in their moment of need.
We (as bloggers and new media consumers) can collectively do that by sharing the good news in web sites for “political extermist groups” and “religious extremist groups” that invite non-members to share thoughts that may be counter to the “group think” doctrine. Just enough of a message to speak to that 1/100th of 1% in their moment of vulnerability to evil group think is what I propose. A direct message the vulnerable person can pick up on that does not raise the tensions of the extremists.
If we are coming from the 99.99% of the population during the 99.99% of the time when we are strongly grounded in our strongest behavior with a strong group of like minded people interested in reaching out with love, compassion, social justice, the twin commandments, we can walk forward with courage into the web pages of “political extremists” and “religious extremists” and address the potential evils that may be lurking there.
These are one man’s thoughts from Columbus, Ohio.