#13 - October 3, 2004

Dear Friends,

The next gathering of the Badaliya will be on Sunday October 3rd at 1pm. In order to view the video of the 50th anniversary of Massignon's Muslim/ Christian pilgrimage in Brittany this July we will meet in Medford, MA this time. Our theme for our prayer will be the meaning of "pilgrimage" and the experience.

In 1949 Massignon wrote, "Our Faith is essentially a living faith, and our life is the quality of the pilgrim who walks. Towards what is this pilgrim moving? He is going toward a Holy Place prefigured in the Beatitudes, he exiles himself from himself, which is the meaning of faith. We exile ourselves from the sweetness of daily life, from our ordinary ease, in order to find, one more time, a homeland that is not at all a negation of our original homeland, but that is transcendent... We are en route between these two points, the one that we leave and the arrival at the transcendent homeland, and Faith is our lifeline.I would like everyone to understand that the interference of transcendent action into the empirical facts of the most humble human life, by scrutinizing the details within his ability, predisposes everyone through the loving arbitration of divine transcendence for an unimaginable Meeting".

As always Massignon's poignant style of expressing his spiritual insights invites us to reflect carefully on his words and their intrinsic invitation to everyone. Please join us in person or in spirit as we pray for peace and reconciliation especially in the Holy Land and throughout the Middle East.

Friday, October 1st is the First Friday of October for those who are fasting and praying for world peace in solidarity with the members of the Union of Charles de Foucauld.

Peace to you.
Dorothy