James Foley - a Symbol, a Hero

If you were of James Foley's family, he would be much more than a hero or a symbol.  He would be your son, brother, grandson, much loved and much missed but assured in the knowledge that he is now with God. 

For the world, or to be more precisely, for me, he has become a symbol, a hero and this has happened only in the last ten days.  I have to be honest and say that James Foley never came onto my radar until the shocking news hit the world that he had been murdered in a barbarous way at the hands of extremists in Iraq and Syria. 

Much has been said of him since his tragic end by Pope and President, by family and Church.  He has left his mark but did it have to be in this way?  No, and it isn't. 

I say this because I am now reading about a man whom I see was committed to his profession, committed to the cause of getting the news out for the sake of the Syrian people.  I know him now as a man who deeply loved his family and God.  He  showed a great spirituality.  I know him as a man of faith.  All of this was who he was already before any barbarian did such a inhuman thing to him.  It is this side - his life story and commitment, the living James Foley - that should be remembered and that was the wish of his parents.  As I heard his mother speak outside church, I heard a woman of faith, asking not for retribution but that we pary for love and peace in the world.  Such faith!

This faith was shared by her son.  A witness to that is a message he got out, while imprisoned, to his family.  I want to share just one paragraph of his message shared by his family.  It so touched me.  It speaks for itself. 

"I know you are thinking of me and praying for me.  And I am so thankful.  I feel you all especially when I pray.  I pray for you to stay strong and believe.  I really feel I can touch you even in this darkness when I pray."

A week for women.

Last week saw not only the Queen's birthday and Mother's Day in Thailand but also, as elsewhere in the universal Church, the celebration of the Assumption of Mary.  The cathedral in Bangkok is named Assumption Cathedral and so Friday 15th featured the annual cathedral celebrations with high mass led by the Archbishop and a Marian procession.  It was all quite impressive.  The Thais know how to run a ceremony with their strong sense of hierarchy and respect for roles. 

While we spent a week in Thailand rightfully celebrating women and upholding their dignity, I know that this does not mean that women are any better off here nor that they hold their rightful place in society.  In a Thai and Buddhist hierarchy, women are down the ladder.  I see how they are used and abused here, just as happens elsewhere. 

In this picture, you see the Sisters leading the procession with the statue of Mary and the relics of Jonh XXIII and John Paul II out of the cathedral.  You may think they are at the head of the show.  What you don't see is the clergy and bishops.  We are standing outside the front of the cathedral watching and waiting so as to take our place at the end of the procession.  I wonder just where the position of women lies in reality.  As with everything here, it is not always what it seems. 

We are called to be mystics

Karl Rahner, a German Jesuit, was one of the great theologians of last century.  He wrote much but one thought of his has stayed with me over time.  It is that the Christian of the future will be a mystic or nothing at all. 

What does he mean?  Being a mystic for Rahner is about experiencing God for real.  This is not an experience that is reserved for extra special people or for great saints of history.  Rather it is an experience open to every human being.  This is because knowing God and being in relationship with God is a natural state for any human being.  It is part of who we are in creation.  To be able to relate with God is as natural to any of us as relating with any of our friends or neighbours.  This was part of Rahner's great insight for us. 

Why do I mention Rahner and being a mystic now? 

Well, as I returned from home and shared my shock at realising the present, seemingly collapsing state of the Australian Church, I also realized there was a response to this.  I just wasn't sure what it was.  Then in my reading during the last week, I happened to come across yet again Rahner's line on the Christian of the future and it hit me immediately here is the response.  Rahner was a prophet and his prohecy is being fulfilled. 

Very simply, the response I would see for the present Church is not one of getting busy building up the institution and institutional procedures and practices.  Rather our primary response is one of building up our relationship with God and in turn the institutional Church will benefit. 

I think this is enough for now - just to digest that you and me are called to be mystics, to experience and relate with God in our reality. 

A Thai-Ausutralian Story

Life is its own value and beauty. 

Last week, there was a breaking story.  It was the story of a surrogacy agreement gone bad.  It is a sad story because at the centre of it is a baby rejected by its Australian parents and left here with the Thai woman who gave birth to him, or that is how the story first presented itself.  Then as time has lapsed, more of the story has been shared, becoming more and more complex.

So what is the real story?  Truth is that I don't know.  I am reading at least two sides to what has become a developing and fascinating story to follow but what remains a sad story of a little baby waiting to belong to someone.   

The Thai side is that the Australian couple rejected the baby boy because he is Down's syndrome and that they left Thailand, owing the surrogate mother money.  The surrogate mother is a food vendor from Chonburi, a poor woman.  She proclaims her undying love for the baby, claiming that the Australian couple were pushing for a late term abortion.  She has subsequently announced that she was filing a lawsuit in Thailand to get unpaid money from the Australian couple.

The story from the Australian side is that the couple did not know about the existence of the boy as the surrogacy agency withheld this information from them.  However, I also read that they talked of the the surrogate mother going to another hospital, other than the one named in their agreement, to have the babies.  Because of this action, they say they lost their legal right to the babies, with the surrogate mother agreeing to hand over only the girl.  They then say that they had to leave Thailand due to political unrest in the country and fear that they might have lost both children. 

So the story keeps unfolding.  Who knows the real story?  Only the people involved.  I won't go further into it as it only becomes more complicated and one may lose sight of who is at the heart of all this - a little boy.  The nature of the story itself has captured me as it so reflects my experience of Thailand.  Time and again as I face daily tasks and challenges and issues, I ask myself what is really going on here.  I am beyond asking what is true as whatever is happening it is not simply about facts and telling the truth or not.  It is about what is real and how we approach reality.  It seems that different peoples approach reality differently.   

My basic line is that I so feel for this little child caught up in this story.  He is an innocent victim at the centre of love and attention it seems coming from both sides.  My one bit of reinforced insight that I can share out of this story is that we need to know who we are dealing with and what is at play when acting in life.  I am not discussing surrogacy here.  That is a whole other issue for thought and reflection.  I am just reflecting on this one story and what it tells me in my reality in a foreign culture and country.

In a Thailand, in unknown territory, we can't just jump in and think it is like what I know back home.  So much may be at play here of which I am not aware.  In our Thailands, we are on foreign soil and we can't expect such places in life to fit in with what we know or understand nor to respond as we expect.  We have to act wisely and, as I have learnt here, stand back and listen, ready for any surprise.