200909

The

S outher n C ross

September 9 to September 15, 2020

Reg No. 1920/002058/06

No 5202

www.scross.co.za

How seminary dealt with Covid-19 cases

Page 3

Devotion of Our Lady of Sorrows

Fr Brett Williams distributes Holy Communion at the first in-person Mass at St Joseph’s church in Morningside, Durban, since lockdown started in March. Fr Williams said it was “wonderful to have some members of our faith community in the church building with us”.

During lockdown, the parish livestreamed its Sunday Mass, and will continue to do so while restrictions on Mass attendance apply.

New encyclical out in October

BY CINDY WOODEN

P

OPE Francis will travel to Assisi on October 3 to sign his new encyclical on the social, political and economic obligations that flow from a belief that all people are children of God and therefore brothers and sisters to one another.

The Vatican press office said the document will be titled Fratelli Tutti in Italian. In English, the phrase could be translated as “Brothers and Sisters All”. Apparently it is inspired by what is known as St Francis of Assisi’s “sixth admonition” to the friars, all of whom were men.

Conventual Franciscan Father Mauro Gambetti, custodian of the Assisi convent, said the document “will indicate to the world a style for the future and will give the Church and people of goodwill the responsibility for building it together”.

Pope Francis is scheduled to celebrate Mass at the tomb of St Francis, located in the lower basilica, and sign the document.

Because of ongoing concerns and restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Mass and the rest of the pope’s visit will be private.

The encyclical is expected to echo many of the themes Pope Francis has been discussing in his general audience talks on Catholic so-

The tomb of St Francis of Assisi, at which Pope Francis will sign his new encyclical Fratelli Tutti. (Photo: Günther Simmermacher) cial teaching in light of the pandemic: human fraternity, the equal dignity of all people, the preferential option for the poor, the universal destination of goods, and the obligation of solidarity.

Care for the environment and the virtue of peacemaking also are expected to be part of the encyclical.

After Pope Francis signs the document on the eve of the feast of St Francis, the text is expected to be published in a variety of languages in the first week of October.—CNS

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R12 (incl VAT RSA)

Centenary Jubilee Year

A visit to the holiest site of our faith

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Lenten Appeal collections down by 61% D

UE to the lockdown, which first restricted and then closed churches just a couple weeks into Lent, collection for the Bishops’ Lenten Appeal this year dropped by 61%.

“During the first two weeks of Lent, our different parishes held their annual collections for the Bishops’ Lenten Appeal, and a total amount of R3 867 651 was collected, which is 39% of what was collected last year,” according to Br Ashley Tillek OFM, director of the Bishops’ Lenten Appeal.

While the collected funds will leave Lenten Appeal with a deficit of more than R200 000 once these are allocated, Br Tillek believed the total sum collected reflects people’s generosity in tough times.

“I would say we are most blessed by [the] support shown to the poor and needy and the works of the Church during these difficult days,” Br Tillek said.

The figure of nearly R3,9 million reflects the accounts as of August 26.

The Lenten Appeal has issued an account of collections received per diocese. Certain decreases over the previous year are so low as to suggest that some dioceses still have to transfer their raised funds.

This would not be unusual. An outlier on the list is Dundee, whose figures reflect a decrease of only 5% over 2019.

This was due to “previously collected but unpaid amounts that were found and honestly paid”, Bishop Graham Rose told The Southern Cross.

The largest amount was collected by the archdiocese of Cape Town (R801 572, or 48% of last year’s collection), followed by Johannesburg (R652 472 or 37%), Durban (R565 910 or 42%), Pretoria (R271 805 or 43%) and Port Eliz-

Due to the lockdown, which started during Lent, this year’s income from Lenten Appeal was only 39% of the amount raised in 2019. abeth (R251 098 or 50%).

In the coming financial year, the funds are being allocated in four main areas: Seminarian education and support, vocation programmes, and permanent diaconate programmes (R1,9 million); diocesan development programmes that assist parishes with specific projects (R1,07 million); Lenten Appeal administrative and promotional costs (R707 660); and Catholic charities, parish subsidies and other charitable works (R450 000).

“Unfortunately this will leave us with a deficit of R224 425,” Br Tillek noted.

He said this has been brought to the attention of diocesan Lenten Appeal directors in Zoom meetings, with the request that “if there was any more money outstanding, that this should be forwarded to the bishops’ conference as soon as possible”, he said.

In 2019, Lenten Appeal raised just over R9,8 million, around R800 000 over the preceding year.

How parishes can earn with us!

As you will have seen by now, The Southern Cross will relaunch as a magazine in late September — in print and digitally.

We are very excited about the magazine, which will sell for only R30, and we are certain that many Catholics will be interested in this new publication with a proud history.

RAYMOND PERRIER: On New Beginnngs

VOCATIONS: The lay experience

CATHOLIC TRIVIA QUIZ: What do you know?

Southern Cross We Are Here!

Est. 1920

T he

The Catholic Magazine for Southern Africa

And for parishes and sodalities which sell The Southern Cross magazine in their communities we have more good news: THE MILLENNIALS’ SAINT: THIS WAS CARLO ACUTIS

For every magazine sold, we give a commission of R5,00!

Of course we are aware that nobody knows when parishes can return to holding their full

October 2020

R30 (incl. VAT in SA)

schedule of Masses. But we could not delay the launch of The Southern Cross magazine any further — the alternative was to close the publication down altogether.

So we need help in the parishes and sodalities to make sure the printed magazine gets into people’s hands. This is a matter of keeping The Southern Cross alive!

We are asking parishes to stock The Southern Cross magazine, and make it known to parishioners through your various channels of communication, like Facebook and WhatsApp: to spread the word about the magazine and to encourage parishioners to order theirs.

FOR YOUR WALL: ST TERESA OF AVILA POSTER

They could fetch it from your parish office while we wait for Masses to resume, or maybe

a kind parishioner might drop copies off at the homes of those who can’t come out.

Or parishes could appoint one of their ministries (like the ushers) or sodalities or the SVP to take charge of making sure that all parishioners who would like the magazine will get it.

Maybe even YOU might volunteer to get together a group of people from your parish to make sure there’ll be a Catholic magazine in as many Catholic homes as possible.

The possibilities to help keep The Southern Cross alive are endless!

Is the magazine the end of Catholic news? Of course not: our website and Facebook page will continue to bring the latest news.

And what will feature in the magazine? Well, an array of articles relating to all things

Catholic: faith and society, interviews, personalities, burning questions, travel, prayer, millennials, family, education, spiritual reflections, a pull-out poster of a Saint of the Month, as well as fun stuff like the popular crossword, wordsearch, trivia quiz, and much more...

We are taking orders already so that we can get the magazine to you by the beginning of October. Parishes and sodalities/organisations/shops can order copies for sale by emailing admin@scross.co.za or calling Pamela on 083 233-1956.

Remember, the cover price is R30, including VAT and we are offering R5 to the parish as commission for every copy sold. You will not be charged for any unsold copies!

The future of our Southern Cross is in your hands! PLEASE help us get the new magazine out there!

2

The Southern Cross, September 9 to September 15, 2020

LOCAL

J&P responds to the needs of child-headed families W HAT started out as a food distribution programme jointly run by the Justice & Peace Commission in the archdiocese of Durban, and Downes Murray Internationl Ltd in the Lamontville and Tongaat area in the township Hambanathi and the informal settlements of Mona and Driefontein, has become a study undertaken by J&P into the crisis of child-headed households.

Child-headed families face challenges such as perpetual bereavement, single mothers struggling to cope, neglect, discrimination and isolation among families.

Among the main findings of the study was that psychosocial deficits among child-headed households were manifesting as poor personal grooming, uncertainty and avoid-

ance of challenging situations.

Additionally, it was established that psychosocial deficits resulted in sexual violation and exposure of children to unplanned teenage pregnancy.

The study also revealed that lack of emotional support was driving children to experience perpetual bereavement for their deceased adult breadwinners.

Lastly, the study revealed that psychosocial deficits among children from child-headed households were compunded because of neglect, discrimination, isolation of children by their families, and stigmatisation by communities in general.

The J&P Commission proposes the following: • Initiate moral regeneration programmes—socialisation of children

should become a priority for South Africa if the country means well in terms of caring and protecting its children. Children with no parents cannot be left to fend for themselves, J&P noted.

• Initiate self-defence and strengthening of child protection systems.

• Increase access to quality grief and trauma recovery services.

• Encourage each parish to open a community resource centre, as many lack proper documentation to apply for social grants or social relief.

If priests work hand-in-hand with the J&P Commission, most families will be able to apply for identity documents or birth certificates in order to apply for grants available to them.

Bl Benedict Daswa fifth anniversary celebration Mass to be livestreamed

A

Tshitanini in Limpop on September 13, 2015. It was South Africa’s first, and so far only, beatification.

Bl Daswa was a South African school teacher and principal in Thohoyandou. He was murdered by a mob when he refused to pay a witchdoctor to ward off lightning strikes which had been occuring in the area.

Click here to watch Live Stream, Click here to watch Phalaborwa Live Stream.

MASS to mark the fifth anniversary of the beatification of Bl Benedict Thimangadzo Daswa will be livestreamed at 11:00 on September 13.

The Mass will be celebrated by Bishop João Rodrigues of Tzaneen at Good Shepherd church in Phalaborwa.

Bl Daswa, who was martyred in 1990, was beatified by Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, at

Bishop Noel Rucastle’s episcopal ordination in St Saviour’s cathedral in Oudtshoorn, under strict lockdown regulations last month, was a very unusual occasion with bishops, clergy and guests all masked and socially distanced. Left: Bishop Rucastle after his ordination. Right: Archbishop Stephen Brislin was the principal consecrator.

Meaning of the elements in new bishop’s coat of arms

A

BISHOP’S coat of arms is always carefully designed to include many symbolisms.

Bishop Noel Rucastle, who was ordained bishop of Oudtshoorn last month, chose such symbols from his own background.

The processional cross, and the green galero (a broad brimmed hat with cords and six tassels on either side), denotes the bishop’s rank.

The gold background of the shield is symbolic of the spiritual treasure we store for ourselves in life. The prophet Job says: “But he knows the way I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.”

The colour green represents the lushness of fertile nature. The bishop’s paternal grandfather came from Cumberland, England. Bishop Rucastle was born in Upington, where amid the dryness is an oasis called “Die Eiland”. The Garden Route is his new destination.

The green and silver diamond

pattern represents Bishop Rucastle’s formative years growing up in Kimberley.

The bishops’s motto is Adiutorium Nostrum in nomine Domini, which means “Our help is in the name of the Lord”. That verse featured on his priestly ordination card from Psalm 121: “I lift up my eyes to the mountain from where my help comes. My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.”

YOUR GIFT OF ANY AMOUNT HELPS

Children’s home: Facemasks are a challenge for kids

F

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OR homes caring for children, Covid-19 regulations have created not only logistic and financial but also interpersonal challenges.

That has been the experience of St Joseph’s Home for chronically ill children in Cape Town.

Facial expressions, such as smiling, are an important part of all communications and interactions, but now, living behind facemasks, these emotional cues are obscured.

“It is absolutely essential for a child to be able to connect with you, and that includes a lot of facial expression,” said Christelle Cornelius, St Joseph’s CEO. “Initially our therapists wore visors instead of masks. Since masks have become compulsory we are guided by our values. How do we engage with one another?” she said.

“We cannot see so much of the facial expression, but what is important is that we still engage in a respectful manner. We respect each other by wearing masks.”

Covid-19 safety regulations have also deprived the children at the home of contact with their parents.

St Joseph’s is maintaining regular contact with parents, which reassures them “that we are giving their children loving care”, Ms Cornelius said.

“Nurses and staff can only do so much in terms of daily care, and you cannot replace the bond between a parent and a child. So we recognise that this is difficult and have now started to

reintegrate parents back into the home to visit their children,” Ms Cornelius said.

Limited parental visits were introduced, with many precautions in place.

Some parents had to be turned away at the entrance because they did not meet screening criteria, which Ms Cornelius said was very sad.

“All our children who are at St Joseph’s are medically fragile and are admitted for 24-hour nursing care. The highest proportion of diagnoses is infectious disease. They are therefore medically more vulnerable to complications should they contract the virus,” she explained.

“It is very important to take all the precautions to keep them safe and not worsen their fragility.”

To that end, the home’s more than 130 staff members are screened daily, with uniforms disinfected and changed on site, Ms Cornelius said.

Personal Protective Equipment and the implementation of other safety protocols, such as disinfectants, has added “a huge unbudgeted cost” to the home’s operations.

To meet the shortfall, St Joseph’s is running a fundraising campaign called the “I Care Bag”. A donation of R200 finances one bag containing ten surgical masks, two pairs of gloves and two aprons.

The home hopes to raise R400 000 through the campaign. Click here for more information or to contribute.

The Southern Cross, September 9 to September 15, 2020

LOCAL

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Seminary closed after students test positive S

AINT John Vianney Seminary in Pretoria has suspended all classes after seven students tested positive for Covid-19.

All students were screened upon arrival at the seminary in Waterkloof, Pretoria, on August 28, and tested on August 31 after the Department of Higher Education and Training gave permission for 100% of the student body to return.

After seven students tested positive for Covid-19, the seminary “decided to discontinue all forms of gatherings for ten days”, rector Fr Masilo John Selemela told The Southern Cross.

“This was done to curb potential spread, to ascertain the state of all other students, and to better manage the situation,” he said.

“Infected students are isolated in the predesignated ensuite block under strict conditions, as per the St John Vianney Covid-19 policy, and are given all necessary care,” Fr Selemela said.

He noted that all seven were asymptomatic and needed neither special medical care nor hospitalisation. All other students and staff are screened daily for any symptoms.

For the duration of the ten-day lockdown, which will lapse on September 11, students are confined to their rooms.

“Teaching and learning are sustained through our e-learning programme,” Fr Selemela said. “The isolated students are also actively

St John Vianney Seminary in Pretoria closed its doors after seven students tested positive for Covid-19. participating in the e-learning programme.”

He said all other activities of the seminary continue normally, with all staff members coming to work.

Asked how the seminarians were coping with the internal lockdown, Fr Selemela said: “Since routine is part of seminary life, the ten-day lockdown is nothing foreign.”

Lectures will resume on September 14, for the first time since March 17.

Fr Selemela explained that all contact classes were suspended as

of March 18 following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s declaration of the national state of emergency.

Students were instructed to return to their respective dioceses or houses of formation.

“During lockdown, St John Vianney sustained teaching and learning through its Student ELearning programme,” Fr Selemela said.

The exam calendar was also revised, so that students wrote their exams in their respective dioceses from August 2-21.

The

St Teresa’s junior primary in Craighall Park, Johannesburg, welcomed Grade 00-3 learners back to school for five days a week with strict Covid19 health and safety regulations in place, including masks, hand-sanitising and social distancing.

Learners returned dressed warmly for the unseasonal cold morning, amid much excitement at seeing their teachers and friends again.

The children were delighted to be back in their classrooms, to continue learning, as well as on playgrounds and fields to rekindle friendships and share lockdown stories.

St Teresa’s primary said: “While our online programme has been excellent over the past few months, the staff have been thoroughly looking forward to a term when we have daily contact with our girls. Life lessons learnt from interaction with other children are invaluable and cannot be replicated online. The energy in the school brought great joy to all. We ask God to take care of us, and all South African children, as they return to school.”

S outher n C ross

Jubilee Year Camino to Santiagode Compostela

Official 7-Day Camino The Sisters of the Congregation of the Missionaries of Charity in Klipgat, Pretoria archdiocese, celebrated the feast day of St Teresa of Kolkata with Archbishop Dabula Mpako. Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997 at the age of 87.

(Photo: Archdiocese of Pretoria)

From Lugo to Santiago de Compostela

September 2021 With spiritual director Fr Chris Townsend

To book or for info contact Gail at

info@fowlertours.co.za or call 076 352-3809

www.fowlertours.co.za/camino

4

The Southern Cross, September 9 to September 15, 2020

INTERNATIONAL

‘Debate on married priests gives insight into pope’s style’

BY CINDY WOODEN

T

HE debate at the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon over married priests is an example of how Pope Francis’ style of Church governance relies on prayerful discernment and not simply majority support for change, Jesuit Father Antonio Spadaro wrote in the journal La Civilta Cattolica.

Pope Francis does not have a project for reforming the Vatican or the Catholic Church, but he has launched a process to encourage individual conversion in a way that could and should cause such a reform, Fr Spadaro wrote.

“Working for conversion is not an ineffective pious spiritual reference but an act of radical governance,” the Jesuit wrote in the journal, which is reviewed in the Vatican Secretariat of State before publication.

In the article, Fr Spadaro said some people have questioned whether Pope Francis’ reform agenda is still going full steam after seven years in office. But those who believe he has a blueprint or roadmap for structural changes in

Pope Francis with Fr Antonio Spadaro, editor of La Civilta Cattolica, aboard a flight from Rome to Krakow, Poland. (Photo: Paul Haring/CNS) the Church misunderstand what he is doing and even who he is, the Jesuit argued.

“Francis is a Jesuit, and his idea of the reform of the Church corresponds to the Ignatian vision,” he wrote. That vision focuses on encouraging individuals to conform themselves more and more closely to Christ, detaching themselves from ideologies or pet projects and prayerfully watching what is going

on around them and within them to discern signs of the working of the Holy Spirit.

Without that spiritual discernment, Fr Spadaro said, “reform would be an ideology with a vaguely zealot character. And, like all ideologies, it would have to fear a lack of supporters.”

But, he said: “The reform Pope Francis has in mind functions if it empties itself of that mundane logic. It is the opposite of the ideology of change. The thrust of the pontificate is not the ability to do things or institutionalise change always and everywhere, but to discern times and moments for an emptying out so that the mission lets Christ shine through better.

“The pope does not have prepackaged ideas to apply to reality, nor an ideological plan of readymade reform, but he moves forward on the basis of a spiritual and prayerful experience that includes, step by step, dialogue, consultation and concrete responses to the vulnerable human situation,” Fr Spadaro wrote.—CNS

Religious Sisters missing after ISIS attack found safe and well

T

WO religious sisters missing after jihadists attacked a port town in Mozambique have been found safe and well, a Catholic bishop said on Sunday.

“It is with great joy that we inform you that the two Sisters, Inés and Eliane, who work in the Mocímboa da Praia parish and have been missing for 24 days, are safe and healthy with us again,” Bishop Luiz Fernando Lisboa of Pemba said.

Srs Inés Ramos and Eliane da Costa, members of the congregation of St Joseph of Chambéry, had not been heard from since the rebels attacked their town in early August.

ISIS declared that it had seized two military bases near the port town of Mocímboa da Praia, in the

northern province of Cabo Delgado, after a series of coordinated attacks on August 5-11.

Asked by Aid to the Church in Need about the whereabouts of 60 other people who went missing, Bishop Lisboa said: “Some of them were able to flee and leave Mocímboa da Praia. Others are still there.”

He called for prayers for those who were still missing.

The diocese of Pemba is located in a region that has experienced escalating extremist violence, with multiple churches burnt, people beheaded, young girls kidnapped, and more than 200 000 people displaced by violence.

More than 1 000 people have been killed in attacks in northern

Mozambique since 2017, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Some of these attacks have been claimed by ISIS, while others have been carried out by the homegrown Ahlu Sunna Wal extremist militant group, which has been kidnapping men and women.

Bishop Lisboa said that the pope was saddened by the news of the missing Sisters and promised to pray for them.

Aid to the Church in Need said the bishop noted that the pope had visited Mozambique a year ago, on September 4-6, 2019.

“We reaffirm his message of hope, peace and reconciliation,” Bishop Lisboa said.—CNA

Ukrainian cardinal close to JP2 dies at 94

C

ARDINAL Marian Jaworski of Ukraine, who was close to Pope John Paul II, has died on September 5, two weeks after his 94th birthday.

Cardinal Jaworski anointed John Paul II before the pope’s death in 2005.

Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, Pope John Paul II’s personal secretary, said in tribute: “These two great people of the Church were united until their death by the Church’s deep faith and love—the courage and readiness to serve the Church in difficult times.”

Cardinal Jaworski, the former archbishop of Lviv in western Ukraine, was the first rector of the Pontifical Academy of Theology in Kraków and an honorary citizen of

Cardinal Marian Jaworski the Polish city.

He was born on August 21, 1926, in Lviv, then part of Poland. After his ordination at Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, a sanctuary near Kraków, in 1950, he resumed his studies, gaining three doctorates by 1965.

In 1967, he lost his left hand in a

train crash near Dziadowo, in northcentral Poland. The cardinal said that this setback and later sufferings brought him even closer to the future Pope John Paul II. Cardinal Jaworski served as dean of the Pontifical Theological Faculty in Kraków from 1976-81, and as its rector from 1981-87.

In 1984, Pope John Paul II named him apostolic administrator of Lviv archdiocese. He was consecrated bishop by Cardinal Franciszek Macharski on June 23 that year.

In 1998, Pope John Paul II named Jaworski a cardinal in pectore, meaning that the appointment was kept secret. Three years later, he received the red hat publicly at a consistory in Rome.—CNA

Pope Francis leads his general audience in the San Damaso courtyard at the Vatican on September 2. It was the pope’s first public audience with pilgrims in six months. (Photo: Paul Haring/CNS)

Pope pleads with Catholics not to gossip

BY COURTNEY MARES

P

OPE Francis implored Catholics not to gossip about one another’s faults, but instead to follow Jesus’ directive on fraternal correction in the Gospel of Matthew.

“When we see a mistake, a defect, a slip of a brother or sister, usually the first thing we do is go and tell others about it, to gossip. And gossip closes the heart of the community, disrupts the unity of the Church,” the pope said in his Sunday Angelus address on September 6.

“The great talker is the devil, who always goes about saying the bad things of others, because he is the liar who tries to disunite the Church, alienating brothers and sisters and unmaking community. Please, brothers and sisters, let’s make an effort not to gossip. Gossiping is a plague worse than Covid,” he told pilgrims gathered in St Peter’s Square.

Pope Francis said that Catholics need to live out Jesus’ “teaching of rehabilitation”—described in chapter 18 of the Gospel of Matthew—“if your brother sins against you”.

He explained: “To correct a brother who has done wrong, Jesus suggests a teaching for rehabilitation…articulated in three steps. In the first make place, he says, ‘Point out the fault when the two of you are alone’, that is, do not air his sin in public. It is about going to your brother with discretion, not to judge him but to help him realise what he has done.”

“How many times have we had

this experience: someone comes and tells us, ‘But, listen, you are wrong in this. You should change a little in this.’ Perhaps at first we get angry, but then we are grateful because it is a gesture of brotherhood, of communion, of help, of recovery,” the pope said.

Acknowledging that at times this private disclosure of another’s fault may not be received well, Pope Francis pointed out that the Gospel says not to give up but to seek the support of another person.

“Jesus says: ‘If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses,’” the pope said.

“This is the attitude of recovery that Jesus wants from us,” he added.

The third step of Jesus’ teaching of rehabilitation is to tell the community, that is the Church, the pope said. “In some situations the whole community gets involved.”

“Jesus’ teaching is always a pedagogy of rehabilitation; He always tries to recover, to save,” the pope said.

“Jesus says: ‘And if he refuses to listen even to the Church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.’ This expression, seemingly so scornful, in reality invites us to put the brother in God’s hands: Only the Father will be able to show a greater love than that of all brothers and sisters put together,’ the pope said.

“If things don’t go right, prayer and silence for the brother or sister who is wrong, but never gossip.”— CNA

Dutch Cardinal dies at 88

BY JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES

C

ARDINAL Adrianus Johannes Simonis, retired archbishop of Utrecht, Netherlands, died on September 2. He was 88.

In a statement released by the archdiocese, Cardinal Willem Eijk of Utrecht said he was “saddened” by the news of his predecessor’s death and that the Catholic Church “lost someone with a pastoral heart”.

“Cardinal Simonis became archbishop at a difficult time in which polarisation in the Netherlands was very strong,” he said. “That did not prevent him from fulfilling his motto, ‘That they may know you’, in many ways in the past decades.”

Pope Francis sent condolences to Cardinal Eijk on the death of his predecessor: “Commending his soul to the loving mercy of Jesus the Good Shepherd, I join you in giving thanks to almighty God for the late cardinal’s faithful witness to the Gospel, his years of devoted episcopal ministry to the churches of Rotterdam and Utrecht and his valued efforts in the service of ecclesial communion.” Born in Lisse, Cardinal Simonis studied at the Warmond major seminary and was ordained to

Cardinal Adrianus Johannes Simonis retired of Utrecht. the priesthood in 1957. In 1970, Pope Paul VI named him bishop of Rotterdam, where he served for 13 years before he was named coadjutor archbishop of Utrecht.

He was created a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 1985 and served as archbishop of Utrecht until his retirement in April 2007.

According to the Vatican, Cardinal Simonis was known “for his commitment in defending Catholic doctrine relating to marriage, the family and the inviolable value of human life”.—CNS

INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, September 9 to September 15, 2020

5

Pope: Lack of respect for life and for nature have same root

BY CINDY WOODEN

A

LACK of respect for human life from conception to natural death and a lack of respect for the environment are both signs of a person claiming power over something that is not theirs to control, Pope Francis said.

“They are the same indifference, the same selfishness, the same greed, the same pride, the same claim to be the master and despot of the world that lead human beings on the one hand to destroy species and plunder natural resources and, on the other, to exploit poverty, to abuse the work of women and children, to overturn the laws of the nuclear family and to no longer respect the right to human life from conception to its natural end,” the pope said.

He made his remarks in a speech written for a group of laypeople advising the French bishops’ conference on ways to promote and implement the teaching of Laudato Si’, (“Care for Our Common Home”).

The group, which included the actress Juliette Binoche, travelled to Rome by train as a carbon-saving alternative to travelling by plane.

The Vatican press office said the pope handed his prepared text to members of the group and then had an unscripted conversation

Pope Francis met with a group of clergy and laypeople advising the French bishops’ conference on ecological policies and on promoting the teaching in his encyclical, Laudato Si'. (Photo: Vatican Media/CNS) with them, telling them that his own “ecological conversion” began in 2007 by listening to Brazilian bishops at the Latin American bishops’ meeting in Aparecida, Brazil.

At the time, “I understood nothing”, he said. But he began listening and studying and dialoguing with scientists and theolo-

Shock after Asia Bibi dissociates herself from autobiography

H

UMAN rights activists were shocked after Asia Bibi dissociated herself from her ghostwritten autobiography, due out later in September.

Ms Bibi, the Catholic woman acquitted of blasphemy in 2018 after spending eight years on death row in Pakistan, sparked controversy in an interview with Voice of America Urdu, reported ucanews.com.

“I wasn’t involved in its drafting.

I don’t know when she wrote it, whose story it is and who guided her for the book. I absolutely do not agree with this book because it’s not my autobiography,” she said, referring to French writer Anne-Isabelle Tollet, the only reporter to have met her during her stay in Canada.

In February, Ms Bibi confirmed that she was seeking asylum in France to live closer to Ms Tollet,

gians. The result was Laudato Si’, the encyclical published in 2015.

Ecological concern is a Christian concern, he said.

“The Bible teaches us that the world was not born of chaos or by accident but by a decision of God who called it—and always will call it—into existence out of love,” the pope said. “The universe is beautiful and good, and contemplating it allows us to glimpse the infinite beauty and goodness of its author.”

Christians have a moral obligation to respect the creation God has entrusted to them “as a garden to cultivate, protect, make grow according to its potential”, he said.

“And if human beings have the right to make use of nature for their own needs, they cannot in any way claim to be its owners or despots, but only administrators who must give an account of their use.”

Jesus taught his followers to live in harmony, with justice, in peace and recognising others as brothers and sisters, the pope said. But “when one considers nature only as an object of profit and self-interest—a vision that consolidates the whim of the strongest—then harmony is shattered and serious inequality, injustice and suffering result”.—CNS

A

LTHOUGH technology has grown in leaps and bounds over the past decades, the scientific community must not isolate itself in its own advancements and exclude religion from the search for ways to overcome today’s challenges, said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state.

Citing Pope Francis’ call for an “interdisciplinary approach” on issues such as sustainability, Cardinal Parolin told participants at a scientific conference in Trieste, Italy, that science and religion must work together for the good of humanity.

The EuroScience Open Forum, also known as ESOF, is a biennial conference that gathers scientists, political leaders, educators and journalists to discuss scientific breakthroughs.

In his address on the conference’s opening day, Cardinal Parolin highlighted the need for dialogue between science and faith in “envisioning and achieving a

Church to Lebanon: You are not alone

BY DOREEN ABI RAAD

B

RINGING a message of hope to Lebanon a month after a double blast struck Beirut, Cardinal Pietro Parolin assured the Lebanese: “You are not alone. The whole world supports you.”

Lebanon’s population, already exhausted by a collapsing economy, was traumatised by the disaster, which killed 190 people, injured more than 6 5000 and left 300 000 people homeless.

“I come to your historic city to express the nearness of the Catholic Church throughout the world. His Holiness Pope Francis has asked me

Southern Cross

Est. 1920

The

new magazine Coming in September

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who played a key role in her fight for freedom and helped write her autobiography, Enfin Libre! (“Finally Free”).

“The book tells that the law placed a noose on my neck. The law didn’t do it. It was an incident in the village when people were about to kill me without any reason. She [Tollett] blamed the law, but I do not accept anything against the law or my country,” Ms Bibi said.

“My country freed me. The wise side with their country and avoid saying anything that sparks hatred from people or increases clashes.

“If people blame, the person must be given a chance to tell the truth. Absolutely, the law is good, but people misuse it. If God allows, I will return to my country,” Ms Bibi said —CNS

future of peaceful coexistence among people”.

Reflecting on humanity’s relationship with the environment, the Italian cardinal said: “Today, we are more and more aware, too, of the cost being paid by our planet, a cost unequally divided among the countries of the world.

“If we want to survive and if we want life on this planet to survive, then we still have to learn to assume a responsibility for our common home on the global level. At the same time, science by itself is not enough to resolve this problem.”

The Vatican secretary of state also reflected on humanity’s relationship with technology.

“The effects of the media diet to which all of us are exposed has challenged people’s trust in news sources, resulting in traditional sources of authority no longer holding sway,” he said.

That distrust is particularly evident with the Covid-19 pandemic and “much harm was caused by incorrect scientific information”, Cardinal Parolin said.—CNS

to come and meet you after he launched his appeal for prayer, fasting and solidarity with Beirut and with Lebanon. The response to the pope’s appeal has been immediate, arriving from so many different countries, from all the continents,” said Cardinal Parolin, Vatican secretary of state. He spoke at an interfaith welcoming ceremony at the Maronite Catholic cathedral of St George.

Religious leaders representing all Church denominations in Beirut gathered with clerics representing the Sunni, Shiite Muslim and Druze communities.—CNS

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6

The Southern Cross, September 9 to September 15, 2020

The

LEADER PAGE

S outher n C ross Editor: Günther Simmermacher

Catholic illiteracy

I

N two weeks’ time, The Southern Cross will publish its final weekly edition, after more than 5 200 consecutive weeks of publication, an unbroken record since the first edition was published almost 100 years ago.

Ironically, the final publication date is the day before Heritage Day. The end of the weekly Southern Cross marks the sad loss of a central feature of South Africa’s Catholic heritage.

The past century of the Church’s history in South Africa is recorded in the bound volumes of the newspaper. Open any of them randomly, and you will encounter slices of Catholic life in this country which the history books do not record.

The new Southern Cross magazine will be an exciting and attractive successor which is going to fill a great need in the country’s Catholic community—to form, to edify, to evangelise, to entertain—but the defunct weekly will leave a big gap.

Historians will know the Catholic Church from 1920 to 2020 through The Southern Cross.

It is a history that is chronicled not only in documents from the bishops but also in news articles, columns, letters to the editor and even the community photos page. Where will historians turn to chronicle the Catholic Church after 2020? Instagram?

The local Church, on all levels, let the weekly Southern Cross die because it failed to persuade Catholics to consume Catholic media.

Many Catholics, of course, simply lack an entrenched commitment to their faith. For them, the Christian obligation may be fulfilled at Sunday Mass, a bargain that lasts until next Sunday.

They may give generously to the Church and live good lives, but they do not invest much thought in their faith.

Consuming Christian literature, a primary method of formation, is secondary to secular newspapers and magazines, TV shows or social media (though the latter, at least, provides some opportunity for engagement).

It is revealing that even in South Africa’s cities, Catholic bookshops are tiny in number.

This relatively small market for Catholic literature points to more than statistics: it is a failure in the formation of the Catholic community; a failure our Evangelical peers have evaded.

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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.

What restricts women in taking leadership

I

N your front-page article of August 29, Bishop Victor Phalana of Klerksdorp makes a strong call for women’s leadership in the Church.

He highlighted the need to use inclusive language in the liturgy and to encourage women to study theology. These are laudable goals.

Yes, some women do exercise leadership in the Church. South Africa is unique since two women, Sr Hermenegild Makoro CPS and Sr Tshifhiwa Munzhedzi OP, are respectively the secretary-general and associate secretary-general of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference.

But women cannot exercise other significant leadership positions because ordination and jurisdiction are intricately connected.

Jurisdiction means a person can make decisions when holding a particular position. For example, a woman cannot lead the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, even though the huge majority of religious around the world are women.

Why? Because she cannot be ordained a deacon/priest/bishop.

The exclusive male hierarchy insists that women cannot be ordained because it has never been done (a weak argument—many things we experience in the Church now were “never done” in

Letter disregards regulations

H

OW much longer are we going to be subjected to letters addressed to you and readers which only demonstrate disregard of the canonical regulations of the Church regarding the sacraments.

A cursory look at Canon 834 tells us that the sacramental rites are an action of the whole Church and unity in action is demonstrated by the way in which the sacraments are administered and the formulas that are used.

Canon 841 says that “only the supreme authority in the Church can approve or define what is needed” for the validity of the sacraments. The reason again is that the sacraments are an action of the universal Church.

And Canon 849 states in its last sentence that baptism “is validly conferred only by a washing in real water with the proper form of words”.

The insistence on the formula, “I baptise you...” is because the priest, as a sacrament of Christ, acting in the person of Christ, says “I”. The “I” refers to Jesus, his priestly action

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mall of a certain size will have a stylish media centre aimed at Christians of various Protestant and Evangelical persuasions.

These shops stock a wide variety of books, DVDs and CDs, and attract good numbers of patrons, many of them young people.

Their evidently thriving existence can be attributed to a culture of media consciousness in the church communities they serve. The Evangelical and Pentecostal churches have recognised that one of the most effective means of performing the urban missionary apostolate—what the Catholic Church has called the New Evangelisation—is through the various forms of media.

It is apparent that the more Christians read and learn about their faith, the better agents of evangelisation they will be.

Alas, despite a wealth of excellent Catholic literature, the notion of a Catholic bookshop in a flashy mall is unimaginable, as is the idea that secular bookshops might carry a range of Catholic books—not necessarily because they are anti-Catholic (though some may well be), but because Catholics are not creating a demand.

Simply put, the local Church lacks a culture of Catholic reading. There is a pronounced spirit of apathy in a Church that has failed to place a premium on encouraging the faithful to read Catholic literature—such as The Southern Cross.

This condition of Catholic illiteracy must be addressed on all levels if we truly seek to cooperate fruitfully in the evangelising mission of the Church.

Perhaps the idea of launching a Catholic Literacy Campaign, as we have periodically proposed over the years, merits urgent consideration. Such a campaign could serve to promote the idea of reading Catholic books and publications on diocesan and parish level, involving both clergy and laity, with the vigorous encouragement of bishops.

There are many explanations as to why so many Catholics tend to be lukewarm in exercising their Christian mandate to evangelise. Incomplete formation surely is a crucial reason.

Catholic literacy is elementary in the ongoing formation of the faithful. To tolerate the prevailing apathy to Catholic media does little to serve the Church or her mission.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

the past), and the chief argument: a priest must look like Jesus who was male.

Here is another example. A woman cannot be the “dean” of an area in a diocese because it is reserved for priests. Yet a woman could be a very effective leader.

Pope Francis can break the link between ordination and jurisdiction. But there are no signs he will do so. And there is no call from bishops to consider this.

B

ishop Phalana noted that fewer Catholic women study theology in South Africa than in other African countries. That is true.

At St Joseph’s Theological Institute in Cedara the doors are wide open for women students (and there is financial assistance available), but we have few who come to study theology.

There are several reasons. For religious Sisters, the possibilities for parish ministry are limited because of the attitude of some priests who do not want to work with a woman who has a solid theological education and has many creative ideas for ministry.

He might have been ordained ten or 15 years ago and since then has read very little in current theology and spirituality. Here comes Sister X with her bachelors or masters degree in 2020—he is threatened.

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.

Letters can be sent to editor@scross.co.za

exercised in the Church through the sacraments (Canon 834).

Finally, you as the editor, ought to show more prudence as a Catholic, in the special position of editor, which gives you a platform to defend the Catholic faith and teaching.

Bishop Edward Risi, Keimoes-Upington

n The Southern Cross reported on the reasons for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s response regarding invalid baptisms on the front-page of the August 12 edition, and again in the issue of August 26 in the report about Fr Matthew Hood in Detroit, who had found out that his baptism wasn’t valid and therefore also his ordination to the priesthood was invalid.

We have reflected the Church’s position, fairly and accurately.

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A few years ago in one of my classes at St Joseph’s, a Sister from a neighbouring country who was studying theology described the difference Sisters in pastoral ministry make in a parish.

She said that in her country, when a Sister works in a parish there is catechetics, youth ministry, HIV and Aids ministry, outreach to the poor and many other activities.

But if a priest runs the parish alone, he has funerals on Saturday and the Eucharist on Sunday and a meeting or two during the month.

He does not support lay leadership and initiative; clericalism rules and he does not welcome assistance.

And the parish suffers.

Women are constantly confronted by the social sins of patriarchy and sexism which penetrate every dimension of the Church. I would guess that most clergy are unaware that they breathe this poisonous air every day.

In this time of Covid-19, when people’s respiratory systems are compromised by the disease, they plead: “Let me breathe!”

We women say this too: Let us and the whole Church breathe in the Spirit of God who is the Spirit of newness, equality and life—not the poisonous air of exclusion which fills the Church.

Sr Sue Rakoczy IHM, Cedara, KZN

Meehan’s letter, in the same edition as the report on Fr Hood, would suggest that his frustration resides not with the formula of baptism, which he didn’t challenge, but with the manner in which the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine declared affected baptisms invalid, with the improper actions of the Church’s own appointed ministers affecting the innocent laity.

By asking whether God requires a “Vatican visa”, Mr Meehan’s letter can be interpreted as asking whether the principle of Deus providet does not apply in these situations. It is a question that should be addressed coherently and with compassion.

When the Church authorities fail to give the laity guidance in these matters, confusion is inevitable.

To answer the opening question: the final weekly edition of The Southern Cross appears on September 23. It’s difficult to predict whether the new monthly Southern Cross magazine, which will be launched in place of the weekly newspaper, will attract a similarly lively letters page as that in the newspaper.—Editor

PERSPECTIVES

The Southern Cross, September 9 to September 15, 2020

7

Tribute to a great leader of the poor Fr Mokesh L Morar AST month saw the passing of a truly remarkable Church leader who stood up against the systematic violence of the state and land barons in Brazil on the side of the indigenous and poor people.

Bishop Pedro Casaldáliga, who was born in Spain in 1928, died on August 8 in Brazil.

The Casaldáliga family owned a large farm near Balsareny in the Spanish region of Catalonia, where Pedro grew up during the civil war, the Revolution of 1936 and the fascist dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, supported by Hitler and Mussolini.

The rather well-off family supported right-wing politics, and his uncle, a priest, was killed with two companions by the communists.

After his ordination as a priest in 1952, Fr Pedro ministered among Barcelona’s migrant communities, and in the “Spanish” Guinea and the “Belgian” Congo, during the “awakening of Africa”. Here he learnt much about the Church of the poor during the good days of Vatican II. Fr Pedro accepted an assignment as a “missionary” in 1968 to the north-west corner of Mato Grosso in Brazil, a region that includes the Amazonia between the Araguaia and Xingu rivers.

First staying in a mud hut and during his initial visits, he’d recall, “we began to sense the problem of land”. People came from other parts of Brazil “that had already been eaten up by the latifundia”— the big, landed estate-companies. Fr Pedro and his fellow missionaries were living the sensation of poverty, human injustice and abandonment by the government.

The small group built a pastoral formation centre, along the lines of Paulo Freire’s method, and also a clinic, run by religious Sisters. The clinic was later destroyed by government supporters.

As a pastor, Fr Pedro wrote a report: “Slavery or Feudalism in Northern Mato Grosso”, exposing the killing of manual labourers, land activists and even Church workers.

These social conflicts between the rich land-grabbing farming companies—supported by the Brazilian military and police—and the poor, exposed the violence done in the name of an economy of “development and progress” that exported

Point of Tribute

Bishop Pedro Casaldáliga, who survived many death threats before he died at 92 last month—of natural causes. (and still exports) resource minerals and beef to the US and Europe.

At a seminar in August 1971 organised

by Church leaders in Rio de Janeiro, the newly-appointed Bishop Casaldáliga insisted “on the danger of setting a higher value on the Transamazon [highway] than on the Amazonian itself”.

This was a concern expressed by Pope Francis more than 40 years later.

Casaldáliga was ordained a bishop on the October 23, 1971, the first prelate of São Félix, where the Tapirapé native Americans struggled against encroachment and loss of their lands and lifestyle.

In a very simple ceremony on the banks of the Araguaia river, he took as his episcopal emblems the sertanejo straw hat of local people as mitre and boat paddle as his crozier.

Pope Paul VI gave a special ring to the bishops at Vatican II, and Casaldáliga got a copy of it as bishop. He sent it to his mother in Spain, “as an act of filial love”.

Option for the poor, oppressed Preaching at his episcopal ordination, he proclaimed “once more—but more publicly and definitively—my option for the poor and the oppressed”, illuminating what drove him to be more involved in the class-struggle and challenging the government.

In his personal testimony, titled I Believe in Justice and Hope and published in 1978, Casaldáliga wrote that from the poor and oppressed, “I became increasingly aware of the duty, the bitterness and the unifying force of the problem of land. This word—land!—began to grow

within me, like a crime, like a plan. It became something holy and urgent, like the Gospel.”

He added: “I shall never be able to doubt the radical evil structures. I shall never be able to doubt the legitimacy of the oppressed classes’ struggle to be free.

No oppressive government is going to free the oppressed! I also believe more firmly, every day, that it is necessary to demythologise private property.”

Casaldáliga also said that he discovered from the young students, “with renewed intensity, that the structures of capitalism (economic, political, or spiritual) are a form of idolatry, a state of sin and death”.

At his ordination as bishop he launched his pastoral letter, titled “An Amazonian Church’s Struggle against Landed Estates and against Social Marginalisation”. It was banned by Brazil’s federal police.

After three years of “mission” in the north of Mato Grosso, together with other priests, religious and laypersons, he stated: “I have striven in word, in silence, in suffering, and in the life of the people, to discern the signs of the time and the place. I feel the need and the duty to share publicly, on a nationwide level, with the Church and with conscientious people everywhere, the anguish and urgent situation I have discovered.

“I am doing it to seek and to promote—again, within the framework of the Church—a deeper sense of communion, a truer collegiality, and more committed coresponsibility.”

Bishop Casaldàliga was a frequent target of death threats and even assassination attempts. In 1993 landowners hired gunmen to kill him. In December 2012, seven years after he retired as bishop, he had to flee his home and go into protective custody for two months after he received death threats from landowners.

Bishop Casaldáliga, a friend of Archbishop Oscar Romero and Fr Ernesto Cardinal, died on August 8.

In pandemic, follow law and Christ Lionel W Fynn

Pilgrimage 2021

S outher n C ross

HILE Covid-19 poses a credible threat to our ordinary way of life, restricting our movements, limiting our opportunities, and threatening our health, it also motivates us forward with hope that this current situation will pass.

The virus shows that a focus on the material world alone is not enough, for there is a spiritual world which far surpasses this earthly one.

Focusing on the virus and its devastating effects on the world is to focus on the material world and its limitations. Focusing on the spiritual, however, is to testify that there is a world without end where Christ, our Lord and Saviour, went ahead to prepare a place for all of us.

With firm faith in Christ, all our efforts in this world are geared towards inheriting this eternal reward.

Thus we are urged forward on our pilgrim journey while here on earth, empowered by virtues which help us to cast aside the worries of the world and rather develop an eagerness for the things of the spirit, where Christ is.

The cardinal virtues empower us in discerning the proper place of the whole pandemic while the theological virtues give joy and hope to our drooping spirits.

Point of Reflection

The coronavirus pandemic calls for us to follow secular regulations and do so with our Christian faith. (Photo: Yara Nardi, Reuters/CNS) They help us to rise above this current challenge, to have fruitful discernment and to come to terms with the situation at hand, with strength of heart and peace of mind: take courage, Christ has conquered the world.

Our lives are in Christ’s hands Being the Way, the Truth and the Life, it is only through Jesus Christ that every effort to flatten the curve and save life becomes a reality, for our lives are in his hands.

Yet Christ gives us fullness of life, making it possible for us to go about doing our daily duties during this global pandemic with a smile, and observing the regulations set out by the National Coronavirus Command Council: wearing of masks, washing of hands, and maintaining suitable social distancing.

But these regulations alone are insufficient, for they must be accompanied by a spirit of prayer and adoration OF God, a devout and honest respect for self, and care and hospitality for everyone.

Thus the ultimate act which this pandemic calls us to is for government and the Church to work together as one for the benefit of society: “May they all be one, just as, Father, you are in me and I am in you” (John 17:21).

In this sense we are called, in this time of global crisis, not simply to follow the dictates of reasonable laws, but—more importantly—to be more like Christ.

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Point of Faith

Touched by isolation

T

HE sense of trailing your hand through a running stream of cool water is indeed special. From the first thrill of touch to the subsequent sensation of a fully soaked hand, it is a pleasurable sensation.

But then that applies to the many and varied experiences we have through our sense of touch.

Our fingertips and hands tell us so much about the world we inhabit. From the first days after birth, tiny hands wrap round a mother’s finger for security or reach for her breast when milk is sought.

And so it goes on throughout our lives, as we share with each other our needs and express our generosity through many small yet significant acts of touch. That is why, in recent months, our separation through fear of contagion has proved so painful. It is natural to our human condition to express our many emotions through the sensitivity of touch.

When we are excited, we throw our arms round each other; when we are frightened we hold on tight to allay our fear. When we are sad and tearful, it is the gentle hand of friendship that wipes tears from our damp cheeks. We express our love, one for another, in hand gestures that can be trusted as we learn to exchange the gift of our very selves.

A young child out walking with their mother naturally reaches up to grasp her hand. “I am yours and you are mine,” spoken without a word being exchanged.

Social distancing is the very antithesis of our human relationship one with another. We hunger for the casual hug of friendship.

Occasionally, spectating at a football match, I have got into conversation with a stranger in the next seat. With the game over and the crowd on the move to leave the ground, I’d often offer my hand as we stood from our seats. We had shared the buzz and excitement of the game, now it was time to go. A small gesture of casual, brief friendship expressed in a handshake. Have a good day!

Touch is important in the Gospel Touch figures often in the Gospels. In the Matthew narrative we are told the story of a woman. “She said to herself, ‘If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.’“ John relates the story of the blind man whose eyes were touched by the fingertips of the preacher from Nazareth. “After saying this, he spat on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.” And there are many other such stories.

We perpetuate the healing touch of Christ in our religious rituals. The “laying-on of hands” is so significant that it has slipped into casual usage in our language.

The sacraments of baptism, of marriage and ordination, all involve gestures with our hands.

We bless each other through an open, raised hand and we greet each other through the exchange of a hand grasp, welcoming friendship.

The final blessing of the sick is now administered in strained circumstances due to the need for personal protection of those gathered at the bedside. The consolation of touch has been forsaken by relatives who through personal risk have been prevented from hand-holding moments when the time has come for departure.

This is why our current isolation from touch is so difficult, a deep loss that is keenly felt.

How long must we wait for such informality to return to our many and varied social occasions? Standing at the back of church on a Sunday, the natural and spontaneous reaction when a friend opens the door is to stretch out a hand in greeting, or maybe share a hug.

It is hard to imagine the Gospel narrative without touch. It would be cold and barren in so many ways. For just as we are told that Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus, it is inconceivable that he was not consoled with a hug by those gathered round him.

May the days soon return when touch is once again part of our common currency. n This article was first published in the Catholic Times.

8

The Southern Cross, September 9 to September 15, 2020

FAITH

Fruits of devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows On September 15, the Church marks the solemnity of Our Lady of Sorrows.

PROF MICHAEL OGUNU explains the devotion.

4. The meeting of Jesus and Mary on the Way of the Cross 5. The crucifixion 6. The taking down of Jesus’ body from the cross 7. The burial of Jesus

vary, and at the crucifixion. And her anguish was further increased by the fact that she could offer no relief to her dear Son in his excruciating pains.

As she stood beneath the cross, she saw the blood trickling from his thorn-crowned head into his eyes, but could not reach his sacred face to wipe the drops away!

She saw his lips parched with thirst, pale and bloodless, but was unable to give him a refreshing drink! His head had no pillow to rest upon, yet she was prevented from supporting it or letting it repose upon her bosom.

Who can comprehend the anguish endured by her motherly heart during those three endless hours of dreadful helplessness?

The heart-piercing sword

Because of these Seven Sorrows which pierced her maternal heart, N the Middle Ages, Catholic the Mother of God is often repretheology concentrated mostly sented either as standing beneath on Christ’s Passion—at the side the Cross or as holding the lifeless of the Man of Sorrows, however, body of Jesus on her lap, her heart was the Sorrowful Mother, sharing transfixed by seven swords, as foretold in the prophecy of Simeon at his suffering.

The Gospel of John reports: the Presentation: “And you your“Near the cross of Jesus stood his self a sword will pierce, so that the mother, his mother’s sister, Mary, thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:35). the wife of Cleopas and Devotion to Our Lady Mary Magdalene” of Sorrows consists essenWho can (19:25). tially of recalling and Devotion to the comprehend meditating on each of the Crucified Christ and to seven sorrows and saying Our Lady of Sorrows the anguish the Hail Mary prayer (or Our Lady of endured by seven times, one after Dolours) grew side by each Sorrow is recalled side. On September 15, the day following the Mary during and meditated upon.

The Blessed Virgin Mary ancient feast of the Exthose three grants seven graces to the altation of the Holy Cross, the Church cele- endless hours souls who honour her daily by meditating on her brates the feast of Our of dreadful sorrows and saying seven Lady of Sorrows.

The Seven Sorrows helplessness? Hail Mary’s, one for each Sorrow. The devotion was of Our Lady are taken passed on by St Bridget. from Scripture events.

The seven graces are: The devotion has a long history, 1. I will grant peace to their although it was not officially promulgated by the Church until families.

2. They will be enlightened the early 19th century.

Before Pope Pius VII’s formal about the divine mysteries.

3. I will console them in their approval, the Servite Order had obtained permission in 1668 to pains and I will accompany celebrate the feast of the Seven them in their work.

Sorrows because the order was in4. I will give them as much as strumental in popularising the they ask for as long as it does Seven Sorrows Devotion. not oppose the adorable will of The purpose of the Devotion of my divine Son or the sanctificathe Seven Sorrows of Our Lady is tion of their souls. to promote union with the suffer5. I will defend them in their ings of Christ through union with spiritual battles with the inferthe special sufferings that Our nal enemy and I will protect Lady endured for the sake of her them at every instant of their Son and our salvation. lives.

The seven sorrows are: 6. I will visibly help them at 1. The prophecy of Simeon the moment of their death; they (Luke 2:34-35) will see the face of their mother.

2. The flight into Egypt 7. I have obtained from my (Matthew 2:13-14) divine Son, that those who prop3. The loss of the child Jesus in agate this devotion to my tears the temple (Luke 3:43-45) and sorrows, will be taken di-

I

Man’s ingratitude

Seven wwords piercing the Sorrowful Heart of Mary, in the church of the Holy Cross in Salamanca, Spain. The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows is on September 15. rectly from this earthly life to eternal happiness since all their sins will be forgiven and my Son and I will be their eternal consolation and joy.

The Mother of God said to St Bridget: “I gaze upon the children of men to see whether anyone feels compassion for me, and alas, I see but few! If many forget me, at least you, my daughter, do not forget me. Consider how much I have suffered.”

The Church calls Mary the Queen of Martyrs because her

martyrdom surpassed that of all others. Although her body was not bruised by torturers, her heart was pierced by the sword of compassion for her Divine Son—a sorrow sufficiently great to inflict a thousandfold death.

St Bernardine of Siena said the sorrow of Mary was so great that if it had been equally divided among all men, they would have died immediately. As great as was her love for Jesus—and it was unspeakably great—so great also was the sorrow of Mary at his Passion.

Hence we can say that Mary suffered more than if she had been martyred a thousand times, for she loved Jesus more than her own life and would have sacrificed her life a thousand times with the greatest joy if, without offending God, she could have rescued her Son from sufferings and death.

St Basil said: “As the sun surpasses all the stars in lustre, so the sorrows of Mary surpass all the tortures of the martyrs.”

Mary, the eyewitness Mary was an eyewitness to the sufferings of her Divine Son. She saw him bound to the pillar; she heard the lashing of the scourges; she saw his delicate flesh writhe and quiver under the lacerating blows.

She was present at the Ecce Homo scene, on the way to Cal-

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Another source of Mary’s unutterable grief was man’s ingratitude for Our Lord’s Passion, and the eternal perdition of so many souls for whom her Son’s Precious Blood would be shed in vain.

She, the Queen of the Apostles, the Mother of the Church, saw passing before her eyes a vision of the heedlessness of mankind for sins forgiven, the relapses into mortal sin, the cold indifference, the disgust for divine things, the desecration of the holy sacraments, the rejection and abuse of grace on the part of so many souls—all consequences of the basest ingratitude.

For 15 years after the death of her beloved Son, until her own happy departure, the Passion of Our Lord was renewed over and over again in the heart of the Blessed Virgin.

It was revealed to Mary of Agreda that after the Ascension of her Son, Mary suffered inexpressibly every Friday, as do certain privileged souls who are favoured with the stigmata. All these sufferings Mary endured for love of us.

Devotion to the sorrows of Mary is a source of great graces because it is so pleasing to our Divine Lord. Many holy writers say that through her sufferings, Mary placed an obligation, as it were, upon her Son, which constrains him to grant her whatever she asks of him.

As soon as we sympathise with the sorrows of his mother, we draw our Saviour to ourselves.

“He is,” said St Bernard, “at the disposal of those who devoutly meditate on the sufferings of his mother.”

Our Lord told Bl Veronica of Binasco: “My daughter, the tears which you shed in compassion for my sufferings are pleasing to me, but bear in mind that on account of my excessive love for my mother, the tears you shed in compassion for her sufferings are still more precious.”

There are, indeed, few devotions for which our Saviour has made greater promises than for this one, and there are few that are more pleasing to him. n Prof Michael Ogunu is the president of the executive board of the World Apostolate of Fatima in Africa.

REFLECTION

The Southern Cross, September 9 to September 15, 2020

9

Let go and let God give light By letting go and putting ourselves in God’s hands we can experience liberation, suggests SR LISSY MARUTHANAKUZHY FSP.

B

ETWEEN the words “Go” and “God”, the only the difference is the a letter D—and yet, it’s the difference of a lifetime.

In this difficult period, we hear many people ask, “Where is our God?” It is a cry of desperation.

The fact is that God is with us ever since he became “Emmanuel” through the surrender of a young woman (Luke 1:38).

God does everything for the good of his creatures. Our pride to become like “god” (Genesis 3:6) continues to reign over us, and we fail to recognise the gentle hand that guides us through new discoveries.

God never stops us in our obsession with development. God leaves us free. Where does the freedom take us?

Is our choice always, right?

Sometimes I wonder.

For example, I was quite sure in myself that every choice made and every new step I took in life was based on “allowing God’s will to happen in my life”. But was it so?

I realised the depth of “letting go and letting God” last January when my superior sent me a message about my unwelcome new posting.

I remained silent for some time until she reminded me. Then like a docile lamb I wrote: “I believe whatever you decide is for my good. It is fine with me”—though I reeled with anger inside.

Suddenly I was reminded: “God’s will!” Well, God’s will ought to satisfy me, but this has not evoked any joy within me, I reasoned.

Then came the next issue—the journey to my new destination.

At my superior’s suggestion, I organised it with two stops (that included my annual holiday!) before arrival at the new destination. But she replied with a rearranged travel route that she considered good and practical.

“God’s will?”

This time I sat in my room and literally spoke to God: “Is this your will? Let it be.” And I replied positively to the superior.

This time I had surrendered to

Trapeze artists allow themselves to let go, trusting that their leap will reach the grip of their partner at the right time. In the same way, we must let go and trust that God will grip our hand at the right time.

God and felt relieved, happy and at peace, as if I had achieved something unattainable in life.

Two days later came her reply—to my delight—with my originally proposed travel route.

“God’s will!”

I realised that for me, God’s will resided between two emotions—deep-down anger and resentment on one side and an inexplicable joy, peace and contentment on the other.

Since then I have conversed with God through his representa-

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tives, and things go well, even though it first looks unpleasant.

Inexplicable joy and inner freedom are the outcome of doing God’s will.

God and the seeds A seed is planted or sown by the sower in a land which is deemed fit by him. After the planting, the plant is nurtured with water, manure and regular weeding of unwanted elements.

The seed does not express its choice of mud or space. It decides

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to stay, grow and bloom where it stant choices to listen to and obey is planted.

God’s will.

Likewise, God plants and reLife with a purpose plants me in circumstances that I have been listening to many need my presence just as I need people, in our present time, who them for my full growth in God. Having placed me in a situa- have achieved success braving obtion, he bestows his blessings that stacles in life. Some of them were I need to grow with vigour, economically poor, others were courage and joy against all odds. handicapped or victims of rare illSometimes obstacles come my nesses, rejected by their family— way, and I have to seek a better yet they were able to reach their path more appropriate for my life goal of becoming doctors, teachand mission. Obstacles indeed be- ers, dancers or even entreprecome stepping stones to a new neurs—because they believed in themselves. area of my life.

They believed that the Creator God has created me to live for him and for his people. So my joy who had brought them into being comes in doing so, following his had a purpose for them.

Life brings us tough situations. will moment by moment, day That is the way God strengthens after day.

At the circus I have watched— our talents and capacities. Only with bated breath—trapeze artists when I trust completely in God’s plans can I surrender to flying through the air. him totally.

They soar so high, with When I trust God, I such grace and dignity.

God’s will find a new meaning in It’s a very dangerous my existence. Signs of performance indeed, reresided new life begin to quiring great courage and precision. They allow between two emerge. Trusting in God brings peace and themselves to let go, emotions: grace in my life. trusting that their leap at When I experience the right moment and deep-down comfort and security in will reach the grip of their partner at the right anger and an my life, I also get the strength to let go. Only time. inexplicable when I am able to let There are two things go of my security can I taking place: They need joy embrace another area to “let go” the comfort of life which will be enand security of the presriching and uplifting. A ent, and they need to “trust” that they will land se- gut-level trust helps me believe curely in safe hands. Indeed it is that I will end up in a secure place. a leap in the dark.

As a 9-year-old I climbed the Living with this kind of willingness to “let go” is one of the mobile bamboo ladder to the attic greatest challenges we all face in where my mother was doing some life. We hold on to many things: work. When she finished, she a person dear to us, our accumu- climbed down.

Realising I was left alone, I was lated insignificant possessions, or our own fame. It’s difficult to let terrified. I could not reach the step of the ladder. In desperation go of them.

We forget that it is in “letting I called out to my mother, telling go” that we receive in abundance. her I was afraid to look down—in It requires courage. So much trying to reach the ladder my eyes naturally went to the floor. courage.

She gave me an idea: On reachThose who place their trust in God and face challenges in life, ing the step keep your eyes on the set out on a road “less travelled top of the ladder. Do not look by”. They become real heroes in down until you reach halfway. It the world, touching people’s lives worked. And I was on the floor in time to run to school. with their confidence in God. Let us keep gazing at the Lord.

That is what our father Abraham did when God asked him to He will protect and guide us even leave his family and go to a new at this moment of uncertainty, land (Genesis 12:1), and when he sending light on our path…light was asked to sacrifice his only son sufficient for one step at a time.

Isaac (Genesis 22:2). n Sr Lissy Maruthanakuzhy is a This is what Mary, our Blessed member of the Congregation of the Mother did (Luke 1:38). That is what St Paul did (Acts 9:4). They Daughters of St Paul in India. This let their past security go, for a fu- article was originally published on ture rich in God. They made con- www.globalsistersreport.org.

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The Southern Cross, September 9 to September 15, 2020

HOLY LAND

From left: The church of the Holy Sepulchre, seen from the ninth station of the Via Dolorosa • Candles burn at the spot where the True Cross of Christ was found in the 4th century • Mosaic of Jesus being nailed to the cross in the Catholic chapel adjacent to Calvary in church of the Holy Sepulchre (Photos: Günther Simmermacher)

Our faith’s holiest site In part 17 of our virtual pilgrimage to the Holy Land, we go with GüNTHeR SiMMeRMaCHeR to the holiest site in Christianity, the church of the Holy Sepulchre.

W

E know that the Via Dolorosa is not the geographical route which Jesus took to his death—and that doesn’t matter because when pilgrims follow it, they are making a journey of faith, not of fact.

Nor is the pilgrim’s faith dependent on the authenticity of the church of the Holy Sepulchre as the site of Golgotha.

But the good news is that the church most likely does mark the very place where Our Lord died and rose again.

Most serious scholars are persuaded that this is indeed the place of Calvary, because all archaeological, historical and literary evidence points to it.

If you watch any number of documentaries on the church of the Holy Sepulchre, you will hear that the site of Christ’s crucifixion and Resurrection was “discovered”

by Constantine, as if the local Christians were idiots who needed the scholarly guidance of the emperor.

Constantine never set foot in the Holy Land, and the Christians of Jerusalem, who had maintained an almost unbroken presence in the city, would not have suffered collective amnesia about the location of something as paramount as the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, even three centuries after the fact.

That important piece of information would have been handed down from one generation to the next—and for almost 200 years of pagan rule the location even had a permanent marker.

Tear down the temple In 313 Constantine legalised Christianity in the Roman Empire, and since he now took a keen interest in the Church he had unofficially converted to, he facilitated the First Council of Nicaea, held in 325. Among the Church leaders he met there was the bishop of Jerusalem, Macarius.

For all that had happened in Jerusalem—the crucifixion, the Resurrection, the first Pentecost— the city’s bishop was second banana to the bishop of Caesarea, who at the time was Eusebius, the historian.

Macarius made his mark at the Council of Nicaea. He is believed to have contributed much to the Nicene Creed.

At some point Macarius and Constantine discussed the option of excavating the site of the crucifixion and Resurrection, with a view to preserving it in appropriate style inside a magnificent church—which the emperor would pay for.

At the time, a Roman temple built in the 2nd century by Emperor Hadrian and dedicated to the goddess of love, Aphrodite (or Venus), stood on Calvary, thereby signposting the holiest of sites for generations of Christians, who took offence at a pagan temple covering their holiest site.

Macarius obtained permission from Constantine to tear down the pagan temple and to start digging.

Before the crucifixion, Golgotha had for centuries served as a limestone quarry, archaeological evidence of which was uncovered by our old friend from Capernaum, Fr Virgilio Corbo OFM. By the time of the crucifixion, the quarry was disused and served as a cemetery—and a garden.

John’s Gospel describes it that way (19:41), and ancient sources refer to the area as the “Holy Garden”.

When Mary Magdalene saw the risen Christ at the tomb, she mistook him for the gardener (John 20:15).

That would suggest that the garden was cultivated, rather than a wild creation of fertile nature.

And Fr Corbo found soil that suggests that this was indeed a cultivated garden.

He also found rock-cut tombs, proving that this place was indeed a site of burials such as that we read about in the Gospels.

Finding the True Cross Having learnt of the successful excavation, Constantine dispatched his mother, Queen Helena, to Jerusalem.

Helena arrived before Golgotha was entirely excavated, and she is credited with important finds—including the one on which we

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of the nail. His arms and hands were not injured, so he probably was tied to the crossbeam. His feet would have been nailed to the side of the cross.

The poor guy’s name was Yehohanan (John), and his bones were found in an ossuary, which means that he was a Jew who lived at some time between the middle of the first century BC and 70 AD. It is interesting to note that the dimensions of the nails kept in Italy are almost identical to the nail found in the ankle bone of poor Yehohanan.

The first church

The edicule holding Christ’s tomb in the rotunda of the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, seen during a ceremony marking the end of restoration work on the edicule in 2017. (Photo: Sebastian Scheiner, Reuters/CNS) predicate the September 14 feast of the Exaltation of the Cross.

She, or those who did the digging for her, found three crosses in a disused cistern—now the chapel of the Finding of the Cross, the lowest point of the church of the Holy Sepulchre—which locals had identified as an old hiding place.

The True Cross remained in the custody of the patriarch of Jerusalem. It was lost on July 4, 1187, when the bishop of Acre carried it into the Crusaders’ decisive battle with Saladin at the Horns of Hattin in Galilee. The Saracens defeated the Crusaders.

The bishop was among the dead, and the cross was gone, forever.

Helena also reputedly found the INRI inscription, the Titulus Crucis, which is now kept in the Santa Croce church in Rome’s Gerusalemme district.

Helena divided the titulus into several pieces, of which only the portion she took to Rome for her private collection has survived.

And that piece reveals a couple of things which might suggest its authenticity.

The order of the languages is, from the top, Hebrew (or Aramaic), Greek, and Latin—in contrast to John’s order of Hebrew, Latin and Greek, and Luke’s order of Greek, Latin and Hebrew. Would a forger have changed the order provided by either evangelist?

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Helena also found the reputed nails of the cross. According to her contemporary St Ambrose, the famous bishop of Milan, she sent two of them to her son the emperor, who fixed one of them onto his helmet and the other onto his horse’s bridle.

One of these reputed nails of the cross is now in Rome’s Santa Croce church, another in the Duomo in Milan, and a third in an iron crown kept in the cathedral of Monza.

Nails in the crucifixion Countless depictions of the crucified Christ—in art, in our churches and on film—have burnt into our mind a certain image of the crucifixion. For example, we tend to think that the nails were driven through Jesus’ feet and hands.

It is a relatively new insight that the poor souls who suffered crucifixion—and the Romans and even their vassal kings were quite ready to crucify people in large numbers—probably had the nails driven through their wrists and heels, if their arms were not tied to the crossbeam instead.

Modern insights suggest that Christ could not have been nailed to the cross through the palms of his hands, because it is anatomically almost impossible that the hands would hold the weight of the body.

It is interesting to note, incidentally, that the wounds on the body on the Shroud of Turin, which many believe to be Christ’s burial cloth, show that the nails were driven through the man’s wrists— so if the Shroud is a medieval forgery, then the counterfeiter had physiological knowledge many centuries ahead of his time.

In 1968 archaeologists in Jerusalem found the region’s first physical evidence of a crucifixion: the skeleton of a man in whose heel bone a nail was embedded, with fragments of wood at the tip

The first church of the Holy Sepulchre, designed by an architect named Zenobius, was inaugurated on September 17, 335.

It was much bigger, some say twice as much, than today’s Crusader structure, which itself is not exactly small.

The tomb was covered by an edicule which, like that in today’s church, stood in a grand rotunda.

The rock of the cross, however, was outside the church, uncovered in a courtyard.

The richly-decorated interior was finished with polychrome marble.

Alas, very little of the old church remains.

The church barely survived the sack by the Persians in 614, in which it was badly damaged by fire. The monk St Modest rebuilt the church by 625.

When in 638 the Holy Land was conquered by the Muslims, the church was not affected. The Muslims’ leader, Omar ibn alKhattab, even decreed that Muslims were not allowed to gather in prayer in the anastasis (the rotunda that encircles the tomb), lest it be forcibly converted to a mosque, but the caliph did claim the martyrium, the main body of the basilica, for Islamic worship, thereby cutting off the main entrance to the church.

A mosque dedicated to Omar was built next to the church, where it still stands today.

The church, which suffered two fires in the ninth century and three fires between 935 and 963, was repaired in the tenth century, but was razed in 1009 during a particularly nasty persecution of Christianity by the mad caliph AlHakim bi-Amr Allah of Cairo.

In fact, the destruction was more systematic than that: the building was dismantled, starting with the sepulchre. Its riches were plundered and its building material reused elsewhere. All that remained of the rotunda was a 1,5-metre-high ruin.

The 1009 destruction of the first Church of the Holy Sepulchre would contribute to the papal call, sounded a few decades later, for the Crusade to recapture the Holy Land. n This is an edited extract from Günther Simmermacher’s The Holy Land Trek. Next week: More on the church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The Southern Cross, September 9 to September 15, 2020

11

Fr Bernhard Thiel CMM

Fr Duncan Blackie CSsR

M

R

ARIANNHILL Missionaries Father Bernhard Thiel died in a car accident on August 25 near Port Shepstone. He was 82.

Born in Trebnitz, Germany, on June 15, 1938, he entered Mariannhill Missionaries’ novitiate, on September 29, 1958 in Mönchdeggingen, Germany, and received the religious name Eberhard.

He made his first religious profession in Germany a year later, and came to Mount St Bernhard in Pretoria, where his congregation had a house of studies. He registered for philosophy studies at St John Vianney Seminary.

Fr Thiel was ordained a priest on January 9, 1966, in Germany. A few months after his ordination, he returned to South Africa for his religious and missionary work.

He was appointed secretary to the bishop of Umtata, but in 1968 was assigned to Mariathal mission, and the following year to St Francis College as the boarding master for one year.

From 1970-77 Fr Thiel served as assistant priest to Fr

Theodor Maier CMM at Kevelaer mission. After a short stint as the parish priest of St Murumba parish in Umbumbulu, he served as priest-incharge at Mophela near Hammarsdale, St Catherine’s mission in Bulwer, Kevelaer mission (1988-96), where he was the rector of the Marian shrine, Maryhelp mission eNcalu, Creighton in eMasimini, and Our Lady of Fatima in Sea Park.

From 2010-16 Fr Thiel was the chaplain of the Poor Clare Sisters at the Capuchin convent in Melville, and then chaplain of the Precious

Blood Sisters at the Scared Heart Home in Ixopo.

In November 2017 he was appointed to St Joseph’s church in Port Edward, Umzimkulu diocese. He served the people of Port Edward until August 25 when he was called to eternal rest in a fatal car crash that took place between Ramsgate and Southbroom.

Fr Thiel will be remembered for his selfless service to his congregation and the Church. He was not a man of many words and enjoyed his solitude.

He was a good friend of the kitchen as he was very particular about what he ate.

He preferred to cook for himself whenever possible.

At Sea Park parish where he worked for five years, the parishioners remember him as “a humble and unassuming man who was the epitome of what a man of God should be, a humble and intelligent man, a kind and dedicated priest, a contemplative man of few words, living quietly and simply with few needs”.

By Archbishop Paul Mandla Khumalo CMM

Parishes, have you ordered your Southern Cross magazines yet? Available in September. Order copies for your parish from Pamela Davids admin@scross.co.za

FROM OUR VAULTS 81 Years Ago: September 6, 1939

Pope Pius XII couldn’t prevent war Interventions by Pope Pius XII to prevent war have proved fruitless. Pope Pius had asked Hitler to wait for 14 days before invading Poland, confident that an agreement could be brokered. “Hitler quite obviously did not want a peaceful solution.

Nothing but a war of conquest would satisfy this madman,” The Southern Cross writes. South African Catholics meanwhile should support the cause of the “allied democracies” as a “just war”, whatever the government’s loyalties.

EDEMPTORIST Father Duncan Blackie died on August 23 in Cape Town. He was 74.

He was born on April 11, 1946, into a family of intellectuals and professionals in Harare, Zimbabwe, of Scottish and South African parentage.

Educated by the Jesuits at St George’s College, he went to complete his degree as an electrical engineer at the University of Cape Town. While he was involved as a student in the student chaplaincy at Kolbe House, Duncan felt called to the priesthood.

His indecision as to become a diocesan or a religious priest was resolved when he took a trip down the train line to visit the Redemptorists at The Monastery in Heathfield, Cape Town.

Fr Blackie entered the novitiate there in 1975, and took his vows the following year. Deaf priest Fr Cyril Axelrod and Br Rory Murphy were his fellow novices, all three taking their religious vows together. The trio studied for the priesthood at St John Vianney Seminary, while staying at the monastery of the Redemptorists in

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Town to community life, serving in the communities of Retreat and Bergvliet/Heathfield conscientiously, always ready to visit the poor, the struggling and the sick.

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Editorial: Recivilisation of Europe In his editorial, Mgr John Colgan writes that “a Europe dominated by the spirit which begot the Berlin-Moscow Pact [of non-aggression between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union] would be a Europe which Christianity would have to begin to civilise all over again”.

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Fr Blackie served diligently and doggedly in parish and preaching ministry after his priestly ordination in 1981. He especially loved pastoral visits of homes, and of sick parishioners in hospital. Every home in the parish would tell of Fr Blackie ’s regular visits.

He was always seen greeting people coming in and going out of public Masses.

When South African Redemptorists became an autonomous province in 1989, Fr Blackie acquiesced to remain one of three Redemptorists in Zimbabwe, which was to be an autonomous region under the English Redemptorists.

While ministering in Borrowdale parish in Harare, Fr Blackie began to show the strains of ministering alone, as he tried to hasten the process of unifying the parish along racial and ethnic lines. His preaching had an effect of “afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted”.

As a confessor, he was as gentle as a lamb.

He returned to Cape

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Sunday September 13, 24th Sunday of the year Sirach 27:30 – 28:7, Psalms 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12, Romans 14: 7-9, Matthew 18:21-35 Monday September 14, Exaltation of the Holy Cross Numbers 21:4-9, Psalms 78:1-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38, Philippians 2:6-11, John 3: 13-17 Tuesday September 15, Our Lady of Sorrows 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 27-31, Psalms 100:1-2, 3, 4, 5, John 19:25-27 or Luke 2:33-35 Wednesday September 16, Ss Cornelius & Cyprian

1 Corinthians 12:31–13:13, Psalms 33:23, 4-5, 12 and 22, Luke 7:31-35 Thursday September 17, St Robert Bellarmine 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, Psalms 118:1-2, 16-17, 28, Luke 7:36-50 Friday September 18 1 Corinthians 15:12-20, Psalms 17:1, 6-7, 8 and 15, Luke 8:1-3 Saturday September 19, St Januarius 1 Corinthians 15: 35-37, 42-49, Psalms 56:10-12, 13-14, Luke 8:4-15 Sunday September 20, 25th Sunday of the year Isaiah 55:6-9, Psalms 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18, Philippians 1:20-24, 27, Matthew 20:1-16

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25th Sunday: September 20 Readings: Isaiah 55:6-9; Psalm 145: 2-3, 89, 17-18; Philippians 1:20-24, 27; Matthew 20:1-16

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HAT is our God like? The answer offered by next Sunday’s readings seems to be that God’s generosity is greater than anything that we can possibly imagine.

So in the first reading we are invited to “seek the Lord while he can be found, call on him while he is near”. And why? Because, unbelievably, the “wicked person…may return to the Lord for mercy, for he is rich in forgiveness”. And the reason is that “my thoughts are not your thoughts and your ways are not my ways”. That is the unbelievably merciful picture the Old Testament paints of God. The psalm is one of those “alphabetical” psalms, where each verse begins with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet; but since our selection is taken in a somewhat random manner, that observation will make almost no difference to your reading of it.

But the love of this generous God is unmistakable: “Every day I shall bless you, and praise your name for ever and a day.” And the poet goes deeper: “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and great in steadfast love…the Lord is good to all and merciful on all his creatures.”

This is a God of utter integrity, as the poet repeats: “The Lord is just in all his ways, and loving to all his creatures.” And, better still: “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call upon him in truth.”

The second reading starts us off on a read-

ing of the extraordinary Letter to the Philippians, which will occupy us for the next four weeks.

Paul is writing this from a Roman prison, though we do not know exactly where this incarceration took place. He is clearly enormously fond of the people of Philippi, who have been very generous to him all this time, and of their Church, of whom Lydia was the early leader.

But we should notice that the key thing here, as always with Paul, is to grasp the absolute centrality to him of Christ, who is of course the very revelation of God’s generous mercy. As he faces the possibility (or even likelihood) of being executed, he proclaims, almost enthusiastically: “Christ is going to be magnified in my body, either through life or through death.”

He really is indifferent about either result, it seems, because “for me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain…I do not know what I shall choose: I am torn between the two: having a desire to dissolve and be with Christ (for that is much better). Whereas to remain in the flesh is more necessary because of you people.”

They have however to choose their response, and Paul’s instruction to them is “just exercise your citizenship” [the word here refers, perhaps rather subversively, to the citizenship of Rome, that Paul proudly owned, even though it was Rome that was going to

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complete unanimity, was phasing out all disposable cups. As well, we were debating as to whether to open up our campus as a certain sanctuary for feral cats.

As he introduced the agenda, our dean of theology asked the question: “How did we get to this? We’re a theological institute preparing people for ministry—and the big-ticket items on our agenda are ‘cups and cats’?”

What these two stories have to teach us is that we struggle, still, with the same issues that beset the scribes and Pharisees in Jesus’ time. And I say this sympathetically. We’re human and invariably we lose perspective, just as the scribes and Pharisees did.

Jesus regularly chided them for, as he put it, “abandoning the commandment of God and holding to human traditions” and consequently getting overlyfocused on rituals to do with “the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles”. We generally stand under this same indictment. We too tend to lose the centre for the periphery.

One great central law

Classic Conrad

What is the centre? The great commandment of God, that Jesus chides the scribes and Pharisees for losing sight of, is the invitation to love God above all else and to love your neighbour as yourself. That is the one great central law.

But in order to live that out practically, we need many ancillary laws, about everything from liturgical rubrics to cups and cats. And these laws are good, pro-

Church Chuckles

ing them for “standing here the whole day without working”. But all this is the lead up to the climax of the story. The householder tell the steward to pay the workers. But, oddly, he starts with those who came at the “11th hour”.

Why them? Because when they each get paid a single denarius. The ones who started work at 6am are thinking, “we’re going to get a huge sum”, but in fact they get the same sum (notice that Matthew does not tell us what the other groups of workers were paid; we are left to presume that they all got the same).

Now it is the first-comers who are consulting their lawyers, given that “you made them the same as us who bore the weight and heat of the day”. Jesus addresses one of them as “my friend”; and the alert reader of the Gospel will know that the next time we shall hear that word on Jesus’ lips will be when he greets Judas and the arresting party in Gethsemane. That should give us pause for thought, if we were thinking that perhaps God’s generosity is after all a bit unfair.

God’s generosity is beyond anything that we can possibly imagine, admirably expressed

by Jesus’ concluding words: “The last shall be first, and the first shall be last.”

Southern Crossword #931

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

viding that they never stand alone, autonomous, not bending to the one great commandment to love God and neighbour.

In both society and in our churches, we have made many laws: civil laws, criminal laws, church laws, canon laws, liturgical laws, and all kinds of laws and guidelines inside our families and within the venues where we work.

It is naïve to believe, idealistically, that we can live without laws. St Augustine once proposed that we could live without laws: “Love and do as you wish!”

But, love, as he defined it in this context, meant the highest level of altruistic love.

In other words, if you are already a saint you don’t need laws.

Sadly, our world, our churches, and we ourselves, don’t measure up to that criterion. We still need laws.

But our laws, all of them, and at every level, are not meant to stand alone, to have their own autonomy. They must bend towards and give acquiescence to a centre, and that centre is the one great law that relativises all others: Love God above all else and love your neighbour as yourself.

There is a principle central in all moral theology that in part encapsulates this, the principle of Epikeia (from the Greek epieikes, meaning reasonable). Laws are meant to be reasonable and are meant to be obeyed in a way that doesn’t violate rationality and common sense.

Epikeia is what St Paul had in mind when he taught that the letter of the law kills while the spirit of the law brings life.

In essence, what Epikeia asks of us is that, as we apply a given law in any circumstance of our lives, we ask ourselves the question: “If the law-maker were here, given the intent of this law, what would he or she want me to do in this situation?”

That would bend the law to its centre, to its sacred intent, to its spirit, and ensure that all our disagreements about pots, bronze kettles, liturgical rubrics, cups and cats would remain loyal to the question: “What would Jesus do?”

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Sunday Reflections

execute him] “in a manner that is worthy of the Gospel of Christ.” Generosity demands a generosity in return.

The Gospel for next Sunday is one of Jesus’ parables, a story of the eccentric generosity of God. He indicates that it is God he is talking about in the opening sentence: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a householder who went out in the early morning, to hire workers for his vineyard.” Readers will frequently have seen this process on the edge of our townships, and will know that being given work is a great thing (whatever you may think of this economic system).

Notice too that there is a day’s wages agreed, of 1 denarius, which is not ungenerous—a Roman legionary earned only about 250 denarii a year.

So far, so normal; but now the story strays away from what Jesus’ hearers might have expected, for the householder goes out a second time, at 9am, with not a hint that the work has got any more demanding. Here the wage is not agreed, for the householder simply says “I shall give you whatever is appropriate” (and at this stage you might feel that they would do well to consult their lawyers).

The story becomes more puzzling yet when he goes out again at midday and at 3pm, offering work. Then, when the day is almost over, “at the 11th hour (or 5pm)”, he summons further workers, almost reproach-

The laws: What would Jesus do?

EVERAL years ago, I was at a church meeting where we were discussing liturgical rubrics.

There was heated discussion over a number of issues: Should the congregation be standing or kneeling during the Eucharistic prayer? What is the most reverent way to receive Communion?

Should laypersons be allowed to cleanse the chalice and cups after Communion?

At one point, a woman made a rather pious interjection, inviting us to ask ourselves: “What would Jesus do?” The man chairing the meeting, already drained of patience by the disagreements in the room, responded in irritation: “Jesus has nothing to do with this! We’re talking about liturgical norms!”

The words were barely out his mouth when, to his credit, he realised that somehow that didn’t sound right. We all realised it too, and have reminded this good man many times of his faux pas; but, in honesty, his remark voiced the feeling of 95% of the room.

Allow me a second story to illustrate the same point. I am part of a theological faculty that is helping over one hundred young men prepare for ordination and is helping several hundred laypersons deepen their spiritual lives and prepare to serve in various forms of ministry.

Who could ask for a higher task?

But the sacredness of the task is not always front and centre. A couple of years ago, we came to an executive meeting and the two salient items on the agenda were “cups and cats”. Our school, not with

Nicholas King SJ

God’s strange generosity

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ACROSS

3. The king who plundered the country (1 Mac 1) (9) 8. Do nothing for your daily bread (4) 9. Simple chant in the liturgy?

(9) 10. Slice off the eastern part.

That’s harsh (6) 11. Jewellery at the traffic light? (5) 14. England’s ecclesiastic king (5) 15. Adolescent who is seen after six or seven (4) 16. Its queen praised Solomon (1 Kg 10) (5) 18. Fail to meet the young lady (4) 20. Your old English part of prayer (5) 21. Jeer at auntie inside (5) 24. Medieval archbishop of Canterbury (6) 25. Greeting at Mass (9) 26. Image of a saint (4) 27. End the prayer and mend it to a T. It’s an adjustment (9)

DOWN

1. Jesus was accused of it (Mt 26) (9) 2. The staunch Protestant (9) 4. Line to divert the river (4) 5. Expression of art? (5) 6. Container for the remains (6) 7. Runs from these containers (4) 9. Hunts and kills while one petitions God, we are told (5) 11. Intellectually active (5) 12. Home address (9) 13. Excavate to ruin someone’s chances (9) 17. Make up for sin at lunchtime (5) 19. Make sorrowful (6) 22. It’s human to be the prophet (5) 23. Sunday before Easter (4) 24. Similar to being family?

(4) Solutions on page 11

CHURCH CHUCKLE

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tourist is complaining to the parish priest. “Father, after Mass I forgot my umbrella in the church, and now it’s no longer there!”

“Yes, of course,” the priest explains, “you must understand that the people here are very faithfilled.” The tourist is looking very annoyed.

The priest continues: “So in the rain, at least one parishioner will have taken the umbrella as proof that God has answered his prayers.”

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