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 8th – 11th October, 2019
Tuesday: 9:30am Penguin
Wednesday: 9:30am Latrobe … St Denis, St John Leonardi
Thursday: 10:30am Eliza
Purton
Friday: 9:30am
Ulverstone … St John XXIII
10:00am Meercroft
Next Weekend 12th & 13th October
Saturday Vigil: 6:00pm Devonport
MINISTRY ROSTERS 12th & 13th OCTOBER, 2019
Devonport:
10:30am
F Sly, J
Tuxworth, T Omogbai-musa
Piety Shop 12th Oct: H Thompson 13th Oct: T Omogbai-musa
Ulverstone:
Penguin:
Latrobe:
Port Sorell:
Readings this Week: 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
PREGO REFLECTION ON TODAY’S GOSPEL:
Readings Next Week: 28th Sunday
in Ordinary Time – Year C
First Reading: 2
Kings 5:14-17
Your prayers are asked for the sick:
Brenda Paul, Carmel Leonard, Philip Smith, David Cole, Frank McDonald, Pam Lynd & …
Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Bob Hickman, Michelle Gibson, Sr Martina Roberts, Danny Reardon, Glenn Harris, Adrian Drane, Eva Gulosino, Bernadine Manshanden, Judy Sheehan, Peggy Creed
Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs about this time: 3rd – 9th October
Audrey Abblitt, Audrey Taylor, Jim Masterson, Milton Bynon, Valma Donnelly, Lorraine Sherriff, Kieran McVeigh, Vicki Glashower, Natarsha Charlesworth, Sr Barbara Hateley MSS, Ashley Dyer, James Ryan, Helena Wyllie, Elaine Sheedy. Also deceased relatives and friends of Sheridan, Bourke & Knight families.
May the souls of the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen
Weekly
Ramblings
During the week I came across a new resource that sounds
really interesting which will become available from October 15th. Ave Explores
Mary addresses some of the questions that people have about Mary and her place
in the Church. It asks questions like - Have you ever wondered why Mary holds such
a prominent place in the Catholic Church, but not in other Christian Churches.
Perhaps you want to learn more about who Mary is and why she matters? Or, how
you can grow to love her more? If you would like to explore these questions go
to https://www.avemariapress.com/aveexplores-mary/
and sign up to learn more.
On Friday 18th there will be time for Adoration before the
Blessed Sacrament from 10am – 10pm at OLOL Church. There are sign up sheets at
each Mass Centre this weekend and I would like to encourage Parishioners to
participate in this opportunity for some quiet prayer time during this month.
Having an opportunity to spend time before the Lord for a time of silent prayer
is a wonderful opportunity for peace in a busy world – please make use of this
time or come to OLOL on any Friday morning between 10am-Noon for Adoration.
NOVEMBER REMEMBRANCE BOOKS:
COLUMBAN CALENDARS:
Winners
of $100 (number either side of winning margin);
On
behalf of Mersey Leven Parish, a HUGE
thanks to Zillah Jones for all the ‘behind
the scene’
selling and delivering tickets and the weekly phone calls on footy updates on
the teams in the
NWFL, TSL and AFL.
Your knowledge, wisdom and friendship is truly appreciated
Zillah and we would be lost without you!
Thank you to all who promoted and sold tickets at Devonport,
Ulverstone and Port Sorell on a weekly basis.
Next year we will be reducing the number of tickets sold
weekly, so if you would like to be part of this ‘fun’ fundraiser you will need
to be in it to win it!!
……….BRING ON SEASON
2020!!!.........
BINGO THURSDAY 10th October
Eyes down 7:30pm. Callers
Tony Ryan & Alan Luxton
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE:
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
PRAYER FOR THE EXTRAORDINARY MISSIONARY MONTH
Empower us by the gifts of the Holy
Spirit
Help us make it possible for all peoples
Amen.
Embodied Contemplation
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
Within Western Christianity, the body’s sensations, needs,
and longings are often suppressed. I wonder if this might be related to our
difficulty putting Jesus’—and our own—humanity and divinity together. Many
churches emphasize mental beliefs and worded prayer while discouraging dance,
yoga, or other forms of embodied prayer.
The renewed interest in Christian meditation, Centering
Prayer, and other forms of silent prayer has helped many people open their
hearts to God’s presence. I want to emphasize that contemplation can be
experienced in a variety of ways; it simply requires keeping heart, mind, and
body open all at once. Silence and solitude may not always be what we most
need.
Some of us learned to cope with abuse or trauma by shutting
down our body’s awareness and expression. Part of the healing process is
listening to the body’s messages in safe environments, perhaps with the support
of a counsellor or spiritual director.
I invite you to explore some form of physical movement as
contemplative practice today. Here are just a few examples: walking, dancing,
stretching, singing, drumming. As you move, turn your attention to different
sensations and parts of your body. You might choose to notice just one
element—like your breathing or your feet—for the entire practice, or change
focus every few minutes. If your mind starts to wander, return your attention
to physical sensation.
We are not simply souls having a spiritual experience, but
physical beings whose very breath is given by the Divine. In order to incarnate
God, we are called to be fully human. We are humus—of the Earth, soil, ground.
Creating And Holding Space For Our Brokenness
This article is taken from the archive of Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. You can find this article and many others by clicking here
Some years ago I went on a weekend retreat given by a woman who made no secret about the fact that not being able to have children constituted a deep wound in her life. So she offered retreats on the pain of being unable to have children. Being a celibate and not having my own children, I went on one of these retreats, the only man to venture there. The rest of the participants were women, mostly in their 40s and 50s, who had not borne children of their own.
Our leader, using scripture, biography, poetry, and psychology, examined the issue of barrenness from many points of view. The retreat came to a head on Saturday evening with a ritual in chapel in which various participants went up a huge cross and spoke out their pain for Jesus and everyone else to hear. That was followed by us watching, together, the British movie, Secrets and Lies, within which one woman’s heartache at being unable to conceive a child is powerfully highlighted. Afterwards there was a lot of honest sharing of feelings – and lots and lots of tears! But after that painful sharing of pain and the over-generous tears which accompanied it, the entire atmosphere changed, as if some dark storm had just done its thing but left us still intact. There was relief, and plenty of laughter and lightheartedness. A storm had indeed passed us over and we were safe.
All pain can be borne if it can be shared. Art Schopenhauer is credited with saying that, but, irrespective of who said it first, it captures what happened at that retreat. A deep pain was made easier to bear not because it was taken away but because it was shared, and shared in a “sacramental” way. Yes, there are sacraments that don’t take place in a church, but still have sacramental power. And we need more of these.
For example, Rachel Held Evans writes: “Often I hear from readers who have left their churches because they had no songs for them to sing after the miscarriage, the shooting, the earthquake, the divorce, the diagnosis, the attack, the bankruptcy. The American tendency toward triumphalism, of optimism rooted in success, money, and privilege, will infect and sap of substance any faith community that has lost its capacity for holding space for those in grief.”
She’s right. Our churches aren’t creating enough space for holding grief. In essence: In the everyday, practical spirituality of community, prayer, liturgy, and Eucharist within our churches we don’t lean sufficiently on the fact that Christ is both a dying and a rising reality. We generally don’t take the dying part of Christ as seriously as we should. What are the consequences?
Among other things, it means that we don’t create enough communal, ritual celebrations in our churches within which people can feel free to own and express their brokenness and grief communally and in a “sacramental” way. Granted our churches do have funeral rites, sacraments of the sick, reconciliation services, special prayer services after a tragedy within a community, and other rituals and gatherings that are powerful spaces for holding grief and brokenness. However (with the exception of the sacrament of reconciliation which though is generally a private, one-to-one ritual) these are generally tied to a special, singular circumstance such as a death, a serious sickness, or an episodic tragedy within a community. What we lack are regular ecclesially- based, communal rituals, analogous to an Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, around which people can come, share their brokenness, and experience a grace that can only come from community.
We need various kinds of “sacramental” celebrations in our churches within which, to use Rachel Held Evans’ terminology, we can create and hold space for those who are grieving a broken heart, a miscarriage, an abortion, a dire medical diagnosis, a bankruptcy, the loss of a job, a divorce, a forced retirement, a rejection in love, the death of a cherished dream, the movement into assisted living, the adjustment to an empty nest within a marriage, barrenness, and frustrations of every kind.
What will these rituals look like? Mostly they don’t exist yet so it is up to us to invent them. Charles Taylor suggests that the religious struggle today is not so much a struggle of faith but a struggle of the imagination. Nobody has ever lived in this kind of world before. We need some new rituals. We’re pioneers in new territory, and pioneers have to improvise. Admittedly, pain and brokenness have always been with us, but past generations had communal ways of creating space for holding grief. Families, communities, and churches then had less of a struggle with the kind individualism that today leaves us mostly alone to deal with our brokenness. Today there’s no longer a sufficient communal and ecclesial structure to help us accept that, here in this life, we live “mourning and weeping in a valley of tears.”
We need to imagine some new, sacramental rituals within which to help hold our grief.
What They're Saying About ChurchMoney
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
When Tom and I started writing our recently released book ChurchMoney, we thought it had the potential to really strike a chord in the American Catholic Church. In our travels across the country, we have observed that money is one of the biggest – if not the biggest – causes of stress and worry among parish leaders. This is true everywhere, even in economically healthy communities.
The faithful are also loathe to hear about money in church. Too often, our message has been nagging, needy, and guilt driven. It is so bad that, in some cases, we’ve even heard stories of parishioners avoiding stewardship and annual appeal weekends completely. Money can even become a divisive source of conflict in parish life.
We wrote this book to change that. Embracing our mission of making disciples will solve the financial problems the Church faces. It means teaching people from the pulpit what Jesus and the Scriptures have to say about money and how to handle it well. It means approaching money as a spiritual issue instead of trying to trick people out of money through fundraisers or guilt. It means showing parishioners how their giving can make a positive impact in the world.
We seem to have been right that ChurchMoney would cause a stir. It is the #1 new release in multiple categories on Amazon and has (so far) garnered only 5-star reviews. Here is what some people have been saying about ChurchMoney:
David:
This is a book that will shift your paradigm about money in the Church. The authors have clearly communicated that the purpose of money is to fulfill the great commandment and the great commission. “Because in the end, it isn’t about money; it’s about the eternal impact we can and need to make with money.” Imagine what Church would look like if Christians would view money from this perspective. ChurchMoney gives you the practical steps to shift your perspective, become a generous giver and make an eternal impact.
Fr. Matthew:
I read this in a day and I’ve already purchased more books for my Stewardship Committee … Father White and Mr. Corcoran have provided the Church a great service with this book. Finally, we have a solid Catholic perspective on money–not built on guilt or need–based on the central biblical principle that everything we have comes from God, and to God all, including our very lives, will be returned. I found myself challenged, affirmed and motivated both personally and with my parish community to reevaluate how to view finances, money and stewardship. Truly a must have for every parish Stewardship Committee, Parish Pastoral Council and Finance Council.
Tara:
As a cradle Catholic, I was a bit nervous about delving into “ChurchMoney: Rebuilding the Way We Fund Our Mission.” Father Michael White and Tom Corcoran certainly nailed the Church money culture I grew up in where stewardship was a word more than a way of life. I found the first quarter of the book a bit uncomfortable as it pretty accurately described the mindset I was familiar with, but by the time Fr. Michael and Tom led me to chapter 7, “Raising Givers,” I not only understood where they were coming from, but was totally onboard.
ChurchMoney is a piece of the Rebuilt series that needed telling. It not only dealt with the financial aspect of raising funds but also explained how the church leadership was able to bring people along mentally and spiritually to an understanding of why they should give.
As with the rest of the Rebuilt series, the book is written in easy to understand language peppered with Fr. Michael’s and Tom’s gut feelings about project turnout. This plain speaking approach reminds us that this isn’t a theoretical how-to book but one that says “let-us-show you-how-it-can-be-done.” They are amazingly generous in showing the steps and providing the basic tools that can be used by any parish, from how and when to set an example to homilies that have been used. This book should be required reading for all parishioners, especially those serving on finance and pastoral councils.
Father Rob:
This book is a gift to the Church.
Cameron:
Often laugh out loud funny.
Synod For The Amazon: New Paths For The Whole World
The focus of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region that begins in Rome on 6 October is anything but narrow – witnessing to the realities of the Amazonian peoples and their wisdom demands the attention and participation of the whole Church. Giacomo Costa SJ explains how the dynamic between the local and the global will be the key to the success of the synodal process that seeks ‘new paths for the Church and for an integral ecology’. [1] Giacomo Costa SJ is editor-in-chief of Aggiornamenti Sociali. This is an abridged version of a text originally published in Italian: Costa G., ‘Sinodo per l’Amazzonia: perché coinvolgerci e come?’, in Aggiornamenti Sociali, 8-9 (2019) 533-540 and at www.aggiornamentisociali.it. Translation into English by John Coughlin.
Those of us who do not live in these lands need your wisdom and knowledge to enable us to enter into, without destroying, the treasures that this region holds.[2]
When Pope Francis met with the indigenous peoples of Amazonia at Puerto Maldonado in January 2018, he made it clear that listening to them and all of the communities living in the Amazon is a priority for all non-Amazonians. Before ‘we lend our voice to their causes’, offer solutions or, even worse, impose our agenda and our problems on them, we are called to ‘to listen to them, to speak for them and to embrace the mysterious wisdom which God wishes to share with us through them’.[3] This is not easy, especially at a distance, even if in recent times ‘indigenous peoples have begun to write down their own history and to document more formally their own cultures, customs, traditions, and knowledge’,[4] making their worldview more accessible.
This worldview and the lifestyle derived from it is often encapsulated in the expression buen vivir (in English, ‘good living’), the Spanish translation of expressions from different Amazonian languages, such as sumak kawsay, alli káusai or shien pujut. It is a way of life that has its roots in the indigenous traditions and refers not so much to a codified doctrine, but rather to practices related to creating relationships between individuals and groups through the bond with the land. Therefore, at the core of this worldview are the relationships between water, land, the natural environment, community life and culture. As stated the Instrumentum laboris, quoting an official document of the Amazonian peoples: ‘It is about living in “harmony with oneself, with nature, with human beings and with the supreme being, since there is an inter-communication between the whole cosmos, where there is neither excluding nor excluded, and that among all of us we can forge a project of full life.”’[5] Buen vivir is a question of contemplation, respect and care of the biome of which you are a part,[6] which ‘influences health, life together, education, cultivation of the land, the living relationship with nature and “Mother Earth”, the capacities of resistance and resiliency of women in particular, rites and religious expressions, relationships with ancestors, the contemplative attitude, the sense of gratuity, celebration and festivity, and the sacred meaning of the territory’.[7]
For Westerners, it is essential to listen to these words with our minds empty of the heavy baggage that can weigh us down: from the myth of the ‘noble savage’ to the tension between perceived backwardness and modernity. The Amazonian cultures are something else completely: a highly complex civilisation which for centuries has dealt with the challenges of modernisation and colonisation, and continues to come to terms with both internal and external conflicts and contradictions, envy, anger, violence, aggression, corruption, etc. Buen vivir is not an idyllic condition taken for granted once and for all, but is a path as real as it is fragile. Moreover, it does not exclude a relationship with other cultures: for example, its logic incorporates access to education, health services and other fundamental rights that indigenous people enjoy like any other citizen.
The important thing is to respect the Amazonian peoples’ autonomy in defining the parameters and the components of the buen vivir without applying indicators of poverty, well-being or development which they find alien and possibly incomprehensible. The Western definition of quality of life cannot do without some economic comfort and the attainment of certain levels of consumption. This makes it very difficult for us to understand how people with few material goods and with very limited ‘security’ in life – like most Amazonian peoples – can boast of good living.
At this point, a radical question arises about the definition of ‘a good life’ that is at the foundation of a Western model of progress. In order to take up this healthy provocation, we need to free ourselves from the stereotypes and prejudices that do not allow us to take the Amazonian peoples seriously, so that we can enter into an authentic dialogue with them, one free from any sense of paternalism. As the Instrumentum laboris admits, the problem also applies to the Church: ‘It has a tendency at times to impose a culture alien to the Amazon that prevents us from understanding its peoples and appreciating their worldviews.’[8] So much so that some radical criticism of the Church claims that no evangelisation project is free from a colonial attitude. Pope Francis urges us not to fall prey to these risks: ‘We need urgently to appreciate the essential contribution that [indigenous peoples] bring to society as a whole, and not reduce their cultures to an idealized image of a natural state, much less a kind of museum of a bygone way of life. Their cosmic vision and their wisdom, have much to teach those of us who are not part of their culture’. [9]
For us ‘non-Amazonians’, this means getting used to seeing things from a range of perspectives and accepting being questioned by those of other peoples; rather than acknowledging other perspectives passively out of a Western guilt complex, we should be stimulated by other peoples and in turn stimulate them. Identifying the limits and ideological biases of social and economic analyses coming from Latin American contexts is legitimate, but on the condition that we simultaneously accept their right to draw the conclusion that our ideal of ‘a good life’ is imbued with materialism; that our culture, even our ecclesial culture, exudes not only secularisation, but secularism, and finds it difficult to allow a discernible space for transcendence. Moreover, that the individualism in which we are immersed without even noticing it anymore, makes us incapable of thinking in terms of collective actors, of communities and peoples.
Something similar also applies to a more explicitly Christian and theological agenda: finding suspicious echoes of paganism in certain expressions of the faith must go hand-in-hand with renouncing the idea that there exists a Christian culture par excellence, an unquestionable paradigm against which other models can be judged. The polyhedral perspective of Evangelii gaudium and the primacy of dialogue in the paradigm of integral ecology can also inform the relationship between forms of Christianity enculturated in different contexts. Each must open up to recognise and be grateful for the contribution of the other.
New paths
The title of the Synod also indicates its objective: ‘new paths for the Church and for an integral ecology’. ‘New’ should be understood here in in the radical sense that the term takes on in the encyclical Laudato si’ when it refers to ecological conversion, stating that it is essential to ‘once more broaden our vision’ if we want to build a progress ‘which is healthier, more human, more social, more integral.’[10] This is why a genuine ecological culture ‘cannot be reduced to a series of urgent and partial responses to the immediate problems of pollution, environmental decay and the depletion of natural resources. There needs to be a distinctive way of looking at things, a way of thinking, policies, an educational programme, a lifestyle and a spirituality which together generate resistance to the assault of the technocratic paradigm.’[11] An entity that is so delicate and rich in bonds between its different dimensions such as the Amazonian biome is an emblematic example of this need.
The term ‘paths’ chosen for the title of the Synod suggests an icon of the challenge that awaits us, that of the means of communication, which is one of the critical points for the Amazon. The ‘new paths’ it needs are not the highways that many want to lay down – which would contribute to its destruction, with serious consequences for the entire planet. Nor do these ‘new paths’ entail re-proposing the dugout canoes that glide along the rivers, if it means locking the peoples of the Amazon into an idealised past. Let's see how the Synodal Assembly and the processes that come out of it will lay out these ‘new paths’. First of all, it is about involving the communities and peoples of the Amazon with all their variety and differences, being aware that ‘shaping a Church with an Amazonian face includes an ecclesial, social, ecological and pastoral dimension, often conflictual.’[12]
This project involves us non-Amazonians more than we think. First of all, because we benefit from the positive effects of the Amazon region in global environmental terms; and secondly because the contradictions threatening its very survival originate elsewhere and intertwine with the way our global economy works: with models of progress and economic growth that still see the environment as a resource to be plundered, with the choices of large multinationals which are driven only by the quest of maximising short-term profit, and with lifestyles built on the logic of consumerism. On its own, the Amazon will not be able to withstand these formidable pressures: in order for it to continue to exist with its own face, it needs the rest of the world to give it the space to do so. This is a responsibility that involves us all: as consumers, investors, citizens and voters, calling on the creativity of everyone with a view to building genuinely sustainable alternatives.
[1] The Assembly has been preceded by a process of preparation and by the publication of the Preparatory Document (8 June 2018) and the Instrumentum laboris (17 June 2019). The texts, together with a great deal of other informative material, are available at www.sinodoamazonico.va. The role played by the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network (REPAM) in the preparation of the Synod is unprecedented. REPAM was established in 2014 with the aim of finding the best ways ‘to incarnate the Gospel among a particularly vulnerable section of the people of God’, according to the words used by its coordinator, Mauricio López (see ‘REPAM: per una Chiesa dal volto amazzonico’, in Aggiornamenti Sociali, 6-7[2019] 512-516).
[2] Pope Francis, Address to the meeting with indigenous peoples of Amazonia (Puerto Maldonado, 19 January 2018).
[3] Pope Francis, Evangelii gaudium (2013), §198.
[4] Preparatory Document, §3.
[5] Instrumentum laboris, §12.
[6] cf. Instrumentum laboris, §95.
[7] Ibid., §121.
[8] Ibid., §111.
[9] Pope Francis, Address to the meeting with indigenous peoples of Amazonia.
[10] Pope Francis, Laudato si’ (2015), §112.
[11] Ibid., §111.
[12] Instrumentum laboris, §111.
Weekday Masses 8th – 11th October, 2019
Tuesday: 9:30am Penguin
Wednesday: 9:30am Latrobe … St Denis, St John Leonardi
Thursday: 10:30am Eliza
Purton
12noon
Devonport
Friday: 9:30am Ulverstone … St John XXIII
Friday: 9:30am Ulverstone … St John XXIII
10:00am Meercroft
Next Weekend 12th & 13th October
Next Weekend 12th & 13th October
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
MINISTRY ROSTERS 12th & 13th OCTOBER, 2019
Devonport:
Readers: Vigil: M Kelly, R Baker, B Paul
10:30am F Sly, J Tuxworth, T Omogbai-musa
10:30am F Sly, J Tuxworth, T Omogbai-musa
Ministers of
Communion: Vigil B, B & B Windebank, T Bird, R Baker
10.30am: S Riley, M Sherriff, R Beaton, D & M Barrientos,
G Keating
Cleaners 11th
Oct: F Sly, M
Hansen, I Hunter 18th Oct: P Shelverton, E Petts
Piety Shop 12th Oct: H Thompson 13th Oct: T Omogbai-musa
Mowing of Presbytery Lawns - Oct: S Berryman
Ulverstone:
Reader/s: E Cox
Ministers of
Communion: E
Reilly, M & K McKenzie, M O’Halloran
Cleaners: K.S.C. Flowers: M Swain Hospitality:
S & T Johnstone
Penguin:
Greeters G Hills-Eade, B Eade
Commentator:
J Barker Readers: M & D Hiscutt
Ministers of
Communion: M
Murray, E Nickols Liturgy: Sulphur Creek C
Setting Up: T Clayton Care of Church: M Murray, E Nickols
Latrobe:
Reader: M Williams Ministers of
Communion: M Mackey Procession of Gifts: Parishioner
Port Sorell:
Readers: G Bellchambers, L Post Ministers of Communion: T Jeffries Cleaners: V Youd
Readings this Week: 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
First Reading: Habakkuk 1:2-3, 2:2-4
Second Reading: 2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14
Gospel: Luke 17: 5-10
PREGO REFLECTION ON TODAY’S GOSPEL:
I give myself time to slow down, to try to enter my prayer
time deeply, contemplatively.
I come to read the Gospel slowly. I let the awareness arise
that I am in the Lord’s presence, and that his Spirit lives within me.
I allow the passage to sink into my heart.
Perhaps I am drawn to use my imagination and be present
with Jesus in the scene. What do I hear and see? I listen to what arises within
me.
If I feel moved to do so, I speak to Jesus about my
experience.
With the guidance and help of the Holy Spirit, I may want
to reflect on my own life of faith.
I ask the Lord to show me where his life has been active
and ever-deepening within me.
I also beg to be shown the times when I have been driven by
a self-promoting and self-serving spirit.
Perhaps I also reflect on times when life has challenged my
faith to its core.
Is there a desire growing within me which leads me to ask
the Lord to ‘Increase my faith’?
I share all that arises as I would with a loving friend and
Lord.
In gratitude, I thank the Lord for the gift of my faith and
ask him to deepen it further.
Our Father…
Readings Next Week: 28th Sunday
in Ordinary Time – Year C
First Reading: 2
Kings 5:14-17
Second
Reading: 2
Timothy 2:8-13
Gospel: Luke 17:
11-19
Your prayers are asked for the sick:
Brenda Paul, Carmel Leonard, Philip Smith, David Cole, Frank McDonald, Pam Lynd & …
Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Bob Hickman, Michelle Gibson, Sr Martina Roberts, Danny Reardon, Glenn Harris, Adrian Drane, Eva Gulosino, Bernadine Manshanden, Judy Sheehan, Peggy Creed
Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs about this time: 3rd – 9th October
Audrey Abblitt, Audrey Taylor, Jim Masterson, Milton Bynon, Valma Donnelly, Lorraine Sherriff, Kieran McVeigh, Vicki Glashower, Natarsha Charlesworth, Sr Barbara Hateley MSS, Ashley Dyer, James Ryan, Helena Wyllie, Elaine Sheedy. Also deceased relatives and friends of Sheridan, Bourke & Knight families.
May the souls of the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen
Weekly
Ramblings
Last weekend we included with the newsletter some
information regarding our Month of Prayer and the Extraordinary Mission Month.
There were various events mentioned and I once again commend any and all of
them to you. This weekend we have the Rosary pilgrimage that will visit each of
our Mass Centres at some time during Sunday and I encourage parishioners to
participate in this time of prayer. Details are on the front door at each of
our Mass Centres.
During the week I came across a new resource that sounds
really interesting which will become available from October 15th. Ave Explores
Mary addresses some of the questions that people have about Mary and her place
in the Church. It asks questions like - Have you ever wondered why Mary holds such
a prominent place in the Catholic Church, but not in other Christian Churches.
Perhaps you want to learn more about who Mary is and why she matters? Or, how
you can grow to love her more? If you would like to explore these questions go
to https://www.avemariapress.com/aveexplores-mary/
and sign up to learn more.
On Friday 18th there will be time for Adoration before the
Blessed Sacrament from 10am – 10pm at OLOL Church. There are sign up sheets at
each Mass Centre this weekend and I would like to encourage Parishioners to
participate in this opportunity for some quiet prayer time during this month.
Having an opportunity to spend time before the Lord for a time of silent prayer
is a wonderful opportunity for peace in a busy world – please make use of this
time or come to OLOL on any Friday morning between 10am-Noon for Adoration.
Take care on the roads and in your homes
NOVEMBER REMEMBRANCE BOOKS:
November is the month we remember
in a special way all those who have died. Should you wish anyone to be
remembered, write the names of those to be prayed for on the outside of an
envelope and place the clearly marked envelope in the collection basket at Mass
or deliver to the Parish Office by Thursday
24th October.
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 the Columban
Missionaries in meeting the needs of the poor.
FOOTY
POINTS MARGIN: GRAND FINAL – RICHMOND won by 89 points
Congratulations
to the lucky winners of the $500 Fr Phil,
Winners
of $100 (number either side of winning margin);
Number
88: Val McCarthy, Sarah Bonner
Number
90: Colleen Stingel
Normal
$2 winners: Zillah’s Grandies, Shingle Shed,
On
behalf of Mersey Leven Parish, a HUGE
thanks to Zillah Jones for all the ‘behind
the scene’
selling and delivering tickets and the weekly phone calls on footy updates on
the teams in the
NWFL, TSL and AFL.
Your knowledge, wisdom and friendship is truly appreciated
Zillah and we would be lost without you!
Thank you to all who promoted and sold tickets at Devonport,
Ulverstone and Port Sorell on a weekly basis.
Next year we will be reducing the number of tickets sold
weekly, so if you would like to be part of this ‘fun’ fundraiser you will need
to be in it to win it!!
……….BRING ON SEASON
2020!!!.........
BINGO THURSDAY 10th October
Eyes down 7:30pm. Callers
Tony Ryan & Alan Luxton
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE:
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
PRAYER FOR THE EXTRAORDINARY MISSIONARY MONTH
Heavenly Father,
when your only begotten son Jesus Christ
rose from the dead,
he commissioned his followers
to ‘go and make disciples of all nations’
And you remind us that through Baptism
we are made sharers in the mission of
the Church.
Empower us by the gifts of the Holy
Spirit
to be courageous and zealous in bearing
witness to the Gospel,
so that the mission entrusted to the
Church,
which is still very far from completion,
may find new and efficacious expressions
that bring life
and light to the world.
Help us make it possible for all peoples
to experience the saving love and mercy
of Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
One God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
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
Embodied Contemplation
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
Within Western Christianity, the body’s sensations, needs,
and longings are often suppressed. I wonder if this might be related to our
difficulty putting Jesus’—and our own—humanity and divinity together. Many
churches emphasize mental beliefs and worded prayer while discouraging dance,
yoga, or other forms of embodied prayer.
The renewed interest in Christian meditation, Centering
Prayer, and other forms of silent prayer has helped many people open their
hearts to God’s presence. I want to emphasize that contemplation can be
experienced in a variety of ways; it simply requires keeping heart, mind, and
body open all at once. Silence and solitude may not always be what we most
need.
Some of us learned to cope with abuse or trauma by shutting
down our body’s awareness and expression. Part of the healing process is
listening to the body’s messages in safe environments, perhaps with the support
of a counsellor or spiritual director.
I invite you to explore some form of physical movement as
contemplative practice today. Here are just a few examples: walking, dancing,
stretching, singing, drumming. As you move, turn your attention to different
sensations and parts of your body. You might choose to notice just one
element—like your breathing or your feet—for the entire practice, or change
focus every few minutes. If your mind starts to wander, return your attention
to physical sensation.
We are not simply souls having a spiritual experience, but
physical beings whose very breath is given by the Divine. In order to incarnate
God, we are called to be fully human. We are humus—of the Earth, soil, ground.
Creating And Holding Space For Our Brokenness
This article is taken from the archive of Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. You can find this article and many others by clicking here
Some years ago I went on a weekend retreat given by a woman who made no secret about the fact that not being able to have children constituted a deep wound in her life. So she offered retreats on the pain of being unable to have children. Being a celibate and not having my own children, I went on one of these retreats, the only man to venture there. The rest of the participants were women, mostly in their 40s and 50s, who had not borne children of their own.
Our leader, using scripture, biography, poetry, and psychology, examined the issue of barrenness from many points of view. The retreat came to a head on Saturday evening with a ritual in chapel in which various participants went up a huge cross and spoke out their pain for Jesus and everyone else to hear. That was followed by us watching, together, the British movie, Secrets and Lies, within which one woman’s heartache at being unable to conceive a child is powerfully highlighted. Afterwards there was a lot of honest sharing of feelings – and lots and lots of tears! But after that painful sharing of pain and the over-generous tears which accompanied it, the entire atmosphere changed, as if some dark storm had just done its thing but left us still intact. There was relief, and plenty of laughter and lightheartedness. A storm had indeed passed us over and we were safe.
All pain can be borne if it can be shared. Art Schopenhauer is credited with saying that, but, irrespective of who said it first, it captures what happened at that retreat. A deep pain was made easier to bear not because it was taken away but because it was shared, and shared in a “sacramental” way. Yes, there are sacraments that don’t take place in a church, but still have sacramental power. And we need more of these.
For example, Rachel Held Evans writes: “Often I hear from readers who have left their churches because they had no songs for them to sing after the miscarriage, the shooting, the earthquake, the divorce, the diagnosis, the attack, the bankruptcy. The American tendency toward triumphalism, of optimism rooted in success, money, and privilege, will infect and sap of substance any faith community that has lost its capacity for holding space for those in grief.”
She’s right. Our churches aren’t creating enough space for holding grief. In essence: In the everyday, practical spirituality of community, prayer, liturgy, and Eucharist within our churches we don’t lean sufficiently on the fact that Christ is both a dying and a rising reality. We generally don’t take the dying part of Christ as seriously as we should. What are the consequences?
Among other things, it means that we don’t create enough communal, ritual celebrations in our churches within which people can feel free to own and express their brokenness and grief communally and in a “sacramental” way. Granted our churches do have funeral rites, sacraments of the sick, reconciliation services, special prayer services after a tragedy within a community, and other rituals and gatherings that are powerful spaces for holding grief and brokenness. However (with the exception of the sacrament of reconciliation which though is generally a private, one-to-one ritual) these are generally tied to a special, singular circumstance such as a death, a serious sickness, or an episodic tragedy within a community. What we lack are regular ecclesially- based, communal rituals, analogous to an Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, around which people can come, share their brokenness, and experience a grace that can only come from community.
We need various kinds of “sacramental” celebrations in our churches within which, to use Rachel Held Evans’ terminology, we can create and hold space for those who are grieving a broken heart, a miscarriage, an abortion, a dire medical diagnosis, a bankruptcy, the loss of a job, a divorce, a forced retirement, a rejection in love, the death of a cherished dream, the movement into assisted living, the adjustment to an empty nest within a marriage, barrenness, and frustrations of every kind.
What will these rituals look like? Mostly they don’t exist yet so it is up to us to invent them. Charles Taylor suggests that the religious struggle today is not so much a struggle of faith but a struggle of the imagination. Nobody has ever lived in this kind of world before. We need some new rituals. We’re pioneers in new territory, and pioneers have to improvise. Admittedly, pain and brokenness have always been with us, but past generations had communal ways of creating space for holding grief. Families, communities, and churches then had less of a struggle with the kind individualism that today leaves us mostly alone to deal with our brokenness. Today there’s no longer a sufficient communal and ecclesial structure to help us accept that, here in this life, we live “mourning and weeping in a valley of tears.”
We need to imagine some new, sacramental rituals within which to help hold our grief.
What They're Saying About ChurchMoney
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
When Tom and I started writing our recently released book ChurchMoney, we thought it had the potential to really strike a chord in the American Catholic Church. In our travels across the country, we have observed that money is one of the biggest – if not the biggest – causes of stress and worry among parish leaders. This is true everywhere, even in economically healthy communities.
The faithful are also loathe to hear about money in church. Too often, our message has been nagging, needy, and guilt driven. It is so bad that, in some cases, we’ve even heard stories of parishioners avoiding stewardship and annual appeal weekends completely. Money can even become a divisive source of conflict in parish life.
We wrote this book to change that. Embracing our mission of making disciples will solve the financial problems the Church faces. It means teaching people from the pulpit what Jesus and the Scriptures have to say about money and how to handle it well. It means approaching money as a spiritual issue instead of trying to trick people out of money through fundraisers or guilt. It means showing parishioners how their giving can make a positive impact in the world.
We seem to have been right that ChurchMoney would cause a stir. It is the #1 new release in multiple categories on Amazon and has (so far) garnered only 5-star reviews. Here is what some people have been saying about ChurchMoney:
David:
This is a book that will shift your paradigm about money in the Church. The authors have clearly communicated that the purpose of money is to fulfill the great commandment and the great commission. “Because in the end, it isn’t about money; it’s about the eternal impact we can and need to make with money.” Imagine what Church would look like if Christians would view money from this perspective. ChurchMoney gives you the practical steps to shift your perspective, become a generous giver and make an eternal impact.
Fr. Matthew:
I read this in a day and I’ve already purchased more books for my Stewardship Committee … Father White and Mr. Corcoran have provided the Church a great service with this book. Finally, we have a solid Catholic perspective on money–not built on guilt or need–based on the central biblical principle that everything we have comes from God, and to God all, including our very lives, will be returned. I found myself challenged, affirmed and motivated both personally and with my parish community to reevaluate how to view finances, money and stewardship. Truly a must have for every parish Stewardship Committee, Parish Pastoral Council and Finance Council.
Tara:
As a cradle Catholic, I was a bit nervous about delving into “ChurchMoney: Rebuilding the Way We Fund Our Mission.” Father Michael White and Tom Corcoran certainly nailed the Church money culture I grew up in where stewardship was a word more than a way of life. I found the first quarter of the book a bit uncomfortable as it pretty accurately described the mindset I was familiar with, but by the time Fr. Michael and Tom led me to chapter 7, “Raising Givers,” I not only understood where they were coming from, but was totally onboard.
ChurchMoney is a piece of the Rebuilt series that needed telling. It not only dealt with the financial aspect of raising funds but also explained how the church leadership was able to bring people along mentally and spiritually to an understanding of why they should give.
As with the rest of the Rebuilt series, the book is written in easy to understand language peppered with Fr. Michael’s and Tom’s gut feelings about project turnout. This plain speaking approach reminds us that this isn’t a theoretical how-to book but one that says “let-us-show you-how-it-can-be-done.” They are amazingly generous in showing the steps and providing the basic tools that can be used by any parish, from how and when to set an example to homilies that have been used. This book should be required reading for all parishioners, especially those serving on finance and pastoral councils.
Father Rob:
This book is a gift to the Church.
Cameron:
Often laugh out loud funny.
Synod For The Amazon: New Paths For The Whole World
The focus of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region that begins in Rome on 6 October is anything but narrow – witnessing to the realities of the Amazonian peoples and their wisdom demands the attention and participation of the whole Church. Giacomo Costa SJ explains how the dynamic between the local and the global will be the key to the success of the synodal process that seeks ‘new paths for the Church and for an integral ecology’. [1] Giacomo Costa SJ is editor-in-chief of Aggiornamenti Sociali. This is an abridged version of a text originally published in Italian: Costa G., ‘Sinodo per l’Amazzonia: perché coinvolgerci e come?’, in Aggiornamenti Sociali, 8-9 (2019) 533-540 and at www.aggiornamentisociali.it. Translation into English by John Coughlin.
Those of us who do not live in these lands need your wisdom and knowledge to enable us to enter into, without destroying, the treasures that this region holds.[2]
When Pope Francis met with the indigenous peoples of Amazonia at Puerto Maldonado in January 2018, he made it clear that listening to them and all of the communities living in the Amazon is a priority for all non-Amazonians. Before ‘we lend our voice to their causes’, offer solutions or, even worse, impose our agenda and our problems on them, we are called to ‘to listen to them, to speak for them and to embrace the mysterious wisdom which God wishes to share with us through them’.[3] This is not easy, especially at a distance, even if in recent times ‘indigenous peoples have begun to write down their own history and to document more formally their own cultures, customs, traditions, and knowledge’,[4] making their worldview more accessible.
This worldview and the lifestyle derived from it is often encapsulated in the expression buen vivir (in English, ‘good living’), the Spanish translation of expressions from different Amazonian languages, such as sumak kawsay, alli káusai or shien pujut. It is a way of life that has its roots in the indigenous traditions and refers not so much to a codified doctrine, but rather to practices related to creating relationships between individuals and groups through the bond with the land. Therefore, at the core of this worldview are the relationships between water, land, the natural environment, community life and culture. As stated the Instrumentum laboris, quoting an official document of the Amazonian peoples: ‘It is about living in “harmony with oneself, with nature, with human beings and with the supreme being, since there is an inter-communication between the whole cosmos, where there is neither excluding nor excluded, and that among all of us we can forge a project of full life.”’[5] Buen vivir is a question of contemplation, respect and care of the biome of which you are a part,[6] which ‘influences health, life together, education, cultivation of the land, the living relationship with nature and “Mother Earth”, the capacities of resistance and resiliency of women in particular, rites and religious expressions, relationships with ancestors, the contemplative attitude, the sense of gratuity, celebration and festivity, and the sacred meaning of the territory’.[7]
For Westerners, it is essential to listen to these words with our minds empty of the heavy baggage that can weigh us down: from the myth of the ‘noble savage’ to the tension between perceived backwardness and modernity. The Amazonian cultures are something else completely: a highly complex civilisation which for centuries has dealt with the challenges of modernisation and colonisation, and continues to come to terms with both internal and external conflicts and contradictions, envy, anger, violence, aggression, corruption, etc. Buen vivir is not an idyllic condition taken for granted once and for all, but is a path as real as it is fragile. Moreover, it does not exclude a relationship with other cultures: for example, its logic incorporates access to education, health services and other fundamental rights that indigenous people enjoy like any other citizen.
The important thing is to respect the Amazonian peoples’ autonomy in defining the parameters and the components of the buen vivir without applying indicators of poverty, well-being or development which they find alien and possibly incomprehensible. The Western definition of quality of life cannot do without some economic comfort and the attainment of certain levels of consumption. This makes it very difficult for us to understand how people with few material goods and with very limited ‘security’ in life – like most Amazonian peoples – can boast of good living.
At this point, a radical question arises about the definition of ‘a good life’ that is at the foundation of a Western model of progress. In order to take up this healthy provocation, we need to free ourselves from the stereotypes and prejudices that do not allow us to take the Amazonian peoples seriously, so that we can enter into an authentic dialogue with them, one free from any sense of paternalism. As the Instrumentum laboris admits, the problem also applies to the Church: ‘It has a tendency at times to impose a culture alien to the Amazon that prevents us from understanding its peoples and appreciating their worldviews.’[8] So much so that some radical criticism of the Church claims that no evangelisation project is free from a colonial attitude. Pope Francis urges us not to fall prey to these risks: ‘We need urgently to appreciate the essential contribution that [indigenous peoples] bring to society as a whole, and not reduce their cultures to an idealized image of a natural state, much less a kind of museum of a bygone way of life. Their cosmic vision and their wisdom, have much to teach those of us who are not part of their culture’. [9]
For us ‘non-Amazonians’, this means getting used to seeing things from a range of perspectives and accepting being questioned by those of other peoples; rather than acknowledging other perspectives passively out of a Western guilt complex, we should be stimulated by other peoples and in turn stimulate them. Identifying the limits and ideological biases of social and economic analyses coming from Latin American contexts is legitimate, but on the condition that we simultaneously accept their right to draw the conclusion that our ideal of ‘a good life’ is imbued with materialism; that our culture, even our ecclesial culture, exudes not only secularisation, but secularism, and finds it difficult to allow a discernible space for transcendence. Moreover, that the individualism in which we are immersed without even noticing it anymore, makes us incapable of thinking in terms of collective actors, of communities and peoples.
Something similar also applies to a more explicitly Christian and theological agenda: finding suspicious echoes of paganism in certain expressions of the faith must go hand-in-hand with renouncing the idea that there exists a Christian culture par excellence, an unquestionable paradigm against which other models can be judged. The polyhedral perspective of Evangelii gaudium and the primacy of dialogue in the paradigm of integral ecology can also inform the relationship between forms of Christianity enculturated in different contexts. Each must open up to recognise and be grateful for the contribution of the other.
New paths
The title of the Synod also indicates its objective: ‘new paths for the Church and for an integral ecology’. ‘New’ should be understood here in in the radical sense that the term takes on in the encyclical Laudato si’ when it refers to ecological conversion, stating that it is essential to ‘once more broaden our vision’ if we want to build a progress ‘which is healthier, more human, more social, more integral.’[10] This is why a genuine ecological culture ‘cannot be reduced to a series of urgent and partial responses to the immediate problems of pollution, environmental decay and the depletion of natural resources. There needs to be a distinctive way of looking at things, a way of thinking, policies, an educational programme, a lifestyle and a spirituality which together generate resistance to the assault of the technocratic paradigm.’[11] An entity that is so delicate and rich in bonds between its different dimensions such as the Amazonian biome is an emblematic example of this need.
The term ‘paths’ chosen for the title of the Synod suggests an icon of the challenge that awaits us, that of the means of communication, which is one of the critical points for the Amazon. The ‘new paths’ it needs are not the highways that many want to lay down – which would contribute to its destruction, with serious consequences for the entire planet. Nor do these ‘new paths’ entail re-proposing the dugout canoes that glide along the rivers, if it means locking the peoples of the Amazon into an idealised past. Let's see how the Synodal Assembly and the processes that come out of it will lay out these ‘new paths’. First of all, it is about involving the communities and peoples of the Amazon with all their variety and differences, being aware that ‘shaping a Church with an Amazonian face includes an ecclesial, social, ecological and pastoral dimension, often conflictual.’[12]
This project involves us non-Amazonians more than we think. First of all, because we benefit from the positive effects of the Amazon region in global environmental terms; and secondly because the contradictions threatening its very survival originate elsewhere and intertwine with the way our global economy works: with models of progress and economic growth that still see the environment as a resource to be plundered, with the choices of large multinationals which are driven only by the quest of maximising short-term profit, and with lifestyles built on the logic of consumerism. On its own, the Amazon will not be able to withstand these formidable pressures: in order for it to continue to exist with its own face, it needs the rest of the world to give it the space to do so. This is a responsibility that involves us all: as consumers, investors, citizens and voters, calling on the creativity of everyone with a view to building genuinely sustainable alternatives.
[1] The Assembly has been preceded by a process of preparation and by the publication of the Preparatory Document (8 June 2018) and the Instrumentum laboris (17 June 2019). The texts, together with a great deal of other informative material, are available at www.sinodoamazonico.va. The role played by the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network (REPAM) in the preparation of the Synod is unprecedented. REPAM was established in 2014 with the aim of finding the best ways ‘to incarnate the Gospel among a particularly vulnerable section of the people of God’, according to the words used by its coordinator, Mauricio López (see ‘REPAM: per una Chiesa dal volto amazzonico’, in Aggiornamenti Sociali, 6-7[2019] 512-516).
[2] Pope Francis, Address to the meeting with indigenous peoples of Amazonia (Puerto Maldonado, 19 January 2018).
[3] Pope Francis, Evangelii gaudium (2013), §198.
[4] Preparatory Document, §3.
[5] Instrumentum laboris, §12.
[6] cf. Instrumentum laboris, §95.
[7] Ibid., §121.
[8] Ibid., §111.
[9] Pope Francis, Address to the meeting with indigenous peoples of Amazonia.
[10] Pope Francis, Laudato si’ (2015), §112.
[11] Ibid., §111.
[12] Instrumentum laboris, §111.
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