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.  .