SETTING OUT FOR EMAUS - BY HOLY FATHER

"The Road That Leads There Is the Journey of Every Christian"
VATICAN CITY, APRIL 6, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the greeting Benedict XVI gave today before praying the Regina Caeli with several thousand people gathered in St. Peter's Square.

* * *

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This Gospel for this Sunday -- the 3rd Sunday of Easter -- is the celebrated account of the disciples of Emmaus (cf. Luke 24:13-35). The story is told of two disciples of Christ who, on the day after the Sabbath, that is, the third day after Jesus’ death, sad and dejected, leave Jerusalem and set out for nearby village called, precisely, Emmaus.

Along the road, the risen Jesus comes and walks beside them but they do not recognize him. Seeing that they were disheartened, he explained, on the basis of the Scriptures, that the Messiah had to suffer and die to enter into his glory. Having entered into the house with them, he sat down at table with them, blessed the bread and broke it, and at that point they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight, leaving them full of wonder before the broken bread, new sign of his presence. And immediately the two returned to Jerusalem and told the other disciples what happened.

The location of Emmaus has not been identified with any certainty. There are different hypotheses, and this fact is not without its significance because it leaves us to think that in reality Emmaus represents every place: The road that leads there is the journey of every Christian, indeed, of every man. Along our roads the risen Jesus is our companion on the journey, to reignite in our hearts the warmth of faith and hope and the breaking of the bread of eternal life.

In the disciples' conversation with the unknown traveler the expression that the evangelist Luke puts in one of their mouths is striking: “We were hoping…” (24:21). This past tense verb says everything: We believed, we followed, we hoped …, but now it is all over. Even Jesus of Nazareth, who had shown himself to be a powerful prophet in deeds and words, failed, and we are disappointed.

This drama of the disciples of Emmaus is as a mirror of the situation of many Christians of our time. It seems that the hope of faith has failed. Faith itself enters into crisis because of negative experiences that make us feel like we are abandoned by the Lord. But this road to Emmaus on which we travel can become a way of purification and maturation of our believing in God.

Even today we can enter into conversation with Jesus listening to his word. Even today he breaks the bread for us and gives himself as our bread. And in this way the encounter with the risen Christ, which is possible even today, gives us a deeper and more authentic faith, tempered, so to speak, by the fire of the Easter event; a robust faith because it is nourished not by human ideas, but by the word of God and by his presence in the Eucharist.

This stupendous Gospel text already contains the structure of the Mass: in the first part the hearing of the word through the sacred Scriptures; in the second the Eucharistic liturgy and communion with Christ present in the sacrament of his Body and his Blood.

Nourished at this twofold table, the Church is unceasingly built up and renews itself day by day in faith, in hope and in charity. Through the intercession of Mary Most Holy, let us pray that every Christian and every community, reliving the experience of the disciples of Emmaus, rediscover the grace of the transforming encounter with the risen Lord.

[After the Regina Caeli the Pope said the following in Italian:]

The first International Congress on Divine Mercy concluded today with the Eucharistic celebration in St. Peter’s Basilica. I thank the organizers, especially the vicariate of Rome, and to all the participants I extend my cordial greeting, which now becomes an exhortation: Go and be witnesses of God’s mercy, source of hope for every man and for the whole world. May the risen Lord be with you always!

I greet the numerous members of the Focolare movement, working as catechists in parishes, who have come here from many countries throughout the world, and I wish you well in the service that you render to spreading and welcoming the word of God.

[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]

[After the Regina Caeli the Holy Father greeted the pilgrims in several languages. In English, he said:]

I am happy to greet all the English-speaking visitors present at today’s Regina Caeli prayer. On this Third Sunday of Easter, Saint Luke relates how the Risen Christ walks with his disciples, makes their hearts burn within them by his words, and reveals himself in the breaking of the bread. Let us pray that our Easter journey will teach us to open our hearts with joy to the living Christ present in his Church. Upon all of you I invoke God’s abundant blessings!

THE GNOSTIC BIBLES

Teofilus yang mulia, banyak orang telah berusaha menyusun suatu berita tentang peristiwa-peristiwa yang telah terjadi di antara kita, seperti yang disampaikan kepada kita oleh mereka, yang dari semula adalah saksi mata dan pelayan Firman. Karena itu, setelah aku menyelidiki segala peristiwa itu dengan seksama dari asal mulanya, aku mengambil keputusan untuk membukukannya dengan teratur bagimu, supaya engkau dapat mengetahui, bahwa segala sesuatu yang diajarkan kepadamu sungguh benar.(Lukas 1 : 1 - 4 ) (Kitab Suci Terjemahan Baru)
Dalam Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown menggunakan paparan dari injil Maria Magdalena dan Phillipus yang merupakan injil - injil Gnotis untuk rasionalitas penulisan bukunya. Kemudian dalam serial National Geographic juga disiarkan keberadaan injil Judas yang sensasional secara internasional sehingga mempertanyakan siapakah Yesus, apakah Yesus benar - benar bangkit dari mati, dan juga bagaimana hubungannya dengan Maria Magdalena. Dengan seolah berdasar data yang faktual historis mencengangkan banyak orang, terutama bila tidak memahami dengan benar sejarah Gereja, akan menimbulkan banyak pertanyaan. Syukur bila tidak sampai iman kepercayaan menjadi goyah. Para Scholar dan penafsir kitab suci tidak meragukan ketuaannya dengan test laboratorium yang menggunakan uji karbon ,C14; menunjukkan bahwa injil Yudas merupakan tulisan antara tahun 200 - 400 Masehi. Namun isi dan kebenarannya diragukan nilai kristianinya karena tokoh sentralnya bukanlah Yesus, Yesua hanya sebagai figuran dan bukan berasal dari komunitas kristiani. Buku - buku "injil" ini dapat dikelompokkan kedalam Gnostic Bibles yang dalam penulisannya berdasar logika dan pengetahuan yang terpengaruh alam pikiran Helenistis. Menurut Adolf Heuken , SJ dalam Spiritualitas Kristiani, Yayasan Cipta Loka Caraka, Jakarta, 2002 ; Helenisme adalah pandangan hidup yang umum yang timbul sesudah Iskandar Agung (+323 SM) menyatukan kebudayaan Yunani ( Hellas ) dengan budaya serta agama - agama Timur Tengah , termasuk Yudaisme. Pemikiran gnostik berdasarkan keyakinan bahwa ada dua dunia, yaitu dunia roh yang suci dan murni tempat Allah berada ; dan dunia dimana kita berada, yaitu dunia yang buruk dan jahat. Kedua dubia ini tidak saling berhubungan. Bila manusia ingin meloloskan kedalam dunia roh ini, saatnya adalah waktu kematian, ketika jiwa meninggalkan raga. Pemikiran gnostik adalah karena pengaruh Helenistik, sejak Plato, , kemudian Stoistic yang berdasarkan bahwa satu - satunya kebenaran dalam dunia dan manusia yang tinggal didalamnya adalah akal budi ( reason ) , kemudian karena syncretisme dengan agama - agama kuno dan juga aliran - aliran filsafat yang berkembang saat itu menjadi pemikiran - pemikiran yang melahirkan Gnostik yang mencari kebenaran berdasarkan pengetahuan sebagai dasar pemahaman tentang Tuhan dan Kristus. Logika adalah menjadi main straim dalam pemikiran penulis - penulis Gnostic Bibles.

Ada buku The Other Bible yang ditulis Willy B dari penerbit Harper Collin yang menganalisa tentang injil - injil tersebut :
.......Gathered here for the first time in one comprehensive volume are excerpted ancient holy texts from Judeo-Christian traditions that were excluded from the official canon of the Old and New Testaments. The Other Bible is a unique sourcebook of essential selections from Jewish Psudepigrapha, early Kabbalah, Haggadah, Midrash, Christian Apocrypha, and Gnostic scriptures. The Other Bible provides a rare opportunity to discover the poetic and narrative riches of this long-suppressed literature and experience firsthand its visionary discourses on the nature of God, humanity, the spiritual life, the world around us, and infinite worlds beyond this one.
Yang digambarkan oleh injil - injil ini seperti injil dari Maria Magdalena, Thomas, Filipus dsb yang disebut juga injil - injil apokrif ( jangan disamakan dengan deteuronika);
.....Diantaranya adalah apokrif sebagai berikut dibawah ini:
Apocrypha: The Gospel of Thomas
Apocrypha: Oxyrhynchus 1224 Gospel
Apocrypha: The Egerton Gospel
Apocrypha: The Gospel of Peter
Apocrypha: Secret Mark
Apocrypha: The Gospel of the Egyptians
Apocrypha: The Gospel of the Hebrews
Apocrypha: The Apocalypse of Peter
Apocrypha: The Secret Book of James
Apocrypha: The Preaching of Peter
Apocrypha: The Gospel of the Ebionites
Apocrypha: The Gospel of the Nazoreans
Apocrypha: The Oxyrhynchus 840 Gospel
Apocrypha: The Traditions of Matthias
Apocrypha: The Gospel of Mary
Apocrypha: The Dialogue of the Savior
Apocrypha: The Gospel of the Savior
Apocrypha: The Epistula Apostolorum
Apocrypha: The Infancy Gospel of James
Apocrypha: The Infancy Gospel of Thomas
Apocrypha: The Acts of Peter
Apocrypha: The Acts of John
Apocrypha: The Acts of Paul
Apocrypha: The Acts of Andrew
Apocrypha: The Acts of Peter and the Twelve
Apocrypha: The Book of Thomas the Contender
Apocrypha: The Acts of Thomas

Are they the real history of Jesus?
Are there secret writings about Jesus??
In 1945 a discovery was made in Upper Egypt, near the town of Nag Hammadi. Fifty-two copies of ancient writings, called the Gnostic gospels were found in 13 leather-bound papyrus codices (handwritten books). They were written in Coptic and belonged to a library in a monastery. A few Gnostic scholars have gone so far as to assert that these recently discovered writings are the authentic history of Jesus instead of the New Testament. But does their faith in these documents square with the historical evidence? Let’s take a deeper look to see if we can separate truth from fiction.

Secret "Knowers"
The Gnostic gospels are attributed to a group known as (big surprise here) the Gnostics. Their name comes from the Greek word gnosis, meaning “knowledge.” These people thought they had secret, special knowledge hidden from ordinary people.
As Christianity spread, the Gnostics mixed some doctrines and elements of Christian­ity into their beliefs, morphing Gnosticism into a counterfeit Christianity. Perhaps they did it to keep recruitment numbers up and make Jesus a poster child for their cause. However, for their system of thought to fit with Christianity, Jesus needed to be rein­vented, stripped of both his humanity and his absolute deity.
In The Oxford History of Christianity John McManners wrote of the Gnostics’ mixture of Christian and mythical beliefs.
Gnosticism was (and still is) a theoso­phy with many ingredients. Occult­ism and oriental mysticism became fused with astrology, magic. … They collected sayings of Jesus shaped to fit their own interpretation (as in the Gospel of Thomas), and offered their adherents an alternative or rival form of Christianity.1

Early Critics
A mild strain of Gnostic philosophy was already growing in the first century just decades after the death of Jesus. The apostles, in their teaching and writings, went to great lengths to condemn these beliefs as being opposed to the truth of Jesus, to whom they were eyewitnesses. Check out, for example, what the apostle John wrote near the end of the first century:
Who is the great liar? The one who says that Jesus is not the Christ. Such people are antichrists, for they have denied the Father and the Son. (1 John 2:22, NIV).
Following the apostles’ teaching, the early church leaders unanimously condemned the Gnostics as a cult. Church father Irenaeus, writing 140 years before the Council of Nicaea, confirmed that the Gnostics were condemned by the church as heretics. He also rejected their “gospels.” But, referring to the four New Testament Gospels, he said, “It is not possible that the Gospels can be either more or fewer in number than they are.” 2
Christian theologian Origen wrote this in the early third century, more than a hun­dred years before Nicaea:
I know a certain gospel which is called “The Gospel according to Thomas” and a “Gospel according to Matthias,” and many others have we read—lest we should in any way be consid­ered ignorant because of those who imagine they possess some knowledge if they are acquainted with these.
Nevertheless, among all these we have approved solely what the church has recognized, which is that only four gospels should be accepted.3

Mystery Authors
When it comes to the Gnostic gospels, just about every book carries the name of a New Testament character: the Gospel of Philip, the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel of Mary, and so on. But were they even written by their purported authors? Let’s take a look.
The Gnostic gospels are dated about 110 to 300 years after Christ, and no cred­ible scholar believes any of them could have been written by their namesakes. In James M. Robinson’s comprehensive The Nag Hammadi Library, we learn that the Gnostic gospels were written by “largely unrelated and anonymous authors.”4
New Testament scholar Norman Geisler writes, “The Gnostic writings were not written by the apostles, but by men in the second century (and later) pretending to use apostolic authority to advance their own teachings. Today we call this fraud and forgery.”5

CONCLUSION :
The attempt to picture Gnosticism as a mighty movement of the human mind towards the noblest and highest truth, a movement in some way parallel to that of Christianity, has completely failed. It has been abandoned by recent unprejudiced scholars such as W. Bousset and O. Gruppe, and it is to be regretted that it should have been renewed by anEnglish writer, G.R.S. Mead, in "Fragments of a Faith Forgotten", an unscholarly and misleading work, which in English-speaking countries may retard the sober and true appreciation of Gnosticism as it was in historical fact.
As conclusion from catholic encyclopedia:
Gnosticism was not an advance, it was a retrogression. It was born amidst the last throes of expiring cults and civilizations in Western Asia and Egypt. Though hellenized, these countries remained Oriental and Semitic to the core. This Oriental spirit -- Attis of Asia Minor, Istar of Babylonia, Isis of Egypt, with the astrological and cosmogonic lore of the Asiatic world -- first sore beset by Ahuramazda in the East, and then overwhelmed by the Divine greatness of Jesus Christ in the West, called a truce by the fusion of both Parseeism and Christianity with itself. It tried to do for the East what Neo-Platonism tried to do for the West. During at least two centuries it was a real danger to Christianity, though not so great as some modern writers would make us believe, as if the merest breath might have changed the fortunes of Gnostic, as against orthodox, Christianity.
Endnotes
1 John McManners, ed., The Oxford History of Christianity (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 28.
2 Darrell L. Bock, Breaking the Da Vinci Code (Nashville: Nelson, 2004), 114.
3 Bock, 119-120.
4 Ibid.,13.
5 Norman Geisler and Ron Brooks, When Skeptics Ask (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1998), 156.
Permission to reproduce this article: Publisher grants permission to reproduce this material without written approval, but only in its entirety and only for non-profit use.


TAMBAHAN INFORMASI DARI SEORANG PASTOR :
Dalam posting tentang "Pelintiran Ajaran - Gnostisisme" saya singgung bahwa di Amerika pun sudah ada Gereja Kristen Gnostik yang "mirip-mirip" Katolik dengan segala misa, imam-uskup, dan kanon Kitab Suci tersendiri. Dan iman mereka sangat berbeda dengan iman Gereja yang apostolik (sesuai pengajaran para rasul). Berikut saya kompilasikan beberapa pandangan Gereja Gnostik seperti terdapat dalam website mereka. Semoga informasi ini bisa menambah wawasan sekaligus membuat kita tidak mudah diombang-ambingkan oleh pelbagai angin pengajaran yang membingungkan (bdk. Ef 4:14). Dan semoga kita juga senantiasa waspada dan mau mengindahkan seruan St. Paulus, "Aku heran, bahwa kamu begitu lekas berbalik dari pada Dia, yang oleh kasih karunia Kristus telah memanggil kamu, dan mengikuti suatu injil lain, yang sebenarnya bukan injil. Hanya ada orang yang mengacaukan kamu dan yang bermaksud untuk memutarbalikkan Injil Kristus" (Gal 1:6-7).
Wassalam,
Rm. Didik Bagiyowinadi, Pr.

Kompilasi Pandangan Gereja Gnostik dari: www.gnostic-Church.org

1. Jesus versi Gnostic….
Jesus Christ, or Yeshua the Nazarene, a fully human man fully infused with the spirit of the living God, came into the world as a free gift of God’s love to bring us to an
understanding of our spiritual lives. Born just as any of us are, he was
simultaneously the full incarnation of divine spirit into the world, the
self-emptying of God’s eternal love into the life of humanity. He lived a real
human life, filled with all the joy, pain, emotions, suffering, and desires
that all men and women experience. He carried this human life through to its
ultimate conclusion, suffering real human death as a political dissident at the
hands of the Roman empire in Judea . After dying, however, he was brought forward to a new life in the spirit, and
the resurrected Christ lives on in our hearts and spirits, forever offering his
love as a bridge between ourselves and God. (Canon 10, "On
Christ")

2. Tidak mengakui dosa pribadi maka tidak Butuh penebusan…

For Gnostics, Christ was not a bloody "sacrifice" offered for human sin, since "sin," like "good" and "evil," is a product of cosmic dualities rather than a genuine metaphysical reality.
Rather, Christ's life and resurrection bridge the chasm between our lives as
conglomerate pleromic-cosmic beings and the divine "bathos" of God in the unadulterated light of the pleroma. We encounter Christ thus as both a teacher and as a gateway to our own human liberation, rather
than as some sort of bizarre human sacrifice offered to appease an angry
"god." Where Christ walked, we walk. As Christ lived, we live. As
Christ was raised forward to a new life in the spirit, we will be raised
forward to a new life in the spirit, if we seek to understand the same divine
nature that we share with him. He has laid forth the path that we are to follow
in our lives. (Canon 11, "On the Gnostic Christ")

3. Sophia, sang Dewi Kebijaksanaan yang diagungkan… Sophia, or Wisdom, known as the “Great Consort” of the Christ, is the personification of divine wisdom. She has been worshipped throughout much of human history; Mesopotamians knew her as Astarte, Queen of Heaven; Jewish mystics penned tributes to her as the manifestation of Wisdom; Greek mythology personified her in the characters of Athene, Aphrodite, and Artemis; Jesus described her as both a Holy Spirit and the Advocate of human beings in their quest for enlightenment; modern pagans recognize her as the Great Goddess, Mother of the universe. We embrace all these different aspects of her reality. She is the
supreme manifestation of the divine bathos and thus the depth of her
love, her beauty, her supreme gift of spiritual understanding can never be
fully uttered or comprehended. She is the source of all true gnosis and human
knowledge. (Canon 12, "On Sophia")

4. Mengubah Doa Bapa Kami dan Salam Maria

The Gnostic Lord's Prayer
Our Father and Mother God,
you are within us all,
and you make all things holy and united,
as you are holy and united, one God living and true.
Your Kingdom come,
your will be done,
which is love to all that lives in the heavens and on the earth.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and let us give our daily bread to those who have none;
and heal our broken spirits,
as we heal and forgive others.
And lead us, through the darkness of your mystical love,
to the light of the pleroma,
Amen.

The
Hail Sophia
Hail Sophia, Lady of Light,
Mystical Lover of my spirit.
Blessed are you, Woman of Wisdom,
and blessed are the gifts you bestow on us your children.
Holy Sophia, goddess who leads to
the One God,
fill me with your emptiness,
and darken my spirit with your light,
Amen.

5. Setuju dengan pernikahan homoseksual ….
Sexual Orientation Furthermore, the Church must recognize that almost every human being will, either at some point or on a continuing basis, experience varieties of bisexual attraction. Heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, and trans-gendered sexualities are all healthy, beautiful, and beloved in the sight of God to the extent that they lead us to healthy sexual and emotional relationships and advance our progress in the spirit of love and peace.
It should go without saying that homosexual couples are entitled to all the rights of heterosexual couples in the family of the Church, including but not limited to the
recognition of their marriages by the sacraments of the Church. Hatred,
bigotry, or any kind of discrimination based on sexual orientation is an
abomination before God and has no place among the children of Light. As a part
of this commitment to the spiritual equality of all human beings, the Church is
also dedicated to supporting campaigns for GLBT rights in the civil sphere.

6. Percaya pada reinkarnasi ….
Some of us believe in
metempsychosis, or reincarnation of those who are not able to achieve
gnosis within a single lifetime. This is an unresolved issue within the Gnostic
tradition, but we are all able to share the belief that, whether reincarnation
takes place or not, we are able to achieve gnosis within a single lifetime, for
the kingdom, as Christ taught, is both inside us and all around us. (Canon
20, "On Metempsychosis or Reincarnation")

7. Anti Dogmatic Truth ……
Finally, we believe that Gnosticism has always been a religion of tremendous internal diversity and this is in fact one of its strengths. We are not a dogmatic faith, but a faith geared towards experiencing the love of God, seeking spiritual knowledge
(gnosis), and making this love and this knowledge manifest in our world. We
have room to disagree on many specific doctrinal issues within the broad
framework that unites us as Gnostics. Because of this, we follow the guiding
principle, "In essential things unity, in non-essential things liberty, in
all things charity." Gnosticism is not about forcing people to believe
certain "doctrines" or "truths," but rather about seeking
that great source of Truth, the pleroma, through the grace of our great guides
Christ and Sophia. We are absolutely dedicated to intellectual and spiritual
freedom -- and open debate -- within the context of our faith. (Canon
21, "On Diversity and Spiritual Liberty")

YESUS REMAINS WITH US IN SCRIPTURE

Gospel Commentary for 3rd Sunday of Easter

By Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap

ROME, APRIL 4, 2008 (Zenit.org).- "Were not our hearts burning within
us while he spoke to us on the way and explained the Scriptures to
us?" This line from the Gospel passage about the disciples of Emmaus
brings us to reflect on the Scriptures.

There are two ways to approach the Bible. The first is that of
considering it an old book, full of religious wisdom, of moral values,
and of poetry too. From this point of view it is absolutely the most
important book for understanding our Western culture and the
Judeo-Christian religion. It is also the most printed and read book in
the world.

But there is another, much more demanding way to approach the Bible,
and it is that of believing that it contains the living word of God
for us, that it is an "inspired" book, that is, written, indeed, by
human authors, with all of their limitations, but with God's direct
intervention. A very human book and, at the same time, divine, that
speaks to men of all times and reveals to them the meaning of life and
death.

Above all it reveals to them God's love. If all the Bibles in the
world, St. Augustine said, on account of some disaster, would be
destroyed and there remained only one copy and, of this copy, all of
the pages were illegible save for one, and on this page only one line
were legible; if this line were that of the first letter of John that
reads "God is love," the whole Bible would be saved because it is
summed up in this statement. This explains how it is that so many
people approach the Bible without culture, without great education,
with simplicity, believing that it is the Holy Spirit that speaks in
it and find in it answers to their problems, light, encouragement, in
a word, life.

The two ways of approaching the Bible -- the way of erudition and the
way of faith -- do not exclude each other, on the contrary, they must
be united. It is necessary to study the Bible, the way in which it
should be interpreted (or to pay attention to the findings of those
study it in this way), so as not to fall into fundamentalism.

Fundamentalism consists in taking a verse from the Bible, just as it
sounds, and applying it to today's situations, without taking into
account the difference of culture, of time, and of the different
genres of the Bible.

It is believed, for example, that the universe is little more that
4,000 years old since this would seem to be what we can calculate from
the information that the Bible provides, while we know that the
universe is some billions of years old. The Bible was not written as a
textbook of natural science, but for salvation. God, in the Bible,
adapted himself to the way of speaking of the men of the time so that
they could understand; he did not write only for the men of the age of
technology.

On the other hand, to reduce the Bible to an object of study and
erudition, remaining neutral to its message, is to kill it. It would
be as if a man, receiving a letter from the woman he loves, were to
examine it with a dictionary, from the point of view of grammar and
syntax, and stops at these things, without grasping the love that is
in it.

Reading the Bible without faith is like trying to read a book at
night: nothing can be read, or at least one does not read what is
essential. Reading Scripture with faith means reading it in reference
to Christ, grasping what refers to him on every page, just as he did
with the disciples of Emmaus.

Jesus remains with us in two ways: in the Eucharist and in his word.
He is present in both: in the Eucharist under the form of food, in the
Word under the form of light and truth. The word has a great advantage
over the Eucharist. Only those who already believe and are in a state
of grace can receive communion; but everyone, believers and
nonbelievers, married people and divorced people, can approach the
word of God. Indeed, to become a believer, the most normal route is
that of listening to God's word.

[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]

SABDA ITU ADALAH DIA SENDIRI, OUR LORD

Pada mulanya adalah Firman; Firman itu bersama-sama dengan Allah dan Firman itu adalah Allah. Ia pada mulanya bersama-sama dengan Allah. Segala sesuatu dijadikan oleh Dia dan tanpa Dia tidak ada suatupun yang telah jadi dari segala yang telah dijadikan. Dalam Dia ada hidup dan hidup itu adalah terang manusia. Terang itu bercahaya di dalam kegelapan dan kegelapan itu tidak menguasainya. Terang yang sesungguhnya, yang menerangi setiap orang, sedang datang ke dalam dunia. Ia telah ada di dalam dunia dan dunia dijadikan oleh-Nya, tetapi dunia tidak mengenal-Nya. Ia datang kepada milik kepunyaan-Nya, tetapi orang-orang kepunyaan-Nya itu tidak menerima-Nya. Firman itu telah menjadi manusia, dan diam di antara kita, dan kita telah melihat kemuliaan-Nya, yaitu kemuliaan yang diberikan kepada-Nya sebagai Anak Tunggal Bapa, penuh kasih karunia dan kebenaran (John 1:1– 14)

Konon ada joke dari gus Dur, kalau USSR (UNI FEDERASI SOVIET RUSIA) dulu, pada tahun 57 an sudah mengirim Leica (nama anjing, mahluk hidup) dan kemudian AS tahun 60 an mengirim manusia ke sana; dan baru saja tahun2 lalu China juga menempatkan pesawatnya ke bulan (benda ruang angkasa yang paling dekat dengan bumi); Indonesia sebenarnya bisa lebih dulu ke bulan. Menurut beliau bila dilakukan dengan menumpukkan hasil seminar, raker, dsb yang sangat populer di sini (yang hasilnya atau laporannya jarang dibaca); Indonesia pasti lebih dulu sampai ke bulan.

Manusia Indonesia adalah manusia yang tergolong cerdik dan kreatif, dalam problem solving luar biasa dayanya. Ini sharing dari seorang yang bekerja diluar . Bila orang lain dari negara maju seolah telah terpola pemikirannya, manusia Indonesia mungkin karena terbiasa akal - akalan atau mempunyai kreativitas yang luar biasa dalam mengatasi masalah. Ingat akan istilah "urun rembug" , kalau diluar diartikan brain storming secara individual atau pribadi maka di Indonesia artinya ramai - ramai cari pemecahan masalah. Musyawarah untuk sepakat. Teorinya demikian, kenyataannya seperti sidang RUU di DPR yang berlarut - larut. Lalu kemudiannya adalah lain persoalan atau urusan nanti. Yang penting berwacana, luar biasa kemampuannya. Dengan kata lain banyak tricks dan tacticsnya dalam mengatasi segala persoalan. Karena universalitas dari manusia , sebenarnya Tuhan tidak membedakan kemampuan manusia, juga dalam hal kemampuan dan kreativitas. Hanyalah masalah kesempatan dan sarana, situasi dan kondisi,dan juga budaya kerja dalam menghasilkan sesuatu. Indonesia tidak kalah dalam performance dan kreativitas.

Salah satu dari tujuh kejaiban dunia adalah candi Borobudur ( sekarang tidak lagi , mungkin karena negara ini lalai sehingga ada penduduknya sendiri pernah menghancurkan dengan membom pada tahun 80 an ). Candi ini adalah yang terbesar di dunia atau paling luas dengan segala pahatan yang terindah dan tertinggi ( 42 meter) ada di Indonesia dan kreasi penduduk yang hidup saat itu ( abad 9?). Angkor Watt yang di Kambodja bukanlah suatu candi tetapi suatu komplek atau daerah percandian.

Tentu tujuan pembuatan Borobudur bukanlah untuk mencapai bulan seperi orang Israel yang membuat menara Babil untuk mencapai langit. Tujuan pembuatan candi adalah untuk liturgi agama Budha dalam menggambarkan tingkatan2 atau tahapan - tahapan yang misalnya direfleksikan dalam pahatan - pahatan yang menceritakan hubungan causal/sebab - akibat bila kehidupan manusia buruk yang terjadi karmanya dikemudian hari adalah kelahiran dalam tingkatan yang lebih rendah atau lahir sebagai tikus,dst. Penggambaran ajaran bagaimana manusia harus menjalani hidup dengan menjalankan welas asih untuk mencapai Nirvana. Konon karenanya saat itu kejahatan sangat minim dan rakyat menjalani kehidupan dengan damai dan sejahtera.

Liturgi dalam gereja katolik, terutama Ekaristi sebagai pusat kegiatan gereja sudah sangat kaya dalam membawa gereja (baca "umat"), dalam pencarian dan pemulihan relasi dengan Tuhan. Tidak perlu adanya kreativitas dan improvisasi yang hanya untuk menyenangkan segolongan umat. Salah kaprahnya bila ada improvisasi dengan euphemisme demi permintaan "sebagian umat" (umat yang mana?) atau inkulturasi yang sebenarnya hanyalah selera pastornya; terus terang menurut pendapat saya adalah pengurangan atau deminimasi dari arti liturgi ekaristi (mungkin pendapat saya salah). Doa Syukur Agung yang dimana-mana hanya 5 atau tambahan satu lagi yang berthemakan tobat, di Indonesia oleh para uskup seIndonesia dijadikan lebih dari 10. Yang lima masih belum dianggap cukup untuk pernyataan Syukur. Yang termanifestasi physik diatur seperti misalnya prosesi imam, misdinar, dst berlutut dimuka tabernakel, dirubah dengan hanya menganggukkan kepala.

Saya ingin sharingkan bahwa baru saja saya mengikuti ekaristi di 7 gereja yang berbeda (kebiasaan saya untuk mengalami ekaristi di gereja yang berbeda), dengan 2 budaya atau civilization yang berbeda ; yang satu dengan western christianity dan yang satunya eastern dengan akar yang kuat dalam taoism dan confusian atau latar belakang Budhism dari 2 negara tetangga; semua pastornya termasuk yang jauh lebih tua dari pastor2 kita waktu prosesi sebelum naik ke panti imam selalu berlutut kearah tabernakel dengan khidmat. Di paroki kita akhir -akir ini, karena pastornya tidak berlutut lagi terhadap tabernakel dan panti imam, semua dari misdinar, prodiakon, lektor, dst tidak perlu merasa berlutut lagi didepan tabernakel dan panti imam. Saya tidak tahu di paroki lain, namun kalau saya ke gereja Theresia , saya lihat waktu prosesi pastornya masih berlutut didepan tabernakel. Waktu permulaan misa dan sesudah mengakhiri misa menuju ruang sakristi. Inilah jejak feodalistis. dimana yang dilakukan yang diatas ditiru yang dibawah. Padahal budaya kita berangkat dari budaya mayoritas feodal yang sangat menghormati yang pantas dihormati, seperti sebutan nan, panjenengan , dst. Yang dengan fisik sampai dilakukan jalan dengan dengkul atau ngesot. Banyak umat yang akhirnya datang dan pergi ke gereja langsung duduk seperti perilaku nonton bioskop atau teater. Guru kencing berdiri murid kencing berlari.

Di gereja - gereja yang saya kunjungi ini . seluruh umat waktu DSA , konsekrasi, dan doksologi semua umat berlutut, meski mereka harus berlutut di ubin yang keras. Juga saat sebelum menyambut komuni. Dan ini dilakukan oleh orang yang dengan usia lanjut ( tidak sakit dengkul ) dan juga anak2. Perayaan ekaristi tidak pernah lebih dari satu jam , yang lebih panjang adalah silaturahmi dan semua diundang untuk ke ruang belakang, biasanya ada kantin atau sekedar makanan kecil. Bila ada pendatang dari luar atau kota lain, sering dinyatakan oleh pastornya waktu penutupan sebelum berkat. Khotbah tidak bertele - tele dan tidak pernah sedikitpun menceritakan diri pribadi yang selalu di - ulang2 pada ekaristi berikutnya, pergi kegunung-gunung kehutan-hutan, kebinatang buas, dst. Dalam benak saya memang masih ada hutan atau binatang buas dicari orang. Ah yang benar saja! Sabda benar - benar dibacakan untuk umat sebagai penyegaran rohani yang disertai homily dengan penekanan untuk kemuliaan Tuhan dan untuk memberikan bimbingan atau mengingatkan ajaran - ajaranNya. Yang pasti tema khotbah selalu ada relevansinya dengan bacaan atau injil , bukan ilustrasi sinetron atau cerita pendek yang imaginative. Kemudian dalam perayaan ekaristi itu sendiri, sikap atau gerak tubuh atau bahasa tubuh dalam kebersamaan dan kepatuhan adalah manifestasi umat dengan suasana batin yang searah ungkapan puji syukur dalam mengalami dan menghayati liturgy ekaristi. da suka cita dan cheerful yang memberikan perasaan bahwa Tuhan hadir dan menyertai umatNya, perasaan damai dan hati yang tergetar(at ease).

Gereja (baca paroki) mempunyai fungsi - fungsi seperti melaksanakan liturgy ekaristi untuk umatnya, celebrating the sacrament , to share the Words, dan melakukan hal – hal karitatif ( sudah didelegasikan atau urusan SSP?) . Kita kadang – kadang lebih memperhatikan perayaan dengan panitya – kepanityaan sebagai kegiatan. Dari HUT sampai lomba masak . Mohon maaf bila sharing ini menimbulkan inconveniency. Salam Damai dan Selamat Berpuasa menjelang Paska Kebangkitan Tuhan.
Jakarta, 7 Maret 2008
Hendra Boeniardi