Christmas did come

Despite some predictions, Christmas did come.  Too many people around me have been just sad or negative, or worse, being overcome by a world in utter chaos, maybe even in destruct mode.  All this in the lead up to Christmas.  

Reality is that Christmas is not about upbeat me nor about a downbeat other.  It is about God who chose the plan and put it into action.  It is God's will to create the world and to love each and every person, to be an integral part of this eternal mess, we call our world.  God is here in the midst of it all, because we are here.

This is what Christmas is about and the reason why it happens every year, no matter what.  That is why hope is real and eternal.  That gives us every reason to be full of Christmas joy and celebrate it to the full. 

Christmas did come.  Literally, I was overwhelmed by the kindness, the faith, the love, the enthusiasm that I experienced at Christmas Day mass at the cathedral. Thanks to all.  Thanks be to God.  Joy to the world.  Hope is eternal.  Spirituality reigns.  Christmas did truly come.      

Ho! Ho! Ho!  

Intensive Workshop on Human Nature

I began this past week with celebrating the baptism of seven children and the reception of one adult into the Church. This is the largest number of baptisms I have had at any one time over my years at the cathedral.  For me, it stands as a milestone event.  

I found it a powerful, spiritual experience.  Following on, for the past week, I have found myself reflecting on it.  I found no easy response to the Why question, a question I am told not to ask when counselling, but, in this instance, was the big question.  It has not been a judgmental or inquisitive Why, nor should it.  Rather it has been a Why at the centre of a theological pursuit. In the end, I have no definitive or dogmatic response, nor should I have one.   

So what did I discover?  Firstly, it was a "we" experience, not an "I" one.  That speaks of who we are in solidarity as members of humanity, as members of church.  Fact is we never stand alone wherever we may be in life.  Still all these families came together from various parts of a big Bangkok.  They went to a lot of trouble to get to the cathedral and to stand with ones they never knew, ones I mainly did not know myself.  Why?  

Basically, this was about who they are, about who we are.  It is about spirituality.  The big question is not Why.  Rather it is asking who we are and how we give expression to who we are.  This is an appropriate reflection to pursue as we approach Christmas, for this is a time when we celebrate who God is and, as a result, who we are.   

As God is revealed through the birth of Jesus, so we are revealed for who we truly are as human persons.  God is God with us no matter what, through it all.  

For whatever reason, those families struggled to get their children baptised.  Life is a struggle.  God is with us in our struggle.  This struggle does not destroy us, nor ultimately pull us down.  Rather through the struggle, we remain part of something great, something greater than who we are alone.  We are participating in the divine narrative for humanity.  The coming of God through Jesus assures us of this.  So we know we are built up through life and its struggles.  

God is a mystery, of which we are an intimate part.  We live this mystery through the reality of life, its struggles, its dreams, its failures and successes.  Christmas is the perfect time for us to stand back and learn more about God and us.  At this time of the year, the Church invites us, through its liturgies, to join an intensive workshop, one on the nature of God and the nature of the human person.  Let us enter into this workshop offered to us by God, God with us, with joy and gusto.    

Be patient, be strong.

My sister would often counsel me - "Johnny, patience!"  While I am getting better at it, patience is not one of my better virtues.  My sister's words often come to mind, knowing that my impatience causes me some level of destructive thinking, which is just not healthy for anyone in my life, least of all me.  

Presently, I am facing three simple tasks.  Each is simple enough but, amazingly, each feeds into a common thread in my way of operating.   The common denominator, triggering my feeling-thinking response, is that, at the centre of each task, is a person I would question or doubt, as I experience their behaviour.  I just lack trust enough to happily accept their part in the task.  

This takes me into being impatient, leading to my bad thinking and feeling patterns.  The baseline seems to be that I am dealing with the unknown of others in my life.  I find this unknown threatening, frightening; thus causing me destructive thinking, which could have undesired consequences.  This is not good.   

Hang on!  I tell myself, that I must stand back and take count.  It is best that I take time to name and own my pattern in dealing with the unknown or unwanted in my life.  I recognize that I am too easily threatened by such possibilities; too easily directed by my own assumptions and thinking that then arise in my internal response.  Truth is no one is making any plausible threat against me, unless I know it for sure.  My unhealthy behaviour arises due to my own biased feelings, which lead to distorted thinking.  Stop it!  Stop being reactive!  Be proactive!  

Be creative, I tell myself, by turning my feeling thing into a spiritual thing.  Instant responses do not work.  The world does not operate as I want it to operate.  Life does not turn out in ways I want.  It is not all that simple, nor should it be.  The world is much bigger than I.  

So act with God and others, never against.  What does this mean?  It is not just passively following the other's lead.  Life is not about being glibly led by others, nor being undiscerning in making decisions, nor just being passively accepting.  That road is just naive and unwise.  

Rather, I tell myself, be strong in oneself, be patient.  It is more healthy being with God, and thus being with the other.  This is about holiness.  In his Exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate, Pope Francis gives us a simple, five point rule to follow.  It goes like this:

Be grounded in God.  Spirituality does matter. 

Live with passion.  Be passionate about life.

Live with joy. 

Pray constantly. 

Be part of the community.     

The bottom line to Francis' programme is that he is aiming at the every day life of any human being.  Holiness is not for experts.  It is for all of us.  So I too can be patient.  First, I be and remain strong in purpose and faith.  In the midst of all, life is humbling, and therein lies the key to it all.  Be patient, be strong; but first be humble.  

Time for a Check-up

In the last week, I went for my six monthly dental check.  After the dentist, it struck me that this is Advent, a good time for a spiritual check-up.  So I turn to no other than Dr Teresa of Avila, for what better physician for a timely, spiritual check-up? 

Dr Teresa's basic premise for spiritual health is that we follow the way of the Crucified Christ.  This way reveals the true presence of God.  

So, we ask.

1)  Do we have the humility to follow the way of Jesus?  

2)  Do we listen to the God revealed by the Scriptures?  

3)  Do we contemplate the Mystery of God, God dwelling within us?  

4)  Do we appreciate the mystery of the divine presence within each of us?  

        -and so, the deep relationship to which we are called?   

        -and so, the transformation to which we are called?  

5)  Do we seek the One who loves us to the end of time, in the midst of what is and who we are?  

Do we appreciate and believe this?  

6)  Our journey in life is to be united in love with God.  How are we going? 

Prayer is its way.  Do we pray?  

7)  Are we humble enough for the journey?  

        -for it is God's way, not ours;

        -for it is not about what we do;  

        -for it is a way of suffering; 

        -for it is a way of love and intimacy.  

All of this can be threatening.  

8)  Are we free just to be with God, our intimate friend?  

9)  Are we free to enter into spiritual intimacy with God?  

The three key principles of Dr Teresa, for building up spiritual health, are 

1)  Prayer leads to service.  It does not exist for the sake of some self-seeking trip.  Prayer and service together lead us to God.  We go within so as to go out.  

2)  Humility is the foundation, for the Jesus of the Gospel is the humble Christ. 

3)  God is always near.  Let us never take our gaze off Jesus, the true revealer of God.    

Dr Teresa of Avila is 100% in line with St Paul, who writes in Galatians:    

"I have been crucified with Christ.  I live, not I, but Christ lives in me."

So we reach full spiritual health and attain a life that is fulfilled and truly nourished. 

We are ever on the way.    

Let a new year begin

As they say in the movies, bring it on!  As a new liturgical year of the Church begins with this First Sunday of Advent, I say the same.   Advent leads right into Christmas and so unfolds my favourite time of year, a time full of expectation and excitement, with Christmas Day as its climax. Thjs time of year acts like a rocket booster for life in my annual calendar, reminding me how good life could be and should be.  This time happens during Advent when a key gospel message for us is to stay awake.  

This 'stay awake' is a good reminder call, telling us to live life to the full, to treat it as a banquet, not as a food snack, taken on the run.  Truth is we can too often be so mean in life, being overcome by all that is wrong in the world, sharing a communal sense of despair, not enjoying what is on offer in our world.  This line of thinking is not to define life.  Life is not limited by what is measured out by others, nor by what we passively accept or are forced to accept.  It is beyond all that weighs us down.  I keep telling myself this and know it to be true.  It must be so. This is not the thought of some deluded idealist.   

Yes, life is a struggle, but it is not defined by the struggle, mess or chaos we may know in our reality.  Life is so much more.  This is revealed to us when approached within the perspective of the grand, human narrative, the divine narrative, and not confined within my own, small narrative.  Let us take the risk, step out of our narrow worlds, engage the wider world, encounter others.  Life is an adventure, a journey.  Carpe diem!  Happy New Year!  

 

As another year ends

The welcome band at the House of Compassion

Yes, it is already the end of another year - the Church, liturgical year. This happens because the Church likes to do things differently, and so it has its own calendar.  Like the end of any year, it is a good opportunity to think back and reflect.  I will not bore you with photos and stories galore from the past year.  Instead, I just share one memory that stands out for me.  

It is from my recent visit to CLUMP (Communal Life of Love and Unity of the Mountain People), a mission of a devoted, Thai, religious brother up in the north of Thailand.  It was a rich time of learning from one man's Gospel vision.  It is a vision that inspires and nourishes him, as he lives it out, by helping the poor and marginalized.  For me, it was a time that was simply inspirational and life-giving.  

It was here, I visited the House of Compassion, a rehabilitation centre for males suffering drug addiction.  Yes, I mentioned it last week, but in a different context.  It was such a powerful experience.  I name it as the memory of my past year, for it is an enduring sign to me of God's compassion.  As always, the goodness of the vulnerable is an incredible voice for procliming the goodness of humanity, for witnessing to the presence of a God of love in the midst of our crazy, even ridiculous, world.  

A simple song lovingly offered by these young men, in the midst of their struggles, deeply touched me and so stays with me.  Their music, their singing, their presence resonate in my heart.  It was pure surprise and gift which continues to impact me with God's love.  

God is truly God with us.  We know this in the midst of our poverty as we humbly open up to God, who chooses to speak to us and touch us, using whomever he chooses.  

He looks on us, his servants, in our lowliness.       

 

Being Poor is Freeing

"What we need to consider is the value that we put on money: it cannot become our absolute and chief purpose in life. Attachment to money prevents us from seeing everyday life with realism; it clouds our gaze and blinds us to the needs of others. Nothing worse could happen to a Christian and to a community than to be dazzled by the idol of wealth, which ends up chaining us to an ephemeral and bankrupt vision of life."   (Pope Francis - Message for World Day of the Poor, 2022)

Last week, it was my great honour and privilege to visit a rehabilitation centre for males suffering addictions, run by the church. I went there, with my two travelling companions, where we were treated royally by the young, male residents, who happily shared their talents with a musical performance.  The whole experience touched me, for here were men being torn apart by the pain and emptiness of their addiction, but not being held back in reaching out to us, welcoming us, entertaining us.  Their kindness brought a tear to my eye.  Their actions told me that, in the midst of despair, lives hope.  

We can too easily be overcome by what weighs us down, addiction is one such weight.  Reading Francis' message, I think of wealth as another weight.  Wealth is not bad in itself, but, if abused, it can also weigh us down, oppressing us, making us into who we are not meant to be.  Wealth, power, addiction, anger - the list can go on - can blind us to the simple goodness and joys of life.  In Proverbs, we read that the people without a vision will perish.  

Let us not perish, blinded by despair or all that does not reallly matter.  Let us focus rather on what matters in life, that we are all together in this world and can act ogether to make life and our world so much better, so joyous.  Why don't we?  

Maybe, we are too easily weighed down by the woes of the world and life.  Instead, let us keep our eye on the Christian Project, which is based on human optimism. Its message is clear.  Let us not be dazzled by what is false.   

Fascinated, but disconnected

"Sister Wendy entertained complex and competing opinions about Merton. She was fascinated by him, constantly reading and rereading his writings and admiring his wisdom and brilliance. But always she detected something “obtuse” and “fragmented” in his relationship with God". 

Sister Wendy Becket was an English, Carmelite nun and hermit, who hosted her popular, 1990s television program, “Sister Wendy’s Odyssey”, which looked at the history of art.  I remember her as engaging, quaint, insightful and smart.  Reading her just now on Thomas Merton, I am made aware of another side to her.  Like Merton, she was a unique person of deep sprituality and wisdom.    

As for Merton, a Trappist monk, who died in 1968, he was a man who spoke to the post-WWII, western world.  That presents a context that goes beyond his chosen world of medieval monasticism, into a new age.  Maybe his writings reflect this new dichotomy.  His life was a struggle.  His gift was that he shared his life so openly and freely.  I often have thought that maybe he shared far too much, but he was the writer.  He was much more than a monk.  As I read briefly Sr Wendy's assessment of Merton and his life as a monk, I was put in touch with so much about me.  

As one who also struggles in church and religious life, I identify with Merton.  Sr Wendy would probably find me, as a religious, somewhat contorted or complex. That is okay and that is what I would expect.  

I can honestly say that living alone in Bangkok, I have found my place in my Order and feel more an Augustinian than ever, an Order, whose key charism is community life.  Maybe this reflects what I often share with my fellow Christians, that God and life are a mystery.  I am a mystery.    

Part of my mystery is that I am often challenged by my fellow Christians and their life stances.  That is good for me and to be expected.  As I am challenged, I often reflect upon a God of mercy and love?  Isn't God here in all of our here and now?  Why compartmentalize God?    

Pastoral situations faced by me often present such healthy pastoral and theological questioning and reflection.  I continue to face these core questions that both challenge and nourish my spiritualtiy.  They take their toll on me.  However, no matter what, they will continue to be the compost for deepening my faith and spirituality.  The sheep need a shepherd.  I surely need a shepherd.  So we shepherd each other along the journey of faith, in the midst of mysteyr and paradox.      

What am I saying?  I so identify with Merton and understand why his writings seem so confused or contradictory to Sr Wendy.  That is life, that is the beauty of Merton.  He shared life as he experienced it, no holds barred, in a spiritual context.  So, in Merton, we have what we have.  So we are who we are.  Relish the mystery, roll around freely in its fertile soil.    

Stick to what you do best

Like me, Buddhist monks start their day early, in my street. 

"Stick to what you do best" were the words of advice, given to me, last week, by a trusted and gifted work colleague.  As I reflected on her words, regarding work practice, I applied them to everyday life and got this - Let us appreciate how much good is present in our lives".  

This past week, I was listening to a refugee, updating me on his family.  I have known him so long.  Life is tough.  I know that, but I had to stop him and remind him that it is not all bad, that life is better now than it had been over the last year, thanks to the onslaught of a pandemic, which had hit his family in more ways than one.  Too often, we are too readily overcome by the bad, the negative.  

There is so much good happening in our lives, which we too often cannot see for the immediate pitfalls and injustices staring us in the face.  Let us go beyond that immediate stare to focus on the wider context.  As Julian of Norwich said, neither unwittingly nor lightly, "All shall be well!"  And it will be.  

 

Don't fall for the trap

 

God in the brothel 

I went to the brothel 

and took God with me. 

The Madame cursed and spat 

fury and hatred, spewing it out 

all over the kitchen 

and all over God. 

The women sat listless 

in dreadful despair 

waiting for the customers 

with their dirty minds 

and cold, cold lust. 

The men, furtive and awkward 

in the smart business suits 

but itching to rape 

and to devour 

before driving home 

to the wife and kids 

and barbecue on the lawn. 

I went to the brothel 

and took God with me 

and through all the sickness, 

the sin and the stink 

God sat--trembling 

in stunned and dreadful silence.  

During the 1960s, Edwina Gateley was a lay missionary in Africa.  She went on to found the Volunteer Missionary Movement in England.  Following God's calling, she moved yet again rather reluctantly in mission to people living on the streets, in inner-city Chicago.  It was here she began her outreach to sex workers, for whom she began Genesis House, her base for ministry with these women.  Out of her ministry, she wrote this poem.  Powerful!  

She never fell for the trap.  What is the trap? 

Well from here, I was going to rave on a bit, but then I was touched by what Edwina shared in an article - Ministry on the Edges (The Way).  So I stand back and reflect.

As she was approaching  a new path in ministry, she reflected, "I sense danger when one begins to get comfortable in ministry and I had a feeling that, much as I loved my role, God was calling me away."  

That is a truism for me.  Never get comfortable.  I believe that.  Yet I know I have been in one central role in my life and ministry, for too long here in Bangkok, and I have become comfortable, even in the midst of many challenges.  While I know this,  I feel a fear in moving on, a fear that holds me back.  

Edwina knew the same.  She was approaching a whole new unknown in being called by God to a new ministry, to reaching out to prostitutes, street people, people on the edge, in inner-city Chicago.  As she was looking at her future, offered by God, she reflected. "I did not relish the prospect.  .. I felt angry with God. ... Ultimately, I simply had to trust. ... I was thrown by God's grace into a new and frightening world with a vague sense that I was to be about some kind of mission." 

I can identify with her.  Here she gives her answer to her facing fear, brought on by approaching momentous change and challenges in following God's call.  Beyond all, she knew to trust in God and let herself be thrown around by God's grace.  What a wonderful, life giving image, is captured by the phrase 'being thrown around by God'.  

The key in mission is we are not God.  Rather God is with us, as God is with everyone.  So we approach mission on the edge, not to be strong ministers, not to show what heores we are, not looking for great results, not giving something to others that they do not possess.  No, we go to the edge, knowing that God is already there with those we are called to approach in mission.   Our being there aims to allow those on the edge to know that God is truly with them, loving them as they are.  That is the transformation of the gospel, letting people know that God is truly with them and stays with them, no matter what.  

Thank you, Edwina, for showing us a way.  Mission is open to all the baptized.  We can all make our mark for good in the world.  Humility always is the key.   

Do they get it?

The guy who cooks the best fried rice in my street is Vietnamese.

I have been told for so long that the guy, who makes my favorite fried rice in my soi, is from Viet Nam.  I never got it until the past week.  My hesitation has been that he always speaks Thai and speaks it so well, or at least to my ear.  I had never heard him speak Vietnamese and, then recently, I saw him wearing his Vietnamese hat, and it hit me - he is Vietnamese.  

The guy has always been so friendly to me, calling me "Fried Rice Ham", which is my classic, weekly order.  Being sure now he is from Viet Nam, our casual friendship in the street scene has reached new heights.  I finally got it and, as a result, a whole new friendship opened up in My Bangkok.    

In the last week, I shared a message from Pope Francis where he stresses the role of the laity.  A person at church asked me - Is that us?  He never got it, until I assured the person that the Pope was talking to him.  Once he got it, he realised for the first time in his life something important about who he is.  It was a delight to see the excitement in his face. 

Do we really get who we are and the possibilities of who we are?  Once we do, we too can know new excitement, lighting up as we see a new vision of who we are and a whole vista of new options in life.    

Jerusalem

A Thai Buddhist Funeral Ritual

"Nineteen coffins of young victims, of last week's tragedy in Thailand, lined an entire wall of Wat Rat Samakee.  A long white string, a Buddhist symbol of purity and protection, ran across their tops. Placed around each coffin were items to carry the young children into the afterlife: a Spiderman outfit, a plush kitty, juice boxes, grilled pork, and toy trucks, many of them."   

Such is a graphic description given in a New York Times article (09-10-22).   Tragedy, absurd tragedy, hits humanity far too often.  What sense do we make of such senseless acts of human wantonness?   Wantonness is the pure lack of any care for the other.  

In the last week, while researching a quote, attributed to Margaret Mead (cultural anthropologist - 1901 to 1978), I discovered three principles arising out of anthropological research that uphold the core, human value of our caring for each other.   

1)  The plight of an ancient woman, who suffered a fall, showed that love and the will to live can push the human body to do remarkable things, even in the absence of modern medicine.    

2)  Times of crisis are moments of transition during which societies turn to shared meanings and experiences to make sense of what they are going thorough.    

3)  A small group of committed people can change society.  

Human tragedy, human evil are not the end.  In the midst of the pain, the loss, the suffering, there lie the reminder of the strength of the human spirit, the power of love and the possibility for humanity to grow and deepen in solidarity and kindness.   As Henri Nouwen writes, based on St Paul, powerlessness is our power.  Following the humble Christ,  nourishing and sustaining power lies in our acknowledging our need for God and each other; in our acknowleding the total human narrative, the good and the bad, as being about us, not them.  The subject of power within the human project is not ultimately dominated by the pursuits of the few, nor by the stories and successes of ill-gain and destruction.  It is rather the power of the good and the great that wins the day.    

The stirring English anthem, Jerusalem, uses the words of William Blake, the English poet and mystic of 200 years ago.  Blake was sharing his vision that the new Jerusalem, the Holy City, will not be built in some far distant fanatasy.   Rather it is being built right here and now, in the midst of human evil, not apart from it.  This is so, as evil is conquered once and for all, through Christ risen.  Evil gives way to the good of humanity, stirred up by a powerful God, working through our world and us, as we find ourselves.  So we gladly sing with great gusto - 

"Jerusalem, the Holy City, will be built here among those dark satanic mills".    

Handicapped people or handicapped society?

On the news, in these past days, I heard a visually impaired man in Gaza talking on his life's challenges, which were not to be underestimated.  Having shared the hardships of his lot in life, his last statement so struck me.  He simply asked if it is people who are handicapped or society?  How true!

Human structures are fragile, world institutionas are failing us, leadership is often lacking.  This, I propose, situates the human quest to live good and fulfilling lives, within a most difficult set of circumstances.  Truth is we pursue the great human quest within a flawed reality.  Maybe we can sum up the human situation as this - we aim to live our life as best we can, with what we've got. What more can we do?  Basically, despite all, we keep on keeping on.   

We are limted, while we also have great potential for good.  Despite all odds, the human spirit is enduring, remaining strong.   Faith is an enabler for life.  Viktor Frankl, the Austrian psychotherapist, named that we can live any how, if we have a why to do so.  Faith gives us a why.  It assures us that we can do whatever life throws our way, maybe not as we would like or plan, but we can do it.  

A key is to remember that life and faith are never lived alone.  God is our constant companion on the journey.  We live, not as strong individualists, but as strong individuals in communion with our neighbour.  Life is not an individual pursuit, but a team effort.  

Strong indivduals and strong communites go together.  Faith empowers us for life.  Faith builds up community.  In faith, as members of strong communities, we can live life to the full, despite any handicap.  A handicapped world serves unjustly to handicap human individuals, but humanity cannot be held back forever.  .  

   

On the Buses in My Bangkok

My Limousine

Using public transport is a great way to know your local situation and to know you within it.  It all happens on the road, where you encounter the local populous, enter into conversations and observe your fellow passengers, as well as look out for yourself.  It is a real eye opener into life on the ground running, so to speak.  

Like life, it is all a mixed bag.  I had my bus ride from hell, when a bus conductor yelled at me, on her getting frustrated, with my persistence, in trying to pronounce a local destination properly.  A long term result was that I now know how to pronounce that name so as to be understood.  It is experiences like this, from which one learns a language.  

Apart from my horror stories, my catalogue of bus stories are full of learning, friendly encounters and, yes, love.  I observe and so learn about people and their lives.  They are tired; they keep going every day; they even struggle to get on and off, despite all odds.  I have had the friendly conversations in Thai or the occasional, inquisitive enquiry about where I am going.  I exchanged phone numbers once with a fellow passenger, a friendly and talkative female.  Then I once sang a song with a bus conductor and one even told me that she loved me.  I replied that I love her long time, but never saw her again.  

On the Bangkok buses, the bus conductors are the powerful figures.  They do more than sell bus tickets.  Their work is long and strenuous.  They are the ones who can make or break your journey, with either a smile or an occasional frown.      

Riding the buses opens my eyes to the richness, vibrancy and diversity of the life I share in My Bangkok.  It is an everyday context, within which I discover more about my identity and the identity of others, with whom I share my daily life.  Riding the buses in My Bangkok is a vital way of my healthily asserting myself into local life, of which I am a part.  It is all about so much more than riding buses to get places.  It is a vehicle for learning about who I am in my community, for knowing my place in it, for assuring me of my role in it.  No matter who I am, here I belong for now and here I have my invaluable role to play.  We belong together,  Together, we create that rich, vibrant and diverse world.    

It's all yours for the taking

The Gift of Simon

Symbols offered at the Buddhist Temple for Simon's Journey Beyond Death 

Who is Simon?  He is a 53 year old, Aussie guy who, on dying in My Bangkok, came unexpectedly last week into my life.   Here was his Thai home, shared with his wife.  Dying in Bangkok resulted in his parents and family in Australia not being near him, when they so wanted and needed to be at his side.  I was called in as the priest, serving as the link person between Thailand and Australia, at this crucial time.  Once again, as a priest, it has been my privilege to enter into the lives of others at a most intimate moment.  In sharing their Simon, their grief and their need, they taught me so much about life and humanity.    

My years as a priest tell me that, whether 1 or 91, death is never easy.  Whenever it happens, it gives rise to different stories, to varying levels of loss, pain and tragedy.  My years as a priest, living away from home, tell me that to have someone close to you die, far away, provides its own unique loss and challenge.  In such an eventuality, what is natural and human becomes both more complex and ever more desired.  It is natural and human to celebrate together the life of a lost, loved one.  It is natural and human to yearn for closeness around that person who has been so much a part of who they are.  The challenge becomes how.  

Despite any frustration or difficulty created by distance and separation, the determinedly held, dual focus of a wife in Bangkok and a family in Melbourne was to give Simon, their dear one, a funeral with dignity and to comfort each other in their shared loss.  At the momentous time of Simon's death, what ran the show and held it together was their love for Simon and for each other.  Throughout the week, they truly cared for each other. Their glance towards each other was ever kind, never mean, never selfish. 

Is this not a great gift to carry with oneself for life?  God cares for Simon; God cares for us. May we ever trust in a kind and generous God, no matter what may befall us.  What more could we want in life?  

When the night has been too lonely
And the road has been too long
And you think that love is only
For the lucky and the strong
Just remember in the winter
Far beneath the bitter snows
Lies the seed that with the sun's love
In the spring becomes the rose. 
Bette Midler's The Rose

It's not easy being green

Kermit, the Frog, of the Muppets

Among other things, Kermit, the Frog, of the Muppets, was a singer.  For me, his greatest song was "It's Not Easy Being Green".   How true!  It isn't easy being me in a fractured and crazy world, but this is where I am, like it or not, and I will be me as best I can.  

We are given one opportunity to live life.  So make the most of it.  An enlightened humanist may simply say that one's opportunity is most limited due to the limitations of a flawed world and a flawed humanity.  That makes sense, especially if one is poor or marginalized in anyway.  Faith, however, gives another prognosis.  

With the eyes of faith, life's possibilities are there for anyone to grasp, as we are all created by the one and loving God.  As such, we share in the one human dignity, with each called to their own greatness.   No matter who we are, faith reminds us that God creates us for good, raising us up from the power of evil.  Still, we must keep a sense of perspective, being ever humble.  .  

We are limited because life is fragile, because we are frail and so we fail to see, or are stopped from seeing, what is possible.  Despite whatever holds us back, we have the enduring opportunity to be true to ourselves, to reach that greatness that is the destiny of each of us.   

As I write this, I feel like I am writing propaganda or sweet words of nothingness, but I am not.  What is wrong with our world is not God's vision for humanity and creation, but we who make up the world.  Both we as individuals and as mutual humanity are challenged to be mature, to uphold systems and ways of behaviour that speak of a maturity, that allows for human flourishing.  God is there to lift us up all the way.  That is not trite ideology.  This is the real meat of life.  

As Kermit says in his song: 

"Why wonder I am green, and it'll do fine, it's beautiful, and I think it's what I want to be".  

Absurdity of Life

The burning bush is the symbol for Season of Creation 2022 

We may think the gospel is absurd but is not our world absurd?  

War is absurd but we keep doing it.  Climate change is absurd, while we present as unable or unwilling to act on it.  Countries are rapidly tearing themselves apart, ever focusing on what divides, rather than what unites.  We profess love in our homes, while far too many are torn apart by violence.  Too many people suffer hunger and poverty, and why?  

All are destructive events, causing harm and hurt to us and our world, but it is often so unneccesary.  We could act for the common good, for our good, but instead we choose absurdity.  Ultimately, we fail to connect with each other, we fail to commit to life and so act against the greater good of all.  It is like the world's tectonic plates are rushing across each other out of control, while we just sit and calmly play with our smartphones.  

It strikes me how absurd our world is; how absurd our life is.  Yet it does not have to be this way.  We could take in the wisdom of Luke's gospel which challenges us to be people of integrity, standing up for what is right and good for all.  Luke's Jesus is showing us the way but we don't get it.  

St Gregory the Great, Pope (590-604), shares this wisdom in this light:

"Act in such a way that your humility may not be your weakness, nor your authority be severity.  Justice must be accompanied by humility, that humility may render justice lovable." 

A wise man, showing us the way to act for the good of our brother, our sister and creation.  Laudato si!     

Confrontation - it's a gospel imperative

No one likes confrontation.  I don't like confrontation as it can be a most uncomfortable place to be.  As an Australian, I am known here as a straight talker, but that does not mean I like conflict.  I don't.  I so avoid conflict, while, at the same time, I will not avoid what is necessary, as I know and appreciate that confrontation can be a natural and needed part of life, leading to new and needed change or agreement.  Be assured that this entry is about being positive. 

For the sake of clarity, I ask - What is confrontation?  One definition says confrontation is "a hostile or argumentative meeting or situation between opposing parties". It names confrontation as an element of conflict.  So let me keep my focus on confrontation. 

The context for my immediate interest in confrontation is Luke's Gospel which is full of 'hard sayings'.  These sayings tell us to sell everything, to leave father and mother and all behind, even hate them.  What is going on?  It has struck me for the first time that the gospel is confrontational, for it confronts us with harsh realities, realities that we would usually brush over.  That may be our reaction, but the gospel challenges remain and we keep reading them over and over.  The gospel does not let us get away from its harsh demands.  As followers of the gospel, it makes us feel uncomfortable and much more.    

The gospel confronts us for the sake of the other, the poor, the needy, the blind, the lame, all those excluded by society.  This is hard stuff.  This is revolutionary stuff.  Pope Francis names it as we are called to the revolution of tenderness, the revolution of the gospel.  This is our long standing call and challenge.  We are continually confronted by the gospel for the sake of our own self and a world that so need to be confronted by a gosple message based on love for all - self, neighbour and creation.  

Gospel confrontation is good and healthy, not to be avoided, for it is part of the recipe for our building the Kingdom of God here and now.  

     

Life is an adventure

The big event of my week was a weather event.  Monday was the feast of the Assumption.  So off I went to the cathedral for the annual mass in honor of our patron, the Assumption of Mary.  Mass began at 5pm.  As usual, it was led by the cardinal who only preached for 20 minutes.  It is a grand event and is one church thing I go to every year.

During mass, it started to rain which turned out to be a series of major, tropical storms that went on for at least four hours.  This meant that getting home was an adventure.  Another Australian, I know from Sunday mass, was there.  So we ganged up and went to the bus stop near the cathedral during a break in the rain.  It was only a break. So when I got to my stop from where I take another bus home, it was surely raining again, and it rained and it rained.  I was stuck under shelter for an hour watching pelting rain and flooding streets.  What to do?  As I had been to mass, I had my good shoes on, and so I could not venture out as they would be ruined in the water.     

I decided on Plan B.  Get to another spot by skytrain, from where I could get a taxi in a street that would not be flooding.  Good idea?  But it was still raining and no taxi was coming forth on this major road.  So I bit the bullet.  When the rain finally eased a bit, I got on a motorbike taxi which took me home.  Finally, home!  It took me two and a half hours from the cathedral to get home.  The motorbike ride through my flooded street was an adventure.  I could not have walked in that water, dirty and 15cms high.  

My story of the week.  

I share here the central part of my last weekly email to my sister back home. Life is an adventure, because it is a struggle.  Still struggle is not the end, as there is always a way ahead.  Such was the core of my message to my sister.  

At this time, a central part of my struggle is how I explain things that matter to me, to others who matter in my life.  Before me, at this time of the year, is the challenge of how I share with my faith community my strongly felt attachment to Mary as my mother.  Is my experienced sense of Mary as my mother foolish or childish or just emotional?  

So how do I explain it so as to give this relationship the credibility it deserves?  Do I need to explain it?  Yes, in some way, I do as this cannot be seen as either magic or superstition.  An explanation is demanded so as to give justice to a central relationship of our faith, a relationship of true and real love.  Hang on!  Not explanation!  I do not strive to explain but to share, for my challenge arises out of who we are as church, and so we encounter and share in faith.  

As I grapple with this challenge, it strikes me that I can share my life experience that brings me to my relationship with Mary.  I can share about my parents and their own love and faith that have brought me to where I am.  Maybe that is all I need to do as I cannot ultimately define it, nor is that possible nor needed.  

Mystery is the key word yet again.  Mary is real at deep and real levels, a part of my life.  That is enough.  Pope Paul VI put it another way, when consecrating the church of Our Lady of the Lake, near Castel Gondolfo, on 15 August, 1977.  He said:

"To create the Church, the Lord created a mother, the mother of Christ, and gave to Mary the glory and the humility necessary for a task of this nature, of this magnitude.  It is a mystery that is so close to us, that speaks to the soul of each one of us because Our Lady is our mother."

 

The Times They Are a-Changin' - Bob Dylan

 “Bad times, hard times, this is what people keep saying; but let us live well, and times shall be good. We are the times: Such as we are, such are the times.”  -  St Augustine 

St Augustine of Hippo lived from 354 to 430.  His lifetime witnessed the rapid decline of the Roman Empire.  His world was the Roman Empire, and, in his last years, he was seeing its destruction.  In his dying days, there were barbarian invaders knocking at his city gates.  He was facing the destruction of all he knew.  Within this context, these words jump out with power and integrity.  These words remain ever so powerful today in a world facing its own multiple and serious crises.  

Under the force of these crises, our world is changing rapidly and definitively.  From the beginning of the pandemic, I would name our times as extraordinary times.  With the onset of yet another war in Ukraine and the worsening conflict next door in Myanmar, I began talking of crazy times.  Now we see Taiwan and are hit with the worsening impact of climate change - double whammy! I think these may be named now apocalyptic times, for I am seeing so many signs reinforcing one shared message of our time - we are entering a new era.  .    

Let me be clear, this is just my take on the world, my interpretation.  This is my theory.  Let me be clear, it is definitely not shared with any sense of the end times in mind.  We are not at the end of time.  That is precisely what Augustine was telling his people then as they faced much danger and destruction: 'Now is not the end of time, nor even a bad time.  It is just our time.'  As always, we make our times and times are ever changing.  

Maybe I could put it another way:

What seemed once as radical has become comfortable;

What was once new has become old and out of date; 

What used to work so well no longer works.  

We are called forth to be prophets of revolution and newness, not doom;

We are called forth to be people of joy and good news, not gloom. 

We are challenged to proclaim creation, not destruction; 

We are challenged to build life, not death.  

Now is not the time to get stuck, now is the time to jump up and move on;

Now is not the end, it is the beginning.

The time is now to stand up and proclaim new beginnings, new life, new joy. 

But - and there is only one but - always with those we love, 

our true companions on the journey.  

Illegitimi non carborundum

It was first used during the Second World War and has been attributed to British army intelligence. The Free Dictionary lists the definition as: "A humorous pseudo-Latin expression meant to translate as don't let the bastards grind you down. "Meaning do not succumb to the oppressive influence of others."

Rt Rev David Jenkins, Bishop of Durham (1984-94)

I was introduced to this phrase while studying theology in London, 1983 to 1986.  I had gone to a public lecture, being given by a controversial, Anglican bishop of the day, David Jenkins of Durham.  He was being attacked by powerful forces for standing up for the rights of the worker.  They were criticizing him on the basis that the church should keep out of politics.  They just did not want to appreciate that by standing up for the little person, the vulnerable, he was doing what church does.  For them, this was not what church does.  

So the good bishop was controversial simply because he proclaimed the gospel in the midst of his harsh, social reality, on the side of the marginalized.  That was what the gospel obliged him to do.      

During that lecture, he shared his motto - "Illegitimi non carborundum".   It really tickled me to hear a bishop, no matter what brand, speak like this.  I have never forgotten it.  

His motto was telling the world that no matter what the opposition, he was keeping his focus on the gospel and its values, for upholding the good of those forgotten in society.  He was not putting down others opposing him.  Rather he was showing us the way to always keep the course for good and never give up, no matter what we faced.  

Our focus is to ever remain the Kingdom of God.  Our commitment is to keep that wider focus for humanity, despite all hardship.  There is no need to oppose others.  The task is simply to keep the right focus of the gospel.  

For this week, a PS

Yesterday at mass, I solved two riddles that had been niggling me for sometime.  I did that by facing the issues and speaking directly with the people concerned.  On one, I realized how wrong I was in my assumption and apologized.  On the other, I received an explanation for what was happening, allowing me to accept and deal in a new way with circumstances.  In both cases, I could move on.  

The key was taking the risk in communicating directly.  As Francis often urges us, engage in encounter. 

Both issues intrigue me.  Firstly, I engaged people within the context of the mass, for that is where the issues arose.  In doing so, I have to remain focused on the dynamics of power for it is not just John talking, but John, the priest.  I never seek to abuse that power in the relationship, nor would I do so intentionally.  As I say, I am about order, not control.  

The latter issue intrigues me even more so, as I did not realize, until after raising it publicly, that it has arisen due to our Covid world.  It was a classic case of I "couldn't see the forest for the trees".  

For the past few weeks, I have been watching a sudden change in how people take communion.  More and more people were taking the host and going to the side to stand and consume it.  This new practice was attracting my attention as it was creating a blockage in the movement of people in the communion line.  Why was it happening?  Was it one person following another?  

I was so blinded by watching the new pattern of movement that I could not see its cause, which made sense of what I was observing.  Fact is that with wearing masks in Covid times, people need space to stand and remove the mask so as to take communion.  I could not see that.  All I could see was the disturbance being caused to the movement of people at mass.  My focus was the disturbance to movement before me, not the reason for any change in people's movement.  Reality is this change arose due to Covid times with people wearing masks.  .  

Amazing!  Who would ever think that Covid impacts upon our life in such detail, even in receiving communion?  This small example shows how Covid is making its presence felt, changing our world, changing our church.  

In these days, I must keep my eyes open to arising new realities.  I can be so blind.  In this case, I could not see because of where I keep my focus.  That is so me.  Through encounter with others, I could change my focus and see the wider picture, see why the change was happening.  It then made sense and I could deal with the change in a more relaxed and open way.  This shows me how we so need each other to see and understand our reality in clearer ways.  Encounter matters, letting us operate together more easily for and with each other.  It does work.    

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.  .