Towards an experience of Jesus
For almost five years I was privileged to live at the foot of Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa. Every morning we looked up with a great expectation if the snow-capped peak would show itself. When it did, my day would begin by spending a few minutes just admiring its grandeur. For the Chagga people of Tanzania, who live around Kilimanjaro, this once a volcanic crater is the abode of God: ‘Kilima cha Ruah’ – as they called it! Mountains are seen as locations of God-experience in many traditional cultures, and in many of the world religions. It is not by chance then that one of the classical works of St John of the Cross is […]
Month: February 2011
Sermon for Cycle A – 4th Sunday of Lent: Light of the World
The Light of the World
4th Sunday in Lent – Cycle A
The three Sundays before the Palm Sunday in Cycle A of the liturgical year are special. The gospel passages from the Gospel of John develop three central themes relevant to our experience of Jesus:
Jesus, the Living Water (Jn 4: the Samaritan woman) – 3rd Sunday of Lent
Jesus, the Light of the World (Jn 9: the man born blind) – 4th Sunday of Lent
Jesus, the New Life (Jn 11: raising of Lazarus) – 5th Sunday of Lent
The gospel reading of this Sunday (the 2nd in the sequel) invites us to reflect on the story of the encounter between Jesus, the man born blind, and the Pharisees, so that we may experience Jesus as the Light of the World.
What does light do? It dispels darkness; it makes us recognise possibilities. In the context of the gospel of today, the light helps us […]
Sermon for Cycle A – 4th Sunday of Easter Homily
Jesus, the Shepherd, is the Gate to Abundant Life
(Jn 10:1-10)
As we turn the pages of the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament), we see that God has an uncontested predilection for shepherds: Abel, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, Prophet Amos, and the list can go on. John Bosco, the founder of my religious order also was a shepherd boy! You see, God seems to have a predilection for the shepherds, because shepherds make very dedicated leaders. When it comes to taking care of their flock – their people – they can even put themselves at risk.
Today is the 4th Sunday of Easter. Every year, this Sunday is celebrated as the Good Shepherd Sunday and Vocations Sunday. Each year, for the gospel reading, we hear one part of John 10. This year, being Year A, we listen to the first part of […]
Das Gebet des Demütigen
Das Gebet des Demütigen dringt durch die Wolken
Gleichnis vom Pharisäer und Steuereinnehmer Lk 18,9-14 und Sir 35,21
Es ist einige Jahre her, da hielt ich dies für eine wunderbare Beschreibung für das, was Gebet bedeutet: „Im Gebet nehme ich wahr, wer ich in der Gegenwart Gottes bin.“ Mit dieser Definition konnte ich die verschiedenen Formen des Gebetes erklären. Wenn ich mich als abhängig von Gott erlebe, werde ich ein Bittgebet an ihn richten. Wenn ich mich als Sünder wahrnehme, werde ich ein Gebet der Reue sprechen. Wenn ich merke, was Gott alles für mich getan hat, werde ich im Gebet meinen Dank ausdrücken.
Mit Begeisterung habe ich diese Definition bei meinen Einkehrtagen mit jungen Leuten benutzt. Ich konnte damit beeindrucken. Aber nur bis zu einem bestimmten Tag. An diesem besonderen Tag wurde die schöne Definition durch die Frage einer jungen Teilnehmerin hinweg gefegt. „Father,“ sagte sie, „und was ist mit Gott bei […]
Religious Experience in Childhood and Adolescence
A Summary of:
Tamminen, K. (1994). Religious Experiences in Childhood and Adolescence: A viewpoint of Religious Development Between the Ages of 7 and 20. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 4(2), 61-85.
Introduction
Kalevi Tamminen, the author of the present article was a professor at the University of Helsinki. He received the William James Award (Div 36/APA), in 1995. He has authored several articles and his major works include, Tamminen, K. (1991). Religious Development in Childhood and Youth: an Empirical Study.
This article, that reports only one aspect of a larger research project, is similar to other works that have been carried out elsewhere in the world. A few salient ones among them are,
Elkind, D. & Elkind, S.F. (1962). Varieties of religious experience in young adolescents.
Goldman, R. (1964). Religious Thinking from Childhood to Adolescence.
Cavalletti, S. (1992). Religious potential of the Child.
Hay, D. & Nye, R. (2006). The spirit of the child.
Tamminen […]