Mersey Leven Catholic Parish
Parish Priest: Fr Mike Delaney
Mob: 0417 279 437
mike.delaney@aohtas.org.au
Assistant Priest: Fr Paschal Okpon
Mob: 0438 562 731
paschalokpon@yahoo.com
Priest in Residence: Fr Phil McCormack
Mob: 0437 521 257
pmccormack43@bigpond.com
Postal Address: PO Box 362, Devonport 7310
Parish Office: 90 Stewart Street, Devonport 7310
(Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10am - 3pm)
Office Phone: 6424 2783 Fax: 6423 5160
Email: merseyleven@aohtas.org.au
Secretary: Annie Davies
Finance Officer: Anne Fisher
Pastoral Council Chair: Felicity Sly
Mob: 0418 301 573
fsly@internode.on.net
Mob: 0417 279 437
mike.delaney@aohtas.org.au
Assistant Priest: Fr Paschal Okpon
Mob: 0438 562 731
paschalokpon@yahoo.com
Priest in Residence: Fr Phil McCormack
Mob: 0437 521 257
pmccormack43@bigpond.com
Postal Address: PO Box 362, Devonport 7310
Parish Office: 90 Stewart Street, Devonport 7310
(Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10am - 3pm)
Office Phone: 6424 2783 Fax: 6423 5160
Email: merseyleven@aohtas.org.au
Secretary: Annie Davies
Finance Officer: Anne Fisher
Pastoral Council Chair: Felicity Sly
Mob: 0418 301 573
fsly@internode.on.net
Parish Mass times for the Month: mlcpmasstimes.blogspot.com.au
Weekly Homily Podcast: mikedelaney.podomatic.com
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
Benediction with Adoration Devonport: First Friday each month - commences at 10am and concludes with Mass
Legion of Mary: Wednesdays 11am Sacred Heart Church Community Room, Ulverstone
Prayer Group: Charismatic Renewal – Mondays 7pm Community Room Ulverstone
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 - commences at 10am and concludes with Mass
Benediction with Adoration Devonport: First Friday each month - commences at 10am and concludes with Mass
Legion of Mary: Wednesdays 11am Sacred Heart Church Community Room, Ulverstone
Prayer Group: Charismatic Renewal – Mondays 7pm Community Room Ulverstone
Weekday Masses 23rd - 26th July, 2019
Tuesday: 9:30am Penguin
Wednesday: 9:30am Latrobe
Friday: 9:30am Ulverstone
Next Weekend 27th & 28th July, 2019
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 27th & 28th July, 2019
Devonport:
Readers: Vigil: V Riley, A Stegman, G Hendrey
10:30am A Hughes, T Barrientos, P Piccolo
Ministers of Communion: Vigil M Heazlewood, G Lee-Archer, M Kelly, P Shelverton
10.30am: M Sherriff, T & S Ryan, D Barrientos, M Barrientos
Cleaners 26th July: K.S.C. 2nd Aug: M.W.C.
Piety Shop 27th July: R Baker 28th July: D French
Mowing at Presbytery - July: Bernard Windebank
Ulverstone:
Reader/s: J & S Willoughby
Ministers of Communion: M Murray, J Pisarskis, C Harvey, P Grech
Cleaners: M Mott
Flowers: M Swain
Hospitality: Filipino Community
Penguin:
Greeters J Garnsey, S Ewing Commentator: Y Downes
Readers: M & D Hiscutt
Ministers of Communion: J Barker, E Nickols
Liturgy: Pine Road
Setting Up: A Landers
Care of Church: M Murray, E Nickols
Latrobe:
Reader: H Lim
Minister of Communion: I Campbell
Procession of Gifts: J Hyde
Port Sorell:
Readers: G Bellchambers, L Post
Ministers of Communion: B Lee
Cleaners: G Richey
Your prayers are asked for the sick:
Jan Walker, Norie Capulong, David Cole, Shelley Sing, Joy Carter, Marie Knight, Allan Stott, Christiana Okpon, Robert Luxton, Adrian Drane, Fred Heazlewood, Jason Carr, Thomas & Frances McGeown, Charlotte Milic, John Kelly, Peter Sylvester, Des Dalton & ….
Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Bruce Bellchambers, Lita Santos, Carlene Vickers, George Armstrong, Rita Huber, Lillian Bannerman, Phillip Roden, Rose Stanley, Mary Hoye, Jean Phillips, Don Bower, Arlene Austria.
Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs about this time: 18th – 24th July, 2019
Kathleen Monaghan, Teresa Askew, Deda Burgess, Marlene Willett, Ronald Buxton, Brian Innes, William Dooley, Margaret Charlesworth, Peter Sulzberger, Jean Braid, Joseph Peterson, Edward Mahony, Robbie McIver, Marie Foster, Fay Capell, Richard Carter, Joan Davidson, Marie Kingshott, Lorraine Sheehan. Also Graeme Tunchon, Rose & Henry Forbes
Readings This Week: 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
PREGO REFLECTION ON THE GOSPEL:
Readings Next Week: 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
Weekly
Ramblings
This coming week I will be in Hobart for the Council of
Priests and Consultors Meetings on Tuesday – both are opportunities for us to
sit down with the Archbishop to look at various aspects of the life of the
Archdiocese. Some of these activities are local – see the Palm Article – and
some are state-wide – see the details about the Evangelium Conference.
We also have our young parishioners who will be preparing
for the next stage of their Sacramental Preparation when they receive the
Lord’s Prayer next weekend (27th/28th July) and then participate in the
Preparation Day for the Sacrament of Confirmation on Sat 3rd August at Our Lady
of Lourdes Church and Hall. Please keep these children and their families in
your prayers during this special time.
Take care on the roads and in your homes,
OLOL Reader Rosters are available for collection this weekend from the Sacristy.
MACKILLOP HILL SPIRITUALITY CENTRE: Ph: 6428:3095 Email: rsjforth@bigpond.net.au
Spirituality in the Coffee Shoppe.
Monday 22nd July 2019 10.30am – 12 noon.
Join us for a lively discussion on topics of interest to YOU.
PARISH MAINTENANCE NEEDS:
Property maintenance issues can be brought to the attention of the Parish Secretary by filling in one of the new Maintenance Request Forms. These forms are now available in the foyer of each Mass Centre. Maintenance expenditure will need to be prioritised according to urgency.
THURSDAY 25th July
Eyes down 7:30pm.
Callers Merv Tippett & Graeme Rigney
FOOTY MARGIN RESULTS:
Round 17 (Friday 12th July) Collingwood won by 1 points.
Congratulations to the following winners; Don Mapley, Bev Brakey & Jane Pintar
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE
Discovering Global Mission
How can our skills create better opportunities for disadvantaged people?
Communities in Timor Leste, PNG, Samoa, Kiribati and Kenya seek volunteers to build local capacity. These assignments are not quick fixes. Find out how teacher Helena Charlesworth assisted communities in four countries over 25 years, and how sharing your skills can immerse you in a world of deep cultural discovery. Qualified medics, teachers, tradies, business and admins are always required. Palms Meet & Greet: Sunday August 18th at 2pm Anvers Chocolate Café LATROBE.
Past scholars of Our Lady of Mercy College Deloraine are invited to a reunion lunch at Pedro’s Restaurant, Ulverstone on Friday 30th August, 12 noon for 12.30 p.m. (Please note change of month!) Phone: Vivienne Williams: 64 370878.
THE JOURNEY CATHOLIC RADIO PROGRAM:
This week on the Journey, we hear Luke’s Gospel 10:38-42. Mother Hilda from the Abbey shares with us Good News, we have the ever-talented Trish McCarthy with her God spot, and you will hear from some of our other favorites. With amazing Christian Music artists, we are blessed to bring you this week’s edition of the Journey Catholic Radio Program. Go to www.jcr.org.au or www.itunes.jcr.org.au and to ensure that you never miss a show it can be sent to you each week as a podcast via email – for free.
Belief or Discipleship?
This article is taken from the Daily Email sent by Fr Richard Rohr OFM from the Center for Action and Contemplation. You can subscribe to receive the email by clicking here
I often say that we do not think ourselves into a new way of living, but we live ourselves into a new way of thinking. I’m not suggesting that theory and theology are unimportant; but I believe that faith is more about how we live on a daily basis than making verbal assent to this or that idea. In fact, my life’s work in many ways has been trying to move heady doctrines and dogmas to the level of actual experience and lifestyles that are an alternative to our consumer culture.
In today’s reflection, Shane Claiborne—an Evangelical I deeply respect—invites us to quite literally follow Jesus:
Over the past few decades, our Christianity has become obsessed with what Christians believe rather than how Christians live. We talk a lot about doctrines but little about practice. But in Jesus we don’t just see a presentation of doctrines but an invitation to join a movement that is about demonstrating God’s goodness to the world.
This kind of doctrinal language infects our language when we say things like, “Are you a believer?” Interestingly, Jesus did not send us into the world to make believers but to make disciples [see Matthew 28:18-20]. You can worship Jesus without doing the things he says. We can believe in him and still not follow him. In fact, there’s a passage in Corinthians that says, “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3, author’s paraphrase).
At times our evangelical fervor has come at the cost of spiritual formation. For this reason, we can end up with a church full of believers, but followers of Jesus can be hard to come by.
One of the reasons that Francis of Assisi is so beloved is that he followed Jesus so closely. In Shane’s words:
Francis did something simple and wonderful. He read the Gospels where Jesus says, “Sell your possessions and give the money to the poor,” [Matthew 19:21] “Consider the lilies and the sparrows and do not worry about tomorrow,” [Luke 12:24, 27] “Love your enemies,” [Matthew 5:44] and he decided to live as if Jesus meant the stuff he said. Francis turned his back on the materialism and militarism of his world and said yes to Jesus.
Shane Claiborne and Tony Campolo, Red Letter Revolution: What If Jesus Really Meant What He Said? (Thomas Nelson: 2012), 9, 42.
God's Finger in Our Lives
This article is taken from the archive of Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. You can find this article and many others by clicking here
The problem in the world and in the churches, Jim Wallis suggests, is that, perennially, conservatives get it wrong and liberals (over-reacting to conservatives) then don’t get it at all. Nowhere is this truer, I believe, than in how we discern the finger of God in the events of our lives.
Jesus tells us to discern the finger of God in our lives by reading the signs of the times. What’s meant by that? The idea isn’t so much that we look to every kind of social, political, and religious analysis to try to understand what’s going on in the world, but rather that we look at every event in our lives, personal or global, and ask ourselves: What’s God saying to me this event? What’s God saying to us in this event?
An older generation understood this as trying to attune itself to the workings of “divine providence”. That practice goes back to biblical times. When we read the bible, we see that for God’s people nothing happened that was understood as being purely secular or religiously neutral. Rather in every event, be it ever so accidental and secular, they saw the finger of God. For example, they believed that if they lost a war, it wasn’t because the other side had superior soldiers, but rather that God had somehow engineered this to teach them a lesson. Or if they were hit by drought it was because God had actively stopped the heavens from raining, again to teach them a lesson.
Now it’s easy to misunderstand this because, frequently, in writing this up, the sacred authors give the impression that God actively caused the event. That’s their wording, though not their intent or meaning. The bible does not intend to teach us that God causes wars or stops the heavens from raining; it accepts that they’re the result of natural contingency. The lesson is only that God speaks through them.
And it’s here where conservatives tend to get it wrong and liberals tend to miss the point. A recent example of this is the reaction of certain religious circles, conservative and liberal, to the outbreak of AIDS. When AIDS first broke out, a number of strong conservative religious voices spoke out saying that AIDS was God’s punishment on us for our sexual promiscuity, particularly for homosexuality. Liberal religious voices, for their part, were so turned off by this that their response was: God has nothing to do with this!
Both need a lesson on the workings of divine providence. Religious conservatives are wrong in their interpretation: God does not cause AIDS to punish us for sexual promiscuity. Conversely, religious liberals are also wrong in saying that this has nothing to do with God. God doesn’t cause AIDS (or any other disease) but God speaks through AIDS and every other disease. Our religious task is to discern the message. What’s God saying to us through this?
James Mackey teaches that divine providence is a conspiracy of accidents through which God speaks. Frederick Buechner teases this out a little further by saying: “This does not mean that God makes events happen to us which move us in certain directions like chessmen. Instead, events happen under their own steam as random as rain, which means that God is present in them not as their cause but as the one who even in the hardest and most hair-raising of them offers us the possibility of that new life and healing which I believe is what salvation is.”
God is always speaking to us in every event in our lives. For a Christian, there’s no such a thing as a purely secular experience. The event may be the result of purely secular and contingent forces but it contains a religious message for us, always. Our task is to read that message.
And one further note: Mostly, it seems that we hear God’s voice only in experiences that are deeply painful for us rather than in events that bring us joy and pleasure. But we shouldn’t misread this. It’s not that God speaks only through pain and is silent when things go right. Rather, in the words of C.S. Lewis, pain is God’s microphone to a deaf world. God is always speaking, mostly we aren’t listening. It’s only when our hearts start breaking that we begin to attune ourselves to the voice of God.
Divine providence is a conspiracy of accidents through which God speaks and we must be careful to get both parts of the equation right. God doesn’t cause AIDS, global warming, the refugee situation in the world, a cancer diagnosis, world hunger, hurricanes, tornadoes, or any other such thing in order to teach us a lesson; but something in all of these invites us to try to discern what God is saying through them. Likewise, God doesn’t cause your favorite sports team to win a championship; that too is the result of a conspiracy of accidents. But God speaks through all of these things – even your favorite team’s championship win!
Making Space for the Unchurched
This article is taken from the Blog posted by Fr Michael White, Pastor of the Church of the Nativity, Timoneum, Baltimore. You can find the original blog by clicking here
One of the key pillars of our mission at Nativity is to reach the unchurched and influence other churches to do the same. That means we need space to welcome the unchurched as well as visitors from across the country and around the world that come to us each week.
Less than two years ago we opened our new church building with seating for 1,000. This Easter we completed the balcony with space for 500 more. During that construction we also expanded our parking with hundreds of additional spaces. We also launched a shuttle service, encouraging parking off campus to free up even more space for guests. Meanwhile, our vibrant online experience allows curious people to try us out in the comfort of their home before showing up to our Timonium campus, and we have continued to invest in this campus.
In part due to these strategies, Nativity has experienced measurable growth in the last two years. Which is great. But growth in turn brings its own challenges. One Sunday morning this spring I spent time experiencing our campus and facilities at peek times (from a guest’s perspective) and I was amazed at the volume, and the ensuing traffic jams and tie ups, inside and outside. It became clear to me that something needed to be done, which is when we began an internal discussion about our weekend schedule.
This weekend we will be announcing a new schedule to be launched the weekend of August 3rd & 4th:
Confessions Saturday, 12:30-2:30pm
Masses Saturday, 5pm, Sunday 9, 10:45am, 12:30 & 5:30pm
We will be adding children’s programs for grades 1-5 on Saturday at 5pm (as well as those on Sunday morning). Student programs will be scheduled on Sunday afternoons and evenings.
Obviously, the basic change is a little more time between Masses. What’s the big deal? Well, that additional margin, we believe, will create more “space” in three major ways:
1. Parking
We want it to be as easy and as safe as possible for the unchurched to come to Mass. Increased time between Masses will allow our parking ministers to safely improve traffic flow and maximize parking space availability. We’re also rebranding our shuttle service (“The Nativity Express”) and launching a promotions campaign for the fall getting more church members to park off of West Ridgely Road.
2. Ministers
Volunteer ministers are the key to creating a positive first impression for guests. It starts the moment they arrive on campus with our parking ministers but continues with greeters, hosts, and café ministers. Increased time between Masses will allow our ministry teams to regroup and be better prepared.
3. Concourse & Café
Our Concourse and Cafe naturally encourage guests, members, and staff to stick around after Mass and mingle. These interactions create the relationships that lead to real community and conversion. More time between the Masses makes this more manageable and more attractive. We’re also rebranding our Guest Services Kiosk on the Concourse as our “Welcome Center” where our ministers can meet and greet our guests.
We are looking forward to kicking-off our new Mass schedule with you in the coming weeks.
Encountering the self in space
Fifty years after the Moon landing, does humanity understand itself and its place in the cosmos differently? Mark Aloysius SJ thinks that Damien Chazelle’s film First Man helps us to reflect on that question, as it tells the story of ‘the furthest a human being has ever journeyed in order to be at home with their own self.’ Mark Aloysius SJ is a Jesuit of the Malaysia-Singapore Region. He resides at Campion Hall, Oxford, where he is currently working on a doctorate on the question of desire in Hannah Arendt and Augustine. He is also a member of the editorial board of Thinking Faith.
After fifty years, we are perhaps finally in a position to examine if those words uttered by the first man on the surface of the Moon have become a reality. After six crewed landings on the Moon and countless other explorations of space, stretching our understanding of the known universe and our imagination of what lies beyond, has humankind taken a giant leap? As is often the case, progress is not something easily measured and there are many ways of understanding what it means: increase of scientific knowledge or technological expertise, economic development, and so on. But I ask this question anew not as a scientist or economist – I am neither – but as a member of the human race who calls earth home. In questioning whether progress has been made, I am more interested in asking a more fundamental question: has space exploration deepened our understanding of our own selves as human beings within the cosmos?
As was the case fifty years ago, but perhaps more so today, there is a problem with the translatability of scientific knowledge into a language comprehensible to any thinking person. It is in this sense that the Moon landing was of fundamental significance, for it demonstrated the translation of scientific knowledge into technological sophistication that enabled humanity to gain control over an environment that is otherwise hostile to human life. Although there had been great advancements in scientific knowledge at the turn of the twentieth century with Einstein’s Theory of Special/General Relativity (1905/15), and ultimately a rupture with the classical physical worldview that Quantum Theory (mid-1920’s) brought about, the Moon landing, in a restricted sense, did not depend on these newer theories; it was very much the crowning demonstration of the power of classical Newtonian physics.
Nearly a century after the discovery of these theories, the rupture of the classical paradigm of physical sciences, the gulf between what we know of the macroscopic and microscopic world, has not been resolved. Heisenberg’s discovery of the uncertainty principle (1927) epitomised this rupture. He showed conclusively that in spite of technological advancement in instrumentation, the more precise the scientist is in determining the position of a sub-atomic particle, the less s/he knows of its velocity, and vice versa. This means that the scientist’s selection of the kind of observation of reality that is made in itself determines reality. At least in the microscopic world, then, there is no given objective world to be ‘discovered’, as such, by the scientist. In Heisenberg’s words, ‘the object of research is no longer nature itself, but man’s investigation of nature. Here, again, man confronts himself alone’.[1]
Remarking on the uncertainty principle and the conquest of space in a little-known essay, the political theorist Hannah Arendt states that it is here that the concerns of the scientist overlap with the concerns of the layperson. This intertwining of concerns is symbolically and dramatically enacted in the exploration of space:
The astronaut, shot into outer space and imprisoned in his instrument-ridden capsule where each actual physical encounter with his surrounding would spell immediate death, might well be taken as the symbolic incarnation of Heisenberg’s man – the man who will be the less likely ever to meet anything but himself and man-made things the more ardently he wishes to eliminate all anthropocentric considerations from his encounter with the non-human world around him.[2]
Damien Chazelle’s 2018 film, First Man articulates this concern through a profound meditation on the theme of the exploration of space, both exterior and interior, in the events leading up to the Moon landing. From beginning to end, the viewer is led into spaces that induce claustrophobia: a cockpit that rattles violently through the use of dizzying camerawork; a dark room where Ryan Gosling’s Neil Armstrong considers the effects of radiotherapy on his daughter, Karen, who then dies from cancer; the cramped space of the Apollo 11 module shared with other astronauts who do not always see eye-to-eye. Then there is the counterpoint in the scenes of the lunar terrain, the vastness of space that envelops it and its deep silence, which Chazelle invites the viewer to listen to and savour. Throughout the film, it is intimated to the viewer that Armstrong seeks to escape earth because of the unbearable loss of his daughter, whom he visualises again and again in the film. Immediately after he utters those famous first words on the Moon, the camera shies swiftly away. We are not allowed to linger in the triumphalism these words may conjure or in any imagined conquest of the Moon or space. Instead, we are invited to gaze again into the vast emptiness of space, and we see Armstrong thinking once more of Karen. Indeed, wherever he may go, he confronts his sense of loss, bewilderment and, thus, his own self.
No forgetting is permitted, but there on the lunar terrain Chazelle offers his protagonist release through a simple, muted gesture of letting go, which I do not want to describe further, for it is to be relished as it is depicted in the film. It is the interior space of freedom that Chazelle wants the viewer to reach through attentive engagement with the film; but that interior space finds symbolic, external expression at the vantage point that the first man on the Moon christened the Sea of Tranquillity, from which the earth looks so beautiful in the vastness of space. This space, this vantage point, is so fragile, so easily lost. Yet, though his experience of it is fleeting, we see the deep change that it brings about in Armstrong when he greets his wife, Janet in the fluorescent-lit isolation room on his return: there is a renewed tenderness, expressed elegantly in knowing silence.
Through his film, Chazelle unmasks the politics of the conquest of space. What is revealed is that the craving for such conquest is countered by the desire to belong to each other, to the world, to one’s own self. But freedom cannot be achieved through technical sophistication over the cosmological space, nor can it be acquired through techniques of self-mastery to bring about tranquillity within the psychological space. These techniques of mastery over both spaces are shown for what they are: futile, if not accompanied by the confrontation of the self with itself. Even the word confrontation is inadequate, for in Chazelle’s meditative film, there is something so simple, so gentle, through which he depicts this silent dialogue of the self with itself. Here in this film is a pedagogy of encounter, and it is gentle and kind, even to those parts of the self that struggle with loss or confusion, and those parts that yearn for solace and to be at peace with all that one loves in the world. In other words, here is a story of the furthest a human being has ever journeyed in order to be at home with their own self.
How, then, might a religious person respond to the insight of the scientist and the yearning of the artist, represented by Heisenberg and Chazelle, respectively, fifty years after the Moon landing? To add something to the contemporary understanding of the human person, the religious person must think of developing modes of religious engagement that facilitate a genuine encounter with the self in the world. An encounter of the kind described above cannot be offered by calling for liturgical perfection or moral rigidity, which at times seem to be the dominant modes of religious response to a society bewildered by upheavals in contemporary thought. These are inadequate responses to the desires of a person in the contemporary age, for they lead to an estrangement from the self and the world. They are nothing but an escape into some kind of aestheticisation of the religious response, or an uncompromising quest for purity at the expense of considering the person as they are embedded in society and the cosmos.
An incarnational Christianity, which contemplates the mystery of God becoming human in Jesus, cannot be content with any escapism but must begin by understanding this desire for encounter, which is felt by all people, in all its depth. The mode of religious response must be a pedagogy of encounter that cultivates, through prayer and formation, a thinking faith and a discerning heart, which flow into service of each other and the world. In this pedagogy of encounter, there are no techniques of mastery to be learnt, but rather the reverse. There is the unlearning of techniques and delusions of mastery, in order to recognise a different way in which God – who is present in, and also above and beyond, the depths of the self and the cosmos – wants to relate to me and to the world. This is a mode of encounter permeated with wonder in the sacramental value of the entire universe and with love of all of creation, flowing out of that fundamental encounter with God who looks upon me, as I am in the world, with wonder and love.
Perhaps no one else has expressed this sense of wonder and awe in the miracle of existence as eloquently as Immanuel Kant did in his conclusion to the Critique of Practical Reason. ‘Two things fill the mind with ever-increasing wonder and awe, the more often and the more intensely the mind of thought is drawn to them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me’. Kant goes on to say that these realities, which inspire wonder and awe, are not to be imagined to be so far away; indeed, they are near: ‘I see them before me and connect them directly with the consciousness of my existence’. It is the task of the religious person to facilitate this encounter.
Fifty years after the Moon landing, if the religious person is to contribute meaningfully to an understanding of the human person, they will need to respond to those desires to explore and to extend what we know of the universe and the desire to be at home with oneself in the world. The religious person must find a way of authentically witnessing to the truth that because they are created by God in time for eternity, they are in the world, but not of it.
* For my father, who through a telescope looking at the Moon, taught us optics and astrophysics. And my mother, who told my friends and I that she couldn’t care less if we went to the Moon, as long as we attended to our present duties first. To both of them, who valued learning and service, I dedicate this essay.
[1] Werner Heisenberg, The Physicist’s Conception of Nature, trans. Arnold Pomerans (London: Hutchinson, 1958), p.24.
[2] Hannah Arendt and Jerome Kohn, ‘The Conquest of Space and the Stature of Man’ in Between Past and Future : Eight Exercises in Political Thought, Penguin classics (New York: Penguin Books, 2006), p.272.
Weekday Masses 23rd - 26th July, 2019
Tuesday: 9:30am Penguin
Wednesday: 9:30am Latrobe
Thursday: 12noon Devonport
Friday: 9:30am Ulverstone
Friday: 9:30am Ulverstone
Next Weekend 27th & 28th July, 2019
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
Devonport:
Readers: Vigil: V Riley, A Stegman, G Hendrey
10:30am A Hughes, T Barrientos, P Piccolo
Ministers of Communion: Vigil M Heazlewood, G Lee-Archer, M Kelly, P Shelverton
10.30am: M Sherriff, T & S Ryan, D Barrientos, M Barrientos
Cleaners 26th July: K.S.C. 2nd Aug: M.W.C.
Piety Shop 27th July: R Baker 28th July: D French
Mowing at Presbytery - July: Bernard Windebank
Ulverstone:
Reader/s: J & S Willoughby
Ministers of Communion: M Murray, J Pisarskis, C Harvey, P Grech
Cleaners: M Mott
Flowers: M Swain
Hospitality: Filipino Community
Penguin:
Greeters J Garnsey, S Ewing Commentator: Y Downes
Readers: M & D Hiscutt
Ministers of Communion: J Barker, E Nickols
Liturgy: Pine Road
Setting Up: A Landers
Care of Church: M Murray, E Nickols
Latrobe:
Reader: H Lim
Minister of Communion: I Campbell
Procession of Gifts: J Hyde
Port Sorell:
Readers: G Bellchambers, L Post
Ministers of Communion: B Lee
Cleaners: G Richey
Your prayers are asked for the sick:
Jan Walker, Norie Capulong, David Cole, Shelley Sing, Joy Carter, Marie Knight, Allan Stott, Christiana Okpon, Robert Luxton, Adrian Drane, Fred Heazlewood, Jason Carr, Thomas & Frances McGeown, Charlotte Milic, John Kelly, Peter Sylvester, Des Dalton & ….
Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Bruce Bellchambers, Lita Santos, Carlene Vickers, George Armstrong, Rita Huber, Lillian Bannerman, Phillip Roden, Rose Stanley, Mary Hoye, Jean Phillips, Don Bower, Arlene Austria.
Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs about this time: 18th – 24th July, 2019
Kathleen Monaghan, Teresa Askew, Deda Burgess, Marlene Willett, Ronald Buxton, Brian Innes, William Dooley, Margaret Charlesworth, Peter Sulzberger, Jean Braid, Joseph Peterson, Edward Mahony, Robbie McIver, Marie Foster, Fay Capell, Richard Carter, Joan Davidson, Marie Kingshott, Lorraine Sheehan. Also Graeme Tunchon, Rose & Henry Forbes
Take care on the roads and in your homes,
OLOL Reader Rosters are available for collection this weekend from the Sacristy.
MACKILLOP HILL SPIRITUALITY CENTRE: Ph: 6428:3095 Email: rsjforth@bigpond.net.au
PARISH MAINTENANCE NEEDS:
Property maintenance issues can be brought to the attention of the Parish Secretary by filling in one of the new Maintenance Request Forms. These forms are now available in the foyer of each Mass Centre. Maintenance expenditure will need to be prioritised according to urgency.
FOOTY MARGIN RESULTS:
Round 17 (Friday 12th July) Collingwood won by 1 points.
Congratulations to the following winners; Don Mapley, Bev Brakey & Jane Pintar
Past scholars of Our Lady of Mercy College Deloraine are invited to a reunion lunch at Pedro’s Restaurant, Ulverstone on Friday 30th August, 12 noon for 12.30 p.m. (Please note change of month!) Phone: Vivienne Williams: 64 370878.
THE JOURNEY CATHOLIC RADIO PROGRAM:
This article is taken from the Daily Email sent by Fr Richard Rohr OFM from the Center for Action and Contemplation. You can subscribe to receive the email by clicking here
Making Space for the Unchurched
Ministry Rosters 27th & 28th July, 2019
Devonport:
Readers: Vigil: V Riley, A Stegman, G Hendrey
10:30am A Hughes, T Barrientos, P Piccolo
Ministers of Communion: Vigil M Heazlewood, G Lee-Archer, M Kelly, P Shelverton
10.30am: M Sherriff, T & S Ryan, D Barrientos, M Barrientos
Cleaners 26th July: K.S.C. 2nd Aug: M.W.C.
Piety Shop 27th July: R Baker 28th July: D French
Mowing at Presbytery - July: Bernard Windebank
Ulverstone:
Reader/s: J & S Willoughby
Ministers of Communion: M Murray, J Pisarskis, C Harvey, P Grech
Cleaners: M Mott
Flowers: M Swain
Hospitality: Filipino Community
Penguin:
Greeters J Garnsey, S Ewing Commentator: Y Downes
Readers: M & D Hiscutt
Ministers of Communion: J Barker, E Nickols
Liturgy: Pine Road
Setting Up: A Landers
Care of Church: M Murray, E Nickols
Latrobe:
Reader: H Lim
Minister of Communion: I Campbell
Procession of Gifts: J Hyde
Port Sorell:
Readers: G Bellchambers, L Post
Ministers of Communion: B Lee
Cleaners: G Richey
Your prayers are asked for the sick:
Jan Walker, Norie Capulong, David Cole, Shelley Sing, Joy Carter, Marie Knight, Allan Stott, Christiana Okpon, Robert Luxton, Adrian Drane, Fred Heazlewood, Jason Carr, Thomas & Frances McGeown, Charlotte Milic, John Kelly, Peter Sylvester, Des Dalton & ….
Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Bruce Bellchambers, Lita Santos, Carlene Vickers, George Armstrong, Rita Huber, Lillian Bannerman, Phillip Roden, Rose Stanley, Mary Hoye, Jean Phillips, Don Bower, Arlene Austria.
Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs about this time: 18th – 24th July, 2019
Kathleen Monaghan, Teresa Askew, Deda Burgess, Marlene Willett, Ronald Buxton, Brian Innes, William Dooley, Margaret Charlesworth, Peter Sulzberger, Jean Braid, Joseph Peterson, Edward Mahony, Robbie McIver, Marie Foster, Fay Capell, Richard Carter, Joan Davidson, Marie Kingshott, Lorraine Sheehan. Also Graeme Tunchon, Rose & Henry Forbes
Readings This Week: 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
First Reading: Genesis 18:1-10
Second Reading: Colossians 1:24-28
Gospel: Luke 10:38-42
PREGO REFLECTION ON THE GOSPEL:
I come to my place of prayer and I take the time to become
still.
Aware of being in God’s presence, I breathe in his love and goodness.
When I am ready, I read the Gospel slowly, a couple of times.
I may wish to
place myself, in my imagination, in the scene.
It is Martha who welcomes Jesus
into her house and makes sure that Mary is present.
I watch her busily
preparing the meal.
I listen to her reaction.
I look at Mary who sits quietly
at Jesus's feet, listening to his teaching and maybe questioning him.
As I
contemplate the sisters, which is the one I identify with most today?
Why is
that?
I speak to Jesus of how I feel.
I consider the other sister and ponder
her point of view.
What feelings arise in me?
Again I speak to the Lord.
Martha
and Mary probably coexist in all of us.
Is this true of me?
How can I hold both
reactions in balance?
As I spend time contemplating this Gospel, what do
Jesus’s words: ‘Mary has chosen the better part’ mean to me in my life now?
Are
his words an encouragement to me, or maybe a form of correction?
In what ways
can I respond?
I speak to Jesus, my guest today.
I may question him or sit in
attentive silence.
Perhaps this week I can be both hospitable, like Martha, and
deeply present, like Mary, to the people I meet.
I thank God for this time with
him, and I ask for the graces I need just now.
Readings Next Week: 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
First Reading: Genesis 18:20-32
Second Reading: Colossians 2:12-14
Gospel: Luke 11:1-13
Weekly
Ramblings
As I write this the ordination hasn’t happened yet but, in
great anticipation, we congratulate and welcome Fr Ben Brooks into the life of
the Archdiocese and wish him every blessing for his work amongst the people of
God in the years to come.
This coming week I will be in Hobart for the Council of
Priests and Consultors Meetings on Tuesday – both are opportunities for us to
sit down with the Archbishop to look at various aspects of the life of the
Archdiocese. Some of these activities are local – see the Palm Article – and
some are state-wide – see the details about the Evangelium Conference.
We also have our young parishioners who will be preparing
for the next stage of their Sacramental Preparation when they receive the
Lord’s Prayer next weekend (27th/28th July) and then participate in the
Preparation Day for the Sacrament of Confirmation on Sat 3rd August at Our Lady
of Lourdes Church and Hall. Please keep these children and their families in
your prayers during this special time.
Take care on the roads and in your homes, OLOL Reader Rosters are available for collection this weekend from the Sacristy.
MACKILLOP HILL SPIRITUALITY CENTRE: Ph: 6428:3095 Email: rsjforth@bigpond.net.au
Spirituality in the Coffee Shoppe.
Monday 22nd July 2019 10.30am – 12 noon.
Join us for a lively discussion on topics of interest to YOU.
PARISH MAINTENANCE NEEDS:
Property maintenance issues can be brought to the attention of the Parish Secretary by filling in one of the new Maintenance Request Forms. These forms are now available in the foyer of each Mass Centre. Maintenance expenditure will need to be prioritised according to urgency.
THURSDAY 25th July
Eyes down 7:30pm.
Callers Merv Tippett & Graeme Rigney
Round 17 (Friday 12th July) Collingwood won by 1 points.
Congratulations to the following winners; Don Mapley, Bev Brakey & Jane Pintar
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE
Discovering Global Mission
How can our skills create better opportunities for disadvantaged people?
Communities in Timor Leste, PNG, Samoa, Kiribati and Kenya seek volunteers to build local capacity. These assignments are not quick fixes. Find out how teacher Helena Charlesworth assisted communities in four countries over 25 years, and how sharing your skills can immerse you in a world of deep cultural discovery. Qualified medics, teachers, tradies, business and admins are always required. Palms Meet & Greet: Sunday August 18th at 2pm Anvers Chocolate Café LATROBE.
Past scholars of Our Lady of Mercy College Deloraine are invited to a reunion lunch at Pedro’s Restaurant, Ulverstone on Friday 30th August, 12 noon for 12.30 p.m. (Please note change of month!) Phone: Vivienne Williams: 64 370878.
THE JOURNEY CATHOLIC RADIO PROGRAM:
This week on the Journey, we hear Luke’s Gospel 10:38-42. Mother Hilda from the Abbey shares with us Good News, we have the ever-talented Trish McCarthy with her God spot, and you will hear from some of our other favorites. With amazing Christian Music artists, we are blessed to bring you this week’s edition of the Journey Catholic Radio Program. Go to www.jcr.org.au or www.itunes.jcr.org.au and to ensure that you never miss a show it can be sent to you each week as a podcast via email – for free.
Belief or Discipleship?
This article is taken from the Daily Email sent by Fr Richard Rohr OFM from the Center for Action and Contemplation. You can subscribe to receive the email by clicking here
I often say that we do not think ourselves into a new way of living, but we live ourselves into a new way of thinking. I’m not suggesting that theory and theology are unimportant; but I believe that faith is more about how we live on a daily basis than making verbal assent to this or that idea. In fact, my life’s work in many ways has been trying to move heady doctrines and dogmas to the level of actual experience and lifestyles that are an alternative to our consumer culture.
In today’s reflection, Shane Claiborne—an Evangelical I deeply respect—invites us to quite literally follow Jesus:
Over the past few decades, our Christianity has become obsessed with what Christians believe rather than how Christians live. We talk a lot about doctrines but little about practice. But in Jesus we don’t just see a presentation of doctrines but an invitation to join a movement that is about demonstrating God’s goodness to the world.
This kind of doctrinal language infects our language when we say things like, “Are you a believer?” Interestingly, Jesus did not send us into the world to make believers but to make disciples [see Matthew 28:18-20]. You can worship Jesus without doing the things he says. We can believe in him and still not follow him. In fact, there’s a passage in Corinthians that says, “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3, author’s paraphrase).
At times our evangelical fervor has come at the cost of spiritual formation. For this reason, we can end up with a church full of believers, but followers of Jesus can be hard to come by.
One of the reasons that Francis of Assisi is so beloved is that he followed Jesus so closely. In Shane’s words:
Francis did something simple and wonderful. He read the Gospels where Jesus says, “Sell your possessions and give the money to the poor,” [Matthew 19:21] “Consider the lilies and the sparrows and do not worry about tomorrow,” [Luke 12:24, 27] “Love your enemies,” [Matthew 5:44] and he decided to live as if Jesus meant the stuff he said. Francis turned his back on the materialism and militarism of his world and said yes to Jesus.
Shane Claiborne and Tony Campolo, Red Letter Revolution: What If Jesus Really Meant What He Said? (Thomas Nelson: 2012), 9, 42.
God's Finger in Our Lives
This article is taken from the archive of Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. You can find this article and many others by clicking here
The problem in the world and in the churches, Jim Wallis suggests, is that, perennially, conservatives get it wrong and liberals (over-reacting to conservatives) then don’t get it at all. Nowhere is this truer, I believe, than in how we discern the finger of God in the events of our lives.
Jesus tells us to discern the finger of God in our lives by reading the signs of the times. What’s meant by that? The idea isn’t so much that we look to every kind of social, political, and religious analysis to try to understand what’s going on in the world, but rather that we look at every event in our lives, personal or global, and ask ourselves: What’s God saying to me this event? What’s God saying to us in this event?
An older generation understood this as trying to attune itself to the workings of “divine providence”. That practice goes back to biblical times. When we read the bible, we see that for God’s people nothing happened that was understood as being purely secular or religiously neutral. Rather in every event, be it ever so accidental and secular, they saw the finger of God. For example, they believed that if they lost a war, it wasn’t because the other side had superior soldiers, but rather that God had somehow engineered this to teach them a lesson. Or if they were hit by drought it was because God had actively stopped the heavens from raining, again to teach them a lesson.
Now it’s easy to misunderstand this because, frequently, in writing this up, the sacred authors give the impression that God actively caused the event. That’s their wording, though not their intent or meaning. The bible does not intend to teach us that God causes wars or stops the heavens from raining; it accepts that they’re the result of natural contingency. The lesson is only that God speaks through them.
And it’s here where conservatives tend to get it wrong and liberals tend to miss the point. A recent example of this is the reaction of certain religious circles, conservative and liberal, to the outbreak of AIDS. When AIDS first broke out, a number of strong conservative religious voices spoke out saying that AIDS was God’s punishment on us for our sexual promiscuity, particularly for homosexuality. Liberal religious voices, for their part, were so turned off by this that their response was: God has nothing to do with this!
Both need a lesson on the workings of divine providence. Religious conservatives are wrong in their interpretation: God does not cause AIDS to punish us for sexual promiscuity. Conversely, religious liberals are also wrong in saying that this has nothing to do with God. God doesn’t cause AIDS (or any other disease) but God speaks through AIDS and every other disease. Our religious task is to discern the message. What’s God saying to us through this?
James Mackey teaches that divine providence is a conspiracy of accidents through which God speaks. Frederick Buechner teases this out a little further by saying: “This does not mean that God makes events happen to us which move us in certain directions like chessmen. Instead, events happen under their own steam as random as rain, which means that God is present in them not as their cause but as the one who even in the hardest and most hair-raising of them offers us the possibility of that new life and healing which I believe is what salvation is.”
God is always speaking to us in every event in our lives. For a Christian, there’s no such a thing as a purely secular experience. The event may be the result of purely secular and contingent forces but it contains a religious message for us, always. Our task is to read that message.
And one further note: Mostly, it seems that we hear God’s voice only in experiences that are deeply painful for us rather than in events that bring us joy and pleasure. But we shouldn’t misread this. It’s not that God speaks only through pain and is silent when things go right. Rather, in the words of C.S. Lewis, pain is God’s microphone to a deaf world. God is always speaking, mostly we aren’t listening. It’s only when our hearts start breaking that we begin to attune ourselves to the voice of God.
Divine providence is a conspiracy of accidents through which God speaks and we must be careful to get both parts of the equation right. God doesn’t cause AIDS, global warming, the refugee situation in the world, a cancer diagnosis, world hunger, hurricanes, tornadoes, or any other such thing in order to teach us a lesson; but something in all of these invites us to try to discern what God is saying through them. Likewise, God doesn’t cause your favorite sports team to win a championship; that too is the result of a conspiracy of accidents. But God speaks through all of these things – even your favorite team’s championship win!
Making Space for the Unchurched
This article is taken from the Blog posted by Fr Michael White, Pastor of the Church of the Nativity, Timoneum, Baltimore. You can find the original blog by clicking here
One of the key pillars of our mission at Nativity is to reach the unchurched and influence other churches to do the same. That means we need space to welcome the unchurched as well as visitors from across the country and around the world that come to us each week.
Less than two years ago we opened our new church building with seating for 1,000. This Easter we completed the balcony with space for 500 more. During that construction we also expanded our parking with hundreds of additional spaces. We also launched a shuttle service, encouraging parking off campus to free up even more space for guests. Meanwhile, our vibrant online experience allows curious people to try us out in the comfort of their home before showing up to our Timonium campus, and we have continued to invest in this campus.
In part due to these strategies, Nativity has experienced measurable growth in the last two years. Which is great. But growth in turn brings its own challenges. One Sunday morning this spring I spent time experiencing our campus and facilities at peek times (from a guest’s perspective) and I was amazed at the volume, and the ensuing traffic jams and tie ups, inside and outside. It became clear to me that something needed to be done, which is when we began an internal discussion about our weekend schedule.
This weekend we will be announcing a new schedule to be launched the weekend of August 3rd & 4th:
Confessions Saturday, 12:30-2:30pm
Masses Saturday, 5pm, Sunday 9, 10:45am, 12:30 & 5:30pm
We will be adding children’s programs for grades 1-5 on Saturday at 5pm (as well as those on Sunday morning). Student programs will be scheduled on Sunday afternoons and evenings.
Obviously, the basic change is a little more time between Masses. What’s the big deal? Well, that additional margin, we believe, will create more “space” in three major ways:
1. Parking
We want it to be as easy and as safe as possible for the unchurched to come to Mass. Increased time between Masses will allow our parking ministers to safely improve traffic flow and maximize parking space availability. We’re also rebranding our shuttle service (“The Nativity Express”) and launching a promotions campaign for the fall getting more church members to park off of West Ridgely Road.
2. Ministers
Volunteer ministers are the key to creating a positive first impression for guests. It starts the moment they arrive on campus with our parking ministers but continues with greeters, hosts, and café ministers. Increased time between Masses will allow our ministry teams to regroup and be better prepared.
3. Concourse & Café
Our Concourse and Cafe naturally encourage guests, members, and staff to stick around after Mass and mingle. These interactions create the relationships that lead to real community and conversion. More time between the Masses makes this more manageable and more attractive. We’re also rebranding our Guest Services Kiosk on the Concourse as our “Welcome Center” where our ministers can meet and greet our guests.
We are looking forward to kicking-off our new Mass schedule with you in the coming weeks.
Fifty years after the Moon landing, does humanity understand itself and its place in the cosmos differently? Mark Aloysius SJ thinks that Damien Chazelle’s film First Man helps us to reflect on that question, as it tells the story of ‘the furthest a human being has ever journeyed in order to be at home with their own self.’ Mark Aloysius SJ is a Jesuit of the Malaysia-Singapore Region. He resides at Campion Hall, Oxford, where he is currently working on a doctorate on the question of desire in Hannah Arendt and Augustine. He is also a member of the editorial board of Thinking Faith.
After fifty years, we are perhaps finally in a position to examine if those words uttered by the first man on the surface of the Moon have become a reality. After six crewed landings on the Moon and countless other explorations of space, stretching our understanding of the known universe and our imagination of what lies beyond, has humankind taken a giant leap? As is often the case, progress is not something easily measured and there are many ways of understanding what it means: increase of scientific knowledge or technological expertise, economic development, and so on. But I ask this question anew not as a scientist or economist – I am neither – but as a member of the human race who calls earth home. In questioning whether progress has been made, I am more interested in asking a more fundamental question: has space exploration deepened our understanding of our own selves as human beings within the cosmos?
As was the case fifty years ago, but perhaps more so today, there is a problem with the translatability of scientific knowledge into a language comprehensible to any thinking person. It is in this sense that the Moon landing was of fundamental significance, for it demonstrated the translation of scientific knowledge into technological sophistication that enabled humanity to gain control over an environment that is otherwise hostile to human life. Although there had been great advancements in scientific knowledge at the turn of the twentieth century with Einstein’s Theory of Special/General Relativity (1905/15), and ultimately a rupture with the classical physical worldview that Quantum Theory (mid-1920’s) brought about, the Moon landing, in a restricted sense, did not depend on these newer theories; it was very much the crowning demonstration of the power of classical Newtonian physics.
Nearly a century after the discovery of these theories, the rupture of the classical paradigm of physical sciences, the gulf between what we know of the macroscopic and microscopic world, has not been resolved. Heisenberg’s discovery of the uncertainty principle (1927) epitomised this rupture. He showed conclusively that in spite of technological advancement in instrumentation, the more precise the scientist is in determining the position of a sub-atomic particle, the less s/he knows of its velocity, and vice versa. This means that the scientist’s selection of the kind of observation of reality that is made in itself determines reality. At least in the microscopic world, then, there is no given objective world to be ‘discovered’, as such, by the scientist. In Heisenberg’s words, ‘the object of research is no longer nature itself, but man’s investigation of nature. Here, again, man confronts himself alone’.[1]
Remarking on the uncertainty principle and the conquest of space in a little-known essay, the political theorist Hannah Arendt states that it is here that the concerns of the scientist overlap with the concerns of the layperson. This intertwining of concerns is symbolically and dramatically enacted in the exploration of space:
The astronaut, shot into outer space and imprisoned in his instrument-ridden capsule where each actual physical encounter with his surrounding would spell immediate death, might well be taken as the symbolic incarnation of Heisenberg’s man – the man who will be the less likely ever to meet anything but himself and man-made things the more ardently he wishes to eliminate all anthropocentric considerations from his encounter with the non-human world around him.[2]
Damien Chazelle’s 2018 film, First Man articulates this concern through a profound meditation on the theme of the exploration of space, both exterior and interior, in the events leading up to the Moon landing. From beginning to end, the viewer is led into spaces that induce claustrophobia: a cockpit that rattles violently through the use of dizzying camerawork; a dark room where Ryan Gosling’s Neil Armstrong considers the effects of radiotherapy on his daughter, Karen, who then dies from cancer; the cramped space of the Apollo 11 module shared with other astronauts who do not always see eye-to-eye. Then there is the counterpoint in the scenes of the lunar terrain, the vastness of space that envelops it and its deep silence, which Chazelle invites the viewer to listen to and savour. Throughout the film, it is intimated to the viewer that Armstrong seeks to escape earth because of the unbearable loss of his daughter, whom he visualises again and again in the film. Immediately after he utters those famous first words on the Moon, the camera shies swiftly away. We are not allowed to linger in the triumphalism these words may conjure or in any imagined conquest of the Moon or space. Instead, we are invited to gaze again into the vast emptiness of space, and we see Armstrong thinking once more of Karen. Indeed, wherever he may go, he confronts his sense of loss, bewilderment and, thus, his own self.
No forgetting is permitted, but there on the lunar terrain Chazelle offers his protagonist release through a simple, muted gesture of letting go, which I do not want to describe further, for it is to be relished as it is depicted in the film. It is the interior space of freedom that Chazelle wants the viewer to reach through attentive engagement with the film; but that interior space finds symbolic, external expression at the vantage point that the first man on the Moon christened the Sea of Tranquillity, from which the earth looks so beautiful in the vastness of space. This space, this vantage point, is so fragile, so easily lost. Yet, though his experience of it is fleeting, we see the deep change that it brings about in Armstrong when he greets his wife, Janet in the fluorescent-lit isolation room on his return: there is a renewed tenderness, expressed elegantly in knowing silence.
Through his film, Chazelle unmasks the politics of the conquest of space. What is revealed is that the craving for such conquest is countered by the desire to belong to each other, to the world, to one’s own self. But freedom cannot be achieved through technical sophistication over the cosmological space, nor can it be acquired through techniques of self-mastery to bring about tranquillity within the psychological space. These techniques of mastery over both spaces are shown for what they are: futile, if not accompanied by the confrontation of the self with itself. Even the word confrontation is inadequate, for in Chazelle’s meditative film, there is something so simple, so gentle, through which he depicts this silent dialogue of the self with itself. Here in this film is a pedagogy of encounter, and it is gentle and kind, even to those parts of the self that struggle with loss or confusion, and those parts that yearn for solace and to be at peace with all that one loves in the world. In other words, here is a story of the furthest a human being has ever journeyed in order to be at home with their own self.
How, then, might a religious person respond to the insight of the scientist and the yearning of the artist, represented by Heisenberg and Chazelle, respectively, fifty years after the Moon landing? To add something to the contemporary understanding of the human person, the religious person must think of developing modes of religious engagement that facilitate a genuine encounter with the self in the world. An encounter of the kind described above cannot be offered by calling for liturgical perfection or moral rigidity, which at times seem to be the dominant modes of religious response to a society bewildered by upheavals in contemporary thought. These are inadequate responses to the desires of a person in the contemporary age, for they lead to an estrangement from the self and the world. They are nothing but an escape into some kind of aestheticisation of the religious response, or an uncompromising quest for purity at the expense of considering the person as they are embedded in society and the cosmos.
An incarnational Christianity, which contemplates the mystery of God becoming human in Jesus, cannot be content with any escapism but must begin by understanding this desire for encounter, which is felt by all people, in all its depth. The mode of religious response must be a pedagogy of encounter that cultivates, through prayer and formation, a thinking faith and a discerning heart, which flow into service of each other and the world. In this pedagogy of encounter, there are no techniques of mastery to be learnt, but rather the reverse. There is the unlearning of techniques and delusions of mastery, in order to recognise a different way in which God – who is present in, and also above and beyond, the depths of the self and the cosmos – wants to relate to me and to the world. This is a mode of encounter permeated with wonder in the sacramental value of the entire universe and with love of all of creation, flowing out of that fundamental encounter with God who looks upon me, as I am in the world, with wonder and love.
Perhaps no one else has expressed this sense of wonder and awe in the miracle of existence as eloquently as Immanuel Kant did in his conclusion to the Critique of Practical Reason. ‘Two things fill the mind with ever-increasing wonder and awe, the more often and the more intensely the mind of thought is drawn to them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me’. Kant goes on to say that these realities, which inspire wonder and awe, are not to be imagined to be so far away; indeed, they are near: ‘I see them before me and connect them directly with the consciousness of my existence’. It is the task of the religious person to facilitate this encounter.
Fifty years after the Moon landing, if the religious person is to contribute meaningfully to an understanding of the human person, they will need to respond to those desires to explore and to extend what we know of the universe and the desire to be at home with oneself in the world. The religious person must find a way of authentically witnessing to the truth that because they are created by God in time for eternity, they are in the world, but not of it.
* For my father, who through a telescope looking at the Moon, taught us optics and astrophysics. And my mother, who told my friends and I that she couldn’t care less if we went to the Moon, as long as we attended to our present duties first. To both of them, who valued learning and service, I dedicate this essay.
[1] Werner Heisenberg, The Physicist’s Conception of Nature, trans. Arnold Pomerans (London: Hutchinson, 1958), p.24.
[2] Hannah Arendt and Jerome Kohn, ‘The Conquest of Space and the Stature of Man’ in Between Past and Future : Eight Exercises in Political Thought, Penguin classics (New York: Penguin Books, 2006), p.272.
One of the key pillars of our mission at Nativity is to reach the unchurched and influence other churches to do the same. That means we need space to welcome the unchurched as well as visitors from across the country and around the world that come to us each week.
Less than two years ago we opened our new church building with seating for 1,000. This Easter we completed the balcony with space for 500 more. During that construction we also expanded our parking with hundreds of additional spaces. We also launched a shuttle service, encouraging parking off campus to free up even more space for guests. Meanwhile, our vibrant online experience allows curious people to try us out in the comfort of their home before showing up to our Timonium campus, and we have continued to invest in this campus.
In part due to these strategies, Nativity has experienced measurable growth in the last two years. Which is great. But growth in turn brings its own challenges. One Sunday morning this spring I spent time experiencing our campus and facilities at peek times (from a guest’s perspective) and I was amazed at the volume, and the ensuing traffic jams and tie ups, inside and outside. It became clear to me that something needed to be done, which is when we began an internal discussion about our weekend schedule.
This weekend we will be announcing a new schedule to be launched the weekend of August 3rd & 4th:
Confessions Saturday, 12:30-2:30pm
Masses Saturday, 5pm, Sunday 9, 10:45am, 12:30 & 5:30pm
We will be adding children’s programs for grades 1-5 on Saturday at 5pm (as well as those on Sunday morning). Student programs will be scheduled on Sunday afternoons and evenings.
Obviously, the basic change is a little more time between Masses. What’s the big deal? Well, that additional margin, we believe, will create more “space” in three major ways:
1. Parking
We want it to be as easy and as safe as possible for the unchurched to come to Mass. Increased time between Masses will allow our parking ministers to safely improve traffic flow and maximize parking space availability. We’re also rebranding our shuttle service (“The Nativity Express”) and launching a promotions campaign for the fall getting more church members to park off of West Ridgely Road.
2. Ministers
Volunteer ministers are the key to creating a positive first impression for guests. It starts the moment they arrive on campus with our parking ministers but continues with greeters, hosts, and café ministers. Increased time between Masses will allow our ministry teams to regroup and be better prepared.
3. Concourse & Café
Our Concourse and Cafe naturally encourage guests, members, and staff to stick around after Mass and mingle. These interactions create the relationships that lead to real community and conversion. More time between the Masses makes this more manageable and more attractive. We’re also rebranding our Guest Services Kiosk on the Concourse as our “Welcome Center” where our ministers can meet and greet our guests.
We are looking forward to kicking-off our new Mass schedule with you in the coming weeks.
Encountering the self in space
Fifty years after the Moon landing, does humanity understand itself and its place in the cosmos differently? Mark Aloysius SJ thinks that Damien Chazelle’s film First Man helps us to reflect on that question, as it tells the story of ‘the furthest a human being has ever journeyed in order to be at home with their own self.’ Mark Aloysius SJ is a Jesuit of the Malaysia-Singapore Region. He resides at Campion Hall, Oxford, where he is currently working on a doctorate on the question of desire in Hannah Arendt and Augustine. He is also a member of the editorial board of Thinking Faith.
After fifty years, we are perhaps finally in a position to examine if those words uttered by the first man on the surface of the Moon have become a reality. After six crewed landings on the Moon and countless other explorations of space, stretching our understanding of the known universe and our imagination of what lies beyond, has humankind taken a giant leap? As is often the case, progress is not something easily measured and there are many ways of understanding what it means: increase of scientific knowledge or technological expertise, economic development, and so on. But I ask this question anew not as a scientist or economist – I am neither – but as a member of the human race who calls earth home. In questioning whether progress has been made, I am more interested in asking a more fundamental question: has space exploration deepened our understanding of our own selves as human beings within the cosmos?
As was the case fifty years ago, but perhaps more so today, there is a problem with the translatability of scientific knowledge into a language comprehensible to any thinking person. It is in this sense that the Moon landing was of fundamental significance, for it demonstrated the translation of scientific knowledge into technological sophistication that enabled humanity to gain control over an environment that is otherwise hostile to human life. Although there had been great advancements in scientific knowledge at the turn of the twentieth century with Einstein’s Theory of Special/General Relativity (1905/15), and ultimately a rupture with the classical physical worldview that Quantum Theory (mid-1920’s) brought about, the Moon landing, in a restricted sense, did not depend on these newer theories; it was very much the crowning demonstration of the power of classical Newtonian physics.
Nearly a century after the discovery of these theories, the rupture of the classical paradigm of physical sciences, the gulf between what we know of the macroscopic and microscopic world, has not been resolved. Heisenberg’s discovery of the uncertainty principle (1927) epitomised this rupture. He showed conclusively that in spite of technological advancement in instrumentation, the more precise the scientist is in determining the position of a sub-atomic particle, the less s/he knows of its velocity, and vice versa. This means that the scientist’s selection of the kind of observation of reality that is made in itself determines reality. At least in the microscopic world, then, there is no given objective world to be ‘discovered’, as such, by the scientist. In Heisenberg’s words, ‘the object of research is no longer nature itself, but man’s investigation of nature. Here, again, man confronts himself alone’.[1]
Remarking on the uncertainty principle and the conquest of space in a little-known essay, the political theorist Hannah Arendt states that it is here that the concerns of the scientist overlap with the concerns of the layperson. This intertwining of concerns is symbolically and dramatically enacted in the exploration of space:
The astronaut, shot into outer space and imprisoned in his instrument-ridden capsule where each actual physical encounter with his surrounding would spell immediate death, might well be taken as the symbolic incarnation of Heisenberg’s man – the man who will be the less likely ever to meet anything but himself and man-made things the more ardently he wishes to eliminate all anthropocentric considerations from his encounter with the non-human world around him.[2]
Damien Chazelle’s 2018 film, First Man articulates this concern through a profound meditation on the theme of the exploration of space, both exterior and interior, in the events leading up to the Moon landing. From beginning to end, the viewer is led into spaces that induce claustrophobia: a cockpit that rattles violently through the use of dizzying camerawork; a dark room where Ryan Gosling’s Neil Armstrong considers the effects of radiotherapy on his daughter, Karen, who then dies from cancer; the cramped space of the Apollo 11 module shared with other astronauts who do not always see eye-to-eye. Then there is the counterpoint in the scenes of the lunar terrain, the vastness of space that envelops it and its deep silence, which Chazelle invites the viewer to listen to and savour. Throughout the film, it is intimated to the viewer that Armstrong seeks to escape earth because of the unbearable loss of his daughter, whom he visualises again and again in the film. Immediately after he utters those famous first words on the Moon, the camera shies swiftly away. We are not allowed to linger in the triumphalism these words may conjure or in any imagined conquest of the Moon or space. Instead, we are invited to gaze again into the vast emptiness of space, and we see Armstrong thinking once more of Karen. Indeed, wherever he may go, he confronts his sense of loss, bewilderment and, thus, his own self.
No forgetting is permitted, but there on the lunar terrain Chazelle offers his protagonist release through a simple, muted gesture of letting go, which I do not want to describe further, for it is to be relished as it is depicted in the film. It is the interior space of freedom that Chazelle wants the viewer to reach through attentive engagement with the film; but that interior space finds symbolic, external expression at the vantage point that the first man on the Moon christened the Sea of Tranquillity, from which the earth looks so beautiful in the vastness of space. This space, this vantage point, is so fragile, so easily lost. Yet, though his experience of it is fleeting, we see the deep change that it brings about in Armstrong when he greets his wife, Janet in the fluorescent-lit isolation room on his return: there is a renewed tenderness, expressed elegantly in knowing silence.
Through his film, Chazelle unmasks the politics of the conquest of space. What is revealed is that the craving for such conquest is countered by the desire to belong to each other, to the world, to one’s own self. But freedom cannot be achieved through technical sophistication over the cosmological space, nor can it be acquired through techniques of self-mastery to bring about tranquillity within the psychological space. These techniques of mastery over both spaces are shown for what they are: futile, if not accompanied by the confrontation of the self with itself. Even the word confrontation is inadequate, for in Chazelle’s meditative film, there is something so simple, so gentle, through which he depicts this silent dialogue of the self with itself. Here in this film is a pedagogy of encounter, and it is gentle and kind, even to those parts of the self that struggle with loss or confusion, and those parts that yearn for solace and to be at peace with all that one loves in the world. In other words, here is a story of the furthest a human being has ever journeyed in order to be at home with their own self.
How, then, might a religious person respond to the insight of the scientist and the yearning of the artist, represented by Heisenberg and Chazelle, respectively, fifty years after the Moon landing? To add something to the contemporary understanding of the human person, the religious person must think of developing modes of religious engagement that facilitate a genuine encounter with the self in the world. An encounter of the kind described above cannot be offered by calling for liturgical perfection or moral rigidity, which at times seem to be the dominant modes of religious response to a society bewildered by upheavals in contemporary thought. These are inadequate responses to the desires of a person in the contemporary age, for they lead to an estrangement from the self and the world. They are nothing but an escape into some kind of aestheticisation of the religious response, or an uncompromising quest for purity at the expense of considering the person as they are embedded in society and the cosmos.
An incarnational Christianity, which contemplates the mystery of God becoming human in Jesus, cannot be content with any escapism but must begin by understanding this desire for encounter, which is felt by all people, in all its depth. The mode of religious response must be a pedagogy of encounter that cultivates, through prayer and formation, a thinking faith and a discerning heart, which flow into service of each other and the world. In this pedagogy of encounter, there are no techniques of mastery to be learnt, but rather the reverse. There is the unlearning of techniques and delusions of mastery, in order to recognise a different way in which God – who is present in, and also above and beyond, the depths of the self and the cosmos – wants to relate to me and to the world. This is a mode of encounter permeated with wonder in the sacramental value of the entire universe and with love of all of creation, flowing out of that fundamental encounter with God who looks upon me, as I am in the world, with wonder and love.
Perhaps no one else has expressed this sense of wonder and awe in the miracle of existence as eloquently as Immanuel Kant did in his conclusion to the Critique of Practical Reason. ‘Two things fill the mind with ever-increasing wonder and awe, the more often and the more intensely the mind of thought is drawn to them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me’. Kant goes on to say that these realities, which inspire wonder and awe, are not to be imagined to be so far away; indeed, they are near: ‘I see them before me and connect them directly with the consciousness of my existence’. It is the task of the religious person to facilitate this encounter.
Fifty years after the Moon landing, if the religious person is to contribute meaningfully to an understanding of the human person, they will need to respond to those desires to explore and to extend what we know of the universe and the desire to be at home with oneself in the world. The religious person must find a way of authentically witnessing to the truth that because they are created by God in time for eternity, they are in the world, but not of it.
* For my father, who through a telescope looking at the Moon, taught us optics and astrophysics. And my mother, who told my friends and I that she couldn’t care less if we went to the Moon, as long as we attended to our present duties first. To both of them, who valued learning and service, I dedicate this essay.
[1] Werner Heisenberg, The Physicist’s Conception of Nature, trans. Arnold Pomerans (London: Hutchinson, 1958), p.24.
[2] Hannah Arendt and Jerome Kohn, ‘The Conquest of Space and the Stature of Man’ in Between Past and Future : Eight Exercises in Political Thought, Penguin classics (New York: Penguin Books, 2006), p.272.
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