Holy Telly ....

One of the ladies came into the church to do the flowers. She said, 'I see we have a new tabernacle.'

'No' I replied, 'it's a second hand one we borrowed while ours is being refurbished.'

'It looks like a television' she quipped.

I remained silent but wanted to say, 'Come over and watch it some time!'

Purgatory

Fr Charles Arminjon in his book, End of the Present World and the Mysteries of the Future Life, proposes the following salutary thought on Purgatory:

In the glow of those terrible flames, we shall realize the profound degree of evil contained in the faults we consider slight and unimportant. 

Damascus

Saul,

struck blind.

Blind!?

Yes,

but struck.

What joy!

Saturday is Mary's Day

Just as God’s glory and power in Jesus shine forth most clearly in his humility and lowliness on the Cross, so the marvels he worked in Mary in making her the Mother of the Redeemer are shown forth and given life most clearly in the lowliness and humility of her soul. In fact, we all know that the glory of God’s presence is always shown forth most brilliantly in a lowly and humble heart.

Saturday is Mary's Day

I am the handmaid of the Lord. This is the title Mary gives herself. All other titles are given her by others but this is the one she claims. And how revealing it is, how simple and truthful, how powerful! It describes what Mary wishes us to know about her because it perfectly describes what she knows about herself. All the rest, her great gifts and prerogatives, her high calling and destiny, all these are for Mary nothing more than the 'marvels the Almighty works for me'.

footprints

discovered in my heart
a set of footprints
not mine
but my size
exactly
and walking in these footprints
I am most myself
thank you, Jesus
for walking in my heart
1983

The Wisdom of C.S. Lewis

"If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man . . . Going back is the quickest way on." - C.S.Lewis

Saturday is Mary's Day

I am the handmaid of the Lord.

Mary’s greatness is really to be found in this title as the mighty oak tree is found in the tiny acorn.

As Mary said to Elizabeth: The Almighty has done great things for me. The great things done for Mary, and through Mary and in Mary were done on the solid and beautiful foundation of this humble awareness of herself as the lowly handmaid of the Lord.

The Father truly did look on his servant in her lowliness and then proceeded to do great things for her.

Mary’s lowliness actually made the great things possible. All her other titles flow out of this lowliness (filled with grace) and leave it intact. In her own eyes the Mother of God, the Immaculate Conception, the ever-virgin Queen of heaven and earth is still, and always will remain, the lowly Handmaid of the Lord.

Eye of the Beholder

I asked a lady once if she was a practising Catholic. She said, 'I'm not, Father, I'm afraid to say. I used to be. I used to go every Christmas and Easter but in the last few years I've become slack.'

Saturday is Mary's Day

What would Mary say if you asked her which one of all the titles she has been given her by God, was the one she liked best?

Would she say, I like to be called Virgin of Virgins or Health of the Sick or Mystical Rose? Certainly her greatest title is Mother of God and this was given her by the early Church almost from the beginning. Fortunately, a fragment of papyrus has been found which reveals the existence in Egypt, from the third or, at the latest the fourth century, of the antiphon We fly to your protection, O holy Mother of God.

But actually, we don’t have to wonder what Mary would call herself because she has already answered the question for us. Holy Scripture records, as far as I know, only one title Mary ever gave herself while on earth. She told the archangel Gabriel, at the time of the Annunciation, I am the handmaid of the Lord.

Lectio Divina

There are not many undertakings in my life which have had as profound an effect as the practice of lectio divina (sacred reading).

Lectio divina (pronounced lexio diveena) is the practice of spending at least ½ an hour each day reading the Sacred Scriptures in a relaxed, systematic, attentive way.

[Now right at the start I'll get your attention big time by telling you the Church offers a Plenary Indulgence, under the usual conditions, to those who read the Scriptures for ½ an hour a day.]

Reading (lectio) is the first step in the process. This is an art in itself and very challenging. The bible is a big book and its size can easily discourage us. Fortunately, in lectio we take it only a page or two, or even a paragraph, at a time. There is no rush to get the bible finished. Each day we read only what can be 'processed' in the ½ hour we have set ourselves. Our aim is not to finish the bible - our aim is to read the bible for ½ an hour a day.

We start at the beginning with the Book of Genesis. We read a line or a few lines. We pause. Questions will come: Is this true? What does this word mean? When was this written? How does he know this? To answer these questions we need to do some bible study. Lectio, however, is not bible study. The ultimate aim of lectio is to let the bible study us. In bible study we get into the bible. In lectio divina we let the Bible get into us.

We may find this distinction puzzling at first but it isn't really. We are so accustomed to taking the primary role in all our activities, so that our activity is our primary concern, that we find it disconcerting to be asked to do something so that we can be docile to the more important activity of the other, so that the Other may do something to us.

So much of our prayer is habitually directed to getting God to change his mind about something, our illness, our work, our family, that we can hesitate before a prayer whose intent is to allow God to change us.

Let me repeat - the main focus of our activity in lectio divina is to give God an opportunity to come to meet us, to let God have free access to our hearts and minds, a bit like the way we give access to the surgeon and his scalpel when we go to hospital.

Where are we going?

There used to be a time when I could enjoy the busy ministerial life just for itself but that time has gone. These days I find myself less and less able to travel without asking 'Where are we going?' Just to enjoy the ride is no longer enough - I've started looking out the window.

Many, seemingly unaware of the huge questions which face the Church today, suffer a kind of compulsive optimism which filters out the unpleasant, the challenging, and the contradictory.

As painful as it may be I want to understand and live in the realities of life and to encourage others to do the same. I want my feet to touch the ground, my watch set to real time.

There's a wonderful cartoon of an old man fishing from a jetty, blissfully unaware that all the water has gone - all gone. He can sit there for ever and he will never again catch a fish.

It does not matter that he is full of hope. It does not matter that he has caught many fish there in the past. It does not matter that he has the best rod and reel and the freshest bait. The water has gone!

Now he needs to find another spot, if he really wants to catch fish, and maybe another way of fishing.

If only he would open his eyes and look over the side of that jetty, but he doesn't .. he can't? .. he won't? .. Is he afraid?

What would happen if someone told our friend to look over the edge? Hey, mate! The water has gone! Wake up! You'll never catch any fish there!

My experience tells me that old man would not be grateful. I was happy. I lived in hope! You took away my peace! You changed my life! What am I supposed to do now?

In our diocese, parishes and schools there are so many things that need evaluating, fixing, updating, revising, building and demolishing!

So many things that used to work but no longer do - so many things to stop doing and so many things to begin anew!

One thing I have learned - it's much, much harder to stop doing something than it is to start something new!

So where should we begin?

How right Pope John Paul II was: Let us begin by contemplating the Face of Christ!

10 Clangers

1. I'm really a good person, Father.
2. I'm very Catholic.
3. You don't have to go to church to show you're a Catholic.
4. Mum never committed a sin in her life.
5. I know people who are more christian than the ones who go to Church.
6. We want our child to make up its own mind.
7. I go to the Mass on the television.
8. I don't go to Mass but I have my faith.
9. The Church should get with the times.
10. I heard we're allowed to do that now.

Send me your favourite clanger and if I like it, and I don't promise that I will, it might be added to the list.

• I'm a Catholic but I leave all that sort of thing to the wife. She's the religious one. (Jools)
• I don't agree with the Church on that point, but my conscience is clear. (J.)
• I don't like that Latin Mass because the priest has his back to me. (VSC)
• Of course I go to Communion every Sunday, but haven't been to Confession for 10 years. It's not like I murdered somebody! (VSC)
• I don't go to Mass because I don't think I have nice enough clothes. (VSC)

Approaches to prayer ..

As a seminarian I once showed an elderly lady through the seminary complex and when we came to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel I suggested we sit and spend some time in prayer. She replied that she couldn’t because she had left her prayers in the car.

What is heaven like?

This morning at 4am Accidents & Emergency called - a middle-aged man had died suddenly. I was there within 12 minutes and administered the rites of the Church. His wife was there and her fourteen year old son. When the mother was called in to fill out some hospital forms I got to have a 40 minute chat with the boy, who told me all about himself and his dad. After a while he asked, 'So what is heaven like?' I told him a story someone once told me.

"A man died and came to the pearly gates. St Peter showed him to a huge brick wall with doorway in it. They went in and there was a table and a chair beside a mountain of blank sheets of paper and a mountain of pencils.

St Peter told the man that he should sit down and write on the paper all the things he wanted - houses, cars, servants, and so on. He said, 'When you've finished yell out and the angels will set it all up for you. Then we'll give you some more time to think of other things you might have overlooked and then we'll have to brick the door in and you'll stay there behind the wall for all eternity.'

The man set to work and didn't stop writing for weeks and weeks until finally he couldn't think of a single thing more he might want. He called St Peter and was amazed to see all his wishes fulfilled in an instant. It was magnificent, beautiful, incredible! What he liked most of all were all the people he had asked for to just be his servants.

After living in his paradise for some weeks he had filled another small mountain of paper sheets with things he had thought of. Then St Peter came to close up the doorway. The man was delighted with himself and his wonderful world. He said to St Peter, 'You know, when I was on earth I have to admit I did some pretty evil and rotten things, and I was never sorry. How come I get to go to heaven?'

St Peter answered abruptly, 'But this is not heaven'.

'But I have everything I've ever wanted,' said the man, 'so what is heaven like?'

St Peter told him, 'When they were making this wall, I noticed one of the angels was a little careless and left a tiny pinhole in the mortar. I think if you pull that cart up against the wall and put a barrel on it, and stand on tippy toe, I think you might be able to see a micro dot of heaven.'

The wall was sealed and the man immediately did as St Peter had suggested. He climbed up on the barrel and peered through the tiny hole. 'Wooooooooooooow!' he exclaimed and his mouth fell open. 'Woooooooooooooow!' he cried again.

Do you know, that man never got off that barrel. He has been standing there ever since, just staring at that microscopic bit of heaven."

Confessing well ..

It’s a simple thing to make a good Confession – you just name your sin and confess it to the priest. Here are some pitfalls to avoid.

• Avoid confessing other people’s sins. ‘My friend, wife, husband, etc. makes me so mad because they are always doing such and such, and, etc, …’

• Avoid telling the priest how good you are. ‘I’m really a good person. I do my job at work and look after my wife, husband, and, etc. …’

• Avoid telling the priest which sins you don’t commit. ‘I don’t steal or lie or deliberately hurt anyone or, etc …’

• Avoid telling the priest you ‘might have’ committed some sins. ‘Perhaps I could have been more kind, and maybe I could have been more honest, perhaps, and, etc …’

• Avoid confessing all the minor sins first and then the big ones at the end. Confess the ones you don’t want to confess – first.

• Avoid ‘generic’ confessions. ‘I’ve been a bit bad and not as nice as I could have been, and, etc ...’

• Avoid giving yourself advice – let the priest do that. ‘I know I will have to begin to pray more, and maybe if I made an effort to balance my prayer life with my work, etc, ...’

• Avoid confessing to yourself. ‘I feel I have let myself down and find it difficult to forgive myself. I must learn to be more true to myself and, etc ...’

• Avoid unnecessary detail. ‘Well, it was Tuesday, no Wednesday at 4pm and I was with my little sister at the park and we saw this woman who was walking along the path, actually, maybe it was Tuesday after all, yes, I think it was, etc ...’

• Avoid minimising your sins. ‘I only have small sins, like, you know, sins that everyone has, the normal sins, etc ...’

Making a good confession is not difficult really, it just needs some quiet time to prepare and then, as they say, name your sins and claim your sins. ‘Father, I’ve been taking things home from work, small things, but it’s still stealing.’ …. ‘Father, I’ve had an abortion. I have come to realise how wrong it was and I want to ask God’s forgiveness.’ …. ‘Father, I’ve been missing Mass through laziness and I took Holy Communion twice, knowing it was wrong to do so.’

Simple? Go for it!!

Let's play Mass ...

In his book, The Spirit of the Liturgy, Pope Benedict refers to worship as play. This sounds a little strange at first but when you consider what children are doing when they play it all becomes clearer.

Watch any little boy or girl playing. He has his toy truck, his model aeroplane or his tool set and she has her doll or her teaset, or some other toy. What are they really doing? They are playing at real life, adult life. They are practising for a life which is still to come, which will come when they are adults.

That's what we do at Mass. Aren't we rehearsing for heaven? Aren't we practising for that time which lies in the future, when we all gather for the heavenly banquet, the real Mass?

Playing is an activity of little children, adults move on to more serious things but to those who are too adult to play Mass Jesus might say: Unless you become like little children ....

Their faith or The Faith?

I read an article on youth in a Catholic monthly which spoke of youth and their faith. Speaking of youth and their faith is, of course, not the same as speaking of youth and the Faith but this fact seems routinely to escape the educational professionals.

Every single person I know has their faith but only a few have the Faith. Youth are no exception.

In a climate which elevates 'listening to youth' to a status higher than preaching the Gospel, I would submit that teachers would do much better to develop, not 'structures which give life to the voice of youth', as the author purposes, but structures which give life to the voice of Jesus to youth.

The author is very excited. There will be - welcoming, nurturing, affirming, listening, promoting, developing, connecting (and reconnecting) - the only trouble being that the subject and object of each of these verbs is the same – the people. We are going to do all these things to one another, and the youth will be doing it to each other too – an orgy of 'ministry' (I'm beginning to despise the word) in which the power of God seems to have been intentionally sidelined!

According to the article they are even going to promote better liturgies!

Pardon the emphatic voice but I say: Youth do not need better liturgies, they need better catechesis! Priests are not entertainers, and Mass is not entertainment. Its relevance is not in how enjoyable it is. Better liturgies pit one priest against another. “Oh, Fr Jake’s Masses are better than Fr Joe’s!”

Instead of noisy, self-conscious involvement we should be leading youth to the joy of authentic participation in communal worship: listening and responding, recollection, self-giving, awe, silence, gratitude - and an ability to see the supernatural presence in the human frailty and shortcomings of the congregation and the priest, and in the appearance of the Sacred Host.

More for less ... ?

Escalators are wonderful things. I like the flat ones you can walk up better than the moving stairways. Part of the pleasure is, of course, that you just stand on them and they do all the work, while, if you do choose to walk you get twice the speed for the same amount of energy.

I was on one this afternoon and feeling energetic I started walking up, and as that special 'why-can't-life-be-like-this-all-the-time' feeling came over me, I suddenly found myself wondering about, of all things, my daily Rosary.

I think it must have been that thought about saving energy on the escalator which somehow led me to the make a connection with saving time on the Rosary.

The Rosary is meant to be, and can be, a deeply contemplative prayer which invites our complete attention, all our 'prayerfulness'.

We may say the Rosary while out walking but it is not a good idea to go for a walk to say the Rosary, at least, that's what I've found.

There are so many things to dissipate our attentiveness during a walk that our prayer inevitably suffers. I can't read a book and listen to music at the same time - one of them eventually becomes 'background noise' but then, your experience may be different.

I will not sin again ..

When I was a youngster I was taught the Act of Contrition first by the Sisters of St Joseph and later by the Marist Brothers. It ran:

Oh, my God,
I am very sorry that I have sinned against you
because you are so good and,
with your help,
I will not sin again.

Those children, and often adults, who still remember how to make an Act of Contrition now seem to say:

and, with your help,

I will try not to sin again.

I confess this really annoys me big time. What people seem to have forgotten is that when we say 'I will not sin again' we are stating our intentions. In other words, I intend not to sin again. We have to do here with a present intention - not future behaviour.

Can you imagine the loving couple at the altar exchanging vows: 'I, Betty, take you, John. I will try to love you and I will try to honour you for the rest of my life?'

Or the witness in the court trial: 'I promise to try to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?'

When it comes to stating intentions we are not foretelling future behaviour and we should not reduce the fullness of our intention not to sin again to the possibility that, one day in the future, we may sin again.