Mersey Leven Catholic Parish
Parish Priest: Fr
Mob: 0417 279 437; mdelaney@netspace.net.au
Assistant Priest: Fr Alexander Obiorah
Mob: 0447 478 297; alexchuksobi@yahoo.co.uk
Mob: 0447 478 297; alexchuksobi@yahoo.co.uk
Postal Address: PO Box 362
Parish Office:
90 Stewart Street
(Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10am - 3pm)
(Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10am - 3pm)
Secretary: Annie Davies / Anne Fisher
Pastoral Council Chair: Mary Davies
Pastoral Council Chair: Mary Davies
Parish Mass Times: mlcpmasstimes.blogspot.com.au
Weekly Homily Podcast: podomatic.com/mikedelaney
Parish Magazine: mlcathparishnewsletter.blogspot.com.au
Archdiocesan Website: www.hobart.catholic.org.au for news, information and details of other Parishes.
Weekday Masses 28th July – 1st August 2015
Tuesday: 9:30am - Penguin
Wednesday: 9:30am - Latrobe … St Martha
Thursday: 12noon - Devonport
Friday: 9:30am - Ulverstone … St Ignatius of Loyola
Saturday 9:00am - Ulverstone … St Alphonsus Liguori
Next Weekend 1st & 2nd August, 2015
Saturday Vigil: 6:00pm Penguin & Devonport
Sunday Mass: 8:30am Port Sorell
9:00am Ulverstone
10:30am Devonport
11:00am Sheffield
5:00pm Latrobe
Eucharistic Adoration:
Devonport: Every Friday 10am - 12noon, concluding with Stations of the Cross and Angelus
Devonport: Benediction with Adoration - first Friday of each month.
Prayer Groups:
Charismatic Renewal – Devonport Emmaus House Thursdays commencing 7.30pm
Christian Meditation - Devonport, Emmaus House Wednesdays 7pm.
Ministry Rosters 1st & 2nd
August, 2015
Devonport:
Readers
Vigil: A McIntyre,
M Williams, C Kiely-Hoye
10:30am:
J Phillips, K Pearce, P Piccolo
Ministers of Communion:
Vigil:
M Doyle, M
Heazlewood, S Innes, M Gerrand, P Shelverton, M Kenney
10:30am: B Peters, F Sly, J Carter, E Petts, B Schrader
Cleaners 31st July: M & L Tippett, A Berryman 7th August: M.W.C.
Piety Shop 1st
August: R McBain 2nd
August: D French
Flowers: M Knight, B Naiker
Ulverstone:
Reader: E Standring
Ministers of Communion: B Deacon, J Allen, G Douglas, K
Reilly
Cleaners: M
McKenzie, M Singh, N Pearce Flowers: A Miller Hospitality: Filipino Community
Penguin:
Greeters: Fifita Family Commentator:
Readers: M Murray, E Nickols
Procession: Fifita Family Ministers of Communion: Y Downes
Liturgy: Sulphur Creek C Setting Up: M Murray
Care of Church: M Bowles, J Reynolds
Latrobe:
Reader: M Eden Ministers of
Communion: I
Campbell, P Marlow Procession: M Clarke Music: Hermie
Port Sorell:
Readers: Ministers of Communion: Cleaners/Flowers/Prepare:
Shirley Stafford, Dean Frerk, Reg Hinkley, Alan Cruse,
Fr Terry Southerwood, Yvonne
Harvey, Maryanne Doherty & …
Let us pray
for those who have died recently:
Fr Greg Jordan sj, Donald Barry, Nolene Toms, Kora Pembleton, Sr Gwen Dooley, Winnie Ransley, Paul Mulcahy, Judith Poga, Denis Shelverton, Terry Charlesworth and Kath
Bennett.
Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs about this time:
22nd
– 28th July:
Edward Mahony, Jean Braid, Robbie
McIver, Marie Foster, Fay Capell,
Marie Kingshott, Peter Kelly, Joyce Cornick, Michael Campbell,
Lola Rutherford, Joseph Hiscutt, Andrea Wright, Dorothy Hawkes,
Mary Beaumont, Nita Anthony, Enis Lord, Vicky Bennett, Eileen
King,
Shirley Mooney. Also Peg McKenna and Norma &
John Ellings.
May they rest in peace
Scripture Readings this week - 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B
First Reading: 2 Kings 4:42-44Responsorial Psalm:
(R.) The hand of
the Lord feeds us;
he answers all our needs.
Second Reading: Ephesians 4:1-6
Alleluia, alleluia!
A great prophet has appeared among us;
God has visited his
people. Alleluia!
GOSPEL: John 6:1-15
PREGO REFLECTION ON TODAY'S GOSPEL:
I begin my prayer in stillness, asking the Holy Spirit to
help me as I pray. When I am ready I read the gospel story slowly, perhaps
several times. I may like to imagine myself present, watching Jesus as the
story unfolds.
I notice what seems to speak to me from this gospel, and
ponder it gently. I share my thoughts and feelings with Jesus, knowing that he
is feeding me through his Word.
Jesus takes the little offering of the small boy and makes
of his generosity far more than the original gift. I thank God for the times
when he has used my gifts to bring life, joy, courage -whatever was needed -to
others.
I may like to reflect: what gifts, hopes and desires do I
want to offer to Jesus today? I listen for what he may say to me.
I end my prayer slowly, thanking God for being with me.
Readings Next Week: 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
First Reading: Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15
Second Reading: Ephesians 4:17, 20-24 Gospel: John 6:24-35
WEEKLY
RAMBLINGS:
It’s
that time of week when I sit down to ‘ramble on’ and as I reflect on the past
few days and what is happening in the coming weeks there are a few wonderful
celebrations that are worth mentioning.
This
week I joined with over 20 of the priests of the Archdiocese to celebrate with
Fr Denis Allen on the occasion of his Golden Jubilee of Ordination. We are fortunate
to have had this opportunity to celebrate 50 years a number of times recently
and there are three more next year – Frs Chris Hope, Terry Yard and Peter O’Loughlin. I remember
some years ago we started to celebrate 40th anniversaries because a
number of priests had passed 40 but not made their 50th – a bit
daunting as I approach my 40th anniversary next month.
You
will also notice that there is a mention of another celebration elsewhere in
the newsletter today – it wasn’t supposed to be mentioned (!!!!) but we decided
to congratulate Willie and Jernej Bajzelj on their 60th wedding
anniversary in spite of possible consequences!
Next
weekend we will celebrate with children of the Parish the occasion of their
Confirmation and First Eucharist – this is a truly great moment in the life of
a Parish. Please make yourselves known to these children at the Vigil Mass at
Devonport and the Sunday Mass at Ulverstone and gently encourage them as they
take this important step on their faith journey.
Then
on Friday 7th August I will be hosting the next Open House at
Ulverstone (from 7pm till late). I know that coming out at night is not always
easy but the setting is warm, the company and conversation is good and it is a
good opportunity for people to get to spend time with members of the Parish
whom they might not ordinarily see. Looking forward to seeing you there.
Until next week,
please take care on the roads and in your homes.
Congratulations to Willie & Jernej Bajzelj
as they
celebrate their Wedding Anniversary.
SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM:
This Sunday, 26th July, our parish children, preparing to
receive the Sacraments of Confirmation and First Eucharist, will gather at
Sacred Heart Church (2-4pm) for a final preparation session and rehearsal
before the celebrations next weekend. As
a parish we pray for the children and their families at this very special time
and look forward to celebrating with them next weekend and supporting them on
their continuing faith journey.
Parishioners are reminded that next weekend Confirmation and First
Eucharist will be celebrated at the following Masses:
Saturday 1st August - Our Lady of
Lourdes Church Devonport - 6pm Vigil Mass
Sunday 2nd August - Sacred Heart
Church Ulverstone - 9am Mass
You are asked to
consider the larger numbers of attendance at these Masses and that the children
and their families will need to be seated in the front / main body of the
church seating.
MACKILLOP HILL SPIRITUALITY
CENTRE WILLIAM ST, FORTH:
Phone: 6428 3095 Email: mackillophill.forth@sosj.org.au
SPIRITUALITY IN THE COFFEE SHOPPE:
This Monday 27th July 10.30am –
12 noon. Come along … share your issues and enjoy a
lively discussion over morning tea!
ST MARY MACKILLOP FEAST DAY LUNCHEON FRIDAY 7TH AUGUST:
Celebrate this special day at MacKillop Hill. Cost $10.00 for soup, sandwich and sweets. 12.00 noon start
Bookings necessary by 4th August to help with catering. Phone Mary Webb 6425:2781
________________________________
ULVERSTONE AUSTRALIAN CHURCH WOMEN FELLOWSHIP DAY
SERVICE: Will
be held on Friday 31st July at Sacred Heart Church, Ulverstone at 1.30pm.
FIRST EUCHARIST/CONFIRMATION:
Felicity is seeking help to cater supper for our
sacrament recipients after Mass on Saturday, 1st August. If
you are available to assist please call or text Felicity on 0418 301 573.
BAPTISM PREPARATION:
The Mersey Leven Parish invites anyone planning for, or
considering, Baptism for their child/ren to a one hour preparation session at
the Parish House, 90 Stewart Street, Devonport, on Tuesday 4th August at 7.30pm.
For more information call the Parish Office on 6424:2783 or just turn up on the
night.
CATHOLIC CHARISMATIC RENEWAL STATE CONFERENCE 2015:
Is being conducted at the Emmanuel Retreat Centre, 123
Abbott St, Launceston 7:30 pm Friday
7th
August to 1.00 pm Sunday 9th August.
The theme “Expectant Faith is not believing God can – it is knowing He
Will”.
Guest presenters: Fr Mark Freeman VG, Fr Graeme Howard, Fr Alexander Obiorah and Maureen O’Halloran. Application forms with details including accommodation and daily attendance costs are included on Church notice boards. Please contact Celestine Whiteley on 6424:2043 if you wish to attend.
YOUTH & YOUNG ADULT RETREAT DAY - St
Vincent de Paul Society
Youth and Young Adults (Year 9 and above) are invited to a
retreat day on Saturday 8th August at the St Vincent de Paul state office, 191
Invermay Road, Launceston, from 10am – 4pm. Lunch will be
supplied. The day is open to all interested youth and young adults even if you
are not a Vinnie’s conference member. Please contact Melissa White for a
registration form or more details: melissa.white@vinniestas.org.au
or 0477 880 036.
MT ST
VINCENT AUXILIARY:
A huge thank you to all
parishioners for donations and purchases at our recent cake stall.
A total of $722 was raised.
FOOTY POINTS MARGIN TICKETS:
Round 16 – North Melbourne won by 25 points Winners; Helen
Jaffray, Nipper Walters & Eileen Beard.
Thursday Nights OLOL Hall D’port.
Eyes down
7.30pm Callers 30th July Tony Ryan & Alan Luxton
NEWS
FROM ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE:
MARIST REGIONAL COLLEGE PROUDLY PRESENTS
FR ROB GALEA:
WORLD YOUTH DAY KRAKOW LAUNCH! All youth and young adults (15-35)
across Tasmania are invited to join the official launch of the Tasmanian Pilgrimage
to World Youth Day 2016 in Krakow, Poland and open registrations to join the
pilgrimage! There will be special guests, music, polish food, dancing, soccer, giveaways
and all your WYD information and fun! Join us Saturday 22nd August, 10.30am –
3.30pm St. Aloysius College, Huntingfield (near Kingston). All are
Welcome for a great day of friendship, faith and fun (even if you don’t think
you can make it to WYD). For all your information and to register for the event
go to: www.cymtas.org.au
Laudato Si': On the Care of Our
Common Home
Pope Francis' Encyclical Laudato
Si': On Care for Our Common Home is a call for global action as well as an
appeal for deep inner conversion. He points to numerous ways world
organisations, nations and communities must move forward and the way individuals
-- believers and people of good will -- should see, think, feel and act. Each
week, we offer one of the Pope's suggestions, with the paragraph numbers to
indicate their place in the Encyclical. “Reduce, reuse, recycle. Preserve
resources, use them more efficiently, moderate consumption and limit use of
non-renewable resources.” Pars 22, 192
Saint of the Week – St Martha (July 29)
No doubt Martha was an active sort
of person. On one occasion (see Luke 10:38-42) she prepares the meal for Jesus
and possibly his fellow guests and forthrightly states the obvious: All hands
should pitch in to help with the dinner. Yet, as biblical scholar Father John
McKenzie points out, she need not be rated as an “unrecollected activist.” The
evangelist is emphasising what our Lord said on several occasions about the
primacy of the spiritual: “... Do not worry about your life, what you will eat
[or drink], or about your body, what you will wear…. But seek first the kingdom
[of God] and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:25b, 33a); “One does not live by
bread alone” (Luke 4:4b); “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for
righteousness…” (Matthew 5:6a). Martha’s great glory is her simple and strong
statement of faith in Jesus after her brother’s death. “Jesus told her, ‘I am
the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will
live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe
this?’ She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the
Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world’.” (John
11:25-27).
_______________________________
THE HEALING PLACE OF SILENCE
An Article by Fr Ron Rolheiser. The original can be found here
A recent book, by Robyn Cadwallander, The Anchoress, tells the story of young woman, Sarah, who chooses to shut herself off from the world and lives as an Anchoress (like Julian of Norwich). It’s not an easy life and she soon finds herself struggling with her choice. Her confessor is a young, inexperienced, monk named Father Ranaulf. Their relationship isn’t easy. Ranaulf is a shy man, of few words, and so Sarah is often frustrated with him, wanting him to say more, to be more empathic, and simply to be more present to her. They often argue, or, at least, Sarah tries to coax more words and sympathy out of Ranaulf. But whenever she does this he cuts short the visit and leaves.
One day, after a particularly frustrating meeting that leaves Ranaulf tongue-tied and Sarah in hot anger, Ranaulf is just about to close the shutter-window between them and leave, his normal response to tension, when something inside him stops him from leaving. He knows that he must offer Sarah something, but he has no words. And so, having nothing to say but feeling obliged to not leave, he simply sits there in silence. Paradoxically his mute helplessness achieves something that his words don’t, a breakthrough. Sarah, for the first time, feels his concern and sympathy and he, for his part, finally feels present to her.
Here’s how Cadwallander describes the scene: “He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. There was no more he could say, but he would not leave her alone with such bitterness. And so he remained on his stool, feeling the emptiness of the room around him, the failure of his learning, the words he had stacked up in his mind, page upon page, shelf upon shelf. He could not speak, but he could stay; he would do that. He began to silently pray, but did not know how to go on, what to ask for. He gave up, his breath slowed.
The silence began as a small and frightened thing, perched on the ledge of his window, but as Ranaulf sat in stillness, it grew, very slowly, and filled up the parlor, wrapped itself around his neck and warmed his back, curled under his knees and around his feet, floated along the walls, tucked into the corners, nestled in the crevices of stone. … The silence slipped through the gaps under the curtain and into the cell beyond. A velvet thing, it seemed. It swelled and settled, gathering every space into itself. He did not stir; he lost all sense of time. All he knew was the woman but an arm’s length away in the dark, breathing. That was enough.
When the candle in the parlor guttered, he stirred, looked into the darkness. ‘God be with you, Sarah.’ ‘And with you, Father.’ Her voice was lighter, more familiar.”
There’s a language beyond words. Silence creates the space for it. Sometimes when we feel powerless to speak words that are meaningful, when we have to back off into unknowing and helplessness, but remain in the situation, silence creates the space that’s needed for a deeper happening to occur. But often, initially, that silence is uneasy. It begins “as a small frightened thing” and only slowly grows into the kind of warmth that dissolves tension.
There are many times when we have no helpful words to speak. We’ve all had the experience of standing by the bedside of someone who is dying, of being at a funeral or wake, of sitting across from someone who is dealing with a broken heart, or of reaching a stalemate in trying to talk through a tension in a relationship, and finding ourselves tongue-tied, with no words to offer, finally reduced to silence, knowing that anything we say might aggravate the pain. In that helplessness, muted by circumstance, we learn something: We don’t need to say anything; we only need to be there. Our silent, helpless presence is what’s needed.
And I must admit that this is not something I’ve learned easily, have a natural aptitude for, or in fact do most times when I should. No matter the situation, I invariably feel the need to try to say something useful, something helpful that will resolve the tension. But I’m learning, both to let helplessness speak and how powerfully it can speak.
I remember once, as a young priest, full of seminary learning and anxious to share that learning, sitting across from someone whose heart had just been broken, searching through answers and insights in my head, coming up empty, and finally confessing, by way of apology, my helplessness to the person across from me. Her response surprised me and taught me something I’d didn’t know before. She said simply: Your helplessness is the most precious gift you could share with me right now. Thanks for that. Nobody expects you to have a magic wand to cure their troubles.
Sometimes silence does become a velvet thing that swells and settles, gathering every space into itself.
_________________________________
Native and Celtic Spirituality
A series of Reflection emailed by Fr Richard Rohr. You can subscribe here
Two Rivers Leading to
One Ocean
We are beginning to explore the next stage of my
"wisdom lineage," non-dual teachers of all religions. This week I
will introduce themes from two different rivers of spirituality, each with a
variety of streams and rivulets that feed the larger bodies. For the sake of
convenience I will call these themes "Native" and "Celtic."
These simplistic labels encompass a great deal of variety and unique
distinctions of place, time, tribe, and individual. It's all too easy to make
generalizations that are not true of every group or person. Still, they have
been influential in shaping my own worldview and spirituality, and I will share
the pieces I can honestly name.
If it seems I veer into romanticizing or appropriating
another culture's treasures as my own, please forgive me. Though I have no
direct link to Native American religion, I have great respect for their
cultures and what I occasionally witness here in New Mexico, where we live in
the midst of the Pueblo, Navajo, and Apache peoples. I am especially grateful that
in 1969, as a young deacon, I was assigned to serve in the Pueblo of Acoma. But
I only know enough to know that I don't know much at all! Native spirituality
is not intended for non-Native use or understanding. When we try to interpret
or apply these teachings in our own context, we run the risk of "drastic
adaptation" and "severe reinterpretation to fit our conceptions of
reality." [1]
I also don't want to give the impression that all people or
practices in these traditions were always highly enlightened; my guess is they
likely had a similar amount of non-practitioners and non-believers as we do in
organized religion today. It is important to know that early level development
and final stages of maturity can often appear similar from the outside. Immature
fantasy or mere superstition can first be mistaken for authentic mystical
experience. Using Ken Wilber's terms, this is the fallacy of identifying
pre-rational stages as truly trans-rational. The pre-rational stage, sometimes
evident in primal or tribal people, is not bad or wrong; it is simply naïve and
limited. All religion normally begins at the pre-rational stage. Moreover, even
in lower stages of consciousness, someone may occasionally experience moments
(or states) of high-level consciousness, and yet they normally return to their
current stage of development. Under stress, behavior can reveal if the person
is pre-rational or truly trans-rational. Hopefully we continue maturing,
developing through rational and conflictual situations, until the soul is
normally led to a true non-dual consciousness that is characterized by empathy,
selflessness, and freedom from self and fear. Lived outwardly, the inner
experience of union moves us toward compassion, justice, and inclusivity.
So with all these caveats, I hope you will find in this
week's meditations further invitations to grow beyond the mere rational stage,
to receive the gift of wisdom wherever you find it. For now, take a few minutes
to rest your mind in silence. You might use the "Gateway to Silence"
as a mantra or sacred word to lead you into contemplative prayer. Perhaps the
Native and Celtic peoples were able to do this much more naturally? The
evidence seems to point in that direction.
Reference:
[1] Elisabeth Tooker, ed., Native North American
Spirituality of the Eastern Woodlands: Sacred Myths, Dreams, Visions, Speeches,
Healing Formulas, Rituals, and Ceremonials (Paulist Press: 1979), xv.
Finding the Sacred
Everywhere
Unfortunately, many of the popular images and ideas about
Native and Celtic spirituality are romanticized opinion. Since there are few
written primary sources, there is no way to prove or disprove many claims. For
all their weaknesses, "religions of the book" have a documented,
verifiable tradition. Much of the lore now circulating seems to be based on
modern projections--what we wish and imagine Celtic and Native spirituality to
be--rather than founded on original sources or solid research.
The Celts did create the richly illuminated Book of Kells
(which includes the four Gospels) around 800 AD, but there were few other texts
and few people could read in Britain and Ireland during the Middle Ages.
"The Deer's Cry" or "St. Patrick's Breastplate" attributed
to Saint Patrick was most likely written in the 8th century by someone who was
influenced by the 5th century missionary. Most Native American tribes depend on
oral teaching and story-telling rather than written language. For example,
Chief Seattle's famous speech, given in 1854, no longer exists in its original
form. The most popular version circulating today was actually written for a
film in 1972.
Yet this very lack of codification allows the oral
traditions easier access to the non-dual mind. Huston Smith writes that orality
guards against the loss of "the capacity to sense the sacred through
nonverbal channels. Because writing can grapple with meanings explicitly,
sacred texts tend to gravitate to positions of such eminence as to be
considered the preeminent if not exclusive channel of revelation. This eclipses
other means of divine disclosure. Oral traditions do not fall into this trap.
The invisibility of their texts, which is to say their myths, leaves their eyes
free to scan for other sacred portents, virgin nature and sacred art being the
prime examples." [1] That really makes sense to me, even though I also
know it is open to abuse, just as the three "religions of the book"
have always been open to abuse in the hands of immature people.
One of the non-dual gifts of Celtic and Native traditions is
their openness to inspiration and wisdom from nature, beauty, and signs and
symbols that speak deeply to the unconscious. Because they are not tied to one
sacred text, they are free to discover and honor the sacred everywhere. Timothy
Joyce writes: "To wish to learn from the Celtic Christian is to wish to
sense the passionate presence of God in all of life. It is to find God in the
ordinary events of life, love, eating, working, playing. . . . It is also to
perceive that time and place do not separate us from what we ordinarily do not
see and sense. The ancient Celts believed that the other world was always close
to us and became apparent in the 'thin times' and 'thin places' in which the
veil that usually obscured them was lifted." [2] They undoubtedly had much
easier access to the spiritual world, but again with the caveat that they were
even more likely to fall into the "Pre-Trans Fallacy" that I talked
about before, which is what unfortunately allowed us to call them
"superstitious" or even more unkindly "tree worshipers."
References:
[1] Huston Smith, The World's Religions: Our Great Wisdom
Traditions (Harper Collins: 1986), 370.
[2] Timothy J. Joyce, Celtic Christianity: A Sacred
Tradition, a Vision of Hope (Orbis Books: 1998), 154.
The Great Spirit
The Romans had conquered much of Europe by the time of
Jesus' birth. Yet while they ruled Britain, the Romans never occupied Ireland
or parts of Scotland. This allowed the Celtic culture and Christian monks the
freedom to thrive independently. They weren't controlled by Roman practicality
or Greek thinking. When Christian missionaries arrived by the 3rd century, the
Celts blended their pagan or primal spirituality with Christian liturgy,
practice, and structure. As a result, Celtic Christianity was still grounded in
the natural world, and they had much easier access to a cosmic notion of the
Christ. [1] John O'Donohue writes: "For the Celtic people, [the great
divinity called] nature was not matter, rather it was a luminous and numinous
presence that had depth, possibility and beauty." [2] They had learned to
respect the "First Bible" of creation before they started arguing
about the second written one.
Perhaps we can think of Celtic Christians as a para-church,
on the edge of the inside of organized Christianity. Like the desert fathers
and mothers who influenced them, Celtic spirituality focused on rather
different things than the mainstream church. The Celts drew on their own
cultural symbols and experience to emphasize other values than the symbols of
"Roman" Catholicism. For example, Celtic Christianity encouraged the
practice of confession to an anam cara or soul friend more than to an ordained
priest. They also saw God as a deep kind of listening and speaking presence, as
in "The Deer's Cry." In this poem, O'Donohue sees God "pictured
in sensuous detail as the divine anam cara. At every moment and in every
situation, God is the intimate, attentive and encouraging friend" [3] much
more than any kind of offended deity who is "making a list, checking it
twice, going to find out who's naughty or nice."
Pelagius (c. 354-418), a British monk and theologian,
trusted original blessing more than original sin (which we'll explore tomorrow
in greater depth), and focused on the individual's ability, through grace, to
grow into fullness. It is a shame that the later tradition ignored his insights
to defend Augustine's doctrine of original sin. Some claimed that Pelagius
denied the importance of grace whereas he was just emphasizing orthopraxy over
mere belief systems. In one of his letters, Pelagius wrote: "You will
realize that doctrines are inventions of the human mind, as it tried to
penetrate the mystery of God. You will realize that Scripture itself is the
work of human minds, recording the example and teaching of Jesus. Thus it is
not what you believe that matters; it is how you respond with your heart and
your actions. It is not believing in Christ that matters; it is becoming like
him." [4]
"Celtic Christianity" doesn't refer to a unified
tradition, as there was great variation from place to place. Lacking the
structure and support of the organized church, radical forms of Christianity
never thrive for very long, starting with Pentecost itself and the first
"sharing of all things in common" (Acts 2:44-45), the desert fathers and
mothers, and the early Celtic monastics. Unless such groups become strongly
institutionalized, and even juridical about it, they tend to be short-lived or
very small. Without the Irish monks, much of Celtic practice and thought would
not have been passed on to us at all. Not surprisingly, Celtic theologians
Scotus Eriugena and Pelagius were later seen as heretics by some of the Church.
But para-church movements are wonderful experiments that challenge the rest of
us. They are like a new room with a new view offering the rest of us an
essential viewpoint that we have often lost. [6] The edges preserve the values
that the center does not know how to integrate, as we see today in Twelve Step
spirituality and various ministries of healing and forgiveness.
Native American spirituality similarly exists on the edges
of society without validation or integration from the government and popular
culture. Native lands, of course, were largely invaded by Christian cultures.
American Indians were forced to leave their homes. Their children were taken to
schools where their culture was often stripped away. Canada has recently
concluded a lengthy process of Truth and Reconciliation--fostering transparency
and healing for what happened in the Indian residential schools--and I hope the
United States will someday follow suit.
From the Native Americans' marginalized position, they have
a unique "bias from the bottom" that we would do well to pay
attention to. We could learn from them, among other things, that land cannot be
owned and Spirit cannot be divided. The Earth and all its inhabitants belong to
the Creator who made them. We are called to live in harmony with each other and
all created things. Creating harmony is invariably an absolutely central idea
in most Native religions. When Pope John Paul II met with the Native Americans
in Phoenix, Arizona, he told them that they knew something that is taking
Catholics a long time to learn: that the Great Spirit has always been given and
is available in the natural world, just as it is written in our own Scriptures
(Romans 1:20). Unfortunately, we moved all-knowing of God largely into the
realm of argumentative words, which extremely narrowed the field of knowing and
actually experiencing. [5]
References:
[1] Adapted from Richard Rohr, Following the Mystics through
the Narrow Gate (Center for Action and Contemplation), disc 1.
[2] John O'Donohue, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom
(HarperCollins: 1997), 131.
[3] Ibid., 132.
[4] The Letters of Pelagius quoted by J. Philip Newell,
Listening for the Heartbeat of God: A Celtic Spirituality (Paulist Press:
1997), 11-12.
[5] Rohr, Following the Mystics, disc 1.
[6] Adapted from Richard Rohr, Eager to Love: The
Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi (Franciscan Media: 2014), 85-86.
Original Blessing
Yet another gift of Native and Celtic spirituality is their
unashamed welcome of some kind of "original blessing" instead of
starting with a problem like "original sin." Pelagius (354-418), one
of the early Christian Celtic writers, opposed the doctrine of original sin
coined by his contemporary Augustine. Pelagius saw that beginning with the
negative--original sin--would damage rather than aid spiritual development.
Beginning with the positive instead of a problem is the healthiest and most
hopeful way to find wholeness. The Celts saw creation as good and as a
theophany or revelation of God's very being just as Genesis had taught.
Philip Newell writes: "Eriugena, the ninth-century
Irish teacher, says that if goodness were extracted from the universe, all things
would cease to exist. For goodness is not simply a feature of life; it is the
very essence of life. Goodness gives rise to being, just as evil leads to
nonbeing or to a destruction and denial of life's sacredness." [1]
According to Newell, Pelagius "stressed not only the essential goodness of
creation--and our capacity to glimpse what he called 'the shafts of divine
light' that penetrate the thin veil dividing heaven and earth--but, very
specifically, the essential goodness of humanity. Pelagius maintained that the
image of God can be seen in every newborn child and that, although obscured by
sin, it exists at the heart of every person, waiting to be released through the
grace of God." [2]
Those who live in close proximity to the natural world seem
to come to know the universe as benevolent much more easily, despite its
inherent violence and changeability. This belief leads to very different values
than when your whole worldview begins with a theological or moral problem to be
solved.
Huston Smith describes "primal peoples" as
"oriented to a single cosmos, which sustains them like a living womb.
Because they assume that it exists to nurture them, they have no disposition to
challenge it, defy it, refashion it, or escape from it. It is not a place of
exile or pilgrimage, though pilgrimages take place within it. Its space is not
homogenous; the home has a number of rooms, we might say, some of which are
normally invisible. But together they constitute a single domicile. Primal
peoples are concerned with the maintenance of personal, social, and cosmic
harmony. But the overriding goal of salvation that dominates the historical
religions is virtually absent from them." [3] They are not primarily
concerned with salvation as a way to escape from a sinful world and go to
heaven or the next world. "They make it clear that we humans are not here
simply as transients waiting for a ticket to somewhere else. The Earth itself
is Christos, is Buddha, is Allah, is Gaia." [4]
Genesis began with six clear statements of original blessing
or inherent goodness (Genesis 1:10-31), and the words "original sin"
are not in the New Testament. Yet the Church became so preoccupied with the fly
in the ointment, the flaw in the beauty that we forgot and even missed out on
any original blessing. We saw Jesus primarily as a problem-solver rather than
as a revealer of the very heart and image of God (Colossians 1:15f). We must
now rebuild on a foundation of original goodness, and not on a foundation of
original curse or sin. We dug a pit so deep that most people and most
theologies could not get back out of it. You must begin with yes. You cannot
begin with no, or it is not a beginning at all. [5]
References:
[1] J. Philip Newell, Christ of the Celts: The Healing of
Creation (Jossey-Bass: 2008), 40.
[2] Newell, Listening for the Heartbeat of God: A Celtic
Spirituality (Paulist Press: 1997), 6.
[3] Huston Smith, The World's Religions: Our Great Wisdom
Traditions (Harper Collins: 1986), 377.
[4] Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon, Earth Prayers: 365
Prayers, Poems, and Invocations from Around the World (HarperOne: 191), xxi.
[5] Adapted from Richard Rohr, In the Beginning. . . (Center
for Action and Contemplation), CD and MP3 download.
InterBeing
As I've mentioned before, the doctrine of Trinity is a
powerful and totally non-dualistic image of reality. The Father, Son, and
Spirit, as we named them, share in an endless mutuality of giving and receiving
of an infinite love. We too are allowed to participate in this oneing of
diversity through unitive consciousness. Reality is radically relational, and
the power is in the relationships themselves. If reality is created on the
model of the Trinity where Yahweh even speaks in the plural (Genesis 1:26),
then intercommunion is the first and final shape of the universe.
The Celts readily welcomed the Christian Trinity perhaps
because their own deities took shape in threes. For example "the goddess
Bridget appeared in three forms: the goddesses of fire, of poetry, and of
fertility, all three named Bridget" [1]. Celtic prayers and poetry are
full of references to each member of the Trinity, as in this psalm by Columba
(late 6th or early 7th century):
The High First-Sower,
the Ancient of Days and unbegotten,
was without any
source, limit, or foundation in the beginning and is,
and will be throughout
unending ages forever;
With him is the
only-begotten one, the Christ;
And the co-eternal
Holy Spirit in the constant glory of the Godhead.
We do not claim that
there are three gods; rather we declare that God is one,
But not at the expense
of believing in three most glorious Persons. [2]
I believe the flowing waterwheel of the Trinity was intuited
in the circle and "medicine wheel" of many Native American religions.
Many Native images and metaphors take the shape of a circle, an endless ring
symbolizing the interconnectedness of all things. In the words of Black Elk, an
Oglala holy man:
You have noticed that
everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the
World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round. In the old
days when we were a strong and happy people, all our power came to us from the sacred
hoop of the nation, and so long as the hoop was unbroken, the people
flourished. The flowering tree was the living center of the hoop, and the
circle of the four quarters nourished it. The east gave peace and light, the
south gave warmth, the west gave rain, and the north with its cold and mighty
wind gave strength and endurance. This knowledge came to us from the outer
world with our religion.
Everything the Power
of the World does is done in a circle. The sky is round, and I have heard that
the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in its
greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the
same religion as ours. The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The
moon does the same, and both are round. Even the seasons form a great circle in
their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of a
man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where
power moves. Our tepees were round like the nests of birds, and these were
always set in a circle, the nation's hoop, a nest of many nests, where the
Great Spirit meant for us to hatch our children. But the Wasichus [white men]
have put us in these square boxes. Our power is gone and we are dying, for the
power is not in us any more. You can look at our boys and see how it is with
us. When we were living by the power of the circle in the way we should, boys
were men at twelve or thirteen years of ago. But now it takes them very much
longer to mature. [3]
When we forget the roundness of life, the inter-being of all
creatures and the Creator, we lose our sense of true identity and belonging--to
that very circle. Tomorrow I'll share the gift of initiation as a way of
bringing us back to home and center.
References:
[1] Timothy J. Joyce, Celtic Christianity: A Sacred
Tradition, a Vision of Hope (Orbis Books: 1998), 19.
[2] "The High First Sower" (The Altus Prosator) by
Columba, as quoted by Oliver Davies, ed. trans., Celtic Spirituality (Paulist
Press: 1999), 405.
[3] John G. Neihardt, Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story
of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux; As Told Through John G. Neihardt (University
of Nebraska Press: 1979), 194-196.
Initiation
Life and grace seem to move us along, often without our
notice, toward greater maturity, inclusivity, and non-dual wisdom. But at
certain points along the way, we are prone to getting stuck unless we have 1)
some kind of initiatory experience, 2) some healing rites of passage, and 3)
almost always the aid of some guides or elders. When our familiar way of living
is challenged by any new wisdom, any great love or great suffering, we are
unlikely to let go of our past certitudes because the unknown and the lack of
control are just too scary. Our culture has unfortunately lost the rather
universal tradition of initiation, and there are now few true elders to lead us
onward. Instead of rites that encourage us to let go and begin anew, we are
urged--both by the Church and by society--to perform better, to do the
"right" thing, and to be even more successful. We gun our already
existing engines. I believe that without some inner experience of
powerlessness, and the wisdom that potentially comes with it, most individuals
will misunderstand and abuse power. Paul would call this "the folly of the
cross."
Native religions emphasize harmony, balance, and wholeness
as the goals that follow from authentic initiation, instead of merely providing
people with a list of do's and don'ts. A religion of mere moral requirements,
in my experience, just leaves people in a continuous seesaw of deflation and
inflation, with a strong undercurrent of denial and delusion. The search for
balance and harmony--darkness and light, winter and spring, angels and
demons--was the more primitive way of keeping us safely inside the
always-truthful paschal mystery of Jesus.
It takes a contemplative mind to be content with such
paradox and mystery. The daily calculating mind works in a binary way.
Either-or thinking gives one a false sense of control. The small mind works by
comparison and judgment; the great mind works by synthesizing and suffering
with alternative truths. The ego cannot stand this suffering, and that is
exactly why it is so hard for many religious people to grow up. Initiation
based religion is not moralistic, but mystical and contemplative, and
eventually unitive. It unveils the Great Spirit in all things, and in us, and
then we are able to live with all the seeming contradictions in between, with
no primal need to eliminate them until we learn what they have to teach us.
Most "primitive" traditions worldwide have
initiation rites for both men and women, in various forms. For women these are
usually fertility or puberty rites, as with the Navajo people--the Diné--whose
Kinaalda ceremony ushers adolescent girls into womanhood. In the Celtic
tradition, some people chose voluntary exile from Ireland, a permanent
pilgrimage to an unknown destination, placing themselves entirely in God's
hands. In Native American vision quests, the initiate cannot return to the
village until he knows his sacred name and has met the Great Spirit. Perhaps
this pattern of self-discovery of one's true name in God is the heart of
initiation (see Revelation 2:17). After all, life is not a matter of creating a
special name for ourselves, but of uncovering the name we have always had.
We are not just spiritually named; historically, people were
usually marked on their body too, like Jacob being wounded on his hip by the
angel. The remaining wound tells us that we have gone the distance and
completed the necessary cycle. "I can take it, and I am not a victim, but
renewed" is the message. No wonder the image of the Risen Christ is still
wounded. I wonder if the prevalence of hazing, tattoos, and body piercings is
not the secular substitution for what young men once sought by fasting,
circumcision, scarification, shaving of heads, and knocking out of teeth. True
initiation marks you indelibly and gives you your sacred name, but only when it
is accompanied by an interior sacred wounding that reminds you both that life
is hard and that you are indeed wounded and powerless before the Mystery of
Full Life. [1]
Initiation teaches you that both dark and light, joy and
grief, good and evil are part of the journey. No part can be excluded without
breaking the whole, which is always a benevolent universe. This is the non-dual
reality of our human evolution and existence. Native and Celtic religions
depended much more on an initiatory experience that changed your consciousness
than on a list of do's and don'ts that were supposed to enlighten you by
supposed moral behavior. I have yet to see mere moral behavior enlighten
anyone; it does, however, usually make them much easier to live with.
Reference:
[1] Adapted from Richard Rohr, Adam's Return: The Five
Promises of Male Initiation (The Crossroad Publishing Company: 2004), 42-43,
49-50.
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