Do we get it?

Keep calm

The first line of Thomas Merton's essay, "The Christian in Diaspora" (1964), reads: "It is no secret that the Church finds herself in crisis, and the awareness of such a fact is 'pessimism' only in the eyes of those for whom all change is necessarily a tragedy."

He continues, "It would seem more realistic to follow the example of Pope John and to face courageously the challenges of an unknown future in which the Christian can find security not, perhaps, in the lasting strength of familiar human structures but certainly in the promises of Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit. After all, Christian hope itself would be meaningless if there were no risks to face and if the future were definitively mortgaged to an unchanging present."  

This comes from a National Catholic Reporter article by Daniel P Horan, enttiled "Thoms Merton's wisdom for a church in crisis" (23rd June, 2021).   

I am reflecting a lot on this theme lately thanks to a webinar scripture course and various articles.  What is a key learning for me is that this sense of crisis is not caused by the pandemic alone.  Crisis is obviously nothing new.  Rather the crisis was already here, with the pandemic exacerbating it.  

Basically, the crisis facing the Church today has no one source.  There are the scandals of sexual abuse, corruption and abuse of power eating away at the moral standing of the church in the world.  There are the cultural warriors in the church battling to keep everything as they judge it should be.  There are the growth pains of a church struggling with the realities of contemporary and changing societies.  There are the challenges from the strong leadership of Pope Francis for us to come to terms with being Church in today's world.  There is all this and along comes the pandemic and whammy!  The perfect storm!  

It is within our sitz im leben over 50 years later that Thomas Merton speaks to us yet again.  The basic challenge before us as a faith community is not to be distracted nor lulled into a false sense of security by the past but to face with confidence the reality of the present that opens us up to a future with all the risks and opportunities it holds.  Church as an institution and as lived is not an eternal given.  Rather, as Church, we remain at the beginning of the new dawn offered to us in faith through a God of love with us and a lasting hope based on the resurrection.   

As my friend, Nando, always says - Padre John, siempre avanti.  

A Timely Reminder

Tom P Perriello is the U.S. executive director of Open Society Foundations, a former diplomat and member of Congress.  He wrote an opinion piece for The New York Times on Saturday,19th June 2021, entitled "The Bishops Betray a faithful President". 

Within his article, he spoke of his Catholicism and his experience of the Church.  I found his testimony inspiring.  Without breaking copyright, I share his insights as a fellow Catholic.  Note that I do not share to engage in the presenting issue of his article but simply to let others see a great public witness given by a fellow Catholic.  Here goes. 

"Growing up around Charlottesville, Va., I spent every Sunday hearing priests sermonize about the horrible atrocities committed against innocent civilians — even nuns — in Central America and about our own government’s complicity. We heard about extreme poverty, with a clear message that a failure to devote your life to addressing these injustices might lead to eternal damnation. 

I have a joke about my career in peace and justice: that I came for the guilt and stayed for the joy. This calling would eventually bring me to Honduras, Sierra Leone, and Afghanistan, as well as struggling communities back home.   

The Catholic lay leaders and clergy who inspire me are often the ones living the Gospel every day, ... . When I visit the border or opioid-ravaged parts of Appalachia, I witness Sister Beth Davies or Sister Norma Pimentel living the Gospel with their every breath. ... As the U.S. special envoy to the African Great Lakes region, I stood with courageous Congolese bishops who risked everything to defend human rights and convinced the Vatican to sponsor peace talks that forged the framework for the country’s first peaceful democratic transfer of power.  

Catholic bishops in El Salvador, the country where Saint Óscar Romero was assassinated for standing with the poor and vulnerable, ... chose to take a courageous position against President Nayib Bukele’s move to consolidate power and create impunity for corruption." 

I share this as both an inspiring and contemporary witness to faith and Church.  Sometimes I wonder if we truly appreciate the core place we have in our world as Catholics and the invaluable contribution we are challenged and able to make.  Put simply, we can underrate ourselves.  Here is a timely reminder for us as Church.    

Where can I learn to use a gun?

This was a question recently posed to me a by a strong, young, spirited Burmese woman, whom I know and admire.  I was quite taken aback, and not just because of the nature of the topic.   

She was not talking to me lightly as she was talking about her country, her people, her family, all of whom she loves and for whom she has a deep and sincere concern.  She hates seeing what is happening in her country.  She was talking to me as Fr John, someone she knows and respects.  

I reflected that in my over 34 years as a priest, I have never had a woman ask me about contraception and now I have a woman ask me about using a gun.  Over the years, my experience has changed and deepened my understanding of  the world, as it has changed and deepened my understanding of Church.  

She was not asking me because I know about guns but because she trusts Fr John.  Knowing her strength and goodness, her question may be from left field but, like asking about contraception, if that ever happens, it shows an equal level of trust in the Church through healthy relating with one of its ministers.     

I must say that I was not expecting such a question ever coming directly to me.  I have no expertise on the topic and seek none.  Non-violence is the way to go.  So my thinking took me somewhere else - to Church today and my role in it.  I asked myself, is this a sign of the times?  By being with people in their struggles and vulnerabilities, you are faced with not just the usual demands and questions, but cutting edge challenges and dilemmas faced by them, meeting them where they are.  .     

You may be wondering what was my response.  Well, my response is not the issue.  What this gave me was an insight into a rapidly changing world and how we as Church best stand as relevant in its midst.  Is it not a tremendous human act for a human being to ask us as Church the difficult questions, no matter what that question may be?  

And a Year Later

Corpus Christi June 2020 at Assumption Cathedral -
Standing inside looking out.  

Corpus Christi June 2021 at Assumption Cathedral - 
A year later on the same day, standing outside looking in. 

  

The pandemic first impacted Thailand in March 2020, leading to a total lockdown.  This meant mass was to be celebrated online, with limited, live participation, defined by ministerial need.  This continued for sometime such that Corpus Christi was celebrated online with the challenge of how to do a traditional, annual  celebration within a new and unknown dynamic.  

We never thought at the time but a year later, we are in the same situation again.  Where do we now find ourselves?  Let the photos tell the story this week.   The only clue is that this is a spiritual exercise for a spiritual time.  

What do the photos say and  show?  Where are we as Church?  Where do we want to be as Church?  

I met a hero, but first I met a gentleman

Mary, Untier of Knots

Last Friday, I had another first in my life.  It was going to the US Embassy for their annual Memorial Day Service to give the prayer to begin their service remembering American war dead.  

So there I was, seated in the front row beside a polite and kind man in uniform.  I did not think much else of it, until he gave his address.  As I heard him speak, I realized that this man was worth a movie.  He had seen action in Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Philippines. This guy was a tough guy, done the hard yards. He was a true hero.  

Then as he spoke of the loss of his men, he stopped and cried.  He could do no other.  The tough, hardened soldier, as he remembered good men he knew who had fallen in battle, was simply and naturally moved to tears.  I realized instanteously I had met a gentleman, who was the toughened soldier, but who was first and foremost a truly decent human being,    

I subsequently reflected to be a brave man or woman, you first need to be a good human being.  Therein lies the key to being a person of courage.  A hero sat beside me that day.  I knew it not just because he shared his history of military duty.  Moreover, I knew it because he shared his history so as to remember his men who never returned home, to remember them with love, honour and tears.  As a real hero, he stood and cried with true humanity and dignity for ones he knew, respects and will never forget.  Real heroes do not just fight.  They feel for humanity.  .  

So Pope Francios finished May, his proclaimed month of devoition to the rosary, with leading the rosary in the Vtaican before the image of Mary, Untier of Knots.  Francis prayed that Mary might untie the knots of wounded relationships. of unemployment, of violence, of sickness and uncertainty, of all that stands in the way of our doing good.  

Mary, Untier of Knots; pray for us.