Mersey Leven Catholic Parish
To be a vibrant Catholic Community
unified in its commitment
to growing disciples for Christ
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: Jenny Garnsey
Parish Mass times for the Month: mlcpmasstimes.blogspot.com.au
Weekly Homily Podcast: mikedelaney.podomatic.com
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 sick or in need of assistance in the Parish please visit them. Then, if they are willing and give permission, could you please pass on their names to the Parish Office. We have a group of parishioners who are part of the Care and Concern Group who are willing and able to provide some backup and support to them. Unfortunately, because of privacy issues, the Parish Office is not able to give out details unless prior permission has been given.
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Archdiocesan Website: www.hobart.catholic.org.au for news, information and details of other Parishes.
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.
Eucharistic Adoration - Devonport: Every Friday 10am - 12noon,
concluding with Stations of the Cross and Angelus
Benediction with Adoration Devonport:
- first Friday of each month.
Legion of Mary: Wednesdays 11am Sacred Heart Church
Community Room, Ulverstone
Christian Meditation: Wednesdays 7pm.
Prayer Group: Charismatic Renewal – beginning
Monday 20th March meetings will be held in the Community Room, Ulverstone
commencing at 7pm. PLEASE NOTE No meeting on 6th & 13th
March.
Weekday Masses 7th - 10th March,
2017 Next Weekend 11th & 12th March, 2017
Tuesday: 9:30am Penguin Saturday Vigil: 6:00pm Penguin
Wednesday: 9:30am Latrobe Devonport
Thursday: 10:30am Eliza Purton Sunday Mass: 8:30am Port Sorell 12noon Devonport 9:00am Ulverstone
Friday: 9:30am Ulverstone 10:30am Devonport
11:00am Sheffield
5:00pm Latrobe
Ministry Rosters 11th & 12th March, 2017
Devonport:
Readers: Vigil: M Gerrand, M Gaffney, H Lim 10:30am
F Sly, J Tuxworth
Ministers of Communion: Vigil B & B
Windebank, T Bird, J Kelly, R Baker, Beau Windebank
10.30am: S Riley, M
Sherriff, R Beaton, D & M Barrientos
Cleaners 10th
March: M & L
Tippett, A Berryman 17th March: B Bailey, A Harrison, M Greenhill
Piety Shop 11th
March: L Murfet 12th March: D French
Ulverstone:
Reader: M McLaren Ministers of Communion: B Deacon, J Allen, G Douglas, K Reilly
Cleaners: M
McKenzie, M Singh, N Pearce Hospitality:
R Clarke
Penguin:
Greeters: G Hills-Eade, B Eade Readers: J Garnsey, Y Downes Ministers of Communion: E Nickols, T Clayton
Liturgy: Sulphur Creek C Setting Up: F Aichberger Care of Church: G Hills-Eade, T Clayton
Latrobe:
Reader: M Eden Minister of
Communion: P
Marlow, M Kavic Procession of gifts: M Clarke
Port Sorell:
Readers: G Bellchambers, G Duff Ministers of
Communion: B Lee Clean/Flow/Prepare: V Youd
Readings this week First Sunday of Lent
Second Reading: Romans 5:12-19
Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11
PREGO REFLECTION ON THE GOSPEL:
I might like to pray this Gospel with the help of my
imagination, asking for the help of that same Spirit who led Jesus into the
desert. I take time to come to some inner stillness, then read the text a few
times. I imagine the scene: the desert, the heat, the loneliness of Jesus. I
may place myself here too, perhaps as one who walks alongside Jesus in his
temptations, offering him the support of my presence. I watch Jesus and listen
to him, noting what strikes me. How does he face the brashness of the devil?
From where does his confidence come? I read the text again. Perhaps I choose to
ask: Where is that same Spirit leading me, whatever I may be facing? Do I feel
inclined to follow? I may also feel drawn to ponder the reaction of Jesus to
the empty promises made by the devil. How would I like to respond when faced
with my own temptations? I speak to the Lord about the way I feel. I end by
asking that I might be aware of the presence of the Spirit alongside me and
within me, during this coming week, and throughout the whole of Lent.
Readings next week Second Sunday of
Lent
First reading: Genesis 12:1-4
Second Reading: 2 Timothy 1:8-10
Gospel: Matthew
17:1-9
David Welch & …,
Let us pray for those who have died recently: Sr Mary of the Trinity, Keith Harrison,
Bill Masterson, Connie Fulton, Eileen Costello, Terri-Anne Horne and Anne Barnard,
Aileen Reynolds and Annenaka Kramer.
Bill Masterson, Connie Fulton, Eileen Costello, Terri-Anne Horne and Anne Barnard,
Aileen Reynolds and Annenaka Kramer.
Let us pray
for those whose anniversary occurs about this time: 1st – 7th
March
Michael Sturgess, Darryle Webb, Aileen Hill, Sr Jodie
Hynes, Glen Halley Snr,
Pat Chisholm, Pauline Lamprey, Romualdo Bibera Snr, Barbara Moncrieff and Doris Roberts.
Also Damian & Gregory Matthews, McLennan & Cunningham Families.
May
they rest in peace
Weekly
Ramblings
As
we have now commenced Lent there are a number of things that I would like to
bring to your attention.
·
Each Friday
evening at 7pm at both Our Lady of Lourdes and Sacred Heart Churches there will
be a celebration of the Stations of the Cross;
·
This weekend a
copy of Archbishop Julian’s Lenten Pastoral Letter is available and I would
encourage everyone to take a copy home;
·
Lenten Rules:
We are to abstain from meat, and fasting, on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. All
who have completed their 18th year and have not yet begun their 60th year are bound to fast. All who have completed their
14th year are bound to abstain.
·
The common
practice of penance is fulfilled by performing any one of the following:
·
a) Prayer – for
example, Mass attendance; family prayer; a visit to a church or chapel; reading
the Bible; making the Stations of the Cross; praying the rosary.
·
b) Self-denial
– for example, not eating meat; not eating sweets or dessert; giving up
entertainment to spend time with the family; limiting food and drink so as to
give to the poor of one’s own country.
·
c) Helping
others – for example, special attention to someone who is poor, sick, elderly,
lonely or overburdened.
Due
to other commitments the Parish Office will be closed next Thursday 9th March –
open Tuesday & Wednesday.
There
will be movement in and around Emmaus House commencing next week so
unfortunately all future bookings and use of the facilities will need to come
to an end. Steps have been or are being taken to try and minimize any
inconvenience to various groups. If you have any difficulties please contact
the Parish Office.
Each
Year we assist Grans Van for one month of Sunday nights. Please see the note
opposite to see how you might be able to assist this special ministry within
our Community.
Unfortunately
our phone system has been effected by gremlins in recent weeks and we are still
no nearer to working out the problem. If you come through to my mobile don’t
panic, we will deal with your need asap.
Please take care on the roads and in your homes,
Mersey Leven Parish Community welcome
and congratulate
Casey Youd, son of Jesse & Sarah-Jayne
on his Baptism this weekend.
Like many of her neighbours in her rural
village in the Philippines, Dinia struggled to feed and educate her children,
and the struggle worsened after her husband’s untimely death. But, with the
help of a program supported by Caritas Australia, she now has the skills to
earn a better income for her children and help her neighbours in her vulnerable
community.
Please donate to Project Compassion 2017
and help people in rural areas of the Philippines develop their strengths and
build better futures for their families and their neighbours.
OUR LENTEN LITURGY IN 2017:
Our words, actions and music in the liturgy lead us ever
deeper into the paschal mystery this Lent:
- After
the introduction, Mass begins with the priest greeting from the rear of
the church and then proceeds while Kyrie
Eleison or Lord have mercy is
sung. On the 1st, 3rd and 5th Sundays of
Lent, the Rite of Sprinkling (Asperges) may take place during the singing
of the Kyrie. The name
‘Asperges’ comes from the first word in the 9th verse of Psalm 51 in
the Latin translation, the Vulgate.
- By
the use of violet/purple vestments. Violet recalls suffering, mourning,
simplicity and austerity.
- By
having moments of silence before and after the readings and after the
homily RGIRM (2007) 45.
- At
the breaking of the bread (the Fraction Rite) there will be a short
narrative before intoning the Lamb of God
- By
the absence of flowers due to the penitential nature of the season.
- There
is no recessional hymn (at the end of Mass). The congregation leaves the
church in silence after the celebrant.
- There
is no Gloria or Alleluia verse (replaced by a Gospel acclamation).
- Images
are veiled immediately before the 5th Sunday of Lent in
accordance with local custom.
- On
the 4th Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday) flowers are permitted
as well as music (eg music – that is musical instruments – being played
during preparation of the gifts, or during the communion procession). Rose
vestments may be worn on this Sunday.
LENTEN PROGRAM 2017 which began on 2nd March will now be held at Parish
Hall Devonport next to the Church. We will meet for the next five weeks from
Thursday 9th March to 6th April at 10am until 11:30am. Contact Clare Kiely-Hoye 6428:2760
GRAN’S VAN:
The month of April has again been
allocated to our Parish to assist with Gran’s Van on the five Sundays in that
month. Help is required as follows, (a) cooking a stew, (meat will be
supplied), (b) assisting with the food distribution, (c) driving the van.
Helping with (b) and (c) would take about two hours of your time 6:30pm –
8:30pm. If you are able to assist with any of the above please contact Lyn
Otley 6424:4736 or Shirley Ryan 6424:1508.
OLOL READERS ROSTER:
Please collect a new roster from the sacristy, there is a
mistake on page 2 of your present roster.
ST VINCENT DE PAUL COLLECTION:
Next weekend in Devonport, Ulverstone, Port Sorell, Latrobe
and Penguin to assist the work of the St Vincent de Paul Society.
MT ST VINCENT AUXILIARY will be holding a
garage sale early April. The auxiliary would be very grateful for any donations
which can be dropped off at 2/16 Jermyn Street, Ulverstone or phone 6425:1712.
SACRED HEART CHURCH ROSTER:
If you are
interested in being a reader, minister of communion or able to help with church
cleaning, flowers or hospitality please phone the Parish Office on 6424:2783 or
contact Barbara O’Rourke.
Thursday Nights - OLOL Hall,
Devonport. Eyes down 7.30pm!
Callers for Thursday 9th
March Tony Ryan & Terry Bird.
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE
ARCHDIOCESE:
FATHER EDWARD ZAMMIT
OFM 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF ORDINATION:
Thanksgiving Mass
on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of Ordination of Father Edward Zammit
OFM Saturday 11th March, 11.00am at Our Lady Star of the Sea Church,
33 Goulburn Street, George Town. A light luncheon will follow in the parish hall.
RSVP would be appreciated to assist with catering to Fr Edward 6382:1489
or Mrs Wendy Harrap on 6304:2829 or email Mrs Wendy Fittler - wfittler@bigpond.com.
YOUTH PILGRIMAGE TO ST
PATRICK’S, COLEBROOK:
On the weekend of 18th/19th March,
Archbishop Porteous is leading a Youth Pilgrimage from St John’s Richmond to St
Patrick’s Colebrook. For more information and a copy of the brochure, please
contact Helen Smith at the Archdiocese of Hobart on phone 6208:6223.
THE JOURNEY CATHOLIC RADIO
PROGRAM:
Each week The Journey includes a
variety of inputs from amazing people both local and international
locations. This week we have Wisdom from the Abbey with Sr Hilda Scott;
Trish McCarthy in her Milk & Honey segment talking about Resolution
(repeat) And Fr Dave Callaghan with “the Call” reminding us to Beware the Yeast
of the Pharisees (repeat). Add to that some great music and you’ve got a
show that is all about faith, hope love and life. Go to www.jcr.org.au or www.itunes.jcr.org.au where you can
listen anytime and subscribe to weekly shows by email.
Newsletter items must be received before 12noon
Wednesday 8th March – thank you.
OF VIRTUE AND SIN
This article is by Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. The original article can be found here
There’s an axiom which says: Nothing feels better than virtue. There’s a deep truth here, but it has an underside. When we do good things we feel good about ourselves. Virtue is indeed its own reward, and that’s good. However, feeling righteous can soon enough turn into feeling self-righteous. Nothing feels better than virtue; but self-righteousness feels pretty good too.
We see this famously expressed in Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the Publican. The Pharisee is practicing virtue, his actions are exactly what they should be, but what this produces in him is not humility, nor a sense of his need for God and mercy, but self-righteousness and a critical judgment of others. So too for all of us, we easily become the Pharisee: Whenever we look at another person who’s struggling and say, There but for the grace of God go I, our seeming humble gratitude can indicate two very different things. It can be expressing a sincere thanks for having been undeservedly blessed or can just as easily be expressing a smug self-righteousness about our own sense of superiority.
Classical spiritual writers like John of the Cross, when talking about the challenges we face as walk the way of discipleship, speak about something they call: The faults of those who are beyond initial conversion. What they highlight is this: We are never free from struggle with sin. As we mature, sin simply takes on ever more subtle modalities inside us. For example, before initial maturity, what we’ve classically called the seven deadly sins (pride, greed, envy, lust, anger, gluttony, and sloth) express themselves in us in ways that are normally pretty crass and overt. We see this in children, in adolescents, and in the immature. For them, pride is plainly pride, jealousy is jealousy, selfishness is selfishness, lust is lust, and anger is anger. There’s nothing subtle or hidden here, the fault is out in the open.
But as we overcome these sins in there crasser forms they invariably take on more subtle forms in our lives. So that now, for instance, when we’re humble, we become proud and self-righteous in our humility. Witness: Nobody can be more smug and judgmental than a new convert or someone in first fervor.
But sin too has its complexities. Some of our naïve ideas about sin and humility also needed to be critically examined. For example, we sometimes nurse the romantic notion that sinners are humble, aware of their need for forgiveness, and open to God. In fact, as a generalization, this is true for the gospels. As Jesus was preaching, it was the Pharisees that struggled more with his person and message, whereas the sinners, the tax collectors and prostitutes, were more open to him. So this can pose a question: Does sin, more than virtue, make us aware of our need for God?
Yes, when the sin is honest, humble, admitted, and contrite or when our wrong actions are the result of being wounded, taken advantage of, or exploited. Not all sin is born morally equal: There’s honest sin and dishonest sin.
As human beings, we’re weak and lack the moral strength to always act according to what’s best in us. Sometimes we just succumb to temptation, to weakness. Sin needs no explanation beyond this: We’re human! Sometimes too, people are caught in sinful situations which are really not of their own making. They’ve been abused, made to live in sinful circumstances not of their own choosing, are victims of trafficking, are victims of unjust familial or social situations, or are too-deeply wounded to actualize their own moral faculties. In situations like this, wrong action is a question of survival not of free choice. As one woman described it to me: “I was simply a dog, biting in order not to be bitten.” In these cases, generally, beneath an understandably hardened, calloused surface lies a still innocent heart that clearly knows its need for God’s mercy. There’s such a thing as honest sin.
But there’s also sin that’s not honest, that’s rationalized, that’s forever buffered by a pride that cannot admit its own sinfulness. The result then, most often, is a hardened, bitter, judgmental soul. When sin is rationalized, bitterness will invariably follow, accompanied by a hatred towards the kind of virtue from which it has fallen. When we rationalize, our moral DNA will not let itself be fooled. It reacts and punishes us by having us hate ourselves. And, when someone hates himself, that hatred will issue forth in a hatred of others and, more particularly, in a hatred of the exact virtue from which he has fallen. For example, it’s no accident that a lot of people having adulterous affairs have a particular cynicism towards chastity.
Finding ourselves as weak and sinful can soften our hearts, make us humble, and open us to receive God’s mercy. It can also harden our souls and make us bitter and judgmental. Not every sinner prays like the Publican.
Virtue makes us grateful. Sin makes us humble.
That’s true. Sometimes.
Nature: Week 1
This article is taken from the daily email series by Fr Richard Rohr OFM. You can subscribe to these emails by clicking here
The Christification of
the Universe
The bread that I will
give is my flesh for the life of the world. —John 6:51
Jesus the Christ did not talk in this truly shocking way
(see John 6:60) so we could worship bread and wine. He came so that we would
recognize his presence in all things, not just in the human body of Jesus, not
just in the human body of God’s people (1 Corinthians 12:12ff), but even in the
nurturing elements of the earth, symbolized by the ubiquitous food of bread and
wine (1 Corinthians 11:23ff), and therefore to the very edges of creation
(Romans 8:19). The mystery that was made personal and specific in Jesus was
revealed as the shape of the entire universe. [1] What else could the universe
be but “the body of God”? Think about it. The Incarnate One is the stand-in for
“everything in heaven and everything on earth” (Ephesians 1:10). This is not a
competing religious statement as much as a highly symbolic metaphysical plan
“from the beginning,” “from the foundation of the world” (see Ephesians 1).
God is not just saving people; God is saving all of
creation. It is all “Real Presence.” We could call it the primordial
“Christification” or anointing of the universe at Creation. This is not
pantheism (God is everything), but panentheism (God is in everything!). Such a
central message of cosmic incarnation was never seriously taught in the
Western, overly individualistic church, except by a few like Hildegard of
Bingen (1098-1179), Francis of Assisi (1181-1226), and Bonaventure (1221-1274).
It was much more common in the Eastern Church, especially in early scholars and
mystics like Maximus the Confessor, Gregory of Nyssa, and Symeon the New
Theologian.
Inspired by the more contemporary mystic scientist, Pierre
Teilhard de Chardin, Franciscan sister and scientist Ilia Delio writes:
Christ invests himself organically within all creation,
immersing himself in things, in the heart of matter, and thus unifying the
world. The universe is physically impregnated to the very core of its matter by
the influence of his superhuman nature. Everything is physically “christified,”
gathered up by the incarnate Word as nourishment that assimilates, transforms,
and divinizes. [2]
From the way we treat the planet, other humans, and
sometimes even ourselves, it seems we don’t understand or really believe this.
When you don’t recognize that the Christ Mystery is universal, that God is
present in—and is saving—all of creation, you can choose what you respect and
what you disrespect, what you love and what you hate. The full Gospel takes
away from you any power to decide and discriminate where God is and where God
isn’t. The old Baltimore Catechism answered the sixteenth question, “Where is
God?” quite clearly: “God is everywhere.” But we never really believed it!
References:
[1] See the last two weeks of meditations on the Cosmic
Christ, beginning with October 23, 2016.
[2] Ilia Delio, The Unbearable Wholeness of Being: God,
Evolution, and the Power of Love (Orbis Books: 2013), 79.
Adapted from Richard Rohr, “The Christification of the
Universe,” a homily at Holy Family Parish, August 16, 2015, Center for Action
and Contemplation, https://cac.org/christification-of-the-universe/.
Infinite Presence,
Infinite Love
When he considered the primordial source of all things, [St.
Francis] was filled with even more abundant piety, calling all creatures, no
matter how small, by the name of brother and sister, because he knew they had
the same source as himself. —Saint Bonaventure (1221-1274) [1]
If Christianity would have paid attention to the teachings
and example of Jesus and Francis, our planet—“Mother Sister Earth,” as Francis
called her—would perhaps be much healthier today. But it took until the 21st
century for a pope to write an entire encyclical, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our
Common Home, making this quite clear and demanding.
We have not honored God’s Presence in the elemental,
physical world. We made God as small as our own constricted hearts. We just
picked and chose, saying, “Oh, God is really only in my group, in baptized
people, in moral people, etc.” Is there that little of an Infinite God to go
around? Do we have to be stingy with God? As Isaiah put it “the arm of God is
not too short to save!” (59:1). Why pretend only we deserve God, and not other
groups, religions, animals, plants, the elements, Brother Sun, and Sister Moon?
It just won't sell any more.
God is saving creation and bringing all creatures back where
they began—into union with their Creator. God loves everything that God has
made! All created things God proclaimed “good” (see Genesis 1:9-31 and Wisdom
11:24-12:1). But we, with our small minds, can’t deal with that. We have to
whittle God and Love into small parts that our minds can handle and portion
out. Human love is conditional and operates out of a scarcity model. There’s
not enough to go around, just like Andrew said about the boy’s five loaves and
two small fish (John 6:9). Humans can’t conceptualize or even think infinite or
eternal concepts. We cannot imagine Infinite Love, Infinite Goodness, or
Infinite Mercy.
Tertullian, a third century Father of the Church, often
called the first Christian theologian, said “enfleshment is the hinge of
salvation.” [2] We don’t come to the God Mystery through concepts or theories
but by connecting with what is—with God’s immediate, embodied presence which is
all around us. I want you to begin to notice that almost all of Jesus’ common
stories and examples are nature based and relationship based—and never once
academic theory! (Fr. Thomas Berry [1914-2009] taught the same way in our time,
and I hope to share his work much more in my writings and teachings in the
future.)
We have not recognized the one Body of Christ in creation.
Perhaps we just didn’t have the readiness or training. There is first of all
the seeing, and then there is the recognizing; the second stage is called
contemplation. We cannot afford to be blind any longer. We must learn to see
and recognize how broad and deep the Presence is if we are to truly care for
our common home.
References:
[1] Bonaventure, The Life of Saint Francis, trans. Ewert
Cousins (HarperCollins: 2005), 84.
[2] Tertullian, “Caro salutis est cardo,” from De
resurrectione carnis (Treatise on the Resurrection), 8, 2.
Adapted from Richard Rohr, “The Christification of the Universe,”
a homily at Holy Family Parish, August 16, 2016, Center for Action and
Contemplation, https://cac.org/christification-of-the-universe/; and
Taking Heart in Tough Times, disc 2 (CAC: 2009), no longer
available.
Creation as the Body
of God
The universe itself
can be understood as the primary revelation of the divine. —Thomas Berry
[1]
The incarnation of God did not only happen in Bethlehem two
thousand years ago. That is just when some of us started taking it seriously.
The incarnation actually happened approximately 13.8 billion years ago with a
moment that we now call “The Big Bang" or the First Manifestation. At the
birth of our universe, God materialized and revealed who God is. Ilia Delio
writes: “Human life must be traced back to the time when life was deeply one, a
Singularity, whereby the intensity of mass-energy exploded into consciousness.”
[2] This Singularity provides a solid basis for inherent reverence, universal
sacrality, and a spiritual ecology that transcends groups and religions.
St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) stated, “The immense
diversity and pluriformity of this creation more perfectly represents God than
any one creature alone or by itself.” [3] However, for some reason, perhaps
human self-absorption, Christians thought humans were the only creatures that
God cared about, and all else—animals, plants, light, water, soil, minerals—was
literally just “food” for our own sustenance and enjoyment. I do not believe
that the Infinitely Loving Source we call God would or could be so stingy and
withholding.
God created millions of creatures for millions of years
before Homo sapiens came along. Many of these beings are too tiny for us to see
or have yet to be discovered; some have seemingly no benefit to human life; and
many, like dinosaurs, lived and died long before we did. Why do they even
exist? A number of the Psalms say that creation exists to reflect and give
glory to God. The Jewish people already had a kind of “natural theology.” God
has chosen to communicate God’s very Self in multitudinous and diverse shapes
of beauty, love, truth, and goodness, each of which manifests another facet of
the Divine. (See Job 38-39, Wisdom 13:1-9, Romans 1:20.)
Christians must realize what a muddle we have gotten
ourselves into by not taking incarnation and the body of God seriously. As
Sally McFague, a Christian theologian, says so powerfully, “Salvation is the
direction of all of creation, and creation is the very place of salvation.” [4]
All is God’s place, which is our place, which is the only and every place.
Our very suffering now, our crowded presence in this nest
that we have largely fouled, will soon be the one thing that we finally share
in common. It might be the one thing that will bring us together politically
and religiously. The earth and its life systems, on which we all entirely
depend, might soon become the very thing that will convert us to a simple
lifestyle, to a necessary community, and to an inherent and natural sense of
the Holy. We all breathe the same air and drink the same water. There are no
Native, Hindu, Jewish, Christian, or Muslim versions of the universal elements.
They are exactly the same for each of us.
References:
[1] Thomas Berry, The Christian Future and the Fate of the
Earth, eds. Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books,
2009), 67.
[2] Ilia Delio, The Unbearable Wholeness of Being: God,
Evolution, and the Power of Love (Orbis Books: 2013), 180.
[3] Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica 1.47.1.
[4] Sally McFague, The Body of God: An Ecological Theology
(Fortress Press: 1993), 287.
Adapted from Richard Rohr, “Creation as the Body of God,” in
Spiritual Ecology: The Cry of the Earth, ed. Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee (The Golden
Sufi Center: 2013), 235-241.
Created to Love
In the fourth century, St. Augustine (354-430), an official
Doctor of the Church (meaning his teaching is considered reliable), said, “the
church consists in the state of communion of the whole world.” [1] Wherever we
are connected, in right relationship—you might say “in love”—there is the
Christ, there is the authentic "body of God" revealed. This body is
more a living organism than any formal organization.
Non-human creation is invariably obedient to its destiny.
Animals and plants seem to excitedly take their small place in the “circle of
life,” in the balance of nature, in the dance of complete interdependence. It
is only we humans who have resisted our place in “the one great act of giving
birth” (see Romans 8:22), even though we had the most powerful role! Humans, in
fact, have frequently chosen death for themselves and for so many other
creatures besides. We are, by far, the most destructive of all species. As St.
Hildegard of Bingen (also a Doctor of the Church) writes:
Human beings alone are capable of disobeying God’s laws,
because they try to be wiser than God. . . . Other creatures fulfill the
commandments of God; they honor [God’s] laws. . . . But human beings rebel
against those laws, defying them in word and action. And in doing so they
inflict terrible cruelty on the rest of God’s creation. [2]
Jesus clearly taught that if we seek first God’s kingdom and
the universal law of love (“love God and love one another,” Matthew 22:37-40),
all the rest would take care of itself (see Matthew 6:33). We would no longer
blatantly defy the laws of nature but seek to live in harmony and
sustainability with Earth and all her creatures. This radical lifestyle demands
a sense of inherent dignity that is granted by God and not an off-and-on
dignity determined by egocentric humans.
As Homo sapiens ("Wise Humans"), we should have
taken our place as what Teilhard de Chardin called “the pinnacle of evolution”
or “the rocks come to consciousness.” Then we could join with the rest of
creation in obedience to our unique and full destiny. In poet Gerard Manley
Hopkins’ words:
Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:
. . . myself it speaks and spells,
Crying What I do is me: for that I came. [3]
When we get the “who” right and realize that who I am is
love, then we will do what we came to do: Love God and love all that this God
has created. I firmly believe that grace is inherent to creation and not an
occasional additive, and that God and goodness—not Armageddon—have both the
first and final word, which we call divine creation and final resurrection.
References:
[1] Augustine, “Ecclesiam in totius orbis communion
consistere,” from De unitate ecclesiae (On the unity of the Church), XX, 56.
[2] Hildegard of Bingen: Devotions, Prayers & Living Wisdom,
ed. Mirabai Starr (Read How You Want: 2008), 43-44.
[3] Gerard Manley Hopkins, “When Kingfishers Catch Fire,”
Gerard Manley Hopkins: Poems and Prose (Penguin Classics: 1985), 51.
Adapted from Richard Rohr, “Creation as the Body of God,” in
Spiritual Ecology: The Cry of the Earth, ed. Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee (The Golden
Sufi Center: 2013), 235-241.
The Soul of All Things
Apprehend God in all
things, for God is in all things.
Every single creature
is full of God and is a book about God.
Every creature is a
word of God.
If I spent enough time
with the tiniest creature—even a caterpillar—
I would never have to
prepare a sermon.
So full of God is
every creature.
—Meister Eckhart [1]
Creation itself is the first and primary face of God. The
world itself is the universal religion that precedes all organized religions.
Do you really think that God would not have made God’s Self available to the
Stone Age people and all historical peoples who were created in “the image and
likeness of God,” just like all of us? We monotheists should have been the
first to recognize this because we believe in “one God who created all things!”
Or was God just waiting for the Catholics and Evangelicals
to come along? Unfortunately, when we Catholics came, we loved to build fancy churches,
without any encouragement from Jesus, I might add; and we went quickly inside
them, disconnecting our minds and hearts from the natural world, probably
because the natural world seemed wild and dangerous to us. Our very word
profane comes from pro, meaning “in front of,” and fanum, meaning “temple.” We
thought we lived “outside the temple.” Without a nature-based spirituality, it
was a profane universe, bereft of Spirit, so we had to keep building shrines
and churches to capture and hold our now domesticated and tamed God. Soon we
did not know where to look for the divine. We became like fish in a huge ocean
looking for water, and often arguing about who owned the water!
Again, note that I’m not saying God is all things
(pantheism), but that each living thing reveals some aspect of God’s presence;
God is both greater than the whole of our universe, and as Creator
interpenetrates all created things (panentheism). No exceptions. The Judeo-Christian conviction
about this was so total, that the ancient myths even had Lucifer created by God
(Isaiah 14:12-15) and Satan in the divine council (Job 1:6-12).
St. Francis is the earliest recorded Christian to grant
animals and objects subjectivity, mutuality, even naming them as sister and
brother. He could talk and listen to them. Few Christians are trained to see
all created things in this way, subject to subject. Yet it is the heart of all
contemplative seeing. We were told animals didn’t have souls. I fully disagree.
Love is at the core of all beings. When you know this, as
Thomas Berry says, the world becomes “a communion of subjects more than a
collection of objects,” [2] to state it quite perfectly and profoundly.
When you love something, you grant it soul, you see its
soul, and you let its soul touch yours. You have to love something deeply to
know its soul. Before the resonance of love, you are largely blind to a thing's
meaning, value, and its power to literally save you. In fact, until you can
appreciate and even delight in the ecstatic wag of a dog’s tail and other such
ubiquitous signals, I doubt if you have discovered your own soul.
References:
[1] Earth Prayers: 365 Prayers, Poems, and Invocations from
Around the World, eds. Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon (HarperOne: 1991),
251.
[2] Thomas Berry, The Sacred Universe (New York: Columbia
University Press), 86.
Adapted from Richard Rohr, A New Cosmology: Nature as the
First Bible, disc 2 (CAC: 2009), CD, MP3 download.
5 REASONS GROWING CHURCHES KEEP GROWING
Taken from the Pastor's Blog by Fr Michael White. The original blog can be found here
Churches that are focused on something other than growing disciples eventually stop growing. That’s where a lot of churches are today. But if a church is healthy, there’s no real reason why it should stop growing both wider and deeper. That’s the vision we believe God has for his Church. Here are 5 of the common denominators why healthy growing churches keep growing.
A Committed and Cohesive Leadership Team
Jesus called his Apostles, shared with them his mission and ministry, and went out to set the world on fire. Even if Jesus could have done it alone, he didn’t- he brought his word through a team. Even with an important and well-defined mission, no organization can last long without effective leadership. Spending time and resources developing your church leadership team might seem unnecessary, but growing churches know that the health of the leadership sets the tone for the health of the congregation.
An Uncompromising Vision for Reaching the Unchurched
When they stop being a church for the unchurched. Other churches like the idea of reaching out but remain uncommitted to taking the necessary steps. Growing churches remain uncompromising when it comes to making the unchurched their priority; it sets the agenda for everything they do.
A Clear Discipleship Path
You can’t grow if you have nowhere to go. Many people in the pews are hungry to find ways to grow spiritually but their church simply has no clear or simply strategy. In growing churches where there is a clear discipleship pathway, there is always a “Next Step.” At Nativity, we literally call these our “Next S.T.E.P.S.” Growing churches believe no one is ever done growing as a disciple and are committed to making that possible.
A Constantly Adapting Social Media Strategy
Many of the great revolutions in the history of Christianity revolved around a revolution in communication technology (books, printing press, computers). We are living in such a time, the digital revolution, and having a Social media strategy is critically important if we are going to make an impact. Growing churches not only seek to keep up with the bare minimum but actively look for innovative ways to communicate their presence.
Small Groups Focused on Life Change
There is nothing more irresistible and inspiring than witnessing life change. We are convinced that the kind of lasting life change that keeps churches growing happens in small groups. And while Bible and study groups can be greatly useful, we’ve realized that ultimately Bible studies focus more on sharing ideas while effective small groups focus on sharing life. The former might lead to some growth for a short time, but any community that is producing life change is going to keep growing.
The living desert of Lent
Thinking Faith’s Lenten reflections this year will take us into the desert, as we look at how and why it is so often a place of encounter with God and of transformation. James Hanvey SJ introduces the desert as a living memory within the Christian tradition – what does it mean to be people of the desert, and why might there be a heightened awareness of that during Lent? The original of this article can be found here
Some years ago, I had the opportunity to visit the Negev while on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. I was completely unprepared for its severe beauty and grandeur, which touched the soul as well as the body. I also realised that far from being a place of sterility, the desert was alive: not just because it contained life in so many different forms, but it was somehow itself alive. Such an environment does not make many concessions to human needs and living there must be as precarious as the shifting sand itself. Yet, somehow it has the power to call; to offer some sort of hard freedom, learning to live on the edge of survival in vastness that cannot be secured or controlled. The desert is an environment that haunts us and manages to inhabit our inner space as much as it defines a place. In its own way, the desert forces us to be nomads, for the only way to live there is to journey, making use of the sparse resources without exhausting or destroying them. These landscapes cannot be shaped by our hands to fit some image in our mind; they sculpt us as their sands, now still, now driven, mould us into forms the desert itself prefers. The demands the desert makes upon all its nomadic inhabitants soon erode any romantic illusions and teach us the preciousness, the simplicity, the fragility and resilience of life.
One cannot be a Christian without the desert entering into one’s life in some way. It is integral to the Old Testament and the very way in which Israel comes to know itself and its God. The desert is not only a physical presence, it becomes the locus of knowledge and encounter. Above all, it is experienced as a place of purification when Israel not only repents of its idolatry but experiences the desert pedagogy of God’s loving mercy. In the symbolic 40 years in which it wanders in the desert, Israel comes to experience God’s hesed, God’s loving care that provides water and food. The nation comes to know in a way that goes beyond codes and rituals that it truly is God’s people – this God, a living god, who is Lord of the desert and of history. Israel learns that it is only this God who can be trusted, and so grows in loving, faithful dependence. Out of the desert comes purification, knowledge and, above all, freedom. In the desert, Israel comes to know God in a new way, by living the covenant which the law itself cannot fully express or contain. In the desert, Israel’s journey of repentance is uncovered as a journey of love, a journey of lived holiness. The solitude is not emptiness but consecration, and the wandering not a lostness but a path of faith. In a different key and in a different way, the desert is a new theophany without which the covenant of Sinai would have been broken and impossible to regain. For Israel, the desert is a place of renewal, not only through the rediscovery of God’s power and majesty but through the realisation of the greater glory of God’s merciful loving faithfulness. Even when the physical journey ceases in the new land of promise, the inner journey always remains because we can never be done with the need of forgiveness and the wisdom of the desert. The experience is inscribed upon Israel’s heart and in its memory, which becomes a well of hope and vision against destruction and despair. The prophets renew it, for they recover this desert time as a time of love; it is even echoed in the Song of Songs.
The memory is present right at the beginning of Jesus’s ministry. The Spirit ‘drives’ him into the desert. This is more than some symbolic recapitulation of a narrative memory: it is Jesus’s time of consecration. Here, too, he experiences the desert as a place of encounter with the illusions and temptations of evil, and the loving providence of God’s creation. Each of the temptations represent some alternative way of accomplishing the messianic vision. Each way is rejected as false because it is either a subtle test of God or a rejection of God. Underneath the serpentine wisdom of the tempter is the lure of blasphemy, for the temptations are all centred on the glorification of the ‘I’, not on service of God. Jesus does not engage in any debate or exegetical point scoring but in each case asserts the absolute sovereignty God and his dependence upon God alone. It is a magisterial demonstration of true sonship and fidelity, which already prefigures Gethsemane. It is in the desert that the gospels first introduce us to the profound struggle with evil that lies at the heart of Jesus’s mission. In the desert, we see evil unmasked and defeated, and so we are quietly taught that in all our desert struggles we have nothing to fear if we remain truly in God’s hands.
The great eremitical tradition of the Church, whether it is in the movement of Desert Fathers or in the later seclusion of the contemplative life, was never a flight from the world but a journey for the world. There, in the desert, is the place of encounter; to learn again not only the deceptions of evil – personal, social and cosmic – but to experience the presence of God and to glorify the divine work of redemption. Far from being a place of sterility and death, the desert is discovered as the place of renewal and strength; the place, interior as well as exterior, where we can begin again and return to bring life to the world.
This memory of the desert comes to the fore during the season of Lent, a time of renewal in which we can come to unclutter our lives and learn to live simply in loving dependence upon the Father. It is a time when the Spirit can lead us, bringing us to a deeper freedom and generosity of service, showing us how to be sources of life in the great man-made deserts of our society. The desert is also a moment of renewal of our covenant with creation itself. We can come to see how little we really need, how our culture inflates our desires to make us consumers, yet must always keep us wanting more. The desert of Lent gives us the freedom to rest from the drivenness of the markets or the addictions to the net. In the desert of Lent, we can begin to experience the ‘shalom’ of Easter.
James Hanvey SJ is Master is Campion Hall, University of Oxford.
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