Kansas Monks “When my grandma was sick with cancer I visited her every day that she was in the nursing home.” “I cleaned my grandparents’ garage for four hours and burned things,” one boy said, “and mowed their whole lawn, and trust me, it’s huge.” For Abbot Barnabas the letters serve a practical purpose. People listen. “I don’t preach that way on Sundays,” he says. “There is more enthusiasm than there is at a Sunday worship. The focus is on the young people who are there. Most of the people in the church are related to the kids.” But the connection he seeks goes beyond preaching a good homily. “I want to try to say something to each one of them, not just test their religious knowledge,” he says. The Abbot notes that the togetherness of the members of the class and the adults who support them should be reinforced. “People have given a lot of time and preparation to these kids. Not only the knowledge gained but also the level of commitment should be celebrated.” Before returning to St. Benedict’s Abbey, the Abbot poses for pictures, munches on cookies and becomes a part of the community. A few years later, a woman in a service station will smile and say, “You confirmed my daughter!” Soon the church will stand empty. A few of the newly confirmed will certainly be glad it’s over. Families will gather for family dinners. “It’s a prolonging of the ceremony,” Abbot Barnabas says. As the Abbot leaves town in the late afternoon sun, traffic on highway 36 is light. A hawk is feeding on a rabbit along the highway. The fields are barren from the recent harvest. New fruit is growing.
SEEI NG A LL SIDE S THE IMPORTANCE OF LEARNING FROM OTHER RELIGIONS
Every adult Catholic should read the holy book of Islam, the Holy Quran. Otherwise it will be impossible to have any meaningful dialogue between Catholics and Muslims. It is important to remember that Islam started as a reform movement for Christians and Jews. Muslims had begun about 600 years after the start of Christianity, so they had a big chunk of time in which to evaluate Christian belief and behavior. Some might be surprised to learn that Muslims venerate Jesus, his mother, and many of the Jewish prophets. Muslims do not think of Jesus as God because they believe there can be only one God. Trinitarian formulations are completely foreign to Muslims. The Holy Quran shows forceful concern for the impoverished, the orphaned, and the widowed. The book does not have much to say about violence to others except in cases of self-defense. The Holy Quran does, however, contain threatening language for those 16
Father Michael Santa
who ignore God’s commands. On the other hand, the Quran places heavy emphasis on God’s forgiveness and his loving attention to human beings. Sura IX, Section 5, the Holy Quran, has statements that appear to be an avenue of discussion between Catholics and Muslims: “They take their priests and their anchorites to be their Lord’s derogation of God, and (they take as their Lord) Christ the Son of Mary; yet they were commanded
to worship but one God.” Muslims are proud of the fact that the Holy Quran is written in Arabic, the language of the common people. This makes it easy for the average person to appreciate the lessons and the poetry of the book.
