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St
John the Apostle ~ Kippax
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CANBERRA,
AUSTRALIA |
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Parish Priest's Desk Archive to June05
• As announced last weekend, as of February there will be four full time members of the Parish Ministry Team. Marian England has kindly consented to join Jim Fallon, Mark Hanns and me. We have given her the title: ‘Parish Co-ordinator: Planning and Operations’. She will continue as Parish Secretary on Mondays and Fridays, and will also continue her special responsibility in the finance area. Thank you Marian. • Chris left early Monday morning to spend a short time with his family in Melbourne before leaving for Chicago in the first week of January. His email is still mcpheec@ozemail.com.au • Peter left straight after his profession on Sunday afternoon. After holidaying with his family in Mollymook he will go to the MSC house in Melbourne (1A Mountain Grove, Kew, Victoria 3101). • Jim and I wish you a happy and holy Christmas and a special blessing on your family on this Feast of the Holy Family. In the Heart of Jesus, Michael Since this is the first Compact for 2005, and since many of you do not have internet access, I will repeat here some of the matters that have already been posted on the parish website. The Archdiocesan tsunami collection is in excess of $250.000. The offerings from this parish towards that collection came to $10,174.00, with some moneys to be added from last weekend. While on the subject of collections, the Archbishop’s Christmas Appeal, collected at the Christmas Masses, came to $2,869.00. This has been forwarded to the Archbishop. We held the funeral Mass for Therese Markham on Monday 10th January. It was celebrated by Father Dermid McDermott, parish priest of Queanbeyan, a close friend of the family. We have been offering Masses, too, for Evelyn Smyth, sister of Margaret Conlon, who died in Scotland. Anna Pisciotta is back home after suffering a severe heart attack, and Eamonn Murtagh is recovering from a major operation. Bill Quade is also back home. Our prayers are with them and with all the sick of the parish. Peter Hendriks enjoyed his holiday with his family and is now at our MSC house in Melbourne (1A Mountain Grove, Kew 3101: phone 03 9817 2968). Chris McPhee has arrived in Chicago (complete with snow!) and sends his love. His contact details are … His email remains mcpheec@ozemail.com.au Mark Hanns will arrive here next week and will be celebrating the Masses with you on 29th-30th January. He is looking forward to catching up with you all. Father Jim is in Sydney this weekend. Our eldest brother turns 80 and there is a family celebration on Sunday evening. I have to start getting some exercise and over the past two weeks have walked the streets of the parish to get an idea of its boundaries, and with a view to begin becoming familiar with different neighbourhoods. If you see me in the street and it is hot, the offer of a glass of water would always be welcomed. As you can see and hear, Mark Hanns has arrived. We welcome him, and, no doubt those of you who were here ten years ago will welcome him back with open hearts. He will be giving special care to the youth in Antioch and in our schools. He arrived late Wednesday night and has already met the staff of St Francis Xavier and St John the Apostle. Thanks to bishop Pat Power who celebrated Mass here last Sunday night, I was able to join Jim in Sydney and be present at a wonderful family party for our elder brother Brian’s 80th birthday. It was wonderful to see his wife, Mary, their seven children and twenty-one (and a half) grandchildren honouring a truly wonderful family man. If you were at the Christmas Masses here at Saint John’s you would be aware that for the past year, as an initiative of the Parish Pastoral Council, a small group of generous parishioners have been preparing material to launch a programme called ‘Catholics Returning Home’. A small blue leaflet was included in the carol book and people were invited to take it home either for themselves or for someone they might know. An updated version of this leaflet is available today on the table in the foyer for those interested, and shortly invitation cards will also be available, for the time is fast approaching for the beginning of the programme. We would ask you for your prayers and to take this opportunity (if you judge it appropriate) to invite people you know and love to take this as a moment of grace, that they might think of re-engaging with the faith-community and bringing their gifts to enrich our community. If you go to the parish website and click on the ‘faith formation’ link (or type in the web address www.stjohnkippax.org.au/faith/catholicsreturn.htm) you will find the following information. I include it here for those of you who do not have access to the internet. At Christmas time many of us return to the Church to celebrate Jesus' birth. We often return, too, at Easter to celebrate his death and resurrection. This year a group of friendly parishioners have been working on a program called Catholics Returning Home, which is designed to help people who perhaps attend Mass once or twice a year who might want to come more regularly, but are unsure how to go about it, or have unresolved hurts. The program runs for six weeks, an hour and a half per night, one night a week. It will commence on Thursday, 31 March 2005 at 7:30pm in the library at St John the Apostle Church, cnr Blackham and Chave Streets, Kippax (Holt). The program allows you to learn what it means to be a Catholic today, and provides opportunities for you to air your concerns or grievances. The program will be run by a committed, outreaching group from our parish. They will guide you through a series of talks. If your experience of Church this Christmas was a positive one, or you are someone who wants to see where the Catholic community is in this post-Vatican Two period, then this program may be just what you are looking for. We certainly hope so. On the front page please find details of the Regional Assembly. Planning for this meeting began on Wednesday 2nd February at a meeting that the parish coordinator, Marian England, and I attended. This is a major step in facilitating regional cooperation in implementing the vision of last year’s synod. A book of 120 pages recording the presentations and recommendations of the synod has been available for your perusal in the parish office since August last year. I also have a 20 page published summary of the Archbishop’s response to the synod recommendations. Anyone is welcome to peruse this as well. Two matters on the agenda of the regional assembly need explanation. 1. At 9:40 parish nominees for the diocesan pastoral council will be presented. Each parish is entitled to nominate two parishioners who are to fill out a personal profile form offering ways in which they could contribute to the life and work of the diocesan pastoral council. There are seven parishes in our region which means that there could be 14 people nominated. There will, however, be only 5 people selected at the regional assembly and the archbishop will choose only 1 of these for the council. In light of the short time available and the fact that only 1 person from the whole Belconnen-Gungahlin region will be on the council, the Parish Pastoral Council has asked Sabina Van Rooy to be our nominee and she has generously accepted. If you think we should nominate someone else as well please tell me. 2. Many parishes have had a parish assembly to talk over the results of the synod and to initiate strategies to implement the recommendations. They will be presenting their reports at the regional assembly. With the change in administration here in Kipp;ax this has not happened. If I understand the situation correctly, Father Chris and the PPC judged that we already had a lot happening in the parish and a number of initiatives in process. It was judged better to continue to put energy into what was happening, since it fitted so well with the synod recommendations. We will not have time to have a parish assembly before 12th March and I think there is good logic in what was decided late last year. Therefore, I have gone through the synod recommendations and listed some of the things that are already happening in the parish as well as initiatives that are already under way or about to be launched. Each parish is asked to present a single page to the regional assembly and a copy of what I propose to offer is available on the table in the foyer for your reading. The idea is to help promote regional cooperation. Please do not be hurt if areas of your own generous involvement are not listed. It is by no means meant to be a complete listing (which, thank God, in this parish would take many pages!). Suggestions are welcome. Appended Aspects of the life of the Catholic Community of St John the Apostle, Kippax, in the light of the recommendations of the Archdiocesan Synod of 2004 and the Archbishop’s response. The Synod recommendations covered 12 areas. The first 8 are parish-based. For a fuller description of what is happening in Kippax Parish see our website www.stjohnkippax.org.au and follow the links. 1. Personal Prayer Life and Prayer in the Home • The parish is organising a year of reflection on the Psalms • We propose to continue the ‘Busy Person’s Retreat’ programme that has been running for a number of years, and we offer ongoing spiritual direction. • We continue to support and encourage the charismatic prayer group, and the various prayer and meditation groups within the parish. • We are continuing the ‘Family Based Sacramental program’. 2. Our parishes in a new light • The inclusion of a lay parish co-ordinator on the parish administration team is a further step in the development of a truly collaborative parish ministry. • This year we are committed to organising neighbourhood communities within the parish. Much of the ‘Care and Concern’ initiatives will be linked to the neighbourhood community. • After a year of preparation we are launching the ‘Catholics Returning Home’ programme in March. 3. Promoting Contemporary Liturgy • The Parish Liturgy Committee is committed to continue working on this. • We intend looking into preparing lay people to conduct Funeral Services 4. Our Schools – Partnership in Ministry • We continue to support existing initiatives in this important area. 5. Church in the World • The parish continues its support to our Refugee Resettlement Committee 6. Adult Faith Formation • We are committed to a year’s lectures on Scripture publicised throughout the Archdiocese. • We are committed to continue education in Heart Spirituality, also open to all. 7. Fostering Ecumenical and Interfaith Engagement • The parish priest will continue meeting with the pastors of the neighbouring churches and we will be looking for other ways of fostering ecumenical and interfaith engagement. 8. The Voices of Young People • We continue our support for the Antioch Movement and for the younger teenage Xtreme group, as well as the involvement of young people in our Parish Pastoral Council. Father Jim celebrates the Diamond Jubilee of his profession as an MSC on 26th February. He will be celebrating the 10:00am Mass on Sunday 27th. This will be followed by a special coffee club celebration. All are invited. Unfortunately I will be away in Sydney that weekend for a wedding. The Archbishop is calling for nominations for membership of the Commission for Women. The Catholic ‘Voice’ has given background to this. Interested individuals can self-nominate, provided that their nomination is witnessed by another person. The Archbishop writes: ‘It is envisaged that there will be up to nine members and that membership will reflect a balance of women and men, clergy, religious and lay women and men.’ The Parish Council has nominated Mary Moran who has generously agreed. If anyone wishes to self nominate, I have the criteria and also the form that is to be completed. Thanks to Trevor Sutch’s fine workmanship we now have two notice boards in the foyer. There is an area for general current notices, and areas designated for the use of various groups within this parish. Thanks also to Bert Broekhuyse for the bracket in the sacristy that holds the crucifix. According to the forms handed in last weekend, 110 people want singing at the 8:30 Sunday Mass and 65 do not. Since 65 is a sizable minority, it seems to me that the fairest solution is to have singing led by the parish choir on the 1st and 3rd Sundays, and stay with the quiet background music on the other Sundays. That way both opinions are respected. The choir has agreed to keep the singing relatively simple. I know that I indicated my own preference for singing, but this was not a personal whim. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal has this to say: ‘The faithful who gather together to await the Lord’s coming are instructed by the Apostle Paul to sing psalms, hymns and inspired songs (see Colossians 3:16). Song is the sign of the heart’s joy (see Acts 2:46). Thus Saint Augustine says rightly: “To sing belongs to lovers.” There is also the ancient proverb: “One who sings well prays twice.” With due consideration for the culture and ability of each congregation, great importance should be attached to the use of singing at Mass.’ You will notice that the organ has been restored to the church. We expect that it will need some maintenance, and as soon as that has been organised the organ will be available for use whenever required. We would remind you please to keep the driveway clear for taxis and for parking for the disabled. If these park always on the side nearest the building, the other side will always be free for access. Thank you. 445 households filled in the census papers over the past two weekends (104 at the Saturday 6:00 Mass; 107 at the Sunday 8:30 Mass; 108 at the 10:00 Mass; and 126 at the Sunday 6:00 Mass). Thank you. If you were away would you please fill in the Census (and the Time and Talent on the reverse side). Sheets are available in the foyer. One of the immediate results of the census is that we are able to launch the ‘Neighbourhood Community’ project. Within the parish boundaries of St John the Apostle, Kippax, we have established 20 neighbourhood areas. At the moment I am visiting parishioners to set up a contact person or persons in each neighbourhood, so that we can more efficiently meet people’s needs in each of the small areas. Unlike other groups in the parish the ‘Neighbourhood Communities’ are essentially geographic. The hope is that no one will feel left out and that we can respond to Jesus’ words that we ‘love your neighbour as yourself’. For further details please see the attached sheet. I will be away in Sydney this weekend celebrating a wedding. In the Heart of Jesus, Michael. Appended Neighbourhood Community 1. The goal The parish (thank God) is too big for people to really get to know each other in such a way that they feel fully part of the parish community. 442 households filled in the recent parish census. By dividing the parish into smaller neighbourhood areas, and by setting up structures that facilitate people within those smaller neighbourhoods to get to know each other better, it is hoped to create an even better sense of community that will also affect the larger parish. As people get to know the people in their neighbourhood, there is more opportunity for friends introducing them on a broader scale. What distinguishes Neighbourhood Communities from other groups within the parish is that it is essentially geographic. If a person lives in a certain neighbourhood they belong to that neighbourhood community automatically. People obviously need other groups (Charismatic prayer group, Catholic Women’s League, Family groups, Teams of Our Lady, Cursillo etc – just to name a few), but these are not organised geographically (nor should they be). The Neighbourhood Community has only one aim, and that is to encourage community within a neighbourhood, and to look after our neighbours such that gifts and needs come together in simple ways, and ‘loving one’s neighbour’ becomes a richer reality. 2. The strategy • Within the geographical boundaries of the parish of Saint John the Apostle, Kippax, we have organised 21 neighbourhood communities, names after the suburb. There are 8 neighbourhoods in Holt, 6 in Latham, 4 in Higgins, 2 in Macgregor and 1 in Florey. Experience may suggest changes in these areas. • In each neighbourhood there is a contact person (or couple). There is no expectation of meetings. These will happen only when and if requested by the contact person. Nor is there any expectation of visitation. Visiting will only happen when the contact person wants to do this for a specific reason. • Some of the needs that may emerge within the neighbourhood are the following. The contact person may be happy to carry out some of these services, but others within the area may also be willing. : visiting new parishioners : taking communion to anyone who is sick & visiting them in hospital : visiting those who are grieving : getting to know families with children at school who may have little contact with the worshipping Sunday community. : cooking a meal for a neighbour in need : driving people to church who need it • These are meant only as examples. The idea is to involve as many people as are willing, but each involvement will be small, being limited to the neighbourhood. Of course, people can do whatever they are moved to do. This is not in any way restrictive. The aim is to set up a strategy that makes sure that everyone is being looked after, and people are getting to know and love their neighbours better. In some cases the contact persons in the neighbourhood may want to do one or other of the above themselves or they may find people willing and able to offer themselves. However, their key role is to know what is happening in the neighbourhood and to oversee what is going on, especially being in close liaison with the presbytery. I have no news to report, so thought I might share with you a reflection on Lent. The crucifixion is about the price Jesus paid for his commitment to give his life to liberate the poor and oppressed (Luke 4:18), and the resurrection is the proof that he got it right, and that God is as Jesus believed him to be. Everything in the Church today is demanding that, as persons and as communities, we who wish to be disciples of Jesus make the same fundamental option that he made. The present Pope speaks about this incessantly, as did Paul VI. If Lent is to be true for us we have to face this squarely, and we are encouraged to do all we can to make the church community to which we belong make the same option, for we are not in this as individuals and we cannot avoid taking responsibility for the systems within which we choose to work. I am aware that there are misunderstandings abroad about what a fundamental option for the poor entails. Albert Nolan OP provides important clarification: ‘The option for the poor is an uncompromising and unequivocal taking of sides in a situation of structural conflict. It is not a matter of preaching to some people rather than to others, or a matter of being generous to the ‘under-privileged’, or a judgment about the personal guilt of the rich, or even, in the first instance, a matter of life-style. It is the assertion that Christian faith entails, for everyone and as part of its essence, the taking of sides in the structural conflict between the oppressor and the oppressed … A thoroughgoing option for the poor includes the willingness to question one’s assumptions and to learn from those who are oppressed. It is only after one has learned to have confidence in the ability of the oppressed to promote their own cause and to bring about their own liberation that one can begin to share that struggle with them and to make a contribution in real solidarity with all those who have taken an option against oppression.’ The words of Abbé Pierre are also relevant: ‘Let us never lose our living conviction that it is not necessary to wait until we are splendid people before we can do splendid things. That would probably mean waiting a long time, too long in fact! We need only to understand one splendid thing and then try to base our whole life upon it: and that thing is that the person we must help in all things is the person who is suffering the most.’ A fortnight ago we attached to the Compact a sheet explaining that we are in process of dividing the parish into 20 neighbourhood communities. The goal is to facilitate the building of local community (‘love your neighbour’), so that everyone’s needs are met in the most simple and direct way, and many people can readily be involved in contributing in small ways within their own neighbourhood, knowing that the other 19 neighbourhood areas are being looked after by others. This project is necessarily limited to the physical boundaries of the parish. Hopefully, the needs of parishioners who live outside the boundaries will be met as they are being met at present. I am pleased to say that people have generously accepted to be contact persons in each of the areas. The area name and contact persons are listed below. Outside in the church foyer is a list of the street names that are in each neighbourhood. If you ascertain the name given to your neighbourhood community, you will also know from the list below the contact person for that area. The hope is that the area will grow together in natural ways as needs emerge, each neighbourhood at its own pace, and according to the gifts of the Catholic households in the area. For further details please consult the Compact for 27th February, or the parish website (www.stjohnkippax.org.au). Click on link to Pastoral and then link to Neighbourhood Communities. Contact person(s) for the neighbourhood communities in HOLT
Contact persons for the neighbourhood communities in HIGGINS
Contact persons for the neighbourhood communities in LATHAM
Contact persons for the neighbourhood communities in MACGREGOR
Contact persons for the neighbourhood community in FLOREY
On Passion (‘Palm’) Sunday the liturgy has two focal points. The Gospel of the Passion, taken this year from Matthew, prepares us for Holy Week. The length and subject matter of the Gospel and the practice of reading it in parts give this a special prominence. However, the ceremony opens with the blessing of branches and a re-enactment of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. Unfortunately, once the procession is completed our attention is rather too quickly diverted to the passion. As you know, the excitement of the entry of the ‘Messiah’ into Jerusalem and the Temple ends in a terrible anti-climax. Jesus found the religious institution symbolised by the temple to be not a vehicle of grace but a barrier to it. He was forced to empty it. This is our final chance as we begin Holy Week to ask him to cleanse away whatever in our hearts is a barrier to grace. More importantly, we are asked to take a good look at the institution of the church, especially as it is lived in our local community. This Sunday should be one day when the Vatican takes a good look at itself to check whether its way of functioning is according to the Spirit of Jesus. The same goes for the local diocesan church, and for us as a parish within the archdiocese. It is obvious that there is much goodness in the parish community. Jesus must be smiling upon us. However, we know never to be complacent. I am sure that everyone in the parish can see ways in which we could improve the quality of our community life by improving our response to Jesus’ command: ‘Love one another as I have loved you’. There will, of course, be differences of opinion in many areas and every community has to learn lovingly to live with diversity. If, however, you can see ways of us improving our life as a parish, please alert me to it. Jesus wept over Jerusalem and emptied the temple there. We hope that he would not have to weep as he enters our community. We are called to work together to help our parish community grow to be a better instrument of grace to those outside, and a better way of holiness for those within. In the Heart of Jesus, Michael. The Year of the Eucharist. Some suggestions for Celebration from the Archdiocesan Liturgical Commission.
In the Heart of Jesus, Michael. Because of the article on the Resurrection in last Saturday’s Canberra Times and the subsequent media attention, I thought that I owe it to you as your parish priest to offer a clearer explanation than is possible in a newspaper. Firstly I must say that Graham Downie gave a fair exposition of our phone conversation, and, as you would expect, when he quotes me he quotes accurately. I cannot say the same about the article in the Sunday Times by Elizabeth Bellamy with whom I have had no contact and whose article seems to me to muddy the waters, not clarify them. The key problem with talking about the physical body of the risen Jesus is that both ‘physical’ and ‘body’ are open to a range of different understandings. Our language best describes what we ordinarily experience. It is necessarily inadequate to speak about the profound mysteries of our faith. Take Graham Downie’s article. He correctly says that ‘Fallon teaches and believes in the physical resurrection’ (Elizabeth says the opposite!). This is something that I stressed in our phone conversation. Yet the heading of the article reads: ‘Three theologians explain that the resurrection was not physical’. A reader might reasonably be confused. It depends on what one means by ‘physical’. If we mean of the same matter or substance that we have in this life, the New Testament (as I also said) is perfectly clear that the risen ‘body’ is not the same as the body we now have. It is like Jesus’ risen and glorious ‘body’. In his First Letter to the Corinthians, having insisted on the central importance of our belief in the resurrection, Paul writes: ‘Someone will ask: How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?’(1Corinthians 15:35). Paul considers the question foolish, and goes on to speak about all the different kinds of bodies that we know. He concludes by stating that the body that we now have is defined in relation to our soul (Greek: psychikos), whereas ‘it is raised a spiritual body’(defined in relation to the Spirit; 1Cor 15:44). The word ‘physical’ comes from the Greek word ‘physis’, which means nature. Our faith is that the whole of Jesus person, all that makes him human, is raised by God to life, but so transformed that it is beyond description or comprehension. We believe that it will be so also for us, but we must know that any attempt to imagine or describe in familiar terms what the risen ‘body’ will be like must be inadequate and can be distracting and even lead to the kinds of ideas that Paul rightly considered to be ‘foolish’. When tradition insists (as I do) on the ‘physical’ resurrection, we are being told that the risen person is not some whisp-like, wraith-like ghost such as people imagined inhabited Hades (or the Jewish Sheol). We believe that Jesus’ whole human reality has been taken by God in God’s eternal embrace, totally transformed in love by the power of God’s Spirit. ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him’(1Corinthians 2:9). If you wish to know my reflections on the resurrection in fuller detail, there is a chapter in my commentaries on each of the Gospels, published by Chevalier Press (02 9662 7894). You will notice a number of things in the church: 1. The old altar has been restored. This is something that Chris and I spoke about on a number of occasions, but never got around to doing. Thanks to Mark’s practical skills, and the generous assistance of Trevor Sutch who restored the altar table, and Peter Spencer who re-welded the metal frame, we can now, once again, enjoy the architectural harmony and beauty of the sanctuary area. The candle-stands that were needed with the smaller altar are no longer needed. They were generously donated by Greg Farrugia who is happy to take them back and put them to another use. 2. The edges on the steps in the sanctuary area (technically called ‘stair nosing’) have been replaced. The old ones were wearing and it was judged that there was a danger of people catching their heels and tripping. 3. The large sliding door has been fixed. This, too, is thanks to Mark. 4. As explained at Mass last weekend, a centre aisle was created for a wedding. We wondered whether you might prefer to keep it. As far as the priests are concerned we are perfectly happy with either arrangement. As with many things there are advantages and disadvantages. We will seek your judgment on the weekend of May 7-8. Please give some thought to this. Perhaps the main disadvantage of this aisle is well expressed in an email that I received during the week. It reads: ‘A large core of people in the centre of the church restates the communal aspect of the “Body of Christ”. One of the things we really like about St John’s Kippax is the community atmosphere generated by this large body. The shape of the church also enables people to look at and be with one another. The introduction of the central aisle interrupts this “togetherness”. You may see other disadvantages. The advantages are practical ones. It gives us more flexibility for processions, including the bridal entrance (which was why we created it, intending it originally to be just for the occasion of that particular wedding). At funerals the positioning of the coffin has been awkward. This is now overcome. It is also easier for those cleaning the church. Some think that the centre aisle better highlights the centrality of the altar and the architectural harmony of the altar and pulpit. Incidentally, to create the aisle we had to lose 13 seats. We cannot afford to do this, so we have put 16 seats along the middle back wall, slightly increasing the seating capacity of the church, from 352 to 355. Mark is taking the opportunity of the school holidays to have a fortnight’s break. We trust he will enjoy the seaside and return to us with renewed energy, and continue his much appreciated contribution to the life of our parish community, especially in his work among the young. Just a reminder to those of you with access to the internet of what can be found on the parish website. When you go to the home page (www.stjohnkippax.org.au) on the top right hand side you find a place where you can type in your email address to receive our weekly parish bulletin by email. Under that is a list of links which take you to various parts of our website. Here is a brief description of what you will find:
Because of his high profile in the Church as Prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and the position he has taken on many issues throughout the papacy of John-Paul II, the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as pope will be welcomed by many with joy, by others with indifference, and by yet others with initial disappointment. Such a variety of responses is natural and to be expected in a community as large and all-embracing as the Catholic Church. Moreover we soon recognise that such initial reactions are of little importance. What matters is that our responses come from our faith. Let us reflect briefly on two things: on the role of the pope, and on the place of the Holy Spirit in the election process. The media speaks of the pope as though he were the general manager of the Church. Words like ‘running the Church’, ‘governing the church’, ‘in charge of the Church’ are a commonplace. They are also a nonsense. Such terms sit awkwardly in the community of Jesus’ disciples. If they are to be used at all, they must be used with great care and are best applied to the local bishop. In the case of the Pope, this means the diocese of Rome. In our case it means the diocese of Canberra-Goulburn. Our faith assures us that each local faith community has all the gifts needed to live a Christian life in community. The greatest gift is, of course, love, and so the most important leaders are the leaders in love. We do need gifts of management, and organisational leadership in the local community is exercised by the local bishop, not the Pope. In recent history for quite complex reasons that do not include faith there has emerged a strong centralised government in the Church. This has not always been the case nor has it always been possible throughout the long history of the Church. It could change without in any way lessening the importance of the papacy as an institution in the Church. In his encyclical ‘That they may all be one’(1995), Pope John-Paul II offered a lengthy reflection on what he calls ‘the ministry of unity of the Bishop of Rome’(§§88-96). He quotes Vatican II, which speaks of the Pope’s ministry as that of the ‘perpetual and visible principle of unity’. He insists that ‘primacy’ must not be separated from service, quoting Jesus: ‘I am among you as one who serves’(Luke 22:27). He asks forgiveness for the times that the papacy has not been exercised in this way. Matthew has Jesus choosing Peter as the rock when Peter has acknowledged that Jesus is the Messiah, the one who brings about the reign of God’s love and is the answer to all our human hopes and dreams (Matthew 16:16). At Jesus’ trial Peter failed but Jesus asked him: ‘when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers’(Luke 22:32). On one occasion, Jesus accused Peter of being a hindrance to the carrying out of God’s will (Matthew 16:23). History demonstrates that popes can be, too. So we pray for Pope Benedict XVI that he will be open to the grace that will certainly be offered to him to nurture and encourage unity in the church through the communion of all the local communities that make up the Body of Christ in the world. As Pope John-Paul insists, all that the pope does ‘must be done in communion’(§95). He goes on to pray: ‘I insistently pray the Holy Spirit to shine his light upon us, enlightening all the pastors and theologians of our churches, that we may seek – together, of course – the forms in which the ministry of the Bishop of Rome may accomplish a service of love recognised by all’(§95). This brief reflection is lacking in specifics, so why not read what Pope John-Paul II says in the encyclical? As to the relationship of the Holy Spirit to the election, our faith assures us that the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the risen Jesus, is with us ‘always, to the end of time’(Matthew 28:20). This means that God was certainly inspiring the cardinals to choose a pope after God’s own heart. However, knowledge of papal elections over the centuries demonstrates that motives other than faith have played a part. Our faith does not give us any assurance that the cardinals followed God’s inspiration, but surely we can hope that that is what they did. In any case the key point of faith is that whether they did or did not listen, God is love and he will be guiding Pope Benedict XVI to do God’s will and to be an instrument of grace to the Church and the world. Our prayer for the Pope should be the same as our prayer for everyone else: a prayer that he will listen humbly to grace and act courageously in response to God’s inspiration. If he does that we will all be graced. Let us hold Pope Benedict XVI in our hearts and lift them up in prayer for him, for ourselves, for our Church and for the world. A fortnight ago I detailed for you what is available on the parish website. Today I thought to do the same for my personal website (michaelfallonmsc.com), which is concerned primarily with adult education. Some of the content may be of interest to you. • For a list of my recently (1997-2004) published books, click on the link Books. The books themselves are available from the Catholic Bookshop in Favier House. The commentaries, which cover the whole of the New Testament, can be found also in our own bookshop here in the church foyer, and I have supplies in my office. • Over recent years I have also given series of lectures covering the whole of the New Testament, as well as some of the Old Testament. Also a series on Prayer, another series on love, and a number of miscellaneous topics. These are all available from me on CDs. A list of what is available can be found by clicking on the link Cds. • There are also links which offer you reading matter covering lectures that I have given on various topics of the Old Testament (unpublished). If you are interested in the latest information on Old Testament studies, there is a series on Introduction to the Old Testament. In a series of 7 lectures you will find 83 pages of maps, dates etc covering the development of the Old Testament Bible (the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings). • The link Genesis 1-11 will take you to 5 lectures with over 40 pages covering the fascinating material on Creation, Adam and Eve, the Flood and the Tower of Babel. This will keep you ahead of what your children are learning in school! • The link Exodus will take you to 5 lectures (over 30 pages) taking you through the most central book of the Old Testament, the Book of Exodus. • The link Isaiah will take you to 5 lectures (over 30 pages) guiding you through the complex but exceptionally beautiful material in the Book of Isaiah. • The link Psalms does not, as yet, have any content except to inform you of where I am up to in the current series of lectures being offered here in the Parish Centre. • The link Homilies offers you a homily on the Sunday Readings (I try to have it there a few days before the Sunday), as well as a record of the homilies from the past two or so months. • The link Articles offers a reflection on various random topics that I think might be of interest. • The link Links offers a number of very interesting web addresses on a series of topics. I have made these available also on the parish website. • Finally, the link Contact me offers you my email address and a means of contacting me should you be so inclined. Jim and I will be away this weekend, officiating at the wedding of one of our nieces in Kincumber. Mark will be celebrating all Masses and Baptisms. I thought this week to share with you two statements by Karl Rahner SJ on the place of a priest in today’s world. The first is quoted by our recently elected provincial, Tim Brennan MSC, and the second by the Australian Marist priest, John Thornhill SM. The priest is not an angel sent from heaven. He is a man, a member of the Church, a Christian. Remaining man and Christian, he begins to speak to you the word of God. This word is not his own. No, he comes to you because God has told him to proclaim God’s word. Perhaps he has not entirely understood it himself. Perhaps he adulterates it. Perhaps he falters and stammers. How else could he speak God’s word, ordinary man that he is? But must not some of us say something about God, about eternal life, about the majesty of grace in our sanctified being; must not some of us speak of sin, the judgment and mercy of God? The priest … can bring life to the preaching of the Gospel only if he is a mystagogue of that ultimate, internal, religious experience of God and God’s grace, without which no one can in the long run resist the pressure of a secularised environment and remain a Christian. The priest is to do this only as well as and as far as it is granted to him. Without this the pastor will be little more than a cultic and ecclesiastical official celebrating ceremonies that are no longer credible … The ability to pray ought not to be seen as one among a number of occupations in his life, but as the basic structure of his existence. He acceptance of the presence of the absolute mystery facing everyone is dependent on his praying, as is his truly living the mystery in freedom. The priest today is primarily the servant of others’ faith. Finally, if you can access the internet, why not click on to our parish website, go to Administration, then click on Resident priest (Father Jim). We have just put on the web a poem that he composed on ‘Calvary’. I was going to use it for this column, but it doesn’t fit neatly into columns. You will find it a help to your prayer. The following hymn attributed to the English priest and poet, Stephen Langdon (died 1228), is chosen by the Church as a special sequence for the Feast of Pentecost. You may find it helpful as a reflection. Holy Spirit, Lord of light, from the clear celestial height, Come, O Father of the poor, come with treasures which endure, You, of all consolers best, you, the soul’s delightful guest, You in toil are comfort sweet; pleasant coolness in the heat; Light immortal, light divine, visit now these hearts of thine If you take your grace away, nothing pure in us will stay, Heal our wounds, our strength renew; on our dryness pour your dew; Bend the stubborn heart and will; melt the frozen; warm the chill; We pray to you, who evermore you confess and you adore, Give us comfort when we die; give us life with you on high; A report on the voting for the centre aisle. 843 people voted. 749 (89%) preferred to retain the aisle. 94 (11%) preferred to remove the aisle. Breaking this down according to Masses: 6:00 Saturday 147 (83%) prefer the aisle, 30 (17%) prefer no aisle. 8:30 Sunday 135 (96%) prefer the aisle, 6(4%) prefer no aisle. 10:00 Sunday 220 (88%) prefer the aisle, 31 (12%) prefer no aisle. 6:00 Sunday 247 (90%) prefer the aisle, 27 (10%) prefer no aisle. Thank you for participating in this vote. We believe in One God. We speak of Trinity Instead of thinking of the Trinity in terms of an abstruse mathematical conundrum, we should first think in terms of the man Jesus, of the God whom he prayed to as ‘Father’ [Abba], and of the Spirit of communion which bound Jesus to God in love. Only as we contemplate this can we project our frail human thoughts to speak of the inner mystery of a God who is God, Word and Spirit in communion in love. Some thirty or so years ago I was chaplain at the University of NSW. One day a young man who was working as a gardener popped into my office and asked me to explain the Trinity to him. Fortunately I had enough sense to pause and to ask him first how he saw it. In a way that nicely avoided abstraction, he went straight to the heart of the mystery by speaking of the Trinity in terms of dance. He said that he thought of the Father as the Dance. We cannot grasp a dance without someone who dances. He thought of Jesus as the Dancer. However, we will never know a dance just by watching. We have to enter into the dance with the Dancer. He thought the Spirit as the Dancing. One could speak of God as Life, of Jesus as the one who lived this life and of the Spirit as the experience of living. Perhaps best of all one can speak of God as Love. But what is love if we have no one to love us? Jesus is the Lover who expresses God’s love. He has ‘poured the Spirit of love into our hearts’(Romans 5:5), and it is the Spirit of communion between Jesus and God that is the loving that we enjoy in the communion of the Church. Writers on religious experience speak of the numinous and the mystical. The numinous is our experience of God coming to us from outside: from nature, from people, from the events of our lives. The divine comes to us when we encounter the world around us. In the tradition of Israel, this is spoken of as God’s Word to us. The mystical is our experience of God at the depths of our own being. In the tradition of Israel this is spoken of as an experience of God’s Spirit. Revelation happens when the outer Word and the inner Spirit come together. Jesus is God’s ‘focal Word’ – God’s Word expressed perfectly in a human way. And it is Jesus’ Spirit that is poured into our hearts. Knowing that God is Spirit reminds us to be attentive to the divinely inspired movements of our own heart: movements of longing as we yearn for closer communion with him whose Spirit inspires us; movements of wonder and praise as we rejoice in his being with us; movement of trust as we confide ourselves to God’s love; movements of pleading as we give expression to our needs. Knowing that God is Spirit reminds us to be sensitive to these same movements in every man and every woman. Knowing that God is Word reminds us to be attentive to the words and actions through which God speaks to us, and the words and actions through which we respond to him. Knowing that God is Father, we learn to reverence the sacred ground of each person’s spirit, and be attentive to each person’s word, as together we journey towards him who is the Father of all. Let Saint John of the Cross have the last word: ‘God dwells within you. You are yourself the tabernacle, his secret hiding place. Rejoice, exult, for all you could possibly desire, all your heart’s longing is so close, so intimate as to be within you; you cannot be without God’(Spiritual Canticle 1,7). In today’s feast we celebrate the Eucharist. I thought to offer for your reflection some statements from the Catholic Catechism on the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of love-communion between Jesus and his Father) and the Mass: ‘The Holy Spirit gives a spiritual understanding of the Word of God to those who read or hear it, according to the disposition of their hearts. By means of the words, actions, and symbols that form the structure of the celebration, the Spirit puts both the faithful and the ministers into a living relationship with Christ, the Word and Icon of the Father, so that they can live out the meaning of what they hear, contemplate and do in the celebration’(n. 1101). ‘The proclamation does not stop with a teaching; it elicits the response of faith as consent and commitment, directed at the covenant between God and his people. Once again it is the Holy Spirit who gives the grace of faith, strengthens it and makes it grow in the community. The liturgical assembly is first of all a communion in faith’(n.1102). ‘The Epiclesis [a prayer prayed during the Canon of the Mass] is the intercession in which the priest begs the Father to send the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier, so that the offerings may become the Body and Blood of Christ and that the faithful, by receiving them, may themselves become a living offering to God’(n.1105). ‘In every liturgical action the Holy Spirit is sent in order to bring us into communion with Christ and so to form his Body. The Holy Sprit is like the sap of the Father’s vine, which bears fruit on its branches. The most intimate cooperation of the Holy Spirit and the Church is achieved in the liturgy. The Spirit, who is the Spirit of communion, abides indefectibly in the Church. For this reason the Church is the great sacrament of divine communion which gathers God’s scattered children together. Communion with the Holy Trinity and fraternal communion are inseparably the fruit of the Spirit in the liturgy’(n.1108). As you know, last week Father Jim, Mark and I attended the Clergy Assembly at Galong. The topic was ‘Partnership in Ministry’ and the two key presenters were Bishop Geoff Robinson, retired Catholic Bishop, Sydney, and Mrs Lynlea Rodgers from St Mark’s Anglican National Theological Centre. The material offered to us was very good, and it was good to spend time with the archbishop, priests and deacons from the Archdiocese and talk about our priestly ministry and how we might collaborate with the many and varied lay ministries in our parish communities. As a new parish priest, and so as one who has much to learn, I was impressed to hear it said that it is so important for a priest to listen and to pick up the ‘spirit’ of a particular parish community. I also felt a deep gratitude for the way in which you welcomed me, and for the abundant life of the parish community here at Saint Johns. At the same time we must always be open to Jesus’ Spirit inspiring us to keep growing, to keep open to welcome new parishioners, and to be on the look out to deepen caring relationships with parishioners who have been in the community for some time, but who still do not feel part of it, people with gifts for ministry who have never been asked, or who continue to feel uncomfortable to offer. I hope that those of us with leadership roles in the parish want to be open to learn, so please don’t be shy to make suggestions as to how we can improve. One key area that has concerned me for a while is the area of adult growth in faith. As part of my own contribution in this area, I am planning in 2006 to offer classes on the Catholic Catechism (which means leaving aside lectures on the Scriptures for a year). There is also an English DVD lecture series [called CAFÉ] on the Catholic faith, which is being used in Charnwood. I have plans to purchase this program and get it going here in the spring. I am also planning to get together various groups of those who are responsible for various ministries in the parish, to check on how things are going and on whether further resources are needed. If you are in such a group and want to get together please let me know. No doubt there are many areas that need attention and care as we help build the Body of Christ in this part of Canberra. Signage in driveway. You will have noticed signs painted on the driveway, indicating one-way traffic, and allowing for the parking of three cars for the disabled. (Obviously, during the week, when numbers parking are few, these three parking bays may be used by anyone visiting the church or presbytery). In due time standing signs will be added. Proper access for service vehicles is the basic reason for this. The no parking on the upper car park is to enable the cars in the parking zones to back safely. It means we lose a small number of spaces there, but safety is necessarily a priority. I trust that you will see the sense of these signs and will comply with them. This is by way of advance notice that Sunday 26th June is Jubilee Sunday. Australians are being called to act together for 100% cancellation of unpayable and unjust debt of countries trapped in the debt poverty cycle. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is hosting the G8 summit of world leaders in Scotland, July 6-8. This aims at getting nations to keep their word and cancel unpayable debt. Tony Blair is already lobbying George Bush on this matter, and a delegation of bishops led by Cardinal Karl Lehmann, president of the German Bishops’ Conference are meeting with political leaders in Berlin, London and Paris on this issue. The Justice Committee has decided to send petitions to the various embassies in Canberra, to support efforts to help achieve a just outcome at the summit. We will have these petitions ready for Sunday 26th and will be inviting you to sign them on that day. Numbers are what matters. You might recall the important role played by Pope John-Paul II when he called for cancellation of such debt by the year 2000. At that time 457,620 Australians signed – the largest ever petition on a foreign policy issue. Worldwide this was the largest petition in human history, amounting to 24,319,181 signatures. And it had results, though clearly more needs to happen. For more information see the Jubilee Australia website [www.jubileeaustralia.org]. Jubilee Australia is also calling on the Australian government to do the following 8 things: 1. Support the cancellation of 100% of the bilateral and multilateral debt owed by Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs) 2. Increase Australia’s contribution to a figure which places Australia in the top third of OECD donors. 3. Cancel odious (dictator) debts, in particular to Indonesia and the Philippines with debts incurred during Suharto and Marcos times. 4. Tighten debt guidelines for export credit agencies, which take into account the level of burden additional loans may have on the means of a poor country to achieve their Millenium Development Goals. 5. Support the creation of a fair and transparent arbitration process for poor countries with unsustainable and unjust debts. 6. Prepare a timetable on Australia’s plan to meet the overseas aid targets set by UN Millenium Development Goals. 7. Prepare a report on Australia’s policy on multilateral debt cancellation. 8. The Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition to attend the Millennium Development Summit in September, to show Australia’s commitment to:
We will return to this aspect of the matter at a later date. In last week’s Compact I spoke of the Justice Committee’s intention to organise petitions to be sent to the various embassies of the G8 countries concerning debt relief. You will have heard that the finance ministers of the G7 countries have agreed to some debt relief. This is, of course, most welcome news. However, this relief covers only a limited number of very indebted countries, and only ones implementing harsh World Bank and International Monetary Fund policy conditions. At least another 40 countries need debt cancelled. Those pushing for a just solution to debt are determined that we realise that the debt movement’s demands for justice have still not been met. So we will still be offering petitions and asking you to consider signing them after all masses next Sunday. The petition reads as follows: ‘While welcoming the announcement that the finance ministers of the G7 countries have agreed on a debt-relief package to be finalised at the G8 summit of world leaders in Scotland, July 6-8, we, the undersigned, members of the Catholic parish of Kippax, ACT, appeal to you to take further steps to relieve the debt burden that is locking many other countries into a cycle of unrelieved poverty.’ For more information I refer you again to the Jubilee Australia website [www.jubileeaustralia.org]. May I also remind you of the pulpit announcement made after each mass last weekend concerning the drought? The text follows: ‘‘In view of making some contribution to the exceptionally difficult time that people in the country are having because of the drought, we have decided to resurrect our connection with the parish of Cootamundra. On Sunday 26th we will take up a collection which we will forward on to Father Bernard Hennessy for the Cootamundra parish to use as they see fit. Also our St John’s Primary School and the Junior Secondary at St Francis Xavier’s are in process of seeing what connections they might be able to make with the school in Cooramundra, by way of prayer, emails, exchanging information and love. Similarly our own Xtreme group is looking into ways of assisting the youth group in the parish there. You may have other ideas as to how we might made some modest contribution to our brothers and sisters in this time of special need. Other parishes are making connections with other country areas.’ There will be a bucket collection next weekend for Cootamundra. The RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) Each year at Easter we have the joy and privilege of receiving adults into the Christian community through baptism. The Rite is specifically geared to them, though it is also an occasion to welcome those already baptised in one of our sister churches, who find themselves called by grace to embrace full communion with the Catholic Church and to be embraced by it. The purpose of this column today is to get everyone thinking about people whom you might like to invite to join our program, which begins on Wednesday August 17th. Joe and Pat Barr have consented to be the welcoming couple for this year, assisted by Pauline and Robert Greig, who, as you know, were the welcoming couple last year. Most of us were baptised as babies – and there is a beautiful rightness about that. Just as we received our natural life from our parents as a sheer gift of love which we did nothing to earn, so the community of Jesus’ disciples embraces us with love, not because we have earned it, or because of our personal faith, but as a gift of grace from the heart of God. Some of you were baptised as adults and you remember your journey and the experience of coming home and knowing you belong. Whatever our personal experience, let us imagine that we have spent our life with no knowledge of Jesus, in a family that has never celebrated the experience of being part of a Christian community. We have been picking up our values from the world around us, and in our search for meaning we keep coming up against a brick wall. We are unable to find our centre and we find ourselves stumbling from crisis to crisis without knowing where we are going. There is no way of judging the value of things and no way of finding forgiveness or of bringing about a reconciliation from the many hurts that life brings. At least, we find that we cannot do these things in a way that satisfies our soul. Then, by whatever means, we come to know of Jesus and so of a God of love. We experience an attraction to be part of a community of faith that offers forgiveness and communion with God as well as a set of values that has stood the test of time, generation after generation. We ask to be part of this community and we are welcomed by baptism. Some of you know this joy. We all know people who would love to experience it if they only knew about it. Jesus gave his disciples the mission to go to the ends of the earth and invite people to belong in a community that has discovered God’s love through Jesus. Our community at St John’s prays that God may use us again as his instruments in providing just such a welcome to those whose hearts are being attracted to Jesus, and to those who wish to bring their life and experience in one of our sister churches into the Catholic community, to share with us the Catholic dream, the dream of Jesus that there will indeed be one fold and one shepherd and a world that embraces Jesus in such a way as to embrace ‘all the nations of the world’. Please pray for this, and please search your soul to see if there are people you know who may only be waiting to be asked. |
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