Mersey Leven Catholic Parish
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
Finance Officer: Anne Fisher
Finance Officer: Anne Fisher
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.
PLENARY COUNCIL PRAYER
Come, Holy Spirit of Pentecost.
Come, Holy Spirit of the great South Land.
O God, bless and unite all your people in Australia
and guide us on the pilgrim way of the Plenary Council.
Give us the grace to see your face in one another
and to recognise Jesus, our companion on the road.
Give us the courage to tell our stories and to speak boldly of your truth.
Give us ears to listen humbly to each other
and a discerning heart to hear what you are saying.
Lead your Church into a hope-filled future,
that we may live the joy of the Gospel.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, bread for the journey from age to age.
Amen.
Our Lady Help of Christians, pray for us.
St Mary MacKillop, pray for us.
Come, Holy Spirit of the great South Land.
O God, bless and unite all your people in Australia
and guide us on the pilgrim way of the Plenary Council.
Give us the grace to see your face in one another
and to recognise Jesus, our companion on the road.
Give us the courage to tell our stories and to speak boldly of your truth.
Give us ears to listen humbly to each other
and a discerning heart to hear what you are saying.
Lead your Church into a hope-filled future,
that we may live the joy of the Gospel.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, bread for the journey from age to age.
Amen.
Our Lady Help of Christians, pray for us.
St Mary MacKillop, pray for us.
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 9th - 12th October
Tuesday: 9:30am Penguin …St Denis & comp & St John Leonardi 
10:30am Meercroft
Weekend Masses 13th & 14th October, 2018
Saturday Mass: 9:30am Ulverstone
Saturday Vigil: 6:00pm Penguin
6:00pm Devonport
Sunday Mass: 8:30am Port Sorell
9:00am Ulverstone
10:30am Devonport
Ministry Rosters 13th & 14th October,
2018
Ulverstone:
Penguin:
Latrobe:
Port Sorell:
Readings this week –Twenty Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
PREGO REFLECTION ON TODAY’S GOSPEL:
Whatever I have been or will be, God loves me just as I
am.
I ask the Lord to deepen my faith and trust in his love.
Then I read this
challenging Gospel, taking my time, noticing what feelings and thoughts it
evokes in me.
Whether these emotions are difficult or joyous, I share them with
God who loves and cares for me.
I may like to imagine myself as a child coming
to Jesus.
Perhaps I allow him to put his arms around me and bless me.
What is
it like to be touched by Jesus?
Is there anything I want to say to him or ask
him?
With the trust of a child, I remain close to Jesus, knowing he wants me to
be with him, just as I am.
I listen for what he might have to say to me.
After
some time, I take my leave, thanking the Lord for being with me.
Readings next week –Twenty Eighth Sunday
in Ordinary Time (Year B)
Your prayers
are asked for the sick:
Marg Stewart, Glen Grantham, Joy Kiely, Charlotte Milic, Mary Webb, Rosalinda
Grimes & ….
Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Let us pray for those whose anniversary
occurs about this time: 3rd-9th October
Weekly
Ramblings
Another
comment that was made concerned the question of what exactly is a Plenary
Council. I know that there are some parishioners who don’t have access to the
internet but if you do then you can get quite a lot of information regarding
the Plenary by visiting this website - http://plenarycouncil.catholic.org.au/resources/watch/.
In my homily this weekend I will try and cover some information on what a
Plenary is but like all information that we hear we can really only take in so
much.
So
just a few facts. A Plenary Council is the highest form of gathering of the local
Church. A Plenary gathers so that the members can consider a contemporary topic
of importance. The Bishops, in calling the Plenary Council, will be considering
the future of the Catholic Church in Australia and they will be joined by a
number of other participants from various parts of the Australian Church.
The
lead up to Plenary Council is an opportunity for all of us to have an input
into what will be discussed and that is the purpose of our time of prayer and
listening during these 30 days. So please join me as we listen to the Holy
Spirit speak into our prayer and then make our reflections known through
written submissions or shared experiences with members of our Parish. There are
many ways you can do this – if you have any questions please do not hesitate to
see me, Fr Paschal or any member of the Parish Pastoral Team for assistance.
Please
take care on the roads and I look forward to seeing you next weekend.
Mersey Leven Parish Community
welcome and congratulate ….
From the Parish Pastoral
Team (Felicity Sly – Chair)
CARE & CONCERN:
MACKILLOP
HILL:
PLENARY
COUNCIL 2020:
LUNCH: Sunday 14th October at Gloria’s
Cafe Ulverstone 12noon -12:20pm. All welcome.
NOVEMBER REMEMBRANCE BOOKS:
SACRED
HEART CHURCH ROSTER:
Rosters will be renewed soon! If
you are able to assist with Sunday morning hospitality, cleaning of the Church,
arranging flowers, reading, or a Minister of Communion, please contact the Parish
Office 6424:2783 or Joanne Rodgers 6425:5818 (also if you are no longer able to
continue on the roster).
2019
COLUMBAN ART CALENDARS: are now available from the Piety Shop at OLOL Church
Devonport and Sacred Heart Church Ulverstone. Cost $10.00 each.
FOOTY POINTS MARGIN: GRAND FINAL – West Coast Eagles Won by 5
points
Congratulations to the lucky winners of the $500 (x2): Kevin
Hayes, Gaye Bellchambers/Margaret Gillard
On behalf of the
Parish office we would like to thank everyone who helped with the selling of
the tickets each week and to all who purchased a ticket or two weekly.
BINGO - Thursday Nights - OLOL
Hall, Devonport. Eyes down 7.30pm!
Callers for Thursday 11th October – Merv Tippett & Alan Luxton.
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE
Throughout this year’s meditations we’re exploring how the divine image and dignity is inherent in every being. We have the freedom and honour of choosing to grow (or not) in our unique likeness of this image. Jesus is one clear example of this path, a visible incarnation of the union between human and divine, matter and spirit. He models inclusive, nondual, compassionate thinking and being.
Why then does Jesus tell stories that show harsh judgment, casting the rejected into “outer darkness” and “eternal punishment” (see Matthew 25:46)? This seems to undo all the mercy and forgiveness Jesus demonstrates in the rest of his life and teaching. Let me explain how I see it.
Clear-headed dualistic thinking must precede any further movement into nondual responses, especially about issues that people want to avoid. We cannot make a nonstop flight to nondual thinking or we just get fuzzy thinking. First use your well-trained and good mind, and then find your response in a holistic (body, mind, soul, and heart) response. This is the heart of spirituality.
Note that Jesus reserves his most damning and dualistic statements for matters of social justice where power is most resistant: “You cannot serve both God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24); “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:24); or the clear dichotomy in Matthew 25 between sheep (who feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the sick, and visit the imprisoned) and goats (who don’t). The context is important. Jesus’ foundational and even dualistic bias is against false power and in favor of the powerless. If you do not make such points absolutely clear (and even if you do, as Jesus did), history shows that humans will almost always compromise on issues of justice, power, money, and inclusion.
Let’s bring it home: The United States always has all the money it needs for war, weapons, and bailing out banks, but never enough for good schools, low cost housing, universal health care, or welcoming refugees. Has this not become obvious? No wonder Jesus dared to be dualistic and dramatic first! He offers clear, contrasting statements about issues of ultimate significance and calls us to decide between them. His point is always transformation.
Unfortunately, Christians have managed to avoid most of what Jesus taught so unequivocally: nonviolence, sharing, simplicity, loving our enemies. Thankfully many Christians are returning to Jesus’ foundational messages and seeking to follow his example. They are not shying away from the embarrassments and evils of our churches, politics, and economy and the ways we each contribute to and are complicit in them. Over the next couple weeks, I will explore how we might embrace Jesus and the prophets’ calls to “do justice, love kindness, and to walk humbly with God” in this world (see Micah 6:8).
THE SEARCH FOR AN INDUBITABLE TRUTH
This article is taken from the archives of Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. You can find the original article and many others here
In a book, 12 Rules for Life – An Antidote to Chaos, that’s justifiably making waves in many circles today, Jordan Peterson shares about his own journey towards truth and meaning. Here’s that story:
At one point in his life, while still young and finding his own path, he reached a stage where he felt agnostic, not just about the shallow Christianity he’d been raised on, but also about most everything else in terms of truth and trust. What really can we believe in? What’s ultimately to be trusted?
Too humble to compare himself to one of the great minds in history, Rene Descartes, who, five hundred years ago, struggled with a similar agnosticism, Peterson nonetheless could not help but employ Descartes’ approach in trying to find a truth that you could not doubt. So, like Descartes, he set off in search off an “indubitable” (Descartes’ term), that is, to find a premise that absolutely cannot be doubted. Descartes, as we know, found his “indubitable” in his famous dictum: I think, therefore, I am! Nobody can be deceived in believing that since even to be deceived would be indisputable proof that you exist. The philosophy that Descartes then built upon the indubitable premise is left for history to judge. But history doesn’t dispute the truth of his dictum.
So Peterson sets out with the same essential question: What single thing cannot be doubted? Is there something so evidently true that nobody can doubt it? For Peterson, it’s not the fact that we think which is indisputable, it’s the fact that we, all of us, suffer. That’s his indubitable truth, suffering is real. That cannot be doubted: “Nihilists cannot undermine it with skepticism. Totalitarians cannot banish it. Cynics cannot escape its reality.” Suffering is real beyond all doubt.
Moreover, in Peterson’s understanding, the worst kind of suffering isn’t that which is inflicted upon us by the innate contingencies of our being and our mortality, nor by the sometimes blind brutality of nature. The worst kind of suffering is the kind that one person inflicts upon another, the kind that one part of humankind inflicts upon another part, the kind we see in the atrocities of the 20th century – Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, and countless others responsible for the torture, rape, suffering, and death of millions.
From this indubitable premise he submits something else that too cannot be disputed: This kind of suffering isn’t just real, it’s also wrong! We can all agree that this kind of suffering is not good and that there is something that is (beyond dispute) not good. And if there’s something that is not good, then there’s something that is good. His logic: “If the worst sin is the torment of others, merely for the sake of the suffering produced – then the good is whatever is diametrically opposed to that.”
What flows from this is clear: The good is whatever stops such things from happening. If this is true, and it is, then it is also clear as to what is good, and what is a good way of living: If the most terrible forms of suffering are produced by egotism, selfishness, untruthfulness, arrogance, greed, lust for power, willful cruelty, and insensitivity to others, then we are evidently called to the opposite: selflessness, altruism, humility, truth-telling, tenderness, and sacrificing for others.
Not incidentally, Peterson affirms all of this inside a chapter within which he highlights the importance of sacrifice, of delaying private gratification for a greater good long-range. His insight here parallels those of Rene Girard and other anthropologists who point out that the only way of stopping unconscious sacrifice to blind gods (which is what happened in the atrocities of Hitler and what happens in our own bitter slandering of others) is through self-sacrifice. Only when we accept at the cost of personal suffering our own contingencies, sin, and mortality will we stop projecting these on to others so to make them suffer in order to feel better about ourselves.
Peterson writes as an agnostic or perhaps, more accurately, as an honest analyst, an observer of humanity, who for purposes of this book prefers to keep his faith private. Fair enough. Probably wise too. No reason to impute motives. It’s where he lands that’s important, and where he lands is on very solid ground. It’s where Jesus lands in the Sermon on the Mount, it’s where the Christian churches land when they’re at their best, it’s where the great religions of the world land when they’re at their best, and it’s where humanity lands when it’s at its best.
The medieval mystic, Theresa of Avila, wrote with great depth and challenge. Her treatise on the spiritual life is now a classic and forms part of the very canon of Christian spiritual writings. In the end, she submits that during our generative years the most important question we need to challenge ourselves with is: How can I be more helpful? Jordan Peterson, with a logic and language that can be understood by everyone today, offers the same challenge.
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)
Eucharistic Adoration - Devonport: Every Friday 10am - 12noon, concluding with Stations of the Cross and Angelus
Benediction with Adoration Devonport: First Friday each month.
Legion of Mary: Wednesdays 11am Sacred Heart of Church Community Room, Ulverstone
Prayer Group: Charismatic Renewal – Mondays 7pm Community Room Ulverstone
Weekday Masses 9th - 12th October
Tuesday: 9:30am Penguin …St Denis & comp & St John Leonardi
Wednesday: 9:30am Latrobe
Thursday: 10:30am Eliza Purton … St John XXIII
12noon Devonport
Friday: 9:30am Ulverstone
10:30am Meercroft
Weekend Masses 13th & 14th October, 2018
Saturday Mass: 9:30am Ulverstone
Saturday Vigil: 6:00pm Penguin
6:00pm Devonport
Sunday Mass: 8:30am Port Sorell
9:00am Ulverstone
10:30am Devonport
11:00am Sheffield
5:00pm Latrobe
Ministry Rosters 13th & 14th October,
2018
Devonport:
Readers Vigil: V Riley, A Stegmann, B Suckling 10:30am: F Sly, J Tuxworth, T Omogbai-musa
Ministers of Communion:
Vigil: B, B & B Windebank, T Bird, R
Baker
10:30am: S Riley, M Sherriff, R Beaton, D
& M Barrientos Mowing of Lawns Presbytery: S Berryman
Cleaners: 12th Oct: K.S.C. 19th Oct: M & L Tippett, A Berryman
Piety Shop: 13th
Oct: R Baker 14th Oct: O McGinley
Ulverstone:
Reader/s: M & K McKenzie Ministers of Communion: P Steyn, E Cox, C Singline, M Barry
Cleaners: G & M Seen, C Roberts Flowers: M Byrne Hospitality: T Good Team
Penguin:
Greeters: P Ravallion, A Landers Commentator: Y Downes Readers: A Landers, T Clayton
Ministers of
Communion: M
Hiscutt, M Murray Liturgy: Pine Road Setting Up: A Landers
Care of Church: M Murray, E Nickols
Latrobe:
Reader: S Ritchie Minister of Communion: B Ritchie Procession of Gifts: Parishioner
Port Sorell:
Readers: M Badcock, D Leaman Minister of Communion: B Lee
Cleaners: G Richey
& G Wylie
Readings this week –Twenty Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
First Reading: Genesis 2:18-24
Second Reading: Hebrews 2:9-11
Gospel: Mark 10:2-16
PREGO REFLECTION ON TODAY’S GOSPEL:
As I come to my place of prayer, I first become aware that
God our Lord gazes on me with love, rejoicing in all my gifts and forgiving all
my sin and weakness.
Whatever I have been or will be, God loves me just as I am.
I ask the Lord to deepen my faith and trust in his love.
Then I read this challenging Gospel, taking my time, noticing what feelings and thoughts it evokes in me.
Whether these emotions are difficult or joyous, I share them with God who loves and cares for me.
I may like to imagine myself as a child coming to Jesus.
Perhaps I allow him to put his arms around me and bless me.
What is it like to be touched by Jesus?
Is there anything I want to say to him or ask him?
With the trust of a child, I remain close to Jesus, knowing he wants me to be with him, just as I am.
I listen for what he might have to say to me.
After some time, I take my leave, thanking the Lord for being with me.
Whatever I have been or will be, God loves me just as I am.
I ask the Lord to deepen my faith and trust in his love.
Then I read this challenging Gospel, taking my time, noticing what feelings and thoughts it evokes in me.
Whether these emotions are difficult or joyous, I share them with God who loves and cares for me.
I may like to imagine myself as a child coming to Jesus.
Perhaps I allow him to put his arms around me and bless me.
What is it like to be touched by Jesus?
Is there anything I want to say to him or ask him?
With the trust of a child, I remain close to Jesus, knowing he wants me to be with him, just as I am.
I listen for what he might have to say to me.
After some time, I take my leave, thanking the Lord for being with me.
Readings next week –Twenty Eighth Sunday
in Ordinary Time (Year B)
First Reading: Wisdom 7:7-11
Second Reading: Hebrews 4:12-13
Gospel: Mark
10:17-30
Your prayers
are asked for the sick:
Marg Stewart, Glen Grantham, Joy Kiely, Charlotte Milic, Mary Webb, Rosalinda
Grimes & ….
Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Maria Suyatini, Joan Jarvis, Paul Reynolds, Herman &
Luka Kappelhof, Iris Bird, Maria Jakimow, Lillian Yost, Anthony O'Boyle,
Anna Leary, Joseph Cowmeadow, Joan Daly, Peter Birchall, Jan Abela, Christine McGee, Edgar Nool, Andrew McLennan
Let us pray for those whose anniversary
occurs about this time: 3rd-9th October
Audrey Abblitt, Audrey Taylor, Jim Masterson, Jack Bynon,
Valma Donnelly, Lorraine Sherriff, Kieran McVeigh, Vicki Glashower, Natarsha
Charlesworth, Sr Barbara Hateley MSS, Ashley Dyer, Helena Wyllie, Elaine
Sheedy.
May they Rest in Peace
Weekly Ramblings
This
weekend we begin our 30 Days of Prayer with an invitation to Fast during that
time. After Mass last weekend someone commented that many people actually use
Fridays as a day of Fast and Penance – please continue to fast on Fridays – all
I ask is that you might consider using these fast days during this time to pray
for the needs of the Parish and the Church in Australia.
Another
comment that was made concerned the question of what exactly is a Plenary
Council. I know that there are some parishioners who don’t have access to the
internet but if you do then you can get quite a lot of information regarding
the Plenary by visiting this website - http://plenarycouncil.catholic.org.au/resources/watch/.
In my homily this weekend I will try and cover some information on what a
Plenary is but like all information that we hear we can really only take in so
much.
So
just a few facts. A Plenary Council is the highest form of gathering of the local
Church. A Plenary gathers so that the members can consider a contemporary topic
of importance. The Bishops, in calling the Plenary Council, will be considering
the future of the Catholic Church in Australia and they will be joined by a
number of other participants from various parts of the Australian Church.
The
lead up to Plenary Council is an opportunity for all of us to have an input
into what will be discussed and that is the purpose of our time of prayer and
listening during these 30 days. So please join me as we listen to the Holy
Spirit speak into our prayer and then make our reflections known through
written submissions or shared experiences with members of our Parish. There are
many ways you can do this – if you have any questions please do not hesitate to
see me, Fr Paschal or any member of the Parish Pastoral Team for assistance.
Please
take care on the roads and I look forward to seeing you next weekend.
Mersey Leven Parish Community
welcome and congratulate ….
Connor Parry son of Gwyn
& Hannah on his Baptism this weekend.
From the Parish Pastoral
Team (Felicity Sly – Chair)
During the 30 Days of Prayer there are many opportunities
for us to pray as part of a group. Daily individual prayer is also a major
focus of the month. For many of us praying is using words: our words that we
speak to God, words that come from formal prayers, and words that are in a song
or hymn. Prayer can be sitting in silence. This month you may like to explore
praying in a way that is different for you; by using a form that is not usual
for you, or offering prayer for those you may not normally include in your
prayers, or to find a comfortable spot and just sit in silence. God bless you
during this month, and always.
CARE & CONCERN:
The next gathering of the social group for afternoon tea
will be held Tuesday 9th October, 2.00 pm at MacKillop Hill, Forth. We would be very pleased to welcome
parishioners who do not have the opportunity for social activity, including
those whose spouses/partners are now in residential care etc. Transport can be provided. If you would like to find out more, please
contact Mary Davies 64241183 / 0447 241 182, Margaret McKenzie 64251414 / 0419
392 937 or Toni Muir 64245296 / 0438 245 296.
For catering purposes we would appreciate your advising of your
attendance to any of the above numbers.
MACKILLOP
HILL:
PLENARY COUNCIL 2020 - Your voice matters!! Listening and Dialogue gatherings
responding to the question: What do you think God is asking of us in Australia at this
time? Wednesday: 17th, 24th & 31st October 10am –
11.30 am Phone 6428:3095 Mobile 0418
367 769
PLENARY
COUNCIL 2020:
You are invited to join and contribute to a series of
Listening and Dialogue gatherings. You could choose to join one, two or three
gatherings which will be held at Parish House, 90 Stewart Street Devonport,
October 18th, 25th November 1 from 10am
– 11:30am. Please contact Clare Kiely-Hoye 0418 100 402 if you wish to attend.
LUNCH: Sunday 14th October at Gloria’s Cafe Ulverstone 12noon -12:20pm. All welcome.
NOVEMBER REMEMBRANCE BOOKS:
November is the month we remember
in a special way all those who have died. Should you wish anyone to be
remembered, write the names of those to be prayed for on the outside of an
envelope and place the clearly marked envelope in the collection basket at Mass
or deliver to the Parish Office by Thursday
25th October.
SACRED
HEART CHURCH ROSTER:
Rosters will be renewed soon! If
you are able to assist with Sunday morning hospitality, cleaning of the Church,
arranging flowers, reading, or a Minister of Communion, please contact the Parish
Office 6424:2783 or Joanne Rodgers 6425:5818 (also if you are no longer able to
continue on the roster).
2019
COLUMBAN ART CALENDARS: are now available from the Piety Shop at OLOL Church
Devonport and Sacred Heart Church Ulverstone. Cost $10.00 each.
FOOTY POINTS MARGIN: GRAND FINAL – West Coast Eagles Won by 5
points
Congratulations to the lucky winners of the $500 (x2): Kevin
Hayes, Gaye Bellchambers/Margaret Gillard
Winners of $100 (number either side of winning margin);
Number 6: Colleen & Di Stingel
Number 4: Jacko & Lally
Normal $2 winners: Fr Mike,
On behalf of the
Parish office we would like to thank everyone who helped with the selling of
the tickets each week and to all who purchased a ticket or two weekly.
We will be holding
the Footy Margin fundraiser again in 2019 and WE NEED YOUR HELP!! … Can
you give some time helping set up, sort or sell tickets during the footy
season? If so please ring Annie or Anne at the Parish Office 6424:2783 – We
would love to hear from you!!
……….BRING ON SEASON 2019!!!.........
BINGO - Thursday Nights - OLOL
Hall, Devonport. Eyes down 7.30pm!
Callers for Thursday 11th October – Merv Tippett & Alan Luxton.
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE
A CALL TO HOLINESS IN TODAYS WORLD: A weekend retreat on Carmelite
Spirituality at the Emmanuel Centre, Launceston Friday 19th – 21st
October. Fr Paul Maunder OCD retreat director. Cost of weekend $170 includes
all meals and accommodation. Bookings are essential to Robert Archer 6396:1389
An Unequivocal Call to Justice
This article is taken from the Daily Emails from Fr Richard Rohr OFM and the Center for Action and Contemplation. You can subscribe to receive the emails here
Throughout this year’s meditations we’re exploring how the divine image and dignity is inherent in every being. We have the freedom and honour of choosing to grow (or not) in our unique likeness of this image. Jesus is one clear example of this path, a visible incarnation of the union between human and divine, matter and spirit. He models inclusive, nondual, compassionate thinking and being.
Why then does Jesus tell stories that show harsh judgment, casting the rejected into “outer darkness” and “eternal punishment” (see Matthew 25:46)? This seems to undo all the mercy and forgiveness Jesus demonstrates in the rest of his life and teaching. Let me explain how I see it.
Clear-headed dualistic thinking must precede any further movement into nondual responses, especially about issues that people want to avoid. We cannot make a nonstop flight to nondual thinking or we just get fuzzy thinking. First use your well-trained and good mind, and then find your response in a holistic (body, mind, soul, and heart) response. This is the heart of spirituality.
Note that Jesus reserves his most damning and dualistic statements for matters of social justice where power is most resistant: “You cannot serve both God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24); “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:24); or the clear dichotomy in Matthew 25 between sheep (who feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the sick, and visit the imprisoned) and goats (who don’t). The context is important. Jesus’ foundational and even dualistic bias is against false power and in favor of the powerless. If you do not make such points absolutely clear (and even if you do, as Jesus did), history shows that humans will almost always compromise on issues of justice, power, money, and inclusion.
Let’s bring it home: The United States always has all the money it needs for war, weapons, and bailing out banks, but never enough for good schools, low cost housing, universal health care, or welcoming refugees. Has this not become obvious? No wonder Jesus dared to be dualistic and dramatic first! He offers clear, contrasting statements about issues of ultimate significance and calls us to decide between them. His point is always transformation.
Unfortunately, Christians have managed to avoid most of what Jesus taught so unequivocally: nonviolence, sharing, simplicity, loving our enemies. Thankfully many Christians are returning to Jesus’ foundational messages and seeking to follow his example. They are not shying away from the embarrassments and evils of our churches, politics, and economy and the ways we each contribute to and are complicit in them. Over the next couple weeks, I will explore how we might embrace Jesus and the prophets’ calls to “do justice, love kindness, and to walk humbly with God” in this world (see Micah 6:8).
THE SEARCH FOR AN INDUBITABLE TRUTH
This article is taken from the archives of Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. You can find the original article and many others here
In a book, 12 Rules for Life – An Antidote to Chaos, that’s justifiably making waves in many circles today, Jordan Peterson shares about his own journey towards truth and meaning. Here’s that story:
At one point in his life, while still young and finding his own path, he reached a stage where he felt agnostic, not just about the shallow Christianity he’d been raised on, but also about most everything else in terms of truth and trust. What really can we believe in? What’s ultimately to be trusted?
Too humble to compare himself to one of the great minds in history, Rene Descartes, who, five hundred years ago, struggled with a similar agnosticism, Peterson nonetheless could not help but employ Descartes’ approach in trying to find a truth that you could not doubt. So, like Descartes, he set off in search off an “indubitable” (Descartes’ term), that is, to find a premise that absolutely cannot be doubted. Descartes, as we know, found his “indubitable” in his famous dictum: I think, therefore, I am! Nobody can be deceived in believing that since even to be deceived would be indisputable proof that you exist. The philosophy that Descartes then built upon the indubitable premise is left for history to judge. But history doesn’t dispute the truth of his dictum.
So Peterson sets out with the same essential question: What single thing cannot be doubted? Is there something so evidently true that nobody can doubt it? For Peterson, it’s not the fact that we think which is indisputable, it’s the fact that we, all of us, suffer. That’s his indubitable truth, suffering is real. That cannot be doubted: “Nihilists cannot undermine it with skepticism. Totalitarians cannot banish it. Cynics cannot escape its reality.” Suffering is real beyond all doubt.
Moreover, in Peterson’s understanding, the worst kind of suffering isn’t that which is inflicted upon us by the innate contingencies of our being and our mortality, nor by the sometimes blind brutality of nature. The worst kind of suffering is the kind that one person inflicts upon another, the kind that one part of humankind inflicts upon another part, the kind we see in the atrocities of the 20th century – Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, and countless others responsible for the torture, rape, suffering, and death of millions.
From this indubitable premise he submits something else that too cannot be disputed: This kind of suffering isn’t just real, it’s also wrong! We can all agree that this kind of suffering is not good and that there is something that is (beyond dispute) not good. And if there’s something that is not good, then there’s something that is good. His logic: “If the worst sin is the torment of others, merely for the sake of the suffering produced – then the good is whatever is diametrically opposed to that.”
What flows from this is clear: The good is whatever stops such things from happening. If this is true, and it is, then it is also clear as to what is good, and what is a good way of living: If the most terrible forms of suffering are produced by egotism, selfishness, untruthfulness, arrogance, greed, lust for power, willful cruelty, and insensitivity to others, then we are evidently called to the opposite: selflessness, altruism, humility, truth-telling, tenderness, and sacrificing for others.
Not incidentally, Peterson affirms all of this inside a chapter within which he highlights the importance of sacrifice, of delaying private gratification for a greater good long-range. His insight here parallels those of Rene Girard and other anthropologists who point out that the only way of stopping unconscious sacrifice to blind gods (which is what happened in the atrocities of Hitler and what happens in our own bitter slandering of others) is through self-sacrifice. Only when we accept at the cost of personal suffering our own contingencies, sin, and mortality will we stop projecting these on to others so to make them suffer in order to feel better about ourselves.
Peterson writes as an agnostic or perhaps, more accurately, as an honest analyst, an observer of humanity, who for purposes of this book prefers to keep his faith private. Fair enough. Probably wise too. No reason to impute motives. It’s where he lands that’s important, and where he lands is on very solid ground. It’s where Jesus lands in the Sermon on the Mount, it’s where the Christian churches land when they’re at their best, it’s where the great religions of the world land when they’re at their best, and it’s where humanity lands when it’s at its best.
The medieval mystic, Theresa of Avila, wrote with great depth and challenge. Her treatise on the spiritual life is now a classic and forms part of the very canon of Christian spiritual writings. In the end, she submits that during our generative years the most important question we need to challenge ourselves with is: How can I be more helpful? Jordan Peterson, with a logic and language that can be understood by everyone today, offers the same challenge.
5 WARNING SIGNS YOUR PARISH IS INSIDER-FOCUSED
Church health and growth are dependent on many factors, for sure. But bottom line, at the end of the day, churches don’t grow because they’re not healthy. And they’re not healthy because they’re focused on themselves. For all the talk about evangelization these days, the truth is that many churches remain resolutely focused on themselves, they’re all about the people already in the pews. And they want to stay that way.
Here are 5 warning signs:
1. Member Preferences Trump Everything
In insider-focused churches, member preferences rule. Everything from the content of the preaching to the selection of the music is determined by what the “people” want.
As a result, people-pleasing rules when it comes to staff leadership and decision making. The challenge is, this leaves no objective standards. The standard is whatever people say they like, and the people are always the same people…and probably a very small circle of people.
2. Emotions Drive Decision Making
In these churches, members are so focused on pleasing themselves that discussion about future direction becomes very emotional: what people feel, who’s happy, who’s not happy, who’s thinking of leaving if they don’t get their way. Meanwhile, any sense of strategy, not to mention mission, is lost.
3. Sacrifice Is Neither Given nor Expected
In an insider-focused church, no one sacrifices anything for anyone. They are coming to be served, and service is what they expect. Their contribution is consumption, they simply show up and that fulfills their end of the bargain. The rest is on the church staff, or whoever, as long as its not them.
4. Any Growth Is “Transfer Growth”
Internally focused churches might actually grow numerically, especially if they’re in growing communities, where growth is automatic. The other kind of growth an insider-focused church might experience is “transfer growth.” This is where you pick up serial church shoppers. And guess what serial church shoppers are looking for? A new church to be all about them (because their last church failed them in that demand). Of course this isn’t real growth, because its not healthy growth, its not mission-induced growth.
5. Innovation Is Not Tolerated
Most insider-focused congregations aren’t excited about the future, they’re afraid of it. They cling stubbornly, desperately, blindly to the present or the past, preferring the way things are or the way things used to be over the way things could be, or the ways things should be. As a result innovation is intolerable. Or worse, it is characterized as unorthodox, or somehow unfaithful.
The antidote to insider-focus is simple: embracing your mission to reach the lost and make church matter.
Church health and growth are dependent on many factors, for sure. But bottom line, at the end of the day, churches don’t grow because they’re not healthy. And they’re not healthy because they’re focused on themselves. For all the talk about evangelization these days, the truth is that many churches remain resolutely focused on themselves, they’re all about the people already in the pews. And they want to stay that way.
Here are 5 warning signs:
1. Member Preferences Trump Everything
In insider-focused churches, member preferences rule. Everything from the content of the preaching to the selection of the music is determined by what the “people” want.
As a result, people-pleasing rules when it comes to staff leadership and decision making. The challenge is, this leaves no objective standards. The standard is whatever people say they like, and the people are always the same people…and probably a very small circle of people.
2. Emotions Drive Decision Making
In these churches, members are so focused on pleasing themselves that discussion about future direction becomes very emotional: what people feel, who’s happy, who’s not happy, who’s thinking of leaving if they don’t get their way. Meanwhile, any sense of strategy, not to mention mission, is lost.
3. Sacrifice Is Neither Given nor Expected
In an insider-focused church, no one sacrifices anything for anyone. They are coming to be served, and service is what they expect. Their contribution is consumption, they simply show up and that fulfills their end of the bargain. The rest is on the church staff, or whoever, as long as its not them.
4. Any Growth Is “Transfer Growth”
Internally focused churches might actually grow numerically, especially if they’re in growing communities, where growth is automatic. The other kind of growth an insider-focused church might experience is “transfer growth.” This is where you pick up serial church shoppers. And guess what serial church shoppers are looking for? A new church to be all about them (because their last church failed them in that demand). Of course this isn’t real growth, because its not healthy growth, its not mission-induced growth.
5. Innovation Is Not Tolerated
Most insider-focused congregations aren’t excited about the future, they’re afraid of it. They cling stubbornly, desperately, blindly to the present or the past, preferring the way things are or the way things used to be over the way things could be, or the ways things should be. As a result innovation is intolerable. Or worse, it is characterized as unorthodox, or somehow unfaithful.
The antidote to insider-focus is simple: embracing your mission to reach the lost and make church matter.
Call and response in St Ignatius and St Francis
In this article from 2009 Brian Purfield compares the spiritual experiences of the founder of the Society of Jesus with those of Francis of Assisi. What similarities are there to be found between the Spiritual Exercises and Bonaventure’s recollection of the life of St Francis? You can read the complete article here
The life of Francis of Assisi can be understood as a series of calls to which he was invited to respond by the Lord. These calls and his responses are set forth in The Major Life of St Francis[1], the biography by Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, the eighth Minister General of the Friars Minor. Bonaventure took the data of earlier biographies of St Francis and subjected them to the principles of theology. In doing so, he provided a classic study of Franciscan spirituality within the context of the life of Francis. He has given us a valuable tool which is of great use for those involved in contemporary spiritual direction.[2] I wish to suggest in this article that the dynamic of call and response recorded in the Major Life can easily fit into the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola.
There are some striking similarities between the way the Major Life and the Spiritual Exercises are set out in terms of call and response, and indeed between Francis and Ignatius themselves. Compare, for example, the description of the cave experience in their lives. Francis is described thus by Thomas of Celano, his first biographer:
In this article from 2009 Brian Purfield compares the spiritual experiences of the founder of the Society of Jesus with those of Francis of Assisi. What similarities are there to be found between the Spiritual Exercises and Bonaventure’s recollection of the life of St Francis? You can read the complete article here
The life of Francis of Assisi can be understood as a series of calls to which he was invited to respond by the Lord. These calls and his responses are set forth in The Major Life of St Francis[1], the biography by Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, the eighth Minister General of the Friars Minor. Bonaventure took the data of earlier biographies of St Francis and subjected them to the principles of theology. In doing so, he provided a classic study of Franciscan spirituality within the context of the life of Francis. He has given us a valuable tool which is of great use for those involved in contemporary spiritual direction.[2] I wish to suggest in this article that the dynamic of call and response recorded in the Major Life can easily fit into the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola.
There are some striking similarities between the way the Major Life and the Spiritual Exercises are set out in terms of call and response, and indeed between Francis and Ignatius themselves. Compare, for example, the description of the cave experience in their lives. Francis is described thus by Thomas of Celano, his first biographer:
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