Mersey Leven Catholic Parish
Postal Address: PO Box 362
Parish Office:90 Stewart Street , Devonport 7310
Parish Office:
(Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10am - 3pm)
Secretary: Annie Davies / Anne Fisher
Pastoral Council Chair: Jenny Garnsey
Pastoral Council Chair: Jenny Garnsey
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
Parish Prayer
Heavenly Father,
We thank you for gathering us together
and calling us to serve as your disciples.
and calling us to serve as your disciples.
You have charged us through Your Son, Jesus, with the great mission
of evangelising and witnessing your love to the world.
Send your Holy Spirit to guide us as we discern your will
for the spiritual renewal of our parish.
Give us strength, courage, and clear vision
as we use our gifts to serve you.
as we use our gifts to serve you.
We entrust our parish family to the care of Mary, our mother,
and ask for her intercession and guidance
as we strive to bear witness
as we strive to bear witness
to the Gospel and build an amazing parish.
Amen.
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 11th - 14th October, 2016
Tuesday: 9:30am
Penguin
Wednesday: 9:30am Latrobe
Thursday: 10:30am
Eliza Purton
12noon Devonport
Friday: 9:30am Ulverstone
Mass Times Next Weekend 15th & 16th October,
2016
Saturday Vigil: 6:00pm Penguin
Devonport (First Eucharist)
Sunday Mass: 8:30am Port Sorell
9:00am
Ulverstone (First Eucharist)
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 7.00pm
Meetings, with Adoration and Benediction are held each
Second Thursday of the Month in OLOL Church, commencing at 7.00 pm
Ministry Rosters 15th & 16th October, 2016
Readers: Vigil: M Kelly, B Paul, R Baker 10:30am A Hughes, T Barrientos, P Piccolo
Ministers of Communion: Vigil T Muir, M
Davies, M Gerrand, M Kenney, D Peters, J
Heatley
10.30am: B & N Mulcahy, L Hollister, K Hull,
S
Samarakkody, R Batepola
Cleaners 14th Oct: P Shelverton, E Petts 21st Oct: K.S.C.
Piety Shop 15th Oct: R McBain 16th Oct: P Piccolo
Flowers: A O’Connor
Ulverstone:
Readers: D Prior
Ministers of
Communion:
M Byrne, D
Griffin, K Foster, R Locket
Cleaners: B & V
McCall, G Doyle Flowers: G Doyle Hospitality:
M & K McKenzie
Penguin:
Greeters: G & N Pearce Commentator: J Barker Readers: A Guest, J Garnsey
Ministers of
Communion: M
Murray, M Hiscutt Liturgy: Sulphur Creek J
Setting Up: T Clayton Care of Church: G Hills-Eade, T Clayton
Latrobe:
Reader: H Lim Ministers of Communion: P Marlow, M Mackey Procession: Parishioners Music:
Port Sorell:
Readers: P Anderson, D Leaman Ministers of
Communion: L Post
Clean/Flow/Prepare: V Youd
Readings this Week: 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
First Reading: 2 Kings 5:14-17
Second Reading: 2 Timothy 2:8-13
Gospel: Luke 17:11-19
Second Reading: 2 Timothy 2:8-13
Gospel: Luke 17:11-19
PREGO REFLECTION:
I set aside time in my day to become aware of the presence of
God within and around me. I slowly become still in the way
that suits me best. I ask God to reveal the truth and beauty of
his Word expressed in this Gospel.
When I feel ready I gently turn towards the Gospel passage
and read it slowly, allowing images from the passage to come
alive in my mind.
Can I imagine myself as a disciple travelling with Jesus, seeing
this scene unfold?
How would I react to these people who are outcasts calling
for help?
Who are the lepers and outcasts crying out for mercy today?
How do I feel when I see such an exuberant expression of
praise and thanks to God from a non-Jewish outsider?
I reflect on the way I react to people from different Christian
denominations or people who follow other faiths?
I talk to Jesus about my ponderings. I listen to how God
wants me to respond.
When I am ready I close my prayer by imaging myself at the
feet of Jesus, allowing him to look upon me with compassion
and love. I say my own words of thanks.
Readings next Week: 29th Sunday in
Ordinary Time – Year C
First Reading: Exodus 17:8-13
Second Reading: 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2
Gospel: Luke 18:1-8
Your prayers are asked for the sick:
Victor Slavin, Frank Post & ...
Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Kevin Cowmeadow, Gayle Chapman, Jim Masterson, Shirley Ravaillion, Mely Pybus, Pauline Jackson, Tod Brett, Olive Rundle, Joan McCarthy, Haydee Diaz, Onil Francisco, Warren Milfull and Noreen Burton.
Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs about this time: 5th – 11th October
Audrey Taylor, Jack Bynon, Valma Donnelly, Lorraine Sherriff, Kieran McVeigh, Vicki Glashower, Natarsha Charlesworth, Sr Barbara Hateley MSS, Ashley Dyer, Elaine Sheedy, Paul Blake, Bridie Murray, Ron Arrowsmith and Peter Hays.
May they Rest in Peace
WEEKLY
RAMBLINGS:
During
the Council of Priests Meeting on Tuesday Archbishop Julian asked whether
Mersey Leven Parish might be comfortable accepting another mentoring role for a
possible candidate for the Priesthood. After some discussion at that meeting
(unfortunately I was not able to consult any parishioners at the time) I said
yes. The candidate is Crisanto Mendoza and he will be arriving on Monday 17th
Oct – the current suggestion is that he will be with us until just after
Christmas. I’m sure that we will both make him welcome and support him as he
continues on his journey towards priesthood.
As
we print the newsletter on Thursday’s I’m writing this before we’ve actually had
our first Alpha Gathering. I trust in the power of prayer and the good will of
people but I listened to some Divine Renovation Podcasts (3 of them) on the way
home from Hobart on Wednesday afternoon. This particular series was the series:
10 Easy Ways to Kill Alpha - so I hope that there will be Alpha next week!!
Next
weekend our young parishioners who have celebrated the Sacraments of
Reconciliation and Confirmation this year will receive the Eucharist for the 1st
time. In case you’ve forgotten who these young people are they are: Lucy
Aherne, Emmy Barber, Maddison Cleaver, Brady Heath, Brady Jager, Cody Jager,
Renee Kelly, Oscar McGrath, Harry Marshall, Ava Radford, Paige Smith, Lochie
Veitch, Jasmine Walker and Kimberly Watkins. We continue to pray for them and
their families as they prepare for this important and special day.
ST VINCENT DE PAUL COLLECTION:
This weekend in Devonport, Ulverstone, Port Sorell, Latrobe
and Penguin to assist the work of the St Vincent de Paul Society.
CARE
& CONCERN: The Siloam group which meets under the banner
of Care and Concern focusses on supporting those who are experiencing loss and
grief following the death of a loved one.
The Siloam image (John 9:7) suggests healing and refreshment. The next
meeting of the group will be held on Tuesday 11th October at 2.00 pm at 120
Nicholls Street, Devonport. If
you would like to join us, please contact Mary Davies 6424:1183 or 0447241182
or Neville Smith 6424:3507.
15th ANNUAL ROSARY PILGRIMAGE:
Sunday 16th October. If you wish to participate there
will be a free bus leaving Our Lady of Lourdes carpark at 8:50am. Bookings
essential as seats are limited so Contact Michael Gaffney 0447 018 068 for a
seat. Venues and times are on Church Noticeboards. Those of you wishing to have
lunch or tea are requested to bring a shared meal. Thank you!
NOVEMBER REMEMBRANCE BOOKS:
November is the month we remember in a special way all
those who have died. Should you wish anyone to be remembered, write the names
of those to be prayed for on the outside of an envelope and place the clearly
marked envelope in the collection basket at Mass or deliver to the Parish
Office by Tuesday 25th October.
Callers for Thursday 13th
October
– Tony Ryan & Merv Tippett.
Lucky
winners of the $500 are: C Singline/N Maney & E McGuire
Winners
of $100 (number either side of winning margin);
Number 21: ………….. & …………
Number 23: K Howard & G Burrows
Normal
$2 winners; M Webb, M Vanderfeen, S Sheehan
We hope you have enjoyed
supporting our Footy Margin Fundraiser for 2016!!!!
Once again on behalf
of the Parish office we would like to send a HUGE thank you to Mary Webb for
making this fundraiser such a success. Mary spends countless hours sorting,
stamping, delivering and selling tickets each week. We truly appreciate her
love, support and most of all her friendship. Thank you to Zillah Jones for
selling tickets each week – we love the weekly phone calls and chats about the
local and AFL footy and lastly thank you to everyone else who helped out in
anyway – we appreciate your support!
……….BRING ON SEASON 2017!!..........
but not yet please!!
but not yet please!!
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE:
Archdiocesan Website: www.hobart.catholic.org.au for
news, information and details of other Parishes.
JOURNALING PRAYER RETREAT – FR RAY SANCHEZ: will be running a two day live in
retreat at Maryknoll House of Prayer 15th & 16th October. This is the most precious gift you can give
yourself. If you wish to enquire about attending please phone Anne on 0407 704 539
or email: journallingretreat@iinet.net.au
CARMELITE WEEKEND RETREAT: Emmanuel Centre from Friday
21st - Sunday 23rd October. Cost of weekend $170.00 which includes accommodation
and meals. Call Sandra on 6331:4991 for bookings.
SESQUICENTENARY (150 YRS) PRESENTATION SISTERS IN
TASMANIA: We
invite all Alumni from our Presentation Schools and all our other friends to
celebrate with us - Saturday 29 October, St Mary’s Cathedral, 11.00am Eucharist of
Thanksgiving and after, to join us for Lunch in St Peter’s Hall. RSVP 10
October essential for catering: Please contact Sr Gabrielle Morgan: gabrielle.morgan@gmail.com Ph. 0407 868 381
A DIRECTED RETREAT AND INDIVIDUAL DAYS OF REFLECTION:
in preparation for the Christmas Season celebrating the
birth of Jesus, will be run at Maryknoll from the 5th – 13th November
2016. Participants may come for the entire retreat or for
individual days, with the option to live in or be a day visitor. For
further information or a copy of the retreat brochure please contact Sr
Margaret Henderson 0418 366 923 or mm.henderson@bigpond.com.
CHURCH OF THE APOSTLES, LAUNCESTON SESQUICENTENARY:
25th – 27th November 2016 the Launceston Parish will be
celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Opening and Blessing of the Church of
the Apostles. The celebrations begin with the Sesquicentenary Dinner at the
Tailrace Centre, Riverside on Friday 25th November at 7.00pm. Tickets are $40 and must be pre-purchased
through the Parish Office. Open Day Saturday 26th November 11.00am –
5.00pm. An Historical Display (which
includes a Commemoration of the Archbishop Guilford Young Centenary) will be
held in the Pastoral Centre with refreshments available. In the Church a Promenade of Music will be
presented with performances each half hour commencing at 2.00pm. Between the items four treasures of the
Church of the Apostles will be highlighted for those present. On Sunday 27th
November at 10.30am Archbishop Julian Porteous will be the celebrant of the
Mass of Solemn Dedication of the Church.
This will be followed by a shared lunch in Presentation Hall at Sacred
Heart School. All parishioners, friends and families associated in any way with
this magnificent Church are warmly invited to join in any or all of these
celebrations. Please contact the
Launceston Parish Office (phone: 6331:4377 or email: apostles@bigpond.com) for more information and to register your interest in
these events.
THE STRUGGLE TO NOT MAKE GOD OUR OWN TRIBAL DEITY
From an article by Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. The original article ca be found here
I was blessed to grow up in a very sheltered and safe environment. My childhood was lived inside of a virtual cocoon. In the remote, rural, first-generation, immigrant community I grew up in, we all knew each other, all went to the same church, all belonged to the same political party, all were white, all came from the same ethnic background, all shared the same accent when we spoke English, all had a similar slant on how we understood morality, all shared similar hopes and fears about the outside world, and all worshipped God quite confidently from inside that cocoon. We knew we were special in God’s eyes.
There’s a wonderful strength in that, but also a pejorative underside. When there are no real strangers in your life, when everyone looks like you do, believes what you do, and speaks like you do, when your world is made up of only your own kind, it’s going to take some painful subsequent stretching, at some very deep parts of your soul, to accept, existentially accept, and be comfortable with the fact, that people who are very different from you, who have different skin colors, speak different languages, live in different countries, have different religions, and have a different way of understanding things are just as real and precious to God as you are.
Of course not everyone has a background like mine, but I suspect most everyone also struggles to accept, beyond our too-easy espousal of how open we are, that all lives in the world are equally as precious to God as is our own. It is hard for us to believe that we, and our own kind, are not specially blessed and are not of more value than others. There are lots of reasons for that.
First, there’s our innate narcissism: Simply put, we cannot not feel that our own reality is more real and more precious than that of others; after all, as Rene Descartes put it, classically and forever, the only thing we can know for sure is that we are real, that our joys and pains are real. We may be dreaming everything else. Beyond that natural narcissism, other things begin play in: Blood, language, country, and religion are thicker than water. Consequently our own kind always seem more real to particularly apposite race, country and us. Too many of us live with the notion that God has blessed our race and country more than God has blessed other races and countries and that we are special in God’s eyes. That’s a dangerously false and unchristian notion, directly contrary to the Judeo-Christian scriptures. God doesn’t value some races and some countries more than others.
Where might we go with all of this, given that it’s hard to see how everyone else’s life is as real and precious as our own? How do we bring out hearts to existentially accept a truth that we espouse with our lips, namely, that God loves everyone equally, with no exceptions?
We might begin by admitting the problem, by admitting that our natural narcissism and propensity for tribalism do block us from seeing others’ lives as being as real and precious as our own. Very particularly, I suggest, we need to look at our false patriotism. We aren’t special as a nation, at least no more special than any other nation. Our dreams, our heartaches, our headaches, our joys, our pains, our deaths, do not count more before God than those of persons in other places in the world, perhaps even less, since God has a preferential option for the poor. The lives of the hundreds of thousands of present-day refugees, so easy to lump into one mass of anonymity to which we can accord abstract sympathy, are just as precious as those of our own children; perhaps more so, given the truth of our scriptures about God taking flesh in the excluded ones. Today they may be the people of manifest destiny, the ones carrying God’s special blessing.
As well, and importantly, we must also correct our bad theologies. The God whom Jesus revealed and incarnated may never be turned into a God of our own, a God who considers us more precious and gifted than other peoples, a God who blesses us specially above others. Sadly, we are perennially prone to turn God into our own tribal deity, in the name of family, blood, church, and country. God too easily becomes our God. But true faith doesn’t allow for that. Rather a healthy and orthodox Christian theology teaches that God is especially present in the other, in the poor and in the stranger. God’s revelation comes to us most clearly through the outsider, through what’s foreign to us, through what stretches us beyond our comfort zone and our expectations, particularly our expectations regarding God.
God is everyone’s God equally, not especially ours, and God is too great to be reduced to serving the interests of family, ethnicity, church, and patriotism.
True Self/False Self: Week 1
Taken from the daily email series by Fr Richard Rohr OFM. You can subscribe to the emails here
Homecoming
The
important distinction between the true and false selves is foundational, yet it
is often overlooked, perhaps because it is difficult to teach. Over the years,
I have resorted to almost simplistic geometric images, and for many it seems to
help. It imprints in the imagination better than concepts do. Perhaps this
could help:
In the
beginning, in our original unwoundedness (“innocence”), we live in an
unconscious but real state of full connection. Perhaps you’ve sensed that
babies are still in immediate connection with pure being. That’s probably why
we can’t take our eyes off of them. But, I am afraid, we must “leave the
garden”; and usually around the age of seven, we increasingly “think” of
ourselves as separate. This idea of ourselves as separate is the “false self.”
This is the essential illusion that spirituality seeks to overcome: “How do I
get back to the garden of union and innocence?” Objectively I have never left,
but it feels like I have.
Then comes
the journey of finding connection and losing it. Picture the small “me” circle
being totally outside of the large “God” circle, but hopefully still on the
axis of loss and return. This is how we grow. We think we’re separate from God
for many compelling reasons and we usually search for the correct rituals and
moral responses in order to get God to like us again, and for us to learn to
trust and know God. This is the dance of life and death.
But of
course, it's not about being correct; it’s about being connected. It’s not
about requirements or pre-requisites; it’s about pure relationship. It’s not so
much about what we do; it’s about what God does. And what God does—what life
does—is gradually destabilize the supposed boundaries of the small self so we
can awaken inside of the Large Self, which we call God. This usually happens
through experiences of great love or great suffering or inner prayer journeys
that allow the private ego to collapse back into the True Self, who we are in
God.
The only way
that freedom and relationship grow is through a dance between the loneliness
and desperation of the false self and the fullness of the True Self, which is
ever re-discovered and experienced anew as an ultimate homecoming. The
spiritual journey is a gradual path of deeper realization and transformation;
it is never a straight line, but a back and forth journey that ever deepens the
conscious choice and the conscious relationship. It is growing up, yes, but
even more it is waking up.
References:
Adapted from
Richard Rohr, Contemplative Prayer (CAC: 2000), CD, MP3 download;
True Self/
False Self (Franciscan Media: 2003, 2013), disc 2 (CD); and
Immortal
Diamond: The Search for Our True Self (Jossey-Bass: 2013), 189-191.
Losing Myself to Find Myself
As much as I
emphasize the importance of non-dual consciousness, you may be confused or
concerned that I use the terms True Self and false self. But remember that
wisdom teachers such as Jesus often use seemingly dualistic statements to first
ground us and from there draw us into non-dual thinking. Bear with me as I
explore these two aspects of ourselves. You might not prefer the term false
self. If small self, relative self, provisional self, passing self, or
manufactured self help you understand the idea, by all means use them instead.
All words are metaphors, and all metaphors are incomplete.
Your “false”
self is how you define yourself outside of love, relationship, or divine union.
After you have spent many years building this separate, egoic self, with all
its labels and habits, you are very attached to it. And why wouldn’t you be?
It’s all you know. To move beyond this privately concocted identity naturally
feels like losing or dying. Perhaps you have noticed that master teachers like
Jesus and the Buddha, all the “Teresas” (Ávila, Lisieux, and Calcutta), and the
mystical poets Hafiz, Kabir, and Rumi talk about dying much more than we are
comfortable with. They all know that if you do not learn the art of dying and
letting go early, you will miss out on the peace, contentment, and liberation
of life lived in your Larger and Lasting Identity, which most of us call God.
It was
Thomas Merton, the Cistercian monk, who first suggested the use of the term
false self. He did this to clarify for many Christians the meaning of Jesus’
central and oft-repeated teaching that we must die to ourselves, or “lose
ourselves to find ourselves” (Mark 8:35). Jesus’ admonition has caused much
havoc and pushback in Christian history because it sounds negative and
ascetical, and it was usually interpreted as an appeal to deny the body. But
the full intent is personal liberation, not self-punishment. Centuries of
Christians falsely assumed that if they could “die” to their body, their spirit
would for some reason miraculously arise. (Because of centuries of body
rejection, and the lack of a positive body theology, the West is now trapped in
substance addiction, obesity, anorexia, bulimia, and an obsession with
appearance and body image.)
Paul made a
most unfortunate choice of the word flesh as that which is opposed to Spirit
(for example, Galatians 5:16-24). I would suggest that you use “ego” or “small
self” every time you read the word “flesh” in the Pauline writings, as this
would be much closer to his intended meaning.
Our poor
bodies, which Jesus actually affirmed, have become the receptacle of so much
negative energy. Christians are much more disciples of Plato (body and soul are
at odds) than we are of Jesus in whom “the Word became flesh” (John 1:14),
where body and soul are willing partners. Jesus even returned to the “flesh”
after the Resurrection, as all accounts make very clear, so flesh cannot be bad
for us. Our bodies are, in fact, the hiding place for our divinity. (This is
why I believe in the necessary physical resurrection of Jesus, admittedly in a
new form of physicality.)
If
Christianity is in any way anti-body, it is not authentic. Merton rightly
recognized that it was not the body that had to “die” but the “false self”
which is always an imposter posing for “me.” It is no surprise that Buddhism is
saying the exact same thing, and often with even greater clarity.
References:
Adapted from
Richard Rohr, True Self/ False Self (Franciscan Media: 2003, 2013), disc 1
(CD); and
Immortal
Diamond: The Search for Our True Self (Jossey-Bass: 2013), 36-39.
The Illusion of an Autonomous Self
I am using
the terms True Self and false self as they were used by Thomas Merton. In his
classic New Seeds of Contemplation, Merton writes:
Every one of
us is shadowed by an illusory person: a false self. This is the man [or woman]
that I want myself to be but who cannot exist, because God does not know
anything about him [or her]. And to be unknown of God is altogether too much
privacy. [1]
That’s why
the false self is so fragile. It’s inherently insecure because it’s almost
entirely a creation of the mind, a social construct. It doesn’t exist except in
the world of perception—which is where we live most of our lives—instead of in
God’s Eternal Now. When you die, what dies is your false self because it never
really existed to begin with. It simply lives in your thoughts and projections.
It’s what you want yourself to be and what you want others to think you are.
It’s very tied up with status symbols and reputation.
Whenever you
are offended, it’s usually because your self-image has not been worshiped or it
has been momentarily exposed. The false self will quickly react with a
vengeance to any offenses against it because all it has is its own fragile
assumptions about itself. Narcissists have a lot of asserting and defending to
do, moment by moment. Don’t waste much time defending your ego. The True Self
is untouchable, or as Paul puts it “it takes no offense” (1 Corinthians 13:5).
People who can live from their True Selves are genuinely happy.
Merton
continues:
My false and
private self is the one who wants to exist outside the reach of God’s will and
God’s love—outside of reality and outside of life. And such a self cannot help
but be an illusion. [2]
Merton says:
We are not
very good at recognizing illusions, least of all the ones we cherish about
ourselves. . . . For most of the people in the world, there is no greater
subjective reality than this false self of theirs, which does not even exist. A
life devoted to the cult of this shadow is what is called a life of sin. [3]
What we call
sins are actually symptoms of the illusion that we are separated from God. Yet
most people attack the symptom instead of the cause!
All sin
starts from the assumption that my false self, the self that exists only in my
own egocentric desires, is the fundamental reality of life to which everything
else in the universe is ordered. Thus I use up my life in the desire for
pleasures and the thirst for experiences, for power, honor, knowledge and love,
to clothe this false self and construct its nothingness into something
objectively real. [4]
You have
been given something so much better: “For all belongs to you, you belong to
Christ, and Christ belongs to God” (1 Corinthians 3:22-23). Your True Self is
already home free! To know that is to be “saved.”
References:
[1] Thomas
Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation (Shambhala: 2003), 36.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.,
37.
Adapted from
Richard Rohr, True Self/ False Self (Franciscan Media: 2003, 2013), disc 4
(CD); and
“Horizontal
Identity and Vertical Identity,” Homily, June 19, 2016,
https://cac.org/horizontal-identity-vertical-identity/.
In God's Eyes
Yesterday,
we looked at Thomas Merton’s explanation of the false self. What follows is
part of his description of the True Self. Merton wrote this shortly after his
transformative experience at the corner of Fourth and Walnut in Louisville (now
Muhammad Ali Boulevard). At this intersection, Merton says, “I was suddenly
overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all these people, that they were
mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we
were total strangers. It was like waking from a dream of separateness. . . .”
[1] This is an experience of universal love, which I would define as recognizing
one’s self in the other.
A bit
further on, Merton writes, “Then it was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty
of their hearts, the depths of their hearts where neither sin nor desire nor
self-knowledge can reach, the core of their reality, the person that each one
is in God’s eyes.” [2]
Merton—as
well as anyone deserving of the title mystic—believes that God is always
recognizing God’s Self in you and cannot not love it. This is God’s “steadfast
love” (hesed) with humanity. That part of you has always loved God and always
will. You must learn how to consciously abide there. As Meister Eckhart says,
“The eye with which I see God is the same one with which God sees me. My eye
and God’s eye is one eye, and one sight, and one knowledge, and one love.” [3]
There is a
part of you that has always said yes to God, and that is the Anointed One, the
Christ, the True Self that you already are. William McNamara called
contemplative prayer “a long, loving look at the real.” [4] Within prayer you
quite simply receive and return God’s gaze of love. God is recognizing God’s
Self in you, and you are recognizing yourself in God. Once the two-way mirror
begins to reflect in both directions, it will gradually move you toward a
universal seeing. Once
accepted in
yourself, the divine image is then seen everywhere else too—and just as
gratuitously.
Merton
continues:
If only they
could all see themselves as they really are. If only we could see each other
that way all the time. There would be no more war, no more hatred, no more
cruelty, no more greed. . . . I suppose the big problem would be that we would
fall down and worship each other. But this cannot be seen, only believed and
“understood” by a peculiar gift. [5]
This is the
gift of a contemplative mind that has learned to “shed its thoughts about
itself” (how the Desert Fathers and Mothers put it) and which enjoys a much
broader, deeper, and more compassionate set of eyes.
References:
[1] Thomas
Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander (Image Books: 1968), 156.
[2] Ibid.,
158.
[3] Johannes
Eckhart, Meister Eckhart’s Sermons, Sermon IV, “True Hearing,”
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/eckhart/sermons.vii.html, 32-33.
[4] William
McNamara as quoted by Walter J. Burghardt, “Contemplation: A Long, Loving Look
at the Real,” Church, No. 5 (Winter 1989), 14-17.
[5] Thomas
Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander (Image Books: 1968), 158.
Adapted from
Richard Rohr, True Self/ False Self (Franciscan Media: 2003, 2013), disc 2
(CD).
A Point of Nothingness
Today we
continue with Thomas Merton’s description of the True Self as written following
his “conversion” at Fourth and Walnut. It is so inspired, I want to quote it at
length:
At the
center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by
illusion, a point of pure truth, a point or spark which belongs entirely to
God, which is never at our disposal, from which God disposes of our lives,
which is inaccessible to the fantasies of our own mind or the brutalities of
our own will. This little point of nothingness and of absolute poverty is the
pure glory of God in us. It is so to speak [God’s] name written in us, as our
poverty, as our indigence, as our dependence, as our sonship [and
daughtership]. It is like a pure diamond, blazing with the invisible light of
heaven. It is in everybody, and if we could see it we would see these billions
of points of light coming together in the face and blaze of a sun that would
make all the darkness and cruelty of life vanish completely . . . . I have no
program for this seeing. It is only given. But the gate of heaven is
everywhere. [1]
Most people
spend their entire lives living up to their false self, the mental self-images
of who they think they are, instead of living in the primal “I” that is already
good in God’s eyes. But all I can “pay back” to God or others or myself is who
I really am. This is what Merton is describing above. It’s a place of utter
simplicity. Perhaps we don’t want to go back there because it is too simple and
almost too natural. It feels utterly unadorned. There’s nothing to congratulate
myself for. I can’t prove any worth, much less superiority. There I am naked
and poor. After years of posturing and projecting, it will at first feel like
nothing.
But when we
are nothing, we are in a fine position to receive everything from God. As
Merton says above, our point of nothingness is “the pure glory of God in us.”
If we look at the great religious traditions, we see they all use similar words
to point in the same direction. The Franciscan word is “poverty.” The Carmelite
word is nada or “nothingness.” The Buddhists speak of “emptiness.” Jesus speaks
of being “poor in spirit” in his very first beatitude.
The Bible as
a whole prefers to talk in images, and the desert is a foundational one. The
desert is where we are voluntarily under-stimulated—no feedback, no new data.
Jesus says to go into the closet or the “inner room.” That’s where we stop
living out of other people’s response to us. We can then say, I am not who you
think I am. Nor am I who you need me to be. I’m not even who I need myself to
be. I must be “nothing” in order to be open to all of reality and new reality.
Merton’s reservoir of solitude and contemplation allowed him to see the gate of
heaven everywhere, even on a common street corner.
A Zen master
would call the True Self “the face we had before we were born.” Paul would call
it who you are “in Christ, hidden in God” (Colossians 3:3). It is who you are
before having done anything right or anything wrong, who you are before having
thought about who you are. Thinking creates the false self, the ego self, the
insecure self. The God-given contemplative mind, on the other hand, recognizes
the God Self, the Christ Self, the True Self of abundance and deep inner
security. We start with mere seeing; we end up with recognizing.
References:
[1] Thomas
Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander (Image Books: 1968), 158.
Adapted from
Richard Rohr, Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer (Crossroad
Publishing: 1999, 2003), 76-78.
6 STEPS FOR LEADING THROUGH CHANGE
Taken from the weekly blog by Fr Michael White, Pastor of the Church of the Nativity. The original blog can be found here
Blessed John Henry Newman once wrote, “In a higher world it is otherwise, but here below to live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.”
Down below, where churches have ministries to run, people to manage, and buildings to operate, one of the most difficult, yet transformative, parts of life is learning to change. If we want our churches to thrive, we have to accept that change is necessary. I won’t lay out here what to change, but something more basic and essential, learning how to change. Here are some important things to keep in mind if you’re a leader preparing for change but not sure how to start.
1. Don’t Panic, Pray
Change usually means something has to die: an old ministry, method, or idea. That’s scary. It leaves us feeling vulnerable, defensive, and even a bit hurt. That’s an opportunity to invite God into the situation. Lasting change is a matter of grace, and it begins in prayer.
2. Change Means Trust
If your staff, ministry team, or even congregation doesn’t trust each other, no matter how great your ideas are, change won’t happen. Before we could start making concrete changes at Nativity, we had to do the hard, sometimes painful work of building a new staff culture founded on trust, not suspicion.
3. Celebrate the Past, Embrace the Future
The recognition of change is not a condemnation of the past. It’s not usually helpful comparing or measuring the past by the present, or vice versa. Many things worked well for their season, and those deserve to be celebrated and remembered. A healthy appreciation of the past can make moving forward a more hopeful task.
4. Commit to Change
Change doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a gradual process that has its ups and downs. Resolve to stay through the messiness. If you don’t plan on sticking around to see change through, then it’s probably better not to even start; that will only make the mess worse for everyone else.
5. Keep the Vision Central
There will be a distraction or stumbling block around every corner, all there to cause you to lose sight of the vision you are pursuing. Find ways to keep you inspired and focused on a daily basis, so that you are going in the right direction and motivated to get there.
6. Maintain Balance
Leading change often requires great sacrifice of time and energy. It’s critical in those times you don’t neglect your personal well being (physical, emotional, spiritual) or those around you. Leaders are bound to make mistakes in this regard, with the best intentions, but it’s not really worth it. And frankly, it doesn’t usually help anyone anyways. Finding balance is key.
When it comes to change and keeping your balance, it’s important to keep in mind that in the end, it isn’t all about you anyway. That’s a profoundly liberating realization. The responsibility is real, but the results aren’t all on you. Winning and change happens by a team. As a church, we fall and succeed together.
Francis of Assisi
a channel of mercy
‘I had mercy upon them’: we read these words in the opening lines of theTestament of St Francis of Assisi, whose feast is celebrated on 4 October. In this Jubilee Year of Mercy, Brian Purfield offers the saint by whom Pope Francis has been so inspired as a model of mercy. What does St Francis’ account of his own life tell us about his spirituality?
If someone were to ask you to tell your life story, where would you start? Francis of Assisi faced just that decision as he lay dying in September 1226 and looked back over his life. In the opening lines of his Testament he wrote:
The Lord granted me, Brother Francis, to begin to do penance in this way: While I was in sin, it seemed very bitter to me to see lepers. And the Lord Himself led me among them and I had mercy upon them. And when I left them that which seemed bitter to me was changed into sweetness of soul and body; and afterward I lingered a little and left the world.[i]
What is so striking about Francis’ words is where he begins his story. Thomas of Celano, his first biographer, talks about Francis undertaking long periods of prayer. Other early biographers describe his disillusionment with the business and military worlds. But in Francis’ own account, his conversion did not occur according to any well-rehearsed plan or in any specific place. Given who he was on his deathbed, he understood that his story began with an encounter with a human being, one who was looked upon with horror and disgust: the leper. Lepers were excluded from society and were abhorred by people. By starting his story at this point, Francis gives us a key to his spiritual outlook: if you are looking to discover God, look for the leper in your life, the person who is most troubling to you.
Francis tells us what he did in that encounter with the leper: he acted with misericordia – mercy or, more accurately translated, with a heart sensitive to misery. James Keenan[ii] defines mercy as the willingness to enter into the chaos of others to answer them in their need. This is exactly what Francis did: he entered into the chaos of the lepers’ lives. Not only are their lives changed, but Francis’ life takes on a new direction. He is converted from fear of them to love of them. A new story begins.
Showing mercy is at the heart of that story: it is not limited to one encounter; it defines a way of being which is essential to Francis’ understanding of the spiritual life. Very quickly, however, the mercy that Francis was so eager to show taught him that he needed to experience his own misery before being able to reach out to someone else in theirs. Compassion for the poor and the marginalised turned into identification with them.
Moreover, he wanted all of those who joined him as brothers to identify with those in need: before anything else, they must serve the lepers.[iii] He wanted those called to exercise authority in the fraternity to be ‘ministers & servants.’[iv] His Letter to a Minister[v] was written to a brother who was called to such responsibility but seems to have found the burden a demanding one – he wished to be relieved of it and become a hermit. Francis reminds the minister of the reason for Jesus’s coming among us: to reveal the mercy of God. The one causing the minister such pain seems to be a brother who has not simply fallen once or twice or who has committed a grave sin, but someone whose habitual state seems to be that of sin. This brother might be touched by the grace of conversion and be looking for mercy; but he might also be so hardened that he is not. Whatever the case, Francis’ advice to the minister is the same: ‘do not allow such a person to leave your presence without your mercy.’[vi]
Not only does Francis encourage the minister to love those brothers who make life difficult, he adds: ‘Do not wish that they be better Christians.’[vii] We are not to judge or see ourselves as better than others, but always keep in mind that, out of love for us, the Son of God entered our history and endured suffering and death. The misery and abuse we may have to endure in the fulfilment of our responsibilities offer opportunities for identifying with the Suffering Servant and are expressions of the humanity we share with all who have been redeemed by Christ’s blood. In this light, who could deny that such indignities are ‘more than a hermitage’?[viii]
This theology came out of Francis’ deep love of Christ. Not the Christ of many of the late medieval paintings – the Pantocrator, the judge at the last judgement – but the Christ of Bethlehem who became one of us because He loved us; the Christ of the Last Supper who gave Himself as food for a spiritually starving humanity, and the Christ of Calvary, who died as a sacrifice so that we would be raised up from our own humanity. Overwhelmed at discovering such a brother, Francis’ response was: ‘Hold back nothing of yourselves for yourselves, that He Who gives Himself totally to you may receive you totally!’[ix] Francis’ conversion was a rejection of his former life in order to give himself totally to God, and he wanted all those in his order to do the same.
Francis entered deeply into the Passion of Christ, who died stripped of everything and abandoned by all but his closest followers. He received the stigmata on La Verna in September 1224. Following this mystical experience, he wrote The Praises of God, ‘giving thanks to God for the kindness bestowed on him’, in the words of his companion, Brother Leo. This loving kindness of God elicits from Francis a response of trust and confidence in the final praise of God whom he calls ‘merciful Saviour’. Jesus, the merciful Saviour, took on our fragility in order to reveal the depths of the Father’s love for us. Francis, in response, cries out, ‘Let us begin, brothers, to serve the Lord God, for up until now we have done little or nothing.’[x] This is not a cry of despair or a pessimistic assessment of his life. Francis’ eagerness to begin again is so that he might not miss one opportunity to experience the many expressions of God’s loving mercy in his life.
Just as mercy was a priority of Francis of Assisi, it has been so for the first pope to take his name, in this Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy in particular and in his pontificate in general, as is evidenced in his prayer on Easter Sunday 2013:
Let us be renewed by God’s mercy, let us be loved by Jesus, let us enable the power of his love to transform our lives too; and let us become agents of this mercy, channels through which God can water the earth, protect all creation and make justice and peace flourish.
As this Jubilee Year draws to a close, let us follow the example of Francis of Assisi and begin again to recognise the many ways in which we have experienced God’s mercy, and to be ever attentive to the occasions in which we are called to show mercy.
Brian Purfield is a member of the Mount Street Jesuit Centre team and teaches short courses in theology.
[i] Testament 1-3. Cf. Francis of Assisi: Early Documents Vol.1, eds. R. Armstrong, J.A.W. Hellmann, W. Short (New City Press, New York, 1999).
[ii] James F. Keenan SJ, The Works of Mercy: The Heart of Catholicism (Rowman & Littlefield: Maryland, 2008), p.xv.
[iii] The Assisi Compilation 9. Cf. Cf. Francis of Assisi: Early Documents Vol.2 eds R. Armstrong, J.A.W. Hellmann, W. Short (New City Press, New York, 2000).
[iv] The Later Rule X:1. Cf. Francis of Assisi: Early Documents Vol.1
[v] Letter to a Minister. Cf. Francis of Assisi: Early Documents Vol.1
[vi] Letter to a Minister. 9.
[vii] Letter to a Minister. 7.
[viii] Letter to a Minister. 8.
[ix] A Letter to the Entire Order 29. Cf. Francis of Assisi: Early Documents Vol.1
[x] Thomas of Celano, The Life of St. Francis 103. Cf. Francis of Assisi: Early Documents Vol.1.
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