PERSPECTIVES
A pilgrim in the land of Jesus M
ANY years ago as a student in London I travelled to Rome by train. In the year 2000 my wife and I went on a pilgrimage to the headquarters of three churches as we were working with members of the Catholic, Anglican and Methodist Churches. We therefore visited Rome, Canterbury cathedral and the Wesley chapel in London. These visits were inspiring, but they did not have the impact that The Southern Cross’ pilgrimage to the Holy Land and Italy in May had on me. There were 43 of us on this pilgrimage, with Archbishop William Slattery of Pretoria as our spiritual director. There are many sites in the Holy Land and Italy that left a lasting impression on me. In this article I will restrict myself to the following: the River Jordan where Jesus was baptised; Cana where Jesus performed his first miracle; the Sea of Galilee; the basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem; the Cenacle or Upper Room, the site of the Last Supper; the church of St Peter in Gallicantu, which marks the house of Caiaphas the High Priest; and the church of the Holy Sepulchre. As a pilgrim, my primary interest in these churches and other places is not in the architectural beauty of these sites but in their spiritual significance for the followers of Christ. I will touch on a few of these in this first part of two articles. The mere mention of the River Jordan has an emotional appeal to Christians of many denominations. You should then imagine what it felt like for me and my fellow pilgrims to wade in the waters of this famous river, and to be at the site where Jesus was baptised and a voice was heard saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Mt 3:17). It was indeed appropriate that the Jordan was the first important site that we visited, for here Jesus was prepared for his
public ministry, and here we were prepared for our pilgrim journey by renewing our baptismal vows. Some of us renewed our wedding vows at Cana, near Nazareth, where Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding. My wife Teboho and I were one of the seven couples who renewed our marriage vows. In Cana I realised how important the sacrament of matrimony was in Jesus’ teaching. Just as God instituted the sacrament at the very beginning of creation, the wedding at Cana took place at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry and there the Messiah performed his first miracle.
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n my reading of the Bible story of the resurrection I have often wondered why the angel would tell Mary that Jesus was going ahead of his disciples to Galilee where they would see him. Why Galilee? My visit to the Holy Land has helped me understand that Galilee was Jesus’ “headquarters”. It was here where he performed many of his miracles and articulated many of the key tenets of our faith. Take the Sea of Galilee. This is where Peter was a fisherman, and this is where Jesus called his first disciples.
The Southern Cross pilgrims, led by Archbishop William Slattery, renew their baptismal vows at Qasr el Yahud site on the Jordan River.
Live your life – today I
OFTEN think that teenagers must get frustrated with us older folk when we begin conversations with them like this: Have you thought about what you’re going to do when you finish school? What would you like to become when you’re older? Have you taken the right subjects to help in your future career? Whenever I spend time with young people—as I did recently on a youth leadership weekend—they always remind me to enjoy the moment I’m in right now, rather than worry about something that hasn’t happened yet. I’m a typical worrier and when making a decision—about my career, my next overseas holiday, my relationships with others—I’m always thinking about what could go wrong and the steps I need to take to ensure the best outcome possible. As a result I’m often trapped in controlling a future that hasn’t happened yet, and it robs me of the joy of the present. Don’t get me wrong; it is good to plan for the future. Goals help us to work towards something greater and if we don’t have a backup when things don’t go according to plan, then we risk falling into places we didn’t want to be. The future is important, yes, but far more important is this moment right now and to live it fully. This month, as we observed Youth Day and once again remembered the important role that young people played in helping us all to be free from the shackles of a system that forced us to live incomplete lives, it’s perhaps worth considering some of the characteristics of June 16 1976. When the students of Soweto left their classrooms to march to Orlando Stadium that day, there was only one thing that drove them: they didn’t want to be educated in a language they didn’t understand. It was an issue that fell into a larger rhetoric in the battle between preserving apartheid and dismantling it. But on that day they weren’t thinking about the release of Nelson Mandela from Robben Island, or the conditions of workers in the mines, or the liberation movement that was operating underground. They were driven by the issue that affected them directly: their access to education that was worthy of their abilities. They knew there was an element of danger in what they were about to do, but I’m sure that very few of them thought
Youths at a Bosco camp in Johannesburg. Pope Francis has called on young people to “have the courage to be happy”. through the consequences of that march and how it could go so horribly wrong, as it did. Some lost their lives that day and South Africa lost the treasure of who they would grow up to become. But there were many others who, as a result of their participation that day and in the countrywide protests that followed, became aware of what was at stake and worked to bring a new country into being. It was their enthusiasm, their fearlessness in the face of the full might of the authorities that fast-tracked the impasse between the state and the people. The adults, angered by what had happened, were infected by that raw energy that only young people know and it spurred them into action.
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Emmanuel Ngara
Christian Leadership
This, too, is the site where “the Jesus Boat” was discovered in 1985, a first-century fishing boat which could possibly be one of the boats that Jesus used. As we pilgrims went on a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, or Lake Gennesaret, with fishermen demonstrating the castnet fishing method of Peter’s time, I felt that just as Jesus had said to Simon and Andrew, “Come, follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people.” Jesus was calling us, the modern-day disciples, to follow him and be his witnesses in our own homes, workplaces, countries and indeed to the ends of the earth. One of the other sites in Galilee that made a lasting impression on me was the church of the Beatitudes, which marks the place where Jesus delivered his famous Sermon on the Mount. As we left this fascinating “mount” to return to our hotel, the entire Sermon from Matthew, chapter 5 to the end of chapter 7, was read to us on the bus. With this comprehensive rendition I then understood more clearly what Jesus did on the Mount of Beatitudes: He was calling for a revolution in our beliefs, our attitudes, our consciousness and our relationship with God and our fellow human beings. He was announcing new values and a completely new way of life. His listeners understood this as they realised that “he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law” (Mt 7:28). n More on Prof Ngara’s reflection on the pilgrimage next month. To go with The Southern Cross and Archbishop Stephen Brislin to the Holy Land in 2016, please see the back page.
Sarah-Leah Pimentel
The Mustard Seeds
something to be attained now. Young people want to see change now and will work to overcome the things that stand in their way. Ideals are not the same as dreams. Dreams are about something that has not yet come to fruition and their reality is dependent on so many factors, some of which are outside our control. An ideal is the idea, the thought, the inspiration that drives youth and plays out in their words and everyday actions. It has a place in the present as they slowly build the future. Enthusiasm is the ability to be passionate about something, it is the ability to enjoy life and live it creatively. And life is enjoyed now and not in some illusory “I’ll be happy someday” realm. Young people who live full, enthusiastic, and happy lives now will become fulfilled adults who will appreciate the joy of living and know that all sorrows will also pass. If I delay opportunities to be happy now, I’ll never be happy, because as I grow older I will become bitter with the regret of not having lived each day to the full when I was younger. Happiness can be found in the search for justice, the purpose of an ideal and the joy of enthusiasm, because these are God’s gifts to us when we choose life in him. This is what St John Paul II told the youth gathered in Rome for World Youth Day in 2000 (which I attended when I was still a teenager), and which Pope Francis echoed again in his message to the world’s Continued on page 27
hese characteristics can be summarised by three words: justice, ideals, enthusiasm. All three of these qualities reside in the present. I know that without maturity and the wisdom of those who have lived a full life, these qualities can become destructive because they are not built on deep foundations. But it is good for us to remember some of what we were in our own youth and foster it in our children and grandchildren. 1 Plein Street, Perhaps it’s also a reminder to Sidwell, Port Elizabeth find something long forgotten in ourselves. Justice is not some wispy future goal to be achieved; it is
The Southern Cross, June 17 to June 23, 2015
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Michael Shackleton
Open Door
Why couldn’t priest hear confession? After Mass in a diocese in Britain I requested the celebrant to hear my confession. He replied he couldn’t, because he hadn’t received permission from the bishop to do so. He asked another priest to hear my confession. How come? I thought every priest could hear confessions. S G Santos
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HRIST gave the power to forgive sin to his apostles (Jn 20:23), the first bishops of the Church. They, in turn, passed this singular power to their legitimate successors in office. It is the college of bishops who, to this day in union with their head, the bishop of Rome, possess this wonderful gift of forgiving sin and showing Christ’s mercy for sinners. As sharers in the bishops’ ministry, priests acquire their authority to forgive sin only from the bishops. They do this in two ways, either by means of the prescriptions of canon law or by the authority delegated to them by particular bishops. Canon law, which is promulgated in the name of the college of bishops, provides the first way. Canon 968.1 declares, among other things, that the parish priest may hear confessions by virtue of his office. This means that once he formally takes possession of the parish, he has the right in law to absolve penitents from sin. Presumably, in the case you have mentioned, the priest was not a parish priest but a visitor to the diocese. He would not have the right to hear your confession because he would not hold an office such as that of parish priest. If this visiting priest, or even a priest in the diocese who is not a parish priest or acting in the place of one, asks the bishop for the “faculties” to hear confessions, his request is normally granted. This is the second way a priest acquires authority to forgive sin. When the bishop grants a priest the permission to hear confessions in his diocese he generally includes the right to celebrate the other sacraments as well, and he may lay down certain conditions, always reserving to himself the right to revoke the “faculties” if deemed necessary. Vatican II reminds us that bishops enjoy the fulness of the sacrament of orders, and both priests and deacons are dependent on them in the exercise of their authority. It stresses that bishops are the principal dispensers of the mysteries of God, as well as being the governors, promoters and guardians of the Church committed to them (Decree on Bishops, 15). You see, then, that ordination to priesthood does not of itself confer the right to hear confessions. That right depends on episcopal delegation whether granted by law or by a bishop.
n Send your queries to Open Door, Box 2372, Cape Town,
8000; or e-mail: opendoor@scross.co.za; or fax (021) 465 3850. Anonymity can be preserved by arrangement, but questions must be signed, and may be edited for clarity. Only published questions will be answered.
INTERESTED IN POSTGRADUATE DEGREES IN CATHOLIC THEOLOGY AND CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY? Honours, Masters and PhD Degrees are offered by the School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Paul Decock OMI, ThD and Sue Rakoczy IHM, PhD (as Honorary Professors) and Stuart Bate OMI, ThD and Vincent Reig-Bellver MCCJ, ThD (as Honorary Lecturers) from St. Joseph’s Theological Institute NPC are engaged by UKZN to supervise these programmes. For more information contact: SRPC Higher Degrees Administrator Catherine Murugan (muruganc@ukzn.ac.za)