The human struggle shared in faith

This past week, our 10am English mass community went on our final pilgrimage for 2025.  One could say it was a great success.  I will say even more as I found it to be a most fruitful and rewarding time, shared in prayer and encounter.  What made it so? 

Our destination was Immaculate Conception church in Sam Sen, a neighbourhood in central Bangkok. We chose there as it is one of the four designated churches, within the archdiocese, for pilgrimage during the Holy Year.  Going there you can see why this choice was made.  

Its history is just fascinating.  Even before Bangkok was ever conceived, King Narai, in 1674, gave this land to a recent arrival, in the Kingdom of Siam, Bishop Laneau.  The land was to be used for a church, the first ever church in Bangkok.  So the history dates back to the very beginning of the local church.  

Today, this is a most Catholic neighbourhood in the midst of Buddhist Bangkok.  This is due to the various comings, over time, of Portuguese, Cambodian and Vietnamese, Catholic communities. 

With the Portuguese came their statue of Mary, which local Thai Catholics have affectionately nicknamed - Kanom Jeen (a Thai noodle).  The Portuguese had originally fled the Dutch in Indonesia, where they had carved this statue of Mary.  They took it with them on their journeys in faith.  First, they fled to Cambodia, later moving from there, with local, Cambodian Catholics to Bangkok, settling at Immaculate Conception parish.  This statue now holds pride of place in the parish, being the centre of local devotion.

It can then be seen that the history of Immaculate Conception poignantly reflects the human and spritual themes of journey, diversity and struggle.  These are all themes that touch upon our lives and community.  So it is a church rich in meaning, speaking to our pilgrimage.  

Much more, ours is an everyday pilgrimage, where we face the human struggle, together in faith.  Such a pilgrimage is a human quest undertaken in human solidarity, together with our one loving God, who is our constant companion.  In this context, our pilgrimage to Immaculae Conception came to be experienced as a purposeful encounter with each other and with God, a vital time and opportunity for enriching life.  .    

See out the old, bring in the new

 

As we reach the end of another church year, it is a natural time to stand back and reflect.  For me, the event of the year was my first experience of an earthquake, on 28th March.  I would choose this as my experience of the year, not to focus on tragedy and disaster, as there is enough of these in our world, but because it was a shared experience within my region.  I could highlight my visit to Norway and Paris, but that might end up in being a narcissistic pursuit, and it was my eperience, shared with a select few.    

This earthquake had its epicentre near Mandalay in Myanmar, a nation that has known multiple crises for far too long - Covid, coup, revolution, floods and now this.  The people of Myanmar are living through a quasi apocalyptic tragedy, suffering shared trauma.  This is highlighted by the reflection of GoDark, a Myanmar influencer and artist who visited Mandalay, post-earthquake.  His reflection is vivid.    

"The city was physically broken, and the people seemed emotionally numb.  Looking at their faces, I couldn't sense much feeling - neither sorrow nor relief .  I kept wishing to see emotion in people again - any kind of emotion - sadness, joy, even anger.  Because perhaps what is most haunting isn't the destruction itself, but the emptiness it leaves behind - the absence of feeling."  

As we stand at the end of  a year, what matters is what we let go, as well as what we hold dear as memories that nourish and teach us.  What may be quiding principles in this quest?  For direction, I refer to the gospel for this past Sunday and see the criteria I need.  So here goes.  

Do we engage the world or simply be passive spectators? 

Do we stay the course or too easily run away and hide, or give up?  

Are we leaders?  

So I ask myself-  Where do I wish to be, physically, emotionally, spiritually?  Where do I choose to stand in life?   Life is a shared journey, full of wonder and surprise.  Yes, there is a fair share of struggle and pain, but there is ever the promise of hope, of a better future, moving ahead as best we can, hand in hand.    .  

“Resilience is not justice. We don’t want to be resilient. We are not begging for mercy. We are demanding accountability.”

Cebu devastated after a recent typhoon

My headline today shares the words of a Filipina, speaking at a Caritas International event, held at COP30, currently continuing in Brazil.  Having experienced devastating typhoons herself, her words come straight from the heart.  What has befallen her country is beyond comprehension and just keeps happening, while the world keeps watching, while maybe even admiring how resilient are the people facing such human tragedies.  Is this our excuse?  Is this how we comfort ourselves from afar?   

Today's reflection arises because this Sunday, in the church, was World Sunday of the Poor, which featured a message from Pope Leo, in which he made two clear and chilling statements..  

"The poor are not recipients of our pastoral care, but creative subjects who challenge us".

"Helping the poor is a matter of justice before a question of charity".   

Leo names it for what it is.  The poor are not written away by our simply offering help or by our admiring how they manage in the midst of tragedy and suffering.  Leo made another statement which stays with me - "Wealth disappoints".  

Money and projects alone are not the answer.   Both keep rolling out, going seemingly nowhere.  I am no expert on love and its practice.  Like everyone else, I am a practitioner of love, and, like everyone else, I pass and fail.  The fact is that, rich and poor, no matter who we are, we are all in this thing, called 'life', together.  We belong together and we will get through it together.  The further my life journey takes me, the more clearly I see that.   

Was this not a lesson of Covid?  Seemingly not, as our world becomes more crazy and more disconnected.  Life is not an 'everyone for themselves' event.  Ultimately, we are 'the same, but different', as a Thai t-shirt reads.  Dignity belongs to all.  We all participate in the wonders and joys of life, not just in its miseries.  It is not about resilience, but about being human together.  

Special

Yet again,someone was kind to me this week.  While kindness may come my way in many forms, from many people, this one particular kindness so struck me.  I must state that I am thankful for every kindness, but this time I was more than thankful, I was overcome.  So, what was different?

Having just returned from Europe, a friend from our English mass community came to see me.  He had wanted to chat about his recent reading on being a Catholic.  On meeting me, he gave me a gift - a bottle of wine.  On talking about his trip, he highlighted his time in Italy.  After he left, I looked at the bottle of wine and saw it was Italian.  So I wondered - Did he or did he not? 

It then hit me like lightning - "He gave me a bottle of Italian wine.  Did it come from Italy?"  

So I rang him to check - "Did you bring me that wine back from Italy?"

"Of course!" - was his reply. 

I was simply stunned that he, or anyone, would go to such trouble for me, bringing a bottle of wine all the way from Tuscany.  

In expressing my amazement and deep gratitude, he simply replied, why wouldn't he do so, after all I had done for him?  I was left speechless, holding a gift that was more than a bottle of wine, but a testimony to that, in someone's eyes today, I am special.  And aren't we all?  What more can I say?  

    

 

Communion in the midst of such simplicity.

Notre Dame of Paris

It took me nearly 69 years to discover Paris, but I finally did it, and what a find it was!  A true treasure in its midst is Notre Dame Cathedral.  Dating back to 1163, being completed in 1345, it has been a dominant presence in Christendom for 860 years.    

So a highlight in Paris was to spend three hours in Notre Dame, on the Sunday afternoon.  I was there for an organ recital, Vespers and mass.  In the midst of this unique opportunity, I found myself sitting there in this grand cathedral of Europe, of the western church, just taking in its sense of history and culture.  This church now restored to its former glory, following the tragic fire of 2019, shone in all its glory, like a sparkling new building.  What an experience!  

Beyond all the grandeur of this great church of Christendom, what I found was that spending three hours there was a simple time of prayer and worship.  It was a time when I felt a sense of communion with the divine.  That was the great gift of Notre Dame to me. 

This was so because, beyond all its grandeur, Notre Dame has a simplicity about it that allows one just to be in its presence and take in the divine.  This was more than visiting a church.  It was an experience of the divine, that I have seldom enjoyed in my life.  This is the true treasure of Notre Dame for me.  .  .   

A sanctuary so simple

Ode to Revolution

The Bastille today

After two and a half weeks away in marvelous Norway and wonderful Paris, I could bore you with a photo parade, but I would never subject you to such punishment.  Instead, I share an insight gained.    

While in Paris, I was excited to go see the Bastille, the location of the defining moment of the French Revolution.  When taken there, I asked my good friend, an expert on Paris - Where is it?  To which I was assured that I was looking at it.  What I saw was a monument surrounded by traffic.. This is it?    

Is this where the revolution led?  It makes me reflect on how to feel about revolution, as a concept for embracing and engendering life.  It exists. It is.  It ever challenges us.  It ever gives us life.  I believe this for revolution is a tool for living the gospel, which is about the transformation of life.  

The gospel assures us that the human quest for more to life, the fullness of life for all, the vision of God for history are always possible where we are, but none of this just happens.  Here lies the challenge to revolution - the revolution of the gospel.  

In the midst of much suffering, we may say that people are resilient and so esxcuse ourselves.  But then I remmeber hearing a poor woman remonstrating - "Stop telling me I am resilient.  I just want to live life like everyone else."

Even if it fails, revolution is ever the call of the gospel, for that allows the gospel to be lived, for it offers the transformation of our whole self, humanity and our world.  My time away in places of beauty and wonder, rich in culture and history, tell me that, no matter what, life is good, a banquet offered for all to savour and enjoy.  In the midst of a harsh and routine reality, this vision is easily lost.  Is it not a revolutionary goal and challenge to ever behold and pursue?  

Life is meant to be celebrated

Sunday 5th October marked 20 years, to the day, that I first arrived in Bangkok, to begin working with and helping migrants and refugees.  For me, this is amazing!  It is a feat I could never achieve alone.  I am sure God is in this, a humble landmark for me, in mission and life.  

As it naturally happened, my anniverasry was observed at mass, for it was also the Church's World Day for Migrants and Refugees.  God works in mysterious and wondrous ways, as the timing of this enabled me to issue a call to our faith community, to help a Migrant Learning Centre for Burmese children, situated in the north of Bangkok.  What better day to reach out to migrant children.  

When two of us arrived from church, at their humble centre, their community had just finished a celebratory lunch to honor the birthday of one of their own.  So the children were already gathewred in good spirits.  I found them so welcoming and hospitable, attentive to my presence and my needs.    

They reminded me that ones supposingly so little or insignificant in the order of our world have so much to tell us and teach us about life.  They often do so in their humble and simple ways, if we only take time to listen.  While we may be busy with many things, they are there waiting to show us the way how to live life with gracefulness, humility and dignity. 

As I go on a time of sabbatical, their gracious voice and kind actions send me on my way.  Life is a celebration, neither measured nor determined by worldly wealth, power or status.     

One way is to go backwards, but never do it.

As I remain fascinated by the impact of Generation Z influencers, upon our world, I came across an article by Robert Mickens (UCANews - 26th Sept, 2925), regarding the rise of interest in the Latin Mass.  He hinted at the role played within this church movement, by "a cadre of Gen Z youth on social media who call themselves "Catholic influencers'".   

What Mickens does not mention in his article, which I understand, is that Gen Z feels left out, badly done by in history, so they are searching, wanting to make their mark.  Where do they turn in their search?  Not necessarily in the wisest direction.  

Only, this weekend, Deutsche Welle's 77 Percent took a look at young, African influencers.  Here is what stays with me.  

Who defines the truth?  

Government, business, the people?  I note they did not mention Church or religion or elders.  

The 'who' sit under the scrutiny of defining questions, asking if these institutions can be trusted and if they have an agenda.  

What is truth?

Trurth is presented as relative.  Nothing is absolute.  

Right information is the basis for truth.  Any information may also be relative, according to its source.  

Where do values stand in this?  

The culture is immediate and now.  

The audience's attention span is short.     

Where does this leave me in my fascination and pondering.  My fear is that ones may just follow what is easiest or fastest.  There is no point in going backwards.  Going forward is my rule of thumb, even when I am caught in my bubble.

I share here a photo from Mickens' article.  It may look like an old and backward scene.  It is anything but that.  It is a photo of a grand procession of bishops, at St Peter's Basilica , during the Second Vatican Counil.  This procession is an embodiment of moving forward from a past, that was becoming deadening and thus challenging change for the good.   This movement was both noble and courageous, taken together.  It is still challenging us today, embodied in the quest of Gen Z influencers.  Their quest is ours, and together we can move forward.  

  

Ultimately, do I get it?

As I look back at my last entry, I see it was far too long.  I think, "What was I trying to do?  Was I working hard to make a point or was I hitting someone over the head?"  I fear it may have been the latter for, at the time of writing, I was dealing with one of my core issues, namely, the over-clericalization of the Church.  This had raised its head that day at mass, with .the sudden arrival of multiple clergy wanting to concelebrate.  

Maybe this is simply what happens at a cathedral, but that line does not work with me.  I also concede that many would not get my point of concern.  So I will not dwell on it, but simply make my point and proceed.

Still, as I contemplate this conundrum, I wonder if I too live in a bubble.  This struck me just in the past week, when I discovered a whole world out there in social media, that I never even knew existed.  It is the world of social, political and religious influencers.  

As people of church, we may think we are having a profound influence on world affairs and people's lives, but I fear we may be kidding ourselves.   So much has changed, so quickly, such that the traditional influencers of life have fallen behind, being overtaken by users of social media.   

In our world, people are searching, with having been disillusioned and disaffected by traditional institutions of all kinds.  Their world has no real legacy.  So what is there for them?  They are searching, finding self-assuring voices online - social media influencers who exert a strong voice in our world.  

The questions arise.  How genuine, authentic, reliable are these influencers?   On my part. these questions can serve as a distraction from my real challenge, which is to get out of my small, church based bubble and face the fact that my staying self-assured, behind closed doors, is not good enough.  Move out and join the conversation that is happening in the world beyond, unknown to me.  

I am puzzled by what I have learnt.  Here, I am pursuing a conversation.  Conversation is ongoing and open ended.  Conversation seems lost in today's world.  That is my take, but am I correct?  Am I being arrogant in saying this?  Conversation is happening in new ways and in new realms.   This is a complex issue, not readily owned by my world.  I acknowledge this.  We too easily assert gospel truths, instead of entering into healthy conversation.  Do I really yet get it?

    

 

O happy fault!

"Felix culpa" is my great war cry leading to the Triumph of the Cross, the great feast, we celebrated this week.  This feast is an important date on my annual calendar, for it reminds me of friendships that are dear, sustaining and life-giving.   

It will make no sense to the uninitiated to learn that "O happy fault" is a line that brings me great joy.  It is a joy that comes with relishing so many memories of good friends and good times.  Our world may be a basket case, may be deranged, but it is ever full of love, friendship and good memories.  The world may be down but it is not defeated, not by a long shot.   

On feast of the Triumph of the Cross, we have been good friends for 39 years.

I sense that, if we lose our sense of mortality, we lose a sense of true religion and thus lose touch with the deeper realities of life.  This leads to our becoming self-contained and comfortable, even arrogant in our perspectives on life, denying what truly matters in life.  

Despite all the calls for otherwise, I am seeing a church that too often remains as a clerical sect.  I feel strongly on this issue, for clericalism contributes to a church in decline and to a loss of whole generations to the church and faith.  I see this at least, in the West, where a social price is being paid for the loss of religion and its life giving values.  

In today's world, the Church is called to respond to the cries of lost generations, those suffering in wars and conflicts, our poor and marginalised, mot to running clerical shows.  As I share this, sometimes, I feel like a lone voice, but that is okay.  Here, I am not running on a tangent.  Rather, I am hitting on a core issue, which is - "We are all equal, we are all in this thing, called life, together".  If not, we become disconnected and dislocated.  

Going back to where I started, the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross shows us God's most poignant act of love, carried out for the sake of life for all.  This was committed in the midst of harsh, human reality and incredible suffering.  It involved raw emotion, within the rough and tumble of life.  All this was experienced by God, whose powerful and everlasting act of love and life was lived out in the midst of humanity, as we are, and continues to today.  Our God is truly a God with us.  

We give witness to this essential truth, core value of life, through friendship.  True friends are a great gift from God.  They are also reminders that we are called to be a friend with neighbour and planet, helping each other through it all.  Much more, they tell us who God is in the midst of life's disasters and chaos, through every possibility of life.  They tell us that God is with us, no matter what.  

O happy fault.     

Or is our world just a basket case?

"Basket case" is how a good friend described her part of the world, to me, last week.  I smiled and thought, "Maybe she's got a point.  After all, I have reflected how deranged our world can be."   

This past Sunday, Pope Leo canonized Blessed Carlo Acutis, who had died at the age of 15, in 2006.  He was an extraordinary lad who lived his short life, devoted to Jesus and the eucharist.  He was kind to all, prayed continually and used his IT skills to promote the eucharist and the church.  His last words to his mother were: 

“Mom, don’t be afraid. Since Jesus became a man, death has become the passage towards life, and we don’t need to flee it. Let us prepare ourselves to experience something extraordinary in the eternal life.” 

On seeing all the wars, destruction and ruthless behaviour around us, our world can be aptly described as a basket case.  There again, is it not too easy to dwell upon the wrongs and evil in our world, and for far too long?  So we readily identify what we see as a basket case.  The challenge is not to be seduced by social media and the news, nor by a sense of social pessimism.  Instead, we are challenged to stand up against the evil that is tearing our world apart and act to right the wrongs being committed for far too often, wrongs that are violating the dignity of persons and creation.   

Then along comes a teenager, named Carlo.  He reminds us that our life and world are ultimately ruled by faith, love and goodness.  In a world driven by immediacy, personal satisfaction and comfort, we can easily forget what life is really about and why our world exists.   We can easily forget God.  In this vein, I was struck by this line:  

"While it can sometimes seem as if saints are a thing of the bygone era, or that they do not have modern interests and talents like ours, St. Carlo Acutis shows us that saints can be “normal” teenagers with extraordinary faith—even in the Internet age!" 

Has it simply become old-fashioned to believe in goodness and the un limited possibilities for love and kindness among humanity.  if so, it is time to pray to St Carlo.  

 St. Carlo Acutis, the Millennial saint—pray for us.  Help us to stop our world becoming a basket case.  

Is our world crazy or deranged?

Alexander the Great

In the past week, I was overcome, left speechless, as I read the story of the shooting at a Catholic church, in Minneapolis.  While a parish school was inside at mass, the shooter locked the church door from outside.  He then proceeded to shoot indiscriminately, through the windows, killing and injuring children at mass.  I found that incomprehensible.  How could any human being act in such a way towards other human beings?  

Then, I stood back and thought - "Human beings are doing this stuff all the time, just not in a Catholic church in the USA.  Human beings are violating each other all too often, in such shameful and hateful ways.  Look at Gaza, Iraq, Sudan, Myanmar.  The list just unravels. It is all mind-blowing what we can do to each other."  

As that story stayed with me, the word that came to me was "deranged".  It is a word I never use.  Yet, it now, aptly described for me an action that haunted me, as it was not just an insane or deplorable act.  Much more, this tragedy has unfolded due to deranged, human behaviour.  This is not to judge a person.  Rather it arises from my grappling with how any human being could commit such a callous act.    

How can this happen?  I keep saying that.  Maybe, in a world that is more deranged than crazy, we can learn from true warriors of history, like Alexander the Great, about valour and honour, both surviving above all deranged behaviour.    

Alexander the Great (356–323 BC) built an empire of nearly 2 million square miles.  Yet he died at just 32.  Legend says that he gave the following orders for his funeral.

1) Physicians to carry his coffin – showing that no one can escape death, not even with the best doctors.  

2)  Gold and treasures scattered on the road – showing wealth cannot follow us.  

3)  His hands left empty outside the coffin – showing we come and go with nothing.  

Many people ignore God, justice, humanity, and righteousness and follow evil ways to possess power and possessions.  But we cannot take power, fame, or riches beyond life. What truly matters is the good and bad we do while alive.

 As Scripture reminds us: 

 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?”  (Mark 8:36)  

(Johnson of Myanmar, thanks for this insight) 

Here, we can see that, even in the history of war, valour and honour rise out of the ashes, above all inhumanity.  Our world may appear deranged, but hope always lives and peace ever remains possible, rising just as well out of the depths of despair and against all odds.  We just need to keep our eye on the good of all, the good of the planet, never losing sight that we are already in the city of the living God (Heb, 12).  We are here.  We are here for life, a good life, a life shared.  This is truly a good place to be, as it is ordained for us, by the God of the living.  It is our mission to act so that our world never become deranged.     

 

Ecological Economics

This week, I am using a fancy title.  It comes from my participating this past week in a webinar, on Laudato Si and ecological economics.  Fancy title but it is dealing with nitty gritty, hot issues, facing our planet and humanity.  The presenter of the webinar told us that his take-away word, for us, would be heat.  By this, he was saying that the bottom line is that it is all about how hot our planet is.  Then, on Friday, I saw the news - UN officially declares famine in Gaza.  Do we understand how hot it is really getting on our planet?    

A hot issue demands attention, and demands it now.  Do we get that?  There is so much needless, unwanted and inhuman suffering in our world that calls for urgent action, but where is our sense of urgency?  The Gaza famine and other such tragedies facing humanity demand we step out now of our sense of indifference, comfort and isolationism (ICI).  

Our world is so chaotic, so full of death and destruction, that we may feel overcome by it, losing our sense of control.  I identify with that.  A sign of this is I often turn off the news, thinking - this is just gut wrenching, but what can I do?  However, if we stay in that ICI cocoon, we only become complicit in the evil attacking our world and the reality becomes worse.  Such is the nature of evil.    

The truth is we live in a harsh reality.  We can neither deny that nor escape from it.  It is in this context, we live our shared humanity, striving to be decent human beings, living good lives.  The challenge in faith is to stand up now, step out of our comfortable lives and live out the gospel, practising that love we so easily proclaim by word of mouth.    

This week, I have a fancy title.  Big deal!   Beyond that, it is a full-on, 'hands on', hard saying.  Get out of our ICI cocoon, live in reality, act in the midst of the harshness of life and love until the end.  Thus we embrace life and God, and his ways.    

 

We are on the way

Mary, our Mother, shows us the way

Ayutthaya is a special place in Thailand, as it was the centre of the Siam Kingdom, before Bangkok, and thus it became the cradle of Christianity in Thailand and beyond.  The latter all started with the coming of the Portuguese in the 16th century.  Within what was the Portuguese Village there, where an active community of Portuguese had lived for over 200 years, there now stands a statue of Our Lady, a sign of faith.  

With the fall of Ayutthaya to the Burmese, in 1767, this settlement ceased to exist, becoming today an archeological site.  The Portuguese had come to then Siam for trade and commerce.  As a Catholic community in need of pastoral care, first the Dominicans arrived, then the Franciscans and much later the Jesuits followed.  The Dominican church site now remains as a focus for tourism and pilgrimage.  

Today, its cemetery gives witness to what was in Ayutthaya - an active Portuguese, Catholic community.  This is the birthplace of the Church, not just in Thailand, but also beyond into Vietnam and southern China.  

It is to Ayutthaya,  that 80 of us from the 10am mass community, at Assumption Cathedral, went on pilgrimage.  As pilgrims, we shared a special day, a special experience.  All ages, all shapes and sizes, from our many different backgrounds, together we journeyed.  We were happy pilgrims, needy pilgrims, simple pilgrims, but we all shared one purpose - to consecrate a day to our common search for the sacred.  

We had chosen to go to holy ground, with its history of church and adventure.  There we discovered and we learnt.  There we prayed and we celebrated eucharist.  There we shared bread and we enjoyed.   We returned home better for the experience, enlivened and nourished in body and soul.  What was the source of our personal enrichment?  Simply, we had experienced together the sacred in history and in our present as church.  So our eyes were opened wider by discovery and so we learnt: 

-more than happy, we are joyful, being satisfied by our faith;

-more than needy, we are not alone, being accompanied by God; 

-more than simple, we are humble, knowing our strength is in God with us .  

 Truly, we are pilgrims of hope, ever on the way.  

We have always lived in the New Abnormal.

The tale of the kamikaze pilot is a gruesome and chilling story, arising out of the death throes of a doomed Japanese empire, at the end of World War II.  Its history portrayed by Hollywood war movies tells the story in fiery, gorish and glamorous ways.  Reality, as usual, is much more complex.  

These pilots were not hateful fanatics, self-consumed in inhuman and evil ways.  Rather research shows they were young and intelligent, men of good standing, who were nabbed by an evil system that was focused on waging war at all costs, until the end - even conscripting good men to fly suicide missions.  

These young pilots were unknowingly caught in the web of a system which was all-consuming, driven by the interests of a militaristic, nationalistic, self-consumed elite.  They did not see themselves as heroes dying for the glory and protection of an empire.  As they became aware of their fate, they referred to themselves as being driven to be murdered, murdered by their own leadership, a fanatical leadership who held all power.  

This was not normal.  This was abnormal.  Heard this before?  

These days, we are always talking of the new normal, now the new abnormal, as if this is the first time in history.  Wrong!   The new abnormal has always been with us, arising strikingly at different times in history - World War I, World War II, the list continues.  We do not live in such a unique or unusual time.  However, we do live in a specific time when we are being overcome by the abnormal.  

This is leading us somewhere - not to the end of time but to great shifts in time.  A change of epoch in history?  We do not know.  We just know that humanity has come this way before.  Instead of throwing up our arms in desperation, it may be time to read history and learn from it.  It may be time to read the true story of the kamikaze pilots, the tokkatai, who realised how stupid was their lot in life.  But what to do?  Sound familiar?     

    

We do more than survive

From a distance, during this past week, I have found myself caught up in the excitement and passion surrounding the gathering of the world's youth, in Rome, for this Jubilee Year.   I was totally captured, seduced by the mere image of one million youth, descending upon Rome, for thier Jubilee celebrations.  I found that just utterly mind-blowing, overcoming my imgaination, beyond my capacity for comprehension. I was enraptured with the Wow of Youth and Leo together, during this past week.  Here was the real news story for our world.  

Yet, I am also very aware that in this coming week, we remember 80 years since the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  It is in my remembering that I find a message for life, shared by valiant and gracious survivors of the atomic blasts, passed on by their families.   I heard their meassge loud and clear, through a heartfelt documentary, on Deutsche Welle - 8.15 Hiroshima - from father to daughter.  Shinji was a teenager in Hiroshima when the bomb fell.  His father led him out of death, finding help, with both surviving, while suffering terribly.  

Despite the ultimate loss of his father and his family, Shinji, who lived a long life, had an enigmatic message to bequeath to the world.  It goes thus. 

Don't be blinded by anger.  

Forgive and live in peace. 

If you receive kindness, share it with others.  

In the midst of immense suffering, he learnt this from his father.  What his father gave him through words and love in action, Shinji treasured.  

Words do matter.  Words give life.  Do not underestimate the power of the word, word lived in life.  

In the words of Pope Leo, in this past week, to the gathered and enthused youth: 

"Peace needs to be sought, proclaimed and shared everywhere, both in the places where we see the tragedy of war and in the empty hearts of those who have lost the meaning of life.  ...  It is about creating an encounter of hearts."  

I don't believe it is any accident that the first atomic bomb was dropped on the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, when Jesus shone in "dazzling white" and his face "changed in appearance".  The light was blinding but, from it, a new reality shone forth.  

.  

   

R and R

Having come to the end of the school offered by Luke, in his Gospel, it was now time for revision.  As it turned out, Pope Leo offered the perfect revision text with his Message for Grandparents and the Elderly Sunday.   

On reading it, I was excited to see he used the word "revolution".  No, don't start writing in letters of protest or shaking your heads in disbelief.  This is not about revolution in the tradition of Lenin or Mao.  This is not about death and destruction.  Rather this is about rising up for the gospel and for life for all, in good and healthy ways that build up the Reign of God on earth.  

In line with Francis' call to the revolution of tenderness, of love, Leo is carrying on with this gospel based challenge, calling forth the "revolution of gratitude and care".  He wants to see us reaching out to and spending time with the lonely, the housebound, the excluded.  Amazingly, he goes even further to offering an indulgence to those making a purposeful visit to the elderly, the lonely, by our "making it a pilgrimage to Christ present in them".  This in itself is a revolutionary concept, as everyone simply associates indulgences with saying set prayers, but not so for Leo, who includes pastoral action.   His creativity is spot on.  

Again, he is spot on when he stresses, that "Christian hope always urges us to be more daring, to think big, to be dissatisfied with things the way they are".  To be people of faith, we are called to be true to who we are in the eyes of God.  To be so, as Erik Varden rightly says, we are all called to the "radical Christian life".  Let us neither falter nor shudder in fear, for we are called to be revolutionary.   

So revision proved to be an intense and powerful exercise, most worthwhile and life giving.  Thank you, Leo.   

   

The Curriculum

On these Sundays, school is definitely in session.  Thanks to Luke's Gospel, the curriculum is expanding to include so far mission, love and prayer.  It is a school on life well lived, thus nourishing the soul.  Prayer sounds a bit dry or obtuse?  Well, no way, for I picked up my textbook and read:  

"There is no life without prayer.  Without prayer, there is only madness and horror." 

Now that is definitely not boring.  

I was enlivened to be affirmed in believing that prayer is much more than reciting words.  It goes much further and deeper to our being the prayer.  St Francis of Assisi said - "We should seek not so much to pray but to become prayer". 

Prayer is life.  It is grasped with passion, with the passion we have for life.  If we have no passion, our life will be dry and dull.  The school of Luke is about giving us that passion for life and for continuing life, full steam ahead .  It is about never giving up, never believing the best days are over, for the next adventure awaits.  .Failure is part of life but does not direct life for, after the failure, we get on with the next challenge.  Prayer is all part of this as it builds up our strength and nourishes our life, as it is meant to be - lived with God and for the other.     

Listen to the wisdom of the Desert Fathers and Mothers.  

"When talking about prayer, it is about the struggle.  Life is a struggle. And we are immersed in that struggle, as we immerse ourselves more and more in prayer.  ...  God demands everything from us. ...  Do you wish to be saved when you die?  Go and exhaust yourself, go and labour.  ....   The present age is not a time for rest and sleep, but is a struggle, a combat, a voyage.  Therefore, you must exert yourself and not be downcast and idle. ...  Nothing comes without effort.  The help of God is always ready and always near."  

The curriculum is definitely expansive and life giving.  

School is in

We never stop learning.  This may be an often spoken adage, but it is true nevertheless.  

As I reflect on the last two Sundays, Luke, in his gospel, has been taking us back to school, inviting us to eneter the School of Mission and the School of Love.  In both schools, Luke shows himself to be the gifted head teacher.  Yes, as we listen to his gospel stories, we could say that we have heard them so many times.  So why do we hear them again?  Okay, but then ask why we have not perfected them in practice.  Fact is that we still don't get it.  Just reflect on our lives.  After 2000 years, we still need to listen and learn.  We still need to go to school.  Will we ever learn?  

Luke's lesson objectives seem simple.

1)  The Kingdom of God is here and now  So we keep on the mission.  Success or failure, it does not matter.  We are energised, motivated by the reality that God is with us and that a full life is God's will for all.  This is Good News.  

2)  God is love.  God created us out of love.  We are loved by God.  This love is for all to live and enjoy.  God's love has no boundaries.  We share it freely and without cost, remembering those most wounded and hurting in our world.  End of story! 

No matter how simple the curriculum may seem, we remain students, novices, in both fields of life.  We seem to never learn.  We keep making mistakes.  We remain entrenched in self-interest and greed.  Often we don't even try.  Why do we make it so comnplicated?  Maybe it is because we do not want to be taken where do not want to go.  Maybe we wish to guard our comfort at all cost.  Maybe we just don't care, because it is all too difficult.  

Whatever the reason, school has never stopped.  We still struggle to comprehend.  What matters most is action.  So what do we see in action?  We look around at us and our world and wonder - whatever happened?    

Thus, comprehending core learning remains ever the challenge of the Schools of Mission and Love. 

1)  The social meaning of existence.

2)  The fraternal dimension of spirituality.

3)  The inalienable dignity of each person. 

4)  The corporate nature of life, loving and accepting all our brothers and sisters.  

I think that school will be in for as long as humanity exists on earth, for we are slow learners.  

   

Success is not the point

The point is that we keep at the task, we keep trying.  

We live in a world ruled by power and control, where the aim is to be the one who succeeds, the one who is on top.  The reality is that we are imperfect beings in an imperfect world.  If I have learnt anything, it is that we cannot truly appreciate the strength of our humanity, until we first appreciate our vulnerability and weakness.  It is then knowing our fragility that we can assume our strength.  

This relfects how we live life in the midst of a paradox.  I looked up the word "paradox", and it is explained as -

"a statement or propisition that, despite sound reasoning from acceptable premises, leads to a conclusion that seems senseless or self-contradictory".  

The challenge is that we keep being true to ourselves, doing the right thing, being good, for no other reason than that is who we are meant to be, as people created by a good and loving God.  Sometimes this just makes no sense in the midst of a life filled with difficulty and suffering or when surrounded by pure evil.  

In life, I have also learnt that we don't just assume the goodness of humanity, for until we appreciate the evil within us and not just in the world, we cannot fully stand up for the goodness of humanity and live that goodness.  This reflects that we are part of the basic struggle between good and evil, not divorced from it.  Thus we partake in the greatness and goodness of humanity.  

Going back to where I begun, we keep living the good fight not because we succeed in our daily endeavours, but becasue we know who we are and know the truth of human existence, that God is with us, as we are, and for a purpose.  So we just keep going, as believers in the the Kingdom of God, here and now, a kingdom immersed in our reality, as it is.  Life can get messy, but that is okay.     

Obispo Roberto

"For things to work, everyone is important, and only when we work together, can we achieve what is truly necessary to live, to live with hope."  - Obispo Roberto, of Chiclayo Diocese, speaking to his people, during Covid.     

We better know Obispo Roberto as our Pope Leo XIV.  Whether as Augustinian, priest, bishop or Pope,  he shows a true appreciation of the role of every person in Church, with recognition being given to each person's role.  This upholds the dignity of all, and not just that of an elite.  "We are Church"  becomes the cry.  It is the cry for the communion of all, within a diversity of roles and gifts being exercised, whatever they may be.  

This is revolutiomary stuff in a world where individualism reigns supreme and power is held in the hands of the mighty and the wealthy.  This is revolutionary stuff in our church with its professional hierarchy and and self-assured righteouness.  

Can we rather recognize that, in the midst of our weakness and fragility, lies our true strength?   This is the paradox of who we are, as followers of the poor and humble Christ.  This is reflected in the words of Pope Leo, when speaking at the Angelus, afer mass on the Solemnity of Ss. Peter and Paul.  

"What appears great and glorious to us today, was originally rejected and excluded because it ran counter to the thinking of this world.  Those who follow Jesus must tread the path of the Beatitudes, where poverty of spirit, meekness, mercy hunger and thirst for justice, and peace-making are often met with opposition and even persecution.  Yet God's glory shines forth in his friends and continues to shape them along the way, passing from conversion to conversion."  

Not to own and appreciate our weakness and fragility is to deny part of who we are and to place ourselves in a false position of power.  We may only truly grasp our power when we own our poverty.  Then we can listen, enter into dialogue and build bridges, key themes of the programme for building Church in the mould of Synodality.  

Let the poor and weak speak to us.  Let our poverty and weakness speak to us/.  It is thus we will find our true power and our true wealth.   

Shell-shocked

"It is to what you are that you reply "Amen", and by so replying, you express your assent.  What you hear, you see, is the Body of Christ, and you answer, "Amen".  So be a member of the Body of Christ, in order to make that "Amen" true.  (St Augustine of Hippo - Sermon 272)  

I share this in a world where, over recent times, I have been shell-shocked by stories of war and disaster.  The first was Friday 13th, when I heard the news of the Air India crash and then of Israel attacking Iran.  The next was this Sunday when news of the USA bombing Iran was released.  Given the world we live in, I nearly feel the need to justify my feeling of being shell-shocked, but why?

I would put forward two reasons.  One is misinformation in our world.  There is so much of it that we have to ask ourselves - What is fact?  I have to own my feelings,but I am best to first fact check that which gives rise to them, so that I own what is worth owning.  The other is the level of division in our world.  It is like we can no longer just express an opinion without ferar of possible attack.  All of this acts against the nature of being who we are.  

We are humanity together.  We stand in human solidarity.  Of course, that does not mean we all think the same or have to do so.  What is fact is our corporate identity, that all humanity is deeply interconnected, no matter what.  Sadly, what seems stronger today is our sense of alienation, due o the force of so much opposition in a world pulled apart by huge social and life issues and basic mistrust.  This serves to deny who we are.  

Who are we?  We are one people, many cultures and nations, under one God.  In a deeply religious sense, we name our corporate identity as being "We are the Body of Christ".  That is who we are and so we live who we are.  So we never feel inadequate, fearful, threatened or put down.  We simply be who we are, so stand up for life for all and make a difference for the better in our world. It is that pure and simple.      

Revolution - a lost concept

“We can endure anything from without, if we have peace within.

The obstacle to inner peace lies within.

Keep on doing what you know is useful. 

Keep the love of God before you. 

The love of God within cannot be overcome.”

                S Teresa of Avila  

"Revolution" is a word that has lost its meaning, for whenever you use that word, all people think of is Stalin or Mao Tse Tung and the death and destruction they caused.  This is to limit revolution to evil gain.  True revolution is about something much richer and deeper.  It is about what touches the human heart and causes real change for the good of humanity.  It is about rising up to build a world that is more just and more blessed by love.  

Pope Francis urged us to enter into the revolution of love and tenderness.  This is what the world needs now.  My good friend, our present Prior-General of the Order, urges us to engage in the revolution of the gospel.  Our now Pope Leo spoke of the same need for revolution, back in 2012, when presenting as Bishop Prevost, at an education seminar in Peru.  He said:

“From lots of little ordinary things done well, something extraordinary can emerge” 

The Christian message is revolutionary for a world continually engaging in conflict, anti-social behaviour and selfish pursuits.  Think of it!  God is the Trinity, the perfect model of mutual love, generating life and goodness.  The core of Christian belief impels us to be revolutionary, ever struggling and striving to be people of love, building a just world for all, acting against all forms of oppression, injustice and exploitation.  This is revolution in its purest form.  

My hero, St Teresa of Avila, got it.  The revolution begins within each of us.  As we grasp that peace within, so we can go out and live that peace and love that comes from a God with and within us.  We do so simply for the sake of God and humanity.  

Let her rip!

Living outside Australia for so long, I see how so many just do not get the Australian culture, nor our sense of humour.  Sometimes, I experience that my use of  Aussie humour is totally misconstrued, even causing people upset, where no harm is intended, for we are only using our humour to deal with life. 

So, "Let her rip!"  This is a a good Aussie line for 'let's get on with it; let's just do it'.  This seems appropriate for the season, for specifically yesterday, when the Church celebrated Pentecost.  

Pentecost is when the Holy Spirit let rip and empowered the Church.  This is not a 'one off'' nor a 'once for all' event, for the Spirit is ever empowering the Church.  The call of the Second Vatican Council was to open up the windows of the Church to the Spirit and allow for the New Pentecost.  This remains so true for our present time, as we are always in need of the power and the inspiration of the Spirit, in a broken world and a failing church.  

The language used is itself powerful, for we talk of the 'pouring out' of the Spirit.  The imagery struck up by this verb is one describing the tremendous power of the Spirit, in our world and in our lives, like a powerful river rushing forth.  When talking to Elliott, at mass yeaterday, about his own, recent Confirmation, I compared the pouring out of the Spirit to finding an eternal spring of ice-cream.  Huh?  Well, I am doing my best to speak with a 11 year old boy, in language he understansds.  Think about it.  

     

The Bottom Line

In tune with my last post, the truth is that this is a good life in a good world, all created by a good God.  So far, so good, but what when you feel dark and desperate, when you are at the bottom of the barrel?  What is the bottom line then?  Is life always so bright?   

As people of church, we can far too easily idealize hard truths and harsh realities, which remain difficult for the human individual to grasp and face.  We can be seen as being distant, theorizing in pursuit of asking the right questions and finding the answers to life.  But what about the tragic suffering of so many in our world, what about the simple drudgery faced by so many around us?

While watching a recent podcast, looking at the whole mess in Palestine and Israel, I was struck by two insightful lines made by one of the two, experienced and skillful presenters.  On approaching the topic, he spontaneously confessed - I feel inadequate.  On delving into the topic, he insightfully observed - It is not what you know that counts, but what you could have known.  

Together these led me into considering a hermeneutics of suspicion, which is so me, the one ever the critical thinker.  Yes, I feel inadequate - inadequate as a human being, a Christian, a religious, a priest - but that is is not the whole story and it does not stop there.  Experience has assured me that my Christian life ethos, based on being perfect, in control and successful, is deeply flawed.  So where do I turn?  Of course, I look not to what I know, but to what I do not know.  

I know so well that I do not have the answers to life.  So I pursue the questions of life, which are found in the poor, the vulnerable, the suffering, in the midst of my own inadequacies and fragility.  What should not be shows us what should be.  The tragedy, the absurdity, the destruction of life shows us the way.   And so, we are not distant when theologizing about a God in the midst of it all.  That is the bottom line.    

Celebrate that we are alive

A friend in mid-north New South Wales is suffering the tragic misfortunes of one of those once in a generation floods.  In the midst of shock and awe, she raised a glass from her landing, looking down at a waterway, that was her street, to toast life and thank God.  Inspirational! 

She is surely not alone.  Solidarity in disaster and tribulation!  I think of those in Myanmar suffering from the earthquake, with little help and a continuing war.  The pictured quote is from a photographer who did a photo shoot of Mandalay, which has been devastated by the 28th March earthquake.  

Raising a glass, uttering a swear word, venting some anger, sharing a tear or a smile - all are signs of life in the midst of adversity.  Undoubtedly, our times are dark with our more than fair share of war and conflict, with mounting disasters, with the woes and troubles of life.  

We can choose.  We can stay in the quagmire and be overcome by the fear and "what ifs" of life, or be assured by a basic stance in life, which says:

"I am human.  Yes, I am weak and make mistakes.  That is who I am, but not totally who I am.  I am not defined by my weaknesses and mistakes.  Rather, I glory in my total human reality, where we find God, God who never abandons us, me; who never leaves us, me orphaned."  

So I don't wallow in self-pity, in my mistakes and fears.  So our world is not defined by disaster, war, conflict, suffering.  Instead, we are defined by remaining true to the pursuit of good and of the higher goals in life.  The challenge is ever before us to believe in life and build it up, no matter what, for life is good.  It is n life that we find God at the deepest level, the source of goodness, the source of our overcoming all fear and of our being able to reach out beyond the dark times.   Celebrate that we are alive.

Keep Moving

I must say that this is my pin-up picture of our new Pope LeoXIV.  He is truly the Pontiff, a great man, in a sacred ofice, but still a man all the same.  In Hebrews, we are told that the priest is first human. If you are not human, how can you be a priest?  This is assuring us that the sacred, while coming from above, firmly grounds itself in human experience. 

On learning that Bob Prevost was elected by the Conclave, I wrestled with my amazement that I now had a personal connection to the Pope.  "How can this be?" was my question.  Me?  

What I learnt that night was that a person, in such a respected and high office, comes from somewhere real in life.  This somewhere may be even shared by me.  Doesn't this say something about the dignity of our life?  This realization gave me a new lease of life.    

His life journey, rich in universal experience and learning, has prepared him to take on such a sacred role.  Like the rest of us, he comes from the midst of our shared reality.  He shares our journey.  He is one of us.  As he said, in quoting St Augustine, 

"With you, I am a Christian.  For you, I am a bishop."  

For me, this is humbling.  We are humbled to know that, out of our human origins and struggles, we are called to greatness.  So we keep moving towards our sacred goal to achieve our own greatness, knowing that we can do it, but never alone.   Vaya con Dios!  

  

Habemus Papam

 

We have a new Pope - Leo XIV.  This time, I can say I know the Pope.  I find that unbelievable, hard to compute.  So what's going on for me, in the midst of a world story?   

On Thursday, 8^th May, the Conclave elected a new Pope - Leo XIV.  Amazingly, I have known him since 1983, as Bob Prevost.  That is because we both belong to the Order of St Augustine.  We first met when we were both members of the Order’s student community, in Rome.  From my first meeting, I have known him as a most friendly and welcoming, fellow Augustinian.    

In 2012, when my parents died in the same week, Bob, then our Prior-General, sent me a personal email, telling me that he so felt for me in my loss.  I was so touched by his kindness and affection.  He is a genuinely personable and caring character, who always makes you feel at home, with his hearty laugh and enduring smile.  These are my lasting and personal memories of a man who is now our Pope.  

On hearing the news, at 12.30am, thanks to a call from a good friend, I could not go back to sleep.  It was not excitement but just pure amazement that I knew the Pope, but it goes even deeper for me.  I say that I know the Pope, but also I acknowledge that I am not his best friend, as I am careful not to overdo the connection as some sort of self-gratification trip.  

For me, this is a humbling experience.  To think that a fellow human being, you shared part of your life with, along the way, became Pope.  That speaks immensely to me of the beauty and grandeur of everyday life of which I am a part, as a fragile, vulnerable human being, lifted up by God.  That is what it is about for me.  And so, his coming onto the world stage gives me a lease of new life.

Viva Francesco!  Viva Leone!