180502

The

S outher n C ross

May 2 to May 8, 2018

Reg No. 1920/002058/06

No 5082

Inkamana’s first African abbot installed

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www.scross.co.za

NEW PRICE: R10 (incl VAT RSA)

Finding the real Mary in the Holy Land

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May: Month of Mary and mothers

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Archbishop Buti Tlhagale and his auxiliary, Bishop Duncan Tsoke, with clergy of the archdiocese of Johannesburg and the faithful during the celebrations of the South African Church’s bicentenary in Magaliesburg, where the Mother of Mercy Marian Shrine and Pastoral Centre will be built. (Photo: Alexis Callea)

Tlhagale: Don’t blame missionaries STAFF REPORTER

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EVIEWING the 200-year history of the Catholic Church in South Africa, the archbishop of Johannesburg discouraged arguments that suggest that the missionaries were “in cahoots” with the colonialists but acknowledged that their “civilising mission” was sometimes “defective”.

But the good they did outweighs their errors, Archbishop Buti Tlhagale told clergy and alarge number of laity at the celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the Catholic Church’s establishment in South Africa.

He singled out religious missionaries who “built schools where there were no schools” to offer education to black children who otherwise had limited access to it.

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Archbishop Tlhagale criticised those who “glibly accuse pioneering missionaries of having been in cahoots with the colonial regime”, saying that “history tells us differently”.

“They suffered hardships like St Paul in their missionary endeavours, they suffered poverty, discrimination, rejection and suppression,” he said, adding that “they endured so that we, today, may enjoy the legacy they have left behind”.

Quoting Bishop Stanislaw Dziuba of Umzimkulu, he said: “We stand on the shoulders of the giants, the many missionaries from Europe, whose work can still be seen by the many hospitals and clinics that bear the names of saints.”

In looking back, the archbishop also looked to the future.

He urged the Catholic Church and her people to retain its unique identity and warned against distortions of doctrine.

The archbishop said that the Church has a role to play in addressing racial inequality, injustice and discrimination which, he noted, exists even among Catholics.

He warned against “placing the role of the power of the ancestral spirits at the heart of your religious beliefs”.

It is a theme he also addressed at a press conference before the celebrations.

He observed that the Church has been criticised for placing Christianity above traditional practices and belief systems, but pointed out that the Church has been dealing with the challenges of inculturalisation.

“We have not done enough in this regard.

However, half of the Catholic priests in this

country still maintain their culture of respect for the ancestors and actively practise their traditional rites,” he told reporters.

“In fact, many priests are openly traditional healers,” he added.

During the bicentennial jubilee Mass, which was concelebrated with auxiliary Bishop Duncan Tsoke and many priests of the archdiocese, a collection was held for the construction of the Mother of Mercy Marian Shrine and Pastoral Centre, which will be built on that site.

The Catholic Church was formally established in June 1818 with the erection of the Apostolic Vicariate of Cape of Good Hope (and adjacent territories) by Pope Pius VII. Other dioceses are planning celebrations before the culmination of the jubilee in the archdiocese of Cape Town on June 26.

Why a new price for The Southern Cross? ith this issue we have crossed a little watershed: After almost 100 years in existence, The Southern Cross now costs

R10.

We did not take the decision to raise the cover price lightly. But whichever way we looked at it, it was a necessary intervention to ensure our survival.

We took this decision in confidence that our readers will support it and still see their Southern Cross as being of great value at the new price.

Indeed, several readers, in letters and on social media, actually requested a price of R10 for the sake of convenience. Prices below that required too much fiddling with coins, they said.

No doubt, our wonderful friends who sell The Southern Cross in the parishes will be grateful for a cover price that represents a nice round figure which will reduce their need for making small change.

These are the upsides of our new price.

We hope that the new price will give us relief in a very difficult current financial year and ease the alarming projections for the next fiscal cycle.

But even so, we are not out of the woods yet.

Our reserves, already diminished by the postal strike a couple of years ago, are being depleted by this bad year. Even if we return to our usual state of breaking even (accomplished by frugal fiscal man-

agement and the committed work of our loyal staff), a couple more years like this would put the survival of The Southern Cross in grave danger.

By remaining loyal to The Southern Cross, YOU are helping it to survive.

There are other ways you can help.

You can promote The Southern Cross in your parish and among your Catholic friends.

Parishes can appoint a dedicated team of Southern Cross promoters and priests can highlight interesting articles in the notices at the end of Mass.

Those who can afford it, can support The Southern Cross by contributing the Associates Campaign, which has already helped us navigate stormy seas,

apart from funding our outreach projects to prisons, hospitals, army bases and seminaries.

To become an Associate, please e-mail admin@scross.co.za or call 021 465-5007 or visit scross.co.za/associates-campaign for details.

We are very grateful for the encouraging response we have received to our recent items in which explained our situation: in generous contributions to the Associates Campaign from individuals and parishes, and the many kind words of encouragement.

With your help we will navigate these choppy waters!

And as we do so, please pray for us!

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The Southern Cross, May 2 to May 8, 2018

LOCAL

New parish renewal book calls us to be missionaries

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NE of the lessons which priests can take from a book on parish renewal is to reject old notions of clericalism, according to a Dominican priest.

Fr Martin Badenhorst OP gave a talk on parish ministry at the South African launch of Fr James Mallon’s book Divine Renovation: From a Maintenance to a Missional Parish at the Jesuit Institute in Johannesburg.

Fr Mallon, a Canadian, will visit South Africa in August for workshops on parish renewal, visiting Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.

In his talk, Fr Badenhorst said the key approach in Divine Renovation is creating a Church in which the faithful feel welcome and included as a valued part of the community, with which they can identify, reported Spotlight.Africa.

That means resources will need to be directed more at providing community, liturgy and faith-development programmes than property maintenance.

Divine Renovation, Fr Badenhorst said, is a call to rid the Church and parishes of “the sclerosis of outdated structures and attitudes” which block the lifeblood of the faith.

This requires changes in attitudes, from parish stalwarts who resist change because “we have always done it this way” and priests who are attached to clericalism.

Fr Badenhorst recalled the latter was a lesson he learnt early in his ministry when, arriving at a parish, he was advised: “Father, please lead, don’t shove.”

He said it’s not good enough just to “fit willing souls into slots” but people’s strengths in ministry and parish life should be used.

Inkamana celebrates its first African abbot

By SyDNEy DuVAl

T Fr Martin Badenhorst OP gave a talk at the South African launch of Canadian priest Fr James Mallon’s book Divine Renovation.

While Fr Badenhorst praised the approach to parish renewal in Divine Renovation, he warned that some of it may not fit the Southern African context.

He noted that in Africa the Church is still growing, unlike the context in which Divine Renovation was written and was initially aimed at.

“The Church in Africa, in many parts, is struggling to be a church, let alone establish parochial organisations. Most of our faithful live on various forms of outstations on this continent, and are visited once a month, sometimes far less often,” Fr Badenhorst noted.

The Dominican also raised the problem of the allocation of resources for faith-development programmes in a Church where most parishes and missions are poor.

With this in mind, Fr Badenhorst suggested that Southern African readers might replace the book’s subtitle From a Maintenance to a Missional Parish to From a Mission to a Missionary Parish.

Author Marco Broccardo gave a talk at Holy Rosary School in Edenvale, Johannesburg, on his struggle with drug addiction and how he finally overcame it.

HE blessing and installation of Fr John Paul Mwaniki as the first African abbot of the Benedictine Inkamana Abbey could be called “The Day of the Benedictine Abbots”.

Six abbots were present at the installation, alongside four bishops and VIP guests, including politician Mangosuthu Buthelezi.

Bishop Thaddeus Kumalo of Eshowe officiated, with Bishops Siegfried Jwara of Ingwavuma, Pius Dlungwane of Mariannhill, and Graham Rose of Dundee.

Abbots who officiated were Archabbot Wolfgang Öxler of St Ottilien in Germany, motherhouse of the Inkamana Benedictines; Abbot Godfrey Sieber (Abbot Mwaniki’s predecessor, now in Namibia); Abbot Joel Macul of St Paul’s in New Jersey; Abbots Placidus Mtunguja of Ndanda, Octavian Masingo of Hanga, Pambo Mkorwe of Mvimwa, all Tanzanian; and Abbot Emeritus Thaddeus.

Bishop Kumalo described the celebration as a day of joy and thanksgiving to God for the first African to be elected abbot of the abbey, which has a special place in the life of Eshowe diocese.

“It is special for those who came to start this project of Benedictine monasticism and it is special for those who received and embraced it,” he said, adding that it was the maturation of all the efforts going back to the pioneering work of evangelisation by Bishop Thomas Spreiter OSB in the 1920s.

Addressing Abbot Mwaniki, Bishop Kumalo said: “Not only will you need our prayers so that you will be a wise shepherd, but also that you and your confreres in this abbey will have the wis-

Former Abbot Godfrey Sieber (right) greets Abbot John Paul Mwaniki, his successor as head of the Benedictine Inkamana abbey in Eshowe diocese and the abbey’s first African abbot. (Photo: Sydney Duval) dom to remain faithful to St Benedict’s rule and tradition while becoming Africanised.”

The challenges St Benedict faced and responded to centuries ago were no less than those facing the world and the Church today, he said.

“Many years ago St Benedict and his followers not only transformed people’s hearts, but with their hands changed forests into habitable fields. We pray that you will lead this community to a deep spiritual and prayer life which can also renew the world,” Bishop Kumalo said.

At the Mass, Abbot Mwaniki thanked God “for my journey and this day” and honoured his mother, Ann Susan Wangeci, who was present.

“She brought up seven of us as a single mother, a woman of faith who believes in the power

of prayer,” he said, adding: “She also ran a police station.”

He noted that his family had played a big part in his overall formation: “They will not let me be big-headed or take myself too seriously. They have been doing that all my life and they will continue to do so.”

As the new abbot, he said he sees his first and primary job as assisting his brother monks on their lifelong journey towards God. Chief Buthelezi lauded the Benedictine tradition of work, prayer and self-sufficiency— principles which, he said, resonate with him.

He valued the work of the pioneering Benedictines and their service through St Francis Hospital in Mahlabathini, Tswana Convent School in Nongoma, and St Victor High School in Twasana.

Volunteer programme has it all: Author: You can beat drugs rural projects plus Kruger safaris

By NEREESHA PATEl

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UTHOR Marco Broccardo visited Holy Rosary High School in Edenvale, Johannesburg, to speak about his new book Rocks: One Man’s Climb from Drugs to Dreams.

In his talk, Mr Broccardo detailed his struggle with drug abuse in his youth, becoming a drug dealer at the height of Johannesburg rave culture during the 1990s, and how he was finally able to overcome his addiction.

“I decided to recount my story on paper with the idea that it would bring hope to those suffering from addiction—both the addicts and their families,” said Mr Broccardo on his website.

“The idea of ‘once an addict, always an addict’, and that addicts are referred to as ‘recovering addicts’, exhausted me,” he said. “I refer to myself as an exaddict and firmly believe that addic-

tion can be beaten.”

Mr Broccardo said that through counselling other ex-addicts, or addicts newly recovering, he found himself telling his own story numerous times.

“But it was when I put it on paper that I relived it from a new perspective, as an ex-addict, and I finally truly understood the pain and suffering I caused so many people.

“It provided me with a glimpse of the person I was becoming at the time, and it frightened me.”

All royalties earned on the sales of Rocks: One Man’s Climb from Drugs to Dreams will be donated to Mr Broccardo’s non-profit organisation Mountain Heights, dedicated to supporting recovering addicts and their families, and raising awareness of drug abuse. n To book Mr Broccardo for a talk, contact Rose Mullan on 083 239-5133 or rose@hbpr.co.za

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OUNG volunteers have a unique opportunity to combine helping a Catholic mission with experiencing the wildlife of the Kruger Park.

Catholic Volunteers Africa offers an ongoing 14-day volunteer/safari programme in association with Kruger Park tour operator Viva Safaris.

Volunteers participate in community-empowering and selfsustainable projects. On their free days, they are taken on safaris free of charge.

“It is a really unique, exciting way to enjoy Africa’s wildlife and simultaneously make a meaningful impact on people’s lives,” said Jean-Luc Mauvis, a coordinator of the programme.

“Our beneficiary is the Catholic parish of Acornhoek, with outstations spread over an area of about 150km2,” he said.

Parish priest Fr Suko Missay MCCJ said the building projects in his large area are important to the people he serves.

“We have 40 different communities in a very poor and very dry area,” the Comboni priest said.

Fr Missay’s aim is to build small chapels for worship for Catholics in remote areas, some groups numbering just 30-40 people.

“It’s difficult for them to build chapels,” he said, explaining that this is why his parish is appealing for volunteer helpers.

“The people need help from generous hearts,” Fr Missay said.

The Catholic Volunteers Africa programme offers community work in Acornhoek parish combined with Kruger Park safaris.

Catholic Volunteers Africa runs over 14 days, twice a month. Youths from all over the world are invited to apply, as are, of course, South Africans.

Accommodation in chalets with free WiFi and food is included in the project, as well as transfers from and to Johannesburg.

“Projects include cementblock making, vegetable garden development, fish farming, academic support, and the building of classrooms and churches,” Mr Mauvis said. Volunteers will be working with professionals.

The safari programme includes extensive day and night game-drives, a bush walk with rangers, and a visit to the Moholoholo Rehab Centre for injured and orphaned animals.

Although the project, which

has been endorsed by Bishop Joe Sandri of Witbank, is called Catholic Volunteers Africa, it is open to anyone, Mr Mauvis said.

Volunteers don’t need particular skills to take part. “Our projects have been designed to allow volunteers of different physical strength, talents and interests to choose the type of work they prefer,” he said.

Groups are limited to 24 people. The cost for the 14-day programme, including excursions, is about R18 400, to cover basic expenses. Participants must cover their flights to Johannesburg, travel insurance, lunch on four days, and personal expenses. n For more information and to apply for the programme, visit www.catholicvolunteersafrica. com or e-mail JL@catholic volunteersafrica.com

The Southern Cross, May 2 to May 8, 2018

LOCAL

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Hate Speech Bill ‘in line with Church’

By ERIN CARElSE

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PROPOSED law that would criminalise hate speech is in line with the teachings and positions of the Catholic Church, according to a Catholic analyst.

The Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill has been tabled in parliament. It could see first-time offenders convicted of a hate crime being issued a fine and imprisonment not exceeding three years, and subsequent offences a fine or imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years.

Mike Pothier, programme manager of the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office (CPLO), said that the hate Bill, which was first introduced in 2016, is trying to address a serious social problem in South Africa. He

Christian critics of the Bill have said that it “increases the risk of arbitrary and unjust harassment and prosecution to restrict legitimate free speech”.

“While it claims to have some protection for the latter, the severity of the penalties and the vagueness of the defence, would make most likely to keep quiet on controversial issues to avoid prosecution,” the Christian View Network said in a statement.

Mr Pothier disagreed. “You can express your view, and your belief, and even encourage such people if, in your religious view, they are straying from the right path,” he said.

“You can encourage them to cease and desist their behaviour— but anything that constitutes an incitement to cause harm is

sees no contradiction with this bill and the Catholic Church’s position.

There are 15 grounds on which a person may want to incite harm: age, albinism, birthplace, colour, culture, disability, ethnic and social origin, gender or gender identity, HIV status, language, nationality, migrant or refugee status, race, religion, and sex (which includes intersex or sexual orientation).

“Of those 15 grounds, it’s really only the one around sexual orientation that some religious people are getting hot under the collar about,” Mr Pothier said.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered, but homosexual people must be treated with dignity and fairness and may not be discriminated against.

unacceptable. You don’t have a warrant just because you believe in a particular set of religious teachings,” Mr Pothier said.

“Somebody could stand up and say that they believe that the Bible teaches that homosexuality is wrong and sinful, which would be fine as it’s bona fide. It’s a belief and an interpretation of a belief or teaching. You are not saying, by expressing those words or belief, that anyone must go and do anything to homosexuals,” Mr Pothier explained.

“But if you stood up in your church and said the Bible says homosexuality is wrong and therefore we must take to the streets and eradicate homosexuals, then you would fall foul of this law,” he said.

The Bill will now be considered

and processed by the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development before being passed on to the House for approval.

Mr Pothier feels that the faith community should welcome the Bill. “This is a legislative attempt to change the way people relate to each other, to make it more positive by punishing those who want to spread hatred.”

The latest version of the Bill includes scenarios where the hate speech rules do not apply, including “the bona fide interpretation and proselytising or espousing of any religious belief, teaching, doctrine or writings, to the extent that such interpretation and proselytisation does not advocate hatred that constitutes incitement to cause harm”.

Durbanites back Napier staying on

By DENIS EKWERIKE MDP

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HILE Durban’s faithful have welcomed Pope Francis’ directive that their archbishop, Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, remain in office indefinitely, some are waiting for the appointment of a new auxiliary bishop to succeed Bishop Barry Wood, who died a year ago, on May 2.

Rethabile Majara, a quantity surveyor, said Cardinal Napier stands out as a shining example of morally upright clergy whom others can emulate. She added that “he’s doing perfect work”.

A Catholic who asked not to be named lauded the apostolic spirit of the cardinal but noted: “Sometimes it’s nice to have a fresh person, but it’s good that he stays on.”

She said the cardinal needs to make his presence felt more in parishes. “I don’t see enough of him,” she said, but acknowledged that “he can’t split himself” to be in different places at the same time.

Peter Reintges underscored the enormous pastoral responsibilities Cardinal Napier has, and noted the necessity of the appointment of an auxiliary bishop to assist him, as was the case in the past.

Catholics in Durban support Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, their archbishop, staying on. (Photo: Bishop Stanislaw Dziuba) Among other things, he said, he was thrilled by the cardinal’s encouragement of the laity, and especially his active involvement in the Catholic Engaged Encounter movement in the archdiocese.

Mr Reintges further praised the warm and approachable nature of the cardinal who, he said, “re-

members people by face and establishes a personal relationship with you immediately”.

A youth, Nelly Mende, said the cardinal had displayed, in words and deeds, his love for the flock placed under his care.

“I think he has led the Church well; he has given himself to the Church. He has been everything we’ve wished for, especially as a father. He has also established a rehabilitation centre through the support of parishes. Can anyone do such thing if he doesn’t care about the Church or the world?”

She said the pope’s decision was an honour, recognising the good job Cardinal Napier has been doing. “He has to keep serving and being a great example in our diocese,” Ms Mende said.

Cardinal Napier had presented his resignation to the Holy See on turning 75 in 2016, as bishops are required to in accordance with demanded he had to remain in office until the pope formally accepted his resignation.

The cardinal was initially asked to remain in office until April this year. Pope Francis has now asked him to stay on until further notice.

At a workshop for Witbank diocese youth ministry leaders, Bishop Joe Sandri stressed the importance of recognising the youth, and possibly having them lead Mass once a month.

‘Give youth liturgical role’

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OUNG people should be recognised more, and even be given the opportunity to lead Mass at least once a month, a bishop has said.

Addressing a workshop for youth ministry leaders in his diocese, Bishop Joe Sandri of Witbank emphasised that they should love and be patient with the youth, and encouraged them to make sure the youth be recognised in parishes, also in terms of liturgical input.

The workshop, held at Maria Trost-Lydenburg, was facilitated by diocesan youth coordinator Mthunzi

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Parish priest of St Bernadette’s in Gaborone Fr Vitalis Phakisi and pastoral council and finance council members met at the Bertoni Centre to discuss preparations for the silver jubilee of their parish in September and that of the Stigmatines in Botswana too.

Stigmatines prepare for silver jubilee in Botswana

By ERIN CARElSE

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HE Stigmatines will be celebrating 25 years of their presence in Botswana, and at the parish of St Bernadette in Gaborone West, this September.

The Apostolic Missionaries of the Congregation of the Sacred Stigma of Our Lord Jesus Christ, known as the Stigmatines, officially established themselves in Botswana in the Gaborone diocese. They were given land to begin working as apostolic missionaries under the service of the bishop, as their constitution dictates.

In 1993 the Stigmatines established the community in Gaborone West and built St Bernadette’s church.

As part of preparations for the silver jubilee celebration, the parish pastoral council and parish finance council of St Bernadette’s came together for a meeting with parish priest Fr Vitalis Phakisi at the Bertoni Centre.

Fr Paul Tatu, the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference’s communication and media officer, was also present, and conducted a workshop on the role of communication and media in evangelisation and in advancing parish programmes. n For more information about the meeting and other details, contact Fr Vitalis Phakisi on 0026 775 216264 or Mrs Chakalisa on 0026 776 778316 or 0026 772 413757.

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Manda and diocesan youth chaplain Fr Sonnyboy Mahloko.

“The aim of the workshop was to help the youth leaders with how to work and understand young people,” Mr Manda told The Southern Cross.

“We had leaders who work with the youth, altar servers, Children of Mary, Masolenyane and Holy Childhood.”

Participants were also trained on how to bring all the youth structures together, and support one another.

Witbank’s parishes launched the diocesan theme “Youth and Faith”at parish level in April.

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The Southern Cross, May 2 to May 8, 2018

INTERNATIONAL

‘The Christian vision of family is attainable’ O

By ElISE HARRIS

Superman is 80 years old! The comic book character's traits of fighting evil, telling the truth, and being a good friend and husband are deeply countercultural today. Based on his non-Earthly origin and propensity both for saving people, and urging them to repent and think of others, Superman has often been considered a Christ-like figure. (Photo: DC Comics/CNS)

Catholics could outnumber Protestants in N Ireland by 2021

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HAT would have been unthinkable 100 years ago in Northern Ireland will likely soon become a reality—Catholics will outnumber Protestants.

Historically in Ireland, Catholics have desired independence for Ireland, while Protestants, who congregated in Northern Ireland, have wanted to maintain political ties to the United Kingdom.

This is still generally the case, though not without some significant exceptions on both sides. Still, the fact that Catholics may outnumber Protestants in the country by 2021— a hundred years after the country was founded—is remarkable.

Dr Paul Nolan, who studies the social trends of Northern Ireland, told BBC News: “Three years from now we will end up, I think, in the ironic situation on the centenary of the state where we actually have a state that has a Catholic majority.”

According to the last census in 2011, Protestants outnumbered Catholics in Northern Ireland by just 3%. More recent numbers show a Catholic majority in every age group of the population, except for those over 60. Among school-aged

children, Catholics outnumber Protestants by a wide margin—51%37%.

Dr Nolan said that unionism— the political ideology of those in Northern Ireland who wish to maintain their political ties with the UK— is still possible, though unionists should be aware of this demographic shift.

Religious disputes have long been part of the history of Northern Ireland, notably “The Troubles”, which included violent clashes between Catholics and Protestants that lasted from the late 1960s until 1998, when the Good Friday Agreement was struck.

Last year, threats against Catholics in Northern Ireland forced several families to flee their homes.

Mary Lou McDonald is president of the Sinn Féin party, which strongly supports nationalism, or an independent, united Ireland.

Ms McDonald said she welcomed the discussion about what this shift in religious demographics could mean for Ireland.

“Of course unionists have to be at home in a new Ireland,” Ms McDonald told the BBC. “So, yes, let's have the discussion.”—CNA

NATIONAL RELIGIOUS EDUCATION COORDINATOR

Due to the retirement of the current incumbent, the CIE invites applications for the post of National RE Coordinator starting in October 2018.

The successful applicant will have a teaching qualification as well as a qualification in Theology, Scripture or Religious Education.

The successful candidate should have a proven track record in the field of Religious Education in a South African Catholic school and understand the emerging role of RE within the Catholic school context.

In addition the candidate must be able to travel extensively across South Africa, have a driver’s licence and excellent writing skills.

Applications together with a CV to be sent to hilda@cie.org.za by 31 May 2018.

NE of the leading organisers of August’s World Meeting of Families in Dublin has said the gathering aims to show the world that living the Christian ideal of marriage and family life is not impossible, but is something realistic that can be attained.

“Our message about marriage and family, about fidelity, that God loves you personally, that human life is sacred from the first moment of conception until the moment of death, that chastity is possible for our young people,” is a message often seen as out-ofdate, Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh said.

Yet these messages “are achievable for people today”, he said.

“Sometimes people present the Church as being completely out of touch, but actually the Church is hugely in touch. It just wants to keep challenging people to the joy of the Gospel.”

The World Meeting of Families will take place in Dublin from August 21-26. Pope Francis will be present at the event on the final two days, where he will preside over the “festival of families” and the closing Mass. The Southern Cross pilgrims with Bishop Victor Phalana will be at the closing Mass.

The World Meeting of Families is meant to share “the idea that

Pope Francis greets Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, Northern Ireland who has said that the perception that the Church is out of touch with the family is unfounded.

Photo: Paul Haring/CNA) family is good news, that it is a joyful message, that family is possible”, Archbishop Martin said.

We too often “forget the huge number of families who continue faithfully to try to live out a life of love and a life of understanding and commitment to one another in very difficult or challenging circumstances”.

Families, he said, are the first place where people learn to go outside of themselves through

compromise and sacrifice, which goes against the individualistic mentality of global society.

“Very few families can survive individualism,” he said, explaining that one’s approach to family life has to start from the perspective of love and joy, which are the heart of the Gospel.

This in turn raises questions about how much social, political and legislative support is available to families, and how challenges can arise if this support is not given.

“Why is it that so many young people will choose not to get married? Maybe because they can’t get a hold of a homeloan, or because the benefit system suits them better to live as single people rather than as a couple with their children. Why is it that legislation on issues like addictions, gambling, or a whole lot of areas where family life can be destroyed, why are these not priorities in social policy-making?”

So in addition to focusing on the Gospel vision of the family, the “harder edge” of the global gathering in August will focus on how families can be supported from all levels of the Church and of society.

Some 16 000 people have registered for the event, most of whom are from overseas, Archbishop Martin said.—CNA

Get fit with God: Personal trainer promotes faith

By DENIS GRASSKA

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HE catechesis that personal trainer Jordan Friske provides during every workout session is no mere afterthought.

From his perspective, it’s “the main part of the programme” that he offers through his ministry, Catholic Fitness Training.

“Anybody can lead an exercise class,” said Mr Friske, 29, a member of a parish in San Diego, California. “I want to have a ministry that teaches you how to be fit spiritually, as well as physically.”

Mr Friske offers in-person and online personal training, as well as parishbased fitness classes.

Whether meeting with individual clients or leading a “boot camp” at a local parish, he begins and ends each session with prayer.

When the workout is intense and participants’ muscles have begun to tire or ache, he might encourage them to offer up that discomfort on behalf of the souls in purgatory. As they stretch and cool down after the workout, he will lead a reflection on St John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, a Scripture reading or the saint of the day.

Even his online personal training clients will receive weekly catechesis that they can study on their own.

The inspiration for Mr Friske’s fitness ministry came in 2016 as the date of his wedding was approaching.

At the time, he noted that having a deadline to get in shape had made it easy for him to shed unwanted kilos before the big day. But, as a personal

Brenda Sigmund and Jordan Friske of San Diego, California, are personal trainers at Catholic Fitness Training, a ministry that offers workouts infused with Catholic spirituality. (Photo: Denis Grasska/CNS) trainer for the past seven years, he had seen others achieve similar successes, only to quickly abandon their exercise regimen and regain that lost weight once the target date had come and gone.

This realisation got him thinking about what the proper motivation should be for getting into and staying in shape.

“When we diet or exercise with a secular standpoint, we can often make our own bodies an idol,” he told The Southern Cross, newspaper of the diocese of San Diego. “We’re never satisfied until we look a certain way or…until we have a certain number for our weight.”

Mr Friske decided that he could offer Catholics a different perspective. Explaining that “our bodies are a gift and we are called to be stewards of all the gifts that God gives us,” he said his ministry encourages Catholics to view their

workouts as opportunities to honour God. That sentiment resonates with Brenda Sigmund, 29, also a personal trainer with Catholic Fitness Training. Convinced that faith and fitness “go hand in hand”, she conceded that the fitness industry sometimes “objectifies more than it inspires”. But, as a personal trainer, she aspires to be “an example, not only of strength, but one of dignity”.

Asked to explain the relationship between physical fitness and holiness, Ms Sigmund turns to Scripture for an answer.

“Picture a time when you were really suffering through your workout, but you knew that the reward was worth all the turmoil,” she said. “According to Romans 5:3-5: ‘suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.’ I can’t make it any clearer than that.”

Ms Sigmund explained that the sacrifice and discipline required in one’s fitness routine are qualities that also apply to our spiritual lives.

“If I don’t find time for God, my soul isn’t fed. If my soul is unfed, I lose the strength, the motivation and the endurance that I can only find in Christ,” she said.

For Catholics seeking to adopt a healthier lifestyle, Mr Friske said his advice is to have a plan, including realistic goals and a “road map” for where they want to go; to hold themselves accountable when it comes to their routine; to start slowly instead of pushing themselves too hard at first; to take advantage of new technology, including apps that will help them keep track of their diet and exercise; and to “keep God at the centre of each workout”.—CNS

INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, May 2 to May 8, 2018

5

What pope means when he says all life’s ‘equally sacred’ W

By CINDy WOODEN

Sergio Guidi, president of the Italian tree conservation association Patriarchi della Natura, presents a potted tree to Pope Francis at his general audience. The association presented eight saplings from tree species that are threatened or endangered. The saplings were planted in the Vatican Gardens. (Photo: Vatican Media/CNS)

Three women named to Vatican postions

By HANNAH BROCKHAuS

P

OPE Francis has named three women among five new consultors of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The women are Dr Linda Ghisoni, professor of canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University; Dr Michelina Tenance, professor of theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome; and Dr Laetitia Calmeyn, lecturer of theology at the Collège des Bernardins in Paris.

The other two new consultors are Fr Sergio Paolo Bonanni, professor of theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, and Claretian Fr Manuel Jesús Arroba Conde, dean of the Institutum Utriusque Iuris at the Pon-

tifical Lateran University.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is the Vatican department responsible for protecting and promulgating the doctrine of the Catholic Church. It is headed by Archbishop Luis Ladaria Ferrer, and consultors include cardinals, bishops, priests, canon lawyers, and lay theologians.

Dr Ghisoni has held a position within the Vatican since November 2017, when Pope Francis appointed her a sub-secretary and the head of the section on laity, for the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life.

The youngest of the three women, at 42, is Belgian-born Dr Calmeyn.—CNA

‘Touched by an Angel’ star shaped by tragedy

By GREG ERlANDSON

O

NE of Roma Downey's life lessons came from her mother's cabinet full of broken china.

The well-known actress and producer of three popular biblical movies recounts an experience growing up in strife-torn Northern Ireland. A British armoured car rolled up her street, and the vibrations caused the glass shelves of her mother’s china cabinet to collapse.

All the china plates and bowls she had been saving for that special occasion came crashing down.

As a young girl, Roma saw her mother holding the pieces and crying. All that beautiful china had been saved for some future meal or some future guests, “But for what?”

Ms Downey asked during a recent interview with Catholic News Service. The lesson is to “seize the moment”, she said. “Don’t put things off. It is all a gift.”

Appreciating the fleetingness of the moment is one of the insights that Ms Downey has drawn from her extraordinary life.

On the surface, she has enjoyed an enviable level of success: Starring in the television hit Touched by an Angel, she played the angel Monica for nine seasons. Ms Downey went on to co-produce with her husband, Mark Burnett, the 10-hour miniseries The Bible, as well as A.D. The Bible Continues, and the feature film Son of God. She even has her own star on Hollywood Boulevard.

Yet her new book, Box of Butterflies, is suffused with stories not just of success and blessing, but of pain and loss.

Box of Butterflies is a lavishly designed “scrapbook” of favourite poems and pictures, memories and friendships. At its heart, however, the lesson is that life—like a butterfly—is a fragile gift that must be ap-

Actress and producer Roma Downey has written a new book, Box of Butterflies. (Photo: Austin Hargrave Simon & Schuster) preciated and never taken for granted.

She describes herself “as a girl whose childhood essentially ended at age 10” with the death of her mother.

Ms Downey lost her father a decade later.

She also survived “The Troubles” in the Northern Ireland town of Derry where she grew up. Violent clashes between Catholics, Protestants and British soldiers added a harrowing backdrop to her daily life. She herself as a girl narrowly escaped a sniper’s bullet while visiting her mother’s gravesite.

Reflecting on a quote from the mystic Julian of Norwich that while we may not avoid troubles and grief, “You shall not be over come”. Ms Downey said she was not overcome, but she was changed mightily. “The trauma of losing my mother at such a young age totally shaped the woman I became,” she said.

Such trauma is how one’s character develops, she added, for the choice is to “lie down under it or step up and endure”.

“I endured because of God, because of my faith,” she said.—CNS

HEN Pope Francis insisted that the lives of the unborn and of the poor are “equally sacred”, he was not trying to shift the focus of Catholics from fighting abortion to fighting poverty, he was trying to show they are part of the same battle, said Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life.

The life of the unborn must be “promoted and defended with great determination and given an effective priority”, the archbishop said.

“At the same time,” he said, “we must keep in mind that the dignity of every human being is equal and inviolable at every stage throughout his or her life.”

In Rejoice and Be Glad, his apostolic exhortation on holiness, Pope Francis wrote that living a Christian life involves the defence of both the unborn and the poor, and he criticised what he termed the “harmful ideological error” of thinking one’s own cause is the only important one.

“Our defence of the innocent unborn, for example, needs to be clear, firm and passionate, for at stake is the dignity of a human life, which is always sacred,” Pope Francis wrote.

“Equally sacred, however, are the lives of the poor, those already born, the destitute, the abandoned and the underprivileged, the vulnerable infirm and elderly exposed to covert euthanasia, the victims of human trafficking, new forms of slavery, and every form of rejection.”

Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia said Pope Francis is not trying to shift the focus away from abortion to poverty but rather is trying to show they are part of the same battle.

(Photo: Paul Haring/CNS) Pope Francis’ words reminded many people of the “seamless garment” approach to life issues promoted by the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago. While applauding its recognition of the sacredness of all human life, some people criticised the approach, saying it could give people a mistaken impression that, for example, the Church teaches abortion and capital punishment are equally serious sins.

Others worried that some Catholics would claim their defence of life in one area meant that they did not have to pursue the protection of life in other areas.

But “Pope Francis has reaffirmed that abortion is evil, without mincing words,” Archbishop Paglia said.

At the same time, he asks that “the pro-life commitment be enlarged”.

The pope’s words in the exhorta-

tion reflect the same vision the pope had in renewing the statutes and membership of the Academy for Life, he said; the pope believes “true support for life cannot be limited to isolated moments of its existence, but also must promote the conditions of justice and peace” life needs to thrive.

What Pope Francis is telling Catholics, he said, is “to be pro-life always, in every situation and everywhere, not only in one moment, in one country or one aspect. We must rediscover the prophetic call to defend life in its concrete situations, not as an abstraction, by defending human beings from the very beginning of life to its end.”

Rather than watering down Catholics’ commitment to ending abortion, the archbishop said, attention to defending life at every stage and in every circumstance “should make us stronger, including in effectively combating the absurd prospect of abortion”.

By putting together abortion, euthanasia, hunger, immigration, the death penalty, weapons trafficking, war and other serious issues, he said, Pope Francis makes it clear that all human life always must be defended.

A prophetic pro-life stance, Archbishop Paglia said, “has no limits”, while an “ideological approach” zeroes in on particulars. “Ideology moves the mind, while prophecy moves the mind, but also the heart and the hands because it dares to dream of a future that is beautiful for everyone.”

“We must never do death’s job,” the archbishop said. “Never.”—CNS

6

The Southern Cross, May 2 to May 8, 2018

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Tech threatens our very humanity

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

Seeds of good preaching

A

T a time when the quality of homilies is a recurring talking point in the global Church, the example of Pope Francis’ preaching style can offer some direction.

In his homilies and talks at audiences, the Holy Father uses many of the methods which emulate Jesus’ approach to preaching: keeping the message and the way in which it is delivered simple, emphasising it with references to real life—Jesus would use parables to do that—and then driving home the point.

Some of Jesus’ parables might be a little difficult to follow for today’s audiences because they are set in a particular place and time, but to the original audiences they made immediate sense.

Jesus spoke to the life of the people and what they knew.

When on the shore of the Sea of Galilee he delivered the Parable of the Sower, he referred to what his audience could see right where they were standing: rocky ground, thorn bushes, as well as fertile land.

Jesus also knew to employ rhetorical techniques to grab and hold his audience’s attention.

Telling moral stories—the parables—was one way. Occasionally he would introduce humour; the absurd notion of hiding a lamp under a bushel would have been very amusing to his listeners.

Jesus and Pope Francis show that homilies need no sophisticated dissertations of theology or dry recitations of the Catechism.

Homilies should relate the Word to the lives of listeners, translate theology to real life and, as Pope Francis has put it, “give a voice to Jesus”.

This must take into account who these listeners are, and in what situations they live. Self-evidently, a sermon at the opening Mass of a theological conference should be very different in tone from one directed at pre-school children. In between, there are countless permutations of contexts in which homilies are delivered.

If a preacher is able to relate Scripture to the lives of people in a meaningful way, as Pope Francis does and as Jesus did, then he will have an appreciative congregation.

Of course, parishioners must also be patient with their priests.

Preaching great homilies requires a particular talent. Some priests will have gifts that are fruitfully

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.

applied in other areas of parish ministries but are not good at preaching.

Priests may also be too busy with their many other responsibilities to allocate the necessary time and attention to preparing a sermon, especially at an age when the workload of the average pastor is increasing.

Pope Francis, at a general audience in February, reminded parishioners “that every preacher has both his merits and his limits”, and therefore to listen to all homilies with an open disposition.

Churchgoers deserve good preaching, but they nonetheless should be forgiving of those priests whose best efforts at preaching are less than brilliant.

Generally, frank communication between priest and congregation may help improve preaching. Priests may find benefit in inviting trusted parishioners to review their preaching, urging them to give candid criticism where necessary, and drawing from their expertise and insights.

While the Church reserves the pulpit exclusively to clergy—a situation that cries out for remedy—there is nothing that precludes lay parishioners from advising their priest on the direction of homilies, or even collaborating with him in drafting them.

Especially priests who struggle with preparing homilies would richly benefit from the input of suitably skilled parishioners.

They could even advise priests on the appropriate length of a homily. There can be no prescribed length; this, too, has to be determined by context.

There are those rare preachers who can hold a congregation’s attention indefinitely, but there are also homilists who outstay their welcome after a few minutes.

The needs of parishioners differ widely. Busy suburbanites may expect preachers to get to the point within a few minutes; other congregations may feel short-changed by a brief homily.

By way of guidance, depending on the speed of vocal delivery and allowing for pauses, the present editorial you are reading would take just over five minutes to deliver. Pope Francis recommends a limit of ten minutes for a sermon.

Would that be too long or too brief for your congregation?

Let homilies not fall on rocky ground or among thorns.

I

N recent years, smart and smarter technology is increasingly dominating society. Everyone owns a computer. Whether it is a cellphone, a TV or fridge, it is computer-driven; and the “control” is becoming a cause for much concern.

In the United States, this control—or rather, one could say, outof-control situation—has proven to be a major problem.

Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder of Facebook, was questioned by a US Congressional committee recently in connection with the leakage of the data of 87 million users. The main issue was the ability for someone to remotely manipulate and exploit these “clever” machines.

Mr Zuckerberg admitted during questioning that the world’s largest network tracks people, whether they have accounts or not.

This is scary stuff! And, I believe, it is only the beginning. Already we have remarkable computer-controlled “robots” which are used ex-

Winnie Mandela: a flawed hero

O

N the Saturday of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s funeral I spent time praying for the repose of her soul. The relevant Southern Cross editorial on Sunday (April 11-17 issue) led me to reflect the following.

Mrs Mandela lived in Brandfort, down the road from Welkom, where we lived, so we’d pass her town en route to Bloemfontein and speculate on her exile and experiences. I’m almost sure a grandson was born to her in the Ernest Oppenheimer Hospital in Welkom, then staffed by Catholic Medical Missionaries of Mary. A German friend of ours, Dr Braun, visited her and told us about her. All this made her seem somehow familiar.

When Nelson Mandela left prison, hand in hand with his wife, she radiated love and joy. We know these did not last. Regardless of the reasons for her divorce, this would have been painful for her, considering the fact that much of her adult married life had been spent in loneliness. In a TV interview she said: “I was the least married married woman in the world.”

Mrs Mandela was a courageous woman and a prophet for justice.

She suffered the trauma of interrogation and solitary confinement, and came back fighting.

Yet her heroic qualities cannot blind us to the agony and death of Stompie Seipei, still a mere boy when she was involved in the events leading up to his murder.

Neither can these qualities allow us to shrug off her unashamed promotion of the use of car tyres to de-

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tensively in areas of manufacturing, assembly plants and even medical surgery, but they are unintelligent “dumb” appliances with limited scope.

However, progressing from all this smart technology emerges the latest buzzword: “artificial intelligence”. It is being said that there are those who will soon be able to programme computers and, using intricate algorithms to manipulate data, advance from “artificial intelligence” to emulate “human” intelligence.

This is really persuasive and compelling, but I believe it to be rather dangerous. Notwithstanding some human frailties, including a free will that gets us into trouble from time to time, human intelligence is our gift from God, made in his image. It is unique and can never be matched.

In this world there are certain limitations that keep things in their place. There are the laws of physics,

stroy her political adversaries. That the end does not justify the means is attested to by the endless suffering of necklace survivors, doomed to bear melted features, afflicted sight, and lips struggling to drink or eat.

The horrors of the loss of South Africa’s sons and daughters occurred and continue to occur in every corner of our country. The greatest tragedy would be if the youth of today, reading words from any of our generation, would be led to unbelief in the mandatory teaching of Our Lord: “Truly I say to you, ‘As you did it to one of the least of my brethren, you did it to me.’”

(Matthew 25:40) When consulting our bishops and the editor of our Catholic newspaper, we are not looking for a rehash of the secular opinions already comprehensively aired in the press, but for the fullness of Catholic teaching to guide us on our way.

In a pragmatic world it is essential to show tolerance and understanding. However, even in the name of compassion or as balance of the sins of others, this teaching may not be watered down.

We therefore pray not only for the repose of the soul of Mrs Mandela but also for those of the great number of victims of South Africa’s festering farm genocide and those of our priests killed—sometimes while diligently serving the needs of our most vulnerable brothers and sisters.

Luky Whittle, Kroonstad

No Communion for non-Catholics

W

ITH regard to the ongoing debate on Communion for non-

such as gravity, which keep our feet firmly grounded and the earth orbiting the sun. There are the laws of God, which are written in our hearts and guided by the Church.

There is the intrigue and wonder of human intelligence and consciousness, which sets us apart from the more basic and natural structures in the evolutionary system of God’s creation.

Human intelligence enables us to love one another and to worship our God. This is our quest. This is why we were made and this right and heritage will not and cannot be usurped by a machine.

The computer nerds may dream about “human” intelligence, but we must ensure that we retain full control of our human ethos and Christian morality.

No one must be coerced into, or surrender to, the evil side and possible consequential addiction to modern-day technology, where even our thoughts may be intercepted and cease to be our own!

Tony Meehan, Cape Town 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

Catholics, the Catechism of the Catholic Church in the section on the Seven Sacraments of the Church says: “Only validly ordained priests can preside at the Eucharist and consecrate the bread and the wine so that they become the Body and Blood of the Lord” (1411).

Ecclesial communities derived from the Reformation and separated from the Catholic Church “have not preserved the proper reality of the Eucharistic mystery in its fullness, especially because of the absence of the sacrament of Holy Orders”, the Catechism states (1400).

It is for this reason that Eucharistic intercommunion with these communities is not possible for the Catholic Church. However, these ecclesial communities, “when they commemorate the Lord’s death and resurrection in the Holy Supper… profess that it signifies life in communion with Christ and await his coming in glory”.

To simplify the above: nonCatholics may not receive the Eucharist. Catholics may not receive Communion in churches that are not Catholic. If you are a member of the Catholic Church you are obliged to follow this teaching.

Shirley Doyle, Sheffield Beach, KZN

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The Southern Cross, May 2 to May 8, 2018

PERSPECTIVES

The wounds of social media violence Fr Chris A Townsend NYONE involved in the more social side of social media cannot help seeing the growing polarisation based on race that surrounds our civic (but often not so civil) dialogue.

Whether it is comments on the death of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, the crimen injura use of the K-word, or the very strange “punishment” meted out to Athol Trollip in Nelson Mandela Metro, we live in a very difficult space and one where we dare not face race as an issue.

Recently, the priests of the archdiocese of Pretoria spent a morning to begin the process of discussing the reality of a racebased history. I thought it was a very brave move on the part of our Council of Priests to surface and begin to start the discussion.

Among the very diverse group of priests, the discussion revolved around how the attitudes that at the root of racism—such as a lack of empathy, belief in a group superiority, and an ability to “cut off” humanity not like myself—also underpin tribalism.

Many of our priests do not come from South Africa and share our unique experience of race, but many can powerfully identify with the deep destruction of the possibility of interpersonal relationship caused by Group Think.

Last night I watched a video of a confrontation on a domestic flight. While I cannot comment on the merits of the case, one line in the discussion caught my attention. A passenger commented to the captain of the flight that there was a duty to protect passengers from violence of thought and language.

I’m not sure myself if such a duty exists, but being aware of the extreme pain and hurt that we carry as South African baggage, we all need to find spaces where we can talk and listen.

I honestly don’t think these spaces exist on social media. In fact, with the example of world leaders such as Donald Trump, social media is increasingly taking the place of propaganda posters in the lead-up to the Second World War: short, powerful messages that punch down the possibility of discussion. If we are honest, these short messages make for an easier world—polarised and possibly cleaner—than our real lives.

Perhaps our parish and faith communities are the spaces where we can begin to safely explore the issues of the historical hurts and injustices we all carry around.

I

n our parish community we run a bereavement course. This course gives those who are grieving and struggling to come to terms with death and loss the space to explore where their stories and journeys are honoured. We have recently broadened the scope of the course to include loss—because much in our culture is a failure to deal with loss.

Recently, speaking to a colleague, we floated the idea that so much of our South

Perhaps parishes can serve as the “field hospitals” to treat the wounds of social media violence.

Pastor’s Notebook

African story is the story of loss. Loss of land, loss of story, loss of dignity, loss of place, loss of security and certainty. Maybe even a loss of history.

If we approach our discussion from a space of loss, we might be able to deal with the emotions that are so real to so many. It is only in being in a safe, supportive environment that we are able to tell this convoluted, complex, painful story that is the story of conquest, colonisation, exploitation and disempowerment.

The work of such organisations as the Goedgedacht Forum, which provide structured accompaniment to groups exploring this story of loss, might provide a possibility of getting parish communities to create the “safe space” for this discussion to begin.

In reality, South Africa needs definitive leadership into the safe space. If we face the Church’s role in the history of South Africa, we provided passionate leadership in health and education—the things I always come back to in my writing.

Maybe the time now is not to create clinics or schools but to make parishes the “field hospitals” which may treat the wounds of the psychological violence of our non-civil discourse.

Our challenge then is to create the space and leadership that recognises that in every parish community, we are a people deeply wounded by being part of a violent history.

Brave skills are needed to continue this exploration.

May: Month of Mary and Mom Toni Rowland I DEALLY two parents belong together, ideally too a dad and a mom. But this is not necessarily the case today as more children are being brought up by single moms than in two-parent families.

Fewer lone parents are dads. And there are other configurations of families.

A recent article in Family Matters asked: “Who is parenting our children?”

Parents may see the children for only a short time during their waking hours, hardly enough to have the kind of influence on their development—physical, social and moral—that is best for them, with others spending more time with them.

But, as Pope Francis frequently says: “The reality is that families are doing the best they can in the circumstances in which they find themselves”. But that does not give us permission to not do our very best, discern, evaluate, learn skills and spend what time we can on our mutual spiritual growth.

The Vatican II document Gaudium et Spes stated: “Children in their own way make their parents holy.” That has always intrigued me as I wonder whether it is the stresses of parenting that turn us to intercessory prayer more often than to prayers of praise and gratitude.

In Amoris Laetitia Pope Francis includes single parents with the more difficult family situations that need to be given special care.

Single-parent families, he notes, often result from the “unwillingness of biological mothers and fathers to be part of a family, situations of violence, where one parent is forced to flee with the children, the death of one of he parents, the abandonment of the family by one parent and other situations”.

“Whatever the cause, single parents must receive encouragement and support from other families in the Christian community and from the parish’s pastoral outreach. Often these families endure other

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hardships such as economic difficulties, uncertain employment prospects, problems with child support and lack of housing.”

Many of these issues are common to all families but the greatest difficulties are experienced by poorer families, even with two parents.

W

hen we consider that a family is a developing system, we realise that kids are not just a generic bunch for which there are one-size-fits-all answers but that their age, personalities, interests, talents and health issues must be considered.

Pope Francis stresses the importance of training leaders who can assist in this pastoral care at various levels. That has been the ministry of Marfam (marfam.org.za) for more than 20 years, largely through producing resource materials for family education and enrichment and for years also offering a more comprehensive parish family ministry programme that uses as a starting point the vision of a parish as a family of families.

Mothers for mothers, fathers for fathers, youth for youth, has also been considered but while it does have merits I have some reservations about dividing up families like that. Is that not part of the individualist mentality of today? Mothers’ Day on May

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The International Day For Families on May 15, is a UN commemoration and initiative since 1995 with a different focus. The theme for 2018, “Families and inclusive societies” will explore the role of families and family policies in advancing Sustainable Development Goal 16 in terms of “Promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development”.

A two-day event is being planned by the Department of Social Development (DSD) to be held in Gauteng, but all provinces and civil society organisations, which includes churches, are expected to highlight the day and its objectives (any DSD office can provide information).

I would like to see that done in a uniquely African and Catholic way with the family theme, “Ubuntu: Families Do Matter”.

Recent gifts Pope Francis has given to the Church are also special for families; his exhortation Gaudete et Exultate (his letter on choosing to be holy) and his gift of the new feast of Mary, Mother of the Church. The current Family Matters magazine has suggested the image of the Black Madonna of Soweto as appropriate.

However, the feast and the concept can be enthusiastically adopted as Mary, Mother of the Rowland church (or the Pieterse or Ndlovu church). The possibilities for families with God is truly endless—we can even sneak St Joseph in, too, if we choose—but what is needed is some time, effort, prayer and the unique love of parents and kids.

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Michael Shackleton

Open Door

Why did fallen angels rebel?

We are taught that heaven is a place where worthy souls remain in eternity in indescribable contentment in the presence of Almighty God, where no evil exists.

If so, why was there a group of angels, led by the devil, who chose to rebel against God? There must have been, over time, a growing discontent in whatever form, which culminated in the rebellion. This in itself seems to indicate that some measure of evil can/did/does exist in heaven, which the Church depicts differently.

JA

Y

OUR question is a time-honoured one which goes back to the debates among the early Fathers of the Church, such as Origen and Augustine.

Although certain chosen texts have been subjected to scrutiny and interpretation, none tells us precisely what the great angel Lucifer did to be thrown from the divine presence down to the earth with his fellow angels. Jesus mentions only that he saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven (Lk 10:18).

Revelation 12:7-17 says that war broke out in heaven between angels loyal to God, led by Michael, and those opposed to him led by Satan, until the loyalists were victorious.

To try to get a clearer picture of this supernatural event, do not imagine heaven as a place where worthy souls remain happy in the presence of God. Rather, imagine the angels as being given a choice between accepting their special nonbodily beauty as totally dependent on God’s will, and seeing themselves as magnificent intelligent beings who were smart enough to challenge God’s authority.

This is the way the Church began to evolve an explanation of the sin of Lucifer and his angelic allies. It was a sin of pride.

As creatures of sharp intuition, they did not need to use the powers of human reasoning to know that their sin deserved immediate divine retribution with no second chance.

The early Church found a parallel between the pride of Satan and the pride of the king of Tyre as told in Ezekiel 28. The splendid and wealthy king was puffed up with self-importance and believed he was a god but he soon learned who was the true God, and was destroyed.

Traditionally, the high and mighty Lucifer has been similarly regarded as dismissed by God. Adam and Eve were given a second chance.

They had no angelic insight into the consequences of their disobedience to God’s explicit command not to eat the forbidden fruit.

The second chance is the birth of Jesus Christ who, in obedience to God, offered his life so that humanity could be restored to the tranquillity of the divine plan for creation, including the angels.

Only when Christ returns and reigns over his kingdom will it be possible to know heaven as our life in communion with the Trinity and one another, where no sin could possibly sneak in.

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.

8

The Southern Cross, May 2 to May 8, 2018

COMMUNITY

The RCIA group at Our lady Of Perpetual Help parish in Retreat, Cape Town, were received into the Church during the Easter Vigil. They are pictured with parish priest Fr Tyrone Sam CSsR.

St John Bosco parish in Robertsham, Johannesburg, welcomed an adult RCIA group into the Church at its Easter Vigil Mass. The converts programme is headed by Sr Patricia Finn together with Deacon Victor Ho and catechist Iris Seabrook. The RCIA group is seen with Sr Finn (back right), Iris Seabrook (front left) and Fr John Thompson SDB.

Part of the RCIA group received into the Church at Easter at St Charles parish in Victory Park, Johannesburg, are seen with parish priest Fr James Ralston OMI and their catechist Gustavo Correia.

An RCIA group was received into the Church at Christ the King parish in Wentworth, Durban. They are seen with (front from left) assistant parish priest Fr Alvin Tshuma, parish priest Fr Jean-Baptiste Mpuni OMI, and Deacon Peter landsberg.

Holy Spirit parish in Arcadia, Port Elizabeth, produced a Passion of Christ play, performed on Good Friday. (Submitted by Sheldon Vandrey)

Send your photos to pics@scross.co.za

SALESIAN SISTERS

Holy Cross Primary School in Aliwal North, Eastern Cape, contributed R3 000 to the 2018 lenten Appeal. Mgr Joe Kizito, vicar-general of Aliwal North diocese, accepted the money at a school assembly.

(Submitted

by Sr Beatrix M Neulinger)

Ministries of the Salesian Sisters:

Schools/Skills Training/ Youth Centres/ Youth Clubs You are invited to learn more about us.

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During the Easter Vigil at Our lady of Health of Vailankanni parish in Chatsworth, Durban, an RCIA group was accepted into the faith. They are shown with parish priest Fr Grant Emmanuel. The concelebrant was Fr Desmond Royappen. (Photo: Neil John)

The Southern Cross, May 2 to May 8, 2018

FAITH

9

A sculpture of the child Mary with her mother in St Anne’s church in Jerusalem • The grotto of the Annunciation in Nazareth • The Holy Family depicted in the church of St Joseph in Nazareth • Mary visits St Elizabeth, with the Magnificat in different languages, at Ein Kerem • The star that indicates the spot of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. (All photos by Günther Simmermacher)

Finding the real Mary in the Holy Land The Blessed Virgin Mary was a real person of flesh and blood, and the recorded stations of her life are marked by shrines and churches throughout the Holy Land. Over three articles GüNTHER SIMMERMACHER guides us on a pilgrimage to Mary.

M

ANY Catholics revere the Blessed Virgin in the form of her many apparitions in places such as Lourdes, Fatima, Guadalupe, Knock and so on. This is indeed salutary, but in venerating Our Lady of various apparitions, there is a chance that we might lose sight of Mary the human being.

More than any apparition, Mary was a real person, living in a real place, giving real birth to a real baby. She loved and cried, ate and slept. And the theatre of that extraordinary life was the Holy Land.

Pilgrims going to the Holy Land are often invited to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, but equally a Catholic pilgrimage to the Holy Land also follows the stations of Mary’s life. And some of them can be authenticated. Over the next three articles, we’ll follow ten stations of the Blessed Virgin’s life in the Holy Land.

St Anne’s church, Jerusalem

S

cripture gives us little information about Mary’s heritage.

What we know or can deduce from the gospels is that Mary likely belonged to the tribe of Levi. Her lineage is from the house of David (as is, of course, Joseph’s), and her family very possibly belonged to the priestly class.

But Scripture is silent about when or where she was born, or to whom. For that we must turn to the Protoevangelium of James, written in 145 AD. James is not uncontroversial; the Church Father Origen dismissed him as unreliable, as did Pope Innocent I in 405.

And yet some of our Marian doctrines follow from James, including the Immaculate Conception. This suggests that the tradition of Mary’s nativity were already accepted beyond James’ apocryphal writings.

According to tradition, Mary’s parents were the elderly Anne and Joachim, and the birthplace was Jerusalem, near the Pools of

Bethesda and the northern wall of the temple. That traditional birthplace is marked in the crypt of the Crusader church of St Anne’s.

The church was built in the 1130s to replace an older basilica dedicated to St Anne (or Hannah).

The fact that the previous church was a basilica testifies to the potency of the tradition that this was indeed Mary’s birthplace.

Cared for by the Missionaries for Africa, the church is very well preserved. Its interior is plain, other than a beautiful sculpture of St Anne with her young daughter (and how often do we see Mary represented as a child?).

St Anne’s church is very popular for its astonishing acoustics. Many pilgrim groups will sing an impromptu hymn or two during their visit, and the church is often used for choral concerts.

Nazareth

I

f Mary was born in Jerusalem to a family of the priestly class, then she wasn’t the peasant girl of popular imagination. Indeed, her recitation of the Magnificat suggests that she had a sophisticated understanding of theology.

Her response to the invitation by the archangel to bear the Messiah also suggests that she was no simple-minded yokel.

By some twist of circumstance, the teenage Mary was by now living in Nazareth, a small village which was a little off the beaten track. Scripture places her encounter with the archangel in that village, today a busy Palestinian town of 75 000 inhabitants.

The Orthodox Church locates the Annunciation at the village’s only well. An 18th-century Greek Orthodox church, dedicated to St Gabriel, just metres from the well, marks that spot. Inside, pilgrims can draw water from the well.

Catholics don’t believe the Annunciation took place at so public a place. Nonetheless, the well is one of the few places where we can locate, with absolute certainty, the historical Mary. She would have been there every day. Of course, we can also locate Jesus there.

The Catholic Church holds that the archangel appeared to Mary at her home, and today a magnificent two-level church covers that spot.

The upper level is the Catholic parish church for Nazareth’s Catholic community; the lower level incorporates the grotto of the Annunciation.

N

ot far from there is St Joseph’s church, which is said to have been the Holy Family’s home.

There likely was such a tradition in

Mary breastfeeds her infant Son in a depiction in the Milk Grotto church in Bethlehem, where tradition says the Holy Family hid before their flight into Egypt. the early days of the Church: a basin cut into the rock and decorated with black and white mosaics is believed to be a baptismal pool dating from before 313 AD (the year Christianity was “legalised” in the Roman Empire).

A more recent find rivals St Joseph’s church for the Holy Family’s domicile. Across the road from the church of the Annunciation, a well-preserved 1st-century home was unearthed in the Sisters of Nazareth Convent. It is speculated that the home’s preservation was due to its illustrious inhabitants.

We can’t really know whether this place or St Joseph’s church or the remains of a home uncovered next to the basilica was the home of the Holy Family. But we can be pretty sure that Mary knew the people who lived there.

Attached to the remains of the house at the basilica is the small Archaeology Museum of Nazareth which has on display various items from the older churches of the Annunciation and ancient pottery going back to the Bronze Age. Among the outstanding treasures is a pre-Byzantine Christian inscription, incomplete in Greek, which states: “...UNDER THE HOLY PLACE OF M... I WROTE THERE THE... THE IMAGE I ADORNED OF HER...” Another Greek graffito exclaims, “XEMAPYA” (Hail Mary). It is the oldest existing Marian invocation, found at the place where Catholics believe the archangel greeted Mary with those words.

These inscriptions are proof that Nazareth was a place of veneration and likely of pilgrimage even before the toleration of Christianity in 313.

Ein Kerem

A

fter the Annunciation, Mary made her way from the Galilee to the Judean hill country to share the news of her peculiar pregnancy with her older cousin Elizabeth, who (as the angel had revealed) was also pregnant, with the child whom the world would come to know as John the Baptist.

Tradition places that encounter in the village of Ein Kerem, today a Jewish suburb of Jerusalem but before 1948 an Arab village.

The oldest extant reference that links John the Baptist to Ein Kerem dates from the late 4th century. The pilgrim Theodosius in 530 mentioned a place that fits the description of Ein Kerem as being the site of veneration of St Elizabeth. But if it wasn’t here where Jesus and John had their pre-natal encounter, then it was a place much like it.

Mary’s visit is marked by the two-level church of the Visitation, on top of a hill which can be reached only on foot.

The courtyard of the church features numerous plaques of the Magnificat, Mary’s canticle of praise in Luke 1:46-55, in various languages.

Bethlehem

A

cademics can debate to the point of exhaustion whether Bethlehem was the actual birthplace of Jesus.

The most compelling argument for Bethlehem being the authentic place is that none of our early ancestors in faith claimed otherwise.

Surely if the Messiah had been born elsewhere, there’d have been a tradition of veneration to that effect.

In the crypt of the church of the

Nativity, first built by St Helena in the 4th century, a silver star marks the spot where the Saviour was born, and the place where his crib stood. Was that place randomly appointed? Common sense (and ancient tradition) suggests it wasn’t.

The narrative we recreate every Christmas of the Nativity of the Lord is misleading. Mary gave birth to Jesus not in the wooden stable in the middle of nowhere, but most likely in a cave at the back of a house. That was where families would keep their animals, which explains the tradition of the stable, the presence of animals, and the feeding trough (or manger) for a crib.

If this place was indeed a residence, then it is plausible that the locals would have remembered the time Mary from Nazareth gave birth there—certainly once Jesus had become famous, 30-something years later. Consider this: most of us will be able to recall with clarity for detail events that happened 35 years ago (in 1983, by our measure).

First-century people, with no access to reference books, had much better memories than we have now.

Of course they would have remembered where the Saviour was born!

So when pilgrims touch the centre of the silver star in the crypt of the church of the Nativity, chances are very good that this is the actual place where the Blessed Virgin gave birth to the Redeemer of the world.

A

nother church in Bethlehem entertains a rather more tenuous relationship to the historical Mary.

The Magharet Sitti Mariam (Grotto of the Lady Mary), which is better known as the Milk Grotto, is the place where tradition says the Holy Family took refuge in a cave during the slaughter of the Innocents before fleeing to Egypt.

While Mary was nursing the infant Jesus, the story goes, a drop of milk fell to the ground, turning the grotto white. It probably was white before that: the type of chalk stone here tends to be naturally white.

Still, powder made from the grotto’s rock is supposed to boost fertility.

Rather than for geological pieties or historical accuracy, the Milk Grotto is remarkable for something else: the motherhood of the Blessed Virgin finds expression in several artworks that show her breastfeeding the infant Christ. And that is showing Mary at her most human: nourishing the baby who will become the Saviour of the world.

NEXT WEEK: Where we find Mary at the Temple in Jerusalem, in Cana at Jesus’ first miracle, and during the Passion of her Son.

S outher n C ross Pilgrimage 2019 HOLY LAND & ROME • 5-17 May 2019

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10

The Southern Cross, May 2 to May 8, 2018

LIFE

How Mary is a model for all women and men Women and men must shape their ethics according to Mary, who provides us with the perfect model of leadership to emulate, argues FR OSKAR WERMTER SJ.

W

HERE are women in our history and contemporary society? What status do they have?

As a young boy I could never understand why certain men had such disdain for women, their sisters, aunts. Growing up in a glorious medieval city, Cologne in Germany, I was silently taught that women were greatly honoured by the medieval artists and masterbuilders.

Even 50 years later, if I happen to be in Cologne or another ancient city along the river Rhine, I cannot leave out visiting these great ladies of 500 years ago.

I have never been without a reproduction of the “Trümmer Madonna” (“Madonna of the Rubble”), a photograph of the Madonna at Cologne’s St Columba’s church. The building was bombed in World War II, but the Madonna survived, her face and features as beautiful as ever.

Though surrounded by the rubble of the ruined chapel, Mary was left intact and untouched by the ruins of the chapel, and continues blessing her people and her city.

And I can never go past the altar by Stephan Lochner in Cologne cathedral without admiring the royal attitude of Mary and her servants and companions.

And as an “African”, I am glad that one of the three magi in Cologne cathedral looks as if he came from my adopted home village in Zimbabwe.

God’s messenger calling on the young woman of Nazareth, the scene of the Annunciation, inspiring so many artists, demonstrates that the Creator and Redeemer of humankind just had to make both men and women his personal collaborators in the liberation and restoration of humankind.

A human spokesperson had to accept God’s Message by the Angel, and it could not be that just a man articulated the answer. The fact is that Mary speaks for the whole of humankind, men as much as women.

We do not know all that much about the Virgin Mary. The evangelists Luke and John tell us the most about her.

Early artists in the catacombs

‘No man can respect and honour Mary if he has little respect for the woman in his life, his partner in marriage, the mother of his children, his sisters, cousins, aunts,’ writes Fr Oskar Wermter. well below our street levels seem to show a woman who might be Mary. The rest is apocryphal and not so reliable.

However, she speaks with authority. Mary speaks as her son’s counterpart. Her “YES” makes her a voice for humankind altogether; and her Magnificat presents her as a strong personality of justice and faith. Jesus himself is her champion. She speaks with courage (see the Magnificat!). She takes a stand.

Taught to respect women As a small boy I was taught to respect any woman. In a tram or bus, I had to offer her my place.

An expecting woman was someone very special. I did not have to be told, but would slip out of my place and invite her to sit comfortably where I had been.

We need women who go their own way, more than imitating men. Women must be protected from rape and violence.

Let men give up the use of women for their pleasure. The sex industry and prostitution must be done away with. This is a duty men have. Men simply have no right to “buy” women and their bodies. This commercialisation is evil, and no man must be shy to say so in public.

Ever since creation, men and women have needed to be reconciled and to act together and in harmony. Christ came to completely renew the man–woman relationship. In his time, raping women was seen as a right, to be taken for granted.

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Mary must be the model. No man can respect and honour Mary if he has little respect for the women in his life—his partner in marriage, the mother of his children, his sisters, his cousins, his aunts...

She must never be seen as no more than an object to be handled, used and dealt with as it pleases the male. She is not made to merely be a copy of men.

The media praise a woman who is a military leader, a national leader, corporate chairwoman, a top engineer, spokeswoman for her male colleagues.

Women in our day are driven to emulate men, be as bold as jetfighter pilots or space travellers, cradling guns rather than children in their arms.

Do women want to be as close to men in their technical and military skills as possible, or do they want to open the world of women to men and introduce femininity as a force in our rough civilisation?

Do our young women just try to imitate their brothers?

Does a woman really triumph if she conquers male territory, on male terms? Isn’t it her true triumph rather when she achieves what only she, as a woman, can do?

Will the world not be saved precisely by women having the freedom to do what only women

manage to find the freedom to accomplish?

Let a woman be all those things and perform all those roles. But she comes into her own once she answers her challenges precisely with her feminine gifts.

Pope Francis was deeply impressed by Angela Merkel because he thought that the German chancellor had done so well for the refugees and migrants precisely because she had allowed herself to act as a woman guided not by clever power politics, but by compassion.

I am not impressed by women carrying weapons and bullets, winning wars. But women teaching their sons to give up drugs— that makes a tremendous difference.

If the human race is to survive and spread across countries and borders, the life-giving potential of women cannot be ignored. Children must be welcomed once more. Will we abort girl children just because they are growing up to be women, as happens in certain Asian countries?

Women want children. The human race needs to grow and give space to new citizens. Media tell women that children merely restrict their freedom.

Stop dictating life choices Let the media stop dictating to women about their life choices.

The dignity of women and mothers must be enhanced. No woman must suffer because her daughter is not welcome in a male society which discriminates against women who wish to bring honour and respect to their sisters.

There can be no room for slaves and slave masters (and, indeed, mistresses) selling human beings.

And it is the demand by men which causes the human traffic in women and girls.

Women must reject the selling of their sisters for drugs.

Mary maintains the dignity of her beloved daughters. That is her role, that is the task she has been given. We must follow in her footsteps.

Trafficking of women and other workers must be rooted out. Humankind must take itself and its dignity seriously. The users of women demean humankind as a whole.

Girls selling their bodies to boys and men is humiliating to all of us.

A completely new relationship be-

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The picture of the “Trümmer Madonna” (the Madonna of the Rubble) which Fr Wermter carries with him at all times. tween male and female must be our new culture, our working, living and playing together in this new time.

Mary who took on responsibility for all of us must be a leader of this new culture of gender, of men and women. The young must no longer be traded by hawkers and sellers of sex. This we owe to our self-respect.

All those who claim to follow Christ, must also honour his Mother.

Mary is not just a puppet. She stands for a new society. She stands for power and strength as a defender of her children, her sisters and her family. Mary is a leader and a new person, leading along a new path.

She gives new life to the children of her womb. She must have the power to give children room in her womb, in the families dedicated to her and liberated to be leaders of a new society where both women and men build the society of tomorrow.

Mary is the mother of Jesus and mother of the Church. Women are the hidden force of the Church, but the Church has not yet made full use of them. The Church would still be much stronger if she gave more power, a stronger voice and a leading role as teachers and preachers to women activists.

It’s not masculinised women who are the secret weapon of the Church, but women using their full feminine talents in being Christian community leaders.

Humanity will surge ahead once women enjoy full power and then pull their sisters and mothers and consecrated women along. n Fr Oskar Wermter is a Jesuit based in Harare, Zimbabwe. He blogs at www.wayforwardzimbabwe.word press.com

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CLASSIFIEDS

Love of Mary not idolatry

By DENIS IKENNA EKWERIKE MDP

A

RINZE Joseph Ani’s Letter from Nigeria column, “The problem with loving Mary too much” (April 11), states that many Nigerian Catholics “seem to worship Virgin Mother Mary in place of, or on a par with, God”.

The truth is that Nigerian Catholics, including semi-literate people in remote villages, are well instructed on the difference between giving honour to Mary as Mother of God and reserving worship for God alone.

Marian teachings in Nigeria have as their end total submission to Jesus; Mary is seen playing the role of a good mother who points all to her Son and Lord as she did at the wedding feast at Cana (John 2:1-5) Little wonder that a common saying among Marian devotees in Nigeria is: “All to Jesus, through Mary our Mother.”

Objections to the affection and honour the Church and her children accord Mary have long ceased to be fashionable.

In the 5th century, Patriarch Nestorius of Constantinople piously defended God from the insult of being called the Son of Mary. He felt it was too much to refer to Mary as Mother of God, but ended up in the error of creating a dichotomy between Jesus as human and divine.

The Church condemned Nestorius and proclaimed that Mary is rightly to be honoured as the Mother of God (theokotos) at

its Third Ecumenical Council at Ephesus in 431AD. Thus one week after Christmas, Catholics fittingly celebrate her as not just the Mother of Jesus, the Second Person of the Trinity, but as the Mother of the One, True God. Yet groups and individuals both outside and within the Church have continued to maliciously and ignorantly attack Mary by insisting Catholics worship her or “love her too much”.

Since, after the example of Christ who chose her for his Mother and loved her endlessly, the Virgin is so dear to the average Nigerian Catholic, teachings about Mary become soft targets.

Thus, proclaiming themselves defenders of God, critics falsely accuse some members of the Church of putting Mary on a par with God or using her to replace God altogether.

But Catholic pious associations in Nigeria devoted to Mary, such as the Block Rosary Crusade and the Legion of Mary, are well guided by the Church and generally taught to follow its teachings

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on prayer and private devotions.

Children are taught the traditional Catechism.

Many observers believe part of the reason why the Catholic faith has remained youthful in Nigeria is due to the people’s profound love of Mary, expressed in conscious efforts to emulate her virtues. The greatest virtue of Mary is her tender love for God, which is exactly what she teaches every soul who runs to her.

Nigerians deeply devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary are often the ones who readily serve their parish communities, and never, wilfully, miss Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation. Strong Marian devotees are often found at weekday morning or evening Masses.

Again, over 95% of the many young men and women who aspire to join the priestly and religious life are ardent lovers of Mary, and many devoted to Mary stand out in society as icons of charity and justice.

Mary will rightly remain very dear to Catholics in Nigeria, which was consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by Pope John Paul II in 1982, and reconsecrated by the bishops last year to mark the centenary of the apparition of Our Lady at Fatima.

Mary is lavishly loved on October 1 each year, the day of Nigeria’s independence but also, most importantly, the feast of Our Lady Queen of Nigeria. n Denis Ikenna Ekwerike MDP is a second-year theology student at St Joseph’s Theological Institute in Cedara, KwaZulu-Natal.

Our bishops’ anniversaries

This week we congratulate: May 8: Bishop José Ponce de León of Manzini on his 57th birthday May 9: Bishop Adam Musialek of De Aar on his 61st birthday May 12: Apostolic Nuncio Peter Wells on his 55th birthday

Liturgical Calendar Year B – Weekdays Cycle Year 2 Sunday May 6, 6th Sunday of Easter Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48, Psalm 98:1-4, 1 John 4:7-10, John 15:9-17 Monday May 7 Acts 16:11-15, Psalm 149:1-6, 9, John 15:26--16:4 Tuesday May 8 Acts 16:22-34, Psalm 138:1-3, 7-8, John 16:5-11 Wednesday May 9 Acts 17:15, 22--18:1, Psalm 148:1-2, 11-14, John 16:12-1 Thursday May 10 Acts 18:1-8, Psalm 98:1-4, John 16:16-20 Friday May 11 Acts 18:9-18, Psalm 47:2-7, John 16:20-23 Saturday May 12, Ss Nereus and Achilleus, St Pancras Acts 18:23-28, Psalm 47:2-3, 8-10, John 16:23-28 Sunday May 13, Ascension of Our Lord Acts 1:1-11, Psalms 47:2-3, 6-9, Ephesians 4:1-13, Mark 16:15-20

CLASSIFIEDS

IN MEMORIAM

LATEGAN—Peter Angus.

Died May 5, 2016. Beloved husband, father and grandfather, gone but not forgotten, still miss you every day.

Fondly remembered by Beryl and family.

PRAYERS

HOLY ST JUDE, Apostle and Martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, kinsman of Jesus Christ, faithful intercessor of all who invoke you, special patron in time of need. To you I have recourse from the depths of my heart and humbly beg you to come to my assistance. Please help me now in my urgent need and grant my petition. In return I promise to make your name known in distribution of this prayer that never fails. May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be forever blessed and glorified. Holy Mary Mother of God, Pray for us and grant my request (name your request). Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be. Dermot PE.

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that the wonder and splendour of all creation surround us. “How majestic is your name in all the earth”. We pray to you who calms the raging waters and commands the wind, to provide us sufficient rain to meet our needs. During this time of drought, we are mindful of our dependence on you for all that sustains our body and soul. We pray for the cooling, gentle rain that will once again bring life to the fields and crops that feed us, restore the colourful rainbow of flowers and the cooling shade of the trees. We also pray for all those who are suffering from other natural disasters. May they look to you for the strength to restore their lives and heal their wounded land. Help us to always be good stewards of your creation and care for the many resources of this earth. May your grace refresh our souls. We ask for these blessings through the intercession of Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth. Amen.

us. Grant them peace and happiness. Amen.

O VIRGIN Mother, In the depths of your heart you pondered the life of the Son you brought into the world.

Give us your vision of Jesus and ask the Father to open our hearts, that we may always see His presence in our lives, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, bring us into the joy and peace of the kingdom, where Jesus is lord forever and ever.

Amen.

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

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HEAR ME, lord, on behalf of all those who are dear to me, all whom I have in mind at this moment. Be near them in all their anxieties and worries, give them the help of your saving grace. I commend them all with trustful confidence to your merciful love. Remember, lord, all who are mindful of me: all those who have asked me to pray for them; all who have been kind to me; all who have wronged me, or whom I have wronged by ill-will or misunderstanding. Give all of us to bear each other’s faults, and to share each other’s burdens. Have mercy on the souls of our loved ones who have gone before

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The Ascension of the Lord: May 13 Readings: Acts 1:1-11, Psalm 47:2-3, 6-9 Ephesians 4:1-13, Mark 16:15-20

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EXT Sunday, we start to see the end of the Easter season with the celebration of the Ascension, marking the end of the regular post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus to his disciples.

The first reading is the opening lines of Acts of the Apostles, emphasising that it is the continuation of Luke’s gospel (“of all that Jesus began to do and teach”), and we watch as Jesus “commanded the apostles through the Holy Spirit”; and we may recall that Acts is properly called the “gospel of the Holy Spirit”, and that a week from now we shall be reading the Pentecost story, from the very next chapter of Acts.

Then Jesus instructs his followers what they are to do, now that they have grasped (“by many pieces of evidence”) that he has indeed risen from the dead.

So he talks to them of “the things about the Kingdom of God” (which is what you and I are to be talking about, therefore); then they are to stay in Jerusalem and “wait for the Promise of the Father” (once again, it is all about the Holy Spirit), because “you are going to be baptised by the Holy Spirit in not many days”.

Then (as always) they ask a dumb question, showing how much they need the Spirit: “Lord—is it now that you are going to

S outher n C ross Nicholas King SJ

Holy Spirit informs us all restore the Kingdom to Israel?” He refuses to answer the question (“It is not for you to know”), and instead, now for the third time, we hear mention of the Spirit: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.”

Next we learn what the Spirit does for us: “You are to be my witnesses, in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and as far as the end of the earth.” And where is the end of the earth? Why, wherever you are reading these words. Only then, when the mission has been bestowed, does a passing cloud take him “from their eyes”.

Then things start to move, and there are “two men in white clothes” who rebuke them for gazing up to heaven; now the work has to start, for us as for them.

The psalm for the feast is a wonderful song of praise to God the eternal king; we are invited to “clap hands, make a joyful noise to God, for the Lord Most High is to be feared, a great king over all the earth”.

Now (and this is presumably why we sing this psalm on this day) things get rather noisy, and we hear that “God has gone up in shouts of joy, the Lord with the sound of the

trumpet”, and in the next line the word for making music is used no less than four times, with a fifth appearance a couple of lines later; it is all about God, as it must always be: “For God is king of all the earth… God is king over the nations, God sits on his holy throne.”

We are quite taken up into the heavens in Jesus’ wake.

The second reading for the feast once again speaks of the Spirit, and in particular the profoundest gift that the Spirit has to offer, of “oneness” or “unity”, an idea which is repeated several times: “to keep the oneness of the Spirit”, is what the readers are adjured, “one body and one spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all”.

Next: “Therefore it is said, ‘He went up to the heights, and took captivity captive, and gave gifts to human beings.’”

Then there is a further gift of the Spirit, that everyone finds their own proper function: “some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, others as shepherds and teachers, for them to equip the holy ones for the task of service, to build up the body of Christ”.

When it’s good to keep secrets I thoughts, feelings and failings openly with others and that it’s dangerous to keep things bottled up inside ourselves.

That’s right. That’s wise.

There are secrets that are wrongly kept, like the dark secrets we keep when we betray or the secrets a young child clutches to as an exercise in power. Such secrets fester in the soul and keep us wrongly apart.

What’s hidden must be brought into the light. We should be wary of secrets.

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ut, as is the case with almost everything else, there’s another side to this, a delicate balance that needs to be struck.

Just as it can be bad to keep secrets, we can also be too loose in sharing ourselves.

We can lack proper reticence. We can trivialise what’s precious inside us. We can open ourselves in ways that take away our mystery and make us inept subjects for romance. We can lose our depth in ways that make it difficult for us to be creative or to pray. We can lack “the piety of shame before the mystery of life”. We all need to keep some secrets.

Etymologically, to keep a secret means to keep something apart from others. And we need to do that in healthy ways because a certain amount of honest privacy is necessary for us to nurture our individuality, for us to come to know our own souls. All of us need to keep some secrets, healthy secrets.

What this does, apart from helping us know more deeply our individuality, is that secrets protect our mystery and depth

Conrad

N all healthy people there’s a natural reticence about revealing too much of themselves and a concomitant need to keep certain things secret.

Too often we judge this as an unhealthy shyness or, worse, as hiding something bad. But reticence and secrecy can be as much virtue as fault because, as the late US psychologist James Hillman puts it, when we’re healthy we will normally “show the piety of shame before the mystery of life”.

When are secrets healthy, and when are they not? When is it healthy to “cast our pearl” before others, and when is it not? This is often answered too simplistically on both sides.

No doubt secrets can be dangerous.

From Scripture, from spirituality in every tradition, from what’s best in psychology, and, not least, from the various “12-Step Programmes” that today help so many people back to health, we learn that keeping secrets can be dangerous, that what’s dark, obsessive, and hidden within us has to be brought to light, confessed, shared with someone, and owned in openness or we can never be healthy.

Scripture tells us that the truth will set us free, that we will be healthy only if we confess our sins, and that our dark secrets will fester in us and ultimately corrupt us if we keep them hidden.

Alcoholics Anonymous submits that we are as sick as our sickest secret. Psychology tells us that our psychic health depends upon our capacity to share our

The

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Sunday Reflections

The writer now comes back to the idea of unity: “until we all meet in the oneness of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God”.

We really cannot separate the Ascension from that coming of the unifying gift of the Spirit.

So, finally, to the Gospel for next Sunday, which is almost certainly not taken from what Mark actually wrote, but offers us the “Great Commission”, telling us what we are to do when Jesus is finally taken from us: “Go into the entire world and preach the Gospel to all creation.”

And that, of course, is what happens. First, Jesus ascends: “So the Lord Jesus after he had spoken to them, was taken up into Heaven and sat down at God’s right hand.”

Then the job starts (this is our job as well as theirs, so make sure that you are paying attention): “They went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming their message through the signs that followed them.”

Are you ready for the task?

Southern Crossword #809

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

by shielding them under a certain mystique, from which we can more richly offer our individuality to others.

We derive both the words “mystery” and “mystic” from the Greek word myein, which is a word that’s used to describe what we are left looking at when a flower closes its petals or a person closes his or her eyelids. Something’s hidden then, something of beauty, of intelligence, of wit, of love. Its depths are partially closed off and so that individual flower or person takes on a certain mystique which triggers a desire within us to want to uncover those depths.

Romance has its origins here, as does creativity, prayer and contemplation. It’s no accident that when artists paint persons at prayer, normally they are depicted with their eyelids closed.

Our souls need to be protected from overexposure. Just as our eyes need to be closed at times for sleep, so too our souls.

They need time away from the maddening crowd, time alone with themselves, time to healthily deepen their individuality so as to make them richer for romance.

Some years ago in an American television sitcom, a mother issued this warning to her teenage daughter just as this young person was leaving for a party with friends: “Now remember, your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit—not a public amusement park!”

Inside that wit, there’s wisdom. The mother’s warning is about properly guarding one’s body, but the body is connected to the soul and, like the body, the soul too shouldn’t be trivialised and become fodder for recreation.

Jesus warns us to not give to the dogs what’s sacred or throw pearls to swine.

That’s strong talk, but what he’s warning us about merits strong language. Soul is a precious commodity that needs to be properly cherished and guarded. Soul is also a sacred commodity that needs to be accorded its proper reverence.

We protect that preciousness and sacredness when we confess openly our sick secrets and then properly guard our healthy ones.

CATHOLIC IRELAND A pilgrimage with Bishop Victor Phalana 19-28 August 2018

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ACROSS

5. Pain from a Bach evening Mass (4) 7. Sees where the episcopates have their authority (10) 8. The duchess’s lord (4) 10. How Jesus might describe the nine thankless lepers (8) 11. Anchorless at sea. A fit doctor comes around (6) 12. Cruel tyrant may be posted around (6) 14. Bowman (6) 16. Son of Joash (Jg 6) (6) 17. Form an incorrect opinion (8) 19. The Fall took place here (4) 21. Without pause (10)

Solutions on page 11

22. How those not at work in the vineyard stood around (4)

DOWN

1. Son of Boaz (Rt 4) (4) 2. How the embarrassed flock felt about their bishop (8) 3. Elevate morally (6) 4. Slightly coloured (6) 5. Land that could be Minor or Major (4) 6. Move to free hero up to this point (10) 9. Emphasised the rough dinner duel (10) 13. Without warning (8) 15. Sieve associated with the Sphinx’s poser (6) 16. Collects leftovers from the harvest (6) 18. Verdict decider (4) 20. Showing curiosity (4)

CHURCH CHUCKLE

H

AVING just passed his driver’s test, a young student asks his dad about using the family car.

Sensing an opportunity to make his son more responsible, the father lists three things he must do: first, improve his marks, second, keep his room clean, and third, get a haircut.

After a couple of months, the young man does a great a job with items 1 and 2. Again, he raises the issue of using the car with his dad, who points out that he still hasn’t had his hair cut.

The son replies: “Dad, have you ever noticed that in any picture of Jesus and the disciples that they all have long hair?”

Replies the father: “Son, have you ever noticed that they walked everywhere they went.”

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