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)
Office Phone: 6424 8383 Fax: 6423 5160
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)
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
Prayer Group: Charismatic Renewal – meetings will be held on Monday evenings in the Community Room, Ulverstone at 7pm.
Weekday Masses 10th - 14th April 2017
Monday: 7:00pm Devonport …
Reconciliation
Tuesday: 9:30am Penguin
Wednesday: 9:30am Latrobe 7:00pm
Ulverstone … Reconciliation
Thursday: Refer to Holy Week & Easter Ceremony
Timetable
Friday: Refer
to Holy Week & Easter Ceremony Timetable
Next Weekend 15th & 16th April, 2017
Next Weekend 15th & 16th April, 2017
Easter Vigil: 7:00pm Ulverstone
Easter Sunday: 8:00am Port Sorell 8:00am Penguin
9:30am Ulverstone
9:30am Latrobe
11:00am Sheffield
11:00am Devonport
Easter Sunday: 8:00am Port Sorell 8:00am Penguin
9:30am Ulverstone
9:30am Latrobe
11:00am Sheffield
11:00am Devonport
Ministry Rosters 15th & 16th April, 2017
Devonport:
Readers: Holy Thursday: 1st
reading: A Hughes 2nd reading: R BakerPrayers of the Faithful: V Riley
Good Friday: 1st reading: E
Petts 2nd Reading: H Lim
Passion according to John - Narrator: F Sly
Passion according to John - Narrator: F Sly
Other speaker: A Stegmann
Solemn Intercessions: K Pearce
Easter Sunday: Would somebody volunteer to read on Easter Sunday please and let Kath
know.
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
Apr: P & T
Douglas 21st Apr: K.S.C Piety Shop 15h Apr:
R McBain 16h Apr: P Piccolo
Ulverstone:
Reader/s: E Cox Ministers of Communion: P Steyn, E Cox, C Singline,
C McGrath
C McGrath
Cleaners: M Mott Flowers: E Beard Hospitality: B O’Rourke, S McGrath
Penguin: Greeters: G Hills-Eade, B Eade Commentator: J Barker Readers: Easter Liturgy
Liturgy: Pine Road Care of Church: G Hills-Eade, T Clayton
Ministers of
Communion: T
Clayton, M Murray Setting Up: A Landers
Latrobe: Reader: M Chan Ministers of
Communion: Z Smith, M Mackey Procession of
Gifts: J Hyde
Port Sorell: Readers:
L Post, E
Holloway Ministers of Communion: P Anderson
Clean/Flow/Prepare: B Lee, A Holloway
Readings this week Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord
First reading: Isaiah 50: 4-7
Second Reading: Philippians 2:6-11
Gospel: Matthew 26:14 – 27:66
PREGO REFLECTION ON THE GOSPEL:
From his own experience, St Ignatius knew that we could
only talk about God’s abundant mercy and unconditional love by first placing
ourselves before Jesus on the cross.
Here we see the greatest of loves.
I may like to begin by making the sign of the cross, and then, if I can, place myself before a cross in the presence of this great love.
I read the text slowly.
If it helps, I try to imagine Christ suspended on the cross before me.
I note any feelings arising within me.
What do I sense as I contemplate the Son of God, who has chosen to place himself here because of me?
Is there anything I would like to say to him …?
Or it might be enough simply to be there, in silence, offering him my presence.
Whatever I choose, I know I can trust the Lord, and can talk to him or be with him as friend is to a friend.
I stay with him for as long as I am able.
Again, I note how I feel.
When ready, I end with a slow sign of the cross.
Here we see the greatest of loves.
I may like to begin by making the sign of the cross, and then, if I can, place myself before a cross in the presence of this great love.
I read the text slowly.
If it helps, I try to imagine Christ suspended on the cross before me.
I note any feelings arising within me.
What do I sense as I contemplate the Son of God, who has chosen to place himself here because of me?
Is there anything I would like to say to him …?
Or it might be enough simply to be there, in silence, offering him my presence.
Whatever I choose, I know I can trust the Lord, and can talk to him or be with him as friend is to a friend.
I stay with him for as long as I am able.
Again, I note how I feel.
When ready, I end with a slow sign of the cross.
Readings Next Week – Easter Sunday
First Reading: Acts 10:34, 37-43
Second Reading: Colossians 3:1-4
Gospel: John 20:1-9
Your prayers
are asked for the sick: Vanessa Goodwin, George Archer, David Welch &
…,
Let us pray
for those who have died recently: Daphne Saarman, Rob Jones, Antonio Sciamanna, Fr
Jim McMahon MSC, Adrian (Tom) Sage, Aurea Magsayo, Bonafacia Claveria, Sr Paul Coad MSS, Gwenda Holliday, Lorraine Bowerman, Lola Hutchinson.
Let us pray
for those whose anniversary occurs about this time: 5th – 11th April
Meridith McCormack, Annie McCulloch, Lloyd Goss, Fr Joseph
Howe, Vera Speers, Betty Weeks, James Hannavy, Bob Mahony, John Roach, Patricia Winzinberg, Ferruccio Candotti and
Jenny Deegan. Also relatives and friends of the Sheridan, Bourke and Knight
families.
May they rest in peace
Weekly
Ramblings:
This weekend we enter into Holy
Week leading to the major Feast of the Church – the Triduum – the celebration
of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil and the Resurrection. As we
have mentioned over these past weeks the details of times and places are
included in the newsletter. Again, I would encourage you to make every effort
to be at these celebrations - they really are the centrepiece of our faith life
because they celebrate God’s great love and mercy for us made real in the death
and Resurrection of Jesus.
On Tuesday evening I will be in
Hobart for the Mass of the Chrism – the Mass when I will, together with the
priests gathered around the Archbishop, renew my Priestly Commitment. Even
though it normally means a late night return to the Parish it is one of those
important celebrations that the only time I have missed was when I was overseas
in 2005.
As the nights get darker I am
asking for assistance. Fr Phil doesn’t drive at night so help is needed to get
him to and from Mass at Penguin on Saturday evenings – at least until the
beginning of July. Because we alternate weekends this will mean 6, possibly 7,
occasions when help is needed – times required would be collecting him from the
Parish House about 4.45pm and, depending on how long he preaches (!!!), returning
after Mass getting back to Devonport about 7.30pm. If anyone is able to assist
could you please let me know – 1st trip is 23rd April.
Congratulations to Maly Kramer who
turns 90 this weekend – was good she was able to get to Fr Jim’s Memorial Mass.
Also to Carmel Covington who celebrates her 80th birthday in the next few days.
May God continue to bless you both and keep you safe in the palm of His hand.
Please take care on the roads and in your homes,
Please donate to Project Compassion
2017 and help vulnerable communities in the Philippines learn how to work
together to care for their common home, creating a more secure environment and
a more secure future for their children.
ST VINCENT DE PAUL COLLECTION:
This weekend the St Vincent de Paul collection will be in
Devonport, Ulverstone, Port Sorell, Latrobe and Penguin to assist the work of
the St Vincent de Paul Society.
ST VINCENT DE PAUL
CONFERENCE:
You may like to know what the role
of Conference members is.
If you are interested to learn
about the work and perhaps be willing to become a member we hope to have an
information session in the near future. This would be an informal gathering.
There are three conferences in our region. One is in Ulverstone and two in
Devonport. There is also a Junior Conference at St Brendan Shaw College. They
have 29 members. Our work is very valued in the region and to continue being
able to offer the service more members are urgently needed. If you feel you
would like to join in this information session, please ring our Regional Office
on 6427:7100 and leave your details. I would also like to thank parishioners for
their generous donations to our monthly collection at Mass Centres.
Veronica Riley (Regional President)
EASTER
VIGIL – SACRED HEART CHURCH: Flowers
and greenery are needed to decorate the Church for Easter. If you are able to
assist could you please kindly leave at Sacred Heart Church by 10am Holy
Saturday (15th April). Those attending the Easter Vigil are invited to bring a
plate of food to share for supper after Mass.
MT ST
VINCENT AUXILIARY: will be holding an Easter Cake and Craft Stall
at Mt St Vincent Nursing Home on Wednesday 12th April starting at
9am. All welcome!
DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY (the 2nd Sunday of Easter) is
preceded by a Novena which commences on Good Friday. DMS involves Mass, Confession,
Veneration of the Image of Our Lord and the Divine Mercy prayer. This
year the official DM Mass will be held at Ulverstone on 23rd April
at 9am. DMS is the most amazing Feast Day because Our Lord made an
astonishing promise to those who carry out the simple Novena and DMS requests.
Here are His words to the Polish Nun, Saint Faustina: “I want to grant a complete pardon to the souls that will go to Confession
and receive Holy Communion on the Feast of My Mercy. Whoever approaches the
Fount of Life on this day will be granted complete forgiveness of sins and
punishment. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion will
obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment”. What a promise! This
is the equivalent to a Plenary Indulgence! Don’t miss out – it happens but once
a year and it’s free! For more information on Divine Mercy check it out on the
internet, also pamphlets will be available in Mass Centres. If you would like
to learn more contact Pascale Cotterill 6426:2305
PIETY SHOP
DEVONPORT:
CD’s (Religious) now available $5
each. Baptism gifts, Holy/Congratulations & Anniversary cards also
available.
FOOTY
TICKETS: Round 2 (31st March)
footy margin 23 points – winners; Mary Youd, Christine Singline
PLEASE
TAKE NOTE: WE NEED YOUR HELP!!
Bingo is our biggest weekly fundraiser for our Parish. We desperately need volunteers to
help out! Are you able to join our wonderful volunteers each Thursday evening?
It’s a great way to be involved in this Parish fundraiser, make new and meet
old friends and enjoy a great night out, plus you can play bingo!! Please
contact Annie at the Parish Office on 6424:8383. We urgently need help from 20th
April – 18th May selling tickets 6:15pm – 7:30pm.
No Bingo 13th
April (Holy Week).
MERSEY LEVEN CATHOLIC PARISH
Holy Week & Easter Ceremonies 2017
Holy Week & Easter Ceremonies 2017
Monday 7.00 pm Reconciliation - Devonport
Tuesday 9.30 am Mass - Penguin
(7.30 pm Chrism Mass - Cathedral)
Wednesday 9.30 am Mass – Latrobe
7.00 pm Reconciliation – Ulverstone
Holy Thursday 7.30 pm Mass of the Lord’s Supper – Devonport
Good Friday 10.00 am Stations of the Cross – Port Sorell
11.00 am Stations of the Cross – Latrobe
11.00 am Stations of the Cross – Penguin
11.00 am Stations of the Cross – Sheffield
3.00 pm Commemoration of the Passion – Devonport
3.00 pm Commemoration of the Passion – Ulverstone
Holy Saturday 7.00 pm Easter Vigil – Ulverstone
Easter Sunday 8.00 am Mass – Port Sorell
8.00 am Mass – Penguin
9.30 am Mass – Ulverstone
9.30 am Mass – Ulverstone
11.00 am Mass - Devonport
11.00 am Mass - Sheffield
GOOD FRIDAY
This article is by Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. The original web address here
Good Friday was bad long before it was good, at least from outward appearances. God was being crucified by all that can go bad in the world: pride, jealousy, distrust, wound, self-interest, sin. It’s no accident the Gospels tell us that, as Jesus was dying, it grew dark in the middle of the day. Few images are more telling. As Jesus hung upon the cross, seemingly, light gave way to darkness, love to hatred, and life to death. How can that be good?
Moreover, as he was dying, Jesus no longer seemed divine, powerful, and in control of things, both in terms of what was happening in the world and in what was happening inside of himself. The world was sinking into distrust and, if the Gospels are to be believed, Jesus, the incarnate God, seemed to be sinking into a personal doubt, one so gripping that it triggered the words: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!” What’s happening here? How can this be good?
To understand what happened on Good Friday we need to separate what was happening on the surface from what was happening at some deeper place.
The surface event was bad and can never by any imaginary be called good. Sincere religious people, good though weak, out of fear and weakness were selling out what was best in them and either helping incite the execution of Jesus or standing passively by and letting it happen. In effect, other than a few strong women who were not succumbing to fear or group-hysteria but who are too disempowered to practically do anything about it, everyone was aiding in the crucifixion of God, either out of ignorance, jealousy, or weakness. In Jesus’ own words, darkness was having its hour. The human, social, and political drama that played out on Good Friday was not good. It showed humanity at its worst before God’s seeming silence.
But there was something deeper happening on Good Friday, a drama was playing out inside the recesses of Jesus’ private soul and conscience the result of which was antithetical to all that was happening on the surface, in the crowd. Inside his struggle to accept what was happening in that situation and to accept what was being asked of him, we see the ultimate moral and religious drama: love struggling with and them triumphing over hate, trust struggling with and then triumphing over paranoia, and forgiveness struggling with and then triumphing over bitterness.
We see that epic struggle, first, playing itself out in his agony in the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus literally sweats blood in the face of his options, that is, standing before every form of opposition, hatred, ignorance, and misunderstanding he must decide to either give himself over in trust or to flee in self-preservation. He chooses the former and, we are told, he is then strengthened by a divine presence.
But acceptance is not exactly full surrender and the next day, on Good Friday, the final test takes place. The angel who strengthened him in Gethsemane seems to disappear when he is on the cross and a crushing dark night of doubt now racks him to the point of making him cry out with what seemingly sounds like despair: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!” His acceptance, given to his Father the night before, at this crucial moment, is made infinitely more difficult by the seeming absence of his Father who had, up to now, had been his very breath. In the face of that seeming abandonment, Jesus had to make a choice for faith, love, and trust at the rawest level, in ultimate darkness. What’s the choice? What does Jesus do?
In the words of Karl Rahner, Jesus lets himself “sink into the incomprehensibility of God.” He surrenders to God whom he cannot at that moment feel or understand but only trust. Here’s where Good Friday turns from bad to good, Jesus surrenders himself not in bitterness, grasping, or anger, but in trust, gratitude, and forgiveness. In that surrender, the struggle between good and evil, the most epic of all battles, is won.
Ultimately, all that’s wrong in our world will not be vanquished by a morally superior violence, no matter how virtuous are those who are doing the vanquishing. Good violence will never rid the world of bad violence. We will rid our world of those powers that perennially crucify God only when each of us, like Jesus, can let our bitterness, grasping, and anger give way to trust, gratitude, and forgiveness. And, barring being extraordinarily gifted by special grace, we will all, like Jesus, have to let ourselves sink into the incomprehensibility of God, that is, by trusting even when we don’t understand, by loving even when we are hated, and by forgiving even when we are being hurt.
All of us will have our Good Fridays, not least in our experience of death. By every appearance, they will look bad, but if we give ourselves over in trust they will be good.
Giving Thanks
This reflection is taken from the Daily email series by Fr Richard Rohr OFM. You can subscribe to receive the emails here
Many cultures and religions have a beautiful tradition of
saying a prayer before or after a meal, expressing gratitude and asking for
blessing. If we are accustomed to praying over our food, it may become a rote,
almost thoughtless gesture. Yet it is another opportunity to intentionally open
ourselves to receive and participate in Love. The food is already blessed
simply by its existence. God doesn’t require our words of thanks. But it does
us good to “say grace,” to verbally acknowledge the giving of life—plant and
animal—for our sustenance.
If you have a practice of saying grace, bring greater
awareness and presence to it. Find or create a prayer to voice your gratitude.
This Hindu blessing, from the Bhagavad Gita, is said before meals:
This ritual is One. The food is One. We who offer the food
are One. The fire of hunger is also One. All action is One. We who understand
this are One.
Indeed, it is all One in the immense and undiscriminating
Love that is God.
Reference:
Adapted from Richard Rohr, A Spring Within Us: Daily
Meditations (CAC: 2016), 150.
ROLL AWAY THE STONE- REMOVING BARRIERS TO BELIEF
This statement is taken from the weekly blog by Fr Michael White, Pastor of the Church of the nativity, Timoneum, Archdiocese of Baltimore. His weekly blog can be found here
Jesus came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. Jesus said: “Roll away the stone.” John 11.40
As odd as it sounds, recent statistics consistently show that many people who don’t go to church or describe themselves as religiously unaffiliated, nevertheless still profess a belief in God and a good percentage even pray regularly.
Among other things, what this suggests is a big part of the reason why people don’t come to church are not theological or philosophical reasons, but practical, everyday ones. Anecdotally, our experience at Nativity with the unchurched confirms this is basically true. So what’s the problem?
The reality is, when it comes to doing church, we put up barriers when we should be taking them down. We make it difficult for outsiders to get in because that is more authentic, or Catholic, or whatever misconception we formed. The truth is there are some simple ways to make our churches much more accessible to the unchurched.
Accessible Ministry
Ministry and service is an indispensible part of discipleship and elemental to effective evangelization. But in many churches the ministry structure and schedule is so convoluted and controlled by insiders that newcomers don’t even have a fighting chance. When outsiders realize there’s no room for them, they’re out the door. And who can blame them? At Nativity, our goal is “Every member a minister.” Our core strategy: We make space for them to serve, and then we ask them. No graduate degree required.
This Weekend at Nativity is our big annual ministry push, where we ask those members of our congregation not currently serving to start, and those who are already serving to step up their commitment. But the message is clear: We want you to serve in ministry, and we will make it simple for you.
Accessible Message
Nine out of ten times when you hear the phrase “I’m not being fed,” you can bet they’re talking about hearing a relevant message at Mass.
While everyone has different gifts, every message can have a clear bottom line that actually speaks to people’s felt needs and lived experience. An effective bottom line is achieved by answering two basic questions: “What do we want them to know?” and “What do we want them to do?” The end product is a message our audience is prepared to take home and apply. And if the message matters, you can bet you won’t have to convince them to come back next week.
Accessible Kid’s Programs
I single this one out because time and again, we have come to understand that a key to reaching adults is by creating an excellent children’s ministry. In fact, our ministry push this weekend will have a big focus on our kids and students programs this coming year, which involves a little more commitment but also makes a bigger impact.
The inherited wisdom assumes that it’s simply a good parent’s obligation to bring their kids to church whether they like it or not. But we miss an opportunity by overlooking the evangelizing power that kids have on their parents when they leave with a smile on their face. There’s nothing particularly “theological” about a happy smiling kid, but in the Gospels, it’s always the “religious” adults who seem to put up that barriers that cause Jesus to say, “Let the children come to me and do not prevent them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Matthew 19:14).
The next three or four weekends will be among the biggest of the whole year for most churches. Why not follow the Lord’s instruction and remove some of the obstacles in the way of the unchurched. If you do, you will be able to experience the Lord’s wonderful works.
'Discernment charged with merciful love':
Pope Francis’ Amoris Laetitia, on Love in the Family
Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, published on 8 April 2016, transposes church teaching on marriage and the family from the key of law to that of virtue and should be celebrated, says Nicholas Austin SJ. This powerful new document offers ‘a Gospel-inspired vision of what family life can be, a word of encouragement for those who are not yet there, and above all another example of the discerning way of proceeding that the pope has modelled’. The original article can be found here
The topic of family and marriage in the Church today is often associated with words like ‘crisis’, ‘problems’ and ‘impasse’. In this context, Pope Francis’ latest, much-anticipated document, Amoris Laetitia,[1] ‘The Joy of Love’, is, in contrast, infectious in its enthusiasm and, indeed, its joy.
This apostolic exhortation is the culmination of a process that began on 8 October 2013, when Francis convoked an Extraordinary Synod of Bishops to discuss the pastoral challenges of the family. ‘Extraordinary’ is a word that characterises the whole process since that day, both in the new level of openness to discussion and debate within the synodal process itself, and in the unprecedented consultation of all the faithful. Francis’ intention has not merely been to address the pastoral issues posed by what is widely seen as a crisis in family life, but to lead the Church into a more discerning way of proceeding, one that respects the role of the Bishops and also listens for the voice of the Holy Spirit expressed in the hearts and minds of the lay faithful. These reforms alone are an extraordinary contribution to the life of the Church.
What does Francis say about how best to respond to the challenges facing marriage and the family in the 21st century? Does he have solutions for those whose situations do not fit the Church’s teaching on marriage? Whatever commentators may say, or wish Francis had said, he is not changing Church teaching, as he goes out of his way to explain. Nor does he offer a set of rules, let alone a raft of new permissions. Rather, what he gives the Church is a Gospel-inspired vision of what family life can be, a word of encouragement for those who are not yet there, and above all another example of the discerning way of proceeding that he has modelled from his first days in office as leader of the Catholic Church throughout the world.
Those on either side of what the media have liked to portray as a polarised debate will be disappointed. Anyone looking for a ‘progressive’ or ‘liberal’ pope will feel as let-down as those hoping for a straightforward reaffirmation of the status quo. The pope’s attempt to address the complex issues of the family in the 21st century Church is all the more valuable because he transcends the lazy polarities that are used too often to characterise discussions within the Church. In the kind of striking image that we have come to expect from this pope, he refers to the bishops’ discussions as ‘a precious polyhedron shaped by many legitimate concerns and honest questions’. Francis insists on the many-sided, complex nature of the problem, and therefore resists viewpoints that cling too tightly only to one side of the truth. Because he is a holistic thinker, he consistently works to integrate opposites. When it comes to moral and pastoral issues, Francis is therefore neither ‘revisionist’ nor ‘traditionalist’, but simultaneously faithful, honest and creative. The result is one, the pope is happy to remark, that ‘everyone should feel challenged by’.
What, then, more concretely, are the contributions of Amoris Laetitia to pastors and above all to family life? The media will no doubt focus on what is said (or not said) about the ‘neuralgic issues’ such as second marriages, gay unions, reproductive technology, feminism. However, Francis believes that the pastoral effort to strengthen marriages is an even more urgent need than the response to cases that fall short of the ideal. The way in which the text addresses this theme, and humbly acknowledges how the Church has fallen short in its own attempts to do this, is something to be celebrated. While the contested questions cannot be ignored, to skip straight to those passages where the pope tackles many of them head on would be to marginalise what is really the central piece of the whole document, the chapter on love, based on the famous ‘hymn to love’ in 1 Corinthians 13. It is there that we must begin.
The primacy of love
The Pauline hymn to love, which paints a portrait of love by expanding upon the virtues it exemplifies and the vices it avoids, is a natural choice for Francis, given his reiterated emphasis upon the virtues. He sees the Year of Mercy as an invitation to all families ‘to persevere in a love strengthened by the virtues of generosity, commitment, fidelity and patience.’[2] He commends the virtue of tenderness to both spouses and pastors, as something that can ‘stir in the other the joy of being loved.’[3] He notes the importance of cultivating virtues in the upbringing of children. He warns against vices such as those of envy, vainglory and resentment. And he appeals to many other virtues, such as those of forgiveness, kindness, humility and joy. So Francis’ selection of scriptural text expresses his desire to speak about marriage above all in the key not of law, but of virtue, of character, of the kind of persons we are called to become through grace.
To take just one example, we can look at his interpretation of Paul’s claim that ‘love is not rude’. Francis takes this as an occasion to expand upon the virtues of courtesy and gentleness. Courtesy, he notes, is an ‘essential requirement of love’, and is a kind of school of respect, sensitivity and disinterestedness. [4] In referring to the ‘gentleness of love’ he talks of the need to speak words of ‘comfort, strength, consolation, and encouragement.’[5] In this, Christ is, as ever, our exemplar:
These were the words that Jesus himself spoke: ‘Take heart, my son!’ (Mt 9:2); ‘Great is your faith!’ (Mt 15:28); ‘Arise!’ (Mk 5:41); ‘Go in peace’ (Lk 7:50); ‘Be not afraid’ (Mt 14:27). These are not words that demean, sadden, anger or show scorn. In our families, we must learn to imitate Jesus’ own gentleness in our way of speaking to one another.[6]
We are so familiar with St Paul’s hymn to love that it can appear merely sentimental. In passages such as these, Francis, breaks open the word for us afresh, and shows in a down-to-earth way how it is relevant to us all.
There is no doubt that Francis attends carefully to the Synod Fathers, and throughout the document he quotes from them liberally. At the same time, the scriptural reflection on love is new material, not present in the bishops’ final report. It is as though Pope Francis is saying that, once we get into the depths of what family life and marriage are about, we cannot talk about them merely under the rubric of canon law or a law-based moral theology. As he puts it, ‘All that has been said so far would be insufficient to express the Gospel of marriage and family, were we not also to speak of love.’[7]
Chapter Four, on ‘Love in Marriage’, is the beating heart of the whole document, and it is only when we attend to it and take its ideas on board that we can then hope to address the difficulties that affect so many families and marriages today. As Francis himself says, ‘Our teaching on marriage and the family cannot fail to be inspired and transformed by this message of love and tenderness; otherwise, it becomes nothing more than the defence of a dry and lifeless doctrine.’[8]
Francis’ Triptych: Discernment, Gradualness and Mercy
Francis paints an inspiring picture of what the gospel of family proclaims, and of what family, at its best, can be. Yet he recognises that it is also necessary to address the manifold ways in which the reality does not always measure up to the ideal. It is clear that Francis wants to avoid being drawn into legalistic thinking, whether of a ‘conservative’ or ‘liberal’ hue. Given the ‘immense variety of concrete situations’[9] a new set of laws will not do justice to the complexity of the issues facing the family today. What, then, does Francis offer in its place?
In the beautiful medieval churches of Europe, one often finds an altarpiece in the form of a ‘triptych’: a central painting complemented by two ‘wings’. What Francis offers is a kind of triptych of discernment, gradualness and mercy. That is, he offers a practice, a principle and a virtue. Together these three panels, as it were, form the basis for a pastoral response to the crisis in marriage and the family. Each has appeared in the pope’s previous teaching, but here we begin to see more clearly how they cash-out, and how, when used in concert and applied to particular questions, they have the potential to make a real difference in the life of the Church.
The central panel of Francis’ triptych is the practice of discernment. Discernment is a keystone of Jesuit life and Ignatian spirituality, and therefore one that is ‘second nature’, in the best sense, for Francis. This is not the first time Francis has mentioned the practice, and discernment is a hermeneutical key for reading his pontificate to date: his reform of the Synodal process to incorporate free discussion and consultation more fully, for example, is a manifestation of his desire for a discerning Church. Discernment is something that is known more by practice than book knowledge: it is a more personal and spiritual form of insight, one that requires the virtues of attentiveness, empathy and love, and which develops a feel for the action of the Holy Spirit in human experience. Here is Francis’ own attempt to describe it, from his interview for the Jesuit journals: ‘Discernment is always done in the presence of the Lord, looking at the signs, listening to the things that happen, the feeling of the people, especially the poor.’ [10] In Amoris Laetitia, however, there is a further clarification of the importance of discernment for pastoral practice, especially by description of what it is not. Discernment, Francis tells us, is not applying ‘rigid classifications’[11] and so pigeonholing people (e.g. ‘divorced’ or ‘remarried’ or ‘living in sin’). Nor is discernment a straightforward application of general norms without regard for concrete and personal situations. Finally, discernment it is not a rigour that ‘leaves no room for confusion’[12] or ‘thinking that everything is black and white’[13]. Discernment, rather, is not threatened by complexity. Francis, therefore, enunciates the following ‘not enough’ rule: to consider whether an action conforms to a general law ‘is not enough to discern’.[14] Religious solicitude for the law, for all its earnestness, can never on its own ensure fidelity to God in the life of an individual human person. Respect for the rule book can never eliminate the need for an attentive heart that is ‘open to God and to others’.[15]
One implication of the practice of discernment is that the teaching Church, like all good teachers, is asked to step back a little to create a breathing space for an individual to do his or her own discernment. Francis notes that a new set of canonical, universal rules cannot substitute for ‘responsible personal and pastoral discernment of particular cases’.[16] He therefore explicitly warns against expecting too much by way of definitive rulings from the teaching office of the Church. Indeed, he frankly states at the very outset of the document, ‘I would make it clear that not all discussions of doctrinal, moral or pastoral issues need to be settled by interventions of the magisterium.’[17]
Since Francis values discernment, it is not surprising to find him placing a special accent on conscience. He worries that we struggle to ‘make room’ for the consciences of the lay faithful who are quite capable, he insists, of doing their own discernment. Neither the magisterium nor pastors should substitute for the role of the individual’s conscientious discernment: ‘We have been called to form consciences, not to replace them.’[18]
To complement the practice of discernment, Francis proposes the principle of gradualness, the second panel of his pastoral triptych. This principle has a long history in Catholic moral theology, was affirmed by John Paul II in Familiaris Consortio[19] and applied by Pope Benedict XVI in his comments on HIV/AIDs prevention.[20] It is based on the insight that moral development is a step-by-step process that may not happen all at once. Moral education therefore requires a ‘patient realism’[21] in educators and pastors. Pastoral practice informed by this principle does not merely proclaim eternal truths, but accompanies a person, meeting each where she or he is now, and encourages them to take a small step, the next step. It’s a delicate balance: going to where a person actually is, and at the same time hanging on to the moral ideal.
Despite its firm roots in the tradition, some worry that the principle of gradualness slides all too easily from ‘the law of gradualness’ to ‘the gradualness of the law’, for this approach does not ask a person to leap forward in one go to the fullness of what the Church teaches. When used with discretion, however, gradualness maintains both the objectivity of the moral law and the equal objectivity of a person’s actual situation, which may prevent immediate and complete change. Francis, in Evangelii Gaudium, had put it memorably: ‘A small step, in the midst of great human limitations, can be more pleasing to God than a life which appears outwardly in order but moves through the day without confronting great difficulties.’[22] In Amoris Laetitia Francis points out once again that the principle of gradualness, when employed with discernment, can help us to conform ourselves to what God wants, not in the abstract, but in the concrete and often somewhat chaotic situation in which we may find ourselves. For, through conscientious discernment, we can recognise with confidence what ‘for now’ God is asking.[23]
Gradualness is an attitude that sees both the shades and the lights in morally messy situations, and therefore coheres well with discernment’s comfort with complexity. For example, the pope refers to second marriages that are ‘consolidated over time, with new children, proven fidelity, generous self giving, Christian commitment, a consciousness of its irregularity and of the great difficulty of going back without feeling in conscience that one would fall into new sins.’[24] One might also think here, for example, of the relationship that Dorothy Day, the peace activist and co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement to whom Pope Francis paid tribute in his speech to the United States Congress,[25] had prior to entering the Catholic Church. While she eventually made the decision in conscience to leave a partner to whom she was not and could never be married, looking back she recognised that the love that had characterised that relationship had helped her come closer to God and even to take the final step of being received into the Church. Francis states forthrightly, ‘I sincerely believe that Jesus wants a Church attentive to the goodness which the Holy Spirit sows in the midst of human weakness’.[26]
No doubt the trust Francis places in the capacity of individuals and pastors to make their own discernment will cause anxieties that he is communicating a kind of ‘I decide what is right for me’ mentality. Francis is aware of the danger. For true pastoral discernment, both genuine discretion and love for the Church and her teaching must be present. Nor is it about abandoning the general principles of morality that are known by reason and taught by the magisterium. However, as Francis points out, and a close reading of Thomas Aquinas’s moral theology confirms, moral judgment mediates between general principles and the astute perception of particular circumstances. Morality is not mathematics, and while the Church affirms some universal, exceptionless prohibitions, it is always necessary to apply moral principles in a way that fits the particularities of the case, and to do that requires good judgement. As Francis puts it, ‘It is true that general rules set forth a good which can never be disregarded or neglected, but in their formulation they cannot provide absolutely for all particular situations.’[27] Francis advocates neither a rigid legalism nor a lax permissiveness, but rather a principled sensitivity to the particular.
The final panel of Francis’s triptych is that of the virtue of mercy, and the closely related idea of integration or inclusion into the community. ‘Mercy’ in contemporary English suggests something to do with mitigating the harshness of a judicial procedure, a kind of clemency or leniency. Yet what Francis has in mind is something much richer and more important. As moral theologian James Keenan SJ explains, mercy is ‘the willingness to enter into the chaos of another, to answer them in their need.’[28] It is what the Good Samaritan, for example, exemplifies in the parable. Francis considers it ‘timely’[29] and even ‘providential’[30] that the discussion about the family takes place in the Holy Year of Mercy. The Church should follow the example of Christ who went in search of everyone without any exception: ‘She knows that Jesus himself is the shepherd of the hundred, not just of the ninety-nine.’[31] To manifest mercy in pastoral practice is not to dilute the Gospel message. For, ‘We put so many conditions on mercy that we empty it of its concrete meaning and real significance. That is the worst way of watering down the Gospel.’[32] He has characteristically strong words for attitudes of judgementalism or superiority, and warns against a ‘closed heart of one used to hiding behind the Church’s teachings’.[33] His hope is for a Church that is ‘a sign of mercy and closeness wherever family life remains imperfect or lacks peace and joy.’[34] Above all, he advocates ‘a pastoral discernment filled with merciful love’.[35]
The divorced who have entered a second union
We have looked at the principles that underlie Francis’ treatment of moral and pastoral issues; now it is time to turn to a particular question to see what they look like in practice. One of the key difficulties that led to the Synods on family life was how to respond to members of the Church who are divorced and have married again civilly. How best can they be offered pastoral care? One hotly contested issue has been the question of whether those in a second marriage should be admitted to Holy Communion; another, whether the advice to such people to live as ‘brother and sister’ (i.e. without sexual relations) is realistic or helpful. Francis, we have seen, insists that a solution in the form of a general norm will not be adequate to the polyhedral nature of the issue. Instead, he employs the triptych of discernment, gradualness and mercy to offer something better than a general rule.
One application of the principle of mercy is the task of integrating and including the civilly remarried in the life of the Church. Francis insists, for example, ‘It is important that the divorced who have entered a new union should be made to feel part of the Church. “They are not excommunicated” and they should not be treated as such, since they remain part of the ecclesial community.’[36] The ‘logic of pastoral mercy’[37] is the ‘logic of integration’[38] or inclusion, and Francis, following the Synod Fathers, speaks of the necessity of going beyond the ‘various forms of exclusion currently practised in the liturgical, pastoral, educational and institutional framework’ of the Church. The civilly remarried in particular ‘need to feel not as excommunicated members of the Church, but instead as living members, able to live and grow in the Church and experience her as a mother who welcomes them always, who takes care of them with affection and encourages them along the path of life and the Gospel.’[39]
Concerning the contested issue of communion, it is necessary here to read the text with some care. I therefore offer a full quotation, with the footnote in square brackets:
Because of forms of conditioning and mitigating factors, it is possible that in an objective situation of sin – which may not be subjectively culpable, or fully such – a person can be living in God’s grace, can love and can also grow in the life of grace and charity, while receiving the Church’s help to this end. [In certain cases, this can include the help of the sacraments. Hence, “I want to remind priests that the confessional must not be a torture chamber, but rather an encounter with the Lord's mercy” (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium [24 November 2013], 44: AAS 105 [2013], 1038). I would also point out that the Eucharist “is not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak” (ibid.,. 47: 1039).] Discernment must help to find possible ways of responding to God and growing in the midst of limits.[40]
Here, Francis stops short of positively affirming that reception of communion for the civilly remarried is acceptable; yet it seems to me equally clear that, applying the principles of discernment, integration and gradualness, he leaves it open as a possibility in certain cases. With regard to gradualness, his point is that a person in such a situation can be growing in God’s grace, and therefore clearly not in ‘a state of mortal sin’ as the old moral manualists would have had it; and that it would therefore be wrong to deny such a person the assistance of the sacraments which the Church can offer, including that of the Eucharist. With regard to discernment, the need is to recognise mitigating factors, and the difference between objective sin and subjective culpability, as well as what the realistic ‘next step’ for such a person is. As he puts it a little earlier in the document, referring to ‘“irregular” situations’:
A subject may know full well the rule, yet have great difficulty in understanding “its inherent values”, or be in a concrete situation which does not allow him to act differently and decide otherwise without further sin.[41]
One can imagine that a person in a second marriage could be in such a situation, in which separation might be just such a ‘further sin’, against the second spouse and against the children.
What I am suggesting, then, is not that Francis is advocating communion for the civilly remarried tout court, but rather that he is giving space for a discernment informed by mercy to be open to it in some cases. “Which cases, exactly?”, the legalist will ask, having failed to hear what the Pope is actually saying. This is the point: it is impossible to define all the possible factors and considerations fully in a general way in an exact formula. There will certainly be cases where it is important to challenge a person who is behaving in an unacceptable manner. But what is required is a discernment informed both by a love for the Church and its teaching, and by a capacity informed by mercy and wisdom to sense the way forward for this person here and now.
What about the traditional advice to the remarried, affirmed by John Paul II in Familiaris Consortio, that they should live ‘as brother and sister’, i.e. without sexual relations? The importance of the topic and the subtlety of Francis’ answer make it necessary to quote in full:
The divorced who have entered a new union, for example, can find themselves in a variety of situations, which should not be pigeonholed or fit into overly rigid classifications leaving no room for a suitable personal and pastoral discernment. One thing is a second union consolidated over time, with new children, proven fidelity, generous self giving, Christian commitment, a consciousness of its irregularity and of the great difficulty of going back without feeling in conscience that one would fall into new sins. The Church acknowledges situations “where, for serious reasons, such as the children’s upbringing, a man and woman cannot satisfy the obligation to separate”. [JOHN PAUL II, Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio (22 November 1981), 84: AAS 74 (1982), 186. In such situations, many people, knowing and accepting the possibility of living “as brothers and sisters” which the Church offers them, point out that if certain expressions of intimacy are lacking, “it often happens that faithfulness is endangered and the good of the children suffers” (SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 51).][42]
Once again, Francis is not giving a blanket permission, but creates the space for personal and pastoral discernment. The Church can offer as a possible way forward staying together for the sake of the children, but living ‘as brother and sister’, and those who do so, often at some personal cost, are to be commended. Yet Francis notes that some will make the obvious reply that a lack of sexual relations can be a grave threat to a partnership, since, as the Church’s teaching emphasises, sexuality has a unitive role in a loving relationship. It could therefore be one of those cases in which mercy, discerning what is possible ‘for now’, might indicate a different route for pastoral advice than the traditional frater-soror solution.
Some may object that this whole approach of gradualness, mercy and discernment, runs the risk of watering down the teaching of the Church on the indissolubility of a consummated, sacramental marriage. Yet what Francis shows is that an approach that does not integrate these principles itself can imperil true fidelity to the living tradition of the Church. ‘Understanding in the face of exceptional situations never implies dimming the light of the fuller ideal, or proposing less than what Jesus offers to the human being’.[43] Once again we see Francis’ approach to the difficult questions facing the Church in the contemporary world: one that is simultaneously deeply faithful to the tradition, uncompromisingly honest and realistic about the current situation, and refreshingly imaginative and creative in its response.
A transposition into a different key
It would be a shame if the media (including the Catholic media) were to read this powerful new document against the background of the polemical ‘progressive versus conservative’ narrative which plagued coverage of the Synods themselves. This is a rich and complex piece of teaching. It is also a breath of fresh air. It contains an acknowledgement of the positive contribution of the women’s movement which betokens a more positive rapprochement with feminism.[44] Above all, however, a patient and attentive reading, which the pope recommends,[45] will offer hope and insight to many; families, pastors and the Church as a whole will benefit from what Pope Francis is saying.
It is impossible in a short space to deal adequately with every aspect of Pope Francis’ Amoris Laetitia. I have tried to show how Francis insists that the Christian teaching on marriage must always begin with a positive and attractive vision. I have argued that, with regard to situations that do not correspond to the Church’s ideal, Francis allows a breathing space for a formed conscience and for the pastoral triptych of discernment, gradualness and mercy. We looked briefly at the question of those who are divorced and have entered a second union.
The media will want to know: does Francis change the doctrine of the Church? I would say that Francis does not change the content of church teaching on marriage and family; he transposes it from the key of law to that of virtue, and makes the primacy of love clearer once again. He does not abandon the rules of the Church, but it is clear now, as it was when he first took office and washed the feet of a Muslim girl in a prison on Holy Thursday, that for Pope Francis, as it should be for us, the first and living rule is the person of Jesus Christ, his humility, his gentleness, his joy and his love.
Nicholas Austin SJ teaches Ethics at Heythrop College, University of London.
[1] Pope Francis, Amoris Laetitia (2016): http://w2.vatican.va/content/dam/francesco/pdf/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20160319_amoris-laetitia_en.pdf
[2] Amoris Laetitia (henceforth AL), §5.
[3] AL, §323
[4] AL, §99
[5] AL, §100
[6] AL, §100
[7] AL, §89
[8] AL, §59
[9] AL, §300
[10] ‘A Big Heart Open to God’, Thinking Faith (19 September 2013): https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20130919_1.htm
[11] AL, §298
[12] AL, §308
[13] AL, §305
[14] AL, §304
[15] ‘A Big Heart Open to God’
[16] AL, §300
[17] AL, §3
[18] AL, §37
[19] Pope John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio (1981): http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_19811122_familiaris-consortio.html
[20] Pope Benedict XVI, Light of the World (Ignatius Press, 2010)
[21] AL, §271-273
[22] Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium (2013), §44: http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html
[23] AL, §303
[24] AL, §298
[25] Pope Francis, Address to the United States Congress (24 September 2015): https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2015/september/documents/papa-francesco_20150924_usa-us-congress.html
[26] AL, §308
[27] AL, §304
[28] James Keenan SJ, ‘The scandal of mercy excludes no one’, Thinking Faith (4 December 2015): https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/scandal-mercy-excludes-no-one
[29] AL, §5
[30] AL, §309
[31] AL, §309
[32] AL, §311
[33] AL, §305
[34] AL, §5
[35] AL, §312
[36] AL, §243
[37] AL, §307-12
[38] AL, §299
[39] AL, §299
[40] AL, §305
[41] AL, §301
[42] AL, §298
[43] AL, §307
[44] AL, §54
[45] AL, §7
THE CRIES OF GOOD FRIDAY
Taken from the blog - ALONG THE EDGE - by Fr Val Farrell. The original blog can be found here
Rome was not near; Rome was far away. But then again Rome was not far away, for Rome was the world and Rome could hear.
As in so many other places, great and small, the citizens of Jerusalem knew about Rome. Rome was everywhere. The emperor might well be holidaying on the cliffs at Capri, but the long arm of Roman law was none the weaker for that.
The Money changers at the temple gates knew it; Caesar's image glistened at them from the offerings of the people. The High Priests and the Sadducees knew it; they struggled to keep the balance between the traditions of their people and the demands of Rome. The ordinary people knew it; daily they found themselves press-ganged into working for their conquerors. Pilate knew it; his reports must never cause the Emperor the slightest concern, there was more than his job at stake.
Rome was not near, Rome was far away; and then again Rome was not far away, for Rome could be very near indeed, and Rome could hear.
Jerusalem was filling up. It was Passover. A tricky time Passover, for it unearthed memories of great triumph and future hope. The national myth could be a potent force. Given a careless spark, there could be trouble. The soldiers were alert. These feasts attracted all sorts of fringe elements, gangs that could so easily disturb the Pax Romana.
One troublemaker was already in prison awaiting sentence; a robber named Barabbas. Funny name that Bar/abbas. Someone said it meant Son of the Father, in the Jewish tongue. Well that's these foreigners for you.
Now there was another buzz in the air. Some chap had arrived to something close to a hero's welcome. There had been some kind of welcoming party for him, waving of branches, shouts of "Hosanna" and "Son of David", whatever all that meant. Honestly, if these people could see a proper victory parade in Rome! They’re pathetic. Apparently some early arrivals in the city had brought news that this Jesus had raised someone from the dead. That was enough to get the crowd excited. Their heads were full of confused ideas about some kind of "King figure” who would come and save them. They were forever clutching at straws.
Still Pilate knew he could not ignore the cry from the streets. Sharp ears and swift decisive action could always avoid the necessity of an embarrassing report to Rome. Not only the cry from the streets, of course: Palestine was an odd sort of place with a religion quite unlike Rome. The place was steeped in traditions that governed every area of life. The main Jewish parties, Pharisees and Sadducees, exercised an anxious vigil over the balance between Rome and Judaism. It would be very unwise to be deaf to their observations.
What was it that high priest Caiaphas was so fond of saying: “It is better that one man die for the people, than for the whole nation to be destroyed?" Shrewd man, it made a lot of sense to sacrifice one Hothead to keep Rome quiet. Still it might not come to that especially now that one of the fellow's disciples had started showing signs that he might be willing to betray him. Pilate would watch his back; he would wait and listen.
But time and events do not always allow for the preferred option. Over the next few hours Pilate's ears were assailed by cries that demanded an answer. Whatever welcoming party there had been for this man, had simply melted away. Thick and fast the cries came: “Not this man, but Barabbas", "If he were not a criminal, we should not be handing him over to you", "Crucify Him, Crucify Him", and, most alarming of all, " we have no king but Caesar". They were serious, they wanted him dead and they knew just how to make Pilate nervous.
Still, even if he did have to compromise yet again with these people and bend to their wishes, he would have his own say. Pilate arranged for the cry of Rome to be pinned above the victim’s head. No! He would not change it. There it stayed for all the world to see: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews”.
The city was quieter now; there were no longer any cries from the streets. In Jerusalem, God's city, his people were going home. What had had to be done, was done. Now it was time for Passover. Time to pray.
So it was that there were very few to hear the final cry of that day, a day that had known cries of all kinds. This cry came not from the crowds, nor from the Jewish hierarchy, but from the man on the cross. Strangely, in spite of his weakness, it sounded for all the world, like a cry of victory. "It is accomplished" he said and bowed his head. Few heard it in the holy city, the city of the prophets, but in time Rome would hear it, and Rome was the world.
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