As we joyfully gather again in the Cathedral, let us know we were never apart.

Since mid-April, due to the pandemic, we have celebrated mass in camera, being livestreamed for public participation.  For me, these six months have proven to be an extraordinary experience during extraordinary times. 

I have found it a profoundly spiritual time , knowing and experiencing communio with those who, by necessity, share eucharist via YouTube.  It is a feeling thing, but much more.  There have been the messages and emails sharing life's tragedies and struggles.  There have been the messages of hope and of gratitude for personal advancement or for just getting to the end of the day.  

It has been a time full of meaning for we have shared so much together.  I know now that communio is much more than a theological concept or a spiritual gift.  It is real.  I know it is real through my lived experience.  I know communio in my heart and my gut.  It is a true treasure that I carry with me for the rest of my days.    

As we ponder such a gift of God and move back into the cathedral to enable physical presence at eucharist yet again, let us never lose sight of the communio that we share through our one Lord.  This union is deeper and more sustaining than we can ever imagine, for it is all gift from our loving God.  This is what first and foremost makes us who we are, so that then we can celebrate eucharist together, wherever we may be.  

This reality is a great leveler and unifier.  We are not just going back to mass, as we were never parted.  This time highlights much more, about who we are as church and as members of the human family.  

"Keep the love of God before you.  The love of God within cannot be overcome."  (S. Teresa of Avila)    

Time for a Synod

"The first is that discernment and decision-making are the business of the whole body, not just of the few entrusted with governance. In his landmark October 2015 synod speech, Pope Francis quoted an ancient maxim: Quod omnes tangit, ab omnibus tractari et approbari debet (“what affects everyone should be discussed and approved by all”). And because, as St. Benedict notes in his seventh-century rule, God sometimes speaks through the youngest in the community, enabling participation means paying special attention to the timid edges, to the unlikely places, to those outside." 

So writes Austen Ivereigh (Commonweal, October 21, 2012) on the 'Synod on Synodality', which is happening right now in the universal church and will continue its process for two years to come.  

This is a time for everyone in the church, from Pope to laity in the street, to be heard on what they see as a vision and reality for church, focusing on the three themes - communion, participation mission.  It is time to gather, to share, to listen, to discern, to move forward together.  

This a truly Vatican II moment.  In the spirit of John XXIII, it is opening the windows of the church and letting the Spirit in.  

Coffee Time

I discover that Ethiopian coffee is a delight.  My discovery was made as I host my Ethiopian friend to dinner at his favorite Ethiopian restaurant each year for his birthday, which was this Sunday. The place is so friendly and I do look forward to my annual visit.   

My Ethiopian friend is such a good guy.  Despite all his troubles, he is ever helping others.  His story is that he fled his homeland 12 years ago as he was suffering cruel persecution at the hands of the government.  Here, he remains without a place in the world to call home.  Still his spirits remain high and he remains committed to helping others in need, while he himself is in need.  Put simply, his plight does not deter him from helping any neeeding help in his sphere of imfluence.  

So he accesses his church and good people in the wider community to achieve his aim of helping others.  I counsel him to look after himself as well, and all he does is keep forging forward to help the poor in his world.  He teaches me so much.

I often say that, if I was ever a refugee in the world, I would want someone like him around to help me.  Our shared vulnerability and suffering truly have so much to teach us about life and who we are with each other.  .  

Communion, Participation, Mission

"Stay with me, and then I shall begin to shine as Thou shinest: so to shine as to be a light to others.  The light, O Jesus, will be all from Thee.  None of it will be mine.  No merit to me.  It will be Thou who shinest through me upon others.  O let me thus praise Thee, in the way which Thou dost love best, by shining on all those around me.  Give light to them as well as to me; light them with me, through me.  Teach me to show forth Thy praise, Thy truth, Thy will.  Make me preach Thee without preaching - not by words, but by my example and by the catching force, the sympathetic influence, of what I do - by my visible resemblance to Thy saints, and the evident fulness of the love which my heart hears to Thee."  

         (Cardinal John Henry Newman, 19th Century England)  

This past Sunday, during mass in Rome, Pope Francis opened the two year Synod, named as the Synodal Path, which is directed by three key themes - communion, participation, mission..  Here follows part of Francis' homily.   

"A certain rich man came up to Jesus “as he was setting out on his journey” (Mk 10:17).  The Gospels frequently show us Jesus “on a journey”; he walks alongside people and listens to the questions and concerns lurking in their hearts.  He shows us that God is not found in neat and orderly places, distant from reality, but walks ever at our side.  He meets us where we are, on the often rocky roads of life.  Today, as we begin this synodal process, let us begin by asking ourselves – all of us, Pope, bishops, priests, religious and laity – whether we, the Christian community, embody this “style” of God, who travels the paths of history and shares in the life of humanity.  Are we prepared for the adventure of this journey?  Or are we fearful of the unknown, preferring to take refuge in the usual excuses: “It’s useless” or “We’ve always done it this way”?

 Celebrating a Synod means walking on the same road, walking together.  Let us look at Jesus.  First, he encounters the rich man on the road; he then listens to his questions, and finally he helps him discern what he must do to inherit eternal life.  Encounter, listen and discern.  These are the three verbs that characterize the Synod."

Francis is showing us the way.  Maybe John Henry Newman, priest, pastor and intellect of the 19th century church, can also help us find the way, for he actively contributed to the synod of his day - the First Vatican Council.  For all his good work, he was to be later made a Cardinal.  I would recommend his prayer shared here for helping us walk the path of our present Synod.  

Vaya con Dios!  

16 Years

A kind woman graciously helped me get home, with loaning me her umbrella.

I not know why but I always remember the day I arrived in Thailand to stay.  It was 5th October, 2005.  This means Tuesday this week, I have been here 16 years.  Knowing me, I find it amazing that I have stayed in one place and one post for so long.  What has kept me here?  

There is no simple or one answer.  Like every westerner living in Bangkok, I have a story, and that story sure keeps expanding.  For one who is naturally, critically reflective of his reality, it is good to stand still sometimes and just smell the roses.  In the past few days, I have had two such occasions to do just that and be thnakful..

On Saturday, I was nearly home from running my errands, when a tropical storm hit.  I was close to home, bur not close enough without an umbrella and with wearing good shoes.  So I sought shelter by a food stall.   After 20 minutes of waiting, the woman owner of the food business gave me an umbrella so I could get home.  I was so touched by her simple kindness. Deo gratias! 

The next day, as I approached mass and a meeting afterwards, I reflected how good and essential it is to have ones who are a part of the task and the vision, and happily share the load.  There is no future in standing alone.  Going it alone is no way to go nor way to be church.  I am so grateful for having ones who share my lot.  Deo gratias!

And why am I still here?  I came with a passion which lives on; I have people in my life who really matter and support me; God never stopped calling me and the mission lives on.  I know this is not about me.  I surely not stand alone. Deo gratias!