The Southern Cross - 120502

www.scross.co.za

May 2 to May 8, 2012

Why a battle 1700 years ago matters today

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‘God works outside the laws of science’

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R5,50 (incl VAT RSA)

Reg No. 1920/002058/06

No 4773

SA’s own Catholic ‘fight club’

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Zuma honours Archbishop Hurley STAFF REPORTER

H

AD he been alive today, Archbishop Denis Hurley would be on the frontline fighting for justice.

This was said during a ceremony to honour the late archbishop of Durban as part of the African National Congress’ centennial celebrations.

President Jacob Zuma, who as South Africa’s deputy president represented the government at the archbishop’s funeral in 2004, described Archbishop Hurley as a “hero”.

The president visited Durban’s Emmanuel cathedral to pay tribute to the archbishop’s contribution to South Africa’s liberation struggle. He laid a wreath on Archbishop Hurley’s tomb as part of the national programme of visits to various parts of South Africa to mark the ANC’s centenary this year.

“Archbishop Hurley was one of our heroes, well known not only in South Africa but around the world,” Mr Zuma said. He called the archbishop “a fine example of someone who had put words into concrete action”.

The brief ceremony at the cathedral began with Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban and other religious leaders greeting the president and his party at the entrance to the cathedral and then escorting them to the archbishop’s tomb in the Lady Chapel.

Among the leaders present were Bishop Rubin Phillip of the Anglican Church, Bishop Michael Vorster of the Methodist Church, Reverend Ian Booth of the United Congregational Church, Rev Thabani Masikane of the Uniting Presbyterian Church, Nomabelu Mvambo-Dandala of the Diakonia Council of Churches and A V Mahomed of the neighbouring Juma Musjid mosque.

Mr Zuma said that Archbishop Hurley and many other church leaders should be acknowledged for their important role in the liberation struggle.

Cardinal Napier called Archbishop Hurley, his predecessor, a prime example of humble Christian service.

“He put God, his Church and his country first. My prayer and wish is that Archbishop Hurley will pray for our leaders of today that they may follow his example of selflessness.”

The cardinal then called on the president to act in a similar manner. “Mr President, my prayer for you is that you too will put

Cardinal Wilfrid Napier helps President Jacob Zuma to place a wreath on Archbishop Denis Hurley’s tomb in Emmanuel cathedral. (Photo: Terry Haywood, Mercury, Durban) God, his People and our country first in all that you do.”

Auxiliary Bishop Barry Wood of Durban read the prayer for political leaders, “that God may guide their minds and hearts so that all may live in true peace and freedom”.

Others who laid wreaths on Archbishop Hurley’s tomb were Baleka Mbete, national chairwoman of the ANC; Willies Mchunu, KwaZulu-Natal’s MEC for transport, community safety and liaison; and Mikaela York, a niece of Archbishop Hurley.

Immediately after the cathedral ceremo-

ny, an ecumenical service honouring Archbishop Hurley was held at St Paul’s Anglican church. This was organised by the Diakonia Council of Churches which was founded by the archbishop in 1976.

Leading the service, Bishop Rubin Phillip said Archbishop Hurley chose to fulfil his priestly calling by standing for peace and justice.

“For [Archbishop] Hurley, there was a connection, not a disconnection, between the sacred and the secular, between the spiritual and the material, between the word

and the world,” he said.

“If Archbishop Denis Hurley were alive today, you can be assured that he would be making his voice heard on the matters” that affect us today.

Bishop Phillip ended by challenging the Church to continue Archbishop Hurley’s legacy. “It is now up to us, his friends, the Church, to continue to speak truth to power and to work for justice. May Hurley continue to inspire us to give ourselves completely, as he did, to the building of our country,” he said.

Pope: Stop sex tourism, organ trafficking now

BY CAROL GLATZ

T

HE scourge of sex tourism and the trafficking of human beings for harvesting organs must be urgently addressed, Pope Benedict has said.

Such crimes are “evils that must be dealt with urgently since they trample on the rights of millions of men and women, especially among the poor, minors and handicapped”, he said.

The pope made his comments in a written message to people taking part in the VII World Congress on the Pastoral Care of Tourism held in Cancun, Mexico.

With the theme “tourism that makes a difference”, the congress brought together Church leaders, government officials and representatives of international organisations, including the United Nations.

The importance of an ethical code or framework for the tourism industry as well

as promoting socially responsible tourism were some of the topics being discussed at the congress. Talks included the fight against poverty and stopping the sexual

exploitation of children.

In his letter, the pope said: “Sexual tourism is one of the most abject of these deviations that devastate morally, psychologically and physically the life of so many persons and families, and sometimes whole communities.

“The trafficking of human beings for sexual exploitation or organ harvesting as well as the exploitation of minors, abandoned into the hands of individuals without scruples and undergoing abuse and torture, sadly happens often in the context of tourism.”

Pope Benedict called on the international community, and especially pastoral workers and those working in the tourist industry, “to increase their vigilance and to foresee and oppose” the aberrations of sexual exploitation and the illegal harvesting of organs.

On the theme of tourism in general, the pope underlined the importance of taking a break from work, saying “the enjoyment of free time and regular vacations are an opportunity as well as a right”.

The Church is dedicated to making sure that “this right will become a reality for all people, especially for less fortunate communities”.

Vacation and free time are important for physical and spiritual renewal and can be occasions for encountering new cultures and getting closer to nature—which in turn foster “listening and contemplation, tolerance and peace, dialogue and harmony in the midst of diversity”, he said.

A more responsible and ethical kind of tourism must be promoted, he said, so that it “will respect the dignity of persons and of peoples, be open to all, be just, sustainable and ecological”.—CNS

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LOCAL

The Southern Cross, May 2 to May 8, 2012

Belgian priest returns Helping Cape rural communities home after 50 years T A STAFF REPORTER

BY KIM KEELY

FTER 50 years in South Africa, a Belgian Norbertine priest is going home.

Fr Johannes Petrus Kavelaars of the Norbertine priory in Kommetjie, Cape Town, is returning to Grimbergen abbey in Belgium due to ill health.

After half a century ministering to Catholics in the Western Cape, Fr Kavelaars has become a wellknown and respected figure, especially to those in places such as Worcester, Montagu, Kommetjie, Fish Hoek, Ocean View and Masiphumelele.

Fr Kavelaars was ordained a priest in Belgium in 1962 and hearing about the need for missionaries in South Africa he volunteered, first serving in Montagu, Oudtshoorn diocese.

He then became the chaplain to the Dutch community in Cape Town for several years, and was also knighted by the queen of Netherlands for his services to the Dutch people and community in

Fr Johannes Petrus Kavelaars, who is leaving South Africa after 50 years of missionary service here. (Photo: Steve Cruikshank) South Africa.

He made it his special task to visit the sick as often as possible in all the hospitals in Cape Town and he felt a special call to minister to the frail and elderly in Silvermine Retirement Village and other

retirement homes across the peninsula.

Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town celebrated a Golden Jubilee Mass in Kommetjie in thanksgiving for Fr Kavelaar’s apostolate.

Food fair helps rebuild community

BY CLAIRE MATHIESON

A

FOOD fair has helped a parish in its quest to rebuild its church, which was damaged by a fire last year.

The fire, caused by a faulty electrical system, destroyed the rear part of St Ninian’s church in Kuils River, Cape Town. The annual food fair was an opportunity for the community to not only raise funds for the church’s repair, but also to focus on turning a negative situation into something positive.

“Instead of just rebuilding, Fr Thaddeus Oranusi has a wonderful

plan to enlarge the building of the Church to cater for the growing number of parishioners,” said parishioner Guinevere Jacobs.

The day was a “huge success” not only on account of the great food and funds raised, but also because of the “heartwarming and entertaining conversations, competitions, and new relationships formed between those who don’t see other parishioners due to the attendance of different Masses, and renewing of old relationships,” Ms Jacobs said.

The church’s various ministries were each in charge of a different

MICASA TOURS

stall, from the youth ministry selling boerewors rolls to the Catholic Women’s League selling Indian food and the altar servers serving chips and cooldrinks.

Ms Jacobs said the event was well attended and those unable to buy their own meal tickets were “blessed with some by our wonderful Fr Oranusi”.

Neither low temperatures with a cold wind nor a power failure on the day could keep the parishioners away from working towards helping to ensure that the church will be able to cater to the community in the future.

HE Goedgedacht Forum, a charitable and educational trust under the stewardship of the archbishop of Cape Town, has thanked its supporters over the past 19 years. The Forum, “remains indebted to the numerous people without whom our work would be the poorer”, said its chairman, Jasper Walsh.

The Goedgedacht trust was set up in 1993 around the donation of a 171-hectare farm, Goedgedacht, on the slopes of the Kasteelberg in the district of Malmesbury, Western Cape.

Goedgedacht farm is now a rural development centre.

“The trust is concerned with issues of poverty and lack of capacity which continue to make it difficult for rural people to participate fully in our democratic society. It aims to change the face of rural poverty by building individual and organisational capacity and promoting democracy,” said Mr Walsh.

Goedgedacht’s flagship programme is the Path out of Poverty Programme (POP)—an integrated, long-term poverty alleviation strategy for rural children and

youth. POP has been operating for 13 years and is considered a best practice development model that is now being replicated in other rural villages where deep and entrenched poverty prevents children from reaching their potential.

The programme focuses on four main areas: education, health, personal development and care for the planet.

The Goedgedacht Trust is equally concerned about climate change and Mr Walsh said he hopes Goedgedacht farm will be “a place where young and old can come to learn about this very important future challenge”.

As a result, the farm aims to become energy neutral in time and has a variety of projects which can be viewed by the public and may be of particular interest to children and school groups.

Mr Walsh thanked the partners of the forum and said he hoped Goedgedacht would make a difference both in the lives of local people but also to continue to provide the space for honest, open-minded and dynamic dialogue. n For more information on the Goedgedacht Forum and POP visit www.goedgedacht.org.za.

German workers maintain pre-schoo

BY VUSI TUKAKHOMO

G

ERMAN workers are soon to return to do some follow-up work at St Boniface school in Kimberley.

The pre-school facility on the premises have not been in use for eight years, said Liam Mullaly, principal of Thutong Ya Bana Drop-in pre-school.

Mr Mullaly said students from Moremogolo Technical College in Vergenoeg, near Kimberley, refurbished and fenced the pre-school, with the assistance of the German Heribert-Nasch Foundation in 2010.

The workers welded and did

some brickwork, installed electricity and roofing and restored minor damages after a large section of the pre-school was damaged by fire in 2003.

The amenity had remained dormant for eight years. Children of Thutong Ya Bana were also involved in the renovation of the facility.

“The German workers will soon be coming again to see if they can do some more minor jobs at St Boniface,” said Mr Mullaly.

The Heribert-Nasch Foundation supports various initiatives in Catholic education in South Africa, including providing bursaries for promising students.

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Our Lady of Fatima Dominican Convent School Durban North Senior School Teaching Post: January 2013 Afrikaans – First Additional Language Grades 8 – 12

Applications are invited from experienced educators who possess appropriate qualifications, are registered with SACE and fit the following profile:  Senior school trained educator (preferably a BA Graduate & a PGCE) with recent experience teaching Afrikaans, Grades 8 – 12.  Extensive knowledge of the GET and FET curricula.  Recent experience in an IEB school will be an advantage.  An appreciation of the School’s traditions and Catholic ethos.  Sound interpersonal skills and an ability to communicate effectively with learners, staff and parents.

Duties will include:  Attendance at related workshops and parent interviews.  A full and active role in the co-curricular life of the school.

Failure to meet the advertised minimum requirements for the post will result in applicants automatically disqualifying themselves from consideration.

Applicants are required to fill in a covering information form which is available from Mrs Bennison, or it can be posted to you on request (Tel. 031-563-5390). You can email fatimacs@fatima.co.za for an electronic version of this form.

Detailed CV to be submitted with the information form to: The Principal, Our Lady of Fatima D.C. School, 155 Kenneth Kaunda Road (Northway),Durban North, 4051.

CLOSING DATE: Friday, 22 June 2012.

vocationslcm@zol.co.zw

LOCAL

The Southern Cross, May 2 to May 8, 2012

3

Solving unemployment by fixing skills problem

BY CLAIRE MATHIESON

‘S

Some 20 young people took part in a Day of Recollection held at the Salesian Institute in Cape Town.

Day of recollection for Cape Town youth

BY THANDI BOSMAN

T

HE Salesian Institute in Green Point, Cape Town, presented a Day of Recollection for 20 young people from the Salesian Youth Movement in the parishes of Lansdowne and Hanover Park.

The theme for the day, “Discipleship”, was presented by Salesian Brothers Clarence Watts and Chris Sharpe and Fr Victor Kyanga SDB. “The youth watched a DVD called Dust by Rob Bell which focused on discipleship and what it means to follow Jesus. This was

followed by some quiet time,” said Br Watts, director of projects at the Salesian Institute.

“The youth also had the opportunity to experience God’s mercy and forgiveness through the sacrament of Reconciliation and the day ended with celebration of the Eucharist with Fr Michael Connel, rector of Salesian Institute,” Br Watts said.

The Salesian Institute helps young people in and around Cape Town with development activities, youth oratories and hosting retreats.

OLVE youth unemployment and you solve unemployment in South Africa.”

These were the stern words of Rudi Dicks, executive director of the National Labour and Economic Development Institute (Naledi) to those at a round table discussion hosted by the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office (CPLO).

Mr Dicks said the biggest group of working age adults also falls into the youth category. “This group also accounted for more than three quarters of unemployment in the country.”

Participants heard that 60% of unemployed people have either never worked or have not worked in the past five years. “There are 3,3 million workers actively looking for work, 1,6 million have given up and 43% of the unemployed are completely new to the labour market,” said Mr Dicks. “If you solve the youth issue, you solve the unemployment issue.”

The unemployment issue is also related to education. Some 60% of unemployed have less than a secondary schooling, while 33% have not completed secondary schooling and 95% have no tertiary education.

David Faulkner, chief-director of macroeconomic policy and analysis of the National Treasury, said the country’s labour absorption rate is very low, meaning very few of those entering the market will find employment.

“About one in eight young people have a job compared to 40% in other emerging economies.”

The international absorption norm is 62%, but in South Africa the rate is 47%. In former Bantustan areas the rate is even lower at 28%. African, young women and those from rural areas are the most likely to be affected.

“Education is not a substitute for skills,” said Mr Faulkner.

“Young people are more educated today but lack skills sought by employers. Schooling is not a reliable signal of capabilities and poor school quality feeds into poor workplace learning capacity.”

Mr Dicks said every year the unemployment rate stands to increase annually as an additional 400 000 people enter the labour market after matric. This figure doesn’t include the number that enter the market before finishing school. “The lack of experience acts against these young workers,” he said, adding that education was not enough to find a job.

Mr Dicks said one of the main problems is that the structure of South Africa’s economy remains dependent on minerals and hasn’t transformed with the political changes over the years. “South Africa failed to implement an interventionist policy that could support employment growth.

Instead, employment growth was left to the market.”

Naledi felt the major changes needed to rectify unemployment should begin with public sector

employment. Currently, 60% of employed earn less than R1 500 per month—and many are unable to move up the employment ladder due to lack of experience. “The country needs projects for better employment outcomes.”

But the government is trying to alleviate the problem, said Mr Faulkner. “Education accounts for 19% of total spending and the budget allocation R150 billion to job creation and skills development over the next three years,” he said.

Mr Faulkner said a multifaceted approach would result in higher employment rates including economic growth, education and labour market policies. “These policies would include training programmes, direct public sector job creation, employment services to improve job search, readiness and matching and entrepreneurship schemes.”

The CPLO heard that unemployment reduction schemes would focus on skills training as about 80% of all young workers aged 18 to 29 years are employed in low or semi-skilled occupations.

Mr Dicks said there is hope for the dire unemployment situation and areas where employment and training can be achieved in a relatively short period of time. He referred to projects where rural women are taught early childhood development skills and home based care skills, thereby contributing to their community as well as their own livelihood.

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The Southern Cross, May 2 to May 8, 2012

INTERNATIONAL

Pope: Holy Spirit still writes the Bible

BY CINDY WOODEN

W

HILE the text of the Bible is fixed, the same Holy Spirit that inspired its writing continues to inspire its proclamation and interpretation in the Church, Pope Benedict said in a message to members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, an international group of scholars who advise the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The Catholic Church’s understanding of the Bible grows through time thanks to the Holy Spirit’s guidance and to reflection, study, prayer and preaching, the pope said.

The commission met at the Vatican to continue its discussion and study of “inspiration and

truth in the Bible”.

While the act of revelation ended with the death of the last Apostle, Pope Benedict said, “the revealed word continues to be proclaimed and interpreted by the living tradition of the Church. For this reason, the word of God fixed in the sacred texts is not an immobile deposit within

the Church, but becomes the supreme rule of its faith”.

Pope Benedict said no one can really understand the Bible without recognising that it was written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

But, as he told the biblical commission last year, “it is not possible to apply the criterion of inspiration or of absolute truth in a mechanical way, extrapolating a single phrase or expression.”

In the eyes of the Catholic Church, the Bible as a whole is true and people’s understanding of it progresses “with the assistance of the Holy Spirit and grows with the reflection and study of believers, with the personal experience of a spiritual life and with the preaching of the bishops,” the pope said.—CNS

Fr Cyprian Ahore of the Catholic mission in Duekoue greets Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara during his visit to the mission.

Civilians suffering from the impact of Ivory Coast’s 2011 political crisis and ethnic violence took refuge at the mission. (Photo: Thierry Gouegnon, Reuters/CNS)

Bishop on Hitler, Stalin, Obama A US bishop’s mention of Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin in a homily calling Catholics to “heroic Catholicism, not casual Catholicism” in the face of current threats to religious liberty in the United States has stirred widespread controversy.

After listing several governments throughout history that “have tried to force Christians to huddle and hide only within the confines of their churches,” Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria (pictured), Illinois, said President Barack Obama “now seems intent on following a similar path”.

He warned that Catholic institutions “could easily be shut down” rather than comply with the government’s mandate that most health plans cover the cost of contraception, sterilisation and some drugs that can induce abortion.

Subsequently, many have strongly objected to Bishop Jenky’s linking of Mr Obama’s political actions to those of figures with genocidal policies such as Hitler and Stalin.

More than 90 faculty members at the University of Notre Dame called on Bishop Jenky to “renounce loudly and publicly this destructive analogy” or resign from the university’s board of fellows.

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Lonnie Nasatir, the regional director of Chicago’s Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish body, also demanded an apology from Bishop Jenky, calling his remarks “outrageous, offensive and completely over the top”.

Statements the diocese of Peoria has issued since the homily was delivered said Bishop Jenky’s comments were being “taken out of context”.

“Bishop Jenky expressed concern that our country is starting down a dangerous path that we have seen before in history,” diocesan chancellor Patricia Gibson said a statement. “Bishop Jenky gave several examples of times in history in which religious groups were persecuted because of what they believed.

We certainly have not reached the same level of persecution.

However, history teaches us to be cautious once we start down the path of limiting religious liberty.”

Bishop Jenky’s homily was addressed to more than 500 Catholic men who had marched through the city’s downtown in a steady rain as part of the

annual event “A Call to Catholic Men of Faith.”

Bishop Jenky used some of the strongest language yet by a Church official in protesting against the US Department of Health and Human Services’ contraceptive mandate.

The contraceptive mandate includes a religious exemption, but leaders of various Catholic and other faith-based organisations say it is too narrow and they will still be forced to provide coverage they oppose.

The Obama administration has defended the mandate as “preventative care”, but religious groups that oppose it say it infringes on their religious liberty.

“Hitler and Stalin, at their better moments, would just barely tolerate some churches remaining open, but would not tolerate any competition with the state in education, social services, and health care,” said Bishop Jenky.

“Barack Obama—with his radical pro-abortion and extreme secularist agenda—now seems intent on following a similar path.”

Bishop Jenky said no matter what happens in “this passing moment,” “Christ wins” and the Church will survive current threats, including “the hatred of Hollywood, the malice of the media, and the mendacious wickedness of the abortion industry”.—CNS

Vatican, China agree on new bishop

A

47-YEAR-OLD prelate was the first Chinese bishop to be ordained this year, with the approval of Pope Benedict and recognition of the Chinese government Bishop Joseph Chen Gong’ao was ordained as the bishop of Nanchong and made a pledge to strengthen formation and promote new evangelisation, reported the Asian Catholic news agency UCA News.

He told UCA News that his priority is to enhance the quality of priests, seminarians and nuns so that “the diocese’s evangelistic work would be developed in a more systematic manner”.

Bishop Chen added that he would organise more training

for laypeople, especially catechists.

Citing the coming 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, Bishop Chen said he hoped to open new avenues for evangelisation by bringing priests and lay catechists into full play to spread Catholic teachings integrated with Nanchong’s local culture.

He also hopes to build a new cathedral to replace the Sacred Heart of Jesus cathedral, which was damaged in a 2008 earthquake and which he said was too small to accommodate all Catholics for large-scale activities.

About 800 people packed Sacred Heart to witness the ordination, while a few hundred

others watched a live broadcast at a pilgrimage site about 5km away because of insufficient space in the cathedral.

Five Vatican-approved bishops participated in the ordination, and nearly 90 priests attended.

Fr Paul Lei Shiyin of Leshan, wearing bishop’s garb, joined the Vatican-approved bishops in the laying of hands during the liturgy. He was excommunicated last year after being illicitly ordained a governmentapproved bishop.

Born in 1964, Bishop Chen was ordained in 1990. He has presided over diocesan affairs since 2005 and became the seminary’s rector in 2008.—CNS

Catechists called to show zeal and moderation

BY CAROL GLATZ

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REPARING children for their first Communion must be done with both great zeal and moderation, Pope Benedict has said.

Around the world, many children receive their first Communion during the Easter season, he told pilgrims gathered in St Peter’s Square for the

recitation of the “Regina Coeli”, a Marian prayer used in place of the Angelus from Easter to Pentecost.

The pope urged “priests, parents and catechists to prepare for this feast of faith well, with great fervour but also with sobriety”.

“For many of the faithful, this day continues to be memorable as the moment when,

even if in a rudimentary way, they first came to understand the importance of a personal encounter with Jesus,” he said.

He stressed the importance of first Communion and prayed that Mary would help everyone listen to God’s word with greater attention and “take part worthily” in Communion in order to become “witnesses of the new humanity”.—CNS

INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, May 2 to May 8, 2012

5

Why a battle 1 700 years ago still matters today

BY CINDY WOODEN

F

OR Vatican historians, the roots of a Christian idea of religious liberty go way back: in fact, back 1 700 years to the Emperor Constantine’s victory and conversion on Rome’s Milvian Bridge.

At a Vatican conference marking the anniversary, the head of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences said Constantine’s victory in 312 AD under the sign of the cross was “the foundation of a new world” marked by religious freedom for Christians and separation between church and state.

However, Norbertine Father Bernard Ardura, committee president, also admitted that “many centuries would be needed” before there was a widespread recognition of full religious freedom for everyone in a pluralistic society and before a respectful church-state separation was achieved.

In fact, said Cardinal Agostino Vallini, papal vicar for Rome, it wasn’t until the Second Vatican Council that the Catholic Church fully, formally recognised everyone’s right to religious freedom.

Even as the international group of historians gathered at the Vatican to discuss the latest scholarship about Constantine’s conversion, it was his connection to the modern idea of religious liberty that was seen as most relevant both for the world at large as well as for the Catholic Church.

For example, the US bishops have said the Obama administration is threatening religious freedom by attempting to force Catholic institutions to include contraception in health care plans.

And Vatican II’s recognition of religious freedom is one of the sticking points in the ongoing discussions between the Vatican and the traditionalist Society of St Pius X. While the council affirmed traditional Church teaching that people have an obligation to seek the truth, and that the fullness of truth is found in the Catholic Church, it insisted that no one could be forced to accept truth.

Opinions about Constantine’s legacy—and even his conversion— differ, even among Catholic scholars. Contrasting points of view on the sincerity of Constantine’s faith

Bernini’s statue of the Roman Emperor Constantine is seen in the portico of St Peter’s basilica (Photo: Paul Haring, CNS) and his impact on the faith of others in the Roman Empire came to the fore quickly during the Vatican conference.

Claire Sotinel, a professor of

New hope in talks with SSPX

BY CINDY WOODEN

I

N what the Vatican described as an encouraging “step forward”, the traditionalist Society of St Pius X (SSPX) has revised its response to a Vatican document laying out certain basic doctrinal principles and criteria for interpreting Church teaching.

The latest response submitted

by Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior general of the society, arrived at the Vatican in April. It will be examined by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and then “placed under the judgment of the Holy Father”, said a brief communique from the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei”, which is handling the Vatican’s discussions with the SSPX. Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi SJ told reporters that a curial official who read Bishop Fellay’s response said it was “substantially different” from one he submitted in January; the doctrinal congregation and Pope Benedict had determined Bishop Fellay’s first response was “insufficient” for healing the breach between the society and the Catholic Church.

Fr Lombardi said that because Bishop Fellay’s latest response “asked for changes” in the text of the “doctrinal preamble” the Vatican asked him to sign last September, “the changes must be examined” and then submitted to the pope for final evaluation.

SSPX Bishop Bernard Fellay ordains a priest in 2009. (Photo: Denis Balibouse, Reuters/CNS) “We cannot consider the matter concluded,” Fr Lombardi said, but “we can say it is a step forward and more encouraging” than Bishop Fellay’s previous response.

Fr Alain Lorans, spokesman for the society in Paris, told the French news agency APIC that because Bishop Fellay proposed different clarifications or changes to the Vatican document, the matter “is still in a study phase”.

The text of the “doctrinal preamble” has not been made public by the Vatican or the society, but the Vatican had said it “states some doctrinal principles and criteria for the interpretation of Catholic doctrine necessary to guarantee fidelity” to the formal teaching of the Church, including the teaching of the Second Vatican Council.

When the Vatican’s doctrinal discussions with the society began in 2009, both sides said

the key issues to be discussed included the concept of tradition in general, as well as the Second Vatican Council’s teaching on the liturgy, the unity of the Church, ecumenism, interreligious dialogue and religious freedom.

After a two-hour meeting in March between Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the doctrinal congregation, and Bishop Fellay, the Vatican announced that the society’s first response, delivered in January, was insufficient and said Bishop Fellay would have another month to draft a new response.

Pope Benedict’s efforts to bring about a reconciliation with the traditionalist group have included lifting the excommunications imposed on Bishop Fellay and other SSPX bishops after they were ordained without papal permission; establishing a Vatican committee for doctrinal talks with society representatives in 2009; and drafting the “doctrinal preamble” to explain the “minimal, essential” elements on which the society would have to agree for full reconciliation, Fr Lombardi had said.

In late November, Bishop Fellay had said: “This doctrinal preamble cannot receive our endorsement, although leeway has been allowed for a ‘legitimate discussion’ about certain points of the [Second Vatican] Council.”—CNS

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Roman history at the University of Paris-Est Creteil and one of the organisers of the conference, told a press conference: “Constantine’s conversion marked a new way of thinking about religion and power.

It was a complete break. When Constantine became Christian, it was the first time the ruler [of the Roman Empire] was not also the religious leader.”

But Giovanni Maria Vian, a historian better known as the editor of the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, said that while Constantine identified himself as a Christian after the battle on the bridge in 312, “he never gave up the [then pagan Roman] title ‘Pontifex Maximus,’ he continued to preside over pagan rituals and was baptised only on his deathbed”.

Still, Mr Vian said, by identifying himself as a Christian and solidifying the rights of Christians to practise their faith, “Constantine made Christianity available to the poor—the masses—and not just the elite. He made it possible for the Church to be what it is today.”

Mr Vian also said the so-called “Constantinian revolution” wasn’t

all it is popularly cracked up to be.

The systematic persecution of Christians in the West ended before his reign and Christianity was not proclaimed the official religion of the empire until some 47 years after his death.

Both he and Prof Sotinel dismissed the claims of some historians that far from promoting religious freedom, Constantine’s embrace of Christianity, or at least the favours he granted the Church, actually gave birth to centuries of Christian teaching and violence against the Jews.

Prof Sotinel said there is no historical evidence, including in Jewish sources, of anti-Jewish activity on the part of Christians in the empire before the fifth century.

The topic of Constantine and religious liberty will be given even greater attention by historians and Church leaders in 2013 when they mark the 1 700th anniversary of the Edict of Milan—a proclamation of tolerance of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire signed by Constantine and the Emperor Licinius, who ruled the eastern part of the empire.—CNS

Spreading the Good News We invite young men to apply We Dominicans are priests and brothers, living a Religious life together in communities, dedicated to contemplative prayer and the study of God’s message, with the aim of communicating it to the world, so that all people may benefit.

Contact: The Vocations Promoter PO Box 100150, Scottsville, 3209 or email us at vocations@zaop.org Check our website www.zaop.org

6

The Southern Cross, May 2 to May 8, 2012

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

Bullying: zero tolerance net, even among Catholics, and in the demagoguery of politicians.

Bullying is, of course, contrary to Gospel values. It subverts God’s love of the individual, especially those who are vulnerable and marginalised. It desecrates the dignity of the individual. The Christian response to bullying is to condemn it, to act against it and to prevent it.

Parents must not accept platitudes from teachers who believe that conflicts are best settled by youngsters themselves, that victims of bullying should immunise themselves from hurt, or that being bullied provides preparation for the hard knocks of adult life. None of these suggestions is good pedagogy.

Schools and parents must adopt a proactive method to bullying. This involves identifying and ending bullying when it occurs, and implementing measures to prevent peer abuse. Such prevention would, of course, include reactive measures, but an effective anti-bullying approach must also seek to identify why a child or teenager engages in abusive behaviour.

Often bullies are themselves bullied, by schoolmates or at home. Others may have psychological problems that require intervention, or are not receiving adequate supervision from their parents. It is self-evident that by addressing the causes of bullying, the effects of the phenomenon can be reduced.

The US National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) recommends that a sound anti-bullying programme should include a zero tolerance policy which is clearly communicated to teachers, student body and parents.

Schools must provide the means for victims to report harassment confidentially and equip them with techniques to challenge bullying, and measure levels of bullying.

The NCEA also recommends to “provide bullies with socially appropriate ways to seek attention, power, or whatever motivates their behaviour. In more complex situations refer youth for proper mental health interventions.”

There must be no room in schools and in society for situations that cause children hurt and anxiety. Children have the right to be educated in a safe environment, without fear. It is our collective responsibility to protect that right.

A

NEW American documentary titled Bully is currently making international news, bringing to the forefront a social problem that is ever more difficult to address, even as public awareness and efforts by educators increase.

The documentary witnesses the realities of bullying—such as a pupil’s terror before he leaves for school which is then horribly realised in the school bus—as well as testimonies from victims of bullying and the parents of a child who committed suicide because he could no longer face his daily persecution.

The problem is acute in South Africa as well, especially with the rise of social media. One recent case in Klerksdorp reportedly involved a group of teenagers taunting an overweight girl, throwing diet pills at her and physically assaulting her with a bottle. This was filmed and uploaded on the Internet, compounding the victim’s humiliation.

Several suicides of South African teenagers, and even preteens, have been linked to peer abuse, on the school grounds and on the Internet.

The phenomenon of bullying has long been indulged as a rite of passage that forms part of growing up. It has often been defined, inaccurately, to involve acts of physical violence only.

Peer abuse includes not only physical intimidation and extortion, but also non-corporal forms of persecution such as systematic taunting and teasing, sexual harassment, gossip and social ostracism. The latter especially is an insidious type which is difficult to identify and impossible to legislate against.

More recently, bullies have taken to employing modern means, such as the social platforms of cellphone and Internet technology, to harass their victims, or to coordinate their social exclusion. Although observable, it is difficult to legislate against such forms of victimisation.

Peer abuse is an infringement on the rights of the child. It has a way of compromising the victim’s personal and academic development, especially when a learner stays out of school to avoid being tormented.

Bullying is a social disease that increasingly also infects adult discourse, with an abrogation of civility and charity of thought.

We can see this in the conduct of “keyboard warriors” on the Inter-

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.

Beauty of baptism by immersion

I

FOUND the question regarding baptism by immersion and Michael Shackleton’s answer in the Open Door column of February 29 interesting.

Canon Law 851 reads as follows: “Baptism is to be conferred either by immersion or by pouring, in accordance with the provision of the episcopal conference”.

It would seem to me that immersion takes place of preference.

Immersion is without a doubt more symbolic than that of pour-

Limiting the lapse

T

HE article “US Survey Shows Why Catholics Lapse” (April 11) refers.

Carrol Zimmermann’s article, though interesting and thoughtprovoking, fails to mention the one, single most important reason, in my opinion and in those in leadership positions in the Church, why Catholics lapse.

Many Catholics are not evangelised, that is, brought into an effective, on-going personal relationship with Jesus Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit, nor are many aware of the basic Gospel message, that we are justified by faith in Jesus Christ and by his grace.

Salvation is not earned by our good works, which are fruits of grace. It is an unmerited gift of God. It is a fact that the number of the lapsed in the many antiCatholic evangelical communities is very low in comparison with what we are experiencing in the Catholic Church.

In a report in Osservatore Romano in 1993, Pope John Paul II said to a group of American bishops: “Sometimes Catholics have lost or have not had the chance to experience Christ personally: not Christ as a mere paradigm or ‘value’, but the living Lord” (Jn 14:6).

Cardinal Daneels of Belgium has commented on how an imbalanced emphasis on other aspects of the Church, other than a personal encounter with God, or falling prey to ecclesiocentrism has made Catholics vulnerable to deception. Many have become disenchanted with a Christianity reduced to a moral system and have gone to seek Christ elsewhere (Exploring the New Age Movement).

The cardinal also, in addressing the need for a new evangelisation, stressed how many of our parishes, schools and movements are strongly attached to “the values of

ing, highlighting our death to sin so that we might rise with Christ to new life.

In 2010 our parish of St

the Gospel”, especially those we have in common with men of good will, without reference to Christ.

Pope Benedict, while still Cardinal Ratzinger, continually stressed the encounter with the living Jesus Christ as the heart of our faith and the centre of the Church’s life (What does the Church Believe?).

Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer of Austria used even stronger language: “It is a grave error in the Church to talk mainly of values”.

In the Gospels, the concept of “values” never appears, while Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria stressed “the supreme value of knowing Jesus Christ” (The Essence of Evangelisation).

Clarifying the basic Gospel message, the kerygma, and stressing the importance of a personal relationship with Jesus, is the answer to curbing the flow of Catholics to other pastures.

John Lee, Johannesburg

Resurrection was literal

O

N Easter Monday I listened to a discussion on Radio Vertitas on the resurrection. I was disconcerted by Fr Anthony Egan’s dismissal of the literal resurrection of our Lord—that the body which was raised was the same as that one that had been on the Cross and buried in the now empty tomb.

As I understand it, it was and surely must be, the same body, 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.

Lawrence in Delft, Cape Town completed construction of a baptismal pool which has been put into full use since then, especially at Easter.

I would like to point out that this is the particular baptismal font featured in the South African Liturgical Calendar of 2011 for May. Since then further symbolic features have been added.

To the best of my knowledge this is not the only baptismal pool which has been constructed in the South African conference region.

Fr Louis Anthony Padua, Cape Town

now gloriously transformed—a transformation which Paul sets out in 1 Corinthians, his great chapter on resurrection.

If, as Fr Egan seems to suggest, it is not the same body, then Paul concludes “your faith is in vain”(1 Cor 15:14).

The same holds true to me of the Assumption of Our Lady. If it is not the same body that gave birth to the saviour, then the Assumption is unwarranted—only Mary’s body could warrant at her death, the glorious transformation granted to her divine son at his resurrection—a gift that on the last day will be given to all who believe in him (Jn 6:39).

May I respectfully suggest that perhaps Fr Egan should value more the letters of Paul, rather than the gnostic gospel of Thomas which he seems to favour.

However, there is one point on which I am in full agreement with him—Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ was little more than “guts and gore” and distinctly unbiblical from a New Testament point of view.

Aideen Gonlag, St Michaels-On-Sea, KZN

Dressing for Mass

A

t a recent Sunday Mass I noticed a lady right in the front of the church chewing gum during the whole service.

Three young ladies, who were about 17 years old, were dressed in shorts, there were people with very low-cut tops and some men withwhat I consider to be offensive Tshirts.

I know it is not good to judge others, but please let us have respect for God’s house and temple.

What you do and wear outside of Mass is your right. It is not unreasonable to adhere to only two hours of respectful dress code.

Veronica Dundee, Durban

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PERSPECTIVES

He was conceived and born He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary

T

HE highest consciousness of God that exist in the human is in Jesus, the Christ. In Christian language, he was the Word of God made flesh. In Yeshua, God enters the human history.

Christianity teaches that Christ is the sinless one. It also says the first sin (the intrinsic drive not to follow the will of God) contaminated all human flesh we inherit and pass over to our children. If human flesh is contaminated by sin how can Christ, the Word made flesh, be sinless?

The Catholic faith teaches us that God created Mary, the mother of Yeshua, through the immaculate conception. This means that the mother of Jesus was preserved from the taint of original sin from her mother’s womb so that she may be a sinless human vessel to carry the incarnate Word of God. To many people, including the faithful, this is a difficult dogma, especially for people of science who believe in empirical evidence. This is so because not everybody finds it easy to believe that God acts directly in the natural course of creation.

Many of those who believe in the existence of God presume that God acts only causally by influencing creation in a nonphysical ways.

In the first part of this series we saw that God’s mode of causal influence is likely to be beyond the governance of natural law. Therefore it is not measurable, predictable, or publicly observable.

The sciences, on the other hand, describe regular, measurable, predictable, controllable, and repeatable behaviour. Consequently acts of God are outside the scientific remit.

In faith, with the assistance of revelation and the Church’s holy tradition, we state that this is one of the occasions

where God intervenes and acts directly in creation. This poses no difficulties for the faithful who believe in miracles. In fact, the Christian faithful are obliged to be Christ-like, that is, they are compelled not to limit their minds by physical laws.

This is why they are commanded to pray for every need and not to bind God with their own limits.

Jesus prayed for the course of clouds to turn, and storms to cease, and it happened. Jesus prayed for diseases to be arrested, and the sick were cured. Jesus prayed even for the physical laws of

Our Lady of Lourdes is depicted in a painting

by British expressionist Stephen B Whatley.

At Lourdes, Mary is said to have identified herself as the Immaculate Conception.

(Courtesy of Stephen B Whatley/CNS)

Church and the workers

R

ESPONDING to the “new” question of workers’ rights and organised trade unionism in the 19th century did not come easily for the Catholic Church.

The papacy in particular was essentially a medieval monarchy in thinking, and up until 1870 it governed a chunk of what is now central Italy called the Papal States; this was wrested from the pope, much to his horror, by the forces of Italian unification.

The monarchical mentality can also be seen in the hierarchical structuring of the Church: at the top the pope (the king), beneath him the bishops (the equivalent of feudal lords), then the clergy (the functionaries of the lords) and then the laity (the peasants). The rise of capitalism and labour—captains of industry who fitted into none of the categories, and workers who were not bound to any lords but employees—shattered this classic pattern.

To make matters worse, the workers were restless—demanding greater political and economic rights, not least to bargain for their wages. Add to this the emergence of a socialist movement, often quite antireligious, and one can see how complex the whole picture had become.

From 1891, papal Catholic Social Teaching tried to address these problems.

Read from our perspective today, the early social encyclicals likes Rerum Novarum and Quadregesimo Anno seem cautious, even grudging in tone, at times even apparently attempting to defend a hierarchical socioeconomic order that had already broken down: We must allow a just wage and the formation of unions (preferably Catholic ones to counter dangerous Marxist ideas!),

but we must defend private property at all costs too. Moreover we should aim at a kind of compact between capital, labour and the state—often all too reminiscent of the social order of fascist states like Salazar’s Portugal or Mussolini’s Italy.

Gradually, however, Catholic social thought—driven, it should be noted, by the grassroots practice of Catholics in trade unions around the world who increasingly found common ground with their secular and even socialist comrades—came to see that this model could not work.

To their credit, successive popes like John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul II saw the need for more forthright statements in defence of workers, to the point where John Paul II (in 1981’s Laborem Exercens) could say that when it came down to a conflict between the needs of workers and the interests of capital, labour should trump capital. Coming from a pontiff who was fiercely anti-communist, this was radical indeed!

H

ow did this change happen? To a large degree we can see it as a fruit of Vatican II, where many bishops particularly from Latin America and Asia, insisted that the question of justice for workers be put on the agenda.

A significant section (paragraphs 64-72) of Gaudium et Spes (1965) addressed “economic and social life” directly. It insisted that economic activity should serve humanity and “be carried out in accordance with techniques and methods belonging to the moral order, so that God’s design for [humanity] may be fulfilled” (64).

Vatican II’s moral vision of work insist-

Mphuthumi Ntabeni

Reflection on the Apostles Creed – Pt 4

death to be reversed, and so the son of a widow from Nain (Lk 7:11-14), the daughter of Jairus (Mk 5:22-43) and Lazarus (Jn 11:1-44) woke from the dead.

To be Christ-like, then, we must follow Jesus in placing our trust in the power of God. In fact, Christ assures us that if we had faith as big as the mustard seed we would do more. This is why the Church commands its faithful to be Christ-like.

What Christ has taught, and revealed by his own life, is that no matter how hopeless and countless falterings of the world we see, God is in control, and everything shall end according to the purpose of God that has been revealed to us in Christ.

Christ teaches us that our sins are what separates us from God. That despite the mixture of hope and despair; despite our deceptions and failing faith, despite our confused dreams driven back by odious reality; despite the things seeming to fall apart, in Christ we are more than conquerors. All our strife is collected and redeemed in the universal redeem conscience of Christ we are to be when we become. God is, and we are becoming.

With faith in Christ we can do everything, especially since the dominion of all creation has been given unto him.

Christ reveals to us that death is not the end—and that we shall be judged by Love (it’s a double-edged sword in that means love shall be our judge taking account of how much we love).

It is no cheap fancy of St Augustine when he says “love and do as you will”, because true love will never let you sin (at least not with the impunity of a dead conscience) without demanding reparations from your conscience—the Law of God in your flesh.

Anthony Egan SJ

A Church of Hope and Joy

ed that it not be “left to the judgment of a few individuals or groups possessing too much economic power, nor of the political community alone, nor of a few strong nations” (65), clearly rejecting radical free market capitalism, state socialism, as well the kind of dominance by a few (Northern) countries that many “world systems” theorists like Immanuel Wallerstein feared—in effect a new economic colonialism of unequal globalisation.

Vatican II called for greater equality between peoples, the narrowing of the wage gap between workers and employers, and an end to exploitative labour practices. Work had in effect to be humanised—productive certainly, but also creative and the fruit of collaboration between people. Capital and labour needed to collaborate so that all could benefit from work, including enjoying a just share in goods produced (66-69). It envisioned, too, a balance between private property and public ownership, where the latter would benefit everybody.

We can see the vision of Vatican II—in content and method—in subsequent social encyclicals. There are certain basic principles affirmed that need to be interpreted in the light of the “signs of the times”.

Thus one sees in recent social thought an acknowledgment of the reality of economic globalisation, but with a strongly principled call to making the benefits of global capital really accessible to all. And where capital has acted criminally and/or irresponsibly there is a demand for accountability and reform.

The Southern Cross, May 2 to May 8, 2012

7

Michael Shackleton

Open Door

May religious preach?

Persons conducting a communion service in the absence of a priest need to be trained for their ministry. Does a religious brother need to undergo training too? Is he allowed to preach?

Gerti Hoff

N

O lay person may lawfully distribute the Eucharist, either within the liturgy or for the pastoral need of members of the faithful who are confined to their homes, unless he or she has received the required mandate from the local bishop. Such a person must, obviously, have a clear idea of the responsibility this task carries, and be trained to perform it with knowledge and reverence in accordance with the prescribed ritual.

By a lay person is meant anyone who is not an ordained bishop, priest or deacon, and in this sense will include religious brothers and sisters who are not in holy orders.

Religious brothers and sisters who distribute the Eucharist may have had a sound catechetical formation and a more suitable pastoral background than the average lay person, but this does not exempt them from having to receive the same or similar training as others to become an extraordinary minister. They also need the official mandate from the local bishop.

The programme to be followed in instructing candidates to become extraordinary ministers will comprise doctrinal, liturgical and pastoral training. When ready, they will be ceremonially commissioned to perform their duties.

The office of preaching the Word of God belongs to the teaching authority of the Church given by Christ to the apostles. Bishops have complete authority to preach because, as successors of the apostles, they are the authentic teachers and defenders of the faith.

This is in virtue of what Christ told his apostles before his ascension: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time” (Mt 28:18-20).

The homily at Mass is an example of this preaching. Priests and deacons are given the faculty by the bishops to share in the ministry of preaching, because of their ordination. In other words, they share in his teaching office. Therefore, no lay person may deliver a homily during the liturgical celebration, not even a religious brother.

n Send your queries to Open Door, Box 2372, Cape Town, 8000; or e-mail: opendoor@scross.co.za; or fax (021) 465 3850. Anonymity can be preserved by arrangement, but questions must be signed, and may be edited for clarity. Only published questions will be answered.

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8

The Southern Cross, May 2 to May 8, 2012

COMMUNITY

The newly elected general council of the Daughters of St Francis of Assisi in Port Shepstone, Umzinkulu diocese. (From left) Srs Regiswindis Shange, Leocardia Matsafa, Dominica Mkhize (director general), Peter Claver Mvemve and Amata Langa.

The Malawian community choir visited Our Lady of Peace parish in Roodepoort, Johannesburg.

Photographed are Patricia Basrly and Maria Werinberg with members of the Roodepoort choir who participated in the day of singing and celebration.

A centenary Mass marking the arrival in South Africa of Redemptorists in 1912 was held at Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish in Retreat, Cape Town. The two icons in front of the sanctuary were wriiten by local Redemptorist Brother Richard Maidwell. (Submitted by Fr Séan Collins CSsR)

Send photographs, with sender’s name and address on the back, and a SASE to: The Southern Cross, Community Pics, Box 2372, Cape Town, 8000 or email them to: pics@scross.co.za Edited by Lara Moses

13 young people from St Patrick’s parish in Mowbray, Cape Town, had their first communion. They are pictured with parish priest Fr Brian Gelant and their catechist Maureen Fernandes.

Parishioners from San Francesco parish in Port Elizabeth participated in The Way of the Cross procession with Fr Dominic Griego OFM. (Submitted by George Warwick)

The Holy Childhood Sisters in Eshowe, KwaZulu-Natal, celebrated with Bishop Xolelo Thaddeus Kumalo the first profession of Sr Diana Gasa (centre) and the accepting of Srs Thomas Maduna (left) and Crossantia Mkhize into the novitiate. (Submitted by Sr Clarina Shinga)

You are invited to the Annual Life in the Spirit Seminar held in preparation of the Pentecost celebration.

NiGhT

“Come Holy Spirit”

1

DATES

FRi 18

SPEAKER

May

(OPENiNG) YOUR GRACE ARChBiShOP STEPhEN BRiSLiN

2

SAT 19

May

FR. hUGh OCONNOR

3

SUN 20

May

FR. RAPhAEL ThOMAS

4

MON 21

May

FR. RALPh DE hAhN

5

TUES 22

May

FR. PAUL TAYLOR

6

WED 23

May

FR. ANDREW COX

7

ThURS 24 May

FR. BRANDON WEST

8 9

FRi 25 SAT 26

FR. iVANhOE ALLiES FR. EMMANUEL SiLJEUR FR. PETER-JOhN PEARSON

May May

CONTENTS

GOD ThE FAThER LOVES YOU PERSONALLY JESUS SAVES YOU AND SETS YOU FREE JESUS iS ThE LORD OF YOUR LiFE YOU ARE CALLED TO BE hiS DiSCiPLES JESUS SENDS YOU hiS hOLY SPiRiT YOU WiLL RECEiVE hiS hOLY SPiRiT YOU ThEN ARE ThE BODY OF ChRiST YOU ShALL BE MY WiTNESSES PENTECOST MASS

Venue: Bloubergrant School, 6 Curlewis Road, Tableview Dates: Fri 18 May to Sat 26 May 2012 Time: 7.30pm Directions From CT take the R27. Pass Bayside Centre on the RHS. At the next set of robots turn left into Porterfield Road, and first left in Curlewis Road. From N1 & N2 take the N7 turnoff. Take the Plattekloof exit. (Caltex refinery in front of you).

Turn left into Plattekloof Road and drive straight down to Koeberg Road. Turn right. Drive to next big set of robots and turn left in Blaauwberg Road. Drive straight down to West Coast Road. (Bayside Centre on RHS). At West Coast Road turn right. At the next big set of robots turn left into Porterfield Road, and first left into Curlewis Road.

“Fill us with your Love”

FAITH

The Southern Cross, May 2 to May 8, 2012

Fighting with God in their corner For some extreme martial arts fighters, punches and faith go glove-in-glove. CLAIRE MATHIESON visited a gym where the rosary reminds the fighters where their talent comes from.

I

T’S fight night in Cape Town, with the very best from local boxing clubs and gyms ready to face off in front of a large crowd.

A fighter enters the boxing ring.

He is energised by the crowd, the music, the well-dressed announcer’s drawing out the competitors’ names for effect and the adrenalin is coursing through the fighter’s veins.

Despite being well prepared, both fighters will still probably get hurt—either physically from punches and kicks to the head and body (certainly felt despite protective head gear, boxing gloves and shin pads), or emotionally from losing.

Usually the two go hand-in-hand, so the anxiety is even greater.

But this fighter is different. As he enters the ring, he kneels down. He makes the sign of the cross. After standing, a trainer removes the

fighter’s rosary—now he’s ready. It’s unexpected and it’s not some pugilist intimidation tactic.

This fighter has delicate religious phrases and images permanently emblazoned on his skin and rarely parts with his rosary. In more than one sense of the word, this is a staunch Catholic.

And there’s a group of these muscled Catholics at a gym in Cape Town. While fighting is not something that usually goes hand-inhand with religion, for one group of Muay Thai and mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters in Cape Town, their faith has been enhanced by their sport.

Neville Addinall grew up Methodist, but after meeting his wife Alice he started to become interested in the Church. He was married in the Catholic Church and brought up his children in the faith, and eight years ago he eventually decided to convert to Catholicism.

Guided by Deacon Weston Barwise, Mr Addinall was confirmed at Good Shepherd parish in Bothasig.

Since then he has been an active part of the Catholic community.

It only made sense that his faith would filter into his gym. A boxing champion in the defence force (with a record of 45 wins out of 50 fights), he was one of the most

Neville Addinall (second from the right), Wade Hammond (third right) and other members of Pro Fitness gym, wear rosaries with their fighting gear. They believe that faith and martial arts can go hand-in-hand. recognised fighters around. He then turned his attention to kickboxing, becoming a professional and won titles in the cruiser and light-heavyweight categories, representing both province and country.

Mr Addinall’s professional career ended with a bang, literally, as he was shot after his last professional fight. Mr Addinall was bodyguarding a VIP client at the time.

T

he sport is associated with violence, but Mr Addinall wanted to give back to the sport and opened the Pro Fitness gym in 2010 to share his knowledge of full contact mixed martial arts to men, women and children where fitness, self-defence and also healthy competition is practised.

Mr Addinall believes all sport is positive, and martial arts is simply just another sport.

“It is possible to be a Catholic and still fight, as this is only a sport,” he told The Southern Cross. “I received this talent from God. God has blessed me with this talent and

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every day I thank God for giving me this opportunity to be able to teach this disciplined sport and for helping me to contribute to a brighter future for talented youngsters.”

Martial arts helps people focus on something positive “which in turn reduces any temptation to become involved in crime and drugs and also keeping the youngsters off the streets”, he explained.

His wife agrees: “Martial arts is a disciplined sport and excellent for self-defence and fitness,” said Alice Addinall, who acts as the gym’s administrator.

She said the gym also trains individuals who want to compete at the highest levels in the disciplines of K1, Muay Thai and kickboxing.

Mr Addinall incorporates his faith into his work. “The importance of my faith is noticed by all my fighters in the gym as I have a blessed rosary hanging in the gym to remind me of the talent that I have received from God.” The rosary reminds him that God is always near and is present in all his classes.

While Pro Fitness is not exclusively a Catholic club, it is home to a few competitive Catholic students. “They help and inspire each other—both in the sport and in the Catholic faith,” Mr Addinall said.

“The club has become a close family as each individual respects and guides each other in their beliefs.”

The influence the gym has had on his fighters is clear. Many of the fighters practise their faiths and skills at the same time. For one fighter, it was his passion for his sport that led him to the Church.

Wade Hammond is a competitive fighter and assistant trainer at the gym. He started training three years ago and competed in his first

J.M.J

Call Shari or Sean on 011 361 6050

amateur fight last year. This year he will be confirmed a Catholic.

To Mr Hammond, being religious is extremely important: his talent came from God and God is the first and last person he speaks to before and after a fight. God keeps “me humble and down to earth”, he said.

Asked if he thought there was a conflict between becoming a Catholic and training as a fighter, he said being a fighter doesn’t mean a person is “a bad or negative person”. Mr Hammond said the only reason he was able to fight was because “God is the one who gives me the strength and courage to enter the ring,” he said.

Because of the nature of the sport, there is a possibility of being hurt when one is in the ring. However, the fighters are quick to point out that not everyone who trains at the gym will fight—only those who want to. The rest simply train to get fit and healthy and to learn how to defend themselves if the need should ever arise.

Those who do fight are well prepared and the injuries incurred are not necessarily different from those one might sustain in other sports.

The risks are present but are only a small part of the sport—much like rugby or horse riding.

Mr Hammond feels that all fighters should have the privilege to turn to God and ask them for strength and support in any sport.

Members of the club practise their faith and their sport at the same time and believe that these seemingly opposing features actually enhance each other. “I am grateful that I know God is in my corner for every fight,” said Mr Hammond. n For more information on Pro Fitness contact profitness@telkomsa.net

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10

The Southern Cross, May 2 to May 8, 2012

PERSONALITY

Touched By An Angel star now produces angels In the 1990s, Catholic actress Roma Downey was one of the biggest television stars in the world. Today she is involved in the production of DVDs about angels for children and a big documentary on the Bible, as she tells MARK PATTISON.

J

UST when you might have forgotten about the family-friendly television series Touched By An Angel, the show’s star Roma Downey is tweaking the concept.

Ms Downey, a Catholic, has created an animated DVD series called Little Angels. The premise is that twin siblings are visited by eight child-size angels who are ordinarily stuck on the walls of their bedroom but who come to life after the twins’ mother tucks the kids in for the night. The angels take the children on lifelesson-learning adventures. Ms Downey provides the voice of the children’s mother.

“Having played an angel so long on Touched by an Angel, I shouldn’t be surprised” about being involved in a new angelthemed project, Ms Downey said.

“It’s always been about God’s love. It beats at the centre of my own heart.”

The adventures the Little Angels take twins Alex and Zoe on link the problems that wee ones encounter with Bible stories. Ms Downey said one such story involves a boy frustrated at not being able to tie his shoes, but the angels take him back to the time

of Noah to learn a lesson in how to persevere.

When she was a working mother, Ms Downey said, “I was able to sit them [the children] down in front of a DVD because I had to deal with a plumber or a gardener or something. Wouldn’t you rather they were sitting down in front of something that feeds not only their mind but their heart, and for a loving God?” Currently, there are two DVDs and two companion CDs available on the Little Angels website (www.littleangels.com). Downey said she expects to expand those offerings this year.

Little Angels is just the first offering of Ms Downey’s own production company, Light Works.

The next effort is decidedly more ambitious: a 10-hour miniseries on the Bible.

“We have only ten hours. I wish we had ten hundred hours,” Ms Downey said, noting that the miniseries will cover from “Genesis through Revelation”.

Although she is still looking at scripts, she said plans call for the mini-series’ debut on Easter in 2013 on the History channel, with future episodes on successive Sundays.

“It’s a herculean task, which is thrilling—thrilling and terrifying and humbling, so keep us in your prayers,” she said.

Ms Downey has a brother, John, who is a priest in her native Northern Ireland.

“We call him Father Brother,” she said, adding that her 15-yearold daughter, Riley, is preparing for her confirmation this year. The teen’s godfather is another priest,

Roma Downey, the Catholic actress who starred in the 1990s television series Touched by an Angel, has created an animated DVD series called Little Angels (see DVD cover above).

Fr Paddy Kane, who also hails from Northern Ireland, and who recently paid a visit to Ms Downey and her family in California.

Ms Downey said her unusual first name is a combination of “Rose” and “Mary”, the names of her grandmothers. She said her

parents wanted to have her baptised as Roma, but the priest would not permit it since there was no saint named Roma. “I’ll christen her Rose Mary and you can call her whatever you like,” the priest said. “And they did,” she added.

When Ms Downey decided to become a US citizen, she took advantage of a line on one of the forms she had to fill out that allowed her to legally change her first name.

A man working at “the government building in Los Angeles” summoned her to his desk after he reviewed the form, she recalled.

“He looks at my form. ‘It looks like you’re going to change your name, is that right?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Isn’t there an actress by the same name.’ ‘Yes, there is.’ ‘What are you, a big fan of hers?’ ‘Well, actually, I am her.’

“He just about fell off his chair.”—CNS

The Southern Cross, May 2 to May 8, 2012

When has Rome spoken?

T

HE latest revision of the liturgical texts gave rise to some interesting—and heated—debates, but was the outcome ever in doubt?

Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, chairman of Vox Clara, the committee that oversees the work of translation, has said that the process has been an outstanding example of collegiality. This hardly gels with the requirement on members of Vox Clara to take an oath of secrecy regarding their deliberations.

The text we used from 1972 until last Advent was produced by the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL), which was chaired for 17 years by Archbishop Denis Hurley. Its proceedings were always open to all and as far as humanly possible it listened to all views.

In the words of Donum Veritatis, theologians are

Southern CrossWord solutions SOLUTIONS TO #495. ACROSS: 1 News, 3 Premiers, 9 Titanic, 10 Kafka, 11 Conspirators, 13 Nailed, 15 Serene, 17 Charismatics, 20 Moron, 21 Unction, 22 Gathered, 23 Idol. DOWN: 1 Noticing, 2 Wotan, 4 Record, 5 Make the match, 6 Enforce, 7 Spat, 8 An appearance, 12 Personal, 14 Inherit, 16 Assume, 18 Iliad, 19 Smug.

Liturgical Calendar Year B Weekdays Year 2

Sunday, May 6, Fifth Sunday of Easter Acts 9: 26-31, Psalms 22: 26-28, 30-32, 1 John 3: 18-24, John 15: 1-8 Monday, May 7, feria Acts 14: 5-18, Psalms 42:2-3; 43:3-4, John 10:110 Tuesday, May 8, feria Acts 14: 19-28, Psalms 145: 10-13, 21, John 14: 27-31 Wednesday, May 9, feria Acts 15: 1-6, Psalms 112: 1-5, John 15: 1-8 Thursday, May 10, feria Acts 15:22-31, Psalms 57: 8-12, John 15: 12-17 Friday, May 11, feria Acts 13: 26-33, Psalms 2: 6-11, John 14: 1-6 Saturday, May 12, feria Acts 16: 1-10, Psalms 100, John 15: 18-21 Sunday, May 13, Sixth Sunday of Easter Acts 10: 25-26, 34-35, 44-48, Psalms 98: 1-4, 1 John 4: 7-10, John 15: 9-17

Pray that AFRICA may draw closer to the HEART OF CHRIST 2 Chron 7:14 Matthew 7:7-12

PILGRIMAGES 2012

l

Holy Land - September 2012 l - September 2012 l

l Medjugorje

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CLASSIFIEDS

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

free to “investigate objectively” but are expected (as are Catholics in general), to “submit loyally to teachings of the magisterium”. The crux of the issue is in the meaning of “magisterium”. Does it apply, in full rigour, to the pope signing off the work of a fairly small committee of experts?

Is it naughty to remember that Pope Honorius (early 7th century) sided with the heretics who said that Christ had no human will and so he was not fully human, or that a Council in 680 defined “that there shall be expelled from the holy Church of God and anathematised Honorius who was some time pope of Old Rome”. This kept theologians in a tizz in 1870 when Vatican I was considering papal infallibility.

Was Pope Paul VI wrong about how to translate, using dynamic equivalence, and Pope John Paul II, using formal equivalence, right?

One thing is very clear to me. The Church has lived through issues like this many times, and comes out of them the more true to the Good News.

The same Donum Veritatis (co-authored by Pope Benedict when he was prefect of the Congregation for Doctrine and Faith) that calls for loyal submission also says that “magisterial documents [official Church teaching] may not be free of deficiencies”.

Out of this kind of tension our experience of Christ grows deeper, our faith emerges stronger.

Denis Barrett, Johannesburg

Community Calendar

To place your event, call Lara Moses at 021 465 5007 or e-mail l.moses@scross.co.za (publication subject to space)

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: St Paul’s parish in Somerset West will be having a fundraising cheese and wine event on May19 at 6:30 in the church hall. An auction of a painting of The Crucifixion will also take place. (www.stpaul-somer setwest.co.za) Cost: R 50 (single) or R90 (double).

Contact: Monique Rolando on 082 5555 610 or stpaulsw@netactive.co.za Sr Rosemarie of the Holy Cross Sisters is looking for musical instruments (new or used) for the elderly and adult patients of the psychiatric ward to help make

a “holy noise to the Lord”.

Contact Sr Rosemarie at the Holy Cross Convent, Modderdam Road or call 021 934 6006. You can leave your gift at reception at Nazareth House, Upper Mill Street, Cape Town.

DURBAN: St Anthony’s, Durban Central: Tuesday 09:00 Mass with novena to St Anthony. First Friday 17:30 Mass. Mercy novena prayers. Tel: 031 309 3496.

JOHANNESBURG: Rosary at Marie Stopes clinic, Peter Place, Sandton. First Saturday of every month, 10:30-12:00. Also Gandhi Square, Main Rd. Third Saturday of every month, 10:30-12:00. Tel: Joan 011 782-4331

11

Births • First Communion • Confirmation • Engagement/Marriage • Wedding anniversary • Ordination jubilee • Congratulations • Deaths • In memoriam • Thanks • Prayers • Accommodation • Holiday Accommodation • Personal • Services • Employment • Property • Others Please include payment (R1,15 a word) with small advertisements for promptest publication.

IN MEMORIAM

SMITH—Brother Gert, Oblate St Francis de Sales, Keimoes and Namaqualand. In loving memory. Passed away on May 4, 2009. A loving brother gone to rest, for all of us he did the best. Rest in peace. Remembered by his family, godchild Mary da Silva (Pillay), all friends and The Oblates of St Francis de Sales also Koelenhof.

PERSONAL

ABORTION is murder— Speak out on this issue!

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YOU CAN have no culture of life until you have a culture of Christ. See www.abort73.com/end_ abortion

PRAYERS

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.

Thanks for prayers answered. Pat. 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.

RCP

THANKS

GRATEFUL thanks to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Our Mother Mary and Ss Joseph, Anthony, Jude and Martin de Porres for prayers answered. RCP.

EMPLOYMENT

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ACCOMMODATION

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Beach five minutes walk.

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HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION

CAPE TOWN: Fully equipped self-catering, 2 bedroom apartment with parking, in Strandfontein @R400 or R480 (low/high season) (4 persons per night ) Info: Paul 021 393 2503, 083 553 9856, vivilla@telkomsa.net

BALLITO: Up-market penthouse on beach, self-catering. 084 790 6562.

BETTY'S BAY: (Western Cape) Holiday home sleeps six, three bathrooms, close to beach, R800/night. 021 794 4293 marialouise@ mweb.co.za

FISH HOEK: Self-catering accommodation, sleeps 4.

Secure parking. Tel: 021 785 1247.

GORDON’S BAY: Beautiful en-suite rooms available at reasonable rates. Magnificent views, breakfast on request. Tel: 082 774 7140. bzhive@telkomsa.net KNYSNA: Self-catering accommodation for 2 in Old Belvidere with wonderful Lagoon views. 044 387 1052.

KZN SOUTH COAST: Honeywood: Luxury chalets & The Cellar boutique restaurant. 7 x 4-sleeper luxury chalets. Quiet urban forest retreat opposite Sea Park Catholic Church. Ideal for retreats & holidays www.honeywoodsa.co.za honeywood@honey woodsa.co.za Tel 039 695 1036 Fax 086 585 0746.

LONDON: Protea House: Underground 3min, Piccadilly 20min. Close to River Thames. Self-catering. Single per night R300, twin R480. Phone Peter 021 851 5200.

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 PENNINGTON: Accommodation still available for July school holidays. A two bedroom, two bathroom, six sleeper maisonette. Contact Barney on 082 266 3614 or 039 975 3842.

SEDGEFIELD: Beautiful self-catering garden flat sleeps four, two bedrooms, open-plan lounge, kitchen, fully equipped. 5min walk to lagoon. Contact 082 900 6282.

STELLNBOSCH: Five simple private suites (2 beds, fridge, micro-wave).

Countryside vineyard/forest/mountain walks; beach 20 minute drive. Affordable.

Christian Brothers Tel 021 880 0242, cbcstel@gmail.com STRAND: Beachfront flat to let. Stunning views, fully equipped. Garage, one bedroom, sleeps 3-4. R450 p/night for 2 people-low season. Phone Brenda 082 822 0607

RETREATS

PLETTENBERG BAY: Sat Chit Anand Interfaith Spiritual Retreat Centre.

Make space in your life for Spirit. Enjoy a peaceful holiday with optional meditation, mass, theology classes, yoga. Interfaith chapel, library, and healing centre. Self-catering cottages. Priests stay free.

See www.satchitanand.co.za for more info, Phone 044 533 0453 or email satchi tanand@global.co.za

PO Box 2372, CAPE TOWN, 8000 Tel: (021) 465 5007 Fax: (021) 465 3850

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6th Sunday of Easter:May 13 Readings: Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48, Psalm 98:1-4, 1 John 4:7-10, John 15:9-17

W

E are coming nearer now to the end of the Easter season, and starting to think about the gift of the Holy Spirit which is its climax. What does this “Holy Spirit” do?

In the first place, in the first reading for next Sunday, the Spirit brings together the Gentile centurion and Peter, who is not inclined to believe that non-Jews have a place in the Jesus movement.

Both Peter and Cornelius have had a vision that brings them together; when the meeting takes place, Cornelius’ instinct is to worship Peter, but that is not what he is supposed to be doing, and Peter has to stand him up, and say: “I am also [just] a human being.”

When Cornelius gives his account of the vision that has come to him, Peter is led by the Spirit to say: “In truth I see that God is no snob; but in every culture those who reverence God and perform righteousness are acceptable to him.”

This is the start of a long speech, at the end of which, “the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening”. No explanation is given of what form this coming of the Holy Spirit might have taken, but it is clearly a “free gift” and quite unmistakable. Its effects, according to this reading are “speaking in tongues and praising God”. There is also another effect, however, that Peter, the observant Jew, is

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Triumph over disaster Nicholas King SJ

Sunday Reflections

brought to understand that non-Jews can indeed belong in the Jesus movement: “Could anyone prevent water, to stop these people being baptised, given that they have received the Holy Spirit just like us?” That is how the Spirit works: Cornelius and his household are baptised, and in return they offer hospitality (“they asked him to remain for some days”).

How is the Spirit working in your household, this week?

In the psalm for next Sunday, the Spirit might be said to act by encouraging believers to sing a “new song”, out of recognition that “the Lord has done marvellous deeds; his right hand and his holy arm have won him victory”; and here too we see that the vision goes beyond Israel: “The Lord has made known his victory in the eyes of the Gentiles; he has revealed his righteousness,” he sings, and “all the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God”, and therefore everyone is invited to “make a joyful noise, exult and sing

praise”. That is something that the Spirit might invite you to do, this week.

The second reading expresses the mystery in terms of love; if you count the number of times the word is used, as adjective, verb and noun, it comes to no less than ten, in four verses. That is surely a profound mark of the Spirit’s presence: Christians are to love each other; the source of love is God, all who love are born of God and know God, God is love, and God has sent his only son into the world, “that we might live through him”.

And love does not start with us, but with God, “who sent his son as a way of dealing with our sins”. The Spirit is not mentioned in this reading, but what is the Spirit breathing in your ear, this week?

The gospel for next Sunday is taken from the Last Supper discourse in John’s gospel, the little group huddled in the room, with the darkness pressing outside, and the sad question hanging over them, “how can we survive without Jesus?” The answer that this discourse will give them, of course, is “the Paraclete”, but in our reading, we are still in the image of Jesus as the Vine, to which we belong, and that belonging is, clearly, the work of the Spirit, who is not explicitly mentioned in that reading, but is unmistakably there, just below the surface of the text.

Once again, you might count the number

How to live in the light S

EVERAL years ago, I was approached by a man who asked me to be his spiritual director. He was in his mid-forties and almost everything about him radiated a certain health.

As we sat down to talk, I mentioned that he seemed to be in a very good space. He smiled and replied that, yes, this was so, but it hadn’t always been so. His happiness had its own history— and its own pre-history. Here’s how he told his story: “I haven’t always been in a good space in my life; in fact, it’s been a long struggle to get where I am today. For more than 20 years, from the time I left high school until three years ago, I struggled with two addictions: alcohol and sex.

“I had them enough under control that I could essentially hide them from my family, my friends, and my colleagues. As well, I never acted out in very dangerous ways. I was addicted, but still had good control in my life.

“The problem was that I was living a double life—showing one life to my family and friends and living another life secretly (alcohol, pornography, and pick-up bars) on the side. I never once missed a day of work and was always able to function at a high level professionally, but my life slowly began to fixate around my addictions—hiding them, lying about my activities, fiercely protecting my privacy, resentment towards anything or anybody who

Classic Conrad

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

stood between me and my addictions, and daily anxiety, scheming about where I would go at night.

“I functioned decently within my work and my relationships, but my mind, heart, and real attention were focused on something else, my addictions, my next hit.

“I’m not sure what the exact trigger was since there were a number of things that hit me at a point (my father’s death, a couple of near escapes in terms of being discovered, some real shame, some graced moments of clarity when I sensed both my hypocrisy and the deadend road I was on), but three years ago I went on a retreat to a monastery and had the courage to have a long talk with the abbot.

“He suggested that I go into two recovery programmes, one to deal with alcohol and the other to deal with sex. I took his advice and all I can say is that it has completely turned my life around.

I’ve been ‘sober’ now for three years and the best way that I can describe it is that now ‘I see colour again’. Nothing feels as great as honesty! I have never been this happy! I’m now living in the light!”

‘I distinctly said fetch the boat!!!’ (Altar servers’ in-joke)

We’re called to live in the light, but we tend to have an overly romantic idea of what that should mean. We tend to think that to live in the light means that there should be a kind of special sunshine inside of us, a divine glow in our conscience, a sunny joy inside us that makes us constantly want to praise God, an ambience of sacredness surrounding our attitude.

But that’s unreal. What does it mean to live in the light?

To live in the light means to live in honesty, pure and simple, to be transparent, to not have part of us hidden as a dark secret.

All conversion and recovery programmes worthy of the name are based on bringing us to this type of honesty.

We move towards spiritual health precisely by flushing out our sickest secrets and bringing them into the light. Sobriety is more about living in honesty and transparency than it is about living without a certain chemical, gambling, or sexual habit.

It’s the hiding of something, the lying, the dishonesty, the deception, the resentment we harbour towards those who stand between us and our addiction, that does the real damage to us and to those we love.

Spiritual health lies in honesty and transparency and so we live in the light when we are willing to lay every part of our lives open to examination by those who need to trust us. l To live in the light is to be able always to tell our loved ones where we are and what we are doing. l To live in the light is not to have to worry if someone traces what websites we have visited. l To live in the light is to not be anxious if someone in the family finds our files unlocked. l To live in the light is to be able to let those we live with listen to what’s inside our cell-phones, see what’s inside our e-mails, and know who’s on our speed-dial. l To live in the light is to have a confessor and to be able to tell that person what we struggle with, without having to hide anything.

To live in the light is to live in such a way that, for those who know us, our lives are an open book.

Donations and volunteers and prayers always welcome

of times that “love” is mentioned: I make it nine, and in addition he twice uses the word for “friend”, which in Greek is also related to the idea of loving.

That is what the Spirit does for us. The Father loves the Son, and the Son loves us, and our invitation is to “remain in my love”.

What is this, if not the powerful work of the Spirit?

And there is another word in this text, which also denotes the presence of the Spirit, namely “joy”; it only comes twice, if you count, but each time it is unmistakably significant. It also has an effect which must be the work of the Spirit: “no one has greater love than this, that they lay down their life for their friends”.

That is not a bad test, we must admit; then come two more words: “slave” (which, it turns out, we are not) and “choose”. The “slave” does not know what his master is doing, whereas, by contrast, those who have been chosen do know. But we are to notice that we are “chosen”; it is not we who have generously selected Jesus, but Jesus who has chosen us, and that is certainly the work of the Spirit: “I have appointed you”, says Jesus, “to go and bear fruit and your fruit remain”.

And the reading concludes where it started, but by now we have gone far deeper into what the Spirit is doing for us: “this is my commandment to you, that you love each other”.

What is the Spirit commanding you to do, this week?

Southern Crossword #496

ACROSS

DOWN

1. Information from four points 1. Becoming aware of mixing (4) gin and tonic (8) 3. They are at the top of govern- 2. A town for ancient god (5) ment (8) 4. Disc the athlete wants to 9. Having the strength of the old break (6) shipwreck? (7) 5. The marriage-arranger will 10. Famous Czech novelist (5) do it (4,3,5) 11. They plot together about 6. See that the law is applied (7) sporran topics (12) 7. Past little quarrel (4) 13. How Daniel was put to 8. Our Lady sometimes puts death? (6) one in (2,10) 15. Calm, like Her Highness? (6) 12. How to describe the rela17. Worshippers who use Holy tionships in the Trinity? (8) Spirit's gifts (12) 14. Receive as a bequest (7) 20. Fool right in the middle of 16. Take up, like Mary (6) the moon (5) 18. I dial up story of siege of 21. Extreme sacramental oil (7) Troy (5) 22. Came together in the assem- 19. Self-satisfied (4) bly (8) 23. Lazy-sounding effigy (4) Solutions on page 11

CHURCH CHUCKLE

O

NE evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said: “My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all.

One is evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee simply replied: “The one you feed.”

Send us your favourite Catholic joke, preferably clean and brief, to The Southern Cross, Church Chuckle, PO Box 2372, Cape Town, 8000.