Mersey Leven Catholic Parish
Parish Priest: Fr Mike Delaney
Mob: 0417 279 437
mike.delaney@aohtas.org.au
Priest in Residence: Fr Phil McCormack
Mob: 0437 521 257
pmccormack43@bigpond.com
Deacon in Residence: Rev Steven Smith
Mob: 0411 522 630
steven.smith@aohtas.org.au
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
THE FOLLOWING PUBLIC ACTIVITIES ARE SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
Eucharistic Adoration Devonport, Benediction with Adoration Devonport,
Legion of Mary, Prayer Group.
DAILY AND SUNDAY MASS ONLINE: You will need to go to the following link and register: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gHY-gMZ7SZeGMDSJyTDeAQ
Sun 21st June 9:00am LIVESTREAM ONLY
Mon 22nd June No Mass ... Saints John Fisher and Thomas More
Tues 23rd June Devonport 9:30am - ALSO LIVESTREAM
Wed 24th June Ulverstone 9:30am
Thurs 25th June Devonport 12noon - ALSO LIVESTREAM
Fri 26th June Ulverstone 9:30am
Sat 27th June 9:00am LIVESTREAM ONLY ...St Cyril of Alexandria
Sun 28th June 9:00am LIVESTREAM ONLY
If you are looking for Sunday Mass readings or Daily Mass readings, Universalis has the readings as well as the various Hours of the Divine Office - https://universalis.com/mass.htm
Your prayers
are asked for the sick:
Let us pray
for those who have died recently:
Let us pray
for those whose anniversary occurs about this time: 17th – 23rd June, 2020
Valmai McIntyre-Baker, Kath Bennett, Geoff Williamson,
Joseph Last, Joan Jeffrey, Kevin George, Ruth Lewis, Pauline Croft, John
Ellings, Audrey Bound, Moira Rhodes, Max
Clifford, Therese Lizotte, Lillian Banjerman
May the souls of the
faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Amen
PREGO REFLECTION ON TODAY’S GOSPEL:
I ask his
living Spirit to pray in me, with me, through me.
I read Jesus’s teachings
prayerfully, a couple of times.
Maybe I can sense his presence as I read?
I
listen to the qualities of his voice, and the words he uses as he instructs his
disciples.
As I linger here, what responses in me arise?
I try to find my own
words … or I may simply rest in deep shared silence with Jesus.
I can speak openly to the Lord about it.
I ask him to help
me trust in his universal power and care for us during these confusing and
unpredictable days.
As I slowly end my prayer, I give thanks for my own worth
as seen through God’s eyes.
Weekly Ramblings
This week we have celebrated Mass in OLOL and Sacred Heart
Churches and have welcomed back people to a ‘live’ celebration of the
Eucharist. It has been interesting and challenging for all of us to accept that
there really are new rules that apply to how we come to and celebrate Mass in
this time of slightly eased restrictions.
One of the big challenges is the space in our Church foyer
– when one or two people arrive at the same time it is difficult to maintain
social distancing. In recent times I suspect that you may have noticed that
some people are more relaxed than others about the 1.5m social distancing rule.
I, and many others, are not ‘relaxed’ so, when someone comes close because it
is not something they are worried about, it impacts me significantly and I feel
quite anxious. Please remember the rule is for everyone and not just the
individual and being mindful of others is important and might just save a life.
To avoid this conflict we are requesting that people
contact the Parish Office to inform us which Mass they will be attending as we
are required to keep a contact tracing record of everyone who comes to the
Church – every time. It is much easier to tick a name than it is to stop, write
your name and contact phone number down before entering the Church. Office
hours are Tuesday – Thursday from 10am-3pm.
Information about restarting weekend Masses will be
available in next week’s Bulletin.
On a different note – thanks to everyone who has been
assisting us in distributing the weekly bulletin over recent weeks – your help
is greatly appreciated. Again, thanks also to all of you who have been
supporting the Parish through your continued support of our Planned Giving
Program during these times – along with the support of the Archdiocese we have
been able to, almost, keep our head above water. And in case you are wondering
we are not receiving the Job Keeper allowance and have been able to minimise
our expenses during this time.
Apologies for not posting a Wednesday Ramblings this week –
my computer was playing up and I couldn’t get internet access when I needed to
but will be back on Friday.
Stay safe, stay sane and, if you can, stay at home
Mersey
Leven Catholic Parish Community Congratulates ...
Hugh Hiscutt
who was appointed a Member of the Order of
Australia for his service to the Parliament of Tasmania and his dedication to
the community of Penguin and the North-West.
Marcia Murray
on her 95th birthday celebrated Thursday 18th June
and
Marie Pergande
on her 100th birthday celebrated Friday 19th June
God Bless you both on your special day!
SUPPORTING THE PARISH FINANCIALLY
To continue supporting the
Parish you can .....
PLANNED GIVING PROGRAMME:
New envelopes are being distributed
from this weekend. If you are not already part of this programme and would like
to join, please contact the Parish office 6424:2783.
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: BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
THE FOLLOWING PUBLIC ACTIVITIES ARE SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
Eucharistic Adoration Devonport, Benediction with Adoration Devonport,
Legion of Mary, Prayer Group.
DAILY AND SUNDAY MASS ONLINE: You will need to go to the following link and register: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gHY-gMZ7SZeGMDSJyTDeAQ
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Please keep this confirmation email as that will be your entry point for all further Masses or Liturgies.
Sun 21st June 9:00am LIVESTREAM ONLY
Mon 22nd June No Mass ... Saints John Fisher and Thomas More
Tues 23rd June Devonport 9:30am - ALSO LIVESTREAM
Wed 24th June Ulverstone 9:30am
Thurs 25th June Devonport 12noon - ALSO LIVESTREAM
Fri 26th June Ulverstone 9:30am
Sat 27th June 9:00am LIVESTREAM ONLY ...St Cyril of Alexandria
Sun 28th June 9:00am LIVESTREAM ONLY
If you are looking for Sunday Mass readings or Daily Mass readings, Universalis has the readings as well as the various Hours of the Divine Office - https://universalis.com/mass.htm
Your prayers
are asked for the sick:
Kevin Hayes, Rex Evans, Athol Bryan, Jill Murphy, Vinco Muriyadan, Roberto
Escobar, Robert Luxton, Jane Fitzpatrick, Marlene Heazlewood, Mark Aylett,
& …
Let us pray
for those who have died recently:
Carole Quinn, Teresa Durkin, Shane Yates, Reg Hinkley,
Veronica Murnane
Let us pray
for those whose anniversary occurs about this time: 17th – 23rd June, 2020
Valmai McIntyre-Baker, Kath Bennett, Geoff Williamson,
Joseph Last, Joan Jeffrey, Kevin George, Ruth Lewis, Pauline Croft, John
Ellings, Audrey Bound, Moira Rhodes, Max
Clifford, Therese Lizotte, Lillian Banjerman
May the souls of the
faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Amen
PREGO REFLECTION ON TODAY’S GOSPEL:
I become aware of the God who desires me and seeks my
company now … conscious of his loving attention in this moment.
I ask his living Spirit to pray in me, with me, through me.
I read Jesus’s teachings prayerfully, a couple of times.
Maybe I can sense his presence as I read?
I listen to the qualities of his voice, and the words he uses as he instructs his disciples.
As I linger here, what responses in me arise?
I try to find my own words … or I may simply rest in deep shared silence with Jesus.
I ask his living Spirit to pray in me, with me, through me.
I read Jesus’s teachings prayerfully, a couple of times.
Maybe I can sense his presence as I read?
I listen to the qualities of his voice, and the words he uses as he instructs his disciples.
As I linger here, what responses in me arise?
I try to find my own words … or I may simply rest in deep shared silence with Jesus.
Perhaps I am conscious of my fears for myself and my loved
ones; for the marginalised peoples of our interconnected world at this time of
pandemic.
As a disciple of Jesus, can I open my heart to hear and
pray his repeated words: ‘Do not be afraid (my name) …’?
Or perhaps I find
myself really struggling to trust in the promises of Jesus, and to have
confidence in the Father’s intimate care?
Whatever arises within me, I take
care not to judge.
I can speak openly to the Lord about it.
I ask him to help me trust in his universal power and care for us during these confusing and unpredictable days.
I can speak openly to the Lord about it.
I ask him to help me trust in his universal power and care for us during these confusing and unpredictable days.
As I slowly end my prayer, I give thanks for my own worth
as seen through God’s eyes.
I ask the Spirit for the grace I need to be a courageous,
faithful disciple.
Weekly Ramblings
This week we have celebrated Mass in OLOL and Sacred Heart
Churches and have welcomed back people to a ‘live’ celebration of the
Eucharist. It has been interesting and challenging for all of us to accept that
there really are new rules that apply to how we come to and celebrate Mass in
this time of slightly eased restrictions.
One of the big challenges is the space in our Church foyer
– when one or two people arrive at the same time it is difficult to maintain
social distancing. In recent times I suspect that you may have noticed that
some people are more relaxed than others about the 1.5m social distancing rule.
I, and many others, are not ‘relaxed’ so, when someone comes close because it
is not something they are worried about, it impacts me significantly and I feel
quite anxious. Please remember the rule is for everyone and not just the
individual and being mindful of others is important and might just save a life.
To avoid this conflict we are requesting that people
contact the Parish Office to inform us which Mass they will be attending as we
are required to keep a contact tracing record of everyone who comes to the
Church – every time. It is much easier to tick a name than it is to stop, write
your name and contact phone number down before entering the Church. Office
hours are Tuesday – Thursday from 10am-3pm.
Information about restarting weekend Masses will be
available in next week’s Bulletin.
On a different note – thanks to everyone who has been
assisting us in distributing the weekly bulletin over recent weeks – your help
is greatly appreciated. Again, thanks also to all of you who have been
supporting the Parish through your continued support of our Planned Giving
Program during these times – along with the support of the Archdiocese we have
been able to, almost, keep our head above water. And in case you are wondering
we are not receiving the Job Keeper allowance and have been able to minimise
our expenses during this time.
Apologies for not posting a Wednesday Ramblings this week –
my computer was playing up and I couldn’t get internet access when I needed to
but will be back on Friday.
Stay safe, stay sane and, if you can, stay at home
Mersey
Leven Catholic Parish Community Congratulates ...
Hugh Hiscutt
who was appointed a Member of the Order of
Australia for his service to the Parliament of Tasmania and his dedication to
the community of Penguin and the North-West.
Well done Hugh, the whole
Parish Community is proud of you!
Marcia Murray on her 95th birthday celebrated Thursday 18th June
and
Marie Pergande
on her 100th birthday celebrated Friday 19th June
God Bless you both on your special day!
SUPPORTING THE PARISH FINANCIALLY
To continue supporting the
Parish you can .....
· Drop
your contribution into the Parish Office during our usual office hours
(Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10am -3pm)
· Make
an electronic transfer of funds directly into the CDF – Commonwealth Bank Account Name: Mersey Leven;
BSB: 067 000; Acc No: 1031 5724 and in the description simply add your
name and/or envelope number thank you.
PLANNED GIVING PROGRAMME:
New envelopes are being distributed
from this weekend. If you are not already part of this programme and would like
to join, please contact the Parish office 6424:2783.
Please do not use the new envelopes until the starting date – Sunday
5th July. Thank you!
Letter From Rome
Let's Get Physical
Letter From Rome
Let's Get Physical
Let's Get Physical
The Vatican holds first "real" press conference in nearly four months as it struggles to start up again after pandemic shutdown
- Robert Mickens, Rome, June 19, 2020.
This article is from the La-Croix International website - you can access the site here but complete full access is via paid subscription
This article is from the La-Croix International website - you can access the site here but complete full access is via paid subscription
Throughout the long coronavirus lockdown, there were very few signs of institutional life at the Vatican.
Pope Francis kept up his two fixed weekly appointments – the Wednesday general audience and the Sunday Angelus. But they were live-streamed from the seclusion of the Apostolic Palace and without the physical presence of anyone from the public.
The only people in the room with him were several aides – all of them men dressed in cassocks or religious habits. Mind you, neither of these events requires the unique services of an ordained minister. And, yet, priests were the only ones present. Not a woman anywhere to be seen.
Not great optics.
The weekday Masses that were broadcast each morning from the chapel at the pope's Santa Marta Residence during the first several weeks of lockdown usually featured a religious sister proclaiming one of the scripture readings. But even at those streamed liturgies, most in the small congregation – once again – were men.
Return to St. Peter's Square
When Italy opened up the entire country again at the beginning of June and allowed people to travel within the national borders, the Vatican unlocked the gates to St. Peter's Square and Basilica. And over the past few weeks, the crowd that usually gathers in that broad expanse each Sunday for the Angelus has begun to return.
But it is still rather small compared to the pre-pandemic days. The hoped-for return of "pilgrims" and tourists has not yet materialized. Vatican City remains a largely a virtual destination for those interested in seeing the pope or visiting its chapels and museums.
Besides the papal "appearances" on TV and social media, nothing very noticeable seemed to be going on at the Vatican since lockdown, especially during the liturgical lockdown.
The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has had practically nothing to say throughout this unprecedented period when Catholics have been unable to physically attend Mass or receive the Eucharist.
It's prefect, Cardinal Robert Sarah, turned 75 a few days ago and many thought the pope would accept his resignation. But that did not happen. The traditionalist cardinal's days are numbered anyway. Once the new constitution on the reformed and revamped Curia comes out, he'll be sent packing.
One very busy Vatican office
Most of the other offices in the Vatican have had little or nothing to say in the past few months, either. They were not what you'd call very helpful in practical ways for Catholics struggling to make sense of the strange world we have become.
However, there is one bureau at the Holy See that's been impressively busy all this time – the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. It's a mega-department, actually, that deals with all the issues that pertain to the Church's social action and Catholic social doctrine.
And one of its major projects right now is promoting the teachings and insights in Pope Francis' landmark social encyclical from 2015, Laudato si'.
The dicastery had planned a series of international events to mark the fifth anniversary of the encyclical before the pandemic forced them to be cancelled.
But without losing a step, it quickly put together a daily line-up of live-streamed conferences that became the backbone of something called "Laudato si' Week". And at the end of it this past May 24th, the pope launched a Laudato si' Special Anniversary Year that runs until May 24, 2021.
Cardinals Peter Turkson and Michael Czerny -- as well as other officials at the dicastery, such as Fathers Bruno Duffé and Agusto Zampini -- have held a number of virtual press conferences and webinars on issues related to the encyclical, immigrants and refugees and the coronavirus pandemic. They have also been out in the field, visiting hospitals and refugee camps, and setting up a "living chapel" in Rome's Botanical Gardens…
Traditionalist opposition to the "environmental encyclical"
When Laudato si' was presented to the press on June 18, 2015, many more traditionalist Catholics – including cardinals like Raymond Burke and Walter Brandmüller – complained that it was none of the pope's business to be involved in environmental issues.
Indeed, many of the clerics at the Vatican thought the cardinals had a point. But this silent, internal opposition did not deter the people at the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
Rather, it seemed to stiffen their resolve to make the encyclical better known. It helped that the pope was and remains solidly in their corner.
Their efforts have not been in vain. This past Thursday – exactly five years to the day from when Laudato si' was launched – there was another press conference. This time to present a hefty document that was jointly crafted by numerous Vatican offices, giving concrete suggestions and ways to implement the encyclical's teaching and insights.
It was the first "real" (rather than virtual) press conference to be held in the Holy See Press Office since late February. In the two weeks running up to it, the press hall had hosted live-streamed briefings. But this was the first to include the physical presence of journalists.
The highest institutional backing of the Roman Curia
And it was the first press conference in this venue in a very long time to include the presence of a high-ranking official of the Secretariat of State. In fact, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the secretary for Relations with States (equivalent of "foreign minister"), headed the roster of the Vatican officials who presented the document.
And it was no mere PR appearance. The English-born archbishop and longtime Holy See diplomat believes in Laudato si' and shares Pope Francis' deep concern for the precarious state of the planet.
He made it clear that the ecological movement is not a fad. It's serious. It's for real.
"I think this is an irresistible world movement, social movement, a movement of faith, a movement of human commitment," the archbishop said.
Asked specifically about Donald Trump's decision to pull the United States out of previously signed international environmental agreements, he said:
"I think humanity will not be blown off course by any decisions by anybody, but obviously we welcome anybody coming back to the table."
Archbishop Gallagher's presence at this week's press conference is one of the most tangible signs that Laudato si' is not just the solitary musings of a single pope, but a program with the highest institutional backing of the Roman Curia, as well.
Unless there's a backlash to this pontificate at the next conclave, the Vatican looks poised to be the world's leading player in the long and serious game to save our common home.
All Spiritual Knowing Must Be Balanced By Not-Knowing
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 is amazing how religion has turned the biblical idea of
faith around 180 degrees—into a need and even a right to certain knowing,
complete predictability, and perfect assurance about whom and what God likes or
doesn’t like. Why do we think we can have the Infinite Mystery of God in our
quite finite pocket? We supposedly know what God is going to say or do next,
because we think our particular denomination has it all figured out. In this
schema, God is no longer free but must follow our rules and our theology. If
God is not infinitely free, we are in trouble, because every time God forgives
or shows mercy, God is breaking God’s own rules with shocking (but merciful)
freedom and inconsistency!
In the fourth century, as the Christian church moved from
bottom to the top, where it was protected and pampered by the Roman Empire,
people like Anthony of the Desert, John Cassian, Evagrius Ponticus, and the
early monks went off to the deserts to keep growing in the Spirit. They found
the Church’s newfound privilege—and the loss of Jesus’ core
values—unacceptable. It was in these deserts that a different mind
called contemplation was first formally taught.
The Desert Fathers and Mothers gave birth to what we call
the apophatic tradition, knowing by silence and symbols, and not even needing
to know with words. It amounted to a deep insight into the nature of faith that
was eventually called the “cloud of unknowing” or the balancing of knowing with
not needing to know. Deep acceptance of ultimate mystery is ironically the best
way to keep the mind and heart spaces always open and always growing.
We do need enough knowing to be able to hold our ground. We
need a container and structure in which we can safely acknowledge that we do
know a bit, in fact just enough to hold us until we are ready for a further
knowing. In the meantime, we can happily exist in what some have called docta
ignorantia or “learned ignorance.” Such people tend to be very happy and they
also make a lot of other people happy.
A few years ago, a man from Colorado came to visit me. He
said, “Richard, when you were still in Cincinnati, I gave you a dilemma that I
was struggling with; and you told me something that has been my mantra for 30
years. You said to me, ‘You know, you don't really need to know. It's okay not
to know.’”
Then he said, “That's been my mantra for 30 years—with my
wife, with my children, with my business, in my politics. Whenever there is a
dilemma, I just say, ‘I don't know.’ It makes my wife happy, my children happy,
and my life happy!” Tears started running down his cheeks. “You taught me
this.”
I said, “I did? I don't even live it myself!” But then, most
of my preaching is really preaching to myself.
Adapted from Richard Rohr, Dancing Standing Still: Healing
the World from a Place of Prayer (Paulist Press: 2014), 51;
Franciscan Mysticism: I AM That Which I Am Seeking, disc 1 (Center
for Action and Contemplation: 2012), CD, MP3 download.
Dignity
This article is taken from the archive of Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. You can find this article and many others by clicking here
The movie Million Dollar Baby tells the story of a young woman who becomes a professional boxer. Young, strong, and physically very attractive she captures your heart as, against all odds, she eventually rises to the top in her sport. But then the story turns tragic; she is unfairly hit by an opponent and ends up paralyzed, her body broken and with it her health and attractiveness. And her condition is permanent, there is no cure. She chooses to end her life through euthanasia.
I had gone to this movie with a young couple, both solidly committed to their church and their faith. Yet both of them were in strong sympathy with how this young woman chose to die. Perhaps it was more their emotions than themselves speaking when they justified her manner of death: “But she was so young and beautiful! It wouldn’t have been right for her to spend the rest of her life in that terrible state!” In their young eyes, her debilitated state stripped her of her essential dignity.
What is dignity? When and how is it lost?
Dignity is a promiscuous term, constantly shedding different partners. It is also a sneaky term. Sometimes it no longer means what it used to mean and nowhere is this truer than when the term is applied today to “death with dignity”? What defines death with dignity?
Shortly after Brittany Maynard died by euthanasia in a case that caught wide public attention, Jessica Keating wrote an article in America magazine assessing that death from various points of view. At one point she takes up the question of dignity and writes: “The use of the term dignity to describe this death is deeply problematic, since it masks the reality of fear and equates dignity exclusively with radical autonomy, choice, and cognitive capability. The result is a not-so-subtle implication that the person who chooses diminishment and suffering dies a less dignified death.” (America, March 16, 2015)
In much of our talk about death with dignity today there is in fact the not-so-subtle implication that the person who chooses diminishment and suffering over euthanasia dies a less dignified death. That is hard to deny, given the dominant ethos of a culture wherein physical diminishment and suffering are seen as a very assault on our dignity. This has not always been the case; indeed in former times sometimes the opposite was true, an aged, physically diminished body was seen as something dignified and beautiful. Why is our view of dignity different today?
They are different because of how we conceive of dignity and beauty. For us, these have to do mainly with physical health, physical vitality, and the physical attractiveness of the human body. For us, aesthetics is a house with one room – physical attractiveness. Everything else assaults our dignity. That makes it difficult for us to see any process that diminishes and humbles the human body by robbing it of its vitality and physical attractiveness as being a dignified one. And yet that is normally how the death process works. If you have ever journeyed with someone dying from a terminal disease and been at their bedside when he or she died, you know that physically this is not pretty. Disease can do horrible things to the body. But does this destroy dignity? Does it make one less beautiful?
Well, that depends on one’s spirituality and on what one considers as dignified and beautiful. Consider Jesus’ death. By today’s concept of dignity, his was not a very dignified death. We have always sanitized the crucifixion to shield ourselves from its raw “indignity”, but crucifixion was humiliating. When the Romans chose crucifixion as a method of capital punishment they had more in mind than just ending someone’s life. Besides wanting to make a person suffer optimally and they also wanted to totally and publicly humiliate him by humiliating his body. Hence the person was stripped naked, with his genitals exposed, and when he went into spasms in the moments before death, his bowels would loosen. What can be more humiliating? What can be less beautiful?
Yet, who would say that Jesus did not die with dignity? The opposite. We are still contemplating the beauty of his death and the dignity displayed in it. But that is within a different aesthetics, one that our culture no longer understands. For us, dignity and beauty are inextricably tied to physical health, physical attractiveness, and lack of humiliating diminishments within our physical body. Within that perspective there is, seemingly, no dignity to Jesus’ death.
I am the first to admit that the issue of death with dignity is an extremely complex one that raises legal, medical, psychological, familial, societal, ethical, and spiritual questions for which there are no simple answers. But inside all of these questions there still lies an aesthetic one: what, ultimately, makes for beauty? How, ultimately, do we see dignity? Does a person with a still attractive, undiminished, physical body who voluntarily chooses to die before that beauty is despoiled by disease die more dignified than did Jesus?
Pause In The Pain Of Another
This article is taken from the weekly Blog of Fr Michael White, Pastor of the Church of the Nativity, Timoneum, Baltimore. You can read his blog here
Towards the end of his life Jesus friend Lazarus died.
Jesus, as we know, raised Lazarus from the dead, his last and greatest miracle. But, that’s not the first thing he did when he arrived. The first thing he did was…nothing. Nothing at all. Scripture tells us he paused and wept.
Jesus wept.
John 11:35
…the shortest verse in all of the Bible, tells us so much.
He paused in the pain of others.
That is, I think, what we must all do these days, at this time of crisis: pause in the pain of others. It is not enough to say that we’re sad. Sad is not sufficient. Sad is a passive response, the response of a disengaged onlooker or uninvolved bystander. What is called for and necessary is nothing less than to pause in the pain of others. Because that is where empathy is born and, occasionally, solutions are found.
And that is not easy from the chair I sit in. Sometimes I am a little jealous of pastors of churches filled with like-minded people.
You know the ones where everybody already agrees with everyone else. The pastor just gets in the pulpit on Sundays and tells the people what they already know and believe, what they want to hear. Everyone loves it and everyone else can go to hell.
It’s called preaching to the choir.
We don’t have a choir. And we’re not that kind of church.
We’re a great big church and while we do not have enough diversity for sure in some ways, politically we have more than our share.
And it is my job as pastor to first of all respect that. What we always seek to do in our preaching and teaching and all our communication is to focus on the message of the gospel and give parishioners the tools they can use to choose what to think about current events, how to vote and all the rest. Nativity is a safe space, perhaps the only place in our parishioners experience currently, entirely free of partisanship…a place to be enriched, inspired and equipped to form their own thoughts and make their own choices.
And that’s not only because we respect them too much to do otherwise, it is also because we believe that facts are not always easily found, or reliably found in the far extremes of many issues. The far extremes are often, not always, but often, echo chambers with lots of noise but not always a lot of facts.
Facts are more often found, I believe, in the middle. And here’s the thing: the middle is messy. Out in the extremes, things are easy to appreciate, simple to communicate, always crystal clear.
None of that is true in the messy middle. And that is where we are.
As a nation we are not going to talk our way out of the crisis, and neither are we going to law and legislate our way out of it. Ignoring it, meanwhile is a perilous path. And while pray is always needed and necessary, we’re not going to entirely pray our way out of it either.
The vaccine for the disease of racism is experience. Personal experience of one another is the way forward. Trust is built and fear is diminished through experience of one another.
And if our experience is the way forward here’s a question:
How do people who don’t look like you experience you?
Here’s another:
How should people who don’t look like you experience you?
Perhaps that’s an open question for some people, but for Christ’s followers it’s not. The answer is clear, and it is a command. And I’m not talking about the 10 commandments or the commands of Canon Law because you can keep all those commands perfectly and still be a perfect racist. Plenty of people have, including people in Jesus’ time. That’s why on the night before he died he gave his friends and followers a new command.
Love one another as I have loved you. By this they will know you are my disciples, if you love one another.
John 13:34-35
This is the thing, the one thing, that distinguishes us as disciples, students, followers of Christ.
What does it mean?
Well, it is about being for one another. That’s what made the witness of the peaceful protests we have seen across the country the last two weeks so powerful. Not the violent ones which were wrong and hurt innocent people. But the peaceful protests such as we experienced here in Baltimore. They were saying to the black community we’re more than sad: What breaks your hearts breaks ours.
Portions of this post have been adapted from Pastor Andy Stanley.
To hear his complete remarks, go to northpoint.org
Learning To Pray In Front Of The Television
If you have found yourself spending more time in front of the small screen in recent weeks, you are certainly not alone. Jake Martin SJ suggests that ‘instead of seeing film and tv as an “escape”, we can instead look to integrate it into our spiritual practice’. How can we learn to identify the films and programmes that are leading us towards consolation rather than desolation?
Jake Martin SJ is a doctoral student in film at Trinity College Dublin and a regular contributor to America.
This article is taken from the ThinkingFaith.org website where you can find a wide range of articles by clicking here
Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990) is one of those films that film-lovers adore referencing thanks to its highly quotable screenplay and its technical brilliance. Many a wine-filled or not-so-wine-filled evening has culminated in recitations of the film’s most audacious sequences.
So what better way to pass the time during a lockdown than by watching Goodfellas all over again? I looked forward to seeing those wonderfully kinetic and quotable scenes that I had repeated over and over with my friends through the years. But as I discovered one recent dark night alone in the Jesuit community television room, those ‘fun’ scenes bear down a lot heavier on the soul when viewed within the larger context of the entire film – and in the midst of a pandemic. Sitting in the dark as the closing credits rolled across the screen, I felt no sense of fun, no sense of energy, and absolutely no desire to quote or re-enact any part of the film I had just watched. I felt empty.
Of course, context plays a part; in more stable times, it’s easier to distance oneself from the film’s not-so-hidden nihilistic core and focus instead on its unreal, almost cartoonish romanticising of humour-infused violence. It’s much harder to ignore the film’s inherent pessimistic view in these days of uncertainty, when vulnerability in its various manifestations has become our primary existential mode of operating. What I’m trying to say is that there is a time and a place to watch a film, and right now is not the time for films that leave us feeling sad and hopeless.
So, what kind of films should we be watching during this time when memberships and viewers on various streaming platforms such as Netflix have increased at a staggering rate? Well, suffice to say hyperviolent films about the underworld are off the table, but that still leaves a lot to choose from. As has already been said by many before me, one of the areas that the lockdown does not inhibit is our chance to develop and cultivate our relationship with God. These days of lockdown are a chance to grow and to go deeper spiritually.
For many of us in the days before Covid-19, film, television and other forms of new media were something very much separate from our spiritual realm; but then we had more tangible resources, such as our parish community, retreat centres, classes, etc., which we can only access now in a limited way. Just as we see various new means of coming together emerging across various social media platforms, so too must we begin to think creatively about how to nurture our souls from within the confines of our home. So, instead of seeing film and tv as an ‘escape’, we can instead look to integrate it into our spiritual practice.
What I’d like to suggest is that we watch film with discerning hearts, not just passively taking in whatever comes before our eyes, but actively engaging with the text of the film in a spiritual way. Before we do that though, we need to discern between the wheat and the chaff, that is, distinguishing between those films that can move us spiritually and those films that are going to leave us feeling empty and unfulfilled.
In the Rules for Discernment of Spirits, St Ignatius distinguishes between two interior movements: consolation and desolation. Ignatius says that spiritual consolation is a movement within the soul which causes profound love for God and also manifests in an increase in hope, faith and charity (SpExx §316). Spiritual desolation causes the converse to occur, wherein the soul feels far apart from God, filled with despair, fear and rage (SpExx §317). My experience of watching Goodfellas was one of desolation; I walked away from it feeling hopeless and morose. I also realised that at this time in my life I need to be more discerning about what I watch and choose films that are consoling. When I say consoling films, I don’t necessarily mean ‘feel-good’ films, because a film does not have to make us feel good to console us; nor am I specifically speaking of ‘comfort’ films – because that which comforts us is not always good for us, as anyone who has eaten a tub of ice cream at midnight after a break-up can tell you. What I mean is those films that will serve to bring me closer to Christ and increase my faith, hope and charity.
I should say this does not necessarily mean just watching The Passion of the Christ (Mel Gibson, 2004) and The Ten Commandments (De Mille, 1956) on a loop; indeed, explicitly religious films have at times done more harm than good. Over the course of the next few weeks, I hope to introduce you to a handful of consoling films, each different in their genre, style and themes, and thereby assist you in beginning to be a spectator in a different, more engaged way. I hope to challenge you to be more discerning in both your viewing choices and your viewing behaviours. By becoming more engaged spectators we can turn the process of film-watching into an experience that does not just ‘pass the time’ in the midst of a lockdown, but one that becomes a spiritually enriching practice that deepens your faith and brings you closer to Christ.
Pope Francis kept up his two fixed weekly appointments – the Wednesday general audience and the Sunday Angelus. But they were live-streamed from the seclusion of the Apostolic Palace and without the physical presence of anyone from the public.
The only people in the room with him were several aides – all of them men dressed in cassocks or religious habits. Mind you, neither of these events requires the unique services of an ordained minister. And, yet, priests were the only ones present. Not a woman anywhere to be seen.
Not great optics.
The weekday Masses that were broadcast each morning from the chapel at the pope's Santa Marta Residence during the first several weeks of lockdown usually featured a religious sister proclaiming one of the scripture readings. But even at those streamed liturgies, most in the small congregation – once again – were men.
Return to St. Peter's Square
When Italy opened up the entire country again at the beginning of June and allowed people to travel within the national borders, the Vatican unlocked the gates to St. Peter's Square and Basilica. And over the past few weeks, the crowd that usually gathers in that broad expanse each Sunday for the Angelus has begun to return.
But it is still rather small compared to the pre-pandemic days. The hoped-for return of "pilgrims" and tourists has not yet materialized. Vatican City remains a largely a virtual destination for those interested in seeing the pope or visiting its chapels and museums.
Besides the papal "appearances" on TV and social media, nothing very noticeable seemed to be going on at the Vatican since lockdown, especially during the liturgical lockdown.
The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has had practically nothing to say throughout this unprecedented period when Catholics have been unable to physically attend Mass or receive the Eucharist.
It's prefect, Cardinal Robert Sarah, turned 75 a few days ago and many thought the pope would accept his resignation. But that did not happen. The traditionalist cardinal's days are numbered anyway. Once the new constitution on the reformed and revamped Curia comes out, he'll be sent packing.
One very busy Vatican office
Most of the other offices in the Vatican have had little or nothing to say in the past few months, either. They were not what you'd call very helpful in practical ways for Catholics struggling to make sense of the strange world we have become.
However, there is one bureau at the Holy See that's been impressively busy all this time – the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. It's a mega-department, actually, that deals with all the issues that pertain to the Church's social action and Catholic social doctrine.
And one of its major projects right now is promoting the teachings and insights in Pope Francis' landmark social encyclical from 2015, Laudato si'.
The dicastery had planned a series of international events to mark the fifth anniversary of the encyclical before the pandemic forced them to be cancelled.
But without losing a step, it quickly put together a daily line-up of live-streamed conferences that became the backbone of something called "Laudato si' Week". And at the end of it this past May 24th, the pope launched a Laudato si' Special Anniversary Year that runs until May 24, 2021.
Cardinals Peter Turkson and Michael Czerny -- as well as other officials at the dicastery, such as Fathers Bruno Duffé and Agusto Zampini -- have held a number of virtual press conferences and webinars on issues related to the encyclical, immigrants and refugees and the coronavirus pandemic. They have also been out in the field, visiting hospitals and refugee camps, and setting up a "living chapel" in Rome's Botanical Gardens…
Traditionalist opposition to the "environmental encyclical"
When Laudato si' was presented to the press on June 18, 2015, many more traditionalist Catholics – including cardinals like Raymond Burke and Walter Brandmüller – complained that it was none of the pope's business to be involved in environmental issues.
Indeed, many of the clerics at the Vatican thought the cardinals had a point. But this silent, internal opposition did not deter the people at the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
Rather, it seemed to stiffen their resolve to make the encyclical better known. It helped that the pope was and remains solidly in their corner.
Their efforts have not been in vain. This past Thursday – exactly five years to the day from when Laudato si' was launched – there was another press conference. This time to present a hefty document that was jointly crafted by numerous Vatican offices, giving concrete suggestions and ways to implement the encyclical's teaching and insights.
It was the first "real" (rather than virtual) press conference to be held in the Holy See Press Office since late February. In the two weeks running up to it, the press hall had hosted live-streamed briefings. But this was the first to include the physical presence of journalists.
The highest institutional backing of the Roman Curia
And it was the first press conference in this venue in a very long time to include the presence of a high-ranking official of the Secretariat of State. In fact, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the secretary for Relations with States (equivalent of "foreign minister"), headed the roster of the Vatican officials who presented the document.
And it was no mere PR appearance. The English-born archbishop and longtime Holy See diplomat believes in Laudato si' and shares Pope Francis' deep concern for the precarious state of the planet.
He made it clear that the ecological movement is not a fad. It's serious. It's for real.
"I think this is an irresistible world movement, social movement, a movement of faith, a movement of human commitment," the archbishop said.
Asked specifically about Donald Trump's decision to pull the United States out of previously signed international environmental agreements, he said:
"I think humanity will not be blown off course by any decisions by anybody, but obviously we welcome anybody coming back to the table."
Archbishop Gallagher's presence at this week's press conference is one of the most tangible signs that Laudato si' is not just the solitary musings of a single pope, but a program with the highest institutional backing of the Roman Curia, as well.
Unless there's a backlash to this pontificate at the next conclave, the Vatican looks poised to be the world's leading player in the long and serious game to save our common home.
All Spiritual Knowing Must Be Balanced By Not-Knowing
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 is amazing how religion has turned the biblical idea of
faith around 180 degrees—into a need and even a right to certain knowing,
complete predictability, and perfect assurance about whom and what God likes or
doesn’t like. Why do we think we can have the Infinite Mystery of God in our
quite finite pocket? We supposedly know what God is going to say or do next,
because we think our particular denomination has it all figured out. In this
schema, God is no longer free but must follow our rules and our theology. If
God is not infinitely free, we are in trouble, because every time God forgives
or shows mercy, God is breaking God’s own rules with shocking (but merciful)
freedom and inconsistency!
In the fourth century, as the Christian church moved from
bottom to the top, where it was protected and pampered by the Roman Empire,
people like Anthony of the Desert, John Cassian, Evagrius Ponticus, and the
early monks went off to the deserts to keep growing in the Spirit. They found
the Church’s newfound privilege—and the loss of Jesus’ core
values—unacceptable. It was in these deserts that a different mind
called contemplation was first formally taught.
The Desert Fathers and Mothers gave birth to what we call
the apophatic tradition, knowing by silence and symbols, and not even needing
to know with words. It amounted to a deep insight into the nature of faith that
was eventually called the “cloud of unknowing” or the balancing of knowing with
not needing to know. Deep acceptance of ultimate mystery is ironically the best
way to keep the mind and heart spaces always open and always growing.
We do need enough knowing to be able to hold our ground. We
need a container and structure in which we can safely acknowledge that we do
know a bit, in fact just enough to hold us until we are ready for a further
knowing. In the meantime, we can happily exist in what some have called docta
ignorantia or “learned ignorance.” Such people tend to be very happy and they
also make a lot of other people happy.
A few years ago, a man from Colorado came to visit me. He
said, “Richard, when you were still in Cincinnati, I gave you a dilemma that I
was struggling with; and you told me something that has been my mantra for 30
years. You said to me, ‘You know, you don't really need to know. It's okay not
to know.’”
Then he said, “That's been my mantra for 30 years—with my
wife, with my children, with my business, in my politics. Whenever there is a
dilemma, I just say, ‘I don't know.’ It makes my wife happy, my children happy,
and my life happy!” Tears started running down his cheeks. “You taught me
this.”
I said, “I did? I don't even live it myself!” But then, most
of my preaching is really preaching to myself.
Adapted from Richard Rohr, Dancing Standing Still: Healing
the World from a Place of Prayer (Paulist Press: 2014), 51;
Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality (Franciscan Media:
2008), 19-20; and
Franciscan Mysticism: I AM That Which I Am Seeking, disc 1 (Center
for Action and Contemplation: 2012), CD, MP3 download.
Dignity
This article is taken from the archive of Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. You can find this article and many others by clicking here
The movie Million Dollar Baby tells the story of a young woman who becomes a professional boxer. Young, strong, and physically very attractive she captures your heart as, against all odds, she eventually rises to the top in her sport. But then the story turns tragic; she is unfairly hit by an opponent and ends up paralyzed, her body broken and with it her health and attractiveness. And her condition is permanent, there is no cure. She chooses to end her life through euthanasia.
I had gone to this movie with a young couple, both solidly committed to their church and their faith. Yet both of them were in strong sympathy with how this young woman chose to die. Perhaps it was more their emotions than themselves speaking when they justified her manner of death: “But she was so young and beautiful! It wouldn’t have been right for her to spend the rest of her life in that terrible state!” In their young eyes, her debilitated state stripped her of her essential dignity.
What is dignity? When and how is it lost?
Dignity is a promiscuous term, constantly shedding different partners. It is also a sneaky term. Sometimes it no longer means what it used to mean and nowhere is this truer than when the term is applied today to “death with dignity”? What defines death with dignity?
Shortly after Brittany Maynard died by euthanasia in a case that caught wide public attention, Jessica Keating wrote an article in America magazine assessing that death from various points of view. At one point she takes up the question of dignity and writes: “The use of the term dignity to describe this death is deeply problematic, since it masks the reality of fear and equates dignity exclusively with radical autonomy, choice, and cognitive capability. The result is a not-so-subtle implication that the person who chooses diminishment and suffering dies a less dignified death.” (America, March 16, 2015)
In much of our talk about death with dignity today there is in fact the not-so-subtle implication that the person who chooses diminishment and suffering over euthanasia dies a less dignified death. That is hard to deny, given the dominant ethos of a culture wherein physical diminishment and suffering are seen as a very assault on our dignity. This has not always been the case; indeed in former times sometimes the opposite was true, an aged, physically diminished body was seen as something dignified and beautiful. Why is our view of dignity different today?
They are different because of how we conceive of dignity and beauty. For us, these have to do mainly with physical health, physical vitality, and the physical attractiveness of the human body. For us, aesthetics is a house with one room – physical attractiveness. Everything else assaults our dignity. That makes it difficult for us to see any process that diminishes and humbles the human body by robbing it of its vitality and physical attractiveness as being a dignified one. And yet that is normally how the death process works. If you have ever journeyed with someone dying from a terminal disease and been at their bedside when he or she died, you know that physically this is not pretty. Disease can do horrible things to the body. But does this destroy dignity? Does it make one less beautiful?
Well, that depends on one’s spirituality and on what one considers as dignified and beautiful. Consider Jesus’ death. By today’s concept of dignity, his was not a very dignified death. We have always sanitized the crucifixion to shield ourselves from its raw “indignity”, but crucifixion was humiliating. When the Romans chose crucifixion as a method of capital punishment they had more in mind than just ending someone’s life. Besides wanting to make a person suffer optimally and they also wanted to totally and publicly humiliate him by humiliating his body. Hence the person was stripped naked, with his genitals exposed, and when he went into spasms in the moments before death, his bowels would loosen. What can be more humiliating? What can be less beautiful?
Yet, who would say that Jesus did not die with dignity? The opposite. We are still contemplating the beauty of his death and the dignity displayed in it. But that is within a different aesthetics, one that our culture no longer understands. For us, dignity and beauty are inextricably tied to physical health, physical attractiveness, and lack of humiliating diminishments within our physical body. Within that perspective there is, seemingly, no dignity to Jesus’ death.
I am the first to admit that the issue of death with dignity is an extremely complex one that raises legal, medical, psychological, familial, societal, ethical, and spiritual questions for which there are no simple answers. But inside all of these questions there still lies an aesthetic one: what, ultimately, makes for beauty? How, ultimately, do we see dignity? Does a person with a still attractive, undiminished, physical body who voluntarily chooses to die before that beauty is despoiled by disease die more dignified than did Jesus?
Pause In The Pain Of Another
This article is taken from the weekly Blog of Fr Michael White, Pastor of the Church of the Nativity, Timoneum, Baltimore. You can read his blog here
Towards the end of his life Jesus friend Lazarus died.
Jesus, as we know, raised Lazarus from the dead, his last and greatest miracle. But, that’s not the first thing he did when he arrived. The first thing he did was…nothing. Nothing at all. Scripture tells us he paused and wept.
Jesus wept.
John 11:35
…the shortest verse in all of the Bible, tells us so much.
He paused in the pain of others.
That is, I think, what we must all do these days, at this time of crisis: pause in the pain of others. It is not enough to say that we’re sad. Sad is not sufficient. Sad is a passive response, the response of a disengaged onlooker or uninvolved bystander. What is called for and necessary is nothing less than to pause in the pain of others. Because that is where empathy is born and, occasionally, solutions are found.
And that is not easy from the chair I sit in. Sometimes I am a little jealous of pastors of churches filled with like-minded people.
You know the ones where everybody already agrees with everyone else. The pastor just gets in the pulpit on Sundays and tells the people what they already know and believe, what they want to hear. Everyone loves it and everyone else can go to hell.
It’s called preaching to the choir.
We don’t have a choir. And we’re not that kind of church.
We’re a great big church and while we do not have enough diversity for sure in some ways, politically we have more than our share.
And it is my job as pastor to first of all respect that. What we always seek to do in our preaching and teaching and all our communication is to focus on the message of the gospel and give parishioners the tools they can use to choose what to think about current events, how to vote and all the rest. Nativity is a safe space, perhaps the only place in our parishioners experience currently, entirely free of partisanship…a place to be enriched, inspired and equipped to form their own thoughts and make their own choices.
And that’s not only because we respect them too much to do otherwise, it is also because we believe that facts are not always easily found, or reliably found in the far extremes of many issues. The far extremes are often, not always, but often, echo chambers with lots of noise but not always a lot of facts.
Facts are more often found, I believe, in the middle. And here’s the thing: the middle is messy. Out in the extremes, things are easy to appreciate, simple to communicate, always crystal clear.
None of that is true in the messy middle. And that is where we are.
As a nation we are not going to talk our way out of the crisis, and neither are we going to law and legislate our way out of it. Ignoring it, meanwhile is a perilous path. And while pray is always needed and necessary, we’re not going to entirely pray our way out of it either.
The vaccine for the disease of racism is experience. Personal experience of one another is the way forward. Trust is built and fear is diminished through experience of one another.
And if our experience is the way forward here’s a question:
How do people who don’t look like you experience you?
Here’s another:
How should people who don’t look like you experience you?
Perhaps that’s an open question for some people, but for Christ’s followers it’s not. The answer is clear, and it is a command. And I’m not talking about the 10 commandments or the commands of Canon Law because you can keep all those commands perfectly and still be a perfect racist. Plenty of people have, including people in Jesus’ time. That’s why on the night before he died he gave his friends and followers a new command.
Love one another as I have loved you. By this they will know you are my disciples, if you love one another.
John 13:34-35
This is the thing, the one thing, that distinguishes us as disciples, students, followers of Christ.
What does it mean?
Well, it is about being for one another. That’s what made the witness of the peaceful protests we have seen across the country the last two weeks so powerful. Not the violent ones which were wrong and hurt innocent people. But the peaceful protests such as we experienced here in Baltimore. They were saying to the black community we’re more than sad: What breaks your hearts breaks ours.
Portions of this post have been adapted from Pastor Andy Stanley.
To hear his complete remarks, go to northpoint.org
Learning To Pray In Front Of The Television
If you have found yourself spending more time in front of the small screen in recent weeks, you are certainly not alone. Jake Martin SJ suggests that ‘instead of seeing film and tv as an “escape”, we can instead look to integrate it into our spiritual practice’. How can we learn to identify the films and programmes that are leading us towards consolation rather than desolation?
Jake Martin SJ is a doctoral student in film at Trinity College Dublin and a regular contributor to America.
This article is taken from the ThinkingFaith.org website where you can find a wide range of articles by clicking here
Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990) is one of those films that film-lovers adore referencing thanks to its highly quotable screenplay and its technical brilliance. Many a wine-filled or not-so-wine-filled evening has culminated in recitations of the film’s most audacious sequences.
So what better way to pass the time during a lockdown than by watching Goodfellas all over again? I looked forward to seeing those wonderfully kinetic and quotable scenes that I had repeated over and over with my friends through the years. But as I discovered one recent dark night alone in the Jesuit community television room, those ‘fun’ scenes bear down a lot heavier on the soul when viewed within the larger context of the entire film – and in the midst of a pandemic. Sitting in the dark as the closing credits rolled across the screen, I felt no sense of fun, no sense of energy, and absolutely no desire to quote or re-enact any part of the film I had just watched. I felt empty.
Of course, context plays a part; in more stable times, it’s easier to distance oneself from the film’s not-so-hidden nihilistic core and focus instead on its unreal, almost cartoonish romanticising of humour-infused violence. It’s much harder to ignore the film’s inherent pessimistic view in these days of uncertainty, when vulnerability in its various manifestations has become our primary existential mode of operating. What I’m trying to say is that there is a time and a place to watch a film, and right now is not the time for films that leave us feeling sad and hopeless.
So, what kind of films should we be watching during this time when memberships and viewers on various streaming platforms such as Netflix have increased at a staggering rate? Well, suffice to say hyperviolent films about the underworld are off the table, but that still leaves a lot to choose from. As has already been said by many before me, one of the areas that the lockdown does not inhibit is our chance to develop and cultivate our relationship with God. These days of lockdown are a chance to grow and to go deeper spiritually.
For many of us in the days before Covid-19, film, television and other forms of new media were something very much separate from our spiritual realm; but then we had more tangible resources, such as our parish community, retreat centres, classes, etc., which we can only access now in a limited way. Just as we see various new means of coming together emerging across various social media platforms, so too must we begin to think creatively about how to nurture our souls from within the confines of our home. So, instead of seeing film and tv as an ‘escape’, we can instead look to integrate it into our spiritual practice.
What I’d like to suggest is that we watch film with discerning hearts, not just passively taking in whatever comes before our eyes, but actively engaging with the text of the film in a spiritual way. Before we do that though, we need to discern between the wheat and the chaff, that is, distinguishing between those films that can move us spiritually and those films that are going to leave us feeling empty and unfulfilled.
In the Rules for Discernment of Spirits, St Ignatius distinguishes between two interior movements: consolation and desolation. Ignatius says that spiritual consolation is a movement within the soul which causes profound love for God and also manifests in an increase in hope, faith and charity (SpExx §316). Spiritual desolation causes the converse to occur, wherein the soul feels far apart from God, filled with despair, fear and rage (SpExx §317). My experience of watching Goodfellas was one of desolation; I walked away from it feeling hopeless and morose. I also realised that at this time in my life I need to be more discerning about what I watch and choose films that are consoling. When I say consoling films, I don’t necessarily mean ‘feel-good’ films, because a film does not have to make us feel good to console us; nor am I specifically speaking of ‘comfort’ films – because that which comforts us is not always good for us, as anyone who has eaten a tub of ice cream at midnight after a break-up can tell you. What I mean is those films that will serve to bring me closer to Christ and increase my faith, hope and charity.
I should say this does not necessarily mean just watching The Passion of the Christ (Mel Gibson, 2004) and The Ten Commandments (De Mille, 1956) on a loop; indeed, explicitly religious films have at times done more harm than good. Over the course of the next few weeks, I hope to introduce you to a handful of consoling films, each different in their genre, style and themes, and thereby assist you in beginning to be a spectator in a different, more engaged way. I hope to challenge you to be more discerning in both your viewing choices and your viewing behaviours. By becoming more engaged spectators we can turn the process of film-watching into an experience that does not just ‘pass the time’ in the midst of a lockdown, but one that becomes a spiritually enriching practice that deepens your faith and brings you closer to Christ.
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