Photo: canva.com/vetrestudio
The Sunday Feast of Pentecost falls this year on May 24. What is the Feast of Pentecost, some people might ask. As described in John 20:19–23, it is the commemoration of that late Sunday evening, fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection, when Jesus himself stood among his disciples and greeted them, “Peace be with you”.
Jesus said, “Peace be with you,” not once but twice and the second time he added, “As the Father sent me, so I send you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” To me, those words of Jesus are a commemoration and affirmation of my being missioned here to Birmingham.
As I pondered Pentecost Sunday at the English Martyrs Catholic Church in Birmingham in 2003, I realised I now live the spirit of Pentecost differently in my everyday life. I was sent here on mission to the multicultural and inter-religious community of Birmingham almost 13 years ago, as a Columban lay missionary, to join a team that promotes dialogue and closeness with people of different faiths. Here on my mission in Birmingham, I am now very much at peace in being with people of different faiths to whom God sent me to know, serve and love.
During the period of Ramadan this year, our Columban Inter-religious Dialogue team here in Birmingham was invited to several mosques of different denominations to join them in their “Iftar” meal, which is the Muslim breaking of the fast. People of other faiths have also invited us for other occasions, gatherings, ceremonies, workshops and seminars. At Fatima House – a home for refugees, asylum seekers and migrants – where I serve, this year too, we had a joint celebration of Muslims’ Eid al-Fitr, Sikhs’ Vaisakhi and the Orthodox Easter. As well as visiting other places of worship, I also bring some friends from other faiths to our Catholic Church.
ONE OF THE SURPRISES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
My fiancé, Kush, who was raised as a Hindu, was at that 2003 Pentecost Sunday Mass, though we did not know each other then. Like me, he does not mind visiting other places of worship. His mother is the same. I have seen a picture of her lighting a candle inside a Catholic church when she was still able. Kush even queued for a blessing from our parish priest during communion, as he now usually does when he goes to Mass with me. Upon entering the church, he always touches the ground with his hand and touches his hand to his head, like he does when entering any place of worship. He says, “The act of touching the threshold of a place of worship on entering symbolises receiving with humility the dust from the feet of our fellow worshipers so that it may impart the wisdom of their spiritual journey on us too.”
This is one of the surprises of the Holy Spirit for me, too. I never thought I would meet my fiancé through the Columban Inter-religious Dialogue ministry.
After that Sunday Mass at the English Martyrs Catholic Church, we both travelled a few steps to another place of worship in Sparkhill, the Sikh Temple Guru Nanak Gurdwara, to join their Community Meal called “Langar”. Then, in the afternoon, we went with his mum to the Hindu temple, Shree Laxmi Narayan Mandir, to attend the inauguration of the completed Mandir façade.
Joining people of other faiths in their gatherings and celebrations is now part of my everyday life, both in relation to my ministry with the Columbans and in my personal life with Kush and his family. Kush is a British citizen and grew up in my mission area. His Parmar family, ethnically from Gujarat, India, migrated here when he was seven from Kenya, East Africa, where he was born.
And so, my mission, which is inter-religious dialogue, intercultural living and reaching out to asylum seekers, refugees and migrants, is part of the day-to-day reality of his childhood. Many of his friends are refugees and migrants themselves. In fact, he mentioned to me that his best friend at the primary school was a refugee from the Vietnam War and they are still in touch with each other. In that sense, Kush was immersed in the area where I was assigned far earlier than I.
I AM WELCOMED AND RESPECTED BOTH AS A PERSON AND AS A MISSIONARY
Kush and I are both chaplains. We are both part of the Multi-Faith Chaplaincy of West Midlands Police in Birmingham. For many years, Kush volunteered for the Samaritans, too. They respond to calls for help and prevent crises or manage them. Wherever we go, people naturally gravitate to us. An example of this is when we went to the Registry Office to inquire about our marriage licence. Suddenly, one of the officials came into our room asking if anyone could speak Urdu. Kush gladly offered to be a translator and help the person in the other room. He also volunteered for the Missionary of Charity Sisters of Mother Teresa when they still had their convent in Birmingham. He and his mother would visit the convent and the Sisters also visited their house. Indeed, his family were familiar with Catholic missionaries in the past, before they even met me and my co-lay missionaries from the Philippines, Rose and Jayjay, who introduced us. I am welcomed and respected both as a person and a missionary by Kush and his family, relatives and friends. He is happy and thankful that I have faith because faith brought us together. Although he now describes himself as non-denominational, with his own Vipassana insight meditation practice, Kush is happy for me to continue as a Columban Lay Missionary. He knows that I love serving God through Columban mission. In fact, he supports me consistently behind the scenes in his own way as I do my work as a Columban missionary in Britain. I am happy too that he practises Vipassana meditation, because I know it continually helps him to be a better person.
Sometimes I also visit and join him at the Buddhist Temple Edgbaston Vihara Sangha, where Kush leads the meditation on Thursday nights. I now integrate meditation into my own practice each day, too. After I pray and read Our Daily Bread, a Christian devotional booklet containing scripture readings, contemporary stories and explanations, I meditate as a Christian. For me, it is like being still in the presence of the Lord, seated with my eyes closed, just focusing on the breath of life that God gave me going in and out of my nose for at least 15 minutes. It helps me to calm down, think more clearly and carry on, especially when the going is tough in my life as a missionary.
THE SPIRIT ENABLED THEM TO SPEAK
The first reading on the Feast of Pentecost describes what happened: “When the day of Pentecost came, when all the believers were gathered in one place. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to talk in other languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.” (Acts 2:1–11) It also describes what happened to the people who witnessed it. They could understand what they were speaking. They were “in amazement and wonder”. Many times, I am also “in amazement and wonder” at how inter-religious dialogue has become a normal part of our everyday conversation. Kush and I share stories from our faith or practice that have moral lessons we can both draw on for inspiration. We are from different backgrounds, but we understand what we are sharing. These stories are life-giving to us and help us grow and be better people. I can see the Holy Spirit at work in his life too and hear the voice of the Holy Spirit through him.
There are times when I face challenges as a missionary, so when he asked me one time how I was and I responded with the words, “I feel like I am falling and floating and I do not know if I will continue to float or hit the ground and shatter to pieces,” Kush offered me words of wisdom, saying, “You know why you feel like you are floating? It is because Jesus is holding you.” What he said lifted my spirit that day.
There was a time when all the difficulties in my life seemed too much and did not make sense. As a response, Kush shared with me, “Ger, there is a story about a bookmark inserted inside a Bible. The person looking at it thought it was a mess of threads that did not make sense, but then he flipped it onto the other side and saw the words ‘God is love’.” I suddenly remembered that, indeed, God loves me and was working behind the scenes all the time, preparing something beautiful in my life.
There was another time when Kush knew I was so down that he suddenly recited the lines of my favourite poem, “Do It Anyway” by Mother Teresa. My tears fell. I could clearly hear the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking out of the mouth of someone raised in another faith, uplifting my spirit.
NOSTRA AETATE (IN OUR TIME)
When Fr Tim Mulroy, the Columban Superior General, visited Birmingham in 2022, he congratulated me on my engagement with Kush. I said to him, “Father, he grew up in Birmingham, but he is not a Catholic.” Fr Tim said, “Surely, he is a good man; otherwise, you would not choose him.” I said to him, “Yes indeed, Father, he is a good man,” and I told him a little about Kush’s background. When Fr Tim returned to Hong Kong, I sent him a greeting on October 28, “Happy Nostra Aetate Day”. He sent me a message in reply, “Wishing you and Kush abundant blessings as you pursue the inter-religious dialogue journey together in daily life - and make real the spirit of Nostra Aetate in our broken world.”
That message really touched my heart. Truly indeed, that was the wish of Kush and me when we entered into a committed relationship, that in some ways our relationship would be part of a testimony that people, though from different faiths, can also love each other and even marry each other, make it work and live in peace.
The Vatican II document Nostra Aetate (In Our Time) paved the way for the inter-religious dialogue we are doing today. It is the Latin name by which the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions is known and it formalised an expanded attitude of dialogue and respect towards the major non-Christian religions of the world: Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism.”
STILL HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO
At this point, Kush and I still have a long way to go to fulfil the requirements for getting married in the UK. As we wait for God’s time, I believe the Holy Spirit is facilitating our dialogue in daily life and strengthening our relationship and love day by day. We do not know yet when it will be - only God knows.
I also still need to apply for British Residency soon this year and am encouraged by my colleagues and friends who have also got married but continue to fulfil, in their own way, the mission Jesus sent them to do.
Kush and I may have a long journey ahead, so please keep us in your prayers. May the Holy Spirit continue to journey with us, guiding and helping us. Amen!
Kush offered me words of wisdom, saying, “You know why you feel like you are floating? It is because Jesus is holding you.” What he said lifted my spirit that day.
Columban lay missionary Gertrudes C. Samson lives and works in Britain.
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