The opportunity to share the good news with other people sometimes comes to us as a providential, especially in sharing our specific charism ad gentes, by welcoming our brothers and sisters of different faith and beliefs. In a most populous Muslim country like Indonesia, a Xaverian needs to have a sensitivity to catch every opportunity of encounter and dialog with our Muslim brothers and sisters in daily life.
This happened to Fr. Amandus Rejino Santoso, the Vocational and Missionary Animator of Indonesia. On Friday (13/12/2024), a group of Muslim students from Andalas University of Padang came to St. Francis Assisi Parish and Xaverian Domus in Padang, West Sumatra. He welcomed them and spontaneously a dialog of life took place among them. These Muslim students actually came only to see old buildings in the city of Padang, among them are our parish Church and our Domus. However, the providential encounter led them to a mutual conversation and building a relationship. Those friendly young people eagerly wanted to know better about the Catholic Church and the Xaverian Domus.
Modern young people seem to be more open to building relationships with people of other faith and beliefs, even in places that traditionally are very conservative and exclusive in living out their faith. As Fr. Rejino said, “They kindly raised some questions and it was an opportunity for us to share with them some important information about the Catholic Church in general and Xaverian presence in Indonesia and Padang in particular. They also had a chance to enter our small Chapel and to pay a short visit to our “Xaverian Ancestors” before going back to their school.”
This kind of dialog of life is a concrete manifestation of the commitment taken by all of us, the Xaverian. “It is only through welcoming Xaverian communities that we can become witnesses and animators” (XVIIICG n. 20). In difficult places for the first announcement like the city of Padang, there is a providential encounter to practice dialog with young Muslim students who came with openness and curiosity about our Christian life.
The attitude to promote dialog was lived out by St. Francis of Assisi, the patron Saint of our parish in Padang. The deep friendship and rich dialogue between St. Francis of Assisi and Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil centuries ago can inform interfaith dialogue in our own times. A dialog of life needs values of understanding and sympathy in our encounter with brothers and sisters of different faith and beliefs. May our solidarity and friendship with them contribute to bringing about a better world, starting from a simple dialog of life.
