The Southern Cross - 101006 by The Southern Cross

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Creation versus evolution

Pinetown parish shock

Veneration of relics

In the limelight

www.scross.co.za

October 6 to October 12, 2010 Reg No. 1920/002058/06

No 4696

R5,50 (incl VAT RSA)

SOUTHERN AFRICA’S NATIONAL CATHOLIC WEEKLY SINCE 1920

Inside PE diocese fights against hunger Community projects hope to raise awareness for the fight against hunger—Page 3

Chiara Bandano beatified Blessed Bandano, an Italian teen who died of bone cancer has been beatified at Rome’s Shrine of Divine Love—Page 4

Australia’s first saint Blessed Mary.McKillop is to be canonised this month as St Mary of the Cross, in Rome—Page 5

Meet God within you Colleen Constable looks at the spiritual teachings of Sr Faustina—Page 9

What do you think? In their Letters to the Editor this week, readers discuss Catholic schools losing their ethos, rights of religion, kindred spirits and a little humility—Page 8

This week’s editorial: Renewing the spirit of St Francis

Astronomers share discoveries in Rome BY CAROL GLATZ

ORMALLY filled with theology students, the creaking classroom seats of the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas were crammed with planetary scientists and astronomers from all over the world. Overhead screens flashed slideshows of planned space missions and colourful graphs, as dozens of speakers and nearly 600 participants shared their latest discoveries and dreams of finding extraterrestrial life in the universe. “Mars is still a very intriguing object with a high probability of life being somewhere under the surface or some traces of life remaining,” said Jesuit Fr Pavel Gabor. The Czech priest works at the Vatican Observatory in Tucson, Arizona, and was one of a number of Vatican astronomers who took part in the European Planetary Science Congress at the university. “Scientists have known for some time that liquid water, which is needed for life, was once present on the surface of Mars during its early evolution,” he said. “There are other clues pointing to possible organic activity on the Red Planet, such as the mysterious presence of methane in its atmosphere.” Manish Patel, a researcher at the Open University in the United Kingdom, said something may be producing the methane “because it really shouldn’t exist in the atmosphere for long at all and if it does exist it should break down (and disappear) very quickly”. Fr Gabor added, “I think our faith leads us to seeing the world around us as a gift from a very munificent God, a God who gives very freely and generously.” “And if we find any life outside this planet, it will mesh in very nicely with that idea of God, who is such a generous giver.”

An international campaign launched in the fight against hunger is encouraging people to vent their anger towards the hunger crisis by adding their names to an online petition. The petition will be handed to the United Nations in light of World Food Day, October 16. The hard-hitting campaign includes posters of the malnourished and giant billboards positioned in cities with the aim of promoting the plight of more than a billion hungry around the world. The online petition, www.1billionhungry.org, aims to collect one million signatures.

Campaign call: Shout out against hunger BY CLAIRE MATHIESON

S World Food Day approaches, on October 16, groups in South Africa are mobilising proactive ways in the fight against hunger, including screaming out their anger at the hunger problem. They are joining the efforts of groups in more than 150 countries to raise awareness on the issues behind poverty and hunger. The issue extends across the world with more than one billion people suffering from undernourishment—the condition used to describe the status of people whose food intake does not include enough calories (energy) to meet minimum physiological needs for an active life. Most reside in developing countries, including South Africa. The Human Sciences Research Council estimates 57% of individuals in South Africa live below the poverty line, with Limpopo and the Eastern Cape regions the most affected. The effects of hunger are far-reaching. The South African Department of Education has stated that in excess of five million schoolchildren do not have ready access to nutritional food. The repercussions of hunger result in learners not being able to focus properly. The theme of this year’s World Food Day, “United against Hunger”, hopes to address such issues. One campaign on the go aims to see one million signatures for an online petition to draw the world’s attention to the hunger issue. The campaign was developed in May this year by McCann Erickson, of McCann WorldGroup, Rome, to address the international hunger issue. The petition will be delivered to the United Nations at the end of November this year.

The publicity officer for McCann Worldgroup in Johannesburg, Marisa Louw, said the campaign aimed to “give birth to a global movement of people that will scream out their anger over the hunger problem”. The international campaign has been publicised primarily via the internet and through hard-hitting images placed in public areas around the world. The posters show distressed individuals venting their anger against hunger. On a local level, the Johannesburg branch of the multinational corporation will be furthering their commitment to the campaign by embarking on a project where people from poor communities will be taught to grow their own food. “Margaret Roberts, the well-known author of herb gardening books, will hold education sessions at her herbal centre where people from the community will be shown how to maintain veggie gardens in their own backyards,” said Ms Louw. According to Eugene Jackson, organisation development trainer at the Rural Development Support Programme, an associate body of the SACBC, it does not matter where you go in the country, everyone in rural South Africa seems to be trying to address hunger. Many rural community-based organisations(CBOs) and faithbased organisations (FBOs) are working hard to find solutions Mr Jackson told The Southern Cross greater emphasis would have to be placed on training rural communities how to manage the little they have and “then improving the capacity of rural CBOs and FBOs to continue their work of development and poverty alleviation”. The aim for the 1 Billion Hungry Cam-

paign on the local front was not to feed the hungry for the day, Ms Louw explained, but rather to teach them how to grow and harvest their own vegetables as a sustainable source of food. The shortterm goals are to reach the target of one million signatures and deliver the petition to the United Nations. The long-term goals were also exciting: “We want people to share and teach each other gardening skills.” The initiative hoped to see local communities thrive with their new skills. Campaign team members were currently identifying candidates from impoverished communities who were most likely to share their knowledge gained from the herbal centre. Similar projects have been hailed by the United Nations, with the India, Brazil and South Africa alliance being honoured with a 2010 UN Millennium Development Goal award for their efforts in fighting poverty and hunger. The alliance’s projects focus on sharing knowledge and practices and include methods to improve agricultural techniques in remote villages and deliver safe drinking water. There were 923 million malnourished people in the world in 2007, an increase of 80 million since 1990. The most recent UN statistics puts the figure at 1,2 billion. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations said the growth in hunger statistics was due to three factors: the neglect of agriculture relevant to very poor people by governments and international agencies; the recent worldwide economic crisis; and the significant increase in food prices. Sign the petition to stop hunger at www.1billionhungry.org

LOCAL

The Southern Cross, October 6 to October 12, 2010

Creation vs evolution Concern over revised curriculum BY STAFF REPORTER

HE Origins Centre at the University of the Witwatersrand witnessed the age-old debate on Creation and Evolution come to the fore. Director of the Jesuit Institute South Africa Raymond Perrier said the event brought together worldclass scientists, theologians and some 200 people. The event was chaired by Dr Bernhard Zipfel, the curator of collections at the university, and opened by Dr Bouke Bokma, who presented and “defended” the “young earth creationist” view held by many Christian fundamentalists. This view, Mr Perrier explained, is that “the earth is only 6 000 years old, that dinosaurs lived alongside human beings, that all are directly descended from Adam and Eve, and that until the flood all creatures were vegetarians”. Dr Bokma, a dentist, became interested in the issue after studying human dental records. He argued that human beings have become less adapted as a species, instead of the commonly held notion of being more adapted. Another doctor, Adam Yates from the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research at the university, spoke about Darwinian evolution. Dr Yates had been involved in discoveries of new dinosaur species in the Karoo Basin. Mr Perrier recalled Dr Yates’ presentation: “He took up Dr Bokma's challenge that there was no evidence, other than conjecture from

fossil records, that one species could emerge from another one. He gave a fascinating example of lizards on a Mediterranean island who, within the last 40 years, have changed from carnivores to vegetarians and developed new valves in their stomachs to enable them to digest better: effectively a new species.” Even though Dr Yates did not argue specifically against the existence of God, he saw no need to assume a God in order for the world to exist as it is. Jesuit priest Dr Anthony Egan attended and declared himself a believer in both creation and evolution. Dr Egan explained that he could believe in a “creator God” without having to take the Genesis story as literal truth. He also explained that his belief in evolution did not mean that science had all the answers to all questions. “He summed this up by saying that science was looking at questions like 'what' and 'how' but that we needed theology and philosophy to answer questions of ‘why’,” said Mr Perrier. Dr Egan was challenged by an audience member who confronted his belief in creation and evolution, saying that he could not be a real believer if he did not accept the literal truth of the Bible. But Dr Egan rebutted by saying: “If that is the case then I am in the company of Augustine. I am in the company of Aquinas. I am in the company of Pope Benedict, I am in the company of the Archbishop of Canterbury—I am in good company.”

Kokstad J&P revived

HE Justice and Peace committee of the Diocese of Kokstad has been revived by Fr Robert Ochola Luwiya MCCJ. The new committee will become part of a network of Justice and Peace commissions around the world and was established to address the social injustices and hardships of the poor and marginalised. Fr Ochola Lukwiya has formed a team comprising parishioners from the diocese to conduct a survey of the economic conditions in the villages of Kokstad. As a min-

istry within the Church, the committee will work towards identifying injustices and help communities grow towards a society in which human dignity, freedom, equality and peace are common. Financed by the diocese and partly by care and skills development organisation, Yondl'abantu, the committee will also promote the social teachings of the Church, work towards economic and environmental justice, gender equality and participating in local government accountability.

BY CLAIRE MATHIESON

HE Catholic Institute of Education (CIE) has raised concern over the government’s efforts to simplify the national curriculum. The Department of Education released the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements in 2009 in an effort to simplify teaching methods and give more guidance to teachers. CIE Director Mike Potterton said, while the institute initially welcomed the department’s proposal, after further examination the CIE was “very concerned that these are inconsistent and patchy. We are also concerned that in spite of an extension there is very little time available for public comment”. Mr Potterton explained the aim of the new documents was to give detailed guidance for teach-

ers. “Teachers need to know what the level of difficulty is and how best to prepare learners for exams. This is not provided in the documents.” The CIE was most concerned with the varied styles of guidance and organisation of the curriculum. Mr Potterton said the curriculum documents were wideranging without a standardised style to help teachers understand what it was they were meant to do. “It is essential to provide teachers with guidance on how to work with the new documents. The key concepts, depth, scope and range needs to be specified in each of the documents and more guidance needs to be provided on levels of cognitive challenge.” Another concern was that of time. The documents were open to public comment until the end of September and would be

finalised before the new year. Furthermore, teachers would be required to implement the changes. “This could once again lead to further teacher confusion and anxiety,” Mr Potterton said. The department aimed to improve teaching and learning through a set of short-term interventions by “providing immediate relief and focus for teachers; and medium and longer-term recommendations with the vision to achieve real improvement in student learning within a five-year period”. A representative of 352 schools across the country, Mr Potterson said the CIE’s concerns were far-reaching as 72% of Catholic schools in South Africa were public schools with more than 6 000 teachers and 16 000 learners representing diverse cultures and religions.

Cardinal highlights Courageous Conversations BY STAFF REPORTER

EPTEMBER saw members of civil society and the Church engage in “Courageous Conversations,” a series of events hosted by the Vuleka Trust. It was the second in the series that encourages people from different backgrounds to discuss matters affecting the public. Organisers said the day was cold and cloudy but the faithful attended to hear Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban share from his personal journey as a peacemaker, inspired by the motto he chose when elected cardinal: Pax et Bonump (peace and goodwill). The cardinal reflected on communities in KwaZulu-Natal, and the role people of faith can play, particularly in the language we use and the ways in which we encourage others to participate in ensuring a more peaceful tomorrow. He affirmed the conversations, which need to happen and the courage we need to bring to the conversation—noting how important gatherings such as “Courageous Conversations” bring people from all walks of life together. Cardinal Napier said much

Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban wants more conversations to take place in daily life.

work needed to be done in terms of moral and ethical peacemaking in South Africa, placing emphasis on the ways politicians conduct their business through to emerging trends which he feels are immoral, including claims for the rights and identity of homosexuals.

“This is a sensitive subject, but ten years ago it was a perversion, then it became a human right and now it is an identity.” Much conversation ensued over the difference between ethics and morals, and how this plays out in society today. All agreed that small group initiatives were keys to improving understanding and accountability towards each other—especially as people of faith on a journey towards greater harmony.  Courageous Conversations, organised by Vuleka Trust, seeks to create spaces for people from diverse backgrounds to safely process the information provided, and to respond from their own context and life situation. The trust is a non-profit organisation that owns and administers the Koinonia Conference Centre in Botha’s Hill, KwaZulu-Natal. The trust was set up by the Anglican, Methodist and Catholic Churches to provide experiential programmes and projects are aimed at “awakening” (Vuleka in Zulu) and empowering individuals, organisations and communities towards social trans formation.

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LOCAL

The Southern Cross, October 6 to October 12, 2010

PE Diocese joins fight against hunger BY CLAIRE MATHIESON

ARIOUS community projects hope to see increased awareness and support for the fight against hunger through the United Nations’ World Food Day on October 16. Ikhala Trust is one of the organisations hoping to combat hunger in South Africa. The trust financially supports existing community-based organisations operating in the Eastern Cape. The trust works on building already established community projects to ensure success and reward for the community. Its director, Bernie Dolley, said that besides distributing grants, the trust also provided donations such as food to almost all the projects involved in HIV and Aids and general health. She spoke of the increased number of telephone calls and letters faxed to her office in the last few weeks appealing for

food. “The appeals are coming in from all kinds of organisations including a number of churches which provide daily soup kitchens. “They cannot keep up with the demand,” she said, adding that Ikhala supported many organisations that fed the region’s undernourished, but was unable to satisfy the vast number of needy. The trust had also noticed an increasing number of clients defaulting on ARV treatment. Because clients did not have food to eat they stopped taking their medication, she added. Mrs Dolley felt that local government and business were “not doing nearly enough to deal with the magnitude of the problem”. With the Eastern Cape being one of the country’s most impoverished areas, the Church focus has been on efforts to alleviate hunger and address issues of hunger perpetuated by the Aids pandemic. Anneliese Beckers, secretary to

Bishop Michael Coleman of Port Elizabeth, has been involved in diocesan feeding programmes which support 3 500 children. The Port Elizabeth chancery oversees feeding projects to both young and old through the support of various projects including from the Milde McWilliams Trust, which is supported by the Knights of Da Gama, and members of St Anne Sodality through the Marist Brothers and Mercy Sisters. Ms Beckers said: “We rely on our priests and Catholic organisations—the people on the ground, our community members—to let us know where the needs are most severe.” Most of her work focused on the very poor, especially on children at school. “The meal we provide is often the only one for the day.” Ms Beckers said campaigns such as the 1 Billion Hungry petition to end hunger should be supported by everyone.

The Marist Brothers and Mercy Sisters are overseeing the feeding schemes for children of seasonal labourers and learners of schools in the Addo/Dunbrody area in the Sundays River Valley, Port Elizabeth Diocese. These ongoing projects hope to get more attention and support through World Food Day, October 16.

Robbers attack Pinetown parish, two dead MAURICIO LANGA

HE parish priest of Immaculate Conception Catholic church in Pinetown, Fr Justin Stirton, is grateful to be alive following a shootout between police and four armed robbers after a Sunday evening Mass. Two suspects were shot and killed in the attack. There have been several attacks on church personnel in recent times, including the murder of several priests, with churches and other religious institutions being easy targets for criminals. Fr Stirton escaped unharmed in what appears to have been a premeditated attack. He is convinced that the suspects invaded the church in the mistaken belief that he kept a large sum of cash on the premises. According to Fr Stirton, prior to the shootout, which left two dead on the church premises, there was concern over the suspicious

behaviour of “certain strange people” and the police were alerted. Undercover police arrived and took up positions on the church premises to monitor the situation. Meanwhile, four men arrived in a car with dark windows, which was parked at the far end of the church premises. Because of his suspicion and premonition that something bad was to happen after Mass that evening, Fr Stirton urged parishioners who were talking outside the church to go home. After they left, he locked the side gates. “After locking the gates, instead of going into the church as I usually do, I went to the parish house and waited to see what would happen,” Fr Stirton said. According to the police two suspects came from the toilets and crossed the front of the church to the side entrance where the police ordered them to stop. A few minutes after Fr Stirton

had entered the parish house he heard police shouting at the suspects who were now inside the premises. Police and the suspects exchanged fire, which ended with two of the suspects being shot and killed just outside the entrance of the parish house. “One suspect was arrested after being caught by a police dog, but the fourth man managed to escape,” said Fr Stirton, who commended the police for their work in preventing a possible disaster at the parish. Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Vincent Mdunge confirmed that police had acted on a tip-off about a possible robbery at the church. After the incident police recovered two unlicensed guns and seized the suspected robbers’ vehicle. The recent shootout at the church comes after a series of violent attacks on church personnel in the neighbouring Mariannhill

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Fr Justin Stirton points at the hole left by gunshots on the wall of the parish house. PHOTO: MAURICIO LANGA area. Armed men have attacked the Mariannhill monastery farm on several occasions. Br Conrad Diethei CMM, the farm manager, was assaulted and held at gunpoint on several occasions. A gang of armed robbers once forced Br Conrad to take them

into his monastery room for the cash takings from the sale of farm products. The robbers made off with R12 000, a laptop and other items. In another fatal incident, in June last year, Fr Ernest Ploechl CMM was found murdered in his presbytery at Mariazell Mission

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The Southern Cross, October 6 to October 12, 2010

INTERNATIONAL

Fight poverty, don’t eliminate the poor G

HANAIAN Cardinal Peter Turkson encouraged nations to keep their commitments to the Millennium Development Goals and said they “should be used to fight poverty and not to eliminate the poor”. Cardinal Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, represented the Vatican at the summit of heads of state and government on the Millennium Development Goals, which set out to halve poverty by 2015. Addressing the leaders, the Ghanaian cardinal told them that he spoke not only as a religious

leader, but also as an African and a man coming from a poor family. The summit was called to assess the progress made in the past 10 years toward reducing poverty, combating disease, fighting hunger, protecting the environment and improving access to education. The battle against poverty can be won, but it will require solidarity with the poor, favourable financial and trade policies, and assistance in fighting corruption and promoting good government, the cardinal said. In addition, he said, more work

needs to be done to reduce the foreign debt of the world’s poorest countries. In his written intervention submitted to the summit, Cardinal Turkson called some of the earlier loan programmes “situations of international usury” that plunged countries into an abyss of debt. Economic policies and technology alone will not be enough to fulfill the development goals, he wrote. Rather, the international community must work “to expand our vision from the donor-recipient paradigm to see each other for

who we are: brothers and sisters with equal dignity and opportunity to access the same markets and networks”, he wrote. The global financial crisis obviously has created new areas of poverty, including in wealthy nations, and has slowed progress in reducing poverty globally, but that is not because of the poor, Cardinal Turkson wrote. “The unethical and irresponsible conduct of large private financial operators, together with the lack of foresight and control by governments and the international community, have all played a

role,” he wrote. War and violence and the related illegal trafficking of people, drugs and precious raw materials also contribute to stalling development, he said. But the key to promoting development, the cardinal said, is to protect each individual’s political, religious and economic rights and freedoms; that is the secret to moving from “merely trying to manage poverty to creating wealth” and “from viewing the person as a burden to seeing the person as part of the solution”.—CNS

Chiara Badano beatified

LESSED Chiara Badano, an Italian who died of bone cancer just before her 19th birthday, witnessed to the world the fact that God’s love is stronger than suffering and death, Pope Benedict said. “Only Love with a capital L gives true happiness,” and that’s what Blessed Badano showed her family, her friends and her fellow members of the Focolare Movement, the pope said during his midday Angelus address. At Rome’s Shrine of Divine Love, Archbishop Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, presided over the beatification of the young Italian who died in 1990. Pope Benedict said young people can find in Blessed Badano “an example of Christian consistency,” because she was certain of God’s love and trusted in that love even as she was dying.

Young people celebrate the beatification of Blessed Chiara Badano, during an event in Paul VI hall at the Vatican after her beatification at the Sanctuary of Divine Love in Rome. PHOTO: ALESSIA GIULIANI/CNS

“We give praise to God because his love is stronger than evil and death; and we give thanks to the Virgin Mary who leads young people, even in the

midst of difficulty and suffering, to fall in love with Jesus and discover the beauty of life,” the pope said.—CNS

Mexican bishop awarded human rights prize BY DAVID AGREN

B An image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is seen above Sarah Garley and her infant daughter, Matha, as they wait to see a nurse at St Gregory’s Medical Clinic in the Buduburam refugee camp, located about 54 km outside Accra, Ghana. Garley has lived in the camp for 16 years and is one of the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by civil war in Liberia between 1989 and 2003. Opened in 1990, the settlement has more than 12 000 mostly Liberian refugees living in a 141-acre compound. PHOTO:NANCY WIECHEC/CNS

ISHOP Raul Vera Lopez of Saltillo was awarded an international human rights prize for his tireless opposition to the rampant impunity in Mexico’s political and legal systems and work in defence of vulnerable and oppressed groups. The Rafto Foundation for Human Rights, the Norwegian human rights group awarding the prize, also cited Bishop Lopez’s ongoing denunciations in cases of

human rights violations committed by the army and various police forces in the crackdown on Mexico’s ongoing war on narcotics-trafficking cartels, which has been especially problematic in his northern Mexican diocese. Nationwide, more than 28 000 people have died in such crackdowns over the past four years. “Raul Vera is able to see and care for individual human beings as well as to recognise how their lives are shaped by unjust power struc-

tures in society. Raul Vera urges the Church to take on a more critical role in Mexico,” the Rafto Foundation said in its explanation for awarding Bishop Vera the prize. “While sharing the government’s concern for the power and violence of the drug cartels, Raul Vera criticises the methods used by the police and armed forces in their fight against crime, as well as the failure to address the underlying social causes. —CNS

CONGREGATION OF MARIANNHILL MISSIONARIES

Ora et Labora The Congregation of the Missionaries of Mariannhill, CMM, sprung from the Trappist Monastery of Mariannhill founded by Abbot Francis Pfanner in South Africa in 1882. We believe that: “Our missionary field is the Kingdom of God and that has not boundaries!” Faithful to the example of Abbot Francis Pfanner, the Mariannhill Brothers and Priests try to be of service to the local church through pastoral, social and development works. We make our contribution to the call for renewing, uplifting, developing and sustaining the human spirit, as our response to the signs and needs of the time. In our missionary life of Prayer and Work (Ora et Labora), we try to effectively proclaim the Good News to all people, especially to the poor and needy, so that there are “Better Fields, Better Houses, Better Hearts!” To know more about us contact: Director of Vocations PO Box 11363, Mariannhill, 3601 or PO Box 85, Umtata, 5099

For further info, contact: Vocations Director, St Norbert’s Priory PO Box 48106, Kommetjie, 7976 (Cape Town) OR Tel 021 783 1768 Fax 021 783 3742

INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, October 6 to October 12, 2010

Vatican: Promote peaceful use of nuclear energy BY CAROL GLATZ

S nations are called to create a world free of atomic weapons, the international community must promote peaceful uses of nuclear energy, especially for development and cancer treatment in developing countries, a top Vatican official said. The Vatican had long supported the nuclear nonproliferation treaty “as the basis to

pursue nuclear disarmament and as an important element for further development of nuclear energy applications for peaceful purposes”, said Mgr Ettore Balestrero, the Vatican undersecretary for relations with states. “Encouraging all nations, especially states with nuclear weapons, to ratify the comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty is a major priority, as well as creating areas free

from nuclear arms, especially in the Middle East.” “Nuclear-weapon-free zones are the best example of trust, confidence and affirmation that peace and security are possible without possessing nuclear weapons,” he said. The Vatican diplomat was speaking during the 54th general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. —CNS

La Conquistadora’s wardrobe friar Alonso de Bena384-YEAR-old vides, the new cuslocal tradition todian of the of reverence region’s Spanish and devotion to a missions. 76-cm wooden statThe extensive colue of Mary has lection of gowns, crossed over into capes and other garNew Mexico’s musements has been um culture with the forming since soon opening of “Threads after the statue came of Devotion: The to Santa Fe. Wardrobe of La Church records Conquistadora”, disfrom 1686 reflect an playing a sample of inventory of dresses the hundreds of garmade of silk and ments in the statsatin, some with ue’s wardrobe. trim of gold coins, The exhibit at the Museum of Spanish Men carry a statue of Mary known as “La Conquis- as well as strings of C o l o n i a l A r t w i l l tadora” inside the Cathedral Basilica of St Francis pearls, gold and silrun through Decem- of Assisi in Santa Fe, New Mexico.A selection of ver earrings and a b e r 3 1 , o f f e r i n g a items from her wardrobe is on display at the Muse- filigree cross, noted the programme from rare chance to see um of Spanish Colonial Art in Santa Fe. PHOTO:CELINE BACA RADIGAN, PEOPLE OF GOD/CNS the opening of the costumes, jewellery exhibit. and crowns While the use of bestowed upon the clothing on statues is unusual in many counstatue. The image has been revered by the people tries, it is traditional in parts of Europe in the of Santa Fe since it arrived in 1626, on a p a s t a n d i s c o m m o n i n L a t i n A m e r i c a wagon train from Mexico with Franciscan today.—CNS

Australia gets first saint

USTRALIA Post is to issue stamp to celebrate the country’s first saint Blessed Mary MacKillop, known as a prolific letter-writer, will be immortalised on an Australian stamp and limited-edition collector’s postcard to be issued the day after Pope Benedict canonises her as St Mary of the Cross in Rome. Sister Sheila McCreanor, secretary-general of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, which Blessed MacKillop cofounded in 1866, said the stamp was “entirely appropriate given she was such a great letterwriter”. Sister Sheila has edited three published volumes of Blessed MacKillop’s letters. She added that the stamp was a “mark of

honour” and a “wonderful reminder to people of Mary’s heroic goodness and the great impact that a life lived in fidelity to God can have on the world”. It was also a testament to her legacy as a pioneer in education, she said. An Australia Post spokesman said the stamp was “the Australian public’s way of recognising the country’s first saint”. The “Canonisation of Mary MacKillop” stamp issue includes the stamp and a first-day cover collector’s postcard featuring three medallions, which depict images of Blessed MacKillop’s first schoolhouse in Penola, Australia; Blessed MacKillop with schoolchildren; and a portrait of her.—CNS

Blessed Mary MacKillop is featured on an Australian stamp to be issued the day after Pope Benedict canonises her as St Mary of the Cross in Rome. PHOTO: THE RECORD, COURTESY OF AUSTRALIA POST/CNS

Mission Sunday message: Share the Gospel, build a better world

HRISTIANS committed to building a world where all people recognise they are brothers and sisters need to share the good news of salvation in Christ, Pope Benedict said. “The fundamental law of human perfection and, consequently, the transformation of the world, is the new commandment of love” taught by Jesus Christ, the pope said in his message for World Mission Sunday 2010. The annual observance will be marked on October 24 at the Vatican and in most countries.

In his message for the day, the pope focused on how faith in Christ must lead Christians to build strong faith communities, which become signs for the world that it is possible for people of different races and cultures to live and thrive together. The fact that World Mission Sunday is held in October, the month the Church dedicates to the rosary, is a further reminder of God’s love for the world, a love that took flesh because Mary said yes to God’s plan, the pope wrote. To be missionaries today and respond to people’s need

for hope and their desire to live in a new way means “to become champions of the newness of life made up of authentic relationships in communities founded on the Gospel”. “In a multi-ethnic society that is experiencing increasingly disturbing forms of loneliness and indifference, Christians must learn to offer signs of hope and to become universal brethren, cultivating the great ideals that transform history and, without false illusions or useless fears, must strive to make the planet a home for all peoples.”—CNS

The Jewish settlement of Har Homa is seen in the West Bank near Bethlehem. Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories are a major stumbling block in the current peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. PHOTO: PAUL HARING/CNS

COMMUNITY

The Southern Cross, October 6 to October 12, 2010

Over 200 teenagers from 15 parishes participate in the annual Vocations Exhibition on Religious Life in Pietermaritzburg. The exhibition is organised by a team of seminarians from 13 religious congregations. Left: Concelebrants after Mass at the exhibition. Right: Youth participate in religious life discussions. SUBMITTED BY JOE FALKINER

IN FOCUS

Bishop Michael Coleman of Port Elizabeth presides over the confirmation of 17 candidates from Assumption church in Somerset East, Eastern Cape. SUBMITTED BY DEACON SIDNEY MARINUS

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Archbishop Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg (centre) attends the confirmation of a group of young parishioners of Our Lady of Dolours in Carletonville, Johannesburg. With Archbishop Tlhagale and the youth are Fr Ike Onoyima (left) and Fr Ray Anyanwu (right).

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FAITH

The Southern Cross, October 6 to October 12, 2010

All kinds of religion (and none) venerate relics The veneration of relics is not unique to Catholics. In the first of two articles on relics, SEAN WALES CSsR looks at how different faiths venerate relics in their own way.

INCE January 1924 the mortal remains of the communist revolutionary Lenin have been on view in a specially constructed Mausoleum in Red Square in Moscow. In its first 45 days, more than 100 000 people had visited the tomb, and this trend has continued (with a short exception during World War II) till today. By 1972 ten million people had paid their respects to Lenin’s relics. Joseph Stalin’s body received the same treatment after his death in 1953 till 1961 when it was quietly buried outside the walls of the Kremlin. The process of deStalinisation associated with Khrushchev’s thaw brought the veneration of Stalin to an end. Lenin’s body continues to draw large crowds who are required to show respect while in the tomb; photography is forbidden as are talking, smoking, keeping hands in pockets or, for men, wearing hats. The new administration in Russia is somewhat cool in its attitude to Lenin; government money is not longer available to maintain the mausoleum (although entrance remains free), the ceremonial guard of honour has been withdrawn and discussions are active about what to do with the body. Many favour a quiet burial.

The Russian psyche What is notable however is “veneration” of a political leader for such a long time. It has been very plausibly suggested that the veneration of Christian relics and the love of holy icons, so deep in the Russian psyche, found new expression in the ubiquitous large posters of political leaders and in the preservation of Lenin’s corpse. Despite the Buddha’s instructions that no relics of his were to venerated, his immediate followers divided his remains into eight portions and special buildings (called stupas) were constructed to house these relics. We have the much revered Sacred Relic of the Tooth of the Buddha in Sri Lanka. There are other Buddhist reliquaries in Tibet, in Peshawar, Pakistan, and in Nepal.

Many modern stupas contain the ashes of prominent Buddhists believed to have attained enlightenment. In contemporary Buddhist thinking, relics remind people that the Buddha was a real person, that enlightenment can be achieved and the virtuous life is possible. Despite the Islamic ban on images, the universal instinct to venerate relics finds expression in Islam. In the Topkapi palace (now a museum) in Istanbul there are over 600 Muslim relics. These include the sword and standard of Muhammad, a hair from his beard, and the staff of Moses. What is of great interest is that the Qu’ran has been recited next to these relics uninterruptedly since they were brought to the Topkapi palace. The Central Mosque in Kandahar, Afghanistan, houses the cloak of the Prophet Muhammad which is kept under lock and key to be brought out only in times of great crisis.

Jewish relics To come closer to our own Christian tradition, we look first at our Jewish roots. Already in the Pentateuch we read in Exodus: “Moses took with him the bones of Joseph, since Joseph had put the Israelites on solemn oath with the words: ‘It is sure that God will visit you,’ he had said, ‘and when that day comes you must take my bones away from here with you’” (13:19). In 2 Kings we are introduced to what we might call second class relics with the story of Elijah’s cloak which Elisha picked up at the ascension of Elijah and which he used to make a path across the Jordan (2 Kings 2:14). The most famous relics story in the Old Testament concerns the death of the same Elisha: “Elisha died and was buried. Bands of Moabites were making incursions into the country every year. Some people happened to be carrying a man out for burial; at the sight of one of these bands, they flung the man into the tomb of Elisha and made off. “The man had no sooner touched the bones of Elisha than he came to life and stood up on his feet” (2 Kings 13:20-21). Perhaps the most famous contemporary relic of the Jewish faith is the Western Wall of the Temple (the so-called Wailing Wall) where Jews gather day and night to pray, place their intercessions in the wall and praise God in the spot nearest to the Holy of Holiness. Anyone who has visited an extermination camp from the Nazi

era will appreciate how such places resonate with the memories of what took place in those camps and will have noticed the silence and almost religious sense of awe that pervades the whole area. Survivors and relatives of the victims and even casual visitors can be vividly aware of a closeness to those who suffered so much.

Christian relics Having noticed that other great world religions (and even, as we have seen in Moscow, atheistic systems) find it natural to cherish mementos and relics of the departed who had been held in high esteem, it is not surprising to find the same in our Christian tradition. Already in the gospels we find the instinct to reach out and touch expressed in a discreet way. The woman who suffered from a haemorrhage for 12 years said to herself: “If I can only touch his cloak, I shall be well again” (Mt 9:21). And Matthew again: “The locals at Gennesaret…took all that were sick to him, begging him just to let them touch the fringe of his cloak. And all those who touched it were completely cured” (14:35, 36). Luke tells us how the healing ministry of Jesus continued in the early Church: “Many signs and wonders were worked among the people at the hands of the apostles so that the sick were even taken out into the streets and laid on beds and sleeping mats in the hope that at least the shadow of Peter might fall across some of them as he went past. People even came crowding in from the towns round about Jerusalem, bringing with them their sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and all of them were cured” (Acts 5:14-16). An unequivocal testimony to the popularity of relics in the first Christian communities is found in Acts 19:11-12: “So remarkable were the miracles worked by God at Paul’s hands that handkerchiefs or aprons which had touched him were taken to the sick and they were cured of their illnesses, and the evil spirits came out of them.” During the first persecutions of the early Christians it quickly became an established practice to

MISSIONARY SISTERS OF THE PRECIOUS BLOOD

A member of the Missionaries of Charity holds a relic of Bl Mother Teresa of Calcutta as a worshipper touches it with a medal. PHOTO: KAREN CALLAWAY, CATHOLIC NEW WORLD

gather at the burial sites of the martyrs and celebrate the Eucharist on their tombs. The sacrifice of these early martyrs was thus dramatically linked to the sacrifice of Christ. Even when the persecutions stopped the faithful would still gather on the anniversary of the martyrs’ deaths and celebrate the Eucharist. When Christianity spread rapidly and it was no longer possible for the faithful to go the tombs of the martyrs, the martyr’s were brought to the faithful.

To this day this practice continues in the universal Church. In the Eastern (Orthodox) Church the divine liturgy must be celebrated on an antimension (a cloth like a corporal) into which are sewn small particles of the relics of martyrs/saints. In the Western Church such relics are encased in the altar and are reverenced by the priest at the beginning and end of every Mass.  Fr Sean Wales is a former provincial of the Redemptorists in Southern Africa. Next week he will look at the theology of relics.

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The Southern Cross, October 6 to October 12, 2010

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Sydney Duval

Catholic schools losing their ethos

Renewing the spirit I of St Francis

HE Church is rich in moments of transforming spontaneity, of radical conversion, that continue to touch us as compelling moments of inspiration. The 37th Franciscan Convention at La Verna is a time to draw closer to St Francis of Assisi and his encounter with the leper—to his impulsive act of compassion for the outcast that shines for all humanity and calls us to join the Franciscan family, sons and daughters, as companions on a journey of the spirit to renew our solidarity with the poor and their suffering. At the heart of the Franciscan charism, based on prayerful apostleship as imitators of Christ, is their concern for Christian caritas, for creation and the environment, for nonviolence and peace, for forgiveness and reconciliation, for that ecumenical dialogue that Pope Benedict and Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams demonstrated so movingly in their presence at Westminster Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. Franciscan mission and service are to be found in urban and rural South Africa: In spiritual renewal and healing, in works of mercy, in education, hospices, clinics, informal settlements, pastoral care and humanitarian outreach. Through the Damietta Peace Initiative the Capuchins are committed to putting ideals into practice to serve the African continent. The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference reminds us of the quality of Franciscan solidarity through its own option for the poor, its impassioned Pastoral Letters to the faithful, and its Pastoral Plan calling us to be a community serving humanity. Connecting us to past and present is the parable of the Good Samaritan which has profound significance for our own country as we try to respond to the urgent signs of our times. Many signs are unmistakable. Images of immense wealth and privilege coexist side by side with images of poverty, hunger, brokenness, squalor, abuse and neglect. Disease in the form of

HIV/Aides and TB is a complicating reality. Corruption, nepotism, incompetence and lack of delivery in education, health and security add more layers of misery. For the wretched there seems always to be yet more that is wretched. So much of it is incomprehensible. To address poverty and hunger requires more than political will, which seems to elude a government seduced by seminar cliches rather than creating practical interventions that have impact because they work. It requires more than the combined efforts of civil society and the thousands of NGOs working for sustainable development and poverty alleviation. Overcoming poverty, hunger and disease requires people of goodwill to mobilise their compassion through personal actions that will make a real difference to people’s lives. Dissent against the status quo is one way. A lone voice at a recent gathering on the world’s financial difficulties had the courage to ask the critical question that did not seem to trouble anyone else: If it is possible for governments to find billions to bale out profligate banks, why can’t governments find the same resources to eliminate poverty? As the various streams forming the Franciscan river move through their convention, may they also carry us back to the Umbrian countryside where St Francis helped the leper, to Rome where he exchanged his clothing with “a tattered mendicant”, and to La Verna where he received the stigmata. What St Francis did centuries ago has become a universally admired example of heroic and loving service to the poor. In our own way, we can also do things, in deed and word, private and public, in supporting the many Catholic organisations involved in grassroots initiatives, that together become transforming actions that uplift our society. Fr Bernard Huss CMM, educator and apostle of development gave us a signpost to follow: Better fields, better homes, better hearts.

The Editor reserves the right to shorten or edit published letters. Letters below 300 words receive preference. Pseudonyms are acceptable only under special circumstances and at the Editor’s discretion. Name and address of the writer must be supplied. No anonymous letter will be considered.

T has dawned on me that our Catholic schools have lost their ethos in striving to teach the Catholic faith to our children attending some of our schools and institutions. Teaching at these schools is no longer Gospel-based and centred on Christ. Why? Because teachers at these schools have lost the common good as witnesses to Christ being alive in the world today. They have stopped spreading the good news to our children. These schools have failed to make a difference in the lives of our children. Prayer and liturgy are no longer the foundation for life-long growth from a spirituality perspective of hope for our children. Our children are no longer attending morning Mass at the parishes within the vicinity of their school yard. Why? Because the presence of teaching staff and children of other faiths has created barriers that have had a devastating effect on the faith of

Rights of religion

OPE Benedict’s comment on the “marginalisation of religion”, in his address to the parliamentarians in Westminster Hall on Saturday 18th September, was well timed, especially as we approach Advent/Christmas. The Holy Father stated: “I cannot but voice my concern at the increasing marginalisation of religion, particularly Christianity, that is taking place in some quarters, even in nations which place a great emphasis on tolerance. There are those who argue that the public celebration of festivals such as Christmas should be discouraged, in the questionable belief that it might somehow offend those of other religions or none.” For a number of years Catholic parishes have embarked on a campaign of “Putting Christ back into Christmas”. The motivations for this are precisely the concerns voiced by Pope Benedict. In an aggressive secular world, Advent/Christmas is becoming more and more commercialised at the expense of it’s spiritual message of Hope. To discourage the festival of Christmas, and Easter for that matter, for the sake of appeasing nonChristians, is “too ghastly to contemplate”. The call from our Holy Father “…that the rights of religious people to practise their faith openly”, must be respected and defended. Christianity, of all faiths, adheres to this. Deacon Peter Venter, Durban North

Catholic children, thus our children have lost focus of their Catholic inheritance and influence that we instil in them. We as Catholic parents have also became too complacent in the education of our children to an extent that entire school governing bodies and teaching staff are 100% nonCatholic, also becoming indispensable in the process. Some of these schools have become inaccessible for Catholic children to the extent that some have been turned away. This means that our Catholic children are unable to benefit from our rich tradition at Catholic schools. Through the Deed of Agreement that was established between the State and the schools on private property, Catholic schools are accorded the legal status and a measure of state support, hence the links which exist between the owners (Catholic schools) and the

Kindred spirit

WOULD like to express my sincere thanks to Fr Michael Austin for bringing alive the story of Cardinal John Henry Newman’s life story over seven episodes. I so enjoyed and looked forward to reading each week’s chapter, as I felt a kindred spirit with him, having been an Anglican and converting to Catholicism almost 23 years ago. It was so well timed to end just before the pope’s visit to the UK. What wonderful coverage Sky News gave the visit and the beatification of the now Blessed John Henry Newman was truly an awesome experience. I am fortunate enough to have a Glenstal Bible Missal (Sunday Missal) which very often has as a reflection on the readings, an excerpt from JH Newman’s “Parochial and Plain Sermons”. I love his thoughts on the readings and it helps me as a reader to compile my “Prayers of the Faithful”. With thanks for a wonderful newspaper. Jenny Daly, Knysna Opinions expressed in The Southern Cross, especially in Letters to the Editor, do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor or staff of the newspaper, or of the Catholic hierarchy. The letters page in particular is a forum in which readers may exchange opinions on matters of debate. Letters must not be understood to necessarily reflect the teachings, disciplines or policies of the Church accurately.

school bodies that govern them. The Deed entitles Catholic schools to retain their Catholic character and ethos. We should therefore not allow these school governing bodies to do as they please at our Catholic schools. This is apparent in some cases where Catholic parents have opted to send their children to nonCatholic schools because the Catholic faith has been throttled and trampled upon to virtual extinction. It is of critical importance that we discern together as a Catholic community and redirect our spiritual energies so that our schools retain and preserve the Catholic faith. Archbishop Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg, in his pastoral letter regarding Catholic education said: “We need to ensure that prayer and liturgy remain central in the life of our schools.” Sello Mokoka, Pimville

A little humility

CONGRATULATE Chris Moerdyk on his article entitled “Humility with Christ” September 22. It is also a great credit to Fr Bram Martin who had the courage to deliver a sermon on this subject. What Fr Martin refers to is a characteristic that regrettably appears to affect some human beings who achieve status or fame in either religion, politics, or business. The desire for personal exaltation as very clearly explained by Fr Martin, is in complete contradiction to the teaching of Christ and the way he lived. With regard to politics, I wonder how those individuals who give so much of their lives to helping the poor would feel if they were to read the following that appeared on page three of the Sunday Times, September 26 and I quote as follows: “...top of the range French champagne and expensive single malt whisky flowed in Durban’s favourite nightspots as delegates attending the ANC national general council let their hair down after a hard day of debating policy issues”. The point is a little more humility and self-restraint would do all of us a lot of good and certainly bring us closer to our creator and greatly benefit all who are not so blessed with worldly wealth and position. Roy Glover, Tzaneen

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PERSPECTIVES Meet God within you

Toni Rowland

Family Friendly

In the limelight

HO doesn't like to be in the limelight, the centre of attraction, belle of the ball? Idols is really just about that, and so are other things like Big Brother or all the different ways we find of showing off our assets. Sometimes it is deliberate, sometimes unfortunate when one doesn’t want to draw attention to oneself, and at other times it is a byproduct of one's mission. If you have a job to do or a task to perform you’re going to be seen and judged too. This is true at home, at work, in the church, on the sports field or wherever. So a good word of advice would be: “If you’re going to do a job, you better do it well. Someone is watching, someone is waiting, to praise or criticise.” Being in the public eye is also a mixed blessing because no matter who you are, what talents you have and how good you are, you come with baggage. While going about my work in the last week I have been keeping an eye on the Pope’s visit to England and Scotland. Sky News has given the whole trip, with its many different events, extensive coverage and it is sad that it hardly featured at all on South African TV. Watching a Mass or a prayer service has been very edifying. Pope Benedict spoke to other groups, politicians too, and while these services were going on there was the constant ribbon running across the bottom of the screen, as we see on all the TV news stations, and one could say it was harping on the sexual abuse scandals which are still rocking the Church in different places. I found it disturbing and asked myself if this type of positive-negative imaging is a feature of modern times, with the media having the power to influence any message in positive or negative ways? The same happens of course in any situation. Sporting heroes and heroines will be exposed to public scrutiny whether they like it or not and there has been enough of that in the last year too. Think of Tiger Woods and Caster Semenya. Think of doping scandals that surface in the media. In business and politics, too, being in the limelight is a risk. Families also face this situation. Matric exams are looming but right now it is still matric dance time for some young people. Every girl wants to be the most beautiful one, but she agonises over “Am I too fat, too thin, too pale, too dark? My dress, my hair, my shoes…” The stress, the agony and the ecstasy of the occasion are almost too much to bear. Whatever the occasion being in the limelight has its risks and its compensations. Everyone wants and needs to be noticed and valued especially on the big occasions like a wedding, 21st, confirmation, 1st communion, baptism. Then we ask ourselves: “Are these photoshoot occasions, or meaningful family life experiences that can even be spoilt by being in front of the camera?” A friend mentioned her son was making his first confession and the need for them as the parents to be present as the child prepare for this. That is almost at the other extreme: small but very important too without the distraction of camera and lights. Hurts, crime, marriage or family breakdown, i.e. negative life experiences, also too easily put one into the limelight in one’s own immediate circle or a wider group. Then, reconciliation can be one of the byproducts of being in the limelight. On one occasion Jesus reminded us, “There is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open” Luke 8:17. Exposure, disclosure can and does bring issues into the open, sometimes in a very painful way, but this could at least lead to opening up an issue that is a festering sore. It might be HIV status. It might be some secret from the past that does have a bearing on one’s current relationships. What is our mission in the Church; the big Church and our small domestic churches this Mission month? “All for one and one for all” is the family theme. The Church would call it the value of “the common good”. Recognising who we are—warts and all, standing together, supporting one another—yes, in good times and in bad, building up rather than breaking down and reconstructing are the ultimate goals of creating a better world, God’s Kingdom. And as always it starts at home. Is there something you are hiding that could and should be brought into the light in order to be healed? Make this reflection one for a Family Hour during the month. And looking ahead, the 2011 family theme is Peace On Earth Begins At Home. There is no need to wait. Peace shouldn't have to wait. It begins with you, now.  The 2011 family calendars are now available.

ELENA Kowalski was born in 1905 in Poland, entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in 1925 and took the name Sr Mary Faustina. She shot to prominence through the private revelations on Divine Mercy. But there is another facet to Faustina. This uneducated Polish nun who had no theological training set a new rule in spirituality: contemplating God in everyday life and proving that contemplation can be done anywhere. Faustina gave birth to modern day contemplatives: “contemplative in action”. She did not restrict contemplation to specific prayer time: for her it was “business as usual”. The Spirituality of Saint Sister Faustina, edited by Robert Stackpole STD, explains that “the knowledge of Divine Mercy enabled her to discover God in her soul, and so she did not seek him somewhere in the distance, nor did she have to go to the tabernacle to meet him. Instead, she communicated with him in the depths of her being wherever she was”. According to book, anyone can develop “acquired contemplation”. The state of “acquired contemplation…is a process of discovering God in one’s own soul and of experiencing his power. This lies within the bounds of every human spirit’s power when it cooperates with the grace of God”. This teaches us that the tendency to seek miracles “out there” must change: the greatest miracle takes place in our own souls—to seek God from within our own soul and communicate with him there anytime, anywhere. Faustina offers modern women an olive branch: you don’t have to go into a cloister to become a contemplative; you can be one right where you are. She directs us to have an ongoing mystical conversation and relationship with God while doing everyday tasks. She adds a new dimension to multitasking, a specialty of women. Pondering the greatest attribute of God, namely his mercy, became the lifeblood of Faustina. It became her ladder for spiritual development. A daily way of living close to God: allowing him unlimited access to her soul. She held the opinion that a presence of God in our soul does not interfere with our daily duties. That it poses no distraction or limitations. And she also externalised this inner contemplation: she had a high level of awareness to the presence of God everywhere. “She saw his goodness…also in circumstances that are difficult for us to accept,” writes Siepak & Dlubak in The Spirituality of Saint Sister Faustina. Faustina modelled the practice of mercy on the life and character of Jesus. She used it as a survival strategy in difficult moments. Her diary mentions the encounter with a person who had “abused her goodness”. Meeting this person clearly caused her blood pressure to rise. During this encounter she weighed her options: to firmly expose her neighbour or to consider what Jesus would have done. She chose to follow his

Colleen Constable

Women and Spirituality example: to be gentle. This tactic clearly displaced the other person, who might have had an uneasy conscience. The person requested a discussion with her. Faustina then used this opportunity to act as a mentor, gently making the person aware of areas for personal development. Faustina adopted the approach that any act of mercy shown towards others must be done in the spirit of Christ. Faustina saw Christ in her encounters with others: she respected them as the creation of God, according to his image and likeness. She directs us towards Christian asceticism: how to cooperate with God.

enryk Wejman in the book Cooperation with God emphasises the spirituality of Faustina, and argues that “the operation of divine grace in the soul of the Christian is not automatic; it requires cooperation, including the elimination of obstacles which block this work of grace”. Faustina surrendered to God: she gave up her own will and accepted the will of God as the ultimate indicator. The means of cooperation with God can be improved through participation in the Eucharist, asceticism and spiritual practices. According to Wejman, Christian asceticism is also connected to the removal of “obstacles that lie in the path of this life and to shape certain abilities which would ensure the realisation of humanity in the dimension of the sanctity of God’s calling”. In Faustina’s spirituality a “particular type of asceticism” is practised within the context of one’s state of life, character and occupation. It eliminates copycat behaviour and directs each person to embrace a form of asceticism that corresponds to their circumstances. It directs towards a focus on spiritual development that encompasses integration of body, mind and soul: to seek internal harmony through love of God, neighbour and self. It does not alienate from the world, nor does it over-indulge in the world or in acquiring spiritual values. It emphasises that there are “boundaries and conditions of asceticism” and that asceticism can only be truly achieved if love is based on full cooperation with God. Faustina also teaches us the value of spiritual exercises. This refers to Eucharistic adoration, devotions, veneration of saints, and so on. But the most important lesson in modern times could be the daily examination of conscience: a practice Faustina never abandoned. To monitor her advancement she developed a matrix to measure her rate of compliance and failure. And she worked diligently to overcome her shortcomings, following the simple standard, “what would Jesus have Continued on page 11

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The Southern Cross, October 6 to October 12, 2010

Catherine Upchurch

Hearing the Good News

Salvation brings about ultimate victory

HEN Jesus was just an infant, Mary and Joseph took him to Jerusalem to be consecrated to the Lord. We are told that God's Spirit had revealed to a righteous and devout man named Simeon that he would not see death until he had seen the Messiah. Upon Jesus' arrival Simeon cried out in a mixture of words from Isaiah, “Master, you may let your servant go in peace…for my eyes have seen your salvation” (Luke 2:29-30). Quite simply, in Jesus the Messiah, salvation has come. What are some lessons we can learn from the Gospels about salvation and what it means to be saved? Most importantly, salvation is not something that humans accomplish but a reality that God initiates and offers. This belief throughout the Bible is captured in the very name of Jesus, which means “Yahweh (or God) saves” (see Matthew 1:21). For the Israelites, that salvation translated into victory—victory in battle, victory over oppressors, and even victory over the chaotic ways of nature. But the Gospel writers have a different type of victory in mind when they speak of salvation. The offer of salvation is sometimes portrayed as seeking what is lost. In three parables found in Luke 15, we hear about a shepherd seeking out one lost sheep, a woman searching her home for a lost coin, and a heartbroken man welcoming back a son whom he believed he had lost. And a bit later there is the colourful story of Zaccheus the tax collector, a known sinner whom Jesus visits in his home. “Today salvation has come to this house…for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10). Victory, or salvation, is manifest in recovering the lost and embracing the alienated. Another understanding of salvation is freedom from sin, a liberation that can only come from God. Many have argued that more than any other thing, Jesus’ ministry focused on wholeness, often given in the form of forgiveness. He forgave the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11), the paralytic whose friends brought him to Jesus (Mark 2:1-5), and the woman who anointed him even though she was a known sinner (Luke 7:36-50). Jesus forgave the repentant man crucified beside him (Luke 23:39-43), and he even forgave his own executioners (Luke 23:33-34). In the Gospels, the followers of Jesus are called to embrace his mission by continuing to follow in his way. This included in a special way the ministry of forgiveness as a sign of the salvation they were called to preach. Both the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 and the Sermon on the Plain in Luke 6 stress the practical implications of following in Jesus’ way of forgiveness: loving enemies, refraining from judgment, putting aside anger, and refusing to retaliate. In the end, the followers of Jesus are commissioned to offer this divine forgiveness to all nations (Luke 24:47; John 20:22-23). Salvation is manifest in mercy and forgiveness. From the Gospels we discover that while salvation is the result of divine initiative, it does require our cooperation and perseverance. In commissioning the Twelve, Jesus offered a word of warning and encouragement: “You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 10:22; Mark 13:13). Salvation is envisioned here not so much as final entry into heaven but as deliverance from whatever persecution may come from outsiders or even from within one's family. Some Christians in our day and age have become preoccupied with how to guarantee their personal salvation, usually meaning how to guarantee eternal life. All of the Synoptic Gospels indicate this is an age-old concern that Jesus addressed in his day as well: “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it” (Matthew 16:25; Mark 8:35; Luke 9:24). The salvation envisioned here is indeed eternal life, but it is eternity that is prefigured in the way one lives in the present. Just as Jesus lived fully the will of God, even unto suffering and losing his life for the sake of others, so too are his disciples called to live. That’s the key to sharing in the resurrection, and thus sharing in eternal life—living for the Gospel, living for others. In this way we embrace the gift of ultimate victory, the fullness of salvation, that is eternal life.  Catherine Upchurch is the director of Little Rock Scripture Study in Arkansas. This article was originally published in the Arkansas Catholic, newspaper of the Diocese of Little Rock. It is the fourth in a series of 13 articles which explore the four Gospels.

The Southern Cross, October 6 to October 12, 2010

BOOK REVIEWS

Mugabe’s foe looks back FROM LIBERATOR TO DICTATOR: An insider’s account of Robert Mugabe’s descent into tyranny, by Michael Auret. David Phillip, Cape Town. 2009. Reviewed By Paddy Kearney IKE Auret’s purpose in writing this book was to understand why so many people (including himself) inside and outside Zimbabwe, misread the situation in that country after independence. He finds it difficult to explain how it was that he continued to admire and be loyal to Robert Mugabe long after he should have concluded that the man was only interested in ruthlessly clinging to power. Before independence in 1980, Auret had spent ten years in Rhodesia’s Federal Army, resigning in disgust immediately after Ian Smith’s Unilateral Declaration of Independence. This was followed by 12 years of farming during which Auret developed a close relationship with his farm workers and an understanding of the problems of rural development. When he failed to be elected as an opposition MP, he decided to accept the post of organising secretary of the Rhodesian Bishops’ Commission for Justice and Peace (CJP), which he served with distinction for the next 19 years. As international pressure mounted on Ian Smith and his Rhodesian Front regime, Smith tried various strategies to ensure that whites would continue to be the dominant political force. These strategies consisted largely of co-opting black leaders with little credibility, while trying at all costs to keep out of the picture Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo who enjoyed huge popular support. Auret and the CJP became fearsome opponents of the Smith regime. Atrocities were mounting on both sides and the national mood became one of deep gloom because of the numerous violent deaths.

Auret persuaded the Zimbabwean bishops to send a delegation to Mugabe and Nkomo in Lusaka in 1979. The aim was to pressure the two leaders to take part in negotiations that could end the bloodshed. As Archbishop Chakaipa presented the bishops’ memorandum to Mugabe, Auret was struck by Mugabe’s remarkable intellect. Despite looking distracted, fiddling with his glasses and peering out of the windows, Mugabe was able to deal systematically with each point made and was much more open than Nkomo about admitting that atrocities had been committed by his forces. This encounter convinced Auret that Mugabe was the future leader of Zimbabwe. Nevertheless the bishops’ meetings with Mugabe and Nkomo did not succeed in bringing them to the negotiating table. The Bishops’ Conference then sent two bishops with Auret to request the newlyelected John Paul II to use his influence to end the war. Auret had no doubt that the pope did intervene with surprising speed, but it is not clear how much he should be credited with the fact that Mugabe and Nkomo agreed to negotiate at the Lancaster House talks which took place in London by the end of that year. A peace agreement was signed which would lead to elections in which Mugabe came to power.

hile Auret was still overseas the Smith regime had issued call-up papers for him, knowing well that he would refuse to do military service. The bishops were informed by Mike’s wife Di. Their advice was that Mike should remain overseas because if he returned he would almost certainly be jailed. Mike and Di Auret offered their services to Mugabe after he became prime minister. He urged them to return to Zimbabwe and apply for posts in government ministries. However, Mgr Helmut Rechter, the

president of the CJP, wanted them to work for his own diocese and for the Bishops’ Conference. They accepted Rechter’s request to assist the resettlement process for people who had been herded into “protected villages” under the Smith regime. Auret’s admiration for Mugabe “grew with each contact and in the months ahead I found myself putting him on a pedestal—a position from which I found it most difficult to displace him in the years that followed, despite everything that happened”. Even when the massacres began in Matabeleland, Auret found it easier to put the blame on anyone other than Mugabe. As reports of torture and harassment of Mugabe’s opponents mounted, Auret and Bishop Patrick Mutume, auxiliary of Mutare, went to see the prime minister to voice the commission’s concerns. Mugabe received them graciously, appeared to take their concerns seriously, but at the same time downplayed them. Auret “felt a deep respect for Mugabe…I hoped that I was doing him a service by bringing this information to him.” Nevertheless, he began to take a careful look at the history of ZanuPF and Mugabe’s role in it. The more he delved, the more he saw the close connection between Mugabe and violence. He was also disturbed by Mugabe’s efforts to silence new independent newspapers. As the CJP spoke out about these issues, Mugabe began to repeatedly threaten Auret in public. Though Auret requested the bishops to come to his defence, they chose to remain silent. Mugabe’s continued attacks on the CJP leader meant that Mugabe lost any hold he had previously had on his former admirer. At last, Auret could see that Mugabe would brook no opposition and do nothing to stop torture and harassment carried out by his police and the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO).

he result of the 2000 referendum on a revised Zimbabwean constitution—about 55% voted against the Zanu-PF proposals—was a stunning blow. To prop up Mugabe’s rule, war veterans embarked on a campaign of occupying commercial farms. With no intervention from police or any arm of government their violence knew no bounds. Early in 2000 Auret attended the first congress of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and decided that, if asked to stand as a candidate for parliament, he would accept, despite Mugabe’s threats of “rivers of blood” if the opposition prevailed in the elections also held that year. The results of that election were another great shock for Zanu-PF: the MDC (contesting elections for the first time) won 57 seats to Zanu’s 62. In his maiden speech to parliament as the newly-elected member for Central Harare, Auret spoke of “disorder of the gravest proportions” which had been unleashed by Mugabe to prevent this new party from sweeping to power. He continued to represent Harare Central in parliament for the next 18 months. However, it was an impossible situation where the assembly was used only to pass undemocratic and oppressive legislation. Any debate or questioning was drowned out by shouting from the government benches, a situation which led to enormous anger and frustration on Auret’s part.

Suddenly he found he was tired, not only because of the charade of democracy that he witnessed in parliament, but “of living behind six-foot walls, electrified fences, protected windows, and having a 24-hour guard; tired of watching my rear-view mirror whenever I drove anywhere and worrying constantly about my family”. This anger and weariness led to his seeking peace elsewhere. “We have found that peace, security, friendliness and great kindness in Ireland, where we now live.” This is the sad note on which the book ends. It is a fascinating insider account of how Mugabe— “a hero and international symbol for African freedom”-—became, in the words of Trevor Ncube, who wrote the book’s foreword, “one of the most despicable dictators Africa has ever known.” But Auret’s book is also a study of how one of Africa’s most illustrious justice and peace activists through his consistent prophetic witness earned the hatred and persecution of both the Smith and the Mugabe regimes. This is a must-read for all concerned about the Church’s role in southern Africa.  Paddy Kearney is the author of the Denis Hurley biography Guardian of the Light, published in 2009.

Shroud mystery novel appeals

BLIND READERS OF

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Auret began to regard him as “a most dangerous man”. When he discovered evidence that the bishops for their part were trying to limit and even silence the voice of the CJP which had for 30 years “sometimes been the only voice against oppression and human rights violations”, he was deeply disillusioned on this front also. This was the final cause of his resignation from the CJP.

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THE SHROUD CODEX, by Jerome Corsi. Threshold Editions, New York. 2010. 332 pp. Reviewed by Nancy Roberts HE first novel from author Jerome Corsi, The Shroud Codex, opens briskly with a description of the strange visions that begin to trouble a parish priest after he is revived on the operating table. Fr Paul Bartholomew, formerly a brilliant quantum physicist, now finds himself seemingly transported to ancient Golgotha, experiencing all of Jesus’ agony on the day of his crucifixion. One Sunday as the priest celebrates the Mass at his parish church, the fictional St Joseph’s in upper Manhattan, deep wounds in his wrists suddenly appear and bleed profusely. As his parishioners watch in horror, he collapses and appears to be near death. But these stigmata are just the beginning of the priest’s mysterious transformation into a man who resembles the Christ-like figure represented in the Shroud of Turin in an uncanny and even frightening way. When word gets out that Fr Bartholomew is healing his parishioners from the confessional, the public swarms to St Joseph’s and the Vatican takes notice. Worried about a potential hoax, the Holy Father hires a top psychiatrist and scientist to investigate. The case of Fr Bartholomew turns out to be the most baffling that either authority has ever encountered. Is the priest seriously mentally ill? Is his subconscious desire to emulate Jesus just exceptionally strong? Or could

his “stigmata” really be a mass hallucination? The investigators consider these and other explanations that take them into the fascinating realm of faith and reason. Corsi leads us on an intriguing journey through quantum physics, time travel, ancient history and religious mysticism. He seems to suggest that faith and religion can coexist comfortably, looking to quantum physics to help explain how souls may survive physical death to reach an afterlife in what is essentially another dimension of reality. Indeed, quantum physics may even help explain the mechanics of the Resurrection—but not entirely, because faith is still a requirement. Corsi, who earned a doctorate in political science at Harvard University, has written several popular non-fiction books, including The Obama Nation. The

Shroud Codex, his first work of fiction, is a page-turner. He describes one of Fr Bartholomew’s visions thus: “Here, in a distant place separated from New York City by countless miles and what felt like thousands of years, he found himself stripped naked, lying flat on the ground, atop what appeared to be a long board. Though it made no sense at all, a Roman centurion was holding down his right arm with his knee, preparing to pound a nail large enough to be a railroad spike into his wrist.” The Shroud Codex draws from research about subjects such as early Christian history, particle physics, the Romans and crucifixion, and, of course, the Shroud of Turin. Corsi weaves all these pieces into a fast-paced narrative. Some of the physics information presented seems fairly simple, but the level of complexity is probably sufficient for most. The history and details of various religious and scientific examinations of the shroud are amply and respectfully given. While the story’s Mary figure seems a bit contrived, nevertheless this first novel entertains, enlightens and even educates. Believers and non-believers both will find The Shroud Codex thought-provoking. Be prepared to drop everything and even read straight through to the end.— CNS  Nancy Roberts directs the journalism programme at the State University of New York at Albany. Her books include Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker.

The Southern Cross, October 6 to October 12, 2010

Sr Maria Bindon HF

r Maria Bindon, Holy Family Sister, was born June 24, 1916, and sadly passed away August 20. Sr Bindon took her relationship with God seriously. She gave herself and her time so faithfully, intentionally, and consistently to this relationship that it transformed her way of being, of relating to and appreciating life. It opened her heart to the world—to the whole of Creation. Her life, her commitment and passion for God made her a witness of God’s love , far and

wide. Sr Bindon was a true South African in every sense of the word and a lifelong cricket enthusiast. She was educated at Parktown Convent and was in the same class as Helen Suzman, the human rights activist— they corresponded throughout their lives. She did her Novitiate in England during the war. On her return to South Africa, she completed her UED in Bloemfontein and taught in Yeoville and Pietermaritzburg. Many remember

her as a very good English and history teacher. In 1958 she was called to the Provincial House in Ridge Road, Johannesburg, to be the Provincial Bursar. After a few years she became our Provincial Leader. After her generous service in those roles, Sr Bindon went to Grassy Park, Cape Town; and after that to Sea Point. During her 33 years in the Cape, apart from her life in the community and parish, Sr Bindon was secretary to Archbishop Stephen Naidoo, and then Archbishop

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Lawrence Henry. In May 2006 Sr Bindon came to Pietermaritzburg where she never ceased to reach out to community and people in need of prayer and a loving presence often expressed through letters.

IN MEMORIAM

COMMUNIT Y CALENDAR Faustina’s multi-tasking BETHLEHEM:  Shrine of Our Lady of Bethlehem at Tsheseng, Maluti mountains; Thursdays 09:30, Mass, then exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.  058 721 0532 CAPE TOWN:  Adoration Chapel, Corpus Christi Church, Wynberg: MonThurs 6am to 12pm; Fri-Sun 6am to 8pm. Adorers welcome  021-761 3337  Good Shepherd, Bothasig Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration in our chapel. All hours. All welcome.  The Dan-Ag Care Centre presents a SPRING BALL, Saturday 2nd October 2010, St Mary’s Hall, Retreat Road, Retreat. R40 pp, dress: formal. Come and enjoy a great evening while supporting a worthy cause! JOHANNESBURG:  First Friday Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament 10:30. First Saturday: Devotions: Our Lady’s Cenacle, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Rosary, 15:00–16:00. Special devotion to Our Blessed Lady for her priests. Our Lady of the Angels, Little Eden, Edenvale,  011 609 7246  First Saturday of each month rosary prayed 10:30-12:00 outside Marie Stopes abortion clinic, Peter Place, Bryanston.  Joan Beyrooti, 011 782 4331  Rivonia parish social evening “Night Fever” September 18, 18:30, Barnyard Broadacres. For tickets contact Elvira 011 803 1229 or elvira@rivoniacatholic.co.za. KIMBERLEY:  St Boniface High School celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2011. The St Boniface Past Student’s Union is currently preparing to celebrate this event. Past students are requested to contact the Union’s PRO and chairman of the board of governors, Mr Mosalashuping Morundi  073 768 3653 or at sbonifa@iafrica.com for further information. PRETORIA:  First Saturday: Devotion to Divine Mercy. St Martin de Porres, Sunnyside, 16:30.  Shirley-Anne 012 361 4545 To place your event, call Claire Allen on 021 465 5007, or e-mail c.allen@scross.co.za

Continued from page 9 done”, and by giving up her self-will. Faustina leaves us with a challenge: If you are “running on empty”, you cannot give. Faustina’s spirituality requires us to ponder our spiritual development in the context of our world, the personal and professional lifestyles we choose and the relation to our neighbour and to a merciful God. Faustina also leaves a new challenge to our catechists: to mentor their learners to find God within themselves. What an inspirational task!

Mass readings for the week Sundays year C, weekdays cycle 2

Sun October 10, 28th Sunday of the year: Hb 1:2-3, 2,2-4; Ps 95:1-2,6-9; 2 Tm 1:6-8, 13-14; Lk 17:5-10 Mon October 11, feria: Gal 4:22-24,26-27,31-5,1; Ps 113:1-7; Lk 11:29-32 Tue October 12, feria: Gal 5:1-6; Ps 119:41,43-45,47-48; Lk 11:37-41 Wed October 13, feria: Gal 5:18-25; Ps 1:1-4,6; Lk 11:42-46 Thur October 14, St Callistus: Eph 1:1-10; Ps 98:1-6; Lk 11:47-54 Fri October 15, St Teresa of Avila: Eph 1:11-14; Ps 33:1-2,4-5,12-13; Lk 12:1-7 Sat October 16, Ss Hedwig; St Margaret Mary Alacoque: Eph 1:15-23; Ps 8:2-7; Lk 12:8-12 Sun October 17, 29th Sunday of the year: Ex 17:8-13; Ps 121:1-8; 2 Tm 3:14-4,2 ; Lk 18:1-8

COTTLE—Edna, our dearest sister and aunt, passed away 20 years ago on October 5, 1990. Always in our thoughts and prayers. R.I.P. Lovingly remembered by Anne, Ivan, Melanie, James, Alison, Anthony, Angela, Brandon and families. EDWARDS—Erica (Cherie). In loving memory of our friend Erica who died October 1, 2006. Her love and loyalty to her family and friends remains a binding memory. Rest in peace beloved Erica. The Sacco family, Johannesburg. VAN SCHOOR—Louis passed away October 6, 1998. We hold you close within our hearts and there you will remain, to walk with us throughout our lives until we meet again. From your loving wife Lorraine, children Kaylene, Ann Laurence, Louis and Anthea and grandchildren. Rest in peace.

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HOLY St Jude, apostle and martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, kinsman of Jesus Christ, faithful intercessor of all who invoke you, special patron in time of need. To you I have recourse from the depth of my heart and humbly beg you to come to my assistance. Help me now in my urgent need and grant my petitions. In return I promise to make your name known and publish this prayer. Amen. Gabriela Carvallo. ST THERESE of the Child Jesus. The Little Flower, I greet you, St Therese of the Child Jesus, lily of purity, ornament and Glory of Christianity. I greet you great Saint, seraph of divine love. I rejoice at the favours Our Blessed Lord Jesus has liberally bestowed on you. In humil-

ity and confidence I ask you to help me for I know that God has given you love and pity as well as power. Then behold my distress, my anxiety and my fears. Tell him my wants. Your requests will crown my petition with success, will fill me with joy. Remember your promise to do good on earth. Please obtain for me from God the graces I hope for, from the infinite goodness of Our Blessed Lord, especially…(name your request) Amen. Thank you St Therese for payers answered. RM.

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HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION CAPE TOWN: Ambler’s Rest—holiday or business accommodation in the heart of the Constantia winelands. Fully equipped self-catering open plan unit with secure parking (sleeps 2). R250pp per night sharing. Contact Barbara 021 712 6177 or 082 407 0856 www.capes tay.co.za/amblersrest CAPE TOWN: Vi Holiday Villa. Fully equipped selfcatering, two bedroom family apartment (sleeps 4) in Strandfontein, with parking, at R400 per night. Contact Paul tel/fax +27 21 393 2503, cell 083 553 9856, e-mail: vivilla@telkomsa.net CAPE WEST COAST Yzerfontein: Emmaus on Sea B&B and self-catering. Holy Mass celebrated every Sunday at 6pm. Tel: 022 451 2650. FISH HOEK: Self-catering accommodation, sleeps 4. Secure parking. Tel: 021 785 1247. FISH HOEK: Self-catering holiday accommodation from budget to luxury. Pensioners rate. Tel/fax:021 782 3647, alisona@xsinet.co.za GORDON’S BAY: Beau tiful en-suite rooms available at reasonable rates. Magnificent views, breakfast on request. Tel: 082 774 7140. E-mail: bzhive@telkomsa.net KNYSNA: Self-catering garden apartment for two in Old Belvidere with wonderful lagoon views. Tel: 044 387 1052. HERMANUS: Book now for spring and summer holidays. Self-catering double accommodation, comfortable, fully equipped in tranquil church garden. Five minute walk to Village Centre and sea front. R250 per day minimum two days. Book before October and get one extra night free on all bookings of three days or more. Ph church office 028 312 2315 or 028 314 1533. KOLBE HOUSE is the Catholic Centre and residence for the University of Cape Town. Beautiful estate in Rondebosch near the university. From mid November, December and January, the students’ rooms are available for

holiday guests. We offer self-catering accommodation, parking in secure premises. Short walks to shops, transport etc. Contact Jock 021 685 7370, fax 021 686 2342 or 082 308 0080 or kolbe.house@telkomsa.net MARIANELLA Guest House, Simon’s Town: “Come experience the peace and beauty of God with us.” Fully equipped with amazing sea views. Secure parking, ideal for rest and relaxation. Special rates for pensioners and clergy. Tel: Malcolm Salida 082 784 5675 or mjsalida@mweb.co.za SEA POINT: Double room, own bathroom in heart of this prestigious suburb, near all amenities. Tel: 082 660 1200. SOUTH COAST: 3 bedroom house, Marine Drive, Uvongo Tel: Donald 031 465 5651, 073 989 1074. STELLENBOSCH: Five simple private suites (2 beds, fridge, microwave). Countryside vineyard/forest/moun tain walks; beach 20 minute drive. Affordable. Christian Brothers Tel: 021 880 0242 / cbc—stel@mweb.co.za STRAND: Beachfront flat to let. Stunning views. Fully furnished and equipped. Garage, one bedroom, sleeper couch in lounge. R375 per night for two people.  Brenda 082 822 0607. UMHLANGA ROCKS: Fully equipped self-catering 3 bedroom, 2 bath room house, sleeps 6, sea view, 200 metres from beach, DStv. Tel: Holiday Division, 031 561 5838, holidays@lighthouse.co.za WILDERNESS: Rustic farm cottage. Sleeps five, self-catering. Ph 073 478 9038.thewoodvillecot tage@gmail.com

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29th Sunday – Year C (October 17th) Readings: Exodus 17:8-13 Psalm 121:1-8, 2 Timothy 3:14 – 4:2 Luke 18: 1-8

OW does prayer work? The readings for next Sunday are emphatic that it is important to pray, although they never quite explain what it is we do when we pray. In the first reading, you might be pardoned for thinking that prayer is something magic: if Moses keeps his arms held up, then God will give Israel the victory over the Amalekites, but “whenever he rested his hand, then Amalek was in the ascendancy”. So in the end they invent a way of keeping the hands permanently raised, even when he is tired; “they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat upon it, and Aaron and Hur kept his hands high, one on one side, and one on the other...until the sun went”. And the upshot was victory for the Israelites against the Amalekites. Instead of seeing this, however, as a piece of magic, try regarding it, as many people who pray regard their prayer, as something that you know you have to do, even if you do not fully understand why you are doing it. If anything, it has to do with our relationship with God, that we do what we dimly understand is pleasing to him; it is not like a machine into which we insert the right

Persistence in prayer Fr Nicholas King SJ

Scriptural Reflections amount of money, so that something nice comes out of it. The psalm for next Sunday perhaps makes this a bit clearer. It is one of the psalms which Israelites used to sing when they were on their way up to Jerusalem on pilgrimage for the great feasts. And what dominates the singer’s horizon is the great God to whom they are making their pilgrimage. “I shall lift up my eyes to the mountains— from where shall my help come?”, he sings, and happily supplies the sufficient answer: “My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” In every line of the song it is emphasised that God is the source of all our help. The poet does not explain how this can be so, but sums it up with his quiet certainty that

“the Lord will guard your going out and your coming-in”. The second reading does not quite talk about prayer, although the atmosphere is thoroughly prayerful; the author reminds Timothy of what he has learnt, and who he has learnt it from. In addition to the teachers who have built up Timothy’s relationship with God, there is that other source, which Paul describes as “holy writings” or “sacred scripture”. However, whether it is through books or through human teachers, the important thing is the relationship, which we call prayer: “I am solemnly witnessing to you, before God and before Christ Jesus, who is going to judge living and dead, and his appearance and his kingdom.” There is no hint here of any magic, nor of any dreary dogmatism, but only of a relationship with God and with Jesus. The gospel for next Sunday is more directly about prayer, which is not surprising in Luke, who is very much the evangelist of prayer. What may surprise us is the rather daring tone of the parable. Luke helpfully gives us a heading to help us interpret it, “about always

Triumph of the Pope P

OPE Benedict’s visit to the United Kingdom last month was as close to a miracle as I have ever seen. Before he left Rome the British media were filled with stories of how he would be met with mass protests and how local Catholics would largely shun the four-day event. There was a lot of talk about the wisdom of Pope Benedict being exposed to so high a level of criticism and vociferous denigration particularly in view of the uproar caused by new charges of child abuse by Belgian clergy. Pope Benedict was expected to arrive in the UK as “God’s Rottweiler”—a title he acquired as a cardinal. But, within hours of arriving at his first port of call in Scotland and smilingly donning a tartan scarf, he started changing from God’s Rottweiler into the Holy Grandfather. A title benevolently bestowed on him by the ususally ultra-cyncical British press. Any Catholic here in South Africa who watched, as I did, the exceptional wall-towall coverage accorded to the Pontiff’s visit by Sky News, must surely have been left in absolute awe and wonder at this quite remarkable victory over cynicism. A miraculous victory that saw Catholics, Anglicans and heaven knows how many others from agnostics to atheists, getting caught up in the joy of the occasion. Of hanging on to the words of a small, humble man who was not afraid to admit to and apologise for the behaviours of his Church, but who mostly preached peace, love, co-operation and reconcilia-

Chris Moerdyk

The Last Word tion. Local Catholics did not shun the visit. On the contrary, as Prime Minister David Cameron said, he was welcomed by all six million British Catholics and touched the hearts of the 60 million inhabitants of the British Isles. Upwards of 200 000 people lined Pall Mall as he made his way from an old age home in Vauxhall to a prayer meeting in Hyde Park where another 85 000 waited for him. The relatively tiny number of protestors, some 5 000 at various stages of the tour, were dwarfed into virtual silence by the sheer weight of exuberant enthusiasm of the masses. The Holy Grandfather went out of his way to be in touch with the people, often breaking away from his rigorously set programme and stopping to talk to ordinary people lining the streets, staff at events venues, a policeman here and there, blessing a few babies and most of all listening with intensity to what everyone had to say. But, the most emotional moment for me was when he was invited to attend a service in the very heart of Anglican England, Westminster Abbey.

CONRAD SOMETHING TELLS ME FATHER MAC IS NOT GOING TO BE OVER THE MOON ABOUT THE SOOPED-UP PARISH JALOPY!

And the way in which the Archbishop of Canterbury echoed with such deep emotional eloquence, the Pope’s call for unity within the Christian churches. It cannot have gone unnoticed by both Catholics and Anglicans in the UK how the Archbishop of Canterbury attended so many events on the papal visit and how every time, the pope would go up to him and clasp his hand. But, also in Westminster Abbey and latter at Westminster Cathedral, not only was the Anglican hierarchy present but representatives of almost all of the orthodox churches. Equally impressive was the pope’s decision to visit and pray with five victims of abuse. He made no bones about the severity of these crimes and promised unambiguously to do all in his power to root out this damning evil. Pope Benedict has never been considered to have the charisma and public appeal of his predecessor but on this visit to the UK he came extraordinarily close. It was a remarkable event which must surely have left Catholics, Anglicans and many others, extremely proud of their faith and their beliefs. Particularly with regard to strong messages that went out from not only the pope but also the Archbishop of Canterbury and British Prime Minister David Cameron, in hammering home the power and importance of faith in a Britain which has been perceived to have become far too much of a politically correct and atheist society. David Cameron made mention more than once of the fact that Britain has 30 000 faith based charities—a simple straightforward statistic that proved beyond doubt that religion and faith in the UK remain strong and powerful. Just as it is in Africa, where religion and particularly the Catholic Church is one of the biggest and longest established investors in social development. This was a tour that put Christianity back into perspective and could well be a watershed moment in which the Catholic Church swings once more onto the path of its original intention of evangelism, working for world peace and most of all, being a powerful pillar of support for the poor. Hopefully our Holy Grandfather has once and for all rid himself of the reputation that has so far dogged his papacy.

having to pray, and never give up” (something that we should take very seriously indeed). The parable asks us to picture a judge; and it soon becomes clear that in the parable this judge represents God—and yet he is depicted as “having no reverence for God, and no respect for human beings”! Then we see a widow (Luke is also the gospel of widows), who is persistent, not to say obsessive, in coming to this rather unsatisfactory legal functionary, and demanding, “Give me the verdict against my opponent”. This is refused, until (and we are allowed to eavesdrop on the judge’s reasoning progress—and he is representing God, remember), “he said to himself, ‘Even though I have no reverence for God and no respect for human beings, nevertheless because this widow is giving me hassle, I’m going to give her the verdict. Otherwise she is going to end up coming to give me a black eye!’” Then Jesus draws the moral, “Isn’t God going to give the verdict to his chosen ones who shout to him day and night, and be patient with them?” This week, are you going to show the same persistence in prayer?

Southern Crossword #413

ACROSS 3. One in charge of old Vatican documents (9) 8. It signifies the end of prayer (4) 9. Such leper found where dead are laid (9) 10. Cowled (6) 11. It is of great value (Mt 13) (5) 14. Most I find are damp (5) 15. You are the... of the earth (Mk 3) (4) 16. Sends by sea (5) 18. It is struck loudly (4) 20. Biblical tax (5) 21. Melchizedek’s city (Gn 14) (5) 24. Refused to admit (6) 25.He carries the chalice(9) 26. Stingy in name (4) 27. Contrite (8)

DOWN 1. Honour by giving money? (3,6) 2. Private prayers (9) 4. Regretted (4) 5. Provide with accommodation (5) 6. Stand-ins for the bishop (6) 7. In Pisa river, an Indian robe (4) 9. They’re not mainstream believers (5) 11. King of ancient Troy (5) 12. Ultimate sacraments (4,5) 13. Assistant who is never absent (9) 17. Direct to the cattle (5) 19. Rattle on in prayer (6) 22. Pass a law (5) 23. Be in charge (4) 24. Churchman and academic (4)

SOLUTIONS TO #412. ACROSS: 4 Leonard, 8 Orator, 9 Ephraim, 10 Drivel, 11 Amalek, 12 Your sins, 18 Cushions, 20 Arrive, 21 Atrium, 22 Confess, 24 Our Lady. DOWN: 1 Goodbye, 2 Saviour, 3 Dozens, 5 Emphasis, 6 Norman, 7 Rained, 13 Incensed, 14 Dominee, 15 Ishmael, 16 Ormolu, 17 Sinful, 19 Hatred.

CHURCH CHUCKLE

MAN suffered a serious heart attack and had open heart bypass surgery. He awakened from the surgery to find himself in the care of nuns at a Catholic hospital. As he was recovering, a nun asked him questions regarding how he was going to pay for his treatment. She asked: “Do you have health insurance?” He replied in a raspy voice, “No health insurance.” The nun asked, “Do you have money in the bank?” He replied, “No money in the bank.” The nun asked, “Do you have a relative who could help you?” He said, “I only have a spinster sister, who is a nun.” The nun became agitated and announced loudly, “Nuns are not spinsters! Nuns are married to God.” The patient replied, “Send the bill to my brother-inlaw.” Send us your favourite Catholic joke, preferably clean and brief, to The Southern Cross, Church Chuckle, PO Box 2372, Cape Town, 8000.