191009

The

S outher n C ross

October 9 to October 15, 2019

Reg No. 1920/002058/06

No 5156

www.scross.co.za

How Harry and Meghan came to Catholic project

What we can learn from Taizé

Page 3

Pages 2 &9

R12 (incl VAT RSA)

The troubles of John Henry Newman

Page 10

SA joy over new Bible Day

BY ERIN CARELSE & CAROL GLATZ

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The Carmelite Fathers of Lady of Mount Carmel parish in Benoni, Gauteng, were given gifts of four chickens and four guinea pigs. Here Fr Rayan Pias introduces one of the furry friends to a young parishioner. (Photo from Sanet Karam)

Irish paper’s big Slattery feature STAFF REPORTER

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HILE on an extended holiday in Ireland, Archbishop Emeritus William Slattery of Pretoria told that country’s national Catholic newspaper about his experiences during apartheid, and gave the Church in the country of his birth some advice as well.

In his interview with The Irish Catholic weekly, Archbishop Slattery, who was succeeded as head of Pretoria archdiocese by Archbishop Dabula Mpako in June, recalled his experience of apartheid in broad strokes, and recounted personal anecdotes as a missionary Franciscan priest and as rector of St John Vianney Seminary during the height of the struggle.

The archbishop remembered how two weeks after arriving in South Africa in 1971, the year after his ordination, he was asked to do a funeral. As he went to collect the coffin of the deceased, he noticed that the morgue had two racially-divided sections. “Even in death they were separated,” he told interviewer Chai Brady.

Although he tried to stay out of a situation in which he would be advantaged because of

his colour, it was difficult because of segregation in almost everything.

Archbishop Slattery also recalled the differences between black and white seminarians at St John Vianney Seminary in Pretoria during his term as rector there, noting that while the black 75% of students were mostly engaged in the struggle, most of the white 25% feared the prospect of communism.

He noted that in the 1980s, St John Vianney received several threats of closure from the government because the institution admitted both black and white students.

Archbishop Slattery said he was embarrassed to be ordained bishop of Kokstad in 1994, feeling that it was time for black bishops to be appointed.

“I said no, I came out her to be a missionary, I’m a Franciscan, I came out to serve the people and do the work of the poor really,” he told The Irish Catholic.

“So they went off, I gave them other names, but they came back three months later and… they insisted.”

The appointment came shortly after he had survived a random knife attack.

Continued on page 3

HE head of South Africa’s Catholic Bible Foundation (CBF) is delighted that Pope Francis has declared the third Sunday in Ordinary Time to be dedicated to the Word of God. “I’m absolutely thrilled with the idea that this is now going to become a universal celebration and we should come into line with the rest of the Church and the pope’s call,” said Christian Brother Mike Chalmers, director of the CBF. The short time between the release of Pope Francis’ directive and the end of January—the third Sunday of Ordinary Time in 2020 will be on January 26—doesn’t leave the CBF with much time and is going to take a very determined effort on the part of many people, Br Chalmers said.

“I will be writing to the president of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Sithembele Sipuka, to ask for guidance as it would be hard work to achieve it,” he said.

“Most of the work and the organisation would have to be done between now and the beginning of December, which puts us in a tight spot” if the Southern African Church is to mark the “Sunday of the Word of God” in January, Br Chalmers said.

Recently a proposal was put forward to move Bible Sunday, which is presently celebrated on the last Sunday of August, to the last Sunday of September. Now it is up to the SACBC to decide whether to celebrate Bible Sunday on the same day as the rest of the Church, move it to September or retain it in August.

At the request of the CBF, the bishops established Bible Sunday in 2005. Since then the CBF has promoted it in parishes, schools, sodalities, in Catholic media such as The Southern Cross, and the Church at large by sending out posters and booklets on how to promote the celebration.

Pope Francis said his declaration that the third Sunday in Ordinary Time to be the “Sunday of the Word of God” is intended to help the Church grow in love and faithful witness to God. Salvation, faith, unity and mercy all depend on knowing Christ and sacred Scrip-

Pope Francis has declared the third Sunday of Ordinary Time a Church-wide Bible Sunday (Photo: Aaron Burden/Unsplash) ture, he said in a new document, Aperuit Illis.

The title of the document is based on a verse from the Gospel of St Luke: “Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”

Devoting a special day “to the celebration, study and dissemination of the word of God” will help the Church “experience anew how the risen Lord opens up for us the treasury of his word and enables us to proclaim its unfathomable riches before the world”, the pope said.

“The relationship between the risen Lord, the community of believers and sacred Scripture is essential to our identity as Christians,” the pope said in the apostolic letter.

“The Bible cannot be just the heritage of some, much less a collection of books for the benefit of a privileged few. It belongs above all to those called to hear its message and to recognise themselves in its words,” Pope Francis wrote.

“The Bible is the book of the Lord’s people, who, in listening to it, move from dispersion and division towards unity” as well as come to understand God’s love and become inspired to share it with others, he added.

Without the Lord who opens people’s minds to his word, it is impossible to understand the Scriptures in depth—yet “without the Scriptures, the events of the mission of Jesus and of his Church in this world would remain incomprehensible,” he wrote.

S outher n C ross Pilgrimage HOLY LAND & OBERAMMERGAU PASSION PLAY 21 Aug. - 2 Sept. 2020 Led by Archbishop William Slattery OFM For more information or to book, please contact Gail at info@fowlertours.co.za or phone/WhatsApp 076 352-3809

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2

The Southern Cross, October 9 to October 15, 2019

LOCAL

Young TaizĂŠ pilgrims celebrate trust and hope The ecumenical TaizĂŠ Pilgrimage of Trust 2019 brought together thousands of pilgrims, from South Africa and internationally, at a Catholic school in Cape Town.

ERIN CARELSE reports from the event.

Monks from the Ecumenical Community of TaizĂŠ in France pray during the Pilgrimage of Trust 2019. TaizĂŠ prior Br Alois Loser is third from right.

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MID the youthful exuberance and the TaizĂŠ chants, silence and prayer marked the TaizĂŠ Pilgrimage of Trust in Cape Town.

The experience of silence for young people—to enter into the silence and to accept the surrender of power, in not controlling anything—is deeply connected with the mystery of the Resurrection, said Br Luc Bourgoin, the TaizĂŠ Brother who oversaw the international event. “Our youth are confronted with violence daily. There is a lot of frustration, pain, brokenness, the violence is everywhere but the answer must start from within. So that is what we see happening in the lives of the young people. We see they deserve to have the experience of silence,â€? he said. “We don’t need to force that silence or guidance. It is the silence‌ we are all poor. In front of God, we can only bend and call for assistance. The young people deserve the gift of silence. It is not complicated or expensive. With simple tools, you can equip people with strength coming from the Word of God,â€? Br Luc said.

Several thousand young people representing different faiths, cultures and countries took part in the Pilgrimage of Trust on Earth, held on the campus of St Joseph’s Marist College in Rondebosch.

Young pilgrims Innocent Zwane (left) and Benedict Ndlovu from Dundee diocese in KwaZulu-Natal at the international TaizĂŠ event held in Cape Town.

This ecumenical and international meeting saw pilgrims from 19 African countries (including Madagascar and Mauritius), 14 European countries, and the United States come to Cape Town for the first TaizĂŠ Pilgrimage of Trust in South Africa since it was held in Johannesburg in 1995.

This was the culmination of 18 months of visits by Brothers of the ecumenical Community of TaizĂŠ, in France, to Cape Town communities of Anglicans, Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists and other denominations to encourage youth participation in the Cape Town meeting.

The event was made possible by an invitation from church leaders in Cape Town: Archbishop Stephen Brislin, Anglican Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, Methodist Bishop Ziphozihle Daniel Siwa (who is also the president of the South African Council of Churches), and the

Cape Town Archbishop Stephen Brislin, at a service in the main tent, was joined by leaders of many denominations at the TaizĂŠ event.

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Dutch Reformed Church’s Rev Dr Gustav Claassen.

Participants were hosted by more than a thousand families and by parishes of various denominations from across Cape Town. They opened their doors to host two or more young pilgrims each, and the pilgrims expressed their gratitude for the welcome and thoughtfulness of their hosts.

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habiso from Soweto was very touched at the graciousness of his hosts, an elderly couple who welcomed him. The wife was blind, he said: “She trusted us to come into her house without seeing us.�

One young woman from Kenya said: “The host family really gave of themselves.�

Innocent Zwane from Dundee diocese in KwaZulu-Natal stayed with a host family that runs a B&B. “They welcomed me nicely, and gave me the keys to come and go as I pleased.�

Pilgrims from Botswana were happily surprised at “the freedom of the young people to express themselves�.

A teacher from Mpumalanga said: “It is so nice! There are so many people in one place. It’s amazing.�

A young priest noted: “Even though we are from different backgrounds, we’re able to share. We can approach anyone without fear.�

Ludovic, a pilgrim who arrived from Mauritius, saw some similarities between life in Cape Town and Mauritius. “They are both like a paradise with their lovely beaches.

There are different cultures living together,� he said. “In Mauritius, the majority of people are Hindus, Christians, Muslim, Ba’hai, and

Pray that AFRICA and THE WORLD may draw closer to the HEART OF CHRIST 2 Chron 7:14 Matthew 7:7-12

Jewish,� he noted.

Ludovic said the Word of God especially touched him as it affirms Christianity.

The visiting pilgrims were assisted by a group of marshals and other volunteers, who made sure they were kept safe.

Entering the tents in which the events were held, the sense of celebration of youth and faith was evident. It was an impressive sight to witness a large group of youngsters from various denominations gathering together for one common goal: to live out their Christian faith.

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he programme for the days included breakfast with the host family and meeting for an 8:00 morning prayer held in local parish churches. This was followed by visits and meetings with “people of hope� locally.

Around 11:00 pilgrims departed from the host churches to St Joseph’s, where they picked up their meals and then practised songs for the common prayer at 13:00.

At the entrance to the main tent, boards calling for “Silence� were held up, to prepare pilgrims for the prayer session. Once they entered, they were seated in sections; and immediately there was a sense of peacefulness.

Pilgrims started praying together in the characteristic TaizÊ style of repetitive chants. These echoed across the grounds—thousands of pilgrims in one voice communicating the power of faith and hope.

Afternoons were given to workshops, which explored themes such as “listening to God in the silence of our hearts�, Jesus Christ’s invitation to “come to him and find rest in him�; African cultures celebrating trust and reconciliation at a forum with contributions of song and dance from various countries and regions.

In the evenings, the general public was invited to join prayers in the beautifully decorated main tent.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu came to St Joseph’s to give the participants his blessing. In the 1970s, as a young bishop, he had arranged, with the help of TaizÊ, to bring 144 young people to the TaizÊ Community in France.

Taking his inspiration from the Book of Revelation, Archbishop Tutu brought “members of every tribe, tongue and people and nation� within South Africa to show the unity of God’s children, despite government policies of separate development.

The now 88-year-old archbishop has been a friend of the TaizĂŠ Community for many years.

Br Alois LĂśser, the current prior of the ecumenical community at TaizĂŠ and a German Catholic, in his meditation during the midday prayers said: “We did not come from TaizĂŠ to give you a message from somewhere else. It is you who represent the real message: it is embodied by your presence here. “I would like us all to be able, at the end of our meeting, to ask ourselves, in our prayer and in exchanges with others: What steps can I take, at my level, to build a society where fraternal love and reconciliation are realities? “Of course, we cannot pretend to have solutions to problems that are beyond our control. But a question like this will keep us alert, and ready to be peacemakers in our daily life,â€? he said. “Let us continue this pilgrimage of trust in lives at home, and not forget the encouragement we have received these days. It is the encouragement of Jesus himself, who says to each of us, ‘Do not be afraid, I am here, I am with you always until the end of the world,’â€? Br Alois said. n See also page 9

South African and international pilgrims gathered at the campus of St Joseph’s Marist College in Rondebosch for the TaizÊ celebration.

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The Southern Cross, October 9 to October 15, 2019

LOCAL

3

How Harry, Meghan got to visit Catholic project

BY ERIN CARELSE

F

OR a young South African Catholic, it was a special honour when the duke and duchess of Sussex visited a project run by the Catholic-inspired organisation she founded.

The visit by Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan to an initiative of the Edmund Rice Justice Desk in Nyanga, Cape Town, is a testament to the importance of the work done across South Central Africa by the organisation, said founder and executive director Jessica Dewhurst.

As part of their tour of Africa, their Royal Highnesses visited the Justice Desk, a human rights NPO that began in 2013 in Nyanga.

They were welcomed with the sounds and dances of the Nyanga Arts Development Centre marimba band, the singing of the Mbokodo Girls group, and the ululation of the community.

In 2016, Ms Dewhurst, an alumna of Christian Brothers’ St John’s College in Cape Town, received The Queens Young Leader medal from Queen Elizabeth II in Buckingham Palace for her work.

Two years ago the Justice Desk also became partners with The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust, of

which the duke and duchess are president and vice-president respectively.

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Harry “have been such incredible supporters of the Justice Desk”, Ms Dewhurst told The Southern Cross.

“They have offered us mentorship and other opportunities to empower and upskill ourselves so that we can better serve our heroes in South Central Africa.”

She said that when the organisation received the call that the duke and duchess of Sussex “wanted to come visit us, we were so excited”, Ms Dewhurst said The Justice Desk works in the community to empower residents to understand and defend their human rights.

The organisation provides young people with information about their rights, self-awareness, and safety, and provides self-defence classes and female empowerment training to young women in the community.

Ms Dewhurst and Justice Desk community leader Theodora Luthuli guided the royal couple on their visit to the impoverished township.

“The Duke and Duchess viewed the children’s workshops, met with community members and parents who promote our work, and spent

British royal couple Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan visited in Nyanga, Cape Town, project of the Catholic-inspired Edmund Rice Justice Desk, founded by CBC St John’s College alumna Jessica Dewhurst. time with our Mbokodo Girls in their boxing sessions,” Ms Dewhurst said.

Speaking at the centre, Duchess Meghan praised its work to counter violence against women and children. The US-born former actress encouraged women to stand up and fight injustice and violence.

She spoke individually with the girls, and really wanted to learn from

their experiences, Ms Dewhurst said.

“While I’m here with my husband and as a member of the royal family, I am here as a mother, a wife, a woman of colour and your sister,” Duchess Meghan said.

Talking about gender-based violence, Prince Harry said: “It’s about redefining masculinity, creating your own footprints for your children to

follow in so that you can make a positive change for the future.”

These words were particularly encouraging as they strengthened the broader work of the Justice Desk in raising everyday activists who challenge injustice and shift crime and impunity towards empowerment and justice, Ms Dewhurst noted.

As a sign of welcome, the royal couple were given a Justice Desk bracelet, which read “Justice”, by two four-year-old “Justice Desk Heroes”.

Their baby son Archie was also given a traditional South African Xhosa name, “Ntsika”, which means “Pillar of Strength”.

“The reason we chose the name was because Archie means strength, it means bravery, and the South African equivalent of that is Ntsika,” Ms Dewhurst said.

“Visitors who come into township communities and engage with local people are typically given a traditional name. I wanted to bless him and encourage him to always serve those around him,” she explained.

“It was a truly wonderful day, and I cannot thank them enough for all their love and kindness. They really believe in our work and are not afraid to stand up and show it.

They’re encouraging us to keep going and work hard,” Ms Dewhurst said.

Slattery speaks on SA on Ireland visit

The 2019 Two Saints 5-a-side soccer tournament, hosted by St John’s parish in Fish Hoek, Cape Town, was won by a team from Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Rondebosch with a 5-3 victory over St Andrew’s from Ocean View in the final. There were 14 teams in total, including a team from St Margaret’s Anglican church in Fish Hoek and one of visiting Taizé pilgrims. Players are seen with parish priest Fr Subeesh Kalappurackal.

Among the guests on the day, which also included a potjiekos competition, was Bishop Sylvester David, Cape Town’s new auxiliary.

Continued from page 1 After being stabbed in the back, “I drove myself to the hospital about 40km on a bad road and I fainted when I got in there.”

An hour later the whole congregation of about 120 people for whom he had just celebrated Mass arrived in the back of a lorry, “all roaring and crying and lifting up my jacket and my bloodstained vest”.

Archbishop Slattery said the Catholic Church has delivered “a fantastic service in South Africa as regards schooling, getting people into schools, social services”.

“All the first rural clinics in South Africa were built by the

Church,” he added.

The archbishop, who grew up in County Tipperary, offered some advice to the Irish Church, which has declined rapidly over the past couple of decades.

The Irish Church, he said, should be more “forceful, more selfconfident” in spreading the Good News, as it had shifted away from “being close to people”.

He said sexual abuse by Church personnel has been “absolutely devastating”, noting that in South Africa the scandal has not been as extensive as in Ireland.

“It’s not so much child-centred [abuse] in South Africa; here [in Ireland] it was child-centred.”

“This is totally hitting at the very meaning of Christianity which is care, blessing, hope, a healing,” Archbishop Slattery said.

“I think the Church has to do that: it has to be courageous and imaginative [in] responding to people, helping people to heal; go out there and talk to people even though you will get criticism,” he said.

“The Church depends on community; when community gets weak, churches get weak because we grow strong not only through knowledge but you meet God through belonging. Where there is a strong sense of belonging, God is not far away,” the archbishop said.

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4

The Southern Cross, October 9 to October 15, 2019

INTERNATIONAL

Pope meets LGBT priest

BY HANNAH BROCKHAUS

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St Teresa of Avila’s major shrine, the convent of the Annunciation in Alba de Tormes, Spain, where she died. (Photo: Günther Simmermacher)

Writings of saints offer pilgrimage opportunities

BY KRISTEN HANNUM

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HE ancient, battered landscapes of the Holy Land and the magnificent basilicas of Rome are the places that first come to mind for Catholics considering a pilgrimage.

And yet the Church’s rich history of saints and doctors of the Church provide dozens, if not hundreds of places that can grace a traveller’s prayer life and closeness with God. Four of the six saints most recently named doctors of the Church have been women. Pilgrimages that include reading the works of these women doctors, and even a journey to where they lived, is worth consideration.

Barb Anderson, retired pastoral associate at St Mary parish in Corvallis, Oregon, in the US, was a pilgrim with a group that visited Assisi, Siena and Rome.

“Just the hills alone, the physical rigours, were compelling,” Ms Anderson said of St Catherine’s in Siena, in the heart of Tuscany.

Many of those travelling with the group hadn’t understood just how important St Catherine of Siena (1347-80) was, but they witnessed traces of her wherever they went, said Ms Anderson.

She warned that St Catherine of Siena’s writing can be tough to understand, with a spirituality very different from ours.

The pilgrim puts St Teresa of Avila (1515-82) in the same category. “Her spirituality is so heavily mystical that it may need some introduction,” Ms Anderson said .

For pilgrims, St Teresa’s major shrine, the Convent of the Annunciation in Alba de Tormes, Spain, has the added benefit of being near the church of St John of the Cross. He was a poet and mystic who joined St Teresa’s reform of the Church. St John of the Cross was promoted to doctor of the Church in 1926.

The next woman saint promoted

to doctor to consider is St Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-97). St John Paul II named “The Little Flower” a doctor in 1997. Because of her, Lisieux, in France’s Normandy region, has become second only to Lourdes as France’s most popular pilgrimage destination.

Pilgrims to Lisieux should first read her spiritual memoir, Story of a Soul, said Carol Percin, pilgrimage organiser.

Ms Percin urged pilgrims always to learn about the saints featured in a pilgrimage ahead of time, reading their biographies and watching about them in order to understand the political and religious conditions of their times. “Otherwise you can get lost in the modern cityscapes,” she said.

St Hildegard of Bingen (10981179) founded Eibingen Abbey in Germany in 1165. It is her major shrine and is on the Hildegard of Bingen Trail, where the route is marked by a sign showing a nun.

“With Hildegard, begin by listening to her music,” advised Miriam Marston, who serves as coordinator for the Institute for Catholic Life and Leadership for the archdiocese of Portland. “It is ethereal, anointed.”

Ms Marston said listeners should pay close attention to St Hildegard’s lyrics as well, poetry that can open spiritual doors.

It’s difficult to find a downside to listening to St Hildegard’s music, watching films about the saints or reading their biographies and spiritual works—even if those activities don’t culminate in travel. “The world is full of people who won’t be able to go on pilgrimage,” Ms Anderson noted.

Meaningful pilgrimages of the mind can take place through the pages of a book.

However, as Ms Anderson said, “There’s something evocative about being in the actual place. It can be overwhelming at times.”—CNS

OPE Francis spent 30 minutes meeting with a Jesuit author who has been both praised and attacked for his book on pastoral care for homosexuals in the Church.

The pope met Fr James Martin SJ in a private audience in the apostolic palace inside the Vatican.

Fr Martin said on Twitter that he shared with the pope “the joys and hopes, and the griefs and anxieties, of LGBT Catholics and LGBT people worldwide”.

The priest said that he “was so grateful to meet with this wonderful pastor”. The audience was private except for the presence of a papal interpreter.

In another tweet, Fr Martin said the meeting was one of the highlights of his life. “I felt encouraged, consoled and inspired by the Holy Father today. And his time with me, in the middle of a busy day and a busy life, seems a clear sign of his deep pastoral care for LGBT Catholics and LGBT people worldwide.”

The Vatican does not customarily comment on papal meetings with individual priests or bishops.

Fr Martin is the author of Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community Can Enter into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion, and Sensitivity, and speaks frequently on issues pertaining to homosexuality and Catholicism.

Last month, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia urged caution about Fr Martin’s message after the priest spoke at a Philadelphia university.

Jesuit Father James Martin meets with Pope Francis. (Inset) Fr Martin’s tweet after his meeting calling it “one of the highlights of my life”.

“Fr Martin has sought in a dedicated way to accompany and support people with same-sex attraction and gender dysphoria.

Many of his efforts have been laudable, and we need to join him in stressing the dignity of persons in such situations,” Archbishop Charles Chaput wrote in a column on his archdiocesan website.

“At the same time, a pattern of ambiguity in his teachings tends to undermine his stated aims, alienating people from the very support they need for authentic human flourishing. Due to the confusion caused by his statements and activities regarding same-sex related (LGBT) issues, I find it necessary to emphasise that Fr Martin does not speak with authority on behalf of

the Church, and to caution the faithful about some of his claims,” Archbishop Chaput added.

Fr Martin responded to Archbishop Chaput’s column, thanking the archbishop for his careful tone and for encouraging people to not engage in ad hominem attacks.

The priest said that he is always careful to not challenge Church teaching on matters of sexual morality in his writings and talks, but argued that one reason he does not focus on “same-sex relations and same-sex marriage, which I know are both impermissible (and immoral) under church teaching, is that LGBT Catholics have heard this repeatedly. Indeed, often that is the only thing that they hear from their Church.”—CNA

Bl Newman a good patron for Mission Month Bl John Henry Newman, painted by Sir John Everett Millais, 1881.

A

LEADING English bishop has said that Bl John Henry Newman offers an important witness for the Catholic Church in England during difficult times, and is a patron for the call of every Catholic to “missionary discipleship”.

“Cardinal Newman faced difficult times and circumstances. So do we.

At this moment, there is much unease in our society. We seem to have lost a sense of shared hope and vision around which to gather, “ said Cardinal Vincent Nichols in a pastoral letter.

“Our present-day culture offers no reason or encouragement to offer forgiveness to those who have offended. A harshness of speech and a quickness of condemnation seem to be everywhere. This is the society in which we are to give our witness. Let us never lose heart in doing so!” said Cardinal Nichols.

Bl Newman, an Englishman and former Anglican cleric who converted to Catholicism in 1845, is set to be canonised a saint by Pope Fran-

cis on October 13.

Cardinal Nichols discussed the cost, and courage, of Bl Newman’s conversion.

“One of the most important aspects of his life is the long and difficult journey he made into the fullness of faith in the Catholic Church. It cost him dearly. Yet it is an essential part of his witness. His search for truth led him to examine in detail the foundations of the Catholic faith in the history of the Church.”

“It also drove him to look closely at his own experiences, and feelings, sensing in them the call and

promptings of God. He was utterly convinced that in all our experiences in this world, there is a sign, a shadow, an impression, like a fingerprint, of the presence of God. This conviction made him a wonderful witness to the nature, importance, and experience of the Catholic faith,” Cardinal Nichols said.

“From his earliest years as a young priest of the Church of England, and throughout his time as a Catholic priest, right up to his death at the age of 89, he was unwavering in his care for the poor. For this reason, thousands lined the streets of Birmingham to offer their love and respect to him as his hearse passed by.

This care for those facing poverty must be a hallmark of our lives too.

It is certainly one of the most eloquent and effective ways of witnessing to our faith that we can give in our society today!”

The cardinal noted that Bl Newman is a “good patron” for the current Extraordinary Month of Mission.—CNA n See also page 10

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The Southern Cross, October 9 to October 15, 2019

5

German Church proceeds with reform synod

BY JONATHAN LUXMOORE

G

ERMANY’S Catholic bishops are pressing ahead with a national reform consultation, or “synodal way�, despite cautions from the Vatican and criticism from some bishops. “The synodal way is a sui generis process, and not a synod or a particular council, and there’ll be no separate German process, without Rome, on questions touching the universal Church. But we hope to offer ideas and contributions to the universal Church,� said Matthias Kopp, spokesman for the Bonn-based bishops’ conference.

Mr Kopp spoke as documents

were published from the bishops’ plenary, clarifying plans for the two-year consultation, organised by the bishops’ conference and laity-led Central Committee of German Catholics.

He said the initiative, to be launched on December 1, had been prompted by “loss of credibility� and “institutional failure� highlighted in a September 2018 Church-commissioned report, which detailed the cases of more than 3 600 children sexually abused by Catholic clergy over six decades.

Mr Kopp added that conference president Cardinal Reinhard Marx had “cleared everything up� dur-

ing talks last month with Pope Francis and Vatican officials, and said the bishops were convinced its findings could be “useful and instructive� for the Church in other countries. “You can see the synodal way as exemplifying a listening Church— the bishops want to concentrate on the questions believers are asking,� Mr Kopp said. “The bishops’ conference has verified the issues—authority, participation, the separation of powers, sexual morality, the priestly life, women in Church services and orders—and wish to face these issues. A vast number of believers are waiting for this, and the bish-

Communications Day 2020 theme: Life creates history

BY PAIGE HANLEY

P

OPE Francis will highlight the important role of memory and storytelling across generations as a way to bring people together in a world marked by discord and division, the Vatican said.

The pope believes that memory —far from being a static, inflexible recollection of the past—has dynamic and transformative power that can influence and foster unity, a Vatican press release said when it announced the theme of World Communications Day 2020.

The Vatican and many dioceses mark World Communications Day on the Sunday before Pentecost; in 2020 that will be on May 24. The Vatican publishes the full message on January 24, the feast of St Francis de Sales, patron saint of journalists.

For next year’s message, the pope chose the theme, “So that you can

The pope will highlight the role of memory and storytelling across generations for World Communications Day 2020. (Photo: Paul Haring/CNS) tell your children and grandchildren.

Life creates history�.

The passage, based on the Book of Exodus, highlights the importance of sharing meaningful memories, stories and experiences, so that they may live on and transform the pres-

ent, the Vatican statement said.

The theme “reminds us that every story is born out of life, from interacting with others�, it said.

Stories are valuable resources which offer “great riches� to their listeners, it said. The insight, knowledge and human connection fostered through effective storytelling is an invaluable asset to the audience. “Communication is, therefore, called to connect memory with life through stories,� it said, explaining how Jesus used parables to convey “the vital power of the Kingdom of God, leaving his audience free to welcome these narratives and apply them to themselves�. “These stories are not only alive in the past but continue to guide the lives and beliefs of Catholics today.�—CNS

ops see it as their pastoral mission,� he said.

Addressing a news conference, Cardinal Marx said the statutes, not yet published, had been approved “by a very large majority� of 65 bishops attending the plenary after lengthy debate. “There are no stop signs from Rome, and we will therefore continue,� the cardinal was quoted on the bishops’ conference website. “For some time, there has been a visible gap between the Church’s life and teaching—even an extermination of the Church. This is why we attach great importance to dialogue.�

However, Cardinal Rainer Maria

Woelki of Cologne said he had voted against the statutes after his own proposals to avoid questioning Church teaching were rejected. “I could not agree with the statutes in this form, although I do not wish to refuse the conversation,� the 63-year-old cardinal said on Twitter.

In a June message to German Catholics, Pope Francis pledged support for efforts “to respond with boldness to the present situation�, but said the process should focus on faith and witness and avoid “a search for immediate results that generate quick and immediate consequences but are ephemeral�.—CNS

‘World is ignoring the persecution of Christians’

BY BETH GRIFFIN

C

HRISTIANS are the most persecuted religious group worldwide, but hypocrisy, political correctness and ignorance prevent the international community from implementing a comprehensive response to pervasive violence against them, said speakers at a UN event.

The participants in a high-level panel discussion said 80% of people killed because of their religious beliefs are Christian, and the number of Christians hurt or displaced is on the rise.

Teodoro Lopez Locsin, the Philippines’ secretary of foreign affairs, said 4 100 Christians were killed for their

beliefs in 50 countries in 2018 and an average of 250 Christians have been killed each month in 2019. He said the deaths are “a votive offering of the West to the oil-rich East�. “In global politics, the fact that Christians are being persecuted is being ignored,� said Peter Szijjarto, Hungary’s minister of foreign affairs and trade.

Mr Szijjarto said it is regrettable that while Muslim leaders speak enthusiastically about the plight of their mistreated people, Christians seem to be shy about calling attention to the violence against Christians. He attributed this to religion being seen as a local issue and not a global one.—CNS

Former doctrinal head dies at 83

T

HE US cardinal who succeeded Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has died at 83.

Cardinal William Levada, who also served as archbishop of San Francisco and Portland, Oregon, died on September 26 in Rome.

When Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope Benedict XVI in 2005, he named thenArchbishop Levada to replace him as head of the Congregation for Doctrine. He served in that position until 2012.

For decades, he was a frequent collaborator with the Vatican and with the future Pope Benedict. In the 1980s, he worked with thenCardinal Ratzinger as one of a small group of bishops appointed to write the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Cardinal Levada was a key figure in the Church’s efforts to eliminate priestly sexual abuse.

He headed the Vatican agency

Cardinal William Levada. (Photo: Art Babych/CNS) that oversaw the handling of priestly sexual abuse cases.

In a 2006 decision approved by Pope Benedict, Cardinal Levada ruled that Fr Marcial Maciel Degollado, founder of the Legionaries of Christ, should not exercise his priestly ministry publicly. Fr Maciel was accused of sexually abusing minors, but the Vatican said it would not begin a canoni-

cal process against him because of his advanced age and poor health.

In 2009, Cardinal Levada ordered a doctrinal assessment of the US Leadership Conference of Women Religious. The controversial process ended quietly in 2015 with no new disciplinary measures or controls.

William Joseph Levada was born on June 15, 1936, in Long Beach, California. He was ordained a priest in St Peter’s basilica in 1961, and then worked in the archdiocese of Los Angeles.

He was named an auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles in 1983, then archbishop of Portland in 1986, and was transferred to San Francisco in 1995, where he served for ten years before his appointment to the Vatican.

Pope Benedict elevated him to cardinal in 2006.

Pope Francis presided over the rite of commendation during the cardinal’s funeral in St Peter’s basilica.—CNS

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The Southern Cross, October 9 to October 15, 2019

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Step up as Catholics on global climate crisis T

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

Pitfalls in mission

S

OMETIMES Pope Francis reveals a surprising blunt side.

One such episode was told by the Holy Father himself.

Talking to Jesuits in Mozambique during last month’s papal visit there, the pope recalled an encounter with a South African Catholic who introduced two converts to him, which had left him with “a certain bitterness”.

“I was told they were part of a slightly fundamentalist movement. She said to me in perfect Spanish, ‘Your Holiness, I am from South Africa. This boy was a Hindu and converted to Catholicism. This girl was Anglican and converted to Catholicism.’ But she told me in a triumphant way, as though she was showing off a hunting trophy. I felt uncomfortable and said to her, ‘Madam, evangelisation yes; proselytism no,’” the pope noted.

One may wonder how the woman felt about what must have been an unexpected response, or, indeed, how the two young people interpreted the encounter. It must be hoped that Pope Francis also found words of encouragement for these three people.

The distinction between evangelisation and proselytism can be blurred. Both terms refer to the act of making converts of people.

For Pope Francis, the difference resides in who and what is at the centre in missionary work.

“In evangelisation, the protagonist is God,” he told the Jesuits in Mozambique, but “in proselytism, it is the ‘I’.”

Whereas “evangelisation is free”, the pope said, proselytism “makes you lose your freedom”.

Here he clearly thinks also of Christians who are forced to convert to their community’s prevailing religion, such as Christians who are compelled, by threat or by the prospect of reward, to become Muslims.

Related to that, Pope Francis has a concern that the Church’s missionary efforts, to which all Catholics are called, should not give an appearance of converting by coercion—as happened so much in the past—or be seen as a concerted programme to persuade people of other religions to switch sides.

The coercive missionary method is unjust towards those who are pressurised to abandon their faith, the pope says. The mobilising missionary method, meanwhile, risks creating a backlash from the followers of the re-

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.

ligions targeted for converts.

In India, for example, fundamentalist Hindus have committed pogroms against Catholics in part as a reaction to a perception that Christians are actively proselytising among Hindus (aside from the bigotries radical nationalism invariably creates).

There, even a Catholic school or hospital can be seen as a potential proselytising threat, notwithstanding that these institutions simply offer a service to all.

Among Christians, the fear of proselytism is acute, too. Indeed, many Catholics are alarmed by the proselytising by Evangelical and Pentecostal groups among Catholics.

Pope Francis is not saying anything new. In 2007, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith warned that “the term proselytism…has taken on a negative connotation, to mean the promotion of a religion by using means, and for motives, contrary to the spirit of the Gospel; that is, which do not safeguard the freedom and dignity of the human person”.

So, if we are called to active evangelisation but also warned not to proselytise, how are we to go about fulfilling our missionary mandate?

Our evangelisation efforts must, of course, include catechesis, as long as this does not deny the free use of reason and appeal to conscience.

But Pope Francis advises that we convert people less by the force of argument than by attraction, reflecting the instruction issued by St Francis of Assisi: “Preach Jesus, and if necessary use words.”

The pope holds up St Thérèse of Lisieux as an example of how to draw people to Jesus by way of attraction.

The Little Flower, as the French saint is often called, serves as a concrete example of how authentic witness is proclaimed through a union with Christ “in prayer, adoration and in concrete charity, which is serving Jesus, who is present in the least of our brothers and sisters”, Pope Francis told a weekly general audience three years ago.

As has been so often repeated, we evangelise most effectively by our example, by modelling God’s mercy, by living our joy in Christ, by reaching out to the margins, by being open to seekers, by our love.

About 2 000 protestors, including Catholics, gathered outside the parliament buildings in Cape Town near St Mary’s cathedral on September 20 as part of a global climate strike day.

Obey road rules in Mission Month

I

N a homily at a recent Mass in Queenswood, Pretoria, Fr Peter Sitwala commented: “Let’s hijack technology to serve the Kingdom.”

In a recent Sunday Gospel, Jesus says: “Whoever’s faithful In little things will be trusted with greater.”

Pope Francis has allocated October as an Extraordinary Mission Month. The notion of evangelisation—the change of a mindset— using technology in small ways set me thinking in the direction of road carnage.

If, during this October, each Christian in South Africa made a conscious decision to obey the rules of the road, what a difference it would make in our country, and how the Kingdom of Justice would spread.

Felicity Mullan, Pretoria

Church silent on divorced Charles

F

ROM your report “Prince Charles to attend Bl Newman’s canonisation” (September 25), it seems Charles has been a regular visitor to the Vatican and several popes.

In 1985, he met Pope John Paul II, accompanied by his first wife, Diana.

Shortly before the prince married Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005, Pope John Paul II died. Because Prince Charles was “invited” to the funeral, he delayed his wedding to accommodate his attendance.

In 2009, he met Pope Benedict XVI and in 2017 he met Pope Francis, this time accompanied by his new wife, Camilla.

It is common knowledge that

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HIS is a call to all South African Catholics to respond as purposefully as they can to the global climate crisis that threatens creation.

Following thoughts expressed in his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’, Pope Francis said earlier this year: “Faced with a climate emergency, we must take action accordingly, in order to avoid perpetrating a brutal act of injustice towards the poor and future generations.”

One of the acts of injustice is the blinkered, obdurate and deadly obsession of many governments, including South Africa’s, with maintaining fossil fuel industries when cheaper, cleaner and reliable technologies are rapidly developing.

The emergency is unfolding fast.

Fires in the Arctic and Amazon, increasingly severe droughts, floods, heatwaves, storms and accelerating rate of species extinction, demand all our urgent attention.

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

Camilla had a relationship with Prince Charles before and during their previous marriages. The union of Mrs Parker Bowles and her husband was dissolved by civil divorce proceedings in 1995.

Understanding that some or other international protocol may override the voicing of Catholic morality regarding divorce, it does seem strange that our popes are not too concerned with the status quo of this present marriage.

William Warham, the archbishop of Canterbury who presided over the wedding of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, said: “He who is silent seems to consent.” In spite of his support for the queen, the archbishop pleaded ira principis mors est (The king’s anger is death) and timorously agreed to sign a letter to the pope requesting the approval of the king’s wishes to divorce his wife.

How does one read our popes’ passive “no comment” while they entertain and honour their royal highnesses in the Vatican? Perhaps they considered it wise not to speak out as, in contrast to John the Baptist in similar circumstances.

Tony Meehan, Cape Town

This is not a matter about which anyone can say, “This does not affect me.”

Whether as individuals, youth groups, schools, parish congregations or archdioceses, we make a difference through our words, writing, examples, projects, voting, buying choices and more. Joining the Global Catholic Climate Movement (www.catholicclimatemovement.global) is a good way of getting the bigger picture and offers inspiring ideas on how to participate in the Season of Creation in September and October.

Collective action, such as the recent and upcoming climate strikes, gets the attention of government decision-makers and adds momentum to the sort of positive behaviour and policy changes that are already happening, but need to be speeded up for the sake of people and planet.

Catholics in their numbers help.

Patrick Dowling, Cape Town

tion classes at school, and this should include discussions as to whether payment of lobola is appropriate in this day and age.

Paddy Ross, Cape Town

Great homilies need publication

O

VER many years attending Sunday Mass, I have heard some brilliant homilies. But how often after Mass do we remember and retain what we have heard?

In addition, there are many very intelligent priests who are not good public speakers, so we often miss a lot of what is said, and their wisdom and guidance is wasted. I suggest that our priests be asked to write out and print their weekly homilies and the printed page should be handed out together with the Sunday newsletter.

This would have two excellent advantages: firstly, by reading and hearing what is said we would be able to absorb so much more, and secondly, we would have the opportunity of reading what was said after Mass and so learn from it.

At the end of the year, all the weekly homilies could be bound into a booklet and sold on behalf of the parish.

What I have suggested does not in any way restrict priests, because during the homily they can always add on to what is printed.

Roy Glover, Knysna

Parish action key for SC finances

archdiocesan quarterly bulletin End lobola to stem A about the financial plight of The gender violence Southern Cross, my offer of a soluFTER reading your article in the

V

IOLATION of females is a heinous crime and should not exist in a reasonable society. It is obvious that patriarchy is a significant factor in the perpetuation of gender violence in South Africa. But what to do about it?

A major action which I believe would be a significant step towards eradicating patriarchy would be the disappearance of lobola.

I realise that this would be strongly opposed in some parts of society on cultural grounds. But what exactly is culture other than the traditions and customs of a group of people which might have seemed perfectly reasonable in times past but which are open to question nowadays?

Is there really any fundamental difference between slavery and lobola, in both of which money changes hands to “buy” a person?

I would like to see it outlawed but applying the law would not be practicable. A better path would be through education, particularly of schoolchildren.

Gender violence should be, and perhaps is, included in Life Orienta-

tion is to double your circulation with no excuse from parishes in selling all copies, even if the parishes at their own cost give the unsold copies to old age homes or other institutions.

I was in Johannesburg last year and The Southern Cross was on a table at the entrance of the church with a collection box to make one’s payment.

That is a very poor effort in promoting a Catholic newspaper. This is a large, well-attended parish for all Masses, with a guesstimate of probably over a thousand parishioners attending Mass on a Sunday.

If you saw the fancy cars in their massive carpark complete with traffic attendants, there is absolutely no reason why The Southern Cross cannot be supported.

I attend Mass in a predominantly Afrikaans-speaking parish and maybe a couple of articles in Afrikaans could be considered to cater for the Afrikaans-speaking Catholics in the Western Cape.

The same could be considered for isiZulu and isiKhosa speakers.

Bernard Moat, Cape Town

PERSPECTIVES

Our Church must be an open club W Raymond Perrier HEN he announced the convening of the Second Vatican Council, Pope John XXIII proclaimed that he wanted “to open the windows and doors of the Church so that we can look out and others can look in”.

Vatican II theologian Fr Jim Corkery SJ, who delivered the Winter Living Theology lectures in 2011, confessed that his mother’s response was: “And all the flies will come in as well!”

While we may laugh at that line, it betrays an underlying fear that many of us have as Catholics: when we open our windows and doors unexpected things happen. That is true metaphorically but also literally.

It is not so much the flies that worry us but rather the odd kinds of people who might wander into our churches. After all they might not be like us. They might not be the same skin colour or nationality or class. They might force us to change some of the ways in which we worship or socialise or run our institutions.

For example, some of the people who come might have different physical needs from the majority.

In large cities, where there are multiple parishes, at least one church is often highlighted as deaf-friendly and a signed Mass is hosted once a week. There may be a small cost in that—probably less than we spend on flowers—but the effect is to draw Catholic (and non-Catholic) deaf people into a welcoming and accessible place of worship.

The changes required to how the Mass runs are minimal and most hearing parishioners actually enjoy watching sign language. But to do so requires us to think about how we make our churches open to all.

I was shocked to discover that Durban has no such facility—and when I asked a senior churchman his reply was: “There is no need to provide that because we don’t have many deaf people coming to Mass.” I wonder why not…

Since being in South Africa I have watched with admiration how some parishes—which had once been very monocultural and monochromatic—have learnt to develop to become welcoming of all who want to worship in that sacred space. And I have winced in horror at ones that have not.

Of course, opening the windows and doors also means that even some non-

Catholics might come in to our services: people who do not know when to stand and when to kneel, who don’t know all the answers to the prayers off by heart, who might even have little understanding of Christianity or of Catholicism.

That requires those of us “in the know” to be just a bit less knowing. We need to learn how to share what is precious and instinctive to us with people who are on a different part of the journey, and to do so in a way which is neither patronising nor exclusionary.

And what about those who wander in when it suits them rather than when it suits us? That requires us to think about what our church buildings are for.

Are they sacred temples into which only the initiates may enter at the prescribed times? Or are they places of encounter with God and with God’s mystical presence, where the Spirit blows freely?

I

’m very impressed that Emmanuel cathedral in central Durban—not one of the safest places in the country—is open every day from 6am to 6pm, so anyone who wants to can come in and pray.

And I have often seen people who are clearly Muslim coming in to find a quiet place to sit and be with God. Cathedrals and city-centre churches in particular provide a fantastic opportunity

Lutheran teachers and trainee pastors from Rostock in Northern Germany were one group who recently were given a tour of Emmanuel cathedral. They were especially moved to hear about the way Cardinal Wilfrid Napier had hosted a service at the cathedral in 2017 to mark the 500th anniversary of the start of the Lutheran Reformation.

How love is the answer L IFE is full of challenges. From sunrise to sunset I find myself challenged by my friends and family, by my colleagues and even by my priest.

In as much as thy will is not yet done on earth as it is in heaven, as a Christian I am challenged to continue striving to make it done.

When I turn on the television or read the newspaper, when I go into town or even have a chat with my friends at home, the challenges of life present themselves, from poverty to depression to domestic violence.

In fact, there is no area of life which is not challenging, and if there is, then maybe I do not know that area well enough.

In a society dominated by Christians, I still find it challenging to live an authentic Christian life, still find it difficult to live up to true discipleship—and true discipleship means true love; of God and of neighbour and of self.

Love is the goal and ultimate end of all life, for whatever I do, whatever I say, is filled with my desire to love and to be loved.

This desire drives me to inherent good-

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“Whatever I say or do is filled with my desire to love and to be loved. This desire drives me to inherent goodness, even as I may be deceived into evil,” writes Lionel Flynn. ness, even as I may be deceived into evil.

L

ove finds its fullest expression in God, who himself is totally and utterly love.

It is only when I come to know love, in its purest and finest sense, and when this pure and fine love finds expression in words and deeds, that I begin to grasp certain knowledge about God, that I begin to live an authentic Christian life,

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Faith and Society

for us to provide a “ministry of presence”: to offer a sacred and quiet space for people to find God (and not just those who are already part of that parish).

But the role of these buildings can stretch even further and provide a unique outreach opportunity: a chance to share our faith with people who perhaps do not even know what they are looking for.

At the Denis Hurley Centre, which I serve as its director, we have regular groups of 16/17-year-olds coming to volunteer.

They visit the mosque where they hear about Islam and can overcome some of the prejudices they receive from international media about Muslims. And we also take them on a tour of the cathedral.

I am struck at how many middle-class children have gone on trips to the other side of the world to visit grand churches but have never travelled the few kilometres to the centre of their own city to find a similarly impressive cathedral. This is a chance for them to learn something about history, about architecture, about art and, of course, about our religion.

But sadly, some people have questioned these tours. A group of teenagers, no matter how well briefed, inevitably bring with them noise and disruption. I appreciate that the person quietly saying her rosary would prefer not to be disturbed. But I hope that part of her prayer is that others will want to share in her faith.

Faith (and our church traditions) are not delicate jewels to be protected and hidden away—they are robust expressions of the presence of God in the world that we should willingly share with others.

So I try to explain to these assorted young people—some active Catholics, some lapsed Catholics, some from other Christian traditions, some from other faiths, some with no faith grounding at all—about the statues and the altar and the tabernacle and the missionaries who first made this all happen. And when I do Continued on page 11

Lionel Flynn

Point of Reflection

that I begin to be a true disciple of Christ, whose love for me finds full expression in the Cross.

Love, therefore, must be the answer to all life’s challenges, for in total and supreme love for God, love for neighbour and love for self is God’s will done on earth as it is in heaven.

The challenges I face are either because of a distorted idea of love, or because of a blatant lack of it, for there can be no poverty with love, no depression with love, no domestic violence with love.

While it is easy to fall into the temptation of distorted or no love in an irreligious society, further perpetuating these challenges, it should not be so for a predominantly Christian society, where love should form the centre and driving force of everything since God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God and God in him.

n Lionel Flynn is a graduate of St John Vianney Seminary and a masters student at the University of South Africa.

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The Southern Cross, October 9 to October 15, 2019

7

Cackie Upchurch

Lessons From Luke

Jesus invites us to God’s party

B

ECAUSE parables are a favoured teaching tool of Jesus, we return to the topic to discover some additional lessons from the Gospel of Luke.

Most of the parables in this Gospel may be found in chapters 9-19, the chapters that take Jesus from the region of Galilee in the north to Jerusalem in the south.

This journey is an opportunity for Jesus to continue shaping his disciples through his teaching in word and deed, and his interactions with those in need as well as those who are opposed to him.

The parables found in this section of the Gospel of Luke drive home the lesson that the kingdom of God is unlike any kingdom that the followers of Jesus would have known.

God’s kingdom reflects a world a world where Samaritans and Jews, historically bitter enemies, are neighbours who care for one another (Luke 10:29-37), where one’s treasure is not meant to be hoarded but shared (12:16-21), where the smallest things—mustard seeds and bits of yeast—will produce amazing results (13:18-21), and where sinners receive mercy (18:1-8).

Chapter 14 presents two parables which involve a banquet or a feast. One parable invites humility by warning against choosing the places of honour at the banquet table, and the other recounts the tale of the invited guests who make excuses not to come and the host who instead invites the poor, crippled, blind, and lame. Some background may be of help.

Banquets and feasting have been long associated with God’s goodness and generosity for his people. For example, the prophet Isaiah, having proclaimed God’s judgment on those who violate the covenant, holds out the hope of God’s mercy and restoration when he acclaims that the “Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy rich food and pure, choice wines” (Isa 25:6).

Later, in Isaiah 55, God invites all who are thirsty and poor to feast on the rich fare that God provides.

T

hose who pray the psalms also find multiple references to the feast God offers his people, a feast that symbolises God’s comfort, mercy, and protection. God prepares a table for the faithful in the presence of their enemies (Ps 23:5), satisfies the soul’s desires with choice food (63:6), and quenches those who are thirsty and fills the hungry with good things (107:9).

When Jesus uses the same images—banquets and feasts—to describe aspects of God’s kingdom, he is drawing upon his own Jewish history and surely hopes his listeners will hear his teaching as a continuation of God’s gracious intervention in human history.

Luke 15 contains three parables that modern translators and editors usually have described as having to do with lost things—a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost (or prodigal) son. Interestingly, ancient manuscripts of the Scriptures contain no such titles for these stories; supplying titles is a relatively modern invention to help readers navigate through the Gospels and focus on basic story plots.

In each case, the listener is being asked to consider how the kingdom of God expands our understanding of who is in and who is out.

The very first verse of chapter 15 tells us that the Pharisees and scribes are challenging Jesus’ policy of inviting all to the table.

“He welcomes sinners and eats with them,” they complain. Never mind that they do not recognise their own sin and that they are also welcome at the table. Jesus responds not with a direct teaching such as: “It is indeed God’s policy to be a generous host.” Instead, he tells them three stories which, on the surface, seem ridiculous.

What shepherd would abandon 99 sheep that are bound to go astray themselves while he goes off to find one that he lost? What woman would make such a fuss over one coin? And what father would welcome back a son who had squandered not only what he had been given, but also his family’s reputation?

We may think of God as the shepherd who risks it all, the woman who seeks diligently, and the father who generously forgives. We would do well to ask ourselves not only if this is the God we know, but if this is the kingdom where we want to apply for citizenship. n This is the seventh in a ten-part series of articles on the Gospel of Luke produced by Little Rock Scripture Study and first published in the Arkansas Catholic.

8

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The Southern Cross, October 9 to October 15, 2019

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MISSION

The Southern Cross, October 9 to October 15, 2019

9

How Taizé can help us engage youth Young people are increasingly turning away from the Church. Some of the Catholic response to that could find inspiration from the example of the Taizé community, argues MARK POTTERTON.

L

AST year young people from around the world told Pope Francis and members of the Synod of Bishops that they no longer want to remain on the sidelines of the Church and wanted to play a more active role.

Yet, in Europe and in other parts of the West very few young people Young people are engaging in work activities and discussions in the Taizé community in France. In his article, Mark Potterton argues that the example are involved in the Church. of Taizé provides the Catholic Church with a way of fruitfully engaging the youth in the Church.

A 2018 survey in Europe of young people in the 16-29 age group found that the Czech Repub- listen to what is required of it— between 17 and 30 years old (and, “At dinner that evening, we vis- day-to-day work at Taizé is done by lic is the least religious country, and, most importantly, to listen to within certain limits, for adults ited with young people from Swe- volunteer staff, who are young peowith 91% of that age group saying the voices of young people because and families with children) den, England, Holland, Finland, ple who come for an extended pethey have no religious affiliation. throughout the year. The number Japan and Germany. they have something to offer. riod of service, typically six months Between 70% and 80% of young Many Catholic churches in of participants can reach more “During the height of the pil- or a year. adults in the Netherlands, Estonia South Africa struggle to attract and than 5 000 during the summer and grimage season, Taizé is like a The pilgrims themselves also and Sweden also categorise them- keep young people as they transi- at Easter.

United Nations of languages, na- help with cooking, cleaning and selves as non-religious.

Meetings usually last from Sun- tionalities and cultures. But even the many other tasks involved with tion into adulthood. Young people The most religious country is are less likely than older genera- day to Sunday, though it is also though people come from many hosting thousands of guests each Poland, where only 17% of young tions to be religiously affiliated. possible to just come for a few days, different backgrounds, there’s an year. adults define themselves as non-reSome can be resistant to out- or, for young volunteers, to stay for incredible sense of unity and love Just a couple of weeks ago, numligious, followed by Lithuania with reach and others have become hos- a longer time. that is formed here through wor- bers of young people from across 25%.

Several Sisters also help with ship and the discussion groups that Southern Africa had an opportutile to organised religion.

In working with young people running the meetings. However, take place each morning,” Ms Er- nity to experience the Taizé spirituThe figures quoted were pubality during the “Pilgrimage of lished in a report, Europe’s Young in schools over the past seven they are not “Taizé Sisters” but ickson wrote.

Adults and Religion, by Professor years, I have learnt some lessons come from various orders, most no“People are asked to commit to Trust” which this year was hosted tably the Catholic order of St An- spending a full week here so they in Cape Town.

Stephen Bullivant, professor of the- about youth spirituality.

One may hope that these pilgrims Young people are interested in re- drew in Belgium. ology and the sociology of religion can fully immerse themselves in ligion, particularly when it relates to at St Mary’s University in London. the experience. It’s intense and life- will be able to introduce that spirituality in their home communities.

Prof Bullivant, a young Catholic, their own life concerns. Young peo- Travel writer’s view of Taizé changing.”

Travel writer Lori Erickson visMeaningful engagement may be says that “young adults increas- ple enjoy being engaged in social Ms Erickson noted that the ingly are not identifying with or outreach projects where they feel ited Taizé in the month of Novem- Brothers, who support themselves a key in how to connect with ber, and missed the place in full by making and selling handcrafts, young people in the Church. practising religion”. that they are making a difference.

The trajectory is likely to beYoung people don’t like being flower. “But even with only a few lead discussion groups, provide n Dr Mark Potterton is the principal come more marked, he argues: preached to, but they do enjoy try- hundred people in residence, it still spiritual direction, and develop of Sacred Heart Junior School in Ob“Christianity as a default, as a ing to come to grips with ethical buzzed with energy,” she wrote. liturgical materials. Most of the servatory, Johannesburg. norm, is gone, and probably gone dilemmas. for good—or at least for the next On the worship front, they 100 years.” enjoy more contemporary religious Prof Bullivant observes signifi- music and don’t really mind which TEMENOS COUNTRY RETREAT " cant variations: “Countries that are Christian tradition it comes from. next door to one another, with simThe beautiful Temenos Retreat Center in McGregor The LARGEST Catholic online The Taizé experience ilar cultural backgrounds and histooffers the perfect setting for your private retreats. shop in South Africa!

A couple of months ago, while ries, have wildly different religious 13 Self-Catering cottages each with its own fireplace and priWe specialise and source an extensive variety of products, on pilgrimage to France, I had the profiles.” vate bath • A Chapel • Private Meditation space • Country some of which include: *Personalised Rosaries *Priest Back to last year’s synod. Young opportunity to participate in the Walks • A restaurant which caters for all dietary requirements Chasubles *Altar Linen *Church Items *Bells men and women from Chile, Ar- Sunday Mass at the ecumenical • Two Libraries • Tranquil Gardens • Pensioner specials *Chalices *Thuribles *Personalised Candles, etc. gentina, Australia and Panama community of Taizé.

We also offer retreat facilities to groups Located in the French were among the delegates Tel: 012 460-5011 | Cell: 079 762-4691 | During the week or weekend. who addressed the synod Young people region of Burgundy, Taizé Fax: 0123498592 Email: info@catholicshop.co.za Contact our co-coordinator for details was founded in 1940 by in its opening days and 2øæ­¸Ø "ı̇øߺ̋ø̋¸"¬Æß̶" temenosaccounts@lando.co.za don’t like Br Roger Schütz, a Swiss spoke candidly about " Protestant. Today it comtheir hopes for the being prises a hundred brothers, Catholic Church.

In a report on last preached to, both Catholic and Protesyear’s synod in the British tant. The current head, Br but they do Alois Löser, is a Catholic.

Catholic journal The SeSotho siSwati Tablet, a journalist obAt that Mass, I underenjoy served what inspired stood again why the Taizé hope and admiration for confronting spirituality appeals to her was the young people many young people. ethical themselves, some of The spirit of the place whom she had the opwas just as I had imagined dilemmas it would be. There is a portunity to speak to.

There was a wide tremendous sense of comrange of views between each young munity among the people from all person, drawing from experiences over the world. I was so excited to see from one side of the globe to the so many engaged young people. other. But one thing united them: I reflected on the life of Brother passion for their faith and love for Roger, who as a young man in the their Church. early years of Word War II left neutral Switzerland to establish a What does house that accommodated both the youth want?

Christian and Jewish refugees in The young people want to grow France, very close to the Germanwith the Church; and they want occupied regions. the Church to grow with them.

Later he established a monastery Some called for change, some which promotes ecumenical ideas called for clarification, and some and works among the youth. for a shoring up of tradition. Some Taizé has become one of the called for recognition of LGBT world's most important sites of rights and some talked of their hurt Christian pilgrimage, with a focus of being excluded from Church hi- on youth. More than 100 000 erarchy on the basis of gender. young people from around the As a response to the synod world make pilgrimages to Taizé young people said: “The Church every year for prayer, Bible study, needs to create similar spaces where sharing, and communal work.

Through the community's ecuyoung people can voice their opinions, their hopes, their needs and menical outlook, they are encourtheir struggles, without being aged to live in a spirit of kindness, simplicity and reconciliation. This judged.”

One young leader said that the message seems to appeal to them.

According to the Taizé website, Church must learn to use its ears, Supplied by Missio SACBC. More prayers next week! to listen to the world around it, to there are meetings for young adults

Prayers for Extraordinary Month of Mission

10

The Southern Cross, October 9 to October 15, 2019

SAINT

Newman: A scholar and a saint On October 13, Pope Francis will canonise the English giant Cardinal John Henry Newman. FR VALENTINE IHEANACHO MSP looks at Newman’s faith, struggles, teachings and character.

O

F the many quotes credited to Cardinal John Henry Newman, the one on perfection is evergreen: “To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.”

It could be inferred that the idea that he, John Henry Newman, will be canonised a saint in Rome on October 13, would have amused him! All through his long earthly sojourn, he never considered himself as possessing the least requisite for sainthood.

On one occasion, reacting with his usual gentleness and measured sarcasm to the notion that he was a “saint”, Newman reminded a friend that he had “nothing of a saint about me as everyone knows, and it is a severe [and salutary] mortification to be thought next door to me”.

“I have no tendency to be a saint,” Newman said. “Saints are not literary men, they do not love the classics, they do not write tales…”

In a sermon entitled “Sins of Infirmity”, Newman underscored one central truth about Christian sainthood: although righteousness and holiness are results of faith, they nonetheless are “obtained through the process of imperfection”.

Newman the Oratorian John Henry Newman (1801-90) was a theology professor at Oxford and an Anglican priest before historical research led him towards the Catholic Church, into which he was formally received on October 9, 1845. He is numbered among the most influential Englishmen of the 19th century.

Newman was “trained” for the Catholic priesthood at the Urban College of Propaganda Fide.

Despite his fame as an Anglican priest and a professor, Newman submitted himself wholeheartedly to the rigour and discipline of the Urban College. He noted that “all the students were boys or youths”, except for himself and Ambrose St John, his friend and a fellow convert.

It was in Rome that Newman and St John were charmed by the tender love of St Philip Neri which led them to join the Oratorians, founded by the jolly saint in 1575.

The hymn writer and theologian Fr Frederick William Faber, also a convert from Anglicanism and an Oratorian, had misgivings about a possible clash over their different initiatives. Newman reassured Faber that “there is not a chance of your and our interfering with each other. England is large enough.”

As events were later to unfold, Faber would become one of the thorns in Newman’s side, causing him many pains throughout his life as a Catholic.

The difference between the two men went beyond personalities to temperaments and vision. Newman’s Oxford background and experience prepared him for the big

cities. For his strategy, he spared no effort to see that the English Oratorians under his leadership were established in large cities like Birmingham, London and Manchester.

The question of opening a house in London was a major bone of contention between Newman and Faber. While Newman in theory was not against the idea of establishing the Oratorians in London, he wanted it to be a gradual process, whereas Faber insisted that the project could not be deferred.

Despite their differences and the fact that Faber pitched tent with the English Ultramontanes—those who advocate supreme papal authority in matters of faith and discipline—against Newman, he, in some manner, acted as a complement to Newman.

A Christian Humanist The gamut of Newman’s thought is caught in his personal touch to education and theology.

His philosophy of liberal education is set out in his phenomenal work The Idea of a University.

He argued that the overall end of a liberal education was to produce “a gentleman”, to use the language of the time.

As an academic institution, the university, as Newman conceived it, must prepare its students for the Cardinal John Henry Newman, one of the great intellectual minds of the world by plunging them into the Church in the 19th century, will be canonised in the Vatican on October 13 rivers of knowledge and the accumulated rich heritage of humanHeart and Reason Champion of the Laity ity’s wisdom and science.

Newman in some ways lived With regard to theology, NewFurthermore, it was meant to be a place where students are intro- man’s cardinalate motto: “Cor ad ahead of his time. He anticipated duced to the profundity of the mas- cor loquitur” (Heart Speaks to by a century the Second Vatican ters of human thought. It was for Heart), holds the key to unlock his Council (1962-65), especially in its emphasis on the supremacy of inthis reason that Newman placed a theological mind. high premium on the classics.

His work A Grammar of Assent dividual conscience and the active Newman differed with the (1870) is widely considered as a role of the laity in the Church and Catholic Church of his time in work of philosophy, literature and in civil society.

Newman was an ardent believer many ways on education. It isn’t psychology. It remains in its comhard to understand the reason for plexity a tribute to the capacity of in the goodness of the human perthe divergence of views between the human mind to apprehend son. From his standpoint, the source of that natural goodness is Newman and the Catholic hierar- the truth. located in the conscience with chy.

He aimed to engage the human Newman had previously been a heart, to enkindle living faith in which human beings are born, and is never invented or devised by student and a professor at Oxford people so that through a sensitivity them.

University, with its global to mystery, they may “The religious person feels vision of education. He see Christ and also bound in duty to submit to confound it particularly suffo- Newman still science since it points a person becontemplate him. cating to share the narrow That conviction can yond himself to the lawgiver,” understanding of educateaches us be found in these Newman wrote. tion that was dominant in In the Newmanian understandstatements of his: “I do today as an many English Catholic ciring, conscience “is a voice within not care to overcome cles in the 19th century. educator, a their reason without us, which assures us that there is Such narrowness of visomething higher than earth. There sion and understanding pastor, a guide touching their hearts”, is that in our hearts which prompts and: “The great end of led the English hierarchy the Gospel is the us to religion, and which conof souls, a to forbid the establishunion of hearts in the demns and chastises sin.” ment of Catholic colleges In other words, the voice of congreat preacher love of Christ and of in the so-called “Protesscience alerts the human person to each other.” tant Universities” like Oxthe reality of God, and the correThis is the core of ford and Cambridge. sponding duty to this sacred awareAs a matter of fact, both Propa- Newman’s Christian humanism, ness. The Christian is called to live ganda Fide in Rome and the Eng- anchored on the principle of the and to be guided by faith, which inlish bishops in 1865 sternly human constitution which he un- variably implies listening to the disapproved of Catholics attending derstood as having the natural in- voice of conscience and obeying it. clination to believe, since “to the same universities.

He considered the human conFor Newman, instead, it was of believe, to trust, is not only possi- science to be inviolable. paramount importance to guard ble for human beings, it is unIn defence of its inviolability, against two extremes: “Irreligious avoidable”.

Newman once declared: “No pope And because the heart and the minds which prophesied the discan make evil good. No pope has proof of God and Revelation”, on imagination of the human mind power over those external moral the one hand, and on the other, were recognised by Newman as in- principles which God has im“Religious minds which were jeal- struments of the truth, he empha- printed on our hearts and conous of the researches, and preju- sised the need to root human sciences.” diced against the discoveries of reason within the moral temperaIn his tribute to Newman for his ment of a person in order to keep immense contribution to our unscience”.

It was on this basis that he was “the heart alive”. It equally serves derstanding of conscience, Pope more than prepared to defend the to prevent reason from being cold John Paul II reaffirmed the thought autonomy of the lay members of and abstract but rather “a living of Newman in this manner: “Conthe Church. spontaneous energy within us”. science is within the human heart before it receives any training.”

With regard to the laity, Newman’s defence of the maturity and autonomy of the laity was particularly vexing to Rome and to the English hierarchy. For instance, the Catholic authorities were alarmed by his article for the Rambler in 1859, entitled, “On Consulting the Faithful in Matters of Doctrine”.

While the Ultramontane English hierarchy accused him of being a “liberal” supporter of the laity, the Propaganda Fide in Rome scolded him “for training boys for future education at Oxford” which was perceived as too liberal.

Newman’s case was not helped

by his refusal to jump on the bandwagon in support of papal temporal power, which for him, was not necessary for the exercise of the spiritual authority of the pope.

That was not a tenable position to hold during the pontificate of Pius IX (1846-1878) when the papacy was losing control over the Papal States during the unification of Italy.

He made things even worse when his independent mind prevented him from being an enthusiastic supporter of the official definition of papal infallibility by the First Vatican Council (186970).

He considered the frenzy over the formal definition to be orchestrated by a clique of Jesuits, Redemptorists and converts who made it their stock in trade to flatter the Holy See. All these were misconstrued as his acts of disloyalty to the pope which caused Newman to exasperate: “Why can’t we be let alone, when we have pursued peace, and thought no evil?”

The Odyssey of a Soul If Newman had thought that he would find peace by his conversion to Catholicism, he was grossly mistaken. No sooner had the euphoria over his conversion died down than misunderstanding and hostilities against him ensued.

He experienced for more than ten years “the dark night of a soul”, when God appeared distant, with difficulties, trials and failures.

For instance, his attempts to fashion a model Catholic university in Dublin were repulsed. Some of his Oratorian school projects in England were viewed with suspicion by ecclesiastical authorities.

He was effectively prevented from carrying out his proposed translation of the Vulgate into English.

The year 1862 was the lowest ebb of his life, when he felt isolated and deluded.

The published diaries of Newman that covered that phase of his life reveal very clearly the long suffering of a man who was confused and frustrated. He felt abandoned.

His apologia Pro Vita Sua (1864) which was greeted with unexpected success, was intended by Newman to be a means of healing for himself in order to regain his equilibrium.

His strength of character, rooted in complete abandonment to divine providence, trust in prayer as well as perseverance in charity in the form of firmness of mind and a fairness of judgment, all helped him to weather the thickest storms.

The depth of his faith and trust in divine providence can be glimpsed from his religious poems such as “Lead, Kindly Light” and “Praise to the Holiest in the Height”.

Newman’s magnanimity of heart and his spirituality centred round “the habit of feeling that we are in God’s presence”, preserved him from degenerating into bitterness which might have led him to smear his many opponents and detractors.

John Henry Newman is very much alive in all his writings and still teaches us today as an educator, as a pastor and guide of souls, and as a great preacher.

Most importantly, as a Christian, he bears testimony to the abiding presence of divine providence, “accompanied by God’s pedagogy of grace and gradualism”.

It is hoped that, on October 13, the Church may not only canonise Newman as a saint but also accord him the honour of being numbered among the “Doctors of the Church”. This would duly recognise his outstanding contribution to the teaching of the Christian faith, and for the holiness of his life. n Fr Valentine Iheanacho is a theologian at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein.

The Southern Cross, October 9 to October 15, 2019

Fr Pieter van Heeswijk

F

ATHER Pieter van Heeswijk of Durban died on September 8 at 91.

Petrus (Pieter) Johannes Josephus van Heeswijk was born on September 3, 1928, in the Netherlands. After his philosophical and theological studies, he was ordained a deacon in December 1955, and in May 1956 he was ordained to the priesthood.

From 1956-63 he ministered to refugees in Germany and also worked as an assistant priest in the Netherlands.

Fr Van Heeswijk arrived in South Africa in October 1963. Until 1966, he resided at Emmanuel cathedral while working as a supply

priest in Durban North parish, and as assistant priest in St Joseph’s parish in Greyville. He spent the last half of 1966 learning isiZulu at Seven Oaks.

Fr Van Heeswijk ministered as parish priest in the following parishes of Durban archdiocese: • Our Lady of Good Help, Verulam, 1966-76.

• Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Ekukhanyeni, 1976-87.

• Immaculata, KwaMadlala, Pietermaritzburg, 1987-96.

For the last years of his active ministry he was a priest-in-residence and assisted at Emmanuel cathedral and at Sacred Heart parish in Woodlands, before retiring to Nazareth House where he was cared for when he became more frail.

Fr Van Heeswijk’s funeral was celebrated at Sacred Heart parish on September 19.

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PRAYERS

O MOST beautiful flower of Mount Carmel, fruitful vine, splendour of heaven, blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity. O Star of the Sea, help me and show me where you are, Mother of God. Queen of heaven and earth, I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to succour me in my necessity. There is none who can withstand your power. O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. Holy Mary, I place this cause in your hands. “Say this prayer for three consecutive days and then publish. Leon and Karen.

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATIOn

CAPE TOWn: Looking for reasonably priced accommodation over the December/January holiday period?

Come to Kolbe House, set in beautiful, spacious gardens in Rondebosch, nestled just under Devil’s Peak. Self-catering, clean and peaceful, with spacious gardens.Safe parking. Close to all shops and public transport. Contact Pat 021 685-7370, 073 263-2105 or

CAPE TOWn: A Holy Hour Prayer for Priests is held on the second Saturday of every month at the 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.

Retreat day/quiet prayer last Saturday of each month except December, at Springfield Convent in Wynberg, Cape Town. Hosted by CLC, 10.0015.30. 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. 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 0313093496 or 031 209-2536.

kolbe.house@telkomsa.net Visit our website www.kolbehouse.org.za

MARIAnELLA Guest House, Simon’s Town: “Come experience the peace and beauty of God with us.” Fully equipped, with amazing sea views. Secure parking, ideal for rest and relaxation. Special rates for pensioners and clergy. Malcolm Salida 082 784-5675, mjsalida@ gmail.com

PERSOnAL

ABORTIOn WARnInG: The truth will convict a silent Church. See www.valuelifeabortionisevil.co.za

ABORTIOn: Monthly Sunday Mass bidding prayer: “That Almighty God guide our nation to cease our murders of our unborn infants.”

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.

Our Church must be an open club Continued from page 7 so, I don’t feel that I’m giving a lecture but that I am evangelising (sharing the Good News) and catechising (providing information about the faith).

Evangelising and catechising are both disruptive activities—we hope they disrupt the lives of those with whom we are sharing the faith, but we have to allow

that they will disrupt our own peace and quiet as well.

That is the underlying challenge of our faith. Are we creating a club of the saved, devoutly waiting for heaven?

Or are we open to be an unpredictable association of random sons and daughters of God sharing our journeys back to the Creator?

Southern CrossWord solutions SOLUTIONS TO 884. ACROSS: 5 Wise, 7 White smoke, 8 Dire, 10 Ethereal, 11 Chairs, 12 Ransom, 14 Stanza, 16 Museum, 17 Pantheon, 19 Gash, 21 Churchyard, 22 Erik.

DOWN: 1 Owed, 2 Athenian, 3 Asters, 4 Bother, 5 Wear, 6 Synagogues, 9 In hot water, 13 Nosegays, 15 Avenue, 16 Munich, 18 Tuck, 20 Hide.

Our bishops’ anniversaries

576 AM in Johannesburg & beyond

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Catch our interviews with Southern Cross editor Günther Simmermacher every Friday on 8:30am 41809 MASS followed by Mass Intention • 41809 VERI followed by comments

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This week we congratulate: October 13: Bishop Mlungisi Pius Dlungwane of Mariannhill on his 72nd birthday October 14: Bishop Edward Risi of KeimoesUpington on the 19th anniversary of his episcopal ordination

Neighbourhood Old Age Homes

We can use your old clothing, bric-a-brac, furniture and books for our second-hand shop in Woodstock, Cape Town.

Help us to create an avenue to generate much needed funds for our work with the elderly.

Contact Ian Veary on 021 447 6334 www.noah.org.za

Liturgical Calendar Year C – Weekdays Cycle Year 1 Sunday October 13, 28th Sunday of the Year 2 Kings 5:14-17, Psalm 98:1-4, 2 Timothy 2:8-13, Luke 17:11-19 St Teresa of Avila, St Margaret Mary Monday October 14, St Callistus Alacoque, St Luke, St Paul of the Cross Romans 1:1-7, Psalm 98:1-4, Luke 11:29-32 Tuesday October 15, St Teresa of Avila Romans 1:16-25, Psalm 19:2-5, Luke 11:37-41 Wednesday October 16, Ss Hedwig and Margaret Mary Alacoque Romans 2:1-11, Psalm 62:2-3, 6-7, 9, Luke 11:42-46 Thursday October 17, St Ignatius of Antioch Romans 3:21-30, Psalm 130:1-6, Luke 11:47-54

Friday October 18, St Luke 2 Timothy 4:9-17, Psalm 145:10-13, 17-18, Luke 10:1-9 Saturday October 19, Ss John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues and Companions, St Paul of the Cross Romans 4:13, 16-18, Psalm 105:6-9, 42-43, Luke 12:8-12 Sunday October 20, 29th Sunday of the Year Exodus 17:8-13, Psalm 121:1-8, 2 Timothy 3:14--4:2, Luke 18:1-8

A glance at the Gospels will show what Jesus thought of those who tried to promote the former model; and how he invested his time in the latter one.

It is full of risk and uncertainty.

And that is why it is called faith. n Read past Raymond Perrier columns at www.scross.co.za/ category/perspectives/raymond -perrier/

Pregnant? Need Help?

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Editor: Günther Simmermacher (editor@scross.co.za), Business Manager: Pamela Davids (admin@scross.co.za), Advisory Editor: Michael Shackleton, Local news: Erin Carelse (e.carelse@scross.co.za) Editorial: Claire Allen (c.allen@scross.co.za), Mary Leveson (m.leveson@scross.co.za), Advertising: Yolanda Timm (advertising@scross.co.za), Subscriptions: Michelle Perry (subscriptions@scross.co.za), Accounts: Desirée Chanquin (accounts@scross.co.za), Directors: R Shields (Chair), Bishop S Sipuka, S Duval, E Jackson, B Jordan, Sr H Makoro CPS, C Mathieson*, J Mathurine, G Stubbs

Opinions expressed in this newspaper do not necessarily reflect those of the editor, staff or directors of The Southern Cross.

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the

29th Sunday: October 20 Readings: Exodus 17:8-13, Psalm 121:1-8, 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2, Luke 18:1-8

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HAT about this prayer business, then? It is something that each of us has to do: but how are we to go about it? The readings for next Sunday offer some suggestions, mainly in the direction of being persistent in prayer.

The first reading is the remarkable story of Moses praying while Joshua is fighting the Amalekites. Moses and Joshua divide the jobs, so that Joshua and his chosen men do the fighting, while Moses does the praying.

Moses goes up to the top of the hill, with Aaron and Hur; and the result is that “when Moses lifted up his hand, Israel prevailed, but when Moses rested his hand, Amalek prevailed”.

But of course, old age takes its toll, and “Moses’ hands grew heavy”.

So a tactic is put in place, a stone for Moses to sit on, while “Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on each side, and his hands stayed steady until sunset”, and “Joshua mowed down the Amalekites with the edge of the sword”.

We do not have to be too enthusiastic about the butchery; the important lesson is that prayer actually makes a difference; and we might try that in the coming week.

Then the psalm is a prayer, all on its own,

one of the loveliest in Israel’s hymnbook. “I shall lift up my eyes to the hills—from where does my help come?” And the singer knows that the answer is “from God”, the context of all our prayer.

One word that you might notice, if only because it appears no less than five times in the prayer-poem is “keep” or “preserve”: “The Lord who keeps you does not sleep…

Israel’s keeper does not slumber…the Lord is the One who keeps you…the Lord keeps you from all evil…he keeps your life.”

God, you see, is the unfailing context of all our praying, and if we listen to this ancient poetry, we shall come to realise that what God does matters more than any prayer that we might find ourselves uttering.

The lesson is that we need to be persistent.

That same lesson is there in our second reading, where Timothy is told: “You are to remain persistent in what you have learnt and come to faith, remembering whom you learnt it from.”

And Paul introduces another important element in prayer, namely, “the sacred writings, which can make you wise, and bring you to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ”.

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Pilgrimage 2020

Luke’s Gospel this year, we know that the evangelist is instinctively on the side of widows, so we wonder what is going to happen as she persists in banging on his door and demanding justice against her legal opponent.

Finally he gets fed up, and we hear him arguing inside himself: “Maybe I have no fear of God nor respect for humanity, but because this widow keeps giving me hassle, I am going to give her the verdict; otherwise in the end she’s going to come and give me a black eye.”

And Jesus uses this comic picture as an example to encourage persistence in prayer: “Will not God give the verdict to his chosen ones who call to him day and night, and be patient in their regard?”

Then he extends the question: “He will give the verdict quite quickly—but when the Son of Man comes, is he going to find faith on earth?”

So, this week, what are you going to do about your prayer-life? And how will you go about being persistent in it?

T

he Gospel reading for next Sunday is absolutely clear about the importance of persistence in prayer, and indeed Luke even gives its parable a heading: “That they must always pray and not give up”.

It is a thoroughly subversive parable, which even dares to present God as an “unjust judge” (only an affectionate son like Jesus could get away with this tactic).

We are presented with “a judge in a certain city, who had no fear of God, nor any respect for human beings”.

Then we are introduced to his antagonist, “a widow in that city”.

And if we have been paying attention to

Southern Crossword #884

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

was shared—and shared in a “sacramental” way. Yes, there are sacraments that don’t take place in a church, but still have sacramental power. And we need more of these.

Final Reflection

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or example, the recently late US Christian author Rachel Held Evans wrote: “Often I hear from readers who have left their churches because they had no songs for them to sing after the miscarriage, the shooting, the earthquake, the divorce, the diagnosis, the attack, the bankruptcy.

“The American tendency toward triumphalism, of optimism rooted in success, money, and privilege, will infect and sap of substance any faith community that has lost its capacity for holding space for those in grief.”

She’s right. Our churches aren’t creating enough space for holding grief. In essence: In the everyday, practical spirituality of community, prayer, liturgy and Eucharist within our churches we don’t lean sufficiently on the fact that Christ is both a dying and a rising reality. We generally don’t take the dying part of Christ as seriously as we should. What are the consequences?

Among other things, it means that we don’t create enough communal, ritual celebrations in our churches within which people can feel free to own and express their brokenness and grief communally and in a “sacramental” way.

Granted, our churches do have funeral rites, sacraments of the sick, reconciliation services, special prayer services after a tragedy within a community, and other rituals and gatherings that are powerful spaces for holding grief and brokenness.

However—with the exception of the sacrament of reconciliation which

Classic Conrad

S outher n C ross

Sunday Reflections

Then comes an often-quoted line: “All Scripture is inspired by God (or it could mean, “All writing is God-breathed”) and helpful for teaching, for cross-examining, for putting-right, for education in righteousness, so that a man or woman of God may be capable, ready for any good work.”

So whatever the future may contain, we can await it with a certain calm confidence—and persistence, of course: “in all patience and teaching”.

This prayer is absolutely indispensable.

How can Church give comfort?

OME years ago I went on a weekend retreat given by a woman who made no secret about the fact that not being able to have children constituted a deep wound in her life. So she offered retreats on the pain of being unable to have children.

Being a celibate and not having my own children, I went on one of these retreats, the only man to venture there.

The rest of the participants were women, mostly in their 40s and 50s, who had not borne children of their own.

Our leader, using scripture, biography, poetry and psychology, examined the issue of barrenness from many points of view. The retreat came to a head on Saturday evening with a ritual in chapel in which various participants went up with a huge cross and spoke out their pain for Jesus and everyone else to hear.

That was followed by us watching together the British movie Secrets and Lies, within which one woman’s heartache at being unable to conceive a child is powerfully highlighted.

Afterwards there was a lot of honest sharing of feelings—and lots and lots of tears! But after that painful sharing of pain and the overgenerous tears which accompanied it, the entire atmosphere changed, as if some dark storm had just done its thing but left us still intact.

There was relief, laughter and lightheartedness. A storm had indeed passed us over and we were safe.

“All pain can be borne if it can be shared.” The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer is credited with saying that, but, irrespective of who said it first, it captures what happened at that retreat.

A deep pain was made easier to bear not because it was taken away but because it

Nicholas King SJ

Persist in your prayers

though is generally a private ritual— these are generally tied to a special, singular circumstance such as a death, a serious sickness, or an episodic tragedy within a community.

What we lack are regular ecclesiallybased, communal rituals, analogous to an Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, around which people can come, share their brokenness, and experience a grace that can come only from community.

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e need various kinds of “sacramental” celebrations in our churches within which, to use Held Evans’ terminology, we can create and hold space for those who are grieving a broken heart, a miscarriage, an abortion, a dire medical diagnosis, a bankruptcy, the loss of a job, a divorce, a forced retirement, a rejection in love, the death of a cherished dream, the movement into assisted living, the adjustment to an empty nest within a marriage, barrenness, and frustrations of every kind.

What will these rituals look like?

Mostly they don’t exist yet so it is up to us to invent them.

The Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor suggests that the religious struggle today is not so much a struggle of faith but a struggle of the imagination. Nobody has ever lived in this kind of world before. We need some new rituals. We’re pioneers in new territory, and pioneers have to improvise.

Admittedly, pain and brokenness have always been with us, but past generations had communal ways of creating space for holding grief. Families, communities, and churches then had less of a struggle with the kind of individualism that today leaves us mostly alone to deal with our brokenness.

Today there’s no longer sufficient communal and ecclesial structure to help us accept that, in this life, we live “mourning and weeping in a valley of tears”.

We need to imagine some new, sacramental rituals within which to help hold our grief.

MEDJUGORJE ROME • ASSISI • LORETO 18 - 27 May 2020 Led by Archbishop Stephen Brislin

For more information or to book, please contact Gail at info@fowlertours.co.za or phone/WhatsApp 076 352-3809

www.fowlertours.co.za/medju

Pray in Medjugorje and visit Rome, with papal audience, Assisi, the town of St Francis, Loreto with Mary’s House. Plus a tour of historic Split in Croatia.

ACROSS

5. Not the parable’s foolish virgin (4) 7. It’s an issue that the new pope is in the Sistine chapel (5,5) 8. Ride in a dangerous way (4) 10. Earth eel that’s not of this world (8) 11. Seating for those in charge of parish meetings (6) 12. Christ sacrificed himself as a … (1 Tim 2) (6) 14. Recurring part of a poem featuring New Zealand (6) 16. Use mum to find exhibition hall (6) 17. Temple of the Roman gods (8) 19. The wound in Jesus’ side (4) 21. Parish property for burials (10) 22. St Philip Neri knew the Norseman inside (4)

DOWN

1. Was in debt (4) 2. A citizen who heard Paul preach (Ac 17) (8) 3. Michaelmas daisies (6) 4. Fuss for Brother without right (6) 5. Put religious habit on (4) 6. Where the Pharisees sat in the front seats (Mt 23) (10) 9. Be in trouble if baptised in the heat of the moment?

(2,3,5) 13. Bunches for the brides (8) 15. Road to where an event takes place? (7) 16. You’ll find the Bavarian bishop here (6) 18. The friar in the school playground? (4) 20. Cover the skin (4) Solutions on page 11

CHURCH CHUCKLE

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HE evening before a big civic event at the City Hall, a cardinal was entertaining guests at a cocktail party with amusing anecdotes of his experiences.

As he was going to tell some of these anecdotes in his speech at the civic event the next day, he asked guests not to post any of the stories on social media.

After the party, the cardinal checked his Facebook. On his feed, he saw one guest had written: “Great stories from His Eminence tonight. None of which can be repeated.”

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