Celebrating the visit of Pope Francis to Ireland 2018
Reality JULY/AUGUST 2018
Informing, Inspiring, Challenging Today’s Catholic
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IN THIS MONTH’S ISSUE
FEATURES 12 COPING WITH MARRIAGE BREAKDOWN IN THE CHURCH
24 ST PAUL’S VISION FOR MARRIAGE AND FAMILY LIFE
OPINION
The breakdown of a marriage is a tragic event. Annulment does not cover every case, so is there a need to find another path? By Fr Tim Buckley CSsR
Couples often encounter St Paul’s vision for marriage as they plan the readings for their wedding celebration. Many find its patriarchal language off-putting, but a deeper encounter with the text will reveal its challenges and promises. By Dr Jessie Rogers
11 BRENDAN McCONVERY CSsR
Marriage and family life have been placed firmly in the spotlight in the run-up to the World Meeting of Families, which will welcome families from all over the world to Dublin this August. But Irish marriage is changing. By Tríona Doherty
28 THE MARRIAGE FEAST AT CANA
REGULARS
Mary’s role in praying for us By Fr George Wadding CSsR
04 REALITY BITES
21 FINDING THE VOICE TO GIVE GOD PRAISE
A worldwide crusade to promote the Rosary as a family prayer was launched by a young Mayoborn priest in gratitude for Mary’s care for him. By Fr Wilfred J. Raymond CSC
16 ALL THE DAYS OF OUR LIFE: THE CHANGING FACE OF MARRIAGE
Liturgical 'Ordinary Time' enables us to rediscover the riches in every Mass, such as the prayers of the Psalms. By Sarah Adams
32 THE FAMILY THAT PRAYS TOGETHER STAYS TOGETHER
37 CHURCH – FAMILY OF GOD OR A COLD HOUSE FOR MANY? The church is the family of God that is always being built up through the celebration of the Eucharist By Dr Fainche Ryan
31 CARMEL WYNNE 42 PETER McVERRY SJ
07 POPE MONITOR 08 SAINT OF THE MONTH 09 REFLECTIONS 40 TRÓCAIRE 41 UNDER THE MICROSCOPE 43 GOD’S WORD THIS SUMMER
REALITY BITES HOMELESS JESUS IN BELFAST BELFAST
THE SHOCKING STATUE
GET MASS AT THE AIRPORT USA
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Canadian sculptor, Tim Schmalz, has created a sculpture that has been installed in several cities throughout the world. It is known as 'The Homeless Jesus' and was inspired when the sculptor was driving along a busy street in his native Toronto. "I turned and saw a human form shrouded in blankets in the middle of the day. It just shocked me. In that initial moment my experience was of seeing Jesus there." He went back to his studio and in time created the figure of Jesus the Homeless. It depicts a homeless man wrapped in a blanket sleeping on a bench. On closer inspection, the feet of the figure emerging from beneath the blanket can be identified as Jesus by the marks of the nails. The original was installed at the Jesuit Regis College, Toronto, in 2013. Since then copies have been installed in cities
across North America. The first copy in Europe was installed outside Christchurch Cathedral, Dublin in 2015. The day of its installation, an anonymous benefactor offered to purchase a copy for Belfast. In the meantime, a copy has been erected on the Via Conciliazione that leads to St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The latest version has been placed outside Centenary House on Victoria Street, Belfast, run by the Salvation Army, and will later transfer to the Morning Star Hostel, run by the Legion of Mary. Belfast City Council has been asked to consider giving it a permanent location outside City Hall. 'Homeless Jesus' has not always been welcomed. The cathedrals of New York and Toronto have refused it, and permission was also refused to set it outside Methodist Central Hall in London.
UP, UP AND AWAY
Forty per cent of major US airports have chapels offering Sunday Mass times for travellers and airport employees. The study by Pew Research Center found that more than half of the largest hub airports in the US contain chapels. Eighteen out of the 30 busiest hubs have chapels orientated towards some faith, and 14 of those have regular services. Four airports have irregular services but offer rooms for meditation. John F. Kennedy International includes a Catholic church, Protestant chapel, synagogue and mosque, and has services frequently throughout the day. European airports with chapels, and usually a chaplain available, include London (Heathrow and Gatwick), Rome, Munich, Paris-Orly, Madrid, Brussels, Shannon and Dublin. Mass times can be found on http://weekdaymasses.org.uk/en/ area/european-airports/churches Munich Airport
Frankfurt Airport
SCOTTISH CATHOLICS CRITICISE ANTI-SECTARIAN GROUP A Scottish Government working group set up to define sectarianism has no representatives from the Catholic Church or the Irish Catholic community, and includes a member who once mocked clergy as "actors in fancy dress", who criticised the conviction of someone for anti-Catholic abuse and who gave a list of occasions on which a particularly offensive phrase relating to the pope might be used.. Statistics have shown that Catholics make up the majority of victims of religiously aggravated crimes in Scotland. Members of the Scottish Parliament have called on the government to ensure the Catholic Church is represented, while the Catholic church has accused the government of ignoring the reality of sectarianism in Scotland. A spokesperson for the Catholic Church in Scotland said that the government might have saved a great deal of time and money by looking up the word ‘sectarianism’ in a dictionary. “The decision instead to set up a working group on the subject seems like a calculated attempt to avoid the reality that over half of all religious hate crime in Scotland targets Catholics or Catholicism. The membership of the group seems to have been chosen to ignore this reality.” REALITY SUMMER 2018
Shannon Airport
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STATE OF CHRISTIANITY IN EUROPE USA
GRADUAL DRIFT AWAY FROM RELIGION
The American Pew Research Center on religion and public life published its survey entitled Being Christian in Western Europe at the end of May last. Most European citizens continue to identify themselves as Christian, though only a minority practises the faith regularly. Baptised Christians form 91 per cent of the population of Europe: 82 per cent were raised as Christians, 71 per cent continue to regard themselves as Christian, but only 22 per cent practise regularly (attending church services once a month at least). In most European countries, non-practising Christians are the largest group. The Netherlands has the lowest score here: 27 per cent continue to regard themselves as Christians even when they do not practise and only 15 per cent actively attend church. The highest rates of practice are in Italy (40 per cent), Ireland (34 per cent) and Portugal (35 per cent). The countries with the lowest rate of church attendance are Sweden and Finland, both at 9 per cent. Non-practising Christians tend to regard churches and religious organisations in a positive light, saying they serve society by helping the poor and bringing communities together. Self-identifying Christians – whether they attend church or not – are more likely than religiously unaffiliated people to express negative views about immigrants, Muslims and Jews. The vast majority of non-practising Christians, like the vast majority of the unaffiliated, favour legal abortion and same-sex marriage. Church-attending Christians tend to be more conservative on these issues, though even among them, there is substantial support – and in several countries, majority support – for legal abortion and same-sex marriage. It found, for example, that 42 per cent of practising Christians in Ireland favoured legal abortion and 43 per cent gay marriage. In every country surveyed, most of those currently not affiliated to a church but who were raised in the faith say they “gradually drifted away from religion”, but that no particular event or single specific reason prompted this change. Many say that they disagreed with church positions on social issues like homosexuality and abortion, or that they stopped believing in religious teachings. The majority in several countries ( Spain, 74 per cent and Italy, 60 per cent) also cited “scandals involving religious institutions and leaders” as an important reason they stopped identifying as Christian (or with another religious group). Smaller numbers give other reasons, such as that their spiritual needs were not being met, their childhood religion failed them when they were in need, or they married someone outside their religious group. The Irish figures for the decline in religious practice cite gradual drift from practice (69 per cent), disagreement with church’s position on social issues (64 per cent), no longer believed in church’s teaching (54 per cent), unhappy about scandals involving church (58 per cent), spiritual needs not met by their church (21 per cent), religion failed them in difficult times (17 per cent) and marrying someone of another faith (6per cent). The full survey can be accessed at http://www.pewforum.org/2018/05/29/ being-christian-in-western-europe/
FEARS FOR HOLY LAND OVER TRUMP’S MOVE JERUSALEM
SEVERE REPERCUSSIONS
Ivanka Trump presiding over the opening ceremony of the American embassy in Jerusalem on behalf of her father
Christians leaders in Jerusalem have voiced fear over the repercussions of America's recognition of the city as Israel's capital, and have asked that international law be respected in the interest of maintaining peace. Tel Aviv was the capital of the Israeli state since its inception in 1948, and most countries base their embassies there. Israel has regarded Jerusalem as its capital since the Six Day War of 1967, but Palestinians claim East Jerusalem, including the Old City, as the capital of the Palestinian state. According to Fr David Neuhaus, a priest of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and former parochial vicar for Hebrew-speaking Catholics in the city, there is deep concern that the US has strayed from a position widely accepted in international law, and which the Holy See has “very, very strenuously and strictly” supported. There is real concern, not just for the preservation of holy places of Jews, Christians and Muslims, but also for the people who
visit them. “If violence breaks out, pilgrimages will stop and pilgrims will be in danger.” Jerusalem, he said, is a place where certain groups of people “feel more and more alienated” and excluded, and feel “that one narrative is being preferred over other narratives, one religious tradition is triumphing over others.” Before Christmas, the Jerusalem church leaders wrote to President Trump saying they received the news of his decision “with concern”. “Jerusalem, the city of God, is a city of peace for us and for the world.” Recognising it as Israel's capital, they said, will only lead to “increased hatred, conflict, violence and suffering in Jerusalem and the Holy Land, moving us farther from the goal of unity and deeper toward destructive division”. The Holy City can be shared, and fully enjoyed, they believe, once a political process helps liberate the hearts of all people that live within it from the conditions of conflict and destructiveness that they are experiencing. continued on page 6
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REALITY BITES THE PILGRIM GRANNY
Emma Morosini
ENTIRE HIERARCHY RESIGNS 6
After a three-day summit with Pope Francis in Rome during which they discussed the sexual scandal that had shaken the Holy Father’s visit to their country earlier in the year, the entire hierarchy of Chile submitted their resignations on 18 May. On his return to Rome, Pope Francis had ordered a thorough investigation of the matter by Archbishop Charles Scicluna and then invited the hierarchy to meet him in Rome. There are 34 Chilean bishops,
At the age of 94, Emma Morosini recently completed a 570-mile walking pilgrimage in honour of Our Lady of Guadeloupe. She has been nicknamed the “pilgrim grandmother”. Her 40-day pilgrimage took her from Monterrey to Mexico City, where she prayed before the cloak of Saint Juan Diego in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Italian born, Mrs Morosini has for the past quarter of a century been making pilgrimages in Portugal, Spain, Poland, Israel, Brazil and Argentina. She began walking most days at 6.30am, carrying a small suitcase and an umbrella and wearing a reflective vest. She carried a supply of milk, juice, bread and water, receiving along the way some donations
of fruits and vegetables. She was often housed by municipal authorities along her route, and sometimes accompanied by civil defence workers and police. During a 2015 pilgrimage in Argentina, when she was 91, Mrs Morosini told reporters that she was praying for “peace in the world, for young people, for all these families that are divided. Many are separated, some live together but aren't spouses, or they don't have children. It's very sad.” She was applauded by fellow pilgrims when she arrived at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Before entering the church, she knelt down, kissed the ground, made the sign of the cross and prayed silently for a few moments.
CATHOLIC MASS GYMNASTICS
The 'Someone is trying to pray behind you'
The 'Person in front of you is sitting while you try to kneel'
The entire Chilean hierarchy with Pope Francis
The 'Letting someone get into your row'
including two cardinals. The declaration began by thanking Pope Francis for his “listening as a father” and for “his fraternal correction”, and “above all, we want to ask pardon for the pain caused to the victims, to the pope, to the people of
God and to our country for the grave errors and omissions caused by us.” While the resignations have been submitted in writing, there has been so far no indication given by the Vatican that they have been accepted.
The 'Stepping over someone who is not going to communion'
FIRST BLACK AMERICAN PRIEST MOVES CLOSER TO BEATIFICATION The canonisation cause of Fr Augustus Tolton, a former slave, was opened in 2011, when he received the title “servant of God". Fr Tolton is the first known US diocesan priest of African descent. The consultants in Rome ruled in March that the positio – the formal study of the life of a candidateforbeatification–wascomplete and acceptable, according to the auxiliary bishopofChicago,BishopJosephPerry,who is the postulator for the cause. Born a slave, young Augustus fled to freedom at the age of nine with his REALITY SUMMER 2018
mother and two siblings through the woods of northern Missouri, pursued by bounty hunters and soldiers. They settled in Quincy, Illinois, a sanctuary for runaway slaves. As an altar server, Augustus felt a call to the priesthood, but no seminary in the UnitedStateswouldaccepthim.Heheaded to Rome, convinced he could go to Africa as a missionary priest. After ordination, he was sent back to his hometown to be a missionary to the community there. He became so well known as a preacher that many white people flocked to hear
him. This did not make him popular with his white colleagues so after three years , Fr Tolton moved north to Chicago to minister to the black community, at the request of Archbishop Patrick Feehan. On July 9, 1897, Fr Tolton collapsed from heat stroke returning from a priests’ retreat and died at the age of 43.
The 'Running after child heading for the altar'
The 'Find your way through the crowd after Mass'
N E WS
POPE MONITOR KEEPING UP WITH POPE FRANCIS BLESSED PAUL VI’S RESIGNATION LETTER
Blessed Paul VI, who will be canonised on October 14, prepared a secret letter of resignation less than two years after his election. Although the letter was believed to exist, it has only recently been published in a new book on Pope Paul. The letter is dated May 2, 1965, and is addressed to the dean of the College of Cardinals, Eugene Cardinal Tisserant. The pope also sent a note to Cardinal Cicognani, secretary of state, informing him of the letter and giving him permission to read it. The letter stated that in case of infirmity which doctors believed to be incurable or of long duration, or another serious and prolonged impediment to the exercise of his Petrine ministry, he renounced his office “both as bishop of Rome, as well as head of the same holy Catholic church.” He gave authority to the dean of the College of Cardinals, acting in union with at least the cardinals heading offices of the Roman Curia and the cardinal vicar for the Diocese of Rome, “to accept and render effective” his resignation for the good of the church, and to arrange a conclave for the election of his successor. In the event, Pope Paul remained active for a further 13 years until his death on the Feast of the Transfiguration, August 6, 1978.
PAPAL DOCUMENT ON SPORT On June 1, 2018 the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life published a new document entitled Giving the best of yourself: a document on the Christian perspective on sport and the human person. This is the first time a teaching document has been issued by the Holy See on sport. In five chapters, it discusses the relationship between the church and sport, the sporting phenomenon and the human person, today’s challenges to sport and the pastoral approach to sport. Cardinal Kevin Farrell, presenting the document, explained that it does not claim to respond to all the questions and challenges that the world of sport poses today, but rather seeks to “recount” the relationship between sport and the experience of faith, and to offer a Christian vision of sporting practice. Responding to Cardinal Farrell, Pope Francis, whose interest in soccer is well known, said: “Sports can open the way to Christ in those places or environments where, for different reasons, it is not possible to announce Him directly; and people, with their witness of joy, practising a sport as a community, can be messengers of the Good News.”
FIRST LAY HEAD OF PONTIFICAL UNIVERSITY
Pope Francis has nominated a lay person as the rector of the Pontifical Lateran University. Vincenzo Buonomo, a 57-year-old professor with a special interest in international law, was named by Pope Francis as head of the university on June 2. He is the first lay head of a Roman pontifical university. Founded in 1773, the university, which is adjacent to the Lateran Basilica, has four faculties of philosophy, theology, canon and civil law. It also has several affiliated institutes, including the Redemptorist-run, Alphonsian Academy, a specialist institute for moral theology, and the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences. It is just two years since the first religious woman, Sr Maria Mellone, was appointed as rector of the Antonianum, another Roman University in the care of the Franciscans.
7
SAINT OF THE MONTH ST GOBNAIT OF BALLYVOURNEY
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Gobnait is venerated in many parts of Ireland, notably Inis Oírr (Aran Islands), Dún Chaoin in the Dingle Peninsula, and Balleyvourney, about ten kilometres west of Macroom, County Cork.. She is said to have been born in Clare in the 6th century and educated on Inis Oírr, Aran. However, the Irish calendar of saints has no confirmatory evidence or biographical data on these matters. The notion therefore, that Gobnait is a female form of the male smith god, Goibhniu, cannot be entirely dismissed. Gobnait is envisaged in tradition as a religious woman or nun. The legends on which her story is built are typical of Irish hagiography, and often related with greater conviction. Take the story of Gobnait and the bees for example. It tells how, on one occasion, there was an attempted cattle raid on Ballyvourney with a view to driving off a creagh, or spoil, into the safety of Muisire Mór mountain. However, the marauders hadn’t reckoned with Gobnait, who happened to have a beachaire or beehive, on the grounds of her little convent. When she saw the raiders approaching, Gobnait prayed for a moment, and with that, the bees took wing and counter-attacked the intruders sending them off with a sting in the tail. Ballyvourney is located in one of the most scenic spots in Munster. On a raised patch of ground are the remains of an ancient church dedicated to the memory of St Gobnait. Flowing past her front door, so to speak, is the Sullane, a river celebrated in song and story with a greatly enhanced reputation thanks to the enchanting music composed along its banks by Séan Ó Ríada, Ireland’s most acclaimed musical genius. The conspicuous tomb within the ruined church is that of the O’Herlihy chieftains of the area in the late Middle Ages. From time immemorial pilgrims have flocked to Ballyvourney on the Pattern Day, February 11. And still they come – through the Millstreet Gap from Duhallow, over mountain bridle-paths from the Kerry side, and from the open county between Macroom and Cork city. At the site these faith-filled people did not hesitate to do the rounds on their bare knees, presenting their prayers and petitions to the Lord through the hands of Gobnait. The prayer in Irish and English on the late Séamus Murphy’s sculpture of Gobnait is part of the prayer-life of the community: Go mbeannaí Dia dhuit a Ghobnait Naofa, Go mbeannaí Mhuire dhuit is beannaím féin duit. Is chughatsa a thánaig, ag gearán mo scéil leat, Is ag iarraidh me a leigheas ar son Dé ort
(May God bless you St Gobnait May Mary bless you, and I greet you myself too. It is to you I have come telling my story, And asking you for God’s sake, to heal me).
I have focused on Ballyvourney in this article for a specific reason. It is not because O’Sullivan Bear paused to pray there when he and his people undertook the desperate march to O’Rourke’s castle at Brefney in Leitrim in the winter of 1603, nor is it because of the visit to St Gobnait’s shrine by John Baptist Rinuccini, the papal legate, on his way to the Confederation of Kilkenny in 1645. While I was conducting a mission in a parish adjacent to Ballyvourney, a little boy of ten took a drink from a soft drinks bottle. Unfortunately the bottle contained paraquat, a deadly weed-killer. There was pandemonium. The distraught parents had him rushed to hospital in Cork. Word of the tragedy spread like gorse-fire throughout the closely-knit community. Shock levels ran high. But what made the occasion so memorable for me were the ensuing events. The shocked community neither sat under the the pall of sadness that hung over them, nor waited helplessly for each new word from the hospital. Instead, in a totally spontaneous gesture, virtually every man, woman and child in the area set out on pilgrimage to St Gobnait’s shrine. Not only that, many of them spent nights in Vigil there as well. Before the following weekend the little boy had resumed his place in the congregation at the parish mission, and I’m still left contemplating the power and wonder of a community united in prayer. Gobnait's feast is February 11. John J Ó Ríordáin CSsR REALITY SUMMER 2018
Reality Volume 83. No. 6 July/August 2018 A Redemptorist Publication ISSN 0034-0960 Published by The Irish Redemptorists, Unit A6, Santry Business Park, Swords Road, Dublin 09 X651 Tel: 00353 (0)1 4922488 Web: www.redcoms.org Email: sales@redcoms.org (With permission of C.Ss.R.)
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REFLECTIONS THOUGHTS FROM POPE FRANCIS Before God and his people, I express my sorrow for the sins and grave crimes of clerical sexual abuse committed against you. And I humbly ask forgiveness. I beg your forgiveness, too, for the sins of omission on the part of church leaders who did not respond adequately to reports of abuse made by family members, as well as by abuse victims themselves. This led to even greater suffering on the part of those who were abused, and it endangered other minors who were at risk. Homily at Mass with abuse survivors Communication has the power to build bridges, to enable encounter and inclusion, and thus to enrich society. How beautiful it is when people select their words and actions with care, in the effort to avoid misunderstandings, to heal wounded memories and to build peace and harmony. World Communications Day 2016 We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth; our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we receive life and refreshment from her waters. Encyclical Laudato Si', 2015 This man drinks vinegar for breakfast. Then, for lunch, pickled vegetables. And, in the evening, a nice glass of lemon juice. On angry priests. Audience, August 2014 Let us say 'no' to an economy of exclusion and inequality, where money rules, rather than service. That economy kills. That economy excludes. That economy destroys Mother Earth. World Meeting of Popular Movements, 2015 Please do not water down your faith in Jesus Christ. We dilute fruit drinks – orange, apple or banana juice – but please do not drink a diluted form of faith. Faith is whole and entire, not something that you water down. It is faith in Jesus. It is faith in the son of God made man, who loved me and who died for me. World Youth Day, 2013
No family drops down from heaven perfectly formed; families need constantly to grow and mature in the ability to love. May we never lose heart because of our limitations or ever stop seeking that fullness of love and communion which God holds out before us. Amoris Laetitia, 2016 Human life is sacred and inviolable. Every civil right rests on the recognition of the first and fundamental right, that of life, which is not subordinate to any condition, be it quantitative, economic or, least of all, ideological. Speech to Italian pro-life movement, 2014 The church is a field hospital after battle. It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars! You have to heal his wounds. Audience, 2013 Mercy: the bridge that connects God and humanity, opening our hearts to the hope of being loved forever despite our sinfulness. Misericordiae Vultus, 2015 Migrants are our brothers and sisters in search of a better life far from poverty, hunger, exploitation and the unjust distribution of the planet's resources, which are meant to be equitably shared by all. Don't we all want a better, more decent and prosperous life to share with our loved ones? World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2016 Making reforms in Rome is like cleaning the Egyptian Sphinx with a toothbrush. Christmas Message to Curia, 2016 It is incomprehensible and alarming that, still today, discrimination and restrictions of rights continue for the single fact that one belongs to and publicly professes an unwavering faith. It is unacceptable that real persecution is actually sustained for reasons of religious affiliation! Wars as well! This distorts reason, attacks peace and humiliates human dignity. Speech, June 20, 2014
A vocation is a fruit that ripens in a well-cultivated field of mutual love that becomes mutual service, in the context of an authentic ecclesial life. No vocation is born of itself or lives for itself. A vocation flows from the heart of God and blossoms in the good soil of faithful people, in the experience of fraternal love. World Day of Prayer for Vocations, 2014 I want you to make yourselves heard in your dioceses. I want the noise to go out. I want the church to go out onto the streets. I want us to resist everything worldly, everything static, everything comfortable, everything to do with clericalism, everything that might make us closed in on ourselves. World Youth Day 2013 Spiritual Alzheimer’s is a progressive decline of spiritual faculties which causes severe disadvantages to people making them live in a state of absolute dependence on their, often imagined, views. We can see this in those who have ‘lost their memory’ of their encounter with the Lord, in those who depend on their passions, whims and obsessions. Christmas Address to Curia 2014
9
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EDI TO R I A L UP FRONT BRENDAN McCONVERY CSsR
DEAR POPE FRANCIS,
You
are very welcome to Ireland. We have waited a while, and to be honest, we feared you might be avoiding us. It‘s not your first visit of course. You came here in 1980 for a few months to learn English in the Jesuit community house in Milltown Park. That’s not far from the venue for the World Meeting of Families, so they might drive you past it for old time’s sake. You might be amazed at how much it has changed. Milltown was then a thriving faculty of theology and philosophy, providing courses for the majority of candidates for the priesthood from the religious congregations, as well as for large numbers of sisters and lay people. Sadly, the Milltown Institute is no more. Few of the once flourishing religious orders have candidates for ordination, while the majority of the sisters are ageing. Theological education continues, but its graduates, especially at doctoral level, are more likely to be lay men and women from the Loyola Institute, Dublin City University and Maynooth. You are coming to meet the families of the world, not just the Irish. We need to hear the good news of family, and especially how it is deeply rooted in the sacrament of marriage. We have been reminded frequently in the months of preparation for the meeting that families come in all shapes and sizes. They do, and while we cherish all the children of the nation equally, the family based on the life-long covenant of the spouses is special: it is the cement that holds society together. But signs are that the cement is weakening. According to our latest census returns, almost one quarter of our children are being raised in single-parent households, and while the majority of marriage ceremonies are still Catholic, there is an increasing turn towards civil marriage (almost 30 per cent). There are several reasons for that. Some are second marriages. In others the spouses may be uncertain where they stand on religion, and do not think it makes much difference.
Your first visit was in winter, and at a bleak time economically and socially. You are returning in summer to an economically prosperous land, but to a church that is very much in wintertime. Your advisors and the Irish bishops will have told you why that is so. We do not expect you to resolve the many problems of the Catholic church in Ireland, but a word of challenge and reassurance to restore our faith in our ability to face the future will be expected from you. How, for example, can you show you share the pain, and the righteous anger, of several generations of physically and sexually abused women and men, of unmarried mothers and their children, or show understanding rather than rejection for the spiritually and morally searching? How can you help the Irish church to become more humble, even if that means divesting itself of things like schools it has spent the best part of two centuries patiently building up since Catholic Emancipation? You always have a word for the clergy. The majority of ours are decent men, who have been plunged deeply into a shame not of their making. They are now deeply discouraged to find themselves ministering in a society that is more proabortion than pro-life. They try to negotiate as best they can the new place the church finds itself in. They continue to welcome those on the margins, who sometimes wonder whether there is still a place for them in the church or not. They have learned from you the primacy of mercy, to be slow to judge, and even then, to keep holding the door open. Some of them take a bleaker view of the human condition, but that is why your image of the church as a field hospital is right for Ireland today. You said: “The thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity. I see the church as a field hospital after battle. It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of
his blood sugars! You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else. Heal the wounds, heal the wounds. And you have to start from the ground up.” We do not have the luxury, you tell us, of retreating into a corner to lick our own wounds in the shock of discovering that Ireland has been rapidly renegotiating its Catholic inheritance, and may prefer a very secular future Finally, Holy Father, many of us are deeply disappointed you could not make it to the North of Ireland. Would it be too much to hope that, next time, you might even begin with the North which contains so many memories of Patrick, who told us to be as Roman as we are Christian? You could do the two cathedrals in Armagh, which is, after all, the ecclesiastical capital of All Ireland for both Catholics and the Church of Ireland. Or Patrick’s grave in Downpatrick Cathedral, and the altar stone on which he offered the first Mass in Ireland in Saul Chapel? You love to include a popular shrine to Our Lady. Clonard Monastery attracts thousands to the Solemn Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help every year. It is also a centre of ecumenical fellowship, and has welcomed many who were the architects of our peace process. Dear Holy Father, thank you again for the visit, for your warmth and your ability to surprise us with fresh words of wisdom.
Brendan McConvery CSsR Editor
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COPING WITH
MARRIAGE B THE BREAKDOWN OF A MARRIAGE IS A TRAGIC EVENT. ANNULMENT DOES NOT COVER EVERY CASE, SO IS THERE A NEED TO FIND ANOTHER PATH?
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BY TIMOTHY J. BUCKLEY, CSsR
As
a young parish priest in the 1980s, by far the most difficult pastoral situations I encountered were those of people whose marriages had broken down. Their varied circumstances threw up a variety of complications and often I felt helpless in the face of their sadness and frustration. Annulments were being granted more readily than in previous generations. Some people applied successfully, and had their situations regularised. For many, however, it seemed there was no way forward: either they struggled on, trying to be as faithful as they could to what they believed was required, or else they simply disappeared from the scene.
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PASTORAL CARE FOR MARITAL BREAKDOWN In the late 1980s I had my own mid-life crisis, and was stressed to the point where I needed a break from the parish to recover my own equilibrium. Paradoxically it proved to be one of the most enriching periods of my life. As I recovered I was able to do some spirituality studies in America. I was then asked by the Marriage and Family Life Committee of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales to consider undertaking a serious study of the pastoral care (or lack thereof) of those suffering from marital breakdown. I did not need a second invitation, and it was agreed that I would do it under the supervision
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of the Jesuits at Heythrop, their college in London University. In 1994 I reported to the bishops’ conference, and I have it on good authority that Cardinal Hume suggested that the bishops should have no difficulty in accepting my 24 practical recommendations. He realised, however, that the questions raised in my theological analysis might well prompt lively discussion. Suffice it to say that I believe the Catholic Church, in seeking to defend the sanctity and indissolubility of marriage, became entangled in a theological dilemma which left it with little room for manoeuvre when faced with many of the concrete situations that presented themselves in those days and still do today. Law in any field seeks concrete definitions to provide wise and just judgements. For the most part the canon law of the church bases its interpretation of the bond of marriage on the medieval scholastic understanding of how Christ acts in the sacraments. As a result the sole criterion for sacramental marriage is that both parties must be baptised. This can mean that although there may have been little semblance of any faith commitment
on their part, if two Christians marry validly – and for those who are baptised but not Catholics this may have been in a register office – then the church regards them as sacramentally bound for the rest of their lives. I was told by one of the bishops that when my highlighting of this problem was brought to the attention of the then Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Ratzinger, he admitted that the magisterium (the teaching church) needed to do some more homework on the subject. LAW: STATIC OR DEVELOPING? In this short article it would be impossible to explore the complexity of the whole subject. If you have been following the recent disputes between Pope Francis and certain senior churchmen, you may be able to identify the clash of ideologies underlying the problem. There are those who believe that the Scriptures have clearly defined the church’s position, and that this has been enshrined in the norms of canon law, which are unalterable. In response
I humbly suggest that such an approach fails to acknowledge that, even within the discipline of canon law, there has been considerable development over the years. Most notably, since the Second Vatican Council, annulments, which before then were a rarity and granted only on the basis of a few strictly established criteria such as lack of true freedom, are now granted more readily, using the recently accepted criteria of lack of due discretion and inability to assume essential obligations of marriage for psychological reasons. This offers the lawyers much greater scope to explore any lack of maturity which may have prevented spouses making a life-long commitment to each other and to God.
The Catholic Church, in seeking to defend the sanctity and indissolubility of marriage, became entangled in a theological dilemma While the annulment process has released many people and enabled them to move on
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into new and more fulfilling relationships, I am convinced that for many others it was not the appropriate forum within which to try and resolve their problems. For some, the
never really married in the first place. For others, either their experience of the process, or their fear of the process, caused sufficient stress for them to be convinced that pursuing an annulment would be psychologically and spiritually counter-productive. I have enormous sympathy for all these people. During my research, it became clear that the church did not have a language in which to communicate with them. Accordingly they set up their own forums, the most obvious being the Association of Separated and Divorced Catholics.
If you have been following the recent disputes between Pope Francis and certain senior churchmen, you may be able to identify the clash of ideologies underlying the problem process was too contrived. They were willing to live with the sadness of the breakdown, in spite of all their efforts to make a go of the marriage. At the same time, and often especially for the sake of the children, they did not wish to be told that they were
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A FRANCIS FACTOR? More than 20 years ago when I was assessing the results of my research, there was overwhelming evidence that the majority of Catholics, including clergy, instinctively realised that there was something seriously amiss in our pastoral practice. Now, at last, in the wake of the two synods on marriage and the family, initiated by Pope Francis, I sensed that what I considered the sensus fidelium (the common sense among the faithful of what is right and true) was being embraced at the highest level. It is true that Pope Francis is being constantly challenged to clarify some statements in his beautiful apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, but he remains calmly resolute, constantly reminding us of the need for compassion, which is at the very heart of the Gospel message. I believe
that his insistence that we should stop looking to Rome for all the solutions is also very significant. His understanding of the role of the local bishop seems to me to be akin to the understanding of oikonomia in the Eastern Orthodox churches. This was an area that I explored back in the 1990s, culminating in a remarkable meeting with His Eminence Archbishop Gregorios, the Greek Orthodox archbishop of Thyateira and Great Britain. He opened my eyes to this wonderful instrument for seeking solutions to seemingly intractable problems. The bishop is the oikonomos, the one in charge of the household, whose role is to keep good order in the community. When faced with problems, like marriage breakdown, his job is to take the problem before the Lord and prayerfully seek a solution. He asked me: “Is there any problem which is beyond the redeeming love of Jesus Christ?” I could only answer "No". Whereupon he replied: “So what is your problem?” TOO EASY? You may argue that this is simplistic, but the key to all this is that the Orthodox churches are not hamstrung by the theological tradition of the Catholic Church. They also believe in the sanctity and permanence of marriage, but when things go wrong, they do not believe that they have to resolve the theological problem of a sacramental bond still in existence, and nor do they believe that the Lord would impose the burden of celibacy on those not called to that extraordinary vocation. They do not isolate Jesus’ teaching on marriage and divorce, which was delivered in the context of a catch question put to him by the Pharisees and their scribes, who themselves were wrangling about the conditions for divorce required by Moses. Rather they take the whole of the Gospel and recall how Jesus dealt with all those in difficulties, including the prostitutes and sinners, and remember that he challenged those same guardians of the Judaic Law to cast the first stone at the woman taken in adultery. Pope Francis has rightly reminded us
that Holy Communion “is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak”. It is true that Pope Saint John Paul II, in his apostolic exhortation, Familiaris Consortio, reiterated the ban on those in so-called irregular unions going to Communion. But this did not sit easily with his advice in the same section to make distinctions between those who had deliberately caused the breakdown of a marriage and those who were the victims and may have remarried for a good reason (such as for the sake of the children). One of John Paul’s main reasons for restating the former discipline was that the alternative might be the cause of scandal. If this were true in 1981, it certainly did not hold true in the early 1990s when I was collecting and collating material during my research in England and Wales. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that the scandal by then was that the church had not found a language with which to reach out in compassion and understanding to those who felt abandoned as a result of their marriage failure. Pope Francis seems to be indicating that he has come to a similar conclusion and, far from calling him to order, I think we should rejoice in his unwavering determination to call us back to one of the most fundamental of all the Gospel values, namely that we reach out to others in compassion: a truth that will set them and us free.
Fr Timothy Buckley CSsR is a Redemptorist of the London Province. He has served in a wide variety of ministries, including publications, mission preaching and formation. He is currently parish priest of Bishop Eton, Liverpool and the neighbouring parish of St Mary’s, Woolton.
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All the days of our THE CHANGING FACE OF MARRIAGE MARRIAGE AND FAMILY LIFE HAVE BEEN PLACED FIRMLY IN THE SPOTLIGHT IN THE RUN-UP TO THE WORLD MEETING OF FAMILIES, WHICH WILL WELCOME FAMILIES FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD TO DUBLIN THIS AUGUST. BUT MARRIAGE HAS BEEN UNDERGOING SOME DRAMATIC CHANGES IN IRELAND. BY TRÍONA DOHERTY 16
“The
great values of marriage and the Christian family correspond to a yearning that is part and parcel of human existence.” So says Pope Francis in Amoris Laetitia, his letter on love in the family. Speaking in the run-up to the WMOF, Archbishop Eamon Martin said he hopes the event will offer an opportunity for the church to connect with young people who are thinking about marriage. “Into a seemingly ‘soul-less world’ we have the joy and challenge of presenting the Church’s clear and positive vision of marriage and family… that self-giving love and commitment in marriage is not only possible, but is a beautiful and fulfilling vocation which can grow and develop with the power of God’s grace. To present this challenging vision of marriage and family we need a network of support for those young people who are
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preparing to marry,” said Archbishop Martin. There are more options than ever for couples marrying in Ireland. The three main options for a marriage ceremony are religious, civil and Humanist. While the numbers opting for religious ceremonies have been declining for a number of years, thousands of Irish couples each year still choose to enter into the sacrament of marriage with a Catholic wedding ceremony. They decide on a church and celebrant, undertake marriage preparation courses, meet with their local priest and parish team, complete the paperwork required by the church, and prepare ceremonies, choosing readings, prayers and music to mark their special day. THE FIGURES Catholic marriage ceremonies currently account for just over half of all weddings
life in Ireland. The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office reveal that in 2017, religious ceremonies accounted for 63 per cent of all marriages. Of those, 50.9 per cent (11,219) were Catholic; 1.7 per cent (379) were Church of Ireland; 5.3 per cent (1,159) were ceremonies by the Spiritualist Union of Ireland; while ‘other’ religious ceremonies accounted for the remaining 5.1 per cent (1,120). Civil marriages made up 29.1 per cent (6,417) of the total marriages, while the remaining 7.8 per cent (1,727) were Humanist ceremonies.
Figures like these show that the overall picture of Irish weddings is changing. Just 14 years ago in 1994, Catholic weddings accounted for 91.4 per cent of all weddings, while civil marriages were just 5.1 per cent of the total. Compared with other countries, however, the church in Ireland isn’t faring too badly. Spain seems to have hit an all-time low, with Catholic weddings falling from 75 per cent in 2000 to just 22 per cent in 2016.
is the number of couples returning home to Ireland from abroad to get married, many of whom wish to marry in their home parish. The age profile of couples is also increasing, with the majority of brides and grooms now in their mid-30s, and many already with children. FREE TO CHOOSE Couples who are not religious, or would rather not have a religious element to their wedding,
Catholic marriage ceremonies currently account for over half of all weddings in Ireland Thousands of Irish couples – more than 11,000 last year – are still opting for Catholic wedding ceremonies. Marriage care service ACCORD reports that their marriage preparation courses are as much in demand as ever, with 8,432 couples completing the courses in 2017. One trend they have noticed
are opting for Humanist or civil ceremonies. Increasing numbers of hotels and other venues cater for the entire wedding day, including the civil ceremony, on the premises. Westmeath couple Lorna and David chose a civil ceremony last year, with a celebrant and ceremony they were most comfortable
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with. Typical of many modern couples, they describe themselves as having faith in God, but not particularly “religious”. “My husband is not into the church at all; he didn't want to have a church ceremony so we decided on a civil one. We do believe in God in our own way, but we don't believe we have to go to a church to show that,” says Lorna.
My favourite part was the vows, which were very emotional.” Since 2013, couples can also legally marry in a Humanist ceremony with a celebrant accredited by the Humanist Association of Ireland. Humanist weddings have increased in popularity from 1,437 in 2016 (6.7 per cent) to 1,616 in 2017 (7.6 per cent). Joe Armstrong, a former Catholic priest, is a Humanist solemniser who has officiated at several weddings, funerals and naming ceremonies. “The kernel of a Humanist ceremony is that it is inclusive,” he explains. “I will say to those present: ‘Whether you are religious, Humanist, whatever your worldview, whatever you believe, whoever you love, all are welcome because we are all united in our shared humanity and our love for the couple.’ This sets people at ease.” Joe says couples want a Humanist ceremony
Increasing numbers of hotels and other venues cater for the entire wedding day, including the civil ceremony, on the premises “We didn’t want the restriction of a church wedding where you have to have certain hymns and readings, when that's not us. With our ceremony we had all the input. We got to choose our own songs and vows, it was a very personal experience for us both. REALITY SUMMER 2018
for a variety of reasons. Some are committed Humanists: others are not sure of the differences between it and a civil ceremony, while many are clear that they do not want a religious wedding ceremony. “Some couples are not religious but don’t really know what a Humanist ceremony is about. Occasionally a couple will approach me, but their parents are so against the idea that they will pull out. It’s a pity as marriage is a great opportunity to break the umbilical cord – it is the couple who are getting married and not their parents, and they themselves should decide and set the course for their marriage,” says Joe. “One party may be religious and the other not, and that leads to very interesting discussions. Sometimes I can facilitate a discussion that the couple needed to have together.” Couples may also be unaware of the different types of wedding available within the Catholic Church. Wedding services can take place within or outside the Eucharist.
Two Catholics generally choose a Nuptial Mass, but a service without Mass is equally valid and no less a joyous occasion. If one party belongs to another Christian community, the service will take this second form. Couples are advised to discuss the options with their priest before making a final decision. WHY CHOOSE A CHURCH WEDDING? Speaking on Valentine’s Day this year, Bishop Denis Nulty, Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin and president of ACCORD, referred to the appetite that still exists among young people for marriage. “Contemporary studies inform us that the vast majority of teenagers want to get married. Last year, 39,265 young Irish people participated in the Schools’ Programmes offered by ACCORD. The fact that a huge percentage of them see marriage as a key aspiration is very encouraging indeed.” Those who run marriage preparation courses emphasise the importance of choosing a church
wedding ceremony for the right reasons. “I would discourage people from getting married in the church unless they really want to, and I tell them not to let tradition or the fact that their parents would like it to be the reason,” says Fr Pat Rogers, who runs the Together premarriage course in Dublin. “If they are practicing at all, and the sacrament means something to them, if they have any living contact with the church, I would encourage them to go ahead. I ask them to consider in what sense they find being Catholic meaningful; do they intend to raise their children in the church?” Kat and Laurence got married six years ago in County Cork, and live in Dubai with their young son. For them, the decision to have a church wedding set the tone for their married life. “We are both Catholic, and we had always said we wanted a church wedding. We have been together for a long time and both take marriage seriously as a lifetime of commitment, and we feel we need support from God for this,” they explain.
“Having a church wedding made it more than just a commitment between us; we have support from our faith and community. There was so much goodwill for us, from so many people.” They found their ceremony to be “meaningful, beautiful, emotional and strengthening”. While they are not regular church-goers at present, Kat and Laurence felt that choosing a church wedding would strengthen their future faith life together. “Coming home to get married has rooted our family life in Ireland. While we have stayed away from home for much longer than planned we are looking more and more towards a move back and fully reconnecting with our families and friends there and hopefully the parish we settle in.” SUPPORT FOR MARRIED COUPLES Pope Francis has expressed concern at the lack of support available to couples preparing for marriage, saying the church should be
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more welcoming to couples who enquire about the sacrament. “Instead of receiving a good welcome – it is a good thing to get married”, he says they are greeted with “Oh, well, have a seat. If you want the Mass, it costs a lot…” or asked “Do you have the certificate of baptism?... They find a closed door. We are many times controllers of faith, instead of becoming facilitators of the faith.” In Amoris Laetitia he acknowledges that “many couples, once married, drop out of the Christian community”, and suggests that marriage preparation should provide them with the help they need to make a solid beginning to family life. “Both short-term and long-term marriage preparation should ensure that the couple do not view the wedding ceremony as the end of the road, but instead embark upon marriage as a lifelong calling based on a firm and realistic decision to face all trials and difficult moments together.” Course coordinator with Together, Angela
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O’Rourke, says that marriage preparation courses give couples space and time to reflect on what is one of the biggest decisions they will ever make. “We don’t investigate why they are choosing a church wedding, but we do say to them: you have a choice. We invite couples to ask themselves why they are choosing a church wedding and who they are doing it for. It has to have meaning for them.” “Parents these days are a lot more understanding of where couples are at. The positive thing is that couples still think marriage is worthwhile; quite a large number are still going for a Catholic church wedding, and lots of couples are getting their children baptised,” says Angela. When couples receive this support from their faith community , it carries forward into their marriage and family life. As Kat explains: “Our son was christened at home and we will most likely be living back in Ireland by the time he receives his next sacrament.
We still feel the support of our family and friends. Our most recent trip home was over Christmas; we attended a lot of services with our child and in general we felt more than welcome, lots of people commenting how nice it was to see us and our little person in attendance. We loved the feeling of being part of a community and feeling at home there.” Archbishop Eamon Martin echoes this sentiment: “One of my hopes is that we will develop Catholic family support groups at diocesan and parish level which might not only assist with marriage preparation, but also with supporting couples in the years immediately following marriage.” Many couples do find support in groups like Teams of Our Lady (http://www.equipes-notre-dame. ie/), Marriage Encounter (http://www. marriageencounter.ie/) and Retrouvaille (http://www.retrouvaille.ie/). Tríona Doherty is a freelance journalist and a regular contributor to Reality
In Tune with the Liturgy A series that highlights some of the features of the Church’s worship in the month ahead
FINDING THE VOICE TO GIVE GOD PRAISE LITURGICAL 'ORDINARY TIME' ENABLES US TO REDISCOVER THE WEALTH THAT EACH MASS LAYS BEFORE US, ESPECIALLY IN THE PRAYERS OF THE PSALMS. BY SARAH ADAMS
As
we enter into the months of July and August, we might be forgiven for thinking that everything significant in the church’s year is over. We have had all of the main seasons: Advent, Lent, Easter, Pentecost. We have had other major feasts: Corpus Christi, Trinity Sunday, the Feast of the Sacred Heart. We have had Confirmations, First Communions and adults being baptised at Easter. However, if we are feeling bereft of the ‘big’ occasions, this is not a bad thing. It gives us a chance to take stock, to pause, to reflect. In previous issues we have thought about Ordinary Time – that particular time which is given to immersing ourselves in the life of Jesus. July and August are just that, a time when we can go deeper. This is a not a time for suspending the music ministry for the entire summer. It is an opportunity to focus on a particular area of the liturgy to understand it better. One such area, which can be overlooked, is that of the psalm. Getting to know the psalms better can help us to say or sing them differently, perhaps with a greater appreciation of what they involve and how they can speak to us and become the prayer of the people who join in. WHAT ARE PSALMS? So what do we know about the psalms? Each day of every week, psalms are prayed, chanted, or sung. For clergy and religious communities, they form a significant part of the rhythm of their daily prayer. For most of us, they can appear to be a welcome break in the middle of the readings but not much else. They involve people making a response, but, if the psalm is not sung, it can be very dull, unless the reader has taken care to reflect upon it and make it their own prayer.
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In Tune with the Liturgy By Sarah Adams
If the psalm is not sung, it can be very dull, unless the reader has taken care to reflect upon it and make it their own prayer
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Perhaps the first thing to remember is that the psalms, which are firmly rooted in the Jewish tradition, are a rich and diverse way of expressing the deepest of experiences. The people of Israel found solace in poetry, prayer and music. The psalms that emerged from that community sought to give voice to their journey through life in all its diversity and richness. Although they are often described as the psalms of David, if we are to fully appreciate them, it is better to see them as the thoughts and feelings of a community who composed, collected and
passed on their prayers, songs, and liturgy over a long period of time. The psalms reveal to us different moments and experiences in Israel’s history. When they were delivered from Egypt, they sang and danced about their triumph over Pharaoh and their newfound freedom: when they were exiled in Babylonia after the fall of Jerusalem, all they could do was weep. They could not sing songs to the Lord in a foreign land, as their captors wanted them to. Thus Psalm 137 speaks not of joy but of their misery and frustration.
I thirst for a world where no one is hungry, and where all the food in the world can be shared out so that all are fed
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KINDS OF PSALM There are 150 psalms in the Book of Psalms (also known as the Psalter). There are different kinds of psalm, which can be helpful when we want to pray with words that correspond to our needs. There are psalms of lament, thanksgivings, hymns of praise, prayers for wisdom and historical psalms which meditate on God’s saving actions on behalf of his people. Although we may pick and choose what psalm we wish to pray at any one time, for the Jewish people they were originally used as ‘the hymn book of the temple’ to provide a structure in which they could express their concerns. It is not surprising then that the church includes the psalms as part of the Liturgy of the Word. Every day, we are presented with a different psalm. It is always a response to the first reading and takes up its message. Take the 13th Sunday of the Year, this year (B), for example: the first reading from the Book of Wisdom speaks of God rescuing his people from death and out of the hands of the Evil One. We, in our response, give praise to God for having been rescued: “I will praise you Lord, you have rescued me”. It comes from Ps 29. The remainder of the psalm is a song of rejoicing, encouraging us to “sing psalms to the Lord” and to “give thanks to his holy name”.
It is possible to look at the psalms from a more critical and analytical perspective. This is what most scholarly and popular commentaries do. They can help us understand what a particular psalm meant when it was composed, such as Hannah’s song of dedication of her son Samuel (1 Samuel 2:1-10). The most important reason for going to the psalms is because they offer us food for prayer and meditation. Having a place to express thanks, hurts, praise and grief honestly to God is helpful for all of us. The psalms are rich in diversity and they give us a voice when we do not know how to express what we might be thinking or feeling. THIRSTING FOR GOD A favourite of mine is Psalm 42 especially when it is sung and prayed at the Easter vigil. One setting by American composer, Bob Hurd, has the response: “As the deer longs for running streams, so I long, so I long, so I long for you.” The rhythm and notation allow the singer and congregation responding to enter into that sense of longing. It is meditative and the notes are elongated so that they resonate with our own deeper need. It is also one of the great psalms of lament,
speaking of the desire of someone who is absorbed deep in prayer and longing for God. The poetic image of the deer, thirsting for water in the desert, emphasises the poet’s thirst for God, a God who is the living water (cf. John 4:10-14). The psalmist remembers beautiful liturgical celebrations that once gave him or her joy, but to which they no longer have access. That place was the temple of Jerusalem. Now all the psalmist can do is weep and lament the loss. Can God continue to be silent in the face of such crying out? The last two lines encourage the person to have hope. “Hope in God, for I shall again praise him. My help and my God.” What strikes me about this psalm is the deep longing of the psalmist to behold once more the face of God. It touched something within me. Now whenever I hear or sing this psalm I encounter a thirst deep within myself that has yet to be quenched. But for what do I really thirst? It is a big question. In an attempt to answer it, I know I thirst for justice in a world that fails to really care for its children or elderly. I thirst for a world where no one is hungry, and where all the food in the world can be shared out so that all are
Psalm 42 As the deer longs... As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? My tears have been my food, day and night, While people say to me continually “Where is your God?”
These things I remember As I pour out my soul: How I went with the throng and led them in procession to the house of God With glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving, A multitude keeping festival. Why are you cast down, O my soul and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise him My help and my God. (NRSV)
fed. I thirst for an end to war and conflict in the Middle East and many other countries of our world. I thirst for respect among people of belief and no belief. I thirst for so many things, but ultimately I thirst to know and trust in the God of love who also thirsts for me. Deep down in me there is this hole, a hole that God created within me so that only God can fill. It is a place for God’s love to enter in, if I can but allow it. This awareness certainly has helped me when I am offered this psalm to pray either in the liturgy or in my own prayer life. It has lifted the words off the page for me. As liturgical ministers of music, we have a responsibility to understand what we are singing and why we are singing it. When we delve deeper, and take the psalms seriously, our approach to them will enable those to whom we minster to have the opportunity to find their own voice and to give God praise.
23 Sarah Adams studied liturgical theology at Maynooth. She now lives in Devon, working for the Diocese of Plymouth as a Religious Education adviser.
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ST PAUL’S VISION
FOR MARRIAGE AND FAMILY LIFE COUPLES OFTEN ENCOUNTER ST PAUL’S VISION FOR MARRIAGE AS THEY PLAN THE READINGS FOR THEIR WEDDING CELEBRATION. MANY FIND ITS PATRIARCHAL LANGUAGE OFFPUTTING, BUT A DEEPER ENCOUNTER WITH THE TEXT WILL REVEAL ITS CHALLENGES AND PROMISES. BY JESSIE ROGERS
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Rembrant's impression of St Paul in prison
REALITY SUMMER 2018
In
his letters to Christian communities, St Paul draws out the implications of the Gospel. How does being followers of Jesus Christ affect the way we live? St Paul’s ethical teaching in the Letter to the Ephesians is summed up in one exhortation: "Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God" (Eph 5:1-2 NRSV). It is within the context of unpacking what that means for relating to others in the wider society and in the church that St Paul gives his instructions for family life. He takes a set piece, what scholars call a Haustafel or household code, and re-configures it in the light of Christ’s self-giving love. These 'codes' set out in pairs the duties of household members to each other: wives and husbands, children and parents, slaves and masters. That last pairing should immediately alert us to the socially conditioned shape of this advice. St Paul is writing to first century Graeco-Roman households which were strongly patriarchal and which included slaves. That is an important reminder that the instructions here cannot be lifted uncritically from their original context and applied literally to ours. If we do that, the ‘letter’ of Ephesians may cause us to violate its radically liberating ‘spirit’. What I mean by that should become clear in what follows.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR CHRISTIAN HOUSEHOLDS The instructions for Christian households are found in Ephesians 5:21-6:9. The version of the Bible I read growing up inserted a heading – Wives and husbands – at the beginning of verse 22, making “Wives submit to your husbands ...” the beginning of the section and sneakily separating verse 21 from what follows. But here is a literal translation of those two verses: "Submit yourselves to one another in reverence of Christ, wives to your own husbands as to the Lord" (Eph 5:21-22). The second part of the sentence does not even have its own verb in the Greek! St Paul’s vision for family is a particular instance of his vision for Christian community as a whole. The statement “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ" stands like a title over all that follows and applies to everyone. This call to submit to one another is another way of stating the call to love. Submission is not a dehumanising subservience, but is the attitude of humble service that love demands and which is required of every Christian. Earlier St Paul had begged everyone to "lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph 4:1-3). Instead of acting
in what we believe to be our own best interests, whatever the consequences for others, we are invited to look at the other – be it our spouse, child, parent, or another member of the household – as a person of such dignity and worth that their good matters even more than our own. Here it is important to remember that the context is that of mutual love within Christian families – we are concerned for the good of the other who in turn is concerned for our good. Can you imagine how that attitude can work like yeast through dough to transform family dynamics? PAUL IS NOT ANTI-WOMAN Having given the general principle of mutual submission within the Christian community – which is to be embodied over
and over again in various ways, in different relationships and in differing contexts and cultures – St Paul then translates this into first century GraecoRoman households. He is not giving instructions for Christian living in an ideal world, but in the broken world in which his hearers live, an oppressive world in which first place was given to the free man as husband and slave-owner. His advice reflects the social conditions and views of the time, but transforms them through a vision of reciprocity and unity in Christ. The place of the wife in society and in law was under the authority of her husband, so the instruction to be subject to her husband is nothing new. What is new is the way she is to do it –"as you are to the Lord" (Eph 5:22), in other words, voluntarily,
willingly and in response to his love. And at the same time the husband is to show her the same sacrificial love with which Christ loves and cares for the church The story of divine love in which both spouses participate as members of the church is to shape the story of their marriage. The relationship between Christ and the church is not only an ideal model which they are to emulate; it is the reality in which they are included and from which they derive the capacity to live out this mutual self-giving love. It is only when we hold all this together that we resist harmful readings of this text that condone domestic abuse. The devoted love of the husband is concomitant with the wife’s submission and both occur within the context of mutual submission out of reverence
Submission is not a dehumanising subservience, but is the attitude of humble service that love demands
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He is not giving instructions for Christian living in an ideal world, but in the broken world in which his hearers live and wholeness and the fulness of human flourishing. However the Gospel does not interpret human flourishing in the individualistic, bordering on narcissistic, terms that Western culture tends to hold up as the ideal. We are not most fully ourselves when we are unfettered from responsibility and commitment, but when we are living together in mutual love and recognition.
for Christ. A reading of this text which strips women of rights given them by modern society in order to preach submission to male authority is a violation of the spirit of the text. The point here is not to debate who has authority, but to suggest what mutual love and support according to the ability and situation of the partners looks like in a Christian marriage. The challenge is for spouses fully to receive and to give love and respect, within the historically conditioned situations in which they find themselves. There is nothing new in St Paul’s exhortation to children to obey their parents either – the culture of the day expected this. What is striking is how St Paul addresses children as full members of the household of God whose behaviour is to be shaped by their commitment to Christ - "in the Lord" (Eph 6:1). Children are invited to live out their faith and
commitment to Christ within the family. When we read the instructions to children and parents in the light of St Paul’s general principle of submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ, they take on a particular force. Parents exasperate or provoke their children to rage (Eph 6:4) when they are driven by their own ambitions or by a desire to have their children reflect well on them. How different family life looks when parents stand in awe of the unique dignity of each child and take seriously their calling, with God’s help, to nurture, guide and care for children on their own journey. The instructions to slaves and their masters included in the household code alert us most keenly to the need to contextualise St Paul’s vision of the Christian household. In St Paul’s world slaves were objects, not persons with rights. The early church did not challenge the institution of slavery
as such, but strove to change the position of slaves within the Christian community where they were to be treated as brothers and sisters in Christ. St Paul encourages slaves to find dignity in their work by re-interpreting it as loving service to Christ. Masters were to respect the personhood of the slave by remembering that they are on an equal footing before the one true Master, Christ. In the stark reminder that slaves have equal value before God, the Gospel already contained the seeds of the undoing of this great injustice. If we read this text as a justification of slavery in the modern era, we violate the spirit of the text, because it points in the direction of greater dignity for all persons, not less. The same can be said for interpretations of the passage that question the advances that society has made in recognising the agency of women. The direction in which the Gospel invites us is always the direction of freedom
PAUL TODAY? What could it look like to live out of St Paul’s vision today? If the result is spouses, children or elderly people trapped in abusive relationships, then we have read St Paul wrong. But we also have it wrong if we celebrate individual freedom at the expense of others, if spouses put their own desire for self-fulfilment above faithful commitment to their partner, or if children are not given the loving guidance and the boundaries that they need. Family is a microcosm of the household of God’s people, a domestic church, a privileged place to learn from one another how to love and to be loved. St Paul’s link between marriage and the Christchurch relationship is a reminder that family life, indeed all life, is lived within the nurturing love that Christ has for us. Everyone is called to submit to one another for Christ’s sake, and family is a good place to start.
Jessie Rogers is a native of South Africa. She is married with three daughters and teaches Scripture in St Patrick’s College, Maynooth
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Praying with the Rosary – Second Luminous Mystery prayer corner
The Wedding at Cana
WE ARE INVITED TO PRAY THIS MYSTERY WITH THE IMAGINATION AND ALSO TO FEED OUR MINDS WITH SOLID KNOWLEDGE OF THE GOSPEL TEXT. KEEP YOUR BIBLE HANDY, MARKED AT JOHN 2:1-12. BY GEORGE WADDING CSsR
St
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John’s Gospel is the only gospel to tell the story of the Wedding Feast of Cana. John’s stories are like a treasure hunt; he leaves clues about hidden meanings in the text and, unless we have a deep and mystical mind like his own, we have to go ferreting out these buried treasures. It would be wonderful if we could summon St John himself to come and elucidate his gospel for us! Instead, we will have to depend on the wisdom of other holy and erudite scholars to interpret the map that leads us to the treasure troves. Each gospel has a structure around which the evengelist builds his version of the story of Jesus. St John’s Gospel is built on five pillars; he calls them ‘signs’, five pre-eminent signs. A sign is any happening, miraculous or not, by which God reveals himself to his people. (Jesus calls them ‘works’ rather than signs.) The six pre-eminent ‘signs’ which are the pillars of John’s Gospel are chosen, not because they are an extraordinary display of super power, but because they eminently reveal Jesus’ divine love and compassion; they reveal him as the Messiah, the Son of God. These six special ‘signs’ are: turning water into wine at Cana (2:11), the healing of the official’s son (4:54), the healing of the paralytic at the pool (5:1-9), the multiplication of loaves (6:14), the giving of sight to the man born blind (9:16), and the raising of Lazarus (12:18). Keeping all this in mind we can now retell the story of Cana, the first of John’s ‘signs’. COME TO THE WEDDING On a good day you can see Cana from Nazareth. Relatives of Mary lived there, and they invited Mary and her son to one of their family weddings. In Palestine, wedding festivities could last for a week.
REALITY SUMMER 2018
They were loud, joyful affairs. Torchlight processions escorted the happy couple through the village. They were dressed like royalty in wedding robes and, wearing crowns, they were addressed as king and queen. It was all huge fun and it was open-day all week for the villagers and invited guests. In a village where people were poor and had to work hard to make a living, wedding festivities were enormously important. For the couple themselves it was the summit of an otherwise dull life that would only occur once in a lifetime. It was important that all would go well for them on their wedding day before they returned to their dreary, humdrum and demanding village lives. At the Cana wedding all was going well. Then disaster struck. I saw the steward or head waiter whisper excitedly to the groom. Those of us who were nearby saw the look of panic on his face. “What’s the matter,” Mary asked her cousin. “The steward has miscalculated the amount of wine. He may as well have miscalculated the amount of food. It’s a disaster. We will never live this down. Our name will be a joke forever in Cana and beyond.” Mary just hugged her cousin and moved away to let himself and his family sort things out. She went straight to her own son. Up to now, Jesus had not worked a single miracle. But Mary had lived with him for 30 years. She must have had knowledge and secrets about her son that no one else knew. But let me not indulge in idle speculation. All I know is that Mary approached Jesus and said simply, “They have no wine,” that’s all! Jesus replied, “Woman, that’s not our business; my hour has not yet come” or words to that effect.
WHAT DID HE SAY? I must pause here for a minute, and draw your attention to two things. Firstly, sons do not address their mothers in this formal way and secondly, his answer seems to be discourteous. We’ll come back to this in a minute and call in the ‘holy and erudite scholars’ to explain to us what’s going on. Meanwhile we’ll finish the story… It was obvious that Mary did not take her son’s answer as a refusal to help because she addressed the servants straight away, “Please, do whatever Jesus tells you.” Likewise, Jesus had not refused to accede to his mother’s gentle request because he also acted immediately. Close by were six empty stone jars for holding the water needed by us Jews for ceremonial washing – each held from 20 to 30 gallons. “Fill the jars with water,” Jesus said to the servants – a reasonable request considering the large numbers attending the wedding. So, they filled them to the brim. “Now, draw some out and take it to the head waiter.” This was risky. Why, in the middle of a crisis, should they mock him by asking him to taste fresh water? They could lose their jobs. But there was a quiet authority in Jesus’ voice, and his mother was related to the groom, so they did what they were asked to do. The head waiter asked no questions, just tasted it. It was wine of the very best vintage, but he had no idea where the servants had found it. He was euphoric. He called the groom to one side: “What’s going on?” he asked. “You never told me about this excellent wine. Usually we serve the best wine first and the cheaper wine when all are well oiled. But you have saved the best wine until now.” The hapless couple were rejuvenated, their new mood was contagious and the party went into full swing again. Jesus’ disciples had seen all that happened. It was for them a sign, the first of many, that their master was a chosen one of God. READING THE MAP Now let us call in the learned map-readers to divine the hidden treasures in John’s story! Why did Jesus address his mother in this formal way? Because his relationship with his mother was about to change. Jesus had the Father’s work to do, in the Father’s way, in the Father’s time. What John is suggesting is that he was not rejecting her as mother – he
was simply saying that from now on her old role of mother has changed and she will have a new role in God’s plan. So, he addressed her formally as ‘woman’ – something like ‘dear lady’ or ‘madam’. For now she must let him do God’s work in God’s way. When his ‘hour’ came, that’s when her new role would begin. Now Jesus always referred to his death as his ‘hour’. So, when his ‘hour’ did come, as he writhed in agony on his cross, he addressed his mother again formally as ‘woman’ and his beloved disciple as ‘son’. “Woman, this is your son; son, this is your mother.” It is now that Mary is assigned her role. She is not just the mother of Jesus but the mother of all Jesus’ disciples. This is the biblical basis for Mary’s role in salvation history. This is one of John’s hidden treasures. There is another hidden treasure in the Cana story as well. Six jars holding between 20 and 30 gallons each, that is between 120 and 180 gallons or between 545 and 1,090 litres – that’s a lot of wine! If a bottle holds .75 litres, we’re talking about something between 726 and 1,090 bottles of wine. Even allowing for the fact that the wedding could last for up to a week, it still sounds like a super abundance. That’s where John has hidden another treasure. The Jews were familiar with an image from their own scriptures – that God’s Kingdom was like a wedding banquet. [Many times throughout his ministry, Jesus would use the same image. For example, in Matthew 22:2-9 Jesus said: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son."] It was a kingdom to which everyone was invited, from the highways and the byways. It was like precious ‘new wine’. Wine itself was a symbol of the joy and the abundance that would be God’s Kingdom. At Cana such images would easily jump into the minds of Jesus’ disciples when they witnessed all that happened. For them, this was a strong ‘sign’ that the new dispensation, the new order had come. Like the new wine Jesus had just created, the new Gospel would be prized not just for its quality (the best wine), but also for its abundance and divine origin. And that’s why – St John concludes – “his disciples believed in him.” Fr George Wadding CSsR is a member of the Redemptorist Community at Dun Mhuire, Griffith Avenue, Dublin. He is the author of Praying with St Gerard, the Family Saint (available from Redemptorist Communications).
An illustration of the wedding at Cana found on the World Meeting of Families icon. Artist:Mihai Cucu
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COM M E N T FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS CARMEL WYNNE
IMPROVE YOUR COMMUNICATION
ISN’T IT SAD WHEN FAMILY MEMBERS HAVE SUCH DIFFICULTY COMMUNICATING THAT THEY AVOID EACH OTHER OR STOP TALKING? ALMOST ALL RELATIONSHIP PROBLEMS OCCUR BECAUSE PEOPLE HAVE POOR COMMUNICATION SKILLS THAT THEY DON’T RECOGNISE. Not talking is a way of avoiding an issue. Some people who find it hard to talk about difficult things retreat into silence. Others do their best to ignore what leads to negative feelings hoping that in time the feelings will go away. They don’t. The trouble is that the emotions about an issue that are ignored rarely go away. They build up over months or even years until often a person explodes and says things in anger that cannot ever be unsaid. People have different childhood recollections because of the different ways they experienced the same event. We can never fully understand what goes on in another person’s mind. Two children grow up in the same family. They have very different memories of the same events. One has happy childhood memories of playing with her sister. The other sister doesn’t recall any of those good times. A good first step in healing any relationship is to be willing to listen with respect to the other person’s thoughts and feelings. This may be unlikely to happen or in some families seem impossible because the person who repeatedly asked to have a conversation to sort things out was refused. The fear that talking about a problem can only make things worse is understandable. In some families communication
is a one-way process. Respecting the feelings of others is not a priority. Parents can act as if they know it all. From the best of motives they make all the decisions about what is best for each child because they genuinely believe they are right. Children who are dictated to miss out on learning how to listen with respect. Some develop a 'know-it-all' attitude. They have no need to consult or talk about problems. They mirror what their parents did. They never wait to ask anyone’s opinion. They genuinely believe they are in the right. I’ve known people go so far as to explain why the other person was wrong when there was a difference of opinion. It’s really hard to resolve an issue when someone lacks any understanding of their own limitations. There are problems in any relationship when people can’t have a two-way conversation. Effective communicators are sensitive to the response or reaction of the people to whom they speak. A vitally important part of listening involves the ability to pay attention to the effect of what is said on the listener. Most of us can sense when we say the wrong thing. Few of us know how to make things right. The majority of us probably do nothing because it’s easier to ignore the mild
discomfort than make a fuss. Sometimes it’s not what is said that causes friction. It’s how the person says it that puts everyone’s back up. Most of us will switch off and stop listening if our perception is that a person is speaking to us in a patronising tone or we feel like we’re getting a lecture. A sibling who sounds like a parent can be seen to show a superior attitude that grates. Some communication problems result from historical family conflicts that have never been addressed or are too difficult to even mention. A person who feels unable to address an issue such as negative feelings about a person’s tone of voice or superior attitude may wrongly hold the person responsible for their negative feelings. It’s nearly always easier to blame others for upset feelings than to take full responsibility for what the person was thinking and feeling that contributed to the upset. Hardly anyone learns that to be an effective communicator you need to: develop self-awareness; know yourself well; have the courage to be honest about how you feel; be willing to share your feelings; explain why you feel that way; be willing to listen without comment or interruption.
These skills are necessary for the conversations that have the potential to heal damaged relationships. These communication techniques will change your relationships for the better. They are easy to learn but will feel unnatural when you start using them, especially with family members who feel uncomfortable with the change in your communication. Some people are able to learn how to use these new techniques from a book. Many others find they need to work with a communication coach as changing the bad habits of a lifetime is too difficult to do on their own. How willing you are to talk openly about your ideas, and how honest you’re prepared to be about why you feel as you do, tells a lot about the quality or your relationships.
Carmel Wynne is a life and work skills coach and lives in Dublin. For more information, visit www.carmelwynne.org
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FAM I LY P R AY E R
AN EXTRAORDINARY WORLDWIDE CRUSADE TO PROMOTE THE ROSARY AS A FAMILY PRAYER WAS LAUNCHED BY A YOUNG MAYO-BORN PRIEST IN GRATITUDE FOR MARY’S CARE FOR HIM. MUCH OF THIS ARTICLE IS IN FR PATRICK PEYTON’S OWN WORDS.
THE FAMILY THAT PRAYS TOGETHER, BY WILFRED J. RAYMOND, C.S.C. STAYS TOGETHER Eighteen years ago, an elderly priest in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles took me aside and told me about Fr Patrick Peyton’s first night in Hollywood. Fr Pat had stayed as his guest and asked the young priest to drive him to Good Shepherd Church in Beverly Hills for the evening Rosary and benediction. He offered to pick him up. Later that evening, the rectory doorbell rang and there was Fr Peyton. The young priest asked how he got home, and he said a young woman had given him him a lift. Later, he disclosed that her name was Loretta Young, the film star. Loretta Young was the first of a long line of mid-20th century Hollywood stars to fall under the gentle but irresistible influence of now Venerable Patrick Peyton of Carracastle, County Mayo, Ireland. They included Catholics, Protestants and Jews: Bing Crosby, Maureen O’Hara, Raymond Burr, Ann Blyth, Lucille Ball, Gregory Peck, Frank Sinatra, Jack Benny, Ricardo Montalban, Bob Hope, and many more. Away from Hollywood, Fr Peyton led a most impressive campaign for family prayer and the Rosary that resulted in 40 massive Rosary rallies reaching more than 28 million people around the globe, on all continents except Antarctica.
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BEGINNINGS Who was this man and why did so many millions hunger to hear his message? Fr Patrick Peyton in his autobiography, All For Her, says: “My getting to know Mary began in that little home in the West of Ireland REALITY SUMMER 2018
where I was born and raised, and learned to pray the Rosary. I was born on January 9, 1909 in a picturesque valley of County Mayo. On one side were the Ox Mountains and on the other the Atlantic Ocean. “From my earliest memories, I saw my father with the Rosary beads in his hands and my mother holding hers. My older brothers and sisters and I knelt around them, praying. What impressed me most was the voice of my mother talking to Mary: 'Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen!' “For the first nineteen years of my life this was our daily practice as I grew from childhood, to boyhood, to my teens. In good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, in poverty and hard work, we ended each day
Fr Peyton with actress, Loretta Young
Our Lord in America.’ At the railway station I saw my mother for the last time. She waved her handkerchief until the train disappeared from sight. My heart was crushed with sorrow, and tears blinded my eyes.”
The young Fr Peyton
speaking to Jesus and His Mother. Because of the daily family Rosary, my home was for me a cradle, a school, a university, a library, and most of all, a little church. “In May 1928, my brother and I emigrated to Scranton, Pennsylvania, to join our three sisters. A day or two before we left him forever, my father asked me to kneel before a picture of the Sacred Heart. He addressed Our Lord with an intensity from his heart as he entrusted me completely to His care and protection. Then he said words, which were engraved on my heart: ‘Be faithful to
ROAD TO PRIESTHOOD “Not in our wildest imaginings did my parents or my brother or I dream what Our Lord had in store for us in America. He called my brother to the priesthood from the coal mines of Scranton Pennsylvania. He called me from being the janitor in Saint Joseph’s Cathedral. In the fall of 1929 we entered the seminary at Notre Dame, Indiana. There we continued the family Rosary with our new family, the priests and seminarians of Holy Cross. “Two years before my ordination I was stricken with a serious illness. I was forced to leave the seminary." Young Patrick was told that he had between four and six months left to live. "One of my former teachers heard the bad news and hurried to visit me. He saw me at my worst—discouraged, depressed, hopeless.
His words were the most important ever spoken to me. 'Mary is alive,' he said. 'She will be as good to you as you think she can be. It all depends on you and your faith.' “That night, he activated my dormant faith. It was like setting a match to a haystack sprinkled with gasoline. Thanks to the family that always prayed the Rosary, I had come to know who Mary was and that Jesus Christ, her Son, had entrusted me to her love and care. I asked her with all my heart and soul to pray to her Son for my cure. “Like the dark night that is replaced by dawn and the dawn by the sun, she brought me back to life. I was certain our Blessed Mother was taking part in my healing. I am not describing a miracle. I am giving witness to the power of Mary’s intercession and the quiet, unsensational way she works. I begged the doctors to examine me once more and received their report in a letter. Like a prisoner waiting for the verdict of the jury, I opened the letter and saw my freedom, my new lease of life, my second spring. “The first words I spoke were, ‘Mary, I hope I never disgrace you.’”
Father Peyton led a most impressive campaign for family prayer and the Rosary that resulted in 40 massive Rosary rallies reaching more than 28 million people
Fr Peyton addresses a Rosary rally
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FAM I LY P R AY E R
With Princess Grace of Monaco
With Richard Nixon
Fr Peyton with comedians Jack Benny and Lucille Ball
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He sent the most famous Hollywood stars to do the work. These artists of stage, screen, radio and television used the mass media to make the world a village where families of all faiths and of none could come to know that ‘The family that prays together stays together.’ REALITY SUMMER 2018
PRIESTHOOD Patrick returned to the seminary and on June 15, 1941, with his brother he was ordained a priest. On seeing the photograph of his two sons wearing priests’ vestments, their father said, “I cry with joy to see what God has done for our two sons.” For Patrick, the challenge was how he could pay back his debts to Our Lord, His Mother and his family. The answer came during a retreat seven months after ordination, the Family Rosary Crusade. “It was frightening! It was impossible! How could I do it? I spoke these words to Our Lord in a small chapel: ‘I can’t do it. But, My Lord, you can, and I ask you to do it.' It was the best prayer I ever uttered: Without God, I can do nothing. I took that prayer to heart. “And God answered me in a way I would never have dreamed. He sent the most famous Hollywood stars to do the work. These artists of stage, screen, radio and television used the mass media to make the world a village where families of all faiths and of none could come to know that ‘The family that prays together stays together.’ Human reason and wisdom would never have set the Family Rosary Crusade on the course it took in those beginning years. To Our Lord must go the credit for inspiring the best and only way to go: the mass media.” RADIO “In 1945, the largest radio network in the United States made available a half-hour to broadcast the Rosary. This was the opportunity of a lifetime. The program had to be good. It had to prove the Rosary for all its worth. To whom could I turn for help? Naturally, to Our Lady. She came through: Invite the most famous, loved and revered family to pray the Rosary; Ask the most famous Hollywood Stars to join them; Have the most influential people in the US Church speak, and; Choose the most fitting day to have the majority of Americans listening eagerly to a religious broadcast.’
In good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, in poverty and hard work, we ended each day speaking to Jesus and His Mother
At home in the radio studio
“As it turned out it all happened like that. May 13, 1945 was Mother’s Day, Fatima Apparition Day and the day of thanksgiving for Allied Victory in Europe; Cardinal Spellman addressed the national audience as the Archbishop of New York; the Sullivan Family, whose five sons had gone to their death on a single battleship sunk during world War
Meeting with St Pope John Paul
II; Bing Crosby agreed to appear on the programme; and President Truman, the newly sworn in chief executive, endorsed the programme.” “The following day the program was proclaimed a great success and the most touching celebration of Mother’s Day and the end of the war celebration on radio. The Family Rosary Crusade was launched.”
Praying the rosary with St Mother Teresa
MOVING TO HOLLYWOOD With this national success, Fr Peyton’s superiors allowed the young priest to open an office in Hollywood in 1947. He became a media pioneer in religious broadcasting and one of history’s all-time champions of family prayer and the Rosary. When he entered eternity on June 3, 1992, his final words were: “Mary, My Queen, My Mother.” On December 18, 2017, in Rome, Pope Francis decreed that he should now be recognised the world over as Venerable Patrick Peyton. All Ireland, All America and all people of good will can be proud of this humble son of Saint Patrick, who styled himself simply as ‘Mary’s donkey’. Please join us in praying for his speedy beatification and eventual recognition as 'A Saint for Family Prayer'.
Father Wilfred J. Raymond, C.S.C. is president of Holy Cross Family Ministries, Family Rosary and Family Theater Productions
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LittLe Company of mary SiSterS
Go forth... the whole world is your domain
Do you
long and thirst for new life?
The woman at the well through a simple meeting with Jesus experienced freedom
and self-respect to begin her life
anew
The current milieu militates against a sense of God. Yet the psalmist says “Only in God is my soul at rest”. In searching there are new discoveries and in finding there is joy. Are you searching? We can accompany you on your journey of discovery. Jesus is still calling, “the harvest is great but the labourers are few”.
Contact: Sr. Una Boland Telephone: 087-6263934 Email: unaboland@yahoo.ie
€5
Venerable Mary Potter pray for us
CHURCH
FAMILY OF GOD OR A COLD HOUSE FOR MANY?
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THE CHURCH IS THE FAMILY OF GOD THAT IS ALWAYS BEING BUILT UP THROUGH THE CELEBRATION OF THE EUCHARIST BY FAINCHE RYAN
“You
are all very welcome here this morning”; “ye are great to come out in this weather” … every time I hear words like these I cringe. Well-meaning words – and many people may appreciate them – but every time I hear them I wonder, who are you to welcome me here? Whose money built this building? Why was it built? God’s words to David come to mind: ‘"You are not
the one to build me a house to dwell in... the Lord will make you a House" (1 Chronicles 17:1-15). Every church is built so that thanks can be given to God by people gathered together in a comfortable environment; and it is in the very act of gathering that we truly become church. The Lord says to us all: “You are not to build me a house to dwell in… the Lord
C HU RC H
will make you a House.” It is not we who make a house, or a building for God – but God makes of us a house, a people, a church . We have no right to it, it is gift and responsibility, a gift to the People of God, and so our responsibility. So what is church, and where did it come from?
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THE STORY MIGHT GO LIKE THIS In the beginning there was nothing – and then God created all that is: no one knows how this happened, the scientists cannot explain the beginning of life, of the universe, of this earth – nor can the church: but we Christians say that the reason we are here is God. This is the story we read about in the Book of Genesis. We gather to pray, because God created us, God loves us. This is the truth we know and accept in faith. However we don’t always love God as we should and so after many years – as the story told in the Bible goes – God takes another radical step: the incarnation
It is in the very act of gathering that we truly become church This story is crucial. God took on human flesh – "‘the Word became Flesh and dwelt among us". We Catholics see Jesus Christ as the sacrament of God, the real presence of God among us. When we look to Jesus we see God. Jesus taught us a lot by his living, his dying, and his resurrection. The key gift he gave us is the Eucharist. The Eucharist is a symbolic meal, a sign of hospitality and friendship. Each time we gather to pray the Eucharist, the depth of love that is God is revealed; the love that we witnessed enacted on the cross. BY CELEBRATING THE EUCHARIST, WE BECOME CHURCH Slowly but surely, through our Eucharistic gatherings, through the Mass, God teaches REALITY SUMMER 2018
us God’s ways. We hear over and over again the stories from the Old, or First Testament, stories we share with the Jewish people, of people who do horrendous things, and of a God who continues to love and to forgive. We hear ourselves in these stories: we are part of the human race, and we cannot separate ourselves from it. We have done and do horrendous things. We have had slaves, we have treated black people abominably, we have treated women in despicable ways – we have, and we still do. Moving very close to home we think of the industrial schools or how our society, Irish people, treated unmarried mothers – and ignored the fathers. We, Irish people, have treated people who identify as homosexual abominably. Our elderly are left to lie on trollies in hospitals, or are bullied in our nursing homes, and sometimes even bullied in our own homes. So we learn to see that we are just like the people we hear about – we are a sinful people, and it is important to see these things. HOW TO BE HUMAN We must remember these stories and we must learn, for God says, “This is not the way to be human, this is not why I created you. I have sent my Son, my only begotten Son, Jesus Christ to live among you, and show you what it means to be human, to be church, to be my people.” However, that was all a bit too much
too, so we crucified him. It all sounds rather bleak: we humans seem to be handling things badly. We repeat these mistakes in the institutional church we create, when we forget that the church is God’s work, God’s creation – and much less ours. Rather than thinking of the church as full of rules and regulations, let us begin to think of church as starting with Jesus Christ the Son of God, and with the Eucharist, the gift he left to us so we can remember God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If we start here, we might look at things differently. God created us so that we might all enjoy eternal life with God, in heaven; God sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, so that we might learn how to be human. Jesus gifted us with the Eucharist, food and drink that will ‘feed’ us and teach us, so that we might truly become children of God – that we might live well, be kind, just, merciful, loving. The Eucharist is a regular reminder that ‘God is with us’. The church began to exist because people gathered regularly to celebrate the Eucharist, to remind themselves amid the trials and tribulations of life that ‘God is with us’. The church continues to exist primarily as a people who gather to celebrate the Eucharist; in this way reminding the world constantly that God is with us. The Eucharist is not a reward for the good – it is food which strengthens us as we journey through life toward everlasting life with God. GREAT EXPECTATIONS God has high expectations of us: we have been created after God’s image and likeness, created so that we might grow into that image and likeness. Our kind loving merciful God invites us to change, to accept that we do wrong and to ask God’s forgiveness, in sure and certain hope that we are forgiven. St Augustine, an African bishop (354-430) and theologian, had a great love of the
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Eucharist. He had an interesting teaching – we receive unto our own judgement. We know ourselves whether we should receive or not; only I know if I truly want to follow Christ radically, to change and become better, holier. He taught that the Eucharist is different to other food. When you eat other food you digest it, and it becomes part of you: when you eat the Eucharist you become part of it. It is in eating the Body and Blood of Christ that we become the Body and Blood of Christ – we become church. So we are church. God is with us; God builds the church by the gift of the Eucharist; by receiving the Eucharist we become more truly church, members of the Body of Christ; in receiving we are judging ourselves. The question to be asked before receiving is thus do I really want to radically follow Christ to the cross? Do I want to live in a more Godlike manner? To forgive my enemies, to truly love myself by taking proper care of
me – not eating or drinking too much, or too little, not wasting my life on social media or gambling. Am I willing to live in a more Godlike manner and try to be kinder and more merciful? To be faithful to my partner, respectful? Not to be promiscuous, hurting people as I seek to fulfil my desires? To be caring of my children, my parents, my friends? Pay my just taxes, not steal, pay my bills, pay for my TV licence, my car tax and insurance? Do I truly want to change? If so maybe I need to receive the Eucharist more often, to pray the Mass, hear the readings, ask God’s forgiveness again and again . And always, to remember I have no right to the Eucharist. It is pure gift, but I am truly welcome, if I truthfully want to follow Christ radically. THE ABSENT ONES I think of the many to whom this gift is denied, all too often because of laws and regulations. In Ireland most parishes still have a priest, and so regular Eucharistic
celebration. But this is changing, rapidly. Some of us have witnessed church buildings being closed, sold, without much thought for the church, the people who gather and pray – and so church is destroyed; we have nowhere to welcome one another, to worship God. What about the many parts of the world where there are Catholic Christians – but no regular access to the Eucharist. These are members of the church who are not being nourished Eucharistically. And I wonder. It is good to recall God’s words to David: "You are not the one to build me a house to dwell in ... the Lord will make you a House" (1 Chronicles 17:1-15). Church is firstly God’s creation and gift, secondly it is human response. The Lord makes us church. Dr Fainche Ryan is director of the Loyola Institute, Trinity College Dublin. Before taking up her post at Trinity, she lectured at Mater Dei Institute, Dublin and at the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology, Cambridge.
Ennismore Retreat Centre
Sunday 8th – Friday 13th July “Become who you are meant to be and you set the world on fire” (St. Catherine of Sienna); A Journey towards Transformation and Wholeness. Martina Lehane Sheehan Cost: Res: €440 Sunday 15th – Saturday 21st July “For the Beauty of the World” Benedict Hegarty OP Cost: €440 (Residential) Sunday 15th – Saturday 22st July Individually Directed Retreat Ann Alcock Cost: €465 (Residential) Sunday 22nd – Saturday 28th July Individually Directed Retreat John Bennett Cost: €465 (Residential)
ST DOMINIC’S
Sunday 12th – Sunday 19th August “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them” (John 6:44) Stephen Cummins OP Cost: €440 (Residential) Saturday 2nd – Sunday 3rd September Prayer and Healing Fr. John Keane Time: 11am – 6pm Cost: €60 including lunch Saturday 8th September Wholeness in Christ: Journeying towards transformation. Day of reflection. Martina Lehane Sheehan Time: 10.30am – 4.30pm Cost: €60 including lunch
All six days retreats commence Sunday evening at 6p.m. with supper and finish after lunch on Saturday. Ennismore Retreat Centre is set in 30 acres of wood, field and garden overlooking Lough Mahon on the River Lee. It’s the ideal place for some time-out, reflection and prayer. For ongoing programmes please contact the Secretary or visit our website Tel: 021-4502520 Fax: 021-4502712 E-mail: ennismore@eircom.net www.ennismore.ie
AT THE WORLD MEETING OF FAMILIES
The Trócaire Romero Family Award will be presented at the World Meeting of Families
IRISH DEVELOPMENT AGENCY, TRÓCAIRE, REMINDS US THAT THE FAMILY IS A WORLDWIDE CONCERN OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND INVITES US TO VISIT ITS STANDS AT THE WORLD MEETING OF FAMILIES 40
BY ELISHA KELLY
The
2018 World Meeting of Families (WMOF) celebration will be hosted in Ireland from August 21-26. The theme for this major international event will be 'The Gospel of the Family: Joy for the World'. It is anticipated that families will travel from all across the world to celebrate, pray and reflect upon the central importance of marriage and the family as the cornerstone of our lives, of society and of the church. Trócaire, as the overseas development agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland, will be involved in various aspects of the celebrations and sees the event as an opportunity to highlight work carried out in partner countries. Part of Trócaire’s dual mandate is to raise awareness amongst the Irish public of the root causes of poverty and global injustice. It is hoped that through a number of initiatives those who attend WMOF in August will have a better understanding of Trócaire’s work and its role in promoting family at a community, national and international level. Trócaire’s presence in the RDS from August 2224 will be across three different areas. Firstly, we will host an exhibition space in the main hall. This REALITY SUMMER 2018
exhibition space promises to be an interactive and engaging experience for those interested in learning about our four main programme areas – human rights, women’s empowerment, land and resource rights, and humanitarian response. Trócaire staff and volunteers will be at hand to speak with passersby about our work overseas and also how they can get involved to show their support. Secondly, we will have a presence in the youth space, for teenagers between 13-17 years old. Our development education team are planning activities which will bring to life the experiences of refugees as they travel across borders between countries. Through the use of challenges and games we hope that young people gain a greater understanding of what it means to have your life flipped upside down as a result of displacement. Thirdly, Trócaire are organising two large scale seminars with high profile speakers and partner voices. The seminar ‘Care for Our Common Home’ will explore the issue of climate change with a particular focus on Pope Francis’ message in Laudato Sí. We hope that this seminar will resonate with families and inspire them to take
action at home to create a more sustainable approach to living that safeguards our planet for future generations. Our second seminar ‘Faith, Family and Development – the Witness of Women in Leadership’ is an exploration of Trócaire’s work with women in our partner countries. This event will showcase the compelling stories of women leaders who are at the forefront of our work across all areas – access to natural resources, political leadership, tackling gender-based violence and preparing for and responding to crises. We aim to celebrate their achievements while still working to increase women’s political participation and supporting women and women’s leadership around the world. Overall our involvement in the WMOF events promises to be a celebration – of our work, the people and communities we work with, the many families who benefit from our support and the families all across Ireland who help us to continue our work year on year. Elisha Kelly is Trócaire's project officer for the World Meeting of Families
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE A TIMELY BOOK ON HOW TO DEFEND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH'S TEACHINGS CLEARLY AND REASONABLY How to Defend the Faith Without Raising Your Voice: Civil Responses to Catholic Hot Button Issues REVIEWED BY FODHLA McGRANE
During
this Year of the Family, when we are delivering the Amoris: Let's Talk Family programme in our churches, we are presenting God's love and compassion for all, in a church in which we are all one body and no one is excluded. This total inclusion is hard for many to accept. Many have excluded themselves. Often, the message of Christ is not understood as the Good News which it is. Brilliant news, actually! For some, there’s a tension between the unchanging truths of the faith and a world of 'anything goes', which is not God's truth. This book aims to ease and clarify that tension. The explicit purpose of this book is to equip its readers for two tasks: 1. To speak the church's position on contentious issues, and to do so 2. 'Without losing your cool'! It takes up nine prickly issues of today, and dedicates a chapter to each of them. The issues are Church and politics Equality Sexuality (labelled as the ‘pelvic issues'!) The church and AIDS Marriage (‘same sex marriage’ and with children) Defending the unborn Clerical sexual abuse Resisting assisted suicide Women and the church. Each chapter follows the same structure. It begins by stating challenging questions about the issue. It then states the positive intentions one might have in a debate – namely,
the values that underpin the issue. It then outlines what it terms “the existing frame” or the current world view of the issue. It then proposes to ‘reframe’ from a positive Catholic perspective. Finally, it summarises the key message with a summary of the issue and of the Catholic view. This five-heading structure facilitates use of the book as a quick reference guide on a topic (in approximately two pages) and as an informative resource (approximately 20 pages on each issue). With the World Meeting of Families in Dublin this August, I have chosen to focus this review on the chapter on marriage, chapter 5. This chapter looks at gay marriage and to a lesser degree, same-sex adoption. It addresses three questions: What is marriage for? Why should the state support it? And what happens when it is redefined? (p. 104). I’ll continue my review using the five sections in each chapter. 1. Challenging questions Example of a question: “What's wrong with gay couples getting married?” (p. 101) 2. Positive intention (values underpinning the issue) The Catholic Church wants and promotes equality and fairness. However, the authors explain that the topic of ‘marriage’ in the Catholic Church is not about equality and fairness. It is about a different set of values, namely commitment and love (p. 105). 3. Existing frame (current
worldview of the topic) The worldview is that gay marriage is about equality, and there should be no discrimination against gay marriage (p. 116). 4. Reframe (positive Catholic perspective) All discrimination is wrong. The church is against all discrimination. The authors explain that there is a difference between marriage and partnership. Marriage is a conjugal relationship between a man and woman, open to producing children. A partnership describes two adults who may or may not be of the same sex, and who can have a legal responsibility to raise children. The root of the issue is the meaning of marriage and whether the state should support that meaning. By not promoting the church’s meaning of marriage, the authors argue that the state is undermining it (p. 116-7). Additionally, the authors write that the church "respects civil marriage", which many will find helpful to hear (p. 117). Finally, they assure us that the church can't and won't be silent under a "false pretext of overcoming discrimination" (p. 117). 5. Key messages (summary of issue and Catholic view) The issue is not about an extension of marriage to gay people, but a redefinition of the meaning of marriage. The authors explain that marriage is a conjugal institution, to be protected for the sake of children and society, and that gay marriage is not "linked to the
begetting and raising of children by their natural parents" (p. 117). Gay marriage, they argue, is saying "gender is incidental to marriage and the raising of children". In sum, they state that there is a difference between partnership and marriage: these can’t be equal because they are not the same. I suspect that we'll need a second edition of this book soon, as the 'challenging questions' on each issue grow into more challenging questions. These will need to be answered wisely, compassionately and clearly with the church’s truth, as the authors have achieved in this edition. A section which references and summarises the church’s teaching on each issue would help (perhaps referencing the relevant sections from the Catechism for example, for marriage, see paragraphs 1601-1666). The authors are the managing editor of The Irish Catholic, Michael Kelly, and the author of many publications including a great biography on Pope Francis, Austen Ivereigh. How to Defend the Faith Without Raising Your Voice. Civil Responses to Catholic Hot Button Issues By Michael Kelly and Austen Ivereigh Columba Press, Dublin 2018 Pbk - 180 pages Price: €14.99
Fodhla McGrane is a pastoral worker at Clonard Monastery, Belfast
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CO M M E N T REALITY CHECK PETER McVERRY SJ
COMPASSION AND JUDGEMENTALISM
THE RUSSIAN WRITER, TOLSTOY, ONCE SAID: “ONE MUST PUT ONESELF IN EVERY ONE’S POSITION. TO UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING IS TO FORGIVE EVERYTHING.” THIS IS A FAR CRY FROM THE JUDGEMENTAL ATTITUDE OF THE TABLOID PAPERS.
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John is now serving six years in jail for several burglaries, all committed within a 48-hour period. When he was brought to court, it was revealed that he had a lot of previous convictions for theft, shop-lifting and robbery. The tabloid newspapers called him a thug, a low-life, who should be sentenced to a harsh prison regime to punish him and deter him from robbing again. But I knew John since he was a young child. He grew up in a home where his alcoholic parents sent him out frequently to rob and bring back money so that they could buy more drink. If he didn’t have enough money some evening, he would get a bad beating. His father, when drunk, sexually abused him. He often ran away from home, but the Gardaí would always bring him back again, because his parents convinced them that he was just a 'bad' kid. When, eventually, John was removed from the family home, he got no counselling, so he started using drugs to blot out the painful memories of childhood. To feed his habit, John had to shoplift and rob. But he ran up a debt with his drug dealers who threatened to kill him unless he paid them within 48 hours. We have become a very judgemental society. While we can rightly judge and condemn John’s behaviour, we almost invariably judge and condemn John himself as a person. One of the lessons I have learnt from working with REALITY SUMMER 2018
only fooling ourselves when we presume to think we are a better person than someone else.
homeless people is that we cannot judge the person, because we do not know what has happened to them in their lives or in their childhood. There is always a reason for a person’s behaviour, though we may never know what that reason is. I have never yet met a person who caused hurt to others who was not themselves hurting inside; I have never yet met a troublesome person who was not themselves troubled inside. Pope Francis reminds us in his latest exhortation, Gaudete et Exsultate: “We cannot claim to say where God is not, because God is mysteriously present in the life of every person, in a way that he himself chooses, and we cannot
exclude this by our presumed certainties. Even when someone’s life appears completely wrecked, even when we see it devastated by vices or addictions, God is present there. If we let ourselves be guided by the Spirit rather than our own preconceptions, we can and must try to find the Lord in every human life.” (No. 42) When we judge someone, we imply that we are a better person than they are. We forget that everything we have is a gift from God, a gift given to us freely and undeserved. The person we have become has been shaped by those gifts, gifts of family, friends, education, faith, opportunities in life, and we are
Why have we become more judgemental? One reason is that we live in a society of ‘consumerist individualism’, one that frequently sees material success as a reward for hard work, commitment and dedication, which sometimes, of course, it is. But correspondingly, we may believe that those who do not succeed, who drop out, remain unemployed or become addicted, are the authors of their own fate – they are lazy, feckless and prefer to enjoy life sponging off the taxpayer, living on welfare. As we become wealthier, we also have more to protect, and therefore we want to keep out those whom we consider might be a threat to what we have. It comforts us to believe that the fault is entirely theirs as it salves our conscience and justifies our lack of sympathy and judgemental attitudes. Such attitudes are sometimes also held by politicians and other decisionmakers, and therefore influences the decisions which they make – or do not make. Being judgemental and compassionate are incompatible. Compassion unites us with the other and brings us together; being judgemental divides us and keeps us apart. As Pope Francis says in Gaudete et Exsultate, “they (a person who sees things as they truly are) feel compassion for others in such a way that all distance vanishes” (no. 76).
GOD’S WORD THIS SUMMER A GIRL AND A WOMAN Mark combines two stories here, perhaps giving the impression that he has lost the thread and 13TH SUNDAY IN is almost saying “Well, as I ORDINARY TIME was saying…” That would be to misunderstand his way of working, as he does this several times in his gospel and one story sheds light on the other. There are some striking contrasts in these two stories. The first is about a young girl on the verge of womanhood, whose death will be a great blow to her grieving family in the upper layer of local Jewish society (daddy is resident of the local synagogue congregation). In the other, the woman is almost the exact opposite. She would seem to be near the end of her childbearing years and her life has become fragile and marginalised. The flow of menstrual blood that shows no signs of drying up has made her ritually unclean, and unable to
have normal relations with her husband. Twelve years of looking for cures (the lifetime of the girl), most likely from quacks and charlatans, have worn her out physically and economically. She is ashamed to describe her condition to this prophet of whom she has heard so much, and simply tries to touch the fringe of his robe in the hope that it might transmit some healing power. He insists however on meeting her face to face, in a way that restores her lost dignity, and he praises her for her faith. By healing her, Jesus breaks the chain that imprisons her and enables her to return to normal life and enjoy once more the ‘ordinary plenty’ of marriage, friendship and freedom to move among other people in community. The story of the young girl resumes with an even greater urgency. The few minutes interruption has led to an even greater decline in the health of the girl – she has died and there is not much point in disturbing the teacher. Burial followed within a very short
time of death, a matter of hours, rather than days. The preparations for the girl’s funeral are in train when her father and Jesus arrive at the house. Mark occasionally records fragments of Jesus’ original Aramaic language in a saying (such as Abba, ephphatha), and we find another example here – Talitha koum. The first word is an affectionate form of address used for a child – it might be translated as ‘little lamb, get up’. The proof of the reality of the cure is given by the girl’s walking about and taking food. Every healing is in some sense a manifestation of the resurrection.
THIS IS THE CARPENTER SURELY! The homecoming of a famous person usually causes excitement among 14TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME the neighbours who watched their progress from childhood. So it was with Jesus. Nazareth was a small place. Archaeologists think it had only about 500 inhabitants. Word trickled back from Capernaum, about 50 kilometres down the road, how this local boy was attracting crowds by his preaching and miracles. When he arrived back with his followers, the small synagogue was probably crowded the following morning to see if it is all true. Looking around, his critics caught sight of his relatives in the congregation. They were not very impressive. There was his mother, clearly getting older. The rest of them were decent folk, but very ordinary. Many probably remembered Jesus as a teenager helping his
father Joseph and doing odd jobs around the carpenter’s shop. There was nothing special about him. Jesus is saddened by the rejection but not surprised. He reminds them of the old proverb that prophets are always rejected in their own town and by their kin. The closest example of this would be the prophet Jeremiah, whose life in many aspects foreshadows that of Jesus. The references to the "brothers and sisters of Jesus" in this passage sometimes causes questions for Catholic readers who believe in the perpetual virginity of Mary. Texts like these can be explained in two ways, while still holding to the traditional doctrine. The first, favoured especially by the Orthodox Church, was that they were Joseph’s children by an earlier marriage, and so half-siblings of Jesus. The other is that in ancient Israel, family relationships were very fluid, and terms like “brothers and sisters” were often used of people we would more accurately call cousins.
The old saying that familiarity breeds contempt is true of today’s Gospel. No matter what Jesus might have done or said that day in Nazareth, for many he would still be ‘that poor kid from down the road’, and they may have had enough family gossip to prove it would always be so. The Gospel invites us to say what we make of Jesus. It also invites us to take stock of how we judge others, especially when we think we know them well. Do we rejoice when they do well or do we place them in a box and lock them in forever?
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Today’s Readings Wis 1:13-15; 2:23-24; 2 Cor 8:7, 9, 13-15; Mark 5:21-43
Today’s Readings Ezek 2:2-5; Mark 6:1-6
2 Cor 12:7-10;
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GOD’S WORD THIS SUMMER TAKE NOTHING FOR THE JOURNEY Before he sends out his twelve disciples on the first mission, Jesus gives 15TH SUNDAY IN them brief instructions ORDINARY TIME on how they are to conduct themselves. They are to go in pairs, one supporting the other. Above all, they are to travel light, taking nothing with them for the journey except a staff – essential for travelling over rough ground and maybe even for defence against angry snapping dogs. There is a list of what not to bring – no bread, no haversack and no money. They are allowed sandals to protect their feet, but not a spare shirt. As for food and shelter, they are to be dependent on the people among whom they go. Where they are clearly unwelcome, they are not to spend long arguing or pleading to be heard: they are simply to move on with a gesture of rejection by shaking the dust from their feet. This was a small prophetic sign that God would take account of the rejection of his messengers at the final judgment.
This mission was a relatively modest one among the small towns and villages that ringed the Sea of Galilee. Distances between places were not great – a few hours walk at the most. People in rural Galilee had a name for respecting holy people who came as preachers or prophets. They provided them with a simple meal or a night’s lodging. The church’s mission became more complex in the next generation, as Paul and his companions went deeper into other lands. That mission needed resources and financial support. The preachers did three things. First of all, like Jesus, they preached repentance. Second like him, they cast out devils, freeing people from dark forces. Third, they healed the sick by anointing them with oil: this is the first reference to the use of oil in the pastoral care of the sick (see also James 5:14) which is continued in the Catholic tradition of the anointing of the sick.
THEY WERE LIKE SHEEP WITHOUT A SHEPHERD When the disciples return from their mission, they are excited and eager 16TH SUNDAY IN to tell how successful ORDINARY TIME they have been. Noticing that they are tired, Jesus proposes that they take a short break, go to a quiet place and rest. Mark has added a little note to emphasise the pressures they were under: “there were so many coming and going that the apostles had not even time to eat.” The people who had been coming to them probably guessed where they were going, and reached the place walking ahead of them. The heart-breaking plight of the people makes Jesus change plans. “They were like sheep without a shepherd.” This probably refers to chapter 34 of the prophet Ezekiel.
The imagery of abandoned sheep describes the plight of the people of Israel, abandoned by their political and spiritual leaders. In the time of Jesus, the religious leadership had become so involved in politics with the Roman rulers that they had to all intents and purposes abandoned the ordinary people. God is Israel’s real shepherd. Through Ezekiel, he promised to give them a new shepherd. The Gospel writers used Ezekiel’s language and imagery to describe the mission of Jesus as the good shepherd. Today’s Gospel stresses the unselfish love of the shepherd who forgets his own needs and plans to care for the abandoned sheep and to feed them with the word of comfort. Jesus’ concern that the twelve should have an opportunity to rest after a time of intense work is a reminder of the spirituality of sabbath. There is much to be said for
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REALITY SUMMER 2018
Today’s Readings Amos 7:12-15; Eph 1:3-14 [3-10]; Mark 6:7-13
keeping Sunday special. That is not to say we should become scrupulous about it. Jesus taught that the sabbath was made for people, not people for the sabbath" (Mark 2:27). Remember that the first one to keep the sabbath was God himself. Having spent a week at the work of creation, God rested and kept sabbath. Keeping Sunday special might be about giving added importance to a family meal, visiting elderly relatives, walking by the sea or in the hills to admire the beauty of creation or just slowing down.
Today’s Readings Jer 23:1-6; Ps 23; Eph 2:13-18; Mark 6:30-34
WHERE CAN WE GET BREAD FOR THESE PEOPLE TO EAT? JULY All four gospels have at least one story of Jesus feeding the crowd. Mark and Matthew have two. 17TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME The story is the same, but, like good storytellers, each gospel writer introduces subtle but important changes into his version. John’s is the longest, as it includes a long dialogue about the meaning of the Bread of Life. We will be reading it over the next five Sundays. The central part of today’s Gospel is a conversation between Jesus and two of his disciples about how to get food for such a great crowd. John takes a special interest in two disciples who do not figure prominently
in the other Gospels. Andrew is usually in his brother Peter’s shadow, and Philip seems to be his closest friend. Philip does a quick calculation of the price of bread, and concludes it would cost about six months’ wages to come anywhere close to feeding a crowd of that size. Andrew’s mention of the little boy with the lunch-box containing five small rolls and two little salted fish seems like a rather silly suggestion in the circumstances, and only highlights the lack of food available. The boy plays the same role as the man in today’s first reading who brought a gift of food to the prophet Elijah. Despite these three additional characters, Jesus is at the centre of the story. It is he who takes, gives thanks and distributes the bread. These actions reflect the celebration of the Eucharist, where the
celebrant does exactly what Jesus does, taking the people’s offering of bread and wine, giving thanks for it, breaking the bread and feeding the community with the food they brought, now transformed by the Spirit’s action into the body and blood of Christ. Gathering the fragments "so that nothing gets lost" also reflects the community’s care for fragments of the holy bread after the celebration. The story ends on a note of foreboding. The fickle crowd wants to make the one who has fed them their king. A year on, another crowd at another Passover will insist that they have no king but Caesar.
DO NOT WORK FOR THE FOOD THAT CANNOT LAST The day after the miracle of the loaves and fishes, the crowd are still looking for 18TH SUNDAY IN Jesus. They go in search of ORDINARY TIME him, sailing across the lake to the most likely place he might be. Capernaum was Peter’s home town, and Jesus had taken up residence there.
Knowing they are looking for him because they want another display of miracles, Jesus tells them they have missed the point of what happened the day before. It was not simply about ordinary bread, but it was a sign pointing towards the real food of eternal life. The Gospel of John contains only seven miracles or signs. They are usually followed, however, by a lengthy explanation or discourse. The people who have followed Jesus to Capernaum have
failed to grasp the meaning. They want their physical hungers satisfied, to find someone who could provide them with an unfailing supply of food that will not require physical work. This is not what Jesus is offering. He is the bread of God, the true food, which will satisfy the deepest hungers of the human heart but that is something that must be accepted by believing. Belief or faith is a key word in John’s gospel, occurring almost 100 times. This great feeding sign occurred just before Passover. The account of the first Passover stresses how God freed the Israelites by his actions that were signs of his power. They were too weak to withstand the might of Egypt. Even as they wandered through the desert, he sustained them with manna, the mysterious bread from heaven. Jesus, the Bread of Life, will satisfy the deepest hungers of those who come to him.
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The modern-day church of St Peter in Capernaum built atop the ruins of a Byzantine church and the location of Simon Peter's house where Jesus may have lodged
Today’s Readings 2 Kings 2:42 – 44: Ephesians 4:1-6: John 6:1-15
Today’s Readings Exod 16:2-4, 12-15, 31; Eph 4:17, 20-24; John 6:24-35
God’s Word continues on page 46
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GOD’S WORD THIS SUMMER I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE "I am the living bread come down from heaven" are the words that dominate our Gospel reading today. As 19TH SUNDAY IN far as his opponents are ORDINARY TIME concerned, Jesus' claim that he has come down from heaven is nonsensical. They know him as the boy ‘from over the hills'. John often uses misunderstanding to force the conversation on to a new level of meaning. The ‘complaining’ of Jesus’ critics recalls how their ancestors complained against Moses in the desert. Jesus reminds them that, although their ancestors ate manna, bread from heaven, in the desert,
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WHOEVER EATS MY FLESH AND DRINKS MY BLOOD HAS ETERNAL LIFE When Jesus said that TH the heavenly bread he IN 20 SUNDAY ORDINARY TIME would give was his flesh for the life of the world, it probably sent a shiver of horror down the spines of his hearers. For a Jewish audience, who had a very detailed list of the types of meat that might be used as food, as well as the types that were to be avoided, this probably sounded like cannibalism. Jesus does little to remove the shock. If anything, he adds to their horror by inviting them to drink his blood as a condition for entering into life. According to Genesis 9:4, God had forbidden Noah and his descendants to consume blood in any form, for "the life is in the blood". Jewish laws for Kosher food insisted that a piece of meat could not to be considered clean for eating until every trace of blood was removed by careful and repeated washing. How can a believer eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus? Certainly, it cannot be done in a gross and literal sense. Flesh and blood are the deepest essence of a human being. When John wrote at the beginning of his Gospel that "the Word became flesh" he
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they are dead. Because they had resisted Moses, God did not allow them to see the promised land. A similar fate awaits their descendants who now murmur against Jesus. He is the Bread of Life giving life to those who come to him. Jesus also quotes from the prophets. The words, "they shall all be taught by God" are taken from Isaiah 54:13. In its original context, these words are part of the great promise that, after years of exile and suffering, Israel would be wondrously restored. The walls and gates of ruined Jerusalem will be made from precious stones and "all your children shall be taught by the Lord and great shall be the posterity of your children". By quoting this passage of Isaiah, Jesus looks forward to the coming restoration of meant precisely that God’s Son had entered into the darkness and pain, the messiness and fragility of human existence. Jesus’ humanity was not a sort of theatrical costume, a disguise for his divinity. Incarnation means accepting brokenness and limitation, as well as accepting the human capacity for imagination, love and friendship. For Jesus, 'becoming flesh' reaches its truest point in his passion and death. When he is most degraded and broken as a human being, hanging on a cross like a common criminal, Jesus reveals the depth of God’s compassion. To eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus means to enter into the deepest possible level of sharing his sacrificial death, as a life offered in love, so that it provides nourishment and life. Just as Jesus draws life from the Father, the believer who receives Jesus in faith as the Bread of Life will draw sustenance from him.
Today’s Readings Prov 9:1-6; Eph 5:15-20; John 6:51-58
Israel. The words, "no one has seen the Father" is another reference to Moses. Moses had asked to be allowed see God on Mount Sinai, but the sight of God’s face was so awesome that all he was permitted to see was God’s back as he retreated (Exodus 33:20). Jesus has known the Father face to face and makes him known (cf. John 1:18). The Gospel ends by repeating that Jesus is the living bread which comes down from heaven, but adding a new note: the bread that he will give is his flesh for the life of the world. Today’s Readings 1 Kgs 19:4-8; John 6:41-51
Eph 4:30-5:2;
THE REALITY CROSSWORD NUMBER 6 JULY/AUGUST 2018
SOLUTIONS CROSSWORD No. 4 ACROSS: Across: 1. Thomas, 5. Bagels, 10. Vanilla, 11. Drumlin, 12. Roam, 13. Occam, 15. Gaza, 17. Hem, 19. Keypad, 21. Swayed, 22. Galilee, 23. Sicily, 25. Weaver, 28. Ply, 30. Nook, 31. Grail, 32. Evil, 35. Anthony, 36. Lourdes, 37. Swiped, 38. Strays DOWN: 2. Hungary, 3. Mull, 4. Snatch, 5. Bedlam, 6. Glum, 7. Lullaby, 8. Dvorak, 9. Inland, 14. Cedilla, 16. Eagle, 18. Tweed, 20. Day, 21. Sew, 23. Sunday, 24. Choctaw, 26. Vividly, 27. Relish, 28. Prayed, 29. Yields, 33. Soap, 34. Purr.
Winner of Crossword No. 4 Marie Magill, Newtownabbey, Co. Antrim
LORD, TO WHOM SHALL WE GO? Today, we conclude our meditation on the Eucharistic mystery through the lens of John 6. Opposition to Jesus and his teaching has been growing throughout this long dispute about the 21ST SUNDAY IN Bread of Life. Now, it reaches its climax. Many of ORDINARY TIME his followers find what he is saying "intolerable language" which they cannot take seriously. The account of the bread and fishes miracle had begun with a crowd of five thousand, "not counting women and children". That crowd has dwindled, as the meaning of the bread sign has been unveiled to them. Jesus makes no effort to smooth out the problem by offering a simpler explanation, or protesting that they have misunderstood him. His question, "what then if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?" only compounds the difficulty. It refers to his return to the Father through his resurrection and ascension. There is something even more terrible on the way. For faint-hearted disciples, the cross will be a still greater scandal. The saying about the flesh having nothing to offer (v 63) does not refer to the Eucharistic flesh of Jesus. It refers to limited human perceptions of Jesus that will never be able to understand him without the help of the Spirit. John insists that Jesus knows the identity of those who will follow him and that one of them will betray him. Left alone with the twelve, he asks them, "will you also go away?" It is a stark and uncompromising question. Simon, as spokesman for the group, makes a profession of faith: where else could they find the life they have found in Jesus?
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Today’s Readings
ACROSS 1. The best remembered Hun. (6) 5. Not occupied, empty. (6) 10. In Greek mythology she released the evils of humanity from a box. (7) 11. The god of the sea in Roman mythology. (7) 12. A unit of time. (4) 13. Everything he touched turned to gold! (5) 15. A gait impeded by injury or stiffness. (4) 17. Bird often associated with wisdom. (3) 19. Wobble, balance unsteadily. (6) 21. A quality that evokes pity or sadness. (6) 22. Spectrum in the sky. (7) 23. Scandinavian country, capital is Oslo. (6) 25. Hard glossy substance that covers the crown of a tooth. (6) 28. Cunning, crafty, wily. (3) 30. Showing too much curiosity about other people's affairs. (4) 31. Rain containing some ice. (5) 32. Guitar strip to be anxious about. (4) 35. The distance over which a voice, can be heard. (7) 36. A puzzling question posed as a problem to be solved. (7) 37. Damages someone's reputation by false accusation. (6) 38. He slew an army with the jawbone of a donkey. (6)
DOWN 2. A part of a monk's head left bare on top by shaving off the hair. (7) 3. A representation of an object of worship; a false god. (4) 4. Played slowly, in music. (6) 5. Type of sin not regarded as depriving the soul of divine grace. (6) 6. Edible European mushrooms with brown caps and white stalks. (4) 7. Supply with what is necessary for life, health and growth. (7) 8. The final outcome of a series of events. (6) 9. What the Devil does! (6) 14. Diminish gradually. (7) 16. Existing in a natural state, not domesticated. (5) 18. Puts in hock. (5) 20. Just the fish for a line of light. (3) 21. American inventor of the detective fiction genre. (3) 23. Edict in this French city gave religious toleration to Huguenots in 1598. (6) 24. Raised platform for a public speech or to conduct an orchestra. (7) 26. Dark and sour cherry. (7) 27. The most recent news or fashion. (6) 28. Slow-moving American mammal. (6) 29. Feels a powerful desire for something, hankers. (6) 33. Large flightless bird of the South American grasslands. (4) 34. The first man. (4)
Entry Form for Crossword No.6, July/August 2018 Name: Address: Telephone:
Jos 24:1-2a, 15-18; Eph 5:21-32; John 6:53, 60-69 All entries must reach us by August 31, 2018 One €35 prize is offered for the first correct solutions opened. The Editor’s decision on all matters concerning this competition will be final. Do not include correspondence on any other subject with your entry which should be addressed to: Reality Crossword No. 6, Redemptorist Communications, Unit A6, Santry Business Park, Swords Road, Dublin 09 X651