150722

The

S outhern C ross

July 22 to July 28, 2015

Reg No. 1920/002058/06

After long journey, SA home returns little boy to Europe

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No 4934

www.scross.co.za

A deaf-blind priest, beer and Hollywood

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R7,00 (incl vAt RSA)

Priest on recording his gospel CDs

Page 9

Priest slams the ‘hijacking’ of ubuntu

BY StuARt GRAhAM

T

HE philosophy of ubuntu has been hijacked by an ethic of capitalism and crass materialism in communities across South Africa, the priest who heads the Moral Regeneration Movement has said.

Fr Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, a former mayor of Tshwane and former deputy education minister, said many of the values that constitute ubuntu, such as respect for elders and a readiness to help the destitute, have virtually “vanished” from South Africa’s communities.

“Young men and women were always taught how to grow up properly by the elders in their communities,” he told The Southern Cross. “They were taught how to look after family and conduct themselves, but all those kinds of good customs are now seriously threatened.”

Now, however, “ubuntu is being replaced by people thinking of what is in their best interest to exclusion of the common good. The spirit of ubuntu has been hijacked by an ethic of capitalism,” he said.

South Africa, Fr Mkhatshwa said, faces a “very serious challenge” of “visionary, honest leadership at all levels”. He said the example set by the multimillion-rand upgrade of President Jacob Zuma’s homestead at Nkandla has caused confusion among the youth.

“The happenings in the country have caught the public’s imagination. Some have caused disappointment and disillusionment,” the priest said.

“The young feel you should buy the most expensive shoes, cars, cellphones. There is a very strong emphasis on material possessions to the exclusion of the values of self-sacrifice, particularly with the poor and disadvantaged.”

A life of extreme poverty can drive people to criminal activities, Fr Mkhatshwa said, particularly when they see others living well and displaying “crass materialism”.

It may be necessary for South Africans to re-look “in a radical way” at the kind of society they live in. “Revolutions move in cycles.

The first part was to defeat apartheid. Now we have the instruments of power of government in our hands,” he said.

“Unfortunately some of the values of strug-

For further info or to book contact Michael or Gail at 076 352 3809 or 021 551 3923 info@fowlertours.co.za www.fowlertours.co.za/ poland-2016/

gle—of self-sacrifice, of solidarity and a readiness to sacrifice one’s life for good of others— are under a lot of stress and are being threatened,” he noted. “Some of the young are beginning to question the kind of society that has such a disparity between poor and rich.”

Fr Mkhatshwa said in a recent meeting with the vice-chancellors of various universities, he was told of the serious social problems facing many young people.

“They said, ‘Please come to our universities work with our young people. They are looking for direction. They do not have serious values guiding their lives’,” the priest said.

“If we allow young people to mess up now, without good example and discipline, we will pay the price in the future.”

The Church’s challenge is to assist in the grooming and nurturing of good leaders.

“We can help our young people to defend certain values. We can go out of our way to have special leadership programmes for young people. We can prepare them for future leadership in Church and society,” he said.

The former politician suggested that the Church could establish a special pastoral ministry for people who have decided to take up public office. Many political leaders, he said, do not know how to handle power. “They think that it makes them great and powerful.

Arrogance is easily acquired.”

Fr Mkhatshwa also bemoaned the rise of churches which seem to exist as commercial enterprises.

“I have no quarrel with people nurturing faith, but the way many religions become so commercialised as an instrument to make quick money is an enormous concern,” he said. “Many of these churches exploit the fears of people and create confusion by subscribing to the capitalist ethic we talk about,” he said.

While parents, the Church, unions, places of education, the government and the media all have a role to play, prayer remains the most important aspect of all in keeping the spirit of ubuntu alive.

“Prayer should be focused and go to the heart of the problem,” he said. “In prayer we should ask the Lord to give us all strength and guidance.”

learners from St Benedict’s Junior Preparatory School in Johannesburg took part in a prayer walk to make them aware of signs of God’s presence in and around the school. teachers led the boys in prayer and encouraged them to add their intentions at the ten stations that were visited. these included the Wayside Cross, our lady’s grotto and the garden of remembrance.

Place of Jesus’ baptism declared a UNESCO heritage site

BY Judith SudilovSkY

T

HE United Nations agency UNESCO has declared Bethany Beyond the Jordan, on the eastern side of the Jordan River, as a World Heritage site and the location of Jesus’ baptism.

“The decision is logical. The Eastern side is where all the Byzantine antiquities and churches are located,” said Fr Eugenio Alliata OFM, professor of Christian archaeology at Jerusalem’s Studium Biblicum Franciscanum.

He said pilgrimages to the Western side began only about 600 years ago. “But for us it is the Jordan River, the middle, which is the most holy place.”

For years, Israel and Jordan have been at odds as to which side of the Jordan River is the actual site of Jesus’ baptism, as both sides vie for the title to increase tourism.

Israel upgraded the western shoreline, situated in the occupied West Bank, with changing rooms and a wooden deck access to the murky waters, while Jordan’s eastern shore, also a developed site, has remained sleepy despite three papal visits.

The western site, called Qasr el Yahud (“Gate of the Jews”, where tradition places the crossing of the Jews into the Promised Land), is directly opposite the Jordanian site, separated by only a few metres of water.

St John Paul II Pilgrimage to Poland Southern Cross

Bethany Beyond the Jordan, the Jordanian baptismal site, seen from Qasr el Yahud in the West Bank. (Photo: Günther Simmermacher) Fr Alliata said ancient iconography shows Jesus in the middle of the river rather than on any of the two shores, and there are accounts by ancient pilgrims of marble columns in the middle of the river marking the site of Jesus’ baptism.

“History has different ways of being remembered,” he said. “If there was an agreement between Israel and Jordan [on the issue] they could combine the place East and West.

Both have importance, the East in ancient times and the West in modern times.”—CNS

A journey to the places of St John Paul II’s life and devotions, led by a Bishop who knows Poland intimately.

Led by Bishop Stan Dziuba 13 - 21 May 2016

Kraków | Wadowice (on St John Paul II’s birthday) | Black Madonna of Częstochowa | Niepokalanów (St Maximilan Kolbe) | Divine Mercy Sanctuary | Warsaw | Kalwaria Zebrzydowska (with miraculous icon) | Zakopane | Wieliczka Salt Mine (with Mass!)

Record numbers for Fr King’s SA lectures

BY StAFF REPoRtER

F

ATHER Nicholas King SJ’s sixweek visit to deliver Winter Living Theology (WLT) 2016 attracted more participants than any other WLT in memory, according to Fr Russell Pollitt SJ, director of the Jesuit Institute.

Fr Pollitt also revealed that next year’s WLT will be presented by Jesuit Father John Baldovin, professor of Historical and Liturgical Theology at Boston College’s School of Ministry and Theology.

Fr Baldovin will talk on “Worship and Social Justice: the implications of belonging to a worshipping community.”

More than 1 300 people heard Southern Cross columnist Fr King speak in six centres around Southern Africa. He presented a series of threedays of lectures and some evening lectures.

This year, for the first time ever, WLT went to Manzini, Swaziland, where over 320 people gathered to

Fr Nicholas king SJ speaks in lansdowne, Cape town hear Fr King. The visit was even covered by the country’s secular media.

Fr King lectured in Johannesburg, Durban, Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. He also delivered lectures for the faculty of theology at both the University of Pretoria and the University of the Free State.

The Pauline Sisters in Johannesburg hosted a special lecture on “St Paul and Consecrated Life today.”

Fr King squeezed in a quick visit to the Grahamstown National Arts Festival where he preached at Mass at St Patrick’s during the festival.

The Jesuit Institute has hosted WLT since its re-launch in 2007.

“For a number of years in the 1980s and ’90s a Winter School was conducted around South Africa,” Fr Pollitt explained. “This did not happen for a few years and then was restarted by the Jesuit Institute at the request of the bishops of Southern Africa in 2007.”

At one stage the Winter School was only for priests and religious. This has grown and now may people, including laity, “benefit from some of the best scholarship” from around the globe, Fr Pollitt said.

“The bishops’ conference has assisted the Jesuit Institute by sponsoring WLT and therefore enabling it to reach far and wide,” Fr Pollitt said.

“We are grateful to the conference and hope that this collaborative partnership will continue for many years.”

Participants at the nuclear build meeting (from left) Saliem Fakier (WWF), Shane Pereira (lesedi Nuclear Services), liz Mcdaid (SAFCEi) and Andrew kenny (independent energy consultant).

SACRAL ARTWORK

(various size paintings, icons, stations of the cross, paintings and frame renovations)

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Visiting ‘The Eternal City’ Rome, Vatican City, San Giovanni Rotondo (stigmatist Padre Pio), Loreto, Medjugorje Organised and led by Rev Fr Stephen Tully

Cost from R25825 Tel: (031) 266 7702 Fax: (031) 266 8982 Email: judyeichhorst@telkomsa.net

Brescia house School in Johannesburg has been supporting the teddy Bear Clinic for over five years. Every year pupils, parents, grandparents and staff knit teddies to be donated to this clinic. “Each little bear produced is made with great love and care because we know they are going to be given to a vulnerable child who is in need of that,” said liz Norman, head of counselling and community outreach at Brescia house. Grade R pupils (top row from left) Sophia Bullen, isabelle ventura, isabella Band and Giselle Niemand, and (front row) Abelwe khumalo and Erin Grimet have fun with the teddies.

Looking at a nuclear future

BY StAFF REPoRtER

T

HE demand for energy continually increases with South Africa’s developing population and economy, leading the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office to organise a roundtable discussion on the “Implications of a South African Nuclear Build”.

The speakers were Shane Pereira from Lesedi Nuclear Services; Andrew Kenny, an independent energy consultant; Liz McDaid from the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute; and Saliem

Fakir from the World Wildlife Fund.

Mr Pereira examined the construction implications of such an infrastructural endeavour.

Ms McDaid focused on the socioeconomic implications, exploring the legacy of nuclear energy in South Africa as well as in other countries worldwide.

Mr Kenny looked at the positive implications that would accompany having nuclear as our main source of energy.

Mr Fakir spoke about other energy options we could have instead of going the nuclear route.

Youth take initiative in training their peers BY dYlAN APPoliS

D

URBAN youth chaplain Fr Jean Kalala OMI introduced the Highway deanery executive committee to a professional leadership workshop, after which the committee took the initiative of running their own workshop for fellow youth in the deanery.

“We gained many valuable skills. We were also exposed to different ways of thinking,” Fr Kalala said.

“It really was a crowning glory for us facilitators when young people were not only excited about what they had learned, they even started becoming facilitators themselves in their own parishes among the young people they are leading.”

Following their workshop, the Highway youth executive committee held a leadership workshop for fellow youth at Red Acres Retreat Centre, near Pietermaritzburg, at which they were the facilitators.

The modules at the workshop were personal strategy, taking charge of your life, time management, building effective teams, emotional intelligence, problem solving, empowerment and delegation, leadership and personal skills, managing by values, and managing change.

“As Highway deanery we strongly believe in youth development,” Fr Kalala said.

“We have hit the mark in empowering young people and we shall continue to do so,” he added.

Franciscans meet on Holy Land BY dYlAN APPoliS

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For more information contact: SRPC Higher Degrees Administrator Catherine Murugan (muruganc@ukzn.ac.za)

OUTH Africa was represented by Fr Hyacinth Ennis OFM as 13 Franciscan friars from the English-speaking world gathered in Washington DC to discuss the urgent need for support of Christians in the Holy Land.

The meeting was held at the Franciscan monastery of the Holy Land in America.

The 13 commissaries came from North America, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. They are part of a worldwide network that supports the 800-year Franciscan ministry in the Holy Land through education, pilgrimage and promotion of the Pontifical Good Friday Collection.

During the meeting, Fr Pierbattista Pizzaballa OFM, the custos of the Holy Land, spoke from Jerusalem via Skype about the current situation in the region and the challenges which the commissaries face in their work.

“Catholic parishioners in areas served by the English-speaking commissariats donate nearly $20 million (R250 million) annually through the Pontifical Good Friday Collection,” said Fr Ennis, parish priest of St Dominic’s church in Boksburg.

“The collection, held in parishes worldwide at the request of the pope, provides critical funds for the Franciscans’ mission in the Holy Land, including parishes, employment assistance, housing, care for the

Franciscan commissaries of the holy land from the English-speaking world meet in Washington dC, with Archbishop donald Wuerl of Washington (centre), and Fr hyacinth Ennis of Boksburg (far left). elderly and orphaned children, education, and maintenance of the shrines associated with the life of Christ,” the South African commissary told The Southern Cross.

The next conference is planned for

2018. The English-speaking commissariats are part of a worldwide network of 84 commissariats in 44 nations. n For more information on the Franciscan commissariats visit www.custodia.org

SACBC moves to Nazareth House helps little support refugees boy to find his long way home BY dYlAN APPoliS

T

HE Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) has formed a Steering Committee for Refugees and Migrants.

The committee is intended to address issues concerning migrants, asylum-seekers, refugees and displaced people.

The various SACBC agencies that deal with these issues met in Pretoria this month to form the steering committee.

“The committee acknowledged and noted with gratitude the significant contribution of Catholic agencies to the pastoral and other support given to victims of attacks,” said SACBC communications officer Fr S’milo Mngadi.

“It also acknowledged with grati-

tude the generosity of the many people who supported the victims directly with donations of food and blankets or helped the Church in its response with financial contributions.”

The committee expressed deep concern that many of the underlying causes of the recent xenophobic attacks, such as poverty, unemployment and racism in the community, remain unresolved.

The agencies committed to work together to minimise these causes and called on the Catholic community to join them in this vital work.

The different agencies were tasked to make a follow-up on particular issues of concern within their different domains to report to a meeting arranged for November.

Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blood celebrated jubilees and renewed their vows at Mariannhill mission outside durban. From left: Sr Cornelia Ngcobo (25 years), Sr Agnes Grasböck (50), Sr Christia Öhlinger (60), Sr Christine Pohland (60), Sr Josefé Fischerleitner (60), Sr Johanna Resing (50), Sr Basil Mchunu (50). Celebrating with them were Bishop Mlungisi Pius dlungwane of Mariannhill, retired Bishops hubert Bucher and Fritz lobinger, Mariannhill Missionary Fathers Cas Paulse, Emmanuel Ndlovu, Josef Steger and dominic Muheim, CPS Mariannhill provincial superior Sr immaculate Ndlovu, CPS Eastern Cape provincial superior Sr dionys Ngcobo, as well as fellow Precious Blood Sisters and other guests.

BY dYlAN APPoliS

T

WO years after little Daniel, now five years old, arrived at Nazareth House in Cape Town, the home has successfully placed him back in the Central European country of his birth.

Daniel, whose real name or country of origin may not be revealed, was placed with Nazareth House after he and his mother were found destitute, said Ciske Kruger, Nazareth House’s social media coordinator.

Daniel’s mother had brought him to South Africa, while his sister and father remained in Europe.

“As with many of our children, we find out that their troubles are much more complex than they seem on the surface,” she told The Southern Cross.

“When Daniel was first placed with us, we found that he would take extra food and hide it under his bed,” Ms Kruger said. “This broke our hearts and shed some light on the difficult living situation he had been exposed to.”

While the mother did visit sometimes, Nazareth House found they had a strained relationship.

The doctors explained that because Daniel had experienced so many disrupted attachments in the care of his mother—she often left him for long periods due to drug abuse—he was now struggling with forming relationships with anyone. Building trust was especially difficult for him.

Social worker Jackie Hope, house manager Gayenor Milner,

W

HEN Archbishop Buti Tlhagale celebrates a Mass to mark the Year of the Family at the cathedral of Christ the King in Johannesburg on August 1, married couples will be able to renew their marriage vows.

Couples who have been married for 50 years or longer will receive a special nuptial blessing.

Parish priests in the archdiocese have been asked to forward the names of couples who have been married for 50 years and longer to the Office of Divine Worship and Liturgy or to the Marriage and Family Life Apostolate Desk for logistical purposes.

This celebration is intended “to serve as a way to see how we can best support families as they deepen their relationships and face the challenges of everyday life”, said Mahadi Buthelezi, Radio Veritas’ marketing consultant, who is also active in the family ministry.

In celebrating the Year of the Family as a local Church, the archdiocese of Johannesburg wants to highlight the joy of the family, she said, and to recognise the sacrifices necessary. n For further information contact the Office of Divine Worship & Liturgy or the Family Life Apostolate Desk on 011 402 6400 or liturgy@catholic jhb.org.za

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superior Sr Breda Goodrich and all the carers of Nazareth House worked closely with the external social workers, the children’s court, as well as South African and European embassies and international social services to repatriate the boy.

D

aniel would be placed at a children’s home in his home country while he built a relationship with his father and sister again, before being placed in their care.

Nazareth House was given just two days’ notice for the boy’s repatriation. Ms Hope was ap-

MARYVALE COLLEGE P O Box 51698 Raedene Johannesburg 2124 High School: 10 St Mary’s Road Maryvale Johannesburg 2192. Telephone: 640 3061 Fax: 640 7352 email: admin@maryvalecollege.co.za Pre-Primary and Primary School: Cnr. Louis Botha Ave & Cheltondale Road Orchards Johannesburg 2192, Telephone: 485 1210 Fax: 485 1213 email: primaryadmin@maryvalecollege.co.za

Celebrating Year of the Family BY dYlAN APPoliS

Nazareth house social worker Jackie hope with daniel at his new children’s home in Europe.

pointed to accompany Daniel back to Europe “We had challenges in terms of travelling with Daniel due to new laws in Home Affairs regarding children travelling across borders,” Ms Kruger noted, but these were sorted out.

“Daniel was particularly excited about flying on a plane,” said Ms Hope. “He could not contain his excitement at the airport, seeing the planes and how large they were.”

When they finally arrived at the new home, Daniel was blown away by all the toys.

“While playing with wooden trains, Daniel looked at our social worker and said, ‘I am so glad that you brought me here, I am going to be happy here’,” Ms Kruger said.

Ms Hope also had the opportunity to stay a few days to help Daniel settle into the new home, and be with him when he first saw his father and sister.

The reunification was emotional as Daniel last saw his family when he was very young. After spending some time with his sister, Daniel told Ms Hope: “I love my sister. I think she is my best friend.”

Ms Kruger said that while it had taken Nazareth House two years to help little Daniel get back home and to his family, it has all been worth it. “We have enjoyed every moment of caring for Daniel and being a part of his childhood,” she said. “We pray that he will continue to grow from strength to strength.”

HEAD of PRIMARY and PRE-SCHOOL

Maryvale College is a Catholic Primary and High School situated on two campuses in Maryvale, Johannesburg. There are about 400 pupils on roll in the Primary and Pre-school.

Children of all faiths are welcome. Pending the retirement of our esteemed and successful principal in December 2015, the Board of Governors invites applications for the above position. The appointment date is January 2016. Reporting to the Principal, the successful candidate will be a highly motivated, enthusiastic and capable primary practitioner who will lead a dedicated team at this happy, high-achieving school.

KEY PERFORMANCE AREAS • Ability to nurture and develop the Catholic ethos of the school • Guiding, leading and supporting the academic and ancillary staff • Initiating and supporting staff development • Monitoring the quality of teaching and learning • Financial management skills • Commitment to continuous improvement in all aspects of the school • Critically evaluating academic results and implementing appropriate interventions • Excellent interpersonal, organizational and communication skills

The Board invites interested applicants to email the following to Sr Janine Coleman at msafin@inamandla.co.za or post them to her at Maryvale College, PO Box 51698, Raedene, Johannesburg, 2124: • • •

A Curriculum Vitae not longer than three A4 pages Three contactable referees, one of whom is a parish priest or a minister of religion A letter stating both your vision for the school and your previous leadership achievements • Certified copy of SACE registration Short-listed applicants will be asked to kindly bring certified copies of their academic and professional qualifications to the interview. The closing date for applications is Friday, 28 August 2015. The school reserves the right not to make an appointment. Submission of an application does not in itself entitle the applicant to an interview.

4

the Southern Cross, July 22 to July 28, 2015

INTERNATIONAL

Pope: I’ve never seen so many children

BY CiNdY WoodEN

W

HEN asked what struck him most in the three South Amerucan countries he had visited—Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay—Pope Francis replied: “I’ve never seen so many kids. This is a Church of life. I wanted to encourage this young Church…which I believe can teach us a lot.”

Aboard the papal flight from Paraguay, he was asked by reporters why he talks so much about the rich and the poor and so rarely about middle-class people who work and pay taxes, Pope Francis thanked the journalist for pointing out his omission and said: “I do need to delve further into this magisterium.”

However, he said he speaks about the poor so often “because they are at the heart of the Gospel. And, I always speak from the Gospel on poverty—it’s not that it’s sociological”.

Pope Francis was asked about his reaction to the crucifix on top of a hammer and sickle—the communist symbol—that Bolivian President Evo Morales gave him. The crucifix was designed by Jesuit Father Luis Espinal, who was kidnapped, tortured and killed in Bolivia in 1980.

The pope said the crucifix surprised him. “I hadn’t known that Fr Espinal was a sculptor and a poet, too. I just learned that these past few days,” he said.

Pope Francis said that he did know, however, that Fr Espinal was among the Latin American theologians in the late 1970s who found Marxist political, social and economic analysis helpful for understanding their countries and their people’s struggles and that the Jesuit also used Marxist theories in his theology. It was four years after the Jesuit’s murder that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said plainly that Marxist theory had no place in a Catholic theology, the pope pointed out.

The crucifix, the pope said, obviously fits into the category of “protest art”, which some people may find offensive, although he said he did not.

“I’m taking it home with me,” Pope Francis said.

In addition to the crucifix, Mr Morales had given the pope two honors, one of which was making him part of the Order of Father Espinal, a designation that comes with a medal bearing a copy of the hammer-and-sickle crucifix.

Pope Francis said he’s never accepted such honours; “it’s just not for me”, he said. But Mr Morales had given them to the pope with “such goodwill” and such obvious pleasure at doing something he thought would please the pope that the pope said he could not refuse.

“I prayed about this,” the pope told reporters. He said he did not want to offend Mr Morales and he did not want the medals to end up in a Vatican museums storeroom.

So he placed them at the feet of a statue of Mary and asked that they be transferred to the national shrine of Our Lady of Copacabana.

Pope Francis also was asked about his request in Guayaquil, Ecuador, that people pray for the October Synod of Bishops on the Family “so that Christ can take even what might seem to us impure, scandalous or threatening, and turn it—by making it part of his ‘hour’— into a miracle.”

The pope told reporters, “I wasn’t thinking of any point in particular,” but rather the whole range of problems afflicting families around the world and the need for God’s help for families.

P

ope Francis said that before arriving in the United States in September, he will study American criticisms of his critiques of the global economy and finance.

“I have heard that some criticisms were made in the United States—I’ve heard that—but I have not read them and have not had time to study them well,” the pope told reporters .

“If I have not dialogued with the person who made the criticism,” he said, “I don’t have the right” to comment on what the person is saying.

Pope Francis said his assertion in

Bolivia on July 9 that “this economy kills” is something he believes and has explained in his exhortation The Joy of the Gospel and more recently in his encyclical on the environment.

In the Bolivia speech to grassroots activists, many of whom work with desperately poor people, the pope described the predominant global economic system as having “the mentality of profit at any price with no concern for social exclusion or the destruction of nature”.

Asked if he planned to make similar comments in the United States despite the negative reaction his comments have drawn from some US pundits, politicians and economists, Pope Francis said that now that his trip to South America has concluded, he must begin “studying” for his September trip to Cuba and the United States; the preparation, he said, will include careful reading of criticisms of his remarks about economic life.

The pope’s trip to Cuba and the United States in September was mentioned frequently in questions during the onboard news conference. US President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro publicly thanked Pope Francis and the Vatican last December for helping them reach an agreement to begin normalising relations.

Pope Francis insisted his role was not “mediation”. In January 2014, he said, he was asked if there was some way he could help. “To tell you the truth, I spent three months praying about it, thinking what can I do with these two after 50 years like this.” He decided to send a cardinal—whom he did not name—to speak to both leaders. “I didn’t hear any more,” he said.

“Months went by” and then one day, out of the blue, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, told him representatives of the two countries would be having their second meeting at the Vatican the next day, he said.

The new Cuba-US relationship was the result of “the goodwill of both countries. It’s their merit. We did almost nothing”, the pope said.—CNS

(left) Children hold posters as they wait to see Pope Francis at the El Quinche National Marian Shrine in Quito, Ecuador.

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People wait to see Pope Francis on a high point overlooking la Paz, Bolivia.

(Right) A Paraguayan boy holds a statue of Mary as he waits for Pope Francis’ arrival.

(Below) Pope Francis celebrates Mass in Nu Guazu Park in Asuncion, Paraguay.

Pope Francis greets an elderly woman as he meets with people of Banado Norte, a poor neighbourhood in Asuncion, Paraguay (All Photos: Paul haring/CNS)

(Right) Pope Francis arrives to celebrate Mass in Bicentennial Park in Quito, Ecuador.

tHE JOuRNEYS OF A lIFEtIME!

(top) Pope Francis walks with Bolivian President Evo Morales and children in traditional dress as he arrives at El Alto international Airport in la Paz, Bolivia.

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INTERNATIONAL

the Southern Cross, July 22 to July 28, 2015

5

Kenyan bishops: We’ll Ukrainian priest scarred resist same-sex marriage by captivity feels peace

BY WAltER ChERuiYot

W

ITH US President Barack Obama set to visit Kenya on July 24, the head of the nation’s bishops’ conference said the Church will resist any pressure to accept same-sex marriages.

“We are not going to allow samesex marriage,” said Bishop Philip Anyolo of Homa Bay, noting that the Kenyan Church considers this unacceptable and urges its advocates to “stop the debate”.

Bishop Anyolo, president of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops, said that while the bishops welcomed Mr Obama’s visit, the Church “has a prophetic mission to protect holy matrimony”, which “the Bible [makes] clear” is between a man and a woman.

In most of Africa’s 54 countries, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people have to hide their sexual orientation for fear of persecution or criminal prosecution. South Africa, where same-sex marriage has been legal since 2006, is the only African country that permits gay unions.

“There are far more pressing issues” than same-sex marriage that the Church in Africa needs to address, including corruption, refugees and poverty, said Jesuit Father Russell Pollitt, director of the Johannesburgbased Jesuit Institute.

It will be “sad and a missed opportunity if the focus of Mr Obama’s visit is narrow” rather than on the “pressing problems that cause great suffering to the poor”, covered in

Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical, Fr Pollitt said.

Fr S’milo Mngadi, communications officer for the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, said South African Churches seem to be “more tolerant of others” than their counterparts in many other African countries, although that does not necessarily mean Catholics agree with what others do.

“But what is of concern to us is the attaching of conditions to aid” by donor countries, he said.

“This is a Christian perspective, not an African perspective, because this is a problem all over the world,” Fr Mngadi said. “Aid should not be used as a coercive tool to impose any set of values.”

After Uganda’s anti-gay law came into effect early 2014, Comboni Father John Baptist Keraryo Opargiw, a Ugandan at Comboni headquarters in Rome, said the “issue of homosexuality and lesbianism in Africa is one which is a challenge to the cultural integrity and moral fabric” of African societies.

“Many see the phenomenon as un-African and against African social and religious heritage. Homosexual lifestyle is perceived to be against nature,” he said.

The priest added: “Just over a century ago, homosexuality was an abomination in the West but has worked its way to legitimacy. Will Africa follow suit, letting her cultural values and norms in this regard evolve?”—CNS italian Cardinal Giacomo Biffi, the retired archbishop of Bologna, died on July 11 at the age of 87.

Born June 13, 1928, in Milan, he was ordained to the priesthood in 1950. Pope Paul vi named him auxiliary bishop of Milan in 1975 and John Paul ii named him archbishop of Bologna in 1984. the late pope gave him his red hat the following year. the outspoken cardinal was chosen to lead a number of spiritual retreats, including to the Roman curia in 2007 and in 2000 for the jubilee year. his death leaves the College of Cardinals with 221 members, 120 of whom are under the age of 80 and therefore eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope.

Vatican backs Iran nuke deal

T

HE Holy See has welcomed Iran’s historic nuclear deal and expressed hopes that more future breakthroughs will be on the horizon on other issues.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said that “the agreement on the Iranian nuclear programmme is viewed in a positive light by the Holy See”.

“It constitutes an important outcome of the negotiations carried out so far, although continued efforts and commitment on the part of all involved will be necessary in order for it to bear fruit,” he said in a written statement in response to reporters’ questions.

“It is hoped that those fruits will not be limited to the field of the nuclear programme, but may indeed extend further,” he said, without specifying what other areas of progress the Vatican hoped to see.

Under the new deal, decades-long sanctions by the United States, European Union and United Nations eventually would be lifted in exchange for an agreement by Iran to restrict its nuclear programme to peaceful purposes.

The negotiations involved Iran and what is often referred to as the “P5+1”, or the five permanent members of the UN Security Council— China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States—plus Germany.

In January and in April, Pope Francis had expressed hopes that negotiations would end in an agreement. In his Easter message he said he hoped preliminary talks then underway would “be a definitive step towards a more secure and fraternal world”.—CNS

BY MARiANA kARAPiNkA

A

YEAR ago Ukranian Catholic Father Tykhon Kulbaka was headed to the chapel in the room rented by the local Catholic community. En route, he stopped at a grocery store, where four men grabbed him, blindfolded him and made him breathe chloroform.

That was on July 4, 2014. When the priest woke up, he was “in a small room with a window blurred and walls painted with an ugly green colour. That reminded me of some Soviet children’s camp or sanatorium”.

In an interview with Catholic News Service, the priest recalled his 12 days in captivity and said it was worse emotionally than physically.

Fr Kulbaka said he knew he was detained for helping to organise an interfaith prayer initiative in the centre of Donetsk, which became a headquarter for Russian-backed separatists and various gangs that occupied Eastern Ukraine. The prayer initiative had started the previous February, when interfaith leaders gathered at a tent each day to pray for peace in Ukraine.The tent was repeatedly broken, and organisers were threatened.

Other clergy from Eastern Ukraine had been targeted: Rev Sergey Kosiak, a Protestant pastor, had been beaten. Another organiser, Polish Father Pawel Witek, had been abducted by pro-Russian militants, and Orthodox Father Pavlo Zhuchenko had been shot dead at a military checkpoint. Fr Kulbaka said Rev Kosiak and a mufti, Said Ismagilov, started negotiations with different gangs to rescue him.

Fr Kulbaka said that, at the time, he did not know who captured him. He said he suffered cold, sickness and humiliation. The torturers also took away his first-aid kit with medicine for diabetes.

He survived three mock executions.

“They put me near the wall and shot over my head. When it happened for the first time, I was so scared that I fainted. But they laughed, they had fun,” the priest recalled.

On the eighth day, a man with a Russian accent accused Fr Kulbaka of being a Catholic. It was not even a interrogation, Fr Kulbaka said, noting it was more of a monologue of accusations and jeer.

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This man knew the religious situation very well, the priest recalled: He even knew the names of the parishioners in Donetsk.

T

he people who kidnapped Fr Kulbaka call themselves the Russian Orthodox Army. Although officially denounced by the hierarchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow patriarchate, this military group often speaks of its commitment to the Orthodox faith and ideas.

After three days, the “interrogations” were over.

Fr Kulbaka said he does not know why his captors released him, but they put him in his car, left him in a small forest and gave back a cellphone and a laptop.

When Fr Kulbaka managed to reach his brother, who lived in nearby Dzerzhynsk, he received a text message with a threat to leave the region and not discuss his captivity.

After he reached Kiev, he lapsed into a diabetic coma and, for few days, was in a very poor condition.

But his spiritual battle began when he regained consciousness.

“The first emotions that I felt when I woke up in the hospital

were hatred, fear and desire for revenge,” he recalled, adding that he was afraid of these feelings. “These three days I did not sleep. Three days of emotional captivity that was much worse than a physical captivity.”

At some point, he started praying for his torturers.

“Prayer was the instrument that transformed me and my attitude to them. And the Lord touched my heart,” he told CNS. “Forgiveness has changed my physical condition,” he said, adding that he started recovering from the consequences of the captivity—a recurrence of cancer, a stomach ulcer and other diseases.

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops helped him with funds for the surgery and rehabilitation.

Fr Kulbaka said he treasures his current feeling of peace.

“God gave me this blessing and I am afraid of losing it,” he said.

“I’m now so calm and peaceful that if I saw the people who kidnapped me, I would come and hug them. For I know the hatred they feel for me kills them first. I experienced this. I feel pity for them, because they still live in hatred, of which God delivered me.”

Fr Kulbaka now lives in Lviv and helps internally displaced people.

Most of his parishioners left Donetsk, but some remain, and he also tries to arrange help to them and others who, as he said, live “under occupation in the 21st century”.

6

the Southern Cross, July 22 to July 28, 2015

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

At the Lord’s Table

T

HE question of how to provide pastoral care to divorced and civilly remarried Catholics will form a focal and contentious part in the Synod of Bishops on the Family in October.

Briefly put, some bishops are proposing that such Catholics may be admitted to the sacraments, especially Holy Communion, under certain circumstances and with the dispensation of the local bishop.

This model, which is commonly identified with German Cardinal Walter Kasper, is a response to those who argue that the situation of many faithful servants of the Church requires a merciful pastoral response which, at the same time, does not diminish the Church’s teachings on divorce.

This solution would regulate a situation where innocent parties in a divorce are either excluded from the Lord’s Table, or access it discreetly in parishes where their circumstances are not known.

Critics of the model counter that admitting Catholics who, in the Church’s definition, live in situations of adultery would undermine the Church’s teachings on divorce and admit to the sacraments people who live in what the Church teaches to be a sinful state.

Both positions, and others, will be presented vigorously at the Synod of Bishops. What happens once they have been presented causes much confusion.

For one thing, there will be no winner at the end of the synod, and no immediate new laws. The synod’s bishops will make their recommendation to the pope, who in turn will exercise his prerogative to interpret their advice and arrive at a conclusion which may or may not reflect the majority sentiment.

These conclusions are usually published in due course in an apostolic exhortation, which is not a legislative document but reflects the thinking of a pope. A change to current discipline, policy or pastoral approach might require a decree of some sort which the pope may issue at any point.

Whatever view prevails in the synod, it must be understood that no proposition suggests that the Church’s teaching on divorce (based on Mk 10:9; Mt 19:6) should change. It will remain in place.

Nor does it mean that, should the Kasper position become a norm in the Church, every di-

Fr Cyril Axelrod was born deaf in Johannesburg into a Jewish family. He converted to Catholicism at 23 and became a priest in 1970. As an adult he also lost his sight. He is now a worldwide activist for the deaf, author and missioner living on his own in London. Fr Larry recently published the book ‘Perhaps God’ on his friendship with Fr Cyril.

vorced and civilly remarried Catholic will be automatically granted access to the Eucharist.

It would mean that such Catholics could ask the local bishop to be granted a dispensation by which they receive access to the sacraments without having first obtained an annulment.

Presumably the bishop would ascertain that the applicant was an innocent party in a divorce (for example, he or she was abandoned by their spouse, or the spouse was adulterous, or was physically or emotionally abusive). The bishop should not give a dispensation to applicants whose divorce was not predicated on grave reasons.

This approach speaks to paragraph 2386 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, in the section which addresses the Church’s prohibition on divorce: “It can happen that one of the spouses is the innocent victim of a divorce decreed by civil law; this spouse therefore has not contravened the moral law. There is a considerable difference between a spouse who has sincerely tried to be faithful to the sacrament of marriage and is unjustly abandoned, and one who through his own grave fault destroys a canonically valid marriage.”

Such divorcees may receive Communion, unless they enter into a civil marriage.

Opponents of the Kasper position argue that the process of annulment addresses these concerns.

The annulment process is carried out by a diocesan tribunal which determines whether a marriage was entered into validly. Its recommendation is then sent to the Vatican whose Roman Rota decides whether to issue an annulment of marriage.

Catholics who have obtained an annulment are free to marry again or, if they have already done so civilly, to have their marriage solemnised by the Church.

Pope Francis has called for the annulment process to be made easier and free. Nonetheless, many people find the process complicated, drawn-out and humiliating.

The Eucharist is our essential spiritual nourishment. Many Catholics who are excluded from the Lord’s Table hunger for that nourishment.

The synod will need to find ways to reconcile the imperatives of the law with those of Christ’s mercy.

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.

Corrections on words of Quran

J

UST some tiny corrections to John Lee’s letter about the Quran (July 8).

Mr Lee is right about the lack of reciprocity in Christian-Muslim dialogue. But a marvel of the Gospel is the lack of demand for reciprocity. We love, whether or not we are loved in return. Dialogue’s heart and soul is to live prayerfully, lovingly before Islam, never asking or anticipating any return. This is the theology of Charles de Foucauld, of the Trappists of Algeria, and of so many others.

The word “Nazarenes” is not the Arabic word for Christians. The proper Islamic word for Christians is “nasârâ”. It sounds like “Nazarene”, but derives from the Arabic for “helpers” (ansâr), a reference to Jesus’ disciples.

The word “Christ” in Arabic is “al-masîh”, and Christian Arabs call themselves “masîhî”. While Arab Christians use Yasû’ for Jesus, the Quran uses ’Îsâ (meaning, like Esau, “red-haired”), which is a rearrangement of the letters so that in Arabic it is “Yasû’” backwards. Hard to know why!

In Jesus’ conception there is no hint of sexuality between Maryam and the angel Jibrîl, whose name we translate as Gabriel. Quranic schol-

Include Lebanon in Holy Land trips

I

READ with keen interest two articles in The Southern Cross this year.

The first, in March, was a news report headed “Preserve Christian presence in the Middle East”, the other was “Jerusalem, my home and yours” by Rimon Makhlouf, a Palestinian Catholic tour guide in the Holy Land (April 1).

Allow me to bring your articles closer to home.

In April/May this year a group of 19 Lebanese South African Maronites visited Lebanon, which is considered to be a part of the Holy Land.

We showed solidarity with the Christians of the Middle East and dialogued with our Muslim brothers. We went close to the Syrian border and Occupied Palestine/Israel.

There are a number of observations we would like to highlight.

We encountered Muslim-Christian harmony, in contrast to what the Western press wishes to convey.

Muslims have a great devotion to our Blessed Mother, as witnessed at the feast of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa Lebanon.

We were saddened that we were so close to Jerusalem, but because of borders we are not allowed to visit the Holy City from Lebanon. Remember, in Jesus’ day there were no

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ars would find it an offence against her purity to suggest a sexual conception.

The Quran never calls Gabriel “the Holy Spirit”. This is a bad translation by some of the Arabic which reads “spirit of holiness”.

“Holy Spirit” and “spirit of holiness” are not the same thing.

There were Christians, including monks, living in and around Mecca in Muhammad’s time. We are not certain whether these could be called “orthodox” Christians. Historically, the word “orthodox” has to do with holding to all the articles of the Creed. We are uncertain about the Christians of Muhammad’s time: their belief in Jesus and in the Trinity may have been suspect, a factor recognisable in the Quran.

When the Quran reflects the Trinity as God, Jesus and Mary, or Jesus as a third of three, it may be reflecting how Christians of the time were speaking about their faith. These Christians were not reading Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Few of them would have been able to read the gospels that were floating about, and would rely upon the clergy for this.

But the gospels they were hearing were others gospels: the gospel

borders, and Our Blessed Lord visited Lebanon with Our Blessed Lady.

In fact, before 1948 it was easy to visit both countries.

There are an estimated 14 million people of Lebanese descent in the diaspora. The vast majority of them are Christians. It was a great pleasure to see their contributions in the way of development in Lebanon.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if The Southern Cross’ “Pilgrimage of the Peacemakers” to the Holy Land and Egypt with Archbishop Stephen Brislin could also include Lebanon?

Ken Hanna, “People of the Cedars”, Johannesburg n The Southern Cross would love to go to Lebanon. However, it is impossible to travel between Israel and Lebanon without making huge detours. See page 8 for a photo of Mr Hanna with Fr Michael Chebli, whom many local Catholics will remember well.—Editor.

No clear rule on homosexuality

D

EACON Mike Harrington asks Dr Vincent Couling to read up in the Bible on homosexuality (July 1). But what will Dr Couling find in Holy Scripture on that subject?

Our Lord Jesus doesn’t once mention homosexuality in the gospels, even when he speaks about adultery.

One could answer that he didn’t need to because the Old Testament deals with it. But we have done away with many of the Old Testament’s teachings.

Furthermore, it isn’t so clear that the Old Testament actually does condemn homosexuality.

People refer to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19) as a biblical argument against homosexuality. The story doesn’t actually mention homosexuality, except for the threat of men being gang raped by other men as a form of ritual humiliation. Nobody is asking for this practice to be accepted, nor that of incest, which the story approves of.

God was angry with Sodom and Gomorrah because its leaders were generally immoral, profane and lacking in charity.

Leviticus chapters 18 and 20 are usually quoted as condemning homosexuals. Many scholars believe that chapters 17–26 of Leviticus were written as rules for priestly Israelites, as a defence against the pagan practices of the Canaanites.

Therefore, amid the rules condemning men lying together as one

of Thomas, the gospel of James, the gospel of Pseudo-Matthew and other apocryphal gospels. These had been rejected by the Church, and did not find a place in the Canon, as opposed to the four canonical gospels we know.

Nonetheless, we ourselves keep certain elements taken from these gospels, for example, the names of Mary’s parents (Joachim and Anna).

In Islamic theology, for Jesus (’Îsâ) to be murdered would have meant the triumph of his executioners over a prophet of God. The Quran asserts that they failed. The Arabic text says “they did not crucify him” but that “it appeared so unto them”. Various traditions tell of him hiding, or of God substituting someone else (like Judas), or ’Îsâ asking one of his disciples to voluntarily take on his likeness. The idea of substitution, found in docetic and gnostic writings, has been adopted by many Muslim writers.

But the Quran nowhere says that a substitute was made so that someone else suffered and died in his place. This is only one of many interpretations.

And finally, historical error in a text doesn’t negate the text. There is historical error in John’s gospel, for example, but this makes little difference to us in our reading of the text.

Fr Christopher Clohessy, Cape Town lies with a female, there are also other condemnations and prohibitions such as an anointed high priest uncovering his head or sacrifices being made by priests who are blemished. Other rules in that section of Leviticus regulate the trumpet sounding on the feast of Yom Kippur.

In that context, the condemnation of men coupling seems to refer to the priestly class, not to the general public.

If we were to follow all the rules of the Old Testament, we would also legalise polygamy and keep slaves.

St Paul refers to homosexuality three times. There are divided opinions about what these references mean within the context of St Paul’s times. Today many scholars say that St Paul was referring to the practice of heterosexual men having sex with young boys, which was customary in Greek and certain Roman cultures.

It is probably that Paul didn’t know any gays because in his times they kept their orientation hidden, as many LBGT people do even today.

Homosexuality is referred to only in seven of the Bible’s 31 173 verses, and none of these seven verses are clear condemnations.

That also shows that homosexuality was not regarded as very important.

As we have seen above, Jesus said nothing about it.

Perhaps the most important biblical verses to cite when talking about homosexuality are from Jesus himself. “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone” (Jn 8:7) and “ Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Mt 7:1-2).

Paul Collins, Johannesburg

On the button

I

T was great to read Maria Kruger’s short and sweet letter on homosexuality (July 1). It was powerful and makes absolute sense.

Way to go, Maria.

Leonie Arries, George 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.

Letters can be sent to PO Box 2372, Cape Town 8000 or editor@scross.co.za or faxed to 021 465-3850

the Southern Cross, July 22 to July 28, 2015

PERSPECTIVES

The case for traditional initiation F EW things expose the grave consequences of the breakdown of the family structure in our black communities as the tragic deaths of some boys who go for the school of circumcision.

Traditionally this initiation ritual is dependent on the male figure of the family.

It is supposed to be the ultimate cement for the father-son relationship.

When done right, the ritual is a rite of passage. The father transmits the cultural, historical, social and traditional wealth of his family, clan, tribe, nation to his son.

After this rite of passage the father begins to treat his son no longer as a child but as a man, as an equal, and basically as an heir to his life and tradition.

Basically, the father hands over the baton, recognising that the next generation is taking over, and that he, and his contemporaries, have began their slow decline towards becoming ancestors (if they are good people).

Of course, the father also gains a new status among the tribe of being an elder.

During traditional functions he will no longer sit with the middle men in the kraal, but with elders—earning him a right to be in the first group that chooses the best meats from the pot.

The trouble now is that most families have single or no parents. Where the parent is single, it is mostly a mother. If a single mother has a brother, the tragedy can still be mitigated, because the brother(s) can look after the nephews’ needs in the school of circumcision (although he can do this only through someone from the boy’s father’s clan because the customs are slightly different).

Needless to say, all concerned must be responsible individuals with a traditional memory of the ritual. They must know what they are doing (because if you have not been to the initiation school you are not allowed to look after an initiate as an ikhankatha, or traditional nurse). Most fathers or uncles who hold day jobs hire someone they trust to be an ikhankatha be-

cause it is a 24-hour job.

The fathers usually come during the evening to check the initiate’s progress, and mostly spend the night with their sons. It is during these long nights, careful dressing of the circumcision wound with traditional medicines, that the bonds are tightened between father and son, through talk about traditional practices, historical events, social accepted practices for the clan and all things pertaining to their identify.

This period alone is enough to make the ritual have perennial significance. It would sadden me if my son were to deny me this opportunity of bonding by refusing to go to the mountain, but I would respect his decision.

I

t is clear that because of modern challenges, in particular the breakdown of family structure, the ritual needs to evolve.

Most villages in the Eastern Cape are going back to the idea of “cultural villages”, which is how this ritual was practised in the past.

In ancient days the chief would organise cultural villages during the month yeSilimela (June, because during this cold period wounds heal quicker, and there was not much work of planting or harvesting within the village).

Every boy of age was invited and his fa-

initiation is a rite of passage that must be preserved, writes Mphuthumi Ntabeni.

Mphuthumi Ntabeni

Pushing the Boundaries

ther was required to pay a cow to the chief. The boys would then be circumcised, and it was up to the chief to ensure the initiates’ wellbeing and bring them back healthy and sound to their parents after six months. These days, because of the school calendar, we go for only four weeks.

In these cultural villages the boys were taught the tribe’s history, traditions, customs, songs by different people who included imbongi, amagqirha (traditional doctors), and so on.

The boys were also taught how to treat wives and to provide for their families, war tactics, and so on. It was made into proper rite of passage.

Modern cultural villages would require the buy-in from izibonda (village chiefs), municipalities, schools, district doctors, parents, and so on. The cultural villages can be ward-based, and initiate applications done through the schools the boys would be attending.

There is currently in our media a cacophony of calls for the initiation ritual to be banned as a barbaric and anachronistic practice. Almost none of them have experienced the ritual, and hardly know anything about what it entails.

This, of course, is a common thing in our country. We have self-appointed purveyors of “civilisation” who define progress only in terms of what conforms to what they know, and everything else is barbaric.

But those of us who have actually been through this rite of passage, and understand its value, even as we try to find ways to improve it, can only reply to this by saying: “Howl on, dull world!”

7

Chris Chatteris SJ

Pray with the Pope

Volunteers we need General Intention: That volunteers may give themselves generously to the service of the needy.

T

HE volunteers I have supervised have varied from outstanding to hopeless. Frankly, some of the younger overseas volunteers seemed to regard their time in South Africa as a kind of gap year with a little bit of work thrown in.

Some were liabilities. One young man got himself into a situation where he could have been killed by criminals, another broke his wrist fooling around, and another lost his passport. Eventually I decided not to take any volunteers without a tertiary education or a minimum age of 25.

My experience was coloured by the fact that it was a dangerous time in South Africa, with the political violence which preceded the new political dispensation.

Immature people are a worry to have around under such circumstances. But even so, I believe that volunteers who give themselves generously to the service of the needy are not easy to find and they need to be rather carefully selected. To cite my personal criterion for sourcing good religious and priestly vocations: we need crew members rather than passengers!

The whole experience of overseas volunteers also led me to question the very idea of young people coming from the developed world to help us. Even if they are well motivated and generous, their very presence can psychologically undermine our efforts at self-sufficiency.

Until we solve our own problems with our own resources, including our own local volunteers, we risk remaining mentally shackled to the notion that our salvation comes from missionary money and personnel from overseas.

So my prayer would be that volunteers do indeed give themselves generously to the service of the needy, but that they normally do so in their own countries and that South Africans do more volunteering and at home.

20 years since another great encyclical W Tony Magliano HILE Pope Francis’ new encyclical Laudato Si’ is enjoying wide publicity, few people are aware this year also marks the 20th anniversary of another powerfully prophetic social justice and peace encyclical: Evangelium Vitae (“The Gospel of Life”).

Trying to awaken the conscience of the world to reject the “culture of death” which creates “structures of sin”, Pope John Paul II wrote in Evangelium Vitae: “How can we fail to consider the violence against life done to millions of human beings, especially children, who are forced into poverty, malnutrition and hunger because of an unjust distribution of resources between peoples and between social classes?

“And what of the violence inherent not only in wars as such but in the scandalous arms trade, which spawns the many armed conflicts which stain our world with blood?

“What of the spreading of death caused by reckless tampering with the world’s ecological balance, by the criminal spread of drugs, or by the promotion of certain kinds of sexual activity which, besides being morally unacceptable, also involve grave risks to life?”

St John Paul continued: “We shall concentrate particular attention on another category of attacks, affecting life in its earliest and in its final stages … Abortion and euthanasia are thus crimes which no human law can claim to legitimise. There is no obligation in conscience to obey such laws; instead there is a grave and clear obligation to oppose them by conscientious objection.”

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St John Paul ii, whose encyclical Evangelium Vitae was issued 20 years ago. he is seen here with President Nelson Mandela in 1995 at the start of the papal visit to South Africa. (Photo: Patrick de Noirmont, Reuters/CNS) Then Pope John Paul tackled the death penalty. He said that due to improvements in the penal system, the need to execute a dangerous criminal in order to defend society was not necessary. “Such cases are very rare, if not practically non-existent,” he wrote.

Many Catholics, as well as many other Christians, hold inconsistent opinions regarding the protection of life.

Some condemn abortion, but fail to oppose the mass murder of war—which mostly kills innocent people. Others work to protect the environment while promoting the murder of unborn children through abortion as a distorted means to control population.

But all life issues are morally and logically linked. It’s what the Catholic Church

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refers to as the “consistent ethic of life”.

John Paul explains: “Where life is involved, the service of charity must be profoundly consistent. It cannot tolerate bias and discrimination, for human life is sacred and inviolable at every stage and in every situation; it is an indivisible good.

We need then to ‘show care’ for all life and for the life of everyone.

“As disciples of Jesus, we are called to become neighbours to everyone (see Lk 10:29-37), and to show special favour to those who are poorest, most alone and most in need. In helping the hungry, the thirsty, the foreigner, the naked, the sick, the imprisoned—as well as the child in the womb and the old person who is suffering or near death—we have the opportunity to serve Jesus.”

Pope John Paul quoted the fourth-century saint John Chrysostom: “Do you wish to honour the body of Christ? Do not neglect it when you find it naked. Do not do it homage here in the church with silk fabrics only to neglect it outside where it suffers cold and nakedness.”

St John Paul concluded: “What is urgently called for is a general mobilisation of consciences and a united ethical effort to activate a great campaign in support of life,” and added: “The purpose of the Gospel, in fact, is to transform humanity from within and to make it new.”

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Pope Francis blesses an inmate during a visit to a prison in Rome in April. the pope calls on us to reach out to those on the margins of society.

(Photo via CNS)

The Francis example Missionary Intention: That setting aside our very selves we may learn to be neighbours to those who find themselves on the margins of human life and society. ope Francis keeps doing it. He leads by example; he practises what he preaches.

This month he visited three of the smaller, poorer South American countries. He didn’t even include his own Argentine homeland, where, of course, he would be an object of mass adulation.

What a fine example of what this intention says—”setting aside our very selves”. He passes up an opportunity to visit home in favour of going to the places most of us forget about.

The tough question that Francis’ example poses is how we—priests, people and religious—have responded. For example, he has shown immensely courageous leadership in his monumental encyclical Laudato Si’. In it he reaches out to “those who find themselves on the margins of human life”, but he goes further than just writing about the poor and the marginalised and never misses an opportunity for personal contact, whether this be in prisons or poor informal settlements, the handicapped or with street dwellers in Rome.

His simple lifestyle makes a vital difference. These personal approaches to people are more than the photo opportunities that they would be for politicians. People know that even though he stays in the Vatican, he lives there as simply as he can. He stays in a guest house rather than in the Vatican apartments, he doesn’t seem to take a holiday and he shuns fancy vehicles which are “status-mobiles”. He doesn’t even watch TV, apparently.

All of this challenges us to ask: Am I living in a way which breaks down whatever barriers there might be between me and those to whom I am sent to proclaim the Good News?

Francis is a wonderful man because he “comforts the afflicted”, but he certainly also “afflicts the comfortable”!

P

8

the Southern Cross, July 22 to July 28, 2015

COMMUNITY

our lady of Good help in verulam, archdiocese of durban, held a lay minister’s workshop conducted by parish priest Fr Jude Fernando toR (back row, second from left).

ken hanna (right), honorary projects coordinator of the Maronite “People of the Cedars”, which serves the lebanese South African community, meets with Fr Michael Chebli at the convent of St Jacob during a pilgrimage to lebanon. Fr Chebli is well known for his missionary work spanning over 40 years in South Africa.

terry-Ann Johns, a teacher at St Joseph’s Marist College in Cape town, represented Western Province at the South African National Judo Championships in Stellenbosch. Ms Johns won a bronze medal.

Professor delia haynes (centre) and dr Mags Blackie (left) from Stellenbosch university’s department of chemistry and polymer science, presented a series of four talks in durban on the theme “Science for People of Faith”, hosted by Catholics Awake. they are seen in conversation with Br david houbert.

the confirmation class of our lady of the Assumption in Milnerton/Brooklyn, Cape town is pictured with archdiocesan vicar-general Fr Peter-John Pearson (centre), and the parish’s Frs Stanley Botha (centre right) and Gavin Butler (centre left).

CATHOLIC CHARISMATIC RENEWAL – WESTERN CAPE 2 Peter 3:18

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever!

The Annual Archdiocesan Growth Seminar was held at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church in Bellville

His Grace the Archbishop Stephen Brislin opened the seminar with a powerful message on the Eucharist. The seminar was well attended every evening by spiritually inspired charismatic servants of the Lord and newcomers.

The Music ministries from different parishes including those from Belhar; Athlone; Mitchells Plain; Manenberg; Bonteheuwel and Durbanville assisted us with praise and worship every evening.

The Pentecostal Mass was one of the most vibrant in many years and was led by the main Celebrant Father Ralph de Hahn; The powerful Homily was given by Vicar General Father Peter-John Pearson. Father Mari Joseph assisted as well as deacons and altar servers.

Our heartfelt thanks to Archbishop Stephen Brislin and all the Priests, Deacons; Prayer groups and everyone who participated and contributed to the success of the Growth Seminar. The social event following completion of the seminar was well attended.

Our Spiritual Director Fr. Emannuel Siljeur with some of the Charismatic Renewal members were on pilgrimage to The Holy Land during the Growth Seminar. He released his confidence in the capable hands of the Charismatic Executive. We are grateful to Fr. Bogdan Buksa for allowing us to use all the facilities at Our Lady of Fatima Church and the Community Hall. Thank you to everyone who supported the Growth Seminar, to make it such a resounding success for the Glorification of God.

tHE FOllOWINg IS A lISt OF FORtHCOMINg CHARISMAtIC MASSES At OuR lADY OF FAtIMA, BEllvIllE (CNR RHOS AND WElgEMEEND StREEt BEllvIllE): Monthly Sunday Charismatic Mass at Our lady of Fatima – Bellville Praise and Worship starts at 5:30pm to be followed by mass at 6.00pm.

5 July 2 August 20 September 4 October 1 November 6 December

Father Paul taylor Father Ralph de Hahn Father Mari Joseph Father Charles Prince - Youth Mass Father Brandon West Father Nkulukeko Qokolo

live Bands will be in attendance at these masses. All welcome.

CONSECRATED LIFE

the Southern Cross, July 22 to July 28, 2015

9

Priest’s ministry is rooted in making music The novice master of the Mariannhill Missionaries is communicating the Word through music. As Fr Lawrence Mota releases his fifth CD, MAuRiCio lANGA spoke to him.

W

HEN Fr Lawrence Mota, a member of the Congregation of the Missionaries of Mariannhill, released his amateur single song in his youth days in 1997 back in Malawi, little did he know that he was laying a groundwork for greater things to come as far as music is concerned.

His first gospel album, Ngiyavuma Baba, was released in 2011. It was just the precursor of many greater inspiring albums.

This year he, with his collaborators, released his fifth album, uKholo lwami, which fits in well with the themes of the current Year of Consecrated life.

It is considered by many of his fans—and, yes, the priest has his fans—as his best yet. It is also the best selling album of all his titles.

Fr Mota is affectionately known

as Bambo, which means father. He was born in Malawi into a big family; he has eleven siblings.

His parents were assiduous churchgoers and part of the church choir in his home-parish. As a young boy, Fr Mota recalls, his parents always encouraged him and his siblings to pray as well as to sing before and after meals. As children they followed their parents’ directives—and soon young Lawrence realised that he had musical talent.

Moreover, his uncle inculcated the love for music in the young and inquisitive Lawrence. He would watch his uncle entertaining people with his home-made guitar at family feasts and wedding ceremonies in the community.

Lawrence’s elder brothers joined the uncle, and the boy began to play the guitar too.

“This is when my love for music started, and I began to play the home-made guitar before I could the learn synthesizer, African drums and mouth organ”, Fr Mota recalled.

Fr Mota, who is ever joyful and witty, says his humble beginnings were influential in his accomplishments in gospel music.

the Mariannhill Monastery working staff gospel group

“With strong values and hard work you can make it anywhere,” he says. The monastic principle of “Ora et Labora”, which means pray and work, resonates with Fr Mota.

In 1997 he released his single song in his home-parish, which was frequently played on radio in Malawi, especially during programmes addressing HIV/Aids issues.

The song’s lyrics provided much-needed information about the pandemic. It also encouraged local communities, churches and the government to take care of people living with HIV rather than to stigmatise them.

“The song provided me with an exposure that I never anticipated. I was thrilled to listen to my song being played on the radio”, he recalls.

A

fter that, Fr Mota says, he felt encouraged to teach and train youths to play instruments as they showed an interest in music.

Following in his footsteps, the youth group—playing with locally made instruments such as tin guitars and drums—also began singing about social issues, such as the devastating HIV/Aids pandemic, thereby encouraging behaviour change among the youth in their community and parish.

“This group was soon incorporated into the outreach programmes organised by a government hospital in the neighbourhood,” Fr Mota says.

He realised then that through his music he not only inspired the youth but also the entire community.

However, it was after he came to South Africa, in Mariannhill, that his music ministry took on a shape.

Fr Mota found he had an ability to spot talent which would otherwise have been left unnoticed.

His position as novice master in his congregation has given Fr Mota the opportunity to discover talent among the young people who join the Mariannhill Missionaries.

“After journeying with the young people in formation I realised that they have something to

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Fr lawrence Mota CMM puts the final touches to the latest Cd he has produced, titled uKholo Iwami. (Photos: Mauricio langa) share and contribute for the betterment of society through their musical talent,” he says.

His music ministry is not limited to the novices joining the congregation. Fr Mota went a step further to convince the monastery’s working staff to come together as a group with the view of producing a gospel album.

Now there have been five albums created under Fr Mota’s leadership.

Apart from 2011’s Ngiyavuma Baba and this year’s uKholo lwami, there were Sisize Baba, Sihawukele Baba and Glory to God. The challenge for the future, Fr Mota says, is to continue working hard to sustain this ministry of evangelisation.

“For this [ministry] to yield fruits we need young people filled with enthusiasm, love and interest for music.”

That enthusiasm is evident in current members of Fr Mota’s group. Sr Othmar Mnguni says that the new CD is “so beautiful”. She adds that she never thought that one day she would be part of a group that would release a CD. “I wish that Fr Mota will continue doing the good job that he has started—and that one day we could have our own DVD too,” she says.

Following the public demand for uKholo lwami and calls from various parishes and deaneries in the Mariannhill and Durban dioceses for live performance, Fr Mota is now thinking about how to prepare the group for the challenging tasks ahead. n The CD uKholo lwami can be bought for R80 from the Monastery Repository. Contact details: 031 7001031 or 079 531 8851 or monasteryrepo@ionet.co.za

10

the Southern Cross, July 22 to July 28, 2015

BOOK REVIEWS

Priest’s stories about deaf and blind friend are like a mission retreat PERHAPS GOD: Wisdom Through the Gift of Disability, by Larry Kaufmann CSsR. Redemptorist Pastoral Publications, Johannesburg, 2015. 66pp.

Reviewed by Michael Shackleton NYONE who has experienced a mission or retreat preached by the Redemptorist Fathers will remember it well.

The Redemptorists have a methodical way of refocusing your life, material and spiritual, and its priorities by the use of practical examples and lessons you will not easily forget.

Who would have thought that this short, first-rate book containing one Redemptorist’s reflections on his close association with a deaf-blind confrere could have an enriching impact on the reader very much like that of a retreat experience?

With disarming simplicity Father Larry Kaufmann presents us with his friend, Johannesburg-born Fr Cyril Axelrod, a priest of extraordinary dedication to his ministry

A

to the deaf-blind.

This is not a biography. It is an open-hearted description of the author’s reactions and attitude to a brother priest who began life absolutely deaf and then became totally blind, and yet calls his disabilities a gift from God! Fr Kaufmann has tried to explore some of the deeper lessons behind the anecdotes he relates concerning Fr Cyril as a priest and severely challenged person.

He says that he had thought of calling the book “The Parables of Cyril Axelrod”, because, as in the case of the parables of Jesus, there is a teaching to be had from the moving stories he relates of his friend’s abandonment to God’s will and strength of character.

The measure of that strength was seen when, as a young Orthodox Jew his longing to be a rabbi was dashed because of his deafness.

With the desire to be of service to others, he gravitated towards the Catholic Church through his having attended St Vincent’s School for the Deaf run by the Dominican

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Sisters in Johannesburg.

After ordination to the priesthood he devoted his ministry to the service of the deaf, a ministry that has mushroomed internationally. He has been honoured with many global awards for his caring work, and received the OBE from Queen Elizabeth II.

E

arly in the book Fr Kaufmann records how, with himself in tow, Fr Cyril went to the synagogue where he had once worshipped. In the presence of two rabbis he recited the Shema, the central tenet of Judaism: “Hear, O Israel, God is our Lord, God is One” (Dt 6:4).

The author notes that the rabbis immediately covered their eyes with their hands. They explained that Jews did this to turn their eyes and ears inward to hear God’s voice within.

One of the rabbis commented: “But this man is blessed. He is in a permanent state of Shema!”

From this moving moment, Fr Kaufmann reflects on how we need to let go of listening to ourselves.

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MOERDYK FIlES

A collection of the best Southern Cross columns by one of SA’s most popular writers. Read about the day Nelson Mandela was sentenced, what the great thurible swinger did at Mass, why a 400km detour was made to save the parents’ blushes, and much more... Only R150 (plus p&p) Owen Williams

ANY gIvEN SuNDAY

An anthology of the best columns written by the late Owen Williams, The Southern Cross’ long-time contributor. First published in 2004, Any Given Sunday is a wonderful way to spend time with a first-class raconteur and man of deep faith. Only R80 (plus p&p)

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Southern Cross BOOKS

or call 021 465-5007 or buy at 10 tuin Plein, Cape town

Fr Cyril’s lesson, deaf and blind as he is, is to teach us to listen inwardly, to be in an inner state of Shema.

The author goes on to confide what other profound lessons he has learned and shares them in a gentle yet compelling manner. He cannot avoid revealing his own thoughts and feelings as his companion’s communicator and interpreter, known as a “comm.guide”.

By describing their inevitable interdependence, he draws out the very human mistakes and embarrassing situations they land in, and simultaneously reminds us that laughing at ourselves humbles us and reconnects us to God and to others.

Fr Cyril Axelrod is a remarkable man living with and deriving spiritual energy from the lack of the gifts of sight and hearing. He embraces this deficit heroically and humbly, paradoxically calling it God’s gift to him. It impels him to turn what could be an introverted life into an extroverted mission to others for the sake of Christ.

Paging through this little volume you may grasp again what Jesus meant when he said: “I speak to them in parables because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand” (Mt 13:13).

Fr Kaufmann’s reflections on what Cyril Axelrod says and does are spiritually eye- and ear-opening. The twelve brief chapters are like twelve retreat conferences. In the best tradition of the Redemptorists, you will learn a lesson or two you will not easily forget. n Available at R80 from orders@ rpp.org.za or at Catholic bookshops

A ‘beer bible’ for South Africa THE BEER BOOK, by Holger Meier. The Frog Trust, 2014. 303 pp.

Reviewed by Günther Simmermacher OR centuries, brewing beer was the domain of monks.

Many monasteries in Europe had breweries, and the monks would quaff the liquid for sustenance, with the recreational properties that follow consumption a happy side-effect.

There are still many breweries operated by monks, though these days the beer is made not for nourishment during Lenten fasts but for commercial trade. It is how monasteries have supported themselves through the ages.

Visitors to the Oktoberfest in Munch may acquire their alcohol poisoning in tents run by breweries with their roots in monasteries: Paulaner, Augustiner or Franziskaner (Spaten).

In Belgium especially, many of the country’s highly-rated beers are still made by monks, such as Maredsous, Abbaye de Saint-Martin or Westmalle.

The Trappists in particular are known for their beers. They have six breweries in Belgium, two in

F

the Netherlands and one each in Austria, Italy and the United States.

So it is fitting that South Africa’s most comprehensive book on the subject of brews, Holger Meier’s The Beer Book, should have been printed by the Mariannhill Mission Press, which has its roots in the Trappist order (the Congregation of Mariannhill Missionaries was founded in this country by Trappists).

The Beer Book is an comprehensive guide for those who prefer the varied craft beers to the mass produced brews which dominate the market. The book is beautifully curated, with photos of the various South African beers, a description and a space for the reader’s comments.

Meier guides the reader to 101 microbreweries, many of which offer beer-tasting (some offer a free drink on presentation of the book). He even advises which type of glass goes with which beer.

One thorough section also provides an overview of beers that are imported to South Africa.

Meier does not review the beers. Indeed, to have sampled every listed beer might have been hazardous to his health. The abstracts are usually provided by the brewery, so it is up to readers to decide whether or not they like a particular beer.

The book is delightful to page through, but it might have been served by an index for quick reference.

For those who love the emergence of microbreweries, The Beer Book is a treasure. n Order from www.beerbook.co.za

Faith and conversions in Hollywood OASIS: Conversion Stories of Hollywood Legends, by Mary Claire Kendall. Franciscan Media, Cincinnati.2015. 224 pp Reviewed by Kurt Jensen RESENTING lives of a few Hollywood entertainers of the previous century as examples of Christian, and specifically Catholic, faith is fraught with peril.

Spiritual journeys are intensely personal and private. Additionally, those in the public eye are accustomed to shaping their own narratives for the widest possible audience, and all in Mary Claire Kendall’s Oasis used during their lifetimes publicists and ghostwriters adept at spinning a narrative of triumph over life’s pain and disappointments.

The public often whiffs the bunkum of the old travelling medicine shows when actors outside of a worship setting discuss their Christian beliefs. Hence, Stephen Sondheim’s acidly cynical lyric for an ageing actress in “I’m Still Here”: “Reefers and vino, rest cures, religion and pills, and I’m here.”

P

Kendall doesn’t bother to extricate the hooey from the holy as she cobbles narratives from biographies, clips from newspaper obituaries and the occasional blog post from IMDb, a popular Internet source for movie, TV and celebrity news and information.

She presents 12 compact life sto-

ries, with their connections, usually involving conversions during crises, to Catholic faith and practices.

“During Hollywood’s golden age,” Kendall insists, “a proportionately higher number of stars gravitated to the Catholic faith.”

She doesn’t provide documentation for this astonishingly hyperbolic claim.

Examined are Alfred Hitchcock (born and raised Catholic, and who never really left the faith); Gary Cooper, Jane Wyman, Susan Hayward and Ann Sothern (adult converts, some late in life, with Wyman’s coming after the death of an infant daughter); Ann Miller, John Wayne and Patricia Neal (deathbed baptisms); Lana Turner (childhood convert); Mary Astor (adult convert after the birth of a son); Betty Hutton (adult convert after years of alcoholism and bankruptcy); and, strangest of all, Bob Hope (baptised at age 93).

Mary Pickford, Gloria Swanson, Ethel Barrymore and Spencer Tracy are briefly in the introductory mix.—CNS

CLASSIFIEDS

Sr Dolores Renkel OP

S

ISTER Dolores Mary Renkel, an Oakford Dominican congregational prioress from 1980-92, died on June 19.

Born Johanna Juliana in Schweinheim, Germany, on August 4, 1919, she had an early longing to be a sister and missionary in Africa.

She entered the novitiate in 1936 in Volkersberg, and made her first profession on July 3, 1937. She was missioned that same year to our motherhouse at Oakford, KwaZulu-Natal, at the age of 18.

There she made her final profession on August 5, 1940.

Her strong calling to serve in her order’s mission among various ethnic groups brought her to South Africa, yet obedience called her to give 23 years as formation directress and 12 years as congregational prioress.

In the span between these positions she was given only six years in direct ministry to the people at the Dominican school

and convent in Empangeni in the heart of Zululand.

Sr Dolores’ gift of music was discovered early on her arrival in Africa. Thus, in addition to her academic studies, she was qualified in piano teaching and choir training. She served as liturgist at the motherhouse for over 20 years.

After Vatican II, she composed suitable music for the liturgy in English and Zulu.

In her years as congregational prioress, Sr Dolores recognised how important it was for sisters in

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Community Calendar

To place your event, call Mary Leveson at 021 465 5007 or e-mail m.leveson@scross.co.za (publication subject to space) JOHANNESBURG: Cape town. Followed by vigil at Marie Stopes aborHoly Rosary School’s 75th Birthday Bash Carnition clinic in Bree Street. val day & Concert: AuContact Colette thomas on gust 1, 10:00-18:00.

083 412 4836 or 021 593 Entrance: R50 for adults; 9875 or Br daniel SCP on R100 for 18 years old 078 739 2988. and under (all-day access DURBAN: to kids’ Zone, games and Holy Mass and Novena rides). Contact deidre on 011 457 0900, or deidre to St Anthony at St An@holyrosaryschool.co.za thony’s parish every CAPE TOWN: tuesday at 9am. Holy Mass and Divine Mercy Helpers of God’s PreDevotion at 17:30pm on cious Infants. Mass on last first Friday of every Saturday of every month at month. Sunday Mass at 9:30 at Sacred heart 9am. 031 309 3496 church in Somerset Road,

leadership to receive team training, skills development, and to engage resource persons from outside the congregation. She also encouraged opportunities for study and renewal.

Sr Dolores had the stamina to confront and name difficult situations, searching for and speaking the truth.

After completing her term of office as congregational leader she was grateful for the invitation of the sisters of the United States to stay with them. She left to join them on September 24, 1993. It gave her a new lease on life.

In December 2004 she had a mild stroke, and after she broke her leg in January of 2012 she moved to San José in California. In July 2012 she had a festive jubilee celebration of 75 years of vowed life.

In the course of her journey of 95 years, Sr Dolores was a living history book of her congregation and a woman of wisdom.

Sr Carmen Brokamp OP

Liturgical Calendar Year B Weekdays Cycle Year 1 Sunday July 26 2 Kings 4:42-44, Psalms 145:10-11, 15-18, Ephesians 4:1-6, John 6:1-15 Monday July 27 Exodus 32:15-24, 30-34, Psalms 106:19-23, Matthew 13:31-35 Tuesday July 28 Exodus 33:7-11; 34:5-9, 28, Psalms 103:6-13, Matthew 13:36-43 Wednesday July 29, St Martha Exodus 34:29-35, Psalms 99:5-7, 9, John 11:1927 Thursday July 30 Exodus 40:16-21, 34-38, Psalms 84:3-6, 8, 11, Matthew 13:47-53 Friday July 31, St Ignatius of Loyola Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34-37, Psalms 81:3-6, 10-11, Matthew 13:54-58 Saturday August 1, St Alphonsus Liguori Leviticus 25:1, 8-17, Psalms 67:2-3, 5, 7-8, Matthew 14:1-12 Sunday August 2, Our Lady of the Angels of Portiuncula Sirach 24:1-4, 16, 22-24, Psalms 34:5, 7, 9-10, 18-19, Galatians 4:3-7, Luke 1:26-33

CLASSIFIEDS

Month of Sundays Campaign “In a world like this, media can help us to feel closer to one another, creating a sense of the unity of the human family which can in turn inspire solidarity and serious efforts to ensure a more dignified life for all.” - Pope Francis

A donation of R1000 will sponsor 50 copies of The Southern Cross for a Month of Sundays, helping us to reach out to township and rural parishes unfamiliar with the paper. Let’s share our stories with one another and build One Church.

To donate: Banking details: Name: The Catholic Newspaper Std Bank Thibault Square Branch: 02 09 09, Account No: 07 153 43 42 Use “One Church+ your surname” as the beneficiary reference and email admin@scross.co.za or fax (021 465 3850) proof of the deposit

11

Births • First Communion • Confirmation • Engagement/Marriage • Wedding anniversary • ordination jubilee • Congratulations • deaths • in memoriam • thanks • Prayers • Accommodation • holiday Accommodation • Personal • Services • Employment • Property • others Please include payment (R1,50 a word) with small advertisements for promptest publication.

IN MEMORIAM

DU PLESSIS—dion. May 31, 1975 to July 27, 2007. in loving memory of our son, brother and dad who lives on in our hearts with a love that will never fade.

We miss you as much as ever dion. Your loving and longing family.

GOUVEIA—Edwardo.

16/02/1944 to 30/07/2010.

Five years have passed, our hearts still sore. As time rolls on we miss you more. A loving husband, father and pa. A smiling face all tender and kind. these are the memories he left behind. our lord Jesus knew what was best. he took you home for eternal rest. We wipe our tears and try not to be sad. Remembering and praising God for the precious times we had. Rest in peace my love, forever loving you Maria, Joanna, Angelo, Justene, Eddie, Emily, Jordan, Sheldon, Joshua and all our family.

O’DONOGHUE—Brendan. Passed away 30/7/2013. Always in our prayers. Norma, children, grandchildren and family.

MhdSRiP.

PRAYER

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

Light a virtual candle and help feed the poor

One Church

the Southern Cross, July 22 to July 28, 2015

Buy a virtual candle at R20 each and your prayer request will be mentioned and prayed for live on Radio veritas during Holy Mass.

Proceeds go to the feeding programme of the St Vincent de Paul conference in La Rochelle parish, Johannesburg, and the Radio Veritas Outreach Programme.

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REMEMBERING OUR DEAD

“It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from their sins” (II Macc XII,46) Holy Mass is celebrated on the first Sunday of each month in the All Souls’ chapel, Maitland, Cape Town at 2:30pm for all souls in purgatory and for all those buried in the Woltemade cemetery.

For further information, please contact St Jude Society, Box 22230, Fish Hoek, 7975, Telephone (021) 551-1747, dpaarman@mweb.co.za

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. in thanks for prayers answered. leon and karen.

ST MICHAEL the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the malice and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, o Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen

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 herein that you are my Mother, o holy Mary Mother of God, Queen of heaven and earth, i humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to secure me in my necessity. there are none who can withstand your power, o show me that you are my mother. o Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. thank you for your mercy towards me and mine. Amen..

THANkS be to thee, my lord Jesus Christ, For all the benefits thou hast won for me, For all the pains and insults thou hast borne for me. o most merciful Redeemer, Friend, and Brother, May i know thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, And follow thee more nearly, For ever and ever.

OMI STAMPS

your used stamps can help in the education

of South Africans for the priesthood at St Joseph’s Scholasticate, Cedara, KwaZulu-Natal.

Please send them to: omI stamps, Box 101352, scottsville, 3209.

PERSONAL

ABORTION is murder. Silence on this issue is not golden, it’s yellow! Avoid pro-abortion politicians.

See www.hli.co.za ASSUMPTION CONVENT SCHOOL, Johannesburg, is looking for a wooden statue of our lady approx.

1.5m tall for our new hall.

Can anyone assist?

Please contact, Marinella 011 616 5053 or admin@ assumptionconvent.co.za THE DIVINE MERCY Pregnancy Crisis houses would like cyclists to “Ride for a Purpose” at the 94.7 cycle race on November 15. Cut off date August 31.

Contact Marilyn 084 461 2592.

NOTHING is politically right if it is morally wrong.

Abortion is evil. value life!

WIDOW, late sixties in Natal, seeks companionship to enjoy the golden years. Financially secure, sociably and outgoing.

SMS 072 600 0948 or write to: Advertiser, Box 52108, Berea Road, 4007.

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION

LONDON, Protea house: Single ₤30(R510), twin ₤45(R765) per/night. Selfcatering, busses and underground nearby. Phone Peter 0044 208 7484834. kNYSNA: Self-catering accommodation for 2 in old Belvidere, with dStv and wonderful lagoon views. 044 387 1052.

MARIANELLA Guest house, Simon’s town: “Come experience the peace and beauty of God with us.” Fully equipped with amazing sea views.

Secure parking, ideal for rest and relaxation. Special rates for pensioners and clergy. Malcolm Salida 082 784 5675, mjsalida@ gmail.com The

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18th Sunday: August 2 Readings: Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15, Psalm 78:34, 23-25, 54, Ephesians 4:17, 20-24, John 6:24-35

S outher n C ross

Thank God for his gifts

W

E are constantly surrounded by tangible signs of the generosity of God, but are somewhat over-inclined to question them.

Look at the first reading for next Sunday.

Only two chapters earlier, the children of Israel have escaped from slavery, across the Red Sea; and you might expect to find in them (which is us, of course) a hint of gratitude towards God and Moses. Not a bit of it, however, for they are already complaining, and wishing that they had died back in Egypt.

Moses and Aaron (and God, of course) are accused of attempted murder, because there was always enough to eat back then. It is often the case that liberated people look foolishly back to the Good Old Days; but God does not, as you or I might, go into a sulk. Instead God promises to feed them; and, true enough, they get manna and quail.

Not that this solves the problem of ingratitude. Indeed we get a hint of this already in the name they give to this strange new food, “ma na?”, which can be translated as something like “Wot’s This Then?”; and later on they will start complaining about how boring

this food is for them, forgetting God’s generosity.

The psalm for next Sunday is a small and slightly odd selection of verses from a psalm which meditates on this history of the children of Israel, and how much God did for them during those years of exile, and how important it is to pass the lesson down the generations.

Then the singer reminds us of how God led them through the desert (though this particular excerpt from the psalm diplomatically omits the complaints).

Finally, our bit of the psalm concludes with the memory of what eventually happened: “He brought them into his holy portion, this mountain acquired by his hand.”

So the emphasis is (and there is a lesson here for us) more on what God has generously done and less on the ungrateful reaction.

The second reading continues our journey through Ephesians, the author begging his audience “not to behave like the Gentiles”, which presumably means not showing the ingratitude of their ancestors, so that they “put away, in accordance with your former way of

life, the Old You, destroyed by deceptive desire, and instead to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the New You, the one that has been created in accordance with God’s design, in righteousness and in holy truth”.

We get the gist of the message, even if the precise details remain obscure.

The gospel recounts the reaction of the crowds to the miraculous feeding that was recounted last week. And here again gratitude is hardly to the fore.

It is true that they were “seeking Jesus”, and getting hold of boats to do so. Then they ask a baffled (and slightly baffling) question: “Rabbi, when did you come here?” They may be beginning to deal with the mystery of who Jesus really is.

Jesus deflects their curiosity, by pointing to their motives “not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and had your fill”. Then he points out the moral: “Don’t work for food that perishes, but for food that remains until eternal life.”

They ask the secret of this work and are given the reply that they do not immediately

How to heal our flaws A

Conrad

LL of us live with some wounds, bad habits, addictions, and temperamental flaws that are so deeply engrained and long-standing that it seems like they are part of our genetic make-up.

And so we tend to give in to a certain quiet despair in terms of ever being healed of them.

Experience teaches us this. There’s the realisation at some point in our lives that the wounds and flaws which pull us down cannot be simply be turned off like a water-tap. Willpower and good resolutions alone are not up to the task.

What good is it to make a resolution never to be angry again? Our anger will invariably return. What good is it to make a resolution to give up some addictive habit, however small or big? We will soon enough again be overcome by its lure.

And what good does it do to try and change some temperamental flaw we’ve inherited in our genes or inhaled in the air of our childhood? All the good resolutions and positive thinking in the world normally don’t change our make-up.

So what do we do? Just live with our wounds and flaws and the unhappiness and pettiness that this brings into our lives? Or can we heal? How do we weed out our weaknesses?

There are many approaches to healing.

Psychology tells us that good counselling and therapy can help cure us of our wounds, flaws, and addictions. Therapy and counselling can bring us to a better

self-understanding and that can help us change our behaviour.

But psychology also admits that this has its limitations. Knowing why we do something doesn’t always empower us to change our behaviour.

Sociology too has insights to contribute.

There is, as the education activist Parker Palmer puts it, the therapy of a public life.

Healthy interaction with family, friends, community and church can be a wonderfully steadying thing in our lives and help take us beyond our lonely wounds and our congenital missteps.

Various recovery (or 12-step) programmes also contribute something valuable. These programmes are predicated on the premise that a higher power is needed, and that higher power is found in ritual, communal support, radical honesty, admittance of our helplessness, and a turning over of ourselves to a Someone or Something beyond us that can do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

Recovery programmes are invaluable, but they too aren’t the answer to all of our problems.

F

inally, not least, there are various theories and practices of healing that ground themselves in spirituality.

These range from emphasising churchgoing itself as a healing, to emphasising the sacrament of reconciliation, to recommending prayer and meditation, to counselling various ascetical practices, to

Nicholas King SJ

Sunday Reflections

grasp (pardonably enough): “This is the work of God: that you believe in the one whom [God] sent.”

So they ask for a “sign”, which in John’s gospel is a pointer into the mystery, and in particular for something like the “manna” of our first reading (which you might have thought they had already received in the bread that had been distributed among them).

But they are not on the wavelength, and have to be told: “It wasn’t Moses that gave you the bread…but my Father, who gives you the True Bread.”

They are beginning to get there now and so they ask: “Lord, give us this Bread always.”

Then they get the answer, which even we only dimly understand: “I am the Bread of Life; the one who comes to me will not be hungry, the one who believes in me will not be thirsty again.”

And were they grateful? And, this week, are you grateful?

Southern Crossword #664

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

sending people off to holy sites, to letting oneself be prayed over by some group or faith-healer, to undergoing long periods of spiritual guidance under a trained director.

There’s value in all of these and perhaps the full healing of a temperamental flaw, a bad habit, an addiction, or a deep wound depends upon drawing water from each of these wells.

However, beyond this simple listing, I would like to offer an insight from the great mystic, St John of the Cross vis-à-vis coming to psychological, moral, and spiritual healing.

In his last book, The Living Flame of Love, John proposes a theory of, and a process for, healing. In essence, it runs this way: For John, we heal ourselves by growing our virtues to the point where we become mature enough in our humanity so that there’s no more room left in our lives for the old behaviours that used to drag us down.

In short, we get rid of the coldness, bitterness and pettiness in our hearts by lighting inside our hearts enough warm fires to burn out the coldness and bitterness.

The algebra works this way: The more we grow in maturity and generosity, the more our old wounds, bad habits, temperamental flaws and addictions will disappear, because our deeper maturity will no longer leave room for them in our lives.

Positive growth of our hearts, like a vigorous plant, eventually chokes out the weeds. Our focus shouldn’t be on how to weed out bad habits. Instead the focus should be on growing your virtues: What are you doing well? What are your best qualities? What goodness in you needs to be fanned fan into fuller flame?

The path to healing is to water our virtues so that these virtues themselves will be the fire that burns out the festering wounds, addictions, bad habits and temperamental flaws that have, for far too long, plagued our lives and kept us wallowing in weakness and pettiness rather than walking in maturity, generosity and generativity.

ACROSS

1. Had Bud around to religious founder (6) 4. Drive forwards (6) 9. Annulments from a do list in vain (13) 10. Dull colour gone wrong in bastille (7) 11. Practical joke at the card table (5) 12. Significant time makes hundred hope maybe (5) 14. Enquired (5) 18. Lift with effort, nearly heavenwards (5) 19. Professor briefly on short ferry will propose (7) 21. Believes mistakenly and sends him paper (13) 22. Earnest longing (6) 23. Crucial moment (6)

DOWN

1. Mounts up constructively (6) 2. I pin verse said to reveal laudatory prayers (6,7) 3. Cut in two? Exactly (5) 5. Turns the prayer wheel (7) 6. Supplies sums of money (8,5) 7. Zambian archdiocese (6) 8. Italian archdiocese found in mud in England (5) 13. Snake in the grass or up the wall? (7) 15. How the clock struck (6) 16. Recreational activity (5) 17. A seer’s turn expunges everything (6) 20. Solomon got his gold from here (1 Kg 9) (5) Solutions on page 11

CHURCH CHUCKLE

A

T the parish mission a very wealthy man told the congregation about how God had blessed him.

“I’m a millionaire,” he said, “and I attribute it all to the rich blessings of God in my life. I remember that turning point in my faith. I had just earned my first rand and I went to Mass that night. I knew that I only had that one rand, and had to give it all to God’s work. So at that moment I decided to give my one rand, all that I owned, to God. I believe that God blessed that decision, and that is why I am a rich man today.”

He finished and there was an awed silence at his testimony as he moved toward his seat. As he sat down an old lady leaned over and said to him: “I dare you to do it again.”

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