A 90-year-old man goes to his doctor for a physical. All of his tests come back with normal results.

The doctor says, ‘George, everything looks great. How are you doing mentally and emotionally? Are you at peace with God?’
George replies, ‘God and I are tight. He knows I have poor eyesight, so he’s fixed it so that when I get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, poof! The light goes on. When I’m done, poof! The light goes off.’
‘Wow, that’s incredible,’ the doctor exclaims.

Later that day, the Doctor calls George’s wife.

‘Ethel, George is doing fine! But I had to call you because I’m in awe of his relationship with God. Is it true that he gets up during the night and poof! The light goes on in the bathroom, and when he’s done, poof! The light goes off?’
‘Oh my Goodness! Ethel exclaims. ‘He’s peeing in the fridge again!

Sometimes, what appears to be divine intervention has a much simpler explanation.

This Sunday many parishes throughout Australia will be acknowledging this Sunday as Social Justice Sunday. Traditionally the Australian Catholic Bishops commission a statement to be read and studied by all Catholics. This year they have chosen the Australian Prisons and Justice System to be the focus. (front of bulletin)

Thirty years ago next year myself and Peter first met while working as Chaplains in the Prisons in Brisbane and Woodford.

During those 30 years it appears very little has changed, perhaps in many areas it has worsened. In this current Social Justice Statement entitled “Building Bridges, Not Walls” it quotes from the Australian Institute of Criminology’s 2010 Report, “Australia currently spends over $10 Billion yearly on criminal justice, an amount that has increased by 33% over the past decade.” (privatized jails)

Indigenous incarceration rates are 17 times more than the non-indigenous rate. In 1991, Indigenous prisoners made up 14% of the prison population. In 2008 , they made up to 25% – one quarter of the prison population.

After the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody where much was learned about why there were such high rates of imprisonment and death within the Aboriginal population, very little has been done to address these causes. It is a sad indictment of our nation that these numbers have increased since the Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Report.

The vast majority of Australians have no knowledge of prisons or prison life. Prisons have been described as “ exotic institutions unknown to social mainstream”. This ignorance is fertile ground for law and order campaigning. In state elections it is commonplace for politicians to outbid each other in pledging to be tough on crime for the sake of creating a safer community.

But as most of us are aware here at St Mary’s through our involvement with Micah, a safe community starts with adequate support for families, child protection, early learning programmes, affordable housing, mental health services, family violence protection programmes, decent work opportunities, drug and alcohol counseling.

Rather than incarcerating more and more vulnerable people, it is far more cost effective to look for ways to support the most marginalized and include them in community such as improving accommodation support, school retention levels and employment opportunities.

Early intervention in mental health and community services equips people to function more effectively in society and reduce the likelihood of engaging in crime.

Treating all people with dignity, respect and care creates healthy, safer and wholesome communities for everyone . For what we do to another, we ultimately do for ourselves. As the Gospel so powerfully demonstrates “And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing?  And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you? And the King will answer them, Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” (Matt 25⁴⁰)

And ultimately that Me is me.

For Jesus there was no separation. All were one. For Jesus the greatest commandment of the law after love of God was “to love your neighbour as yourself”. (Matt 22³⁹) Not the same as yourself as you would love someone like yourself, but to love your neighbour as you. Your neighbour is you.

That stranger, that person who is naked, sick and in prison is You.

Not only the stranger, but also those who hate you-“For I say this to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”. (Matt 5⁴⁴)

Jesus was not on about teaching people to live good moral lives, although that was a worthy outcome. What he was ultimately about was a Radical change in Consciousness. As I spoke of earlier, what he would often begin a sentence with was Repent, the Greek Meta noia, meta (above/beyond) noia (mind); move from the small mind, the mind which divides and separates, judges and weighs up –who’s in, who’s out; the good, the bad.

For Jesus the move to the larger mind meant no more exclusion, all are worthy ; no more me and them, only us.

It meant Jesus mixed with the wrong crowd,(the wrong crowd in the eyes of the so-called worthy, religious and righteous people of the time).

It meant challenging and confronting unjust structures and laws which divide.

The invitation to follow him means to do the same today – to challenge laws which discriminate and treat others as less than what we would like to be treated ourselves.

Returning to our opening prayer, “We reach out in grace, knowing that human divisions are false, that we are not the innocent praying for the guilty, or the right praying for the wrong, but people praying for people, the hurt remembering the hurt, the failure reaching out in love to the failure in a single community where all is ONE.

Following on from the ABC Compass program, The Trouble with St Mary’s, May 29- 2011,  many comments have been sent. Please  provide your comment here. Thank you.

Stop Press -

Bishop Morris “Retires”!

It may have been a slow process, but Rome has actually acted against a dissenting bishop here in little old Australia!

The following is from a letter by Bishop William Morris of Toowoomba Diocese, which was read to parishioners in the diocese on 01-05-2011:

“Some of those who have been disaffected by my leadership have exercised the option of making complaints about me, some of these complaints being based on my Advent Pastoral Letter of 2006 which has been misread and I believe deliberately misinterpreted.  This led to an Apostolic Visitation and an ongoing dialogue between myself and the Congregations for Bishops, Divine Worship and Doctrine of the Faith, and eventually Pope Benedict. The substance of these complaints is of no real import now but the consequences are that it has been determined by Pope Benedict that the diocese would be better served by the leadership of a new bishop.”

(The Advent Letter of 2006 reflected on the shortage of priests in the diocese.  In it, Bishop Morris referred to the “current” celibate male priesthood while noting the need to be open to “other options” of ensuring that the Eucharist is celebrated.  These other options included allowing married priests, ordaining women and recognising some Protestant ministers as Catholic priests.)

Thank you, Papa Benedict!  Thank you to Rome for safeguarding the flock and showing that bishops are not free to spread dissent after all.

http://www.catholicleader.com.au/news.php/top-stories/survey-shows-changing-trends-in-religious-life_70458

THERE is little point in the Church dwelling on the past or longing for former days, one of the authors of a report on a 2009 survey of Australia’s Catholic religious institutes has said.

St Columbans Mission Society Australia/New Zealand regional director Fr Noel Connolly told those gathered at the November 15 launch of See, I am doing a new thing! the survey was a challenge to “be able to see ‘new life’ and to celebrate and encourage it”.

Fr Connolly also described the survey as a “challenge to reflect on the reality of the (declining) figures (of religious in Australia)”, to care for younger members “because there are so few of them”, to “work at vocations” and “to enter into partnership with laity as we are not going to be able to exist on our own”.

The survey was undertaken on behalf of Catholic Religious Australia (CRA) by the Pastoral Planning Office of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC).

The report’s authors Stephen Reid and Robert Dixon, from ACBC, and Fr Connolly joined with religious leaders at CRA’s Sydney office to mark the report’s release.

Key findings were that in 2009 there were 8422 religious in Australia compared with 17,029 in 1976. Religious sisters make up just over 70 per cent of the cohort.

In 2009 there were 5927 religious sisters, 884 religious brothers and 1611 religious order priests. The average age of religious in 2009 was 73.

After the launch, Fr Connolly said that while some could see the figures as indicative of a Church in decline, the real story was more complex.

“Historically, in some senses the numbers from the ’50s and ’60s were an aberration,” he said.

“Back then the story throughout society was of the very strong growth of institutions.

“Now we are going through an anti-institution period, hence the decline in participation in a range of institutions and not just within the Church.

“I don’t see this changing any time soon – for example I can’t see Gregory Terrace taken over by the Christian Brothers again.”

Fr Connolly said religious interviewed for the survey seemed to show a more mature hope and a willingness to respond to society’s needs as they arose.

This had led to a big change in religious life.

“Today, many religious are working with refugees and asylum seekers, indigenous Australians, as prison chaplains, for organisations against human trafficking, and for the environment,” he said.

“Other apostolates include congregational leadership and administration, contemplative life, parish work, pastoral care, health care and aged care, media, publishing and the arts, overseas mission, social services and spiritual direction such as retreats and further study.”

Speaking at the November 15 launch, CRA’s president Joesphite Sister Anne Derwin said the report was timely given the universal Church’s recent recognition of an Australian religious with the canonisation of St Mary MacKillop.

Sr Derwin congratulated Fr Connolly, on his “inspired title choice” See I am doing a new thing!

(The title is taken from a scripture quote from Isaiah, 43:18-19 which says: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”)

Sr Derwin said, “We are all aware that the essence of religious life has not changed – the centring of our life in the consecration of Christ”.

“But the form has kept changing and it will keep changing,” she said.

“So what this report does is call us to really think about what’s the new thing God is doing with religious life in the 21st century.

“As religious congregations and Church organisations reflect on this report we will start naming the new, and telling the story of how religious congregations are ensuring that the mission of God continues but in a new way.”

A Queensland Creed

~ A Satire ~

We believe in God.

We believe that all people except racists and sexists are made in her image.

We believe that the force opposed to god is evil and thus masculine.

We believe that when the present pope dies, we shall get a pope who will give us women priests.

We believe that the greatest issues facing the world are global warming, gay marriage, and the rain forest.

We believe that all will be saved, except for the hypocritical right-wingers.

We believe that Pope Paul was afraid to admit error when he pronounced against contraception.

We believe that no pope is infallible without the consent of theologians.

We believe that god knows how hard marriage is, and she would want the divorced and remarried to receive communion.

We believe that in any case, it is just bread.

We believe that god is a god of love, and since homosexuals love each other, they should be permitted to marry each other.

We believe that children in catholic schools should be taught about the benefits of sodomy.

We believe that the Bible is a collection of stories made up hundreds of years after Christ, and made to fit the legends and myths of Christianity.

We believe in the Spirit of Vatican 2. Where the real Vatican 2 is different, it is wrong.

We believe that it is the task of theologians to correct the inaccuracies of the Holy Spirit.

We believe that the church must constantly change, and the people adapt to new beliefs.

We believe in the right of priests to demonstrate their creativity, especially in the Mass.

We believe that all have the ability to forgive sins. But we believe that this is no longer necessary.

We believe that those who complain about abuses in the Mass are spies and sinners, and particularly unAustralian.

We believe that all things should be tolerated in the spirit of diversity and accommodation, except for those intolerant racist right-wingers.

We believe that if these commandments are followed, the world will enter a period of extended peace and happiness.

Richard Stokes, Calboolture QLD

Reflection on the Progressive Spirituality conference

I went to the progressive spirituality conference with Peter Terry and Helen after having coffee with Peter and Terry on Easter Sunday.

I had this question within me about where does justice fit, where does engagement with the world around us has it place in this emerging language of progressive spirituality that we are hearing.

The question of How do we have both our personal spiritual journey with who we are in the world we live, and especially in relation to those who are disadvantaged and or vulnerable  by both the structural arrangements of our society and their personal circumstances?

And

How do we recognise the different phases of our life, that influence how we engage in both our spirituality and our actions in the world?

I have read all the books that Peter and Terry have been referring and I understand there value in relation to the nature of our church doctrine and our expressions of spirituality.

However  as a person, like many of you I have been also formed in my faith as a Christian and Catholic in the traditions of social justice – tradition which placed the historical Jesus in connection with his world and the political, social, economic and religious contexts of his day.

So  I ended up with was no answers to questions but  Peter asking me to share the presentation with him … so that we could present how justice, and in particular the development of  Micah as an organisation  has been such an integral part of who we are as a community….

Would just like to add that the term progressive spirituality it one I have some difficulty with – contempory yes but I think it is so important for each of us to respect how personal, and unique each of our journey is as we live with

• the tensions that arise from our catholic tradition
• the behaviour of the  hierarchy the church
• our individual experiences of that tradition and
• who we want to be as witnesses to our faith today

We need to really value that here is no one way or one pathway – it is a combination of so many realities in our life that respect for  and the valuing of our diversity  are really fundamental principles to who we have been and who we  are as a community.

So I am sharing with you the thoughts that I presented at the common dreams spirituality conference.

Micah Projects as you know has its origins with a decision by St Mary’s leadership team in the 100 year celebration of St Mary’s as a Catholic community to follow the tradition of the Hebrew’s in Jubilee concept of releasing prisoners, forgiving debt, and especially tithing.  The decision was made to allocate 10% of the income of the community which was $10,000 to developing a collective social justice response.

Many of us were involved in our individual work and commitment to social justice, and we were being challenged about what was our collective expression of our commitment to social justice as St Mary’s. After engaging in  a process which took over a couple of years it was decided to create a not for profit organisation not to differentiate us from the community but to be independent of the social response structures of the Archdiocese which at the time were changing radically.

I have heard a lot of anxiety about the connection between Micah and St Marys’ sin exile and I really want to assure you – nothing has changed – you are integral to who and what Micah does we just don’t have the church building which gave our connection visibility.

If fact your support during the last year has been fantastic and the smooth transition would never have happened with out you and I want to thank you for that – whether it was an anonymous donation, time to assist in the move, the phone call saying you were thinking of us, volunteering— all combined demonstrated our sound foundations as a community

People who work at Micah are regularly part of the liturgy and as are some of those we work with – we just don’t have labels to identify us – and nor do we need them.

The conference

In presenting at the conference I shared some reflections of how Micah has developed as an organization in a different way to some traditional mission orientated responses of faith communities?

Right from the beginning the themes were clear

… which are also the guiding principles of St Mary’s from the prophet Micah: act justly, love tenderly, and walk humbly with your God

In our reflections about what we could do or would do themes emerged

Act justly: as many issues as people were identified ranging from experiences of discrimination and injustice in the church to the issues of world wide poverty, refuges, but clearly the most pressing issue at the time was homelessness – as many a time people had to walk around people to actually get into the church. There were over a hundred people sleeping in and around the church at one point in time… It is great to say that we continue to support some of those individuals today in their home.

Love Tenderly issues connected to our most intimate relationships such as domestic violence, sexual abuse, issues of gender equity, discrimination against people in same sex relationships , the horror of family members at the response of the church to their adult children who lived committed lives in same sex relationships and of course the shattering of lives by sexual abuse of priests across denominations and in church and state run institutions –

But also there was this tension amongst us about how we valued our nurturing and caring roles as acts of justice and not only valuing of the actions of justice which take us away from family  with endless meetings, protests, etc.

Walk humbly

• Need to engage people in their own solutions, in advocacy and in developing partnerships walk with people
• Respect for the personal spiritual journey of each person, as well as the wisdom across denominations and faiths
• Balance between our own desires to create justice in the raising of children, caring for elderly in our families, being active citizens engaging in activities for social change…
• Being an organisation that is not faith based in how we work according to the doctrine of the church but rather an organisation that values and know the importance of faith in all its dimensions and expressions.

Decision making process

We came to primarily three foundational agreements to guide the formation and decisions of Micah as an organisation

A)   we wanted to engage directly with people who were affected by issues of disadvantage such as the  homeless, people living in poverty, or people presenting to the community seeking assistance by being responsive

B)   we wanted to involve people in advocacy and work with them through the democratic process in creating justice and social change rather then from a position of a charity or church

C)   wanted the involvement of St Mary’s community members in responding to the presenting issues and not duplicate existing initiatives

We have consistently been able to maintain these agreements as we grown the organisation.

The process

Creating a not for profit organisation, included  electing a board, creating  a constitution based on what other parishes in Australia had done, in Victoria, but we decided against the right of the priest to veto decisions.

We choose to name the organisation Project Micah and later re registered a name change to Micah Projects Inc.

Some of my reflections about how we have developed the organisation over time that are relevant to how a community engages with the disadvantaged or a community with the poor are:

• The words act justly, love tenderly, walk humbly go beyond any one faith tradition, doctrine or faith. They are guidance for decisions, for reflection. They challenge and they are intensely personal yet enrgerising for collective action, personal growth and social change.

• Within Catholicism there always has been tensions between spirituality and social justice.. This was again evident in the conflict between the Archdioceses when the Archbishop would say yes it is all very well to be doing good works – but is Jesus really present…

It is my reflection that slowly the integration between spirituality and social justice as emerged within our community

• the difference between ourselves and others has been lessened particularly around the Eucharistic table – the poor are not the other separate to us
• Respecting and holding diversity are principles we hold close
• A fundamental belief that we are all equal in our humanity …
  • and therefore have to make an option to seek solutions to redress  inequality
  • We have to actively work and make our option for bringing people into community rather then a challenge that we need to make a preferential option the poor, and diminish the importance of the lives we live with our families, friends, workplaces and neighbours
  • The quality of our support work and engagement with people who access our organisation is at the heart of what Micah is and what we do

What we shared for so many years was the combination of

• the church building
• the people who we are
• The words of our liturgy, the Eucharist prayer
• The music
• The open space
• The welcoming atmosphere so  full of relationships
• The pubic comment, debate and lens of faith

All these together made the connections to create something that was beyond any prescribed formation of what a parish or a community of faith should be.  We have only lost the church building – and we should hold onto what a great gift we are to each other as we move forward

As an organisation Micah Projects has positioned ourselves firmly

• within the community sector, alongside committed people and organisations in every neighbourhood across Brisbane rather then in the church or charity sector but we work with church and faith organisations
• we align ourselves with the UN declaration of Human Rights
• We acknowledge the we have the ability to create justice in how we relate to each other, those we love, and the world around us

AND we firmly believe and act on our ability

• To respond to injustice as we see it, experience it, and work to redress it with other.
• Last year we connected across Brisbane with over 2,000 people, 400 families including 1000 children who were homeless resulting in 22,000 contacts.
• We have been able to maintain our commitment over 8 years that no child would sleep on the streets of Brisbane if they presented or we came into touch with them through outreach.   This commitment has only been achieved thanks to the donations and support of this community

• 85 young families resulting in over 3,000 contacts

• We have provided over 45,000 of support to people with a disability

• In the last 10 years we have had contact with over 3,000 people who have experienced abuse in church and state run institutions as children and or in faith communities by clergy as children and or adults.

Through the process of having a Board, having people from this community and others beyond take on the role of governance we

• have created an organisation of people who rather then “being called”   to give up everything and work for the poor – the traditional role of religious life in Catholic Church are ordinary people who through
  • employment,
  • a decent wage
  • skills and commitment can work with the disadvantaged whilst
  • Being able to  pay their rent or a mortgage
  • have a quality of life  in line with their lifestyle choice
  • have access to personal and professional development and most importantly
  • not compromise their time and commitment to family and friends.
  • Have flexibility to meet parental responsibilities

A group of ordinary people has greater capacity to achieve extraordinary change rather then searching for one extradionary person who is called to change the world and have others follow.  We see this lived out in so many organisations and alliances.

• We work and contribute to the issues and advocacy with partners and all not for profits who share a vision we have advocated not from a position of privilege or status as church but rather as citizens through the democratic process with people whose lives have been impacted on by the inadequate policy and practices of government or who are invisible in their communities and neglected by policy

• We aspire to acknowledge the human spirit in each other, and in each person   we work with, as we have the privilege to journey with people in dealing with their joys and aspirations but also the challenges of grief, loss, trauma, violence, poverty and inequality and poor health.

• We aspire to respect the beliefs and spiritual journey of each person alongside their requests and needs for practical assistance.

Our proudest achievement is that we have been able to maintain

• a whatever it takes approach
• for as long as it takes
• with no exclusion policies and
• our advocacy with people such as Forgotten Australians, Young Mothers for Young Women, and Homelessness.

We have achieved this through commitment, consistency, problem solving and a partnership approach which aims to support people in achieving their aspirations for their life, their family. We have the backing of  a network of people where we can all play our role. Not everyone can be engaged in the work we do , and the people doing the work need to support and backing of a community so it is sustainable, effective and life giving to both workers and people we work with.

The most recent outcome of our work has been the announcement of Common Ground – and our successful tendering for the support services.

It has been announced that the Federal and State government are committed to building a common ground project in Brisbane. The land has been purchased in Hope Street – just down the road where Gambaro’s Seafood Shop was.

As many of you know this has been the centre of a lot of advocacy, research and learning about how to respond to homelessness so that we can end it rather then simply manage and leave people trapped on the margins of our communities.

Without the vision of our Board over many years, the interest of this community we would never have been able to sustain our advocacy or be in the position we are in to be actively engaged in bringing the reality of this project to Brisbane.  We have enjoyed our work  alongside government, Grocon as construction company and those who have formed the board of Common ground Qld.

We thank you for you support. As I said we all have our different roles to play in creating change, and all at Micah are proud of our place within this community.  Whether people ever come or not they know that they will be always welcome… and they know without you we would be a very different organisation.

Personal Reflection :  Mothers Day

In reflecting on my journey as both a woman and a mother it has been closely integrated with my role within Micah and as a member of St Mary’s and I have had the privilege to be here over the many years.     I have shared the same joy of being a parent as many of you, as well as the challenges and the disappointments.  Of course as we all know having the opportunity to have a flexible workplace when parenting is a gift.  I have been very fortunate that my journey has been in the midst of a journey that we have made as a community in our collective response to acting with justice.

We and I  have also had to learn to balance this vision alongside that of loving tenderly those we love and who are so integral to who each of us are as a human being – our children.

In celebrating mother’s day it both honouring ourselves as mothers and those who mothered us but it is also honouring that nurturing and loving tenderly is strengthened when we belong to a community. St Mary’s has been such a community.

We need as mothers and as women  to belong to a community that can hold us with the tensions and challenges that such responsibility of motherhood brings into our lives.

The life of this community has been such an integral part of who I am and how I have experienced both the highs and lows that come with parenting

‘

I have always valued the simple connections of those of us who have shared the journey of parenthood over the years as each week passes and we connect with how our lives change as our children grow.

I have personally and professionally been sustained by our life as a community. The rhythm of life, of the weekly Eucharist with people who are also on   a journey, where faith is not simply about what we believe but also about what we do has been a gift to me.

The diversity of our community and our relationships and the words to act justly, love tenderly, and walk humbly reflect what is common amongst us both in aspiration and in practice. How we do it – there has never been one way- it is personal and it is communal and I hope for all of us its continues into the future.

by Rev. Henri Boulad, S.J. Graz, July 18th 2007

(translated from the French by Richard Cros)

Dear Holy Father,

I am addressing you directly because my heart bleeds at the sight of the abyss into which our Church is sinking today. Please excuse my frankness that is filial and dictated both by the “freedom of the children of God” to which St. Paul has called us as well as by my passionate love for the Church. Perhaps you will excuse the alarmist tone of this letter, for I believe that it is already the eleventh hour and that confronting the present situation must not be further delayed.

Introduction

Let me first of all present myself. I am an Egyptian-Lebanese Jesuit of the Melkite rite. Soon I will be 7- years old. For three years I have been the rector of the Jesuit College in Cairo after having served in the following capacities: superior of the Jesuits in Alexandria, regional superior of all the Jesuits in Egypt, professor of theology in Cairo, director of Caritas-Egypt, and vice-president of CARITAS INTERNATIONALIS for the Middle East and North Africa.

I know the Catholic hierarchy of Egypt quite well, having participated in its gatherings for several years in my role as President of the General Assembly of Religious Superiors in Egypt. I have very close personal relations with each of them – some of whom are my former students.

Furthermore I personally know the Coptic Pope Chenouda III whom I frequently visit.

As for the Catholic hierarchy in Europe I have had many occasions to meet personally this one or that one of its members such as Cardinal Koenig, Cardinal Schoenborn, Cardinal Martini, Cardinal Daneels, Archbishop Kothgasser, the diocesan Bishops Kapellari and Küng, other Austrian bishops, and bishops from other European countries. These meetings took place during my participation at annual conferences in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, France and Belgium. During these events I spoke to various groups as well as to the media (newspapers, radio and TV). I did the same in Egypt and the Middle East.

I have visited some fifty countries on four continents and have published over thirty works in fifteen languages, especially French, Arabic, Hungarian and German. Among my thirteen books in German you have perhaps read Gottessöhne, Gottestöchter that your friend Father Erich Fink from Bavaria gave you. I do not say all of this out of vanity, Holy Father, but to tell you simply that my proposals are founded on a real knowledge of the universal Church and its situation today in 2009.

The Purpose of This Letter

I come now to the purpose of this letter in which I will try to be as (a) brief (as possible, as) clear and objective as possible. First of all, a list of a certain number of realities – by no means exclusive.

1. Religious practice is in constant decline. The churches of Europe and Canada are only

frequented by an increasing number of aging people who will soon be gone. There will be

nothing left to do but close churches or transform them into museums, mosques, club houses

or municipal libraries – something that is already under way. What surprises me is that many

churches are already in the process of renovation and modernization at great expense in order

to attract the faithful. But it is not such things that will stop the exodus.

2. Seminaries and novitiates are emptying at the same rate and vocations are in freefall. The

future is rather somber and we must wonder who can take up the work. More and more

European parishes are actually being taken up by Asian and African priests.

3. Many priests are leaving the priesthood. The small number of those who still continue their

ministry and who are well past the retirement age have to serve multiple parishes in an

expeditious and administrative manner. Many of them, both in Europe as well as in the Third

World live in concubinage – in full view and knowledge of their parishioners who often approve

them, and their bishop who can do nothing about it given the shortage of priests.

4. The language of the Church is out of date, anachronistic, boring, repetitious, and totally unsuited to our age. It is not at all a matter of going with the flow or of accommodation, because the message of the Gospel ought to be presented uncooked and to the point. What is needed rather is to move to that new “evangelization” to which John Paul II called us. Contrary to what many people think, it consists in not repeating toothless old stuff, but rather in innovating and (the) inventing a new language that recasts the faith in a pertinent and meaningful way for men and women of today.

5. None of this can happen without an in-depth renewal of theology and catechesis that has to be rethought and reformulated from top to bottom. A priest and German religious I recently met told me that the word “mystical” was not mentioned once in the New Catechism. I was flabbergasted. It is clear that our faith is very cerebral, abstract and dogmatic. It speaks little to the heart or the body.

6. As a result, a great number of Christians are turning to the religions of Asia, to sects, to New Age, to evangelical churches, occultism and more. Why be surprised? They are seeking elsewhere the nourishment that they don’t find with us, for they have the impression that we are giving them stones instead of bread. The Christian faith that once gave meaning to people’s lives has become for them today an enigma, the leftovers of a dead past.

7. In the matter of morality and ethics, the injunctions of the Magisterium, repeated ad nauseam on marriage, contraception, abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, clerical celibacy, divorce and

remarriage, etc. touch nobody and only engender weariness and indifference. All these moral and pastoral problems deserve more than preemptory declarations. They deserve an approach that is pastoral, sociological, psychological and humane approach in a way more in keeping with the Gospel.

8. The Catholic Church, which has been the great European educator for centuries, seems to have forgotten that this same Europe has grown up. Adult Europe today refuses to be treated like a child. The paternalistic style of a Mater et Magistra Church is definitely off the mark and no longer fits the bill today. Our Christian people have learned to think for themselves and are not about to swallow whatever comes along.

9. The nations once most Catholic – France, “the eldest daughter of the Church,” or ultra-Catholic French Canada – have made a 180 degree turn toward atheism, anti-clericalism, agnosticism and indifference. For a number of other European countries the process is on-going. One notices that the more a people have been nurtured and mothered by the Church the greater is the reaction against her.

10. Dialog with other churches and religions is today in a disquieting decline. The remarkable

advances realized over the past half century seem at this time compromised.

Faced with this rather overwhelming situation the Church’s reaction is twofold.

- It tends to minimize the gravity of the reality and consoles itself by considering a certain renewal taking place in its most traditional wing as well as in the Third World.

- It invokes confidence in the Lord who has sustained the Church throughout twenty centuries and who will be able to help it overcome this new crisis as He has done in ages past. Doesn’t the Church have His promises for eternal life?

My response to this

It is not by collecting shards under the buttresses of the past that one will resolve the problems of today and tomorrow. The apparent vitality of the Church in the Third World is deceptive. In all likelihood these new churches will sooner or later pass through the same crises as old Christian Europe. The road to modernity cannot be by-passed and it is precisely because the Church has forgotten this that we have such a crisis today. Vatican II tried to make up for the four centuries it had lost, but today one has the impression that the Church is in the process of once more closing the doors that had been opened and is tempted to turn back to Trent and Vatican I rather than Vatican II. We should recall the injunction repeated several times by Pope John-Paul II: “There is no alternative to Vatican II.”

How long are we going to engage in the politics of the ostrich and bury our heads in the sand? How long will we refuse to look things in the face? How long will we keep trying to salvage the façade at any price – a façade that deceives no one today? How long will we continue to cringe and take aim at any criticism rather than seeing in it a chance for renewal? How long are we going to put off till doomsday a reformation that is imperative and has been avoided far too long?

It is in resolutely looking to the future and not the past that the Church will accomplish her mission of being a “light to the world, salt of the earth, leaven to the dough.” What we see today unfortunately is that the Church is dragging behind our times, after having led the world for centuries.

I must repeat what I said at the opening of this letter: It is the eleventh hour! fünf vor zwölf! History is not waiting, certainly not in our era when time is galloping at an ever rapid pace.

When people notice something wrong or dysfunctional in any commercial enterprise they immediately question what’s happening, call in the experts, make corrections, and mobilize all their forces to address the crisis.

Why can’t the Church do the same thing? Why not mobilize all her living forces for a radical

aggiornamento? Why?

Could it be just sluggishness, cowardice, pride, lack of imagination and creativity, culpable passivity – all in the hope that the Lord will take care of things and that the Church well knows about such things, from its past?

Christ warned us in the Gospel: “The children of darkness are much more adept in managing their affairs than the children of light.”

What then must be done?

The Church today has an urgent and demanding need for the three-fold reform.

1. A theological and catechetical reform to rethink the faith and reformulate it in a coherent

manner for our contemporaries. A faith that no longer means anything, that does not give

meaning to human existence, is simply an ornament, a useless superstructure that falls under

its own weight. This is the case today.

2. A pastoral reform that rethinks from top to bottom the structures inherited from the past. (see

my suggestions in this matter).

3. A spiritual reform to give new life to the mystical dimension, and a rethinking of the sacraments in view of giving them an existential dimension, and anchoring them to new life. I would have much to say on this.

The Church of today is too formal, too formalistic. One has the impression that the institution stifles charisma and what ultimately counts is external stability, superficial respectability – a kind of façade.

Don’t we risk seeing ourselves one day treated as “whitened sepulchers” by Jesus?

Conclusion

To conclude, I suggest the calling together, at a universal level, of a general synod in which all

Christians participate – Catholics and others – to examine, in all frankness and clarity, the points

made here as well as all else that would be proposed. Such a synod, which would last three years, would culminate in a general assembly (let’s avoid the term “council’) that would bring together the results of this synod and draw some conclusions.

Finally, Most Holy Father, asking you to forgive my frankness and audacity and begging your paternal blessing. Allow me to say that I lived these days I live in your presence, thanks to your remarkable book, Jesus of Nazareth, which is the object of my spiritual reading and daily meditation.

Sincerely yours in the Lord,

P. Henri Boulad, sj

ADDENDUM

Rethinking the Church’s Pastoral Approach in Today’s World

1. Restructuring the parish

Before being a Christian community, the parish, first of all, ought to be a human community; that is, an organic entity that exemplifies a certain number of social relationships as in a large family. This large family once was “the village” where everyone knew everyone else and where the pastor knew everyone personally, his or her past and present history. The pastor then lived the way Jesus described the Good Shepherd: “I know mine and mine know me.”

This is possible in a grouping of a hundred people or at best a hundred families. Beyond such a

number there is no longer community, but an anonymous group that defies unity and structure.

The parish ceases to be a large family and the pastor can no longer be someone who “knows each one of this flock by name.” He becomes an administrator who manages this gathering by the computer, by numbers and statistics with an Internet program. Or he concentrates on a small number of persons to the detriment of the rest.

Our country parishes of former days have changed in their dimension, becoming mega-churches with thousands of faithful. To insist on maintaining the present structure that is inherited from the past is an absurdity.I believe a parish of ten thousand inhabitants ought to be divided into a hundred mini parishes in order to become communities at a human level. I can already hear the objection: but where are you going to find a hundred priests to serve these new communities when we are having all the trouble in the world to recruit just one priest for the actual parishes? The reply is simple, so very simple.

2. Make an appeal to mature and proven men (viri probati) to take over these individual communities and give resident pastor the title of bishop of this new ensemble of parishes. In each group of homes or neighborhood the Church would single out a serious Christian, having proven himself – preferably a retired person in good health, with a decent pension and sufficient leisure time for him to assume the pastoral charge of his community. In these days when we see that people are living longer and retire earlier it would not be hard to find such a person. His human, theological and spiritual formation would be completed through intensive courses for a period of six months. This would also be a period of probation. Once completed, the person would be ordained.

Having accepted such a proposition, he would obviously consult with his wife who in turn would

become his right arm and indispensable collaborator in running the parish.

The role of this pastor would consist in getting to know each of the families and each individual

personally. This is done by home visitation, celebrating anniversaries, different get-togethers,

meetings for reflection and all this through his own initiative and the suggestions of his parishioners.

There would be Eucharistic celebrations in the home as needed, and on Sundays people would

gather in a large hall for mass followed by an agape of refreshments.

This priest would be responsible for everyone in his parish – believers and non-believers. Without imposing anything it would be up to him to find the right formula to put everyone at ease. Thus there would be parishes of variable size. This is a challenge that would demand of the pastor tact, a right approach, discretion, flexibility and creativity.

Given such a perspective,

3. Married men would be ordained, just as is the case in the Eastern churches, Orthodox and Uniate, and as has been the case for centuries in the rest of Christianity. The practice of celibacy has always been reserved to individuals – monks and religious – who freely chose this lifestyle that supposes a supportive community. It is from these that one would choose the bishops.

But to impose celibacy on all priests without distinction under the pretext that this constitutes for some a valuable and viable path is tempting God. The consequence of this is that there are an impressive number of priests living in concubinage both in Europe and the rest of the world.

Is it not unreasonable to demand that a man, who does not have the calling to celibacy, live year after year in isolation, alone within the walls of his rectory? Didn’t God Himself say in the opening pages of the Bible “It s is not good for man to live alone”?

The stubbornness of the Western Church in this matter is beyond explanation and is in contradiction with the ancient tradition of the Church. It is about time that the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church stop its fidgeting and open the door to a married priesthood in consort with an optional celibate priesthood.

Given the perspective of this pastoral reorganization that I propose,

4. A vocation would be less a calling by God than a direct call by the Church to an individual.

A person would be completely free to accept or refuse this call. Having said this, one must not

exclude a direct call; from God to the soul.

A final point.

5. Aside from the geographic parishes I have described, one would also envision parishes that are socially selective; that do not depend so much on where one lives as on one’s profession or sphere of interests. Such parishes would be created according to the needs and function of the existing groups of people.

The idea here is to start with a group that is already established and help it pass from a naturally

human community to a Christian community. The Christian element should not be superimposed on the already existing community but act as a leaven in the dough to animate it from within. In conclusion, I would say that the Spirit today calls us to reflect, to invent and innovate: to come out of our preconceived notions and our set categories; to risk a new pastoral approach that responds to the needs of our day. No more timidity, no more caution, no more hesitation. “Fear not” said John-Paul II; “Fear not” say the Lord throughout the Bible.

We must once again find the creativity and boldness of Saint Paul.

Will we remain prisoners of the past forever? Will we know how to invent the future?

P. Henri Boulad, sj

henriboulad@yahoo.com

Jesuit Residence

298, Port-Saïd Street – Cleopatra –

Alexandria – Egypt

Tel : + 20.3.5423553

Graz, July 18th 2007

His influential but low-key theological dissent inflamed the Vatican

For the past three decades, the leadership of the Catholic church has displayed a particular intolerance of theological dissent. Some of the otherwise loyal priest-teachers who have been targeted by the Vatican have reacted to their very public rebukes by courting the press and liberal Catholic opinion. Hans Küng and Leonardo Boff, for instance, have become prominent examples.

By contrast, the Flemish Dominican Father Edward Schillebeeckx, who has died aged 95, responded to being hauled over the coals by the Vatican in 1984 with characteristic understatement. Though second to none as a theologian in 20th-century Catholicism, he lived out his remaining years away from the limelight out of his enduring loyalty to the church – despite the rough justice handed out to him.

At issue was Schillebeeckx’s questioning, in dense but academically influential writings throughout the 1970s, of a too-literal reading of the New Testament. To the Vatican’s evident irritation, he queried the relevance to the modern age of church teaching on the virgin birth and resurrection. So did many others, but Schillebeeckx (pronounced Schill-e-bex) had been one of the leading theological lights at the great reforming Second Vatican Council (1962-65). So his efforts in Jesus: An Experiment in Christology (1974) and Christ: The Christian Experience in the Modern World (1977) to build on the council’s updating of Catholic thought by relating the gospel message to contemporary experience could not simply be overlooked. “I do not begrudge any believer the right to describe and live out his belief in accordance to old models of experience, culture and ideas,” he once said, “but this attitude isolates the church’s faith from any future and divests it of any real missionary power.”

He was summoned to Rome in December 1979 to explain himself to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith – the office that had run the Inquisition. He likened the experience to being a naughty schoolboy sent to the headteacher’s study, but still went. Küng, under scrutiny at the same time, refused a similar summons, saying that he would not submit to a medieval trial. As a result, while Küng had his church licence to teach theology in Catholic universities removed by the Vatican, Schillebeeckx survived to continue as professor of dogmatic and historical theology at the Catholic University of Nijmegen, in the Netherlands.

Rome had not, however, finished with him. A fresh dispute arose over his comments that, in extreme circumstances, lay people could take on the place usually reserved for the priest in consecrating the eucharist. He was again called to Rome, this time in July 1984, when he was supported in person by the head of his religious order, Damian Byrne, the master-general of the Dominicans. His inquisitor was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, later to become Pope Benedict XVI. On condition that he drop the reference to lay ministry from any subsequent publications, Schillebeeckx again avoided official censure.

It was a remarkable escape, given the climate of the time, with Pope John Paul II determined to assert his authority over all theological discourse. Küng claimed that Schillebeeckx was spared only because nobody on Ratzinger’s team could read his texts in the original Dutch. Yet Schillebeeckx had hardly hidden his distaste for the new appetite for Roman centralism. “Rome puts the accent on restoring ‘the Sacred’ and hierarchical structures,” he wrote. “It seems to me that they want to return to the ancien regime of sacrality without passing through the French Revolution.”

His final, very public, act of rebellion came in 1989 when he joined other leading Catholic theologians in signing the Cologne Declaration, prompted by the pope’s appointment of an unpopular and extreme traditionalist as the Archbishop of Cologne, the second wealthiest diocese in world Catholicism. The declaration spoke of popes “overstepping and enforcing in an inadmissible way” their authority over doctrine. It highlighted in particular the papal ban on Catholics using artificial methods of birth control. Though much reported, and applauded by many Catholics, the declaration did not appear to have any effect on either the pope or his successor.

Schillebeeckx was born in Antwerp, Belgium, of Flemish parents, the sixth of 14 children. He went to mass every day with his devout father and was educated by Jesuits. He chose to enter the Dominican order of preachers, with its unique synthesis of academic, practical and spiritual endeavours. He served briefly in the Belgian army until the Germans overran his homeland in the second world war, returning to his studies and ordination in 1943.

His time in Paris, in the immediate postwar years, shaped his thinking. Schillebeeckx came under the influence of nouvelle théologie and its leading proponents, the Dominican theologians Marie-Dominique Chenu and Yves Congar. He carried their emphasis on engagement with the modern world into his academic work at Nijmegen and also into his role as a key adviser to the Dutch bishops. He was a key figure in drafting their pastoral letter in the run-up to the Second Vatican Council, rejecting the efforts of Vatican officials to restrict its remit and pushing the case for the far-reaching reform which eventually resulted. He attended the council as an adviser to the Dutch bishops and gave a series of influential briefings on the draft documents emerging from it.

For Schillebeeckx, the Second Vatican Council was the start of a reform process. The Dutch church largely shared this view and it began to experiment in the late 1960s with new structures that increased lay involvement and generated great enthusiasm in parishes. But such radicalism alarmed the incoming John Paul II when he was elected in 1978, and, as well as clamping down on theological dissent, he steadily replaced progressive Dutch bishops with men made in his own more traditional image.

Schillebeeckx bore in silence the pain of witnessing many of the reforms he had supported and promoted being undone. Yet his reputation throughout the Christian churches and beyond as a prophetic thinker could not be dented by papal disapproval. He greeted plaudits – including the Erasmus prize (1982) for his contribution to European culture, the first theologian so honoured – and admirers with humility and an old-fashioned courtesy.

He may just have allowed himself a wry smile when he looked back on a 1968 declaration, published in Concilium, the still flourishing progressive theological journal that he helped to set up, which insisted that the Pope “cannot and must not supersede, hamper and impede the teaching task of theologians as scholars”. His own name was there among the signatories, as was that of the then Father Ratzinger.

• Edward Cornelius Florentius Alfonsus Schillebeeckx, Dominican priest and theologian, born 12 November 1914; died 23 December 2009

Luke 4:1-13

At the very core of what it means to be a Christian, a spiritual person, or
whatever term you would like to describe yourself, is a connection to an essence, an
awareness, a sense of other, something more – God.  Call it what you may.

Almost every religion, which has this at its heart, often has set Periods of time to encourage people to become more focused, more connected to this source.

•    Such times as Ramadan, people of Islamic faith,
•    Seasons of Earth/times of Equinox for people of Wicca and Pagan Religions
•    Dadirri – Miriam Rose Ungunmerr – Baumann
•    Time away as Bus/Women – Bus/Men
•    Lent and Advent for Christians.
•    The weekly Sabbath for the Jews, Sukkoth a week long
•    Yom Kippur – day of fasting and prayer, Jewish Day of Atonement.

It is connection to this source that makes sense of life, adds depth and meaning to
everything.  It is the epode (hymn of triumph) to move out, to serve, to connect.

•     “ the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, to bring good news to the poor, freedom     to captive”  (Isaiah 42)
•    “This is my Son the Chosen One.  Listen to him” (Lk 9:36)

In today’s Gospel Jesus is filled with this Spirit, this connection.
Jesus goes into the wilderness to strengthen this connection and it is here we learn of
the THREE  OBSTACLES to overcome in order to maintain this connection.
We see these obstacles in the three temptations of Jesus.

The first obstacle:

The devil, the personification of temptation, begins by trying to place DOUBT in the
mind of Jesus.  Doubt whether there is any connection to this divine essence at all.
He says, “If you are the one born of God, do ……” We can all recognize this doubt in ourselves.

We can all doubt our innate inbuilt goodness, the sacredness of our very being, always connected to the ONE SOURCE and hence our oneness with all of life. Something within the human “animal” forgets this, wants to separate off, be disconnected, or at least doubt the connection.

The essence of Jesus’ whole teaching about the Reign or Dream of God was to set
people free from thinking poorly of themselves in relation to God.  Yes, we are all
sons and daughters of God – however people imagine God.  Jesus’message was not
to fear God but to call God Abba “Daddy”.

All of us have equal access to God, there was no need for a religious middle management in order to access God.  This presence of God was not a commodity that

people with special religious powers could control, make possible, or deny.
It was this teaching that ultimately lead to his death.
The first obstacle for maintaining the connection is to get caught up in doing.
“If you are the one born of God, tell this stone to turn into bread…”.  What a spectacular feat to perform. The false self – marvelling at what it can achieve.  Getting lost in its achievements.  “Look at me, how good am I?  What an enormous trap this is for each of us, particularly in Western culture where we define ourselves by doing.
It is a big obstacle to maintaining our connection to our Source, our Divine Essence.

It is why as a Judeo Christian Culture we have in place a Sabbath Day, the 7th day, a Sunday, where there is an attempt to refrain from doing and to place this time
aside to nourish our relationship with the Source.  It is why we have Lent and Advent,
why we have a long tradition of Christian going on retreats, pilgrimages, to move away from the achieving, the doing, which gets in the way.

The second obstacle:

The tempter takes Jesus out onto a great height and shows him the world, that he
could have all this and give up this connection with the Essence.
In a culture which is so centred in consuming, where we have to define who we are,
where we get a sense of how important or non important we are and where our sense
of worth comes from, we say to ourselves “If I can only have this, this job, this
degree, this place of honour, this house, this car, if only I was in a better relationship,
then I would be complete, happy.

Everywhere we turn, another advertisement is re-enforcing this sense of incompletion. And completion will be achieved when I attain.  In our materialistic culture this obstacle is never ending – one where we have to be constantly on our guard.

The third obstacle:

In the third temptation Jesus is taken to the Holy City and made to stand on the very
parapet of the temple.  It is the position of social aggrandizement, social advancement, power, and a place where you will be looked up to and admired.  Who of us is not seduced by power, prestige and celebrity status, or simply concerned with what other people think of us?

This is most surely a trap for the false self.  Jesus refuses it.  He responds by saying
the angels of God will hold him up, being in the Presence of the Divine, being
connected, will hold him up and nothing he can do or what the tempter can offer him
can ever hold him up.  He says he has no fear of falling down, for he knows that it is
in falling down is where often our greatest lessons are learnt.

At the end of the gospel we hear  “Having exhausted all these ways of tempting Jesus,
the devil left to return.”

Emphasising that the temptations, these obstacles are always with us.  We need to
always be on our guard.

We need all the help we can get to support and encourage us.  Hence times of retreat,
Sabbath days, Lent and Advent. We begin this Lent with new resolve to place our relationship and connection to our deepest self, the Divine, the source of our being at the centre of our lives.  This relationship is the most important thing in our lives.

In a moment we will be invited to Ash ourselves and others.  We use Ash to remind
ourselves that all forms are temporary -  just passing… our bodies, our relationships,
our homes, families, friends, are all passing.

There is something beyond, something bigger than us, something eternal, forever
mysterious which holds us.

So let us Ash ourselves and one another to remind ourselves of all that is temporary and that we also inhabit an eternal world forever mysterious.