Christian presence among Muslims: Fr Bob McCahill

Fr Bob McCahill Image: Maryknoll fathes

Why have you come to live among us?

Many years ago, I stayed at the guest house of a Sufi khankha (hospice) in Bihar (India) for a couple of weeks for an exposure. A madrasa (Muslim religious seminary), a Masjid (a mosque) were attached to the khankha. The Sheikh (the Sufi master) of the Khankha, who knew my mentor and guide Father Paul Jackson SJ, welcomed me joyfully and let others know that I, a Christian, would be staying in the khankha for two weeks for an exposure to Sufi culture, prayer, and life. Thanks to him, I had free access in the campus to go and meet people for a conversation.

An elderly gentleman asked me: being a Christian what was the purpose of my staying at a Sufi hospice. I stated: "I affirm the universal and active presence of God, and as a candidate who is preparing to become a Catholic priest, I have come to meet Muslims and learn about their faith traditions".

A few asked me further: How does 'meeting-Muslims-and-speaking-to them' help in my training to become a Christian priest? I said something to this effect: as a student of theology, I look at Islam not as a kind of neutral object of my intellectual curiosity but with a sincere admiration to its cultural, textual, and ritual world with all sympathy and respect. I learn to discover ways to engage with Muslim brothers with sincere admiration for those teachings in Islam that dignifies the human person. My love for Muslims is founded on the teachings of the Church expressed in the words of the document Nostra Aetate: Declaration on the relationship of the Church to non-Christian Religions in the Second Vatican Council, particularly those words that gives the reason for Church's 'high regard for the Muslims': 'They worship God, who is one, living and subsistent, merciful and almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth'. Though over "the centuries many quarrels and dissensions have arisen between Christians and Muslims" I told them that the Church now appeals to all "to forget the past and urges that a sincere effort be made to achieve mutual understanding; for the benefit of all, let them together preserve and promote peace, liberty, social justice and moral values".

In this article, I share with the readers the inspiring life story and mission of a Maryknoll priest friend of mine, Father Bob McCahill, who has been living among Muslims of Bangladesh for the last 47 years serving them with love as a disciple of Jesus.

Recently, I asked him a few questions about his mission in Bangladesh. His responses were revealing. Here are the questions and his response.

When Muslims in Bangladesh ask why you, a Christian, have come to live among them …

Bob's reply: I simply answer with the fact: "God inspires me to do so; I belong to God".

You might have been asked umpteen times over these two scores and seven years, Why did you leave your country and family? What is your response?

Bob's reply: "The whole world is my country; my family is humankind".

Bob, if they ask you, "What do you gain from doing it?"

Bob: "Happiness and peace. We are supposed to help others in their time of need. We do as Jesus did."

Bob, do they suspect you wish them to leave Islam in order to become Christians?"

Bob's reply: "Many may, until they see and understand I came only to serve."

They see and understand … I came to serve

Bob cycles five days a week to meet the sick, most of whom are illiterate, sick for years without much hope, and convinces them and their family members that healing is possible. Once they are willing to get to the doctor, Bob arranges for their medical treatment in the government hospitals. He accompanies them, stays with them, serves them, and ensures that they get proper treatment and on being healed, he reaches them back home. For the last forty-seven years, Bob is busy in God's healing mission. He told the present writer that his inspiration comes from the Crucified and Risen Lord. Further, he said that every day, he is energized by the words of the Gospel, Jesus went about doing good (Acts 10: 38). His call, he says, is to imitate his Lord. Every year he sends a letter before Christmas to all his family members and friends around the world sharing the graces that he received in the past year in his missionary work. His letters are collected and published by Orbis publication titled I Am Indeed Your Brother: A Servant of Jesus Among Allah's Poor (Orbis Books, 2018). In this little essay I reflect on the two-fold nature of his work.

A friend of him, and having read all his letters and having met him a few times, in Dhaka, Delhi, Bombay, and Patna, I have observed some of the important qualities for a missionary in Asia. He avoids controversies while meeting his Muslim brothers and sisters. Controversial discussions are counterproductive. He does not engage in conversations to prove 'a truth'. He simply seems to stress the fact Mission means bearing a witness to meeting the Risen Christ and Coming of the Spirit through service to the poor and the sick. His daily schedule indicates that. On asked about his daily schedule, he said in an UCAN interview (6 July 2022), that he wakes up at 3 in the morning every day. He recites his daily prayers and celebrates Mass before travelling to villages to meet the poor and sick. In a fraternal conversation, I wanted to hear him saying this. He told me that he wakes up at 3am and gets ready to celebrate Mass, often inside his mosquito net with a lighted candle. After the Mass, he prays for an hour, a silent conversation at the feet of the Lord. Then he is ready to meet any sick person who needs treatment in his neighbourhood and distant villages.

God inspires me to do so; I belong to God!

It is pertinent to hear his words: "Never in my life of 19 years had I thought for one moment about a religious calling. At the beginning of second year college (Seattle Univ.) things were going well. I had a part time, well-paying unionized job, my marks/grades had always been good. Despite the rosy scenario I felt lousy and miserable, because I did not know what I was going to do with my life. Here I was taking courses to prepare for a career in law, but with no intention of following through. It bothered me to think of my rudderless future. Then on the final day of the annual students retreat as I walked towards my off-campus room, I was stopped by a most unusual idea/ inspiration/grace. It was 31 October 1956. Clarity detonated in my mind: Become a priest; become a missionary. That was the remarkably clear, plain and wordless message. God spoke to me: My love is all you will ever need, Trust Me, Give Me your everything. What a feeling! I knew it was God. Attracting me powerfully. Deeply I sighed, repeatedly that day and in the days ahead. God was touching me; how grateful I was to be given a purpose in life. At the very time I knew it was God attracting and moving me I also felt completely free. There was no coercion to seek missionary priesthood. I knew I could say "No thanks to that" and there would be absolutely no recrimination. Simply put, God was offering me that which I most desired, a purpose in life, and I understood implicitly that I would be an utter fool to say no. I grabbed the inspiration given me by God and did not let go. That was 61 years ago and I recall with tremendous gratitude, every day, God's merciful touch of an aimless sophomore. Still, God gives me purpose". Typically, his father received that message with encouraging words: "That's fine son. Your mother and I both are all for it."

A Brother to all men and women

A few reflections are not out of place before we read the testament of love that Bob has shared over the years. First, God's intervention in Bob's life and his response reflects the certain glimpses of Saint Charles Foucauld. St. Charles Foucauld lived and died among Muslims imitating the hidden life of Jesus in Nazareth before he began his public ministry. Foucauld writes about God's intervention in his life: "As soon as I believed there was a God, I understood that I could not do anything other than live for him. My religious vocation dates from the same moment as my faith." 31 October 1956 we are told by Bob that God intervened powerfully and gave him a lifelong motivation to follow His will. God's interventions in the life of his people are decisive. They are neither occasions for bargaining between God and man nor deal that that involves compromises. Simply God intervenes and calls. The one who received the call of God surrenders oneself in total freedom. In those interventions the power of love is overwhelming. Religious vocations that date from such interventions focus only on God. God becomes the only center of the lives of those who allow themselves to be swept by such interventions. Foucauld, after his conversion to Catholic faith, understood that the Incarnation as an inclusive gift that made all brothers and sisters in God's family. Bob too experiences in himself such 'an inclusive gift' that makes him a brother to all men and women whom he meets in Bangladesh.

The whole world is my country; my family is humankind

Secondly, Bob's life as a missioner is marked by discernment in Spirit situated within the Church. He moved as the Spirit moved, from the University to the novitiate of the Maryknoll; from the United States to the Philippines; from Mindanao to the Bangladesh and here in these South Asian Nation 13 towns in 47years. Bob goes about doing good to the anawim of God. Bob is one such beautiful model loving God at the active service of people. The Eucharistic Prayer for use in Masses for various needs reminds us that all disciples of Jesus should always show compassion for children and for the poor, for the sick and for sinners, and become a neighbour to the oppressed and the afflicted.

Thirdly, we find Bob's conversations with his collaborators and the beneficiaries of his service are deeply spiritual. His conversations are not about some 'spiritual-stuff'. However, it is about freedom and dignity of human persons. We find him giving attention to the spiritual movements both in himself and in his neighbours. In such quality of attention, his life is transformed into an act of reverence giving and receiving hospitality. His conversations create an atmosphere of trust and welcome and thus recognise in one another the features of our heavenly Father.