FOR POPE FRANCIS (VICAR OF CHRIST), THE THEOLOGIAN ISN'T JUST A SIMPLE SCHOLAR OF GOD, BUT RATHER MUCH MORE. HE OR SHE IS A SCHOLAR AT THE SERVICE OF A PEOPLE, THE CHURCH, TO WHICH HE OR SHE BELONGS AND IS NURTURED BY. THERE'S NO ROOM FOR INDIVIDUALIST THEOLOGIANS WHO COMPETE AMONGST THEMSELVES TO SEE WHO KNOWS MORE.
HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS (VICAR OF CHRIST),
"A THEOLOGY THAT HELPS EVERY CHRISTIAN PROCLAIM AND SHOW IS NECESSARY; ABOVE ALL, THE SAVING FACE OF GOD OF THE MERCIFUL GOD, ESPECIALLY IN LIGHT OF SOME UNPRECEDENTED CHALLENGES THE HUMAN BEING FACES TODAY."
POPE FRANCIS MET WITH THE ORGANIZATION IN HONOR OF ITS 50TH ANNIVERSARY. THE ASSOCIATION WAS CREATED WITH THE GOAL OF HELPING PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL. - ROMEREPORTS.COM DECEMBER 29, 2017 -
HENCE, I EARNESTLY AND PROFOUNDLY BELIEVED THAT AS FAR AS SPIRITUALITY IS CONCERN. IT CAN ONLY COME FROM GOD, THE AUTHOR. THUS, THERE IS NO SUCH THING, AS COPYRIGHT, OR IT IS PRODUCED OR WRITTEN BY ME OR IT IS MINE; THE WORD OF GOD, THE SACRED SCRIPTURE/HOLY BIBLE.
"I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE." - JOHN 16:12-15 -
ALL WRITERS, PERTAINING TO SPIRITUALITY WERE DEFINITELY QUOTED OR TAKE FROM HERE AND THERE, WHICH MAY BE ON AND FROM SOME OTHER WRITERS ARTICLES, BOOKS, BLOGS, OR SITES, ESPECIALLY THE "WORD OF GOD" THE SACRED SCRIPTURE/HOLY BIBLE. BUT IN REALITY, IT IS FIRST USED ALREADY, PERHAPS, LONG, LONG TIME AGO.
"THIS DISCIPLE IS THE ONE WHO VOUCHES FOR THESE THINGS AND HAS WRITTEN THEM DOWN, AND WE KNOW THAT HIS TESTIMONY IS TRUE. THERE ARE MANY OTHER THINGS THAT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST DID; IF ALL WERE WRITTEN DOWN, THE WORLD ITSELF, I SUPPOSE, WOULD NOT HOLD ALL THE BOOKS THAT WOULD HAVE TO BE WRITTEN." - JOHN 21:24-25 -
JUST AS GOD ORIGINALLY INSPIRED THE SACRED SCRIPTURE/HOLY BIBLE. GOD HAS USED THIS MEANS TO PRESERVE HIS 'WORD' FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS. BUT BEHIND THE WRITING LAY PERIODS OF TIME WHEN THESE MESSAGES WERE CIRCULATED IN SPOKEN FORM. (ORAL TRADITION) THE STORIES OF THE PATRIARCHS WERE PASSED FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION BY WORD OF MOUTH BEFORE THEY WERE WRITTEN. (WRITTEN TRADITION)
THE MESSAGES OF THE PROPHETS WERE DELIVERED ORALLY BEFORE THEY WERE FIXED IN WRITING. NARRATIVES OF THE LIFE AND MINISTRY OF CHRIST JESUS WERE REPEATED ORALLY FOR TWO OR THREE DECADES BEFORE THEY WERE FIXED IN WRITING.
THEREFORE, SACRED SCRIPTURE/HOLY BIBLE QUOTATION, THAT IS, HOW ANYONE AND I PUT WORD OF GOD INTO SENTENCES OR PUT WORDS INTO SENTENCES. REMEMBER ALWAYS! NO MATTER HOW THE "WORD OF GOD" AND WORDS PUT INTO SENTENCES, IN TRUTH, EVERYONE STARTED AND TOOK IT FROM THE MAIN SOURCE, THAT IS, FROM THE WITNESSES AND FROM THE SACRED SCRIPTURE/HOLY BIBLE; "WORD OF GOD."
"IT IS TRUE, GOD SENT HIS WORD TO THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL, AND IT WAS TO THEM THAT THE GOOD NEWS OF PEACE WAS BROUGHT BY JESUS CHRIST - BUT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD OF ALL MEN.
YOU MUST HAVE HEARD ABOUT THE RECENT HAPPENINGS IN JUDAEA; ABOUT JESUS OF NAZARETH AND HOW HE BEGAN IN GALILEE, AFTER JOHN THE BAPTIST HAD BEEN PREACHING BAPTISM. GOD HAD ANOINTED HIM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND WITH POWER, AND BECAUSE GOD WAS WITH HIM, JESUS WENT ABOUT DOING GOOD AND CURING ALL WHO HAD FALLEN INTO THE POWER OF THE DEVIL.
NOW I, ( SIMON PETER / PETER ) AND THOSE WITH ME, CAN WITNESS TO EVERYTHING JESUS DID THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRYSIDE OF JUDAEA AND IN JERUSALEM ITSELF; AND ALSO TO THE FACT THAT THEY KILLED HIM BY HANGING HIM ON A TREE, YET THREE DAYS AFTERWARDS GOD RAISED HIM TO LIFE AND ALLOWED HIM TO BE SEEN, NOT BY THE WHOLE PEOPLE BUT ONLY BY CERTAIN WITNESSES GOD HAD CHOSEN BEFOREHAND.
NOW WE ARE THOSE WITNESSES - WE HAVE EATEN AND DRUNK WITH HIM AFTER HIS RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD - AND JESUS CHRIST HAS ORDERED US TO PROCLAIM THIS TO HIS PEOPLE AND TO TELL THEM THAT GOD HAS APPOINTED HIM TO JUDGE EVERYONE, ALIVE AND DEAD.
IT IS TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST THAT ALL THE PROPHETS BEAR THIS WITNESS: THAT ALL WHO BELIEVE IN JESUS WILL HAVE THEIR SINS FORGIVEN THROUGH HIS NAME." - ACTS 10:36-43 -
THEOLOGY? ISN'T THAT THE STUDY OF RELIGION? SO, WHAT DOES IT HAVE TO DO WITH ME? ISN'T IT CONCERN PRIESTS, THEOLOGIANS AND THE VATICAN?
THEOLOGY HAS LITTLE TO DO WITH ME, HASN'T IT?
Most of us think that theology is the concern of specialists, an academic subject that has little to do with lay person. Yet, the Christian theology that we accept today has its roots in the faith experiences of the Hebrews' search for God, their reflection on those experiences and their response to Him.
As Rev. Fr. Michael Amaladoss SJ, the Assistant to Father General Peter-Hans Kolvenbach SJ, responsible for Dialogue and Ecumenism (May 1992-...) puts it, "Faith looks, not only backward to God's saving and powerful presence in history, but also to the future that God invites us to create in the power of the Word and of the Spirit. Theology is therefore not an abstract philosophical elaboration of eternal verities reserved to a few expert professionals. It is a discerning search for God in the here and now of history that is the concern of everyone".
In this sense, theology must be the concern of every Christian and more so of every Christian in Malaysia.
It is the recognition of the Malaysian situation, specifically that of Saint Francis Xavier's Church (Petaling Jaya, Selangor.), that has prompted the central argument in Theology of Shoes-off, an initial effort on the part of Rev. Fr. Joseph (Jojo) Fung SJ to identify the elements that could form our very own Malaysian Theology.
Rev. Fr. Amaladoss SJ has this to say about Theology of Shoes-off. The flowering of local theology is a sign of the rootedness and maturity of a particular Church. So I am glad to welcome and introduce this pioneering effort by Rev. Fr. Joseph (Jojo) Fung SJ to develop a Malaysian theology of "Shoes-off".
BY REV. FR. JOSEPH MATTHEW FUNG JEE VUI ( JOJO ) SJ, was the Parish Priest of SFX Church (Petaling Jaya, Selangor.) from 1988 to 1992.
"EACH ONE OF US, HOWEVER, HAS BEEN GIVEN HIS OWN SHARE OF GRACE, GIVEN AS THE LORD JESUS CHRIST ALLOTTED IT. IT WAS SAID THAT HE WOULD:
WHEN HE ASCENDED TO THE HEIGHT, HE CAPTURED PRISONERS,
HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.
WHEN IT SAYS, 'HE ASCENDED,' WHAT CAN IT MEAN IF NOT THAT HE DESCENDED RIGHT DOWN TO THE LOWER REGIONS OF THE EARTH? THE ONE WHO ROSE HIGHER THAN ALL THE HEAVENS TO FILL ALL THINGS IS NONE OTHER THAN THE ONE WHO DESCENDED.
AND TO SOME, HIS GIFT WAS THAT THEY SHOULD BE APOSTLES; TO SOME, PROPHETS; TO SOME, EVANGELISTS; TO SOME, PASTORS AND TEACHERS; SO THAT THE SAINTS TOGETHER MAKE A UNITY IN THE WORK OF SERVICE, BUILDING UP THE BODY OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
IN THIS WAY WE ARE ALL TO COME TO UNITY IN OUR FAITH AND IN OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE SON OF GOD, UNTIL WE BECOME THE PERFECT MAN, FULLY MATURE WITH THE FULLNESS OF CHRIST HIMSELF.
THEN WE SHALL NOT BE CHILDREN ANY LONGER, OR TOSSED ONE WAY AND ANOTHER AND CARRIED ALONG BY EVERY WIND OF DOCTRINE, AT THE MERCY OF ALL THE TRICKS MEN PLAY AND THEY CLEVERNESS IN PRACTISING DECEIT.
IF WE LIVE BY THE TRUTH AND IN LOVE, WE SHALL GROW IN ALL WAYS INTO CHRIST JESUS, WHO IS THE HEAD BY WHOM THE WHOLE BODY IS FITTED AND JOINED TOGETHER, EVERY JOINT ADDING ITS OWN STRENGTH, FOR EACH SEPARATE PART TO WORK ACCORDING TO IT FUNCTION. SO THE BODY GROWS UNTIL IT HAS BUILT ITSELF UP, IN LOVE." - EPHESIANS 4:7-16 -
WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE/HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY.
The Lord Jesus Christ, promised to us that our mission on this earth is really and utmost important for our own salvation.
"I tell you solemnly, there is no one who has left house, wife, brothers, parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God who will not be given repayment many times over in this present time, in the world to come, Eternal Life." - Luke 18:28-30 -
'Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?'
"Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and acts on them - I will show you what he/she is like. He is like a man who when he built his house dug, and dug deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built.
But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man who built his house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!" - Luke 6:46-49 -
HOW? AND IN WHAT WAY, WHEN IT COME TO UNDERSTANDING MATTERS: WHAT I WAS ALWAYS BEING TOLD IS: THERE ARE WAYS AND PREFERENCES TO COMPREHEND ALL MATTERS, WHETHER IT IS OF SPIRITUALITY AND OF UNSPIRITUALITY.
FIRSTLY, IN A LITERALLY MANNER: THAT IS, USED FOR EMPHASIS OR TO EXPRESS STRONG FEELING WHILE NOT BEING LITERALLY TRUE.
SECONDLY, IN A HUMANLY MANNER: THAT IS, FROM A HUMAN POINT OF VIEW, IN A HUMANLY MANNER, BY HUMAN MEANS; WITHIN ABILITY; WITH HUMAN FEELING OR KINDNESS.
THIRDLY, IN A SPIRITUALLY MANNER: THAT IS, IN A WAY THAT RELATES TO OR AFFECTS THE HUMAN SPIRIT OR, SOUL AS OPPOSED TO MATERIAL OR PHYSICAL THINGS.
FINALLY, IN AN UNSPIRITUAL MANNER: THAT IS, NOT SPIRITUAL. BUT SECULAR AND WORLDLY.
Page 19A
Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. Thank You. God bless. By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
No comments:
Post a Comment