Big Chief Francis

Francis White Eagle, a humble chief 

On sharing this classic picture of Pope Francis, taken while he was in Canada last week, one person's comment was - "He goes down to people".  Yes, he sure does.  As pope, he is humble and so understands symbolism, whether driven around in the little car or wearing an Indian headdress.  

Francis had gone on a penitential pilgrimage in response to the history of abuse handed out by the Church, individually and as a body, to the indigenous peoples of Canada.  In saying this, let us not pick on Canada as, throughout history, the Church has perpetrated its own share of evil around the world.  That is part of our history which we must name and own.  We all do wrong which we must name and own.  

Francis White Eagle went to stand with the suffering indigenous people of Canada and a bleeding church and society.  He used the words "pain and shame" to name his strong feelings on the wrong that needs to be righted.  He went to say sorry and much more, as he went to be enable the healing to occur and for justice to rise up for the sake of the wounded.  A powerful papal visit that speaks to the whole world, the whole Church. 

Francis identified that our true and deep joy lies in our knowing that God is ever close and always loves us.  Our world is not a bad place.  We make it that way when do bad and push God out.  No matter what, at all times, God is our creator, choosing to be here.  The crisis is not our world, nor our faith, but how we choose to live.  

His powerful statement was to remind us:

The Gospel is preached effectively when life itself speaks and reveals the freedom that sets others free, the compassion that asks for nothing in return, the mercy that silently speaks of Christ."  So we are builders of a different Church: humble, meek merciful, which ... shows respect for each individual and for every cultural and religious difference."   This Church is "called to embody God's love without borders, in order to realize the dream that God has for humanity: for us to be brothers and sisters all".  (Basilica of Notre Dame de Quebec, 28-07-22)   

Francis White Eagle is a strong and brave chief.  
 

Vale Br John

Rest in peace, John. 

 "The voice of God is heard in Paradise: “What was vile has become precious.
     What is now precious was never vile. I have always known the vile as
     precious: for what is vile I know not at all. What was cruel has become
     merciful. What is now merciful was never cruel. I have always overshadowed
     Jonas with my mercy and cruelty I know not at all. Have you had sight of Me,
     Jonas, My child? Mercy within mercy within mercy. I have forgiven the universe
     without end, because I have never known sin. What was poor has become
     infinite. What is infinite was never poor. I have always known poverty as
     infinite: riches I love not at all. Prisons within prisons within prisons.
     Do not lay up for yourselves ecstasies upon earth, where time and space
     corrupt, where the minutes break in and steal. No more lay hold on time,
     Jonas, My son, lest the rivers bear you away. What was fragile has become
     powerful. I loved what was most frail. I looked upon what was nothing.
     I touched what was without substance and within what was not I Am."  

- Thomas Merton: The Sign of Jonas, 1952  

Our Bro John of Maryknoll recently died back home in New York .  He had been assigned to Thailand for over 30 years and was very much a part of us of the 10am mass community at Assumption Cathedral.  In the last week, Maryknoll celebrated a funeral mass for him.  It was my privilege to watch it live by YouTube.  I found it a moving tribute to John, being particularly touched by the second reading which came from Thomas Merton, a noted Trappist and contemplative of last century USA. I share the reading here. 

This is an inspired Merton passage, protraying God, who names himself as "Mercy within mercy within mercy", talking personally to Jonas, the reluctant Old testament prophet.  God had called Jonas to deliver a message of mercy to the people of Nineveh, but he was palying hard to get.  From his deep experience of spirituality, Meton hears God's powerful message of reassurance to Jonas, urging him to share the mercy of God with a sinful people.    

This rich reflection is the fruit of Merton's own spiritual quest to find and know God.  This is a human quest, not some endeavour for a spiritual elite.  Merton is showing us a way.  It is a quest that deepens our humanity, for we are so much more than earthly matter.  This search for the sacred puts us in touch with the dvine within ourselves and within our world, revealing that the human and divine are one.  This is both life giving and life sustaining, being ever a response to and a way of approaching a world full of contradictions.  No matter what, we remain on the spiritual quest, unfallen by our world, and this matters.  .    

Let's get to the bottom of the matter

 Prayer For Our Community

God, Lord of all creation, lover of life, help us to love in our very small way what You love infinitely and everywhere.

We thank You that we can offer just this one prayer and that will be more than enough, because everything and everyone is connected, and nothing stands alone.

To pray for one part is to pray for the whole, and so we do.

Help us each day to stand for love, for reconciliation, for the good, for the diverse unity of the Body of Christ and all creation, because this is what You desire, for we remember Jesus prayed that all may be one.

We offer our prayer in the holy name of God, we offer our prayer together with Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Based on a prayer of  Richard Rohr ofm 

The point of life is not what we do but who we are.  Who we are is the foundation for what we do in life.  The authentic person is not simply the one who does many good things or important things.  It is a fantasy to think that we find our true selves in our roles and titles.  Rather we know our true selves when we wallow as who we are in the love of God.  There are no games, there is no hidden agenda.  It is that easy, it is that difficult.  It is about allowing ourselves to be vulnerable before a God who loves us, who calls us. So then we can stand before others as the person we are called to be, living our life as we are meant to live it.   Being matters, spirituality matters.  

I need a Good Samaritan

Simpson and his donkey, carrying the wounded in Gallipoli

As Christinas, we too easily and too often take the high ground, even in care giving.  We can assume that we are ever the Good Samaritan, giving care, never needing it.  But stand back and think for a moment.  Let us reorientate ourselves and be more in touch with reality.  We too need a Good Samaritan when we are stuck in life.   

Last week, as I closed the door and left my keys inside a friend's condo, far away from my home in a big Bangkok, I thought, "Oh,no!  What will I do now?"  This simple experience reminded me of my vulnerability and forced me to look at caregiving from the side of one desperately in need of care.  It hit me how different that perspective is.  

As one in need of some serious help to regain entry to my friend's condo, I felt lost, not knowing what would happen to get out of this mess and how long it would take.  I felt a level of uncertainty and dependency.  What to do? .  

The one with the power over my life at this time was the one I turned to for a solution, for care - my friend.  In this situation, the caregiver has the power and exercises options.  Yes, the caregiver acts for good for the other, but that does not take away from the sense of powerlessness felt by the one needing care.  In this experience, I naturally realized two insights.  

The great learning for the one cared for is to know that we cannot go it alone, that we need each other and that there are good people in our world, despite all the wrong happening around us.  

The great danger for the caregiver is we can be too self-assured of how good and strong we are.  We can just presume what the other needs and automatically give it, whether the other wants it or not.  This is the temptation to fall into spiritual arrogance.  

As Christians, we are challenged not to assume we are ever the caregiver, having always the power to rush in and fix everything.  We are challenged to look at life from the side of the marginalized, the excluded, the powerless in society.  To see life from the edge and know what it means to be the vulnerable and fragile human beings we ultimately are.  Herein lies great insight and a true gift for the sake of living life to the full.  

This is so for we then remember we are all human and what matters most is not what we do, but who we are, giving of ourselves, for the sake of the other.  We are one together.    

Forward ho!

Forward ho!   In western movies, this was the cry of the wagon train master each morning to get everyone moving on their way.  It was about keeping them moving in the face of the challenges of  the wild west, never looking back.  That was the way to go to reach their aim, despite all misadventures.  

After eight years waiting and struggling, a refugee family moves on to their new home. A new beginning.  

From its very beginning, it has been the same for the church.  We may harken back in time, but the fact is a simplistic remembering of the past is not an answer for living in the present.  The early church did not leave us the model church for all eternity.  Rather it presented a model for being church.  It was a model of operation it gleaned from facing changing circumstances, constant challenges, the ever present struggles, ever responding so as to move forward, never looking back.  

Forward ho for church is based on our being true friends here and now with Jesus, the Risen Lord, who is living in our midst.  It is about listening and responding to the Spirit, with our constant focus on the Reign of God.  It is about being true to our tradition and  actively listening to our world and each other.  It is about Pope Francis' way of Synodality.      

Francis shows us the way in his homily this year for the Solemnity of  Peter and Paul, as shared here.  

"We are called to be a Church that promotes the culture of care, tenderness and compassion towards the vulnerable. A Church that fights all forms of corruption and decay, including those of our cities and the places we frequent, so that in the life of every people the joy of the Gospel may shine forth. This is our “fight”, and this is our challenge. The temptation to stand still is great; the temptation of that nostalgia which makes us look to  other times as better. May we not fall into the temptation of 'looking back'."

Never look back.  Always forward ho!