Vom Genetiker Markus Hengstschläger stammt das Buch Die Durchschnittsfalle. Gene  Talente – Chancen:1 Die Mittelmäßigkeit ist der Liebling der Österreicher. Das führt unser Land in eine evolutionäre Sackgasse. „Der Durchschnitt hat noch nie etwas Innovatives geleistet. Da schwärmt ein Vater: ‚Mein Sohn ist so problemlos, ist noch nie negativ aufgefallen.‘ Aber auch positives Auffallen ist nicht erwünscht. Das wäre nämlich Stress. Die Gesellschaft arbeitet immer auf den Durchschnitt hin. Wie soll etwa eine Durchschnittsnote entscheiden, ob jemand ein guter Arzt wird? Der statistische Durchschnitt bringt nicht weiter und ist nicht zukunftstauglich. Eine repressive Egalität blendet das konkrete antlitzhafte Du mit der konkreten Wirklichkeit von Leid, Angst, Unterdrückung und Tod aber aus. Individualität hat keine Chance. Was ist bei einem statistischen Durchschnitt mit dem konkreten Gesicht, mit dem Antlitz, mit dem Namen? Was mit der Zärtlichkeit und mit dem Eros, was mit der Schönheit, was mit dem Beten? Sind Zahlen arbeitslos? Haben Statistiken Probleme? Sterben Zahlen an Krankheiten? In der Sache geht es um das Talent oder auch Charisma, also um das individuelle, besondere Wissen, Können …

On the evening of October 11th, we went to the synagogue to join the prayer on the eve of Kippur called: Prayer of the “Kol Nidre” (asking for the cancellation of all vows, oaths or promises, that we could have pronounced from last Yom Kippur or will pronounce until next Yom Kippur). There was a wonderful chorus, they song all the prayers. Also, there were a lot of people because we shared and joined with the people of the Biblical program from Ecce Homo. We could feel a spirit of Prayer and a spirit of unity with Jewish people. “The whole community of Israelites will be forgiven, as also the alien residing with them, since the entire people acted by inadvertence.” (Numbers 15, 26) Next day, we went to walk around the city in Mea Shearim to feel the atmosphere there and how they live this time of Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement). The streets were so quiet and there were no cars. Also, we could hear the prayer of Jewish people in the …

“You will again have compassion on us;you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea” (Micha 7:19) Sept 30, our class with Sr. Anne-Catharine was about the Jewish Feast, Rosh ha Shana as the Jewish people celebrate this feast this year on the 3rd of September. We started our class by reading Leviticus 23 identifying the five main Jewish biblical Festivals where all of them are related. Rosh ha Shana is not mentioned particularly by name on the text because in the time of the bible, it was only special first day of the seventh month. It developed during the time of the Second Temple. Then it was mention in Misnah as the head of the year. We saw very clearly the difference between the three pilgrim festivals with both agricultural and historical aspect (at least for Pesach and Sukkot), while Rosh ha Shana and Yom Kippur have quite a different character. Then we studied the main prayer of the day quoting the scriptures three time in …

On Sept 7, the Novices with the Brothers and Sisters of Sion attended the joint Jewish, Christian and Muslim interfaith prayer called Kehillot Zion or Zion Community. It was held in one of the prayer houses called “Amen”. The prayer was led by the Hebrew-speaking Catholic Community in Jerusalem in which we were invited to reflect upon the forgiveness and reconciliation from Matthew and Luke. Music, songs, silence and a time of sharing about the two scriptures texts in Hebrew, Arabic and Latin, marked the evening prayer. Maria O. Malau, Novice NDS September 11, 2016

We studied about the non-Violent communication for a week with Fr. Guy Theunis, a Missionary of Africa (“White Father”). He also spoke about the Enneagram each afternoon. The topics focused on the language according Marshall B. Rosenberg, self-communication, good listening, conflict, negotiation and how we respond to conflict. Fr. Guy explained to us that Marshall B. Rosenberg, an American psychologist was very well-versed in the study of the language and its concepts. For example, he referred to “Jackal Language” which is a language of demand and of a negative opinion while “Giraffe Language” is welcoming, freeing and kind. He mentioned four key points for non-violent communication: observation (saying what we see), feelings (saying what we feel), the needs at the base of my feelings (we express my unmet needs) and requests (saying what I would like the other person to do for us). We did an exercise on how to recognize the Jackal and Giraffe language in various phrases and what was missing in the phases. This helped us to be attentive and more aware …

On August 9, we had our class with Sr. Anne Catherine on the Assumption of Mary. It was interesting how she deepened the meaning of the assumption of Mary by simply making the connections to the other texts in the Bible as we saw Enoch (Gen 5: 24; Sir 44:16, 49, 14; Hebrew 11: 5; Jude 1: 14-15); as well as Elijah (2 King 2: 11-12; Sir 48:1-11), and perhaps according to the Jewish tradition, Moses, Aaron and Miriam did not died like any other human being but “in kiss of God”. And then we continued with the reading of the day, in the book of Revelation 11: 19, the Ark of Covenant appeared in heaven. We can hear the passage when the Ark of Covenant was carried to Jerusalem by David (2 Samuel 6) and then, Mary carrying Jesus in her womb in the hills of Judea. Mary and the Ark are linked. As the Ark is described as residing heaven, so too is the Mary described already residing in heaven with her body …

The class with Sr. Anne was about the Tisha be Ab. Tisha be Av is a memory of the destruction of the First and Second Temple. According to the tradition, on the Ninth of Av, it was already decreed upon our ancestors that they would not be allowed to enter the Land of Israel. Therefore, it is a commandment to mourn on Jerusalem starting with three weeks from the 17th of Tammuz. We can read the destruction of the First Temple in 2 King 25 and Jeremiah 52: 12-27. Looking at the provided texts and commentaries by Sr. Anne, there are some reason why the Jewish people have to mourn. The First Temple was destroyed for three sins of Israel: idolatry immorality and bloodshed. On the other hand, when the Second Temple was destroyed, Israel was already occupied with studying the Torah and practicing the commandment and good deeds. So, why in spite of that the temple was destroyed? Because there was hate without motivation and nobody challenged anybody. Some people say, the evil tongue …