http://www.danmulhern.com/wordpress/2007/10/a-leader-who-sees-religion-need-not-divide-us/ A weekly stimulant for those who lead Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:35:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.5 http://www.danmulhern.com/wordpress/2007/10/a-leader-who-sees-religion-need-not-divide-us/#comment-19587 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 14:11:50 +0000 http://www.danmulhern.com/wordpress/2007/10/a-leader-who-sees-religion-need-not-divide-us/#comment-19587 It is not faith or religion that tears the world apart but the extremists. They are so charismatic that they are able to convince their 'sheep' that it is right to be as intolerant and disrespectful as they are. We should never condemn any religion on the evidence of the extremists. It is not faith or religion that tears the world apart but the extremists. They are so charismatic that they are able to convince their ’sheep’ that it is right to be as intolerant and disrespectful as they are. We should never condemn any religion on the evidence of the extremists.

]]> http://www.danmulhern.com/wordpress/2007/10/a-leader-who-sees-religion-need-not-divide-us/#comment-15775 Mon, 08 Oct 2007 13:54:50 +0000 http://www.danmulhern.com/wordpress/2007/10/a-leader-who-sees-religion-need-not-divide-us/#comment-15775 As a Catholic, and in the light of unity, not division, you may appreciate this excerpt from Pope Benedict XVI's recent remarks at a gathering in Mariazell, Austria... "Certainly there are many great figures in history who have had beautiful and moving experiences of God. Yet these are still human experiences and therefore finite. Only HE (Jesus) is God and therefore only HE is the bridge that truly brings God and man together. So if we Christians call him the one universal mediator of salvation, valid for everyone and ultimately needed by everyone, this does not mean that we despise other religions nor are we arrogantly absolutizing our own ideas; on the contrary, it means that we are gripped by him who has touched our hearts and lavished gifts upon us, so that we in turn can offer gifts to others." In another part of this speech he goes on to say, "We need truth. Yet admittedly, in the light of our history, we are fearful that faith in the truth might entail intolerance. If we are gripped by this fear, which is historically well grounded, then it is time to look toward Jesus as we see him in the shrine at Mariazell. We see him here in two images: as the child in his mother's arms and above the high altar of the basilica as the cucified. These two images in the basilica tell us this: Truth prevails not through external force, but it is humble and it yields itself to man only via the inner force of its varacity. "Truth proves itself in love. It is never our property, never our product, just as love can never be produced but only received and handed on as a gift. We need this inner force of truth. As Christians we trust this force of truth. We are its witnesses. We must hand it on as gift in the same way as we have received it, as it has given itself to us." As a Catholic, and in the light of unity, not division, you may appreciate this excerpt from Pope Benedict XVI’s recent remarks at a gathering in Mariazell, Austria…
“Certainly there are many great figures in history who have had beautiful and moving experiences of God. Yet these are still human experiences and therefore finite. Only HE (Jesus) is God and therefore only HE is the bridge that truly brings God and man together. So if we Christians call him the one universal mediator of salvation, valid for everyone and ultimately needed by everyone, this does not mean that we despise other religions nor are we arrogantly absolutizing our own ideas; on the contrary, it means that we are gripped by him who has touched our hearts and lavished gifts upon us, so that we in turn can offer gifts to others.”
In another part of this speech he goes on to say, “We need truth. Yet admittedly, in the light of our history, we are fearful that faith in the truth might entail intolerance. If we are gripped by this fear, which is historically well grounded, then it is time to look toward Jesus as we see him in the shrine at Mariazell. We see him here in two images: as the child in his mother’s arms and above the high altar of the basilica as the cucified. These two images in the basilica tell us this: Truth prevails not through external force, but it is humble and it yields itself to man only via the inner force of its varacity.
“Truth proves itself in love. It is never our property, never our product, just as love can never be produced but only received and handed on as a gift. We need this inner force of truth. As Christians we trust this force of truth. We are its witnesses. We must hand it on as gift in the same way as we have received it, as it has given itself to us.”

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