190724 by The Southern Cross

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S outher n C ross

July 24 to July 30, 2019

Reg No. 1920/002058/06

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No 5145

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Catholics on army in the townships BY ERIN CARELSE Archbishop Dabula Mpako of Pretoria (left) and his predecessor Archbishop William Slattery OFM cut a cake from the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council, welcoming the new head of the archdiocese and bidding farewell to the latter after the archdiocesan celebration of the installation of Archbishop Mpako at CBC Mount Edmund in Silverton. Archbishop Mpako was installed as archbishop of Pretoria last month at Zwavelpoort’s church of the Beatitudes. See also page 2 for a picture of the four archbishops residing in Pretoria. (Photo: Mathibela Sebothoma)

Hymns now on the radio BY MARK PATTISON

ATHOLICS hear hymns in church and on Catholic stations, but rarely on commercial airwaves. Now they can augment their weekly diet of hymnody through a new free audio streaming service called Great Catholic Music. The service, which can be accessed through the “Great Catholic Music” app, plays a mix of pre-and post-Vatican II hymns and liturgical music 24/7. “The response so far has been absolutely amazing,” said programme director Michael Roberts. “Part of this [project] is to inspire. It’s not just music, we want to inspire people,” Mr Roberts said, adding the service also takes breaks for psalms, Scripture readings and prayers. “We have some quotes of St John Paul II, and Archbishop Fulton Sheen and Mother Teresa,” he said, adding that a priest does a daily reflection of the Mass readings for the day. The website promises: “From the meditative chants of cloistered Benedictine monks to the traditional hymns of Sunday Mass like “How Great Thou Art”, to the contemporary

The banner for Great Catholic Music, a service which streams a variety of faith-filled music via an app. Catholic songs of Matt Maher and Audrey Assad, we have the music to bring you peace, lift your spirits and transform your soul.” Compiling playlists can be tricky. Mr Roberts said he has received requests for both more chant and less chant. He fielded a complaint from one listener on Good Friday that the music was “too dirge-y”. Mr Roberts declared that Christmas music would not be heard on Great Catholic Music until Christmas Eve, but would continue to play until the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, the end of the Christmas season.—CNS n The Great Catholic Music app can be downloaded free through Google Play or the Apple App Store

ATHOLIC leaders in Cape Town townships are hopeful that the deployment of the army in their communities will achieve the objective of curbing gang warfare but urge that a longterm approach is still needed. South African National Defence Force (SANDF) units were deployed in “Operation Prosper” to ten Cape Flats areas to support the police in checking the rampant gang violence which has claimed many lives in the past months. President Cyril Ramaphosa gave the goahead for the SANDF deployment, which police minister Bheki Cele announced in his budget earlier this month. Reportedly, if Operation Prosper shows success in curbing gangsterism in Cape Town, the model may be introduced to hotspots in Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth According to unofficial estimates, more than 1 900 people were murdered in the Western Cape in the six months before the army deployments. The ten Cape Town precincts identified for support by the SANDF are Manenberg, Nyanga, Bishop Lavis, Elsies River, Mitchells Plain, Mfuleni, Khayelitsha, Delft, Kraaifontein and Philippi. Fr Nkululeko Meyiwa from Our Lady Queen of Africa parish in Philippi hopes that the army’s deployment will help. His community saw a sharp rise of 36,6% in the murder rate from 2017 to 2018. “I believe the idea is to close down [gangsterism] section by section…and clean it up,” the priest said. “I'm hoping it will help because local policing is not helping.” Fr Rampe Hlobo SJ, former parish priest of St Mary’s in Nyanga said: “There is a need for the army's deployment as crime in the

area is out of control,” the Jesuit priest said. “The police are failing to protect the people and to maintain law and order.” He noted that law enforcement resources in Cape Town are not equally and fairly distributed. “Bringing in the army may help in mitigating the situation, but only to a limited extent. What we need is law enforcement agencies on the ground in these areas because people are living in fear,” Fr Hlobo said. Army deployment, he said, can be only a temporary fix. “It doesn’t solve the problem. It is not a permanent solution.” Fr Hlobo emphasised that other crimes besides gangsterism also need attention. Fr Peter-John Pearson, director at The Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office, warned against turning the issue of gangsterism and the SANDF deployment into a party-political partisan issue. “This is too big and destructive an issue to be made into a political point-scoring battle. People’s lives have been lost, communities have been destabilised,” Fr Pearson said, adding that “we must guard against the temptation” to make political capital of the situation. “The problem is multi-faceted and therefore calls for an integrated response. If it's just a matter of sending firepower in, then you're probably going to have very limited success, especially in the long-term,” he told The Southern Cross. “We have to take a long-term view on this; [gangsterism] is not something that has just come up now. This goes back decades and decades and is a result of spatial separation, overcrowding, poverty, and frustration—and those things need to be dealt with as well,” he said. Fr Pearson said a solution must be found Continued on page 3

S outher n C ross Pilgrimage

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The Southern Cross, July 24 to July 30, 2019

Jhb pupils join march for climate change BY NATALIE KAPSOSIDERIS

SA’s Catholic university gives thanks for fruitful 20 years BY ERIN CARELSE

TUDENTS from Sacred Heart College in Observatory, Johannesburg, and other surrounding schools went on a march to raise awareness about manmade climate change and the lack of action being taken by the government to combat it. Holding posters with slogans such as “There is no Planet B” and chanting “We stand for what we stand on”, the campaign began at Sacred Heart and from there proceeded along Louis Botha Avenue. The march was part of a worldwide movement known as Friday’s for Future; around the world there are marches organised by students who are taking a stand to show the seriousness of the situation and refuse to go to school on Fridays to put pressure on their governments by marching in their cities. The unified call is simple: climate change is man-made and it is destroying our

LOCAL

T Learners at Sacred Heart College in Johannesburg, with other students at nearby schools, participated in a climate change march. planet and stealing our future; if measures are not put in place (especially following the Paris agreement) to lower our green house gas emissions, climate change will be irreversible by 2030 and our future will be lost. n To find out more about climate change and what can be done to combat it you can go to www.unenvironment.org/ explore-topics/climate-change

HE president of South Africa’s only Catholic university paid tribute to his predecessors and staff as the institution celebrated its 20th anniversary—and gave thanks to God. Delivering a celebration address, Prof Garth Abraham said when St Augustine College in Johannesburg was founded in 1999, it was an “ambitious endeavour; some might suggest ‘foolhardy’”. Without the support of God, “I do not believe we would be where we are today.” Prof Abraham hailed the dogged determination of St Augustine College’s founder, Schoenstatt Sister Prof Edith Raidt, and the efforts of her successors, Dr Fr Michael van Heerden and Dr Sr Madge Karecki SSJ-TOSF. He gave thanks for the commitment and dedication of the institution’s loyal staff, both academic and administrative, all of whom have had to labour under sometimes difficult circumstances; the assistance and support of directors and trustees; the generosity of donors; and the prayers of many. “Much has been achieved over the past 20 years,” Prof Abraham said, noting that “we have graduated 187 masters and doctoral students—more than

half of whom are from previously disadvantaged backgrounds”. For most of its 20 years, St Augustine has been a post-graduate university, but in the past few years has admitted undergraduate students. The number of undergraduates has now exceeded the 100 mark, from a base of zero in 2015. Although postgraduate numbers fluctuate throughout the year, they are currently in excess of 85, from a low of 51 in 2015. This, Prof Abraham said, is thanks to the support of many dioceses across South Africa, and the higher certificate in Biblical Studies–an optional requirement for the academic training of deacons—in gaining significant traction. The Victory Park-based college now has more than 260 students registered across all its various offerings. “We are confident about the years to come; faith and patience are demanded,” Prof Abraham said. He said more enrolments will be won by “strenuous efforts to improve our marketing exposure—through parish and school visits, and an increasingly conspicuous social media presence”. Two new qualifications—a higher certificate in theology and a postgraduate certificate in secondary educa-

Few, if any, archdioceses in the world have four archbishops living within its boundaries, but Pretoria is one of them.

tion—and new specialisations in some of the postgraduate offerings—“should also assist in increasing registrations”, the president said. A joint venture agreement will soon see St Augustine teaching online. Initially, the college intends offering several short courses online—including courses aimed at maths education for both teachers and students at the secondary level and a range of introductory ethics courses progressing to some of its degree and certificate offerings. Although St Augustine still contends with cashflow challenges, Prof Abraham noted that strategies over the past few years have yielded positive results. The professor referred to Pope John Paul II’s 1990 apostolic constitution on Catholic universities, Ex Corde Ecclesiae, which said the Catholic university has always been recognised as “an incomparable centre of creativity and dissemination of knowledge for the good of humanity”. Prof Abraham said: “St Augustine is deeply honoured to be part of the tradition to which Pope John Paul refers. With the help of our many friends and supporters, St Augustine remains committed to its ‘privileged task’. We give thanks.”

Win to see pope in Mauritius

NE lucky winner will travel to Mauritius in September to attend Mass with Pope Francis in Radio Veritas’ 2019 Pilgrimage Draw. The tour, from September 613, is hosted jointly by The Southern Cross, Radio Veritas and Spotlight.Africa. It will be led by the popular Fr Russell Pollitt SJ. The tour’s highlight will be the September 9 papal Mass in the Mauritian capital Port Louis. The programme also includes a guided tour of the Catholic sites of Port Louis. In another highlight, Fr Pollitt will conduct a guided retreat on the beach. There will be time for leisure at the luxury resort where the group will stay, to relax in the

Seen at the archdiocesan celebration of the installation of Archbishop Dabula Mpako at CBC Mount Edmund in Silverton, Pretoria are (from left) papal nuncio Archbishop Peter Wells (resident in Waterkloof), Archbishop Mpako, Archbishop George Daniel (headed the archdiocese from 1975 to 2009), and Archbishop William Slattery OFM, who led the archdiocese from 2010 till June this year. (Photo: Mathibela Sebothoma)

sun or participate in activities, including canoeing, pedal boating, windsurfing, water-skiing, floodlit tennis and much more. Bookings are still open but remaining places on the tour are limited. See www.fowler tours.co.za/mauritius for full programme and booking details. For Radio Veritas, the draw is an important fundraising event to help ensure its survival. Tickets to enter the competition are R200 per entry. Only 2 000 tickets are available. SMS the word “Pope” and your name to 41809 or e-mail your name and number to lucia@radioveritas.co.za for banking details. The draw will take place live on air on August 15.

Stigmatines celebrate Tanzanian deacon BY ERIN CARELSE

For itinerary see www.fowlertours.co.za/mauritius

HEN he was a young novice in the Stigmatine congregation in Tanzania, Herbert Chunga had no idea he would be ordained a deacon in distant South Africa. Deacon Chunga was ordained to the transitory diaconate by Archbishop Dabula Mpako of Pretoria at St John the Baptist church in Pretoria North, one of the parishes built by the Congregation of the Sacred Stigmata, as the Stigmatines are formally known. He is the first Tanzanian Stigmatine to become a deacon. “When I joined the Stigmatines as a young person from Msolwa village in Tanzania, nobody believed I would make it to the end, because those who joined before me had failed to do so,” Deacon Chunga said. He has been assigned to work in the Ten Morgen and Winterveldt Stigmatine pastoral areas, in the north-western deanery of Pretoria archdiocese. He will stay in the community of Jangwane during his tenure as a transitory deacon. In Msolwa, in the Kilosa district of Tanzania, Deacon Chunga attended St Gaspar Bertoni Secondary School, built in 1994 by the first Stigmatine missionaries in Tanzania. St Gaspar has constantly promoted quality education and human formation for the youth of Tanzania, rich and poor alike.

Tanzanian Stigmatine Deacon Herbert Chunga, with his parents, at his ordination in Pretoria North. Since its establishment, the Stigmatines have helped the disadvantaged youth of Msolwa through special funds organised to help them pay for school fees. One of the students who benefited from these bursaries was Herbert Chunga, who completed high school in 2010. Deacon Chunga said he has witnessed the outstanding contribution of the Stigmatines in

transforming the poor village of Msolwa. Today, he said, it is one of the best-known villages because of their work. “Many people from the village are working for the Stigmatines, and out of that they are able to provide a better life for their families and quality education for their children,” Deacon Chunga said.

The Southern Cross, July 24 to July 30, 2019

LOCAL

Packed schedule for visiting meditation Benedictine priest O N his visit to South Africa from September 5-16, Fr Laurence Freeman will present ten seminars and other events in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. The director and spiritual leader of the World Community for Christian Meditation will share his understanding and experience of the benefits of meditation in an age of over-busyness and constant distraction. At business breakfasts in Cape Town (September 6) and Durban (September 10), the Benedictine priest will engage participants on work and leadership, applying the wisdom of the 6th-century Rule of St Benedict to modern challenges. At seminars designed specifically for teachers and catechists, Fr Freeman “will show how natural and welcome meditation is to the young”, said Paul Faller of the Catholic Institute of Education, who is co-coordinating his visit. “The question, Fr Freeman says, is not ‘Why should we teach meditation in schools?’ but

Fr Laurence Freeman OSB ‘Why on earth don’t we?’” The general public will also have opportunities to interact with the visiting Benedictine. At seminars in all three centres, he will remind participants that Christians have a unique tradition of meditation, part of the universal wisdom of humanity. “In an age of stress, multiple crises and of change that runs ahead of our ability to control,

this tradition is a major gift for the world today,” Mr Faller noted. Those who would like to experience a more contemplative time with Fr Freeman can attend a day retreat at the Origins Retreat Centre in the Cradle of Humankind in Gauteng. Approaching the theme ‘‘Where the spirit is, there is liberty”, he will invite retreatants to reflect on what spirituality can possibly mean in a post-truth world and era of artificial intelligence, and what, in a “postChristendom” Church and secular society, the contribution of the disciples of Jesus to the healing renewal of humanity is. The round of events will culminate on September 14 at Mosaiek Church in Fairland, Johannesburg, where Fr Freeman will be guest speaker at a day event titled “Conversations”. He will speak of the contemplative revolution needed in the Christian tradition and society as a whole. “The programme is suitable for

those new to meditation in the Christian tradition wanting to learn more, as well as for those practising who wish to deepen their journey,” Mr Faller said. Fr Freeman will be in Cape Town from September 6-7, in Durban from September 9-10, and Johannesburg from September 11-14. In all centres he will present a seminar for teachers called “A Gift for Life: Introducing Christian Meditation to the Young” (Cape Town on September 6, Durban on September 10, Johannesburg on September 12). Public seminars titled “Contemplative Prayer for Today” will be held in Cape Town on September 6, Durban on September 9, and Johannesburg on September 11. In Johannesburg, Fr Freeman will also present a public seminar titled “Word into Silence” at the Jesuit Institute on September 13. n For further details contact Paul Faller at paulf@cie.org.za or on 083 326-4568.

Catholics on army in CT townships Continued from page 1 in a well-considered, integrated approach involving sectors and role players from affected communities. Fr Jeremiah Gama OMI of St Mary Magdalene parish in Lentegeur, Mitchells Plain, said if the community feels the soldiers are needed, their views are the most important to consider. “It’s easy for people to comment on the army being here when they are not the ones living in these crime-ridden areas. They sleep peacefully in their own homes, they are not afraid that a stray bullet will come through their window,” he said. Stephen Selbourne, a parishioner and Catholic lay leader in Bonteheuwel, said he had long been waiting for army deployment. “The police have lost the battle against gangsterism and people are dying daily in our townships,” Mr Selbourne said. “We are living in fear. Innocent people have been caught in the crossfire in this gang war; gangsters killing each other over turfs; and drug smuggling,” he said. “If we can get rid of the drug dealers, then we will get rid of the gangsters,” Mr Selbourne said. “There is a need for our people to claim back our townships and homes for the safety of our children, and at this stage, we will only be able to do this with the help of the army,” he said. “Let’s give the SANDF a chance.”

Interfaith effort brings pipe organ to parish

IX years after a parish lost its beloved pipe organ in a storm, the community can now enjoy the harmonies of its new rebuilt organ. When Fr Mhlanganisi Dlamini OMI arrived at St Mary’s parish in Pietermaritzburg four years ago, he saw the pipe organ broken and unused. The parish decided to do something about it, and Fr Dlamini was referred to Werner Hurter, director of Pyporrels, a specialised pipeorgan builder. This started a journey of collaboration between two Churches and two communities. Mr Hurter knew that an unused organ at the Kerksondermure (KSM), a church in Centurion, Gauteng, would work in the Pietermaritzburg church. “I attended a service St Mary’s to listen to the congregation, how they sing, and the acoustics in the building. I then

listened to the sound of the KSM organ in my head and started to fathom how it would sound in this building,” Mr Hurter explained. In his opinion, transferring the organ would work. He told Fr Dlamini he was sure he could help by relocating an organ from Centurion to St Mary’s church. It would fit into the church architecturally and sound beautiful too. He then approached the KSM in Centurion which was happy to donate it. “Our role within this whole relocation process was to identify an organ for St Mary’s and to facilitate the process between the two Churches and to introduce them to one another,” he said. Parishioner Mary Gardener, who has attended St Mary’s church since she was a university student, said that seeing the coming together of the two Churches—

one donating and the other accepting the organ—had brought her much joy. Diane Gaskin, chair of St Mary’s PPC, said having a pipe organ back in the church has made a massive change to the way the congregation worships. Fr Dlamini is grateful to have the powerful instrument. “It is here and it is beautiful. It has a lot of ‘va-va-voom’ in it, and it is going to help a lot of souls. Whatever emotional situation you need to deal with, just come into this church—this organ is going to help you,” he said. For Roxanne Janse van Rensburg, marketing director at KSM, the experience has been rewarding. “The gift of music is really so beautiful because it helps people through worship find a new way to express themselves and their love for God,” she said.

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Frs Patrick Misomali and Xolile Mafu were ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Vincent Zungu in King Williams Town for Port Elizabeth diocese. (Submitted by Darryl DateLine)

The Southern Cross, July 24 to July 30, 2019

INTERNATIONAL

African bishop bargains deals for peace in CAR BY MARK PATTISON

ITH the national government seemingly unable to function in most of the Central African Republic (CAR), Bishop Nestor-Desire Nongo-Aziagbia of Bossangoa has negotiated peace settlements with two armed groups operating in his diocese. It may seem highly irregular, but for a population that has seen growing displacement, poverty, fighting and chaos over much of the past six years, it is a relief, Bishop NongoAziagbia said. “They are able to return home. They are able to go back to their farms. They are able to plant. They can start trading again,” he said. The same cannot be said for other regions of the CAR.

In the far northeastern part of the country, there are no roads and little chance for development as the national government, by Bishop Nongo-Aziagbia’s estimate, controls only about 20% of the country’s territory. As a result, they do most of their trading with neighbouring Sudan and Chad— even though Chad is a source for “mercenaries” hoping to get their hands on some of the wealth in the CAR, he said. The same is true for the country’s south eastern area, which borders the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). They use Congolese currency and do what trading they can with the Congolese. Lack of infrastructure and lack of access to the rest of the nation has made things this

way, Bishop Nongo-Aziagbia said. Sudan and the DRC have faced their own prolonged internal challenges. Bishop Nongo-Aziagbia was ordained a bishop, as were three of his fellow bishops in the nine-diocese CAR, in 2012. “People considered us ‘emergency bishops’ at the time,” he recalled. But the real emergency was when the country’s political troubles boiled over into violence the following year. Since then, “many of the things that we have built up” as a diocese over time—including schools, churches and health facilities— “have been destroyed” in Bossangoa, the nation’s seventh-largest city, Bishop Nongo-Aziagbia said.—CNS

Environmental activists march through London. Cardinal Peter Turkson said that the intensified demand for climate action by young people is a sign of hope during the planetary ecological crisis. (Photo: Henry Nicholls, Reuters/CNS)

Cardinal: Youth’s zeal sign of hope for Earth

Pro-life activists claim social media discrimination Y P

BY FREDRICK NZWILI

BY MATT HADRO

RO-life leaders have claimed online censorship by search engines and social media sites. “We are the tip of the spear as far as social media persecution goes,” said Cary Solomon, co-writer, director and producer of the pro-life film Unplanned. “We are an example of a business that was directly, monetarily hurt” by online censorship. Several pro-life leaders were among the 200 digital and social media experts invited to a White House summit in the US capital Washington. Lila Rose, founder and president of the pro-life group Live Action, told the summit how her organisation has had to deal with obstacles to online advertising.

Lila Rose, president of Live Action pro-life group. Live Action has been prevented from advertising on Twitter for four years, Ms Rose said, having been told by the social media giant that the group would need to stop calling for the defunding of Planned Parenthood, which provides artificial birth

control and abortion, and sharing its pro-life content. Planned Parenthood still advertises on the site, she noted. Meanwhile, YouTube “buried our pro-life videos and boosted abortion videos”, Ms Rose alleged. On its opening weekend—a time that is critical to any film, but especially to a smaller-budget film—Unplanned had its Twitter page taken down and lost the vast majority of its followers, said the film’s co-director Chuck Konzelman. In addition, Mr Konzelman said YouTube pulled their behind-thescenes documentary off the website, posted to promote interest in the film, citing several pieces of copyrighted music in the video—even though Unplanned had rights to the music. —CNA

Abortion, gay marriage challenged in House of Lords

S the British parliament continues to consider a bill on Northern Ireland including amendments to a bill legalising abortion and same-sex marriage, a peeress from the region has warned the amendments are “not workable”. The bill and its amendments will take effect only if the Northern Ireland Assembly, which has been suspended for the past two years due to a dispute between the two major governing parties, is not functional by October 21.

This week the House of Commons voted to add amendments legalising same-sex marriage and liberalising the abortion provision to the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill, which is designed to keep the region running in the absence of a functioning devolved government. Baroness Nuala O’Loan, a member of the House of Lords from Northern Ireland, told BBC News that the amendments cannot work, and that it is wrong of the British

No more plastic for Vatican BY CAROL GLATZ

FTER current supplies run out, Vatican City State will no longer be selling any single-use plastic items on its tiny territory. While the European Union pledged in May to ban single-use plastic starting in 2021, the Vatican had already begun limiting its use and soon “it will no longer be sold”, said Rafael Ignacio Tornini, head of the department handling Vatican City State’s gardens and waste collection. “We have been making an effort to sort as much plastic as possible, and the state has limited all sales of

single-use plastic,” he told the Italian news agency ANSA. After all previously stocked items are gone, no more single-use plastic will be sold, he said. Single-use plastic includes bags, water bottles, cutlery, straws and balloons. The top five single-use plastic items polluting European shores are cigarette butts, bottles and caps, food packaging, earbuds and wet wipes, according to research in 2016 by the European Commission. The Vatican has long been working to go green, most notably with the installation of a solar power system on the roof of the Paul VI Audience Hall in 2008.—CNS

Vatican cardinal dies

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government to “push it through in a situation where the people of Northern Ireland had no say”. Baroness O’Loan said members of parliament had “hijacked” the Northern Ireland bill and that “100% of the Northern Ireland MPs who have taken their seats in Westminster voted against this”. John Larkin, attorney general for Northern Ireland, said the abortion amendment was not “drafted clearly or consistently” with human rights laws.—CNA

OUNG people’s intensified demand for climate action is a sign of hope during the planet’s ecological crisis, said Cardinal Peter Turkson, head of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. “There are so many signs of hope. God is raising up people around the world to come together to care for our common home. I am happy to note the role of young people in this journey,” the Ghanaian cardinal said in an adress to a conference marking the fifth anniversary of the Catholic Youth Network on Environment and Sustainability in Africa and

the fourth anniversary of Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical Laudato Si’. Cardinal Turkson described climate challenges as complex and multifaceted but said the pressure exerted by students was being noticed by politicians, whom he said needed to show courage and make the decisions needed to fully implement the Paris Agreement, which seeks to limit the global temperature increase. He said young people were the generation most threatened by the climate crisis. Also, they are part of the future generations that stand to inherit a severe damaged planet, if no clear action is taken, he said.—CNS

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TALIAN Cardinal Paolo Sardi, a former official in the Vatican Secretariat of State, died in Rome on July 13 at the age of 84. Born in Ricaldone, northern Italy, in 1934 and ordained to the priesthood in 1958, Cardinal Sardi was a longtime official at the Vatican Secretariat of The late Cardinal Paolo State He coordinated Sardi (Photo: CNS) the office that edited papal texts and speeches. In 1996, Pope John Paul named him an archbishop and an apostolic nuncio with special responsibilities in the Secretariat of State. The pope personally ordained him a bishop in 1997 while Pope Benedict elevated him to the college of cardinals in 2010 when he was 76. Cardinal Sardi had served from 2004-11 as vicechamberlain of the Holy Roman Church, a position that involves special duties when a pope dies. In fact, he was among those present for the ceremony verifying the death of Pope John Paul in 2005. In 2009, Pope Benedict named Cardinal Sardi the pro-patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, a position that involved promoting the spiritual interests of the Knights of Malta and their relationship with the Vatican. He held that role until 2014. —CNS

INTERNATIONAL

BY DALE GAVLAK

Dominicans elect 51-year-old Filipino as world head

what we do. It is who we are. And if that is clear, everything will just follow. We are preachers even when we are not preaching. We are preachers even if in our old age, we can no longer speak. We are preachers even if we are not ordained. We are preachers even if we are sick. We are preachers even if we are doing serious research alone in our rooms. We are preachers when we are helping the less privileged. We are preachers. That is our identity,” Fr Timoner said. He also encouraged members of the order to talk with one another in order to overcome internal differences. Fr Timoner was born on January 26, 1968, in Daet, the capital of the Philippines’ Camarines Norte province. At the time of his election, he was the assistant to the master general for the Asia-Pacific region. Previously he was Dominican provincial for the Philippines.—CNS

Parishes need risk-takers BY CINDY WOODEN

HE papal vicar for Rome has asked every pastor in the diocese to form a “pastoral team” of about a dozen “courageous explorers” to help launch a new neighbourhood missionary outreach. “Don’t go looking for those who have shown they are prudent, measured and detail-oriented,” Cardinal Angelo de Donatis, the papal vicar, wrote in a letter to priests. Instead, he said, the team should be made up of “people who draw outside the lines, people whom the Holy Spirit has made passionate about imperfection”.

Cardinal: US-Iran war could involve Iraq

Newly-elected master general of the Dominican order worldwide, Filipino Fr Gerard Francisco Timoner. (Photo: Vatican News)

EMBERS of the Dominican general chapter elected 51year-old Fr Gerard Francisco Timoner to be the master general of the worldwide religious order. Fr Timoner, a native of the Philippines, is the 88th superior of the Order of Preachers, founded by St Dominic Guzman, and the first Asian to lead the order. Elected during the order’s general chapter in Bien Hoa, Fr Timoner told his Dominican brothers that he initially did not want to accept the position, but he was encouraged by the others, who reminded him the vote was proceeded by the invocation of the Holy Spirit. The Catholic Church today, it seems, “needs a Francis and a Dominic”, he said after the election. “There is a need for a new evangelisation, and we are all called to do precisely that.” St Dominic formed an order of preachers, he said. “It is not what we do. It is who we are. Mission is not

The Southern Cross, July 24 to July 30, 2019

The diocese’s 2019-20 pastoral year is focused on “listening to the cry of the city” and responding with stronger parish communities. “We do not need competent and qualified professionals as much as Christians who apparently are like everyone else but, in reality, are able to dream, to infect others with their dreams and want to experience something new,” the cardinal wrote. The pastoral team’s first responsibility, he said, is to go out into the neighbourhood that comprises the parish territory, talk to people, observe and then “map the characteristics” in light of the area’s history and the lifestyle of residents.—CNS

HALDEAN Catholic Patriarch Louis Sako is concerned by rising tensions between the US and Iran, fearful that his country, Iraq, could be caught in the middle of any potential conflict. It has also made a proposed visit by Pope Francis to Iraq next year uncertain, he said. Cardinal Sako said Iraq’s Christians are struggling after destruction of their ancestral lands by ISIS militants and the current growing encroachment by Shiite militias on their towns, following years of sectarian violence convulsing Iraq. “We are afraid when we hear people saying that there will be war and what could happen. But I hope that we will not have war and that the Iranians will consider what Iraq has experienced. After 15 years, Iraq is suffering and there is confusion,” he said. “There is no citizenship, but sectarianism in Iraq. Christians have suffered a lot.” Cardinal Sako was among several speakers invited by Sally Axworthy, the British ambassador to the Holy See, to the presentation of the UK Independent Review on Persecution of Christians at Rome’s basilica of St Bartholomew, a shrine to modern martyrs of the Catholic Church. The review looked into the situation of Christians around the world, particularly in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. In Iraq, the report stated that while ISIS has been defeated,

Cardinal Louis Raphael I Sako, the Chaldean Catholic patriarch, speaks during the presentation of the UK Independent Review on Persecution of Christians, in Rome. (Photo: Paul Haring/CNS) Shiite militias have taken over Christian properties seized by ISIS and have impeded the free movement of Christians, especially priests who are “unable to reach their churches to lead worship”. The Christian population in Iraq numbered about 1,5-2 million before the 2003 US-led invasion, analysts say, and it has now dwindled to about 200 000. Christians have been targeted by sectarian violence, driven out of their homeland of 14 centuries. Almost two-thirds of Iraqi Christians belong to the Chaldean Catholic Church. Cardinal Sako said there were once-thriving Christian communities throughout Iraq: in the capital, Baghdad, in Basra to the south, as well as in Kirkuk, Mosul and Kurdistan in the north.

“Today in Mosul, there are virtually no Christians. There were more than 30 000. I was a parish priest there,” he said. “After the liberation of Mosul, I went there one week afterward and saw that all of our churches had been destroyed. These churches date from the fifth to the 10th century. They are no more. We are afraid that something similar will happen in Iran, but that Iraq will also be affected by a war,” he said. The climate of uncertainty has also called into question Pope Francis’ hoped-for visit to Iraq next year. “We don’t know how things will go. Maybe the pope is waiting. He expressed his wish to come to Iraq,” said Cardinal Sako, who sent an invitation to the pope on behalf of the Iraqi Church. —CNS

Pilgrimage to the Holy Land with Cardinal Wilfrid Napier OFM

Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus 28th May – 11th June 2020

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The Southern Cross, July 24 to July 30, 2019

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

Army in the streets

HEN the time comes to measure the success of the deployment in Cape Town of the South African National Defence Force in combating the rampant gangsterism in the city’s townships, we will need to listen closely to the experience of the affected communities. Within the communities themselves there is no clear consensus about the desirability of having the army on their streets. Indeed, that deployment was a last-straw act which the government was rightly hesitant to enact. For many people in these communities, the presence of the army evokes the memory of apartheid troops on their streets, guns raised in defence of a brutal oppressive regime. That trauma persists. But this is a new day. The army is no longer pitted against people of good will but against the tyrannical regime of the gangs and the druglords. The army and the people face a mutual enemy. There are fair arguments against the deployment of the army, such as the militarisation of law enforcement; the potential for crime deterrence violating the rights of innocent people; the unhappy experience of similar operations in other countries, and so on. These objections must be taken seriously. But, as Fr Jeremiah Gama OMI counsels in our report this week, we must take our first cue from the communities which have suffered under the yoke of gang crime. Initial sentiments in the communities seem to suggest a more or less cautious welcome. With gangsters taking flight, many people have reported a sense of peace not known for a very long time. But the exile of the gangsters will likely be short-lived. What will happen when the troops withdraw? The temporary presence of the army in gang-infested areas of a city will not solve a reality that resides on layers of deep-rooted problems. The army cannot solve the systemic problems within the police and its distribution which makes effective law enforcement, anticrime measures and the protection of the public in those communities impossible. The army cannot overhaul a judicial system that lacks the capacity to handle overwhelming volumes of criminal cases. The army cannot solve the problem of poverty and unem-

ployment which feeds crime and gangsterism. The army cannot fix a broken education system which leaves young people with few career choices outside crime. The army cannot sustain community projects that provide an alternative to crime. The army cannot upgrade public infrastructure, including housing. And the army cannot repair the lasting legacy of the forced removals which destroyed communities and created many of the ghettos which our soldiers are now asked to patrol. If we are serious about addressing the anarchy in which so many South Africans live, then we must confront the history that created these realities—and how deplorably, pathetically little has been done by successive local, provincial and national governments to address these legacies. In Cape Town, where half a century ago the apartheid regime killed off the District Six community, the destruction of communities continues under the dictatorship of property development and free-market gentrification which forces long-standing residents to the city’s periphery. Where communities are given protection, as occurred lately in the Bo-Kaap, it follows coordinated protests. And will that protection be anything more than a stay of execution? Long after the army has left the townships of Cape Town, these and so many other problems that cause the gang culture will remain. Fr Peter-John Pearson suggests in our report that there is a need for a concerted and integrated approach to combat not just crime itself but also its causes. Does the political will for that exist? The presence of the army on the streets may well succeed in suppressing crime. It may ameliorate an unbearable situation. Perhaps it will even crush crime syndicates (though power vacuums will always be filled again). If “Operation Prosper” in Cape Town succeeds, the government is considering repeating the exercise in Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth. We must hope that the experience of the Cape Flats will defy due scepticism and give those communities hope. But the flip-side must also cause us concern: What will be if the SANDF, the mightiest legitimate force in the land, should fail to stop the gangs?

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.

Jesus on Cross showed courage of Lion of Judah S OCRATES and the common soldier seem to face death with greater courage than Christ, Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI suggests in his column “Who wants to die like Jesus?” (June 12). This premise may leave the reader perplexed: who could be more courageous than the Saviour? Theological proportionality differs between the acceptance of death by humanity and that of the choice made by divinity incarnated as human. In the first instance, gracious acceptance of a tragic fate is made by a human with personal responsibility alone. In the latter, Jesus knowingly chose messianic martyrdom with redemptive responsibility for all humanity. As Jesus faced the prospect of death in Gethsemane, many factors differentiated his experience from that of humanity. Firstly, the Saviour had full knowledge of the detailed suffering his death would entail (Is 53:112, Mt 17:12, Lk 9:22). During his passion, he would face the full force of Satan and the power of darkness (Lk 22:53). To Jesus fell the task of saving each of us from the righteous judgment our inherited sinful state

We remain in the Church for Christ

LAUD the Southern Cross editor for his brilliant editorial “Where is Christ?” (July 3). Thank you, thank you! You have written a masterpiece. I wholeheartedly share your sentiments. United with you in Christ, I remain a proud Catholic! Irmingard Jansen, Johannesburg

Don’t confirm homosexuality

ATHER Russell Pollitt (July 10) is not happy with my comments on the book Building a Bridge by Fr James Martin SJ (July 6).

Illumination of the crucifixion from the Vaux Passional of the 16th century. should have accorded us (Is 53:12). The righteous wrath of God fell on him instead of on us: to the point that the presence of God the Father deserted him (Ps 22:2, Mt 27:46). During his passion Christ was, as it were, made the sacrificial goat on which the sins of all the people were placed (Lev 16:7-10). None except Jesus can lay claim

This book, instead of approving and supporting the homosexual lifestyle, should warn and advise against it. It overlooks the temporary and eternal consequences of the gay way of life. The temporary results are, inter alia, HIV, STDs, oral cancer, anal cancer, and suicide. The eternal outcome of the chosen gay lifestyle is announced in the Old and New Testaments. But as even the pope questions the traditional view of hell, we cannot expect homosexuals to believe in hell, which makes life a lot less worrisome for them. That is maybe the reason why they always seem so exuberantly cheerful in their gay parades. But actually, we don’t need doctors or the Bible to tell us that gay addiction leads to perdition.

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to being the Redeemer from sin. None but Christ has faced a death while confronting both the power of darkness and the burden of every sin upon him. In the words of Norman Clayton’s hymn “For All My Sin”: “Oh what a Saviour is mine!” Those such as various saints and the moribund who face death with calm often do so fortified by the example and grace won for them by Jesus during the Passion. During the time of acceptance of the cup of suffering in the garden, the anguish of Jesus was so great that his sweat fell to the ground like drops of blood (Lk 22:44). This did not show human cowardice—rather the reverse. Courage is the state of mind that makes us willing to lose something dear to us for the sake of a greater purpose. Courage may be defined as the absence of fear. Far greater courage may be defined as the overcoming of fear. During the time Jesus overcame great natural fear for his greater love and compassion for us, he showed the magnificence of God made man. Jesus showed the courage of the Lion of Judah (Rev 5:5, Gen 49:910). Nicolette Whittle, Kroonstad Opinions expressed in The Southern Cross, especially in Letters to the Editor, do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor or staff of the newspaper, or of the Catholic hierarchy. The letters page in particular is a forum in which readers may exchange opinions on matters of debate. Letters must not be understood to necessarily reflect the teachings, disciplines or policies of the Church accurately. Letters can be sent to PO Box 2372, Cape Town 8000 or editor@scross.co.za or faxed to 021 465-3850

The natural law already says so. That law is very near to us, it is in our hearts (Dt 30:10-14) and we call it conscience. Homosexuals should not receive Fr Martin’s approval of their gay lifestyle. The only pastoral guide a Catholic priest should provide is confession and conversion, not confirmation. JH Goossens, Pretoria

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The Southern Cross, July 24 to July 30, 2019

PERSPECTIVES

169km walk to Bl Daswa

T was 6:00 at Burgersdorp church. I realised that I was the only woman in our group of five who were going to make the walking pilgrimage of 169km to Our Lady of the Assumption church in Nweli, the shrine of Bl Benedict Tshimangadzo Daswa. I sat and watched them. A word spoke to me and said “Quit!”, but my heart said “Do it!”. I said a short quiet prayer—and said: “Let’s go!” So I set off with my fellow walking pilgrims: Fr Wilfred Okali AJ (our spiritual director and companion on this pilgrimage), Hudson Shingange, Oupa Mboweni and Collen Hlatswayo. At about 30km, I realised I had not eaten since I woke up, but I was not hungry. I had a 500ml bottle of water with me. I drank the water and walked on to Giyani, a journey which took us 11 hours and 25 minutes, covering about 110km. Upon our arrival my legs were swollen and painful, but the courage was there. I wanted to continue on this journey. Someone was compelling me to carry on.

The tomb of Bl Benedict Daswa in Our Lady of the Assumption church in Nweli. My belief was strong and I thanked God for the strength and I asked for more power. It was not easy, but because of my belief I managed.

fter spending the night at the home of Gloria Mativandlela of Giyani parish, we continued with our mission the following morning, from Giyani to Malamulele. At this point of the pilgrim-

The group of pilgrims on the second day of their 169km-long walking pilgrimage to the shrine of Bl Benedict Tshimangadzo Daswa in Nweli, near Thohoyandou.

Can we give in to Jesus? M ANY Catholics, it seems to me, don’t really know how to converse with God in prayer. If we say we are a prayerful people, do we really believe in the power of prayer, but do we also understand how to communicate through it? In a profound new book titled No Neutral Ground (Hodder & Stoughton), Christian leader Pete Portal writes about how he sang in the Anglican choirs of England. He speaks of how he found it difficult to grasp a relationship with God because everything was ritualistic and nothing really prompted that relationship to start, let alone a meaningful prayer conversation with God. Everything was just recited off in parrot fashion, as we Catholics have the Our Father, Hail Mary or Glory Be. It was ritualistic, but not relational. After an Evangelical prayer encounter, Portal was later called to study theology and pack his bags to embark on a journey to Cape Town, where he felt God wanted him to be. Filled with this fire of the Holy Spirit, Portal left any idea of living in the security of England’s leafy suburbs and instead decided to live among the people of Manenberg, a ghetto in Cape Town created in 1966 by the apartheid regime for coloured people whom it had displaced. It is a community on the Cape Flats which has a high unemployment rate, is gang-ridden and drug-infested, and many youths grow up in single-parented or broken homes. In No Neutral Ground, Portal writes about the struggle he has living among the people of Manenberg, the episodes of depression as he shared his home with former drug users who were on the verge of relapse, with gangsters, prisoners and social outcasts. But a pertinent point of this narrative is that through prayer many of these men in difficult conditions formed a meaningful relationship with God. They were taught to pray, but more so to communicate with God in a language they were

Keenan Williams asks: Do we Catholics know how to pray, not by formula but by having a talk with God? able to speak. It reminds me of an experience my dad, who is a pastor in another denomination, had while feeding the poor in Hanover Park, a community similar to Manenberg.

fter feeding the “multitudes”, my dad, who had often been seen pastoring in the area, was walking back to his bakkie when he was approached by a man with screwdriver in hand. “Give me your money and cellphone,” the guy demanded. My dad refused and carried on walking. The man, who is said to have been drugged up, then picked up a rock, raised it above his head and planned to smash it through the windscreen of the bakkie. My dad thought about how he could “bliksem the daylights out” of the skollie, but then the Holy Spirit took control of his entire being. My dad pointed at the man and shouted: “I command you in the name of Jesus to put down that rock and screwdriver and leave this way of life!” The man, obviously quite confused by this unexpected turn of events, dropped the rock and screwdriver, mumbled something, and walked away. Some might say that that was a moment of insanity on my dad’s part, especially standing up to someone wanting to

Mmachuba Innocentia Phasha

Point of Reflection

age we were joined by Bongani Mativandlela, a seminarian from Giyani parish. Our muscles could not take the strain anymore, but we asked Bl Daswa to pray for us so that we might fulfil our promise. And, indeed, we made it to Holy Rosary School, just before Malamulele, where some Catholic parishioners and Sisters had been waiting for us since morning, just to see these pilgrims from Ngwabitsi parish. They welcomed us and gave us water and biscuits, since we did not want a heavy meal. We prayed the novena with them. It was 15:00 and we continued with our pilgrimage to Malamulele, where we were welcomed and congratulated by Catholics and non-Catholics. The next day at 6:00, after prayers, we continued our pilgrimage to Nweli. We arrived at noon. Our legs would not have taken us further but through the power of God we reached our destination. We spent some time in quiet prayer in front of the tomb of Bl Daswa. We concluded our walking pilgrimage with a Mass of thanksgiving and gratitude, realising that it is by the grace of God that we were able to make it to this place—and that through the intercession of Bl Daswa, what seemed impossible became a reality. This experience taught me that a pilgrimage is about sacrifice. It has made me a strong and believing woman. Through our Bl Tshimangadzo Benedict Daswa and the prayers from our Church members we made it to Thohoyandou, where we spent the night. All thanks to the following families: Mativandlela in Giyani, Mahunsi in Malamulele-Xigalo, Machaba in Thohoyandou, and Nembambula in Shayandima who hosted us. And not forgetting Chris Mphaphuli from Thohoyandou parish! May the good Lord bless you with more and more and may Bl Tshimangadzo Benedict Daswa intercede for your needs.

Keenan Williams

Talking Faith

mug him in a place like Hanover Park, let alone shout commands about what the mugger should do. But it definitely shows the power which lies in the name of Jesus and in the power of prayer. I often heard a story about my grandfather, who served as deacon in our parish until his death, which can only be said to be something supernatural and miraculous. One particular day, while at Ms Peterson’s house to distribute Communion, as he usually did, my granddad experienced a moving moment which empowered his faith in God. Ms Peterson, who was bound to a wheelchair all her life, was very pious in her prayers. My granddad witnessed this faithful woman getting to her feet after receiving Communion, raising her eyes to the ceiling and saying, “Into the arms of Jesus…”. She then collapsed, dead. How many of us can say that we have such a close relationship with God that we allow him to guide and lead us to where he can utilise us better for the establishment of his kingdom and will in our lives? How many of us believe in the power and might of the name of Jesus? How many of us live so closely to our God in our daily conversation that, one day, when we breathe our last, the last words on our lips will be, “Into the arms of Jesus”? Instead of keeping to what we are “supposed” to do as Catholics—be it obligatory, ritualistic or tradition—may the core of our faith be the foundation of an intimate, meaningful relationship we have built with Christ. I mean a relationship in which we can communicate with him freely and, when we don’t have the formal words to say so, we are able to cry out: “Daddy, I need you. Fill me with your love. I feel so alone, so scared, so terrified at what lies ahead. You know what’s best for me: lead me, guide me, heal me, and take control when I can’t.”

Chris Chatteris SJ

Pray with the Pope

Let families be ‘schools of growth’ Intention: That families, through their life of prayer and love, may become ever more clearly true “schools of true human growth”. HE survival of family life surely points to the fundamentally communal nature of the human person. Battered and bruised, the family, as a human institution, has somehow kept going in the face of the assaults upon it, both intellectual and economic. The strange idea that I am not really a person through other people, that I am somehow a person through my own unaided, superhuman efforts is the notion spread in recent years by the poisonous philosophy of an extreme individualism. And although, on average, humans have never had it so good than in this time, there is a serious sense of economic insecurity around the commitment of marriage. Some of this is objective. For example, it has become more and more expensive for young couples to afford housing, and the education of children to a level that can cope with our complex modern world has made large families well-nigh unaffordable. Even a small family will require two salaries. At the same time, globalisation has shattered and scattered the traditional extended family. The subjective sense that marriage is unaffordable we can confidently place at the door of those who have made of matrimony an industry—those media which portray fairytale weddings which can be had only by taking out a second mortgage, and the wedding planners who tempt couples to do it anyway! While there may be many young couples today who rightly see their marriages as founded on mutual love, I wonder how many these days give much thought to prayer as something which will keep them loving and help them and their children to grow.

ny serious, life-long commitment is going to require depth if it is to last and to thrive. My guess is that for many Christian couples, especially with small children, finding the time and energy to pray, even in church on Sunday, is a daunting challenge. Thomas Merton’s disarmingly simple advice about prayer—”Take the time”—is all very well for the single religious, but what about young, working parents with small children? They will need help from others to find the time. Grandparents and other members of the extended family, if such a family still exists in one geographical place, can be invaluable. There also needs to be a spirituality for this stage in life. They will have to strategise continually if they are to find the time and energy for personal and communal prayer. They will have to rely on one another to give each other permission, and time, to be alone with God on a regular basis. In this tangled complexity, they are in the same boat as any modern Christian, but their situation is surely particularly complex and extraordinarily demanding. I imagine a young Christian couple trying their best to snatch moments of prayer reading this intention and wondering which celibate male wrote it! It makes family life sound like that of the Holy Family of Nazareth, an impossible ideal. Again, we need to rally around and assure them that it is precisely in the messiness and stress and strain of young family life that God is at work in them, and through which they and their children can grow. It seems to me that if they are sincerely doing their best to love and to pray, their state of life is so inherently unselfish and self-sacrificing, that if they persevere, they will come through as greatly matured, much wiser and more compassionate people, and their children will indeed be a blessing to them.

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The Southern Cross, July 24 to July 30, 2019

COMMUNITY

The youth choir of St Kevin’s church in Windvogel, Port Elizabeth, hosted a “pudding afternoon” to raise funds to design and manufacture T-shirts for young people, to make them more visible in the parish and to encourage social responsibility. The youth are guided by Fr Callistus Nwosu SDV. (Submitted by Jolindon Petersen) Our Lady of Mount Carmel church and retreat house and its grounds in Benoni, Johannesburg archdiocese, were decorated for the annual novena on the feast day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. (Submitted by Sanet Karam)

Youth Day at St Teresa’s School in Craighall Park, Johannesburg, celebrated the 20 000 Soweto pupils who helped to change South Africa during the June 16 uprising in 1976. Fr Thabo Motshegwa conducted Mass for Grades 2 to 12 in Rosebank parish. This was followed by songs, dances and poems from learners in all three phases of the school. Two 1980s alumni also spoke about the part the Sisters of Mercy played in educating children of all races.

Fr Peter Lafferty CSSp presided at the wedding of Michelle Daniels and Kerman Pillay in Holy Trinity church in Musgrave, Durban. (Submitted by Rea Mina)

Bishop Vincent Zungu of Port Elizabeth joined East London deanery youth in celebrating Youth Day with Mass at St Patrick’s parish in Berea. Following Mass, the youth, parents, clergy and missionaries enjoyed a family fun day at Hamilton Club. The Grade 1s at Assumption Convent School in Germiston, Johannesburg archdiocese, celebrated their first 100 days of school and dressed for the occasion.

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The debating team of Sacred Heart College in Observatory, Johannesburg, were crowned national champions at the ABSA debating championships held in June. The team (from left) comprises Tahir Tayob, Tariro Banganayi, Tanyaradza Kaseke, Tyron Wei and Siyabonga Nxumalo.

The Salesian Youth Movement of Johannesburg met at St Francis de Sales parish in Lawley for the monthly reflection meeting. This one focused on the gift of wisdom. (Submitted by Br Clarence Watts SDB)

Corpus Christi Sunday at St Anthony of Padua parish in Pietermaritzburg started with Mass followed by a procession with hymns to the Marion Hall Chapel where Benediction was given. (Submitted by Lynette Noel)

The Southern Cross, July 24 to July 30, 2019

SAINTS

The miracle that gets Newman canonised Collapsed on a bathroom floor, fearing for her life and that of her unborn child, a mother called out to Bl John Henry Newman for help. JOYCE DURIGA reports on what happened next.

FEW prayers to Bl John Henry Newman became a “constant dialogue” and then a desperate response to an emergency for Melissa Villalobos. Her healing, which saved her life and that of her unborn child, was accepted as the miracle needed for the 19th-century British cardinal’s canonisation. Pope Francis announced this month that he will declare John Henry Newman a saint on October 13, alongside four others. Ms Villalobos is from Chicago in the US state of Illinois. Coincidentally, the miracle accepted for Bl Newman’s beatification in 2010 also involved someone from the United States: Deacon Jack Sullivan, 71, of Marshfield, Massachusetts, was healed of a severe spinal condition in 2001. Ms Villalobos, 42, recalled that in 2011, “my husband brought home a couple of holy cards with Cardinal Newman’s picture on them. I put one in the family room and one in our master bedroom.” When she would pass the picture in the house, “I would say little prayers to him for whatever our family’s needs were at the time— the children, my husband, myself. I really started to develop a very constant dialogue with him,” said Ms Villalobos, a mother of seven. In 2013, during the first trimester of a pregnancy, she started bleeding. At the time she had four children between the ages

of one and six, and a previous pregnancy that had ended in miscarriage. “When I went to the doctor, he did an ultrasound, and he said the placenta had become partially detached from the uterine wall, so there was a hole in the placenta, and that hole was allowing blood to escape,” she said. Ms Villalobos also developed a subchorionic hematoma, which is a blood clot in the foetal membrane. It was two-and-a-half times the size of the baby. The doctors recommended bed rest. But the bleeding got worse, so on May 10, 2013, a Friday, Ms Villalobos went to the emergency room in a hospital.

Moment of crisis Again, the doctor recommended strict bed rest, which was difficult to imagine with four small children and a husband who had to work. The doctor also told the couple that a miscarriage was likely, but if the baby survived the pregnancy, she would likely be born prematurely. Added to the stress was the fact that Ms Villalobos’ husband, David, had to leave for a mandatory business trip. “Wednesday morning I woke up in bed in a pool of blood. My husband was already in an aeroplanes on his way to Atlanta,” Ms Villalobos said. She put off calling emergency services because she didn’t know who would care for the kids if she was taken in an ambulance to the hospital. She made the children breakfast and told them to stay put before going upstairs. “Now the bleeding was really bad because I had just gone up the stairs, which I really shouldn’t have done,” Ms Villalobos recalled. “I kind of collapsed on the bathroom floor out of weakness and desperation.”

Ms Villalobos lay there thinking she should now call the emergency hotline, but she realised she didn’t have her cellphone. And she also knew the force of yelling for her kids would cause more damage and bleeding. She was hoping one of her children would wander into her room so she could ask them for her phone, but they didn’t. She heard nothing from her children and the silence made her even more worried.

Desperate call for help With thoughts of losing her unborn baby, worry for her children downstairs, and wondering if she might die, Ms Villalobos uttered her fateful prayer. “Then I said, ‘Please, Cardinal Newman, make the bleeding stop.’ Those were my exact words. Just then, as soon as I finished the sentence, the bleeding stopped.” She got off the floor and verified there was no more bleeding. “I said, ‘Thank you, Cardinal Newman. Thank you.’ Just then the scent of roses filled the bathroom,” Ms Villalobos said. “The strongest scent of roses I’ve ever smelled.” “I thought to myself in that moment, ‘Oh my goodness! My baby is OK. I’m OK. My four children are OK. We’re all OK.’ And I said, ‘Thank you, Cardinal Newman,’” Ms Villalobos said. That afternoon Ms Villalobos’ cure was confirmed during her weekly ultrasound. The doctor told her everything was “perfect” and there was no more hole in the placenta. “I was able to resume my full active life as a mom,” she said. Baby Gemma was born on December 27, 2013, after a full pregnancy, weighing 3855g. She had no medical problems. Ms Villalobos waited until after Gemma was born to report the

Melissa Villalobos, whose healing, which saved her life and that of her unborn child, was accepted as the miracle needed for the 19th-century British Cardinal John Henry Newman’s canonisation. (Photo courtesy Chicago Catholic) healing to the promoters of Cardinal Newman’s canonisation cause. In late 2014, representatives from Newman’s cause visited Chicago and met with Ms Villalobos and her husband. Officials from the archdiocese of Chicago conducted the local study of what was then still considered just an alleged miracle, and forwarded the case to the Vatican for another series of investigations.

The life of Newman in a nutshell W HEN Bl John Henry Newman is elevated to the canonised sainthood in October, he will become Britain’s first new saint since the canonisation of St John Ogilvie in 1976. Born on February 21, 1801, John Henry Newman was a theologian, poet, convert, Catholic priest and cardinal. Originally an Anglican priest, he converted to Catholicism in 1845. His scholarship and tracts are considered to be among the most important Church writings in recent centuries. Ordained a Catholic priest in 1847, he was made a cardinal in 1879. In his youth as an Evangelical Calvinist, Newman held the common belief in those circles that the pope was the antichrist. By the time he graduated from Oxford’s Trinity College—with sub-average results—he had abandoned the Evangelicalism of his youth and embraced Anglicanism. At 23, Newman was made a deacon in Christ Church cathedral, Oxford, and the following year, on May 29, 1825, was ordained to Anglican priesthood. As an Anglican priest, Newman was regarded as one of the great intellects in Britain. He was involved in several disputes involving theology and politics. In between those debates, he wrote his popular hymn “Lead, Kindly Light”, after falling ill on a Mediterranean journey in 1833. Newman’s drift to Catholicism was gradual, though studies in 1939 which persuaded him of the principles of ecclesiastical authority as expressed by the Church of Rome accelerated that shift. In February 1843, Newman published, anonymously, an advertisement in the Oxford Conservative Journal, in which he retracted all the criticism he had issued of Roman Catholicism. In September that

Bl John Henry Newman, portrayed in his cardinal’s finery. year he preached his last Anglican sermon. Two years later he finally converted to Catholicism, and in 1847 he was ordained to the Catholic priesthood. He spent most of his clerical life in Birmingham. Newman’s conversion to the Catholic faith was controversial in England, and resulted in him losing many friends—including his own sister, who never spoke to him again.

n 1878, Pope Pius IX died (on the day that Newman returned to Oxford for the first time in 32 years). That pope had viewed Newman with suspicion, but the new pope, Leo XIII, was an admirer of that English priest who in his writings was redefining Catholic thought. Pope Leo offered Newman the cardinal’s red hat, which the priest accepted under two circumstances: he would not be consecrated a bishop on receiving the car-

dinalate, as was usual at that time; and he could remain in Birmingham. The pope agreed and elevated Newman to the rank of cardinal on May 12, 1879. From 1886 onwards, Newman’s health deteriorated. He celebrated his last Mass on Christmas Day in 1889 and died of pneumonia on August 11, 1890, at the Birmingham Oratory. By his own request, he was buried alongside his lifelong friend Ambrose St John. Bl Newman was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in Birmingham on September 19, 2010. His feast day is celebrated on October 9, the date on which he was received into the Catholic Church. Remarkably, Newman is also venerated in the Church of England, which marks his feast on the anniversary of his death, August 11. The Episcopalian Church (US Anglicans) mark Newman’s feast on his birthday, February 21. Bl Newman once wrote: “God has created me to do him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. “He has not created me for naught. I shall do good; I shall do his work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it if I do but keep his commandments,” he wrote. “Therefore, I will trust him... If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve him... He does nothing in vain... He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide the future from me. “Still, he knows what he is about.”

The outcome was revealed on February 13 when Pope Francis announced that the miracle had been approved and that Cardinal Newman would be canonised. “I was cured through Newman’s intercession so that I could continue an ordinary life, if you will— but at the same time be completely devoted to him, and especially God himself and our Church,” Ms Villalobos said.—CNS

Couples’ St Valentine Holy Land Pilgrimage 13 to 22 February 2020

Join Rob & Mahadi Buthelezi on a special Couples’ Pilgrimage to the Holy Land led by Fr Bongani Sithole. With Wedding Vows Renewal at Cana! For more information please contact Gail info@fowlertours.co.za or 076 352-3809 www.fowlertours.co.za/couples

The Southern Cross, July 24 to July 30, 2019

INTERVIEW

What my faith means to me Ursula Chikane is one of South Africa’s best-known TV and radio personalities. She was interviewed about her faith and Top Billing by RICARDO DA SILVA SJ.

INCE the 1990s, Ursula Chikane (née Stapelfeldt) has been as fixture on the South African broadcasting scene: on TV as a presenter on the SABC lifestyle programme Top Billing and MTN Gladiators, and on radio as Brown Sugar on 5FM and currently on Johannesburg’s Power FM. In this interview, edited from a podcast produced for the Jesuit Institute’s “Expanding Horizons” series, the Johannesburg-born Catholic speaks frankly about her faith and the Church, her regrets about Top Billing, and the accident that changed her life.

Let’s talk about Ursula long before Top Billing… I was born a cradle Catholic. I went to Bosmont Secondary Primary in Grades 1 and 2, and from then onwards to St Catherine’s Convent [in Germiston]. Growing up I had mostly guys as friends, and so I grew up believing that I had no limits. When we had to go to Mass and wear dresses, I did not like it one bit because they were just so inconvenient. Afterwards we would go home and I wouldn’t be able to run and play in the streets with my guy friends because I had this silly dress on. So I couldn’t wait to get home and change out of it. That tomboy nature sort of stuck with me, even though after joining programmes like Top Billing I learnt how to strut instead of walk—but I pretty much am still the tomboy. How did the tomboy get on Top Billing? The way I landed up on Top Billing was via my work in sports broadcasting [on SABC’s TopSport]. I was covering a horse race in Cape

Town and the producers of Top Billing saw me and they enjoyed how much of a “lady-like tomboy” I was—and that stayed. When I joined Top Billing they put me in a little box—the “tomboy in heels”—so I would do the skydiving, the mountain climbing, the river rafting…anything that needed a “fabulously fearless female”. Later they allowed me to become “the lady” and learn to master the heels properly. I remember as a 14-year-old aspiring to the Top Billing lifestyle… The lifestyle that is portrayed on Top Billing is unattainable for the great majority of South Africans across the colour divide, isn’t it? When you look at the sheer glitz and glamour… When I was much younger, I honestly celebrated the show as an aspirational vehicle to motivate people to work towards a goal and achieve it. But then, somewhere along the line, this crass materialism crept in. I don’t know whether it was intentional or not, but it really was just celebrating how much you can get, as fast as you can get it. Maybe it’s because I grew up, maybe it’s because the blinkers fell from my eyes, maybe it’s because through things like social media pressure, that I was being forced to see the show through different eyes. I started seeing more and more people doing heinous things without any regret to achieve the Top Billing lifestyle, the Top Billing House, the Top Billing Car, the Top Billing this and that—through crime. And then people were taking huge loans, getting themselves into horrible debt so they could have a Top Billing Wedding. Then not long after they’ve had their Top Billing Wedding, they’re saddled with this debt and all the stress that comes with it—and nobody talks about the Top Billing Divorce. A lot of people say that we were selling people dreams, and a lot of people say that we were selling people motivation, so at the end of the day it comes down to how you view it, through whichever lens you’re

looking at the programme. But what I’m left with is the residual effects. I just feel so bad because I do think after all these years of looking back, of reflecting, of seeing the state of some of the people in our country and what the Top Billing lifestyle means to them—I did play a huge role in building that brand, and I do feel badly. I always will be incredibly grateful for the platform that Top Billing presented me with and the experiences that I was afforded. So, on the one hand I’m eternally grateful, and on the other hand I also carry the weight of responsibility for what I have contributed to what some sections of society have become today. In this age of social media, many young people seem to think that the broadcasting game is an easy one, but it’s a craft, isn’t it? [Laughs] It is a craft and you do need to continue working on it. Yes, God blesses people with certain talents, and there are naturally-born broadcasters—but before you can get in front of the microphone you need to know about mic techniques. You also need to realise that there are people who’ve been there before you. When a seasoned broadcaster says, “Try not to do X, Y and Z”, it’s not because they want to pull you down; it’s because they want you to experience the kind of longevity that they themselves have been blessed with. When the cameraman says, “Drop your chin”, and when the sound engineers says, “Don’t overproject”, they’re doing it for a reason. If they didn’t do that, you might not be called back to present that show that you Led by Archbishop think God blessed you with. If you’re going to be masWilliam Slattery OFM terful at anything, you’ve got 21 Aug to 2 Sept 2020 to put in the hours, you’ve got to put in the work. You cannot microwave To book contact Gail at success. In the short-term, info@fowlertours.co.za maybe it’s going to work for you—but then somebody or phone 076 352-3809 else is going to come along and turn your microwave off and kick you out of your spot. Filming Top Billing you had a freak accident… Ooh, it was freak accident on steroids! It was the day after my 39th birthday, and we were shooting at a home in Woodmead. Before we started shoot-

Passion Pilgrimage 2020

Holy Land & Oberammergau Passion Play Performed only every 10 years!

TV and radio personality Ursula Chikane (née Stapelfeldt) is pictured on the cover for the “Expanding Horizons” podcast of the Jesuit Institute. In her interview with Ricardo da Silva she talks about her way back to the Catholic Church and what the faith means to her.

www.fowlertours.co.za/passion

ing the links, somebody—I think it was the soundman—said that someone was going to fall badly on these highly-polished floors. As I was getting into position, I did like a little hop and a skip, and next thing my foot caught a mat. I slipped and then flipped in mid-air and landed on my face. I lost four teeth in front and the one tooth was lodged in my top lip. I still have the scars from the stitches inside my lip. My bottom teeth were also impacted. From interviews with you I’ve heard , I’m presuming this was a spiritual moment. It must have been, because after that my life took a completely different direction. It was an earthshattering realisation for me: my smile was taken from me, my ability to communicate was taken from me for months. I couldn’t do radio work or MCing work—and at that stage of my career I was in huge demand to do gala dinners and conferences and all sorts of things. The journey to fix my face and my smile lasted over three years. It’s not my original smile, my face has change shape quite considerably, but I think I look close to my original self. I’ll never have my original smile back, which is sad in a way because I liked that smile, but I do like the one that I have now. You don’t understand the impact of not being able to smile openly and widely until your smile is taken from you. We vastly underrate the impact of a warm, genuine smile on ourselves and on the people who are witnessing that smile. Let’s talk about your faith... I grew up in a traditionally Catholic family. We are faith and cultural Catholics. Part of the reason why I really feel fortunate to have been born into Catholicism is that we’ve lived the culture of the faith all our lives. I understand what it is to be part of the Catholic family. The investments you put into your faith as a young person really start paying off later on, when God takes you through all these really powerful conversion moments. After matric I left the Church. My route back into the faith was via a charismatic church. I was at Rhema one day and Pastor Ray McCauley was having a good old go at Our Lady. Something in my spirit just said: “NO!”. The next Thursday I went to St Charles in Victory Park. As I walked in, there was the guestbook. I turned the page and it just said: “Welcome home”.

For a lot of people that would not be as powerful as it was for me; knowing the journey I’d just been on, looking for the truth. I fell on my knees and that was it: straight back into Catholicism. If I didn’t have my Catholic faith, I don’t know where I would be in this world. I call on the saints regularly. I do the “Flying Novena” [of Mother Teresa] regularly. Our Lady’s working overtime for me all the time. My dad recently had a very bad fall and landed up in hospital. I had found out about St Charbel Makhlouf and I had the holy oils brought in from Rome to be administered to Dad. I believe in miracles because I’ve seen them unfold in front of my eyes We first met at Holy Trinity in Braamfontein at the 6pm Mass. You’d go there after your radio show faithfully. I’d be able to sneak in just after Father got into the church. One of the things that you grow to understand is that you do have your Sunday obligation. That’s one of the things I really didn’t get before I got it. So I appreciated that I could go to Mass after having come from my radio show. It meant something to me that a public persona also had a very deep spiritual life. I’ve had a lot of internal turmoil, and I thank God for allowing me to leave the Church in order to discover a fullness of the truth. I learnt so much about my faith. I started researching. This is where my love for the saints came about. There’s a saint for virtually everything. Poor St Anthony of Padua, he always works overtime. Who’s you favourite saint? St Francis of Assisi. I was born on his feast day [October 4]. I’ve always had a soft spot for him. There’s St Thérèse of Lisieux; I just couldn’t get through without her. St Charbel Makhlouf now as well; he is a go-to. St Joseph… oh, he’s taught me so much. St Pope John Paul II, of course. St Mother Teresa… Our Church is in a very difficult time, especially with the scandal of sexual abuse. We can’t simply say, “The Church is under attack, it’s the devil”. How do you, as a lay Catholic, continue to live faithfully in Catholicism? I am not a Catholic for the sake of a priest. I am a Catholic for the sake of what Jesus promised us, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I know that the Church is in big trouble, but hasn’t she always been? And I am not minimising at all the dangerous position in which we find ourselves. I’m not minimising at all what the victims of the Church still go through today. At the end of the day, I am trusting Jesus himself. If I am getting Communion from a paedophile, I am trusting that this sacrament is in that Communion. I can’t leave the Church that Jesus started. Despite the greatest efforts of bad Catholics, bad popes, bad priests and nuns even, bad lay people, despite patriarchy, despite infighting at the Vatican, despite even myself—the Church still stands. Our faith through the ages has been built to support and cushion. I’m grateful that I’m loved and cared for by a living God who keeps the giving me despite myself. What do we need to keep it going? I think the Church needs the People of God to keep praying for the benefit of the Church. We need to catechise our young fully and properly. We can keep reminding ourselves that our faith is also a faith of accountability, where not everything goes. We do live in a society of this instant gratification. Sometimes, with charity, we’ve got to call things out and say a thing as it is. n Hear the full interview at www. jesuitinstitute.org.za/expandinghorizons/

The Southern Cross, July 24 to July 30, 2019

Sr Josephine Robecke OP

AKFORD Dominican Sister Josephine Robecke died on June 27 at the age of 82. Born on September 6, 1936, to Johannes and Elisabeth Robecke in Sassenberg in the central German diocese of Münster, she was the youngest of nine children. Baptised Mathilde Gertrude, she completed nine years of schooling and then trained in dressmaking. She then joined the Dominican congregation, beginning her novitiate in October 1960. Soon after her profession the following year, Sr Josephine travelled to South Africa on the Windsor Castle. At Oakford in KwaZulu-Natal she helped to teach sewing in the junior school and claimed that the little ones were her best English teachers. Sr Josephine sometimes told the story of how they taught her the difference between a needle and a pin (the same word is used for both in German), and how she would deliberately say the wrong answer to the delight of the children who saw their chance to teach an adult something. Her dressmaking skills were a great asset in every house she was assigned to. She made habits, veils and anything else that needed to be sewn. She empowered women with the skills she taught, and many of them were able to make a liv-

ing from sewing, knitting, crochet and embroidery. The male Dominicans also gained from her sewing skills when she sewed a number of habits for them. Sr Josephine was loved by all who came to learn from her. She would listen to the stories of their lives of struggle and hardship, and spent her life trying to make things better for them. She made many lasting friends among these women.

he immersed herself in the life of the parish wherever she lived. Her commitment, dedication and ability to sing beautifully were greatly admired and appreciated. Many remember Sr Josephine’s voice when she was chantress at Oakford and how she led the office and sang those difficult lamentations with ease.

In 1975 she gained her national certificate in child care and spent some years working with youth through her training in Christian Life Groups. She did the Fons Vitae course in Johannesburg, and spent some time in Spokane in the United States on a sabbatical. Sr Josephine was assigned to several communities in South Africa: KwaZulu-Natal, Bendell in the Northern Cape, and Johannesburg. In Johannesburg she volunteered to teach knitting in a primary school. Her class was so popular that the room was more than full in no time. She spent many hours doing the finishing stitches on the children’s work and enjoyed the delight on the their faces when their articles were completed. Sr Josephine fell ill while living in Gauteng and was advised to move closer to the coast to improve her health. As her health deteriorated, she moved to Villa Siena in Pietermaritzburg for medical treatment. She felt so much better on the morning after she received a stent and was discharged from hospital. She was looking forward to a few more years of good health. That was not to be as the Lord had other plans and called her to her heavenly reward on the evening of June 27. Sr Helen-Veronica Wagner OP

Your prayer to cut out and collect

Liturgical Calendar Year C – Weekdays Cycle Year 1

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Retirement Home, Rivonia, Johannesburg Tel:011 803 1451 www.lourdeshouse.org

Sunday July 28, 17th Sunday of the Year Genesis 18:20-32, Psalm 138:1-3, 6-8, Colossians 2:12-14, Luke 11:1-13 Monday July 29, St Martha 1 John 4:7-16, Psalm 34:2-11, John 11:19-27 or Luke 10:38-42 Tuesday July 30, St Justin de Jacobis, St Peter Chrysologus Exodus 33:7-11; 34:5-9, 28, Psalm 103:6-13, Matthew 13:36-43 Wednesday July 31, St Ignatius Loyola Exodus 34:29-35, Psalm 99:5-7, 9, Matthew 13:44-46 Thursday August 1, St Alphonsus Liguori Exodus 40:16-21, 34-38, Psalm 84:3-6, 8, 11, Matthew 13:47-53 Friday August 2, St Eusibius of Vercelli, St Peter Julian Eymard Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34-37, Psalm 81:3-6, 10-11, Matthew 13:54-58 Saturday August 3 Leviticus 25:1, 8-17, Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 7-8, Matthew 14:1-12 Sunday August 4, 18th Sunday of the Year Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23, Psalm 90:3-6, 1214, 17, Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11, Luke 12:13-21

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IN MEMORIAM

DU PLESSIS—Dion. 31/05/1975 to 27/07/2007. As every year passes we remember you with love and longing. We never forget you, precious one. Paige, Mom, Dad, Neil and Charlotte O’DONOGHUE—Brendan. Passed away July 30, 2013. Forever in our thoughts and prayers. MHDSRIP. Norma, children, grandchildren and family.

PRAYERS

GOOD MORNING GOD. You are ushering in another day, untouched and new. So here I am to ask you, God, if you'll renew me too. Forgive the many errors that I made yesterday and let me try again, dear God, to walk closer in your way. But Lord, I am well aware, I can't make it on my own. So take my hand, for I cannot walk alone.

PERSONAL

ABORTION WARNING: The truth will convict a silent Church. See www.valuelife abortionisevil.co.za ABORTION WARNING: The Pill can abort. All Catholic users (married or cohabiting) must be told, to save their souls and their unborn infants. See www.epm.org/ static/uploads/downloads/ bcpill.pdf FISHING FOR MEN VOLUNTEERS: We need volunteers for the fishing

trips we present for men in wheelchairs injured in the bush war, and rugby quadriplegics. If you are a keen fisherman, braaier, talker, just a nice guy to be around with, you are the right person to come and help us at the Fishing at Irene event on September 1. Contact Yster 081 754-8144

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION

MARIANELLA Guest House, Simon’s Town: “Come experience the peace and beauty of God with us.” Fully equipped, with amazing sea views. Secure parking, ideal for rest and relaxation. Special rates for pensioners and clergy. Malcolm Salida 082 7845675, mjsalida@gmail.com

PARISH NOTICES

NEW PARISH NOTICES MOST WELCOME: If any parish notices listed are no longer valid, call us on 021 465-5007 or e-mail us at m.leveson@scross.co.za so that we can remove them. Also, we’d welcome new notices from parishes across Southern Africa to run free in the classifieds. CAPE TOWN: A Holy Hour Prayer for Priests is held on the second Saturday of every month at Villa Maria shrine from 16:00 to 17:00. The shrine is at 1 Kloof Nek Road in Tamboerskloof. The group prays for priests in the archdiocese, and elsewhere, by request.

Southern CrossWord solutions

SOLUTIONS TO 873. ACROSS: 1 Unwell, 4 Jargon, 9 Celebrate Mass, 10 Arrange, 11 Badge, 12 Edict, 14 Scrap, 18 Bravo, 19 Abstain, 21 Thinking right, 22 Deride, 23 Wealth. DOWN: 1 Unclad, 2 Wilfrid Napier, 3 Laban, 5 Acerbic, 6 Guardian angel, 7 Noster, 8 Pater, 13 Crooked, 15 Abated, 16 Banns, 17 Snatch, 20 Serve.

Word of the Week

Monsignor: Mode of address for members of clergy holding honorific titles granted by the pope, usually at the request of a bishop. Being a monsignor does not imply one is a bishop, nor being a bishop imply that one is a monsignor. Vigil: The eve of a religious festival observed by special prayer services and devotional exercises. Traditionally this has occurred for the major feasts of Easter and Christmas. Excommunication: The formal process of expulsion from the Church which excludes an individual from receiving the sacraments and from the exercise of any Church office, ministry, or function. Declared for defiance of the Church’s teaching authority, or magisterium. (Excommunication is not punishment for sin, as God’s grace and mercy are always available to the sinner.)

Retreat day/quiet prayer last Saturday of each month except December, at Springfield Convent in Wynberg, Cape Town. Hosted by CLC, 10:00-15:30. Contact Jill on 083 282-6763 or Jane on 082 783-0331. Perpetual Adoration Chapel at Good Shepherd parish, 1 Goede Hoop St, Bothasig, welcomes all visitors. Open 24 hours a day. Phone 021 558-1412. Helpers of God’s Precious Infants. Mass on last Saturday of every month at 9:30 at Sacred Heart church in Somerset Road, Cape Town. Followed by vigil at abortion clinic. Contact Colette Thomas on 083 412-4836 or 021 593 9875 or Br Daniel SCP on 078 739-2988. DURBAN: Holy Mass and Novena to St Anthony at St Anthony’s parish every Tuesday at 9:00. Holy Mass and Divine Mercy Devotion at 17:30 on first Friday of every month. Sunday Mass at 9:00. Phone 031309-3496 or 031 209-2536. St Anthony’s rosary group. Every Wednesday at 18:00 at St Anthony’s church opposite Greyville racecourse. All are welcome and lifts are available. Contact Keith Chetty on 083 372-9018. NELSPRUIT: Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at St Peter’s parish every Tuesday from 8:00 to 16:45, followed by Rosary, Divine Mercy prayers, then a Mass/Communion service at 17:30.

CHRISTIAN MEDITATION

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the

18th Sunday: August 4 Readings: Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2:21-23, Psalm 90:3-6, 12-14, 17, Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11, Luke 12:13-21

HAT’S the point of life? That question is frequently on our lips, even those of us who are believers in God; but if we get it right, we should recognise that belief in God does offer meaning to our existence. That seems to be the message offered by the readings for next Sunday. The first reading is from Ecclesiastes or “Qoheleth” (the word means “preacher”) and starts with the well-known expression “vanity of vanities—all is vanity”. Here the word “vanity” can be translated as “breath”, something insubstantial. This relentless, at times apparently agnostic, enquirer after truth (it is a tribute to our Jewish forebears that they found a place for this book in our Bibles), offers an example: “Here’s a man—his labour with wisdom and knowledge and skill and a man who did not toil over it, he must leave his portion to him! This is also vanity and great evil.” What he does not say (for God is hardly mentioned until the very last chapter) is that the existence of God makes all the difference and gives meaning to life. The psalm for next Sunday deals fearlessly with this issue of life and death, and what is

S outher n C ross

the point of it all: “You turn a man back into dust and say, ‘Return, sons of men.’” He is well aware of the brevity and unpredictability of life, but it all finds its proper setting in God: “For a thousand years in your eyes is like a yesterday, a watch in the night”, and the poet compares life to “grass that dies, sprouts green in the morning, by evening it is dry and withered”. In the end, only God can provide meaning for us: “Teach us to count our days rightly, that we may obtain a wise heart.” But he is desperate for God to offer meaning: “Come back, O Lord—how long?”, and he is confident that God can do it: “Satisfy us at daybreak with your love.” In the end, it is only if God is there that we can find meaning: “Let the favour of the Lord our God be upon us…establish the work of our hands upon us.” The second reading has no doubt at all of finding meaning in life; it comes through being “raised-with-Christ”; we have to recognise that “Christ is seated at God’s right hand”, and that any apparent meaningless is deceptive: “You have died—but your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

Conrad

Now it’s easy to misunderstand this because, frequently, the sacred authors give the impression that God actively caused the event. That’s their wording, though not their intent or meaning. The Bible does not intend to teach us that God causes wars or stops the heavens from raining; it accepts that they’re the result of natural contingency. The lesson is only that God speaks through them. And it’s here where conservatives get it wrong and liberals miss the point.

contemporary example of this is the reaction of certain religious circles, conservative and liberal, to the outbreak of HIV/Aids. When Aids first broke out, a number of strong conservative religious voices spoke out saying that the disease was God’s punishment for our sexual promiscuity, particularly for homosexuality. Liberal religious voices, for their part, were so turned off by this that their response was: “God has nothing to do with this!” Both need a lesson on divine providence. Religious conservatives are wrong in their interpretation: God does not cause Aids to punish us for sexual promiscuity. Conversely, religious liberals are also wrong in saying that this has nothing to do with God. God doesn’t cause Aids (or any other disease) but God speaks through Aids and every other disease. Our religious task is to discern the message. What’s God saying to us through this? Irish theologian James Mackey teaches that “divine providence is a conspiracy of

Sunday Reflections

It follows from this that “when Christ, your life, appears, then you will also appear in glory with him”. He then offers a list of things that could make our life meaningless (which you must look at for yourself), and a way of finding meaning: “putting on the new person which is being renewed and bringing about knowledge in the image of its Creator”. Does that help you find meaning, this week? The Gospel shows an example, all too common, alas (and most of us have been through it at one point or another) of an emptiness to which we can have resort in order to find meaning. Here it is someone who wants to get Jesus on his side to sort out an inheritance problem with his brother. Jesus absolutely refuses to be a mediator; he warns the man instead to “steer clear of all greed, because life is not something that comes from having too many possessions” (this, of course, is a message that our age desperately needs to hear). Then Jesus tells one of his subversive parables, about a wealthy man whose farm has done well; we are privileged to eavesdrop on

God’s finger in our lives HE problem in the world and in the Churches, theologian, writer and peace activist Jim Wallis suggests, is that perennially conservatives get it wrong and liberals (overreacting to conservatives) then don’t get it at all. Nowhere is this truer, I believe, than in how we discern the finger of God in the events of our lives. Jesus tells us to discern the finger of God in our lives by “reading the signs of the times”. What’s meant by that? The idea isn’t so much that we look to every kind of social, political, and religious analysis to try to understand what’s going on in the world, but rather that we look at every event in our lives, personal or global, and ask ourselves: What’s God saying to me in this event? What’s God saying to us in this event? An older generation understood this as trying to attune itself to the workings of “divine providence”. That practice goes back to biblical times. When we read the Bible, we see that for God’s people nothing happened that was understood as being purely secular or religiously neutral. Rather in every event, be it ever so accidental and secular, they saw the finger of God. For example, they believed that if they lost a war, it wasn’t because the other side had superior soldiers, but rather that God had somehow engineered this to teach them a lesson. Or if they were hit by drought, it was because God had actively stopped the heavens from raining, again to teach them a lesson.

Nicholas King SJ

What do we live for?

him as he wonders what to do with all his crops, and comes to the apparently brilliant solution: “This is what I’m going to do—I’m going to pull down my barns and build bigger ones! Then I’m going to say to my soul, ‘Soul –you’ve got lots of good things, stored up for many years to come: so, chill out, eat, drink, have a party!’” It seems so obvious, doesn’t it? And at that precise moment, Jesus brings God into it (are you listening?), and in response to his new policy for finding meaning, says, “Fool! This night your ‘soul’ is going to be asked of you. Then who is it going to belong to, the stuff you have prepared?” Jesus now draws the moral: “So it is with anyone who stores up cash for himself and is not affluent with regard to God.” This is a powerful story; to digest it, what you might do is have a good critical look at the things that you do in order to find meaning in your life. What are you going to do this week—and where will God be in the story?

Southern Crossword #873

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

accidents through which God speaks”. The writer Frederick Buechner teases this out a little further by saying: “This does not mean that God makes events happen to us which move us in certain directions like [chesspieces]. Instead, events happen under their own steam, as random as rain, which means that God is present in them not as their cause but as the one who even in the hardest and most hairraising of them offers us the possibility of that new life and healing which I believe is what salvation is.” God is always speaking to us in every event in our lives. For a Christian, there’s no such a thing as a purely secular experience. The event may be the result of purely secular and contingent forces, but it contains a religious message for us, always. Our task is to read that message. And one further note: Mostly, it seems that we hear God’s voice only in experiences that are deeply painful for us rather than in events that bring us joy and pleasure. But we shouldn’t misread this. It’s not that God speaks only through pain and is silent when things go right. Rather, in the words of CS Lewis: “Pain is God’s microphone to a deaf world.” God is always speaking; mostly we aren’t listening. It’s only when our hearts start breaking that we begin to attune ourselves to the voice of God. Divine providence is a conspiracy of accidents through which God speaks and we must be careful to get both parts of the equation right. God doesn’t cause Aids, global warming, the refugee situation in the world, a cancer diagnosis, world hunger, hurricanes, or any other such thing to teach us a lesson; but something in all of these invites us to try to discern what God is saying through them. Likewise, God doesn’t cause your favourite sports team to win a championship; that too is the result of a conspiracy of accidents. But God speaks through all of these things—even your favourite team’s championship win!

ACROSS

1. How the sick felt before Jesus healed them (6) 4. Ran jog using buzzwords (6) 9. Every priest can do it (9,4) 10. Organise the ﬂowers on the altar (7) 11. Wear it with pride for honour (5) 12. The Benedictines provide the decree (5) 14. Is it a left-over from the quarrel? (5) 18. Applause for the performer (5) 19. Restrain yourself (7) 21. Using your brain logically (8,5) 22. Ridicule (6) 23. Is it common, going with a group of rich nations? (6)

Solutions on page 11

DOWN

1. Natural, like Michelangelo’s statue of David (6) 2.Confused, I ﬂip in reward for our cardinal (7,6) 3. Rebecca’s brother (Gn 24) (5) 5. Crab ice turns out to be sour (7) 6. Heavenly defender (8,5) 7. See 8 8 and 7. Our Father in the Latin Quarter? (5,6) 13. Bishop’s staﬀ out of shape? (7) 15. What the storm did for Jesus (Mk 4) (6) 16. Notice of intended marriage (5) 17. Swiftly seize a bit of music (6) 20. Tennis player can do it like an altar boy (5)

CHURCH CHUCKLE

URING an Engaged Encounter weekend, the future bride tells the priest how happy she is with her husband-to-be. “I am so happy to have found such a fine man,” she reports. “He admires everything about me! He thinks my hands are the most gracious, my skin the most tender, my figure the most perfect, my voice the most melodious and my intellect on genius- level.” “That’s very nice,” says the priest. “And what do you find most admirable about him?” “Well,” answers the young woman, “he has really good taste!”

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