We all love story!

A good story challenges us to a new

vision of life.Change also

Religion?

No definition of Religions can be agreed. But all discover something original.

Religions have two hands.

One is Faith in something absolute.

Another is a Way of living.

Five Questions:Jesus Story?Elephant Story?Why me?What about others?How is Jesus related to other religions?

The Story of Jesus is owned by God Today it continues to inspire the

World.

From the Beginning, where is no time but The Divine Love overflowing from the Triune God!

Creation becomes an on going entrance into the world which finds

it climax in the incarnation of the

Word.

The Story has not ended yet.

It becomes a life-giving

memory with which the Holy

Spirit keeps renewing humanity.

It is the Story that touches the stories of

all human individuals!

He is “the way, the truth and

the life”.

Why does the elephant-story Why does the elephant-story weaken the Jesus Story?weaken the Jesus Story?

A King summoned some blind and asked them to

touch an elephant … for the best

description of it

Some touched the head, some its ear, … others the tail …They began to quarrel to the extent of striking one another … which delighted the king.

Let us try to stretch our imagination

TThe elephant-story and Relativismhe elephant-story and Relativism

Human inability to claim the fullness Human inability to claim the fullness of truthof truth

If Catholics claim that Jesus is the Only Savior, they are intolerant for other religions.

If they deny it, they would overturn the permanence of Catholic faith.

The teaching of the Church in Redemptoris Missio (1990),

Fides et Ratio (1998), Ecclesia in Asia (1999), & Dominus Iesus (2000) provide the ground for rebutting the horns of this dilemma.

How does the Jesus Story touch me and you?

How does the Jesus Story touch me and you?

It all starts with our hearts to which God speaks out of love. The Church bear witness to it.

What God speaks of is the Story of Jesus, because In Jesus God

wants us to be free and loved

He who defines his conduct by a set of rules determined by religion

imprisons his songbird in a cage

The The best best song song

comes comes not not

through through bars and bars and

wireswires

The The best best song song

comes comes not not

through through bars and bars and

wireswires but from the utmost but from the utmost freedom and love. freedom and love.

but from the utmost but from the utmost freedom and love. freedom and love.

The Jesus-Story reveals the power between the darkness of the cross and the light of the Resurrection. Thence one finds not a mere solution to the riddles of life but the God-given wisdom and strength to embrace them

The Jesus-Story reveals the power between the darkness of the cross and the light of the Resurrection. Thence one finds not a mere solution to the riddles of life but the God-given wisdom and strength to embrace them

The Way God chooses to approach us is not unrelated to our human nature and destiny

Human nature is so formed that God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth - God.

Human destiny is to share God’s life Christ has gained for us.

JP II has two concerns in

FR. Right Reason is waning.

Relativism is growing.

The Conscience is the most secret core and sanctuary of a man. There he is alone with God, whose voice echoes in his depths.

In fidelity to conscience, Christians are joined with the rest of humankind in the search for truth, and for the genuine solutions to the numerous problems.

ThThrreee levels of truth: e levels of truth: Natural Sciences, Natural Sciences, Philosophy and Philosophy and Jesus received by Jesus received by Faith. Faith.

ThThrreee levels of truth: e levels of truth: Natural Sciences, Natural Sciences, Philosophy and Philosophy and Jesus received by Jesus received by Faith. Faith.

Two orders of Two orders of knowledge: Reason knowledge: Reason

and Faith. and Faith.

Indissoluble and Indissoluble and Profound unity Profound unity

between the thembetween the them

Two orders of Two orders of knowledge: Reason knowledge: Reason

and Faith. and Faith.

Indissoluble and Indissoluble and Profound unity Profound unity

between the thembetween the them

Faith and Reason Faith and Reason are like to wings on are like to wings on which the human which the human spirit rises to the spirit rises to the contemplation of contemplation of truth. truth.

Faith and Reason Faith and Reason are like to wings on are like to wings on which the human which the human spirit rises to the spirit rises to the contemplation of contemplation of truth. truth.

ThThe truth received in Faith is e truth received in Faith is not opposed to the truths not opposed to the truths which science and which science and Philosophy perceive. Philosophy perceive.

The unity of truth is a The unity of truth is a fundamental premise fundamental premise

of human reason. of human reason.

The unity of truth is a The unity of truth is a fundamental premise fundamental premise

of human reason. of human reason.

The Way God chooses to tell the Story of Jesus is intrinsically

related to human nature as such. This guarantees the objectivity.

The Mystery, like the elephant, is still huge and big. The blind cannot sense the Whole.

The Incarnate Word is likened to “eye-opener” all-important for anyone in search of God.

Can there be Ways of

Salvation by-passing the

Story of Jesus?

Can there be Ways of

Salvation by-passing the

Story of Jesus?

“None other than Christ” is the answer.When it applies to the non-hearers the Jesus Story, the statement needs to be nuanced. Their salvation is related in a mysteriously way to Christ and the Church.

“None other than Christ” is the answer.When it applies to the non-hearers the Jesus Story, the statement needs to be nuanced. Their salvation is related in a mysteriously way to Christ and the Church.

For such people Salvation in Christ

is accessible by virtue of grace.

This grace comes from Christ – His Sacrifice - and is communicated by the Holy Spirit.

This grace enables them to have a mysterious relationship to the Church, does not make them formally part of the Church.

The Church as sacramental sign is to make visible the Mystery, including that “mysterious relationship”, by inviting people to join the Church.

Human promotion and explicit proclamation are not to be separated.

How the Should the Story of Jesus be related to other

religions?

The Story of Jesus is related to other religions

because of the fundamental solidarity

and universal unity between the Incarnate Word and every human

being.

The Church is invited to discover and respect the seeds of the Word

present in other religions

Those who do not know Christ may be in a state of darkness and spiritual hunger. The Church should help them.

The Church should remain opened to the new and surprising ways in which the face of Jesus might be presented in Asia – appealing to the Asian sensibilities.

As the Story told in the fourth Gospel presents Him as the logos with a certain Hellenistic flavor, so the same story can be re-told to present Jesus, for example, as a Holy Sage with a certain Confucian sensibility.

In re-telling the Story, one should insist upon the openness of cultures to the universality of the truth the Story bears and let the same Story break through all the cultural barriers which seek to contain it.

The Story of Jesus has its originality and power and is of crucial importance for the proclaiming Church.

Relativism tends to weaken its force. The Church defends the right reason so as to preserve the strength of the hearers.

The Mysterious relationship between Christ-Church and every human individual needs to be safeguarded.

For us to keep the Story of Jesus alive among so many religions is to strive for the unity of Faith and Life without losing sight of cultural sensibilities.

When Faith and life are joined together, there comes to the

worship in Spirit and in Truth. In

worship one cannot but fly

higher and higher.

Perhaps the Confucian moral path may help us to be more perceptive to the mysterious transcendence coming from above and manifesting itself from within.

Perhaps the Confucian moral path may help us to be more perceptive to the mysterious transcendence coming from above and manifesting itself from within.

“I do not complain against Heaven. I do not blame men. I study things on the lower level,

but my understanding penetrates the higher. It is Heaven that knows me” said Confucius. 不怨天，不尤人，下學而上達：知我者，其天乎！