Mersey Leven Catholic Parish
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
Weekday Masses 27th – 30th October,
2015
Tuesday: 9:30am - Penguin
Wednesday: 9:30am - Latrobe
Thursday: 12noon – Devonport
Friday: 9:30am
- Ulverstone
Next Weekend
31st Oct & 1st Nov, 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.
DO YOU LONG FOR SOME SPACE AND STILLNESS IN YOUR LIFE AT
THIS TIME OF THE YEAR? 30 minutes of
silent prayer could change the rest of your week! There is an opportunity
for this each Wednesday evening at 7pm at 88 Stewart Street, Devonport.
Why not come along and meditate with a small group of people and see what
happens? For
further information see www.wccm.org or talk with Sr Carmel.
Ministry Rosters 31st Oct & 1st
Nov, 2015
Devonport:
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
Cleaners 30rd
October: M&L Tippett, A Berryman 6th November: M.W.C
Piety Shop 31st
October: R McBain 1st
November: P Piccolo Flowers:
M Knight, B Naiker
Ulverstone:
Reader: B O’Rourke Ministers of Communion: E Standring, M Fennell, L Hay, T Leary
Cleaners: Flowers: M Swain Hospitality: S & T Johnstone
Penguin:
Greeters: Fifita Family Commentator: E Nickols Readers: T Clayton
Procession: Kiely Family Ministers of Communion: M Hiscutt, M Murray
Liturgy: Pine Road Setting Up: A Landers Care of Church: G Hills-Eade, T Clayton
Latrobe:
Reader: M Eden Ministers of Communion: M Kavic, M Mackey Procession: J Hyde
Music: Hermie
Readings This Week: 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time
First Reading: Jeremiah 31:7-9
Second Reading: Hebrews 5:1-6
Gospel: Mark 10:46-52
PREGO REFLECTION:
I quieten myself and relax slowly into God’s presence. I
take time to read the passage and become familiar with it. I may then focus on
the story in my imagination and become part of it, seeing and hearing the
crowd, feeling the excitement of the people. Perhaps I identify with
Bartimaeus, sitting amidst the noise of the milling crowd until he cries out in
desperation for Jesus to take pity on him. Can I hear Jesus address me,
personally, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ I let this question resonate
within me and quietly wait to see what rises in my heart. It may be that I have
to return to this question several times. Or, I may be one of the crowd. Do I
hear the cry of the marginalised? Should they remain at the side of the road?
Or can I be of help in their struggle for freedom? I speak to the Lord about
this. Bartimaeus recovers his sight. I ask the Lord to open my eyes—maybe the
eyes of faith that I may follow him on the way of discipleship, or perhaps that
I may see others as he sees them. I finish my prayer quietly, slowly making a
sign of the cross.
Readings Next Week: All Saints
First Reading: Apocalypse 7:2-4, 9-14
Second Reading: 1 John 3:1-3
Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12
Your prayers are asked for the sick:
Little Archer, Barbara Hancock, Kevin Bagley, Iolanthe Hannavy, Geraldine Roden, Joy Carter, Jenny Morris, Christopher Ockwell, Josephine Murray, Reg Hinkley, Noreen Burton, Debbie Morris, Harry Cartwright & …
Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Robert Grantham, Ena Robinson, Shirley Stafford, Vicki Glashower, Audrey Taylor, Peter Hays, Dr John Walker, Leonard Hoare and Sr Marjorie Boutchard.
Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs about this time: 21st – 27th October
Betty Wells, Margaret Williams, Hilda Peters, Francis McQueen, Jedd Caroll-Anderson, Patrick Clarke, Paul McNamara, David Murray and Brenda Wyatt. Also John Stanford Hall.
May they rest in Peace
WEEKLY
RAMBLINGS:
In
the past two weeks I have celebrated the funerals of two members of our
community – one from Sheffield and the other at Penguin – both parishioners
were actively involved in the life of their communities and their deaths have
had a real impact on those communities.
Next
weekend we celebrate the Feast of All Saints and then during the month of
November we will remember all our deceased loved ones, people who have had a
real impact on our lives. On Wednesday 4th at Sacred Heart Church, Ulverstone
at 7pm Mass will be celebrated to remember, in particular, those who have died
during this past twelve months – and so I extend a warm invitation to all
parishioners to join us for this special celebration and for supper which will
follow the Mass.
On
Friday 6th November the next Open House will be held at the Parish House,
Stewart Street, Devonport. This night will be a little different from previous
nights in that the children (and families) who were involved in our Parish
Sacramental Program in 2015 are being specially invited to a BBQ Meal at 6.30pm
– anyone else is invited to join us at that time as well. There will then be
activities for the children in the Parish Hall followed by a practice for the
10.30am Children’s Mass on Sunday 8th at Our Lady of Lourdes. Everyone else is
invited to be part of the night in the Parish House – usual arrangements – BBQ
food and soft drink provided for the children and early birds, wine and nibbles
for adults later – BYO other ‘poison’. Trust me – it will work!!
As
I mentioned a few weeks ago there is always a need for new people to assist
with various activities around the Parish – many thanks to those wonderful
people who have offered assistance so far. If anyone can help with any of the
ministries you see happening around the Parish please contact us and let us
know how you might be able to help us and we’ll see how we can make it all
work.
Please give generously or
Freecall: 1800 257 296 or catholicmission.org.au/water
KNIGHTS OF THE SOUTHERN CROSS: will be holding their monthly meeting this
Sunday, 25th October, at Emmaus house commencing with a shared meal at 6.00pm. Any
interested men are welcome to attend.
AUSTRALIAN CHURCH WOMEN : will
hold World Community Day at the Salvation Army on Friday 30th October at 1.30
pm. Please bring a plate. All welcome.
SACRED
HEART SCHOOL FAIR: The annual Sacred Heart Primary
School Fair is on this Sunday the 25th of October from 10am to 2pm (immediately
following the Ulverstone mass). Everyone is welcome to come along and enjoy the
entertainment, grab some lunch and pick up some plants, produce, cakes, sweets
or craft items from the stalls. Raffle tickets will be drawn at 1:30pm. We hope
to see you all there!
MacKillop Hill Spirituality Centre
Phone:
6428 3095 Email: mackillophill.forth@sosj.org.au
Spirituality in the
Coffee Shoppe.
Monday 26th October 10.30 – 12 noon
Come
along … share your issues and enjoy a lively discussion over morning tea!
MELBOURNE CUP LUNCH
We are up and running again! Come and join in the fun!
**Cup
Sweep, **Lucky Saddle, **Best Hat, **Raffle
Tuesday 3rd November 12.30pm start
Bookings
by 29th October please to
help with catering arrangements
Phone
Mary 6425 2781 or contact the Centre on the number above
SPIRITUALITY FOR
JUSTICE Presented by Belinda & Richard Chapman
Thursday 12th November 7.30 – 9pm Cost
by donation
Exploring
the 2015 Social Justice Statement and discerning its challenges for each of us
in regards refugees and asylum seekers.
Callers 29th October Tony Ryan and Merv Tippett
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE:
MARYKNOLL
RETREAT: Fr Peter Addicoat cp will be directing an 8 day retreat
from the 30th October to the 8th November. There is no limit to the
number of days that a person may come, each day will stand alone with its own
content. This may be a good time for people to spiritually prepare for
the Christmas Feast. For more information please contact Sr Margaret
Henderson on 0418 366 923 or email maryknoll@bigpond.com
COUPLES FOR CHRIST SEMINAR: St Paul’s Church Paice Street, Bridgwater 7th
November from 9am - 5pm Married couples invited to attend. Lunch and
snacks provided. For more information please phone Fr. Leo 6263:6242
WORLD YOUTH DAY 2016, KRAKOW: Registrations are now open to young Tasmanians aged
16 – 35 years as at 31st December 2016. For all your information and to
register go to: www.wydtas.org.au
STAR WARS EPISODE VII: THE FORCE AWAKENS
FUNDRAISER: Be the first to see the highly
anticipated Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens when it is released on
Thursday 17th December, 6.00pm. Catholic Youth Ministry are holding a special
viewing of this film at Village Cinemas as a World Youth Day fundraiser. Get
all your friends and family together for this epic cinematic reveal and get
ready for one brilliant evening! Come dressed for the occasion and be in the
running for the best-dressed competition, as well as other give-aways and
competitions before the film begins. Tickets are $30 pp and include: movie
ticket, small popcorn and a 600ml drink (as well as chances for give-aways!).
This event is being held at Village Cinemas Eastlands and Village Cinemas
Launceston. Book your ticket now at: www.cymtas.org.au or by contacting Rachelle Smith on
0400 045 368
PINTS OF FAITH: HUMAN TRAFFICKING – A
GLOBAL PHENOMENON:
Nearly every country in the world
is a source, transit or destination for Human Trafficking. It is a scary
reality of our world. Young adults (& interested young-at-heart) are
invited to join us for this month’s Pints of Faith along with our special guest
Sr Carole McDonald from Melbourne and member of ACRATH (Australian Catholic
Religious Against Trafficking of Humans). Join us Wednesday 4th November 6.30pm
at the Cock N Bull British Pub, Launceston. Book: rachelle.smith@aohtas.org.au
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.
“For
genuine change, put the common good first. Special interests manipulate
information, offer ‘superficial rhetoric, sporadic acts of philanthropy and
perfunctory expressions of concern’.” (Par 54)
Saint of the Week – St Dimitrios
(October 26)
St Dimitrios (also
spelt Demetrios) was a Christian and the only son of the military commander of
Thessalonica, in the early 4th century. When his father died,
Dimitrios was appointed by the Emperor Maximian to take his father’s place.
Maximian opposed Christianity and directed Dimitrios to persecute and kills its
followers in that city.
Instead, Dimitrios
disobeyed Maximian, openly confessing to having a Christian faith and preaching
about it in public. Hearing of this, the Emperor was furious and confronted the
soldier in Thessalonica. It was in that confrontation that Dimitrios professed
his belief, as well as expressing disgust in the notion of idol worship (a
direct criticism of the Emperor himself).
The enraged Emperor
cast him into prison where Dimitrios, anticipating his likely fate, arranged
for his servant to sell his belongings and give the money to the poor.
An angel of God appeared to Dimitrios saying, "Peace be with thee,
thou sufferer for Christ; be brave and strong!"
After several days, the Emperor sent soldiers to the prison to kill
Dimitrios. The soldiers came into the cell finding the Saint at prayer, and
killed him with their spears. His buried body began producing a healing,
fragrant myrrh.
SYNOD OF THE FAMILY
For up to date information about the Synod which ends this weekend click https://www.catholic.org.au/synod2015 for the Blog written by the Australian Bishops attending the Synod.
For a wider ranging report about different world views of the Synod click the National Catholic Reporter site http://ncronline.org/feature-series/family-synod-2015.
For another view check out the Catholic Herald (UK) site by clicking http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/
DISPLACING EGO AND NARCISSISM
An article published by Fr Ron Rolheiser on Oct 19, 2015 - the original can be found here
The Buddhists have a little axiom that explains more about ourselves than we would like. They say that you can understand most of what’s wrong in the world and inside yourself by looking at a group-photo. Invariably you will look first at how you turned out before looking at whether or not this is a good photo of the group. Basically, we assess the quality of things on the basis of how we are doing.
Rene Descartes must be smiling. He began his philosophical search with the question: What’s the one thing that’s indubitable? What’s the one thing, for sure, of which we can be certain. His answer, his famous dictum: I think, therefore I am! Ultimately what’s most real to us is our own consciousness. And it’s so obsessively real that, until we can find a maturity beyond our natural instincts, it locks us inside a certain prison. What prison? Psychologists call it narcissism, an excessive self-preoccupation that keeps us fixated on ourselves and on our own private headaches and idiosyncratic heartaches. Like the Buddhist commentary on the group-photo, we worry little about how others are doing; our focus is first of all upon ourselves.
And this condition is not a childish thing that can be brushed off by glibly affirming that we have grown-up, are beyond ego, and are unselfish. Ego and its child, narcissism, do not go away simply because we consider ourselves mature and spiritual. They’re incurable because they’re an innate part of our make-up. Moreover, they’re not meant to go away, nor are they, in themselves, a moral defect. Our ego is the center of our conscious personality, part of our core make-up, and each of us needs a strong ego to remain glued-together, sane, healthily self-protective, and able to give of oneself to others.
But it usually comes as a shock to people when someone suggests that great people, spiritual people, have strong egos. For example, Francis of Assisi, Theresa of Avila, Therese of Lisieux, and Mother Teresa, for all their humility, had strong egos, namely, they had a clear sense of their own identity, their own giftedness, and their own importance. However, in each case, they also had the strong concomitant sense that their persons and gifts did not originate with themselves and were not meant for them. Rather, like Israel’s sense of itself as chosen people, they were clear that the source of their giftedness was God and that their gifts were intended not for themselves but for others. And, in that, lies the difference between being having a strong ego and being an egoist. An egoist has a strong ego and is gifted, but he understands himself as both the creator and objective of that gift. Conversely, great persons have strong egos but are always aware that their giftedness does not come from them but is something flowing through them as a gift for others.
The goal in maturing then is not to kill the ego but rather to have a healthy ego, one that is integrated into a larger self that precisely is concerned with the group-photo. But coming to that maturity is a struggle that will leave us, too often, in either inflation (too full of ourselves and too unaware of God) or in depression (too empty of our own value and too unaware of God).
Maturity and sanctity do not lie in killing or denigrating the ego, as is sometimes expressed in well-meaning, though misguided, spiritualities, as if human nature was evil. Ego is integral and critical to our natural make-up, part of our instinctual DNA. We need a healthy ego to be and remain healthy. So the intent is never to kill or denigrate the ego, but rather to give it its proper, mature role, that is, to keep us sane, in touch with our gifts, and in touch with both the source and intent of those gifts.
But this can only be achieved paradoxically: Jesus tells us that we can find life only by losing our lives. A famous prayer attributed to Francis of Assisi gives this its classic, popular expression: O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek: to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life. Only by denying our ego can we have a healthy ego.
Finally, some wisdom about ego from the Taoist master, Chuang Tzu: If you are crossing a river in small boat, he says, and another boat runs into you, you will be angry if there is someone steering that runaway boat; but you will not experience that same anger if the boat is empty. Why no anger then? Chuang Tzu’s answer: A person who has let go of his or her ego “leaves no trace”. Such a person does not trigger anger in others.
Jung: Week 1
This is a collated version of the daily emails posted by Fr Richard Rohr. You can subscribe to these daily emails here
A Different Kind of Mystic
This week and next I will explore how Swiss psychotherapist
Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) has contributed to my wisdom lineage. Some people
do not like the fact that I quote Jung at all. I don't agree with every word
he's ever written, but he gives us more than enough wisdom to trust him. I must
admit that Jung has had much influence on me. I first read his work when I was
in college, and again and again he would offer concepts that I knew were true.
At the time, I didn't have the education to intellectually justify it; I just
knew intuitively that he was largely right. Jung brought together de facto
theology with very good psychology. He surely is no enemy of religion, as some
imagine. When asked at the end of his life if he "believed" in God,
Jung said, "I could not say I believe. I know! I have had the experience
of being gripped by something that is stronger than myself, something that
people call God." I'm convinced he was a mystic because he insisted on
actual inner experience of outer dogmas and doctrines, and that's what mystics
always emphasize. [1]
Depth psychology, which in some respects is a modern secular
version of traditional spirituality and deals with many of the same issues,
tells us that our lives are guided by subconscious, ruling images which Jung
calls archetypes--such as the father, the mother, the eternal child, the hero,
the virgin, the wise old man, the magician, the trickster, the devil, and the
God image. Jung claims that some of these archetypes are found all over the
world. They just keep recurring in different ways and utterly fascinate the
soul. Thus he said they are part of "the collective unconscious,"
which is another of his key ideas. These fundamental patterns show up in dreams
and behavior in every culture, and they appear in symbols and stories that go
as far back in time as we can go. [2] Hence, they actually create the perennial
tradition, and are especially communicated in myth, religion, and art--all of
which the overly rational mind dismisses as unimportant.
In our Living School, we are teaching the perennial
tradition, which in effect was affirmed by many of the broad minded documents
of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. [3] The perennial tradition teaches
us to recognize and honor the revelation of God in all the world traditions and
peoples. It emphasizes the recurring themes in all of the world's religions and
philosophies that each say in their own way [4]:
There is a Divine Reality underneath and inherent in the
world of things.
There is in the human soul a natural capacity, similarity,
and longing for this Divine Reality.
The final goal of existence is union with this Divine
Reality.
Carl Jung simply calls this the inner God archetype, the
"whole-making instinct" which drives and stirs every soul to become
what it is, and become all that it is. Only the words and symbols are
different. Christians would call this whole-making instinct the indwelling Holy
Spirit "who teaches you all things and reminds you of all things"
(John 14:26). We will develop this more tomorrow.
References:
[1] Adapted
from Richard Rohr, "Lineage" audio recordings,
cac.org/rohr-inst/ls-program-details/ls-lineage (Center for Action and
Contemplation).
[2] Adapted
from Richard Rohr, From Wild Man to Wise Man: Reflections on Male Spirituality
(Franciscan Media: 2005), 137.
[3] See
especially Nostra Aetate, 1-2, Optatam Totius, 15, Documents of the II Vatican
Council (1962-1965).
[4] Adapted
from Richard Rohr, "The Perennial Tradition," Oneing, Vol. 1 No. 1
(Center for Action and Contemplation: 2013), 5, 11.
The True Self
For Jung, the God archetype is the whole-making function of
the soul. It's that part of you that always wants more. I don't mean more in
the greedy sense; I mean more in the spiritual sense. It is the inner energy
within the soul of all things, saying, "Become who you are. Become all
that you are. There is still more of you--more to be discovered, forgiven, and
loved." Jungian analytical psychology calls such growth and becoming
"individuation," which I like to think of as moving toward the life
wish instead of the death wish (the Biblical word for the death wish was
"sin"). The life wish teaches you not to fragment, not to splinter,
and not to split, but to integrate and learn from everything; whereas the ego
always moves toward constriction and separation or "sin." In the end,
the God archetype is quite simply love at work driving you toward every greater
embrace and ever deeper union.
In the journey toward psychic wholeness, Jung stresses the
necessary role of religion or the God archetype in integrating the opposites,
including the conscious and the unconscious, the One and the many, good (by
embracing it) and evil (by forgiving it), masculine and feminine, the small
self and the Big Self. By "Self" with a capital "S," Jung
means the deepest center of the psyche/soul that is in union with the Divine. I
would call it the True Self, the Christ Self, or if you prefer, the Buddha Self,
which has learned to consciously abide in union with the Presence within us
(John 14:17b). [1] Teresa of Ávila would describe this fully enlightened Self
as the seventh, most interior mansion of your soul where God has chosen to
dwell with "great delight." [2]
Jung's evidence for this Self is found in constantly
recurring symbols of centering, integrating, and whole-making, frequently
symbolized by the mandala shape so often found in dreams and art--a visual way
of saying "everything belongs," a boundary meant to bring things in
rather than keep things out. The almond shape of a mandala is a combination of
a square and a circle, which of itself, probably unconsciously, invites us into
"impossibility" and inclusivity. For Catholics who might think this
is New Age silliness, I ask you to picture the "Miraculous Medal,"
the Sacred Heart badge, the image of Guadalupe, and the halos painted around
saints' heads, which are all mandalas. The artists seemed to intuit that there
is a unified field in which we live, and that gives the soul great peace. In
Jung's words:
The decisive question for [every human] is: Is he [or she]
related to something infinite or not? That is the telling question of . . .
life. Only if we know that the thing which truly matters is the infinite can we
avoid fixing our interest upon futilities, and upon all kinds of goals which
are not of real importance. Then we demand that the world grant us recognition
for qualities which we regard as personal possessions: our talent or our
beauty. The more a [person] lays stress on false possessions, and the less
sensitivity he [/she] has for what is essential, the less satisfying is his
[/her] life. He [/she] feels limited because he [/she] has limited aims, and
the result is envy and jealousy. If we understand and feel that here in this
life we already have a link with the infinite, desires and attitudes change. In
the final analysis, we count for something only because of the essential we
embody, and if we do not embody that, life is wasted. In our relationships to
[others], too, the crucial question is whether an element of boundlessness
[emphasis mine] is expressed in the relationship.
The feeling for the infinite, however, can be attained only
if we are bounded to the utmost. The greatest limitation for [humans] is the [small]
"self"; it is manifested in the experience: "I am only
that!" Only consciousness of our narrow confinement in the self forms the
link to the limitlessness of the unconscious. In such awareness we experience
ourselves concurrently as limited and eternal, as both the one and the other.
In knowing ourselves to be unique in our personal combination--that is,
ultimately limited--we possess also the capacity for becoming conscious of the
infinite. But only then! [3]
What an utter paradox! If this sounds like Step 1 of
Alcoholics Anonymous (realizing my own powerlessness), it is. Jung's wisdom
deeply influenced Bill Wilson and the early Recovery Movement, which we'll
explore later this year
References:
[1] Adapted
from Richard Rohr, unpublished "Rhine" talks (2015).
[2] Teresa
of Ávila, translated by Mirabai Starr, The Interior Castle (Riverhead Books:
2004), 35.
[3] C. G.
Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections (Vintage Books: 1963), 325.
Beginning with Blessing
Carl Jung wanted to bring externalized religion back to its
internal foundations. He saw how religion kept emphasizing the split and
unbridgeable distance between the Creator and Creation, between God and the
human, between inner and outer, between the One and the many. In spite of the
ecological unity of all creation, Christianity too often began by emphasizing a
problem ("original sin") instead of beginning with the wonderful
unity between creation and Creator (original blessing), which we called
"Christ" or the Primal Anointing of all things.
God inhabits all creation from the very beginning. Genesis
1:9-31 makes this rather clear. All our distinctions are merely mental and
therefore deceptive. Except for the experience of many saints and mystics,
religion has greatly underemphasized any internal, natural resonance between
humans and God. This gives us clergy a job! We first remind you that you are
"intrinsically disordered" or sinful--which then allows us to just
happen to have the perfect solution. It is like the vacuum cleaner salesman
first pouring dirt on your floor, so he can show you how well his little Hoover
works. As if the meaning of the universe or creation could start with a
foundational problem!
Christianity rarely emphasized the importance, the
plausibility, or the power of inner spiritual experience. For Catholics, you
were to believe the pope, the bishops, and the priests. For Protestants, you
were to believe the Bible. But they're both the same game, I'm sorry to say.
It's all about trusting something that is outside of yourself. When this is
encouraged, there is little deep conviction or passion, but only hard-headed
and often arrogant "belief"--which then feels like a game of pretend
both to the believer and to those who observe such people. We gave people
answers that were extrinsic to the soul and to anything you knew from the
inside out. "Holiness" largely became a matter of intellect and will,
instead of an inner trust and any inner dialogue of love. It made you think
that the one with the most willpower wins, and the one who understands things
the best is the beloved of God--the opposite of most Biblical heroes. It kept
us gazing at our own "performance" instead of searching for the
Divine in us and in all things.
The God archetype, the whole-making instinct, reveals itself
as a drive to give yourself totally to something or someone. Love! The inner
God image shows itself as a desire for an Absolute, a Center, a Ground to
everything else. This is deep and necessary for the human soul, and when it is
missing, very neurotic, confused, and unhappy lifestyles seem to emerge, even
widespread mental illness, as we see in most Western countries today.
We must begin with a foundational "yes" to who we
are and to what is. This is mature religion's primary function. It creates the
bedrock foundation for all effective faith. You must begin with original
blessing and not original sin. If you begin with the negative or a problem, the
whole journey remains largely a negative problem-solving exercise.
If you begin with the positive, and get the issue of core
identity absolutely clear--a clear "Identity Theology" instead of
endless moralisms about who is in and who is out--the rest of the journey is
ten times more natural, more beautiful, more joyful and all-inclusive. What
else should the spiritual journey be? When we started in the lower basement,
most people never even thought they could get to the first floor, and just
opted out. Isn't this obvious at this point in Christian history? We clergy became
angry guards instead of happy guides, low level policemen instead of
proclaimers of a Great Gift and Surprise both perfectly hidden and perfectly
revealed at the heart of all creation. When you can see your connection with
others before emphasizing your differences, you will be much happier, and it
will be a much happier world, too.
Reference:
Adapted from
Richard Rohr's unpublished "Rhine" talks (2015).
Inner Authority
I think Carl Jung is one of the best friends of religion in
the past century, yet most Christians have either ignored him or criticized
him. Jung says, for example, "The main interest of my work is not
concerned with the treatment of neurosis, but instead with an approach to the
numinous [Transcendent God experience]. The approach to the numinous is the
real therapy, and inasmuch as you attain to numinous experience, you are
released from the curse of pathology. Even the very disease takes on a numinous
character!" [1]
This becomes Jung's major critique of Christianity. Jung
felt that Christianity contributed to a discontinuity--an unbridgeable
gap--between God and the soul by our overemphasis on externals and mere
intellectual belief in things that never touched our inner core. Jung observed
that Christianity had become dogmatized and ritualized, belonging to groups
instead of any real transformation of consciousness. He believed that
Christianity had some very good theology ("an almost perfect map for the
soul"), but it often had a very poor psychology and anthropology. Insofar
as this is true, it creates a huge disconnect even among quite good and sincere
people. The message does not "grab" them; it is not compelling or
empowering for their real life. Jung was deeply disillusioned by his own father
and six uncles, all Swiss Reformed pastors, whom he saw as unhappy and
unintegrated human beings. Jung basically said of Christianity: "It's not
working in real life!"
I know many people think that Jung was not a
"believer" and others feel that he is saying that the human psyche itself
is "God." These views come from an oversimplified reading of Jung's
work. He did say that the human psyche was the mediation point, and that if God
wants to speak to you, God has to speak in words that are first going to feel
like your own thoughts. Of course he is right! How else could God speak to you?
You have to be taught to honor, allow, give authority to, and recognize that
sometimes your thoughts are God's thoughts. This is the major fruit of training
in the contemplative mind. The dualistic or non-contemplative mind cannot
imagine how both could be true at the same time. The contemplative mind sees
things in wholes and not in divided parts.
Jung wouldn't have fit the bill for the classic Catholic
definition of a saint. He had a number of affairs and for a little while
flirted with Nazism. He had a mixed past--don't we all?--yet his very mistakes
usually led him back to his depths and to his groundbreaking understanding of
the shadow self that lurks in our personal unconscious and is then projected
outward onto others. This is what Jesus had described as having a log in our
own eye, but being preoccupied with the splinter in other peoples' eyes
(Matthew 7:3-5), or "The lamp of the body is the eye" (Matthew 6:22).
The face we turn toward our own unconscious is the face we turn toward the
world. People who accept themselves accept others. People who hate themselves
hate others. And it is only the Divine Light which gives us freedom and
permission to go "all the way down" into our depths. Without it, we
do not have the necessary courage.
By examining his own depths, Jung was able to find an inner
authority that he could trust, a voice larger than his own--and yet it was his
own voice too. Jung sought to bring back balance to the Church's over-reliance upon
external authority--Scripture for Protestants, popes and priests for Catholics.
Rather than top-down, outside-in religion, Jung taught people to the Christian
symbols from the inside out. He wanted us to recognize that there are numinous
voices in our deepest depths. Jung believed that if one did not have deep
contact with one's in-depth self, one could not know God. I would add that
knowing a loving God gives you full freedom to love and accept every part of
yourself. If one does not allow the Whole-Making Image ("God") to
freely operate, one finds it almost impossible to totally know, accept, and
forgive oneself. We are indeed saved by mercy.
If you think that's just modern pop psychology, then read
Teresa of Ávila's Interior Castle. To describe the dwelling place of God in
this creation, she says "I myself can come up with nothing as magnificent
as the beauty and amplitude of a soul!" [2] If it were not a 16th century
Spanish Doctor of the Church making this statement, you might not dare to
believe such good psychological news. (When the Roman Catholic Church proclaims
someone a Doctor it means the Church sees their spiritual teaching as
"entirely reliable.")
References:
[1] C. G.
Jung, Letters I, August 31, 1945.
[2] Teresa
of Ávila, translated by Mirabai Starr, The Interior Castle (Riverhead Books:
2004), 36.
Adapted from
Richard Rohr's unpublished "Rhine River" talks (2015).
You Need a Big Story Line
In his book, Myths, Gods, Heroes, and Saviors, Leonard
Baillas writes, "The supreme achievement of the self is to find an insight
that connects together the events, dreams, and relationships that make up our
existence." [1] If there's no storyline, no integrating images that define
who you are or that give your life meaning or direction, you just won't be
happy. It was probably Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell who most developed this
idea for our generation of Western rationalists, who had thought that myth
meant "not true"--when in fact the older meaning of myth is precisely
"always true"!
Jung goes so far as to say that transformation only happens
in the presence of story, myth, and image, not mere mental concepts. A great
story pulls you inside of a universal story, and it lodges in the unconscious
where it is not "subject to the brutalities of your intellect or
will," as Thomas Merton might say. From that hidden place you are
"healed." For Christians, the map of Jesus' life is the map of
Everyman and Everywoman: divine conception, ordinary life, betrayal,
abandonment, rejection, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. In the end,
it all comes full circle, and we return where we started, but now transformed.
Jung saw this basic pattern repeated in every human life, and he called it the
Christ Archetype, "an almost perfect map" of the whole journey of
human transformation. Jung's notion of an Archetype or Ruling Image can help us
understand a "Corporate Personality" or the "Universal Stand
In" that Jesus was meant to be.
I am convinced that Jesus constantly called himself
"The Human One" to make this point. Ephesians recognizes this when it
speaks of Jesus as the One Single New Humanity (2:15, 4:13), and Paul calls the
Christ the "New Adam" or "Adam II" (1 Corinthians 15:22,
45-49).
As Walter Wink demonstrated, we did history a disservice by usually
translating Jesus' self-appellation as "Son of Man," which lost the
corporate or inclusive message. [2] And who did not get included? Us, history,
humanity as a whole. We ended up with an anemic and individualistic message
about how "I" could go to heaven, which is well-disguised narcissism.
We missed the social, cosmic, and revolutionary message of God's infinite love
and mercy.
Jesus ended up being an exclusive Savior for us to worship
instead of an inclusive Savior with whom we are joined at the hip. This created
a disconnect and disinterest for both the heart and the soul. No wonder so many
find the Christian message so utterly uncompelling--it became a cheap story
line about later rewards for a very, very few and eternal punishment for the
overwhelming many in all of human history. Surely it did not foster any love or
trust of God, in fact, quite the opposite.
Whether you know it or not, whether or not you are
consciously Christian, if you live in Europe or North or South America, you've
picked up the good storyline (i.e., the Christ map) at least on some minimal
level. I often call it "The Virus of the Gospel." You might not
really believe it, surrender to it, or allow it, but if you would, you would be
a much happier person because it holds deep and unconscious integrating power
for you and for society as a whole. All the suffering of creation, and your own
too, now has cosmic significance (Romans 8:18-34). A Great Story Line connects
your little life to the One Great Life, and even better, it forgives and even
uses even the wounded and seemingly "unworthy" parts (1 Corinthians
12:22). What a message! Nothing else can do that. Like good art, a Cosmic Myth
like the Gospel gives you a sense of belonging, meaning, and most especially,
personal participation in it.
We are finding it is almost impossible to heal isolated
individuals inside of an unhealthy and unhealed culture and inside of a
Christianity that is largely about exclusion and superiority. The individual
remains inside of an incoherent and unsafe universe and soon falls back into
anger, fear, and narcissism. I sadly say this after 46 years of giving
retreats, conferences, and initiation rites all over the world. Only those who
went on to develop a contemplative mind had the skills to finally grow and
profit from the message that they heard. For the others, it was just another
consumer experience for their spiritual résumé. [3]
References:
[1] Leonard
J. Baillas, Myths, Gods, Heroes, and Saviors (Twenty-Third Publications: 1986),
2.
[2] Walter
Wink, The Human Being: Jesus and the Enigma of the Son of Man, (Augsburg Books:
2001).
[3] Adapted
from Richard Rohr, unpublished talk (Center for Action and Contemplation:
2015).
A Homing
Device: Both From and Toward
"Life
is a luminous pause between two great mysteries, which themselves are
one." --C. G. Jung
The
archetypal idea of "home" points in two directions at once. It points
backward toward an original hint and taste for union, starting in the body of
our mother. We all came from some kind of home in God that plants a
foundational seed of a possible and ideal paradise. I realize that early abuse
or a highly dysfunctional family can severely scar this original blessing, but
ironically it sometimes also increases our desire and capacity for it. The
archetype of home also points us forward, urging us toward the realization that
this hint and taste of union might actually be true and our very goal! It
guides us like an inner compass or a "homing" device. In Homer's
Odyssey, it is the same home, the island Ithaca, that is both the beginning and
the end of the journey. That is precisely what I want to say here. We come from
God and we return to God and everything in between is a lesson, a seduction,
and an invitation.
Somehow the
end is in the beginning and the beginning points us toward the end. We are told
that even children with a sad or abusive childhood still long for
"home" or "Mother" in some idealized form and still yearn
to return to her somehow, maybe just to do it right this time. No wonder we
deeply need feminine images for God. Agreeing with Jung, I believe that the One
Great Mystery is revealed at the beginning and forever beckons us forward
toward its full realization. Most of us cannot let go of this implanted promise,
and it often feels like the Divine Mother. Jung felt, as do I, that only
presenting a masculine God was a major deficiency, particularly in Protestant
Christianity.
Some would
call this homing device their soul, some would call it the indwelling Holy
Spirit (often imagined as feminine), and some might just call it nostalgia or
dreamtime. All I know is that it will not and cannot be ignored. It calls us
both backward and forward, to our foundation and our future at the same time.
It also feels like a grace from within us and at the same time a beckoning
grace out ahead of us. The soul lives in such eternally deep time, but we must
learn how to go there and then how to abide there as much as possible.
Basically, that is the meaning of prayer. Wouldn't it make sense that God would
plant in us a desire for what God already wants to give us? Prayer could be
described as just listening for that deepest level of our desiring, every day.
There is an
inherent and desirous dissatisfaction that both sends us and draws us forward,
and it comes from our original and radical union with God. Jung said the God
Image is a whole-making function. What appears to be past and future is in fact
the same home, the same call, the same Mother, and the same God--but always a
larger life on both ends. To live inside of the Divine is to live in deep time,
where before and after become one. Our "life is indeed a luminous pause
between two great mysteries, which themselves are one." That line alone
would allow me to call Carl Jung a mini mystic! Mystics always speak the
unspeakable which can never be proven rationally, yet at our deepest level we
know that what they say is truth.
Reference:
Adapted from
Richard Rohr, Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life (Jossey-Bass:
2011), 88-89.
What are we doing on earth for Christ’s sake?
Posted on: 29th April 2015 Author: Richard Leonard SJ The original can be found here
At some time in our lives, we have all asked the question that Australian Jesuit Richard Leonard poses in the title of his new book. He describes how one memorable conversation at 35,000 feet inspired him to address the uncertainties about faith that so many young people have today, including the biggest one of all: what are we doing on earth for Christ’s sake?
Depending on your point of view and experience, you might judge that I have been blessed or cursed to do a lot of flying in my ministry as a Jesuit priest. Generally I enjoy it, but I choose to fly under the radar (pardon the pun!); I rarely wear clerical dress on a plane, not least because Australian domestic and international flights are among the longest in the world and clerical collars are uncomfortable. These days, too, that collar repels as many people as it attracts, and indeed in secular Australia it can invite unwarranted attention from some who have no desire for a conversation but simply want to spew forth bile on me.
Nonetheless, even when travelling in mufti, before I can get my earphones firmly inserted in my ears a fellow chatty traveller sometimes asks, ‘What do you do for a living?’ St Ignatius Loyola was very keen on the art of the spiritual conversation, and so am I, but not in the sky. Ignatius knew nothing about 17 hours in economy class on a plane!
Of all the conversations I have had on planes, however, one of the most memorable led to this book. I was flying from New York City to Los Angeles and as I settled into row 44, the very friendly young man next to me asked me what I did. I told him. He said had been a Catholic. I noted his emphasis was on the past tense, but said nothing. He wasn’t sure about anything to do with faith and spirituality. I told him I was a Jesuit, which led him to tell me he had recently read two books by a Jesuit priest: Where the Hell is God? and Why Bother Praying? ‘Do you know them?’ he asked. I looked around for the candid camera. ‘Yes, I know them very well – I wrote them.’ He would not believe me until I showed him my business card. This scene was unbelievable.
Thomas and I had a long and engaging conversation about the issues my two books had raised for him, and for me. Tom, 30, was a highly educated person, an Ivy League graduate. He was also a serious humanitarian, working in third world countries for Habitat for Humanity during several summer holidays. His wrestling with belief, theology, prayer and the problem of evil came out of personal experiences. He told me that as much as he liked my earlier books and found them accessible and helpful, they did not address a fundamental issue for him and most of his friends: the why of belief. ‘We just get worn down by the growing chorus of people who say “religion is all nuts and you can be a good person and make a difference in the world and not believe anything more than that” … And to say the Catholic Church has made it very easy to leave in recent years is an understatement … I guess what I am struggling with is what are we actually doing on earth for Christ’s sake?’ As soon as Tom said ‘for Christ’s sake’ he apologised, fearing he had offended me by swearing. Not at all! Everything that every baptised person does is meant to be ‘for Christ’s sake’.
I got off that plane knowing I had a new book to write and already had the title!
What are we doing on earth for Christ’s sake? offers some gentle and respectful answers to the questions posed by modern secular culture and especially by our detractors, whose voices are louder than ever. I want to answer some of the major concerns some of our young people have about faith, religion and the Church. And I offer some hopeful way forward in the face of sobering times.
The first third of the book looks at various aspects of the belief and unbelief debate:
· There is common ground between believers and non-believers: most people want many of the same things for the world – kindness, truthfulness, care for the earth, justice, peace and love, just to name a few.
· Dialogue with atheists can be clarifying, challenging us to greater clarity in our thinking, demanding rationality in our belief, seeking the case for why religious groups should have influence over social policy and law, and placing the spotlight on whether we practise what we preach.
· In pluralistic democracies Christians should not only defend religious freedom but the freedom not to believe anything. They are two sides of the same coin. Atheists and agnostics have a right to disagree with everything we hold to be true, but all conversations in the debate about belief and unbelief should be marked by dignity and respect.
· Christians are not all the same. For a very important start, most of the world’s Christians do not, for example – at least officially, anyway – take the Bible literally.
· At the same time, not all atheists are the same. Nick Spencer in Atheists: the Origin of the Species argues that we should talk of ‘atheisms rather than atheism.’ We should know where our critics are coming from. For their part, atheists may not like it but religion is back in the public square – big time.
· We do not have to choose between religion and science. Science asks how we came to be here; faith asks why we are here. Science looks at the mechanics; faith addresses meaning. I am respectful of those who do not need to address issues of meaning outside their own existence within the natural order, but I am not one of them.
· Within the arguments from science for belief in God, I explore balance, detail, complexity and synchronicity. While others are entitled to believe we emerged from randomness, I am not the only one who is making a leap of faith in this discussion. As Eric Metaxas says, ‘the odds against the universe existing are so heart-stoppingly astronomical that the notion that it all “just happened” defies common sense.’
· While we have become used to being told we believe in ‘imaginary friends’, religious experience indicates that there are different ways for human beings to know things. In this regard, matters spiritual and religious are akin to love, forgiveness, beauty and conscience. These primal human experiences are real, powerful and determinative because we have experienced them.
· We believers are not exactly alone. Though appeals to numbers can be a fallacy, of the 7.02 billion people in the world 31.6% are Christian, 23% Muslim, 15% Hindu, 7% Buddhist or Sikh, and 18% all other religions including our Jewish friends. On the world stage, the non-religious and atheist constitute 5.4% of the population. That said, there is no point denying that this last group is now growing quickly in many countries, especially in the West, but the vast majority of the world’s people believe in something ‘religious’.
· When many unbelievers reject God, it is sometimes because of the image of God they hear of and see in action. That God can be worth rejecting. As theologian Martin Borg says in The God We Never Knew, ‘Tell me your image of God and I will tell you your theology.’
The second section of this book is the fruit of a written Q&A I conducted with 30 young adults about their questions in regard to religion, God, church and belief. I was especially interested in the young adults who had walked away from any belief in God or religion and the questions that led them to depart, formally or informally. I was struck by how easily their many questions could be collected around a few themes:
1. Isn’t religion the cause of most wars?
2. Even if Christianity no longer has armies, what about Islam? Doesn’t the Qur'an insist on violent aggression?
3. How can anyone believe in God or organised religion when the clergy have sexually abused children, and then church leaders covered it up?
4. Is the Bible true or not? How can anyone base their beliefs on a book filled with such contradictions, incorrect science and time-bound customs?
5. Is there any evidence that Jesus actually lived, and, even if he did, isn’t his story just a religious version of the Superman story?
6. How could a good and loving God need and want Jesus to suffer and die on Good Friday?
7. Because of Jesus’s life, death and resurrection, Christians believe eternal life is opened to humanity. But how can anyone believe in a loving God who can also damn people to hell? Hasn’t this theology just been about religions maintaining their social control over adherents?
8. Given that Jesus was a simple man who advocated for the poor, isn’t the Church’s wealth and power a major stumbling block to belief?
9. If Christians do not have the morality market cornered, then why follow any religion’s moral code? Why not just have your own moral code?
10. I resent Christians imposing their values on me and the laws of our country. If Christians have to believe in their fairytales, can they just do so privately and stay out of politics and law?
11. The worst aspect of religion is its moralising. How can such outdated thinking offer anything to modern society?
My answers, although brief, take seriously the truthful dialogue that each of these questions should invite. I hope this book will become a resource for those who want to answer our critics, an invitation for greater conversation and a debating partner for those who disagree with everything upon which Christians stand.
The final third of the book argues that the most eloquent argument in support of belief is not what we say but what we do, so I outline the lives of several saints – those canonised by the Church, and other heroic Christians and great human beings who have inspired me. These people are not just good people – they are most certainly that – but they did what they did, or do what they do, not only because of their love for humanity but also because of their love of God: Father, Son and Spirit.
As much as possible, these written pictures of saints and Saints do not go over old ground. I try to tell you more about some people who are loved by many, and introduce some figures of whom you may not have heard or whose lives you have not reflected upon for a while. In each case I try to give a new window or insight into their lives and draw out contemporary lessons to be learnt from how they lived out their faith.
· St Thomas More
· St Ignatius Loyola
· Venerable Catherine McAuley
· St Mary MacKillop
· Dorothy Day
· Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
· Oscar Romero
· Pope Francis
· My family
· Gloria/Gordon
· Survivors of sexual and physical abuse by church personnel
· The Trappist Monks of Algeria
This group, those who practise what Jesus preached, inspire me to be better and do better. Whenever Christianity strays from Jesus’s law in regard to the love of God, neighbour and self, we end up in trouble. This law is the litmus test through which all things must be judged, including our own religious words and actions, and is the guiding principle of our moral code, including how we use our wealth and property to serve the human family. While you do not have to be religious to be moral, some of the most heroic human acts of service in every country in the world are done by people motivated by their religious faith
Christian people I know have taught me that Christianity is not about pursuing happiness, but about being the most faithful, hopeful and loving person I can be. They walk the talk and cannot be easily dismissed as nutters. In the end it never comes down to what we say, but who we are and what we do.
TEACHING TITHING
This past week at Nativity we preached a tough message, at least for most Catholics: Giving. And not just giving, but we dared to call it by its biblical name: Tithing. Everybody knows churches, like any organization, need money and resources to function, but for any number of reasons, giving and tithing have become a huge elephant in the sanctuary, at least in our Catholic community.
After some practice and learning, we think we’re finally, slowly, finding our way back to a culture of giving and actually achieving some consistent and measurable results. And not surprisingly, it all comes down (like pretty much everything else in church it seems) to having a clear and well-communicated, gospel-centered vision and strategy. I’m more and more convinced that preaching and teaching about money isn’t all that different from most other tough topics, and the main reason we fear talking about it isn’t because it will offend people (there are better options for that), but because we proceed without a confident vision and strategy.
Here are five points to keep in mind as you evaluate your approach to giving.
Instruct
Quite frankly, most people don’t know how to give. Many would like to, but don’t know where to begin, and it becomes a completely arbitrary transaction. Others are skeptical the Bible has any relevant or healthy principles to offer. We beg to differ. Far from a “prosperity gospel” that will make you rich, there are plenty of ways to communicate Jesus’ teachings concerning money in a way that adds spiritual value to one’s life.
Implement
Implement your teaching in your own life and be prepared to share the spiritual fruits. Like any other tough teaching, you have to practice what you preach, or else no one will even consider it. You don’t have to get into specific amounts- often people just need to be assured you tithe and lived to tell the story- and it isn’t so bad after all.
Invest
Seems obvious, but make sure money is being allocated places where it will be most effective and valuable for the community. Don’t let it get tied up in private parish interest groups who waste it on club-type functions. Similarly, people need transparency. They need to trust the money is going to the right places, and people will greatly appreciate being upfront even when things aren’t going great.
Inspire
In your church, as it was for Jesus, the way we communicate about money has to be about more than just paying salaries and keeping the lights on, although that’s important too. It’s really a vision for life change.
Invite
Have you ever asked people to give more, or even start giving? If these other points are in place, what do you have to be afraid of?
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