190522 by The Southern Cross

The

S outher n C ross

May 22 to May 28, 2019

reg No. 1920/002058/06

No 5136

www.scross.co.za

Interview with Winter Theology ‘happiness’ priest

The Church cannot sell God as a product

Page 2

Page 7

Bishops call for national strategic plan By erIN Carelse

HE Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) has congratulated the Independent Electoral Commission and all political parties for creating a conducive environment for free and fair elections and has called for the building of the economy and the tackling of corruption to commence. The ruling African National Congress (ANC) won the parliamentary elections with 57,5 percent of the vote, the electoral commission said, announcing the official results. “While some parties have recorded discontent about certain incidents during the elections, these do not appear to have significantly impacted on the integrity of the elections,” the bishops said in a released statement. They called on parties to “put the country first” and work “to arrest the collapse of the economy and the looting of state resources, and to spur economic growth so that it creates jobs”. The bishops noted that one of the key messages the citizens of South Africa have delivered through the 2019 elections is that the current social contract, which is based on the Constitution negotiations in the early 1990s, needs both renewal and repair. “The citizens should not be taken for granted. The dwindling in voter turnout, as well as the incidents of protest during the elections, are a stern warning to all political parties that, 25 years into constitutional democracy, there is a need to renegotiate the social contract between the ruling elite and those living on the margins of the economy,” the bishops said. They said they expect all political parties in the sixth parliament, and not just the ruling party, to put the country first

and work collectively to develop effective measures to arrest the collapse of the economy and the looting of state resources, and to spur economic growth so that it creates jobs. “We call on the ruling party to develop a national strategic plan, with measurable targets that can be subject to accountability, to address youth unemployment, which is a ticking time-bomb and has at some level contributed to the disenchantment and voter apathy among the youth,” the bishops urged. An issue of grave concern, they pointed out, which also poses a serious threat to our young democracy, is that of high levels of corruption. In particular, they expect the president of the country to: • Ensure that those suspected of corruption and state capture are not appointed into the cabinet and parliament. • Ensure that the country’s bloated cabinet is reduced by half. • Introduce new measures to strengthen the investigative and prosecutorial arms of the criminal justice system and its ability to operate without political interference and prosecute those involved in corruption and state capture. • Reverse the collapse of good governance and widespread looting at stateowned entities such as Eskom and SAA. • Introduce more effective measures to protect the integrity of the Public Investment Corporation. • Introduce stronger measures to address the irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure in government departments and municipalities. “Now that the elections are over, we expect the president of our nation to dispense with the politics of expediency and show a firm hand in dealing with those implicated in corruption and state capture,” the bishops said.

r12 (incl Vat rsa)

Six more appearances of Risen Christ

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the two Bishops Men’s Conference was held at Holy Family College in Glenmore, Durban. Cardinal Wilfrid Napier sent the following message: “What a pleasure and privilege to be given a key part to play in that historic gathering of Catholic men. I was most impressed by the candour and openness when they were reporting on the activities of the different groups. I really was proud of them and what they are doing for their families, their parishes, their Church and their communities. I must congratulate you for the key role that you have played and continue to play. May God bless them and all they are doing in the name of Jesus!”

Pope invites young people to pledge to build a new economy By Carol Glatz

OPE Francis has invited young economists and entrepreneurs around the world to help create a “new and courageous culture” that finds creative ways to do business, promote human dignity and protect the environment. “We need to correct models of growth incapable of guaranteeing respect for the environment, openness to life, concern for the family, social equality, the dignity of workers, and the rights of future generations,” the pope said in a letter inviting young people to take part in a new initiative. This initiative, to be launched at Assisi in Italy in March 2020, invites young men and women in economics or business to join the pope and “enter into a ‘covenant’ to change today’s economy and to give a soul to the economy of tomorrow”. Such an economy is “one that brings life not death, one that is inclusive and not exclusive, humane and not dehumanising, one that cares for the environment and does not despoil it”, the pope said in the letter. He added that given “a need to ‘reanimate’ the economy”, there was no better place to launch the initiative than in Assisi, “which has for centuries eloquently symbolised a humanism of fraternity” and peace, and would be “a fitting place to inspire a new economy”. St Francis of Assisi is the Church’s “outstanding example of care for the vulnerable and of an inte-

gral ecology”, the pope said, which is why the event in Assisi is titled “The Economy of Francis”. The environment and all of creation need “a sound economy and a sustainable development that can heal its wounds and assure us of a worthy future”, Pope Francis wrote. “Given this urgent need, each one of us is called to rethink his or her mental and moral priorities, to bring them into greater conformity with God’s commandments and the demands of the common good,” he said. “But I thought especially of inviting you, young people, because your desire for a better and happier future makes you even now a prophetic sign, pointing towards an economy attentive to the person and to the environment.” The pope told young people that “if you listen to what your heart tells you, you will feel part of a new and courageous culture, you will not be afraid to face risks and work to build a new society”. “Your universities, your businesses and your organisations are workshops of hope for creating new ways of understanding the economy and progress, for combating the culture of waste, for giving voice to those who have none, and for proposing new styles of life,” he wrote. “Only when our economic and social system no longer produces even a single victim, a single person cast aside, will we be able to celebrate the feast of universal fraternity,” Pope Francis said.—CNS

S outher n C ross Pilgrimage

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the southern Cross, May 22 to May 28, 2019

LOCAL

Priest: Coming to SA to spread happiness

HEN Jesuit Father David Marcotte presents his talks at this year’s Winter Living Theology conference, his focus will be the subject of happiness. The associate professor of psychology and director of clinical training at the Jesuit-run Fordham University in New York will travel to several centres in the conference region to deliver his series of lectures, “How to live a happy life. The spirituality and psychology of wellbeing”. He will look at stress, burnout, depression, anxiety, compassion-fatigue, suicide and addiction, and offer participants practical skills to counter these and advance wellbeing. Fr Marcotte believes that meditation and contemplative practices are an essential part of wellbeing and he has done empirical studies which he will share with participants. The annual Winter Living Theology lecture series is jointly staged by the Jesuit Institute SA, the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference and Fordham University. Fr Russell Pollitt SJ, director of the Jesuit Institute, spoke to Fr Marcotte. Fr David, we are looking foreward to welcoming you in South Africa. Tell us a little bit about yourself. I’m really looking forward to coming to South Africa! I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, on the Pacific coast. I am one of four, I have two brothers and a sister. After school I went to St John’s Seminary in Camarillo, California, for undergraduate studies in philosophy. I then attended the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, for theological studies. I did my doctoral studies in clini-

The

Fr David Marcotte sJ, who will deliver this year’s Winter living theology lectures in south africa, Botswana and eswatini on the subject of happiness. cal psychology at the New School For Social Research in New York City and later did post-doctoral work at Yale Medical School. How did you get into the field of psychology? I became interested in psychology during theology studies after working as a chaplain at San Francisco General Hospital in one of the HIV units. I thought that it would be really interesting to investigate this further.

Later, during and after my doctoral studies, I specialised in substance-abuse treatment for HIV-positive individuals. You seem to have focused more recently on wellbeing. Is this your area of interest now? Yes, that is true. More recently I have focused on the psychology of wellbeing and how contemplative practices support the development of character strengths and human flourishing. I have done a number of studies with people who have struggled with substance abuse using contemplative methods and have discovered fascinating things. I hope to share some of these studies with the folk in South Africa during Winter Living Theology! How long have you been working at Fordham University? I have been at Fordham for 12 years, at the Rose Hill campus which is in the north Bronx area. It is a beautiful campus, established in 1941. I teach courses like an introduction to psychology, psychology and human values, and personality assessment. I also do a number of what we call seminars on clinical theory and supervision. I am also the director of clinical training at Fordham. Why did you become a Jesuit? Interesting question! It is quite simple really: I had Jesuit spiritual directors and read several Jesuit documents that inspired and attracted me to Ignatian spirituality and to the Jesuit educational mission. I spoke to Jesuits, liked the men I met—and the rest is history! What will you be covering in Winter Living Theology, and what are

you hoping to achieve? I hope to present emerging research on the psychology of wellbeing and contemplative practices. I will be looking at how these practices can helps us navigate our way through stress, burnout, depression, addiction—all those things so prevalent in our social sphere today. I also hope to provide training in skills developed in recent research that can increase wellbeing. Have you been to South Africa before? No, this is my first trip and I am very much looking forward to visiting your country and meeting the people of South Africa. Most importantly, I look forward to sharing what I can with South Africa and hope that, in a small way, this will help to increase human flourishing so that people can reach their full potential. Fr Marcotte will give an evening lecture at Christ the King church in Queenswood, Pretoria, on June 3. From June 4-6 he will speak at the Lumko Institute in Benoni. He will then visit Cape Town (June 11-13 at St Francis Xavier Seminary), Durban (June 18-20, St Joseph’s in Morningside), and Port Elizabeth (June 15-27, St Luke’s Retreat and Conference Centre). He will give a one-day lecture in Manzini, Eswatini, on June 22 and, for the first time this year, Winter Living Theology will also be presented in Gaborone, Botswana, for a one-day workshop on July 3. n For more information or bookings go to www.jesuitinstitute.org.za/index. php/wlt2019/ or e-mail wlt@jesuitin stitute.org.za

Spiritfest to offer songs by female composers

RECITAL titled “A Feather on the Breath of God” will be performed at Spiritfest, which is running as part of the Grahamstown Arts Festival next month. This recital uncovers nine female classical composers who are little known and little performed, including the 11th-century mystic and poet Hildegard of Bingen; Kassia, the first woman-of-colour composer; Amy Beach; and British composer Rebecca Clarke. The songs will be sung by SAMRO scholarship and Standard Bank Encore Ovation Award recipient Emma Farquharson. Accompanying her will be pianist Nina van Schoor and cellist Caleb Vaughn-Jones. The title of the recital is taken from a comment by theologian St Bernard of Clairvaux upon hearing Hildegard of Bingen’s lyrical anthems for the first time. “A Feather on the Breath of God” will be performed in the Nun’s Chapel on June 28 and 29, and July 2 and 2.

S outher n C ross

Tour to Mauritius (From left) Gideon Pereira, Gregory Pereira, Fr Finbarr Flanagan, Nadia Pereira and Nicolette Whittle, and (in front) ellie Pereira, at the national Nal pro-life conference in Pretoria.

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Pro-life advocates speak out at Pretoria conference

E must take a stand against the killing of children until abortion is abolished, was the call at the pro-life National Alliance Conference (NAL) in Pretoria. Catholics and other groups from across the country attended the conference, at which speakers emphasised the key role of the Churches in protecting the vulnerable unborn. NAL is a platform for pro-life organisations, Churches, and individuals, and its aim is to let the voice of all pro-lifers in South Africa be heard. Fr Finbarr Flanagan OFM of Pretoria and members of the Saint Anthony of Padua OFS group were among those present. Fr Flanagan, known for his pro-life ministry both here and in America, spoke of how confirmation candidates of his parish regularly pray outside a Marie Stopes abortion clinic, and hand out counselling pamphlets. In an analysis of global abortion trends, Nadia Pereira referred to a statement by Obianuju Ekeocha, founder and president of Culture of Life Africa, that 80 percent of African countries have continued to resist and reject legalising abortion. Gregory Pereira, a member of the

Biblical Christian Network, provided figures and analysed trends regarding abortion. He said about 56 million abortions worldwide had occurred annually from 2010-14. The father of a child with Down syndrome said Christ’s words, “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. Thus it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish” (Matt 18:10,11,14), remind us of Jesus’ heartfelt concern for the unborn child. Fred Olivier of the Franciscan Third Order summed up the spirit of the NAL conference as follows: “In the spirit of St Francis of Assisi, ‘Lord, what do you want me to do?’” Various pro-life organisations presented their activities at an exhibition. They underlined the indispensable role of counselling and support for women facing pregnancy crises. Following the conference, a prolife placard demonstration was held in Pretoria streets against South Africa’s abortion law. n For details of ongoing protests, contact Gregory Pereira on 083 798-7360.

the southern Cross, May 22 to May 28, 2019

LOCAL

Archbishop honoured by St Augustine College By erIN Carelse

AINT Augustine College held its annual graduation ceremony at its Victory Park campus in Johannesburg, and was honoured to confer the Bonum Commune Award on the city’s Archbishop Buti Tlhagale OMI. Equivalent to an honorary doctorate conferred by state universities, the Bonum Commune recognises those who have made an outstanding contribution to education, the common good and/or St Augustine. The ceremony was preceded by a Mass concelebrated by Archbishops Jabulani Nxumalo OMI and Tlhagale, Mgr Marc de Muelenaere and eight priests from the archdioceses of Johannesburg and Pretoria. The graduation was presided over by St Augustine grand chancellor Archbishop Jabulani Nxumalo OMI of Bloemfontein, and commenced with the presentation of the annual report by college president Professor

Garth Abraham. This highlighted the important academic research being conducted by staff and the ongoing development of degree and certificate programmes. St Augustine head of theology Dr Sr Judith Coyle OMI read the citation for Archbishop Tlhagale, emphasising the key contribution he had made to starting the college. It was while then-Fr Tlhagale was serving as secretary general of the Catholic bishops’ conference, in 1995, that he promoted the establishment of what was to become St Augustine College; further, Archbishop Tlhagale was the first grand chancellor from 1999-2011. Dr Coyle also mentioned his wider service to the Church and society in South Africa. Apart from his role as parish priest, Archbishop Tlhagale has lectured at St Peter’s Seminary and St Joseph’s Scholasticate. After a stint with the South African Council of Churches, working in its justice and peace depart-

archbishop Buti tlhagale oMI of Johannesburg was awarded the Bonum Commune award by st augustine College. With him are (left) lebo Majahe and Judy stockill, both of the archdiocese’s AD News.

ment, he was liaison officer and director of the Educational Opportunities Council, working to provide research and study opportunities for disadvantaged South Africans. Following his role as secretary general of the SACBC, Fr Tlhagale was appointed archbishop of Bloemfontein in 1999, where he served for five years before moving to the diocese of Johannesburg. In 2007, when the diocese was elevated to a metro-

politan see, he became the first archbishop of Johannesburg. He has served as SACBC president (2001-12) and as president of the Interregional Meeting of Bishops of Southern Africa. The archbishop has been a member of the Roman Congregation for the Divine Worship and the Discipline of Sacraments as well as of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

He has also been co-chair of South Africa’s National Interfaith Council. Currently Archbishop Tlhagale is the SACBC liaison bishop for migrants and refugees, a patron of the Community Agency for Social Enquiry, and a non-executive director of Ubuntu-Botho Investments. He is the author of numerous books and articles, addressing concerns including labour, liberation, inculturation, and education. Archbishop Tlhagale’s most recent publication (2018), Pastoral Letters on Mary and Matters Ancestral, addresses the relationship between Catholic belief and devotion, and African traditional beliefs and practices. Following the conferral of degrees, all were addressed by Elizabeth Maepe, a member of the St Augustine board of directors. She stressed the privileged position of new graduates and encouraged them to make a positive contribution to society.

Gold for St Joseph the Worker parish SA nun on Rome human trafficking By erIN Carelse

conference: start awareness at home

ARISHIONERS and guests of St Joseph the Worker parish in Bosmont, Johannesburg, celebrated the church’s golden jubilee, and were reminded of its special and rich history. The event was marked by Mass led by Archbishop Buti Tlhagale OMI, concelebrated by current parish priest Fr Uzo Ohanele, ex-parish priests Frs Richard Stonier, Cletus Onwudiwe and Ronnie Houreld, and Deacon Wally Adams. Representatives from the Holy Family Sisters, Dominican Sisters, St Vincent de Paul and Knights of Da Gama— who have all played a role in the development of the community since 1969—were also present to celebrate St Joseph the Worker’s five decades. Archbishop Tlhagale unveiled two granite plaques after Mass. The first marked the 50th anniversary, and the second the original priest Fr Jan Molenaar OMI and architect Donald Turgel. All guest were treated to a digital and picture exhibition of the parish’s history, and a commemorative brochure was launched and sold. A three-course lunch

By erIN Carelse

A Parishioners and guests at the celebration marking the 50th anniversary of st Joseph the Worker church in Bosmont, Johannesburg. followed, plus various activities. The background to St Joseph’s church’s unique octagonal shape includes a Dutch priest’s team comprising a Jewish architect who had never designed a church before, an Italian builder, gifts from Afrikaners, paintings by a Protestant, and sculpture by an African, all in a coloured community at the height of apartheid in 1969. St Joseph’s was the first Christian church in Bosmont. The Bosmont Masjid mosque was completed in 1966 and St Luke’s Anglican church in 1972.

N international conference on human trafficking, convened by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, took place in Rome and was an opportunity to focus on practical implementation of the pastoral guidelines on trafficking. Sr Melanie O’Connor HF, of the counter-trafficking in persons office at the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, who attended the conference, said the power and passion which emanated from the round-table discussions expressed forcibly what the Church at all levels needs to engage in. “This we do, bearing in mind Pope Francis’ exhortations, that only a joint and global effort by all actors will dismantle and eradicate this inhuman activity. It be-

gins with reminding parents and family members about their role as first protectors against traffickers,” explained Sr O’Connor. “No doubt, the pope’s messages on human trafficking and the enormous importance he attaches to the plight of the men, women, and children enslaved by this ‘aberrant plague’, an ‘open wound on the body of contemporary society’, came sharply into focus,” she said. Two hundred participants from Church organisations and representatives of bishops’ conferences reflected on Pope Francis’ booklet Pastoral Orientations on Human Trafficking, and looked to turn his call into concrete actions. Sr O’Connor said delegates were urged to denounce illegal practices and engage in initiatives to work towards fairness and justice for all. She said this also means working to enhance

legal pathways for migrants and asylum seekers landing on our doorsteps, many of whom easily fall prey to traffickers. “We were reminded that the work of raising awareness on human trafficking must begin at home, so too, the work of growing a healthy respect for one’s own body and that of another,” the South African nun said. “While we may speculate on the shamefulness of slavery or the oppression of another, little do we think that ultimately it is the demand for certain services, such as sexual pleasure, that makes exploitation possible,” Sr O’Connor noted. “If there were no demand, we would not have the terrible problem of young women, especially, landing up on our streets and in brothels and thrown out when they are no longer of use to their ‘slave owners,’” she said.

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the southern Cross, May 22 to May 28, 2019

INTERNATIONAL

Vatican: Days of hiding abuse are over By Carol Glatz

OPE Francis’ new norms on protecting minors and strengthening accountability are the latest steps in driving home the message that the days of keeping abuse allegations covered up or ignored are over, said the Vatican’s top abuse investigator. In the past, some people may have thought they were protecting the Church by remaining silent, but that behaviour was never acceptable, Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, adjunct secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said. “The good of the Church requires condemnation to the proper authorities when it comes to abuse of minors and abuses of power,” he said. The archbishop spoke to reporters about Pope Francis’ latest apostolic letter, Vos estis lux mundi (“You are the light of the world”) at a news conference at the Vatican. The new document establishes and clarifies norms and procedures for holding bishops and religious superiors accountable when it comes to safeguarding minors as well as abuses carried out against adults with violence, threats or an abuse of authority. The new norms are important, Archbishop Scicluna said, because they clearly tell people they have an obligation to report already existing crimes, negligence and inappropriate behaviour to Church authorities. That obligation “has always been there, but experience shows us that either a closed-shop mentality or a misplaced interest in protecting the institution was hindering disclosure”, he said. The now-universal law of mandating all clerics, as well as men and women religious, to report to the competent ecclesiastical authorities the abuses of which they become aware is important, the archbishop said, “because it makes

Pope Francis prays in front of a candle in memory of victims of sexual abuse at st Mary’s pro-cathedral in Dublin. the pope has revised and clarified norms and procedures for holding bishops and religious superiors accountable in protecting minors. (Photo: Paul Haring/CNs) disclosure the main policy of the Church”. Procedures have already been in place when it comes to accusations of abuse of minors by priests, so the new norms address what to do when the accused is a bishop, cardinal, patriarch or religious superior and how accusations against leadership of abuse or misconduct must be reported. For example, “if a priest uses force with an adult, it’s the bishop who takes that case”, Archbishop Scicluna said. But “when a person in leadership is guilty of misconduct, the jurisdiction pertains to the Holy See”, he said. The new norms and clear procedures, particularly with their emphasis on having an impartial investigation of leaders, send the message that “no leadership is above the law”.

“There is no immunity” from God’s law and canon law, he added. When asked if victims will be pleased with the new laws, the archbishop said, “Victims will be satisfied if the laws give rise to a new culture.” “I would never go to a person who has suffered, give them a piece of paper and say that we have fixed everything. People need concrete responses and action, which is why “I am telling people, ‘Help the pope so that his desire to prevent abuse becomes a reality in your dioceses.’” The new norms will not fix everything, he added, but they do send “a very strong message that disclosure is the order of the day, and not silence”. It is also the first time “compliance with state laws” concerning the abuse of minors gets placed in the realm of the Church’s universal law, the archbishop said. Even though the doctrinal congregation’s circular letter in 2011 made it clear the Church must obey civil laws regarding abuse and reporting, the new apostolic letter “ratifies in a universal law” that mandate to respect civil requirements. “No form of loyalty to the Church must keep citizens from obeying their nation,” Archbishop Scicluna said, “because in the past we have had very sad cases where people said, ‘Let’s not talk, we want to protect the Church.’” “This is a no-go,” he said, “It is not acceptable” because the good of the Church requires truth and transparency, which includes respecting civil law, he said, adding that he hoped people felt “empowered to go to the police” to denounce a crime. Church and local authorities should be working together tirelessly to combat abuse against minors because it has always been a crime for society and the Church, the archbishop said.—CNS

the Virgin Mary on the Ghent altar, created around 1430 by Jan van eyck. a group calling itself Maria 2.0 has called for a strike to protest the sidelining of women in the Church. (Photo: Wikimedia).

‘Church strike’ for women’s ordination

T least one bishop has offered his support for a week-long “Church strike” organised by German Catholic women, during which participants organised their own prayer services rather than attending Mass. Calling itself “Maria 2.0” the initiative issued an open letter to Pope Francis, which called for the ordination of women, and claimed “men of the Church only tolerate one woman in their midst: Mary”. “We want to take Mary off her pedestal and into our midst, as a sister facing our direction,” the letter said. The initiative launched a website of the same name which features paintings of Mary and other women with their mouths taped over. The campaign has met with considerable criticism from German Catholics. But several Church representatives have gone public in support of “Maria 2.0”. The official news portal of the Catholic Church in Germany provided broad coverage of the call for a strike. It also reported that Bishop Franz-Josef Bode of Osnabrück supported the campaign. Bishop Bode, who leads the Commission on Women in the German

bishops’ conference, told press agency EPD that while he regrets the strikers did not attend Mass, he believes it important to acknowledge the impatience of “many women in the Catholic Church” and their feelings of “deep hurt” for not being adequately appreciated for their contribution. Bishop Bode said that while he does not believe women will be ordained priests in the near future, the Church could soon ordain them as deacons. Referencing the abuse crisis as a reason for the urgent need for change, the group’s letter to Pope Francis makes a range of demands, from the abolition of “mandatory celibacy” to an “updating” of the Church’s teaching on sexual morality and the ordination of women to “all ministries”—including the orders of deacon, priest and bishop. In an interview published on the official website of the archdiocese of Paderborn, vicar-general Fr Alfons Hardt praised the organisers of the campaign as women who are “concerned about the sustainability of their Church”. Fr Hardt said “this is a motivation that I value highly”, even though the campaign might also create division.—CNA

sa’s National Catholic Weekly Newspaper

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INTERNATIONAL

the southern Cross, May 22 to May 28, 2019

No ruling: Pope allows Church attacks in pilgrims to Medjugorje Europe rise sharply V P By CINDy WooDeN

ARISHES and dioceses are now allowed to organise official pilgrimages to Medjugorje, BosniaHerzegovina, but it must be clear that the Catholic Church has not recognised as authentic the alleged Marian apparitions there. Alessandro Gisotti, the interim director of the Vatican press office, confirmed the change, but said care must be taken to ensure the pilgrimages are not “interpreted as an authentication of well-known events, which still require examination by the Church”. Therefore, he said, Church-sponsored pilgrimages must “avoid creating confusion or ambiguity from the doctrinal point of view”. In 1981, six young people from Medjugorje claimed that Mary had appeared to them. Some of the six say Mary still appears to them and gives them messages each day, while others say they see her only once a year now. Diocesan commissions studied the alleged apparitions from 19821984 and again from 1984-1986, and the then-Yugoslavian bishops’ conference studied them from 19871990. All three commissions concluded that they could not affirm that a supernatural event was occurring in the town. In 2010, retired Pope Benedict XVI established a papal commission to study the alleged apparitions. The

Pilgrims pray on apparition Hill in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Pope Francis has decided to allow parishes and dioceses to organise official pilgrimages to Medjugorje; no decision has been made on the authenticity of the apparitions. (CNs photo/Paul Haring) commission’s report has not been made public, although some of its points were revealed after Pope Francis spoke about the commission’s work. Pope Francis acknowledged that pilgrims to the Marian site deserve spiritual care and support, but he also expressed doubts about claims that the apparitions have continued for more than 35 years. During his flight to Rome from Fatima, Portugal, in May 2017, the pope told journalists that, regarding

Brazil’s ‘Mother Teresa’

OPE Francis advanced the sainthood cause of Bl Dulce Lopes Pontes, the “Mother Teresa” of Brazil. The pope recognised the miracle needed for the canonisation of the Brazilian nun, who was a member of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. She was known to Brazilian Catholics as Sr Dulce, the mother of the poor. She founded the first Catholic workers’ organisation in the state of Bahia, started a health clinic for poor workers, and opened a school for working families and an orphanage and care centres for the elderly and disabled. She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by then-President José

Bl Dulce lopes Pontes Sarney in 1988. St John Paul II met her in 1980 during his first trip to Brazil and, in 1991, he visited her in the hospital. She died in 1992 at the age of 77 with tens of thousands attending her funeral and even more gathering for her beatification in 2011.—CNS

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the Medjugorje commission’s work, “three things need to be distinguished”. “About the first apparitions, when the ‘seers’ were young, the report more or less says that the investigation needs to continue,” the pope said, according to the English translation posted on the Vatican website. “Concerning the alleged current apparitions, the report expresses doubts,” he said. Furthermore, “Personally, I am more ‘mischievous’. I prefer Our Lady to be a mother, our mother, and not a telegraph operator who sends out a message every day at a certain time—this is not the mother of Jesus.” Pope Francis said his “personal opinion” is that “these alleged apparitions have no great value”. The “real core” of the commission’s report, he said, is “the spiritual fact, the pastoral fact” that thousands of pilgrims go to Medjugorje and are converted. “For this there is no magic wand; this spiritual-pastoral fact cannot be denied.” The decision to allow organised pilgrimages, banned by the local bishops in 1991 and confirmed by the Vatican in 1996, recognises the need to provide spiritual accompaniment and care to the tens of thousands of Catholics who travel to Medjugorje each year, Gisotti said. It also is a recognition of the “abundant fruits of grace” those pilgrims have experienced.—CNS

By sIMoN CalDWell

ANDALS and thieves have damaged at least eight Christian churches in Germany since early April. Churches have also been attacked, apparently at random, in Scotland, England, France, Poland, Spain, Italy and Austria. The cases were logged by the Vienna-based Observatory of Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe, an independent organisation founded with the help of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences. Police in Freiburg, Germany, are investigating a series of thefts from Catholic churches in RheinfeldenNollingen, Schworstadt, and Bad Sackingen. The Nollingen church was hit twice by thieves. In early May, vandals defaced a wall of the Herz-Jesu Catholic church in Winnweiler with graffiti; the Evangelical Lutheran City church in Rudolstadt was daubed with paint, and a paving stone was thrown through the window of a chapel in Morbach-Hoxel. At least nine windows were smashed at a church in Wilhelmshaven, a fire was started at a church in Nienborg, and terror threats were made against churches marking the Armenian genocide in Stuttgart and Frankfurt, causing the events to be cancelled. The Observatory of Intolerance and Discrimination Against Chris-

tians in Europe also reported continued attacks on churches in France, despite the national outpouring of grief that followed the fire that devastated Notre Dame cathedral. Since the blaze, a statue of the Virgin Mary has been decapitated in the village of Marlhes, and a statue of St Barbe, the patron of firefighters, was removed from a glass case outside a church in Belle-Roche and smashed. The words Allah u Akbar were written across the door of the church of Notre-Dame-du-Taur in Toulouse; consecrated hosts were stolen from the church of SaintGermain in Brion-pres-Thouet; a fire was started in the sacristy of a church of Equihen-Plage; and thieves stole a crucifix and candlesticks from the church of Saint-Germain-des-Pres in Paris. From February to March, at least 10 other churches in France were hit, with some set on fire while others were severely desecrated or damaged. In early May, vandals repeatedly targeted an Anglican church in Copthorne, England, while in late April in Glasgow, Scotland, two Catholic churches were targeted by vandals. Anti-Catholic slogans were painted on a bus stop outside Holy Family church and vandals entered the sanctuary of St Simon’s church, smashing a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and overturning a Marian shrine.—CNS

the southern Cross, May 22 to May 28, 2019

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

West destroying Judeo-Christian heritage?

Editor: Günther Simmermacher Guest editorial: Michael Shackleton

For the people

ITH South Africa’s 2019 general elections behind us, it would not be inappropriate to ponder again the Church’s expectations of the newly elected government. Our bishops have once more pointedly underlined the need for political parties to put the country first and to develop effective measures to arrest the collapse of the economy and the looting of state resources. They have done so because of the patent weaknesses of the governing party in the past, which have bewildered the man and the woman in the street who have twigged at last that it is their taxpayers’ contributions to the state that have been squandered by ruthless individuals for personal gain. Corruption, in other words. Our bishops go along with traditional Catholic social teaching which promotes the principle that God is to be found in the person rather than in the power of political ideologies and groupings. It is persons, collectively and individually, who go to the polls to choose their representatives in a democratic dispensation. The Christian intuition senses the justice of God in all political contestations, and assesses their moral relevance to all citizens who have equal democratic rights before the law. The classic description of a democratic system is the one taken from Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address in 1863. Lincoln called it “government of the people, by the people, for the people”. This phrase may be interpreted in various ways but the important emphasis right now

is “for the people”. Judging by the demonstrations and unsettling statistics of poverty and joblessness facing the incoming president and his party, the people have not been well served. “For the people” means that the good of all citizens is taken into account by the governing party. This may have the appearance of wishful thinking in the present climate but it remains the bedrock principle not only of a Catholic worldview but also of a legitimately elected government. Members of parliament aim to pass laws and supervise the just and smooth caring of the land and its peoples. We expect them to work together for the common good in spite of their party allegiances. Inside or outside of their parliamentary benches we want them, once they have cleared the air after their wrangling and polemics, to agree to get on with the work they were elected to do. It is surely time, as the ostensible “new dawn” lights our common society’s sky, to show more respect for political opponents and stop giving the impression that they are enemies or traitors. The South African political landscape requires a deeper comprehension of what it means that we are all citizens of one nation under God. There will always be divisions and favouritisms of many sorts, but South Africa, the country we love and live in, is crying out for less posturing and more visible and sincere determination among parliamentarians to work together so that rich and poor get their share of what this promising country has to offer. May the government at last be not so much for the party but “for the people”.

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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.

ECENT events have given me cause for reflection and concern. Are we in the West in the process of destroying our 2 000-year-old Judeo-Christian civilisation? Is Pope Francis abandoning Our Lord’s invocation, “No one comes to the Father except through me”, when he exchanges a kiss with the Grand Imam of Cairo in Abu Dhabi and states that pluralism and diversity of religions are willed by God? Christianity is now the most persecuted religion in the world, with Christians 140 times more likely to be murdered for their faith in Muslim countries than Muslims are in Western Christian countries. It would be a disaster if we lost our Christian values: in France already the usual suspects are suggesting that the new Notre Dame have “multi-faith” elements, minarets to be specific. Do you ever envisage a multi-faith mosque? The carnage in Sri Lanka left 300 dead, yet the BBC at first suggested Buddhists were responsible! Surely attacks on Christians by suicide bombers would suggest the perpetrators more likely to be the fanatics responsible for the vast majority of terrorist outrages in the world? Compare the overwhelming reaction of Western leaders and liberal media to the murders in Christchurch—everyone was happy

Keeping Southern Cross alive

HE editorial “A question of survival” (May 1) refers. In conversation with a Catholic priest some years ago, he mentioned that the growth and understanding of the faith of a parish can be measured by the number of issues of The Southern Cross sold. He added that his parish consisted of more than 1 000 families of upper-and middleclass status. Only 20 issues were sold per week. For many Catholics, The Southern Cross remains a source of Christian formation. But in all the years that I have attended Sunday Mass at my parish and other Catholic churches in the diocese of Port Elizabeth, no mention has ever been made of the Catholic weekly from the pulpit. This may explain why: • Many Catholics do not know the price of The Southern Cross. • Many Catholics do not know of the existence of The Southern Cross. • Many Catholics have never read The Southern Cross. • Many Catholics only read about their Church in the secular newspapers and for all the wrong reasons.

Catholic news that COUNTS Print or Digital

ven from our pulpits we are told that Islam is a religion of peace followed by millions and millions of pacific souls, and the violent acts carried out are by a minuscule number of extremists and have nothing to do with the religion itself. There are indeed millions of peaceable Muslims but the gap between them and the extremists is not as wide as portrayed by Western liberals. Published polls have suggested that one in four British Mus-

• Many Catholic priests do not read The Southern Cross and dismiss the newspaper as irrelevant. The suggestion by Antonio Tonin in the same issue (May 1) that the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference authorise a yearly special collection to ensure the survival of The Southern Cross needs to be considered. We need to be mindful of the following too: 1. Churchgoers who arrive late for Mass or leave in a rush will definitely not buy The Southern Cross. 2. If the seller of The Southern Cross is not stationed at a strategic position, no sale will take place. 3. If the parish and diocesan clergy are not interested in The Southern Cross, sales will obviously drop. 4. If the parish is on a fundraising programme, The Southern Cross will not be mentioned. The time to preserve our only Catholic weekly is now. Dominic Sam, Port Elizabeth

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HE article “Communities speak out on sexual abuse” by Raymond Perrier (May 1) refers.

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to say it was terrorism, and that Muslim believers had been targeted. They also readily identified the poisonous ideology behind the Christchurch attack: racism, Islamophobia and white supremacy. After the Sri Lanka massacres, of 20 world leaders’ and ex-leaders’ responses, no one mentioned the victims were Christians and no one mentioned the word Islam. So in one attack we were enjoined to stand in solidarity with the victim group and to condemn the ideology behind the attack, while in the other the victim group was not named nor was the ideology for the attack. For fear of being howled at as Islamophobic, or guilty of a hate crime, we simply can’t state the plain and simple fact that the murders in Sri Lanka were carried out by Muslims in the name of Islam.

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lims thought the 7/7 attacks were justified, 37% of British Muslims thought Jews were a “legitimate” target, and only 57% of Muslims disapproved of Al Qaeda. We condemn Israel and shut down diplomatic relations with the only country in the region that protects Christians and its citizens from murderous Islamic terrorists avowed to eliminate Jews and wipe Israel off the face of the earth. We have bought into the liberal ploy of supporting the perpetrator and condemning the victim. We are silent at the butchering of Christians by Boko Haram in Nigeria and at the atrocities in the Sudan, not to mention the burning of Coptic Churches in Egypt. You cannot separate Islam from the horrors carried out in its name, nor the appalling treatment of women, gays, apostates and Christians in Islamic states. Islam as it is practised today is neither tolerant nor peaceable. Yet Pope Francis embraces a Grand Imam as a gesture of pluralism, a gesture that symbolises the abandonment of Catholic doctrine and values, and the destruction of our Judeo-Christian Western culture. I am sad. Michael Bouchier, Stanford, Western Cape

Here we are in the midst of the never-ending sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. An ecumenical meeting was held in Durban to address sexual and gender-based violence in South Africa. Yet, the archdiocese of Durban appointed no one to attend—no lay woman or lay man, religious Sister, deacon or priest. Nor did either of the two bishops attend. Why? No priest of the diocese attended in his personal capacity. Russell Pollitt SJ of the Jesuit Institute was present as a speaker. This absence sends a strong message that these issues are not important to the leadership of the archdiocese of Durban. Sr Sue Rakoczy, St Joseph’s Theological Institute, Cedara, KZN 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

the southern Cross, May 22 to May 28, 2019

PERSPECTIVES

The Church cannot sell God as a product

‘W

HAT do you want to be remembered for?” This was the question my wife recently asked me during our fortnightly date. At first I couldn’t answer the question, but it got me to think deeper regarding the basis of where the question was coming from. With much anxiety I am working tirelessly to get my career to where I desire it to be, but often things don’t work out the way they should. From my entertainment brand to my radio career and other projects I have in the pipeline, it seems like I am a little busy bee suckling on every flower without producing much honey. So, as I waste time scrolling through Facebook posts and stalking my favourite influencers on Instagram, the clock ticks and so does my life. I am getting older each day, and I needed to reflect even more on that question my wife asked me. During quiet time, prayer and meditation, I contemplated what I’d want to be remembered for. I came to the conclusion that I would like to be remembered for making a difference in someone’s life. I may have the ability and opportunity to engage with hundreds upon thousands of people through my entertainment and broadcast careers, but I would like to change just that one person’s life and have them add that value to the lives of others as well. As the Church modernises and evolves, and struggles too with that anxiety of where we would like to see it, how much of a real influence are we as a Church community on the lives of others? Are we truly adding value to the lives of the faithful or are our Sunday Masses, our services, our youth sessions and spiritual experiences dull, boring and lacking a sense of spiritual nourishment and encounter? What, fundamentally, if the world would come to an end tomorrow, would we as Church be remembered for? In our daily lives, living the faith can be difficult, but I think we disable ourselves

by not catechising ourselves through reading and asking faith-related questions and assisting others with their journey of faith or conversion. We don’t read the Bible nearly as much as we should, we don’t take the proper time to pray as a family, and if many of us look at our lives, we live so far away from being authentically Christlike. There is a particular exercise I do with youth at schools where they look into a magnified mirror of themselves and have to say what they see. Forget the pimples, the blemishes, the scars from the past, but what they really see is the challenge. By looking in the mirror, we need to, as a Church, see ourselves for who we really are, authentically. Yes, we are a weak and broken people, we have hurt others, we have been hurt ourselves, we are not perfect, but when we go into our places of work, school and study, what will we be remembered for? As the Church shifts with the times, sadly it seems like the authenticity of what makes us truly Catholic is lost in a cat-andmouse chase of wanting to discard our orthodoxy to be hipper and more appealing but we are losing our sense of identity in the process.

the Church needs to change for the better, but it’s like we are hiding behind a mask, pretending to be who we are not, writes Keenan Willams.

Keenan Williams

talking Faith

I am not a traditionalist in any sense; I love, and I embrace, the Holy Spirit renewing and changing the Church. I embrace Pope Francis challenging archaic structures and traditions which can be changed. But we need to change for the better. It’s like we are hiding behind a mask, pretending to be who we are not. I myself hid behind many masks after being bullied at school, but I needed to learn to find my own voice, to find my true identity, and to be fully authentic not only with others but with myself as well. So, are we truly the Church we say we are, the people on our knees in service of one another, our hands raised in thanksgiving, our heads bowed in adoration, our shoulders there to be cried upon, our arms to give a warm embrace, our hands to do the work of God, our mouths to profess his love, and our hearts to show his mercy? I read an article online a few weeks back, and in it the author wrote that many millennials are leaving the Church not because of a lack of cool, but because of a lack of authenticity. We are living a faith of pretence trying to sell God off as a product, not realising that what could perhaps set us apart could be that relationship we have with Christ and the relationships we build with one another. We need to be a Church living the faith, moving, shifting, being an example of what it means to be a Church which lives, breathes and has its being because of the Holy Spirit leading it through each one of us. It’s time to take the faith into our homes, our friendship circles, our places of work and the world at large, and be witnesses to the love of who God is within us.

Drugs: Opening the door to demons Ani Joseph Arinze

HERE is a major gateway through which our world suffers pains from the plans and agendas of the pit of hell. It is fast-growing, getting more popular and powerful; and yet is very silent as a major source of the problem of the world today. It is drugs. Drugs like cocaine, marijuana, heroine and the like, are all number-one entry points of demons into people’s lives Any country, province, state or community where drugs thrive will be a place that will always experience violence, assassinations, killings and all kinds of oppressions and wickedness. The doorway of those demons (the demon of destruction, the demon of violence, the demon of rape, etc) is the evil of drugs. Many people will twist the appearance of things to defend their actions and try to convince others that drugs like marijuana are from nature created by God. God did not create drugs. Don’t let them fool you by saying, “All those leaves were created by God, therefore you can take it,” No! Something went wrong the moment Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. Some things that God did not create originally came into existence the moment God cursed the ground because of mankind’s fall. “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy

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Drugs are a doorway for demons to enter people’s lives and communities, says ani arinze. sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field” (Genesis 3:17-18). Thorns and thistles were never part of God’s creation. And in this context the Bible was not referring to a literal thorn, it was referring to the consequential fruits the cursed ground shall bear forth, of which, today’s drugs are a major example. Therefore scripture is saying that all sources of drugs will bring thorns to us to pierce and cause severe pain and moments of sadness in our lives, families and society at large. These thorns and leaves have become a strong channel of demonic entrances into the human soul. Those who feed off of these thorns and thistles have damaged lives. Sometimes

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they are out of their minds, sometimes they speak to unseen beings, and most of them end up in psychiatric hospitals, because their souls have been trapped in an evil dimension by Satan. A man who takes drugs will always be absent in mind; will always have an immediate astral projection where his soul will be removed from his conscious control into another dimension where he will begin to behold demonic attitudes and ideas and converse with invisible and inhuman powers. Drugs are a link to the realms of darkness, and when you begin to converse with demons they will always destroy you; they will destroy your mind and body and break your sense of reasoning as a child of God. Preach it out loud as much as you can, and at all times, for the faithful to stay away from drugs of any kind because they are the mightiest and strongest doorway of demons. Christ died that we all might be made free from the consequences of the sins of Adam. Therefore let us equally stay away from the thorns and thistles of this world for they are the best fighting plan the devil has left against mankind.

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Pope Francis has asked us to pray for modesty and humility of life among the clergy.

Chris Chatteris SJ

Pray with the Pope

Evangelisation: That priests, through the modesty and humility of their lives, commit themselves actively to a solidarity with those who are most poor. HE Gospel is part of the “gift economy”, that alternative to the profit economy in which we get things for free. The “gift economy” is normally associated with traditional societies where people give each other free gifts in order to spread wealth around the community, maintain equality and encourage the virtue of generosity. The ‘gift economy’ also reminds us that in the final analysis, everything that we receive in life is a gift of God mediated through nature. The “gift economy” still exists in often unnoticed ways in the modern world in things like blood donation, freeware and freecycling. There is also a vast amount of fundraising that goes on for NGOs and other humanitarian organisations. Little of this is recorded in our GDP and yet it is very significant and for some people means the difference between life and death. The Gospel ought to stand out in the ‘gift economy’. It ought to be noticed. When people meet the bringer of the Gospel, they should be able immediately to recognise the presence of the Lord who charged precisely nothing for his preaching and healing, who had “nowhere to lay his head” and who relied on the free gifts of others for his support. The hearers of the Gospel understand that the “labourer is worthy of his hire” and that the minister of the Gospel cannot live on air, but if there is the least hint of entrepreneurship in the ministry, they are sure to be scandalised. If the Gospel is made into a marketable product, a commodity to be bought and sold, it ceases to be the Gospel. Hence the need for that “modesty and humility” of life among the clergy for which the Pope asks us to pray. We often fall short of course. There is the story of the priest who drove a Mercedes. When his fellow priests pulled his leg about his luxury vehicle, he replied that he often had to take the Blessed Sacrament to the sick and he reasoned that “nothing is too good for the Lord”! A smart reply, but the obvious riposte would be to point out that the best transport the Lord could muster was a donkey. The rest of the time he went about on foot. No horses or chariots for him, the equivalents in his day of the Mercedes or the BMW. Members of religious orders might hear this tale with a touch of smugness since “holy poverty” would probably usually ensure that a religious would drive something a little more modest. But many a diocesan priest who has to struggle to make ends meet has repeated the jibe that “religious take a vow of poverty but the diocesan clergy live it”. Indeed, we religious can become quite comfortable thanks to the hidden subsidies of common life and we can certainly feel less of a sense of responsibility around the issue of money when we know that there is a Father or Sister Moneybags (the Bursar) looking after such mundane matters. The Gospel should be offered for free, but the labourer needs to be supported. I like the picture of St Paul using his skill and manual labour as a tentmaker to subsidise his work as an evangelist. Many of our permanent deacons do this “tent-making ministry” all the time, supporting themselves out of their own labour. Perhaps more priests should live like St Paul and do appropriate paying jobs, such as teaching or counselling, to support them in their ministry.

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the southern Cross, May 22 to May 28, 2019

COMMUNITY

assumption Convent school in Germiston, Johannesburg, hosted a “Dads and Daughters Day”, with team sports, talks and prayers. Fathers were addressed by Christo te Brake on the importance of their roles in their daughters’ lives, especially in today’s challenging society. Daughters were given a talk by stacey Hopebailie on respect, with practical ideas of how to show love in everyday life. the dads and daughters then had private talks with each other, and were led in a special prayer.

Holy rosary Primary school in edenvale, Johannesburg, announced its 2019 leaders at the end of the first term. they are (from left) Nicola McDonald, deputy head of the foundation phase (Grades r-3); Victoria Ntsekhe, deputy head of religion; Madison James, headgirl; and angelique shewring, deputy dead of the intersen phase (Grades 4 to7).

a large number of rCIa candidates were received into the Catholic Church at our lady of Vailankanni parish in Chatsworth, Durban. they are pictured with parish priest Fr emmanuel Grant and several facilitators. (submitted by Jennifer Moonilal)

CBC st John’s Parklands in Cape town celebrated the First Communion of a group of pupils at school on the feast day of founder Bl edmund rice.

two members of the Catholic Women’s league in Bluff, Durban, turned 90. the branch held a celebratory event for Betty Williams and Gloria Glenn, both honorary life members of the CWl.

Holy Family College in Glenmore hosted the Durban Coastal Junior debates event. the other schools participating were Maris stella, Brettonwood and ridge Park College. Members of the debating teams are pictured.

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the Dominicans at emmaus Convent in east london celebrated the jubilees of six sisters. (Front from left) sr Claver Maier (platinum jubilee) and sr Mary Kewuti (golden jubilee). (Back from left) srs seraphia Pichlmeier, salesia Nzimande and Bernita Maier (all diamond jubilees). sr Juliana sepiriti was absent because of ill health. Bishop Vincent zungu was the main celebrant, assisted by eight priests.

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archbishop stephen Brislin is pictured with three prenovices of the Nazareth sisters (Josee, Nancy and Juliana), after the Chrism Mass on Holy thursday at our lady Help of Christians in lansdowne, Cape town. (submitted by sr anne Margaret Craig)

the southern Cross, May 22 to May 28, 2019

SCRIPTURE

Six more appearances of Risen Christ After being raised from the dead, Jesus Christ made several appearances, as Scripture recounts. In his second article, GüNtHer sIMMerMaCHer looks at six more of them.

AST week we encountered the Risen Lord on four occasions: to Mary Magdalene at the tomb, to Peter at a place and time we don’t know, to the two followers on the road to Emmaus, and on Easter evening to the disciples in the Upper Room. Today we return to the Upper Room, then follow the Risen Christ to Galilee, and return to Jerusalem.

Encounter 5: Eight days after Easter Thomas is the desperado of the remaining Eleven. He didn’t hide in the Upper Room a week ago, and when the others told him that they had met Jesus risen from the dead, Thomas might have wondered— metaphorically, of course—what these guys had been smoking. “Unless I can see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe,” he pronounced, reasonably enough. Eight days after those first four appearances of the Risen Lord, Thomas is reunited with the disciples in the Upper Room. Then Christ appears and calls his bluff. We know the story well: Thomas sees the wounds and believes. Jesus then scolds him gently: “You believe because you can see me. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” (Jn 20:25-19). The Upper Room is an important place in the birth of Christ’s Church. It is here that he instituted the Eucharist at the Last Supper, here that he appeared twice to the disciples, and here that the Holy Spirit descended on the first Pentecost. We know that the Upper Room was on Mount Zion, which then was within the walls of Jerusalem, but we can’t claim to know for sure the exact location. The original building has long disappeared, but pilgrims remember these events in a Crusader structure called the Cenacle. We might not be sure that the Cenacle is the real location of the Upper Room, which in Jesus’ time probably was the banquet room of an inn. But archaeologists have found ancient pavements beneath the complex which houses the Cenacle. Etched into one piece of plaster on the pavement is the line: ‘O Jesus, that I may live…’ They have also found what appears to be a first-century house church, and these often were built on sites considered holy. This would indicate that this might indeed be the location of these history-changing events.

Encounter 6: Meeting James The exact timeline and geography is becoming a little unclear here. St Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians makes a number of brief references to post-Resurrection

the appearances of the risen Christ: (from left) the rock on which the risen Chrust reputedly served the fish breakfast, inside the chapel of st Peter’s Primacy in tabgha, at the sea of Galilee • the eremos cave on the slopes of the Mount of Beatitudes • the Upper room on Mount zion, today a Crusader structure. (Photos: Günther simmermacher) appearances. As we are about to see, the exact sequence of these as listed by Paul might be jumbled, not that this matters much to the point Paul is making. One of the appearances Paul mentions is to Jesus’ half-brother (or kinsmen of some kind) James, who seems to have been as much a sceptic about Jesus’ divinity as you might be if your goofy brother or cousin went about claiming that he was the Son of God. Meeting the Risen Christ persuades James, who proceeds to take on the leadership of the Church in Jerusalem—and later suffers execution at the hands of the high priest.

Encounter 7: The fish breakfast in Galilee Paul refers to a mass gathering attended by many still-living witnesses as the first of the Galilean post-Resurrection appearances, but before that, surely there was the third meeting with the disciples. John’s account of Christ’s meeting with the seven fishing disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee suggests that this encounter was totally unexpected, which it wouldn’t have been had it been preceded by mass gatherings. The narrative of this encounter is beautifully told by John (21:1-17), and we heard it just a few weeks ago at Mass. Peter casually tells his friends: “I’m going fishing.” They say, “Cool, we’ll tag along.” And off they go for a night of fruitless fishing. Just another boring night on the lake. As the sun rises a fellow on the shore tells them to cast the net starboard. The trick works. When Peter realises it is Christ who has been offering good fishing advice from the shore, he gets dressed (for he likely was bare in the water) and swims towards the Lord, leaving the others to collect the rich harvest of fish. Having fed the disciples with the fish breakfast he made for them, Jesus entrusts the Church to St Peter with the words, “Feed my sheep.” But before he does that, he has Peter swear a triple oath of love, an echo of the triple denial outside the Sanhedrin. Had they not cleared the air already during Encounter 2? The whole scene took place at Tabgha, very near to the setting of another story of feeding, involving two loaves of bread and five fish. Tabgha is named after seven springs which fishermen throughout the centuries have used to clean their nets with fresh water. The rock on which Jesus reputedly served the breakfast is inside a small chapel built of black basalt

stone, named St Peter’s Primacy. Next to the church is a boulder on which, according to tradition, Jesus stood as he offered his excellent fishing tips to those professional fishermen. That rock is known as Mensa Christi (Christ’s Table).

Encounter 8: To 500 witnesses We can now return to Paul, and his claim that the Risen Lord appeared “to more than 500 of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still with us, though some have fallen asleep”. Note how Paul is daring the people of Corinth to question these numerous witnesses, just about 25 years after the events he describes. That is recent enough to call on witnesses. Couldn’t you today locate witnesses of Nelson Mandela’s inauguration as South Africa’s president? Or people who were at Pope John Paul II’s 1995 Mass in Johannesburg? Paul doesn’t tell us where this mass meeting took place, but many Holy Land scholars think that the crowds might have gathered at the foot of the Mount of Beatitudes, which rises near Tabgha. The famous sermon from Matthew’s Gospel is commemorated on the top of that bluff, but more likely it was delivered (probably in more than one part) from a cave on the mount’s slope, known as Eremos, from where the acoustics echo clearly to the street below. It is quite possible that the Risen Lord returned to this natural theatre when he appeared to the crowd of 500-plus people. We are still with Paul, who runs through post-Resurrection appearances at breakneck speed. He makes a distinction between Christ’s appearances to the Twelve (when they were 11), who were appointed the inner cabinet of the Nazarene’s movement, and that to “all the apostles”, which probably

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Encounter 10: Ascension The disciples are back in Jerusalem, and the Risen Lord has gathered them on the Mount of Olives (for the location, see page 10). The poor guys have no idea what more extraordinary stuff they will be witness to next. But for now, Christ is issuing instructions. He tells them to remain in Jerusalem and wait. “You will receive the power of the Holy Spirit which will come on you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judea and Samaria, and indeed to earth’s remotest end.” The disciples are attentively fol-

lowing the proceedings, possibly shrinking a little at the unfriendly reception they might receive in hostile Samaria. Just then, Acts tell us, “he was lifted up while they looked on, and a cloud took him from their sight”. We can picture these men staring open-mouthed at the sky, as Acts tells us, “when suddenly two men in white were standing beside them”. They sound a lot like the same rather prickly pair who sat at the tomb 40 days ago: “Why are you Galileans standing here looking into the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in the same way as you have seen him go to heaven.” So the disciples walk to their domicile, the place of the Upper Room, where Our Lady and others are waiting for them. A couple of weeks later, at the first Pentecost, the Church would be born there, in exactly the way Christ had promised.

Encounter 9: The inner circle

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refers to the broader group of Christ’s followers, among whom we’d likely find Mathias, who soon would join the leadership as the replacement for Judas Iscariot. These apostles are likely the “72 others” whom Jesus had sent out “ahead of him in pairs, to all the towns and places he himself would be visiting” (Lk 10:1).

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FAITH

Christ is gone to set up a place for us For the feast of the Ascension, Fr ralPH De HaHN reflects on the meaning of Christ’s physical departure from earth.

HE beautiful feast of the Ascension of our Lord into Heaven strikes a triumphant note to all believers. The Son of God returns to his heavenly Father: “Mission accomplished!” Yet, there is this undying mystery in this mission for “no one has gone up to heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven”(Jn 3:13). St Augustine (354-430) attempts to clarify this mystery by adding: “Jesus came down from heaven without leaving his heavenly Father, and went up, ascended into heaven without leaving us.” We recall the Lord’s departing words: “I am with you always, even till the end of the world” (Mt 28:20). Jesus returns to the Father with a joyful message of hope: “I am going to prepare a place for you, and after I have gone and prepared you a place, I shall return to take you with me, so that where I am you also may be” (Jn 14:2-3).

Now we briefly return to the day of the Resurrection. Jesus is speaking to Mary Magdalene: “Go, and tell the brothers I am ascending to my Father and to your Father, to my God and to your God” (Jn 20:17). Our liturgy gives us the scriptural texts of Mark 16:19 that “he was taken up into heaven”, with Luke adding that “he blessed the disciples, withdrew from them, and was carried up to heaven” (24:50). The Acts of the Apostles give us yet another interesting version: “He was lifted up while they looked on, and a cloud took him from their sight…and the angel spoke: ‘Why are you men from Galilee standing there and looking into the sky? This same Jesus will come back in the same way as you have seen him go there’” (1:9-11). So where is heaven? Many are led to believe that this mysterious heaven is a place beyond the clouds. We know that heaven is where God is; and he is infinite in every possible way—far beyond measure, outside time, not limited by any material structure; with no beginning, and no end. We must conclude that the whole earth and the awesome space even beyond the stars and the seemingly endless oceans are a small part of God’s heaven. He

came to earth to make heaven on earth. All our earthly humanity is, in fact, heaven-bound—but only through the doors of death. Let us not forget Jesus speaking to the blinded Saul outside the gates of Damascus: “Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9). He meant “my body, my Church”! Christ is clearly the head, and we the body. Surely the body cannot be separated from the head. He came to earth, as the son of Man, to express the Father’s love, and to make as sons and daughters of God; to heal and to redeem. With his dying breath, the crucified Redeemer made known that the scriptures had been fulfilled: “It is accomplished.” The ascension of Jesus reassures us that while we are now not with him in his glorious and brilliant Godhead, we are with him in prayer, faith, hope and loving. And although he is “raised above the clouds”, we, his members, still experience suffering on earth, as he had foretold. Heaven is closer than we can ever hope for or imagine. And the message of the Ascension offers us an overpowering hope and yearning for something inexplicably beautiful, for “I am going to prepare a place for you…” n Fr Ralph de Hahn is a priest of the archdiocese of Cape Town.

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HE Mount of Olives in Jerusalem marks at its foot the place of Jesus’ arrest, in the Garden of Gethsemane, and at the top the point where tradition places the Risen Christ ascending into heaven. Unlike most sacred shrines in the Holy Land, there is more than one credible claimant to the authentic location. Before Christianity was legalised in 313 AD, Jerusalem’s Christians used a cave near the summit of the Mount of Olives for gatherings and Mass. That cave was remembered as the place where Jesus taught the disciples the Lord’s Prayer, and it is still venerated as such in the Paternoster monastery complex. Initially, the Ascension was commemorated at that place as well. By the end of the 4th century, the pilgrim Egeria reported participating in a celebration of the Ascension a little further up the mount. In her description she mentions a footprint which tradition said was that of Jesus. That church, like most churches in the Holy Land, was destroyed by the Persians in 614. By the end of that century it was rebuilt. In 680, the pilgrim Bishop Arculf described what he saw: “A round building open to the sky, with three porticoes entered from the south. Eight lamps shone brightly at night through windows facing Jerusalem. Inside was a central edicule containing the footprints of Christ, plainly and clearly impressed in the dust, inside a railing.” And we will come to those footprints in a moment. In the 12th century, the Crusaders rebuilt the church on the

the reputed left footprint of Christ imprinted in a rock in the mosque-chapel of the ascension on Mount of olives, Jerusalem, seen right. (Photos: Günther simmermacher) ruins of the previous one. The huge Crusader church was built without a roof, open to the sky, the better to allow the risen Christ to ascend symbolically in perpetuity. After Saladin defeated the Crusaders in 1187, the basilica was at least partly demolished, with its exterior walls preserved, presumably to function as a fortification.

uslims regard Jesus as a prophet and share our belief in the Ascension, so they converted the edicule which marked the spot of the Ascension to a mosque. The bottom section of the structure we visit now is from the Crusader church, the upper part was built by Muslims. But it was never used as a mosque because great numbers of Christians came to venerate here, as they would through the centuries. In a show of admirable magnanimity, the Muslims built another mosque next door instead for their celebration of the Ascension. For the feast of the Ascension,

Christians are now allowed to set up altars in the courtyard of the chapel, for worship and celebration. The supposed footprints of Christ are preserved in a rock. What we can see now is the imprint of what vaguely resembles a left foot, the obvious implication being that the imprint was left by Christ’s Size 9 as he ascended. The tradition of the left footprint and a matching right one was documented, as mentioned earlier, in the 4th century. The other footprint was taken by Muslims; some say to the Dome of the Rock. n Günther Simmermacher is the author of The Holy Land Trek.

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Cardinal Fix It: Almoner’s job to model direct charity By CINDy WooDeN

he office of papal almoner has existed since early in the 13th century. While the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and Caritas Internationalis, along with national partners, are responsible for large-scale development, relief and advocacy projects, the almoner’s office is focused on person-to-person charity. The direct contact with the poor is so important to the Catholic Church that the papal almoner is one of a handful of top Vatican positions that is not suspended when a pope dies. As a sign of the Church’s constant love for the poor, the almoner is to continue his work “in accordance with the criteria employed during the pope’s lifetime”, say the rules governing the period between popes. Pairing both small- and largescale approaches to charity has been part of Catholic tradition

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DeaTH NOTiCeS

MULLaNY—sheila. Passed away May 12, 2019. a longserving associate of The Southern Cross. our condolences to her family. May she rest in peace.the board, editor and staff of The Southern Cross.

URING his visit to a centre offering respite and food to refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski followed a sign that said, “Broken? Fix it here.” The sign led to a shack where several refugees were working together to fix a bicycle, and one was trying to construct what looked like a coal stove out of large cans. The 55-year-old Polish cardinal holds the title of papal almoner, an ancient office devoted to mostly small, direct acts of almsgiving. “Fix it” could be the motto on Cardinal Krajewski’s coat of arms (instead, it is Misericordia, Mercy.) Twenty-four hours after returning to Rome from Greece, the cardinal went to a government building occupied by some 450 people, including close to 100 children. The power company had cut electricity to the building because no one was paying the bill. Cardinal Krajewski fixed it. While he did not explicitly admit to climbing down a manhole to reconnect the power, he has taken full responsibility for overriding the electric company’s decision to cut service to the building. And he knows it can have legal consequences.

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Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, visits the Hope and Peace Centre for refugees near the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of lesbos. Cardinal Krajewski has offered to pay the electricity bill after apparently reconnecting shut-off electricity at a building housing migrants in rome. (Photo: Vatican Media/CNs) for centuries. As then-Pope Benedict XVI wrote in his 2005 encyclical letter, Deus Caritas Est (God is Love): “Following the example given in the parable of the Good Samaritan, Christian charity is first of all the simple response to immediate needs and specific situations: feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for and healing the sick, visiting those in prison, etc.” While the Church’s charitable organisations must be professionally competent, he said, professionalism is not enough. “We are dealing with human beings, and human beings always need something more than technically proper care. They need humanity. They need heartfelt concern.”

ardinal Krajewski is not naive. He spent hours with government officials in Greece earlier this month trying to promote humanitarian visas for some of the 70 000 asylum-seekers in the country. But he spent more time in three camps on Lesbos and at three small, privately-run centres that offer migrants and refugees a place to relax, to get new clothes, to drink tea or coffee with their friends, to see a movie or borrow a book, and to watch their children on a playground. The cardinal gave little bags of sweets to the children and rosaries to the adults, although

the majority of them were Muslims. He also handed out small containers of dates and nuts, which the adults would eat when they broke their day’s Ramadan fast that evening. Pope Francis sent him to Lesbos with more than $100 000, mostly for Caritas Hellas, the Greek Catholic charity. But he had cash in his pockets, too, and he quietly made donations to the small charities assisting the refugees. One gift was met with stunned, open-mouthed gaping. Another elicited a spontaneous burst of tears. Cardinal Krajewski did not ask for grant proposals or budget reports or a future accounting of how the cash was spent. He saw people helping people in need and, in Pope Francis’ name, gave them resources to do more. Justice for the asylum-seekers is a big, long-term project. Personally showing them someone outside the camps knows they are there and sees them as human beings, not case numbers, requires presence, which is Cardinal Krajewski’s mission and is meant to be an example. As Pope Francis said on the first World Day of the Poor in 2017: “Drawing near to the poor in our midst will touch our lives. It will remind us of what really counts: to love God and our neighbour. Only this lasts forever, everything else passes away. What we invest in love remains, the rest vanishes.”—CNS

Liturgical Calendar Year C – Weekdays Cycle Year 1 Sunday May 26, 6th Sunday of Easter Acts 15:1-2, 22-29, Psalm 67:2-3, 5-6, 8, Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23, John 14:23-29 Monday May 27, St Augustine of Canterbury Acts 16:11-15, Psalm 149:1-6, 9, John 15:26--16:4 Tuesday May 28 Acts 16:22-34, Visitation of our lady Psalm 138:1-3, 7-8, John 16:5-11 Wednesday May 29, Bl Joseph Gerard Acts 17:15, 22--18:1, Psalm 148:1-2, 11-14, John 16:12-15

Thursday May 30 Acts 18:1-8, Psalm 98:1-4, John 16:16-20 Friday May 31, Visitation of Our Lady Zephaniah 3:14-18 or Romans 12:9-16, Responsorial psalm Isaiah 12:2-6, Luke 1:39-56 Saturday June 1, St Justin Acts 18:23-28, Psalm 47:2-3, 8-10, John 16:23-28 Sunday June 2, Ascension of Our Lord Acts 1:1-11, Psalm 47:2-3, 6-9, Hebrews 9:24-28; 10:19-23, Luke 24:46-53 ascension of our lord

SHieLDS—Doreen (Dee). Happy Birthday for May 29. For the past 100 years, you’ve been the strength that has supported us, as a mother, grandmother, greatgrandmother, aunt, greataunt, and as a friend to all. all we can say is thank you and Happy Birthday! With love—the shields, Balk, stott and roberts families.

me see everything and shows me the way to reach my ideal, you who gives me the divine gift to forgive and forget all the wrong that is done to me, and you who are in all instances of my life with me. I, in this short dialogue, want to thank you for everything, and affirm once more that I never want to be separated from you no matter how great the material desires may be. I want to be with you and my loved ones in your perpetual glory. to that end and submitting to God's holy will, I ask from you...(mention your favour). amen.

iN MeMORiaM

POTHieR—Bernard. remembered with great love and still so much part of our daily lives. With thanks for his guidance and blessings, Margaret, Mike and siobhain, Nicholas and Heide, rosanne and tiernan, grandchildren and extended family. May he intercede for peace and tolerance in our world. POTHieR—Bernard. Died May 24, 2011. eight years later still missed and fondly remembered by the staff of The Southern Cross and colleagues on the board of directors. WiNDVOGeL—Magdalene (née ackerman). In loving memory of my sister who was called home on May 24, 2013. years may have passed but you are always in my thoughts and constantly in my prayers. lovingly remembered by your sister Catherine (Cathy) and children.

PRaYeRS

MiRaCULOUS PRaYeR TO THe HOLY SPiRiT. Holy spirit, you who makes

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PaRiSH NOTiCeS

O HOLY ViRGiN, in the midst of your days of glory, do not forget the sorrows of this earth. Cast a merciful glance upon those who are suffering, struggling against difficulties, with their lips constant pressed against life’s bitter cup. Have pity on those who love each other and are separated. Have pity on our rebellious hearts. Have pity on our weak faith. Have pity on those we love. Have pity on those who weep, on those who pray, on those who fear. Grant hope and peace to all. amen.

PeRSONaL

aBORTiON WaRNiNG: the truth will convict a silent

Southern CrossWord solutions SOLUTIONS TO 864. ACROSS: 5 Dies, 7 Bernadette, 8 Able, 10 Iron fist, 11 Trance, 12 Kedron, 14 Well up, 16 Llamas, 17 Breviary, 19 Ages, 21 Ecumenical, 22 Star. DOWN: 1 Abba, 2 Infernal, 3 Advice, 4 At work, 5 Deaf, 6 Episcopate, 9 Borne fruit, 13 Dramatic, 15 Plague, 16 Laymen, 18 Veer, 20 Sold.

Our bishops’ anniversaries This week we congratulate: May 31: Bishop Emeritus Patrick Zithulele Mvemve of Klerksdorp on his 78th birthday

Word of the Week Vatican council: A meeting of bishops/Church elders to discuss doctrinal and pastoral needs of the Church. The most recent example was the Second Vatican Council, held in Rome (1962-65). Papal infallibility: The belief that a pope cannot err when he speaks in a formal capacity as head of the Church on matters of faith and morals. Infallibility was formally introduced at the First Vatican Council in 1870, and is rarely invoked. Tabernacle: The locked receptacle in a church (usually behind the altar) where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved. A red light indicates the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.

NeW PaRiSH NOTiCeS MOST WeLCOMe: If any parish notices listed are no longer valid, call us on 021 465-5007 or e-mail us at m.leveson@scross.co.za so that we can remove them. also, we’d welcome new notices from parishes across southern africa to run free in the classifieds. CaPe TOWN: a Holy Hour Prayer for Priests is held on the second saturday of every month at the Villa Maria shrine from 16:00 to 17:00. the shrine is at 1 Kloof Nek road in tamboerskloof. the group prays for priests in the archdiocese, and elsewhere by request. retreat day/quiet prayer last saturday of each month except December, at springfield Convent in Wynberg, Cape town. Hosted by ClC, 10.00-15.30. Contact Jill on 083 282-6763 or Jane on 082 783-0331. Perpetual adoration Chapel at Good shepherd parish, 1 Goede Hoop st, Bothasig, welcomes all visitors. open 24 hours a day. Phone 021 558-1412.

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The Southern Cross is published independently by the Catholic Newspaper & Publishing Company Ltd. address: Po Box 2372, Cape town, 8000. Tel: (021) 465 5007 Fax: (021) 465 3850 www.scross.co.za editor: Günther simmermacher (editor@scross.co.za), Business Manager: Pamela Davids (admin@scross.co.za), advisory editor: Michael shackleton, Local News: erin Carelse (e.carelse@scross.co.za) editorial: Claire allen (c.allen@scross.co.za), Mary leveson (m.leveson@scross.co.za), advertising: yolanda timm (advertising@scross.co.za), Subscriptions: Michelle Perry (subscriptions@scross.co.za), accounts: Desirée Chanquin (accounts@scross.co.za), Directors: r shields (Chair), archbishop s Brislin, s Duval, e Jackson, B Jordan, sr H Makoro CPs, J Mathurine, G stubbs

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the

The Ascension of the Lord: June 2 Readings: Acts 1:1-11, Psalm 47: 2-3, 6-9, Hebrews 9:24-28, 10:19-23, Luke 24:46-53

EXT Sunday, we in this country celebrate the feast of the Ascension, when Jesus leaves his disciples on their own; and yet, oddly enough, there is a good deal of joy to be met with in the readings. The first reading is the first of the two accounts of the Ascension in our New Testament (the other is next Sunday’s Gospel). Here our author is linking Acts of the Apostles with his first volume, the Gospel of Luke; and both of them are addressed to “Theophilus”, the “God-lover”. Volume 1 was about Jesus’ teaching and action; and Volume 2 is to be about the Church carrying on in the same tradition. Absolutely central to this are two things: first, that Jesus “instructed his chosen apostles through the Holy Spirit”, and second, that Jesus “demonstrated that he was alive, by many signs”. Jesus is totally in charge: “He counselled them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father”; for something (“getting baptised in the Spirit”) is going to happen to them. It turns out that they have at present very little idea what he is talking about (“Lord, is it at this time that you are restoring the kingdom of Israel?” is their idiotic question).

S outher n C ross

All he is prepared to tell them is that they “are going to receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon” them. This will enable them “to be my witnesses, in Jerusalem, and in the whole of Judea and Samaria and as far as the end of the earth”. That is the story of the whole of the rest of Acts of the Apostles; but, we should notice, it is also our story. We are going to be left, without Jesus, on our own; but we shall be given the Spirit. Jesus “was taken up, and a cloud removed him from their eyes”. But then “two men” (presumably angels) appear and tell them not to stand gazing at heaven: “This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven is going to come in the way that you saw him go.” So there are grounds for rejoicing, after all; and we have simply to get on with the job. The psalm for next Sunday is well aware of the joy: “All peoples, clap your hands, make a joyful noise to God with a sound of rejoicing.” And why? Because of what has just happened: “God goes up with shouts of joy, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.” Then in the next few verses the word for “make music” is used no less than five times. There is a real sense of joy here, despite the

This brings some calm. He now knows what ails him. But he isn’t satisfied and sees a psychologist. The psychologist tells him that his symptoms are not just physical but that he’s also suffering from midlife crisis. This affords him a richer understanding of his pain. But he’s still dissatisfied and sees a spiritual director. The spiritual director, while not denying him arthritis and midlife crisis, tells him that this pain is really his Gethsemane, his cross to bear. Notice all three diagnoses speak of the same pain but that each places it under a different symbolic hedge. The work of persons such as Carl Jung, James Hillman and Thomas Moore has helped us understand more explicitly how there is a language which more deeply touches the soul. For instance: We see the language of soul, among other places, in some of our great myths and fairytales, many of them centuries old. Their seeming simplicity masks a disarming depth.

o offer just one example, take the story of Cinderella. The first thing to notice is that the name, Cinderella, is not an actual name but a composite of two words: cinder, meaning ashes; and puella, meaning young girl. This is not a simple fairytale about a lonely, beaten-down young girl. It’s a myth that highlights a universal, paradoxical, paschal dynamic which we experience in our lives, where, before you are ready to wear the glass slipper, be the belle of the

Conrad

sunday reflections

Lord’s departure, for “God is sitting on his holy throne”. God is, after all, in charge. In the second reading for the feast, the profound theologian who wrote the Letter to the Hebrews is reflecting on the meaning of the Ascension; and it is, simply, that Christ has entered heaven, and that affects us, because he has “appeared in God’s presence on our behalf”. And he has done it “once and for all”. What this means is that “we have confidence in our access to the Holy of Holies, through the blood of Jesus”. This “access” is “a way through the curtain of his flesh”. So we are encouraged to make our approach “with a true heart in the fullness of faith, with our hearts sprinkled…and our bodies washed”. Then comes the final exhortation: “Let us hold fast to the unbending confession of our faith; for the One who promised is to be trusted.” There really is joy here, if we understand it properly. The Gospel for the feast is the account in Luke’s Gospel of Jesus’ Ascension. And although Jesus is departing from his disciples, there is immense joy here. It takes a while for the dimwitted disciples to work out that it really is Jesus, and not a

Language and understanding REPORTER once asked two men at a construction site where a church was being built what each did for a living. The first man replied: “I’m a bricklayer.” The second said: “I’m building a cathedral!” How we name an experience largely determines its meaning. There are various languages within a language, and some speak more deeply than others. Thirty years ago, American educator Allan Bloom wrote a book entitled The Closing of the American Mind. This was his thesis: Our language today is becoming ever-more empirical, one-dimensional, and devoid of depth. This, he submits, is closing our minds by trivialising our experiences. Twenty years earlier, in a rather provocative essay, “The Triumph of the Therapeutic”, Philip Rieff had already suggested the same thing. For Rieff, we live our lives under a certain “symbolic hedge”, that is, within a language and set of concepts by which we interpret our experience. And that hedge can be high or low. We can understand our experience within a language and set of concepts that has us believe that things are very meaningful or that they are quite shallow and not very meaningful at all. Experience is rich or shallow, depending upon the language within which we interpret it. For example: Imagine a man with a backache who sees his doctor. The doctor tells him that he’s suffering from arthritis.

Nicholas King SJ

The Spirit will sustain us

ghost. So Jesus gently explains to them that it was in accordance with Scripture that “the Messiah should suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins be preached in his name to all the nations, starting (here) in Jerusalem”. Then they are given a task to perform: “You are witnesses of these things”; and how are they to do it? Jesus gives the answer: “Look! I am sending on you the Promise of my Father.” And they are not to start immediately on the job. Instead: “You are to sit in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Then comes the separation: “He led them out, almost as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands, he blessed them.” And as he performs this final gesture, “He was distanced from them and was being carried up into heaven.” But there is no sadness in this newly-appointed, and apparently now-abandoned, group: “They worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they were all the time in the Temple, blessing God.”

Southern Crossword #864

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final reflection

ball, marry the prince, and live happily ever after, you must first spend some prerequisite time sitting in the ashes, suffering humiliation, and being purified by that time in the dust. Notice how this story speaks in its own way of what in Christian spirituality we call “Lent”, a season of penance, wherein we mark ourselves with ashes in order to enter an ascetic space in order to prepare ourselves for the kind of joy which (for reasons we only know intuitively) can only be had after a time of renunciation and sublimation. Cinderella is a story that shines a certain light into the depth of our souls. Many of our famous myths do that. However, no myth shines a light into the soul more deeply than does scripture. Its language and symbols name our experience in a way that helps us grasp the genuine depth inside our own experiences. Thus, there are two ways of understanding ourselves. We can be confused or we can be inside the belly of the whale. We can be helpless before an addiction or we can be possessed by a demon. We can vacillate between joy and depression or we can alternate between being with Jesus “in Galilee” or with him “in Jerusalem”. We can be paralysed as we stand before globalisation or we can be standing with Jesus on the borders of Samaria in a new conversation with a pagan woman. We can be struggling with fidelity in keeping our commitments or we can be standing with Joshua before God, receiving instructions to kill off the Canaanites so as to sustain ourselves in the Promised Land. We can be suffering from arthritis or we can be sweating blood in the Garden of Gethsemane. The language we use to understand an experience defines what the experience means to us. In the end, we can have a job or we can have a vocation; we can be lost or we can be spending our 40 days in the desert; we can be bitterly frustrated or we can be pondering with Mary; we can be slaving away for a salary or we can be building a cathedral. Meaning depends a lot on language.

1 Plein Street, Sidwell, Port Elizabeth

ACROSS

5. If a grain of wheat … (Jn 12) (4) 7. The saint of Lourdes (10) 8. Can be competent like Cain’s brother, we are told (4) 10. A harsh one in the velvet glove? (4,4) 11. Recant about being in a half-conscious state (6) 12. The valley crossed by Jesus (Jn 18) (6) 14. Rise to the surface wetly (4,2) 14. Sounds like the Buddhist leaders have pack animals (6) 17. Book for those in holy orders (8) 19. Rock of … (hymn) (4) 21. Lucien came roughly for promoting Christian unity (10) 22. Highlight of David and Bethlehem (4)

DOWN

1. What Jesus called his Father (4) 2. Rifle Ann disturbed in a hellish way (8) 3. Counsel (6) 4. Where and when you are not idle (2,4) 5. Ear that can be turned (4) 6. Old English past epic concerning bishops (10) 9.What the cursed fig tree had not done (Mk 11) (5,5) 13. Theatrical behaviour (8) 15. One of the ten Moses brought on the Egyptians (6) 16. They are not among the clerics (6) 18. Change direction in five errors (4) 20. Sell in the past (4)

Solutions on page 11

CHURCH CHUCKLE

ATHER was driving through the countryside when his car broke down. He got out and opened the hood to see if he could find the problem. Suddenly a voice behind him said: “The trouble is the carburettor.” The priest turned around to see an old horse standing on the other side of the fence. Puzzled, he asked: “Did you say something?” “Yes, I did,” the horse replied. “Better check the carburettor.” The priest rushed to the nearest farmhouse and breathlessly told his incredible experience to the elderly farmer who answered the door. “Was it an old horse with one floppy ear?” asked the farmer. “Yes, yes, it was,” the priest said excitedly. “Well, don’t pay any attention to him,” the farmer scoffed. “He doesn’t know anything about cars.”

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