?All can be moments of grace to meet and Know God?

Pakistan! The country which seems to be quite dangerous for the International world, a place of extremists and terrorists, the country which seems to be quite unsafe for those for whom life is very dear, but heaven for those who are daring, for those ready to find God in the unrest and challenges of each day.

We have just spent a few days with a WfR facilitator, who took a very brave step to come to Pakistan, when there is so much of tension and unrest in the whole country. We the Brothers in Pakistan appreciate, from the core of our hearts, his coming to give us his reflections on the very important document, Water from the Rock.

We feel grateful to Br. Sunanda Alwais, for making arrangements, and feel very happy and privileged to have the right person to talk about the book. We wish to extend our thanks to the Religious Life Commission, especially Br. Peter Rodney for making the facilitator available for Pakistan.

Although many of us had read the book, had even a retreat on it, listening to the facilitator was excellent for each one of us. The Brothers had the following to say:

Br. Remigious felt that he had not taken this important book seriously enough. He felt that this document needed to be read over and over for deeper insights and make it alive in his life. He is determined to do something about it. It is an opening for him to go deeper into the document since he has really understood well what Marist Spirituality is all about.

The presentations were excellent, with very good material, pictures and so forth, but they will remain just pictures and just material, unless it is really put into practice. The time with the facilitator has opened Br. Noel Forsaka to new vistas. He feels that the document needs to be lived, and incorporated into our personal and community prayers.

Br. Hadayat, coming from a village setting, said that, as in the time of irrigation, water becomes life for the fields, birds, animals and everything it passes by; so has been facilitatotor?s coming to Hadayat. The talks have given new life to Br. Hadayat and new meaning to his religious life.

I have read the book many times, said Br. Charles. He continued saying that he had been asking all to read because it was a very good document on our Marist Spirituality. He seems to have understood well and feels that this experience will be very useful for him in the future.

Br. Devasiri Fernando, felt that the Commission has selected the right person to speak on the Water from the Rock. The facilitator knows the history and has first hand information about the whole process of how the book came to be. Therefore, it was very profitable and enriching for Br. Deva to be a participant in these talks. He feels that the facilitator gave us bird?s eye view of the whole book. It helped him to understand the book as a whole.

Br. Ben said, it has been helpful, inspiring, and beneficial and he is sure that it will help him to approach people in a deeper level. He feels that he has been deeply touched and feels that he can multiply these beautiful thoughts with others.

The thoughts seem to be so relevant and inspiring that Br. Paul Bhatti could not stop to saying that it has been a time of great renewal and inspiration. He feels inspired seeing what the Marist World has done to bring the document to life. He also feels challenged to take some practical steps to bring the richness of this document to all those who share the charism of Marcellin Champagant in Pakistan.

It has been an experience of finding God through these presentations, in the stories shared by the facilitator, in the presence and sharings of each Brother, in the midst of the turmoil?s of the country, especially when we focus on the following articles:

WfR54 – ?Daily experiences are special places of encounter with God. We find God?s presence in creation, in the events of every day ? work and relationships, silence and noise, joys and sorrows, achievements and anguish, tragedy and death.

WfR57 – All the people and events of life offer an opportunity to encounter our merciful God?.

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By: Paul S. Bhatti,FMS)
13th & 14th March, 2009.