Mersey Leven Catholic Parish
To be a vibrant Catholic Community
unified in its commitment
to growing disciples for Christ
Parish Priest: Fr Mike Delaney
Mob: 0417 279 437
Mob: 0417 279 437
Assistant Priest: Fr Paschal Okpon
Mob: 0438 562 731
paschalokpon@yahoo.com
Priest in Residence: Fr Phil McCormack
Mob: 0437 521 257
Mob: 0437 521 257
Postal Address: PO Box 362
Parish Office: 90 Stewart Street
(Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10am - 3pm)
Office Phone: 6424 2783 Fax: 6423 5160
Email: merseyleven@aohtas.org.au
Secretary: Annie Davies / Anne Fisher
Pastoral Council Chair: Jenny Garnsey
Parish Mass times for the Month: mlcpmasstimes.blogspot.com.au
Archdiocesan Website: www.hobart.catholic.org.au for news, information and details of other Parishes.
Parish Prayer
Heavenly Father,
and calling us to serve as your disciples.
as we use our gifts to serve you.
as we strive to bear witness
to the Gospel and build an amazing parish.
Amen.
Our Parish Sacramental Life
Eucharistic Adoration - Devonport: Every Friday 10am - 12noon, concluding with Stations of the Cross and Angelus
Weekday
Masses 17th - 20th April
No weekday Masses – All Priests away attending Plenary
Weekend Masses 21st & 22nd April, 2018
Saturday Vigil: 6:00pm Penguin
Sunday Mass: 8:30am Port Sorell
9:00am Ulverstone
11.00am Sheffield
5:00pm Latrobe
Ministry Rosters 21st & 22nd April, 2018
Devonport:
Ulverstone:
Penguin:
Setting Up: F Aichberger Care of Church: Y & R Downes
Port Sorell:
Readings this week – Third Sunday of Easter
PREGO REFLECTION:
I come to my place of prayer, placing myself gently in the
presence of my risen Lord.
After reading the Gospel slowly a couple of times, I
may put myself in the upper room with the disciples – listening excitedly to
the account of Emmaus, them speaking of Jesus – and suddenly he is here.
How do
I feel? How do I react?
Am I brave enough to touch him?
What can I say to him?
I sit quietly, or maybe I ponder some of these questions.
I listen to his
words.
Do they bring me peace?
Jesus speaks of the scriptures.
Are Christ’s
death and resurrection central for me?
As a forgiven sinner am I ready to be
his witness?
How can I do this in my life?
I speak from my heart, before ending
my prayer with gratitude.
Readings next week – Fourth Sunday of Easter
Your prayers
are asked for the sick: Joy Kiely, Vic Slavin & …
Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Laurie
Fox, David Welch, Brian Corbett, Katy Freeman, Phil
Tuckett, Joseph Healy
Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs
about this time: 11th – 17th April
Weekly
Ramblings
Firstly I would like to express my thanks to all those who
responded to my invitation to support Fr Cris and his community in Cebu
following the fire which destroyed all their possessions early in March. I was
able to forward $1,700 (in excess of 64,000 Pesos) to his superior, Monsignor
Fred Kriekenbeek, this Tuesday. Thank you.
During this coming week all 3 priests will be gathering with
all the Clergy of the Archdiocese for 5 days of Professional Development. This
event occurs every two years and provides an opportunity for us to explore ways
in which we can more faithfully witness to what it means to be a priest in the
21st C. The main sessions will be led by Fr Kevin Lenehan, a priest of the
Diocese of Ballarat and Senior Lecturer in Theology at Catholic Theological
College, Melbourne. The theme of the week is Proclaim the Word, Minister the Sacraments, Gather the Scattered People
of God. We will be returning on Friday afternoon.
This weekend we have two big events happening. On Sunday
afternoon we have the Introduction to the Ministry of Hospitality. This will
take place in the Community Room at Ulverstone commencing at 2pm. I extend an
invitation to everyone to come and join us as we continue our journey to grow
in our understanding of what we can be as a Parish.
Next Sunday, 22nd, there will be a session for
Lectors, also at the Community Room at Ulverstone and also commencing at 2pm.
I’m not sure whether this is a relevant comment or not but footballers like
Dusty Martin, Buddy Franklin, Patrick Dangerfield do pre-season training every
year even though they are accomplished players and superstars. What I am
suggesting is that even the very best need to prepare and train so this session
for Lectors is a part of our efforts to support lectors in their ministry and
enhance how we celebrate the Proclamation of the Word at Mass.
Please take care on the roads and we look forward to seeing you next weekend.
Happy 6th Birthday to Zara Omogbai-Musa
on Wednesday 18th April.
REMINDER:
INTRODUCTION TO
HOSPITALITY/MINISTRY: This Sunday 15th
April 2pm - 4pm in the Community Room Ulverstone.
PARISH YOUTH GATHERING: This Sunday
15th April, 5pm at Parish House, 90 Stewart Street, Devonport. It’s going to be fun and spirit filled for ages 15 to 35.
ONGOING TRAINING FOR THE MINISTRY OF LECTORS: – Sunday 22nd April 2pm
- 4pm Community Room Ulverstone.
MACKILLOP HILL SPIRITUALITY CENTRE
SPIRITUALITY
IN THE COFFEE SHOPPE -
Monday 30th April, 10.30am – 12 noon. A great
opportunity over a cup of tea or coffee to share the joys and struggles of
faith and life. See you there! No booking necessary!
MARGARET SILF
NB. Venue and times now
confirmed!
Ulverstone
Thursday 24th May, 7pm – 9pm - “The Stories that Shape Us”
– reflecting on the precious gift of imagination which enables us to shape
stories and narratives in our search for meaning and understanding in our
lives. Some are life-giving, some
control and seduce us and others endure and grow as we grow.
Ulverstone
Friday 25th May 10.30am – 12.30pm - “Born to Fly” – how we, too, like the
caterpillar’s metamorphosis, are in the process of transformation – invited to
be co-creators of a different kind of future for humanity.
Book now! Phone 6428:3095
or email: rsjforth@bigpond.net.au. Cost $20.00 per session.
ST MARY’S CHURCH PENGUIN
Everyone welcome to soup, sandwich and sweets after 6pm Vigil Mass at St Mary’s Church Penguin on Saturday 21st April. There will be a variety of delicious homemade soups provided, and we ask if parishioners could bring a plate of sandwiches or a dessert to share.
FOOTY
TICKETS:
BINGO - Thursday Nights - OLOL Hall, Devonport. Eyes down 7.30pm!
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE:
GOOD
SHEPHERD SUNDAY – 22nd April
On this World Day of Prayer for Vocations, Fr Ruben
Martello FSF will lead a Holy Hour praying for vocations to the priesthood and
consecrated life especially for our Archdiocese at the Carmelite Monastery,
7 Cambridge St., Launceston, from 2:15pm – 3:15pm. All are welcome to join
the Carmelite Community in prayer for this important intention.
TASMANIAN CATHOLIC YOUTH
FESTIVAL:
THE
AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS CONFERENCE’S PROCLAIM CONFERENCE ON PARISH RENEWAL
AND EVANGELISATION: will be held in Brisbane,
12-14 July, 2018. Focus areas: Leadership, Culture Change, Young People,
Belonging and Evangelisation. Early bird registrations available until 22
April. For information: http://proclaimconference.com.au/
For those with limited finances, partial sponsorship is available via the
National Centre for Evangelisation, email: director@nce.catholic.org.au
THE JOURNEY
CATHOLIC RADIO PROGRAM – AIRS 15 April 2018
Today belief in God is often seen as a naiveté. For many, believing in God is like believing in Santa and the Easter Bunny, nice, something for the kids, a warm nostalgia or a bitter memory, but not something that’s real, that stands up to hard scrutiny and indeed stands up to the dark doubts that sometimes linger below the surface of our faith. Where’s there evidence that God exists?
A true apologetics, I believe, needs at a point to be personal. So here are my own reasons why I continue to believe in God in the face of the agnosticism of our overly-adult world and despite the dark nights that sometimes beset me.
First, I believe in God because I sense, at the deepest level of my being, that there’s an inalienable moral structure to things. Life, love, and meaning are morally-contoured. There’s an inalienable “law of karma” that’s experienced everywhere and in everything: good behavior is its own happiness, just as bad behavior is its own sorrow. Different religions word it differently but the concept is at the heart of all religion and is in essence the very definition of morality: The measure you measure out will be the measure that’s measured back to you. That’s Jesus’ version of it, and can be translated this way: The air you breathe out is the air you will re-inhale. Simply but: If we cut down too many trees we will soon be breathing in carbon monoxide. If we breathe out love, we will meet love. If we breathe out hate and anger we will soon enough find ourselves surrounded by hated and anger. Reality is so structured that goodness brings goodness and sin brings sin.
I believe in God because blind chaos could not have designed things this way, to be innately moral. Only an intelligent Goodness could have built reality this way.
My next reason for believing in God is the existence of soul, intelligence, love, altruism, and art. These could not have emerged simply from blind chaos, from billions and billions of cosmic bingo chips coming out of nothing, with no intelligent loving force behind them, endlessly churning through billions of years. Random chaos, empty of all intelligence and love from its origins, could not have eventually produced soul and all that’s highest inside it: intelligence, love, altruism, spirituality, and art. Can our own hearts and all that’s noble and precious within them really be just the result of billions of fluke chances colliding within a brute, mindless process?
I believe in God because if our hearts are real than so is God.
Next, I believe in God because the Gospel works – if we work it. What Jesus incarnated and taught ultimately resonates with what’s most precious, most noble, and most meaningful inside of life and inside each of us. Moreover, this checks out in life. Whenever I have the faith and courage to actually live out the Gospel, to roll the dice on its truth, it always proves to be true, the loaves multiply and feed the thousands and David defeats Goliath. But it doesn’t work unless I risk it. The Gospel works, if we work it.
The objection could be raised here, of course, that many sincere, faith-filled people risk their lives and truth on the Gospel and, from all appearances in this world, it doesn’t work for them. They end up poor, as victims, on the losing side of things. But again, that’s a judgment we make from the standards of this world, from the Gospel of Prosperity where whoever has the most worldly success wins. The Gospel of Jesus undercuts this. Anyone who lives it out as faithfully as he or she is able, will be blessed with something beyond worldly success, namely, the deeper joy of a life well-lived, a joy which Jesus assures us is deeper, less ephemeral, and more lasting that any other joy.
I believe in God because the Gospel works! As does prayer!
Finally, though certainly not least, I believe in God because of the community of faith that stretches back to the beginning of time, that stretches back to the life and resurrection of Jesus, and that baptized me into the faith. Throughout all of history virtually all human communities have been also communities of faith, of belief in God, of worship, and of sacred ritual and sacrament.
I believe in God because of the existence of families of faith and the existence of church and sacrament.
I wrote my doctoral thesis on the classical proofs for the existence of God, arguments for God’s existence taken from some of the great intellectuals in history: Anselm, Thomas Aquinas, Descartes, Leibnitz, Spinoza, and Alfred North Whitehead. I rambled through nearly 500 hundred pages of articulating and evaluating these proofs and then ended with this conclusion.
We don’t come to believe in God because of the compelling power of some mathematical equation or logical syllogism. God’s existence becomes real to us when we live an honest, sincere life.
Wandering in Nature
Psychologist and wilderness guide, Bill Plotkin,
believes—and I agree—that to “save our souls” we need to reconnect with nature.
To rediscover who we truly are—and who our brothers and sisters are—we must
become intimate with our natural surroundings. The wisdom of nature can’t be
understood with our thinking mind. We have to experience it with our being and
let it speak to us through all our senses.
[1] Bill Plotkin, “Stalking a Surprise,” “Wandering in Wild
Places, Part 2,” Friday, September 8, 2017. Pronouns edited by CAC; see
https://animas.org/books/bill-plotkins-soulcraft-musings/newsletter-archive/
for original text.
and calling us to serve as your disciples.
as we use our gifts to serve you.
as we strive to bear witness
Amen.
Our Parish Sacramental Life
Baptism: Arrangements are made by contacting Parish Office. Parents attend a Baptismal Preparation Session organised with a Priest.
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 name to the Parish Office. We have a group of parishioners who are part of a Care and Concern Group who are willing to provide some backup and support to them.
Eucharistic Adoration - Devonport: Every Friday 10am - 12noon, concluding with Stations of the Cross and Angelus
Benediction with Adoration Devonport: First Friday each month.
Prayer Group: Charismatic Renewal – Mondays 7pm Community Room Ulverstone
Weekday
Masses 17th - 20th April
No weekday Masses – All Priests away attending Plenary
Weekend Masses 21st & 22nd April, 2018
Saturday Vigil: 6:00pm Penguin
Devonport
Sunday Mass: 8:30am Port Sorell
Sunday Mass: 8:30am Port Sorell
9:00am Ulverstone
10:30am Devonport
11.00am Sheffield
11.00am Sheffield
5:00pm Latrobe
Ministry Rosters 21st & 22nd April, 2018
Devonport:
Readers: Vigil A McIntyre, M Williams, C Kiely-Hoye 10:30am: A Hughes, T Barrientos, P
Piccolo
Ministers of Communion: Vigil:
M Heazlewood, G Lee-Archer, M Kelly, P Shelverton
10:30: M Sherriff, T & S Ryan, D &
M Barrientos
Cleaners. 20th April: P Shelverton, E Petts 27th April: K.S.C.
Piety Shop 21st April:
R Baker 22nd April: O McGinley
Ulverstone:
Reader/s: A & F Pisano Ministers of
Communion: M Murray, J Pisarskis, C Harvey, P
Grech
Cleaners: M Swain, M Bryan Flowers: C Stingel Hospitality: M & K McKenzie
Penguin:
Greeters: Fefita Family Commentator: Y Downes Readers: Fefita Family
Ministers of
Communion: T
Clayton, M Murray Liturgy: SC-C
Setting Up: F Aichberger Care of Church: Y & R Downes
Setting Up: F Aichberger Care of Church: Y & R Downes
Port Sorell:
Readers: L Post, E Holloway Minister of Communion: B Lee Clean/Flowers/Prepare: C Howard
Readings this week – Third Sunday of Easter
First Reading: Acts 3:13-15, 17-19
Second Reading: 1 John 2:1-5
Gospel: Luke 24:35-48
PREGO REFLECTION:
I come to my place of prayer, placing myself gently in the
presence of my risen Lord.
After reading the Gospel slowly a couple of times, I may put myself in the upper room with the disciples – listening excitedly to the account of Emmaus, them speaking of Jesus – and suddenly he is here.
How do I feel? How do I react?
Am I brave enough to touch him?
What can I say to him?
I sit quietly, or maybe I ponder some of these questions.
I listen to his words.
Do they bring me peace?
Jesus speaks of the scriptures.
Are Christ’s death and resurrection central for me?
As a forgiven sinner am I ready to be his witness?
How can I do this in my life?
I speak from my heart, before ending my prayer with gratitude.
After reading the Gospel slowly a couple of times, I may put myself in the upper room with the disciples – listening excitedly to the account of Emmaus, them speaking of Jesus – and suddenly he is here.
How do I feel? How do I react?
Am I brave enough to touch him?
What can I say to him?
I sit quietly, or maybe I ponder some of these questions.
I listen to his words.
Do they bring me peace?
Jesus speaks of the scriptures.
Are Christ’s death and resurrection central for me?
As a forgiven sinner am I ready to be his witness?
How can I do this in my life?
I speak from my heart, before ending my prayer with gratitude.
Readings next week – Fourth Sunday of Easter
First Reading: Acts 4:8-12
Second Reading: 1 John 3:1-2
Gospel: John 10:11-18
Your prayers
are asked for the sick: Joy Kiely, Vic Slavin & …
Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Laurie
Fox, David Welch, Brian Corbett, Katy Freeman, Phil
Tuckett, Joseph Healy
Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs
about this time: 11th – 17th April
Patricia
Winzinberg, Ferruccio Candotti, Beatrice Ntuka, Jonathan Martinez, James Flight, Gillian Ibell,
Glen Graham, Daphne
Walker, Mondo Di Pietro, Valma Lowry, Sandy Cowling, Kathleen Smith, Harold
Cornelius, Ila Breen,
Geraldine Harris, Kate Morris, Raymond Breen, Elizabeth Davis, John Hoye, Jenny
Deegan, and William
Newland. Also Ken & Doris Williams & Family, Robin Seymour, Bill Maddox
and Lyn Otley.
May they Rest in Peace
Weekly
Ramblings
Firstly I would like to express my thanks to all those who
responded to my invitation to support Fr Cris and his community in Cebu
following the fire which destroyed all their possessions early in March. I was
able to forward $1,700 (in excess of 64,000 Pesos) to his superior, Monsignor
Fred Kriekenbeek, this Tuesday. Thank you.
During this coming week all 3 priests will be gathering with
all the Clergy of the Archdiocese for 5 days of Professional Development. This
event occurs every two years and provides an opportunity for us to explore ways
in which we can more faithfully witness to what it means to be a priest in the
21st C. The main sessions will be led by Fr Kevin Lenehan, a priest of the
Diocese of Ballarat and Senior Lecturer in Theology at Catholic Theological
College, Melbourne. The theme of the week is Proclaim the Word, Minister the Sacraments, Gather the Scattered People
of God. We will be returning on Friday afternoon.
In the case of an emergency please feel free to call me (0417
279 437) but note that we will not be able to respond immediately.
This weekend we have two big events happening. On Sunday
afternoon we have the Introduction to the Ministry of Hospitality. This will
take place in the Community Room at Ulverstone commencing at 2pm. I extend an
invitation to everyone to come and join us as we continue our journey to grow
in our understanding of what we can be as a Parish.
On Sunday evening at 5pm there will be a gathering of Youth
for Youth at the Parish House. I will put my head in and then pull it out as Fr
Paschal and a group that he has gathered join with youth exploring their faith
journey.
Next Sunday, 22nd, there will be a session for
Lectors, also at the Community Room at Ulverstone and also commencing at 2pm.
I’m not sure whether this is a relevant comment or not but footballers like
Dusty Martin, Buddy Franklin, Patrick Dangerfield do pre-season training every
year even though they are accomplished players and superstars. What I am
suggesting is that even the very best need to prepare and train so this session
for Lectors is a part of our efforts to support lectors in their ministry and
enhance how we celebrate the Proclamation of the Word at Mass.
Please take care on the roads and we look forward to seeing you next weekend.
Happy 6th Birthday to Zara Omogbai-Musa
on Wednesday 18th April.
May you feel the love, peace and joy that God
gives you.
REMINDER:
INTRODUCTION TO
HOSPITALITY/MINISTRY: This Sunday 15th
April 2pm - 4pm in the Community Room Ulverstone.
PARISH YOUTH GATHERING: This Sunday
15th April, 5pm at Parish House, 90 Stewart Street, Devonport. It’s going to be fun and spirit filled for ages 15 to 35.
ONGOING TRAINING FOR THE MINISTRY OF LECTORS: – Sunday 22nd April 2pm
- 4pm Community Room Ulverstone.
MACKILLOP HILL SPIRITUALITY CENTRE
SPIRITUALITY
IN THE COFFEE SHOPPE -
Monday 30th April, 10.30am – 12 noon. A great
opportunity over a cup of tea or coffee to share the joys and struggles of
faith and life. See you there! No booking necessary!
MARGARET SILF
NB. Venue and times now
confirmed!
One of the most renowned and accessible spirituality writers of our time
returns to Tasmania in May 2018. She
will be presenting 2 sessions at Sacred Heart Church Community Room,
Ulverstone– come to one or both!
Ulverstone
Thursday 24th May, 7pm – 9pm - “The Stories that Shape Us”
– reflecting on the precious gift of imagination which enables us to shape
stories and narratives in our search for meaning and understanding in our
lives. Some are life-giving, some
control and seduce us and others endure and grow as we grow.
Ulverstone
Friday 25th May 10.30am – 12.30pm - “Born to Fly” – how we, too, like the
caterpillar’s metamorphosis, are in the process of transformation – invited to
be co-creators of a different kind of future for humanity.
Book now! Phone 6428:3095
or email: rsjforth@bigpond.net.au. Cost $20.00 per session.
ST MARY’S CHURCH PENGUIN
Everyone welcome to soup, sandwich and sweets after 6pm Vigil Mass at St Mary’s Church Penguin on Saturday 21st April. There will be a variety of delicious homemade soups provided, and we ask if parishioners could bring a plate of sandwiches or a dessert to share.
FOOTY
TICKETS:
Round 3 (Friday 6th April) Collingwood defeated Carlton
by 24
points. Congratulations to the following winners; Pat Mackey, Charlies Angels,
Winnie Stolp.
There are still plenty of tickets to be sold at Devonport
and Ulverstone each week, so for a little bit of fun why not help support our
Parish fundraiser and buy a footy margin ticket (or two) $2.00 each. There are
three prizes of $100.00 each week. You’ve got to be in it to win it!!
BINGO - Thursday Nights - OLOL Hall, Devonport. Eyes down 7.30pm!
Callers for Thursday 19th April – Tony Ryan & Terry Bird
GOOD
SHEPHERD SUNDAY – 22nd April
On this World Day of Prayer for Vocations, Fr Ruben
Martello FSF will lead a Holy Hour praying for vocations to the priesthood and
consecrated life especially for our Archdiocese at the Carmelite Monastery,
7 Cambridge St., Launceston, from 2:15pm – 3:15pm. All are welcome to join
the Carmelite Community in prayer for this important intention.
TASMANIAN CATHOLIC YOUTH
FESTIVAL:
The inaugural “Tasmanian Catholic Youth Festival” (TCYF) will
be held on 16th and 17th May 2018 in Launceston and
Hobart respectively with a fantastic line-up of speakers and performers. They
include US singer/songwriter and ACYF performer Steve Angrisano, entrepreneur
and Oneplate charity founder Therese Nichols, and many more! The festival will
consist of a day session which will be open to all school students from years
8-12 followed by a night rally that will be open to all young people until 30
years of age. More information on the festival will be out shortly. If you have
any questions, please email youth@aohtas.org.au
THE
AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS CONFERENCE’S PROCLAIM CONFERENCE ON PARISH RENEWAL
AND EVANGELISATION: will be held in Brisbane,
12-14 July, 2018. Focus areas: Leadership, Culture Change, Young People,
Belonging and Evangelisation. Early bird registrations available until 22
April. For information: http://proclaimconference.com.au/
For those with limited finances, partial sponsorship is available via the
National Centre for Evangelisation, email: director@nce.catholic.org.au
THE JOURNEY
CATHOLIC RADIO PROGRAM – AIRS 15 April 2018
This week on the Journey Catholic Radio, our Gospel
reflection is spoken to us by Fr Steven Varney. Sr Hilda Scott reminds us not
to get caught up in the Blame Game with her Wisdom from the Abbey, The Catholic
Guy, Bruce Downes Calls us to Forgive and Sam Clear ponders Silence. We
are truly blessed to have amazing Christian Music artists that helps us to
create a show 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.
REASONS TO BELIEVE IN GOD
This is taken from the weekly archives of Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. You can find the original article here Today belief in God is often seen as a naiveté. For many, believing in God is like believing in Santa and the Easter Bunny, nice, something for the kids, a warm nostalgia or a bitter memory, but not something that’s real, that stands up to hard scrutiny and indeed stands up to the dark doubts that sometimes linger below the surface of our faith. Where’s there evidence that God exists?
A true apologetics, I believe, needs at a point to be personal. So here are my own reasons why I continue to believe in God in the face of the agnosticism of our overly-adult world and despite the dark nights that sometimes beset me.
First, I believe in God because I sense, at the deepest level of my being, that there’s an inalienable moral structure to things. Life, love, and meaning are morally-contoured. There’s an inalienable “law of karma” that’s experienced everywhere and in everything: good behavior is its own happiness, just as bad behavior is its own sorrow. Different religions word it differently but the concept is at the heart of all religion and is in essence the very definition of morality: The measure you measure out will be the measure that’s measured back to you. That’s Jesus’ version of it, and can be translated this way: The air you breathe out is the air you will re-inhale. Simply but: If we cut down too many trees we will soon be breathing in carbon monoxide. If we breathe out love, we will meet love. If we breathe out hate and anger we will soon enough find ourselves surrounded by hated and anger. Reality is so structured that goodness brings goodness and sin brings sin.
I believe in God because blind chaos could not have designed things this way, to be innately moral. Only an intelligent Goodness could have built reality this way.
My next reason for believing in God is the existence of soul, intelligence, love, altruism, and art. These could not have emerged simply from blind chaos, from billions and billions of cosmic bingo chips coming out of nothing, with no intelligent loving force behind them, endlessly churning through billions of years. Random chaos, empty of all intelligence and love from its origins, could not have eventually produced soul and all that’s highest inside it: intelligence, love, altruism, spirituality, and art. Can our own hearts and all that’s noble and precious within them really be just the result of billions of fluke chances colliding within a brute, mindless process?
I believe in God because if our hearts are real than so is God.
Next, I believe in God because the Gospel works – if we work it. What Jesus incarnated and taught ultimately resonates with what’s most precious, most noble, and most meaningful inside of life and inside each of us. Moreover, this checks out in life. Whenever I have the faith and courage to actually live out the Gospel, to roll the dice on its truth, it always proves to be true, the loaves multiply and feed the thousands and David defeats Goliath. But it doesn’t work unless I risk it. The Gospel works, if we work it.
The objection could be raised here, of course, that many sincere, faith-filled people risk their lives and truth on the Gospel and, from all appearances in this world, it doesn’t work for them. They end up poor, as victims, on the losing side of things. But again, that’s a judgment we make from the standards of this world, from the Gospel of Prosperity where whoever has the most worldly success wins. The Gospel of Jesus undercuts this. Anyone who lives it out as faithfully as he or she is able, will be blessed with something beyond worldly success, namely, the deeper joy of a life well-lived, a joy which Jesus assures us is deeper, less ephemeral, and more lasting that any other joy.
I believe in God because the Gospel works! As does prayer!
Finally, though certainly not least, I believe in God because of the community of faith that stretches back to the beginning of time, that stretches back to the life and resurrection of Jesus, and that baptized me into the faith. Throughout all of history virtually all human communities have been also communities of faith, of belief in God, of worship, and of sacred ritual and sacrament.
I believe in God because of the existence of families of faith and the existence of church and sacrament.
I wrote my doctoral thesis on the classical proofs for the existence of God, arguments for God’s existence taken from some of the great intellectuals in history: Anselm, Thomas Aquinas, Descartes, Leibnitz, Spinoza, and Alfred North Whitehead. I rambled through nearly 500 hundred pages of articulating and evaluating these proofs and then ended with this conclusion.
We don’t come to believe in God because of the compelling power of some mathematical equation or logical syllogism. God’s existence becomes real to us when we live an honest, sincere life.
Wandering in Nature
This commentary is taken from the daily emails from Fr Richard Rohr OFM. You can subscribe and receive the emails by clicking here
Psychologist and wilderness guide, Bill Plotkin,
believes—and I agree—that to “save our souls” we need to reconnect with nature.
To rediscover who we truly are—and who our brothers and sisters are—we must
become intimate with our natural surroundings. The wisdom of nature can’t be
understood with our thinking mind. We have to experience it with our being and
let it speak to us through all our senses.
Plotkin's own mindful walks support his insights:
Wandering in nature is perhaps the most essential soulcraft
practice for contemporary Westerners who have wandered so far from nature. . .
.
The Wanderer allows plenty of time to roam in wild nature,
and roam alone. Maybe you start out on a trail, but if the landscape allows, it
won't be long before you wander off the beaten track. Because you are stalking
a surprise, you attend to the world of hunches and feelings and images as much
as you do to the landscape.
. . . You will get good at wandering, good at allowing your
initial agenda to fall away as you pick up new tracks, scents, and
possibilities. You will smile softly to yourself over the months and years of
wanderings as you notice how you have changed, how you have slowed down inside.
Through your wanderings, you cultivate a sensibility of
wonder and surprise, rekindling the innocence that got buried in your
adolescent rush to become somebody in particular. Now you seek to become nobody
for a while, to disappear into the woods so that the person you really are
might find you. [1]
And so, I encourage each of you: Go to a place in nature
where you can walk freely and alone.
If you can, find some place where human impact is minimal.
But if you’re not able to travel to wilderness, visit a neighborhood park or
tree-lined street where you can walk safely. Tell someone where you will be and
how long you expect to be there. Take adequate water and clothing for the
conditions. (If you are unable to walk, sit in a place where you can gaze at
nature and move within your imagination, your inner vision.)
Begin your wandering by finding a threshold (perhaps an
arched branch overhead or a narrow passage between rocks). Here offer a voiced
prayer of your intention and desire for this time. Step across the threshold
quite deliberately and, on this side of your sacred boundary, speak no words,
but watch and listen for God’s presence.
Let the land, plants, and creatures lead your feet and eyes.
Let yourself be drawn, rather than walking with a destination or purpose in
mind. If you are called to a particular place or thing, stop and be still,
letting yourself be known and know, through silent communion with the Other.
Before you leave, offer some gesture or token of gratitude for the gift nature
has given you.
When it is time to return to the human world, find your
threshold again and cross over—and now you have learned to watch for God in all
things.
[1] Bill Plotkin, “Stalking a Surprise,” “Wandering in Wild
Places, Part 2,” Friday, September 8, 2017. Pronouns edited by CAC; see
https://animas.org/books/bill-plotkins-soulcraft-musings/newsletter-archive/
for original text.
Adapted from Richard Rohr, A Spring Within Us: Daily
Meditations (Center for Action and Contemplation: 2016), 64-65.
Thinking about Resurrection
There are many questions which the Gospel accounts of the risen Jesus leave unanswered. When we consider them, however, we realise they are not so much questions about Jesus as questions about human life itself, argues Jesuit philosopher, Gerard J Hughes. Gerard J Hughes SJ was head of the philosophy department at Heythrop College, University of London, and is currently tutor in philosophy at Campion Hall, Oxford. He is the author of Aristotle on Ethics (Routledge, 2001) and Is God to Blame? (Veritas, 2007).
It is an appropriate time of year for Christians to think about resurrection – not just the resurrection of Jesus, fundamental to Christian faith though that is, but also what happens to all of us after we die. Here I offer some lines of thought on both topics; I hope they will be constructive, even if they are inevitably (or so I would argue) less than conclusive. First, then, it will be helpful to look at some of the views about the resurrection of Jesus held by first and second-generation Christians. I shall then offer some thoughts on how any belief in life after death might be related to contemporary issues in philosophy and the sciences.
On what did the early Christians base their faith?
There is a passage in which St Paul, writing to the Christians in Corinth, gives what is probably the earliest version we have of a Christian ‘creed’:
Now I would remind you, brethren, in what terms I preached the gospel which you received, and in which you stand…
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve; then to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. (1 Cor 15: 3-8).
REBUILT18 IS HERE!
After much preparation, we are more than excited to welcome church leaders from 30 states and 10 countries to REBUILT18.
I am a big believer in conferences, especially going to conferences at a local church where you get a real feel for the people, the community and what makes it work and how it honors and serves the Lord. Attending conferences like the Purpose-Driven Conference (Saddleback) and the Drive Conference (Northpoint) was incredibly important in my journey as a pastor and our parish experience of rebuilding. Our own conference is all about the setting, the experience, and the environment.
#1. The Setting
We are so excited to host our first ever REBUILT Conference in our brand new facility. With 1,000 attendees and over 150 volunteer ministers and staff we need lots of room, and we’ve got it. We look forward to test driving our amazing new technology too, and you can believe we’ll be pulling out all the bells and whistles we’ve got.
#2. The Experience
Our conference begins on a Monday evening, so parishes who want to check out our weekend experience can join us the day before. Our weekend provides a welcoming environment that gets parishioners excited about their faith and is at the same time compelling and attractive to the unchurched and disengaged. We have keynotes, roundtables and breakouts throughout the conference on topics such as music, technology, volunteer ministry, operations, preaching, kids and student programs, and fundraising. And we’ll be looking at every other conceivable aspect of parish life as well: check it all out on our website www.Rebuiltconference.com.
#3. The Environment
People learn best in emotionally charged environments and we will engage our attendees right from the start: our staff and volunteers will be hosting all our venues, our MCs will lead through the two days with humor and incredible energy (and they’ll be granting your “wishes” too: #Rebuilt18wish)
Our key note speakers will bring wisdom, experience and insight, and our house band will be… epic.
Conference attendees will be inspired, uplifted, and renewed, as well as equipped to rebuild.
REBUILT 2018 is sold out, but you can join us online, we’ll be live streaming the keynote presentations and main breakouts.
www.rebuiltconference.com/live.
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