The three-month sabbatical program at the Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem, Israel on the border of Bethlehem, Palestine, ends on Wednesday, December 6.

My participation in this program has been one of the most richly rewarding experiences of my life. Living with other like-minded Christians, and being in dialogue with Jews and Muslims, has refreshed me and has deepened my commitment to a spirituality that continues to evolve in and among the peoples of our global village.

This spirituality is based on a yearning to create unity in the midst of great diversity, a respect for the individual in his/her search for God and for meaning, a desire to create peace through justice, an intent on living with a global rather than tribal awareness, a love for the Earth as humanity’s home, a commitment to an ecology that preserves Earth’s precious resources and an acceptance that all religious traditions are a means to union with God and humanity and an acknowledgement that in these traditions are found universal values which are expressed differently through a diversity of words, symbols, myths and rituals.

In my 25 years of ministry in parish communities in Detroit and in San Diego, I have been drawn to the “common wisdom”, the “sensus fidelium”, of many of the people of God who live that kind of spirituality without a developed theology or articulation of those “ways of being”.

My sabbatical has confirmed what I have experienced in my ministry over the years and has strengthened me to live those values ever more deeply by incorporating them more completely in my daily ministry as Pastor of the Santa Sophia Community.

As the program ends, people question me regarding the date of my departure from Jerusalem and my arrival in San Diego. I found myself saying, “ I will be returning to San Diego soon.”

Reflecting upon why I was not saying “I will be returning home”, but rather, “I will be returning to San Diego”, I came to the realization that I am already home! Home, for me, is not a place, but rather it is a climate, an environment, an atmosphere in which this global spirituality is lived.

Home is not a place. It is not a geographic location. Home is anywhere and everywhere that this global spirituality takes root and thrives.

“After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the good news of God: ‘This is the time of fulfillment. The Reign of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the good news.’ ” (Mark 1:14-15)

“The Reign of God is at hand”, Jesus proclaimed. It is right here, right now. When we turn from our old ways and take on this new way of seeing, our world changes. Home is no longer a geographic location. Family is no longer just blood relations:

“His mother and His brothers arrived. Standing outside they sent word to Him and called Him. A crowd, seated around Him, told Him, ‘Your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you.’ But He said to them in reply, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking around at those seated in a circle he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:31-35)

Rev. Thomas Stransky, the Rector Emeritus of the Tantur Ecumenical Institute, in one of his seminars, reminded us that the Bible contains many “time bombs” still waiting to go off. In other words, the message of fulfillment in life can be found in the Bible. It is not an outdated book. There are still messages yet undiscovered that will help us in our present realities.

The Scriptures are filled with ways that can be helpful in creating a spirituality that will bring us closer to God and to one another within this setting of the global village. We need but look at “old” messages with “new” eyes.

This task belongs not only to Christians, but also to Jews and Muslims alike. We return to our own traditions, beliefs and rituals and look at them anew with our global needs. As the people of each tradition does so , God will speak, not again, for God has never stopped speaking; but, we will hear as for the first time. And we will hear the voice of God who calls us to be one people, one family, all living in one village - the City of God, Earth!

I am still in Israel/Palestine and I am at home and with my family! I will soon return to San Diego and to my ministry at Santa Sophia Catholic Church where I will be at home and with family!

This is the last of my weekly newsletters from Israel/Palestine. For me, it was a challenge and a great joy to attempt to put into words only some of the many thoughts and emotions that were mine these past three months. In closing, I invite you, in the spirit of the global village, to pray with me Psalm 96. It is entitled “God of the Universe”.

Please take up your Scriptures and pray this psalm and say a prayer for me as I return to San Diego.

Shalom. Salaam. Peace

E-mail Fr Mike at: michaelr@stmoside.org