The special two weeks program of Silsilah that ended last July 15 was considered by all participants a great experience. Some were Christians: priests, seminarians and teachers, the others are Muslims: ustadhs, imams, alive teachers of DepEd and staffs of different organizations helping for the rehabilitation of Marawi after the siege. The beginning of the special course was difficult. Most of the participants came with a lot of prejudices, but soon the group was able to overcome all the fears and they became friends. In this climate of friendship, they started to share openly their feelings and were able to listen, in the first week, the presentations of Christianity, Islam and dialogue with open minds and hearts and in the second week, they shared the reality of Christianity and Islam at the crossroads, and understood more the danger of secularism and radicalism an alarming reality for both Christians and Muslims.
Among the significant experiences and sharing, we chose one from a Christian and one from a Muslim participant.
A Christian participant said: “For the past 15 days of staying here in Harmony Village, together with all my Christian and Muslim brothers and sisters, with all the activities and immersions, all I can say is “wonderful!”. The people in Silsilah, Fr. Sebastiano D’Ambra, the organizers, and staff are wonderful people. They love and care. The silence makes you really feel God’s presence and His love for us as His creations. Lastly, during my two immersions, my foster parents are really wonderful people that I rarely meet, that is why I grabbed this opportunity to thank you for making me feel that I am part of your family, for treating me like their child.
My 15 days of staying here makes me realize and open my mind that there is still so much work to do, a work to achieve harmony and peace. For almost 10 years, I was confined in the four walls of the seminary, with all the comfort and security offered to me. I have been doing my apostolate heartily and I thought all of that is enough and I did my best. If I did not join this special program, maybe I am still the same, that old person before, “A frog in a well”. The Silsilah program opened another path for me, a different perspective of looking at things. All of us here gathered together have only one goal and that is to achieve the peace that we longed for – a dream to have a peaceful life, a life where everyone who live together in harmony, solidarity and love. Believe it or not, that is not a dream anymore, because we already experienced that for the past 15 days right here, right now. How does it feel? It feels wonderful.
A Muslim participant said: “Assalamu Alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuho
Maayong Good Morning.
Silsilah, it was a strange word for me though I heard it from my co-officemates but I have no idea about their mission and vision.
I came here without any expectations. I was just to attend the two-week special program and now, it’s done. After the first meeting, I somehow got the gist of this program’s mission. From having priests, brothers, Ustads, professors and youth classmates. As I look at them every meeting I realized that I’m very blessed and grateful that I grabbed this rare opportunity when you can express and share your learnings and experiences of your gender, your status, and your belief.
We learned a lot from our speakers the way they taught us to practice culture of dialogue as a way of instilling peace.
One of the most memorable moments of this program was the immersion. Living in unique families who follow a different faith from us. The warm welcome they gave to us is one of a kind that we will bring when we got here. Their names will be kept in our hearts. Yes, it was a short time but the learnings and experiences that we get here is worth it.
I hope the friendship and family that we build will be carried whenever we go. To my classmates, continue working for peace. We will harvest the fruits of our hard work. Thank you and wassalam.”
Indeed, this special program of Silsilah gives hope to all of us. But we cannot enjoy to listen to good stories of dialogue like this. Each one of us has to reflect how we can become good stories in the society today.