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The

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October 22 to October 28, 2014

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Brislin: What sort of a Church should we be?

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Pilgrimage pics: Fátima, Lourdes and more

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Nkandla: From Mass in container to a church

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Vatican experts: Benedict Daswa is a martyr

By STuarT graHaM

T

HE Vatican’s theologian consultors on sainthood causes have unanimously agreed to recognise Benedict Daswa as a martyr of Christ.

Bishop João Rodrigues of Tzaneen said he had been told by Fr Jean Jules Chassem MSC, the general postulator who has been helping the diocese in Rome with the cause, that all nine of the theologian consultors of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints “gave a positive vote for the cause of Benedict Daswa to be recognised as a martyr of Christ and his Church”.

The next important meeting of cardinals concerning the cause will be held on January 13, 2015. If the result of their study is positive, the cause will be sent to Pope Francis for approval. He may then proclaim the date for the Servant of God, Benedict Daswa, to be publically beatified as a blessed martyr.

The ceremony would most likely take place in South Africa.

“This is wonderful news for the Church in our region,” Bishop Rodrigues said, but added that “we need to keep on praying together with Our Blessed Mother Mary for the cause to be successful”.

The bishop said it is “quite possible that during Easter next year Pope Francis would be ready to make such an announcement”.

Daswa, a devout Catholic and father of eight, was beaten to death by a mob in Mbahe village near Thohoyandou on February 2, 1990 after he refused to take part in a witch hunt, citing his Catholic faith.

The witch hunt was called after a lightning strike caused three huts to burn down in the area. Daswa tried to explain that lightning was a natural phenomenon.

His killers were never brought to justice.

Bishop Rodrigues said the diocese is putting together a plan for the development of a shrine close to where Daswa lived and died.

The bishop, who in September and October led The Southern Cross’ pilgrimage to Portugal, Spain and France (see page 8), said that the journey, “especially to Fátima and Lour-

des sanctuaries, offered lots of ideas concerning the kind of space that is needed for such a shrine”.

He said the diocese will “need to have a national fundraising campaign in support of the development of the shrine”.

Bishop Rodrigues Benedict Daswa, who and the priests of the diocese of Tzaneen is one step closer to will celebrate a Eubeatification charistic Liturgy at Tshitanini Village in the parish of Thohoyandou on November 1 at 9am.

During the celebration, the bishop will solemnly bless the 10-hectare plot of land which the diocese has acquired for the building of the future shrine and pilgrimage centre in honour of Daswa.

“We are hoping that by promoting the cause, more people will pray and receive blessings through Daswa’s intercession,” Bishop Rodrigues said.

Sr Claudette Hiosan, who is in charge of the Benedict Daswa cause, said there was a possibility that Daswa could one day be canonised.

This would require an approved miracle attributable solely to the prayers of Benedict Daswa, which is not necessary for recognised martyrs before beatification, the last step before canonised sainthood, she said.

“This miracle must be verified, not only

by Church officials, but also by a team of medical experts appointed by the Holy See.” It will, however, have to occur after his beatification.

Daswa, born Tshimangadzo, took the name Benedict when he was baptised a Catholic. The name comes from the 16thcentury St Benedict the African, the son of slaves brought from Africa to Sicily. n See also page 9 for an interview by Stuart Graham with the mother of Benedict Daswa.

Fr Lawrence Mota CMM of Mariannhill, who has released his fourth CD. (Photo: Mauricio Langa)

Priest releases new music CD

By MauriCio Langa

A

MARIANNHILL priest has released a new CD entitled Glory To God, which recalls the local Church’s history and looks at social ills today.

On his new album Mariannhill Missionary Father Lawrence Mota reflects on the rich history of Mariannhill and also highlights the wide range of social ills that have engulfed our society.

Fr Mota’s eight songs call on society to look back and embrace the Christian and human values that have been eroded by social ills characteristic of our time.

Glory To God is the priest’s fourth album, after Ngiyavuma Baba, Sisize Baba and Sihawukele Baba.

In his historical reflection on Glory To God, Fr Mota promotes Abbot Francis Pfanner, who with his Trappist companions founded Mariannhill.

According to Fr Mota, Mariannhill has contributed—and still does—a lot to society in terms of faith and human development through the learning institutions, hospitals and the monastery workshops that for decades have served the people of God. “Through these workshops many people have been trained and today some of them

are running their own businesses,” he said.

He explained that this was the primary goal of Abbot Pfanner: to empower the local people through a wide range of skills and thus promote self-reliance.

He added that today the Mariannhill institutions—schools and hospitals—continue the legacy of the founder of Mariannhill and his companions as well as that of the Precious Blood Sisters, who were also founded by the Austrian-born missionary.

“It is in this historical background that the title of the album Glory To God comes from,” Fr Mota explained.

He said that while a lot has been written about the founder of Mariannhill, it is fitting to highlight the same history through music.

“Music has the power to reach a wide range of audiences, thus making the unique history of Mariannhill to be embraced by each citizen,” he said.

The new album urges families, civil leadership, churches and traditional leadership to work together in reviving the spirit of ubuntu today, Fr Mota said. n Glory To God is available at the Mariannhill Monastery repository at R80 per copy. To order call 078 462 8113 or 031 700 1031

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The Southern Cross, october 22 to october 28, 2014

LOCAL

Priest: A leader must entertain people

By STuarT graHaM

A

SRI Lankan priest who visited South Africa to share his knowledge on the qualities of leadership said he picked up a few lessons of his own while travelling the country.

A strong leader should be an entertainer as well being ethical and motivated by love, says Fr Jude Peiris of the archdiocese of Colombo.

Along with this they should be good listeners and have a “great” commitment to God—traits that are prominent in the South Africans he has met.

“One beautiful thing I learned from the people of South Africa is

that despite having difficulties and shortcomings, their commitment to God is very important,” he said.

“I had the opportunity to share some insights about leadership and missionary activities with people while I was at the Mpophomeni parish in KwaZulu-Natal. My impression was how patiently they listened. They were not in a hurry,” Fr Peiris said.

“In Sri Lanka people want to go immediately...When I was with these people, I found it difficult to stop my talk. They listened so carefully. I was very inspired by the way they shared ideas and opinions with me.”

Fr Peiris came to South Africa at

the invitation of his friend and fellow Sri Lankan Fr Jude Fernando of St Anne’s parish in Mpophomeni, outside Howick.

“For the last 15 years Fr Jude Fernando has been inviting me to come here and see his missionary work, but I was not in a position to come,” Fr Peiris said. “I wanted to see how he worked as a missionary. So far he has helped me to learn and at the same time I have been able to pass on some of my own lessons.”

Fr Peiris said Fr Fernando has strong leadership qualities and was an excellent example as a strong leader. “He was a very vibrant and energetic priest in Sri Lanka. His ability to build up relationship be-

tween parishioners is tremendous.”

Fr Peiris paid tribute to Fr Fernando for his commitment to his people and to the parishioners of St Anne’s for raising the money to build a new church for the community.

“The dedication that he has to start the work of putting up a house of God for his people and to continue this work is a beautiful thing in this life. His missionary commitment in his life is a beautiful thing.I praise the Lord and I pray the good Lord will bless him to carry on the mission entrusted to him.”

Fr Peiris, who has a degree in psychology, said leaders need certain qualities to be successful in

Water and energy need new thinking

By STaFF rEPorTEr

M The association of Catholic Tertiary Students sang at the retrouvaille international conference Mass in Durban.

ACTS joins Retrouvaille event

By DyLan aPPoLiS

R

ETROUVAILLE held a conference for married couples this month in Durban, with participants coming from South Africa and abroad.

Retrouvaille is an international programme, consisting of a weekend livein experience for couples combined with a series of 12 post-weekend sessions over three months.

The main emphasis of the weekend is on communication between husband and wife. It gives couples the opportunity to rediscover each other and examine their lives together in a new and positive way.

Communication re-established between spouses, the sessions which follow provide couples with the practical tools to help put their marriages in order again.

“The theme for this conference was, ‘Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu’, meaning ‘A person is a person because of people’,” Association of Catholic Tertiary Students (ACTS) media and publicity officer Boniswa Moto said.

The ACTS University of KwaZuluNatal branch sang at the conference Mass.

“Words cannot describe the delight couples expressed at the amazing singing,” Ms Moto said.

ERE infrastructural maintenance and “improvisation” will not on its own stabilise the water and energy crisis in South Africa, the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference has said.

What is needed, said communications officer Fr S’milo Mngadi, is a “fundamental change of consumerist mindset” among South Africans.

“Though the extension of water and energy, due to the dawn of democracy, put a great strain on the grids, the culture of waste and lack of co-responsibility continues to be a source of the crisis,” he said.

“We believe that the government, civic and community organisations should come together to mobilise South Africans to be water and energy efficient.”

Fr Mngadi said the common good required the maximum benefit from shared resources, and that balance be created between protection of the environment and the urban poor’s access to water and energy facilities.

Large parts of Gauteng experienced severe water shortages in late September.

Water Minister Nomvula Mokonyane blamed the shortage on a “technical glitch” and on the theft of electricity cables that kept pumps operating.

their missions in life.

“They must be loyal, filled with love, enthusiastic, dedicated, entertaining and responsible,” he said.

“They need to follow a systematic way of life. They must be a person who can plan out everything. Honesty is very important and they must be interdependent as well as independent.”

Personality is also vital as humans are all different and unique.

“A leader has to understand his people and the parishioners who will come to him. If he can understand the personality of another person, he is able to do a great mission in the name of Jesus,” Fr Peiris said.

Deanery youth celebrates culture

By DyLan aPPoLiS

T

HE youth of Highway deanery celebrated the cultural month of September together at Inchanga mission in Durban.

“We had holy Mass and shared traditional food together. This experience brought a sense of unity and friendship,” parish priest Fr Jean Lambert Kalala said.

He said the month was celebrated differently in each parish and the Highway deanery Mass was attended by an “amazing number of the youth and the congregation”.

“This event was not only about celebrating but also a way of fundraising for our deanery since our leaders are promoting self-reliance,” he added.

Donated food parcels were given by the youth to the hospice.

“We would like to thank the host parish and everyone who attended the function,” Fr Kalala said.

The parish of Christ the King, in Wentworth, Durban, held a youth Mission Stayawake, starting with Mass by newly ordained Fr Bonga Mkhize oMi. guest speakers were Dr Bronwyn anderson, Michael Small and Jordan Banjo. icebreakers and games were organised by asanda from the assembly of god church in Wentworth. Fr Jean Mpune gave the youth coordinators, along with the youth of the parish, permission to raise funds to host the mission.

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The Southern Cross, october 22 to october 28, 2014

LOCAL

3

Brislin: What Express creativity but respect religion sort of Church E should we be?

By STaFF rEPorTEr

XPRESS your creativity but respect religion, a local archbishop said following worldwide outrage over an artistic exhibition by two Argentinian artists in which Barbie and Ken dolls were altered to resemble Jesus, Mary and the goddess Kali.

In the Buenos Aires exhibition, titled “Barbie: The Plastic Religion”, artists Pool Paolini and Marianela Perelli adapted 33 dolls to resemble key figures from Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism and Islam.

In one of the exhibits the Ken doll was crucified on the cross, and a blue-coloured Barbie, in the form of Hindu goddess Kali, holds up a severed head.

Archbishop William Slattery of Pretoria said there was a limit to freedom of expression.

STaFF rEPorTEr

T

HE concerns and the challenges of the family in Southern Africa were brought to this month’s Synod of Bishops on the Family by Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town, who is also the president of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC).

In an interview with Vatican Radio, Archbishop Brislin said the synod was a wonderful opportunity to listen to first-hand accounts of different realities across the globe with the aim of finding ways of giving pastoral help to families in crisis.

“Getting away from judging and condemning,” he said “we have to find ways to give support” by finding and taking “what is good, and building upon that”.

Speaking to Vatican Radio’s Linda Bordoni, Archbishop Brislin said the social and family reality the Church faces in Southern Africa is quite particular as, according to recent research, in South Africa there is no “typical” family.

Archbishop Brislin noted that in South Africa only 27% of African children grow up in families where both biological parents are present.

“There are many broken families, many families experience abuse, conflict and violence, and we do realise that many children are growing up in families that are characterised by trauma and violence,” he told Vatican Radio. Archbishop Brislin said because of its history and political past, the situation in Southern Africa is quite different from the situation in other Sub-Saharan African nations, but noted common threads—not only in Africa but throughout the world.

Divorce and separation is a growing problem in Africa as it is in the rest of the world, he said.

But the question of polygamy, brought up by some African bishops, was a first for a synod addressing universal issues.

T

he archbishop said the issue of the effects of forced migration on families was a huge one at the synod and it came from several countries.

South Africa is dealing with this problem because of the legacy of apartheid where so many families were forced apart, mainly because of work, he said.

This continues today when people have to leave their families in rural areas to seek work in the cities, he explained, saying that from this many problems derive, with a huge impact on Southern African families.

A

FORMER director of Catholic Welfare and Development (CWD), the development arm of the archdiocese of Cape Town, has returned to the organisation following the resignation of the previous director.

Jasper Walsh, who headed CWD from 1995-2005, took over the reins of the organisation as acting director after Malcolm Salida resigned in September after just over a year in charge.

In a statement, the CWD board said it was “extremely grateful to [Mr Salida] for his hard work and total commitment to our transition”.

Mr Walsh quoted Pope Francis as describing poverty in the world, “where there is so much wealth, so

“If there’s a Barbie doctor, a teacher and a police officer, why shouldn’t there be a Virgin of Lujan Barbie?” the artists said on their Facebook page.

“We respect all traditions and religions, but our work is intended to pay homage to these figures. We don’t intend to offend.”

Moulana Ebrahim Bham, secretary-general of the Jamiatul Ulama South Africa, told The Post newspaper that the exhibit was a deliberate attempt to offend those who considered these personalities as representing the sacred.

“In the name of artistic expression, symbols of the divine are lampooned and caricatured,” he told the newspaper, adding: “Muslims also reject all portrayals of images of other religious personalities and symbols of the monotheistic tradition.”

Horror crash: Church urges safety archbishop Stephen Brislin Archbishop Brislin welcomed the testimonies of the couples who had been invited to speak to the synod.

Their thoughts and experiences, he said, were very helpful.

“We should never forget this is a pastoral synod that recognises that there are many families in pain, many families that are failing, that are seeking help, solace, comfort and consolation,” he said.

The Church does and must teach about marriage, he said, but this is not about laying down the law.

“It is about how can we reach out to people. How can we recognise that despite all the imperfections of our humanity and all the imperfections that exist in families, we can take what is good and what is positive and try to develop that even better?”

Archbishop Brislin said that the synod transcended issues of families in that it asked itself: “What sort of a Church should we be?”

“We should be a Church that is reaching out to people, a Church that is caring, a Church that is compassionate, a Church that is not judging or condemning people, but a Church that is welcoming and accepting,” the archbishop said.

Asked what he would be taking back with him from the synod, Archbishop Brislin said: “What I will be taking back to Cape Town and to South Africa is the urgency about having to find ways of giving pastoral help to families in crisis.

“We have to get away from judging, and say: How can we give support. How can we take what is good and build upon that?

“And if that message can get across and into our parish communities, then I think we really will become a better Church,” he said.

Walsh returns to Catholic Welfare and Development STaFF rEPorTEr

“I understand artists need space to express their creativity, but they must also respect people’s religions,” he said.

SIR, an Italian website backed by the Italian bishops’ conference, denounced the controversial toys in an editorial, which asked: “What is the difference between provocation and bad taste?”

The artists cancelled the exhibit after international condemnation, especially in South America over their depiction of La Difunta Correa, a semi-pagan mythical figure.

The boxed doll collection included a Ken doll sitting crosslegged like the Buddha, and Islam-inspired Barbies.

Mr Paolini and Ms Perelli said they respected all religions and that their work was intended to pay homage to what the figures represent.

many resources to feed everyone” as a “scandal”.

“Despite the election of a democratic government in 1994, some 20 years ago, the needs of the poor continue to grow through completely inadequate delivery of essential services,” Mr Walsh said.

“At the same time most NGOs, including CWD, are experiencing funding difficulties. Sadly, many have been forced to close, but CWD has struggled on thanks to its generous donors and benefactors, and to our loyal and committed staff,” he noted.

“As we strive to live up to Pope Francis’s focus on the poor, we ask for your continued support and prayers. So many impoverished people depend on this support they receive from the Catholic Church,” Mr Walsh said.

By STaFF rEPorTEr

T

HE Church is pleading with drivers to be careful on the roads and to ensure their vehicles are roadworthy after a horror accident in which a truck slammed into 50 cars on a highway near Alberton in Gauteng.

Four people died and 17 others were injured after the accident at the Voortrekker offramp on the morning of October 14.

“As the Catholic Church in Southern Africa, we would like to express our shock at the road accident on the N12 in Alberton,” Fr S’milo Mngadi, communications officer of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC), said in a statement.

“It is sad that this accident occurred during October which is the

Transport Month,” he said.

According to ER 24 spokesman Russell Meiring, the driver of the truck which was the source of the accident cited brake failure as the cause.

It is alleged that the truck was travelling at well above the limit of 80 km/h at the time of the accident.

The driver was taken to the Alberton police station for questioning.

Transport Minister Dipou Peters said her ministry would enforce stricter regulations on truck-driving schools.

“The rate at which crashes are happening in South Africa is shocking,” she said. “The behaviour and alertness of our people on the road is worrying.”

Fr Mngadi said all drivers

should ensure their safety and that of others.

“We appeal to all motorists to ensure that their vehicles are roadworthy and to be careful on the roads. It is a matter of life and death,” he said.

The International Transport Forum (ITF) has found that South Africa scored the worst out of 36 countries when it came to road fatalities.

The ITF’s road safety annual report said South Africa’s road fatalities per 100 000 inhabitants was 27,6 deaths in 2011, compared to 10,4 in North America and 5,6 in Australia. Malaysia came off second worst with 23,8.

The report also estimated the economic cost of South Africa’s road crashes at R307 billion each year.

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The Southern Cross, october 22 to october 28, 2014

INTERNATIONAL

The synod’s battlelines T

HE official midterm report from the Synod of Bishops, which used strikingly conciliatory language towards divorced and remarried Catholics, cohabitating couples and same-sex unions, proved highly controversial, with some synod fathers saying it does not accurately reflect the assembly’s views.

Following a nearly hour-long speech by Cardinal Peter Erdo of Esztergom-Budapest, who, as the synod’s relator, has the task of guiding the discussion and synthesising its results, a number of synod fathers objected that the text lacked certain necessary references to Catholic moral teaching.

“It is necessary to accept people in their concrete being, to know how to support their search, to encourage the wish for God and the will to feel fully part of the Church, also on the part of those who have experienced failure or find themselves in the most diverse situations,” Cardinal Erdo told Pope Francis and the synod.

“Homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer to the Christian community,” the cardinal said.

“Often they wish to encounter a Church that offers them a welcoming home. Are our communities capable of providing that, accepting and evaluating their sexual orientation, without compromising Catholic doctrine on the family and matrimony?”

The statement represented a marked shift in tone on the subject for an official Vatican document.

While Cardinal Erdo said that same-sex unions present unspecified “moral problems” and thus “cannot be considered on the same footing” as traditional marriage, he

said they also can exemplify “mutual aid to the point of sacrifice [that] constitutes a precious support in the life of the partners”.

The cardinal said a “new sensitivity in the pastoral care of today consists in grasping the positive reality of civil marriages and...cohabitation”, even though both models fall short of the ideal of sacramental marriage.

“In such unions it is possible to grasp authentic family values or at least the wish for them,” he said.

“All these situations have to be dealt with in a constructive manner, seeking to transform them into opportunities to walk towards the fullness of marriage and the family in the light of the Gospel.

They need to be welcomed and accompanied with patience and delicacy.”

Similarly, the cardinal said, divorced and civilly remarried Catholics deserve an “accompaniment full of respect, avoiding any language or behaviour that might make them feel discriminated against”.

Cardinal Erdo noted that various bishops supported making the annulment process “more accessible and flexible”, among other ways, by allowing bishops to declare marriages null without requiring a trial before a Church tribunal.

One of the most discussed topics at the synod has been a controversial proposal by German Cardinal Walter Kasper that would make it easier for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive Communion, even without an annulment of their first, sacramental marriages.

Cardinal Erdo said some synod

members had spoken in support of the “present regulations”, which admit such Catholics to Communion only if they abstain from sexual relations, living with their new partners as “brother and sister”.

But the cardinal said other bishops at the assembly favoured a “greater opening” to such second unions, “on a case-by-case basis, according to a law of graduality, that takes into consideration the distinction between state of sin, state of grace and the attenuating circumstances”.

At a news conference following the synod’s morning session, Cardinal Erdo said no one at the synod had questioned Church teaching that Jesus’ prohibition of divorce applies to all Christian sacramental marriages.

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila, one of the assembly’s three presidents chosen by Pope Francis, said Cardinal Erdo’s speech was “not to be considered a final document from the synod”, but a pretext for the further discussion, which concluded on October 18.

S

peaking to reporters during a briefing, Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban dismissed the report, saying: “That’s Cardinal Erdo’s text, not the synod text.”

He said the report included “quite a lot of things which are expressed in a way which we certainly wouldn’t feel that are very helpful to giving a clear idea of where the Church stands on some of the issues that are being raised”.

“Individual things that were said by individuals, may have been repeated a couple of times, are put in here as if they really do reflect the feeling of the whole synod. They’ve

Cardinals Luis antonio Tagle of Manila, Philippines, and Timothy Dolan of new york speak during a break at the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family at the Vatican. (Photo: Paul Haring/CnS) been picked up by the media then and made to be the message of the synod. I think that’s where the upset is,” he said.

The cardinal questioned whether “some expectations of the synod are unrealistic”, and said that “the synod is not called to discuss contraception, abortion, samesex marriages. It was convoked to speak about the family.”

The cardinal would not specify the statements or topics in question. When asked about media reports that Cardinal Erdo’s speech represented a new overture to divorced Catholics and homosexuals, he said: “That’s one of the reasons why there’s been such an upset among the synod fathers, because we’re now working from a position that’s virtually irredeemable. The message has gone out, ‘This is what the synod is saying, this is what the Catholic Church is saying’, and it’s not what we are saying at all.”

The cardinal said the report ac-

curately reflected bishops’ calls to drop “very harsh language that alienates people”, such as cohabitating couples, who act in conflict with Church teachings, but he said Cardinal Erdo had not suggested the teachings themselves would change.

Cardinal Raymond Burke, prefect of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature, accused leaders of the synod of giving the public a distorted image of the proceedings, almost all of which are closed to the press.

“All of the information regarding the synod is controlled by the General Secretariat of the synod, which clearly has favoured from the beginning the positions expressed” in the report, he said.

Pope Francis will decide whether or not to make public the synod’s final report. Its conclusions will be the basis for the working document of the 2015 synod of bishops.— CNS/CNA

INTERN ATIONA L

The Southern Cross, october 22 to october 28, 2014

5

UN nuncio: ‘Protection’ must be part of ‘rule of law’

T (Photo: Paul Haring/CnS)

Pope: Faith leads to love

By CaroL gLaTz

F

AITH is not about appearances and superficially following the laws with a heart that resists detaching itself from greed and evil, Pope Francis has said .

God wants to see a faith that inspires action and is “working in charity”, making sacrifices for others, the pope said in his homily at daily Mass in Domus Sanctae Marthae.

“Jesus condemns this cosmetic spirituality—appearing good and beautiful, but the truth that’s inside is a whole other thing,” he said, according to Vatican Radio.

“Jesus condemns people with good manners but bad habits, those habits you can’t see but are done on the sly. But the appearance is alright: these people who like to stroll in the square, be seen praying, ‘disguise oneself’ by seeming a bit weak when fasting,” he said.

Luke 11:37-41 details how Jesus admonishes the Pharisees who are shocked when Jesus doesn’t observe the prescribed washing ritual before the meal.

Jesus highlights the hypocrisy of a vessel that’s clean on the outside, but “inside you are filled with plunder and evil”—an image similar to one in Matthew’s gospel that speaks of the “whitewashed tombs” that are beautiful on the outside, but filled with filth and rot, the pope said.

Also St Paul in his letter to the Galatians (5:1-6), says people “who are trying to be justified by law” are separated from Christ and fallen

from grace. That is because the only thing that counts for Jesus is “faith working through love”, the pope said.

“The law by itself doesn’t save,” nor does just reciting the Creed—“it’s a motionless faith”, he said. Faith must lead to charity and sacrificing for others, the pope said.

The Bible is not speaking only of almsgiving, but about a true detachment “from the dictatorship of money, from the idolatry of cash. All greed distances us from Jesus Christ”, he said.

The pope then told a story about a very wealthy woman who wanted to give the late Jesuit superior, Fr Pedro Arrupe, a donation for mission work in Japan.

Fr Arrupe, who led the Jesuits from 1965—83, went to meet the woman and saw that she had invited the media to cover it as some kind of event, the pope said.

The priest felt “great humiliation”, but accepted the money because it would be for the poor in Japan, the pope recalled. But when Fr Arrupe “opened the envelope, there was $10” inside.

Pope Francis asked people to reflect whether “ours is a cosmetic Christian life of appearances or a Christian life with the faith working in charity?”

Jesus advises everyone to “never blow a horn” about their good deeds and to “never give just the leftovers”, but to make a true sacrifice for others, he said.—CNS

Catholic actor Cay Elwes with robin Wright in The Princess Bride.

Inconceivable! St John Paul II was Princess Bride fan

P

OPE St John Paul II was a fan of the cult-classic 1987 film The Princess Bride.

Actor Cary Elwes, who played the male lead in the comedy, revealed in an interview with the New York Post how the late pope confessed his love for the film.

The actor, a practising Catholic, briefly met St John Paul during an audience in 1988, the year after The Princess Bride was released.

After posing for a quick photo, the pope turned to the actor and asked if he was the one from “The Princess and the Bride”.

Elwes stammered an affirmative “Yes”.

“Very good film. Very funny,” the pope said.

“I mean, what are the chances of that?” Elwes asked. Referring to a catchphrase in the film, he added: “‘Inconceivable’ was what went through my mind.”

In a 2007 interview with the US

National Catholic Register, Elwes said that he is a practicing Catholic who considers his faith a source of strength. Among his family relations are an archbishop and an abbot.

In that interview his account of meeting St John Paul, whom he would later portray in a 2007 miniseries, is slightly different from the version he told the New York Post.

“My mother took me to meet him not long after The Princess Bride. There were at least half a dozen people in the room, yet when I met him it felt like I was the only person in the room.

“He asked me what I did for a living. When I told him I was an actor, he said that was ‘wonderful’. I didn’t know at the time that he had been an actor. He said it was a wonderful profession, and that he hoped I would continue to do it. I continued…right up to playing him.”

HE Vatican’s nuncio to the United Nations has called for a broad definition of the term “rule of law” that includes respect, dignity and justice.

The rule of law should be “both rationally and morally grounded upon the substantial principles of justice, including the inalienable dignity and value of every human person”, said a statement from Archbishop Berardito Auza, during a committee meeting at the UN General Assembly.

“As a consequence of the recognition of this dignity [come] those elements of fundamental justice such as respect for the principle of legality,” Archbishop Auza said, “the presumption of innocence and the right to due process.”

Among nations, the rule of law should mean “the paramount respect of human rights, equality of the rights of nations and respect for international customary law, treaties—and other sources of international law, he said”.

“This definition, with its reference point in the natural law, sidesteps self-referential definitional frameworks and anchors the orientation of the rule of law within the ultimate and essential goal of all law, namely to promote and guarantee the dignity of the human person and the common good.”

In September, the General Assembly, following a conference on the rule of law, reaffirmed the rule of law “and its fundamental importance for political dialogue and cooperation

The Vatican has called for the term “rule of law” to include a responsibility to protect persons. (Photo: David Maung/CnS) among all states and for the further development of the three main pillars upon which the United Nations is built: international peace and security, human rights and development”.

Archbishop Auza said the Vatican welcomed this definition.

“It is appropriate to emphasise the commitment of states to fulfill their obligations to promote universal respect for, and the promotion and protection of, all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all. If the international rule of law is to reflect justice, frameworks to international protection of persons must be fairly and impartially applied by states to guarantee equal recourse to the protections available under the UN Charter.”

The “responsibility to protect”, Archbishop Auza said, “is a recogni-

tion of the equality of all before the law, based on the innate dignity of every man and woman. The Holy See wishes to reaffirm that every state has the primary duty to protect its own population from grave and sustained violations of human rights and from the consequences of humanitarian crises. If states are unable to guarantee such protection, the international community must intervene.”

Archbishop Auza voiced the Vatican’s hope that “the alarming, escalating phenomenon of international terrorism, new in some of its expressions and utterly ruthless in its barbarity, be an occasion for a deeper and more urgent study on how to reenforce the international juridical framework of our common responsibility to protect people from all forms of unjust aggression”.—CNS

6

The Southern Cross, october 22 to october 28, 2014

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

Mercy and the law

G

OD’S laws are meant to lead all people to Christ and his glory—and if they do not, then they are obsolete.

In fact, the scholars of the law in Jesus’ day were so wrapped up in doctrine as an end in itself that they were unable to see that Jesus was leading people down a new and surprising path towards his glory.

Jesus did strange things, such as walking with sinners and eating with tax collectors—things the scholars of the law did not like.

Faced with Jesus’ option for those who did not live up to the laws, doctrine was seen to be in danger—the doctrine of the law which they and the theologians had created over the centuries.

The scholars were safeguarding the law out of love, to be faithful to God, but they were closed up and forgot all the ways in which God has acted in history. They forgot that God is not only the God of the law, but also the God of surprises.

The scholars of the law had forgotten how many times God surprised his people, for example when he freed the Jews from slavery in Egypt. They were too wrapped up in their perfect system of laws where everyone knew exactly what they were supposed to do.

It was all settled, and the scholars felt very secure. However, they could not see beyond this system, which they had made with lots of goodwill.

Faced with Jesus’ dissenting ways, they could not read the signs of the times.

The scholars could not see that what Jesus was doing was a sign indicating that “the time was ripe”. This is why Jesus said, “This generation is an evil generation” (Lk 11:29-32), because it sought the wrong kind of sign.

The scholars of the law also forgot that the people of God are a people on a journey on which one always finds new things which one never knew before. But the journey, like the law, is not an end in itself; it is a path towards the ultimate manifestation of the Lord.

Life is a journey towards the

fullness of Jesus Christ, when he will come again.

The law teaches the way to Christ, but if the law does not lead to Jesus Christ and if it doesn’t get us closer to him, then it is dead.

In this way we are challenged to reflect: “Am I attached to my things, my ideas? Am I closed?

Am I at a standstill or am I a person on a journey? Do I believe in Jesus Christ, in what Jesus did, dying for humanity’s sins and rising again?”

And we must ask ourselves: “Am I able to understand the signs of the times and be faithful to the voice of the Lord that is manifested in them?”

We must pray to be able to walk towards maturity, towards the manifestation of the glory of the Lord, and to have a heart that loves the law, because the law is God’s.

And we must pray that people may also be able to love God’s surprises and to know that this holy law is not an end in itself.

The above are the words of Pope Francis, made in his homily during his morning Mass in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where he lives, on October 13, as reported by Vatican Radio.

He has made the point before: that an overemphasis on the law can obscure God’s love for us and block people’s path to him.

But the timing of this striking homily will not have escaped the alert observer. It came in the midst of this month’s extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family, in which there were evident tensions between those who proposed pastoral practice grounded in mercy, and those who insisted on a strict emphasis on the Church’s doctrine (with many participants doubtless falling somewhere between these positions).

The Holy Father has made his case for giving priority to mercy in the pastoral application of the Church’s laws over an inflexible insistence on strict adherence to doctrine.

Where we, as the Church, should proceed from there will be the subject of ongoing reflection, dialogue and, invariably, spirited contestation.

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Marvel of Christ in the Eucharist

D

EACON Godfrey Solomon’s letter “I take the Eucharist with gratitude” (September 17) was a wonderful way of explaining: “What does it mean to receive Holy Communion in the hand?”

Up to now, to me it meant a matter of hygiene, or “not to point my tongue at the priest”.

Today as I write, I received a backlog of three issues of The South-

A true shepherd

OLLEEN Constable’s article “Is this SA’s most integrated parish?” (September 17) was enthusiastically received by us all at Maria Regina parish in Lyttelton, Pretoria archdiocese.

The author reported on her experience of attending a Mass at our parish just after the sudden death of our beloved parish priest, Fr Arsene Muhau. While he had been ill for some time, his death was unexpected and we were all shocked and saddened by this tragic news.

What is not mentioned in this article, however, is the priest who so generously and with total commitment and dedication, became our “shepherd” and led us all through this tragedy: Fr Kevin Reynolds.

Fr Muhau had come to rely on Fr Reynolds’s services whenever he felt he was not well enough to celebrate Mass or provide the sacraments.

In the later stages of Fr Muhau’s illness, Fr Reynolds celebrated all weekend Masses as well as daily Masses, in addition to his eagerness and passion in doing home and hospital visits to the sick.

Fr Reynolds was the link in the chain of keeping us informed of Fr Muhau’s progress, week by week and in some instances, day by day.

He was instrumental in holding and keeping us all together as a parish, both before and after the death of Fr Muhau.

Fr Reynolds manifested the pure love of Jesus, in his loving care, concern, understanding, guidance, wisdom, gentleness and kindness to us. His devotion was remarkable and extraordinary, especially in leading and showing us how to mourn and grieve the loss of Fr Muhau.

As a parish, we have been so very blessed by him and we honour him in showing our deep gratitude and unconditional appreciation for all he did for us.

Our newly appointed parish priest, Fr Karabo Baloyi, has now taken over the baton as our shepherd. It is my hope and prayer that Maria Regina will always be held in high regard as “SA’s most integrated parish”.

Beverley Bourne, Pretoria

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ern Cross, which arrived delayed due to postal strike. Luckily I bought all three, because in the September 17 issue I got an answer to my question to Christ: “We cannot touch you like the people of your time: the woman who touched the hem of your cloak and was healed, the woman who kissed your feet whose sins were forgiven. How can we touch you Lord? “

Thanks for mail

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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.

UST to say thank you for your efforts during the postal strike by sending us The Southern Cross via courier.

I distribute to other parishes via the bishop’s diocesan office. I hope the consequences of the strike are not going to break you.

We pray for an end to the postal dispute.

Fr Jimmy Kennedy, Tzaneen

Marriage blessing for the divorced

I

AM quite curious as to the outcome of the article “Pope Francis on a tightrope” (October 9), limked to The Southern Cross’s online newsletter.

My husband and I fall into the category discussed. We belong to the Holy Redeemer church in Bergvliet, Cape Town, and we are attending its RCIA classes.

I was born Catholic but for some time had not been practising. My husband is/was Methodist. We got married four years ago in a religious ceremony but not with any particular church.

Ever since, we have been searching for a place of belonging. It then dawned on me a few months ago that I needed to go back to the Catholic faith, and it was just coincidence that the course was starting the following week. I then told my husband about it and he decided to do it as well, so that he might get insights into the Catholic faith.

My husband and I have both been married before and we would really like to receive the sacrament of marriage when we have completed this course and for our fifth wedding anniversary.

However, our parish priest, Fr opinions expressed in The Southern Cross, especially in Letters to the Editor, do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor or staff of the newspaper, or of the Catholic hierarchy. The letters page in particular is a forum in which readers may exchange opinions on matters of debate.

Letters must not be understood to necessarily reflect the teachings, disciplines or policies of the Church accurately.

Letters can be sent to PO Box 2372, Cape Town 8000 or editor@scross.co.za or faxed to 021 465-3850

PUBLIC LECTURE

‘THE NEW ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE ROMAN MISSAL AND THE CURBING OF LITURGICAL INCULTURATION.’

BY FR THOMAS PLASTOW SJ

WEDNESDAY 29 OCTOBER AT 7.30 PM

Venue: CK Storey Hall, Methodist Church, Main Road, Rosebank, Cape Town Parking and Entrance via Chapel Road. Entrance is Free.

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WE arE aLL CHurCH SouTH aFriCa

And here is my answer: each time I receive the Body of Christ in my hand, I am allowed to touch Christ. His Body is put into my unworthy hands. How blessed we are.

This should be drummed into us from First Communion until our dying day. We have an opportunity to touch and hold the precious Body of Christ each time we receive him at Communion.

Elisabeth Prins, Pennington, KZN Sean Wales, informed us that this may not be possible as my husband is still considered married and would need to seek an annulment from his previous wife as they were both Methodist at the time and got married in the Methodist church.

After this course, my husband is converting to Catholicism and we would really like to receive a marriage blessing from the Church and maybe even renew our vows in the church for our anniversary.

I am hoping that this will be possible as we have begun a journey to live our lives in accordance with the Catholic faith and morals.

Bernadette Lewin-Daries, Cape Town

Why genders?

W

HY did God create man and women? Why not give men the physiology to also bear children?

Why did God choose to reveal himself to the Jews? Why choose the Levite tribe as priests? What about the other 11 Jewish tribes?

Did God discriminate by singling out one community?

Why did Jesus choose 12 men as his apostles—when per se he associated with women, much to the unease of his disciples? Was Jesus a sexist who thought less of woman?

After the resurrection, why did Jesus not allow a weeping Mary Magdalene to embrace him, yet later allow Thomas to touch his wounds?

It is clear that the Old Testament is fulfilled in the new. The “holocaust offering” was not complete, hence at the resurrection, only the priest could touch the “holocaust offering” and Thomas was chosen.

Women have a definitive role in the salvation narrative, but Jesus chose 12 men to be apostles.

Some say the Catholic Church is too authoritarian on these and other matters. I contend this “accolade” belongs to our separated brethren— you see, many of them have reinterpreted scriptures by approving divorce, same sex marriage, abortion, homosexuality and women pastors!

Rome remains true to the message of Christ: only men are daddys—case closed!

Henry Sylvester, Cape Town

PERSPECTIVES

The dream of one united Church E VERY year, from January 18-25, the Church observes a Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. How did this come about? Meet Paul Wattson, a “Prophet of Unity”, for the whole story.

Born in 1863 in Millington, Maryland, he was baptised Lewis Thomas Wattson.

Like his father, he became an Episcopalian (US Anglican) minister.

Wattson lamented the divisions of Christians in the one Church of Christ, and saw it as simply scandalous that new churches were being born out of such divisions.

He believed in a Church that he understood as a “mighty Christian organism, which has come down to us from Jesus and his Apostles under the name of the Holy Catholic Church and which exists today in three great historic communions: the Roman, the Greek, and the Anglican Communion, the last of which comprises all the English-speaking Catholics throughout the world who are members of the Anglo-Catholic Church”.

After reading a book about the life of Il Poverello—St Francis of Assisi—Wattson created a religious community within the Episcopal Church in the Franciscan rule of life.

What name would he give his new order? Like St Francis, he counted on Providence. He opened the Bible randomly three times and choosing the verses from those pages, he fell on John 7:37-39 (receive the Holy Ghost), Romans 5:11 (atonement through Jesus Christ), and 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 (the institution of the holy sacrifice of the Mass).

He chose “Atonement” as the name of his order. But then he read the word “atonement” in a manner thoroughly original: as an “at-one-ment”, pointing to being one. Thus, he would consecrate himself for the union of all Christians.

He founded the Society of the Atonement in collaboration with a young woman called Lurana White, a nun in the Episcopalian order of the Holy Child.

Sr Lurana longed to be part of a religious community that corporately took

the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience. She wrote to Wattson inquiring if he knew an order in the Episcopalian Church which took those vows corporately. There was none. So Wattson proposed to Sr Lurana that she head a women’s branch of the Society of the Atonement. So she left the order of the Holy Child to do so.

T

he Society of the Atonement was founded in 1898 at Graymoor, Garrison, New York. In taking religious vows, Lurana White became to be known as Mother Lurana, while Wattson took the name of Father Paul James Francis.

Mother Lurana became head of the Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement, and Fr Paul became superior of the Franciscan

Fr Paul Wattson, the first Saint of Christian unity featured in Fr Evans Chama’s series.

Fr Evans Chama M.Afr

Saints of Christian unity

Friars of the Atonement.

Though still being Episcopalian, the society preached the primacy of the Roman pontiff. Due to this, its members were criticised and excluded by their fellow religionists. Finally, the entire society sought admission to the Roman Catholic Church. In October 1909 the Vatican accepted the members of the society as a corporate body, but allowed the friars and sisters to remain in their order.

The best known of Fr Paul’s works is the annual observance of the Chair of Unity octave, which began in 1908. The octave extended from the commemoration of the Chair of St Peter (at that time celebrated on January 18, but now on February 22) to the feast of the conversion of St Paul, January 25.

In January 1910, Fr Paul received a letter from Pope Pius X, sending his “wholehearted blessings to Father Paul, the Society of the Atonement and the spread of the octave of Prayer for Unity”. This encouraged Fr Paul to launch a letterwriting campaign to Catholic bishops all over the world. The response was so positive that on February 25, 1916 Pope Benedict XV officially recognised the octave as a form of prayer for the Universal Church.

Fr Paul died in 1940 but his work continues. Today many Christian denominations observe the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Besides that, the Society of the Atonement is now established throughout the world with friars and sisters working and praying for the realisation of Jesus’ prayer, “that all may be one”, thanks to this saint and true prophet of Christian unity. n See a short film on Fr Paul Wattson’s life at vimeo.com/52639678

The Southern Cross, october 22 to october 28, 2014

7

Chris Chatteris SJ

Pray with the Pope

All the lonely people General Intention: That all who suffer loneliness may experience the closeness of God and the support of others.

LL the lonely people, where do they all come from? All the lonely people, where do they all belong?”

The haunting chorus to The Beatles’ famous song about lonely, isolated people pulls together a number of poignant portraits: of Eleanor Rigby who “died in the church and was buried along with her name”, or Fr McKenzie, “writing words of a sermon that no one will hear”. These are people to whom “no one comes near”.

There’s not much redemption in this little popular masterpiece. Even in death Eleanor Rigby is alone, for at her funeral: “Nobody came”.

It is a ballad to what sociologists and philosophers call the alienation of modern life.

For all our technological capacity for connecting, there is a fragmentation which often leaves the old or disabled sitting alone, staring vacantly into a deep well of sadness. The globalised economy separates children from parents. The drive for personal fulfilment can lead to neglect of the needy other.

“Why do we live this way?” is a question we should ask from time to time. A society in which the old and the infirm are hidden away and forgotten needs to be re-imagined. There has to be an alternative.

At the same time, Christians must try to respond to the needs of the aged and the lonely. Eucharistic ministers are a fine example here, but we cannot just leave them to it. The world will have a billion people over 65 in 20 years time and many will suffer from loneliness. God’s closeness to them will be mediated, if at all, through other members of the Body of Christ.

‘A

Form the mentors Missionary Intention: That young seminarians and religious may have wise and well-formed mentors.

There’s perfection in imperfection Judith Turner N ONE of us enjoy it when someone points out our weaknesses to us.

Very few of us readily admit that we have weaknesses and imperfections— at least not just to anyone.

For the most we want to portray an image of togetherness and perfection and of being a good person—always. Somehow we think that once people know our imperfections, they will have some hold over us and therefore have some power over us.

This can alienate us from and sometimes completely blind us to our own imperfections, with the result that we fail to get to know our imperfections, and therefore, get to know and see ourselves as God sees us.

I love the story that follows because it points out to us that our imperfections do not turn us into failures. I agree with St Augustine who says that “finding out that we have imperfections is in itself a perfection”.

A waterbearer in India had two large pots, one hung on each end of a pole, which she carried across her neck.

One of the pots had a crack in it. While the other pot was perfect, and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master’s house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots of water to her master’s house.

The perfect pot was proud of its accom-

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Faith and Life

Even a cracked pot can be an instrument of perfection, as Judith Turner illustrates by way of a fable. plishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, one day it spoke to the water bearer by the stream: “I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologise to you.”

Why?” asked the bearer. “What are you ashamed of?”

“I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master’s house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don’t get full value from your efforts,” the pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old

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cracked pot, and in her compassion she said: “As we return to the master’s house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path.”

Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some.

But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologised to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot: “Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side?

“That’s because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you’ve watered them.

“For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master’s table. Without you being just the way you are, she would not have this beauty to grace her house.”

“God saw all that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).

T

HE Church’s stock response to a need like this is to set up a course. Indeed there are courses for formators of seminarians and religious.

Formation courses aim at the human and spiritual development of future formators so that these women and men may acquire the emotional maturity to undertake the delicate task of dealing with the young or not so young plants that will be entrusted to them.

These courses are most valuable, but even those who run them would acknowledge that courses can’t guarantee the production of the “right stuff”.

Wisdom is rightly associated with age and experience and its growth cannot be forced. Although it is a good thing to have younger formators in a seminary or house of formation, the wisdom of some older staff members is indispensable. Wisdom, like wine, takes time to mature.

In a missionary Church, such as ours, the praiseworthy desire to find local formators can result in rushing their formation. A young priest is earmarked for formation work. Almost as soon as he is ordained he is sent to Rome for further studies. Here he does a masters degree and then a doctorate. Once finished, he finds himself teaching students not much older than him. He lacks pastoral experience.

The irony of this situation is lost on the young formator—that he’s preparing people for something he himself has experienced only briefly or not at all.

Apart from the implications for the students, this is unfair to the young person. One of the joys of being newly ordained or professed is to pour one’s energies into an ordinary ministry—a parish, a school or a development project. Ministry is often what attracted the person in the first place, and so to miss out on it and to have to shoulder the burdens of formation instead can demoralise.

Bishops and superiors will say that they have no one else. Hence we must pray that wisdom and human growth will take place on the job for young formators. We must also pray that older people will make themselves available, even at the moment they may feel inclined to put their feet up.

As a seminary teacher myself, I have a special interest in this intention, so do pray for me, please!

8

The Southern Cross, october 22 to october 28, 2014

COMMUNITY

Chronicle of a pilgrimage

A The candlelight procession around the sanctuary at Fátima. a member of the Southern Cross group was invited to lead the English portion of the rosary in the apparition Chapel preceding the procession. Mary nembambula, who knew Benedict Daswa personally, was honoured to perform that task.

GROUP of Southern Cross pilgrims from across the country, led by Bishop João Rodrigues of Tzaneen, travelled to Portugal, Spain and France on a pilgrimage of prayer for the cause of Benedict Daswa.

The cause of Daswa was examined by the theologian consultors of the Vatican’s Congregation of Sainthood Causes just a few days after the group’s return—they decided unanimously that he died a martyr.

With the itinerary covering four sites of Marian apparitions—Fátima, Lourdes, Zaragoza and Rue de Bac in Paris—it had a central focus on Our Lady. The programme also included Tours, Lisieux, Avila, Alba de Tormes, Lisbon and Santarém All photos, except the group picture, by Günther Simmermacher, whose series of articles on the pilgrimage will begin next week.

Pilgrim Sharon da Silva prays as she touches the reliquary holding a relic of St anthony of Padua (or Lisbon, if you are Portuguese) in the church that stands on the place of his birth in Lisbon. next year’s Southern Cross/radio Veritas “Saints of italy” pilgrimage will include St anthony’s tomb in Padua.

Bishop rodrigues and pilgrims in front of zaragoza’s basilica of our Lady of the Pillars, which marks the Blessed Virgin’s apparition to the apostle St James in 40 aD, and is considered the mother church of iberia.

Bishop rodrigues leads a novena for the cause of Benedict Daswa before Mass in the 12th-century St gatien cathedral in Tours, France.

The Southern Cross pilgrims are seen outside the royal Palace in Madrid. The group was given a tour of Spain’s capital city, and visited its Santa María la real de La almudena cathedral, opposite the palace.

Pilgrims outside the house of Francisco and Jacinta Marto, the two young visionaries of Fátima who died in childhood, in ajustrel, near Fátima.

Bishop rodrigues administers a blessing to Dr Lucianus and Vuyelwa Mokone after the final Mass in the chapel of the Miraculous Medal in rue de Bac, Paris. Behind them is the tomb of St Lousie de Medillac, founder of the Daughters of Charity

Pilgrim Mary nembambula carries her candle during the torchlight procession in Lourdes.

Bishop rodrigues at the grotto of the apparition in Lourdes with (from left) Vuyelwa Mokone, Mary nembambula, Evelyn Macebe, Lorna Blackwell and Bafedile Mogodi.

Pilgrim Paulus Chabalala carries The Southern Cross in his backpack as Pepsi ramaheshane talks to him outside avila’s cathedral. The Spanish city is the place of St Teresa’s birth and work. in alba de Tormes the group also visited the great saint’s place of death and her tomb.

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Boniwe ramaheshane has her photo taken with a statue St Teresa of avila on the Plaza San Pedro in avila, just outside the 11th-century walls of the old city. next year will see the 500th anniversary of the saint’s birth.

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The Southern Cross, october 22 to october 28, 2014

BENEDICT DASWA

9

Benedict: ‘My son and friend’ Benedict Daswa was a son and friend to his mother. STuarT graHaM travelled to Tzaneen diocese and spoke to his mother about the man who might become South Africa’s first saint, and to his friend about the details of the 1990 mob killing.

F

OR 90-year-old great-grandmother Theambi Daswa the possible beatification of her son Benedict comes as little surprise.

There was always something different about him, she says as she lays a bouquet of flowers on her son’s gravestone.

“He was not only a son to me; he was a friend,” she says. “We would speak every day.”

Ironically, Daswa’s grave is metres away from one of the ringleaders of the mob that killed Benedict on February 2, 1990.

Mrs Daswa prefers not to speak about the night her son was killed. All she will say is that her son would have forgiven his killers.

Chris Mphaphuli, a friend of Benedict, says Mrs Daswa was at home when she heard the news that something had happened to her son. She and Benedict’s younger brother, Tanyane, rushed to Mbahe village and found Benedict covered in blood and lying dead on the ground.

Mrs Daswa fell silent and fainted. Tanyane, who looked up to Benedict as his father, dropped to his knees, cried out and implored the killers to show themselves.

“You people who have killed my brother; come and kill me, because without my brother I’ll be nothing,” he exclaimed.

Some days before, lightning had struck and caused three huts in the village to burn down.

Village elders called a meeting and blamed a witch. They wanted each person present to donate R5 towards a witch hunt.

Benedict refused and tried to explain that lightning was a natural phenomenon.

A

few days later, as he was driving home in his bakkie, the road in front of him was blocked with rocks and the branch of a fig tree.

Daswa stopped his car and was pelted with stones and rocks from both sides of the road.

He opened the door and ran for his life, over the soccer field that he had built and into a shebeen where people were drinking. When the people saw that he was covered with blood, they chased him out. He took shelter in a rondavel.

Two young boys heard that he was inside.

They found him and forced him out. A mob surrounded Daswa and started singing and calling for blood.

“It was a large crowd of people,” says Mr Mphaphuli. “They were heavily armed,” he says, with knobkierries, pangas and stones.

“They were singing, baying for his blood. We understand as he got out he prayed, but they

forced him to be in the middle of the circle.”

A security guard, who had returned home from Johannesburg, wanted to kill Daswa immediately, but the others in the group first wanted to question him.

“The people said not now, we still want to ask him some questions... ‘He used to say, well, he is a man of God; we want to see whether God will come and help him’.”

They gave the reasons for killing Daswa: “Because he has been terrorising us. We tell him we want to contribute, five rand. He says ‘no’. We tell him we want to get a witch doctor for our soccer club. He says ‘no’.

“He is always saying: ‘let’s pray, let’s pray, let’s pray’. Well not today.”

So they were singing: “Benedict, Benedict, Benedict, let your God save you.”

After a few minutes the security guard stepped forward and smashed his iron knobkierrie against Daswa’s head.

“Benedict fell down, and when he fell down they didn’t stop there,” Mr Mphaphuli says.

“There was a kettle of water. A woman wanted to use the water to bathe her child. So they took the boiling water—remember there was a wound on his head—and poured the water into the wound, [in his] nostrils, ears, all over, and the mouth as well, and the body was full of blood all over,” the friend says.

“They left him for dead there and immediately after that they started singing and singing. They were happy.”

Benedict’s killers were never jailed for the crime.

“The ringleader got a very strong lawyer and up until today they said, well, they could not find the docket,” says Mr Mphaphuli.

“Some of them have passed away mysteriously; some of them are still around here.”

Benedict’s mother Theambi Daswa lays flowers on his grave outside of Mbahe village in Kwazulu-natal.

ROMAN UNION OF THE ORDER OF ST URSULA

St Angela Merici founded the Ursulines in the 16th century, naming them after St Ursula, leader of a company of 4th century virgin martyrs.

M

rs Daswa shuts her eyes and says a prayer before speaking further.

“When he died I was very sad,” she says.

“What more can you say?”

She had four sons, two of whom have passed away, she says. But there was always something “extraordinary” about Benedict.

“He indicated that it would be better if we live close together. He said, ‘I am going to build you your own house’, which he did,” she recalled.

“When he died I was so sad, because he was not just a son, he lived like a friend to me,” his mother says.

Benedict had enormous energy, according to Mrs Daswa.

Apart from her house, he built a church and a primary school. He was the headmaster of the school. He grew fruit and vegetables and he sold them to the community. If people had no money, he would give the food to them.

Some of the same people who took part in his murder still come to the house to ask for help, Mrs Daswa says.

Mrs Daswa says when her son was buried in the cemetery outside Mbahe village his grave was “just like the graves that you can see over there...with stones only”.

She saved all her pension money to buy him a tombstone. The stone was blessed by a priest when it was finally erected.

Mrs Daswa says she always tried to teach her children to respect and love others.

“But Benedict was special,” she says, as someone reminds her of how he would wash the nappies of his eight children.

“He was a special son and father. He loved children,” she says.

She points to Benedict’s grandchildren playing on a swing outside her house.

Benedict, who would now be 68, “would have loved to have known his grandchildren,” she says.

“Let Jesus Christ be your one and only treasure – For there also will be love!”

(St Angela – 5th Counsel)

For more information: The Vocations Promoter P O Box 138 KRUGERSDORP 1740

website: ursulines.org. za Tel: 011 953 1924 Fax: 011 953 3406 e-mail: ursulinekdp@vodamail.co.za

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I shall always strive for the one goal: For JESUS CHRIST to be my centre.

Blessed Paul Joseph nardini

P/Bag X9309 Vryheid 3100

For more information, contact the Vocation Team at

Tel: 034 981 6158 Fax: 034 983 2012

(From left) Benedict Daswa’s mother and his eight adult children on 20th anniversary of his martyrdom.

Benedict's damaged bakkie after the mob attacked. road to Benedict’s home at Mbahe village, Limpopo.

E-mail franasi@bundunet.co.za

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034 651 1444 034 651 1096

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10

The Southern Cross, october 22 to october 28, 2014

CHURCH

The church that came from nowhere SyDnEy DuVaL reports on a small rural community where religious-lay cooperation and support from a German benefactor built St Francis church at Chwezi near Nkandla in KwaZuluNatal.

O

N the potholed up-anddown road from Nkandla to Nqutu in KwaZulu-Natal, St Francis church at Chwezi was blessed and opened by Bishop Xolelo Kumalo of Eshowe as a beautiful sign of “God’s presence in the community”—where the community, united in the Holy Spirit, “becomes an attractive body that shines out to the whole world”.

Fr Aquilin Mpanza, parish priest of Holy Trinity, Nkandla, described the celebration as a day bound in love—a fulfilling experience for a community that had worked together to help build the church and had come together in an outpouring of love for the Church.

“They celebrated the triumph in having a church come from nowhere by the grace of God,” the priest said.

The story of the building of the church begins with the shared experience of Sr Eobarda Ries, a Franciscan Nardini sister supporting pastoral outreach to Small Christian Communities (SCC) in the Nkandla neighbourhood, and Dr Paul-Georg Knapstein, a retired professor of gynaecology and obstetrics from Mainz, Germany, who uses his free time to see the work of the Church in various parts of the world.

What could be described as apostolic journeys of his own, are his way of supporting humanitarian and pastoral work from strife-torn Palestine to poverty-stricken rural South Africa that become inspirational experiences for himself, his family and friends.

A year ago he visited the Franciscan Nardini Sisters at Nkandla once more to see how they were getting on with their work among orphans and vulnerable children, and families living with HIV/Aids and affected by psychosocial distress. One Sunday morning Sr Eobarda took Prof Knapstein to Regina Mundi church, Gezahlale, where she held a Communion service.

They were returning to the convent at Nkandla when they passed Chwezi village. Sr Eobarda suggested they make a small detour to visit a SCC in the neighbourhood— a Regina Mundi outstation where Sr Eobarda sometimes held services.

The detour was to make a profound impression on Prof Knapstein. In a small corrugated iron shack, its walls lacerated by holes from rust, he saw 12 people celebrating their faith among them-

selves in song and prayer. He was struck by the fervour of their celebration in spite of their isolation.

He thought of Jesus and his words that wherever two or three are gathered together in his name, he is there among them.

Once outside again he looked about him at the surrounding hills and fields and thatched huts, felt the promptings of a vision that this could one day become a holy place, and decided to build a church there.

He discussed his ideas with Fr Mpanza and Sr Ellen Lindner and her Franciscan Nardini community.

They agreed to build a small church out there, close to the corrugated shack. That very evening the professor had contacted family and friends in Germany who spontaneously agreed to support the project with funds for the materials, while the Nardinis contributed to the building costs with funding from various donations. The altar was ordered from Mariannhill.

I

t was decided to name the church after St Francis of Assissi, as the man who valued all of creation, the deep-down integrity of things that constitute the universe, from great to small, who saw God in the lepers and outcasts of his times; and in memory of Prof Knapstein’s brother-in-law Franz Stief, a veterinary surgeon, who was critically ill at the time (Franz is the German version of Francis). Mr Stief died a few hours after getting and understanding the significance of Prof Knapstein’s message, “which brought him great joy for the last time in his life”.

The Franciscan Nardinis had played an important part in Prof Knapstein’s life when he was a small boy and his father Paul was away from home as a surgeon in the German army in Russia during the Second World War. Prof Knapstein, his mother Ruth and two sisters Ursula and Renate were living in difficult circumstances in the small village of Ensheim-Saarbrücken when they were cared for by the Franciscan Nardinis from Mallersdorf. He never forgot their kindness. “They were like warm affectionate grandmothers to us,” he recalls.

Years later a chance encounter reconnected him to Mallersdorf which eventually brought him to explore Nkandla where he resolved to do what he could to support the Nardinis through their humanitarian, medical, HIV/Aids, psychosocial and pastoral outreach called Sizanani.

With the cooperation of his Rotary colleagues in Mainz and at Empangeni, Prof Knapstein secured a combi-bus for Sizanani and its Child and Youth Care Centre which accommodates 36 orphans and vulnerable children—some infected with HIV/Aids, others hurt by abuse

(From left) Bishop Xolelo Kumalo of Eshowe blesses the new church at Chwezi. Sr Melinda Seiler shares the life and spirituality of St Francis with the congregation. Londeka Mhlongo is holding the portrait of the saint. Benefactor Pg Knapstein from Mainz, germany. St Francis church stands above the corrugated iron hut where a Small Christian Community at Chwezi used to gather for Sunday worship. (Photos: Sydney Duval) and abandonment. He then turned his attention to bringing water and lightning conductors to needy families in an area often devastated by violent storms with lightning strikes that burn down huts.

A

t the blessing of the new church, Bishop Kumalo in his homily—based on the gospel reading concerning working in the Lord’s vineyard—urged the 250strong gathering to use the church as a place of prayer and healing, to build one another up as a faith community and not turn on each other with damaging gossip.

He spoke of the new church as a place of worship “where God had called us together...giving us his Spirit to be united with him as his body the Church”.

The bishop saw a powerful example in this for the community to take to heart: “A building is built with different bricks, but today we do not see the bricks, but the completed building because each brick has not refused to be joined by cement to another brick. The result is a very beautiful building, and not just one brick.”

Bishop Kumalo continued on

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the theme of community cohesion embracing faith life: “When we allow ourselves to be united by the Holy Spirit, we also become that attractive body that shines out to the whole world.”

Fr Mpanza, adding to his earlier remarks, spoke of Lawrence Nxumalo, an active parishioner who had once expressed his desire to have his funeral in a proper church and not the old tin hut. Mr Nxumalo had now told him: “Father, I never thought I would see my wish come true with this church that has come from nowhere.”

After Mass, with the people gathered under a marquee for a meal, Sr Melinda Seiler, with a painting of Francis of Assisi beside her, shared the main events in the saint’s life: how he had abandoned a life of privilege and comfort to rebuild Christ’s broken Church physically and spiritually; and responded with boundless compassion to the lepers, the poor and the outcasts of society, seeing God in each of them.

“Vincent Nyawo [a parishioner] has done the same as St Francis in building this church here at Chwezi,” she said. “Francis collected stones for the church build-

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ings like Lawrence Nxumalo who fetched these heavy stones to make this beautiful wall here by the Chwezi church. For us it is important, not only to build and rebuild the church building but to build a church in our hearts...to do the will of God.” The gathering gave Prof Knapstein a traditional Zulu shield and stick as signs of their affection and appreciation for his role in having the church built, an action that invited new hope and the beginnings of transformation for the community.

In his reply, the professor, who had called for peace in a world stricken by conflict, said: “Let this place be a blessing for all of you, for the region and for the whole world.”

Special guests included local traditional leader Nkosi William Sibisi, who called for the community to respect and care for the new church building, unlike the nearby sports stadium which had been badly vandalised; Raphael Mbongwa, chairman of Gezahlale parish council; and Fr Jabulani Ndaba, parish priest of Holy Cross, Emoyeni, and former administrator of the diocese.

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Fr Brendan Sullivan MHM

M

ILL Hill Father Brendan Sullivan, who once ran the parishes of St Helena, Falkland Islands, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha, died in England on September 22 at the age of 91.

Born in 1923 in Bradford, England, he entered the Mill Hill congregation in 1941 and was ordained a priest in July 1947.

He was immediately appointed as formator in his order’s seminaries.

In 1954 he was allowed to follow his missionary dream when he was sent to India, where he served for a decade in Nellore diocese.

In 1964 he was sent to the United States, where he took part in the famous Selma March at the height of the civil rights movement.

Six years later he was elected to the order’s general council, with special responsibility for finances.

Eager to return to mission work, he accepted an appointment in 1989 to the prefecture of

Falkland, a posting which also included the remote islands of Ascension, St Helena and Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic.

Fr Sullivan served these remote

Southern CrossWord solutions SOLUTIONS TO 625. ACROSS: 3 Sprinkler, 8 Obed, 9 Stillness, 10 Smooth, 11 Smelt, 14 Laity, 15 Erin, 16 Stint, 18 Nuns, 20 Abuse, 21 Shine, 24 Get set, 25 Candlemas, 26 Bank, 27 New washer. DOWN: 1 Consoling, 2 Herodians, 4 Path, 5 Islam, 6 Kindle, 7 Else, 9 Stays, 11 Spite, 12 Trousseau, 13 Undertake, 17 Tales, 19 Shadow, 22 Needs, 23 Mate, 24 Gaze.

Community Calendar To place your event, call Mary Leveson at 021 465 5007 or e-mail m.leveson@scross.co.za (publication subject to space)

DURBAN: Holy Mass and Novena to St Anthony at St anthony’s parish every Tuesday at 9am. Holy Mass and Divine Mercy Devotion at 17:30pm on first Friday of every month. Sunday Mass at 9am. 031 309 3496.

NELSPRUIT: Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at St Peter’s parish every Tuesday from 8:00 to 16:45, followed by Rosary, Divine Mercy prayers, then a Mass/Communion service at 17:30pm.

Do you feel called to the Franciscan way of life?

areas through Royal Air Force flights and hazardous sea voyages in small fishing boats.

In St Helena he gave regular religious epilogues over the radio for the islanders.

St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha were established as a Mission Sui Iuris (or independent mission) in 1986 from the archdiocese of Cape Town.

Fr Sullivan periodically visited Cape Town, usually as a guest of Mgr Clifford Stokes in Sea Point.

The late columnist Owen Williams wrote about Fr Sullivan in The Southern Cross in June 1992. In his article, reproduced in the anthology Any Given Sunday, Mr Williams quotes Fr Sullivan as describing his island-hopping ministry as “a holiday”.

In 2009 Fr Sullivan published a memoir titled Down Memory Lane: Recollections of a Wandering Missionary.

Fr Sullivan returned to Britain for his retirement in 1996 at a Mill Hill house near Liverpool.

Liturgical Calendar Year A Weekdays Cycle Year 2 Sunday, October 26, 30th Sunday Exodus 22:20-26, Psalm 18:2-4, 47, 51, 1 Thessalonians 1:5-10, Matthew 22:34-40 Monday, October 27 Ephesians 4:32-5:8, Psalm 1:1-4, 6, Luke 13:10-17 Tuesday, October 28, Ss Simon and Jude Ephesians 2:19-22, Psalm 19:2-5, Luke 6:1216 Wednesday, October 29 Ephesians 6:1-9 Psalm 145:10-14 Luke 13:22-30 Thursday, October 30 Ephesians 6:10-20, Psalm 144:1-2, 9-10, Luke 13:31-35 Friday, October 31 Philippians 1:1-11, Psalm 111:1-6, Luke 14:16 Saturday, November 1, All Saints Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14, Psalm 24:1-6, 1 John 3:1-3, Matthew 5:1-12 Sunday, November 2, Feast of All Souls, 31st Sunday Wisdom 3:1-9, Psalm 27:1, 4, 7-9, 13-14, Romans 5:5-11, John 11:17-27

IN MEMORIAM

VERGOTTINI—Laura Celestine. Passed away october 24, 2005. We know that you do not sleep, our precious mommy. you run barefoot on the sand, beside the breaking waves.

We hear your voice in a thousand winds that blow. you are the diamond glints on the gentle autumn raindrops and the sunlight on ripened grain. When we awaken in the early morning's hush, you are the swift, uplifting rush of birds in flight. We see you in the twinkling stars at night. in spirit you are always with us. We love and miss you our dearest Mommy. Love anthony, alfred, Wendy and family.

PRAYERS

HOLY ST JUDE, apostle and martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, kinsman of Jesus Christ, faithful intercessor of all who invoke you, special patron in time of need. To you i have recourse from the depth of my heart and humbly beg you to come to my assistance. Help me now in my urgent need and grant my petitions. in return i promise to make your name known and publish this prayer. amen. rC. HOLY ST JUDE, apostle and martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, kinsman of Jesus Christ, faithful intercessor of all who invoke you, special patron in time of need. To you i have recourse from the depth of my heart and humbly beg you to come to my assistance. Help me now in my urgent need and grant my petitions. in return i promise to make your name known and publish this prayer. amen.

EMB

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION

ST MICHAEL the archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the malice and snares of the devil. May god rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, o Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of god, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. amen.

PERSONAL

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Feast of All Saints: November 2 Readings: Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14, Psalm 24:1-6, 1 John 3:1-3, Matthew 5:1-12

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Sanctity meets our messy lives

N

Fr Nicholas King SJ

EXT Sunday is the Solemnity of All Saints, a feast that is meant to give us courage through November and in the lead-up to Christmas.

And how does it give us courage? By offering us three readings and a psalm that remind us of the messy lives in which our sanctity is to be worked out.

In the first reading, from the Book of Revelation, the first point to notice is that God is in charge, as represented by the “other angel, coming up from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the Living God”.

This angel has permission to “do damage to the land and the sea”, but not before “we seal the servants of our God on their foreheads”. Once that is established, we hear “the number of the slaughtered”: 144 000, “from every tribe of the children of Israel”.

That is already code for “quite a lot”, but what follows is even bigger: “Look! A large crowd, whom no one could count, from every nation and tribe and people and language”.

Then we hear that this assembly of saints is in fact a choir, whose job it is to sing to God (“before the Throne and before the Lamb”),

Sunday reflections

and their refrain is “Salvation to our God, who sits on the Throne, and to the Lamb…

Blessing and Glory and Wisdom and Thanksgiving and Honour and Power and Strength to our God for ever and ever. Amen.”

Then this huge and songful crowd is identified as those “who come from the Great Tribulation, and who have washed their clothes, and whitened them in the blood of the Lamb”. So it is messy, this business of being a saint, but in the end, by the grace of God, we shall be victorious.

The psalm likewise reminds us that God is in sole charge (and that therefore our mess is not the end of the story): “To the Lord belongs the earth, and all that fills it, the world

and its inhabitants.”

Then comes a necessary reminder of what is required among saints (“Who shall go up on the Lord’s mountain, and who shall stand in his holy place”?): “Those who are clean of hands and pure of heart, and do not swear deceitfully.”

Just as we blanch at this demand, we are given some relief, and reminded that, after all, it is up to God: “They shall receive blessing from the Lord, and justice from the God of their salvation.” What counts above all is that we should be looking for God: “This is the generation of those who seek him, who look for the [God of] Jacob.”

The second reading tells us how we are to sort out our mess; and, as always with the first letter of John, it is simply a matter of love; and by that the author means, not primarily such love as we can manage to find in ourselves, but “such great love as God has given us”.

The result of this love is that “we are children of God, and it has not yet become evident what we shall be”. It is, that is to say, a transformative love.

Go and praise someone today I

T’S not only love that makes the world go round. Resentment too is prominent in stirring the drink.

In so many ways our world is drowning in resentment. Everywhere you look, it seems, someone is bitter about something and breathing out resentment.

What is resentment? Why is this feeling so prevalent in our lives? How do we move beyond it?

The 19th-century Danish philosopher and theologian Søren Kierkegaard once defined resentment in this way: Resentment, he suggested, happens when we move from the happy feeling of admiration to the unhappy feeling of jealousy.

And this, sadly, happens all too frequently in our lives and we are dangerously blind to its occurrence. Me resentful? How dare you make that accusation!

Yet it’s hard to deny that resentment and its concomitant unhappiness colour our world. At every level of life, from what we see playing out in the grievances and wars among nations to what we see playing out in the bickering in our boardrooms, classrooms, living rooms and bedrooms, there is evidence of resentment.

Everyone, it seems, is bitter about something—and, of course, not without cause. Few are the persons who do not secretly nurse the feeling that they have been ignored, wounded, cheated, treated unfairly, and have drawn too many short

Conrad

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final reflection

straws in life; and so many of us feel that we have every right to protest our right to be resentful and unhappy. We’re not happy, but with good reason.

Yes, there’s always good reason to be resentful, but—and this is the point of this column—according to a number of insightful analysts, both old and new, we are rarely in touch with the real reason why we are so spontaneously bitter.

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or persons such as St Thomas Aquinas, Kierkegaard, Robert Moore, Gil Bailie, Robert Bly and Fr Richard Rohr OFM, among others, the deep root of our resentment and unhappiness lies in our inability to admire, our inability to praise others, and our inability to give others and the world a simple gaze of admiration.

We’re a society that, for the most part, can’t admire. Admiration is, for us, a lost virtue. Indeed in many circles today, both in the world and in the churches, admiration is seen as something juvenile and im-

mature—the frenzied, mindless shrieking of teenage girls chasing a rock star.

Maturity and sophistication are identified today with the kind of intelligence, wit and reticence which don’t easily admire, which don’t easily compliment.

Learning and maturity, we believe, need to be picking things apart, suspicious of others’ virtues, distrustful of their motives, on hyper-alert for hypocrisy, and articulating every reason not to admire.

But what we don’t admit is how we feel threatened by those whose graces or virtues exceed our own. What we don’t admit is our own jealousy and our own resentment. What we don’t admit—and never will admit—is how our need to cut down someone else is an infallible sign of our own jealousy and bad self-image.

And what helps us in our denial is this: cynicism and cold judgment make for a perfect camouflage; we don’t need to admire because we’re bright enough to see that there’s nothing really to admire.

That, too often, is our sophisticated, unhappy state: we can no longer truly admire anybody. We can no longer truly praise anybody. We can no longer look at the world with any praise or admiration. Rather our gaze is perennially soured by resentment, cynicism, judgment, and jealousy.

We can test ourselves on this. The US psychoanalyst Robert Moore often challenges his audiences to ask themselves this question: When was the last time you walked across a room and told a person, especially a younger person or a person whose talents dwarf yours, that you admire her, that you admire what she’s doing, that her gifts enrich your life, and that you are happy that her path has crossed yours?

When was the last time you gave someone a heartfelt compliment? Or, to reverse the question: When was the last time someone, especially someone threatened by your talents, gave you a sincere compliment?

We don’t compliment each other easily or often, and this betrays a secret jealousy.

It also reveals a genuine moral flaw.

St Thomas Aquinas submitted that to withhold a compliment from people who deserve it is a sin because we are withholding from them some of the food they need to live. To not admire, to not praise, to not compliment, is not a sign of sophistication but a sign of moral immaturity and personal insecurity. It is also one of the deeper reasons why we so often fill with bitter feelings of resentment and unhappiness.

Why do we so often feel bitter and resentful? We fill with resentment for many reasons, though, not least, because we have lost the virtues of admiration and praise.

The gospel for the feast is that extraordinary opening to the Sermon on the Mount, which we call the “Beatitudes” or “Congratulations”, and we discover the identity of those whom the Lord congratulates, in the midst of the mess that is our ordinary life.

They are a very unexpected bunch: “the destitute…those who mourn…the gentle (of all unlikely characters!)…those who hunger and thirst for justice…the merciful…the pure in heart…the peace-makers…those persecuted for the sake of righteousness”.

Finally, and most improbably, Jesus turns to us and says: “Congratulations to you when people revile you, and hunt you down, and say all kinds of evil against you for my sake.”

And what are we to do when that happens? “Rejoice and exult—for your reward is great in heaven!” We listen in stunned silence, but perhaps there is that in us that makes us reflect on the mystery of the sanctity to which you and I are invited in the messiness of our lives. Since God is in charge, you see, we have no grounds for despair.

Let us celebrate the feast next Sunday with some gusto.

Southern Crossword #625

ACROSS 3. Holy water dispenser found on the lawn (9) 8. Ruth’s son (Rt 4) (4) 9. The silence of Silent Night (9) 10. You must take it with the rough (6) 11. Sniffed at the process of extracting gold? (5) 14. Italy produces non-clergy (5) 15. St Patrick’s missionary territory (4) 16. Be frugal against interrupting in here (5) 18. Ladies of habit (4) 20. Treat with cruelty (5) 21. It follows the moon to illicit liquor (5) 24. It’s next after “On your marks” (3,3) 25. Medals can indicate important feast day (9) 26. Money store along the river (4) 27. Fresh laundress fixes the tap with it (3,6)

DOWN 1. Colon sign is comforting (9) 2. The Pharisees plotted with them against Jesus (Mk 3) (9) 4. The way to go (4) 5. Mails to another faith (5) 6. Considerate with the French and make a spark (6) 7. Chelsea holds something in addition (4) 9. Remains (5) 11. The desire to offend (5) 12. Rouse us at the bride’s collection (9) 13. Commit oneself to bury the dead? (9) 17. Slate can tell them out of school (5) 19. Show interrupted by ad in dim light (6) 22. Requires (5) 23. He goes around team on board (4) 24. Stare (4)

Solutions on page 11

CHURCH CHUCKLE

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F the Three Wise Men had been Three Wise Women, they would have asked for directions, arrived on time, assisted with the birth, cleaned the stable, brought a baby-gro and cooked a casserole.

Send us your favourite Catholic joke, preferably clean and brief, to The Southern Cross, Church Chuckle, Po Box 2372, Cape Town, 8000.