Mersey Leven Catholic Parish
Mob: 0417 279 437; mike.delaney@aohtas.org.au
Assistant Priest: Fr Alexander Obiorah
Mob: 0447 478 297; alexchuksobi@yahoo.co.uk
Postal Address:
Parish Office: 90 Stewart Street , Devonport 7310
(Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10am - 3pm)
Office Phone: 6424 2783 Fax: 6423 5160
Email: mlcathparish-dsl@keypoint.com.au
Email: mlcathparish-dsl@keypoint.com.au
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: mikedelaney.podomatic.com
Parish Magazine: mlcathparishnewsletter.blogspot.com.au
Year of Mercy Blogspot: mlcpyom.blogspot.com.au
Our Parish Sacramental Life
Baptism: Parents are asked to contact the Parish Office to make arrangements for attending a Baptismal Preparation Session and booking a Baptism date.
Reconciliation, Confirmation and Eucharist: Are received following a Family–centred, Parish-based, School-supported Preparation Program.
Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults: prepares adults for reception into the Catholic community.
Marriage: arrangements are made by contacting one of our priests - couples attend a Pre-marriage Program
Anointing of the Sick: please contact one of our priests
Reconciliation: Ulverstone - Fridays (10am - 10:30am)
Devonport - Saturday (5:15pm– 5.45pm)
Penguin - Saturday (5:15pm - 5:45pm)
Care and Concern: If you are aware of anyone who is in need of assistance and has given permission to be contacted by Care and Concern, please phone the Parish Office.
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Weekday Masses 25th - 29th April, 2016
Monday: 9:00am
Ulverstone & Devonport (Anzac Day)
Please note: No other weekday
Masses as both Father Mike & Father
Alex will be attending the Priest Plenary on the East Coast.
Mass Times Next Weekend 30th April & 1st May, 2016
Saturday Vigil: 6:00pm Penguin & Devonport
Sunday Mass: 8:30am Port Sorell
9:00am Ulverstone
10:30am
Devonport
11:00am
Sheffield
5:00pm
Latrobe
Devonport:
Every
Friday 10am - 12noon, concluding with Stations of the Cross and Angelus
Devonport: Benediction with Adoration - first Friday of
each month.
Legion of Mary: Sacred Heart Church Community Room,
Ulverstone, Wednesdays, 11am
Christian Meditation:
Devonport, Emmaus House - Wednesdays 7pm.
Prayer Group:
Charismatic Renewal
Devonport, Emmaus House - Thursdays 7.30pm
Ministry Rosters 30th April & 1st May, 2016
Devonport:
Readers: Vigil: M Kelly, B Paul, R Baker
10:30am A Hughes, T Barrientos, P Piccolo
Ministers of Communion: Vigil D Peters,
M Heazlewood,
S Innes, M Gerrand, P Shelverton, M Kenney
F Sly, E Petts, K Hull, S Arrowsmith, G Fletcher, S
Fletcher
Cleaners 29th April: Knights of the Southern Cross 6th May: M.W.C.
Piety Shop 30th April: R McBain 1st May: P Piccolo Flowers: M Knight, B Naiker
Ulverstone:
Reader: M McLaren Ministers of Communion: M Byrne, D Griffin, K Foster, R
Locket
Cleaners: V Ferguson,
E Cox Flowers: M Byrne Hospitality: R Clarke
Penguin:
Greeters: J & T Kiely Commentator: E Nickols Readers: M & D Hiscutt
Procession: Fifita Family Ministers of Communion: J Barker,
A Guest
Liturgy: Sulphur Creek J Setting Up: F Aichberger Care of Church: Y & R Downes
Latrobe:
Reader: P Cotterell Ministers of Communion: P Marlow, M Mackey
Procession: J Hyde Music: Hermie
Readings this Week: Fifth Sunday of Easter
First Reading: Acts: 14:21-27
Second Reading: Apocalypse 21:1-5
Gospel: John 13:31-35
PREGO REFLECTION ON TODAY'S GOSPEL:
I take time to come to stillness in the way that suits me
best, conscious of stepping into this holy space before the Lord. I ask God to
help me respond to him today with openness and generosity. I read these words
from St John slowly, taking time to savour them. Maybe it helps to imagine
myself sitting with Jesus and his friends at supper, as he speaks of his
imminent departure. Perhaps I hear him addressing me, too, as one of his
beloved ‘little children’ … or perhaps I simply rest quietly in these words of
glory and love. How do I want to respond to Jesus, my Lord, who is fully human,
yet fully divine? Jesus calls his friends to love in a radical new way, with
the self-giving love that he himself embodies. How do I feel to be entrusted
with this? Inspired? … Challenged? … Privileged ... or …? Maybe I think of
people I admire who seem able to radiate this radical love of Jesus. What does
it mean to live my life so others can see me as a disciple of Jesus? I share my
deepest thoughts with the Lord as I would with a trusted friend, asking for
whatever grace I need. In time, I gently end my time of prayer, perhaps with
the words ‘Glory be to the Father ...’ as I ask the Lord to deepen his life
within me.
Readings next Week: Sixth Sunday of Easter
First Reading: Acts: 15:1-2, 22-29
Second Reading: Apocalypse 21:10-14, 16-17, 20
Gospel: John 17:20-26
Your prayers are asked for the sick:
John Kirkpatrick, Archbishop Adrian
Doyle, Connie Fulton, Joan Singline, Thomas McGeown, Lorna Jones, Geraldine
Roden, Joy Carter &...
Let us pray for those who have died recently: Fr Terry Southerwood, Lola O'Halloran, Kath Smith, Cathy Clark, Harry Cartwright, John Roach, Jack Becker and Elizabeth Muffet.
Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs about this time: 20th
– 26th April
Wilma Bacchin, Andrew Smith, Marie
Nichols, Leo Sheehan, John Redl, Lillian Stubbs, Flo Smith, Emily Sherriff, Courtney Bryan, Rita
McQueen, Ellen Lynch, Ronald Allison, Delia Soden, Ron Batten, Cedric Davey,
Maureen Beechey, Bill & Pat Grieve and Frances Hunt.
May they Rest in Peace
WEEKLY
RAMBLINGS:
Next
week Fr Alexander and I, together with the majority of the priests working in
the Archdiocese, will be gathering on the East Coast to look at issues facing
the Family and Parish. Presenters include Ron and Mavis Pirola, former members
of the Pontifical Council for the Family and directors of the Australian
Catholic Marriage and Family Council, and Fr Brendan Reed, Lecturer in
Systematic Theology at Catholic Theological College and a PP in Melbourne.
In
case of emergency (only) there is a priest available and he can be contacted
via the Parish Office – requests for Baptisms etc can be made during normal
Office Hours. We will be available shortly after midday on Friday for any other
matters.
There are a number
of events coming up that I’d like to draw particular attention to:
- Next weekend (1st
May) we celebrate the Feast Day of the Port Sorell Mass Centre and there
will be a morning Tea following the 8.30am Mass;
- The Open House
at Ulverstone on 6th May will be a fund raiser for WYD – food
and drink will be available as normal but I am encouraging people to come
with a little extra money to make a donation; there will also be a couple
of Silent Auctions with great value objects being auctioned;
- The Mother’s
Day Raffle – it is still going and tickets are available at all the Mass
Centres again this weekend;
- There will be
24 hours of Adoration from 6pm on Friday 13th May through until
the Vigil Mass. This will be a time of prayer for the Parish in
preparation for Pentecost and a deeper awareness of our mission to be
disciples of the Good News;
- Last, but by no
means least, is the Whole of Parish Mass on Pentecost Sunday (15th)
at OLOL at 10.30am to be followed by a bring and share lunch. As I’ve
mentioned in my Homilies this is an important celebration and ask that all
parishioners make an effort to join us in this celebration.
Until next
week take care in your homes and on the roads 
Remembering,
giving thanks and praying
They
shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
age
shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
at
the going down of the sun and in the morning
we
will remember them.
Eternal
rest grant to them O Lord and may perpetual light shine upon them.
Please
note: Anzac Day Mass Times - Monday 25th April, 2016
9:00am Our Lady
of Lourdes Church, Devonport
9:00am Sacred
Heart Church, Ulverstone
Mersey Leven Parish Community welcome
and congratulate ….
Darcie, Mali & Lachlan Fagan on their baptism
this weekend.
KNIGHTS OF THE SOUTHERN CROSS:
The Knights of the Southern Cross will be meeting this Sunday 24th April, at the Community Room Sacred Heart Church
Ulverstone with a shared meal at 6pm - interested men are invited to come
along for a visit.
MACKILLOP HILL – 109 WILLIAM STREET FORTH:
MacKillop Hill is having a downsizing sale on Friday
29th April from 1pm – 3pm and Saturday 30th April 8am –
1pm. A large quantity of goods (chairs, tables whitegoods etc.) – ideal
for our Mass Centres, small clubs and organisations. Come and have a look – all
must go - hope to see you there!!
FEAST DAY – ST JOSEPH MASS CENTRE PORT SORELL:
All parishioners are welcome to attend Mass at Port Sorell
on Sunday 1st May at 8:30am to celebrate the Feast of St Joseph.
Join us after Mass for morning tea!
PENTECOST
SUNDAY - CALLING ALL CHORISTERS:
We are inviting all choristers from
all our Mass Centres to be part of a Whole Parish Choir for Pentecost Sunday.
Rehearsals will be held on Monday 2nd May at 7pm, and Saturday 14th
May at 2pm with both rehearsals being held at Our Lady of Lourdes Church.
Please contact John Lee-Archer: phone 0419 523 867 or email:
john.leearcher@gmail.com to register your interest or for further information.
john.leearcher@gmail.com to register your interest or for further information.
HEALING MASS:
Catholic Charismatic Renewal are
sponsoring a Healing Mass with Fr Alexander Obiorah at St Mary’s Catholic
Church Penguin on Thursday 5th May commencing at 7:30pm. After Mass
teams will be available for individual prayer. Please bring a friend and a
plate for supper to share. If you wish more info or require transport please
contact Celestine Whiteley 6424:2043, Michael Gaffney 0-447 018 068, Zoe Smith
6426:3073 or Tom Knaap 6425:2442
PAST PUPILS OF OUR LADY OF LOURDES CATHOLIC SCHOOL:
Do you know someone who attended
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School, completed their education and began work
between 1991 and now? We would love to hear from you, as we are compiling an e
book to celebrate 125 years of education at the School. Please contact Marlene
Heazlewood on 6424:4039 or email mandgheazlewood@gmail.com before 31st May.
FOOTY POINTS MARGIN TICKETS: Round
4 – West Coast Eagles by 68 point - Winners; M Gillard, A Hay, A Brown.
FOR SALE:
Working Fisher & Paykel oven from Devonport Presbytery –
If you are interested and would like to take a look please contact the Parish
Office 6424:2783
Thursday Nights - OLOL Hall,
Devonport. Eyes down 7.30pm!
Callers for Thursday 28th
April – Merv Tippett & Tony Ryan
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE:
THE JOURNEY CATHOLIC RADIO PROGRAM – AIRS 1st
MAY 2016
Fr Stephen Varney finishes his series on the Gospel of St
John for the 6th Week of Easter and there are some great God Spot reflections
this week from Sr Hilda Scott and Dr Byron and Francine Pirola on this week’s
show. Go to www.jcr.org.au to listen anytime you like.
WALK WITH CHRIST – HOBART CITY, SUNDAY 29TH MAY
1:15 TO 3:00 pm.
Celebrate the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ by
walking with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament through the city of Hobart. Be at
St Joseph's Church (Harrington St) by 1.15 pm, and walk with us to St Mary's
Cathedral for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament concluding with Benediction at
3:00pm. There will be a 'cuppa' afterwards. If you can't do the
walk come to the Cathedral at 2:00pm for prayers and the Adoration. Can't
join us in person? Prayer intentions written in the 'Book of Life' in your
parish will be taken on the procession and presented at the Cathedral.
LOYALTY AND PATRIOTISM REVISITED
From an article by Fr Ron Rolheiser. The original article can be found here
In a recent article in America magazine, Grant Kaplan, commenting on the challenge of the resurrection, makes this comment: “Unlike previous communities in which the bond among members forges itself through those it excludes and scapegoats, the gratuity of the resurrection allows for a community shaped by forgiven-forgivers.”
What he is saying, among other things, is that mostly we form community through demonizing and exclusion, that is, we bond with each other more on the basis of what we are against and what we hate than on the basis of what we are for and hold precious. The cross and the resurrection, and the message of Jesus in general, invite us to a deeper maturity within which we are invited to form community with each other on the basis of love and inclusion rather than upon hatred and demonization.
How do we scapegoat, demonize, and exclude so as to form community with each other? A number of anthropologists, particularly Rene Girard and Gil Bailie, have given us some good insights on how scapegoating and demonization worked in ancient times and how they work today.
In brief, here’s how they work: Until we can bring ourselves to a certain level of maturity, both personal and collective, we will always form community by scapegoating. Imagine this scenario: A group of us (family or colleagues) are going to dinner. Almost always there will some divisive tensions among us – personality clashes, jealousies, wounds from the past, and religious, ideological, and political differences. But these can remain under the surface and we can enjoy a nice dinner together. How? By talking about other people whom we mutually dislike, despise, fear, or find weird or particularly eccentric. As we “demonize” them by emphasizing how awful, bad, weird, or eccentric they are, our own differences slide wonderfully under the surface and we form bonds of empathy and mutuality with each other. By demonizing others we find commonality among ourselves. Of course, you’re reluctant to excuse yourself and go to the bathroom, for fear that, in your absence; you might well be the next item on the menu.
Moreover, we do that too in our individual lives to maintain balance. If we’re honest, we probably all have to admit the tendency within us to steady ourselves by blaming our anxieties and bad feelings on someone else. For example: We go out some morning and for various reasons feel out of sorts, agitated and angry in some inchoate way. More often than not, it won’t take us long to pin that uneasiness on someone else by, consciously or unconsciously, blaming them for our bad feeling. Our sense is that except for that person we wouldn’t be feeling these things! Someone else is blame for our agitation! Once we have done this we begin to feel better because we have just made someone else responsible for our pain. As a colorful commentary on this, I like to quote a friend who submits this axiom: If the first two people you meet in the morning are irritating and hard to get along with, there’s a very good chance that you’re the one who’s irritating and hard to get along with.
Sadly we see this played out in the world as a whole. Our churches and our politics thrive on this. Both in our churches and in our civic communities, we tend to form community with our own kind by demonizing others. Our differences do not have to be dealt with, nor do we have to deal with the things within ourselves that help cause those differences, because we can blame someone else for our problems. Not infrequently church groups bond together by doing this, politicians are elected by doing this, and wars are justified and waged on this basis – and the rich, healthy concepts of loyalty, patriotism, and religious affiliation then become unhealthy because they now root themselves in seeing differences primarily as a threat rather than seeing them as bringing a fuller revelation of God into our lives.
Granted, sometimes what’s different does pose a real threat, and that threat has to be met. But, even then, we must continue to look inside of ourselves and examine what in us might be complicit in causing that division, hatred, or jealousy, which is now being projected on us. Positive threat must be met, but it is best met the way Jesus met threats, namely, with love, empathy, and forgiveness. Demonizing others to create community among ourselves is neither the way of Jesus nor the way of human maturity. Loyalty to one’s own, loyalty to one’s religion, loyalty to one’s country, and loyalty to one’s moral values must be based upon what is good and precious within one’s family, community, religion, country, and moral principles, and not on fear and negative feelings towards others.
The lesson in Jesus, especially in his death and resurrection, is that genuine religion, genuine maturity, genuine loyalty, and genuine patriotism lie in letting ourselves be stretched by what does not emanate from our own kind.
Scripture
Week 2
The First Bible
The first
act of divine revelation is creation itself. The first Bible is the Bible of
nature. It was written at least 13.8 billion years ago, at the moment that we
call the Big Bang, long before the Bible of words. "Ever since God created
the world, God's everlasting power and divinity--however invisible--are there
for the mind to see in the things that God has made" (Romans 1:20). One
really wonders how we missed that. Words gave us something to argue about, I
guess. Nature can only be respected, enjoyed, and looked at with admiration and
awe. Don't dare put the second Bible in the hands of people who have not sat
lovingly at the feet of the first Bible. They will invariably manipulate,
mangle, and murder the written text.
In the
biblical account God creates the world developmentally over seven days, almost
as if there was an ancient intuition of what we would eventually call
evolution. Clearly creation happened over time. The only strict theological
assertion of the Genesis story is that God started it all. The exact how, when,
and where is not the author's concern. Our creation story, perhaps written five
hundred years before Christ, has no intention or ability to be a scientific
account. It is a truly inspired account of the source, meaning, and original
goodness of creation. Thus it is indeed "true." Both Western
rationalists and religious fundamentalists must stop confusing true with
literal, chronological, or visible to the narrow spectrum of the human eye.
Many assume the Bible is an exact snapshot--as if caught on camera--of God's
involvement on Earth. But if God needed such literalism, God would have waited
for the twentieth century of the Common Era to start talking and revealing
through "infallible" technology.
Notice in
Genesis that on the third, fourth, and fifth days what God created is called
"good" (1:9-25) and on the sixth day it is called "very
good" (1:31); but on the first and second days Scripture does not say it
was good. The first day is the separation of darkness from light, and the
second day is the separation of the heavens above from the earth below (1:3-8).
The Bible does not say that is good--because it isn't! This sets the drama in
motion; the remainder of the stumbling, struggling, yet sacred text tries to
put darkness and light, heaven and earth back together as one.
Of course
darkness and light, heaven and earth, have never really been separate, but
"sin" thinks so (sin separates; God and soul unite). That's the
tragic flaw at the heart of everything, what Augustine unfortunately called
"original sin" and I'd like to call "original shame"--or
the illusion of separateness. Jesus then becomes the icon of cosmic
reconciliation (Colossians 1:19-20, Revelation 21:1-3). He holds all that we divide
and separate together as one (which is really the foundational mystery of
"forgiveness") and tells us that we can and must do the same work of
reconciliation of opposites (2 Corinthians 5:17-20, Ephesians 2:14-22).
Science is
now able to affirm what were for centuries the highly suspect intuitions of the
mystics. We now take it for granted, and even provable, that everything in the
universe is deeply connected and in foundational relationship, even and most
especially light itself, which interestingly is the first act of creation
(Genesis 1:3). The entire known universe is in orbit and in cycle with
something else. There's no such thing in the whole universe as autonomy. It
doesn't exist. That's the illusion of the modern, individualistic West, which
tries to imagine that the autonomous self is the basic building block and the
true Seer. In fact, all holy ones seem to say that the independent self sees
everything incorrectly. Parts can only see parts and thus divide things even
further. Whole people see things in their wholeness and thus create wholeness
("holiness") wherever they go and wherever they gaze. Holy people
will find God in nature and everywhere else too. Heady people will only find
God in books and words, and finally not even there.
References:
Adapted from
Richard Rohr, Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality (Franciscan Media:
2008), 32-33;
and New
Great Themes of Scripture (Franciscan Media: 1999), disc 3 (CD).
The Shape of the Universe Is Love
In the
beginning Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, "Let us make humanity in our
own image, in the likeness of ourselves" (Genesis 1:26). The use of the
plural pronoun here seems to be an amazing, deep time intuition of what some
would later call the Trinity--the revelation of the nature of God as community,
as relationship itself, a Mystery of perfect giving and perfect receiving, both
within God and outside of God.
"Reality as communion" became the template and pattern for our
entire universe, from atoms to galaxies. The first philosophical problem of
"the one and the many" was already overcome in God; and we found
ourselves to be both monotheists and Trinitarians at the same time. It is one
participatory universe of many diverse things in love with one another.
Physicists,
molecular biologists, astronomers, and other scientists are often more attuned
to this universal pattern than many Christian believers. Paleontologist and
Jesuit mystic, Teilhard de Chardin, said it well: "The physical structure
of the universe is love." [1] For a contemporary and creative presentation
with the same message, read William Paul Young's inspired novel, The Shack. Who
would have thought that someone could make the doctrine of the Trinity a
mystery novel and a page turner? It has now sold 40 forty million copies worldwide.
According to
Genesis 1:26, God isn't looking for servants, slaves, or contestants to jump
correctly through some arbitrary hoops. God simply wants mirroring images of
God to live on this earth and to make the divine visible. That is, of course,
the way love works. It always overflows, reproduces, and multiplies itself. God
is saying, as it were, "All I want are icons and mirrors out there who
will communicate who I am, and what I'm about." The experience of
election, belovedness, and chosenness is the typical beginning of this
re-imaging process. Then "We, with our unveiled faces gradually receive
the brightness of the Lord, and we grow brighter and brighter as we are turned
into the image that we reflect" (2 Corinthians 3:18). You must first surrender
to the image within yourself before you will then naturally pass it on--and
then you become a very usable two-way mirror.
Henceforth,
all your moral behavior is simply "the imitation of God." First
observe what God is doing all the time and everywhere, and then do the same
thing (Ephesians 5:1). And what does God do? God does what God is: Love. The
logic is then quite different than the retributive justice story line most of
us were given. Henceforth, it is not "those who do it right go to heaven later,"
but "those who receive and reflect me are in heaven now." This is
God's unimaginable restorative justice. God does not love you if and when you
change. God loves you so that you can change. That is the true story line of
the Gospel.
References:
[1] Pierre
Teilhard de Chardin, trans. J. M. Cohen, "Sketch of a Personal
Universe," Human Energy (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich: 1962), 72.
Adapted from
Richard Rohr, Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality (Franciscan Media:
1999), 35-36.
The Magic and Mystery of Intimacy
The Great
Mystery unfolds even further. It seems that Israel's God, Yahweh, who is
uncovering and exposing the Divine Self in the Bible, soon desires not just
images or holy writings, but even persons with whom God can be in very concrete
and intimate relationship--quite literally friends, partners, and companions.
Jesus then became the representation of one walking on this earth who fully
accepted and lived out of that divine friendship. In fact, he never seemed to
doubt it. That must be at the core of our imitation of Jesus, and exactly how
we become "partners in his great triumph" (2 Corinthians 2:14). Such
healed people will naturally heal others, just by being "healed" from
the great lie of separation.
God will not
settle for mandated or fear-based contracts with servants, but rather desires
willing and free relationships with "friends" (John 15:15). This is
called a "new covenant" in both the Old and New Testaments (Jeremiah
31:31; Luke 22:20). Even today it still feels new, presumptuous, and
unbelievable to most people.
In calling
forth such freedom, consciousness, and love, God is actually empowering a
certain kind of equality and dignity between God and humanity, as strange and
impossible as that might sound. Yet love is only possible if there is some
degree of likeness and equality between two parties. Jesus became that
likeness, equality, and dignity, so we could begin to imagine it as possible
for ourselves too.
One way to
read the entire Bible is to note the gradual unveiling of our faces (2
Corinthians 3:18)--the gradual creating of personhood, from infants, to teenage
love, to infatuation, to adult intimacy, to mature and peaceful union. We are
tempted to avoid the deeper risk of intimacy every step of the way. But biblical
spirituality has the potential of creating "persons" who can both
receive and give out of love, a love that is always both risky and free. The
English word "person" is related to the Latin per-sonare, or
"sounding through." The word may also be borrowed from the Etruscan
word for mask. The deepest understanding of human personhood is that we are a
sounding through from Another Source. If you are afraid of intimate interface,
you will never allow this or know its softening power. You will stop the process
before it even begins and never know how it works its transformation on the
heart, mind, and body. If human eyes are too threatening for you, start with a
stone, work up to plants and trees, animals will be easier, and probably only
then are you ready for humans, and finally for the divine gaze.
I must be
honest, however, and tell you that there are some people who start with the
divine gaze and move down the "Great Chain of Being" to swallows,
sunflowers, and stones. But in either case, the great chain that connects us
all is always and only love. Connecting more and more of the links of the chain
is the supreme work of all true spirituality. A single link is never the full
chain.
Reference:
Adapted from
Richard Rohr, Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality (Franciscan Media:
1999), 53-54.
The Soul's Objective Union with God
"Let us
create humanity in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves." --Genesis
1:26
The Genesis
story of the Judeo-Christian tradition is really quite extraordinary. It says
that we were created in the very "image and likeness" of God,
proceeding from free and overflowing love. This flow will be rediscovered and
re-experienced by various imperfect people throughout the Jewish and Christian
Scriptures. This sets us on a positive and hopeful foundation, which cannot be
overstated. Yet we must also say that it never gained full traction in the life
of many believers, either Jewish or Christian. Such utter gratuity was just too
good to be true. Further, we could not control or manipulate this love; and
anything humans cannot control, we do not engage with or enjoy. The Bible as a
whole illustrates through various stories humanity's objective unity with God,
the total gratuity of that love, and unfortunately, our resistance to such an
"impossibility."
I find that
many Christians still have no knowledge of the soul's objective union with God
(e.g., 1 John 3:2, 2 Peter 1:4), which all mystics rejoice in or they would not
be mystics. Even ministers often fight me on this, quoting Augustine's
"original sin," Calvin's "total depravity," or dear
Luther's "humans are like piles of manure, covered over by Christ." I
am sure they all meant well, but they also dug a pit so deep that many could
never climb out or allow themselves to be lifted out. What a shame, literally!
Such a negative starting point will not be very effective in creating loving or
responsive people.
How do you
ever undo such foundational damnation? Grace can only be trusted by an equally
graceful human nature. Our work is merely to till the fertile soil, knowing
that the Indwelling Spirit has already been planted within, and She is the One
who "teaches you all things and reminds you of all things" (John
14:26). Many Christians have tried to pile a positive theology of salvation on
top of a very negative anthropology of the human person, and it just does not
work. Such traditions produce few mystics and universal lovers. The human
self-image is too damaged and distorted from the beginning.
The word sin
has so many unhelpful connotations that it's very problematic today. For most
of us "sin" does not connote what it really is: the illusion of
separateness from God and from our original identity, our True Self. Most
people think of sin as little naughty behaviors or any personal moral
"stain" we suffer by reason of our bad thoughts, words, or deeds.
Paul makes clear that sin is mostly a state, a corporate
"principality" and "power," an entrapment, or what many would
now call an addiction. Jesus seems to primarily see it as a blindness that
traps us in self-destructive behaviors and hard-heartedness. Thus he is always
healing blind people and challenging people who see themselves as superior to
others.
What we call
sins are usually more symptoms of sin and not an inner negativity itself. What
we call sins often have more to do with stupidity and ignorance than actual
malice. Disconnected people will surely do stupid things and even become
malicious, but they did not start there. They began in union, but disunion
became their experienced lie and defense. This sounds terrible but it will help
you get the point: most people are just stupid more than formally sinful.
Anything that is cut off festers and fumes and attacks, while often hoping to
regain acceptance. The primary meaning of sin is to live outside "the
garden," or in the smoldering garbage dump of Gehenna, below and outside
the city walls of Jerusalem--the standing Biblical images of hell or separation
from God's reality (Genesis 3:23-24, Isaiah 66:24, Mark 9:47-48). Sin is
primarily living outside of union; it is a state of separation, when the part
poses as the Whole. It's the loss of any inner experience of who you are in
God.
You can't
accomplish or work up to union with God, because you've already got it.
"Before the world began you were chosen, chosen in Christ to live through
love in his presence" (Ephesians 1:4). You cannot ever become worthy by
yourself; you can only reconnect to your Infinite Source. The biblical revelation
is about awakening, not accomplishing. It is about realization, not
performance. You cannot get there, you can only be there. That foundational
Being-in-God is for some reason too hard to believe, too good to be true. Only
the humble can receive it and surrender to it, because it affirms much more
about God than it does about us. And we
foolishly believe it should be "all about me"!
Reference:
Adapted from
Richard Rohr, Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality (Franciscan Media:
1999), 27-30.
A School of Relationship
We all fear
and avoid intimacy, it seems. It is too powerful and demands that we also
"have faces," that is, self-confidence, identity, dignity, and a
certain courage to accept our own unique face. Once we accept and love
ourselves, we must be willing to share this daring intimacy with another. The
brilliant title of C. S. Lewis' book, Till We Have Faces, suggests how central
this is; the archetypal myth of Cupid and Psyche reveals the human and divine
longing for face-to-face intimacy.
At first the
individual is not ready for presence. We settle for tribal customs, laws, and
occupations as our identity. Most individuals cannot contain or sustain trust
and love by themselves or apart. So God starts by giving the whole group a
sense of dignity and identity. Yahweh creates "a chosen people":
"You will be my people and I will be your God," God says to Israel
(Jeremiah 32:38). Only the Whole can carry the weight of glory and the burden
of sin, never the part. Western individualism is a large part of the
ineffectiveness of most contemporary Christianity.
It seems the
experiences of specialness and of sinfulness are both too heavy to be carried
by an individual. One will disbelieve them or abuse them, either through
self-hatred or by ego-inflation and conceit. It is almost impossible for a
person to stand before the face of God in a perfect balance between extreme
humility and perfect dignity. So God begins with a people "consecrated as
God's very own" (Deuteronomy 14:2). The group holds the Mystery which the
individual cannot carry. This eventually becomes the very meaning of
"church" or the Body of Christ. Membership in the sacred group should
and can become the gateway to personal encounter and inner experience, though
too often it is a substitute for it. Please trust me on this.
We could
say, "In the beginning was the relationship" or the original
blueprint for everything else that exists. John's word for that was Logos (John
1:1). In other words, the first blueprint for reality was relationality. It is
all of one piece. How we relate to God reveals how we eventually relate to just
about everything else. And how we relate to the world of "the ten thousand
things" is how we are actively relating to God, whether we know it or not
(1 John 4:20). How we do anything is how we do everything!
Thus, we
must read the whole Bible as a school of relationship. The word trinity, by the
way, is never found in the Bible. In time, it became our way to explain how God
gradually came to be seen as a communion of persons, a perfect giving and a
perfect receiving, an inter-face, a mutual indwelling, or as Charles Williams
beautifully called it, "co-inherence." The Bible is slowly making
humanity capable of living inside of such lovely co-inherence. As some mystics
daringly put it, all creation is in the end drawn and seduced into the Great
Co-inherence, and we are in effect "the Fourth Something" inside the
Blessed Trinity. "I shall return to take you with me, so that where I am
you also may be too," Jesus clearly says (John 14:3). Salvation is giving
us a face capable of receiving the dignity of the divine embrace, and then
daring to think that we could love God back--and that God would enjoy this, or
even care about it. I hope the top of your head just blew open!
Reference:
Adapted from
Richard Rohr, Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality (Franciscan Media:
1999), 56-57.
Divinization
If we could
glimpse the panoramic view of the biblical revelation and the Big Picture that
we're a part of, we'd see how God is forever evolving human consciousness,
making us ever more ready for God. The Jewish prophets and many Catholic and
Sufi mystics used words like espousal, marriage, or bride and groom to describe
this phenomenon. That's what the prophet Isaiah (61:10, 62:5), many of the
Psalms, the school of Paul (Ephesians 5:25-32), and the Book of Revelation
(19:7-8, 21:2) mean by "preparing a bride to be ready for her
husband." The human soul is being gradually readied so that actual
espousal and partnership with the Divine are the final result. It's all moving
toward a final marriage between God and creation. Note that such salvation is a
social and cosmic concept, and not just about isolated individuals "going
to heaven." The Church was meant to be the group that first brings this
corporate salvation to conscious and visible possibility.
But how
could such divine espousals really be God's plan? Isn't this just poetic
exaggeration? If this is the agenda, why were most of us presented with an
angry deity who needed to be placated and controlled? And why would God even
want to "marry" God's creation? If you think I am stretching it here,
look for all the times Jesus uses a wedding banquet as his image for eternity,
and how he loves to call himself "the bridegroom" (Mark 2:19-20). Why
would he choose such metaphors? The very daring, seemingly impossible idea of
union with God is still something we're so afraid of that most of us won't
allow ourselves to think it, especially in garden variety religion. Only God in
you will allow you to imagine such a possibility, which is precisely "the
Holy Spirit planted in your heart" (Romans 8:11 and throughout Paul).
The Eastern
Fathers of the Church were not afraid of this belief, and called it the process
of "divinization" (theosis). In fact, they saw it as the whole point
of the Incarnation and the precise meaning of salvation. The much more
practical and rational church in the West seldom used the word; it was just too
daring for us, despite the rather direct teachings from Peter (1 Peter 1:4-5
and 2 Peter 1:4) and John's Gospel being
quite clear about it: "I pray not only for them, but also for those who
will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you,
Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may
believe that you sent me" (John 17:20-21). Jesus came to give us the
courage to trust and allow our inherent union with God, and he modeled it for
us in this world. Union is not merely a place we go to later--if we are good.
Paul makes
use of the almost physical language of shared embodiment in his single most
used phrase "en Christo." Further Paul offers us the most beautiful
teaching on the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12), which takes the form of a
meal so we can be reminded frequently of our core identity (1 Corinthians
11:17-26). As Augustine said, "We are what we eat! We are what we
drink!" Thus I am quite Catholic and conservative in my belief in very
"Real Presence" in the bread and wine, otherwise the Eucharist is
just a child's pretend tea party. Transformation must be real for persons, for
creation, for all that lives and dies. This is summed up in the literal act and
metaphor of humans digesting simple elements that grow from the earth. This is
perfect and supreme Wholism.
At the end,
what more fitting conclusion could the "Second Coming of Christ" be
if not that humanity becomes "a beautiful bride all dressed for her
husband" (Revelation 21:2), with Jesus the perfect stand-in for the Divine
Bridegroom (Matthew 9:15, John 3:29)? Rather than denying evolution, Christians
should have paved the way and offered a positive image for the end of the
world. Instead we largely emphasized the threatening language of Armageddon and
Apocalypse.
Divine union
will be finally allowed and enjoyed, despite our human history of resistance
and denial. When God wins, God wins! God knows how to do victory. God does not
lose. The Day of Yahweh will indeed be the Day of Yahweh, or what Dame Julian
called "The Great Deed" that would come at the end of history.
Apokatastasis, or "universal restoration" (Revelation 3:20-21), has
been promised to us as the real message of the Cosmic Christ, the Alpha and the
Omega of all history (Revelation 1:4, 21:6, 22:13). It will be a win/win for
God--and surely for humanity! [1] What else would a divine victory be? Surely
not an admission that 99% of creation was futile and lost.
The clear
goal and direction of the biblical revelation is toward a full mutual
indwelling. The movement toward union began with God walking in the garden with
naked Adam and Eve and "all the array" of creation" (Genesis
2:1); it continued through inspiration of prophets, teachers, and
"secular" history throughout the Jewish Bible. The theme found its
shocking climax in the realization that "the mystery is Christ within you,
your hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). As John excitedly puts it,
"You know him because he is with you and he is in you!" (John 14:17).
The eternal mystery of incarnation will have finally met its mark, and
"the marriage feast of the Lamb will begin" (Revelation 19:7-9).
History is no longer meaningless and largely a failure, but has a promised and
positive direction. This creates very healthy, happy, hopeful, and generative
people; and we surely need some now. All I know for sure is that a good God
creates and continues to create an ever good world.
References:
[1] For more
on universal restoration, see David Burnfield, Patristic Universalism: An
Alternative to the Traditional View of Divine Judgment (Universal Publishers:
2013). Christians deserve to know how many Fathers of the early Church,
particularly in the East, understood cosmic salvation to be the whole point.
This is just one more recent and well sourced example of a rediscovered theme
in the Christian world.
Adapted from
Richard Rohr, New Great Themes of Scripture (Franciscan Media: 1999), disc 1
(CD);
and Things
Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality (Franciscan Media: 2008), 212.
GROUNDBREAKING PART 2: PRAYER FOR A CHAPEL
From the weekly blog by Fr Michael White, the Pastor of the Church of the Nativity, Baltimore, USA. The original blog can be found here
One of the casualties of our new construction will be our old chapel. It sits on what will eventually be our new lobby. The chapel is in no way architecturally distinguished—its only artistic distinction being the stained glass windows—which will be preserved and reused elsewhere.
Mostly the chapel was used for quiet prayer and daily Mass and on Friday we celebrated the last Mass. There was, it must be said, a certain wistfulness to the moment. Take a look at the prayer we prayed, (composed by Evan Ponton from our staff).
In the mystery of your incarnate love,
you chose to dwell among us.
Rejected by the builders, you became our cornerstone,
and joined together the ends of the earth,
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
Form us into one Church, built of living stones,
A spiritual house of God, and temple of the Holy Spirit.
For you, O Lord, are our builder and maker,
and lay the foundation of every life and home.
We lift up all those faithful men and women
of our parish, who through the years
sacrificed time, talent, and treasure,
to build and attend to the care of this chapel.
We pray for all those who faithfully and reverently have undertaken devotions here, on behalf of the whole parish:
the daily rosary; weekly and monthly adoration, the Stations of the Cross.
Let us remember with gratitude the many priests
who celebrated Mass at this altar,
and whose priestly care was experienced
in the preaching of the word in this chapel.
Let us pray for those who received the sacraments in this space over the last 45 years:
Those who were reborn in the living waters of Baptism
Couples who founded a holy family in the celebration of marriage
Those who experienced reconciliation in the Sacrament of Penance or healing and strength in the Sacrament of Anointing
And all those to whom we wished good-bye and God’s speed through the Funeral Rites here observed.
Most of all, we remember the prayer of all the members of your household, O Lord, uttered here in this chapel, in sincerity of heart…knowing that each of these prayers is precious in your sight.
These bricks, like each of us, shall soon turn to dust,
With the hopes of one day being made new.
As we take leave of our chapel…
Turn our hearts toward our final destination,
The heavenly Jerusalem,
Where we will be citizens of an everlasting city,
Gathered around the throne of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Who lives and reigns forever and ever, Amen.
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