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“And He took him aside by himself, away from the crowd… (Mark 7:33)

The Dutch language has the word eigenwijs which, literally translated, would be something like “own-wise,” and is used for someone who is out of step with others, or sees things differently from the way others normally view them. Formerly, someone who was “own-wise” was just annoying. When decisions had to be taken in a group, such a person was soon considered to be a spoilsport who had to be isolated. Today the word has developed a different meaning. It is even encouraged: do it in your own way, don’t let others tell you what you should say or do. For we have all become more or less closed personalities, each one with our own opinions, our own wise.

But this individuality is as a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it makes us autonomous, frees us from ties; on the other, it brings us into a world of colliding interests, opinions, and conflicts. If we only follow our own wisdom, our conversations become like verbal combat among the deaf, who are all locked up in their own points.

To heal a deaf person, Christ had to take him away from the crowd to a quiet place. There, alone with him, He could perform the miracle of the healing and open his ears.

Also our deafness, our own wisdom that is estranged from divine wisdom, can only be healed when we are in silence together with Him.

That is the way and the significance of the Act of Consecration—being together with Him in silence. Where in the world can you still find such a spot, where you can practice the art of listening with full attention? For, the art of prayer is nothing other than the art of listening to the will of God. The Act of Consecration teaches us to lead a listening life. Sooner or later, He will open our ears to His presence, not only at the altar, but in every human being, no matter how “own-wise” we may be.

-Rev. Bastiaan Baan, August 31, 2025

September 15, 2025/0 Comments/by CCNA

Blog, Essays, Homilies

“Ask, and it will be given you.” (Matthew 7:7)

If things were as simple as it sounds in this sentence, all our questions would be answered and all our desires fulfilled. But the reality of life is very different. How often have we asked the spiritual world a question, fervently prayed for help—and no answer ever came.

But did we ask the right question? Or did we perhaps not hear the answer because we were expecting something very different?

We have in our world, which always focuses on outer results, lost the knack of asking questions. Even worse, it has often become a caricature. The spiritual world does not take to cheap questions, and even less to cheap answers. Real questions need time to be born. To ask a real, honest question, you have to nurture it, brood on it, until it has ripened. For, everything we ask of the divine world is subject to the plea: Not my will, but Your will be done.

It makes no sense to ask to be spared illness, suffering, and evil. Prayer is no means against evil, but a means to make the best of even the worst that happens to us. In every human life there will come temptations that threaten to exceed our forces. There are not only things like ordeals to test us, enlighten us, and initiate us, but there is also darkening, and failed initiation.

But when the hardest ordeal comes, when you think: I can’t do it anymore—remember then the plea of Christ during His greatest temptation:

“Father, if it be your will, then let me be spared this cup.

But not my will but your will be done.” (Luke 22:42)

No human being stood by Him.
He was not spared suffering.
But an angel strengthened Him.

-Rev. Bastiaan Baan, August 4, 2025

August 11, 2025/1 Comment/by CCNA

Blog, Homilies, Uncategorized

“You are the Christ” (Mark 8:29)

Long ago, there was a time when it was necessary not just to recognize Christ in silence, but to also confess Him emphatically, as Peter was the first to do: “You are the Christ.” Of course, because at that time there was almost no one who recognized the Son of God, Christ, in the Son of Man, Jesus. In our time you cannot just pronounce that. When you loudly start proclaiming that He is the Christ, no one wants to hear it. On the contrary, you then just irritate others, or your words are blown away in the wind.

Confessing Christ—how do you do that in our world?

Actually, we constantly confess something without words as we go through the world. Just look at the faces of the people around you: so much somberness, so much sorrow, so much annoyance, so much anger. Just look at yourself when you are walking through the streets of a city. Without sensing it ourselves, we spread and confess our moods, for our face, our posture, our footsteps speak volumes. We leave our tracks non-stop, visible and invisible. In the world in which we are living these days you don’t need to pronounce what you know and believe; without speaking a word, you can DO what you know and believe.

When we receive His peace at the altar, this gift can become our confession. This peace is not only meant for us, but through us for the world. That is the appeal of Christ after He has bestowed His peace on us: My peace is not of this world. My peace wants to work in the world through you. Are you ready to confess my peace?

Give me your hands, your head, your heart, your feet – and walk the way of peace with me.

– Rev. Bastiaan Baan, July 27, 2025

July 28, 2025/0 Comments/by CCNA

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