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.
Congratulations Fr Mike on
40 years of Priesthood
40 years of Priesthood
Ministry Rosters 29th & 30th
August, 2015
Devonport:
Readers
Vigil: A McIntyre,
M Williams, C Kiely-Hoye 10:30am:
F Sly, J Tuxworth, K Pearce
Ministers of Communion:
Vigil: B O’Connor,
R Beaton, K Brown, P Shelverton, Beau Windebank
10:30am: M & B Peters, L Hollister, F Sly, B & C
Schrader
Piety Shop 29th August: R McBain 30th August: D French Flowers: M Knight, B Naiker
Ulverstone:
Reader: B O’Rourke Ministers of Communion: M Murray, J Pisarskis, C Harvey, P
Grech
Cleaners: K Bourke Flowers: M Swain Hospitality: M Byrne, G Doyle
Penguin:
Greeters: J Garnsey, S Ewing Commentator: Readers: T Clayton, J Garnsey
Procession: S Ewing, J Barker Ministers of Communion: M Hiscutt, M Murray
Liturgy: Sulphur Creek C Setting Up: M Murray Care of Church: Y & R Downes
Latrobe:
Reader: M Eden Ministers of
Communion: P
Marlow, M Mackey Procession: J Hyde Music: Hermie
Port Sorell:
Readers: V Duff, G Duff Ministers of
Communion: P
Anderson Cleaners/Flowers/Prepare: G Bellchambers, M Gillard
Readings Next Week: 22nd Sunday in
Ordinary Time
First Reading: Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8 Second Reading: James 1:17-18,
21-22,27; Gospel: Mark 7:1-8, 14-15,
21-23
Lizzy Knox, Betty Broadbent, Anne
Shelverton, Veronica Sylvester, Shirley Ryan, Kath Smith, Marie Knight, Joy
Carter, Shirley Stafford, Anna Leary, Dean Frerk, Michael Frerk, Geraldine Roden, Fr Terry
Southerwood & …
Let us pray
for those who have died recently:
Phil O’Kane, Dallas Cordwell, Bozena Pogorzelski, Allan
Cruse, Tony Hyde, Mark Gatt, Lyn Howard, Ina Nichols, Yvonne Harvey, Tadeusz
Poludniak, Carol Smith, Merlene Bargamento, Donald Barry, Nolene Toms and Kora
Pembleton
Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs about this time: 19th
– 25th August
Philip Hofmeyer, Colin Hodgson,
Nicolaas Knaap, Cheryl Leary, Kathleen Laycock, Rita Groves, Cathy Thuaire,
Patricia Smith, Bernard Hensby, Jean Flight, Vincenzo De Santis, Lyn Chessell,
Joseph Hawkes and also Marion Roberts, David Covington
May they rest in peace
WEEKLY
RAMBLINGS:
Every now and then I get distracted by numbers and wanting
to know what numbers (details) tell us about life. This is especially
intriguing as I celebrate my 40th Anniversary.
I went to Corpus Christi College, Werribee and started my
studies for the Priesthood in 1969 with 43 men from Australia (40), Vietnam (2)
and Thailand (1) - 4 entered 1st Philosophy (2nd Year) & 1 entered 3rd
Philosophy (4th Year) and the remainder entered the first year of our training.
One of the Vietnamese men was ordained in 1973 and went to
the USA and hasn't been heard of since so am uncertain of his status. Two were
ordained in 1974 and both are still working as priests - one in Melbourne and
the other, the Archbishop of Brisbane. Seventeen of us were ordained in 1974
with 6 of us still active (2 of the men who were here in May started their
studies two years before us and re-joined the seminary in our year).
Two more men were ordained in 1976 and one of those is
still a priest although is semi-retired. The final member of the year was
ordained in 1977 and is also semi-retired. Thus of the 43 who commenced
studying at Werribee in 1969 and of the twenty three ordained 10 are still
active in Ministry.
Not sure what it says about life but it reminds me that
no-one knows exactly what their journey will involve nor do the things chosen
at any stage of life mean that we will be able to see them through. But
somewhere special in my story is the presence of God – I know that without his
presence in my life (made real by the love and friendship of some many people) -
my ability to be faithful to priesthood over these 40 years would not have been
possible.
So to all of you, in Mersey Leven and throughout the
Archdiocese, who have been part of my ministry – my heartfelt thanks and promise
of my continuing prayers for you all.
MacKillop Hill Spirituality Centre
Phone: 6428 3095 Email: mackillophill.forth@sosj.org.au
Spirituality in
the Coffee Shoppe. Monday 24th August 10.30 – 12 noon
Come along … share your issues and enjoy a lively
discussion over morning tea!
MARGARET SILF, one of the most acclaimed and loved spiritual
writers of our time, is returning to Devonport
1st October and Burnie
2nd October, 2015 Don’t miss this opportunity…Save the
dates!! More details next week.
KNIGHTS OF
THE SOUTHERN CROSS: Annual General Meeting, Emmaus House, Devonport,
on Sunday 30th August, commencing at 6pm with a
shared meal. All members and any interested men are invited to attend. Contact
Secretary Merv Tippett – 64241025.
YOUTH & FAMILY GROUP:
Would you like to be involved in a church-based youth/family group? Join Fr Alexander, Danny and Felicity at Emmaus House on Saturday, August 29th at 5 pm. At this informal meeting we will get suggestions on when and how we would like to meet. There will be games, a biscuit and a drink available. This first get-together will be finished by 5.50 and you are invited to join us at 6pm mass. If you would like further details or are unable to attend, but would like to make suggestions, please contact Felicity on 0418 301 573 or fsly@internode.on.net.
Would you like to be involved in a church-based youth/family group? Join Fr Alexander, Danny and Felicity at Emmaus House on Saturday, August 29th at 5 pm. At this informal meeting we will get suggestions on when and how we would like to meet. There will be games, a biscuit and a drink available. This first get-together will be finished by 5.50 and you are invited to join us at 6pm mass. If you would like further details or are unable to attend, but would like to make suggestions, please contact Felicity on 0418 301 573 or fsly@internode.on.net.
HEALING MASS: Catholic Charismatic Renewal
HEALING MASS at St Mary’s Church Penguin Thursday 10th September at 7.30pm.
Everyone welcome. Please bring a friend and a plate of food for supper to
share. If you wish to know more or require transport contact Celestine Whiteley
6424:2043, Michael Gaffney 0447 018 068, Zoe Smith 6426:3073 or Tom Knaap
6425.2442.
FOOTY POINTS MARGIN TICKETS: Round 20 – Sydney Swans won by 11 points:
Winners; Gail
Bellchambers, Ila Breen & Eileen Martin
Callers 27th August Merv
Tippett & Bruce Peters
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE:
DEAR FATHERS & PARISHIONERS,
On behalf of my brother John, my sister Beth and their
families, I wish to thank you all for your kindness to us on the death of our
dear mother, Ina. Thank you for your cards, phone calls, emails, texts
messages, flowers and other gestures of comfort and consolation. Our mother’s
Funeral Mass was a great demonstration of faith, consolation and Christian
support. With sincere thanks to you all.
Fr Brian Nichols on behalf of his family.
TERESA OF AVILA:
TEACHER AND MYSTIC OF DIVINE FRIENDSHIP:
A weekend retreat on Carmelite
Spirituality at the Emmanuel Centre, Launceston, Friday 11th – 13th
September. Fr. Aloysius Rego OCD Retreat Director. Cost is $170 - includes all
meals and accommodation. Booking essential to Sandra Walkling 6331 4991
MARYKNOLL RETREAT AND SPIRITUALITY CENTRE
Margaret Silf, internationally renowned author and speaker
about Ignatian Spirituality, will present two days at Maryknoll, Blackmans Bay
on Monday September 28th and Tuesday September 29th. For details about costs,
times, enrolling, content etc contact Margaret Henderson RSM on 0418 366 923 or
on mm.henderson@bigpond.com
THE CARMEL SHOP - CARMELITE MONASTERY: 7 Cambridge Street West Launceston
is open on Wednesdays between 11a.m. - 4p.m.
We stock a range of religious items suitable for Baptism, First
Eucharist, Weddings, and Birthday gifts etc. We also stock Bibles, Prayer
books, Catholic literature, Crucifixes, candles, medals, Rosary beads etc. The shop operates for the benefit of the
Sisters at the Monastery.
Telephone queries welcome: Joan 6312:5441
PREGNANCY COUNSELLING AND SUPPORT
Are you
interested in providing support for women who are suffering as a result of
pregnancy or pregnancy loss? Would you like to find out more about becoming a
volunteer counsellor or joining our “Home Help” team? Do you feel you could
make a positive contribution to a Pro-life service on a Management Board? To
learn more about our us and the services we provide please visit us at: www.pcstas.org.au or
contact our office on: 6224 2290 - 10 am to 2 pm Weekdays
RACHEL'S
VINEYARD RETREATS - Provides a chance to step back in safety, to lift hurts of
abortion to God, knowing that the promise of forgiveness and healing is there.
If you or someone you know has been touched by abortion please phone the
confidential phone line 62298739/0478599241 or email rachelsvineyardtas@aapt.net.au The next retreat will be held on the Oct 2nd –
4th 2015.
Laudato
Si': On the Care of Our Common Home
Pope
Francis' Encyclical Laudato Si': On the 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 its place in the Encyclical.
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 its place in the Encyclical.
“Keep oceans and waterways clean and safe
from pollutants; use biodegradable detergents at home and business.” Pars 30, 174
_____________________________________
Saint of the Week – St Bartholomew (August 24)
Nothing further is known of him for certain. Many scholars, however, identify him with Nathaniel (John 1:45-51; 21:2). The reasons for this are that Bartholomew is not the proper name of the Apostle; that the name never occurs in the Fourth Gospel, while Nathaniel is not mentioned in the synoptics; that Bartholomew's name is coupled with Philip's in the lists of Matthew and Luke, and found next to it in Mark, which agrees well with the fact shown by St John that Philip was an old friend of Nathaniel's and brought him to Jesus; that the call of Nathaniel, mentioned with the call of several Apostles, seems to mark him for the apostolate, especially since the rather full and beautiful narrative leads one to expect some important development; and that Nathaniel was of Galilee where Jesus found most, if not all, of the 12.
The manner of his death, said to have occurred at Albanopolis in Armenia, is equally uncertain; according to some, he was beheaded, according to others, flayed alive and crucified, head downward, by order of Astyages, for having converted his brother, Polymius, the King of Armenia.
____________________________________
POLITICAL CORRECTNESS – SWALLOWING HARD
An article by Fr Ron Rolheiser. The original can be found here
Just because something is politically-correct doesn’t mean that it might not also be correct. Sometimes we have to swallow hard to accept truth.
Some years ago, I served on a Priests’ Council, an advisory board to the bishop in a Roman Catholic diocese. The bishop, while strongly conservative by temperament, was a deeply-principled man who did not let his natural temperament or his spontaneous feelings dictate his decisions. His decisions he made on principle, and sometimes that meant he had to swallow hard.
At one point, for example, he found himself under strong pressure to raise the salaries of lay employees in the diocese. The pressure was coming from a very vocal group of social-justice advocates who were quoting the Church’s social doctrines in the face of protests that the diocese could not afford to pay the kind of wages they were demanding. Their cause also leaned on politically-correctness. This didn’t make things easy for the bishop, given his conservative temperament and conservative friends.
But he was, as I said, a man of principle. He came one morning to the Priests’ Council and asked the priests to give him a mandate to give the diocesan employees the wage increase they are demanding. The Priests’ Council told him that they would not bow to political-correctness and voted against it. A month later, the bishop came back to the Priest’s Council and asked the priests again for their support, prefacing his request by telling the priests that, should they vote against it again, he would do it on his own, invoking executive privilege. One of the priests, a close personal friend of his, said: “You’re only asking us to do this because it’s politically correct.” The bishop answered him: “No, we’re not doing this because it’s politically correct. We’re doing it because it is correct! We can’t preach the gospel with integrity if we don’t live it out ourselves. We need to pay a living-wage because that’s what the gospel and Catholic social doctrine demands – not because it’s politically correct.” In saying this, the bishop was swallowing hard, swallowing his own temperament, swallowing his friend’s irritation, and swallowing his own irritation at having to bow to something that was presented as politically-correct. But principle trumped feeling.
And principle needs to trump feeling because, so often, when something comes at us with the label that this must be accepted because it is politically-correct, our spontaneous reaction is negative and we are tempted, out of emotional spite, to reject it simply because of the clock it’s wearing and the voices who are advocating for it. I’ve had my own share of experiences with this, in dealing with my emotions in the face of political-correctness. Teaching in some pretty sensitive classrooms through the years, where sometimes every word is a potential landmine that might blow up in your face, it’s easy to fall into an unhealthy sensitivity-fatigue. I remember once, frustrated with the hypersensitivity of some students (and the pompousness evident inside that sensitivity), I told a student to “lighten up”. He immediately accused me of being a racist on the basis of that remark.
It’s easy then to react with spite rather than empathy. But, like the bishop, whose story I cited earlier, we need to be principled and mature enough to not let emotion and temperament sway our perspective and our decisions. Just because a truth comes cloaked in political correctness and we hear it voiced in self-righteousness doesn’t necessarily mean it isn’t the truth. Sometimes we just have to swallow hard, eat our pride and irritation, and accept the truth of what is being presented. Political correctness is normally irritating, exaggerated, unbalanced, pompous, and lacking in nuance, but it serves an important purpose. We need this mirror: How we spontaneously speak about others flushes out a lot of our blind-spots.
Among other things, political correctness, as a check on our language, helps keep civil discourse civil, something in short supply today. Talk-radio, cable-television, blogs, tweets, and editorials are today more and more being characterized by a language that’s rude, insensitive, and flat-out disrespectful and, in its very disdain for political correctness, is, ironically, the strongest argument for political correctness. Politics, church, and community at every level today need to be much more careful about language, careful about being politically-correct, because the violence in our culture very much mirrors the violence in our language.
Moreover, attentiveness to language helps, long-term, to shape our interior attitudes and widen our empathy. Words work strongly to shape attitudes and if we allow our words to chip away at elementary courtesy and respect and allow them to offend others we help spawn a culture of disrespect.
Political correctness comes to us from both the left and the right. Both liberals and conservatives help dictate it and both can be equally self-righteous and bullying. But we must always be conscious that just because something is politically-correct doesn’t mean that it also might not be correct. Sometimes we just need to swallow hard and accept the truth.
___________________________________________
Mystics and Non-Dual Thinkers: Week 4
A series of reflections taken from a daily email from Fr Richard Rohr. You can subscribe to the email here
Jean-Pierre de Caussade
As we continue looking at the mystics and non-dual thinkers
in my own lineage, I encourage you to do what James Finley, Thich Nhat Hanh,
and others say: Find your practice and practice it. Find your teacher and
follow him/her. Find your community and be faithful to it. Otherwise, you will
tend to float around with no accountability system for what you too easily
"believe" in your head. Your own ego will end up being the decider and
chooser moment by moment.
Jean-Pierre de Caussade (1675-1751), a French Jesuit, was
surely the Eckhart Tolle (author of The Power of Now) of the 18th century.
Caussade coined the term "the sacrament of the present moment." His
book Abandonment to Divine Providence was the most recommended book by
spiritual directors for many decades. It is a small but powerful book with a
profoundly simple message: "Embrace the present moment as an ever-flowing
source of holiness."
In his introduction to Caussade's book, John Beevers writes,
"Caussade was a very simple man. He was obsessed by one thought: the
necessity of loving God and surrendering ourselves to him completely." [1]
This is nothing new. Jesus said, "You must love the Lord your God with all
your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest
and the first commandment" (Mark 12:30). St. Albert the Great (1193-1290)
said, "Commit every particle of your being in all things, down to the
smallest details of your life, eagerly and with perfect trust to the unfailing
and most sure providence of God." [2]
Caussade's key theme is: "If we have abandoned
ourselves to God, there is only one rule for us: the duty of the present
moment." Beevers explains that Caussade is insisting "over and over
again, that we must live from minute to minute. The past is past, the future is
yet to be. There is nothing we can do about either, but we can deal with what
is happening moment by moment." [3] To live in the present is finally what
we mean by presence itself!
Beevers writes, "Caussade combines intense practicality
with profound mysticism--as did St. Teresa of Ávila. This is nothing
extraordinary. True mystics are always much more practical than the ordinary
run of people. They seek reality; we too often are satisfied with the
ephemeral. They want God as he is; we want God as we imagine him to be."
[4]
Abandonment
to Divine Providence is packed with non-dual, mystical wisdom. Here are just a
few examples:
"The truly faithful soul accepts all
things as a manifestation of God's grace, ignores itself and thinks only of
what God is doing."
"Let us love, for love will give us
everything."
"Our only satisfaction must be to live
in the present moment as if there were nothing to expect beyond it."
"Perfection is neither more nor less
than the soul's faithful co-operation with God."
"All will be well if we abandon
ourselves to God."
References:
[1] John
Beevers, trans., Abandonment to Divine Providence: Classic Wisdom from the Past
on Living Fully in the Present by Jean-Pierre de Caussade (Doubleday: 1975),
21.
[2] Ibid.,
17.
[3] Ibid.,
20.
[4] Ibid.,
21.
Thérèse of Lisieux, Part I: The Little Way
I have often mentioned my love for St. Thérèse of Lisieux
(1873-1897), the uneducated French Carmelite nun who in her short, hidden life
of only twenty-four years captured the essence of Jesus' core teachings on
love. Thérèse was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1997, meaning that her
teaching is seen as thoroughly reliable and trustworthy. [1] Thérèse taught
that "Jesus does not demand great actions from us, but simply surrender
and gratitude." [2] She may have been exposed to Jeanne-Pierre de
Caussade's teaching, since she
"'democratized' holiness," as Joseph Schmidt says, "making it
clear that holiness is within the reach of anyone willing to do God's will in
love at each successive moment as life unfolds . . . surrendering herself into
God's providence." [3]
In a statue of Thérèse at the entrance to her basilica in
Lisieux, she is holding a book with the words omen novum--meaning new sign, new
message, or literally new omen. Pope Pious XI declared Thérèse's spiritual way
of childhood "omen novum" in a speech in 1925:
Thérèse fascinates the world today by the magic of her
example, [an] example of holiness that everyone can and should follow. Because
everyone must enter this small way--way of a golden simplicity, [which] is
childish only by its name--in this way of spiritual childhood, all purity,
clarity of mind and heart, irresistible love of goodness, truth, and sincerity.
And this virtue of spiritual childhood, which resides in the will of the soul,
bears the most beautiful fruit: love. O path so beautiful, so good, so
beneficent; all peace and holiness! Omen novum.
Thérèse came into a 19th century Catholic Church that was
controlled by Jansenism (the belief in an angry, punitive God), perfectionism,
and validation by personal good behavior--which is a very unstable and illusory
path. In the midst of this rigid environment, Thérèse says, "I'm convinced
that my message is really new. Jesus himself taught me this." This had
been forgotten by most Christians by the 19th century, so much so that Thérèse
had to call it "new."
Thérèse called this simple, childlike path her "Little
Way." It is a spirituality of imperfection. She says, "Jesus deigned
to show me the road that leads to this Divine Furnace [of God's love] and this
road is the surrender of the little child who sleeps without fear in its
Father's arms." [4] In a letter to priest Adolphe Roulland, Thérèse
writes: "Perfection seems simple to me; I see it is sufficient to
recognize one's nothingness and to abandon oneself as a child into God's
arms." Any Christian "perfection" is, in fact, our ability to
include, forgive, and accept our imperfection.
Near the end of her life, Thérèse explained the Little Way
to her sister, and it became part of her autobiography, The Story of a Soul. In
contrast to the "Big Way" of heroic perfectionism, she says, in
essence, "I know when I am a little one, I almost draw God's love toward
me. God has to love me and help me because I can't do anything by myself. So I
bring to God not my perfection, but my imperfection." Then with utter
confidence, she says, "I know God comes rushing toward me." [5]
Thérèse uses a story from her own early childhood in a very
loving family to illustrate this point: "[Picture] the little child who
starts to hold herself up but does not yet know how to walk. Wanting absolutely
to climb to the top of the stairs to find her mother again, she lifts her
little foot to finally climb the first step. Useless labor! She always falls
without making any advance. . . . Consent to be this little child. Through
practicing all the virtues, keep lifting up your little foot in order to
clamber up the stairs of holiness. You will not even get to the first rung, but
God asks nothing of you except your good will. From the top of the stairs he
looks down at you with love. Soon, won over by your ineffective efforts, he
will come down himself and, taking you in his arms, he will take you away into
his kingdom forever where you will never have to depart from him." [6]
References:
[1] Adapted
from Richard Rohr, The Little Way: A Spirituality of Imperfection (Center for
Action and Contemplation: 2007), MP3 download.
[2] John
Clarke, trans., Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux
(ICS Publications: 1996), 188.
[3] Joseph
F. Schmidt, Walking the Little Way of Thérèse of Lisieux: Discovering the Path
of Love (The Word Among Us Press: 2012), 22.
[4] Clarke,
Story of a Soul, 188.
[5] Rohr,
The Little Way, MP3 download.
[6] Schmidt,
Everything Is Grace: The Life and Way of Thérèse of Lisieux (The Word Among Us
Press: 2007), 249-250.
Thérèse of Lisieux, Part II: Conversion
As a child, Thérèse experienced both great love and great
suffering. Having lost four babies prior to her birth, Thérèse's family truly
cherished her. Thérèse's father called her "my little Queen." But due
to her mother's breast cancer, Thérèse had to live with a wet nurse from the fragile
age of three months to fifteen months. This early separation, along with the
death of her mother when Thérèse was four, may have contributed to Thérèse
being overly sensitive and needing to please others in order to feel secure and
connected. She also experienced mild depression as she held her grief and her
need for consolation inside. Thérèse often felt guilty for being dramatic or
making a fuss about seemingly small things. It was as if she no longer had her
feelings; her feelings had her. Thérèse described the years between her
mother's death and age fourteen as "the most painful" period of her
life. But God uses everything, and these wounds became sacred gifts that
readied her for what she surprisingly called her "complete conversion."
[1]
Thérèse's conversion took place just before her fourteenth
birthday when she, her father, and two of her sisters had returned from
Midnight Mass early Christmas morning. Her tired father made a comment to her
sister Celine which Thérèse overheard: "Well, fortunately, this will be
the last year!" He was referring to the little charade they always played
where Thérèse pretended to believe in Papa Noel and opened gifts with joy to
please her father. Now she felt she'd been making him unhappy instead.
Thérèse's sensitive heart was shattered. But then the
miracle she'd been praying for happened. Instead of bursting into tears and
running up the stairs to her room, as she would normally have done, she felt
Jesus give her immediate strength and deep foundation. She was able to remain
calm and participate joyfully in the family tradition, as if her father's
criticism had not happened. Joseph Schmidt describes this new freedom: "By
grace stripped of falseness, Thérèse now saw herself more clearly mirrored in
the eyes of God, a child of God. . . . [She realized] the violence she was
doing to herself by . . . being untrue to herself. . . . On that Christmas Day,
she had been able to stand her ground emotionally, take the next step, and not
be intimidated by her feelings." [2] She claimed it was a complete victory
over her egocentric emotions for the rest of her life! Most of us never enjoy
such a victory, or even deem it as necessary.
It seems like such a little thing, but that is actually what
makes it so important in the end. Thérèse was all about "doing small
things with great love." An experience of inner freedom and grace allows
you to be more compassionate both with yourself and with others. This is at the
heart of much Eastern Meditation practice. Looking at yourself from a calm
distance, you begin to see your own patterns and understand that so much of
your behavior is habitual, knee-jerk reactions. Your immediate feelings are
almost always due to childhood conditioning, but they are so deep in your
unconscious that you have no idea why you're doing what you're doing. We are
indeed unconscious. [3] Even St. Paul says that about himself (Romans 7:14-24).
So much that we humans do, positive or negative, is
automatic brain response; there is very little free-will involved. Every time
we choose love, grace, and humility over our habituated brain reactions, we
expand our realm of freedom. And love can only happen in the realm of freedom.
Thérèse was a master at finding such freedom inside of very small spaces. Thus
she called it her "little way."
References:
[1] Joseph
F. Schmidt, Walking the Little Way of Thérèse of Lisieux: Discovering the Path
of Love (The Word Among Us Press: 2012), 40-46.
[2] Ibid.,
56-59.
[3] Adapted
from Richard Rohr, Franciscan Mysticism: I AM That Which I Am Seeking (Center
for Action and Contemplation: 2012), CD and MP3 download.
Thérèse of Lisieux, Part III: A Spirituality of Imperfection
After her "complete conversion" on Christmas,
Thérèse turned from striving to be good to accepting her imperfections and
trusting God to remove them in God's time. Thérèse brought what some of us call
a spirituality of imperfection back to the mainline Christian tradition. This
had become a subtext, forgotten and ignored, beginning when Christianity wedded
with empire in the year 313. Once you align with the mind and will of empire
and success, your spirituality focuses on perfection, achievement, performance,
attainment, and willpower. This "ladder theology" has dominated much
of church history, both East and West, down to our own time.
One of Thérèse's favorite parables is Jesus' story of the
Pharisee and the tax collector. It is not hard to see why. "[Jesus] spoke
this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and
therefore despised others. Two men went up to the temple to pray; one was a
Pharisee and the other was a tax collector" (Luke 18:9-10).
For the Jewish people listening to Jesus, the Pharisees are
the good guys who try to do everything right. The tax collectors are the bad
guys who have aligned with the Roman Empire and are taking money from their own
Jewish people to give to the empire. So no one likes the tax collectors, and
everyone looks up to the Pharisees. As always, Jesus in his non-dual way turns
this deep assumption on its head.
The parable continues: "The Pharisee stood and he
prayed thus with himself: 'O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of
humanity--greedy, dishonest, adulterous--or even like this tax collector. I
fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.' But the tax collector
stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat
his breast and prayed, 'O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.'" Jesus
concludes: "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather
than the other" (Luke 18:11-14).
The tax collector admits his powerlessness. That's why Jesus
says he goes home "justified." On the other hand, the Pharisee, who
has followed the rules and done it right, is too filled with himself to have
any room inside for God. The religion of the tax collector is religion as
receptivity, rather than religion as self-assertion and willpower. Perfection
is not the exclusion of the contaminating element--the enemy, to use Jesus'
language--but, in fact, perfection is the ability to include imperfection.
I think imperfection is the organizing principle of the
entire human, historical, and spiritual enterprise. Imperfection, in the great
spiritual traditions, is not just to be tolerated, excused, or even forgiven.
It is the very framework inside of which God makes the God-self known and calls
us into gracious union. It's what allows us--and sometimes forces us--to
"fall into the arms of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31).
Reference:
Adapted from
Richard Rohr, The Little Way: A Spirituality of Imperfection (Center for Action
and Contemplation: 2007), MP3 download.
Thérèse of
Lisieux, Part IV: The Science of Love
I understand
so very well that it is only through love that we can render ourselves pleasing
to the good Lord, that love is the one thing I long for. The science of love is
the only science I desire.
--Thérèse of
Lisieux [1]
Today we
remember, lament, and grieve our own complicity in the bombing of Hiroshima in
1945 on the Feast of the Transfiguration. The atomic bomb became a symbol of
humanity's capacity for negative transfiguration. The "dawn of the nuclear
age" began near my home here in New Mexico; the first atomic bomb was
developed in Los Alamos and tested at "Trinity Site" near Alamogordo.
This is a reminder to me that my capacity for evil is as close as my backyard
and my own shadow.
Thérèse of
Lisieux died just before the most violent century in human history. What if we
had studied the "science of love" in the Little Way as she did?
Harnessing the energy in the smallest interactions, moment by moment, we might
have found that, indeed, "Love is as strong as Death" (Song of Songs
8:6). What if we had practiced confidence as Thérèse did--as deep trust in the
mercy, love, and goodness of God? Maybe we would not have found ourselves in
the position where good people participated in the continual "sin of the
world" (John 1:29), which I am convinced is ignorant killing. Endless
forms of ignorant killing are destroying the world. We need to recognize our
own personal and structural violence. The death instinct always comes from
people who are unconscious, unaware, and indeed do not know what they are
doing. Now we can hear Jesus on the cross and know why he said, "Forgive
them, Father, they don't know what they're doing" (Luke 23:34). When we
love, we do know what we are doing! Love, if it is actually love, is always a
highly conscious act. We do evil when we slip into unconsciousness.
Thérèse
learned the "science of love" not by willfully forcing herself to be
loving, but by being aware of and learning from the times she was tempted to be
unloving or overly attached to her own emotions. Recently, I studied Joe
Schmidt's book Walking the Little Way of Thérèse of Lisieux. He brilliantly describes
how God taught Thérèse to apply her initial weaknesses of self-consciousness
and sensitivity to studying how to especially love the most unlovable of the
sisters with whom she spent nine years in the convent. Then that widened to
loving the whole world. Joe Schmidt writes:
Through
prayerful self-reflection on her spiritual journey, Thérèse came to know the
depth of her self-centeredness, the extent of her God-inspired desires, and the
role and significance of her thoughts, acts, and feelings in the spiritual
life. Thérèse had a great self-confidence in her ability to be honest with
herself and an enormous intuitive capacity about the ways of human and divine
love. Under the microscope of prayer, in her self-awareness, she came to learn
universal truths about love: how love originates, how it is nourished or
blocked, and how it grows. Her life became a microcosm of love, her teaching, a
school of love. . . . [2]
As Carl Jung
taught after the First World War, so much external hatred and carnage could only
have emerged if it was preceded by decades of inner fear, hatred, and
negativity that grew unchecked and unrecognized. Because the inner world was
not healed or renewed, Jung predicted that another blood bath was on its way,
which of course became the Second World War. Thérèse showed us the way out of
this pattern by addressing the foundational cause of all historical wars and
hatred: the blindness and the fears of the human heart.
References:
[1] John
Clarke, trans., Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux
(ICS Publications: 1996), 187-188.
[2] Joseph
F. Schmidt, Walking the Little Way of Thérèse of Lisieux: Discovering the Path
of Love (The Word Among Us Press: 2012), 33-34.
Thérèse of
Lisieux, Part V: Surrender to Love
Thérèse is a
gift and inspiration to us precisely because she is so little and ordinary,
just like each of us. She was not always a pillar of faith. During the last
eighteen months of her life, when she was dying painfully from tuberculosis,
Thérèse came to understand how people could have no faith at all.
She told a
sister at her deathbed, "If only you knew what darkness I am plunged into.
I don't believe in eternal life; I think that after this life there is nothing.
Everything has disappeared on me, and I am left with love alone." Although
she did not regain feelings of faith, she said to her sister Pauline,
"Yes! What a grace it is to have [the gift of] faith! If I had not had any
faith, I would have committed suicide without an instant's hesitation."
Thérèse also said, "The more we would surrender ourselves to Love, the
more we must surrender ourselves to suffering."
Brother
Joseph Schmidt describes Thérèse's experience at the end of her life:
She grasped
faith with the willingness of love. . . . [1]
In her
physical suffering and spiritual torture, Thérèse surrendered into the reality
of her nothingness, into the welcoming arms of God where she had always been
from the beginning. Even though her little way seemed an illusion, she refused
to abandon it; she blindly continued to live it. She was loving God by
willingly embracing God's love for her, however painful that purifying love
was. . . . Thérèse's early desire to love God so lavishly--that desire, too was
being purified by God into a willing spirit of total self-surrender to God's
love and God's will. . . . Jesus was making her one with himself in his own
experience of physical annihilation, spiritual darkness, and total
self-emptying. . . .
In her final
agony, as she desired to be consumed in the tender waves of God's love, she
also desired that same consummation of love for all those in her heart--and for
all humanity. With this intention, convinced that God in taking her into divine
love would draw with her all creation, she prayed in one of her final prayers,
"Jesus, draw me into the flames of [Your] love; unite me so closely with
[You] that [You] live and act in me." [2]
Earlier, she
had written, "MY VOCATION IS LOVE!" . . . She understood "that
love comprised [the essence of] all vocations, that love was everything, that
it embraced all times and places--in a word, that it was eternal!" . . .
Her final sigh was an echo of her entire life: "Oh, I love Him! My God, I
love You!" . . . Her sisters documented that in that final moment, Thérèse
raised her eyes and her face became radiant with an expression of total peace
and sheer joy. [3]
References:
[1] Joseph
F. Schmidt, Walking the Little Way of Thérèse of Lisieux: Discovering the Path
of Love (The Word Among Us Press: 2012), 201.
[2] Ibid.,
205-206.
[3] Ibid.,
207-208.
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