A saintly model

I am not presenting myself as the saintly model for life.  Instead I am presenting St Peter Chanel whose feast day was this week.  He was French, living from 1803 till 1841.  So as to follow his missionary vocation, he became a Marist Father, which led him to a remote island in the Pacific near Fiji, named Futuna, where he met his sticky end and so became a saint in the Church.

Why does he appeal to me?  Simply it was a line from a biography on him that absolutely grabbed me. It went like this:
"Anyone who has worked in loneliness, with great adaptation required and with little apparent success, will find a kindred spirit in Peter Chanel."

Being in Thailand as long as I have, I could so identify with this description of mission for, no matter how long I am here, I never cease to be overwhelmed or shocked by some of what I experience in both society and church.  The whole Thai approach to life and religion is so different as it is utterly rooted in a culture and psyche whose guiding principles feature hierarchy and obediently and blindly following orders from above. 

When applied to Church, with its own set of hierarchy and norms, it all becomes mind blowing.  A crucial reason why this is so is that the local way always overrules the universal Church way, no matter how out of proportion or irrational the resulting scenario may be.

You may be wondering where this is coming from.  Yes, there is an issue of the week that hit me in the face on Sunday at church.  A sad reflection on the nature of here is that, with its various sensitivities at play, I cannot even name the exact issue as it revolves around highly protected strands of Thai culture which, no matter what, I have to respect.

I have never lived in a country where culture has such a high priority, where it has to be absolutely adhered to by all at all times.  It is all contrary to my nature as a down to earth Aussie.  There may be no deepest, darkest jungles here where cannibals are lurking after me but it can be every bit as foreign, frightening and dangerous.  Such was the impact of the news of the week in my Bangkok.