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 6.30pm 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 6.30pm Community Room Ulverstone
Weekday Masses 24th – 27th September, 2019
Tuesday: 9:30am Penguin
Wednesday: 9:30am Latrobe Thursday: 12noon Devonport … Sts Cosmas & Damian
Friday: 9:30am Ulverstone … St Vincent de Paul
Next Weekend 28th & 29th September
Saturday Vigil: 6:00pm Devonport
6:00pm Penguin
Sunday Mass: 8:30am Port Sorell
9:00am Ulverstone
5:00pm Latrobe
MINISTRY ROSTERS 28th & 29th SEPTEMBER, 2019
Devonport:
Ulverstone:
Penguin:
Readers: E Nickols, T Clayton
Latrobe:
Procession of Gifts: Parishioner
Port Sorell:
Readings this Week: 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
PREGO REFLECTION ON TODAY'S GOSPEL:
I make my way to the place I like to go to for my prayer.
Maybe it’s
indoors, but it could also be outdoors, walking or sitting in a favourite
location.
Perhaps I close my eyes, intently focusing on sounds, smells, or the touch
of a much loved object.
I quieten my mind in the way which works best for
me.
In time, I read the text from Luke’s Gospel.
Maybe I can imagine myself
with the disciples listening to Jesus ... or I can listen to Jesus speaking to
me personally.
What feelings arise as I hear Jesus’s words on money and genuine
riches?
I ponder: what are my genuine riches?
They may not be related to
money, that 'tainted thing', but perhaps they may be friendship, family, a
fulfilling job ... or…?
I give thanks to the Lord for them and tell him what is in my heart.
Maybe I can ask myself whether these riches sometimes take over and
displace the Lord at the centre of my being.
I consider my attitude
towards God and money.
Am I, as Jesus suggests, the slave of one rather than the other,
or do I try to keep a sense of balance so I can focus on what really
matters: God deepening his life in me?
Perhaps I spend some time in quiet, wordless contemplation.
In time, I take my leave, thankful for any insights he has given me today.
Readings Next Week: 26th Sunday
in Ordinary Time – Year C
Your prayers are asked for the sick:
David Cole, Frank McDonald, Pam Lynd & …
Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Adrian Drane, Dany Reardon, Eva Gulosino, Bernadine Manshanden, Judy Sheehan, Tom Jones, Piotr Solecki, Peggy Creed, Sr Aileen Larkin, Ron Peters, Julie Clarke-Traill, Helen McLennan
Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs about this time: 19th – 25th September
Don Philp, Stanley Henderson, Jack Cocoran, Peg McKenna, Joan McCarthy, Marie Stewart, Olive Rundle, Mely Pybus, Mike Downie, Phyllis Arrowsmith, Kaye Jackson, Harold Davis, Betty Lewis, Pauline Kennedy, John Mahoney, Harry Desmond, Kathleen Howard, Pauline Jackson, Agnes Bonis, Concisa Floresta, Marie & Gary Trevena.
May the souls of the
faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen
Happy Birthday to Max Elliott who
turns 90 on Monday 23rd September.
Weekly
Ramblings
At
the Pastoral Conference on Wednesday in Hobart we were reminded that Pope
Francis has declared October 2019 to be an Extraordinary
Month of Mission (EMM) to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of
Pope Benedict XV's Apostolic Letter Maximum Illud.
For
the Extraordinary Missionary Month, the Holy Father has chosen the theme
‘Baptized and Sent: The Church of Christ on a Mission in the World’. Awakening
the awareness of the missio ad gentes, and reinvigorating the
responsibility of proclaiming the Gospel with new enthusiasm, are themes that
combine the pastoral concern of Pope Benedict XV in Maximum
Illud with the missionary vitality expressed by Pope Francis in the
Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium: "Missionary action is the
paradigm of every work of the Church" (EG 15).
In
recent weeks I have mentioned that October would be a month of prayer – our new
focus will be looking at the how we can build on what the Holy Father has asked
of us to reflect on during the month. At this stage we are organising for some
small groups to meet to reflect on the materials that are available through the
website. Quite possibly there will be more information available at Masses this
weekend as I contact people in the coming days.
Although
this is written prior to their Ordination, on behalf of the Parish we celebrate
with and congratulate Rev Deacon Steven Smith and Rev Deacon Chathura Silva at
this very special time and especially pray for them into the next 12 months or
so as they continue their journey to the Priesthood.
MACKILLOP HILL
Spirituality in the Coffee Shoppe: THIS Monday 23rd September, 10:30am – 12 noon. Come along and enjoy a lively discussion over morning tea! All welcome! We look forward to your company at 123 William Street, FORTH. Phone: 6428:3095. No bookings necessary. Donation appreciated.
OLOL CHURCH – MORNING TEA
Filipino volunteers will be holding a morning tea after 10:30am Mass on Sunday 29th September. All parishioners, family and friends welcome!!
ANNUAL ROSARY PILGRIMAGE 2019
The Mersey Leven Parish is holding its 17th Annual Rosary Pilgrimage around the 6 churches and mass centres of the parish on Sunday 6th of October. All parishioners, families and friends are encouraged to join us. You may either join us by bus or take your own car, or come to the church near you. Bus is available but booking is essential as seats are quickly running out. Itinerary in all churches. For further details and bookings, please contact Hermie 0414 416 661.
SACRED HEART CHURCH CLEANING ROSTER
We urgently need more people to help with the weekly cleaning of the Church. If you are able to assist please contact Joanne Rodgers 6425:5818/ 0439 064 493 as soon as possible.
COLUMBAN CALENDARS
2020 Columban Art Calendars are now available from the Piety Shop's at OLOL Church and Sacred Heart Church for $10.00. By purchasing a calendar, you are participating in God's Mission and assisting Columbans in meeting the needs of the poor.
BINGO - THURSDAY 26th September –
Eyes down 7:30pm. Callers Rod Clark
& Graeme Rigney
LAST WEEK TO PURCHASE YOUR $10.00 GRAND FINAL FOOTY MARGIN
TICKETS 2019:
Last chance to be in it!! $10.00 tickets are still available!! If you have already purchased your $10.00
ticket you may consider buying another one (or two)!! The $10.00 tickets are available from Devonport and Ulverstone
FOOTY
MARGIN RESULTS: Semi Final Geelong defeated West Coast Eagles by 20 points.
Winners: None at this time
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE:
FEAST OF ST THERESE
will be celebrated with a Sung Mass at the Carmelite Monastery, 7 Cambridge St., Launceston on Tuesday 1st October at 9:30am. Archbishop Julian will be the celebrant and homilist. Mass will be followed by morning tea. All are welcome to join the Carmelite Nuns for this celebration.
SOLEMNITY OF ST TERESA OF JESUS
A Sung Mass will be celebrated in honour of St Teresa of Jesus (Avila), the foundress of the Discalced Carmelite Order, at the Carmelite Monastery, 7 Cambridge St., Launceston on Tuesday 15th October at 9:30am Archbishop Julian will be the principal celebrant and homilist. Morning tea will follow Mass. All welcome.
A Novena of Masses and Prayers will also be offered in preparation for the feast from 6th – 14th October. Intentions may be sent to Mother Teresa Benedicta at the Monastery by post, phone 6331 3585 or tascarmelvoc@gmail.com
NEW
EVANGELIZATION SUMMIT: GLOBAL SUMMIT
Day will be held on Saturday 5th October,
8am-4.30pm, in the Murphy Room, Diocesan Centre, Tower Road. It’s an
international event that will inspire thousands of Catholics to be engaged in
the New Evangelization. The annual NES was held earlier this year in Ottawa,
Canada. It will be video-streamed to host sites globally on October 5th. Hear
great ideas about evangelisation, and discuss them with locals. Speakers:
Cardinal Gerald Lacroix, Fr James Mallon, Michelle Moran, Michele Thompson, Fr
Jon Bielawski, and Michael Dopp. Register by October 1st: Christine Wood on
6208-6236 or christine.wood@aohtas.org.au.
Cost: free.
Information: https://www.newevangelization.ca/
CARMELITE
WEEKEND RETREAT: Theme: True Mindfulness: ‘Putting on the Mind
of Christ’. Carmelite
Friar, Fr Gerard Moran, ocd will be the Retreat Director at the Emmanuel
Centre, Launceston. Friday 18th – 20th October. Cost of the weekend $220
includes all meals and accommodation. Bookings are essential to Helen 6344:6382
ST VINCENT
PALLOTTI SCHOLARSHIP TRUST: The St Vincent Pallotti Scholarship
Trust offers scholarships to enable lay people to further their
understanding and skills in leadership/ministry or a specialised activity, such
as promoting faith enhancement, social justice and pastoral care. More
information and Applications Forms are available on our website http://www. pallottine.org.au/scholarships/st
vincent pallotti scholarship for lay ministry.html - Closing
Date 18 October 2019
JOB VACANCY:
The Face of the Other
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
St. Francis of Assisi (1181–1226) brought attention to the humanity of Jesus. Prior to St. Francis, Christian paintings largely emphasized Jesus’ divinity, as they still do in most Eastern icons. Francis is said to have created the first live nativity. Before the thirteenth century, Christmas was no big deal. The liturgical emphasis was on the high holy days of Easter. But for Francis, incarnation was already redemption. For God to become a human being among the poor, born in a stable among the animals, meant that it’s good to be a human being, that flesh is good, and that the world is good—in its most simple and humble forms.
In Jesus, God was given a face and a heart that we could see. God became someone we could love. While God can be described as a moral force, as consciousness, and as high vibrational energy, the truth is, we don’t (or can’t?) really fall in love with abstractions or concepts. So, God became a person “that we could hear, see with our eyes, look at, and touch with our hands” (1 John 1:1). The Jewish philosopher Emmanuel Lévinas (1906–1995) said the only thing that really converts people is “the face of the other.” He developed this idea at great length and with great persuasion, if you are interested in going deeper. [1]
When we receive and empathize with the face of the “other” (especially the suffering face), it leads to transformation of our whole being. It creates a moral demand on our heart that is far more compelling than the Ten Commandments written on stone or paper. Just giving people commandments doesn’t change the heart. In the end, Christianity is not a moral matter until it is first and foremost a mystical matter. Commandments and laws may steel the will, but they do not soften the heart—or create soul—like one authentic I-Thou encounter will do. Thus, we have produced an awful lot of “mean” Christians, which we must admit is Christianity’s present public image. [2]
So many Christian mystics talk about seeing the divine face or falling in love with the face of Jesus. I think that’s why St. Clare (1194–1253) used the word “mirroring” so often in her writings. We are mirrored not by concepts, but by faces delighting in us—giving us the face we can’t give to ourselves. It is “the face of the other” that finally creates us and, I am sorry to say, also destroys us. It is the gaze that does us in!
Now surely you see why a positive and loving God-image is absolutely necessary for creating happy and healthy people. Without it, we will continue to create lots of mean Christians who have no way out of their hall of negative mirrors.
[1] Olivier Clément, The Roots of Christian Mysticism (New City Press: 2013), 47.
[2] Ibid., 46.
Some Counsels on Faith and Religion for our Present Generation
This article is taken from the archive of Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. You can find this article and many others by clicking here
It’s no secret that today we’re witnessing a massive decline in church attendance and, seemingly, a parallel loss of interest in religion. The former mindset, within which we worried, sometimes obsessively, about sin, church-going, and heaven and hell no longer holds sway for millions of people. As one parent, worried about the religious state of his children, shared with me recently, “our old religious concerns never ever darken their minds.” What’s to be said in the face of this?
Admittedly, I may not be the person best-suited to offer that advice. I’m over 70 years old, a spiritual writer whose main focus of research and teaching right now is on the spirituality of aging, and I’m a Roman Catholic priest, a religious insider, who can be perceived as simply a salesman for religion and the churches.
But, despite that, here are some counsels on faith and religion for today’s generation.
First: Search honestly. God’s first concern is not whether you’re going to church or not, but whether you are staying honest in your search for truth and meaning. When the Apostle Thomas, doubts the reality of the resurrection, Jesus doesn’t scold him, but simply asks him to stretch out his hand and continuing searching, trusting that if he searches honestly he will eventually find the truth. The same is true for us. All we have to do is be honest, to not lie, to acknowledge truth as it meets us. In John’s Gospel, Jesus sets out only one condition to come to God: Be honest and never refuse to acknowledge what’s true, no matter how inconvenient. But the key is to be honest! If we’re honest we will eventually find meaning and that will lead us where we need to go – perhaps even to a church door somewhere. But even if it doesn’t, God will find us. The mystery of Christ is bigger than we imagine.
Second: Listen to what’s deepest inside you. Soul is a precious commodity. Make sure you honor yours. Honor the voice inside your soul. Deeper than the many enticing voices you hear in world inviting you in every direction is a voice inside you which, like an insatiable thirst, reminds you always of the truth of this prayer from Saint Augustine: You have made us for yourself, Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you. Stay in touch with that voice. You will hear it in your restlessness and it will, in the words of Karl Rahner, teach you something that’s initially is hard to bear but eventually sets you free: In the torment of the insufficiency of everything attainable, we eventually learn that here in this life there is no finished symphony.
Third: Beware the crowd! In the Gospels the word “crowd” is almost always pejorative. For good reason: Crowds don’t have a mind and the energy of a crowd is often dangerous. So beware of what Milan Kundera calls “the great march”, namely, the propensity to be led by ideology, group-think, the latest trend, the popular person or thing, the false feeling of being right because the majority of people feel that way, and the social pressures coming from both the right and the left. Be true to yourself. Be the lonely prophet who’s not afraid to be alone on the outside. Dream. Be idealistic. Protect your soul. Don’t give it away cheaply.
Fourth: Don’t confuse faith with the churches – but don’t write off the churches too quickly. When they ask those without religious affiliation today why they aren’t religious invariably their answer is: “I just don’t believe it anymore.” But what’s the “it” which they no longer believe? What they don’t believe anymore isn’t in fact the truth about God, faith, and religion, but rather what they’ve heard about God, faith, and religion. Sort that out and you will find that you do have faith. Moreover, don’t write off the churches too quickly. They have real faults; you’re not wrong about that, but they’re still the best GPS available to help you find your way to meaning. They’re a roadmap drawn up by millions of explorers who have walked the road before you. You can ignore them, but then be alert to God’s gentle voice often saying: “Recalculating”. God will get you home, but the churches can help.
Fourth: Don’t forget about the poor. When you touch the poor, you’re touching God and, as Jesus says, at the judgment day we will be judged by how we served the poor. Give yourself away in some form of altruism, knowing, as Jesus puts it, that it’s not those who say Lord, Lord, who go to heaven but those who serve others. In your search, you need to get a letter of reference from the poor.
Fifth: Look among your contemporaries for a patron to inspire you. Jean Vanier, Henri Nouwen, Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, Oscar Romero, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Simone Weil, Etty Hillesum, and Dag Hammarskjold, among others – they’ve all navigated your issues.
'The Fragile World'
Church teaching on Ecology before and by Pope Francis
It is reported that Pope Francis is preparing a text on the environment, and Donal Dorr expects that the resulting document will develop the links that Francis has already and repeatedly made between ‘concern for the exploited earth and concern for marginalised and exploited people’. How does Pope Francis’ thinking about the environment compare with that of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI? Donal Dorr SMA is a theologian and a member of St Patrick’s Missionary Society. He is the author of numerous books and articles on spirituality social justice and Catholic Social Teaching. This article was first published on the ThinkingFaith.org website on 26th February 2014 prior to the publication of Laudato si' in May 2015. You can find this article and many others on the Thinking Faith website by clicking here
Weekday Masses 24th – 27th September, 2019
Tuesday: 9:30am Penguin
Wednesday: 9:30am Latrobe Thursday: 12noon Devonport … Sts Cosmas & Damian
Friday: 9:30am Ulverstone … St Vincent de Paul
Next Weekend 28th & 29th September
Saturday Vigil: 6:00pm Devonport
6:00pm Penguin
Sunday Mass: 8:30am Port Sorell
9:00am Ulverstone
10:30am Devonport
11:00am Sheffield
5:00pm Latrobe
5:00pm Latrobe
MINISTRY ROSTERS 28th & 29th SEPTEMBER, 2019
Devonport:
Readers: Vigil: M Kelly, R Baker, B Paul 10:30am
J Henderson, J
Phillips, P Piccolo
Ministers of Communion:
Vigil B O’Connor, R Beaton, T Bird, Beau Windebank, J Heatley
10.30am: K Hull, F
Sly, E Petts, S Riley, S Arrowsmith
Cleaners 27th
Sept: P & T
Douglas 4th Oct: M.W.C.
Piety Shop 28th Sept: L Murfet 29th Sept: K Hull
Ulverstone:
Reader/s: J & S Willoughby
Ministers of
Communion: B
Deacon, K Reilly, E Stubbs A Portugal
Cleaners: M Mott Flowers: M Bryan Hospitality:
M & K McKenzie
Penguin:
Greeters P Ravallion, P Lade
Commentator:
A Landers
Readers: E Nickols, T Clayton
Readers: E Nickols, T Clayton
Ministers of
Communion: P Lade,
J Barker Liturgy: Penguin
Setting Up: E Nickols Care of Church: S Coleman, M Owen
Latrobe:
Reader: M Chan Ministers of Communion: M Mackey
Procession of Gifts: Parishioner
Procession of Gifts: Parishioner
Port Sorell:
Readers: G Bellchambers, L Post Ministers of Communion: J & D Peterson Cleaners: A Hynes
Readings this Week: 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
First Reading: Amos 8: 4-7
Second Reading: 1 Timothy 2:1-8
Gospel: Luke 16: 1-13
PREGO REFLECTION ON TODAY'S GOSPEL:
I make my way to the place I like to go to for my prayer.
Maybe it’s indoors, but it could also be outdoors, walking or sitting in a favourite location. Perhaps I close my eyes, intently focusing on sounds, smells, or the touch of a much loved object.
I quieten my mind in the way which works best for me.
In time, I read the text from Luke’s Gospel.
Maybe I can imagine myself with the disciples listening to Jesus ... or I can listen to Jesus speaking to me personally.
What feelings arise as I hear Jesus’s words on money and genuine riches?
I ponder: what are my genuine riches?
They may not be related to money, that 'tainted thing', but perhaps they may be friendship, family, a fulfilling job ... or…?
I give thanks to the Lord for them and tell him what is in my heart.
Maybe I can ask myself whether these riches sometimes take over and displace the Lord at the centre of my being.
I consider my attitude towards God and money.
Am I, as Jesus suggests, the slave of one rather than the other, or do I try to keep a sense of balance so I can focus on what really matters: God deepening his life in me?
Perhaps I spend some time in quiet, wordless contemplation.
In time, I take my leave, thankful for any insights he has given me today.
Maybe it’s indoors, but it could also be outdoors, walking or sitting in a favourite location. Perhaps I close my eyes, intently focusing on sounds, smells, or the touch of a much loved object.
I quieten my mind in the way which works best for me.
In time, I read the text from Luke’s Gospel.
Maybe I can imagine myself with the disciples listening to Jesus ... or I can listen to Jesus speaking to me personally.
What feelings arise as I hear Jesus’s words on money and genuine riches?
I ponder: what are my genuine riches?
They may not be related to money, that 'tainted thing', but perhaps they may be friendship, family, a fulfilling job ... or…?
I give thanks to the Lord for them and tell him what is in my heart.
Maybe I can ask myself whether these riches sometimes take over and displace the Lord at the centre of my being.
I consider my attitude towards God and money.
Am I, as Jesus suggests, the slave of one rather than the other, or do I try to keep a sense of balance so I can focus on what really matters: God deepening his life in me?
Perhaps I spend some time in quiet, wordless contemplation.
In time, I take my leave, thankful for any insights he has given me today.
Readings Next Week: 26th Sunday
in Ordinary Time – Year C
First Reading: Amos
6:1. 4-7
Second
Reading: 1 Timothy
6: 11-16
Gospel: Luke 16:
19-31
David Cole, Frank McDonald, Pam Lynd & …
Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Adrian Drane, Dany Reardon, Eva Gulosino, Bernadine Manshanden, Judy Sheehan, Tom Jones, Piotr Solecki, Peggy Creed, Sr Aileen Larkin, Ron Peters, Julie Clarke-Traill, Helen McLennan
Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs about this time: 19th – 25th September
Don Philp, Stanley Henderson, Jack Cocoran, Peg McKenna, Joan McCarthy, Marie Stewart, Olive Rundle, Mely Pybus, Mike Downie, Phyllis Arrowsmith, Kaye Jackson, Harold Davis, Betty Lewis, Pauline Kennedy, John Mahoney, Harry Desmond, Kathleen Howard, Pauline Jackson, Agnes Bonis, Concisa Floresta, Marie & Gary Trevena.
May the souls of the
faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen
Happy Birthday to Max Elliott who
turns 90 on Monday 23rd September.
God bless you on your special day and
may it be filled with love, laughter,
family, friends and wonderful
memories.
Weekly
Ramblings
At
the Pastoral Conference on Wednesday in Hobart we were reminded that Pope
Francis has declared October 2019 to be an Extraordinary
Month of Mission (EMM) to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of
Pope Benedict XV's Apostolic Letter Maximum Illud.
For
the Extraordinary Missionary Month, the Holy Father has chosen the theme
‘Baptized and Sent: The Church of Christ on a Mission in the World’. Awakening
the awareness of the missio ad gentes, and reinvigorating the
responsibility of proclaiming the Gospel with new enthusiasm, are themes that
combine the pastoral concern of Pope Benedict XV in Maximum
Illud with the missionary vitality expressed by Pope Francis in the
Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium: "Missionary action is the
paradigm of every work of the Church" (EG 15).
In
recent weeks I have mentioned that October would be a month of prayer – our new
focus will be looking at the how we can build on what the Holy Father has asked
of us to reflect on during the month. At this stage we are organising for some
small groups to meet to reflect on the materials that are available through the
website. Quite possibly there will be more information available at Masses this
weekend as I contact people in the coming days.
Although
this is written prior to their Ordination, on behalf of the Parish we celebrate
with and congratulate Rev Deacon Steven Smith and Rev Deacon Chathura Silva at
this very special time and especially pray for them into the next 12 months or
so as they continue their journey to the Priesthood.
Take care
on the roads and in your homes,
MACKILLOP HILL
Spirituality in the Coffee Shoppe: THIS Monday 23rd September, 10:30am – 12 noon. Come along and enjoy a lively discussion over morning tea! All welcome! We look forward to your company at 123 William Street, FORTH. Phone: 6428:3095. No bookings necessary. Donation appreciated.
OLOL CHURCH – MORNING TEA
Filipino volunteers will be holding a morning tea after 10:30am Mass on Sunday 29th September. All parishioners, family and friends welcome!!
ANNUAL ROSARY PILGRIMAGE 2019
The Mersey Leven Parish is holding its 17th Annual Rosary Pilgrimage around the 6 churches and mass centres of the parish on Sunday 6th of October. All parishioners, families and friends are encouraged to join us. You may either join us by bus or take your own car, or come to the church near you. Bus is available but booking is essential as seats are quickly running out. Itinerary in all churches. For further details and bookings, please contact Hermie 0414 416 661.
SACRED HEART CHURCH CLEANING ROSTER
We urgently need more people to help with the weekly cleaning of the Church. If you are able to assist please contact Joanne Rodgers 6425:5818/ 0439 064 493 as soon as possible.
COLUMBAN CALENDARS
2020 Columban Art Calendars are now available from the Piety Shop's at OLOL Church and Sacred Heart Church for $10.00. By purchasing a calendar, you are participating in God's Mission and assisting Columbans in meeting the needs of the poor.
BINGO - THURSDAY 26th September –
Eyes down 7:30pm. Callers Rod Clark
& Graeme Rigney
LAST WEEK TO PURCHASE YOUR $10.00 GRAND FINAL FOOTY MARGIN
TICKETS 2019:
Last chance to be in it!! $10.00 tickets are still available!! If you have already purchased your $10.00
ticket you may consider buying another one (or two)!! The $10.00 tickets are available from Devonport and Ulverstone
YOU NEED TO BE IN IT TO WIN IT!!
FOOTY
MARGIN RESULTS: Semi Final Geelong defeated West Coast Eagles by 20 points.
Winners: None at this time
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE:
FEAST OF ST THERESE
will be celebrated with a Sung Mass at the Carmelite Monastery, 7 Cambridge St., Launceston on Tuesday 1st October at 9:30am. Archbishop Julian will be the celebrant and homilist. Mass will be followed by morning tea. All are welcome to join the Carmelite Nuns for this celebration.
will be celebrated with a Sung Mass at the Carmelite Monastery, 7 Cambridge St., Launceston on Tuesday 1st October at 9:30am. Archbishop Julian will be the celebrant and homilist. Mass will be followed by morning tea. All are welcome to join the Carmelite Nuns for this celebration.
SOLEMNITY OF ST TERESA OF JESUS
A Sung Mass will be celebrated in honour of St Teresa of Jesus (Avila), the foundress of the Discalced Carmelite Order, at the Carmelite Monastery, 7 Cambridge St., Launceston on Tuesday 15th October at 9:30am Archbishop Julian will be the principal celebrant and homilist. Morning tea will follow Mass. All welcome.
A Sung Mass will be celebrated in honour of St Teresa of Jesus (Avila), the foundress of the Discalced Carmelite Order, at the Carmelite Monastery, 7 Cambridge St., Launceston on Tuesday 15th October at 9:30am Archbishop Julian will be the principal celebrant and homilist. Morning tea will follow Mass. All welcome.
A Novena of Masses and Prayers will also be offered in preparation for the feast from 6th – 14th October. Intentions may be sent to Mother Teresa Benedicta at the Monastery by post, phone 6331 3585 or tascarmelvoc@gmail.com
NEW
EVANGELIZATION SUMMIT: GLOBAL SUMMIT
Day will be held on Saturday 5th October, 8am-4.30pm, in the Murphy Room, Diocesan Centre, Tower Road. It’s an international event that will inspire thousands of Catholics to be engaged in the New Evangelization. The annual NES was held earlier this year in Ottawa, Canada. It will be video-streamed to host sites globally on October 5th. Hear great ideas about evangelisation, and discuss them with locals. Speakers: Cardinal Gerald Lacroix, Fr James Mallon, Michelle Moran, Michele Thompson, Fr Jon Bielawski, and Michael Dopp. Register by October 1st: Christine Wood on 6208-6236 or christine.wood@aohtas.org.au. Cost: free.
Information: https://www.newevangelization.ca/
Day will be held on Saturday 5th October, 8am-4.30pm, in the Murphy Room, Diocesan Centre, Tower Road. It’s an international event that will inspire thousands of Catholics to be engaged in the New Evangelization. The annual NES was held earlier this year in Ottawa, Canada. It will be video-streamed to host sites globally on October 5th. Hear great ideas about evangelisation, and discuss them with locals. Speakers: Cardinal Gerald Lacroix, Fr James Mallon, Michelle Moran, Michele Thompson, Fr Jon Bielawski, and Michael Dopp. Register by October 1st: Christine Wood on 6208-6236 or christine.wood@aohtas.org.au. Cost: free.
Information: https://www.newevangelization.ca/
CARMELITE
WEEKEND RETREAT: Theme: True Mindfulness: ‘Putting on the Mind
of Christ’. Carmelite
Friar, Fr Gerard Moran, ocd will be the Retreat Director at the Emmanuel
Centre, Launceston. Friday 18th – 20th October. Cost of the weekend $220
includes all meals and accommodation. Bookings are essential to Helen 6344:6382
ST VINCENT
PALLOTTI SCHOLARSHIP TRUST: The St Vincent Pallotti Scholarship
Trust offers scholarships to enable lay people to further their
understanding and skills in leadership/ministry or a specialised activity, such
as promoting faith enhancement, social justice and pastoral care. More
information and Applications Forms are available on our website http://www. pallottine.org.au/scholarships/st
vincent pallotti scholarship for lay ministry.html - Closing
Date 18 October 2019
JOB VACANCY:
Communications
Officer - the
position is either part time or full time and flexible hours are offered. The
Archdiocese is seeking an employee with a high degree of understanding of the
beliefs and teachings of the Catholic faith, and a commitment to promoting
Catholic beliefs and teachings through media, to join its Media and
Communications Unit in Hobart. Details of the position can be found by going to
https://www.hobart.catholic.org.au/jobs/communication-officer
The Face of the Other
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
St. Francis of Assisi (1181–1226) brought attention to the humanity of Jesus. Prior to St. Francis, Christian paintings largely emphasized Jesus’ divinity, as they still do in most Eastern icons. Francis is said to have created the first live nativity. Before the thirteenth century, Christmas was no big deal. The liturgical emphasis was on the high holy days of Easter. But for Francis, incarnation was already redemption. For God to become a human being among the poor, born in a stable among the animals, meant that it’s good to be a human being, that flesh is good, and that the world is good—in its most simple and humble forms.
In Jesus, God was given a face and a heart that we could see. God became someone we could love. While God can be described as a moral force, as consciousness, and as high vibrational energy, the truth is, we don’t (or can’t?) really fall in love with abstractions or concepts. So, God became a person “that we could hear, see with our eyes, look at, and touch with our hands” (1 John 1:1). The Jewish philosopher Emmanuel Lévinas (1906–1995) said the only thing that really converts people is “the face of the other.” He developed this idea at great length and with great persuasion, if you are interested in going deeper. [1]
When we receive and empathize with the face of the “other” (especially the suffering face), it leads to transformation of our whole being. It creates a moral demand on our heart that is far more compelling than the Ten Commandments written on stone or paper. Just giving people commandments doesn’t change the heart. In the end, Christianity is not a moral matter until it is first and foremost a mystical matter. Commandments and laws may steel the will, but they do not soften the heart—or create soul—like one authentic I-Thou encounter will do. Thus, we have produced an awful lot of “mean” Christians, which we must admit is Christianity’s present public image. [2]
So many Christian mystics talk about seeing the divine face or falling in love with the face of Jesus. I think that’s why St. Clare (1194–1253) used the word “mirroring” so often in her writings. We are mirrored not by concepts, but by faces delighting in us—giving us the face we can’t give to ourselves. It is “the face of the other” that finally creates us and, I am sorry to say, also destroys us. It is the gaze that does us in!
Now surely you see why a positive and loving God-image is absolutely necessary for creating happy and healthy people. Without it, we will continue to create lots of mean Christians who have no way out of their hall of negative mirrors.
[1] Olivier Clément, The Roots of Christian Mysticism (New City Press: 2013), 47.
[2] Ibid., 46.
Some Counsels on Faith and Religion for our Present Generation
This article is taken from the archive of Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. You can find this article and many others by clicking here
It’s no secret that today we’re witnessing a massive decline in church attendance and, seemingly, a parallel loss of interest in religion. The former mindset, within which we worried, sometimes obsessively, about sin, church-going, and heaven and hell no longer holds sway for millions of people. As one parent, worried about the religious state of his children, shared with me recently, “our old religious concerns never ever darken their minds.” What’s to be said in the face of this?
Admittedly, I may not be the person best-suited to offer that advice. I’m over 70 years old, a spiritual writer whose main focus of research and teaching right now is on the spirituality of aging, and I’m a Roman Catholic priest, a religious insider, who can be perceived as simply a salesman for religion and the churches.
But, despite that, here are some counsels on faith and religion for today’s generation.
First: Search honestly. God’s first concern is not whether you’re going to church or not, but whether you are staying honest in your search for truth and meaning. When the Apostle Thomas, doubts the reality of the resurrection, Jesus doesn’t scold him, but simply asks him to stretch out his hand and continuing searching, trusting that if he searches honestly he will eventually find the truth. The same is true for us. All we have to do is be honest, to not lie, to acknowledge truth as it meets us. In John’s Gospel, Jesus sets out only one condition to come to God: Be honest and never refuse to acknowledge what’s true, no matter how inconvenient. But the key is to be honest! If we’re honest we will eventually find meaning and that will lead us where we need to go – perhaps even to a church door somewhere. But even if it doesn’t, God will find us. The mystery of Christ is bigger than we imagine.
Second: Listen to what’s deepest inside you. Soul is a precious commodity. Make sure you honor yours. Honor the voice inside your soul. Deeper than the many enticing voices you hear in world inviting you in every direction is a voice inside you which, like an insatiable thirst, reminds you always of the truth of this prayer from Saint Augustine: You have made us for yourself, Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you. Stay in touch with that voice. You will hear it in your restlessness and it will, in the words of Karl Rahner, teach you something that’s initially is hard to bear but eventually sets you free: In the torment of the insufficiency of everything attainable, we eventually learn that here in this life there is no finished symphony.
Third: Beware the crowd! In the Gospels the word “crowd” is almost always pejorative. For good reason: Crowds don’t have a mind and the energy of a crowd is often dangerous. So beware of what Milan Kundera calls “the great march”, namely, the propensity to be led by ideology, group-think, the latest trend, the popular person or thing, the false feeling of being right because the majority of people feel that way, and the social pressures coming from both the right and the left. Be true to yourself. Be the lonely prophet who’s not afraid to be alone on the outside. Dream. Be idealistic. Protect your soul. Don’t give it away cheaply.
Fourth: Don’t confuse faith with the churches – but don’t write off the churches too quickly. When they ask those without religious affiliation today why they aren’t religious invariably their answer is: “I just don’t believe it anymore.” But what’s the “it” which they no longer believe? What they don’t believe anymore isn’t in fact the truth about God, faith, and religion, but rather what they’ve heard about God, faith, and religion. Sort that out and you will find that you do have faith. Moreover, don’t write off the churches too quickly. They have real faults; you’re not wrong about that, but they’re still the best GPS available to help you find your way to meaning. They’re a roadmap drawn up by millions of explorers who have walked the road before you. You can ignore them, but then be alert to God’s gentle voice often saying: “Recalculating”. God will get you home, but the churches can help.
Fourth: Don’t forget about the poor. When you touch the poor, you’re touching God and, as Jesus says, at the judgment day we will be judged by how we served the poor. Give yourself away in some form of altruism, knowing, as Jesus puts it, that it’s not those who say Lord, Lord, who go to heaven but those who serve others. In your search, you need to get a letter of reference from the poor.
Fifth: Look among your contemporaries for a patron to inspire you. Jean Vanier, Henri Nouwen, Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, Oscar Romero, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Simone Weil, Etty Hillesum, and Dag Hammarskjold, among others – they’ve all navigated your issues.
'The Fragile World'
Church teaching on Ecology before and by Pope Francis
It is reported that Pope Francis is preparing a text on the environment, and Donal Dorr expects that the resulting document will develop the links that Francis has already and repeatedly made between ‘concern for the exploited earth and concern for marginalised and exploited people’. How does Pope Francis’ thinking about the environment compare with that of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI? Donal Dorr SMA is a theologian and a member of St Patrick’s Missionary Society. He is the author of numerous books and articles on spirituality social justice and Catholic Social Teaching. This article was first published on the ThinkingFaith.org website on 26th February 2014 prior to the publication of Laudato si' in May 2015. You can find this article and many others on the Thinking Faith website by clicking here
In the first part of this article I shall give a brief sketch of key elements in official Vatican teaching on ecology prior to the election of Pope Francis. In the second part, I shall give some account of the approach of Pope Francis and speculate about what we may hope for in the encyclical or document on ecology which, we are now told officially, he is writing.
Catholic teaching on ecology prior to Pope Francis[1]
In 1971 the document Justice in the World, issued by the Synod of Bishops, represented a major step in the development of Catholic teaching on the environment; Barbara Ward-Jackson was a consultant before and during the synod and undoubtedly had a considerable influence on its outcome. This document emphasised the close link between ecology and justice; one could say that it linked an ‘option for the poor’ with an ‘option for the earth’ – though it did not use these terms. It insisted that it is not possible for all parts of the world to have the kind of ‘development’ which characterised the wealthy countries.[2] It therefore called on those who are rich ‘to accept a less material way of life, with less waste, in order to avoid the destruction of the heritage which they are obliged by absolute justice to share with all other members of the human race.’[3]
Pope John Paul II
In his first encyclical, Redemptor hominis (1979), Pope John Paul II warned about ‘the threat of pollution of the natural environment’.[4] In his 1987 encyclical, Solicitudo rei socialis, he referred to ‘the limits of available resources’ and used the term ‘the integrity and cycles of nature’.[5] In describing the relationship between humans and the rest of nature, John Paul sometimes used language which we would now avoid – writing of ‘the exploitation of the earth’ in a favourable sense and of the human person as ‘master’ of the earth.[6] However, on the many occasions when he met indigenous peoples in various parts of the world, he invariably stressed the vital relationship that exists between indigenous peoples and their land.
John Paul’s 1990 ‘Message for the World Day of Peace’ provided a quite comprehensive teaching on ecology and went a long way towards enabling the Catholic Church to catch up with the approach which had been developed in the World Council of Churches. It pointed out that:
The gradual depletion of the ozone layer and the related ‘greenhouse effect’ has now reached crisis proportions as a consequence of industrial growth, massive urban concentrations and vastly increased energy needs. Industrial waste, the burning of fossil fuels, unrestricted deforestation, the use of certain types of herbicides, coolants and propellants: all of these are known to harm the atmosphere and environment.[7]
When it went on to consider how ecological problems can be overcome, this message insisted on the need for ‘a more internationally coordinated approach to the management of the earth’s goods’[8]; and it pointed out that the ecological problem cannot be solved unless modern society ‘takes a serious look at its life style.’ It insisted that: ‘simplicity, moderation and discipline, as well as a spirit of sacrifice, must become a part of everyday life’.[9] It also insisted on the integrity of creation. Nevertheless, in this document and later ones, John Paul had an anthropocentric conception of the relationship between humans and the rest of nature – seeing the value of the rest of the natural world almost exclusively in terms of its value for humans.
In his 1991 social encyclical, Centesimus annus, John Paul said:
The earth ... is God’s first gift ... But the earth does not yield its fruits without a particular human response to God’s gift, that is to say, without work. It is through work that man ... succeeds in dominating the earth.[10]
I have put the word ‘gift’ in italics because it prefigures the strong emphasis by Pope Benedict XVI seventeen years later on the idea of the earth as a gift. I have also put the word ‘dominating’ in italics because it suggests that John Paul held on to the older understanding of God’s command in the book of Genesis as a justification for dominating the rest of the natural world.
In Centesimus annus, John Paul made a contrast between natural ecology and what he called ‘human ecology’, with the suggestion that the latter is more important. I shall return to this issue in the second part of this article. Nevertheless, John Paul made a very valuable contribution to Catholic Social Teaching by putting a strong emphasis on ecological issues. One of the most significant aspects of his teaching came when, in a General Audience in 2001, he spoke of the need for humans to have an ‘ecological conversion.’
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI was deeply committed to raising awareness about the urgency of finding solutions to ecological problems and to promoting an ecologically respectful lifestyle. But, perhaps even more strongly than John Paul II, he contrasted ‘the human environment’ with the natural environment. He insisted that there is an inseparable link between the two but held that the former is ‘more serious’ and should be given priority.
In his encyclical Caritas in Veritate (2009), Pope Benedict maintained that the environment is ‘God’s gift to everyone’ and that we must respect the ‘inbuilt order’ or ‘grammar’ which God has given to nature, rather than treating it as raw material which we can use in any way we wish. But he warned of the danger of seeing nature as more important than humans and seemed to be unduly concerned about the dangers of ‘neo-paganism or a new pantheism’.[11] He gave a quite detailed account of the various ecological issues we face and called for ‘a responsible stewardship over nature, in order to protect it, to enjoy its fruits and to cultivate it in new ways.’[12] He went on to point out the need for ‘an effective shift in mentality which can lead to the adoption of new life-styles’.[13]
Benedict made an important contribution to Catholic Social Teaching by insisting on ‘inter-generational justice’[14], ‘intergenerational solidarity,’ and ‘a solidarity which embraces time and space’.[15]
On the issue of the use of biotechnology for genetic modification (GM) the Vatican has given mixed messages, sometimes warning of its dangers and sometimes seeming to be quite in favour. During the years when Cardinal Marino was head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, that Council seemed strongly in favour of GM. The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church which it issued in 2004 gives a quite favourable account of biotechnology, though it does, of course, say that it should be used responsibly.[16] More recently, the attitude of the Pontifical Council seems rather more cautious and ambivalent.
I would suggest that neither Pope John Paul II nor Pope Benedict XVI sufficiently locate the economic issues we face in the context of ecology. Furthermore, both popes could be said to have an anthropocentric approach to ecological issues. So there is a need for a theological conversion alongside the ‘ecological conversion’ which they have rightly called for. The ‘theological conversion’ which is needed is a paradigm shift which involves situating us humans, with all our achievements, our problems and our responsibilities, within the wider context of nature.
Pope Francis on ecology
Pope Francis has a particular concern for the environment. On 16 March 2013, just three days after he had been elected, he told journalists that he had chosen the name of Francis of Assisi because ‘Francis was a man of poverty, who loved and protected creation.’ Three days later, during the Mass to mark his inauguration as Bishop of Rome, he linked protection of people with protection of the environment, pointing out that being a protector ‘means protecting all creation, the beauty of the created world;’ and he added: ‘Everything has been entrusted to our protection, and all of us are responsible for it.’ Francis’ linking of concern for the exploited earth with concern for marginalised and exploited people has been a consistent theme of his papacy thus far.
On 5 June 2013, UN World Environment Day, Francis devoted his General Audience message to this topic. Condemning ‘consumerism’ and a ‘culture of waste,’ he called for ‘a spirit of solidarity grounded in our common responsibility for the earth and for all our brothers and sisters in the human family.’ On Easter Sunday 2013, he said, ‘let us be … channels through which God can water the earth, protect all creation and make justice and peace flourish.’
During his visit to Brazil in July 2013, Pope Francis met with and encouraged indigenous people from the Amazon region who have been resisting the encroachment on the forest by ranchers, farmers and agribusiness enterprises. In his address to the bishops during his time in Brazil he called for ‘respect and protection of the entire creation which God has entrusted to humanity’ and said that it should not be ‘indiscriminately exploited but rather made into a garden.’ Furthermore, he drew attention to the important 2007 document of the Latin American and Caribbean bishops (CELAM), of which he was a major architect and which underscored the dangers facing the Amazon environment and the indigenous people living there.[17]
It may seem surprising that Francis devoted only a small section of Evangelii Gaudium to the topic of ecology. This may be partly because that document was a response to what had emerged in the 2012 Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelisation, where the environment had not been a major issue. It may also be that the pope was holding back on this topic because, as he said to visitors from Argentina in early November 2013, he intends to treat it much more comprehensively in an encyclical on the topic on which he is working. This intention of the pope was re-affirmed when, on 24 January 2014, the Vatican spokesperson, Fr. Lombardi, said that the pope is working on a text ‘which could become an encyclical’.[18]
In Evangelii Gaudium, the pope’s first reference to the topic of ecology comes when he says, ‘whatever is fragile, like the environment, is defenceless before the interests of a deified market’.[19] Later in the document he says:
There are other weak and defenceless beings who are frequently at the mercy of economic interests or indiscriminate exploitation. I am speaking of creation as a whole. We human beings are not only the beneficiaries but also the stewards of other creatures. Thanks to our bodies, God has joined us so closely to the world around us that we can feel the desertification of the soil almost as a physical ailment, and the extinction of a species as a painful disfigurement. Let us not leave in our wake a swath of destruction and death which will affect our own lives and those of future generations.[20]
He then goes on to say: ‘Small yet strong in the love of God, like Saint Francis of Assisi, all of us, as Christians, are called to watch over and protect the fragile world in which we live, and all its peoples’.[21]
Francis took up the topic, again rather briefly, in his 2014 ‘Message for the World Day of Peace’. He referred to ‘the devastation of natural resources and ongoing pollution’.[22] He then went on to repeat the emphasis of Benedict XVI, in his encyclical Caritas in Veritate, on nature as gift and his use of the phrase ‘the grammar of nature’:
The human family has received from the Creator a common gift: nature. The Christian view of creation includes a positive judgement about the legitimacy of interventions on nature if these are meant to be beneficial and are performed responsibly, that is to say, by acknowledging the ‘grammar’ inscribed in nature and by wisely using resources for the benefit of all, with respect for the beauty, finality and usefulness of every living being and its place in the ecosystem. Nature, in a word, is at our disposition and we are called to exercise a responsible stewardship over it.[23]
Francis pointed out that we are failing in the task of stewardship: ‘so often we are driven by greed and by the arrogance of dominion, possession, manipulation and exploitation; we do not preserve nature; nor do we respect it or consider it a gracious gift which we must care for and set at the service of our brothers and sisters, including future generations’.[24]
The controversial term ‘human ecology’
In his statement of 24 January 2014, Fr. Lombardi underlined the point that the new document on which Pope Francis is working ‘would specifically emphasise ‘human ecology”’.[25] This raises the question of whether Francis will continue along the anthropocentric line adopted by John Paul and Benedict, making a sharp distinction between ‘natural ecology’ and ‘human ecology,’ and playing down the former in favour of the latter. I am hopeful that this will not be the case.
Ecologists and ecological theologians are generally reluctant to make a contrast between ‘human ecology’ and ‘natural ecology.’ The term ‘human ecology’ has been used in the social sciences since the early 1920s. It refers to the relationship between humans and their natural, social and cultural environments. So it seems inappropriate to contrast it with ‘natural ecology.’ It would appear that Pope John Paul and Pope Benedict were using the term ‘human ecology’ in a more restricted sense which would not give sufficient weight to the fact that humans are one part of the ecology of nature.
There are indications that the thinking of Pope Francis is different. Rather than contrasting ‘human ecology’ with ‘natural ecology,’ he has on several occasions made a very close link between exploited people and the exploited environment, describing both of them as ‘fragile’ or ‘defenceless’.[26] My hope is that, in the encyclical or document on which he is working, he may not use the term ‘human ecology;’ however, if he chooses to use it, I feel confident that he will give it the wider meaning that it has in the social sciences. It would mean the pope would be situating us humans and our relationships within the context of our diverse social and cultural environments and, more especially, of our situation as an integral part of the whole evolving natural order.[27]
Conclusion
Paul Vallely, whose book Pope Francis: Untying the Knots is the most comprehensive and insightful book in English on Pope Francis, wrote an interesting article in The Irish Times of 4 February 2014. He outlined the stance of Pope Francis on three distinct issues where there is a sharp difference of view within the Catholic Church. On the left-right division about whether or to what extent one accepts capitalism, Vallely sees Francis as being quite far to the left. On the issue of centralisation versus decentralisation and subsidiarity he sees Francis as being quite radical. And on the progressive-conservative division on doctrinal questions, he notes the nuanced pastoral approach of Francis. Vallely also says that on the environmental issue, Francis ‘looks set to move the church on to a more radical political agenda.’ Although Vallely does not elaborate on this point, all the indications are that this judgment is correct; and the various quotations and references given above provide solid support for this view.
[1] For a much fuller treatment of the material in the first part this article see my book Option for the Poor and for the Earth (Orbis Books: 2012), pp. 412-439; here I merely pick out some key points.
[2] Synod of Bishops, Justice in the World (1971), §11.
[3] Justice in the World, §70.
[4] Pope John Paul II, Redemptor hominis (1979), §11.
[5] Pope John Paul II, Solicitudo rei socialis (1987), §26.
[6] Redemptor hominis, §15.
[7] John Paul II, ‘Message for the World Day of Peace’ (1990), §6.
[8] Ibid., §9; all emphases original unless otherwise stated.
[9] Ibid., §13.
[10] John Paul II, Centesimus annus (1991), §31 (emphasis added).
[11] Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate (2009), §48.
[12] Ibid., §50.
[13] Ibid., §51.
[14] Ibid., §48.
[15] Pope Benedict XVI, ‘Message for World Day of Peace’ (2010), §8.
[16] See my Option book pp. 427-9 for detail.
[17] http://life.nationalpost.com/2013/07/27/pope-francis-calls-for-respect-and-protection-of-environment-end-to-exploitation-of-amazon-rainforest/
[18] The Tablet, 1 February 2014, p. 27.
[19] Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium (2013), §56.
[20] Ibid., §215.
[21] Ibid., §216.
[22] Pope Francis, ‘Message for the World Day of Peace’ (2014), §8.
[23] Ibid., §9.
[24] Ibid.
[25] The Tablet, 1 February 2014, p. 27.
[26] Evangelii Gaudium §56 and §215.
[27] Evangelii Gaudium.
In the first part of this article I shall give a brief sketch of key elements in official Vatican teaching on ecology prior to the election of Pope Francis. In the second part, I shall give some account of the approach of Pope Francis and speculate about what we may hope for in the encyclical or document on ecology which, we are now told officially, he is writing.
Catholic teaching on ecology prior to Pope Francis[1]
In 1971 the document Justice in the World, issued by the Synod of Bishops, represented a major step in the development of Catholic teaching on the environment; Barbara Ward-Jackson was a consultant before and during the synod and undoubtedly had a considerable influence on its outcome. This document emphasised the close link between ecology and justice; one could say that it linked an ‘option for the poor’ with an ‘option for the earth’ – though it did not use these terms. It insisted that it is not possible for all parts of the world to have the kind of ‘development’ which characterised the wealthy countries.[2] It therefore called on those who are rich ‘to accept a less material way of life, with less waste, in order to avoid the destruction of the heritage which they are obliged by absolute justice to share with all other members of the human race.’[3]
Pope John Paul II
In his first encyclical, Redemptor hominis (1979), Pope John Paul II warned about ‘the threat of pollution of the natural environment’.[4] In his 1987 encyclical, Solicitudo rei socialis, he referred to ‘the limits of available resources’ and used the term ‘the integrity and cycles of nature’.[5] In describing the relationship between humans and the rest of nature, John Paul sometimes used language which we would now avoid – writing of ‘the exploitation of the earth’ in a favourable sense and of the human person as ‘master’ of the earth.[6] However, on the many occasions when he met indigenous peoples in various parts of the world, he invariably stressed the vital relationship that exists between indigenous peoples and their land.
John Paul’s 1990 ‘Message for the World Day of Peace’ provided a quite comprehensive teaching on ecology and went a long way towards enabling the Catholic Church to catch up with the approach which had been developed in the World Council of Churches. It pointed out that:
The gradual depletion of the ozone layer and the related ‘greenhouse effect’ has now reached crisis proportions as a consequence of industrial growth, massive urban concentrations and vastly increased energy needs. Industrial waste, the burning of fossil fuels, unrestricted deforestation, the use of certain types of herbicides, coolants and propellants: all of these are known to harm the atmosphere and environment.[7]
When it went on to consider how ecological problems can be overcome, this message insisted on the need for ‘a more internationally coordinated approach to the management of the earth’s goods’[8]; and it pointed out that the ecological problem cannot be solved unless modern society ‘takes a serious look at its life style.’ It insisted that: ‘simplicity, moderation and discipline, as well as a spirit of sacrifice, must become a part of everyday life’.[9] It also insisted on the integrity of creation. Nevertheless, in this document and later ones, John Paul had an anthropocentric conception of the relationship between humans and the rest of nature – seeing the value of the rest of the natural world almost exclusively in terms of its value for humans.
In his 1991 social encyclical, Centesimus annus, John Paul said:
The earth ... is God’s first gift ... But the earth does not yield its fruits without a particular human response to God’s gift, that is to say, without work. It is through work that man ... succeeds in dominating the earth.[10]
I have put the word ‘gift’ in italics because it prefigures the strong emphasis by Pope Benedict XVI seventeen years later on the idea of the earth as a gift. I have also put the word ‘dominating’ in italics because it suggests that John Paul held on to the older understanding of God’s command in the book of Genesis as a justification for dominating the rest of the natural world.
In Centesimus annus, John Paul made a contrast between natural ecology and what he called ‘human ecology’, with the suggestion that the latter is more important. I shall return to this issue in the second part of this article. Nevertheless, John Paul made a very valuable contribution to Catholic Social Teaching by putting a strong emphasis on ecological issues. One of the most significant aspects of his teaching came when, in a General Audience in 2001, he spoke of the need for humans to have an ‘ecological conversion.’
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI was deeply committed to raising awareness about the urgency of finding solutions to ecological problems and to promoting an ecologically respectful lifestyle. But, perhaps even more strongly than John Paul II, he contrasted ‘the human environment’ with the natural environment. He insisted that there is an inseparable link between the two but held that the former is ‘more serious’ and should be given priority.
In his encyclical Caritas in Veritate (2009), Pope Benedict maintained that the environment is ‘God’s gift to everyone’ and that we must respect the ‘inbuilt order’ or ‘grammar’ which God has given to nature, rather than treating it as raw material which we can use in any way we wish. But he warned of the danger of seeing nature as more important than humans and seemed to be unduly concerned about the dangers of ‘neo-paganism or a new pantheism’.[11] He gave a quite detailed account of the various ecological issues we face and called for ‘a responsible stewardship over nature, in order to protect it, to enjoy its fruits and to cultivate it in new ways.’[12] He went on to point out the need for ‘an effective shift in mentality which can lead to the adoption of new life-styles’.[13]
Benedict made an important contribution to Catholic Social Teaching by insisting on ‘inter-generational justice’[14], ‘intergenerational solidarity,’ and ‘a solidarity which embraces time and space’.[15]
On the issue of the use of biotechnology for genetic modification (GM) the Vatican has given mixed messages, sometimes warning of its dangers and sometimes seeming to be quite in favour. During the years when Cardinal Marino was head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, that Council seemed strongly in favour of GM. The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church which it issued in 2004 gives a quite favourable account of biotechnology, though it does, of course, say that it should be used responsibly.[16] More recently, the attitude of the Pontifical Council seems rather more cautious and ambivalent.
I would suggest that neither Pope John Paul II nor Pope Benedict XVI sufficiently locate the economic issues we face in the context of ecology. Furthermore, both popes could be said to have an anthropocentric approach to ecological issues. So there is a need for a theological conversion alongside the ‘ecological conversion’ which they have rightly called for. The ‘theological conversion’ which is needed is a paradigm shift which involves situating us humans, with all our achievements, our problems and our responsibilities, within the wider context of nature.
Pope Francis on ecology
Pope Francis has a particular concern for the environment. On 16 March 2013, just three days after he had been elected, he told journalists that he had chosen the name of Francis of Assisi because ‘Francis was a man of poverty, who loved and protected creation.’ Three days later, during the Mass to mark his inauguration as Bishop of Rome, he linked protection of people with protection of the environment, pointing out that being a protector ‘means protecting all creation, the beauty of the created world;’ and he added: ‘Everything has been entrusted to our protection, and all of us are responsible for it.’ Francis’ linking of concern for the exploited earth with concern for marginalised and exploited people has been a consistent theme of his papacy thus far.
On 5 June 2013, UN World Environment Day, Francis devoted his General Audience message to this topic. Condemning ‘consumerism’ and a ‘culture of waste,’ he called for ‘a spirit of solidarity grounded in our common responsibility for the earth and for all our brothers and sisters in the human family.’ On Easter Sunday 2013, he said, ‘let us be … channels through which God can water the earth, protect all creation and make justice and peace flourish.’
During his visit to Brazil in July 2013, Pope Francis met with and encouraged indigenous people from the Amazon region who have been resisting the encroachment on the forest by ranchers, farmers and agribusiness enterprises. In his address to the bishops during his time in Brazil he called for ‘respect and protection of the entire creation which God has entrusted to humanity’ and said that it should not be ‘indiscriminately exploited but rather made into a garden.’ Furthermore, he drew attention to the important 2007 document of the Latin American and Caribbean bishops (CELAM), of which he was a major architect and which underscored the dangers facing the Amazon environment and the indigenous people living there.[17]
It may seem surprising that Francis devoted only a small section of Evangelii Gaudium to the topic of ecology. This may be partly because that document was a response to what had emerged in the 2012 Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelisation, where the environment had not been a major issue. It may also be that the pope was holding back on this topic because, as he said to visitors from Argentina in early November 2013, he intends to treat it much more comprehensively in an encyclical on the topic on which he is working. This intention of the pope was re-affirmed when, on 24 January 2014, the Vatican spokesperson, Fr. Lombardi, said that the pope is working on a text ‘which could become an encyclical’.[18]
In Evangelii Gaudium, the pope’s first reference to the topic of ecology comes when he says, ‘whatever is fragile, like the environment, is defenceless before the interests of a deified market’.[19] Later in the document he says:
There are other weak and defenceless beings who are frequently at the mercy of economic interests or indiscriminate exploitation. I am speaking of creation as a whole. We human beings are not only the beneficiaries but also the stewards of other creatures. Thanks to our bodies, God has joined us so closely to the world around us that we can feel the desertification of the soil almost as a physical ailment, and the extinction of a species as a painful disfigurement. Let us not leave in our wake a swath of destruction and death which will affect our own lives and those of future generations.[20]
He then goes on to say: ‘Small yet strong in the love of God, like Saint Francis of Assisi, all of us, as Christians, are called to watch over and protect the fragile world in which we live, and all its peoples’.[21]
Francis took up the topic, again rather briefly, in his 2014 ‘Message for the World Day of Peace’. He referred to ‘the devastation of natural resources and ongoing pollution’.[22] He then went on to repeat the emphasis of Benedict XVI, in his encyclical Caritas in Veritate, on nature as gift and his use of the phrase ‘the grammar of nature’:
The human family has received from the Creator a common gift: nature. The Christian view of creation includes a positive judgement about the legitimacy of interventions on nature if these are meant to be beneficial and are performed responsibly, that is to say, by acknowledging the ‘grammar’ inscribed in nature and by wisely using resources for the benefit of all, with respect for the beauty, finality and usefulness of every living being and its place in the ecosystem. Nature, in a word, is at our disposition and we are called to exercise a responsible stewardship over it.[23]
Francis pointed out that we are failing in the task of stewardship: ‘so often we are driven by greed and by the arrogance of dominion, possession, manipulation and exploitation; we do not preserve nature; nor do we respect it or consider it a gracious gift which we must care for and set at the service of our brothers and sisters, including future generations’.[24]
The controversial term ‘human ecology’
In his statement of 24 January 2014, Fr. Lombardi underlined the point that the new document on which Pope Francis is working ‘would specifically emphasise ‘human ecology”’.[25] This raises the question of whether Francis will continue along the anthropocentric line adopted by John Paul and Benedict, making a sharp distinction between ‘natural ecology’ and ‘human ecology,’ and playing down the former in favour of the latter. I am hopeful that this will not be the case.
Ecologists and ecological theologians are generally reluctant to make a contrast between ‘human ecology’ and ‘natural ecology.’ The term ‘human ecology’ has been used in the social sciences since the early 1920s. It refers to the relationship between humans and their natural, social and cultural environments. So it seems inappropriate to contrast it with ‘natural ecology.’ It would appear that Pope John Paul and Pope Benedict were using the term ‘human ecology’ in a more restricted sense which would not give sufficient weight to the fact that humans are one part of the ecology of nature.
There are indications that the thinking of Pope Francis is different. Rather than contrasting ‘human ecology’ with ‘natural ecology,’ he has on several occasions made a very close link between exploited people and the exploited environment, describing both of them as ‘fragile’ or ‘defenceless’.[26] My hope is that, in the encyclical or document on which he is working, he may not use the term ‘human ecology;’ however, if he chooses to use it, I feel confident that he will give it the wider meaning that it has in the social sciences. It would mean the pope would be situating us humans and our relationships within the context of our diverse social and cultural environments and, more especially, of our situation as an integral part of the whole evolving natural order.[27]
Conclusion
Paul Vallely, whose book Pope Francis: Untying the Knots is the most comprehensive and insightful book in English on Pope Francis, wrote an interesting article in The Irish Times of 4 February 2014. He outlined the stance of Pope Francis on three distinct issues where there is a sharp difference of view within the Catholic Church. On the left-right division about whether or to what extent one accepts capitalism, Vallely sees Francis as being quite far to the left. On the issue of centralisation versus decentralisation and subsidiarity he sees Francis as being quite radical. And on the progressive-conservative division on doctrinal questions, he notes the nuanced pastoral approach of Francis. Vallely also says that on the environmental issue, Francis ‘looks set to move the church on to a more radical political agenda.’ Although Vallely does not elaborate on this point, all the indications are that this judgment is correct; and the various quotations and references given above provide solid support for this view.
[1] For a much fuller treatment of the material in the first part this article see my book Option for the Poor and for the Earth (Orbis Books: 2012), pp. 412-439; here I merely pick out some key points.
[2] Synod of Bishops, Justice in the World (1971), §11.
[3] Justice in the World, §70.
[4] Pope John Paul II, Redemptor hominis (1979), §11.
[5] Pope John Paul II, Solicitudo rei socialis (1987), §26.
[6] Redemptor hominis, §15.
[7] John Paul II, ‘Message for the World Day of Peace’ (1990), §6.
[8] Ibid., §9; all emphases original unless otherwise stated.
[9] Ibid., §13.
[10] John Paul II, Centesimus annus (1991), §31 (emphasis added).
[11] Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate (2009), §48.
[12] Ibid., §50.
[13] Ibid., §51.
[14] Ibid., §48.
[15] Pope Benedict XVI, ‘Message for World Day of Peace’ (2010), §8.
[16] See my Option book pp. 427-9 for detail.
[17] http://life.nationalpost.com/2013/07/27/pope-francis-calls-for-respect-and-protection-of-environment-end-to-exploitation-of-amazon-rainforest/
[18] The Tablet, 1 February 2014, p. 27.
[19] Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium (2013), §56.
[20] Ibid., §215.
[21] Ibid., §216.
[22] Pope Francis, ‘Message for the World Day of Peace’ (2014), §8.
[23] Ibid., §9.
[24] Ibid.
[25] The Tablet, 1 February 2014, p. 27.
[26] Evangelii Gaudium §56 and §215.
[27] Evangelii Gaudium.
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