Author: bcicirel

Insights on Ramadan, Mary Poppins Style

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Mary_Poppins5

Right now nearly 2 billion Muslims are celebrating Eid.  Is it just a holiday name on a somewhat inclusive calendar for you? Does the description, “festival of the breaking of the fast” marking the end of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, when Muslims fast from before dawn until sunset actually give you any insights or make you think, “Clearly going 17 hours with no food or drink is an occasion for JOY!”?  Do you observe Ramadan and want to share your own comments?

Well DePaul’s Muslim Chaplain and Assistant Director of the Office of Religious Diversity, Abdul-Malik Ryan, just published a blog piece originally posted on Medium.com entitled “Ramadan is like Mary Poppins” in which he paints a picture of what Ramadan means to him as seen through the lens of Mary Poppins.

I’ll share a portion of the writing as a warm-up, but give the entire text a read when you have a chance, and feel free to share comments below:

In Ramadan we do things we never knew we could
If we were asked before we experienced Ramadan, when we might have tried fasting once on a relatively short day and found it difficult, whether we could fast a month straight of nearly 17 hour days, while standing to pray in the nights, maintaining our work schedule, spending significant amounts on numerous worthy causes, while maintaining a cheerful attitude with a range of people we don’t always spend time with…we would surely not think it is possible. Yet, many of us have found we can do that with the help of faith, hope, and the special conditions of Ramadan. The Banks family would never have imagined they could do the special things they did with Mary Poppins, whether it was hopping into chalk drawings, dancing on the rooftops of London, or telling off their boss when he deserved it, but with Mary Poppins around accomplishing what they would have thought impossible became a regular occurrence.

Ramadan brings joy into our lives
It is most famously in the scene where the children go to the chalk drawing in the County Fair that one sees the enormous joy Mary Poppins brings into their lives, as the song says “It’s a jolly holiday with Mary, no wonder that it’s Mary that we love.” This is of course also seen in making a task like cleaning the nursery fun, or spending an afternoon laughing themselves up to the ceiling. Although it is filled with fasting and other forms of worship, Ramadan is a time of joy for most Muslims. Most of us have some of our fondest memories in this month and we look forward to it. Routines are changed, families spend more time together, people visit each other more often. While excessive feasting in the evening is not recommended, even a small meal after fasting brings a person pleasure and tranquility. The Prophet (saw) told us that the fasting person has two joys; one when breaking the fast and one when he or she meets God. The month is filled with joy for many and culminates of course in Eid, where one relishes in the accomplishments of a month of getting closer to God and to each other.

Katie Brick is the Director of the Office of Religious Diversity

https://medium.com/@abunoorabdulmalikryan/ramadan-is-like-mary-poppins-6c598669bde8

Third Place, 2017 Vinny Prize – Fostering Connections

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Third Place, 2017 Vinny Prize, Office of Mission and Values at DePaul University

Determined to break a vicious cycle of abuse, a young mother fights to create new beginnings for her biological and adopted children with the support of an innovative, multigenerational community.

Abused and neglected as a teenager, Micci Grainger fights to provide her biological and adopted children the safe and nurturing home she never experienced. The work is difficult; her adopted children themselves have been victims of abuse, neglect, and the professional indifference of the foster care system. Micci’s most difficult children are home-schooled, and she also operates a daycare center in her home. The work—raising and caring for so many children—is simply too much for Micci and her husband, Tim to handle on their own.

But Micci has help from an unlikely source: the ‘surrogate grandparents’ of Hope Meadows, an intentional, intergenerational community where senior citizens volunteer to work with adoptive families to help raise at-risk youth. Hope Meadows is a unique community, where neighbors do not just share cups of sugar; instead, they share the responsibility of raising children.

The film explores possible solutions to larger social issues – the involvement of the elderly in the care of children in the foster care system. It examines the life-altering possibilities adoptive families, at-risk youth and seniors experience when working toward a common goal.

Newsnote: Vincentiana Purchase of the Week: 1859 English engraving of Daughters of Charity

bcicirel Vincentian Heritage, Vincentian History

It is interesting that this 1859 print by the English engraver Matthew James Lawless (1837-1864). Mis-identifies the Daughters of Charity as “Sisters of Mercy.” The Daughters of Charity first came in England in 1847 so they were a relatively new feature on the English scene during the 19th century re-birth of English Catholicism after the restoration of the Catholic Hierarchy by Pius IX in 1850. Information on Lawless follows below: “An original etching by Matthew James Lawless (1837-1864), Sisters of Mercy is one of the finest etchings published by the Junior Etching Club. This warm, domestic scene depicts two nuns and a young girl preparing a meal within a rustic kitchen. One of the sisters peels a carrot while the other is gathering more vegetables from the child’s apron. What makes Lawless’s composition most remarkable, however, is its point of view, as it is depicted from the actual eye level of the infant. This original etching served as an illustration for Gerald Griffin’s (1803-1840) poem, The Sister of Mercy. Several lines from the poem are quoted below; “She put from her person the trappings of pride, And passed from her home with the joy of a bride; Forgot are the claims of her riches and birth, For she barters for Heaven the glory of Earth!” * Gerald Griffin Sisters of Mercy, is one of four of his works of art that was commissioned by the Junior Etching Club for the 1862 portfolio, Passages from Modern English Poets. The artist’s other etched contributions are The Little Shipwright, The Drummer and The Bivouac.is signed and dated “M. J. Lawless 1859” by Matthew James Lawless within the etching and bearing the artist’s name “M. J. Lawless” and the publisher’s name and date, “London, Published December 1st, 1861 by Day & Sons, Lith. to the Queen” along the lower margin of the plate. This is a fine, original example of the etched art created by the British artist, Matthew James Lawless.” See: http://www.artoftheprint.com/artistpages/lawless_mathew_james_siste…

Importance of Interfaith Dialogue

bcicirel Community, DePaul Interfaith Programs, Seeds of Mission, Spirituality, Uncategorized

By Priyanka Patel

While most college kids look forward to spending that beautiful, stress-free week in March on a beach in a tropical climate, I chose to spend mine volunteering with the Daughters of Charity in Bladensburg, Maryland. Upon arrival to Bladensburg, we were told we’d be staying in a convent with the Catholic nuns that were kindly hosting us. This was the first time I’d ever seen a nun, let alone step into a convent. I was born and raised a devout Hindu, and still practice my faith on a daily basis. I wear a red vermillion mark on my forehead to symbolize my affiliation to the Hindu faith. Nonetheless, each of the nuns greeted me warmly and were careful to ask about my religious dietary restrictions so that they could prepare food for me accordingly. The next morning, we headed to Church. I sat in amazement witnessing the love and devotion among the Catholic devotees. While serving meals to the homeless, I watched as the community came together, gathered in small Church basements serving what they could and bowing their heads in prayer in unison. It was these small moments that I realized the importance of interfaith dialogue. Though my religion is much different than the Abrahamic ones that surround me, we are all essentially devoted to one cause – social upliftment. Through this mission, we can find our similarities and coexist. As my Guru, H.D.H Pramukh Swami Maharaj once said at the United Nations’ Millennium World Peace Summit in 2000,

“Just as the unity of our followers makes our religion strong and protected, the unity of all faiths will make our common future strong and protected… True progress of any religion lies not in growth by numbers but by the quality of life and purity and the spiritual awakening in the adherents. Thus every Hindu should become a better Hindu, every Jew a better Jew, every Christian a better Christian and every Muslim a better Muslim and every follower should become a better follower… Religious leaders should not dream of establishing their religion as the one religion of the world, but dream of a world where all religions are united. Unity in diversity is the first lesson of life. Flourishing together by working together is the secret behind peace.

 

Vincent the Countryboy

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Fr. Jack Melito, C.M., writes of Vincent de Paul’s humble origins: how these served as an embarrassment early in Vincent’s life away from home, and then as a hedge against pride later on.  His great works, Vincent presented as “little”: The Little Company of humble origins; the little virtues of simplicity, humility, meekness, mortification and zeal; his “little method” of preaching.  Vincent never wanted to remember where he came from when he was a youth; but, as an adult, he never forgot where he came from.

“Vincent, The Country Boy” is a chapter from the book Windows on His Vision (pp. 13-16) available at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/windows/5/

It is also available as an ebook here: https://via.library.depaul.edu/vincentian_ebooks/8/