170517

The

S outher n C ross www.scross.co.za

May 17 to May 23, 2017

Radio star: How I got strength from God

Page 2

Movie star: My deep faith and I

BY ERIN CARELSE

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HE highlight of this year’s St Augustine College graduation, was the conferral of the Bonum Commune Award on Marist Brother Jude Pieterse and Paddy Kearney.

South Africa’s only Catholic university held its annual graduation ceremony at its campus in Victory Park, Johannesburg, presided over by the grand-chancellor, Archbishop Jabulani Nxumalo.

The Bonum Commune Award, St Augustine’s equivalent of an honorary doctoral degree which is awarded to those who have made an outstanding contribution to the common good.

The citation for the awards was read by Prof Douglas Irvine, who played on the parallels between Br Pieterse and Mr Kearney’s lives: “Both had a strong connection with the Marist order, both had a similar academic history, both had devoted a considerable portion of their careers to education, and both were true champions of social justice in South Africa.”

Br Pieterse has made a major contribution to Catholic school education for many decades. Apart from his role as teacher and principal, he was for many years very involved in the politics of education in South Africa.

He played a seminal role in the Open School Movement in the 1970s and 1980s, which resulted in the introduction of nonracial education in Catholic schools.

He was engaged in the subsidy crisis of the 1990s, and co-founded the Catholic Institute of Education, which continues to provide critical support to Catholic schools across the country.

Br Pieterse is a former provincial of the Marist Province of South Africa, and served as secretary-general of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference in the 1990s.

Mr Kearney, a close associate of the late Archbishop Denis Hurley, started his career as a Marist teacher, and later played an indispensable role in the establishment and development of the Diakonia Council of Churches in KwaZulu-Natal.

He was an anti-apartheid activist who after the constitutional transition in 1994, contin-

The

Marist Brother Jude Pieterse and Paddy Kearney, recipients of St Augustine’s Bonum Commune Award at the Catholic university’s graduation ceremony. ued to work for the poor and marginalised as director of Diakonia.

Mr Kearney wrote the acclaimed 2009 biography of Archbishop Hurley, Guardian of the Light, and was a guiding force in the establishment of the Denis Hurley Centre in Durban.

Apart from the conferring of bachelors, honours and masters degrees, and the higher certificate in Biblical Studies, the occasion also provided an opportunity for the president of St Augustine, Prof Garth Abraham, to present his report on developments at the institution during 2016.

The report highlighted the important academic research conducted by St Augustine’s staff and the development of its degree programmes.

Prof Abraham referred to a 2014 letter of Pope Francis in which he described education as a “great open building site in which the Church has always been present through her institutions and projects”.

The Church, said Pope Francis, must continue to encourage a commitment to Catholic education on all levels and must, through education “renew the commitment of all engaged in the new evangelisation”.

Prof Abraham committed that St Augustine will continue to contribute.

A spiritual journey to Fatima • Lisbon

1 - 10 October 2017

R8,00 (incl VAT RSA)

Page 9

Winter came early at De La Salle Holy Cross College in Johannesburg this month when the school held its matric dance with the theme “A Winter’s Night in the Black Forest”. Among the winter-dwellers were headboy Philani Mpofu and Jennifer O’Connor.

The high school hall was transformed into a sophisticated “Winter Wonderland”, complete with a snow machine, icy forests and candlelight.

As is the school tradition, the Grade 11 fundraisers choose the theme—which is a closely-guarded secret—and decorate the hall themselves.

The following evening the hall was used for a “Come Back, Give Back Dance”, attended by parents and past pupils. In keeping with the winter theme, guests were asked to donate blankets for those who have no warmth during the cold months ahead. All money raised at the event is donated to a chosen charity.

Shock after satanic attack on sacred shrine in Spain

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OLICE in Spain are investigating a case of vandalism with satanic messages at a monastery.

The damage on a reliquary containing a veil believed to have touched the face of Christ was discovered at the monastery of the Holy Face in Alicante. A priest found the number 666 and an upside down cross on the shatter-proof glass that protects the relic of the Holy Face.

Several more upside down crosses on the Stations of the Cross were also discovered.

According to tradition, the Holy Face is the veil with which Veronica wiped the face of Christ during the Passion. The monastery has served as a pilgrimage site on the second Sunday after Easter since the year 536.

The Spanish daily El Mundo reported that security cameras showed the perpetrator to be a young woman, who apparently hid herself inside the church overnight and slipped out when the doors opened in the morning.

The perpetrator attempted to break the

S outher n C ross &

100 Years Fatima

No 5032

The places where Our Lady has appeared

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Honours for champions of social justice

Reg No. 1920/002058/06

glass that protects the relic with a pointed instrument and scratched the number 666 on it.

She also stole a liturgical prayer book and another one where the liturgical acts of the monastery are recorded.

Bishop Jesús Murgui of Orihuela-Alicante and his vicar-general visited the monastery after the attack and met with the community of nuns who keep the Holy Face. Though the bishop said the damage was “minimal”, he said he was shocked by the incident.

In a statement, the diocese said that it is looking into “increasing or improving” the security measures at the monastery after the acts of vandalism.

The diocese also said that “we are praying to God, Our Lord, for whomever caused this damage” and asked the faithful of Alicante that “the deplorable circumstances not be to the detriment of the love and the devotion that we feel toward this age-old relic of the Holy Face”.—CNA

Radio Veritas

Portugal & Spain • Coimbra • Avila • Madrid and more

Led by Fr Brian Mhlanga OP

Contact Gail at info@fowlertours.co.za or 076 352-3809 or 021 551-3923

Interactive itinerary at www.fowlertours.co.za/fatima

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The Southern Cross, May 17 to May 23, 2017

LOCAL

Radio star: How I got strength from God

BY ERIN CARELSE

‘I

N all these painful journeys I’ve encountered, I simply showed up, and God showed off,” a well-known motivational speaker said.

Activist, motivational speaker, radio personality and author Criselda Dudumashe opened up to Fr Brian Mhlanga OP in a Radio Veritas interview about being diagnosed with HIV and the challenges she faced and overcame, and spoke about her latest book, You are Never Alone: God’s Favourite Daughter.

Mrs Dudumashe is a popular talkshow host on Metro FM. On Radio Veritas, she was on the other side of the microphone.

Fr Mhlanga, who spoke to Mrs Dudumashe on his afternoon show “Changing Gears”, described the interview as the best he had experienced.

From an early age, Mrs Dudumashe faced many challenges. At the age of seven she ran away from home due to sexual abuse by a family friend, and was too afraid to tell

anyone, thinking no-one would believe her.

She was also diagnosed with HIV many years ago, and has been living a positive, healthy life ever since.

In the book she talks about her life experiences, hoping that by speaking out she may inspire, motivate and encourage others.

Mrs Dudumashe found she was HIV-positive when seven months pregnant. Her doctor told her she had about two years left to live.

When she asked what this meant for her unborn child, the doctor offered to “do her a favour” and abort the foetus.

In the Radio Veritas interview she recalled: “ I’m thinking, seven months is life, and irrespective of how many months, who am I to decide on behalf of this seed that God has allowed in my womb, that you are not going to live. This child never asked to be born.”

She went by faith, and did what she needed to do as a responsible mother, giving birth to a beautiful baby girl. Almost two decades later,

her daughter is HIV-free.

Mrs Dudumashe, who until her 2015 wedding was known as Criselda Kananda, said the hardest chapter to write in her book was where she had to acknowledge that she had wronged her daughter.

“I gave birth to her when I was 17 years old, and when I was 18, I sent her to live with and be raised by her father. At the time I believed it was the right decision, because I was only a child, but I saw what a selfish decision that was.”

Mrs Dudumashe explained that she had to “understand what brought me to make that decision, so that I could heal. I discovered that for generations, going back to my great-grandmother, we were all married off at a young age. My great-grandmother was married off at 15, my grandmother at 16, my mother at 17, and myself too at 17.

All these generations of women, and none of us ever connected with our babies because, after all, we were babies ourselves.”

Speaking about the role spiritual-

Priest looks at challenges of Christianity in our cities

BY ERIN CARELSE

C

AN the Bible give us practical answers to the modernity and secularism in our cosmopolitan cities? What do we do as Christians do to eradicate the evils of tribalism, xenophobia and racism?

These are the questions asked in Fr Jean-Marie Kuzituka Did’ho’s latest book, Christianity in a Cosmopolitan City.

Fr Kuzituka Did’ho, chancellor of the archdiocese of Johannesburg and parish priest of Our Lady of Fatima in Dube, Soweto, said he was prompted to write the book by the first xenophobic attacks in the city’s Alexandra township.

“These left me to ask many questions, such as the effectiveness of Christian faith in the lives of our people, and how we can put into action all that we read in the Bible,” the priest said.

“In a cosmopolitan city, we find ourselves with neighbours and colleagues who don’t share the same faith as us, but if we come to understand all of them, we will be able to embrace everyone as created in the image and likeness of God,” he said.

Christianity can play a crucial role in resolving the problems of tribalism, xenophobia and racism that arise in our African cosmopolitan cities, Fr Kuzituka Did’ho said.

“As Christians, we are called to spread the message of love, unity, justice and peace, respect and dignity of human life, and we can eradicate, in the light of the Bible, such evils,” he said.

Fr Kuzituka Did’ho said he aimed the book at everyone: “Christians and non-Christians; priests and pastors who in their parishes lead people of different races, tribes and clans; and for anyone who believes

Metro FM talk show host and motivational speaker Criselda Dudumashe and Fr Brian Mhlanga OP wait for their interview to begin in the Radio Veritas studio in Edenvale, Johannesburg.

She spoke about the role her faith played in surviving suffering.

ity and faith holds in her life, she said: “The title of my book says ‘God’s favourite daughter’, and I say that because when I look at where I was, where I am, and where I’m going, I can’t help but know for sure

Loss of mother spurs man to launch women’s seminar

BY ERIN CARELSE

A

and accepts that there is only one race—and that’s the human race.” n Christianity in a Cosmopolitan City is available at the Pauline Bookshop in Johannesburg, or online through www.sacatholiconline.co.za /resources and www.kjmdidho books.co.za, or by contacting the author on WhatsApp or SMS at 082 471 7716.

FTER losing his mother due to a long illness, a producer at Radio Veritas came up with the idea of hosting a women’s seminar in June.

With his mother no longer present in his life, Siphiwe “Gabhadiya” Moloi noticed how children around him weren’t valuing their mothers, and in general their parents.

Hosting this seminar will be a way to encourage, educate, and discuss topics or issues that affect women, he said.

The MCs for the day, both Catholic, are Yena Khuboni, a social activist and former Miss Commonwealth contestant, and actress Siyabonga Sepotokele, who is best known to many as Lehasa in the local SABC2 tele-novella Keeping Score.

Speakers include Mahadi

Buthelezi, an activist in women’s, family and relationship issues, and business leadership.

She is also the events and marketing officer at Radio Veritas.

With her husband Rob, she heads up the family life desk at their parish and offers pre-marriage and marriage courses.

Mrs Buthelezi seeks to inspire women and encourage them to start up their own passions. She will be speaking on the topic “Be The Woman God Intended You to Be”, which will focus on married women.

Other speakers include Swazi Khambule, Sibo Langa, Moliehi Makobane and Marcia Ntobeng.

The women’s seminar will be held on June 3 from 12:00 to 15:00 at Uncle Tom’s Community Centre (behind the Hector Pieterson Museum) in Soweto, Johannesburg. n For more information contact Siphiwe Moloi on 079 998 3899.

Mobile libraries for refugee children

Calvary

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St Peter’s

S outher n C ross Pilgrimage

HOLY LAND • ROME ASSISI • CAIRO

Led by Archbishop William Slattery OFM Pray at the great sacred sites of our faith in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Galilee and many other places in the Holy Land.

See Pope Francis and the history of our Church in Rome Follow in the footsteps of the great St Francis of Assisi See where the Holy Family hid from Herod in Cairo and climb on the great pyramid of Giza!

there is no Criselda without God.” Mrs Dudumashe added: “I want people who can relate to my story to know that, whatever you’re going through, allow yourself to go through it.”

25 Aug - 8 Sept 2017 St Peter’s

Sea of Galilee

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CATHOLIC school was among four schools to receive mobile libraries from the Australian government as part of a refugee education project.

The Three2Six projects at Holy Family College in Parktown, Observatory Girls School, Yeoville Boys Primary and Yeoville Community School, were handed the libraries by Australian high commissioner Adam McCarthy.

In his address, Mr McCarthy encouraged learners “to read to learn; to read for pleasure; and to use reading as escapism”.

He said the Australian high commission “is privileged to be a part of the Three2Six project as it is an investment in the future”.

The Three2Six project aims to help refugee children familiarise themselves with English as the main language of communication in schools in South Africa.

Three2Six was started at Sacred Heart College, an independent Marist Brothers school in Observatory, Johannesburg, as an intervention into the plight of refugee children in neighbouring districts.

The Three2Six education projects exist on the generosity

of international and local donors.

“We are indeed indebted to Australian Aid for this generous donation, which has assisted us to continue building a bridge; a bridge from misery to hope for our refugee children,” said Colin Northmore, head of Sacred Heart College.

While learners at Sacred Heart have access to more than 18 000 books, Mr Northmore noted, “their counterparts at the Three2Six refugee education projects and state-funded schools are not so fortunate.

Through our fundraising appeals, we had hoped to access funds to build libraries for the projects at Holy Family College and Observatory Girls.”

The Three2Six project based at Sacred Heart College has a fully equipped book container, donated by Standard Bank, he said, adding: “The grant from Australia Aid gave us the opportunity to share with others in the community and ultimately enabled us to widen our reach and to educate more children.”

Presently, Sacred Heart College is organising a community- improvement project and would be interested in engaging with community organisations in this regard.

Tshegofatso Manamela, a Grade 7 pupil at Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic School in Johannesburg, has been elected as chair of leadership and recreation for the Mini-City Council of Johannesburg. The Mini-City Council is a non-profit which offers young people leadership experience. (Photo: Daniela Rebelo)

The Southern Cross, May 17 to May 23, 2017

LOCAL

3

Christian unity to take centre stage

BY SR MARIE ANDRE MITCHELL SNDdeN

T

HIS year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, from May 25 to June 4, will focus on the theme of “Reconciliation—The Love of Christ Compels Us”.

The week is promoted by the department of ecumenism and interreligious dialogue of the Southern African Bishops’ Conference in collaboration with the Church Unity Commission and the South African Council of Churches.

This year’s theme is drawn from Pope Francis’ 2013 exhortation The Joy of the Gospel (or Evangelii Gaudium). In it, the pope quotes 2 Corinthians 5:14—“The love of Christ compels us”.

Pope Francis noted that all of chapter 5 of that epistle emphasises that reconciliation is a gift from God intended for the entire creation: ”God was reconciling the world (cosmos) to God’s self in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them, and he committed to us the message of reconciliation.”

Traditionally, the week of prayer is celebrated between January 18 and 25, between the feasts of St Peter and St Paul, but in the southern hemisphere, where January is holiday time, the prayer for Christian unity is held between the Ascension Day and Pentecost.

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity has a long history, and was first observed in the United States in January 1908 in the Episcopal Teachers, parents and wellwishers gathered to congratulate Mary Help of Christians School in Booysens, Johannesburg, on its 50th anniversary.

Golden celebration for Mary Help of Christians School

M

ARY Help of Christians School in Booysens, Johannesburg, has celebrated its 50th anniversary.

It was founded in 1966 by Salesian Sisters Maria Luisa Gombini and Mary Margaret Walsh, who bought the property across the road from priests based at the Don Bosco provincial office in Booysens.

The existing house became the Sisters’ convent and they converted a section into a pre-school.

In 1977 a new school building was completed, and in 1980 an addition was finished.

The school functioned as a day-

care centre and crèche until 2009 when the idea of extending its capacity came up. In 2012 Mary Help of Christians School opened as a foundation phase primary school from Grades 1 to 3.

There was then a growing need for crèche space, and the Sisters bought and renovated the house next door.

Parents’ committees and benefactors over the years are among those who helped the school to become what it is today: a pre-school and junior primary school with the values of the Salesian spirit, serving an underprivileged community.

(Anglican) Church. When the World Council of Churches (WCC) was formed, it began to sponsor the week of Christian unity.

During the 1960s, with Vatican II’s Decree on Ecumenism, all Catholics were encouraged to participate in this one, unified observance with the Christians of the world.

I

t is now a worldwide observance involving many nations and millions of people, albeit at two different times of the year.

A basic liturgical text on a biblical theme for the week is jointly published by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the WCC’s Commission on Faith and Order.

This year, in the context of the

500th anniversary of the beginnings of the Reformation, the prayer celebrates God’s love and grace, the “justification of humanity through grace alone”, reflecting the main concern of the Churches marked by Martin Luther’s Reformation, and recognises the pain of the subsequent deep divisions which afflicted the unity of the Church.

This theme is viewed as a chance to take steps towards reconciliation.

Christian unity is very important for Pope Francis, who has said: “Christians must talk and act together if they want to have an impact globally.”

When visiting an Anglican church in Rome in February, Pope Francis barely referred to the theo-

logical, institutional dialogue between Anglicans and Catholics. Instead, he indicated three roads to Christian unity: an attitude of humility, shared prayer and actions witnessing to God’s mercy, and learning from the creativity of young churches in the global south.

Both ecumenism and interfaith dialogue have been major priorities for the pope. In his first monthly prayer video for this year, he prayed for Christian unity, specifically “that all Christians may be faithful to the Lord’s teaching by striving with prayer and fraternal charity to restore ecclesial communion and by collaborating to meet the challenges facing humanity”.

Renew Africa hits the airwaves

R

ADIO Veritas has started a new programme featuring the team of Renew Africa.

Several dioceses and parishes are running the Renew programme and now people around the country can tune into a weekly programme at 20:00 on Monday evenings to hear Duncan Hyam and his Johannesburg team.

“Truly, there is never a dull moment,” said Radio Veritas station director Fr Emil Blaser OP. The programmes unpack the contents of all the seasons of Renew Africa. At present the programmes are dealing with Christian prayer.

After three months they will move on to dealing with the various segments of what are known as

Pilgrimage to The Holy Land

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led by Fr Pierre-Thaddee Mbayi Bakadibamba (Bloemfontein) Visit St. John’s Cathedral, the museum of St. Maximiliam Kolbe, Sightseeing of Krakow, Visit Wadowice and Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, Visit the Blessed Sister Faustina Convent 10 – 20 September 2017 R29 995.00 incl. Airport taxes

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Seasons 1, 2 and 3—“Meeting Christ Today”, “Healing the Body of Christ”, and “We are the Church”.

“These programmes are helpful to those who are going to begin the programme in their parishes as well as to those who have already embarked upon the journey,” Fr Blaser said.

“Radio Veritas has now made it possible for parishes throughout our country to draw on the professional expertise of the Renew team in Johannesburg,” he added.

Radio Veritas broadcasts on 576AM in Gauteng, on DStv audio 870 or streamed on the Internet at www.radioveritas.co.za. The programmes are also available as podcasts on the station’s website.

Duncan Hyam (above) and his Johannesburg Renew team can now be heard on Radio Veritas.

World Wide Marriage Encounter hosted a weekend at St Luke’s Retreat Centre in Port Elizabeth. Eight couples from various parishes in PE as well as four non-Catholic couples attended. Bishop Vincent Zungu (centre) joined the couples for lunch on the Saturday.

The next marriage encounter weekend in PE is from August 18 to 20. For more information, contact Sean Abrahams on 071 858 9476.

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• Applicant’s Curriculum Vitae not longer than three A4 pages • Three contactable referees with contact numbers • A letter by applicant dealing with the applicant’s vision for the school and making reference to previous leadership achievements of the applicant • Certified copy of SACE registration together with copy of applicant’s identity document • Affidavit by applicant confirming that s/he has never been convicted of Sexual Offence/s against a child or mentally disabled person plus SAPS clearance.

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The Sisters of Mercy and the Board of Governors reserve the right not to proceed with filling the post. An application will not in itself entitle the applicant to an interview or appointment, and failure to meet the minimum requirements of the advertised post will result in applicants automatically disqualifying themselves from consideration.

4

The Southern Cross, May 17 to May 23, 2017

INTERNATIONAL

Rebuilding in Iraq begins with the cross

BY DAVID RAMOS

W The Massive Ordnance Air Blast, also known as MOAB or Mother Of All Bombs, whose nickname has shocked the pope. (Photo: Reuters/CNS)

Pope shocked by bomb referred to as ‘mother’

BY CINDY WOODEN

P

OPE Francis told Italian students he was shocked when a massive US bomb used in Afghanistan was referred to as “the mother of all bombs”.

“They called it ‘the mother of all bombs’,” the pope told the Italian youths. But “a mother gives life and this brought death”.

The 7 000 young people were participating in a course on peace and human rights sponsored by the Italian ministry of education. They gave the pope sustained applause for his comment about the US bomb, formally called the Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB). US forces used it in Afghanistan on a tunnel complex for suspected ISIS militants.

Pope Francis told the young people they should be worried about the state of the world which seems to be embracing a “culture of destruction” when God made human beings “to build, give life, move forward, create community and live in peace”.

At the same time, he said, there are millions of people in the world giving their lives in service to others.

The vast majority of them are “hidden” and never make the news, but they exist and young people should join their ranks.

Four of the youths and one teacher asked the pope questions. He took notes as they spoke and then called them back to the microphone.

A young woman who gave her name as Maria asked the pope what was going on in the world with so much violence, hospitals and schools being bombed, and refugee children drowning in the Mediterranean. The pope said he asks himself the same question.

Because of sin and the work of the

devil, he said, human beings have destroyed one another since Cain and Abel. But cruelty and destruction seem to be increasing.

Another young woman told Pope Francis that in school she and her classmates are studying Laudato Si’, his encyclical on the environment.

She said she knows people need to change their behaviours to protect creation, but she wonders if it’s too late and, she said, it’s tempting to be resigned to the earth’s destruction.

“That makes me angry,” the pope said. “Resignation is a forbidden word for us. Never, never. We have to keep going, struggling, being creative.”

The way people treat the environment is part of the culture of destruction, he said. “We are not only polluting creation, we are destroying it.”

The pope said many people today will not even eat an apple without peeling it because of the pesticides used and “there are doctors who tell mothers not to give their children factory-farmed chicken because hormonal imbalances” in children may be caused by the hormones used to fatten the chickens.

“Evil, money and power,” but especially money, are behind much of the destruction of human beings and of creation, the pope said. Weapons manufacturers make more weapons than nations need to defend themselves, so they sell them to opposing sides in a tense situation, helping to ignite violence. Drug trafficking and human trafficking make billions, destroying lives.

Meekness, dialogue and placing human beings—not money—at the centre of concern are key weapons in fighting the culture of destruction, he said. —CNS

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ITH the blessing of the cross raised up in the Iraqi city of Bakhdida this month, the reconstruction of towns in the Plain of Nineveh destroyed by ISIS has officially begun.

Syriac Catholic Archbishop Youhanna Boutros Moshe of Mosul blessed the cross on a joyous morning with emotive dances by Christians. There are 13 000 damaged houses, 669 of which were completely destroyed by ISIS, which will be rebuilt in three towns on the Plain of Nineveh: Bartella, Karemlesh and Bakhdida.

The pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), which is collaborating on the reconstruction, estimated the total cost of the programme to be in excess of $250 million (R3,4 billion).

To date ACN has provided around $50 0000 (R6,8 million) to the Nineveh Reconstruction Commission.

Work has already begun on the rebuilding of 100 Christian homes in the communities. During a ceremony, the owners of each of the homes were given olive trees to be planted as symbols of peace and reconciliation.

“Christians are very hopeful with

the beginning of the reconstruction of the cities of the Plain of Nineveh,” said Fr Luis Montes, a missionary priest of the Institute of the Incarnate Word in Iraq “Most of those who have remained in Iraq—some estimate that they are half of those that originally fled from ISIS more than two years ago, the other half have probably already left the country—want to stay and return to their cities,” he said.

However, “you can’t say the drama is over for several reasons, including the fact that the community has been greatly reduced, and that is cause for sadness and for greater weakness both now and especially for the future”, he pointed out.

“In addition, recovering all the territories that ISIS has taken doesn’t mean defeating them, because they will continue on as a clandestine group with attacks, just like the other terrorist groups,” he added.

According to research firm RAND, ISIS has lost about 60% of the territory it controlled at the height of its power in late 2014.

Fr Andrzej Halemba, head of ACN’s Near East division, said that with the start of reconstruction work in Bartella, Karemlesh and Bakhdida, “we want to send a clear signal to the thousands of Christian families

driven from their homes in the Plain of Nineveh who now are living in an improvised and provisional way in Erbil, and other localities in Iraqi Kurdistan”.

He added: “This is a decidedly historic moment. If we now miss the opportunity to help Christians return to their homes in the Plain of Nineveh, these families could make the decision to leave Iraq forever, and this would be a huge tragedy.”

For Fr Halemba “the presence of Christians in this region is of vital importance…not just from the historical point of view, but also from the political and cultural stance [since] Christians represent a bridge of peace between the different Muslim groups at odds with each other; they make a crucial contribution to the education system and are respected by all the moderate Muslims”.

The priest appealed for both financial aid and prayers for the Christians in Iraq.

“From all our brothers and sisters in the West we are not just asking for financial aid, but also prayers with which to support the courage of thousands of Iraqi Christians who have made the decision to return to their towns and remain in Iraq.”— CNA

Award for anti-trafficking priest

BY SIMONE ORENDAIN

A

N Irish Columban priest based in the Philippines has received the AK Shalom Award for human rights, adding to his growing collection of international peace and justice awards.

Fr Shay Cullen, 74, received the award at Germany’s Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt for rescuing minors from exploitation at the hands of sex traffickers, paedophiles, illegal detention and other forms of abuse.

The missionary priest told Catholic News Service: “The victims of abuse and human trafficking deserve this award more than me. They, by their resilience and strength, have made our work possible.”

Fr Cullen established the People’s Recovery, Empowerment and Development Assistance Founda-

Columban Father Shay Cullen who received the AK Shalom Award for Human Rights.(Photo: Bob Roller/CNS) tion (PREDA) in 1974 in Olongapo City, Philippines. The foundation runs programmes that help young people who are rescued to gain an education, receive therapy, and formation and skills training.

Fr Cullen said he was “elated”

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the Shalom award committee decided to highlight the Philippines this year, because “the human rights situation in the country has greatly deteriorated”, referring to the increasing number of deaths of drug users and dealers in both police anti-drug operations and unexplained circumstances.

“We need to speak stronger and louder,” said Fr Cullen. “We must never allow silence to make us part of the crime. We have to be prophetic and state clearly the rights of every human being no matter how poor.”

Fr Cullen has received multiple human rights awards in at least five countries and has been nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize, all for his human rights endeavours. He is scheduled to receive the Dutch 2017 Martin Buber Award in November.—CNS

INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, May 17 to May 23, 2017

5

launches Belgian Bishop: How to engage Vatican euthanasia investigation with secular culture

BY SIMON CALDWELL

N

EITHER the narrow narrative against religion nor the real failings of the Church should define the role of Catholics in public life, according to an Irish archbishop.

“Our challenge is to present to the world the edifying and inspiring witness of people of faith,” said Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh.

“We are impacted by the process of secularisation. We live, breathe, work and believe alongside people of other traditions, faiths and none, and the pressure on believers to conform, to become just like everyone else, is often immense and overpowering.”

The Northern Ireland-based Archbishop Martin, who is primate of All Ireland, delivered the 2017 Newman Lecture at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England.

About 78% of Ireland’s 4,76 million citizens self-identify as Catholic, according to the most recent census.

This is a decline of five percentage points over a five-year period.

While Archbishop Martin noted that this is still a remarkable number of Catholics, he said social commentary in Ireland has focused on “the decline of the Church”. Some have again called to remove the Church’s perceived influence in schools, health care, and public policy.

“Such a narrative clearly challenges the Church to find new ways of presenting the joy of the Gospel in the public sphere,” the archbishop said.

“There is no question that the practice of faith in Ireland has been hugely exposed to, and challenged by, the prevailing culture,” he said.

At the same time, there seems to be little appetite for “any substantial critique of culture by people of faith”, especially if this means presenting serious questions about the “almost compulsory consensus on controversial issues”.

Archbishop Martin said scandals in the Church should not be used as an excuse to silence well-founded religious critiques of society, nor should they be allowed to conceal the dedication of Catholic priests

Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, Northern Ireland. (Photo: Irish Bishops' Conference/CNS) and religious.

“When we attempt as Church to speak in the public sphere about the right to life of the unborn, some are quick to point to the scandals and to shameful stories of the past,” he said.

“Decades of service by countless religious sisters and priests to the education and healthcare of the people of Ireland and all over the world is almost obliterated by a revised and narrow narrative that religious ethos cannot be good for democracy and stands against the progress and flourishing of society and the rights of citizens.”

A

t the same time, the archbishop said the Church has been too defensive in its reaction to criticisms.

These responses show simple denial or claim unfairness or conspiracy, “rather than being thankful that the lid has been lifted on a terrible and shameful chapter of our history and at last giving a voice to those who for years have been carrying a lonely trauma”.

However, Archbishop Martin said: “The failures of the past must not be allowed to define us, but should instead help all of us in the public sphere learn lessons for the present about where Church and society might today be similarly marginalis-

Pope: Corruption devastates lives P OPE Francis warned bishops that corruption poses a grave threat to people. He also reiterated calls for the Church to work closely with people to renew their hope.

In a letter to the Latin American bishops’ council, or CELAM, meeting in El Salvador, Pope Francis said corruption “is one of the most serious sins that plague our continent today”.

“Corruption devastates lives by immersing them in the most extreme poverty. Corruption, which destroys entire populations by subjecting them to precariousness.

Corruption that, like a cancer, consumes the daily life of our people. And there are so many of our brothers and sisters who, admirably, go out to fight,” he wrote.

The Argentine pope used the story of Our Lady of Aparecida, considered the principal patroness of Brazil, to emphasise his message of hope. The statue was said to have helped bring faith—and a bountiful catch—to three fishermen when they found it in the mud 300 years ago.

“Even today, 300 years later, Our Lady of Aparecida makes us grow” by making people disciples, he wrote.

“In Aparecida, we find the dynamics of a believing people that confess themselves to be sinners

and are saved; a people, strong and resilient, that are aware that their lives are full of a presence that encourages them not to lose hope; a presence that hides in the daily life of the home and the family, in those silent spaces in which the Holy Spirit continues to support our continent,” he said.

The pope repeated his calls for the Church to work closely with people, including those on the peripheries.

“I reiterate to you what I wrote in Evangelii Gaudium,” he wrote, referring to his apostolic exhortation on proclaiming the Gospel in today’s world: “I prefer a Church that is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church that is sick from being confined and from clinging to its own security.”

The letter was released by the bishops on the first day of a gathering that brought together representatives from 21 Latin American and Caribbean countries, the US and Canada.

The participants planned to discuss immigration and crime, the possibility of organising a synod of the Americas, and commemorations of Bl Oscar Romero, the San Salvador archbishop who was killed in 1980 while celebrating Mass. He would have turned 100 this August.—CNS

ing the poor, stigmatising the unwanted or failing to protect the most vulnerable.”

As a model for striking a positive tone in the public sphere, Archbishop Martin cited the French bishops’ October 2016 statement to the nation, in which they cautioned against aspirations to be a “Church of the pure” or “a counterculture removed from society, posing as a judge from above”.

“They speak as people of faith, but also as fellow French citizens, pastorally accompanying their troubled people with empathy and concern,” the archbishop said.

Archbishop Martin noted three potential possibilities for Catholics: • a “culture of openness”, which some fear dilutes Catholic beliefs and leads to unjustified compromise; • a “culture of identity” that stresses Catholic distinctiveness instead of what Catholics have in common with all people of goodwill; and • a “culture of engagement” with two-way critical interaction and conversations between religious traditions and the broader culture.

“Despite the voices nowadays which might tempt the Church into pointless culture wars, or even suggest that Christians might opt out of the public square to some sort of ‘parallel polis’, I am completely convinced that the voice of faith can and should remain engaged in the public square,” the archbishop said.—CNA

T

HE Vatican is investigating the decision of a group of psychiatric care centres run by a Catholic religious order in Belgium to permit doctors to perform euthanasia of “non-terminal” mentally ill patients on its premises.

Br René Stockman, superior general of the Brothers of Charity, told Catholic News Service that Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, is personally examining the situation.

Br Stockman complained directly to Rome after the Brothers of Charity Group, which runs 15 centres for psychiatric patients across Belgium, rejected a formal request from him to reverse a new policy which would allow euthanasia to be performed on its premises.

“I hope that there will come a clear answer from the Belgian bishops and the Vatican,” said Br Stockman, a psychiatric care specialist. “I have trust in it.”

He suggested that the new policy could force the Brothers to stop providing psychiatric care in Belgium.

Br Stockman said: “I wait for the clear answer of the Church and that answer will be presented to our organisation, in the hope that it will adapt its vision...I hope we will not have to withdraw our responsibility in the field of mental health care in the place where we started as a congregation with such care more than 200 years ago.”

The Brothers of Charity Group announced it would allow euthana-

sia on its premises in a nine-page document in March, about a year after a private Catholic rest home in Diest, Belgium, was fined $6 600 (R80 000) for refusing the euthanasia of a 74-year-old woman suffering from lung cancer.

About 12 psychiatric patients in the care of the Brothers of Charity are believed to have asked for euthanasia over the past year, with two of them being transferred elsewhere to receive the injections to end their lives.

The new policy document harmonises the practices of the centres in the group with Belgian law on euthanasia.

It sought to balance the Catholic belief in the inviolability of innocent human life with duty of care under the law and with the demands of patient autonomy.

Br Stockman said, however, that for the Brothers, “respect of life is absolute and cannot be offered for the autonomy of the patient”.

The group’s largely lay board of directors, he said, see euthanasia as a medical act, but the Brothers “cannot accept it as a medical act”.

“Finally, they agreed that euthanasia should be done inside the institutes,” he said. “We always refused to let euthanasia be done inside the walls of the centre.”

“I see it as a real crisis and I call it a door that is opened and cannot be closed anymore,” he added. “It started with somatic suffering, now psychiatric suffering, afterward people with a severe handicap, elderly people and so on.”—CNS

6

The Southern Cross, May 17 to May 23, 2017

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

Advocates for the Church

A

LITTLE over two decades ago, the bishops of Southern Africa took the prudent decision to establish the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office (CPLO).

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the CPLO’s official launch, though its members were already active in the field of lobbying politicians and advising the bishops in 1996 as parliament debated and then passed the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Bill.

Ironically, then, the CPLO’s official birth coincided with the legalisation of abortion.

Since then, the CPLO has become an indispensable agency in the Church in South Africa. While most Catholics will be unfamiliar with the office’s activities, many Church leaders and organisations greatly value the CPLO’s research and analysis, its social advocacy work, political contacts, and facilitation of discussion between politicians and civil society.

Southern Cross readers have the periodic benefit of receiving the incisive political analysis of the CPLO’s Mike Pothier or Fr PeterJohn Pearson through our interviews with them, or reports on some of the many subjects of the office’s research.

The CPLO thoroughly and smartly researches legislative, economic and civic issues, in particular but not exclusively those in the domain of social justice. In doing so, the office provides balanced judgment on the relevant merits and demerits of those issues, sometimes sounding the alert on overlooked problem areas.

Together with the research and advocacy work by the Southern African Bishops’ Conference’s Justice & Peace Commission, this helps the local hierarchy to formulate and strategise its responses.

The CPLO’s regular round-table discussions usually bring together stakeholders who otherwise might not meet, providing a forum for an exchange of ideas and collaboration in responding to problem areas.

Another key area of the CPLO’s mission concerns the development of personal relationships with politicians, of different faiths and none, as a way of communicating the Church’s concerns or support regarding public policy and the protection of democratic institutions.

On some issues, Catholic and

other religious perspectives are dismissed in parliament when these do not coincide with secular doctrines. The CPLO serves as a constant reminder that the Catholic Church at least demands to have its voice heard, through public submissions or through ongoing dialogue. This too is a form of prophetic witness and evangelisation.

The CPLO commands respect even among politicians whose ideologies do not always accord with Catholic philosophy. Frequently, the CPLO’s propositions are incorporated into legislation, which then becomes reflective of the Church’s social teachings.

Other times, of course, the Catholic position is rejected, for example on issues such as abortion, which all three main opposition parties support.

Every year on February 2, the CPLO organises a Mass in Cape Town’s St Mary’s cathedral—opposite parliament—to mark the anniversary of the legalisation of abortion. This is a concrete witness to the centrality of prayer in our faith, even for an office whose primary brief is to research, advocate and engage with broad issues of public policy.

This is a rare occasion when the CPLO engages in public comment.

Much of its work is carried out behind the scenes, allowing space for the bishops or relevant Church offices to state positions to the faithful and the public.

Other bishops’ conferences around the world have taken note of the South African experience by setting up similar offices, often with the help of the CPLO, recognising that such a body, with an intimate knowledge of the intricate workings of the political machinery and public policy, is an invaluable resource to the local Church.

South Africa is facing many legislative and policy challenges, volatile political and social foundations, and conflict over belated economic transformation and land reform.

It is reassuring that the Catholic Church has a widely respected body which can competently and credibly comment and advocate on these challenges and, when necessary, articulate the Catholic position in fidelity to the teachings of the Church.

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.

Welcome the stranger as Jesus asks

R

ECENTLY, scores of incidents of xenophobia have resurfaced in South Africa, leading many people to ask whether the country has the grit to fight it.

When xenophobic attacks took place in Gauteng in February, communities alleged that foreigners were the cause of these crimes.

In response, there have been rallies protesting against xenophobic attacks on foreigners. Protesters have marched in key cities, chanting “Down with xenophobia”.

President Jacob Zuma has always maintained that “no amount of frustration or anger can justify the attacks on foreign nationals and looting of shops”.

Such attacks have hindered progress to a united Africa. Foreign-

Marian shrine and Pope Francis

I

HAVE it on good authority that the new Marian shrine to be built in the Magaliesberg is going to cost over R200 million.

Now I am astonished that such an amount of money can be spent on a shrine while we have thousands of people going to bed hungry every night of their lives.

Did not Pope Francis clearly state that the Church is to move away from magnificence of buildings etc, and focus its efforts and resources on the poor?

I do not deny that Our Lady deserves our attention—but, to be honest, that’s more for our benefit than hers! She has never, to my knowledge, requested a shrine of any sort, but rather our prayers, and our love for her Son and for one another. I actually have a little shrine to Mary in our home, where I pray to her and light candles for those in need of her prayers.

We need to become much more pastoral! We need to remember that the nucleus of Catholic social teaching is the dignity of man and the sanctity of life.

Rather use the land purchased for this shrine to build a community welfare establishment, where hungry mouths can be fed; untrained hands be trained; unemployed persons be assisted in finding employment, and where the homeless can spend the night off the streets, and out of the cold.

And even include traumatised families suffering from the ravages of domestic violence, natural disaster, or crime.

Perhaps even include a rehabili-

ers are our brothers and sisters. Just like everybody else, they are someone’s mother, father, brother or sister.

Each person is called to practise hospitality, kindness, gentleness, patience, and most of all humanity, to their neighbours.

As a local Church, we have become more proactive in preaching and acting against xenophobia.

In an attempt to raise funds for the building of a church hall for the parish in the township I serve in Kroonstad diocese, I organised a family harvest thanksgiving.

We invited Nigerians, Cameroonians—I am a missionary priest from Cameroon myself—and the faithful of our local parishes.

Although it looked like a harvest thanksgiving fundraising event, it 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

tation centre for young offenders, thus preventing them from destroying their lives, and maybe reducing the level of crime in this country.

I feel that this would be money better spent, and so I cannot, and will not in good conscience contribute towards the shrine.

Barbara Gregory, Johannesburg

Veggie fundraising

T

HERE may be people who would like to support Church projects or charities but who can’t afford to. In areas where it will not harm the business of people who make their entire income by selling vegetables, parishes could consider raising funds by occasionally selling vegetables.

People have to buy vegetables anyway, so it would not cost parishioners extra to support such a fundraiser. Other churches successfully do this.

JM Thomson, Johannesburg

Catholic lesbian seeks companion

I

AM a 50-year-old, divorced mother of three teenagers who has realised that she is a lesbian. I am at full peace with Our Lord and in terms of my Catholic faith as well.

I am a born and raised devout Catholic who seriously contemplated entering religious life when I was 20 or 21 years of age. My cross was that I could not give up the tangible love I crave with another adult, two people committed in a devoted relationship, with God as their foundation.

I have not had many relationships, but of the two that I have had, one culminated in marriage, as it is contrary to my faith that people just live together without a form of symbolic commitment.

I am a very traditional Catholic in my thinking, still uphold the values of the past, and am still being torn between the pull of the spiritual versus the tangible love of another.

The irony is that I have lived mostly a celibate life. It is my will that I live as chastely as possible, pure in thought and in heart.

After some reflection, I began to wonder if an appropriate partner for me would be a nun who has left the convent due to also being torn between her need for tangible love and the intangible love of Christ, or someone like me who also felt called, but due to their sexual orientation being a secret at the time, did not enter or may have even got married, as I did.

actually turned out to be an experience of unity and sharing between foreigners and locals.

The visitors mixed and blended well with the community.

There was a renewed spirit of love and acceptance among people. The gospel message of “Love your neighbour as yourself” and “Love each other as Christ loved the Church” was visible in people’s eyes.

During Mass, we prayed for one another, for one family, for love irrespective of origin or race: black, white, foreigner or citizen.

At the end of the ceremony R50 000 was raised, with the bulk of it coming from foreigners.

Jesus said: “When I was hungry, you gave me food…a stranger and you welcomed me.”

Fr Anthony Ndang Ndichia MHM, Kroonstad I ask to remain anonymous, but if there is somebody who would like to contact me, they can do so at vbzroxy@gmail.com or per post through the editor, who will send letters on unopened to me.

Name withheld, Cape Town

Church’s duty to speak on politics

I

N recent months some really relevant articles have been published about whether the Church, its leaders and its community should comment on negative political events in South Africa.

Firstly, I wish to say that the Church not only has freedom of speech but, more importantly, a moral and ethical duty to comment on these negative events.

Similarly it should compliment the positive actions of government.

The Church recently asked President Jacob Zuma “to show leadership”. But that is impossible for someone who seemingly has no leadership abilities other than those for his own gain, and certainly not for his country’s poor people.

The Church thus has a moral obligation to protect the poorest of the poor who are destitute due to the selfish actions of Mr Zuma and his cronies.

The Church also has to try to ensure ethical behaviour by all leaders, both political and business.

Let us all continue to draw attention to those exhibiting bad behaviour and immoral corrupt actions so that these can be published and thereby eradicated.

Most of these leaders cannot blush nor feel bad since, as Dale Carnegie once said, they try to justify their anti-societal behaviours.

How wrong they are!

Frans van Neerijnen, Johannesburg

Tribute to late choirmaster

M

AY I celebrate with you the life of Francesca Bortolloti, who died some two years ago? She was the conductor of the Maryvale parish choir for 32 years, ably helped by Monica Robinson. For part of that time I had the pleasure of playing the organ.

Fran got the choir to sing Latin/English Masses in parts, as well as beautiful motets by Palestrina, Mozart’s Ave Verum, Franck’s Ave Maria, Stainer’s God So Loved the World, Haec Dies, and so on.

She had a superb voice, her mother having sung in an Italian opera company, and her father being chief oboist in the SABC Orchestra.

In addition, Fran was sub-conductor of the Verdi Choir and she trained the male Alpine Choir, and sang with a quartet that entertained elderly folk. She had perfect pitch and a great, sure sense of rhythm, and required people to do their best.

Fran was a wonderful woman and loved by all.

Peter A Onesta, Johannesburg

The Southern Cross, May 17 to May 23, 2017

PERSPECTIVES Raymond Perrier

Whom shall I send?

O UR newspapers and TV have been full of comments and questions recently about leadership.

Often unfavourable comparisons are made between current political leaders and heroes from previous generations.

Has the current generation lived up to the standards of their predecessors? And what about the next generation of leaders?

The sudden death recently of Bishop Barry Wood gives us reason to reflect also on how leadership in religious circles passes from generation to generation.

Bishop Barry was not the head of the Church in Durban; that is Cardinal Wilfrid Napier’s position since he succeeded Archbishop Denis Hurley 25 years ago. As auxiliary bishop and vicar-general, Bishop Barry was the cardinal’s “number two”.

But there is an important sense in which Bishop Barry did carry on the torch that was lit by the late Archbishop Hurley.

Both of them were members of the Catholic order of priests called the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) who have a distinguished history in South Africa.

The Oblates were among the first European Christian missionaries (initially from France and then from Ireland) who came to this part of KwaZulu-Natal and also to Lesotho.

A walk around the graves next to Emmanuel cathedral in Durban shows, by the letters OMI after their names, how many of the first waves of Catholic priests were part of this group. It also reveals how young so many of them were when they died, often of tropical diseases.

Nevertheless, they kept on coming.

Their Latin motto in English means, “Go and preach the good news to the poor”— and they took this seriously. They were not content with being just European priests to cater for the European settlers; they also wanted to reach out with their mission to Zulu, Sotho and later Indian people of these areas and bring them the Good News.

There are, of course, debates about the merits of evangelisation, conversion and colonial missionary activity, but I can’t enter into those here.

But it is worth noting that the commitment of the OMIs was—and remains—to respond with practical and physical help, and not just spiritual.

Of course, they were not alone in this.

A glance through the history of South Africa reveals many other religious organisations—other congregations, different branches of Christianity, as well as Muslims, Hindus and Jews—who have also made their contribution to the development of South Africa and her people.

Bishop Barry’s family were of Irish origin—his bright red hair testified to that— but he was South African born-and-bred, as most OMIs now are.

He was only four years old when his great hero Denis Hurley was made a bishop. Barry, who was born in Port Elizabeth, went on to join the OMIs, inspired

by Hurley and others. He was ordained a priest in 1968 at the age of 26.

At that time Archbishop Hurley was 53 and, having just attended Vatican II, was at the peak of his influence in the worldwide Church. Fr Barry reached the status of bishop, as episcopal vicar and then auxiliary bishop assisting Cardinal Napier, in 2003, only a year before Hurley died.

He shared Hurley’s passion to serve the poor, and his undoubted commitment to speak out for the marginalised and to challenge instances of injustice.

I

discovered this for myself once when he called me in for a grilling over a decision of mine which he thought was unjust; he wanted a full explanation, not a whitewash!

Since moving to South Africa, I have been blessed to meet leaders of great integrity from across the religious traditions—not only among our own bishops and priests, but sisters like Biddy-Rose

The late Bishop Barry Wood OMI preaching at the Oblate anniversary last August.

(Photo: Sydney Duval)

Faith and Society

Tiernan SND and Shelagh-Mary Waspe HF, lay people like Paddy Kearney, leaders from other Christian traditions like Rubin Phillip and Frank Chikane, and leaders from beyond the Christian world like Albie Sachs, Edwin Cameron and Ela Gandhi.

They have followed on from heroes who came before them and they in turn will not be around forever. With Barry’s passing, and the passing of other great heroes recently like Ahmed Kathrada, we have to ask ourselves, who is succeeding them? Where is our next generation of leaders of integrity?

Of course, we should be inspired by previous generations. But we need to do more than just echo who they were.

We have seen in politics recently how the echo can get distorted or lost. And, no matter how well-intentioned we are, an echo will still fade away. Each generation needs to add its own voice and so reinforce the echo that cries for justice.

We cannot just trade on the past, or hope that the virtues and merits of a previous generation will pull us through.

And most importantly, we have to be willing to make the sacrifices—as individuals and as institutions—if our work for justice is to have any substance or credibility.

So, as we gather to mourn the passing of another great person, let us spend time asking ourselves what legacy we intend to leave behind?

Let me end on a lighter note. Bishop Barry was known not only for his big heart but also for his great sense of humour.

The Denis Hurley Centre honoured him a few months ago at a concert with seven choirs from different Catholic junior schools as an early celebration of his 75th birthday in June—which sadly he never reached. The concert finale was a surprise rendition of the Abba song “Thank You For The Music”.

He seemed to enjoy it though he was also a bit bemused and asked me afterwards why we had chosen that song. “Because,” I explained, “someone told us you are a big fan of Abba.”

“Ah,” he replied, with his mischievous Irish eyes twinkling. “Don’t believe everything you hear about me!”

Find joy in clamour and in silence T HREE out of my four adult children are tone-deaf when it comes to singing. Not that this seems to have affected them in the slightest, as they have a multitude of gifts and talents between them that more than adequately compensate for this loss. However, it did take some time for one of them to come to terms with that fact…

My elder daughter, who is exceptionally bright and unusually gifted at both English and maths, can’t hold a note if her life depended upon it, but this certainly didn’t stop her from trying.

In fact, as a teenager we surprised her in the act of singing along to one of her favourite female artists of the time, hairbrush in hand—for a microphone—at full volume, and tossing her long hair about diva-style! Thankfully, she now laughingly admits to her inability to sing and prefers to let others exercise their vocal chords instead.

At my own parish church we forewent the usual recessional hymn during the season of Lent this year. When this was announced the week before Lent started, we were told that “the Church sometimes needs a time of silence”. And of course, this is so true.

However, I was struck by the fact that

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Julia Beacroft

Point of Reflection

She was singing along, hairbrush in hand ...at full volume. we can find God in the silence—something that can admittedly be difficult to achieve in our hectic, everyday lives—and in the joyful clamour of our songs of praise and love.

A

t a conference I attended at the very beginning of Lent we were spoiled by a liturgical extravaganza of music in the liturgies and Sunday Mass. The musical accompaniment and singing were sublime and it was not difficult to feel the presence of the Holy Spirit during such a glorious sound, nor to praise and worship

the Father.

I’m sure I speak for most of those there when I say that we were keeping our lives in tune with the Lord’s and entering into his Song.

We have so much to be thankful for in our normal everyday lives, and not least of these is our ability to find God. He makes himself available to us whenever and wherever we need to find him.

In his wonderful diversity, we can access him in the Word, the Eucharist, other people, nature and at many other times and in many other places.

And furthermore we can be aware of the gentle voice of the Lord in the silence and manifestly aware of his beautiful presence in the lifting melody of our voices raised in song.

And better still: no hairbrush required! n Julia Beacroft’s book Sanctifying The Spirit is published by Sancio Books. It is available on Amazon.

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7

Michael Shackleton

Open Door

How can God be ‘tempted’?

Psalm 95 is often recited as the responsorial psalm during the liturgy. One verse refers to the way the Israelites tempted God in the desert: “Harden not your hearts as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers tested me and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.” How can it be said that God can be “tempted” or tested and put to the proof?

Felix and Ann

T

HE psalm sums up the way in which the Israelites were led into the wilderness by Moses and how they began to lose confidence in

God. They had been assured that a far better life awaited them than their life of slavery in Egypt.

And yet here they were, stuck in no–man’s-land, marooned in despair and beginning to wonder whether they had not been duped and led on an apparent wild goose chase.

They had witnessed the spectacular way in which they had been delivered from Pharaoh’s oppression. God had sent plagues to pester Pharaoh and his people and had mightily parted the Red Sea to allow the Israelites to flee on dry land from Egypt. They should have appreciated that God was clearly demonstrating that he could be entirely relied on and would keep his promises to Moses and the people.

This kind of doubting God’s fidelity to his promises is an act of despair, an abandonment of hope in divine love, care and protection.

We can all “tempt” God in this fashion, and we do so when we trust in our own abilities rather than relying on the divine grace to live a moral life, as the Church has taught us.

Likewise, when we think our sins are too bad to win God’s loving forgiveness, then we “put him to the proof”, because we imagine that he is not merciful enough to forgive us and blot out the record of our sins.

So, when we say we are testing God, we are really saying that our image of him is distorted. He is Love and Compassion. He can be trusted absolutely yet we inwardly hesitate to believe that he can. We doubt his unconditional care for us.

Think of Peter. He saw Jesus walking on the water (Mt 14:25-33) and heard him say: “It is I; have no fear.” Peter responded: “If it is you, bid me come to you on the water”, and he jumped into it. When he began to sink, Jesus took his hand and saved him.

Disappointed in him, Jesus said: “O man of little faith, why did you doubt?”

This lack of trust in God is putting God to the test.

n Send your queries to Open Door, Box 2372, Cape Town,

8000; or e-mail: opendoor@scross.co.za; or fax (021) 465 3850. Anonymity can be preserved by arrangement, but questions must be signed, and may be edited for clarity. Only published questions will be answered.

In tribute to Fr Xolile Kondlo (1978-2016) register today to be an Organ Donor.

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8

The Southern Cross, May 17 to May 23, 2017

COMMUNITY

Fr Mari Joseph of St Joseph’s parish in Goodwood, Cape Town, on the altar during Divine Mercy Sunday.

Over the Easter triduum, 35 young people from Lesotho and Johannesburg gathered at the Salesians’ Bosco Youth Centre in Walkerville, Johannesburg, from Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday.

Eddie le Roux, 74, was received into the Church at the Easter vigil at St Pius X parish in Plumstead, Cape Town. Parish priest Fr Mark Foster baptised Mr Le Roux, with his sponsor Jan Burger watching.

Church groups, families and members of the community joined Little Eden residents and staff on Easter Monday at Elvira Rota Village, Bapsfontein, Gauteng. Fr Sefiri Motsepe led pilgrims through the village facility and, later in the day, Emeritus Archbishop George Daniel and Archbishop William Slattery of Pretoria celebrated Mass in the village’s chapel.

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The extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist of Our Lady of the Assumption parish of Milnerton/Brooklyn in Cape Town gathered for a group photo. Three new ministers were installed on Holy Thursday.

Fr Tom Segami of St Peter Claver parish in Pimville, Soweto, blessed candidates elect for baptism during Holy Week at Sunday Mass.

(Photo: Sello Mokoka)

Holy Redeemer parish in Bergvliet, Cape Town, hosted the Byron Consort, a group of singers taken from the larger chapel choir of Harrow school in London, on Palm Sunday.

Ronnie and Edith (née McCharlie) Rennick celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary at St Patrick’s parish in Sydenham, Port Elizabeth. (From left) Fr Lawrence Kamala, Bishop Vincent Zungu, Ronnie and Edith Rennick, and Fr Henry Ezenwanne.

(Submitted by Timothy Rennick)

St John’s parish in Fish Hoek, Cape Town, celebrated the tenth anniversary of parish priest Fr Vijil Joseph’s ordination as a Norbertine priest.

(Photo: Magda Kus)

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Holy Family parish in Turffontein, Johannesburg, held a Paschal meal at Easter, with Auxillary Bishop Duncan Tsoke saying Mass.

FAITH

The Southern Cross, May 17 to May 23, 2017

9

Places where Mary has appeared As the Church celebrates the centenary of the apparitions of Our Lady in Fatima, FR RALPH DE HAHN looks at other approved visions of Mary.

T

HE visitations of the Blessed Virgin Mary to earth are beyond counting. These apparitions stretch from the Wild West to the oriental East, with practically every country claiming this heavenly favour. However, only a few are approved by the Holy See. There are also reported apparitions to Muslim and Jewish communities.

What they all emphatically state is that the Mother of Jesus the Redeemer is also the mother of all the redeemed. She is a caring mother, profoundly involved in the lives of her wayward children.

She appears at a time when the world is straying from the Eternal Truth, her own son—the Son of God. She comes with a message, often a warning, or to console and encourage as only a mother can.

The three major shrines of France testify to her appearances in the 19th century to combat the powerful forces of rampant rationalism, materialism and secularism when the spiritual side of man— intellect and will—was being ignored.

In the so-called “Enlightenment” era, when the supernatural was seen as a joke and science and human reason as having all the answers, Mary appears as a mother to give her children new hope and the promise of victory.

We must not forget that the evils of that century provided the fertile soil for the disastrous 20th century. Totalitarianism and two world wars accounted for more deaths than all previous wars put together!

Seeing that man was making such a mess of his beautiful creation, the Heavenly Father sent his son and his predestined daughter to earth; and Jesus, in turn, sent his mother, hoping that having disobeyed and rejected him, we might yet listen to the plea of a caring mother.

She brings back the light into our darkness, reminding us of our former dignity, and that we are loved by the Father. She declares the power of his Truth, for truth is nothing less than God himself, and reveals that there is no conflict between reason and faith.

The human intellect seeks the truth, a truth which is not the projection of our experience (subjectivism)—but we are to conform our lives to that objective truth revealed in Christ.

While only nine of the major Marian apparitions are approved by the Vatican, many others are still under the Holy See’s scrupulous investigation.

Top from left: The shrines of Our Lady in Knock, Ireland (apparition in 1879), Ngome, KwaZulu-Natal (1955-71), Guadalupe, Mexico (1531); Below from left: Banneux, Belgium (1933), Miraculous Medal in Paris (1830), and Kibeho, Rwanda (1981-83)

She sent him to the local bishop with a batch of very rare flowers bundled in his tilma, a shawl-like garment. When he opened it before the bishop, it revealed the perfect image of the Lady who appeared on Tepeyac Hill.

That tilma, with the perfect, unblemished image of the Virgin of 1531, is still on view to the many thousands of pilgrims who visit the Guadalupe shrine today.

Here, Mary expressed her motherhood over all God’s children and her caring concern for the unborn.

She is now the universal protector of the unborn and the patron of all pro-life bodies.

When the Muslim Turks were looking to conquer Western Europe in 1571, it was prayerful recourse to her in the decisive battle of Lepanto that saved Christian Europe from the powerful Muslim invasion. It was at that historical hour when all Christian Europe answered the cry of Pope Pius V and prayed the rosary non-stop through day and night.

The French connection When Paris was hit by epidemics in 1830, Mary appeared three times to Sr Catherine Labouré in the chapel of the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul, at the Rue du Bac in Paris.

It was here that she showed the design of the now famous Miraculous Medal, which declares her the Immaculate Conception.

It was by that title that she introduced herself to Bernadette Soubirous, a sickly girl of 14, at a grotto named Massabielle near the southern French hamlet of Lourdes in 1858. Bernadette experienced a total of 18 apparitions, despite the cruel persecution of the local authorities.

Here Mary clearly declared that she is the Immaculate Conception, confirming a dogma promulgated four years earlier. Here Mary pleaded for prayer and penance for the conversion of hard sinners.

This shrine is now world famous for its countless miracles of body, but also of heart. The miraculous spring still flows, bringing healing to millions.

High on the mountains of La Salette in south-eastern France, Mary appeared to two children, Maximin Giraud, 11, and Mélanie Calvat, 14, in September 1846, while they were caring for their animals.

Mary appealed for the observance of the Sabbath, and for the

Mary brings back the light into our darkness, reminding us that we are loved by the Father.

Approved by the Vatican The three major ones in 19thcentury France are at Rue de Bac in Paris in 1830 (the Miraculous Medal), La Salette in 1846 and Lourdes in 1858.

The other six already approved are those in Pontmain, France (1871), Knock, Ireland (1879), Fatima, Portugal (1917), Beauraing, Belgium (1932), Banneux, Belgium (1933), and of course the awesome apparition in 1531 of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico.

In the latter, Mary appeared four times to a humble Native Indian, Juan Diego, on the Tepeyac Hill.

conversion of the millions who had turned away from God. She pleaded for an end to blasphemy and for true repentance.

This visit of Mary as “the beautiful lady” brought a wonderful revival to this area.

In January 1871, as the FrancoPrussian war was threatening the area of Pontmain, in north-western France, Mary appeared in the sky for about three hours as the “Lady of Hope” to a group of young children who described a “lady wearing a star-studded blue dress”.

At Pontmain she emphasised the love of Jesus and his concern for the people, and encouraged the children to pray.

The region was spared invasion by the victorious Prussians.

Knock three times At Knock, a small village in Ireland’s County Mayo, 15 villagers between the ages of 5 and 75 saw a silent apparition which lasted about three hours outside the gable end of the local church in August 1879.

It was raining in the region that day, but not over the area of the apparition.

It was a silent apparition; no words were spoken. All the witnesses testified to seeing three figures in the apparition: Mary, Joseph and St John the Apostle, as well as a lamb on the altar with a host of angels present.

In 1932 Pope Pius Xl declared Our Lady of Knock “Queen of Heaven and of Ireland”.

It was the winter of 1932-33 in Belgium, in the village of Beauraing, when Mary appeared as a very young lady of maybe 18-20 on 33 occasions to a group of five children in a convent garden near a hawthorn tree.

She declared herself as “Mother of God and Queen of Heaven”

and, displaying the rosary, she again made the appeal for the conversion of sinners.

The children spoke of Mary as the Virgin with the golden heart.

Mary appeared again in Belgium in January 1933 in the small village of Banneux to Mariette Beco, 11, just outside her family home. Her family was not practising the faith.

Here Mary made eight appearances. She declared herself to be the “Virgin of the Poor”, promising to intercede for the poor, the sick and the suffering.

Hundred years Fatima And, of course, in 1917, exactly 100 years ago between May and October, Mary appeared at Fatima to the three Portuguese children: Lucia, 10, and her two cousins, Francisco, 9, and Jacinta, 7.

Here she described herself as the “Lady of the Rosary” and was deeply concerned about the waywardness of man and revealed the cry of her Immaculate Heart.

She made an urgent plea for prayer, especially the rosary, and promised that her Immaculate Heart would ultimately triumph— but the world would have to listen to her Son or there would be “the annihilation of many nations”.

She foretold the end of the First World War in 1918, but also warned of a more terrible world war.

She asked for penance, conversions and trust in her motherly love, and then asked all the bishops, as one with the Holy Father, to consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart.

It was here on October 13, 1917 that between 70 000 and 100 000 people witnessed the miracle of the falling sun at Fatima, to which local and foreign newspapers of that period give written testimony.

In Africa, too There are many hundreds of recorded appearances and miracles, far too many to mention here. Here in South Africa we have the reported ten apparitions between 1955 and 1971 to Benedictine Sister Reinolda May at Ngome in Eshowe diocese.

At Ngome, Our Lady said she wished to be venerated as “the Tabernacle of the Most High”. This has been accepted as worthy of veneration by the local bishop.

Another famous shrine of Our Lady is in Rwanda where she appeared between 1981-83 in Kibeho. In various messages to various schoolchildren—only three of whom have been recognised by the local bishop as authentic visionaries—she warned of violence and hatred, presumably predicting the Rwandan genocide of 1994 which killed half a million people.

One of the three approved visionaries, Marie Claire Mukangango, was murdered in the genocide.

The local bishop approved the apparitions as authentic.

The alleged apparitions of the Blessed Virgin at Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina to six young people, beginning in 1981, are still not approved, neither by the local bishops nor by the Vatican. Medjugorje still draws huge crowds of pilgrims every year.

The few apparitions already approved by Rome effectively confirm that Our Blessed Lady did in fact make her appearances at that particular spot because we know that any official statement demands years of thorough researching and questioning—with the aid of the various sciences.

What is meaningful to us is that Mary is our Mother, and still cares so deeply for all her wayward children.

PRIESTS OF THE SACRED HEART “Here I am Lord” Cell: +27 72 769 7396, +27 83 471 6081 E-mail: vocation.office@ dehonafrica.net

Founder: Fr. Leo John Dehon (1843-1925)

10

The Southern Cross, May 17 to May 23, 2017

INTERVIEW

Movie star: My deep faith and I Actor Jim Caviezel is one of the few Hollywood stars to wear their Catholicism on their sleeve. In an interview with Polish film critic LUKASZ ADAMSKI, he speaks about his faith.

A

CTOR Jim Caviezel, 48, has starred in Hollywood hits from The Count of Monte Cristo to The Thin Red Line, and was the co-lead in the five seasons of TV’s Person of Interest.

But he is perhaps best known for playing Jesus in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, an experience that he says affected him very deeply and spiritually.

In a new interview, Caviezel talks about the importance of his Catholic faith, the lasting impact that The Passion has had on his life, and his special devotion to the Virgin Mary.

You became the narrator of a documentary about Karol Wojtyla called Liberating the Continent: John Paul II and the Fall of Communism. While in Poland you have visited the area where he lived and worked. Who is Karol Wojtyla to you?

Playing Jesus himself, I faced a lot of criticism and often derision. I had to get on with it somehow.

There wouldn’t be Jim Caviezel as Jesus if it wasn’t for John Paul II. Looking at his life and the power of his evangelisation, I said to myself: Why would you even care about that nonsense [of the critics]?

Did the pope’s teaching have an influence on you as well?

In the ‘80s when I was a teenager, John Paul II came to the USA. He was 90 minutes away from where I lived, and my family went to see him and listen to him. For many Catholics his visit was almost like a visit of Jesus Christ himself… I didn’t go to see him. I didn’t think it was important. The lightning strike came years later.

We will talk about the lightning strike later. You didn’t go to see the pope but years later you caught up for it. You met John Paul II during an audience after playing Jesus in The Passion of the Christ. After watching the film he said: “It is as it was.”

How did you receive the praise coming from the pope?

The pope always called young people to break away from contaminated and demoralised civilisation.

“Be saints,” he said. Impossible?

No, it is possible.

I often hear the voice of Christ in my heart: “Jim, you will manage today.” It is a message saying that everyone in the world is equally important. It is also an appeal for a Christian life. A life in which one demonstrates to everyone they come across that Jesus is their Lord.

I remember the pope saying to Americans: “You can all be saints!”

It makes me sad that so many people in my country do not seek sainthood. They substitute it with drugs and hedonism. It is simply filling the emotional void.

John Paul II was an actor, just like you. Therefore, he knew the power of art better than any of his predecessors.

Exactly. This is where his power came from. He understood people, and it helped him to win over the hearts of millions. He is simply a saint.

You were 33 years old, your initials were J.C. and you played Jesus.

Don’t you tell me it was a coincidence! There are no coincidences.

I keep hearing about “accidents” and “strokes of luck”. Only atheists believe in coincidence. There are no coincidences for God. Even when God resurrects the dead, they will say it happened by accident.

Let’s go back to Hollywood and your work. Mel Gibson warned you, when you took the role in his film, “You will not work here [in Hollywood] anymore.” To what extent was he right?

All of the sudden I stopped being one of the five most popular actors

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Actor Jim Caviezel, star of TV’s Person Of Interest and The Passion of the Christ, is a devout Catholic who is open about his faith. in the studio, and I hadn’t done anything wrong. I just played Jesus.

Well, everyone has their cross to bear. The world changes…but I will not be in this world forever. Neither will the producers from Hollywood. At some point, everyone will have to answer for what they have done.

Where do you think this reaction comes from? Are people afraid of such films? Of evocative pictures of Jesus on the screen? Over half a billion dollars global earnings is a great success for a movie.

It isn’t me who should answer this question. They should, shouldn’t they? I just did my job. The film has inspired millions of viewers.

Let the producers answer whether they are afraid of this success.

My career is not over. After all, I starred in some prominent Hollywood films. I also played in a popular TV series called Person of Interest.

At the same time, I’ve never forgotten that the name of Jesus is above all else. It is also the most controversial name of all times.

Love is controversial and he is love incarnate. Jesus was telling the Romans about love and they killed him because of that. “Who is that man to tell me what kind of person

Pilgrimage of Graces

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I’m supposed to be?” they asked arrogantly. He was betrayed by his own people and abandoned by everyone.

My duty was not only to show it all on the screen. My real duty is to live in accordance with the Gospel every day and to give witness to the truth. And it all comes down to John Paul II again: “Totus Tuus”— “Totally Yours.” If you want to know how he inspires me, this is it.

Totally Yours.

Devotion to the Virgin Mary.

This is the essence of my faith.

My relationship with Jesus is thanks to her. She brought Jesus to us.

My Evangelical friend asked me once why I don’t reach out to Jesus directly... I think it’s a valuable question. Back then, I didn’t know how to respond to him.

However, looking at John Paul II, I found the answer. That’s why Poland, like no other country, is tied closely to Jesus. You bond East and West together. The Devil hates it, although he has already lost.

Jesus and Mary have already crushed him. A single Polish man crushed communism.

How did John Paul II achieved this? With love.

Now I would like to talk about the lightning that quite literally struck you during the filming of The Passion of the Christ. Was it the crucifixion scene?

It wasn’t the crucifixion.

We filmed in Rome. It was the scene of the Sermon on the Mount.

I climbed the mountain, clouds had formed, and five seconds before the strike I had felt what was going to happen. It was windy, but I couldn’t hear the wind blowing.

Suddenly, I was struck by the lightning.

I was terrified, but at the same time I felt peace on the inside. Before it all happened, Mel had shouted “action” and the cameras were directed at me. It was the moment I was struck.

Afterwards I heard Mel shouting: “What the hell happened to his hair?” It was funny. People think I’m gloomy and serious.

That’s not true.

A Polish nun came up to me today and asked: “Why aren’t you smiling?” I told her that I was smiling with my eyes but the signal hadn’t reached the rest of the face yet.

This is the first time I’ve seen you smile! I’ll note that in the interview. You are one of the very few devoted Catholics in Hollywood.

Is it tough?

People in Hollywood keep asking me why I can’t separate my acting career from being a Catholic.

Actually my faith helps me.

When I played basketball, it motivated me. It’s the same now. I’m aware of the fact that I’m lazy, but that’s the reason I work so hard to overcome my weakness. My faith helps me to make the right choices, even though many people who inspired me didn’t have faith.

Mel Gibson struggles with his faith too. But he invested his own money into making The Passion of the Christ.

Gibson has returned after ten years of exile from Hollywood with his magnificent Christian film Hacksaw Ridge. Will a sequel to The Passion of the Christ come next?

I’ve played various roles in my career. I once played a serial killer and I had to look into his soul. I had to ask myself whether I would be able to kill another person...

But the role of Jesus was the most difficult endeavour I’ve ever taken up. There is nothing more glorious and at the same time more humbling than this role. Nothing could teach me humility better.

The thought of doing it again feels like a nightmare. However, when I come to a country like Poland and see the places of martyrdom and sacrifice, I come to realise that only love can save the world. The love of the Christ.

Therefore, I want to work with Gibson again.

This time it will be a film about the resurrection. If The Passion of the Christ inspired so many people to do good, why don’t we try again? I feel like there is a purpose in my life again.

That’s why I’ve played in a TV series [Person of Interest] about a man looking for a purpose for the last five years. I don’t do it just for the money. I do it for the love. It’s my Christian mission.

To inspire others?

Isn’t that what John Paul II did? He inspired people. He was telling them about the truth and love, but not in a banal way…

When I played Jesus, I prayed a lot. I asked God to show me how I could present Jesus in the most accurate way. How to make the viewers feel closer to him. How to inspire them. It has been my inner journey which hasn’t finished yet.

While working on The Passion of the Christ, Mel reserved the right to stop filming anytime. He needed to be 100% ready in a spiritual sense. This story could only be told with absolute involvement.

Totus Tuus. I wouldn’t have managed to finish this project either if it wasn’t for the Virgin Mary. I’m absolutely devoted to her.

You give witness of your faith in every aspect of your life. You adopted three children with cancer. You’re also against abortion.

The children [whom we adopted] were abandoned and unwanted.

Two of them had brain cancer. The third one had sarcoma. My wife said it doesn’t matter whether children are wanted or not. They are people, just like we are.

I would never have done it without my wife. She impersonates beauty and kindness. She prays for me not to leave the right path.

Jesus said that whatever we do to the least of us, we do to him. He wants to be in us, in all the simplest actions.

I’ve just remembered that long ago, you rejected a role in X-Men. If you had taken it back then, you would probably be in The Avengers today and be adored by teenagers. Instead, a few years later you played the biggest superhero of humanity: Jesus Christ.

Do you think that was a coincidence too? The most beautiful aspect of The Passion of the Christ is that everyone is focused while watching this film—conservatives and liberals, atheists and religious people. They watch it in silence and hear: “Ehjeh aszer Ehjeh”—“I am who I am.”—CNA

‘Only atheists believe in coincidence.

There are no coincidences for God.’

The Southern Cross, May 17 to May 23, 2017

CLASSIFIEDS

Deacon Michael Nolan

D

EACON Michael Nolan of Don Bosco parish in Robertsham, Johannesburg, died on April 9, Palm Sunday.

He was eating supper with his wife when he suffered a fatal heart attack.

Deacon Nolan served his faith in many ways, through Nazareth House and the Society of St Vincent De Paul.

Ordained a deacon in 2009, he served his parish through its successful RCIA programme as well as assisting in the Sunday

morning Mass in the chapel at Booysens.

He is survived by his wife Cheryl, children Lauren, Kirsten, Nicola and Matthew, and his grandchildren.

Archbishop Buti Tlhagale, Bishop Duncan Tsoke, vicar-general Fr Paul Beukes and priests from the southern deanery concelebrated his funeral Mass on April 18.

Parish priest Fr John Thompson delivered a heartfelt homily.

Mark Kisogloo

T

O know and follow Jesus, a Christian must read the Bible and learn to pray with it, allowing the Holy Spirit to help one understand it and put it into practice, Pope Francis said. “‘My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me,’ Jesus says in the gospel of John,” the pope said during his early morning Mass.

Christians always should have a Bible with them, the pope said in his homily. “Read it. Open your hearts to the word, open your hearts to the Spirit who helps us understand the word.”

The results, he said, will be “goodness, benevolence, joy, peace, self-control and meekness”.

As the weekday Mass readings continued with selections from Acts, Pope Francis again referred to the biblical accounts of ten-

sions in the early Christian community between those who thought they should be preaching only to fellow Jews and those who were moved to open the community to believers from among the Greeks and pagans.

Accepting God’s word and the promptings of the Holy Spirit with “docility”, the pope said, means being “not rigid”, but having an “open heart”.—CNS

Via Lucis: Stations of the Resurrection

Station 9: The risen Lord strengthens the faith of Thomas (John 20:24-29). Detail of a Crusaderera mosaic in the church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, West Bank.

Station 10: The risen Lord says to Peter, “Feed my sheep” (John 21:15-17). Sculpture at St Peter’s Primacy church at the Sea of Galilee.

This is part 4 of our series images to illustrate the Via Lucis, or Stations of the Resurrection. Obtain the text of the readings, prayers and responses from the Salesians at sdbprov@iafrica.com

Liturgical Calendar Year A – Weekdays Cycle Year 1 Sunday May 21, 6th Sunday of Easter Acts 8:5-8, 14-17, Psalms 66:1-7, 16, 20, 1 Peter 3:15-18, John 14:15-21 Monday May 22, St Rita of Cascia Acts 16:11-15, Acts 16:11-15, John 15:26--16:4 Tuesday May 23 John 15:26--16:4, Psalms 138:1-3, 7-8, John 16:5-11 Wednesday May 24, Our Lady Help of Christians Acts 17:15, 22--18, 1, Psalms 148:1-2, 11-14, John 16:12-15 Thursday May 25, Ss Bede the Venerable, Gregory, Mary Magdalene de Pazzi Acts 18:1-8, Psalms 98:1-4, John 16:16-20 Friday May 26, St Philip Neri Acts 18:9-18, Psalms 47:2-7, John 16:20-23 Saturday May 27, St Augustine of Canterbury Acts 18:23-28, Psalms St Bede the Venerable 47:2-3, 8-10, John 16:23-28 Sunday May 28, Ascension of the Lord Acts 1:1-11, Psalms 47:2-3, 6-9, Ephesians 1:17-23, Matthew 28:16-20

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 (R1,70 a word) with small advertisements for promptest publication.

DEATHS

‘Learn to know Jesus’ voice in Bible’

BY CINDY WOODEN

CLASSIFIEDS

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)

CAPE TOWN: Retreat day/quiet prayer last Saturday of each month except December, at Springfield Convent in Wynberg, Cape Town. Hosted

by CLC, 10.00-3.30. Contact Jill on 083 282 6763 or Jane on 082 783 0331.

Perpetual Adoration Chapel at Good Shepherd parish, Bothasig, welcomes all visitors. Open 24 hours a day. The parish is at 1 Goede Hoop St, Bothasig.

Phone 021 558 1412.

Helpers of God’s Precious Infants. Mass on last Saturday of every month at 9:30 at Sacred Heart church in Somerset Road, Cape Town. Followed by

vigil at Marie Stopes abortion clinic in Bree Street.

Contact Colette Thomas on 083 412 4836 or 021 593 9875 or Br Daniel SCP on 078 739 2988.

DURBAN: Holy Mass and Novena to St Anthony at St Anthony’s parish every Tuesday at 9:00. Holy Mass and Divine Mercy Devotion at 17:30 on first Friday of every month.

Sunday Mass at 9:00.

Phone 031 309 3496 or 031 209 2536.

Overport rosary group.

St Antony’s church opposite Greyville racecourse.

Every Wednesday at 18.30. Contact Keith Chetty on 083 372 9018.

To advertise call YOLANDA TIMM on 021 465 5007or e-mail advertising@scross.co.za

11

DIAB—Huibrecht Elizabeth (Van). Deceased March 29, 2017. In Loving Memory of my Beloved and Darling Wife, our Mother and Grandmother. We will always Love You and remember You Fondly. May You RIP in the arms of Jesus.

All Our Love. Francis, Anthony, Alisson, Martin, Edith and Lizanne.

IN MEMORIAM

PETERSON—Joseph “Sammy”. In loving memory of my beloved husband, father and grandfather who passed away on May 14, 2016. A year has passed, but you are still in our thoughts and prayers. Fondly remembered by wife Janet and family. MAY YOUR SOUL REST IN PEACE. POTHIER—Bernard.

Passed away May 24, 2011. Still so much part of our daily thoughts. Greatly missed but his loving presence remains with us in so many ways. In gratitude, Margaret, Dominic, Siobhain, Nicholas, Heide, Rosanne, Tiernan and grandchildren. Rest in peace and intercede for us.

POTHIER—Bernard. Died May 24, 2011. With us in spirit and still fondly remembered by the staff of The Southern Cross and colleagues on the board of directors.

WINDVOGEL—Magdalene

(née Ackerman). In loving memory of my sister passed away on May 24, 2013. “There is a gift in life you cannot buy. It’s very rare and true. It’s a special gift of memory. Like the ones we have you.” Sadly missed but lovingly remembered by your sister Catherine and children.

PRAYERS

Raphael is the healing angel, I ask him to take my need for healing and that of everyone I know, lift it up to your throne of grace and deliver back to us the gift of recovery. Help us O Lord to realise more fully the reality of the archangels and their desire to serve us. Holy Angels pray for us. Amen.

Thank you for answering my prayers.

THANKS

THANKS for prayers answered. Sacred Heart, St Jude, Blessed Virgin. Alix.

PERSONAL

ST MICHAEL (above), St Gabriel, and St Raphael, please be with me today.

Please hear and answer my prayers with your divine grace, intervention, and kindness, I love you all, please help me so that my prayer requests all come true quickly, Amen. Mention your request here Heavenly Father, you have given us archangels to assist us during our pilgrimage on earth.

St Michael is our protector, I ask him to come to my aid, fight for all my loved ones, and protect us from danger. St Gabriel is a messenger for the Good News, I ask him to help me clearly hear your voice and to teach me the truth. St

Southern CrossWord solutions SOLUTIONS TO 759. ACROSS: 4. Nineveh, 8 Hailed, 9 Islamic, 10 Rouble, 11 Intact, 12 Beginner, 18 Sadducee, 20 Income, 21 Sparse, 22 Deborah, 23 Stripe, 24 Incense. DOWN: 1 Cherubs, 2 Divulge, 3 Merlin, 5 Inspired, 6 Exacts, 7 Evince, 13 Nosegays, 14 Scorpio, 15 Jezebel, 16 Unseen, 17 Morose, 19 Depute.

ABORTION WARNING: The truth will convict a silent Church. See www. valuelifeabortionisevil.co.za ABORTION ON DEMAND: This is legalised daily murder in our nation. Our silence on this issue is the reason why it continues.

Avoid pro-abortion politicians.

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The Ascension of the Lord: Sunday, May 28 Readings: Acts 1:1-11, Psalm 47:2-3, 6-9, Ephesians 1:17-23, Matthew 28:16-20

N

EXT Sunday signals a change in tone in the Easter season, as we move to Jesus’ Ascension, that odd feast when we celebrate the fact that the Risen Lord is, after all, no longer with us—and it does not matter, for it means that the Church is coming of age (always provided, of course, that we listen to the Holy Spirit, without whom, as Pope Francis firmly reminds us, we cannot perform our function).

The first reading is the longer of Luke’s two accounts of the Ascension (his treatment of it in the Gospel is much more brief). Notice that the story is profoundly rooted in the story of all that Jesus “began to do and to teach”, and in the certainty of the Resurrection. Without these two elements, of Jesus’ continuing ministry and his being raised from the dead, there is no Church.

And we can only keep going if we are open to the Spirit, what this reading calls “the Promise of the Father, which you heard me talk about”.

Then the disciples ask a dumb question (the Church, you see, is made up of people

S outher n C ross

Shout praise to the Lord like you and me, and we have this gift for getting it wrong): “Is it now that you are restoring the Kingdom to Israel?”

Instead they (and we) have to listen to the mission: “You are going to receive power, when the Holy Spirit comes. And you are going to be my witnesses.”

And where are they to witness? “In Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria—and as far as the end of the earth”. This is a pattern that reverses the direction of the Gospel, which started in Galilee, then went through Samaria to Judea and Jerusalem. And where is the “end of the earth”? It is wherever you may be reading these words.

And then Jesus disappears, but we are not allowed to gaze nostalgically after him, as the “two men in white clothing” rebuke us: “Why are you standing looking at heaven?”

Our task is to set about the mission of preaching the Risen One. And it should be a joyful task, as the psalm reminds us: “Shout to God with a joyful voice, for the Lord Almighty is fearful, a great

king over all the earth.” So we must make a noise about it “the sound of a trumpet” and “sing praise” (repeated no less than four times) as we watch God taking power: “God reigns over the nations, God sits on his holy throne.”

The second reading offers a slightly different angle on the Ascension, but invites us to contemplate “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory”; and the idea of “glory” returns: “the wealth of the glory of his inheritance among the saints”.

We hardly understand it, but rejoice as we listen to “the overwhelming size of his power” and as we gaze at Christ whom God “raised from the dead and seated at his right hand in the heavens, above all rule and authority and power and lordship, and every name that is named”.

And the reminder to us who are Church, that Christ is “head over all…his body the fullness of the One who is filled all in all”. We cheer and half understand.

Then the Gospel, in this year of Matthew, is

God’s mercy in our despair C

person is too crushed, too weak, too broken inside, to believe that he or she is lovable and redeemable.

But being so beaten and crushed in spirit so as to believe that nothing further can exist for you except pain and darkness is normally not an indication of sin but more a symptom of having been fatally victimised by circumstance, of having to undergo, in the poignant words of Fantine in Les Misérables, storms that you cannot weather.

And before positing such a person outside of God’s mercy, we need to ask ourselves: What kind of God would condemn a person who is so crushed by the circumstances of her life so as to be unable to believe that she is lovable? What kind of God would condemn someone for her brokenness?

Such a God would certainly be utterly foreign to Jesus who incarnated and revealed God’s love as being preferential for the weak, the crushed, the broken-hearted, for those despairing of mercy.

T

o believe and teach that God withholds mercy from those who are most broken in spirit betrays a profound misunderstanding of the nature and mercy of God who sends Jesus into the world, not for the healthy but for those who need a physician.

Likewise this too betrays a profound misunderstanding of human nature and the human heart. Why would a person deem herself so unlovable that she volun-

Conrad

LASSICALLY, both in the world and in our Churches, we have seen despair as the ultimate, unforgivable sin. The simple notion was that neither God, nor anyone else, can save you if you simply give up, despair, make yourself impossible to reach.

Most often in the popular mind this was applied to suicide. To die by your own hand was seen as despair, as putting yourself outside of God’s mercy.

But understanding despair in this way is wrong and misguided, however sincere our intent.

What’s despair? How might it be understood?

The common dictionary definition invariably runs something like this: Despair means to no longer have any hope or belief that a situation will improve or change.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, which sees despair as a sin against the First Commandment, defines it this way: “By despair, man ceases to hope for his personal salvation from God, for help in attaining it or for the forgiveness of his sins.

Despair is contrary to God’s goodness, to his justice—for the Lord is faithful to his promises—and to his mercy.”

But there’s something absolutely critical to be distinguished here: There are two reasons why someone might cease to hope for personal salvation from God and give up hope in having his or sins forgiven.

It can be that the person doubts the goodness and mercy of God, or—and I believe that this is normally the case—the

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Sunday Reflections

the last words of the first Gospel. The Church is gathering here for its final encounter with its Risen Lord, but we notice that it is a fallible Church, because there are only Eleven when there should be Twelve (why is this?); and they meet Jesus at the mountain where Jesus had commanded them.

That is what the Church must always do, go to the high place where Jesus is waiting, and listen to his words, then do them.

Now Jesus proclaims the authority that God has given him, and gives us a job: “Off you go—and make disciples of all nations, baptising them into the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” And we are to teach them “everything that I commanded you” (the Sermon on the Mount, that is to say). And, best of all, we are not on our own: “Look! I am with you for all the days, until the consummation of the age.”

We are indeed to rejoice today.

Southern Crossword #759

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

tarily and hopelessly excludes herself from the circle of life? It can only be because of a deep, profound wound to the soul (which no doubt is not self-inflicted).

Obviously, unless it is a case of some clinical illness, this person has been deeply wounded and has never had an experience of unconditional love or indeed of faithful human love.

We are facile and naïve when, because we ourselves have been undeservedly loved, we cannot understand how someone else can be so crushed and broken so as to believe himself or herself to be, in essence, unlovable.

To paraphrase a painful question in the Bette Midler song “The Rose”: “Are love, and heaven, really only for the lucky and the strong?” Our common understanding of despair, secular and religious, would seem to think so.

But, nobody goes to hell out of weakness, out of a broken heart, out of a crushed spirit, out of the misfortune and unfairness of never having had the sense of being truly loved.

Hell is for the strong, for those with a spirit so arrogant that it cannot be crushed or broken, and so is unable to surrender.

Hell is never a bitter surprise waiting for a happy person, and neither is it the sad fulfilment of the expectation of someone who is too broken to believe that he or she is worthy to be part of the circle of life.

We owe it to God to be more empathic.

We also owe this to those who are broken of heart and of spirit.

Moreover, we have a Christian doctrine, expressed inside our very Creed, that challenges us to know better: “He descended into hell.” What Jesus revealed in his life and in his death is that there’s no place inside of tragedy, brokenness, sadness, or resignation, into which God cannot and will not descend and breathe out peace.

God is all-understanding. That’s why we’re assured that “a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out” (Isaiah 42:3; Matthew 12:20). You can bet your life on that. You can bet your faith on that.

And you can also live in deeper empathy and deeper consolation because of that.

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ACROSS

4. The great city for Jonah (7) 8. Greeted you while it stormed (6) 9. Claim is about Muslims (7) 10. You may find it in the Muscovite’s poor box (6) 11. Not damaged in diplomacy (6) 12. One who is a novice (8) 18. One who came with the Pharisees (Mt 16) (8) 20. Money taken to be taxed (6) 21. Thinly scattered among the spears (6) 22. Wife of Lappidoth (Jg 4) (7) 23. Priest dazed on a zebra (6) 24. Zechariah offered it in the temple (Lk 1) (7)

DOWN

1. Children like angels (7) 2. Tell a secret (7) 3. King Arthur’s enchanting man (6) 5. Animated by the scriptures (8) 6. Extorts (6) 7. Reveal niece five (6) 13. Yes, a song about the posies (8) 14. Sign of the Zodiac (7) 15. Wife of Ahab (1 Kg 16) (7) 16. Sun turns east twice, north once and out of sight (6) 17. Doctor got up, becoming moody (6)

Solutions on page 11

CHURCH CHUCKLE

L

ATE one night, a burglar broke into a house he thought was empty. He tiptoed through the lounge but suddenly froze when he heard a loud voice say: “Jesus is watching you!”

Frantically, he looked around. In a dark corner, he spotted a bird cage and in the cage was a parrot.

He asked the parrot: “Was that you who said Jesus is watching me?” “Yes,” said the parrot.

The burglar breathed a sigh of relief and asked the parrot: “What’s your name?” “Clarence,” said the bird.

“That’s a dumb name for a parrot,” sneered the burglar. “What idiot named you Clarence?” The parrot said: “The same idiot who named the doberman Jesus.”

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