Proverbs 27:17
Tuesday, September 1, 2026
From Fr. Bill Muller, S.J.: We Believe in One God
September 2026
Jesuit and Catholic and Brophy
A Reflection From Fr. Bill Muller, S.J.
Vice President for Mission and Identity
Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus | Shrine of the Sacred Heart | Image of the Sacred Heart inside Shrine
“I believe in One God,” we Catholics profess whenever we recite the Nicene Creed. I thought a lot about that recently when I spent a week in Indonesia at the World Union of Jesuit Alumni (WUJA) Congress. There were a thousand Jesuit alum participants from around the world at the Congress held at Sanata Dharma, the Jesuit University in Yogyakarta, including two special guests who spoke movingly about Jesuit education and the Jesuit mission, Hamengkubuwono X, the Sultan and hereditary Governor of Yogyakarta and Fr. Arturo Sosa, S.J., the Superior General of the Society of Jesus.
Borobudur Buddhist Temple detail (1 and 2) | Prambanan Hindu Temple
We had three wonderful “excursions” during the Congress that captured for me how different and yet how the same are all who believe in One God. The opening Mass for the Congress was celebrated at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, a wonderful blend of Javanese tradition and Catholic Faith. The shrine to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is striking - you walk up some steps for a personal encounter with the Lord. Later in the week we visited Borobudur, the world’s largest Buddhist temple built in the 9th Century, and our last evening was at Prambanan Temple, a majestic Hindu temple also built in the 9th Century. Each one impressive, even stunning in its architecture, intent, and ability to draw people to them. They are testaments to the human desire for something beyond ourselves, some divinity to follow. Borobudur and Prambanan match in skilled building and artistry the cathedrals of Europe (the photos above do not do justice to the three places of faith and art and history).
Muslims profess “Our God is One”; Hindus say there are many manifestations of divinity, but God is fundamentally one ultimate infinite reality; the Jewish “Shema” is clear: “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.” While we Catholics say that Jesus the Christ is the fullness of God’s life revealed to us in the Spirit, the Second Vatican Council reminded us in the declaration Nostra Aetate (In Our Time) that the Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in other faith traditions.
The point of my rambling here is that with all the differences between and among faith traditions that we know can cause bias, disrespect, hatred, and violence, most faith traditions share a belief in and profess One God. Let that be our starting point when we find ourselves in conversations about faith. Let that be the ending point when we find ourselves trapped in arguments about religion.
September Dates of Note
Hispanic Heritage Month
3 - Feast of St. Gregory the Great
5 - International Day of Charity
7 - Labor Day
Grandparents Day
8 - Solemnity of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
9 - Feast of St. Peter Claver, S.J.
10 - World Suicide Prevention Day
11-13 - Rosh Hashana
14 - Exaltation of the Holy Cross
17 - Feast of St. Robert Bellarmine, S.J.
20-21 - Yom Kippur
21 - Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle
International Day of Peace
27 - National Day of Forgiveness
29 - Feast of the Archangels
Michael, Gabriel, Raphael
Pope Leo's Prayer Intention for September
For the care of water.
Let us pray for a just and sustainable management of water, a vital resource, so that everyone may have equal access to it.
Learn more here
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This Teaching Clip made me think of you. Watch TUESDAY NIGHT - LECTIO 365 by 24-7 Prayer:
This Teaching Clip made me think of you. Watch TUESDAY NIGHT - LECTIO 365 by 24-7 Prayer:
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