Reflection for April 11, 2012

“The Golden Rule”

Christianity

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Judaism

What is hateful to you do not do to your neighbor.

That is the entire Torah. The rest is commentary. Go and learn.

Islam

No one is a believer until you desire for another

That which you desire for yourself.

Baha’i

Blessed are those who prefer others before themselves.

Zoroastrianism

Human nature is good only when it does not do unto another

Whatever is not good for its own self.

Sikhism

Be not estranged from one another for God dwells in every heart.

Janism

In happiness and suffering, in joy and grief…

Regard all creatures as you would your own self.

Buddhism

Hurt not others in ways that you yourself find hurtful.

Art: Mary Southard, CSJ 2003 Congregation of St. Joseph

www.ministryofhearts.org

142V Printed by St. Joseph Press

Reflection for April 4, 2012

HOLY WEEK

Christians speak of the "paschal mystery," the process of loss and renewal that was lived and personified in the death and raising up of Jesus. We can affirm that belief in ritual and song, as we do in the Eucharist. However, until we have lost our foundation and ground, and then experience God upholding us so that we come out even more alive on the other side, the expression "paschal mystery" is little understood and not essentially transformative. Paschal mystery is a doctrine that we Christians would probably intellectually assent to, but it is not yet the very cornerstone of our life philosophy. That is the difference between belief systems and living faith. We move from one to the other only through encounter, surrender, trust and an inner experience of presence and power. From Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality, p. 62, 63 Prayer: "Faith is a journey into darkness, into not-knowing." Richard Rohr