Bar Timaeus / Mk 10.46 / Awakening...

You know: we are all called to go together the way into Fullness of Life !!!  But...

1. Look at your situation...   or look at the situation of many of our people...
    + Blind: not seeing what's going on; introverted; scatterbrained; narcissistic...
    + Sitting around on the side of the road; no work; no way; handicapped;
    + Begging: no other way; have pity on me; unable to...   only crying !!!
2. Jesus has a good year, he has good eyes...  He knows the situation of the people...
    in 2015: how blind they are; Sitting around...  marginalized; overburdened;
                  begging: help, pity, help, pity...  or worse: unable to cry for help...
3. And now the great order to his Church (Apostles etc... ) "Call him here"
    This is the first challenge for the Church: to call him, for this the Church must be attractive
    All this pity-help-crying people, call them...  they need my saving word !!!
         Call him: to get rid of all their imaginations...  illusions, plans, prejudices...
         Call him: to make a U-turn; jump up, metanoia;
         Call him: to go on the way towards Jesus (without imaginations)
    And now: first question: "?What do you want"  (is this now cleared???)
                    This is a very long process: to know really what to want!  To discover, to see
                    the reality (of the world, of myself etc...) (to see the reality of the Church, to
                    discover the reality of God as a Mystery; to see Life as a cross-way into the
                    Fullness of Life...
    After all...
4. Finally Jesus let him know: It's your faith saving you! (not your imagination; not Jesus).
    That's the word of Jesus: no faith  - no way !!!  - no Fullness of Life.
     a) With this faith...  you go on the way...  (not sitting at the side of the road any more...
         not pity-help-crying any more...  actively involved... 
     b) Only: Make your cross-way like Jesus has done his cross-way  (follow him).
5. Bar-Timaeus didn't have faith...  What he needs is somebody who calls him, empowers him to stand up. 
We believe: God is calling everybody into Life and - through the cross-way - into the Fullness of Life.

[Such a way - you can read in "Back of the Book" in The Namibian 23.10.2015
 "Raised Catholic" of C. Adichie p) B16  / thoughtful...  ] 

The fishing industry - MISSION

We have in Namibia a lucrative fishing industry. "Bishop" Esau is doing his level best to distribute fishing-rights + fishes + money...  The fishing industry is fishing fishes for men 
to be nourished well and for getting rich. He has the problem of over-fishing and of misusing the fishing-rights.
We have in Namibia a fishing Church based on the initial ignition of 
+ Ev-Mk 16.15-20 ("Go throughout the whole world and preach the Gospel to all mankind") 
+ Ev-Lk 5.10 ("Don't be afraid; from now on you will be catching men") 
+ Mt 4.19 ("Come with me and I will teach you to catch men") 
+ esp. Mt 28.16-10: here is he worldwide Mission-Commission explained:
1. Jesus: All power is given to me in Heaven and on Earth. (What a powerful Church).
2. Go and teach all peoples to observe what I commissioned you. It means: The disciples are learners the whole life, the Apostles teachers (they have the knowledge ?)
3. Baptize them in the name of the Father + the Son + the Holy Spirit.

In the meantime there is quite a good discussion between the exegetic's:
How is the translation right ?  "fishing men"  or  "fishing for men" ???

For "Bishop Esau + Co" it's clear: they do a very secular work: they catch the richness of the Ocean and distribute it as just as possible; all for men ... also as: eradication of poverty.
For the Christian Churches - the picture of the initial ignition is getting difficult.
a) Catching / fishing men is in modern time against the freedom of Religion.
    Or: You have the duty of explanation: HOW you make it...  Maybe here is a reason why
    so many Catholics don't like to be Missionaries. They have a wrong picture.
b) Make disciples - that's a good thing. But where the Catholic-disciples have the chance to bring in what they have learnt, what they have experienced... esp. in the Church ???
cf. Family-Synod 2015: The unmarried Bishops, without experience of a own family-life -
they go as teachers to decide the rules of future Catholic-Family-Life.

My picture:
Jesus - the new Adam (mankind), the Emmanuel (God with us); the one, who opens the door of Heaven (fullness of Life) is THE FISH WE TRY TO CATCH in the Ocean of the Past and WE TRY to prepare the caught fish as "the BREAD OF LIFE" for our time.

Eternal Life = all EVENTS together.

Mark-Ev (10.17-30) has a story: A clever man ask Jesus: "Master what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Today we translate "eternal life: with: :Fullness of Life - full of life". Everybody knows: life is composed by Events and every event shows seven dimensions: decision, sun-side, shade-side, time and space, people involved. These dimensions shape life colorful. Events are steps into fullness.

The clever man knows: sins are not qualifying Life but diminishing Life. And he is aware: he must do something good! But what ? How will my little ego-mind find out, what is good, good for all ! Jesus has an answer: Don't feel you are a owner but rather an administrator and share or give away what you have - because your first life-project is: fullness of Life for all ! Such a life-style / way of Life is to follow me / Jesus, the one who came to empower your heart to love.
The clever man discovered: it's hard! Maybe too demanding! But give it a try...

A Story:
Once a young rich beautiful lady discovered: my life is boring I like to have more events, happenings. She invited a lot of people to a party to give over her ownership of the house to these people. She remains the administrator. At the party she found her husband. Later she told him> I'm not owing you, I give you free. He replied: Now I love you more than ever because I feel free to love you. Later as a mother she thought: I'm not the owner of my children. I give them free and she has gone to visit them; what a joy to see them prosper.
Later she gave up her profession, too narrow, she want to do more. At the end of her Life she told God: Now I'm not the owner of my Life; I give it over into your hands. God replied: It's no need - it was given over all the time". God opened her eyes and revealed: "Come and see: all what you have given is now at your pleasure, enjoy it for ever in full."

Everyone who is rich of all kind has a problem: he is bound to his richness. How to get more rich? Jesus has the trick: two hand are good, four hands are better, but we need all hands to dig up, to shape, to carry and enjoy the fullness (all events together).

October-MISSION Fr. Willem osfs

Fr. Willem osfs encourages us (e-mail Oct 01) to take MISSION-month with St.Therese of Lisieux and St. Francis-Xavier seriously. It's also the month of the Pastoral-Synode for "Family-Life" (cf. www.kameel-doring-boom.blogspot.com) and for Ms. Cindy van Wyk it's Ocsober: the month of de-toxification (cf. then Namibian-Weekender 021015 / page16)

As we follow Fr. Willem osfs: The great commission for every Missionary is:  GO...
(For me "commission" is more than an advise or invitation and less than an order or command). We are grateful for the distinction made by Fr. OMI between members or disciples! and for the Pop's clarification: we are called to live the mission".
Fr. Willem osfs ask: What are we going to do now ??? (in our missionary-situation)

I try to give an answer - concentrating on  "GO..."
A) To end the Holy Mass we Priests tell "the people of God": pls go...
Sometimes they go... or they don't go...  Why not ?
+ they like to pray more and more (sooo pious / to stay with God not with...)
+ they like to do the next meeting (in the church) sooo busy... no time for...
+ they feel better in the church with Jesus than under the people (terrible)
+ they are used not to listen and not to do what the Priest is telling them
   [for them "go" don't mean go... it's only a "set phrase"...  never serious]
This is the first MISSION-doing: take serious you commission  to tell them "go"
and tell them you mean it!
B) As I tell the people to "go in peace" - I have in mind:
1. way: go to the people, to the next first, greet them; give a sign of bene- volence. cf. www.kameel-doring-boom.blogspot.com (glass of water).
2. way: go to fulfill your promises in the family, in your profession, in public life etc... in your relationship, in politics, economy, climate change etc...
3. way: go to Church, your Community again; take a break and praise God.
C) After I told the people "go..."  I give a good example and I'm going as the first out... I go out of the church into the secular world - and by the gate I take the opportunity to have for everyone a good word of encouragement. I let them go - keeping my conviction: they will to their level best... that's my "outreach".

Cath. FAMILY-SYNOD 2015

Today Pope Francis in Rom-Vatican and we in St. Anthony Otjiwarongo open the Family-Synod. The Church as the "people of God" is moving, on the way...  where are we going?
"Go in peace" means today also: let's go to see HOW the Cath. Bishops will find a good healing solution to the queuing up problems...    one problem is:

The MARRIAGE in our time !
First we set the frame: Following the Bible, a very old thinking, God has created man + wife to become one body, to live together into the fullness of Life, a bond forever. God has given attractive sexuality, a very old thinking, to procreate children (one method to survive in a dangerous environment; or to become a big people or a big patriarchy). The marriage became with time a protected institution. Jesus was in favour of marriage, seeing it as the will of the Jewish Jahwe-God and - thousand years later - the marriage became in the Cath. Church an indissoluble Sacrament (sign of salvation). Within this frame today we accept: marriage is very complicated, not easy... if "it's not going" we ask for divorce... the Church accepts separation, but has in mind "the bond is going on". Therefore "re-marry" is not seen as a solution. This judgment is put in question.!
The Church is accused: not to show MERCY (The Orthodox-Christian Church at the other hand shows this mercy) and - not to re-marry is by nature wrong, because the Cath. Church has put "active sexuality into the exile of marriage" / you know: "outside marriage no sex".

To find a healing solution requests from the Bishops: to listen to the Holy Spirit.
The Bishops at the Sec. Vtic. Council (1962 - 1965) have found a good solution about the purpose of the marriage: 1. Mutual satisfaction, joy  2. Children...                         tbc...                
May I give some points for consideration:
+ marriage can never be any more what it was! We got a total new situation...
+ the real problem is divorce, the ability to live together is not developed enough.
+ we need more accepted forms of "living together"; marriage is not enough.
+ "Holy Communion" is for the repentant sinners not first for the "Holy Ones".
+ The new "easy annulment" is only an emergency-bridge but not a solution.
   "We must care for the entrance not first for the way-out".
+ The view "in the old time all was better" is an illusion, deception.

The stolen giving of a glass of water...

The UNO has given to Pope Francis at his famous UNGA-speech (24.09.15) a glass of water for refreshing (as usual). The Pope has taken a mouthful or two... after his Great-Speech somebody has stolen the "Glass of Water".   WHO ?
The Mk-Ev has written the Jesu' word (Mk 9.41): "I assure you that anyone who gives you
a "glass of water" to drink because you belong to me will certainly receive his reward".
The Lk-Ev (9.46-50 / written after Mk) has stolen away the "glass of water" (cancelled / not
mentioned any more). The big question remains:  WHY ?

In Philadelphia - speaking in Spanish to the families (27.09.15) - Pope Francis insists:
The "giving of a glass of water" is most important... such little gestures - little wonders of love - are daily redemption, and the families are the first place for...  The Pope now is famous for such little gestures: stop the papamobil, go out, kiss the Baby, embrace the sick, give hands...

The Pope sees such gestures as "natural signs": they show: welcome, encouragement,
attentiveness, consolation, care of... and everybody may value these gestures - wonders of love - as great. But for a Christian believer there is more: These little gestures of bene- volence are much more: "trans-natural signs"! All four Gospels (Mk 9.37 / Lk 9.48 / 
Mt 18.5 / Joh 13.20) revealing us: "Anyone who welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me". (this message is unrecognized, inexplicable, never heard before; unexpected; outrages ! the hard core, the nucleus, the core of truth; the real crux of Christian "living" !
This announcement is the Christian revolution, THE message, THE Good News.

NOW + HERE in the act of "giving a glass of water" / of welcoming: 
the Child (every human being) + the Messiah (JvN) + the MYSTERY of God are seen
(by Jesus / by Christian believers) as ONE.
Jesus has announced the identity of the human, the messiah and the Mystery of God in reality. This is to reveal the real value of the human act, the human gestures... 
("in my name" = if the participation of all with the fullness of Life is involved). 
Jesus declares: Human present acting "in my name" is redemptive (messiah) and divine (the will of God / entiring the fullness) - in every case.
This is creation of a NEW Earth + a NEW Heaven.
Lukas has stolen "the giving of a glass of water" / but not from you...