Your Cross, My Cross

Published in the Fiji Times, "Off the Wall with Padre James," Wednesday, 4th Apri;, 2012 http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=197742

I recently had the opportunity to travel to Jeju Island with the rest of the church staff of Gaepo Methodist Church, my sponsors and hosts.

                                                                                               

Jeju is Korea's largest island, located in the Korea Strait. It is volcanic island, dominated by Hallasan (Halla Mountain): a volcano 1,950 metres (6,400 ft) high and the highest mountain in South Korea. The island measures approximately 175 kilometres (109 mi) across, end to end, at the widest points, 75 kilometres (47 mi) in length and 64 kilometres (40 mi) in width. 

It has a humid subtropical climate, warmer than that of the rest of Korea, with four distinct seasons. Winters are cool and dry while summers are hot, humid, and sometimes rainy. There is a crater lake which is the only crater lake in South Korea. Even though it was cool and the ocean is too cold to support a reef, when I stood in the sun and looked out to sea, I felt like I was back home!

We only spent a day and a half on the island, but I was able to enjoy a wonderful 3-hour walk along the south coast of the island, visit an amazing place known as the Glass Castle, visit the Youth With A Mission University of Nations, where they have, among other programmes, a Discipleship Training School (DTS). 

I also enjoyed some great local seafood (shellfish, fresh and raw fish, etc).

The highlight of my trip was the St. Isidore Centre, wonderful Catholic community merging agriculture and contemplation. They have a special meditation path which has large bronze sculptures portraying the life and ministry of Jesus. 

I spent some time meditating on the fourteen Stations of the Cross, which depict the Passion of Jesus. The Stations are also known as Via Dolorosa or Via Crucis and originated in pilgrimages to Jerusalem. The object of the Stations is to help the faithful to make a spiritual pilgrimage of prayer, through meditating upon the chief scenes of Christ's sufferings and death. It is an important part of the devotional life for Roman Catholics, and is often performed in a spirit of repatriation for the sufferings and insults that Jesus endured during His Passion.

While there is a Via Dolorosa at the Methodist Theological University in Seoul that I often use for personal meditation, walking the Stations of the Cross at St. Isidore was a profoundly moving experience for me so close to the end of our Lenten journey and with such expressive sculptures.

One of the particularly moving pieces was the 5^th Station of the Cross: Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry the Cross.

Two images haunted me. One was the cruelty in the face of a soldier assaulting a wounded helpless Jesus. The other was of Simon of Cyrene struggling to stand up under the weight of the cross.

One commentator describes the event: “Simon of Cyrene is on his way home, returning from work, when he comes upon the sad procession of those condemned ­ for him, perhaps, it was a common sight. The soldiers force this rugged man from the country to carry the Cross on his own shoulders. How annoying he must have thought it to be suddenly caught up in the fate of those condemned men! He does what he must do, but reluctantly.”

Often we don’t want to get involved with other persons’ business or we don’t want to step out of our comfort zone. We see people in need, struggling with burdens, their eyes if not their voices screaming out to us for help. We ignore their plight. We say, “its not my problem.” Often in our country we are quick to help in times of great communal need, like during this time of disaster. We are not so quick to do so for people in individual moments of crisis. We do not readily take time to think what it would be like to be in that situation.

The flip side is also true. Often we are not willing to share our loads. We insist on bearing the burdens of life, justice etc by ourselves. We stumble with the load and the difficult road; we and fall and because we are too stubborn to let others help, often we cannot get back up.

The idea of the Saviour of the World unable to stand under the weight of the world’s sin and of a normal human being taking up His Cross is a powerful reminder for each of us, no matter how weak and  insignificant we may be or how unrelated we may be to the other, the suffering, the needy.

We are not just called to carry our own cross. Sometimes, maybe often, we are called to put our cross down and help others carry theirs. This gives us the faith that when we are struggling with ours, someone will help us too.

As our country struggles from this latest and possibly greatest of natural disasters, all who are fortunate to be less affected that others need to join hands with those whose lives have been shattered. We do so in the knowledge that if it happened to us they would do the same.

May you have a safe and blessed Easter.

“Simplicity, Serenity, Spontaneity”.

Rev. Bhagwan is currently a Masters in Theology student in Seoul, South Korea. Visit the blog: http//:thejournalofaspiritualwonder.blogspot.com or Twitter.com/PadreJB

Lookout for the Signs

By the The Holy See, Vatican - Published in the Sunday Times (Fiji) Sunday, April 01, 2012 http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=197432

ON the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, the Bishops' Conference of France organised a meeting in Lourdes from March 24-25. The following is a translation of the video message in French recorded by Benedict XVI.

Dear Brothers and Sisters of France,

It gives me great joy to be able to address my warm good wishes to you who have come in large numbers to Lourdes in response to the summons of your bishops to celebrate the opening of the Second Vatican Council. In my prayers and in my heart, I join you in your demonstration of faith at the Grotto of Massabielle. The Second Vatican Council was and remains an authentic sign of God for our time. If we can interpret and accept it within the Tradition of the Church and under the reliable guidance of the Magisterium, it will be, increasingly, a great force for the Church's future.

I therefore warmly hope that this anniversary will be an opportunity for spiritual and pastoral renewal, for you and for the whole of the Church in France. Indeed, we are thus granted to become better acquainted with the texts which the Council Fathers left us as a legacy - and which have lost none of their value - in order to assimilate them and make them productive in our day. This renewal, which comes in continuity, takes many different forms. Moreover, the Year of Faith which I have chosen to propose to the entire Church on this occasion must enable us to make our faith more aware and to revive our adherence to the Gospel. This demands an ever greater openness to Christ and, in particular, rediscovering the taste for the Word of God, in order to achieve a profound conversion of our heart and to walk the highways of the world to proclaim the Gospel of hope to the men and women of our time, in a respectful dialogue with all. May this time of grace also permit us to strengthen communion within the great family which is the Catholic Church and to contribute to restoring unity among all Christians, which was one of the Council's main objectives.

The renewal of the Church also passes through the witness borne through the life of Christians themselves so that the Word of Truth which the Lord bequeathed to us will shine out. Dear friends, in being witnesses of the faith such as St Bernadette, the humble visionary of Lourdes, Pauline Jaricot who inspired a new missionary impetus in the Church and many others produced by the land of France, you will grow in the knowledge of Christ. Through their service to God and their brethren, these men and women show us the extent to which faith is a personal and community act which also entails a public testimony and commitment which we cannot afford to overlook! St Joan of Arc ù the 600th anniversary of whose death we are celebrating this year - wanted to bring the Gospel to the heart of the most dramatic situations of history and of the Church of her time, is a shining example...

The UK Terrorism Act turns 6

I just found out that today is the sixth anniversary of the UK Terrorism Act becoming law (30 March 2006). 

The Terrorism Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that received Royal Assent on 30 March 2006, after being introduced on 12 October 2005. The Act creates new offences related to terrorism, and amends existing ones. The Act was drafted in the aftermath of the 7 July 2005 London bombings, and some of its terms have proven to be highly controversial. The government considers the Act a necessary response to an unparalleled terrorist threat; it has encountered opposition from those who feel that it is an undue imposition on civil liberties, and could increase the terrorism risk: "What more fertile recruitment ground for extremism could there be than innocent young men released without charge after 90 days internment?." The Act has drawn considerable media attention, not least because one of the key votes resulted in the first defeat of the government of Tony Blair on the floor of the House of Commons, and the worst such defeat for any government since 1978.

I'm not sure how this matches up with the new amendments to the Fiji Public Order Act but if you are analytically inclined or vertical or horizontally analytic, please look at this and make your comparisons. 

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_Act_2006

Tonga holds funeral for King George

Enshrining Religious Tolerance in Fiji (unedited version)

Source: http://bloggingtothemaxey.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/coexist1.png

This story was edited and published for some reason under the title "A World of Dialogue" in the Fiji Times "Off the Wall with Padre James Bhagwan" on Wednesday 28th March 2012 http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=197088 it is presented here in its full form.

As our country’s attention shifts to the upcoming constitutional process (albeit with a brief distraction of the Hong Kong 7’s), most of the commentary and responses to the announcement of this process have focussed on the political and electoral aspects of the future constitution. Of course that is because everyone is looking (even sceptically) towards the 2014 elections.

Important points regarding the future role of the military, social and economic rights, the method of the proposed consultations and pre-election education process for young people are already being raised for consideration in the planned constitutional process. The way human rights are enshrined in the new constitution is also a very important issue.

In this column two weeks ago, I shared an extract from former US President, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s speech on the Four Freedoms. The second of the Four was the “freedom of every person to worship God in his own way—everywhere in the world.” This freedom was incorporated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – Article 18: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”

This freedom was guaranteed in the 1997 Constitution’s Bill of Rights (Chapter 4 Section 35(Religion and Belief).

Perhaps the time is right for us as a people to think deeply about the importance of religious tolerance in our country and how we can ensure that this issue that has been and maintains the potential for massive divisions in Fiji can be properly addressed in the process to develop a new constitution.

There have been many examples at the grass-roots level as well on a national level of positive influence by religious groups and institutions – social justice programmes, awareness campaigns, civic education – the promotion of high morals and compassionate behaviour and the like.

These good deeds, however, have been overshadowed by negative actions over the last three decades – political interference, religious intolerance, systematic attempts to impose one religion on others.

Intolerance and conflict is not limited to differences of religion (inter-religious) but also to issues such as doctrine, rituals, power and finance, within religions (intra-religious).

Sadly, this is most obvious among the wide Christian community – the largest religious grouping in the country. Differences of doctrine, methods of evangelism, proselytism of members of other Christian denominations (sheep-stealing), clashes in personality, power struggles and perceived or real political agendas have led to a fragmentation of the “Body of Christ” in Fiji. Evidence for this can be seen in the formation of organisations like the Assembly of Christian Churches in Fiji, the lapse of the Fiji Council of Churches and the emergence of break-away churches.

Recently, a friend of mine involved in disaster management in the aftermath of the flooding we experienced, lamented the inactivity of the Fiji Council of Churches, which had been a transparent and efficient partner with DISMAC during times of natural disasters, particularly in terms of coordinating churches for information and distribution of relief aid.

Add to this intra-religious turmoil, a lack of appreciation or tolerance of other religions and you have fertile soil for prejudice and religious bigotry – insults (such as calling someone an “idol-worshipper”) or even worse the desecration of religious of worship, and religious violence.

The fact that religion, for the most part in Fiji, is also connected to ethnicity and culture can lead to religious tension affecting ethnic relations, and vice-versa. The majority of the i-Taukei are Christians, while most Indo-Fijians, as Hindu or Muslim, belong to other world religions. Of course such tensions make things very difficult for the minority of Indo-Fijians that are Christians and those i-Taukei that belong to other religious communities or small new religious movements. The same can be said for the other ethnic groups in Fiji. One only has to look to the island of Rotuma where small wars took place between Catholics and Methodists in the 19^th century; as well as the murder of Rev. Thomas Baker, because of perceptions about Christianity and political domination of Bau.

Living in Asia, where Christianity is just one of many world religions (in fact a minority and sometimes oppressed religion) has reinforced my view that tolerance and understanding in a pluralistic country such as Fiji is crucial to the “peace and prosperity” for which this nation searches.

The strange thing is that many of us have relatives and friends who either belong to a different denomination or religious community.

I may be an anomaly as a Methodist minister, with a Roman Catholic wife, Anglican children (including a Goddaughter and Godson) and relatives who are not only Assemblies of God, Pentecostal, Jehovah’s Witness, Mormons, Seventh Day Adventists, but also Sanatani, Arya Samaj, Sai devotees, members of the Fiji Muslim League, Baha’i and agnostic. However, pluralism within the family or extended family is becoming an accepted norm, no matter how hard conservatives fight against it.

Why then is religious tolerance accepted within the family or the community, but not outside it?

For a number of years, a small group of people dedicated religious tolerance and understanding have met on a monthly basis to share what the scriptures of their faith have to say on a particular topic or issue – from the subject of integrity to the issue of HIV and AIDS. The group, Interfaith Search Fiji, is not about syncretism or the mixing of religions, but about creating understanding and appreciation through dialogue.

Unfortunately this small but successful model has not yet been accepted or endorsed by the main religious groups and has on occasion been criticised by fringe groups.

This however does not have to be the end of the story.

Is it not possible that religious tolerance is not only covered by the Bill of Rights, but also be enshrined in our new constitution, through a mechanism through which dialogue within and between religions take place? A mechanism such as a National Council for Religious Tolerance and Cooperation or a Fiji Assembly of Interreligious Tolerance and Harmony (FAITH) could not just provide a safe space for dialogue but also provide the platform for cooperation on social, health and other issues as well as assist in the mobilisation of communities in times of natural disaster.

The seeds of religious tolerance have been planted through the recognition of significant holy days such as Christmas, Prophet Mohammed’s Birthday, Lent, Holi, Easter (both Good Friday and Easter “Resurrection” Sunday), Ramadan, Eid, Diwali, etc by convention as well as by legislation.

As we begin the process of growing a new constitution (even if the seed is the People’s Charter), each one of us is called to nurture this plant until it is a tree from which we all can eat.

“Simplicity, Serenity, Spontaneity”

ENDS

"Carry Your Candle" (Go light your world)

Matt 5:16 - In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Psalm 18:28 - For you will light my candle: Jehovah my God will enlighten my darkness.

Prov 20:27 - The Spirit of Man is the Candle of the Lord

From Playboy to Padre

http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=65996

The headline is jumbled, the story has some inaccuracies... and some very strange grammar and sentences, but it just goes to show how many people who thought they knew me went into show when they learned of my entering the ministry.....