All in Good Faith

Author(s): Jean Potter, Marcus Braybrooke
Publisher: World Congress of Faiths

Page 23

All in Good Faith
creeds, rites and scriptures, still as they move towards their core through religious experience and reach the kernel in mystical experience they all tend to converge. This proves that at a really authentic religious level of mystical experience there seems to be a common denominator. And this common denominator would lead us to an interreligious sharing in worship "communicatio in sacris" '(28). Sister Vandana, a member of a Christian ashram, emphasized the silence beyond all religious practice. She began with the verse :
As there is silence beyond sound
to which the sound is meant to lead us, As there is a stillness beyond movement
which the dance is meant to hold So there is a worship beyond temples, beyond mountains -
a worship 'in spirit and in truth' (29).
Together with an emphasis on meeting at the level of spiritual experience there is also, in this volume, a recognition that all religions are from God. The final report states that 'From the beginning till today God has been reaching out to humankind through his Spirit. He is at work in all religions and traditions' (30). It follows that the scriptures are also of God and it is fitting to read them in the Christian liturgy (31). Indeed, at a Seminar on Non-Biblical Scriptures, held in 1974, it had already been argued that 'the use of non-biblical scriptures would ultimately result in a radical reorientation of the Indian Church, and so help her to become a unifying force in the pluralism of India's religions and cultures' (32). The catholic hierarchy in India, however, had discouraged the practice. Notwithstanding, the Christa Prema Seva Ashram in Pune had continued to experiment in this area. Sister Sara Grant, in her important paper, described the experience of her community in the fourteen years from 1974 to 1988. This had confirmed the dynamic power of the Spirit at work when there is a sharing of scripture (33).
There is a careful discussion of the nature of sacraments and symbols. It is suggested that new symbols are needed to express a unity in the spirit. Whilst eucharistic sharing is primarily for those who are united with each other in faith and baptism, the final report suggests that it could be extended to those who are committed to Christ, but who fear alienation from their community if they were baptized. Eucharistic sharing might also be extended to those who 'moved by the Spirit are living by the Gospel values', especially those working closely with Christians and taking grave risks in the struggle for human rights and solidarity with the poor (34).
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