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 30th October - 2nd November
Tuesday: 9:30am
Penguin
7:00pm Ulverstone
Friday: 12noon Devonport .. All Souls
7:00pm Ulverstone … November Remembrance Mass Weekend Masses 3rd & 4th November 2018
Saturday Mass: 9:30am Ulverstone
Saturday Vigil: 6:00pm Penguin
Sunday Mass: 8:30am Port Sorell
9:00am Ulverstone
10:30am Devonport
11:00am Sheffield
5:00pm Latrobe
Ulverstone:
Penguin:
Latrobe:
Port Sorell:
Readings this week –Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
PREGO REFLECTION ON TODAY’S GOSPEL:
What do I hope for in this time of quiet?
I ask the Holy Spirit to be present with me and within me.
It may help to use all of my senses to enter into this well known Gospel passage, noticing what I see ... hear ... smell … feel …
What moves me most as I watch this encounter between the two men?
Perhaps Jesus catches my eye: what might I want to say to him?
Bartimaeus cries out persistently to Jesus, apparently in blind faith.
Are there times when I have called on God in this way … or perhaps need to do so now?
I try to share whatever is in my heart.
Perhaps I ask God to show me any areas of blindness within my own life, or times when I have lacked the courage to get up from my own ‘comfort zone’.
I speak to the Lord of this, and ask for any grace I need.
Jesus does not assume what Bartimaeus wants and needs: he asks him directly.
Now I hear this same question addressed to me: ‘[My name], what do you want me to do for you?’
What stirs within my heart?
I take time over my answer … and if I choose, simply remain under the Lord’s compassionate gaze.
How do I want to respond now?
Before I end my prayer, I ask God to show me how and where he needs me to follow him along the road.
In time, I gratefully take my leave, asking to be ever more open to God’s call to me. Our Father ...
Readings next week –Thirty-First
Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
Your prayers
are asked for the sick:
Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Let us pray for those whose anniversary
occurs about this time:
24th - 31st October
Weekly
Ramblings
As has been our practice in recent years the Mass on the
Feast of All Souls will also be our Mass of Remembrance for those who have died
in the past twelve months and an invitation is extended to all those who have
lost family members either here or elsewhere to join us in remembering their
loved ones at this Mass. After Mass there will be a light supper in the
Community Room.
We are gradually collecting responses and suggestions from
Parishioners as part of the input which will be sent to the National Plenary
Council 2020 preparation team. As I have mentioned previously we will be noting
the responses before sending them on so that we can look at concerns or issues
which have an impact on our community and we will be reporting back on those
issues and concerns to the Parish on Friday 23rd November at a
gathering in the community room at Ulverstone which will commence at 7pm.
Please do not feel as if you have to limit yourself to the size of the template
that has been provided – if you have something you feel that needs to be said
then please put it on paper and bring it to Mass where it can be brought to the
altar with the Gifts during the Offertory. Alternatively, you may wish to send
your response directly to the Plenary Council 2020 website – you can do that by
going to http://plenarycouncil.catholic.org.au/resources/have-your-say/
Thanks to all those who have been part of the more public
activities during our 30 Days of Prayer including the Mission Evening with
Archbishop Julian at Our Lady of Lourdes on Tuesday evening – your prayerful
participation and support is appreciated.
One area of concern that has been raised with me (aside
from the Plenary process) is the question of our own Parish Communication
practices. If you have any suggestions or ideas about how we might improve how
decisions, information, stories, hopes, dreams, sorrows etc. are shared with
the Parish please feel free to contact me either personally or by email: mike.delaney@aohtas.org.au.
Please
take care on the roads and I look forward to seeing you next weekend.
CATHOLIC MISSION CHURCH APPEAL:
FROM THE
PARISH PASTORAL TEAM (FELICITY SLY – CHAIR):
KNIGHTS OF THE SOUTHERN CROSS:
MACKILLOP HILL:
SPIRITUALITY
IN THE COFFEE SHOPPE:
PLENARY
COUNCIL 2020:
You are invited to join and contribute to a series of
Listening and Dialogue gatherings at Parish House, 90 Stewart Street Devonport November
1 from 10am – 11:30am. Please contact Clare Kiely-Hoye 0418 100 402 if
you wish to attend.
EILEEN O’CONNOR SERVANT OF
GOD:
CARE & CONCERN:
MT ST VINCENT AUXILIARY:
Craft and cake stall Sunday 4th November after 9:00am Mass Sacred Heart Church Community Room. Bring a friend or two and your spare change and buy some goodies to help support this great fundraiser!
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE:
LISTENING
TO GOD THROUGH OUR DREAMS: AN INTRODUCTION FOR BEGINNERS:
The
Missionary Sisters of Service are celebrating! Now in their 75th
year, the first of their official anniversary events will be held on Bruny
Island on Sunday 25 November when a permanent memorial to their “beginnings”
will be blessed and dedicated at St Brendan’s Church, Alonnah. All interested
people are invited to attend any or all events on that day: light lunch (12:30
pm), the blessing and dedication (2:30 pm), Mass (3 pm) and afternoon tea (4
pm). A bus ($20pp payable in cash on the day) will leave St Aloysius Catholic
College car park, Huntingfield, at 9:30 am sharp and return about 6-6:15 pm.
Further information and rsvp for catering 9 November, Sr Lorraine Groves MSS lorrainegrovesmss@gmail.com,
6245 3737 or 0409 172 741.
Thursday Nights - OLOL Hall, Devonport. Eyes down 7.30pm!
Callers Thursday 1st November, Merv Tippett & Graeme Rigney
Justice with Peace
Jack Jezreel, the founder of JustFaith Ministries, writes
about six crucial ingredients for Christianity to be an effective force for
peace and justice, “peace with justice, justice with peace.” Today we’ll
explore the first three and tomorrow the remaining elements.
FAITH AND LEVITY
This article is taken from the archives of Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. You can find the original article and many others here
Shusaku Endo, the Japanese author of the classic novel, Silence (upon which Martin Scorsese based his movie) was a Catholic who didn’t always find his native land, Japan, sympathetic to his faith. He was misunderstood but kept his balance and good heart by placing a high value on levity. It was his way of integrating his faith with his own experience of occasional personal failure and his way of keeping his perspective on a culture which misunderstood him. Levity, he believed, makes faith livable.
He’s right. Levity is what makes faith livable because humor and irony give us the perspective we need to forgive ourselves and others for our weaknesses and mistakes. When we’re too serious there’s no forgiveness, least of all for ourselves.
What is humor? What’s its meaning? A generation ago, Peter Berger wrote a book, A Rumor of Angels, in which he looked at the question of humor philosophically. I like his conclusion. In humor, he submits, we touch the transcendent. To be able to laugh at a situation, no matter how dire or tragic, shows that we’re in some way above that situation, that there’s something in us that’s not imprisoned by that situation, or any situation.
There’s a wonderful example of this in the writings of the Russian poet, Anna Akhmatova. During the purges of Stalin, her husband had been arrested, as had many others. She occasionally tried to visit the prison he was in to leave letters and packages for him. Standing in long lines outside of that prison in St. Petersburg, she waited alongside other women whose husbands or sons had also been arrested. The situation bordered on the absurd. None of them even knew whether their loved ones were even alive and the guards made them wait for hours without explanation, often in the cold of winter. One day, as she was standing in line waiting, another woman recognized her, approached her, and asked: “Can you describe this?” Akhmatova replied: “I can,” and when she said this something like a smile passed between them.
A smile passed between them. That smile contained some levity and that allowed them both to realize, however unconsciously, that they were transcendent to that situation. The smile that passed between them alerted them both to the fact that they were more than what they were in that moment. Awful as it was, they weren’t ultimately prisoners to that moment. Moreover that smile was a prophetic and political act of defiance, based upon faith. Levity is subversive.
This is true too not just for how we live inside our faith lives; it’s true too for how we live, healthily, inside our families. A family that’s too serious will not allow for forgiveness. Its heaviness will eventually drive its members either into depression or away from the family. Moreover it will make an idol out of itself. Conversely, a family that can take itself seriously but still laugh at itself will be a family where there is forgiveness because levity will give them a healthy perspective on their foibles. A family that’s healthy will sometimes look at itself honestly and with the kind of smile that passed between Anna Akhmatova and her friend, say of itself: “Aren’t we pathetic!”
That’s true too of nationalism. We need to take our nation seriously, even as a certain kind levity keeps this seriousness in perspective. I’m a Canadian. As Canadians, we love our country, are proud of it, and would, if push came to shove, die for it. But we have a wonderful levity about our patriotism. We make jokes about it and enjoy it when others make jokes about us. Consequently we don’t have any bitter controversies regarding who loves the country and who doesn’t. Our lightness keeps us in unity.
All of this, of course, is doubly true of faith and spirituality. Real faith is deep, an indelible brand inside the soul, a DNA that dictates behavior. Moreover, real faith does not sidestep the tragic within our lives but equips us to face the heaviness in life where we meet disappointment, personal failure, heartbreak, injustice, betrayal, the breakdown of cherished relationships, the death of loves ones, sickness, the diminishment of our own health, and ultimately our own death. This is not to be confused with any natural or contrived optimism that refuses to see the dark. Rather real faith, precisely because it is real and therefore keeps us inchoately aware of our identity and transcendence, will always allow us a discreet, knowing, smile, no matter the situation. Like the English martyr, Thomas More, we will be able to joke a bit with our executioner and we will also be able to forgive others and ourselves for not being perfect.
Our lives often are pathetic. But it’s okay. We can still laugh with each other! We’re in good hands. The God who made obviously has a sense of humor – and therefore understanding and forgiveness.
Too many books on Christian spirituality might more aptly be entitled: The Unbearable Heaviness of Faith.
To Discern and Reform:
The 'Francis Option' for Evangelizing a World in Flux
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 30th October - 2nd November
Tuesday: 9:30am
Penguin
Wednesday: 9:30am Latrobe
Thursday: 12noon Devonport …
All Saints
7:00pm Ulverstone
7:00pm Ulverstone
Friday: 12noon Devonport .. All Souls
7:00pm Ulverstone … November Remembrance Mass Weekend Masses 3rd & 4th November 2018
Saturday Mass: 9:30am Ulverstone
Saturday Vigil: 6:00pm Penguin
Sunday Mass: 8:30am Port Sorell
9:00am Ulverstone
10:30am Devonport
10:30am Devonport
11:00am Sheffield
5:00pm Latrobe
Ministry Rosters 3rd & 4th November,
2018
Devonport:
Readers Vigil: M Stewart, M Gaffney, H Lim 10:30am: E Petts, K Douglas, K Pearce
Ministers of Communion:
Vigil: D Peters, M Heazlewood, T Muir, M
Gerrand, P Shelverton
10:30am: F Sly, E Petts, K Hull, S
Arrowsmith
Cleaners: 2nd Nov: M.W.C. 9th Nov: F Sly, M Hansen, R McBain
Piety Shop: 3rd
Nov: H Thompson 4th Nov: T Omogbai-Musa
Ulverstone:
Reader/s: E Cox Ministers of
Communion: E
Reilly, M & K McKenzie, M O’Halloran
Cleaners: M Swain, M Bryan Flowers: C Stingel Hospitality:
M & K McKenzie
Penguin:
Greeters: G & N Pearce Commentator: J Barker Readers: A Landers, E Nickols
Ministers of
Communion: T
Clayton, J Garnsey Liturgy: SC C Setting Up: F Aichberger
Care of Church: M Bowles, M Owen
Latrobe:
Reader: S Ritchie Minister of Communion: B Ritchie Procession of Gifts: Parishioner
Port Sorell:
Reader:
G Gigliotti & D Leaman Minister of Communion: Jan & Don Peters
Cleaners:
C & J
Howard
Readings this week –Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
First Reading: Jeremiah 31:7-9
Second Reading: Hebrews 5:1-6
Gospel: Mark 10:46-52
PREGO REFLECTION ON TODAY’S GOSPEL:
I notice how I come to prayer today.
What do I hope for in this time of quiet?
I ask the Holy Spirit to be present with me and within me.
It may help to use all of my senses to enter into this well known Gospel passage, noticing what I see ... hear ... smell … feel …
What moves me most as I watch this encounter between the two men?
Perhaps Jesus catches my eye: what might I want to say to him?
Bartimaeus cries out persistently to Jesus, apparently in blind faith.
Are there times when I have called on God in this way … or perhaps need to do so now?
I try to share whatever is in my heart.
Perhaps I ask God to show me any areas of blindness within my own life, or times when I have lacked the courage to get up from my own ‘comfort zone’.
I speak to the Lord of this, and ask for any grace I need.
Jesus does not assume what Bartimaeus wants and needs: he asks him directly.
Now I hear this same question addressed to me: ‘[My name], what do you want me to do for you?’
What stirs within my heart?
I take time over my answer … and if I choose, simply remain under the Lord’s compassionate gaze.
How do I want to respond now?
Before I end my prayer, I ask God to show me how and where he needs me to follow him along the road.
In time, I gratefully take my leave, asking to be ever more open to God’s call to me. Our Father ...
What do I hope for in this time of quiet?
I ask the Holy Spirit to be present with me and within me.
It may help to use all of my senses to enter into this well known Gospel passage, noticing what I see ... hear ... smell … feel …
What moves me most as I watch this encounter between the two men?
Perhaps Jesus catches my eye: what might I want to say to him?
Bartimaeus cries out persistently to Jesus, apparently in blind faith.
Are there times when I have called on God in this way … or perhaps need to do so now?
I try to share whatever is in my heart.
Perhaps I ask God to show me any areas of blindness within my own life, or times when I have lacked the courage to get up from my own ‘comfort zone’.
I speak to the Lord of this, and ask for any grace I need.
Jesus does not assume what Bartimaeus wants and needs: he asks him directly.
Now I hear this same question addressed to me: ‘[My name], what do you want me to do for you?’
What stirs within my heart?
I take time over my answer … and if I choose, simply remain under the Lord’s compassionate gaze.
How do I want to respond now?
Before I end my prayer, I ask God to show me how and where he needs me to follow him along the road.
In time, I gratefully take my leave, asking to be ever more open to God’s call to me. Our Father ...
Readings next week –Thirty-First
Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
First Reading: Deuteronomy 6:2-6
Second Reading: Hebrews 7:23-28
Gospel: Mark
12:28-34
Your prayers
are asked for the sick:
Fr Peter Nicholls, Ken Sutton, Marg Stewart, Mary Webb & ….
Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Peter Smith Jnr, James Ryan, Greg Spinks, Cheryl Anne
Kingston
Let us pray for those whose anniversary
occurs about this time:
24th - 31st October
Patrick Clarke, Esma Mibus, David Murray, Paul McNamara, Brenda Wyatt, Bridget Monaghan, Lawrence McGuire, Margaret Doody, Bernard
P Marshall, Cyril Allford, Amy Bates and James Wesley.
Weekly Ramblings
During the week we will be celebrating the Feasts of All
Saints and All Souls – both significant feasts which have an impact throughout
the whole of the month of November. Masses on both days will be at 12noon at
Our Lady of Lourdes and 7pm at Sacred Heart Church – please note there will not
be a 9.30am Mass at Ulverstone on Friday.
As has been our practice in recent years the Mass on the
Feast of All Souls will also be our Mass of Remembrance for those who have died
in the past twelve months and an invitation is extended to all those who have
lost family members either here or elsewhere to join us in remembering their
loved ones at this Mass. After Mass there will be a light supper in the
Community Room.
We are gradually collecting responses and suggestions from
Parishioners as part of the input which will be sent to the National Plenary
Council 2020 preparation team. As I have mentioned previously we will be noting
the responses before sending them on so that we can look at concerns or issues
which have an impact on our community and we will be reporting back on those
issues and concerns to the Parish on Friday 23rd November at a
gathering in the community room at Ulverstone which will commence at 7pm.
Please do not feel as if you have to limit yourself to the size of the template
that has been provided – if you have something you feel that needs to be said
then please put it on paper and bring it to Mass where it can be brought to the
altar with the Gifts during the Offertory. Alternatively, you may wish to send
your response directly to the Plenary Council 2020 website – you can do that by
going to http://plenarycouncil.catholic.org.au/resources/have-your-say/
Thanks to all those who have been part of the more public
activities during our 30 Days of Prayer including the Mission Evening with
Archbishop Julian at Our Lady of Lourdes on Tuesday evening – your prayerful
participation and support is appreciated.
Please
take care on the roads and I look forward to seeing you next weekend.
CATHOLIC MISSION CHURCH APPEAL:
‘How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who
announces peace, who brings good news…’ Isaiah 52:7
Thank you for supporting this
year’s Catholic Mission Church Appeal through your kind gifts and prayers, and
for being a part of an ‘education revolution’ in Myanmar. Your generosity makes
it possible for programs such as the Pyinya Sanyae Institute of Education, as
well as schools like St John’s in Hakha, to provide quality, child-centred
education to children. For more information about the work of Catholic Mission
around the world, please contact our friendly team;
Freecall 1800 257 296 or
at catholicmission.org.au/about-us/contact catholicmission.org.au/Myanmar
FROM THE
PARISH PASTORAL TEAM (FELICITY SLY – CHAIR):
At our September PPT meeting, Fr Mike signed the Safe
Communities document for the Mersey Leven Parish. This document outlines the requirements
of all parishes in the Archdiocese to ensure that the church environment is
safe for our parishioners and visitors. The PPT will be asking those in our
community who have expertise in compliance to assist us in implementing and
monitoring the processes required to meet the standards. One of the
requirements of Safe Communities is for volunteers and paid staff to have a
Working with Vulnerable People Registration (WVP). Over the coming months, we
will provide more information on this. However, in the interim, if you have a WVP
registration, and have the expertise, you can register yourself at: https://wwcforms.justice.tas.gov.au/Registration/ (use the add employer button).
If you would like more information on the Archdiocese’s Safe
Communities document, or to discuss the WVP requirement, please speak with a
member of the Parish Pastoral Team. My contact details are on the masthead of
the Parish Newsletter.
KNIGHTS OF THE SOUTHERN CROSS:
The meeting of the Mersey Leven Knights of the Southern
Cross will be held this Sunday 28th October at the Sacred
Heart Church Community Room, Ulverstone at 6 pm. Please bring a light meal to
be shared.
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: 31st
October 10am – 11:30 am Phone Sr Marg 6428:3095 Mobile 0418 367 769
SPIRITUALITY
IN THE COFFEE SHOPPE:
Monday 29th October 10.30am-12pm
Come
along and enjoy a lively discussion over morning tea! Phone: 6428 3095 Email:
rsjforth@bigpond.net.au
PLENARY
COUNCIL 2020:
You are invited to join and contribute to a series of
Listening and Dialogue gatherings at Parish House, 90 Stewart Street Devonport November
1 from 10am – 11:30am. Please contact Clare Kiely-Hoye 0418 100 402 if
you wish to attend.
EILEEN O’CONNOR SERVANT OF
GOD:
On 17 August 2018 it was announced
that the Holy See has recognised the holiness and virtue of Australian woman
Eileen O’Connor, with the cause for her canonisation opened by the Vatican’s Congregation
for the Causes of Saints. Information
and a prayer session is being offered; Sunday 28th October St
Patrick’s Latrobe after 5pm Mass. There is no need to register. If you have
questions or require further information contact Giuseppe Gigliotti on 0419 684
134 or on gigli@comcen.com.au
CARE & CONCERN:
The next gathering of the social group will be held Tuesday
13th November. This will be held at the café at the
Riverview Nursery, Forth Road Don, and will be the final gathering for the
year. As always, we would be very pleased to welcome parishioners who do
not have the opportunity for social activity, including those whose
spouses/partners are in residential care etc. Transport can be
provided. It is necessary that we have the numbers of those who will be attending
by Tuesday 6th November. To advise of your attendance,
or 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.
Craft and cake stall Sunday 4th November after 9:00am Mass Sacred Heart Church Community Room. Bring a friend or two and your spare change and buy some goodies to help support this great fundraiser!
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE:
LISTENING
TO GOD THROUGH OUR DREAMS: AN INTRODUCTION FOR BEGINNERS:
Presented by Shirley Hayden and Maureen O’Halloran this
workshop will provide you with prayerful ways to discover how God speaks to us
through our dreams. Details: Friday 16th November 7:30pm and
Saturday 17th November 4pm at Emmanuel Centre, 123 Abbott St
Launceston; Cost: $120 (includes accommodation, breakfast and hot lunch).
RSVP to emmanuelcentre@aohtas.org.au
or 6334:1082 by November 2nd.
The Missionary Sisters of Service are celebrating! Now in their 75th year, the first of their official anniversary events will be held on Bruny Island on Sunday 25 November when a permanent memorial to their “beginnings” will be blessed and dedicated at St Brendan’s Church, Alonnah. All interested people are invited to attend any or all events on that day: light lunch (12:30 pm), the blessing and dedication (2:30 pm), Mass (3 pm) and afternoon tea (4 pm). A bus ($20pp payable in cash on the day) will leave St Aloysius Catholic College car park, Huntingfield, at 9:30 am sharp and return about 6-6:15 pm. Further information and rsvp for catering 9 November, Sr Lorraine Groves MSS lorrainegrovesmss@gmail.com, 6245 3737 or 0409 172 741.
Thursday Nights - OLOL Hall, Devonport. Eyes down 7.30pm!
Callers Thursday 1st November, Merv Tippett & Graeme Rigney
Justice with Peace
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
If you want peace, work for justice. —Pope Paul VI [1]
Jack Jezreel, the founder of JustFaith Ministries, writes
about six crucial ingredients for Christianity to be an effective force for
peace and justice, “peace with justice, justice with peace.” Today we’ll
explore the first three and tomorrow the remaining elements.
Relationships with Those at Risk
First, the Church—the People of God—must always be
deliberate about our relationships with those who are at risk in the world. . .
. The single biggest obstacle to the church’s mission and vision of peace with
justice is the fact of the segregation of the poor/the oppressed/the
exploited/the neglected/the stranger from the comfortable/the secure/the
satisfied. The result is a divide that convinces the comfortable and secure
that all is well and persuades the poor that there is no hope. . . .
Regardless of what else we do, we must stay connected in
some kind of face-to-face way with the persons and the places at risk. . . .
Justice Education
The second critical ingredient . . . is justice education. .
. . The single most repeated phrase in the Gospels is [what] Jesus uses to
describe the vision and focus of his ministry: the Reign of God. . . . This is
the reign of service, reconciliation, justice, generosity, compassion and
peacemaking. Jesus calls disciples to this vision. Is it fair to say that Jesus
did not call disciples to follow him for the purpose of idolizing or honoring
him? Rather, the reason to follow him is that he is pointing toward a new
possibility—a holy possibility. . . .
Catholic social teaching speaks to dignity, solidarity, the
option for the poor, the rights of workers, care of creation, peace and so on.
It is, in fact, an extraordinary tradition. The only problem is that it is so
often not integrated in the life of the local faith community, the parish. It
is, to use a tiresome and now pathetic phrase, “our best kept secret.” . . .
Simpler Lifestyles
. . . The call to a simpler lifestyle is partially prompted
by the observation that the world is at war because parts of the world are
literally sucking the life out of the other parts. The history of affluence is
the history of exploitation is the history of war. . . . For us to live as we
live in this country, we need to dominate others so that they cannot use the
limited resources that we want.
And our lifestyles not only put us at war with each other
but with the natural order. The reality of global warming is sobering indeed. .
. .
Authentic love will not allow us to continue to ask the rest
of the world to put itself at the mercy of our conveniences.
[1] Pope Paul VI, Message for World Day of Peace (January 1,
1972),
http://w2.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/messages/peace/documents/hf_p-vi_mes_19711208_v-world-day-for-peace.html
Jack Jezreel, “Culturing Peace in a Culture of Violence,”
Phase 4, Session 19 of the JustFaith 2017-18 Program, https://justfaith.org/.
FAITH AND LEVITY
This article is taken from the archives of Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. You can find the original article and many others here
Shusaku Endo, the Japanese author of the classic novel, Silence (upon which Martin Scorsese based his movie) was a Catholic who didn’t always find his native land, Japan, sympathetic to his faith. He was misunderstood but kept his balance and good heart by placing a high value on levity. It was his way of integrating his faith with his own experience of occasional personal failure and his way of keeping his perspective on a culture which misunderstood him. Levity, he believed, makes faith livable.
He’s right. Levity is what makes faith livable because humor and irony give us the perspective we need to forgive ourselves and others for our weaknesses and mistakes. When we’re too serious there’s no forgiveness, least of all for ourselves.
What is humor? What’s its meaning? A generation ago, Peter Berger wrote a book, A Rumor of Angels, in which he looked at the question of humor philosophically. I like his conclusion. In humor, he submits, we touch the transcendent. To be able to laugh at a situation, no matter how dire or tragic, shows that we’re in some way above that situation, that there’s something in us that’s not imprisoned by that situation, or any situation.
There’s a wonderful example of this in the writings of the Russian poet, Anna Akhmatova. During the purges of Stalin, her husband had been arrested, as had many others. She occasionally tried to visit the prison he was in to leave letters and packages for him. Standing in long lines outside of that prison in St. Petersburg, she waited alongside other women whose husbands or sons had also been arrested. The situation bordered on the absurd. None of them even knew whether their loved ones were even alive and the guards made them wait for hours without explanation, often in the cold of winter. One day, as she was standing in line waiting, another woman recognized her, approached her, and asked: “Can you describe this?” Akhmatova replied: “I can,” and when she said this something like a smile passed between them.
A smile passed between them. That smile contained some levity and that allowed them both to realize, however unconsciously, that they were transcendent to that situation. The smile that passed between them alerted them both to the fact that they were more than what they were in that moment. Awful as it was, they weren’t ultimately prisoners to that moment. Moreover that smile was a prophetic and political act of defiance, based upon faith. Levity is subversive.
This is true too not just for how we live inside our faith lives; it’s true too for how we live, healthily, inside our families. A family that’s too serious will not allow for forgiveness. Its heaviness will eventually drive its members either into depression or away from the family. Moreover it will make an idol out of itself. Conversely, a family that can take itself seriously but still laugh at itself will be a family where there is forgiveness because levity will give them a healthy perspective on their foibles. A family that’s healthy will sometimes look at itself honestly and with the kind of smile that passed between Anna Akhmatova and her friend, say of itself: “Aren’t we pathetic!”
That’s true too of nationalism. We need to take our nation seriously, even as a certain kind levity keeps this seriousness in perspective. I’m a Canadian. As Canadians, we love our country, are proud of it, and would, if push came to shove, die for it. But we have a wonderful levity about our patriotism. We make jokes about it and enjoy it when others make jokes about us. Consequently we don’t have any bitter controversies regarding who loves the country and who doesn’t. Our lightness keeps us in unity.
All of this, of course, is doubly true of faith and spirituality. Real faith is deep, an indelible brand inside the soul, a DNA that dictates behavior. Moreover, real faith does not sidestep the tragic within our lives but equips us to face the heaviness in life where we meet disappointment, personal failure, heartbreak, injustice, betrayal, the breakdown of cherished relationships, the death of loves ones, sickness, the diminishment of our own health, and ultimately our own death. This is not to be confused with any natural or contrived optimism that refuses to see the dark. Rather real faith, precisely because it is real and therefore keeps us inchoately aware of our identity and transcendence, will always allow us a discreet, knowing, smile, no matter the situation. Like the English martyr, Thomas More, we will be able to joke a bit with our executioner and we will also be able to forgive others and ourselves for not being perfect.
Our lives often are pathetic. But it’s okay. We can still laugh with each other! We’re in good hands. The God who made obviously has a sense of humor – and therefore understanding and forgiveness.
Too many books on Christian spirituality might more aptly be entitled: The Unbearable Heaviness of Faith.
To Discern and Reform:
The 'Francis Option' for Evangelizing a World in Flux
Writing in the October 2018 issue of The Way, Austen Ivereigh suggests that Pope Francis 'sees in the tribulation and ferment of the Church an opportunity for patient conversion through a renewed humble and joyful dependence on God’s mercy.' Austen Ivereigh is a writer, journalist and commentator, author of The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope (2015). This article can be found on the Thinking Faith website by clicking here
Matures by decades of experience in pastoral mission in Argentina and invigorated by the Latin American Church’s signs-of-the-times discernment at the great meeting of Aparecida in 2007, Pope Francis’s vision of how to evangelize a world dominated by globalised technocracy is now — through Evangelii Gaudium, his November 2013 apostolic exhortation, and through the priorities of the current pontificate more generally — the definitive source for the universal Church. This vision offers a captivating recovery of the radically pastoral direction set by the Second Vatican Council, read through a specifically Argentinean understanding of that Council after Medellín.[1] It includes, naturally, the option for the poor and an emphasis on Jesus’ proclamation of God’s Kingdom, but with a distinctive and strongly anti-clericalist faith in the piety and culture of the ordinary, faithful people.
To continue reading this article click here
Writing in the October 2018 issue of The Way, Austen Ivereigh suggests that Pope Francis 'sees in the tribulation and ferment of the Church an opportunity for patient conversion through a renewed humble and joyful dependence on God’s mercy.' Austen Ivereigh is a writer, journalist and commentator, author of The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope (2015). This article can be found on the Thinking Faith website by clicking here
Matures by decades of experience in pastoral mission in Argentina and invigorated by the Latin American Church’s signs-of-the-times discernment at the great meeting of Aparecida in 2007, Pope Francis’s vision of how to evangelize a world dominated by globalised technocracy is now — through Evangelii Gaudium, his November 2013 apostolic exhortation, and through the priorities of the current pontificate more generally — the definitive source for the universal Church. This vision offers a captivating recovery of the radically pastoral direction set by the Second Vatican Council, read through a specifically Argentinean understanding of that Council after Medellín.[1] It includes, naturally, the option for the poor and an emphasis on Jesus’ proclamation of God’s Kingdom, but with a distinctive and strongly anti-clericalist faith in the piety and culture of the ordinary, faithful people.
To continue reading this article click here
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