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January 2 to January 8, 2013

Time to rethink role of education?

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R6,00 (incl VAT RSA)

Reg No. 1920/002058/06

Paul VI takes first step towards canonisation

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No 4806

The Top 10 highlights of pope’s 2012

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What SA can expect in 2013 BY CLAIRE MATHIESON

ESPITE criticism for corruption, lack of service delivery and unrest within the ruling African National Congress, some government ministries have made progress on which to build, according to a Catholic political analyst. Previewing South Africa’s 2013, Mike Pothier, research coordinator of the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office, said positive strides had been made in the last year which he hoped will continue. “Some ministries have shown some success: Home Affairs, Health, and the National Planning Committee—these have moved forward and I think this will continue,” Mr Pothier said. Parliament is more robust and involved in the country and there has been better monitoring of departments, he said. “However, those that regressed in the past year will also continue to move in that direction,” he warned. The Department of Basic Education is one such worry, with no end in sight to its current dismal performance. But there were other areas of concern for the year ahead, Mr Pothier said. On the police, he said: “There is a distinct lack of accountability and hints of an attitude that ‘we are above the law’.” This could be seen in the “blue light brigades” commonly used by politicians today. While such services are needed, Mr Pothier said, the bullying nature, disregard for other road users and dangerous driving was “a hallmark of a police state”. “The Marikana overreaction was another example of the police becoming a force instead of a service. Whether it was a lack of training or a lack of respect—it is a problem,” he said. Mr Pothier also made mention of the number of complaints to the Independent

Complaints Directorate, showing an increase in the number of rape and assault cases laid against police members. “There’s just too much going suggesting that this is no longer a police service. There seems to be an understanding that the police are a force and along with that comes an arrogance and an attitude that is detrimental.” Mr Pothier said these issues have yet to be properly addressed. This shows failure of leadership and a lack of respect. “This could get worse,” he added. On the public broadcaster, he said: “The growing lack of professionalism and outright bias of the SABC is also concerning. It would seem the head of news is just trying to please Luthuli House.” Mr Pothier said the national broadcaster was becoming counterdemocratic. “We have already seen direct editorial interference. It is reminiscent of the 1980s. Journalists have already resigned.” Reflecting on December’s ANC elective conference, Mr Pothier noted that the election of Cyril Ramaphosa as the party’s deputy president was the most significant development in the ANC since the ousting of former president Thabo Mbeki. “Mr Ramaphosa holds an almost unique position in South African politics—he has few significant enemies, and a very wide range of friends,” Mr Pothier said. “He has remained popular with the party faithful since leaving Parliament in 1997 and has consistently been elected to a high position on the party’s executive. His history as a trade unionist has kept him on relatively friendly terms with many in the trade union movement, while his high profile business achievements have endeared him to the corporate sector.’ He said. “Virtually everyone remembers how he and Roelf Meyer [then of the National Party] Continued on page 11

The visit of the Magi is portrayed in a stained-glass window at St Michael’s cathedral in Toronto. The feast of the Epiphany of the Lord in the Catholic Church in the West is on January 6. It commemorates the adoration of the new-born Christ by the Magi, or Wise Men. (Photo: Nancy Wiechec, CNS)

Pope condemns dope in sport BY CAROL GLATZ

P Fr Vicky Rikhotso was ordained for the diocese of Tzaneen, Limpopo, by Bishop João Rodrigues. He is seen being congratulated by his grandmother. Fr Rikhotso’s father had hoped to become a priest but could not enter the seminary because the grandmother felt she could not allow her only son to join the priesthood. (Photo: Mathibela Sebothoma)

OPE Benedict has condemned “doping” in sports and called on athletes and coaches to strive for victory through ethical and legal practices. “Every sport, both on amateur and professional levels, requires fairness in competition, respect for one’s body, a sense of solidarity and altruism and also joy, satisfaction and celebration,” he said. All of that is made possible with “authentic human maturity, comprised of sacrifice, tenacity, patience and, above all, humility, which is never applauded, but is the secret to victory”, he said. The pope’s comments came during an audience at the Vatican with a 200-person

delegation from the Italian National Olympic Committee. If sports are to have full meaning for those who participate, they have to serve the whole person, the pope said. What’s at stake in the world of sports is not just a respect for the rules, but upholding a vision of the human person as someone in need of education, spiritual fulfillment and “transcendent values,” he said. “Pressure to achieve important results must never drive [people] to take shortcuts as happens in the case of doping.” Team owners, administrators and coaches are all called “to be witnesses of the good of humanity, cooperating with families and schools for the education of young people,” Continued on page 4

The Southern Cross, January 2 to January 8, 2013

LOCAL

Acts steps up for the environment BY LINDA FEKISI

URING its 19th annual leadership conference held at Koinonia in Johannesburg, the Association of Catholic Tertiary Students (Acts) gathered to discuss the vision of the association during the 2012/2013 leadership term and establish the theme for the term: Acts Going Green. The theme was officially initiated by leaders who represented their various provinces where the association is active such as the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Limpopo, North West, Western Cape, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal. Takalani Phethi, national Acts president, said climate change was something noted by the students. “We have been challenged by what we see and hear about climate change. “These challenges affect us

directly and indirectly, we have to do something to make sure we take care of the land that gives us food. We also have to make people aware that we need to take good care of it.” The week-long leadership conference included training on leadership by the national executive committee and national youth chaplain Fr Sammy Mabusela CSS, who is also the national Acts chaplain, guest speakers from Justice and Peace, the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference’s evangelisation office, an Alpha course, and Acts policy reviews and the initiation of the academic policy. The various provinces joined forces to form a united vision of the association. They reviewed the state in which each province was in terms of policies that were already in existence and how they

could move towards furthering the growth of Acts. Appropriately, the conference also included a session by the South African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute leading to the establishment of a major project: the going green clean-up. The NEC identified an area around Koinonia that needed cleaning up. This was the first step towards taking care of Mother Nature, they said. “It was great, it is always good to start something and finish it, no matter how small it is,” said national projects officer Siyabonga Mkhize. “That feeling of accomplishment is priceless. We went to a dumping site. Even though we could not breathe, we swallowed our pride and put our faith into action. The community might not appreciate it, but our hearts are at peace.”

The student body will continue he said. Members of thethroughout Associationthe of Catholic such projects year, Tertiary Students get ready for the big clean-up

Joy at Oudtshoorn ordination STAFF REPORTER

B Fr Boniface Mashiane of Polokwane celebrated his silver jubilee surrounded by hundreds of Catholics from his diocese. (Photo: Mathibela Sebothoma)

ISHOP Francisco de Gouveia of Oudtshoorn, who was appointed bishop in 2010, has ordained his first priest to the diocese. Cradock-born newly ordained priest Fr Luyolo Vincent Jacobs was ordained in a crowded St Blaize church in Mossel Bay. In his sermon, the bishop emphasised the importance of prayer in a priest’s life, comparing

a priest with no prayer life to a cellphone with no airtime. A priest might look good in his vestments but without prayer, he is nothing. “Prayer is a very important weapon for priests. So, my son, acquaint yourself with a prayerful life,” the bishop told the new priest during the Mass which was concelebrated by priests from Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and Queenstown. “Long years of studies in different stages of formation have

proved beyond doubt that God elected you even before this date of priest election,” Bishop de Gouveia said. He told Fr Jacobs that a priest is a teacher of Jesus Christ’s teachings and values, whose responsibility is to sanctity the flock of God. During the ordination, which featured the diocesan choir and two brass bands, the bishop told the congregation two more young men from Oudtshoorn are to go to the seminary next year.

A message from Archbishop Buti Tlhagale

In these troubled economic times, newspapers the world over are struggling for survival. While our own Southern Cross has managed almost 92 unbroken years of publication, it too will soon begin to feel the pressure of rising costs.

I urge you to support the Southern Cross Associates Campaign to ensure that this newspaper can continue to serve the Catholic community in Southern Africa. God Bless you for your support.

Archbishop Buti Tlhagale Archbishop of Johannesburg and President of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference

Thanks to the on-going support of our Associates we: • have initiated new projects to strengthen the Catholic Social Communications Apostolate in South Africa, especially with a view of reaching younger Catholics. • ensured that every seminarian in the country has access to The Southern Cross • provide many prisons with the Catholic newspaper to help inmates turn around their lives towards God. • supply free copies every week to six bases of the South African National Defence Force to give our soldiers spiritual support.

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LOCAL

The Southern Cross, January 2 to January 8, 2013

Jubilees for Schoenstatt STAFF REPORTER

Schoenstatt Sisters celebrated diamond and gold jubilees at their chapel in Constantia, Cape Town.

HE jubilees of eight Schoenstatt sisters in Cape Town were celebrated at a special Mass. Three of the sisters were celebrating their diamond, and five their golden jubilees. Archbishop Emeritus Lawrence Henry, who officiated at the solemn Mass in Schoenstatt, Constantia, said it was an occasion which would not appear in the headlines of the secular press, but would “certainly be taken seriously by God”. The eldest of the jubilarians, Sr Vincentis Gahweiler, is from Switzerland and is still very active at Villa Maria students’ residence in Tamboerskloof. South African Sr Sheila Bell worked for 50 years at the chancery in Cape Town for various bishops including Cardinal Owen McCann and Archbishop Henry. She was also the archdiocesan archivist. The remaining jubilarians, Srs Linda Drees, Christjosa Krause, Doreen Stockinger, Vivienne Scholl, Florence Henkel and Judith Steib, are originally from Germany and over the years have “rendered outstanding service to the Church in our country,” said Sr Glynis Kirchhoffer, superior at Villa Maria hostel. The celebrations continued and the house chapel of the Schoenstatt Sisters in Constantia was filled with well-wishers, both laity and religious, who attended a second celebration of the jubilees. Archbishop Stephen Brislin of

Cape Town was the main celebrant at the Mass, concelebrated by Frs Peter-John Pearson, Job Kaleekarampil, Otmar Behlich and Ivanhoe Allies. In his homily, Fr Pearson said that the sisters had, both individually and collectively, protected whatever was threatened and provided life-giving energy and a “legacy of blessings”. “Through prayer and loyalty to the vision and mission of the founder, they have borne witness to the presence of Mary in a world which is often angry, disappointed, cynical and confused. “Together they met the challenge of the founder’s exile as also the experience of the apartheid years during which Schoenstatt’s doors were open to everyone,” the priest said. Fr Pearson said throughout all these events the sisters were protectors of all that was meaningful and precious. He also convinced them that “the best is yet to come!” Sr Kirchhoffer said it was a powerful moment when the jubilarians renewed their promises and pledged themselves forever, by the help of God’s grace and the covenant with Our Lady, to remain true to their calling. Each Sister was applauded as she was introduced to the congregation by Sr Iona Mackenzie, the Provincial of the Sisters of Mary. Sr Kirchhoffer said the social gathering that followed proved to be a “happy, family-like, noisy occasion”.

Potjie competition to start pro-life year BY CLAIRE MATHIESON

ULTURE of Life Apostolate’s Divine Mercy House on Johannesburg’s West Rand will start 2013 with a fundraising effort aimed at heightening the awareness of the home and raising the much-needed funds to keep the home running. The Culture of Life Apostolate (Cola) was an initiative which Archbishop Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg launched and in early

2012, the Divine Mercy homes were established in a response to the abortion laws of South Africa. Chairman of the home in Wilgespruit, Tom van der Marck, said the house serves women who opt not to abort their babies but lack the support to see their pregnancy to term. “The women receive basic life skills training and other inputs that will better prepare them to sustain themselves and their baby post-birth,” he said.

“The homes are served by dedicated people who ascribe to the anti-abortion movement spanning the world.” The Divine Mercy home on the West Rand serves women in crisis pregnancy situations over the age of 18 and the home on the East Rand serves girls under 18. To kickstart the year, the West Rand home is hosting a potjie competition and karaoke day in Ruimsig, suitable for the whole family.

DIRECTOR

CATHOLIC BIBLE FOUNDATION of SA BOARD The Board invites applications from suitably qualiﬁed and experienced individuals for the position of

Director of Catholic Bible Foundation of SA.

The successful candidate will have the following key qualities: • Be a practising Catholic • Have a deep love for the Scriptures • Have done at least one year of intensive Scripture Study • Have an appreciation of the new methods of presentation in the Biblical Pastoral apostolate • Have the ability to design and develop Scriptural programmes for all levels: children, teenagers and adults • Teaching experience of at least five years • Be a skilled and dynamic presenter • Possess the necessary managerial experience (minimum five years) • Have experience in financial controls • Ability to fund raise Practical Requirements: • A driver’s licence – must be able and willing to travel all over the country • Computer skills • Good oral and written English communication skills • Knowledge of an indigenous language is an advantage • Essential to the post is the availability to work in the evenings and over the weekends • Be able to commence duties on 1 July 2013 Applicants should submit: • Curriculum Vitae (please limit to two pages) • A letter of recommendation from your Parish Priest • Names, addresses and contact telephone numbers of three referees

Applications should be mailed to: Catholic Bible Foundation of SA Board of Governors P.O. Box 1233 Rosettenville 2130 Or E-mail: jhb@catholicbible.org.za Closing date for applications: 15 February 2013 Only shortlisted candidates will receive notiﬁcation of the interview date.

Mr van der Marck said there were prizes to be won and fun to be had but that the benefits of the day would far outlast the event as the effort would help avoid and educate people on abortion and support the Christian way of thinking. n The competition takes place on January 19 at Sunset Rock restaurant, Doreen Road, 10am. For more information contact Tom van der Marck 011 768 5754.

Benedictines to Jesuits for retreat STAFF REPORTER

HE Benedictine monks of Inkamana Abbey have made their annual retreat under the direction of Jesuit Father Peter Knox. At the suggestion of Abbot Godfrey Sieber OSB, Fr Knox introduced the 35 monks to the spirituality of St Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. Sharing on the Autobiography of St Ignatius, and some of the key techniques, meditations and contemplations of the Spiritual Exercises, Fr Knox gave the monks some insight into the spirituality of the Jesuits, who are a much younger order than their own monastic order. “As Inkamana is an abbey of the Missionary Benedictines of St Ottillien, the monks discovered that there are many similarities between the apostolic spirituality of the Jesuits and their own,” Fr Knox said. “This is not altogether surprising, since we all drink from the same Gospels. In addition, St Ignatius had many encounters with Benedictine monks, most notably at Montserrat.” At the same time as the monks were making their Ignatian retreat, Fr Gilbert Mardai, a Johannesburg Jesuit, was making his annual retreat in the monastery, joining with the monks in their sung daily office. “What was particularly touching was that during the final Mass of the retreat, in which the monks renewed their monastic commitments, Abbot Sieber included St Ignatius’ prayer of offering from the Spiritual Exercises,” Fr Knox said. The prayer goes: “Take, Lord, receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all I have and possess. You have given all to me. To you, Lord, I return it. All is yours, dispose of it wholly according to your will. Give me only your love and your grace, for that is enough for me.”

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INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, January 2 to January 8, 2013

Vatican tightens its finances BY CINDY WOODEN

HE Vatican’s new internal financial oversight procedures recognise that human beings can make mistakes, but that the Catholic Church as a whole has an obligation to handle the money it receives with honesty and great care, said the head of the Vatican budget office. Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi, head of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, told reporters that the new regulations for his office and its oversight of the budgets of all Vatican offices were designed to ensure “the correct and transparent use of the temporal goods of the Church”. “It’s not that we don’t trust people,” he said, “but because as Catholics we recognise the existence of original sin,” so structures must be in place to correct errors “with charity in truth”. The prefecture, established by Pope Paul VI in 1967, functioned mainly as the Vatican’s central accounting office, consolidating the budget forecasts and the yearend budget reports of Vatican offices. The new rules give it broader responsibilities for guiding the budgeting process, planning and coordinating the economic activi-

ties of Vatican offices and entities, as well as studying the budgets and accounting procedures of different offices and monitoring situations in which an office goes significantly over budget. At the news conference, Cardinal Versaldi was asked about remarks he made to the Synod of Bishops in October saying that cases of suspected financial mismanagement within the Church should be investigated internally, giving the person responsible an opportunity to make amends without publicising the case, which could lead to scandal. “There is not an opposition, but a difference between internal and external transparency,” he said. What he objects to is “an automatic and uncritical reporting of what happens in the Church” without a thorough investigation being conducted and without giving a person the opportunity to make amends. The cardinal said the new rules were not a direct response to requests made by “Moneyval”— the Council of Europe’s Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism— although its recommendations regarding Vatican financial practices “are an occasion to move forward”.

“Working with more transparency makes us more convincing and, in fact, increases the generosity of the faithful,” Cardinal Versaldi said. “Therefore, we must be stringent in administering our temporal goods in justice, truth and charity.” “Like almost every country in the world,” he said, the Vatican was expected to end 2012 with another budget deficit, even though it has been attempting to cut spending. “We cannot penalise our workers,” he said, explaining why layoffs, health care and pension cuts for the Vatican’s 5 600 employees were not part of the plan. “We must combat waste in order to protect the dignity of our workers and their families.”

ardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state, told the heads of Vatican congregations, councils and offices at the beginning of a workshop designed to familiarise them with new regulations of the prefecture that as a religious institution at the service of the Catholic Church around the world, the Vatican must ensure that “every economic exchange, every investment, every administrative activity has as its ultimate point of reference the Lord and his kingdom”.

JOURNALISM INTERNSHIP offers the opportunity of a

The internship position will suit a young graduate with talent who wishes to gather hands-on experience in journalism in The Southern Cross’ Cape Town newsroom. The position is not paid, but a stipend may be paid at the editor’s discretion. Daily travel costs within Cape Town are covered. The length of the internship is 3-4 months, starting on or before February 1. While a Catholic background is not a requirement for the position, knowledge of the Church and affinity for its mission will be a distinct advantage. e-mail applications with a covering letter and Cv to: editor@scross.co.za

Deadline: January 15, 2013

Interviews will be held in January. The Southern Cross reserves the right not to fill this vacancy.

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Dust flies off an angel figure as a Vatican worker, known as a Sanpietrino, cleans the baldacchino over the main altar in St Peter’s basilica. The baldacchino is cleaned twice a year, using a mix of ancient and modern techniques. (Photo: Paul Haring, CNS) The key principles, he said, must be “a lively spirit of charity and sharing, [and] farsighted attention to safeguarding and increasing the goods given to the Church for its great spiritual mission on behalf of the Gospel and the salvation of souls”. Cardinal Bertone also said the increased powers of the prefecture, which will answer directly to his office, are part of the Vatican’s pledge to be more transparent financially and adapt its financerelated practices to conform more

closely with international standards, including those aimed at preventing the unwitting funding of terrorism or other criminal activities. “The necessary transparency in the economic and financial activities of the Holy See and Vatican City State requires an increasingly incisive and unified commitment to correctness on the part of the individual administrations in the management of their patrimony and economic activities,” he told the Vatican office heads.—CNS

Paul VI sainthood cause advances with 850 others BY CAROL GLATZ

OPE Benedict has advanced the sainthood cause of Pope Paul VI by recognising the Italian pope as having lived the Christian virtues in a heroic way. He also recognised a miracle attributed to the intercession of an Italian martyr who, with an estimated 800 other people, died at the hands of Ottoman invaders in the 15th century, and he recognised a miracle attributed to the first blessed to be born, live and die in Colombia, Bl Mother Laura Montoya. They now can be declared saints. The pope also formally recognised the martyrdom of 33 victims of the Spanish Civil War and advanced the causes of 18 other men and women. During a meeting with Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, the pope signed the decree approving the heroic virtues of Pope Paul VI, making him “venerable”. Before Pope Paul can be beatified, the Vatican must recognise that a miracle has occurred through his intercession. Born Giovanni Battista Montini in 1897 in the northern Italian province of Brescia, Paul VI is probably best remembered for seeing the Second Vatican Council through to its end and helping implement its far-reaching reforms. He is also well remembered as the author of Humanae vitae, his 1968 encyclical reaffirming Church teaching that artificial birth control is intrinsically wrong, which became a focus of controversy and dissent. Amid the strains and pres-

Pope Paul VI sures following Vatican II, he received the nickname the “Hamlet pope”, for his reportedly anguished decision-making and his evident suffering over problems of the Church. However, he was also remembered as a strong leader who decisively guided the Church through a time of crisis. Pope Paul was the first modern pontiff to start visiting local churches around the globe, making nine major trips abroad. Prior to his election, he spent more than 30 years helping to run the Vatican’s diplomatic machinery at the Secretariat of State, but his diplomatic skills never overshadowed his priestly love of serving those in need. He worked on behalf of prisoners and the politically persecuted during World War II, pleaded for peace to world leaders, appealed for the lives of condemned terrorists and kidnapped politicians, and donated the papal tiara to raise money

for the poor. He was elected pope in 1963 and died at age 80 in 1978. The Rome diocese officially opened his sainthood cause in 1993. Pope Benedict recognised miracles attributed to the intercession of three people who, along with 800 companions, can now be declared saints. They are: l Bl Antonio Primaldo and an estimated 800 other laymen killed by Ottoman soldiers in the southern Italian costal town of Oltranto in 1480. l Bl Mother Laura Montoya, who was born in 1874 and founded the Missionary Sisters of Immaculate Mary and of St Catherine of Siena, to work among the indigenous peoples of Colombia. She died in 1949 and was beatified in 2004. l Bl Mother Lupita Garcia Zavala, also known as Mother Maria Guadalupe, the Mexican co-founder of the Congregation of the Servants of St Margaret Mary and the Poor. She lived from 1878 to 1963. Pope Benedict also signed decrees that pave the way for numerous beatifications: l He recognised the martyrdom of 33 priests, religious and a monk killed between 1936 and 1938 during the Spanish Civil War; as well as the martyrdom of Fr Miroslav Bulesic, a Croatian priest killed by Italian partisans during World War II. The pope approved nine other decrees recognising men and women for having lived the Christian virtues in a heroic way and declaring them “venerable”. Recognition of a miracle attributed to each candidate’s intercession is needed for that person’s beatification.—CNS

Pope: Don’t resort to doping for sporting success Corner: Cussonia Ave & Pretoria Street, Pretoria Tel 012 804 1801 Fax 012 804 8781 Email admissions@cbcpretoria.co.za

Continued from page 1 the pope said. They must be “teachers of sports practice that is always above-board and clean”. Team spirit must be channelled not only to prevent athletes from taking “these dead ends” of illegal performance-

enhancement drugs or practices, but also to “support those who recognised they’ve made a mistake, so that they can feel accepted and helped” afterward, he said. The pope also called on all athletes to read about Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901-1925),

“a young man who merged his passion for sport—he especially loved mountain climbing—with his passion for God”. Bl Pier Giorgio shows how “being Christian means loving life, loving nature, but above all loving one’s neighbour, in particular, people in difficulty”.—CNS

INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, January 2 to January 8, 2013

Taizé pilgrimage to Rome greets New Year with song and silence BY CINDY WOODEN

HE simple songs using phrases from the Psalms repeated over and over form a frame around the ten full minutes of absolute silence that lies at the heart of the Taizé ecumenical community’s prayer. As monks from the community, based in France, and volunteers prepared to welcome more than 30 000 European young adults to Rome from December 28 to January 2 for the annual “pilgrimage of trust”, they gathered each afternoon for several weeks at the basilica of St John Lateran to pray. The young people and the monks were scheduled to share their prayer with Pope Benedict as well, on December 29 in St Peter’s basilica. Henry Burow, 21, a volunteer from Germany who plans to study Lutheran theology, said he first went to Taizé with his parish six years ago because he had no other plans for his Easter break. “When the silence began, I thought someone forgot to read his text. It took a while to realise they did it on purpose.” Now, he said, the big chunk of silence in the community’s three daily prayer sessions “helps me to get quiet. If something is troubling

me, usually it gets better.” Brother John, a Philadelphia Catholic who joined the Taizé community 38 years ago, said even in the summer when 5 000 young people fill the Taizé church, “you can hear a pin drop”. The community was founded in 1940 by Brother Roger Schütz, a Swiss Protestant who was murdered in 2005. After World War II, his vision was for the monastery to be a place of welcome and reconciliation, especially between Christians of different denominations. The community now has about 100 monks from 25 different countries; about half are Catholic and half are Protestant. In the 1960s and ’70s, Brother John said, young people just started showing up—lots of them. And they are still coming. “Brother Roger said, ‘This is important. If these young people are coming, they are searching for something and we need to respond,’” Brother John explained. The community does not just wait for the young people, though, it goes out to them. Since 1978, “the pilgrimage of trust” has been held in cities all over Europe, bringing people 16-35 years old together for sharing, discussions and, mainly, prayer. The fact that young people still

flock to Taizé, France, and to its prayer gatherings shows that whatever else has changed in the world and in the lives of the young, “there is still a thirst in the young for meaning, for meaning in their life. Many young people today are worried about the future—their own personal future and the future of humanity”, Brother John said.

hen he joined the community in 1974, Brother John said, the community’s prayer was all in French and it was “a more traditional monastic prayer”, but it was evolving. “When the young people started coming from different countries, different languages, different backgrounds—some had no experience of the church—we looked for ways of making the prayer accessible to them. By trial and error we found this idea of repeating a few words.” There is no set number of times the phrases, mainly from the Psalms, are repeated. At a certain point, a leader sings “Amen” and the congregation finishes the chant. Experience has shown the monks that “repetition can help you go deeper into prayer”, Brother John said. The long period of silence, he said, is key. “Many people find it

Monks of the Taizé ecumenical community and volunteers pray in a chapel at Rome’s basilica of St John Lateran. They were preparing to welcome more than 30 000 European young adults to Rome for a “pilgrimage of trust” from December 28 to January 2. (Photo: Paul Haring, CNS) hard to believe” that young people—so connected to computers, cellphones, portable music players of various kinds—could be so still for so long. “Young people, when they are exposed to it, can discover the importance of silent prayer, of going into themselves and opening their hearts to God,” he said. For Brother Roger and for most of the monks today, Brother John said, reconciliation among Christians is a major motivation for their living and praying together: a life and liturgy marked by the simplicity, silence and scriptural focus that marked monasticism long before the Reformation split

Europe’s Christian communities. But for most of the young people who come to Taizé, he said, “ecumenism in the narrow sense doesn’t interest the young people. They don’t like to discuss the differences between the Christian denominations. They don’t know much about that and aren’t interested in it”. However, he said, they are interested in the fact that people come to Taizé from all the Christian traditions and that it’s a place where they can “discover what faith is all about. ‘What does it mean to believe?’ ‘What is the meaning of my life?’ Those kinds of questions”.—CNS

Pope: God asks people to decide how to live their lives BY CAROL GLATZ

OD’S love is unconditional yet demanding, asking all to choose how they will live their gift of life, Pope Benedict has said in his message for the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, to be observed on April 21, 2013. “The love of God sometimes follows paths one could never have imagined, but it always reaches those who are willing to be found,” the pope said. God’s “deep, demanding love... gives us courage; it gives us hope in our life’s journey and in our

future; it makes us trust in ourselves, in history and in other people,” the pope wrote in the message. The theme for Vocations Sunday 2013 is “Vocations as a sign of hope founded in faith”. The pope said that God never abandons his creation and remains true to his word. His faithfulness is his love, which, “fully manifested in Jesus Christ, engages with our existence and demands a response in terms of what each individual wants to do with his or her life and what he or she is prepared to

offer in order to live to the full”. Accepting Jesus’ invitation to “Come, follow me” means no longer choosing one’s own path, but rather “immersing our own will in the will of Jesus, truly giv-

Iraq’s Catholic patriarch retires at 85

OPE Benedict has accepted the resignation of 85-yearold Cardinal EmmanuelKarim Delly of Baghdad and has called for a late January meeting of the Chaldean synod of bishops to elect a new patriarch for the Chaldean Catholic Church. The cardinal was a retired auxiliary bishop of Baghdad when, in December 2003, he was elected patriarch just eight months after the US-led invasion of Iraq. He became one of the most notable voices of suffering Iraqi Christians and repeatedly pleaded with countries to take pity on Iraqi refugees and not send them back home. Before he became patriarch he was injured by shattered glass in an attack. As patriarch, he maintained friendly relations with Islamic leaders, and worked for the release of kidnapping victims. Patriarchs of the Eastern Catholic Churches are not required to submit their resignations to the pope at age 75 like bishops in the Latin-rite Church are. Announcing the cardinal’s

Cardinal Emmanuel-Karim Delly of Baghdad at a papal audience in St Peter’s Square earlier this year. The pope had accepted the resignation of the Challdean patriarch for health reasons. (Photo: Paul Haring, CNS) resignation, the Vatican said Chaldean Archbishop Jacques Ishaq, secretary of the Chaldean synod, would serve as apostolic

administrator of the church until a new patriarch is elected. Pope Benedict also decided that Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, will preside over the election at the Vatican. Cardinal Sandri told Catholic News Service that Cardinal Delly resigned for health reasons. Cardinal Delly was born in Telkaif, near Mosul, in 1927, and was ordained to the priesthood in Rome in 1952. He received a master’s degree in philosophy from the Pontifical Urbanian University and a doctorate in theology and another in canon law from the Pontifical Lateran University. He was ordained a bishop in 1963 and named an archbishop in 1967. From 1963 until his retirement in October 2002, he served as an auxiliary bishop and member of the patriarchal curia in Baghdad, where the Chaldean Catholic patriarchate is based. The Chaldean Catholic Church has almost 420 000 members, not only in Iraq, but also in Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Israel, Egypt, France and the United States.—CNS

576 AM IN JO’BURG & BEYOND

also on DStv audio channel 170 & streamed on www.radioveritas.co.za

ing him priority, giving him pride of place in every area of our lives: in the family, at work, in our personal interests, in ourselves,” the pope said. Vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life “are born out of the experience of a personal encounter with Christ, out of sincere and confident dialogue with him” through prayer and the Sacraments, he said. Pope Benedict called on young people to bypass “superficial and ephemeral” pursuits and cultivate a real desire “for what it truly wor-

thy, for lofty objectives, radical choices, service to others in imitation of Jesus”. He called on priests “to accompany young people as ‘companions on the journey’, helping them, on life’s often tortuous and difficult path, to recognise Christ, the way, the truth and the life, telling them with Gospel courage, how beautiful it is to serve God, the Christian community and one’s brothers and sisters.” n The full text of the pope’s message in English is available at http://bit.ly/UPqRtD

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LEADER PAGE

The Southern Cross, January 2 to January 8, 2013

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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.

Healing mens’ relationships last a senior Church official negative emotions about his/her Fixing graft in Church AT(Cardinal Wilfrid Napier in his very existence. Then we wonder why that child columns in The Southern Cross) has Editor: Günther Simmermacher

HE new regulations and increased powers of oversight invested in the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See promise greater transparency in the Vatican’s financial affairs, especially where these involve donations. “The necessary transparency in the economic and financial activities of the Holy See and Vatican City State requires an increasingly incisive and unified commitment to correctness on the part of the individual administrations in the management of their patrimony and economic activities,” Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican’s secretary of state, told the heads of Vatican offices in December. He also called for a reduction in expenditure, an inevitable necessity in the light of significant budget deficits (more than R150 million in 2011). Cardinal Bertone’s words and the prefecture’s new regulations will surely help reassure Catholics who were alarmed by the content of some of the documents that were leaked by former papal valet Paolo Gabriele. Mr Gabriele said he had illegally leaked the confidential papers to highlight what he saw as endemic corruption in the Vatican. While the Vatican condemned the publication of private papers and Mr Gabriele’s breach of trust (for which a Vatican court sentenced him to a jail term of 18 months), it did not deny the legitimacy of the content of these documents. Some of these papers were trivial, but others strongly suggested damaging activities and cover-ups to conceal these. If such inferences were in fact baseless, then the faithful should have been reassured of this by a comprehensive refutation. In absence of a credible denial, the faithful were left to suppose that the Vatican did not always meet the highest levels of fiscal integrity. Some questions still have not been satisfactorily answered. We still have no clarity as to why Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, whose leaked letters to Pope Benedict and Cardinal Bertone seemed to allege corrupt practices in the awarding of Vatican tenders, was suddenly transferred to the US nunciature, against his strong protest and three years ahead of the end of his contract as secretary-general

of the commission that governs Vatican City. While very public action was taken against Mr Gabriele, none seems to have been directed at those who were responsible for mismanagement of the Holy See’s funds, be it by incautious overspending or by involvement in corrupt practices. The mission of the Church is not aided when, in the public’s mind, the perceived whistleblower is punished while those who lapsed in their fiscal responsibilities are not visibly held to account. The prefecture’s distinction between internal and external transparency may not satisfy those who are concerned about potential cover-ups of financial mismanagement. A balance must be struck between the rights of those suspected of transgressions and the right of the faithful to know about these transgressions. And in this, the motive of not giving scandal is simply inadequate at a time when secrecy in itself gives scandal. Cardinal Bertone’s address to the curial heads seems to acknowledge a problem and presents an undertaking that the Vatican’s economic activities shall now be governed by the highest levels of ethics—correcting lapses which, it must be noted, also occurred on Cardinal Bertone’s watch. This requires external transparency as well as accountability, both where donated funds and revenue derived from the Church’s patrimony (such as the Vatican Museums) are concerned. So it is encouraging that the cost of the Vatican’s Nativity scene in St Peter’s Square has been reduced from an extravagant R6,2 million in 2009—an amount which Archbishop Viganò complained about in one of his leaked letters to the pope—to a more modest R2 million in 2011. (The 2012 crèche has been covered mostly by donations). The Church, from the pope to parishes and institutions, has a manifest obligation to set the highest standards in its economic activities, much the same as it demands from secular governments. The faithful are entitled to hold the curia to the encouraging pledge of transparent fiscal management, and to be kept informed when there are lapses.

put the whole issue of men and their relationships on the table, for therein lies the chance to bring healing to much of our society. It has saddened me no end that unwanted pregnancy has become a women’s issue, where men are neither acknowledged nor made to feel welcome. Fingers are pointed by women to the detriment of that relationship and the unborn child’s whole life. A child is sentenced to death (abortion) or thrown from carer to carer, not knowing the joy of who his/her parents are or even having the right to enjoy their company in a family or experiencing only very

grows up not knowing who they are, not knowing how to relate to family life and to children of their own. The cardinal’s proposal to deal with these issues among men needs to be mirrored by women’s organisations so that extraneous female persons (extended family, neighbours and others) learn to mind their own business and that there is such a thing as respect for family relationships and allowing a couple to be a family, to sort out how they envisage forming a family. Men have been allowed to have fleeting relationships in this type of scenario and then been made to

move on as though there is no place for them there and have nothing further to contribute to the relationship to make it more durable. This is seen in the migrant labour system and among very conservative people where parents protect their sons when they have fathered a child out of wedlock while the woman’s family ban him from further contact with the woman by their behaviour. Anything to put a very sanitised face on a messy situation. As my father used to say, the eleventh commandment is the one we all obey: Thou shalt not be found out. All strength to the cardinal in his endeavours because his biggest battle will be to get men to view themselves in a different light and women to let go of their prejudices. Jenny Knobel, Cape Town

Male ministry

HE articles written by Cardinal Napier in The Southern Cross make a strong argument for a special ministry to men. Seemingly this ministry has already begun with the emphasis that whenever or however Catholic men get together, they are being encouraged to dialogue meaningfully, with the view to learning to trust each other. I conclude that they have been given guidelines to effectively minister to each other. The shortage of priests to give special attention and support to this special ministry must be a drawback. Also, according to an article (November 14) priests need anger management, which leads me to believe that priests today also need a special ministry. If I try to be positive about the situation, I have to believe that this trial of pain experienced by men, accompanied by strong negative feelings, is a means to real conversion. Of course women also need a special ministry which they have effectively generated themselves. But they have the advantage of being pro-relationships, listening and caring. Thus women bond quickly when the Spirit of Christ is part of this ministry; revealing their emotions, good and bad, and not starting from any need for superiority or exclusiveness, thus fostering a growth in love and solidarity for each other. We bring compassion for others as a result and are always willing to fight for justice especially for our children and the vulnerable. Ah! yes, women are well placed to help with this special ministry to men. I hope with my whole heart and soul that the root of men’s problem will be found—for unless it is acknowledged and named, there will be no lasting solution. Rosemary Gravenor, Durban

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N the Year of Faith we are all encouraged to learn about our faith and wear yellow wristbands to remind us to live according to its teachings. However, we seldom seem to hear about having faith in prayer and trusting the Father as Jesus did. There are so many assurances in the Bible that God quietly waits for response in faith to his presence. For many years I have worn a red wristband with the words “Africa— 2 Chronicles 7:14”, a text which reads: “If they [my people] will pray to me and repent and turn away from the evil they have been doing, then I will hear them in heaven, forgive their sins, and make their land prosperous again”. However, in spite of all his encouragement, we only pray for ourselves and our own countries, never for Africa, where there is such a need for people of different tribes, nationalities, ethnic groups, religions and political ideas to learn to love their neighbours. January 1, 2013 was dedicated to Mary, Mother of God, and was also World Peace Day. Let us continue to ask Mary, Queen of Peace and Mother of Africa, all the African saints as well as St Francis of Assisi to intercede as we pray: “God bless Africa, guard our people, guide our leaders and give us peace. Lord, make me an instrument of your peace (and justice). We ask this in Jesus’ name”. Athaly Jenkinson, East London 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.

Evangelisation

T was most refreshing to read Irene Durler’s letter “Searching for true Christianity” (December 5). Maybe, as she points out, we need to emphasise our being Christian more boldly than being “staunchly Catholic”. Our lacklustre preaching is just one reason among many why our young people are leaving in droves for the anti-Catholic fundamentalist “churches”. Jesus must weep at the weak “whispers” that serve as most congregations’ responses in the Mass, not to mention the lukewarm “singing” of the congregation in many parishes. It is no secret that only 10% of Catholics worldwide (yes!) are evangelised, that is, know the kerygma, the basic Gospel message, and have a vital, living relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord, empowered by the Holy Spirit. Contemporary Catholics feel little responsibility for spreading the faith which is seen as the job of the specialised few. It is noteworthy that the New Evangelisation was already called for by Pope Paul VI more than 40 years ago. Only now do some of our bishops seem to be awakening to it after being gently rapped (I suspect) on the knuckles by good Pope Benedict. The first and highest priority of the Church is to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ as a joyful message to all the world. An absolute priority for us Catholics, at this pivotal time in salvation history, is to pray the Divine Mercy chaplet and the rosary for the conversion of the world. It will surely bring about the New Pentecost and his Coming Again, our blessed hope, prayed for by recent popes and at Vatican II. John Lee, Johannesburg

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PERSPECTIVES

Rethinking the role of education Emmanuel Ngara E DUCATION has always had a central role to play in human development. In traditional societies, young men and women are taught the norms and values; how to be useful members of society and how to cope with the difficulties and challenges of life. In more advanced societies, where the main responsibility for education is in the hands of schools, vocational training institutions and universities, education plays many roles. First, it is the principal medium through which people learn to understand the universe and the world they live in— through education people get to understand the cosmos and the relationship between the earth and the heavenly bodies such as the sun, the moon and the stars. They acquire a better understanding of phenomena such as the rain and the behaviour of clouds and rivers and seas. Through education people are liberated from the shackles of superstition to develop and adopt a more scientific approach to life and natural phenomena. It is educational institutions that provide society with various professionals such as teachers, doctors, accountants, engineers, scientists, religious leaders and many others. Without education we would not have essential institutions and facilities such as hospitals, railway lines, aeroplanes, motor vehicles; and we would not have such technologies as computers and cellphones. Even politicians who lead and govern countries have to go through educational institutions because so complex has society become that gone are the days when an uneducated individual could manage the affairs of state. Furthermore, in this day and age a country cannot survive as a sovereign state without educated leaders to manage its international relations. No country is an island in today’s global village, and for any country to survive and at the same time satisfy the needs of its citizens, it must be led by people who have a clear understanding of international relations and economics. Such people

are the products of schools and higher education institutions such as universities. For the individual, education is the key to success and social mobility. It is not easy now for one to make it in life without a good education. In many societies of earlier epochs what mattered most was one’s social background. If you were born into aristocracy or a privileged class you were likely to move up the social ladder, regardless of the kind of education you had. In our time, it matters whether you have been to a university or not, and your success in getting jobs may depend on the reputation of the university you attended. In Britain, for example, a graduate of Oxford or Cambridge universities is more likely to be snatched by reputable companies than graduates of such universities as Essex or Birmingham.

hat has been outlined above demonstrates that formal education is central to human development. Indeed, such are the benefits of formal education that all societies have become blind to its negative effects. In this essay we can only make a brief reference to the negative aspects of formal education. The first of these is that education promotes the spirit of competition and individualism, as opposed to cooperation and consideration of others. Both in class and in the sportsfield, the school child is taught to believe that he or she should aim to beat others—to be number one.

Photo: CIE

Empty yourself for God

NE of the great miracles of nature is how the pregnant womb, small in itself, expands little by little to make room for the growing life within. Emptiness is part of human experience. Sometimes it can be seen as pain, yet it can be treated as a gift. I need emptiness in me: that space for something new; to be opened to wonder and surprises from God. Just as our bodies breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide, so too do our spirits need to take in what is life-giving and empty out what is not helpful for us. A pot which is full cannot receive. Even the soil has to be ready to receive the seed (Mk 4:1-20). When our minds are filled up, there is no room for the otherness, no room for the new and unexpected, and no room for surprises of God. Openness to God could be one of the brave steps to empty any anything that might be blocking our spiritual growth and freedom. There is a space within us that is waiting to be filled with the radiance of God. I empty my dustbin and after a few days it’s filled with scrap papers. I clear my table, arrange it well, and next week it will be even messier. There is something always waiting to be sorted and discarded. This is also true of our spiritual life. There are many things we can discard: resentment, anxiety, harsh judgments,

self-pity, mistrust, breaking a vow, an addiction and so on. Negative thoughts, useless fears, worries, old wounding messages and so on also take up a lot of space. These leave no room for God’s agenda of growth, knowledge, love, beauty or pleasure. Moses prepared himself to receive revelations from God: “Remove the sandals from your feet for the place where you are standing is holy ground” (Ex 3:1-6). What shoes do we need to remove in order to embrace the grace of God? For God to enter our lives fully, we must be ready to create space: longing opens the heart to receive (Psalm 63). The door to our inner self, heart, and mind must be opened: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be” (Mt 6:21). God needs openings in our lives to get through to us, to communicate with us, to stretch us to greater growth, to nourish us, to revitalise and renew us with love. When we pray, how often do we say, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening”? Often we rather say: “Listen, Lord, your servant is speaking”. If my life is clouded, cluttered with many thoughts and feelings, I may easily miss what God wants me to hear. Listening is key for our spiritual growth. To do this we need to open our minds and hearts, empty what blocks our way, create space and await God’s voice into our lives.

Christian Leadership

True, sport does promote teamwork, but teamwork is seen as good as long as it leads to the defeat of the other team. So success must always be associated with the defeat of others! Coupled with the desire to beat everyone else is the passion for materialism. As they go through school and university, young people are taught to worship money, material goods and power. Their role models are people who drive big cars, who own big houses and who wield enormous power. When you hear a child say, “When I grow up I want to be a doctor”, he or she might not be thinking of the service that a doctor provides to the sick and suffering, but about the prestige, wealth and influence that the medical profession can bestow on one. Consequently, self-service and not service of others, can become the motivating factor. Related to that is the fact that our schools actively develop dictatorial tendencies among some of the best performers. We may not approve of the culture of bullying that is common in schools, but the habits we develop among prefects, head girls and head boys are such that a school child who has been a prefect learns to lord it over others, and not necessarily to serve. We then get surprised when someone who was a very good prefect becomes dictatorial as head of a company, church or government! There is no space in this article to elaborate on the negative effects of education, but what I have tried to do is to demonstrates that as practised today formal education plays both a positive and negative role in human development. What needs to be done is to rethink our education system so that we can maximise its positive effects. Next month’s column will begin a discussion on how this can be achieved.

Fr Anthony Ndang Ndichia MHM

Point of Reflection

In ministry or community, when we listen attentively we discover God everywhere, within the people. “Let me hear what God will speak, for God will speak peace to the people, to those who turn to God in their hearts” (Psalm 85:1-8). Our spiritual life is a constant cycle of emptying and filling, of dying and rising, of accepting and letting go. The process of creating space for something new may be painful, yet it leads us to yearn for God, to appreciate our life with greater reverence and gratitude. If we shake off the power, the prestige and possessions, then our spirit will be freer to thirst for the deeper things of God. When we create space for something new, we receive: peace of mind and heart, healing of old wounds, greater acceptance of ourselves, discovery of who we truly are, harmony with our families and colleagues, wisdom to make good choices and decisions, forgiveness of ourselves and others, freedom and spiritual growth, reverence for life, willingness to hear God’s voice. n Fr Anthony Ndang Ndichia MHM is a missionary priest assisting in Our Lady of Assumption parish in Sasolburg, Kroonstad diocese.

The Southern Cross, January 2 to January 8, 2013

Michael Shackleton

Open Door

Can mercy killings be legitimate? Dignity South Africa is the name of a movement started by Prof Sean Davison (now back in South Africa) who was arrested in New Zealand for administering a lethal dose of morphine to his cancer-ridden mother, which he did at her desperate request. The movement stresses the autonomy of patients who have unbearable suffering to decide when to end their life. Can this be a legitimate case of freedom of conscience? Pen Evans

ATICAN II’s document on religious freedom, Dignitatis humanae, states that no one can be forced to act in a manner contrary to conscience, nor can anyone be restrained from acting in accordance with conscience, especially in matters religious (3). This might look an attractive option for Catholics who are pain-racked and desperate to die, but it is not a legitimate option. In his 1995 encyclical Evangelium vitae (The Gospel of Life), Pope John Paul II observed that today suffering seems like a setback from which one must be freed, and death is considered a “rightful liberation” once life is held to be no longer meaningful. The temptation grows to bring death about before its time, “gently”. A hopelessly impaired life therefore no longer has any value. This view neglects our fundamental relationship with God. Whether it is by active euthanasia (administering a lethal dose with the intention of killing the patient) or by assisted suicide (prescribing a lethal dose for the patient intending to aid suicide, which the patient takes himself), the Church brands it as a gravely immoral act. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says even if one makes an error of judgment in good faith, it does not change the nature of this murderous act (2277). The debate on the ethical worth of mercy killing is not simple because there are so many imponderables and ramifications, even in the medical profession. The SA Medical Journal, for example, featured a number of letters in this respect. One by Dr JV Larsen (Vol 101, No 11) dismissed the idea of a lobby for legal doctor-assisted suicide. Encouraging a rapid escape from life, he said, implies defeat and not dignity. He believes that death with dignity is possible when end-of-life issues are addressed, with compassionate care being essential for the patient’s and family’s ability to cope, helping them to recover a sense of worth and meaning. Remarking that doctors are fallible as diagnosticians and prognosticators, he recommends support and involvement in the hospice movement.

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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The Southern Cross, January 2 to January 8, 2013

COMMUNITY

The gender committee of St Joseph’s Theological Institute, Cedara, celebrated the end of a successful year of activities with a braai and farewell to members leaving the institute who received certificates of appreciation. Pictured are Andile Dladla OMI, Robert Psinon SPS, Germina Maraisane SJSH, Joseph Arinze Okeke and Johanna Mokhachane SJSH (coordinator of the committee).

Fr David Rowles of St Theresa’s parish in Camps Bay, Cape Town, celebrated the 35th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood.The parish organised a get-together and entertainment.

Monty and Val Brown received a blessing by Fr Paul Fahy on their 50th wedding anniversary at Sacred Heart church in Kabega Park, Port Elizabeth. They were married at St James church in Port Elizabeth.

Theodora Kholotsa, Elsa Matekwe and Sabukhanyo Kalashi were baptised on the feast of Christ the King at St Mary’s cathedral in De Aar by Fr Douglas Sumaili (right).

The Catholic Women’s League of Our Lady of Fatima parish Durban North, held a Christmas dinner. They are pictured with parish priest, Fr Desmond Nair.

The Catholic Women’s League (CWL) of St Blaize in Mossel Bay, Oudtshoorn diocese, donated Christmas hampers to the elderly of the community. Here are the members of the CWL with Fr Patrick Claassen (back left) who blessed the hampers.

Parishioners of the Most Holy Redeemer church in Rustenburg wrapped gifts for almost 400 underprivileged and orphaned children.

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St John Fisher church in Pretoria held a pizza morning for altar severs. (From left) Daniel, James, Tiago, Mgr Marc De Mûelenaere, Caitlin, Talitha, Taryn, Dominic, Christian and Divina.

23 parishioners at Holy Name church in Brighton, Port Elizabeth, received the sacrament of Confirmation. The group was made up of youth and participants in the Rite of Christian Initiation of adults (RCIA), From left front: N Maqanda, L Ntombela, Mgr Brian Deenihan, Fr Thembaletho Mana, L Mayoli, Z Xhakwe. Middle: Y Nqola, N Ngcwangu, T Nqola, N Yawa, S Bashman, D Ramphaleng, G Ngoqo, D Ramphaleng, S Luse. Backrow: T Ngwangu, M Ngcwangu,T Molapo, S Komane, P Ntshata, Q Schultz, S Pempeni, N Mothloareng, R Rabu and P Luse.

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Puffy and Brenda Roux and Lorraine and Geoff Gower, parishioners from Immaculate Conception in Kidds Beach, East London, received a papal blessing on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversaries.They are pictured with Fr Peter Whitehead.

FAITH

The Southern Cross, January 2 to January 8, 2013

Infant Christ’s first Shabbat vine”? Whose voice first carried the blessing to the tiny child’s ears? Can we hear Miriam say “Amen” with the rest of Yoseph’s family? As they pass round the Kiddush cup of wine, are the children eyeing the food on the table? What does Bethlehem wine taste like? Where is the basin for washing hands? Can we hear their Jewish accents as they say: “Barukh atar Adonai Elohanynu melekh ha-olam” (who sanctifies us with his commandments and commands us concerning washing of hands)?

What was the Holy Family’s first Sabbath like? YOLANDE TRAINOR imagines the scene, and its significance for a young Jewish family.

FTER the birth of my first child, Sarah, my mother said I was like a cat that had produced a whole litter of kittens— purring, full of satisfied achievement, very pleased with myself and delighted by the excitement it caused. Of course, by the time visitors came, all was neat, clean and orderly. The hard work of giving birth is over and a mother experiences profound and indescribable joy holding her own newborn baby. And Miriam, for that is what the young Jewish mother of Yeshua would have been called, what it was like for her? Who was with her? There is an extraordinary absence of other women in the birth narratives. Yoseph, shepherds and Magi are described, but I cannot believe that there were no women at all. Once Miriam had started her labour, she was probably in the company of the women of her inlaw’s family. She was, after all, in Yoseph’s hometown. Traditional Christmas plays and Nativity scenes have impoverished our appreciation of Mary as Jewish. Have you seen a Jewish-looking figure of Mary? Our Christianised image of Mary is a much bleached edition of that real, live, flesh and blood young woman.

an we imagine the voices of the women around Miriam as they supported her as her baby was brought into the world? And Yoseph? If we had looked around the place of delivery, would we have seen him on the fringe, praying the Psalms as Jewish fathers pray today? Whose dark Judean hands first held the little Christ as he was pushed into the world? If she was still alive, might she have been his paternal granny? Who held him upside-down for all the fluids to drain out of his tiny mouth, and with a small tap caused that first lusty bellow, to the joy of everyone? Can we imagine this darkskinned little Jewish boy being washed after his birth? Can we imagine his tiny hands that some day would bless and heal so many, that would hold the bread and wine at Shabbat, the scroll in the Temple, the wood, the lathe, the Passover bread and wine, and finally his own cross? Can we imagine the tiny ears that would hear Jewish songs, the Kiddush, Torah, Prophets, Psalms; the voices of his friends and the women who travelled with him? Can we picture the room, full of the warmth of women’s voices, and Miriam, the young mother, freshly washed, her whole being now at ease, yet acutely aware of her son. And, as Yoseph approaches Miriam and their son, what emotions flit across his dark Jewish face? What does his voice sound like? Is

A Nativity scene made by craftsmen of Guanajuato, Mexico. In her article, Yolande Trainor imagines the scene of Christ’s birth much differently, placing the Holy Family in their Jewish context. (Photo: Paul Haring, CNS) his accent Galilean? Can we imagine Yeshua hearing their voices speaking to him and singing Jewish cradle songs? What is this moment of deep intimacy like for the very first human beings who gazed long at God among us? Perhaps at this stage we, like the midwives and other women helpers, can leave the scene and them in peace... Of course, peace doesn’t last forever; babies need feeding—sometimes every three hours. It might seem almost too much to imagine the intimacy of the mother and child relationship when it comes to Miriam and Yeshua, yet it happened just over 2 000 years ago. There really was a young Jewish mom from Nazareth, Miriam, with her tiny newborn baby nuzzled close to her, his little tummy full of colostrum after his first feed. What was it like for Miriam to meet more and more of Yoseph’s family? And Yoseph; what was it like for him to introduce his new wife and their tiny son. Can we imagine him meeting up with siblings, uncles, aunts and cousins? How many of the older generations were there? Was Yoseph’s father Ya’aqob there? Was his grandfather Mathan there? (Mt 1:15-16) What emotions played across their faces as the old men held this baby boy, who was of their line, the line of David?

nd on the Sabbath, just after Yeshua was born, as the extended family gathered for the Friday night Shabbat meal, who was it that Jeshua’s tiny ears first heard saying the blessing for lighting the two Sabbath lamps. Was it his grandmother, saying: “Blessed are you, Hashem our God, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments, and has commanded us to kindle the light of the Sabbath.” Had Yoseph been to the synagogue that evening with Ya’aqob and the other men? Who laid hands on Yeshua as he was blessed, “May God make you like Ephraim and Menashe” (Gene-

sis 48:20). May Hashem bless you and safeguard you. May Hashem illuminate his countenance for you and be gracious to you. May Hashem turn his countenance to you and establish peace for you” (Numbers 6:24-26)? Was it his grandfather Ya’aqob who blessed his own grandson, the son of his son, Yoseph? We are in touch with deep currents of God in human history at our beloved Yeshua’s first Shabbat. Can we imagine his tiny dark head being blessed by his father Yoseph and his grandfather Ya’aqob as they say the ancient Sabbath prayers? It

is indeed a powerful moment in time. Whose voice said: “The sixth day. Thus the heavens and earth were finished, and all their array. On the seventh day God completed his work which he had done, and he abstained on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it he abstained from all His work which God created to make”? Who took the cup and giving thanks said: “Blessed are you, Hashem, our God, King of the universe, Who creates the fruit of the

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s it Ya’aqob again now, who takes the bread in his hands and says, “Blessed are you, Lord, our God, King of the Universe who brings forth bread from the earth”? Does he rip or cut the bread? Did Yoseph remember the Shabbats of childhood? Can you imagine the songs, laughter, food and sheer joy of a family together? Did Yeshua sleep well that night? Did Miriam find feeding him easy? Of course Sabbath day would dawn with synagogue, family, friends, Torah and Haftorah study; a restful day of no chores but of conversations, and sleeping in the afternoon. Can we smell the spices for the end of Sabbath, Hafdalah, carefully prepared on Friday before its start to take the lingering memory of Sabbath into the week? I wonder what young Miriam’s were, her memories of her first Sabbath with a tiny baby in her life. And what was it like for Yoseph to be the father of a young son born of the line of David, here in Bethlehem, where David was born?

FOCUS

The Southern Cross, January 2 to January 8, 2013

Pope Benedict posts his first tweet on his Twitter account @Pontifex on December 12. • The pope arrives on a wheeled platform for a Mass with cardinals in St. Peter’s basilica on November 25. • The pope greets pilgrims from the window of his apartment after briefly addressing a candlelit vigil in St Peter’s Square on October 11 to mark the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. • A poster of Pope Benedict XVI on a street in Havana advertises the papal visit from March 26-28. • Papal outdoor Mass on the waterfront in Beirut, Lebanon, on September 16. (Photos: CNS)

This was Pope Benedict’s 2012 In the past year, the pope called for liberty, identity and evangelisation. FRANCIS X ROCCA reviews the highlights of Pope Benedict’s 2012.

Pope Benedict looks on as he celebrates the opening Mass of the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelisation in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican on October 7. (Photo: Paul Haring, CNS)

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OPE Benedict XVI turned 85 in April, and while he certainly showed signs of age—in March he started walking with a cane on some public occasions—he kept up a busy schedule throughout 2012, travelling to three foreign countries, presiding over a world Synod of Bishops and turning out yet another bestselling book. Following are ten highlights of the pope’s year: u At consistories in February and November, the pope created a total of 28 new members of the College of Cardinals. The second group was notable for its global character: new cardinals from Asia, Africa and the Americas, which the pope said showed the Church “speaks in the various cultures of the different continents”. v Visiting Latin America in March, Pope Benedict told Mexicans that no secular ideology can free the region from poverty, violence and other social problems without faith in Christ. Human rights activists complained about the pope’s decision not to meet with political dissidents in Cuba, but during his visit he appealed for greater religious liberty under the Communist regime and persuaded President Raul Castro to make Good Friday a national holiday. w In several speeches the pope said that the Church must engage all the more closely with increasingly secular societies by defending val-

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ues that include religious liberty, sexual morality and the traditional definition of marriage. x The year’s biggest public distraction for the pope and his collaborators was surely the so-called “VatiLeaks” affair, over the publication of private papal correspondence and other documents, some of them alleging mismanagement and corruption within the Vatican. The news became a global story following the May arrest of the pope’s butler, whom a Vatican court in October found guilty of aggravated theft for his role in the leaks. y The Vatican made several high-profile moves to reinforce the religious identity of Catholic institutions. In May, it announced a major reform of the US Leadership Conference of Women Religious, to ensure the group’s fidelity to Catholic teaching in areas including abortion, euthanasia, women’s ordination and homosexuality. The same month, the Vatican tightened its control of Caritas Internationalis, the global confederation of Catholic aid agencies. In December, the pope issued new rules designed to ensure that the activities of Catholic charities conform to Church doctrine. z The pope’s September visit to Lebanon came at a moment of heightened tension in the region, with a civil war under way in neighbouring Syria and an American-made anti-Islamic film inspiring often-violent protests in several Muslim countries. But the pope’s calls for peace and religious liberty for the region’s Christians drew a warm response across sectarian and political lines in Lebanon, turning the risky trip into a clear success

for Vatican diplomacy. { For three weeks in October, the world Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelisation brought more than 260 bishops and religious superiors to the Vatican, along with dozens of official observers and experts, to discuss how the church can revive and spread the faith in increasingly secular societies. | Pope Benedict marked the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council and the start of a special Year of Faith by celebrating Mass in St Peter’s Square on October 11. About 400 bishops from around the world, including 15 of the 70 surviving members of the council, attended. In his homily, the pope called on Catholics to revive the “authentic spirit” of Vatican II by re-proposing the Church’s ancient teachings to an increasingly Godless modern world. } Just in time for Christmas, publishers released Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives, the third and final volume in the pope’s popular series on Jesus’ life and teachings. Although some reports portrayed the pope as a spoilsport for noting that the Gospels do not mention the presence of animals at the Nativity, the book’s subject matter and short length help make it one of the most accessible among its scholarly author’s more than 60 works. ~ Only a day after Pope Benedict inaugurated his Twitter accounts on December 12, he had already attracted 1,7 million followers. Vatican officials said that show of interest, and the serious questions on faith submitted to the pope by thousands of users, made his foray into social media worth the inevitable dose of hostile commentary.—CNS

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The Southern Cross, January 2 to January 8, 2013

What we can expect from 2013 Continued from page 1 successfully brought home the Constitution in 1996.” Mr Pothier said it is encouraging that there is no hint of scandal in Mr Ramaphosa’s background, and “he has never been associated with corruption or mismanagement”. Mr Pothier said some in the ANC have seen the need for a counter-weight to Mr Zuma: “Someone of stature who can pull the party—and thus the country, they hope—back on track, away from the kind of venality, greed and irresponsible populism that has come to characterise so many of those who occupy office in, or on behalf of, the ANC.” In 2013, the ANC will remain the political centre of gravity of South Africa, Mr Pothier said, but

“as long as it remains riven by factionalism and infighting, real national progress is impossible”. Mr Pothier noted the progress made by the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA). He pointed out that the DA has been making strides, specifically breakthroughs in the townships, especially in the Northern Cape, an area likely to go the way of the DA in the future. Mr Pothier also said there will be more constructive approaches between opposition parties in the next year with joint platforms on issues. This year’s collaboration against the “secrecy bill” was an example of action the country could see in the future. He said that unstructured strikes are likely to continue. The wages and working conditions of

labourers will need an overhaul. Until such time, labour unrest will continue. “The business sector seems to be stuck in the dark ages with an ‘us and them attitude’. This needs to be changed,” he said. If a difference is to be made in 2013, he said, then there must be the political will to do so—and this, he said, has been distinctly lacking in the areas of concern. “South Africa needs decisive, effective and responsive leadership. Instead, it has a fractured and ineffectual governing party that is failing to deal with urgent and immediate national issues because it is too busy fighting its own internal battles.” Without political will, change is unlikely, said Mr Pothier.

Youth commission priest charged with trafficking

HE Catholic Bishops’ Council of Kerala in India has dismissed the secretary of its youth commission, who has been charged as part of a human trafficking ring. Fr Stephen Alathara, spokesman for the council, also said it would conduct an investigation into the priest’s activities, reported the Press Trust of India. In November, police named Syro-Malabar Father Jaison Kollannur as part of a five-person ring that allegedly tried to traffic 42 young Indians to Houston, Texas, under the pretext of attending a student exchange

programme. The Asian Church news agency UCA News said the five, including Fr Kollannur, faked certificates to say the Indians were experts in education. “It’s most unfortunate that the priest misused his official position,” Fr Alathara said. Kerala home affairs minister Thiruvanchiyur Radhakrishnan said he had directed the director general of police to make a detailed probe into trafficking networks in Kerala. “We will be taking action against those found guilty,” he said. “I warn people not to fall

Community Calendar

To place your event, call Claire Allen at 021 465 5007 or e-mail c.allen@scross.co.za (publication subject to space)

CAPE TOWN: Mimosa Shrine, Bellville (Place of pilgrimage for the Year of Faith): Rosary, 7.30pm, Holy hour and Benediction every 2nd Saturday, from January 2013, 9.00-10.00am. Confession available during Holy hour. Tel: 076 323 8043 Padre Pio: Holy hour 3.30 pm every 3rd Sunday of the month at Holy Redeemer parish in Bergvliet. Helpers of God’s Precious Infants meet the last Saturday of the month except in December, starting with Mass at 9:30 am

at the Salesian Institue Community Chapel in Somerset Road, Cape Town. Mass is followed by a vigil and procession to Marie Stopes abortion clinic in Bree Street. For information contact Colette Thomas on 083 412 4836 or 021 593 9875 or Br Daniel Manuel on 083 544 3375 NELSPRUIT: Adoration of the blessed sacrament at St Peter’s parish. Every Tuesday from 8am to 4:45pm followed by Rosary Divine Mercy prayers, then a Mass/Communion service at 5:30pm.

into the trap set by these networks.” A police official said the case was flagged when the US consulate in Chennai told police that seven people taking part in visa interviews did not have the required educational qualifications. UCA News reported that police said Fr Kollannur confessed to his involvement in human trafficking as a means of raising cash for foreign trips, adding that he received about $1 000 (R8 500) for sending each person to the United States.— CNS

Liturgical Calendar Year C Weekdays Cycle Year 1

Sunday, January 6, Epiphany of the Lord Isaiah 60:1-6, Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-13, Ephesians 3:2-3, 5-6, Matthew 2:1-12 Monday, January 7 1 John 3:22, 4:6, Psalm 2:7-8, 10-12, Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25 Tuesday, January 08 1 John 4:7-10, Psalm 72:1-4, 7-8, Mark 6:34-44 Wednesday, January 09 1 John 4:11-18, Psalm 72:1-2, 10, 12-13, Mark 6:45-52 Thursday, January 10 1 John 4:19,5:4, Psalm 72:2, 14-15, 17, Luke 4:1422 Friday, January 11 1 John 5:5-13, Psalm 147:12-15, 19-20, Luke 5:1216 Saturday, January 12, St Bernard of Corleone 1 John 5:14-21, Psalm 149:1-6, 9, John 3:22-30 Sunday, January 13, Baptism of the Lord Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7, Psalm 29:1-4, 3, 9-10, Acts 10: 34-38, Luke 3:15-16, 21-22

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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 (R1,25 a word) with small advertisements for promptest publication.

DEATH

ALLAWAY—Eileen (née O’Brien), sister of the late Fr Jack O’Brien, passed away peacefully on December 14. Sadly missed and lovingly remembered by her children, Derick, Allan, David and Paddy, her brother, Michael, daughters-in-law, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren. May her dear soul rest in peace. ALLAWAY—Eileen (née O’Brien) passed away peacefully on December 14. Sincere condolences to my son-in-law and our brother-in-law, Derick, my daughter and our sister, Bridget, her children David, Paddy and Allan, brother Michael and all the family. Will always be loved and remembered by Agnes Houghton, Mary and Ben, Margaret and Walter, Barbara and families. RIP.

IN MEMORIAM

GONCALVES ALHO— John. Passed away January 2, 2012. Always in our prayers and thoughts. Rest in peace. Your wife Julia, children Connie and Johnny, grandchildren Ricardo and Gino. Brother Abel and Teresa and Jeanette.

PERSONAL

ABORTION is murder— Silence on this issue is not golden, it’s yellow! Avoid ‘Pro-abortion’ politicians. NOTHING is politically right if it is morally wrong. Abortion is evil. Value life!

PRAYERS

HEAR MY cry, O God, listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe. I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings. (Psalm 61:1-4). HAVE MERCY on me, O God, according to your

SOLUTIONS TO 531. ACROSS: 5 Doge, 7 Imprimatur, 8 Gods, 10 Obligate, 11 Drudge, 12 Notify, 14 Etudes, 16 Impair, 17 Pelagius, 19 Saga, 21 Degenerate, 22 Apes. DOWN: 1 Ring, 2 Presided, 3 Impose, 4 Stolen, 5 Drag, 6 Gratifying, 9 On retreats, 13 Tapestry, 15 Swings, 16 In song, 18 Adds, 20 Amen.

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unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Psalm 51:1-12. FOR YOU created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed

body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139. HOLY ST JUDE, apostle and martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, kinsman of Jesus Christ, faith-

ful 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. MDC. 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 O MOST beautiful flower of Mount Carmel, fruitful vine, splendour of Heaven, blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin,

assist me in my necessity. O Star of the Sea, help me and show me where you are, Mother of God. Queen of heaven and earth I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to succour me in my necessity. There is none who can withstand your power, O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. Holy Mary, I place this cause in your hands.

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The Baptism of the Lord: January 13 Readings: Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11, Psalm 104: 1-4, 25-25, 27-30, Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7, Luke 3:15-16, 21-22

The spirit turns endings into new beginnings

Nicholas King SJ

EXT Sunday, the Christmas season comes to an end with the celebration of the baptism of Jesus. Under the providence of God, however, all endings are also beginnings; so we should not think, miserably, of the end of Christmas, but of the beginning of the new year and whatever our God-given task is to be for the next twelve months. In the first reading, the prophet known as Isaiah of Babylon or “Second Isaiah”, is trying to persuade his fellow-exiles that the time has come for God to send them back home to Jerusalem, after half a century away from home. It means a thousand-kilometre journey round the edge of the desert, but the first words of the song are significant, as he cries: “Comfort, comfort!” What seems like an appalling journey across the wilderness is not after all going to be as bad as they fear, because God is in charge, “in the desert prepare the way of the Lord...every valley shall be lifted up, every mountain and hill laid low”. And this journey is not their only task, for Jerusalem and Zion are also addressed as “proclaimer of good news”, which comes into English as “evangelist”. The “good

Sunday Reflections

news” that they are to deliver is: “Look! Your God!”, and the lovely image that God “like a shepherd is shepherding his flock”. So if you are starting a new task at the beginning of this year, you can have confidence, for God is looking after you. The poet who composed the psalm for next Sunday is well aware of this, for he starts (and finishes) his song with the exultant command: “Bless the Lord, my soul,” as he asserts the greatness of God; then he continutes with a highly poetic account of creation: “He stretches out the heavens like a tent, raised his palace upon the waters.” It is a wonderfully composed song, and we shall do well just to sit with it this week, as we ponder our new beginnings: “There is the sea, vast and wide,” and then it meditates on the astonishing range of living creatures, and how they (we) depend on God:

“All of them look to you...you give it to them, and they gather; you open your hand and they are filled with good things,” then, remarkably, “you send forth your spirit, they are created”. This should give us courage for this ending that is also a new beginning. In the second reading for next Sunday, what God has done is expressed as “the saving grace of God for all human beings”, a reminder that our job is only just beginning. It explains, moreover, how we are to go about it, “denying godlessness...let us live in godliness in the present age, welcoming the happy expectation and revelation of the glory of the great God, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ”. Our job is really not ours, but God’s: “In accordance with his mercy... through the washing of rebirth, and the renewal that the Holy Spirit brings.” Here at last is an explicit reference to the baptism that we are celebrating; but that is not what really matters so much as the sense of starting afresh with God. In the gospel we come at last to the baptism, but we may be a little surprised to find Luke rather downplaying it. The context is the “expectation of the people”, that is to

In safer hands than ours O NE of my jobs as a priest is to preside and preach at funerals— never an easy task. The deep truths of our faith which can be so consoling at other times often don’t spin their magic when death is still raw. Later on they can do their work; but at a funeral the pain is often too allabsorbing for the words of faith to effectively break through and do much in the way of real consolation. Their full effect will take place in a way and in a time that respects the rhythm of human grief. One sentence of consolation that I do often offer at a funeral is this one: “He is now in hands safer than ours. She is now in hands much gentler than our own.” The truth of those words can be particularly consoling when the deceased is a young person, someone who we feel still needs the hands of an earthly mother and father and who we would want to trade places with because we feel that he or she is too young to have to leave us and go off in death, alone. That is also true in the case of someone who dies in a far-from-ideal manner, suicide or a senseless accident. Our unspoken fear is always that there should have been more time, that we should have done something more, been more vigilant, been more supportive, and we worry about a loved

Conrad

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

one departing this earth in so unfortunate a way. Finally, we have this same anxiety about someone who dies and has had a life that somehow never seemed to be free of extraordinary bad circumstance and frustration, and we wish we could somehow do something to make things better. In each of these cases, nothing can be more consoling than to believe that our loved one is now in far safer and gentler hands than our own. But is this simple wishful thinking, whistling in the dark to keep up our courage? Fudging God’s justice to console ourselves? Not if Jesus can be believed! Everything that Jesus reveals about God assures us that God’s hands are much gentler and safer than our own. God is the father of the prodigal son and, as we see in that parable, God is more understanding and more compassionate to us than we are to ourselves. We see too in that parable how God does not wait for us to return and apologise after we stray and betray. God

runs out to meet us and doesn’t ask for an apology. We see too in the stories just preceding the parable of the prodigal son how God does not leave us on our own after we sin, to come to our senses and return repentantly to him. Rather he leaves the 99 others and comes looking for us, anxious, longing, and ready to carry us home, in spite of our sin. Jesus gives us too the assurance that God does not give us just one chance, but seventy-seven times seven chances, infinite chances. We don’t ruin our lives forever by making a mistake or even by making that mistake inexcusably again and again and again. Finally, in St Paul’s farewell message to us in his Letter to the Romans, he assures us that, even though we can’t ever get our lives fully right, it doesn’t matter because in the end nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate us from God’s love and forgiveness. We are, in this life and the next, in hands far safer and gentler than our own. God is not a God of punishment, but a God of forgiveness. God is not a God who records our sins, but a God who washes them away. God is not a God who demands perfection from us, but a God who asks for a contrite heart when we can’t measure up. God is not a God who gives us only one chance, but a God who gives us infinite chances. God is not a God who waits for us to come to our senses after we have fallen, but a God who comes searching for us, full of understanding and care. God is not a God who is calculating and parsimonious in his gifts, but a prodigal God who sows seeds everywhere without regard for waste or worthiness. God not a God who is powerless before evil and death, but a God who can raise dead bodies to life and redeem what is evil and hopeless. God is not a God who is arbitrary and fickle, but a God who is utterly reliable in his promise and goodness. God is not a God who is dumb and unable to deal with our complexity, but a God who fashioned the depth of the universe and the deepest recesses of the human psyche. Ultimately, God is not a God who cannot protect us, but is a God in whose hands and in whose promise we are far safer than when we rely upon ourselves.

say the very ones who had been waiting outside the Temple, back in chapter 1, when John the Baptist’s father was told that he was going to have a son. Now the crowds are wondering whether that son might be the long-awaited Messiah. John is quite emphatic in his insistence that “the one stronger than me is coming, and I am not fit to undo the thong of his sandals, while he is going to baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire”. Our task, like John’s, is to focus not on our status, but on who Jesus is; and Luke offers a delicate touch here, for he goes on, “after the entire people had been baptised, and when Jesus had been baptised, and was praying...”. For Luke has Jesus pray at every key moment of his life; and this has the remarkable effect of setting Jesus free to perform his mission (and it can do the same for us), as “the Holy Spirit came down in bodily form, and a voice came from Heaven: ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; in you I am well pleased’.” It is that voice that will give us the strength to turn all our endings into new beginnings, in this coming year.

Southern Crossword #531

ACROSS 5. Old Venetian (4) 7. Church authorisation: let it go to press (10) 8. Olympians in the threatre gallery (4) 10. Morally compel Ali to beg (8) 11. She does dull work (6) 12. Formally inform (6) 14. Chopin's kind of studies (6) 16. Damage I am shortly to put together (6) 17. Heretical monk condemned by St Augustine (8) 19. A long story of sagacity (4) 21. Agreed, teen will decline (10) 22. One of them bit Cleopatra (4)

DOWN 1. Sound as a bell (4) 2. Took the chair (8) 3. Poem is force to be accepted (6) 4. So Lent has been taken unlawfully (6) 5. Tiresome one will pull you along (4) 6. Giving satisfaction (10) 9. One starter for how nuns go for seclusion (2,8) 13. Set party to produce arras (8) 15. Goes low, like the sweet chariot (6) 16. Praise God from the choir (2,4) 18. Puts with something else (4) 20. End prayer with name change (4) Solutions on page 11

CHURCH CHUCKLE A

MAN in Johannesburg called his son in London just before Christmas Eve and said: “I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; 45 years of misery is enough.” “Dad, what are you talking about?” the son screamed. “We’re sick of each other and I’m sick of talking about this,” the father said. “So please call your sister in Toronto and tell her.” Frantically the son called his sister, who exploded and pledged: “I’ll take care of this!” She called Jo’burg immediately, and told her father: “Don’t do a single thing until I get there. My brother and I will both be in Jo’burg tomorrow. We’ll sort things out then.” The old man hung up the phone and turned to his wife: “Sorted! They’re coming for Christmas—and they’re paying their own fare.” Send us your favourite Catholic joke, preferably clean and brief, to The Southern Cross, Church Chuckle, PO Box 2372, Cape Town, 8000.