30 June 2010

Pendeta Bram Akhirnya Mengaku Khilaf


Dirinya mengku khilaf dan berjanji tidak akan mengulangi perbuatan pemurtadan lagi


Hidayatullah.com--Teka-teki siapa dalang merebaknya kasus pemurtadan dengan dalih pemberian bantuan sembako di Kota Bandung, akhirnya terkuak. Adalah seorang pendeta bernama Abraham (55) atau yang akrab dipanggil Bram. Ia mengaku khilaf atas ulahnya dengan  memberi bantuan sembako kepada beberapa warga di Babakan Ciaparay Kota Bandung beberapa waktu lalu.

Hal tersebut terungkap Selasa malam (29/6) dalam dialog antara KPUB (Komite Peduli Ummat Bandung) dengan Pendeta Bram di sebuah rumah makan di kawasan Jl. Soekarno Hatta Bandung.

"Saya tidak bermaksud memurtadkan atau mengajak pindah agama seseorang sesuai agama yang saya anut. Saya hanya bermaksud memberi bantuan sosial saja," kilah Bram.

Namun pernyataan Bram segera disanggah Euis Rifqi dari LSM Insan Kamil selaku pembina korban pedangkalan aqidah tersebut.

"Seharusnya jika hanya ingin memberi bantuan sembako saja, warga tidak perlu dibawa ke tempat rekreasi dengan proses seperti orang dibaptis dengan dengan menyebut "Demi Yesus  segala," tukas Euis.

Menurut Euis, warga binaannya tidak hanya sekali diberi bantuan, dengan terlebih dahulu diajak tamasya. Setidaknya dirinya mendapat laporan dari beberapa warga yang sempat ikut sebanyak tiga kali. Sudah ada indikasi ada niat terselubung yang mengarah pada pedangkalan aqidah.

Saat dirinya disebut telah melakukan pembaptisan, Bram segera menolak. Menurutnya, apa yang telah dilakukannya hanya sekedar menolong, dan warga yang datang saat itu ingin belajar dan dirinya tidak merasa mengundang.

Disinggung soal penggunaan beberapa ayat Al Qur'an dalam mempengaruhi para penerima bantuan, Bram tidak merasa membacakannya. Hanya, imbuh Bram, dirinya mengatakan dan menjelaskan bahwa di  dalam Alkitab juga ada kata "celupan" atau "shibghah" dalam Surat Al Baqarah 138.

"Celupan dalam pemahaman saya adalah pertaubatan atau pengakuan dosa seorang untuk kembali kepada Tuhan," jelas Bram.

Sementara Euis mengganggap pemahaman Bram soal kata "celupan" atau "shibghah" terlalu dangkal dan tidak sesuai dengan makna ayat Al Qur'an. Euis juga menyayangkan ulah Bram tersebut yang dengan gegabah telah menjelaskan suatu pemahaman pada orang yang tidak seagama dengannya.

Dalam dialog tersebut tidak terjadi debat sengit maupun kata-kata keras yang saling menghujat. Malah dengan bahasa yang lembut dan sopan, Euis justru gembira jika Bram juga mempelajari Al Qur'an.

"Saya gembira jika Pak Bram juga mempelajari Al Qur'an dan saya berdoa semoga Pak Bram mendapat hidayah seperti pendeta yang lain yang telah masuk Islam," doa Euis.

Mendapat "support" demikian Bram hanya senyum-senyum, sambil menganggukkan kepalanya.

Di akhir pertemuan tersebut secara terbuka Bram mengakui segala tindakannya dan menganggap itu sebuah kekhilafan dan ketidaktahuan. Untuk itu dirinya memohon maaf, khususnya kepada warga penerima bantuan, juga kepada Euis selaku pembinanya.

"Saya mohon maaf dan telah khilaf serta berjanji tidak akan mengulangi lagi," ujar Bram.

Permintaan maaf Bram tersebut disaksikan beberapa orang yang sempat menerima bantuan dan juga beberapa anggota KPUB.

Saat dimintai keterangan hidayatullah.com, Hari Nugraha (40) selaku koordinator KPUB yang turut hadir dalam pertemuan tersebut menjelaskan, sebenarnya pendeta Bram sempat dilaporkan ke Kepolisian beberapa minggu setelah kejadian tersebut.

"Kita sudah laporkan kasus ini ke Polwiltabes Bandung beberapa minggu lalu. Kemudian tadi saya di hubungi Pak Bram untuk pertemuan malam ini," jelas Hari.

Kejadian pemberian bantuan yang dilakukan pendeta Bram sendiri terakhir dilakukan akhir Mei 2010.

Seperti pernah diberitakan hidayatullah.com sebelumnya, akhir Mei 2010 yang lalu beberapa warga Babakan Ciparay Kota Bandung diberi paket bantuan oleh seseorang berupa beras lima kilogram, handuk, dan uang lima puluh ribu rupiah. Saat itu sekitar 13 warga tertarik dengan paket tersebut.

Menurut keterangan warga yang ikut, sebelum memperoleh paket tersebut mereka diajak ke tempat wisata pemandian di pinggiran Kota Banduung. Selanjutnya mereka dicelupkan sambil diminta mengatakan, "Demi Yesus".

Belakangan terungkap pelakunya adalah seorang pendeta Bram dari Gereja Advent Hari Ketujuh.

Disinggung apa rencana selanjutnya yang akan dilakukan KPUB setelah pertemuan malam ini? Hari mengatakan, akan segera mempelajari dan mengkomunikasikan dengan elemen ormas Islam di Kota Bandung.

Dalam pantauan hidayatullah.com, pertemuan tersebut memang tidak dihadiri ormas-ormas Islam Kota Bandung. Hanya dari KPUB dan Insan Kamil yang nampak hadir. Padahal ini bisa menjadi momen penting di mana pengakuan dan permintaan maaf pendeta Bram bisa disaksikan  ormas Islam agar ia tidak membuat ulah lagi. [man/hidayatullah.com]Keterangan foto: Pendeta Bram (berdiri nomor 2 dari kiri / memakai rompi hitam) berjabat tangan dengan Hari Nugraha dari KPUB.


--
Ajaranku masih kurang, umatku. Setelah aku akan datang Nabi Lain (Yesus - Yoh 17:3)

Teolog Swedia: Yesus Tidak Disalib!


 
 
Tidak ada satupun literatur kuno yang menyebutkan tentang penyaliban Yesus

Hidayatullah.com--Seorang teolog Swedia menyatakan, Yesus tidak disalib, karena tidak ada bukti yang menunjukkan bahwa orang-orang Romawi menyalib para tahanannya 2.000 tahun silam.

Menurut Gunnar Samuelsson dari Universitas Gothenburg, cerita mengenai eksekusi Yesus adalah berdasarkan pada tradisi orang Kristen dan ilustrasi artistik, bukan berdasarkan naskah-naskah kuno. Hal tersebut ditulis Samuelsson dalam disertasi doktornya yang berjudul "Crucifixion in Antiquity - An Inquiry into the Background of the New Testament Terminology of Crucifixion".

Samuelsson, seorang kristiani yang taat, menyatakan bahwa Bibel telah disalahinterpretasikan. Tidak ada referensi eksplisit yang menyebutkan penggunaan paku untuk penyaliban di dalamnya, yang ada hanya Yesus ditusuk sebuah "staurus" menuju bukit Cavalry, yang juga bisa berarti "galah" atau "tongkat". Demikian hasil penelitiannya menyebutkan.

Disertasi Samuelsson setebal 400 halaman itu ditulis berdasarkan studi mendalam atas teks-teks asli. Karya ilmiahnya diajukan ke universitas bulan lalu.

"Masalahnya adalah, deskripsi tentang penyaliban sama sekali tidak ada dalam literatur-literatur kuno," kata Samuelsson dalam sebuah wawancara dengan Daily Telegraph, Rabu pekan lalu.

"Sumber-sumber yang Anda harapkan untuk menemukan pemahaman yang sesungguhnya tentang peristiwa itu, tidak mengatakan apapun," tegasnya.

Literatur-literatur kuno dalam bahasa Yunani, Latin, dan Hebew, dari zaman Homer hingga abad pertama, menggambarkan sejumlah penundaan hukuman, tapi tidak ada yang menyebut "salib" atau "penyaliban".

"Konsekuensinya, pemahaman kontemporer tentang penyaliban sebagai hukuman, sangat diragukan (dipertanyakan)," ujar Samuelsson kepada koran Inggris tersebut.

"Dan yang lebih diragukan lagi, apakah hal yang sama bisa disimpulkan atas peristiwa penyaliban Yesus. Perjanjian Baru tidak mengatakan sebanyak apa yang ingin kita percayai," tandas Samuelsson.

Hanya ada sedikit bukti menegaskan bahwa Yesus dibiarkan mati setelah dipaku di atas sebuah tiang salib, baik itu dalam literatur-literatur kuno zaman pra-Kristen maupun ekstra-Bibel, demikian pula dalam Bibel.

Samuelsson mengakui bahwa sangat mudah untuk bereakasi dengan emosional daripada berfikir secara logis terhadap penelitian itu, yang sangat dekat dengan agamanya.

Menurut Samuelsson, teks-teks yang berbicara tentang eksekusi, tidak menjelaskan bagaimana Yesus dilekatkan pada alat eksekusinya.

"Inilah inti masalahnya. Teks tentang kisah penderitaan (Yesus) tidak begitu jelas dan informasinya ditambah-tambahi, sebagaimana kita umat kristiani terkadang menginginkannya demikian," katanya menjelaskan.

"Jika Anda mencari teks yang menggambarkan tindakan pemakuan orang ke tiang salib, Anda tidak akan menemukannya kecuali di Alkitab."

Semua literatur kontemporer menggunakan terminologi yang samar-samar, termasuk yang ditulis dalam bahasa Latin. Sementara dalam bahasa Latin, kata "crux" tidak selalu berarti salib, dan "patibulum" tidak selalu berarti palang salib. Kedua kata tersebut digunakan dalam arti yang lebih luas daripada itu.

Meskipun hasil penelitiannya menegaskan bahwa tidak ada bukti Yesus disalib, Samuelsson mengatakan ia masih percaya bahwa Yesus anak tuhan. Ia hanya meminta agar penganut Kristen memperbaiki pemahamannya terhadap Bibel.

"Saran saya, kita harus membaca teksnya sebagaimana adanya, bukan sebagaimana yang kita pikirkan. Kita harus membaca yang tersurat, bukan yang tersirat. Teks dalam Bibel sudah cukup. Kita tidak perlu menambahkan apapun."

Hasil penelitian Samuelsson mengingatkan kita pada tradisi Kristen lainnya; Sinterklas dan salju Natal.

Tokoh Sinterklas tidak ada dalam Alkitab, dan sebagian orangtua jujur mengatakan kepada anak-anaknya bahwa itu hanya dongeng belaka. Tapi kisah itu tetap dipercayai sebagai bagian dari agama dan tradisi mereka. Sementara para pengusaha mengatakan bahwa tidak peduli itu nyata atau tidak, yang penting tokoh Sinterklas membantu melariskan dagangan mereka, terutama di musim Natal.

Perayaan Natal dan cerita kelahiran Yesus juga selalu dikaitkan dengan salju. Padahal dalam Alkitab dikatakan, ibunda Yesus makan buah kurma yang jatuh dari pohon setelah melahirkan anaknya. Buah kurma adalah tanaman khas padang pasir yang hanya berbuah di musim panas. Apakah mungkin ketika itu Maria memakan buah kurma, sambil mendekap anaknya yang menggigil kedinginan karena salju?

Al-Quran lebih dari 1.400 tahun lalu telah mengatakan, Nabi Isa, yang diakui sebagai Yesus oleh penganut Kristen, memang tidak dibunuh oleh orang-orang yang mengejarnya ketika itu. Bahkan beliau belum wafat.[di/tlg/loc/www.hidayatullah.com]

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Ajaranku masih kurang, umatku. Setelah aku akan datang Nabi Lain (Yesus - Yoh 17:3)

29 June 2010

Religious Tolerance in Muslim History

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image The Alhambra Palace, Granada. Symbol of Islam's "Golden Age"

Religious intolerance has become too much a part of modern life. It is a fact of life, though, that good people, of whatever faith, do not poke fun or try to insult one another's religion.

On the contrary, we find that real people of faith are keen to get to know each other better and to learn from each other. Goodness, wherever it is to be found, comes from God. Where else would it come from?

We should never feel threatened by goodness. It is only a threat to us when our own faith is weak or lukewarm and it shows up our own shortcomings.

Since the very beginning, Islam has taught respect for the beliefs of others. We see it in the teaching and the practice of Islam right through history. Indeed, it is the sign of a Muslim that he or she respects the religion of others, and their Books and their Prophets. Those who teach otherwise, Muslim or not, are distorting the message of Islam.

Muslims are no more or less perfect than anyone else. They believe, though, that the message they follow is a perfect message and is meant for the whole of mankind. Islam is perfect and it has existed since the beginning of time.

Whilst some Muslims, throughout history, have not always lived up to the beauty of its message, Islam itself has nothing whatever to be ashamed of.

It is an absolute basic belief of Islam, though, that people of other religions should be free to believe whatever they wish. In the Quran, which Muslims believe to be the word of God, we read:

Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from error: Whoever rejects Satan and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy handle, that never breaks, and Allah heareth and knoweth all things. (Al-Baqarah 2:256)

In another place, Allah says:

Wilt thou (Muhammad) then compel mankind, against their will, to believe?] (Yunus 10:99)

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) lived side by side with Jews and polytheists. In Madinah, he made treaties with both, guaranteeing their freedom of religion and joining with them in a pact to defend the city.

It was not that they were Jews or polytheists that made the Muslims eventually fight them, but because they broke the terms of the treaty and sided with the enemy which was attacking the city.

It is, in fact, one of the hallmarks of the way Prophet Muhammad dealt with others, believers and non-believers, that he would listen very carefully to what they had to say, and he would ask, "Have you finished?" before giving an answer.

He set the bench mark very high by showing Muslims that if they engage in dialogue, they must listen with great respect.

When the second of the four rightly guided Caliphs, Umar ibn Al-Khattab, entered Jerusalem in 638 AD, he entered the city on foot, out of respect for the holiness of the place.

His first action was to clear the rubble and the debris from the area of Al-Aqsa Mosque and to cleanse the whole sight with rose water.

There was no bloodshed. There was no slaughter. Unlike the slaughter of 70,000 men, women and children which accompanied the arrival of the Crusaders in 1099, the Muslims entered the city peacefully, signing a treaty with the Patriarch Sophronius, which guaranteed their rights to worship, their lives and their property.

The Patriarch, no doubt acting upon his lived experience in the city, asked that no Jews be allowed to live in Jerusalem. Salah Al-Din, known as Saladin in the West, lifted this injunction when he retook Jerusalem from the Crusaders in 1187.

Those who wished to leave were guaranteed their safety. Those who wished to remain were allowed to do so.

In fact, allowing religious minorities to live within the Muslim state would be a test of how faithful the Muslims were to their high calling as a "mercy to mankind".

Prophet Muhammad said,

He who unfairly treats a non-Muslim who keeps a peace treaty with Muslims, or undermines his rights or burdens him beyond his capacity, or takes something from him without his consent; then I am his opponent on the Day of Judgment. (Abu Dawud)

There is a period in the history of Islam which is lovingly known to Muslims as the Golden Age of Islam. This was the period of the Muslims in southern Spain, which lasted for centuries.

During this time, Christians and Jews held high office in the royal court. It was only when the Catholic monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, retook the Muslim cities in the south that mosques and synagogues were burned down and Muslims and Jews were either expelled or forced to convert.
Mehmet II officially recognized Patriarch Gennadius II as leader of the Orthodox peoples throughout the Ottoman Empire following the capture of Constantinople in 1453.

In the same year, he granted to the leader of the Jewish community (the Chief Rabbi) the title "Hahambasha", or Chief Wise Man. Both actions show the respect for other faiths which was to symbolize the Ottoman rule.

We have only to look at Palestine under the Ottoman Empire, to see that this was the greatest period when the region knew peace. Christians, Muslims and Jews lived together happily in the holy city of Jerusalem.

Finally, a word of hope in our own day from the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. Some weeks after the Israeli attack on Gaza in January 2009, there was a rise in anti-Semitic attacks and hate crimes in many countries.

In Edinburgh, the synagogue of the United Hebrew Congregation was attacked by vandals, allegedly protesting against the war on Gaza. The response from the Scottish-Islamic Foundation, Scotland's largest umbrella organization for Muslims, was swift: "We will guard the synagogue for you", they said, if it proved too difficult for the Jewish community to do so.

What better example can we give of Muslim attitudes to other faiths than that? The Muslims of Scotland were prepared to guard the synagogue of the Jewish community.

Muslims believe that God (Allah) is the Lord of all people on earth. He is not just the God of the Muslims. Because of this, Muslims have a very great responsibility to act with justice and kindness to all those who have not yet come to the fullness of truth, which Muslims believe was revealed in the message of Islam.

Muslims have a responsibility to teach the world about Islam. In the Quran we read.

Thus We have made of you a nation justly balanced, that ye might be witnesses over the nations, and the Messenger a witness over yourselves. (Al-Baqarah 2:143)

Religious intolerance has no place in our world. Muslims and others should know that it has no place in Islam, either.



--
Ajaranku masih kurang, umatku. Setelah aku akan datang Nabi Lain (Yesus - Yoh 17:3)

18 June 2010

UMUR JUSUF 90 TAHUN DISAAT MARIA BERUMUR ANTARA 12 - 14. KALAU NABI MUHAMMAD DITUDUH PEDOFIL APAKAH YUSUF JUGA TERMASUK?

Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and foster-father of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Life

Sources

The chief sources of information on the life of St. Joseph are the first chapters of our first and third Gospels; they are practically also the only reliable sources, for, whilst, on the holy patriarch's life, as on many other points connected with the Saviour's history which are left untouched by the canonical writings, the apocryphal literature is full of details, the non-admittance of these works into the Canon of the Sacred Books casts a strong suspicion upon their contents; and, even granted that some of the facts recorded by them may be founded on trustworthy traditions, it is in most instances next to impossible to discern and sift these particles of true history from the fancies with which they are associated. Among these apocryphal productions dealing more or less extensively with some episodes of St. Joseph's life may be noted the so-called "Gospel of James", the "Pseudo-Matthew", the "Gospel of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary", the "Story of Joseph the Carpenter", and the "Life of the Virgin and Death of Joseph".

Genealogy

St. Matthew (1:16) calls St. Joseph the son of Jacob; according to St. Luke (3:23), Heli was his father. This is not the place to recite the many and most various endeavours to solve the vexing questions arising from the divergences between both genealogies; nor is it necessary to point out the explanation which meets best all the requirements of the problem (see GENEALOGY OF CHRIST); suffice it to remind the reader that, contrary to what was once advocated, most modern writers readily admit that in both documents we possess the genealogy of Joseph, and that it is quite possible to reconcile their data.

Residence

At any rate, Bethlehem, the city of David and his descendants, appears to have been the birth-place of Joseph. When, however, the Gospel history opens, namely, a few months before the Annunciation, Joseph was settled at Nazareth. Why and when he forsook his home-place to betake himself to Galilee is not ascertained; some suppose — and the supposition is by no means improbable — that the then-moderate circumstances of the family and the necessity of earning a living may have brought about the change. St. Joseph, indeed, was a tekton, as we learn from Matthew 13:55, and Mark 6:3. The word means both mechanic in general and carpenter in particular; St. Justin vouches for the latter sense (Dialogue with Trypho 88), and tradition has accepted this interpretation, which is followed in the English Bible.

Marriage

It is probably at Nazareth that Joseph betrothed and married her who was to become the Mother of God. When the marriage took place, whether before or after the Incarnation, is no easy matter to settle, and on this point the masters of exegesis have at all times been at variance. Most modern commentators, following the footsteps of St. Thomas, understand that, at the epoch of the Annunciation, the Blessed Virgin was only affianced to Joseph; as St. Thomas notices, this interpretation suits better all the evangelical data.

It will not be without interest to recall here, unreliable though they are, the lengthy stories concerning St. Joseph's marriage contained in the apocryphal writings. When forty years of age, Joseph married a woman called Melcha or Escha by some, Salome by others; they lived forty-nine years together and had six children, two daughters and four sons, the youngest of whom was James (the Less, "the Lord's brother"). A year after his wife's death, as the priests announced through Judea that they wished to find in the tribe of Juda a respectable man to espouse Mary, then twelve to fourteen years of age. Joseph, who was at the time ninety years old, went up to Jerusalem among the candidates; a miracle manifested the choice God had made of Joseph, and two years later the Annunciation took place. These dreams, as St. Jerome styles them, from which many a Christian artist has drawn his inspiration (see, for instance, Raphael's "Espousals of the Virgin"), are void of authority; they nevertheless acquired in the course of ages some popularity; in them some ecclesiastical writers sought the answer to the well-known difficulty arising from the mention in the Gospel of "the Lord's brothers"; from them also popular credulity has, contrary to all probability, as well as to the tradition witnessed by old works of art, retained the belief that St. Joseph was an old man at the time of marriage with the Mother of God.

The Incarnation

This marriage, true and complete, was, in the intention of the spouses, to be virgin marriage (cf. St. Augustine, "De cons. Evang.", II, i in P.L. XXXIV, 1071-72; "Cont. Julian.", V, xii, 45 in P.L. XLIV, 810; St. Thomas, III:28; III:29:2). But soon was the faith of Joseph in his spouse to be sorely tried: she was with child. However painful the discovery must have been for him, unaware as he was of the mystery of the Incarnation, his delicate feelings forbade him to defame his affianced, and he resolved "to put her away privately; but while he thought on these things, behold the angel of the Lord appeared to him in his sleep, saying: Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her, is of the Holy Ghost. . . And Joseph, rising from his sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and took unto him his wife" (Matthew 1:19, 20, 24).

The Nativity and the flight to Egypt

A few months later, the time came for Joseph and Mary to go to Bethlehem, to be enrolled, according to the decree issued by Caesar Augustus: a new source of anxiety for Joseph, for "her days were accomplished, that she should be delivered", and "there was no room for them in the inn (Luke 2:1-7). What must have been the thoughts of the holy man at the birth of the Saviour, the coming of the shepherds and of the wise men, and at the events which occurred at the time of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, we can merely guess; St. Luke tells only that he was "wondering at those things which were spoken concerning him" (2:33). New trials were soon to follow. The news that a king of the Jews was born could not but kindle in the wicked heart of the old and bloody tyrant, Herod, the fire of jealousy. Again "an angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph, saying: Arise, and take the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt: and be there until I shall tell thee" (Matthew 2:13).

Return to Nazareth

The summons to go back to Palestine came only after a few years, and the Holy Family settled again at Nazareth. St. Joseph's was henceforth the simple and uneventful life of an humble Jew, supporting himself and his family by his work, and faithful to the religious practices commanded by the Law or observed by pious Israelites. The only noteworthy incident recorded by the Gospel is the loss of, and anxious quest for, Jesus, then twelve years old, when He had strayed during the yearly pilgrimage to the Holy City (Luke 2:42-51).

Death

This is the last we hear of St. Joseph in the sacred writings, and we may well suppose that Jesus's foster-father died before the beginning of Savior's public life. In several circumstances, indeed, the Gospels speak of the latter's mother and brothers (Matthew 12:46; Mark 3:31; Luke 8:19; John 7:3), but never do they speak of His father in connection with the rest of the family; they tell us only that Our Lord, during His public life, was referred to as the son of Joseph (John 1:45; 6:42; Luke 4:22) the carpenter (Matthew 13:55). Would Jesus, moreover, when about to die on the Cross, have entrusted His mother to John's care, had St. Joseph been still alive?

According to the apocryphal "Story of Joseph the Carpenter", the holy man reached his hundred and eleventh year when he died, on 20 July (A.D. 18 or 19). St. Epiphanius gives him ninety years of age at the time of his demise; and if we are to believe the Venerable Bede, he was buried in the Valley of Josaphat. In truth we do not know when St. Joseph died; it is most unlikely that he attained the ripe old age spoken of by the "Story of Joseph" and St. Epiphanius. The probability is that he died and was buried at Nazareth.

Devotion to Saint Joseph

Joseph was "a just man". This praise bestowed by the Holy Ghost, and the privilege of having been chosen by God to be the foster-father of Jesus and the spouse of the Virgin Mother, are the foundations of the honour paid to St. Joseph by the Church. So well-grounded are these foundations that it is not a little surprising that the cult of St. Joseph was so slow in winning recognition. Foremost among the causes of this is the fact that "during the first centuries of the Church's existence, it was only the martyrs who enjoyed veneration" (Kellner). Far from being ignored or passed over in silence during the early Christian ages, St. Joseph's prerogatives were occasionally descanted upon by the Fathers; even such eulogies as cannot be attributed to the writers among whose works they found admittance bear witness that the ideas and devotion therein expressed were familiar, not only to the theologians and preachers, and must have been readily welcomed by the people. The earliest traces of public recognition of the sanctity of St. Joseph are to be found in the East. His feast, if we may trust the assertions of Papebroch, was kept by the Copts as early as the beginning of the fourth century. Nicephorus Callistus tells likewise — on what authority we do not know — that in the great basilica erected at Bethlehem by St. Helena, there was a gorgeous oratory dedicated to the honour of our saint. Certain it is, at all events, that the feast of "Joseph the Carpenter" is entered, on 20 July, in one of the old Coptic Calendars in our possession, as also in a Synazarium of the eighth and nineth century published by Cardinal Mai (Script. Vet. Nova Coll., IV, 15 sqq.). Greek menologies of a later date at least mention St. Joseph on 25 or 26 December, and a twofold commemoration of him along with other saints was made on the two Sundays next before and after Christmas.

In the West the name of the foster-father of Our Lord (Nutritor Domini) appears in local martyrologies of the ninth and tenth centuries, and we find in 1129, for the first time, a church dedicated to his honour at Bologna. The devotion, then merely private, as it seems, gained a great impetus owing to the influence and zeal of such saintly persons as St. Bernard, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Gertrude (d. 1310), and St. Bridget of Sweden (d. 1373). According to Benedict XIV (De Serv. Dei beatif., I, iv, n. 11; xx, n. 17), "the general opinion of the learned is that the Fathers of Carmel were the first to import from the East into the West the laudable practice of giving the fullest cultus to St. Joseph". His feast, introduced towards the end shortly afterwards, into the Dominican Calendar, gradually gained a foothold in various dioceses of Western Europe. Among the most zealous promoters of the devotion at that epoch, St. Vincent Ferrer (d. 1419), Peter d'Ailly (d. 1420), St. Bernadine of Siena (d. 1444), and Jehan Charlier Gerson (d. 1429) deserve an especial mention. Gerson, who had, in 1400, composed an Office of the Espousals of Joseph particularly at the Council of Constance (1414), in promoting the public recognition of the cult of St. Joseph. Only under the pontificate of Sixtus IV (1471-84), were the efforts of these holy men rewarded by Roman Calendar (19 March). From that time the devotion acquired greater and greater popularity, the dignity of the feast keeping pace with this steady growth. At first only a festum simplex, it was soon elevated to a double rite by Innocent VIII (1484-92), declared by Gregory XV, in 1621, a festival of obligation, at the instance of the Emperors Ferdinand III and Leopold I and of King Charles II of Spain, and raised to the rank of a double of the second class by Clement XI (1700-21). Further, Benedict XIII, in 1726, inserted the name into the Litany of the Saints.

One festival in the year, however, was not deemed enough to satisfy the piety of the people. The feast of the Espousals of the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph, so strenuously advocated by Gerson, and permitted first by Paul III to the Franciscans, then to other religious orders and individual dioceses, was, in 1725, granted to all countries that solicited it, a proper Office, compiled by the Dominican Pierto Aurato, being assigned, and the day appointed being 23 January. Nor was this all, for the reformed Order of Carmelites, into which St. Teresa had infused her great devotion to the foster-father of Jesus, chose him, in 1621, for their patron, and in 1689, were allowed to celebrate the feast of his Patronage on the third Sunday after Easter. This feast, soon adopted throughout the Spanish Kingdom, was later on extended to all states and dioceses which asked for the privilege. No devotion, perhaps, has grown so universal, none seems to have appealed so forcibly to the heart of the Christian people, and particularly of the labouring classes, during the nineteenth century, as that of St. Joseph.

This wonderful and unprecedented increase of popularity called for a new lustre to be added to the cult of the saint. Accordingly, one of the first acts of the pontificate of Pius IX, himself singularly devoted to St. Joseph, was to extend to the whole Church the feast of the Patronage (1847), and in December, 1870, according to the wishes of the bishops and of all the faithful, he solemnly declared the Holy Patriarch Joseph, patron of the Catholic Church, and enjoined that his feast (19 March) should henceforth be celebrated as a double of the first class (but without octave, on account of Lent). Following the footsteps of their predecessor, Leo XIII and Pius X have shown an equal desire to add their own jewel to the crown of St. Joseph: the former, by permitting on certain days the reading of the votive Office of the saint; and the latter by approving, on 18 March, 1909, a litany in honour of him whose name he had received in baptism.

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“Yesus” Disambar Petir di Ohio

Petir tidak pandang bulu, "orang suci" dan "malaikat" pun ikut pula dihantam

Hidayatullah.com--Sepertinya "tuhan" mengorbankan anaknya. Lagi. Demikian tulis Washington Post (16/6). Senin lalu, petir menyambar sebuah patung Yesus setinggi 62 kaki  yang berdiri di luar sebuah gereja di Monroe, Ohio. Patung itu pun terbakar dan hanya menyisakan kerangka baja yang hangus. Lengan kurusnya masih menunjuk ke langit, sebuah isyarat yang menjadikannya dijuluki "Touchdown Jesus".

Darlen Bishop, wakil pastor dari Gereja Solid Rock mengatakan lega, karena petir menyambar Yesus dan bukan rumah dan para wanita yang tinggal di sekitanya.

"Saya katakan kepada mereka, 'sepertinya Yesus menanggung hantaman itu demi kalian semalam'," ujarnya, seperti dikutip Washington Post.

Orang suci kena strum


Pada tahun 2008, petir juga menghanguskan jemari dan alis Yesus di Redeemer, patung terkenal setinggi 130 kaki yang berdiri di atas kota Rio de Janeiro.

Tahun 2007, petir menyetrum Yesus setinggi 33 kaki di tempat suci Bunda Cabrini di Golden, Colorado, AS. Ketika itu salah satu lengannya putus.

Orang suci dan malaikat rupanya juga tidak aman dari petir. Patung Bunda Maria di Chicago yang berada di kubah sebuah gereja dilalap api akibat petir pada tahun 1978.

St. Joan of Arc pernah tersengat petir di New Orleans, sehingga tongkat yang diacungkannya patah.

Patung-patung Malaikat Moroni, yang biasanya ada di puncak gereja aliran Mormon, menjadi langganan sambaran petir. Sampai-sampai Salt Lake Tribune pernah mengkhawatirkan keselamatan patung-patung itu dalam headline di halaman mukanya.

Orang Romawi Kuno sering mengkaitkan patung yang disambar petir dengan pertanda buruk, seperti halnya ayam yang bisa berbicara dan hujan darah dari langit. Tapi dua peristiwa terakhir sangat langka sekali.

Untuk mencari makna dari sambaran petir atas Touchdown Jesus, Washington Post mencoba mengontak Pat Robertson, pembawa acara "The 700 Club" yang pernah menyatakan bahwa bencana badai Katrina dan gempa Haiti merupakah hukuman dan tanda dari tuhan. Tapi melalui humasnya, Robertson menyatatakan menolak untuk memberikan komentar.

Namun bagi pastor Bishop sendiri, terbakarnya patung Yesus itu tidak menandakan apa-apa.

"Honey, it's just some fiberglass," katanya.

Ya, memang hanya sebuah patung fiberglas, jadi mengapa harus dikhawatirkan. Lagipula petir memang kerap menyambar obyek-obyek yang tinggi.[di/wp/www.hidayatullah.com]

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