Since we have arrived at the last day I will be leading us in prayer, I thought I would tell you a bit about the man who provided us with the stories we contemplated this week. As you know the stories were from a collection called Taking Flight: A Book of Story Meditations by Anthony de Mello, S.J. The original copyright date of the book is 1988, but Father de Mello died on June 2, 1987, before it had been published. According to a note from the publisher, the original manuscript, “because of its considerable bulk” was published as two separate books. The sequel to Taking Flight is called “The Heart of the Enlightened”. Let us listen to the prologue to Taking Flight written by the author’s close friend and colleague, J. Francis Stroud, S.J. which tells us some of Father Tony de Mello’s own story.
Please listen with your eyes and hear with your heart.
“Once upon a time there was a Jesuit spiritual teacher named Tony de Mello. He touched the hearts of people across the continents because he was so interested in life – real, vibrant, joy-filled living. His captivating stories, his warmth and humour, his insights into happiness and the discovery of the true self – all had an exhilarating effect on anyone who listened to him. He went about liberating hearts, making sense out of nonsense, giving meaning to whatever spiritual path one trod.
One constant spirit evident in his teaching centered not on himself, but on each of us: to bring out the guru in ourselves, to dance our own dance, to sing our own song. Tony de Mello delighted in the command: Be a light unto yourself. “
Please reflect on this a while and then join me in prayer.
O God of Wisdom, you send us special teachers – not ones who spoon-feed us, but ones who expect us to think critically when we are learning new concepts and especially when we are asked to rethink things we have always taken for granted. We thank you for one such teacher, Father Tony de Mello, who with humour and warmth has challenged us to learn more about ourselves by discovering our true selves. We thank you for his stories from different faiths, cultures and traditions, reminding us that Christians don’t have a lock on Truth. We thank you, also, that through our practice this week, we may come to follow the instruction of another special teacher, Buddha, who said “Be a light unto yourself. Don’t be a believer, don’t believe what I am saying. Discover it for yourself!” This we ask in the name of Jesus, who also called us to be Light to ourselves and the world, Amen.
