The Leo Effect

I am just back from Provincial Chapter in Sydney, where I spent the week sitting beside the Prior General of my Order, a top guy.  For those who don't know, Provincial Chapter is the churchy name for the regular, governance and evaluation meetings of religious groups, at their local level.  This enables them to exercise their shared responsibility for governance and planning, as they pursue their corporate mission and life, within the Church. 

This gathering in the life of the Province.is so pivotal in the Order, that the Prior General comes from Rome for it.  In his leadership role, during the week, he more than once mentioned or spoke of the Leo Effect upon both the Church and the world.  This is obviously more than an Order thing.  What is he implying in sharing this?  

As a member of the Order of St Augustine, Pope Leo is known to us as a brother and leader.  We have a shared and positive experience of him as a man of keen intellect, who is hard working, acting in measured and thought out ways.  What he says and does, he means.  He is committed to the Church and its mission, arising from the Gospel, reaching out to the poor and marginalized, across boundaries.  

I knew him in earlier times as an approachable brother in community, who had a hearty laugh and a keen sense of humour.  He was kind, ready to talk with anyone, and simply loved people.  In the life of the Order, he took the initiative, in furthering missionary endeavours, and kept an open door to all in his sphere of care.  

It is this man who became Pope Leo, whose pontificate has remained focused on peace, unity and dialogue, raising up the dignity of all.  He continually works for bringing people together through showing care for the downtrodden, sharing his humanity with all who come his way and seeking the ways of synodality and encounter.  

Within a fractured and chaotic world, his leadership speaks not just to the Church, but to the world.  People recognise in his message hope and common sense.  He is a religious leader on the world stage, preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  In doing so, he is attracting attention as a true world leader for today, when good leadership is sought by a humanity that is lost and confused.    

This is not the full picture, but it does give us a sense of the Leo Effect in today's world.  It arises from a church leader who preaches a God of love for all and works for the Kingdom of God, as a forthright, but humble pastor, a decent and gifted human being who loves being with people.     

Home is where the heart is

Ray is a milestone in my life.  He was one of a kind, ever full of humour, ever there, ever vulnerably human, ever kind and accepting.  I so miss him as he was home for me.  I remember how we met.  I had gone to a priest seeking advice, which was direct and simple - I know what you need, Ray!  And he was so right.  Now Ray rests in peace, while never being far away  I can still hear his classic one liners, like - "God will not be mocked!".  

I am thinking of Ray at a time when I am about to visit Sydney for two weeks.  While I never uphold here as paradise on earth, which some do, I always find the days before leaving here tough.  I just don't want to go as I know I will miss it.  Then the return here is always sweet.  What does this naturally occurring pattern say to me?  Does it say that here is home?  I am not so sure as I know my frustrations and critical thinking, that arise from my being here.  

But then, is going to Sydney a homecoming for me?  Not really.  After 20 years in Thailand, I feel like I have lost touch with Australia, a country I no longer understand.  Time away has done that to me.  I have gained distance, lost touch, seen where I have come from in a new light.  The word "diaspora" has a heartfelt meaning for me.  

So where is home?  Where do I belong?  My response to the latter is easy - I don't know.  I am not sure.  And that is okay.  My response to the former is also easy - It is with my family and friends.  It is not defined by location or place.  

Then a friend from here sent me this just this week.  

In any friendship, the most important thing is sincerity and genuine care. 

Sincerity comes from love and kindness. 

In a friendship without sincerity, nothing truly has meaning and nothing feels special.  

Only sincerity can make a friendship meaningful and valuable.  

This speaks strongly to a good friend, so much that he sent it to me.  As a Buddhist, as one from outside my sphere of influence, I take double notice.  That says it for me.  So I share, as I reflect on where is home.  My home is where my heart is.        

  

 

Life is too short

Recently, I enjoyed a memorable night celebrating the birthday of a friend's restaurant.  It was a most hospitable, friendly and, may I say, diverse evening.  As it happened, I happily sat with a German-Thai family, whom I got to know very quickly.  They were so kind and gracious, good fun.  The German "godfather" so readily and comfortably shared about his life, which began as a baby in the midst of the destruction of post-war Germany.  It just went on from there, featuring tough beginnings, hard work, challenging times and colorful life adventures, sailing beyond the shores of the Fatherland.  It all blended into a wondrous tapestry.  

As I listened to his unfolding a captivating life story, I sat privileged and grateful to meet a good and decent human being.  By now, his life was slowing down as he had been hit by cancer.  I could feel both his sense of resignation and fulfilment, earned by having endured a life well lived, full of its own colour and excitement, but now rapidly changing.  We could both agree on a key life theme - enjoy life in the now, as best we can, for it is too short.  

Here was a man who saw life through firsthand experiences of joys and hardships, of people loved and enjoyed, of success and loss, of love and heartbreak.  All this has produced a truly kind and human person, who appreciates our raw humanity and glories in being able to enjoy that humanity with others, who come his way.  He is a person of the big picture, drawn by his own rich experience of undiluted life.    

I know he does not realize it, but life experience has sculpted my "birthday party host and friend" into a saint.  As St Carlo Acutis, who died in 2006 at the age of 15, realized, each of us is a unique person, called to be a saint.  We just need to follow our call from God, whatever that may be.  Being truly human is our universal call.  How we live our humanity, as a response to our own unique opportunities, in our own unique ways, is what makes us who we are.   

Magnifica Humanitas

In the Church, today is Trinity Sunday.  In Bangkok, today sees the parade to begin Pride Festival 2026.  By these photos, the Irish Ambassador to Thailand has chosen to enter full swing into the spirit of the latter.  While I may applaud the ambassador's ingenuity and audaciousness, I do question a grasp of understanding and a depth of focus, when approaching the named issue, equality.  In his seizing the opportunity for Pride Month, has the issue been hijacked and misconstrued?  

I am all for equality for all.  That goes without saying.  We are all who we are.  We just accept who we are and live together.  However, when one population is singled out, my immediate challenge is simple - what about all the others? 

In our world, so many people are excluded.  I think also of the migrants and the refugees; of people of different race, colour, culture, religion; of the poor and lower classes - the list is endless.  Our world is unfair and full of injustice.  How do those unfairly treated fit in?  Where do they fit in?  Do they fit in?  Do we care?  On the latter, mixed messages arise.  Sadly, equality can be reduced to being a "sex appeal issue".  As Christians, we cannot be directed or tempted by a "sex appeal" campaign for solidarity, as we approach people suffering injustice and exclusion.  

We are reminded of this, with the release of Pope Leo's first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, in the past week.  Pope Leo is a straight shooter, bluntly challenging us to stand up for our responsibility and role in the world, to stand up for equality for all, in a deep and real way.   

This challenge is rooted in our very existence, which is totally thanks to God, for we are due to the very nature of God, who is love, giving of his self and thus creating.  So we see and know a humble God, a God intimately with us, a God who freely gives and makes us who we are, never leaving us alone.  Herein is the foundation of the dignity of all persons.  We are to uphold this dignity and live it at all costs.  So Pope Leo challenges us, teaching us about social issues and the Church response to them.  All is founded on who God is, on who God is with us.          

Cardinal Fernandez, the Prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, was the first presenter at the launch of Magnifica Humanitas.  His finishing line was a powerful challenge for all:

Do I wish to belong to a humanity closed in on itself or to one that reflects the vision of God?      

This says it all.  

Time after time

"Lying in my bed, I hear the clock tick and think of you

Caught up in circles
Confusion is nothing new
Flashback, warm nights
Almost left behind
Suitcase of memories
Time after"

These are the opening lyrics of a song by Cindy Lauper.  It is one of my personal Top 40.  It makes me think of time.  Time is so precious.  How quickly it goes.  It is like it disappears.  Do I truly value it?  I ask as I waste so much of it.      

Then during the week, I was introduced to Frida Kahlo, a Mexican artist of last century.  In her 47 years, she obviously suffered much, but achieved much more.  No matter what befell her, she used life to be herself.  She lived life to the full, living it with such passion and creativity.  

Too often, we approach life with disdain, by putting ourselves and our meagre interests at the centre.  So we are prevented from seeing the great treasures of the world and the precious time we have to savour them.  Do we appreciate the mammoth scale of time, within which we enjoy but a nano second?  

It strikes me that we can approach time in two ways.  We can look back and think - Wow!  We live in 2026, so far down the line in history.  Or we can look ahead and think - How much more of history is to come?   Can I fathom it?  

The former serves to make us feel self-assured, superior, being overcome by all that is.  The latter opens our eyes in awe and wonder, enlivening us for so much more to come.  The former enslaves us, getting us stuck in a rut.  The latter liberates us, freeing us for new ways.  Time after time after time ............     

From hope to action

"From hope to action"  is the theme for Laudato Si Week, 2026.  The gauntlet is thrown down for us to move from any sense of passive hope to constructive and positive action.  Christian hope is never passive.  It is lived and shared through daily decisions, community life, prayer and concrete acts of care.  This theme reminds us that ecological conversion grows step by step, through restored relationships, protected creation, and strengthened communities.  The next chapter of Laudato Si' begins with us, wherever we are.  Such goes the theory for Laudato Si Week.  Now for the practice.  

Hope cannot be reduced to human optimism.  We are not called to be optimists but to be people of hope.  We may look at our world and wonder - where is hope?  A life of experience may leave us bitter, slowly killing hope.  I recently read a Caritas International report on the plight of children in Gaza.  It described such shocking conditions that I could barely read it.  I am listening to a friend talk about developments in his life and I could not help thinking that he was heading for personal disaster, but it is his life and I must respect that.  

Hearing my friend, I engaged in sharing on the hard luck stories of my life in the hope of helping him.  It backfired as he reflected that I sounded bitter.  Bitter?  No.  Rather I feel strongly about my life and what has happened along the way.  This "enrages" me to see that life only be better lived.  It is about passion for life.  As I recount my story with my friend, I remember that religion is never about fantasy or escape, but reality and facing it.      

Humility is key

In the 1960s, there was a catchy song with the lead line - "What the world needs now is love, sweet love".  May I be bold enough to suggest that the apt song for today would be - "What the world needs now is humility, tough humility".  I say this as our present world is full of strong egos who think they own the world.  They just go around, doing what they want, where they want, when they want, not caring about anyone else.    

This makes for an absurd world, one which is becoming more and more precarious.  What to do?  

I see a way coming from my brother in Augustine, Pope Leo.  On Holy Thursday last, when reflecting on Jesus' washing the feet of his disciples, he told us: 

"Indeed, through this act, Jesus purifies not only our image of God but also our image of humanity, for we tend to consider ourselves powerful when we dominate, victorious when we destroy our equals, great when we are feared.  In contrast, as true God and true man, Christ offers us the example of self-giving, service and love."  

As I reflect upon this, two questions come to me.   

1)  Who is at the centre of the universe?  

Not me, that is for sure.  As human beings, we are other centred.  As we go into our centre, we find God right there.  Our God is the humble God who is right there, showing us the way of love, a way of sacrifice.  

2)  What are we called to do?  

Simply to love as God loves us, to be humble as God is humble.  Following such a way, we will become more human and our world less absurd.  

Think about it.  I surely do as this is revolutionary stuff.  Our power is in our being humble, as humble as the humble God who washes our feet.