5th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

Mersey Leven Catholic Parish

OUR VISION

To be a vibrant Catholic Community 

unified in its commitment 

to growing disciples for Christ 

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

Mersey Leven Catholic Parish Weekly Newsletter: mlcathparish.blogspot.com.au

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.

Parish Prayer

Heavenly Father,

We thank you for gathering us together 
and calling us to serve as your disciples.

You have charged us through Your Son, Jesus, with the great mission

  of evangelising and witnessing your love to the world.

Send your Holy Spirit to guide us as we discern your will

 for the spiritual renewal of our parish.

Give us strength, courage, and clear vision 
as we use our gifts to serve you.

We entrust our parish family to the care of Mary, our mother,

and ask for her intercession and guidance 
as we strive to bear witness

 to the Gospel and build an amazing parish.

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 - in recess until 7th February

Legion of Mary: Wednesdays 11am Sacred Heart Church Community Room, Ulverstone

Prayer Group: Charismatic Renewal – 6:30pm Mondays, Community Room, Ulverstone 

Weekday Masses 11th – 14th February, 2020                         

Tuesday:         9:30am Penguin
                      12noon Devonport … Our Lady of Lourdes                          Wednesday:    9:30am Latrobe                                                                

Thursday:       10:30am Eliza Purton                                                                                12noon Devonport 
Friday:            9:30am Ulverstone … Sts Cyril, &  Methodious                                                                                                                                     

Next Weekend 15th & 16th February, 2020                                               Saturday Vigil:  6:00pm    Penguin 

                        6:00pm   Devonport   

Sunday Mass:   8:30am   Port Sorell                        

                       9:00am   Ulverstone   

                       10:30am   Devonport

                       11:00am   Sheffield

                       5:00pm   Latrobe  

                                     

MINISTRY ROSTERS 15th & 16th February, 2020

Devonport:

Readers: Vigil: M Kelly, R Baker 10:30am: E Petts, K Pearce, O McGinley

Ministers of Communion: Vigil T Muir, M Davies, D Peters, J Heatley, 
K & K Maynard

10.30am: N Mulcahy, K Hull, G Keating

Cleaners: 21^st Feb: P Shelverton, E Petts   28th Feb: K.S.C.

Piety Shop: 15^th Feb: R Baker 16^th Feb: D French

Ulverstone:

Reader/s: R Locket   Cleaners:  M Mott   Flowers: M Bryan 

Hospitality:  S & T Johnstone 
Ministers of Communion: E Reilly, M & K McKenzie, M O’Halloran

Penguin:

Greeters   G Hills-Eade, B Eade Commentator:  Y Downes 
Readers: J Garnsey, K Fraser 

Ministers of Communion: M Murray, J Barker Liturgy: Penguin 
Setting Up: E Nickols Care of Church: S Coleman, M Owen

Latrobe:

Reader: K Adkins Minister of Communion: M Eden Procession of Gifts: M Clarke

Port Sorell:

Readers: G Bellchambers, P Anderson Ministers of Communion: T Jeffries Cleaners:  A Hynes

                                   

Your prayers are asked for the sick:  

Judith Xavier, Annette McCulloch, Pat Barker, Paul Richardson, Margaret Becker, Erin Kyriazis, Philip Smith, & …

Let us pray for those who have died recently: 

Christiana Okpon, Margaret Riordan, Walter Jerrico, Stan Adkins, Janice Walker, Tony Brown, Patrick Berry, Terence Myers, Gwen Conn, Len Charve, Fr Ray Brain, Dennis Kelly, Pat Wells, David McManamy, Ray Emmerton, Pat Sainsbury, Marjorie Frampton,  Lope Zenarosa, & … 

Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs about this time: 5th – 11th February

Sylvia Strange, David Rutherford, Verna Crabtree, Lawrence McGuire, 

Harold Hawkes, Andrew Cooper, Aileen Reynolds, Charles Holliday, Sheryl Allen, Nicola Tenaglia, Sharon Fellows-Glover, Ethel Kelcey, Colleen Cameron, Christopher Cabalzar, Rita Wescombe, Mary Hunniford. Also Sheila, Reg, Donald & David Poole, Noeline Mahoney.

May the souls of the faithful departed, 

through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen

Readings this Week:

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A

 First Reading: Isaiah 58: 7 -10

Second Reading:  1 Corinthians 2: 1 -5

Gospel: Matthew 5: 13- 16

PREGO REFLECTION ON TODAY'S GOSPEL

After coming to stillness in whatever way is best for me, I read this familiar passage slowly, as if for the first time. I do not rush, but allow the words and images to become vivid.

I notice what seems to resonate with me in particular.

I may like to consider:

Who are the people who have given light for me in my life?

What experiences do I savour as I recall them?

I reflect on what was special about those people or experiences, and

thank God for them.

What is it like to hear Jesus call me the salt of the earth? Or the light of the world? Joyous, fulfilling, a ‘big ask’, or …?

I speak with the Lord about the thoughts and feelings that rise within me.

I take time to listen for whatever God might have to say to me.

Perhaps I smile at the images of unsalty salt or lamps put to shine under tubs? I ponder: what do these images mean for me?

Before whom am I called to shine?

Whose lives am I called to enhance for the sake of the Kingdom?

I ask for whatever grace I need.

After a time, I end my prayer slowly.

I may like to recall the different moments of my prayer with gratitude.

Our Father...

Readings Next Week:

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A

 First Reading: Sirach 15: 15-20

Second Reading:  1 Corinthians 2: 6-10

Gospel: Matthew 5: 17-37

                                                                                              

A warm welcome back to our School Principals, staff and students of all Schools within the Mersey Leven Parish as the new school year begins.

 God of wisdom and might,

                      We praise you for the wonder of our being, for mind, body and spirit.
                      Bless all teachers, staff and children as they begin a new school year.
                      Give them strength and grace, wisdom and knowledge and peace to their hearts.
                       We ask this prayer through Jesus Christ our Lord.
                      Amen.

Many happy returns to Les Enniss on your 99th Birthday,

Celebrated this Sunday 9th February.

God bless you on your special day Les and may it be filled with

Love, laughter, family, friends and wonderful memories.

Weekly Ramblings

Last weekend it was a little strange inviting people to continue the prayers for Rain when it was pouring down. Notwithstanding the prayer gathering will continue on Tuesday evening at 7pm at the Gateway Church, Don Road – all welcome.

This weekend we acknowledge a couple of important events: the venerable Les Enniss celebrates his 99th birthday (he’s a couple of years older than Fr Smiley!!) – Congratulations Les and best wishes for your day. Also, the Ulverstone community along with the whole of the Parish farewells Barbara O’Rourke who is moving to Hobart after many years of faithful service to the Parish. Thank you for all you have done and best wishes for the future.

Our Sacramental Preparation Program for children in Grade 3 and above wishing to prepare for the Sacraments of Reconciliation, Confirmation and Eucharist will commence shortly. Meetings will be held on Monday, 24th February at 7pm at OLOL Church and on Tuesday, 25th February at 7pm at Sacred Heart Church. If you know of children who are in Grade 3 or older who wish to be part of this program please get them to contact the Parish Office for enrolment forms.

This Tuesday, 11th February, we will be celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes with Mass at midday at Devonport. Following Mass parishioners are invited to come to lunch at the Parish House – please bring a plate to share.

Materials for Lenten Discussion Groups (Brisbane Archdiocese) and for your personal reflection (Wollongong Diocese) have arrived and are available today. Both sets of materials are on sale at $6 each. The list of discussion groups can be found in the foyer – please add your name to any of the groups so that leaders know what they need to prepare for.

Take care on the roads and in your homes,

                                                                                                            

PRAYER FOR RAIN & RELIEF FROM BUSHFIRES

We continue our Prayer for Rain and Relief at Gateway Centre, Don on Tuesday, 11th February at 7pm. Over 40 people have gathered each week from a variety of denominations – this is another opportunity for the Churches in Devonport to show their unity as we pray together for Rain and Relief for all suffering from the bushfires and drought.

PLENARY 2020

The submissions to the Plenary Council have now been organised into six (6) key themes. These themes are – Missionary & Evangelising; Inclusive, Participatory & Synodal; Prayerful & Eucharistic; Humble, Healing & Merciful; A Joyful, Hope-filled & Servant Community; and Open to Conversion, Renewal & Reform.

We are inviting parishioners to participate in the last Listening and Discernment gatherings to discover where God’s Spirit is leading the People of God in Australia at this time.

Wednesday evening: 7:00pm – 8:30pm, 90 Stewart Street, Devonport

12th February – Open to Conversion, Renewal & Reform

2020 LENTEN PROGRAM:

You are invited to join a Lenten Group on six Thursdays beginning 27th February at the Parish House Devonport from 10am – 11:30am. Booklets available at first meeting. Contact Clare 0418 100 402

See list of discussion groups in Church foyers for complete list of groups.

NEWS FROM ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE:

Marriage Masses for the Renewal of Vows - will be celebrated by Archbishop Julian Porteous Sunday 16th February at St Mary’s Cathedral, Hobart at 10.30am and on Sunday 23rd February at Church of the Apostles, Launceston at 10.30am. Couples celebrating Catholic Marriage milestones including couples in the early years of marriage (1st, 5th and 10th anniversaries) are invited to RSVP to the Office­ of Life, Marriage and Family by emailing ben.smith@aohtas.org.au or on 6208 6036. Catholic married couples will receive a special acknowledgement from Archbishop Julian on the day.

                                        

THURSDAY 13th February – Eyes down 7:30pm.  

Callers Merv Tippett & Graeme Rigney

                                      

Letter From Rome

The Shadow Pontificate is Drawing to a Close

Pope Francis removes Archbishop Georg Gänswein, private secretary to Benedict XVI, from important Vatican duties by Robert Mickens, Rome. February 6, 2020

This article is from the La-Croix International website - you can access the site here but complete access is via paid subscription

It was only a matter of time.

Pope Francis has finally lost his patience and gotten rid of Archbishop Georg Gänswein as prefect of the Papal Household.

According to the German weekly, Die Tagespost, the pope put the 63-year-old on "indefinite administrative leave."

He did so, the paper said, because of the German prefect's involvement in a controversial book that Benedict XVI co-authored with Cardinal Robert Sarah. It was a slim volume that most people saw as a warning to Francis, that he dare not even consider allowing the ordination of married priests.

Gänswein, who lives with Benedict and is his longtime personal secretary, was seen – rightly or wrongly – as the man ultimately responsible for dragging the retired pope into the book project.

Of course, Pope Francis did not officially sack the German archbishop. He could hardly do so, given Gänswein's close relationship to Benedict. That would shatter the myth that the former pope and current pope are in perfect sync and harmony.

They are not. The truer reality is that these two men in white have been living respectfully towards each other under an unwritten (and unspoken) non-aggression treaty. Firing the man some call "Gorgeous George" would fuel speculation that this pact has been annulled.

A Kremlin-style purge

The Vatican's spokespersons have been embarrassed by the media's reaction to the sideling of Gänswein. The Holy See Press Office explained that there had simply been "an ordinary redistribution" of the prefect's "various commitments and duties."

It actually looked suspiciously more like a purge, according to Italian colleague Francesco Peloso, who described the press office's explanation as reminiscent of the "golden years of the Kremlin."

So what is really going on here?

The Tagespost article, which first broke the news of Gänswein's administrative leave, seems extremely credible for no other reason than the fact that the politically conservative paper is close to Benedict XVI and his inner circle (i.e. his private secretary). Last December the former pope launched something called, "The Tagespost School for Catholic Journalism."

In its recent article, the paper said Gänswein would now be able to devout all his energies to helping the 92-year-old Benedict who is in declining health. This has led to further speculation that the former pope is now in the last stage of his earthly life.

We do not know for sure, but it is possible. One Italian newspaper gave further credence to that by reporting that the German archbishop has just been assigned a new apartment inside the Vatican.

Obviously, he will need another place to live once Benedict has died.

What's next for "Don Giorgio"?

There have been rumors over the past several months that, once the new constitution for the reformed Roman Curia is published (likely within the next few months), Gänswein would be transferred to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

He would replace the current secretary, Archbishop Marcello Bartolucci, who is already past the retirement age of 75.

That was before the kerfuffle over the Sarah-Benedict book.

But where else could Francis assign him? It is inconceivable that he would send Gänswein back to Germany to head a diocese, since there has been vocal resistance from the priests and people there every time the possibility has been raised.

Parking "Don Giorgio" at a desk job in Rome looks to be about the best alternative. It's hard to imagine that he'd voluntarily seek to return to parish ministry, of which he has only limited experience, or volunteer to serve in the missions.

This was not supposed to happen

Ironically, it was Benedict XVI who caused this predicament.

He did so quite unintentionally. In fact, he believed he had done everything possible to ensure his personal secretary would hold important posts the rest of his priestly life, perhaps even rising to the rank of cardinal.

Of course, that is still possible. But only if there is a backlash to Francis' pontificate at the next conclave (or the one after that) and a loyalist to Benedict is elected.

And that's where Gänswein future has always rested.

The fact of the matter is that neither he nor Benedict believed Jorge Mario Bergoglio would be pope today. It wasn't supposed to happen.

When the conclave got underway in March 2013 there was every indication that a Benedict loyalist would be elected.

The top candidates were believed to be Angelo Scola of Italy, Marc Ouellet of Quebec, Odilo Scherer of Brazil, Peter Erdöof Hungary or, possibly, Christoph Schönborn of Austria.

Carefully planning a seamless papal transition

But leaving nothing to chance, Benedict took several precautionary steps before he resigned the papacy to guarantee that his successor, whomever that was, would continue to lead the Church in seamless continuity with his own pontificate.

In the months before announcing in February 2013 his decision to step down from the papacy, which he had already decided privately the previous spring, he carefully made several moves to protect his legacy and reward those close to him.

One of them was the June 2012 appointment of Gerhard Ludwig Müller, curator of the theological writings of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, as head of the Vatican's doctrinal congregation.

Another was to hold a final consistory on the following Nov. 24 to create new cardinals, principally for the purpose of giving then-Archbishop James Harvey the red hat.

The American, just 63 at the time, was prefect of the Papal Household, a job he had held since 1998. Benedict re-assigned him as archpriest of the Papal Basilica of St. Paul's Outside the Walls.

Harvey, like all the men who served as prefect before him, had become a cardinal. But now his post was vacant. It would be filled two weeks later.

Putting all the final pieces in place

On Dec. 7, just 75 days before stunning the world with the announcement of his resignation, Benedict appointed his personal secretary, Monsignor George Gänswein, then 56, as prefect of the Papal Household.

The pope consecrated him titular Archbishop of Urbisaglia a month later on the Feast of the Epiphany.

All the pieces were now in place.

Benedict had already begun refurbishing a building in the Vatican Gardens that had been used the previous two decades as a nunnery.

John Paul II had established the Mater Ecclessiae Monastery in the 1990s to be occupied by a different community of contemplative nuns every five years.

When the last group completed its term in 2012, Benedict decided he'd make the monastery his retirement home. He would live there with his private secretary and a small group of consecrated women who would serve as his staff.

Their plans that day came to nothing

There was nothing terribly unusual about the arrangement except for one thing – Gänswein would be living with the retired pope while running the household (being the gatekeeper) of the current pope. Seamless transition and continuity from one pontificate to another was guaranteed.

But then Francis got elected. It would have been difficult for him to replace Gänswein, being that the German had been in the post only a few months. Instead, the new pope decided to live at the Santa Marta Residence where the cardinals lodged during the conclave.

The old guard from Benedict's pontificate was dumbfounded. And the now-retired pope's well-laid plans came to nothing.

Meanwhile, Archbishop Gänswein looked out of place and sullen in the early days and weeks of the papal transition. He was, in effect, the prefect of an empty household.

Initially, he scheduled meetings and engagements for Francis without coordinating them first with the new pope. On at least two or three occasions the Jesuit pope refused to go by claiming to be sick or ill disposed.

It only took the prefect a couple of months to get the message. And Francis kept him on the job.

Francis is not everybody's darling

But just around the first anniversary of the pontificate in March 2014 the archbishop gave an interview to a German television network in which he said that Pope Francis was "not everybody's darling."

He also revealed that neither he nor Benedict had expected Bergoglio to be elected pope. And, furthermore, he gave the impression that the former pope was proof-checking the orthodoxy of at least some of Francis' talks.

The reaction was predictable.

"Pope Francis has kept Gänswein at arm's length by choosing to live in the Domus Sanctae Marthae rather than Apostolic Palace where the prefect of the Papal Household holds sway. Looked at with hindsight that was a wise decision," said Elena Curti, deputy editor of the Tablet.

"It would be even better if Archbishop Gänswein were now to devote himself exclusively to serving the pope emeritus – or leave Rome altogether," she said.

It has taken almost six years, but it looks like that is finally happening.

                                

Silence, The Great Teacher

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 

It seems like our society is at a low point in terms of how we talk about challenging, controversial topics within our political discourse and even our church reflections. I believe the only way through this polarization is a re-appreciation for silence. (If the word silence does not suit you, feel free to substitute nothingness, emptiness, vastness, formlessness, spaciousness, etc.)

Silence has a life of its own. It is not just that which is around words and underneath images and events. It is a being in itself to which we can relate and become intimately familiar. Philosophically, we would say being is that foundational quality which precedes all other attributes. Silence is at the very foundation of all reality—naked being, if you will. Pure being is that out of which all else comes and to which all things return.  Or as I like to say, Reality is the closest ally of God.

When we connect with silence as a living, primordial presence, we can then see all other things—and experience them deeply—inside that container. Silence is not just an absence, but a primal presence. Silence surrounds every “I know” with a humble and patient “I don’t know.” It protects the autonomy and dignity of events, persons, animals, and all created things.

To be clear, the kind of silence I’m describing does not ignore injustice. While some folks who claim to be enlightened contemplatives are merely navel-gazers, as Thomas Merton suggested, there are others who use silence to advance the cause of justice. Barbara Holmes explains:

We tend to presume that one must create silent spaces for contemplation. It is as if we have drawn the spiritual veil around contemplative activity, seeking to distance prayerful and reflective practices from the noise of the world. [That couldn’t be further from the truth!] . . . European domination in Africa and in other nations elicited the silence of those captive cultures. . . . Some of us allow [silence] to fully envelop and nurture our seeking; others who have been silenced by oppression seek to voice the joy of spiritual reunion in an evocative counterpoint.

As frightening as it may be to “center down,” we must find the stillness at the core of the shout, the pause in the middle of the “amen,” as first steps toward restoration. [1]

We must find a way to return to this place, live in this place, abide in this place of inner silence. Outer silence means very little if there is not a deeper inner silence. Everything else appears much clearer when it appears or emerges out of silence.

Without silence, we do not really experience our experiences. We are here, but not in the depth of here. We have many experiences, but they do not have the power to change us, awaken us, or give us the joy and peace that the world cannot give, as Jesus says (John 14:27).

Without some degree of inner and even outer silence, we are never living, never tasting the moment. The opposite of contemplation is not action, it is reaction. We must wait for pure action, which proceeds from deep silence.

[1] Barbara A. Holmes, Joy Unspeakable: Contemplative Practices of the Black Church, 2nd edition (Fortress Press: 2017), 20-22.

Adapted from Richard Rohr, Silent Compassion: Finding God in Contemplation (Franciscan Media: 2014), 1, 2, 3, 4.

                                

Magnanimity

This article is taken from the archive of Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. You can find this article and many others by clicking here 

What does it mean to be big-hearted, magnanimous?

Once during a baseball game in high school an umpire made very unfair call against our team. Our whole team was indignant and all of us began to shout angrily at the umpire, swearing at him, calling him names, loudly venting our anger. But one of our teammates didn’t follow suit. Instead of shouting at the umpire he kept trying to stop the rest of us from doing so. “Let it go!” he kept telling us, “Let it go – we’re bigger than this!” Bigger than what? He wasn’t referring to the umpire’s immaturity, but to our own. And we weren’t “bigger than this”, at least not then. Certainly I wasn’t. I couldn’t swallow an injustice. I wasn’t big enough.

But something stayed with me from that incident, the challenge to “be bigger” inside the things that slight us. I don’t always succeed, but I’m a better person when I do, more big-hearted, just as I am more-petty and smaller of heart when I don’t.

But just as our teammate challenged us all those years ago, we remain challenged to “be bigger” than the pettiness within a moment.  That invitation lies at the very heart of Jesus’ moral challenge in the Sermon on the Mount, There he invites us to have “a virtue that’s deeper than that of the Scribes and the Pharisees”. And there’s more hidden in that statement than first meets the eye because the Scribes and Pharisees were very virtuous people. They strove hard always to be faithful to all the precepts of their faith and were people who believed in and practiced strict justice. They didn’t make unfair calls as umpires! But inside of all of that goodness they still lacked something that the Sermon on the Mount invites us to, a certain magnanimity, to have big enough hearts and minds that can rise above being slighted so as to be bigger than a given moment.

Let me offer this example of what that can mean: John Paul II was the first pope in history to speak out unequivocally against capital punishment. It’s important to note that he didn’t say that capital punishment was wrong. Biblically we do have the right to practice it. John Paul conceded that. However, and this is the lesson, he went on to say that, while we may in justice practice capital punishment, we shouldn’t do it because Jesus calls us to something higher, namely, to forgive sinners and not execute them. That’s magnanimity, that’s being bigger than the moment we’re caught up within.

Thomas Aquinas, in his moral astuteness, makes a distinction that one doesn’t often hear either in church teachings or in common sense. Thomas says that a certain thing can be sin for one person and yet not for another. In essence, something can be a sin for someone who is big-hearted, even as it is not a sin for someone who is petty and small of heart. Here’s an example:  In a wonderfully challenging comment, Thomas once wrote that it is a sin to withhold a compliment from someone who genuinely deserves it because in doing so we are withholding from that person some of the food upon which he or she needs to live. But in teaching this, Thomas is clear that this is a sin only for someone who is big-hearted, magnanimous, and at a certain level of maturity. Someone who is immature, self-centered, and petty of heart is not held to the same moral and spiritual standard.

How is this possible, isn’t a sin a sin, irrespective of person? Not always. Whether or not something is a sin or not and the seriousness of a sin depends upon the depth and maturity within a relationship. Imagine this: A man and his wife have such a deep, sensitive, caring, respectful, and intimate relationship so that the tiniest expressions of affection or neglect speak loudly to each other. For example, as they part to go their separate ways each morning they always exchange an expression of affection, as a parting ritual. Now, should either of them neglect that expression of affection on an ordinary morning where there’s no special circumstance, it would be no small, incidental matter. Something large would be being said. Conversely, consider another couple whose relationship is not close, where there is little care, little affection, little respect, and no habit of expressing affection upon parting. Such neglect would mean nothing. No slight, no intent, no harm, no sin, just lack of care as usual. Yes, some things can be a sin for one person and not for another.

We’re invited both by Jesus and by what’s best inside us to become big enough of heart and mind to know that it’s a sin not to give a compliment, to know that even though biblically we may do capital punishment we still shouldn’t do it, and to know that we’re better women and men when we are bigger than any slight we experience within a given moment.

                                        

Fraternity in Faith: A Vision of  a Future Peace

On 4 February 2019, Pope Francis and the Grand Imam signed a Declaration on Human Fraternity, a document that they hoped would ‘serve as a guide for future generations to advance a culture of mutual respect in the awareness of the great divine grace that makes all human beings brothers and sisters.’ One year on, James Hanvey SJ encourages us to pay close attention to this text, the publication of which is in itself an act of great significance. 

James Hanvey SJ is the Society of Jesus’s Secretary for the Service of Faith.

This article is taken from the ThinkingFaith.org website where you can find a wide range of articles by clicking here

Often, it is only in retrospect that we come to see the significance of a document or an action. The British historian of political thought, Quentin Skinner, argues that we should see great political texts as acts, significant interventions in the political and social crises of the time. This is true of religious texts as well.

In Abu Dhabi on 4 February 2019, Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad Al-Tayyeb signed a Declaration titled Human Fraternity. It is an inspiring and challenging prophetic act of intervention. In it, the two world religions make an appeal to us in God’s name and in the name of the suffering and powerless in our societies. In God’s name, too, the Declaration summons us to a new future. By its very existence, the Declaration itself shows us the way; it demonstrates that Islam and Christianity can work together for the universal good.

We know how easily the teachings of Islam and Christianity can be distorted for divisive and destructive ends. Yet, in the Abu Dhabi Declaration, all believers are called to reject religious ideologies and seek a creative, healing peace – a peace that always allows room for the other.

Both Christianity and Islam share a profound faith in God’s mercy and compassion. It is this that each recognises in the other. Out of this experience and on behalf of their faiths, Pope Francis and the Grand Imam speak to a complex and fractured world. Faith does not look through our human eyes only. Taught by God, it tries to see our world in a new light, God’s light. The Declaration names the suffering, exploitation, human and ecological destruction, violence, and the ways in which the patterns of human dysfunction register in vulnerable lives. Faith in God, who hears the cry of the poor, opens our ears to the voice of the forgotten and powerless. In the name of this merciful and compassionate God, the Declaration makes visible to our eyes those who have been written off as collateral damage in pursuit of larger economic and geo-political goals. To our ears, it gives voice the voiceless ones whose cries never reach above the noise of the international stock markets or the conversation of the politicians at their dinner tables and in their debating chambers.

Yet, if faith can give us insight into the evil in our world, it can also give us courage to hope. Such hope is not an abstract utopian vision, the type that can be generated by any totalitarian or neo-liberal system. A clear-eyed faith not only sees the inhumanity around us, it also sees the capacity to change, to bring forth something better for everyone, whatever their religion or nationality. It knows, too, that this cannot be done without the courage and the perseverance that faith can give. It can see that we are not alone in this work. God has not deserted us. This very God that some would use to divide us calls us to harness all our intelligence and will to build a more humane, just and compassionate world. A world that reflects the divine goodness rather than obscures it.

Pope Francis and the Grand Imam witness to God’s merciful activity in our world. Their Declaration offers the realism of a hope grounded in faith. It witnesses to the desire of both religions to see humanity flourish – an antidote to the despair and the nihilism that hides in the heart of secularism. Such faith allows us to order our will and our gifts to bring about a world where peace is attainable, and justice is real for all.

Human Fraternity recognises that the right to religious freedom is one of the central conditions for this reconstructive and redemptive work. Contrary to many voices, this cannot be achieved through the suppression, abolition or manipulation of religion, or through the political hegemony of one religion over another. The defence of religious freedom is the touchstone of a genuinely free society. Religious freedom is the freedom to acknowledge the claim of transcendence within the human soul; to recognise and accept difference as part of the gift of plurality that God has bestowed on the whole community of creation, not least humanity. This is a radical freedom, a freedom from all the contemporary illusions that tie us into lifestyles that disguise our imprisonment. The Declaration also develops the centrality of other rights in a just and humane society: as a call to protect the most vulnerable, it emphasises the right to life. This right not only belongs to individuals of every age, it belongs to whole communities. It is a right that is a fundamental defence against the horrors of genocide that still continue to haunt so many peoples. Human. Fraternity recognises, too, the fundamental rights of women to education and employment; it rejects anything that deprives women of their dignity. It defends especially the rights of the family and of children, for these are humanity’s hope.

The Declaration is not so much a call to arms as a call to work. Neither Pope Francis nor the Grand Imam are engaged in some rhetorical exercise. They are summoning us to begin the work of making a better world. They themselves are actively engaged in this work. The Declaration commits these two great faiths to the common task of building societies committed to justice, equity, peace; societies that seek to cherish and protect the most vulnerable, regardless of their status or ability. Together, they set out the means, which start with creating a culture of dialogue and cooperation. Through a dialogue that is humble and open to the other, which they have begun to model, we can find the way to achieve deeper understanding, mutual respect and reconciliation, not only between believers but with non-believers as well. And dialogue proves itself a generative act when it becomes a habit that is embedded in our thinking, our systems and ways of working.

Here, the Society of Jesus is well placed. It already has an extensive network of professional academic commitments to interreligious dialogue. Through its networks of schools and universities it has great potential to facilitate a mutual dialogue of recognition, understanding and reconciliation at every level. In its work for refugees, social justice and ecology, it has co-workers and collaborators from many faiths. They show us that if suffering, deprivation, exile and loss do not discriminate between peoples or religions, neither can our response.

Likewise, we must work for a deeper understanding of the God who is the substance of our faith. Even when we acknowledge our differences, we can see that it is God who draws us together and will not let us cease the works of mercy and compassion, justice, dignity and peace. Indeed, it is this very God who cannot be made an obstacle to this work, but always calls us to transcend our limits. In service of this God, we discover that we can be greater than we can ever imagine. Human Fraternity is certainly an act of intervention that sets out the task and reminds us of the audacity of hope. In doing so, it gives the lie to the secular myth that faith in God has no future.