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Friday, April 29, 2011

Divine Mercy (Easter II)

Today we complete the Octave of Easter


Last Sunday I reflected on the significance of Easter Sunday morning for the future worship of Christians. These disciples could have chosen Thursday evening (the time of the Last Supper), Friday afternoon at three (the moment of the death of the Lord), or Saturday (the Jewish sabbath) as their worship day.

Instead they chose Sunday. Christians were a new people who instead of worshipping at the end of the old creation (sabbath day of rest after the creation), worshipped now at the dawn of a new era. 


The resurrection of Jesus heralded a new beginning. A new day. A new creation.

The first Christians knew that the Easter Sunday morning rising of the sun was a cosmic sign of the rising of the Son of God from death. Sunday was now not only the first day of the new week, but the first day of the rest of their lives. 


The event of the resurrection of Jesus transforms not only every human life, but renews the whole of creation.

In his Easter Vigil homily last week the pope emphasised this point:

“The Jewish people were the people of the sabbath, the seventh day, the day on which God rested after the work of creation. Jesus has given us a new beginning, a new day: “As the day of the liturgical assembly, it is the day for encounter with God through Jesus Christ who as the Risen Lord encountered his followers on the first day, Sunday, after they had found the tomb empty. The structure of the week is overturned. No longer does it point towards the seventh day, as the time to participate in God’s rest. It sets out from the first day ans the day of encounter with the Risen Lord. This encounter happens afresh at every celebration of the Euchaarist, when the Lord enters anew into the midst of his disciples”

Today’s Gospel reading finds the disciples together “in the evening of that same day [the day of the resurrection], the first day of the week”. 

It is impossible to imagine the diverse and mixed emotions of this little gathering. We know they were fearful since “the doors were closed…for fear of the Jews”. But they would have had other reasons to be fearful as well. 

This group included Peter (the one who denied the Lord), the three who fell asleep when Jesus needed their company and prayer, and the whole group who ran for cover instead of remaining alongside their suffering Lord. 

Now the women had come from the tomb with the news that he was alive. 

Certainly this news was all they could have hoped for. But they would also have felt deep shame and guilt at their lack of fidelity. The return of Jesus would surely highlight their failures. And so in fear and embarrasment they gathered. The doors were closed. But despite this physical obstacle of the door, and their personal obstacles of sin, Jesus now stood among them.

Because of the triumph of God over death, there are now no insurmountable barriers to the presence and mercy of God.

The risen Jesus was now with them. 

Jesus spoke. His word broke through their doors of shame and guilt. His words melted the armour of sin surrounding their hearts. The one they had abandoned said to them: “peace be with you”.  And then, as if they might have missed the mercy and love in his greeting, he said to them again “peace be with you”.

This divine greeting healed their sin. Their guilt and embarrassment, their shame, was now transformed into joy by the healing power of His presence and His greeting.

And this is the reason Christians continue to gather on ‘the first day’ of every week. The New Zealand bishop’s wrote to us some years ago on the centrality of Sunday worship. They entitled their letter” The First Day.

Every time we gather to celebrate the Mass we gather in shame and guilt. We are sinners. At the start of every Mass we 'acknowledge our sins'. We do not do this to make ourselves feel bad, to 'beat ourselves up' or to undermine our self-esteem. Instead our purpose in acknowledging our sins is that we might prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries: yes we are sinners, but God's love and mercy is more powerful than any sin! 

True personal self-esteem is never a human achievement. The esteem we seek is always God's gift. I am not lovable because I do loving things, or act and speak in certain attractive ways. I am lovable simply because God loves me. This awareness is the ultimate experience of mercy. This is real love. This is true freedom.

In the Jubilee year 2000, Pope John Paul initiated this Sunday, the Second Sunday of Easter, as Divine Mercy Sunday. In his homily on that first Divine Mercy Sunday, as he canonised a Polish nun Faustina Kowalska as a saint of the Church, he proclaimed:

"It is important then that we accept the whole message that comes to us from the word of God on this Second Sunday of Easter, which from now on throughout the Church will be called "Divine Mercy Sunday". In the various readings, the liturgy seems to indicate the path of mercy which, while re-establishing the relationship of each person with God, also creates new relations of fraternal solidarity among human beings."

Helen Kowalska was born in Poland in 1905. She died  as Sister Faustina in 1938. In 1931 she was living as a religious in the convent of the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Cracow, Poland. In February of that year she had a powerful and very real experience of Jesus calling her to spread the word of his overwhelming mercy for every human person. In response to this experience she painted a picture of a gentle Jesus reaching out in love to all who carry the burden of sin.

During the pontificate of fellow Pole, Pope John Paul II, the life of this quiet nun and her mission was made known by the Pope to the world. The first words of John Paul to the world, immediately after his election as pope were "do not be afraid". Fear exists in any person who is not experiencing the mercy of God in the moment. It is significant that today, Divine Mercy Sunday 2011, Pope Benedict will name John Paul as "Blessed". This beatification marks the most significant step towards Pope John Paul being named as a saint of the Church. 

Some Catholics responded to news of the life of Sister Faustina and her response to God with scepticism. Others embraced fully her message and spread word of  her image of the merciful Jesus and her trust in him.

It is easy to be sceptical about an individual’s experience of Jesus. Perhaps this is because we do not trust our own personal experience of the power of God made known to us. Maybe we feel as though such personal experience of Jesus no longer happens?

I would suggest that anyone who speaks about the love and mercy of Jesus is on sound ground. This message is as necessary today as ever. If we are honest with ourselves we are very aware of our own sin and need for God’s forgiveness. 

St Faustina wrote beautifully of the mercy of God as a fountain of love gushing over all who acknowledge their frailty and need for God. This fountain of forgiveness cleanses all who turn back to God.

This is the Easter life of Baptism. In the waters of baptism, and in the sacraments of the Church where these waters continue to flow, God continues to deliver us from all that entombs us.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation celebrated regularly gives us a most personal experience of the mercy of God. It may be that you have not celebrated this sacrament for many years. This is not a problem for God. 

Simply turn up at any church at the advertised times and tell the priest that you have not been to confession for many years. Your being there is enough. The priest will guide you.



Sunday, April 24, 2011

retreat

I am on Retreat for a week beginning tomorrow (Monday). Please keep me in your prayer. 

I will pray every day at Mass for 'the readers of the blog'.

Easter Blessings
John

He is risen indeed - Alleluia! Alleluia!

new life!

I thought you might enjoy this, after all Easter is about life where we thought death was the only option...

Saturday, April 23, 2011

held in God's loving hands

A friend sent me this a few minutes ago. 


Such a powerful sign is not telling us anything new about God. But, like the people of the Old Testament, it is impossible to misinterpret or misunderstand such a sign in the sky.

The photo was taken in Alabama USA. The text below accompanied the image:

I took this picture on Hwy 30, traveling to London City, KY. It has given me strength in the times of trouble. I feel I should share it with the rest of the world. I hope it is an inspiration to you. It just goes to show what we already know... 

We have a God and he's watching over us.
I e-mailed this picture to News Chanel 36. I was contacted by Meteorologist John James. He said that this picture of the sky is showing up, in all states, around the world. He wanted to know where I was from and where I took it. He saw a similar picture taken in Texas. He said this is amazing to him!




Easter: a living 'experience'


a PRESENT event


It is quite impossible to imagine the range of emotions that the disciples of Jesus moved through over the days of his final suffering, crucifixion and resurrection.

Such heights and depths of emotional trauma and joy cannot be imagined. They must be experienced.

And “experience” is the key to understanding the Holy Week - Easter event. The Christian Faith is not primarily an historical religion. Yes, Christianity began with an actual and real historical event: God became human in Jesus (the incarnation). In Jesus God lived and breathed, he walked and worked. He loved and was loved. He was hated and suffered. Jesus was put to death as a criminal. Yes these were all actual historical events. We know this to be true since even the accounts of secular historians verify these happenings.

But with the Easter event in which God raises Jesus from death, we celebrate Jesus Christ as a living and present event.  Jesus is a real and living contemporary “experience”.

What does this mean, to speak of Jesus as living and present: a ‘contemporary experience’?


moralism & legalism?

Jesus is alive! This present reality is the heart of our faith - thanks be to God.  

Old history books don’t do too much for me. Many of those old tomes do little more than recount past events. They tell the tales of the adventures, successes and failures of people who are now ‘dead’.  However there are an increasing number of lively historians who are able to see the implications of these past events and lives for our own situations and lives today.

Such historical reflections and applications certainly make history more relevant and interesting. But just as the Christian Faith is not a dusty old book, neither is it simply applications and reflections from Jesus as a wise moral teacher.

Such a misunderstanding would reduce Christianity to a moral and legal code for life. Very quickly this method descends into oppressive moralism and legalism. This is not the Catholic Faith!


Jesus Christ is ALIVE – and so can we be

Instead, Jesus Christ is alive today! This is the meaning of the resurrection. The stone was rolled back. That Good Friday tomb, the place of ultimate and permanent darkness was now penetrated by the light of day.

In our own lives we have experienced death. We have also experienced life. There are days when we feel like death and we cannot see the way ahead. Anxiety and depression threaten to overwhelm us. The nights can be long. We lie awake in interminable darkness. This feels like death and our darkness entombs us.

And then, at last, comes dawn. Yes, we desired this. We longed for it. But we could do nothing to hasten it. The dawn rising of the sun is a daily divine gift. The first sign of light is a taste of hope.


why Sunday morning?

When you think back to the first months after the Easter event, the followers had a range of timing options available to them for their weekly remembering and worship. 

They might have chosen to gather each week on a Thursday evening. This would have made sense since they knew the Eucharist (initiated on Holy Thursday evening) to be the source and summit of their human existence. They could have chosen Friday afternoon at three o'clock since this was the moment of Jesus’ death on the cross. They might have agreed to meet on the Jewish (Saturday) Sabbath as a sign that their Christian Faith was fulfilling all previous Covenant hopes.

But they did not choose Thursday or Friday or Saturday. Our first Christian ancestors chose the morning of every Sunday to be the time of their worship.


Why did they make this choice? Timing is everything!

The death and resurrection of Jesus are events that affect the entire cosmos. The moment of the death of Jesus was marked by an earthquake. The cosmos was shaken. So too the 
rising of the sun is the cosmic sign of the resurrection of the Son of God. Light overcomes darkness. Life triumphs over death. This is why Christians have always been known as people of the dawn and people of the day. This is why my Grandmother would get me out of bed early on Easter Sunday morning to see the sun dancing!


towards the rising ‘Son’

This is why Churches were built to face the East, and the priest would face East at the altar: the direction of the rising sun. Too often we thought that the 'old' rite required the priest to have his back to the people. In fact in St. Peter’s basilica in Rome, (because the basilica had to be built into the hill over the tomb of Peter), the pope always celebrated Mass facing the people, since this was ‘ad orientem’ (ie, towards the East).

St. Peter’s is built so that the rising sun would illumine the entire church right up to the altar through the large entrance doors. 

As the psalm reminds us “at night there are tears, but joy comes with morning.” (Ps.30) Because of our Catholic Christian Faith, the dark moments of our lives are illumined by the invitation and hope of personal and real relationship with Jesus Christ who is alive and present.


We are never alone

We are never alone. Jesus is with us. In every sacramental celebration we begin by acknowledging our need for Him. And, especially in our darkest moments, he gifts to us the light of morning: the hope of Easter dawning.          

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Holy Thursday

In a couple of hours the parishes of Our Lady of VIctories, Sockburn, St. Joseph's, Darfield, and St. Therese of Lisieux, Chatham Islands will celebrate the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper.

Today, in preparation, I looked back to Pope Benedict's Holy Thursday evening homily of last year. As always, he captures the heart of human life and faith in a few words:

"But let us return to Jesus’s words – this is eternal life: that they know you and the One whom you have sent. Knowledge of God becomes eternal life. Clearly “knowledge” here means something more than mere factual knowledge, as, for example, when we know that a famous person has died or a discovery was made. Knowing, in the language of sacred Scripture, is an interior becoming one with the other. Knowing God, knowing Christ, always means loving him, becoming, in a sense, one with him by virtue of that knowledge and love. Our life becomes authentic and true life, and thus eternal life, when we know the One who is the source of all being and all life. And so Jesus’ words become a summons: let us become friends of Jesus, let us try to know him all the more! Let us live in dialogue with him! Let us learn from him how to live aright, let us be his witnesses! Then we become people who love and then we act aright. Then we are truly alive."

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Fr. Paul Duncan R.I.P.

Today the people of Our Lady of Fatima Parish, Mairehau gathered, with the priest of the diocese and of the Society of Mary, and parishioners of the diocese and friends and family, to bury Fr. Paul Duncan.

In the heart of this Holy Week, this was the last thing we wanted to be doing. Paul was a good priest and his ministry will be missed in our diocese and throughout the country.

Since his move to Christchurch Diocese he has served as Parish Priest of Chatham Islands, Parish Priest of South Westland, and Parish Priest of Our Lady of Fatima, Mairehau. Paul's ministry will be missed in our diocese.

May he Rest in Peace. 

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Palm Sunday

let us journey together…

Today’s palm branch procession, and reading of the passion of Jesus signals our move into Holy Week.  It is helpful to see these days before Easter as a week of retreat. While we continue our family and work routines, our focus is guided beyond. In these days let us look together to Jesus.

We remember the last days of his life: suffering unjustly and death as a criminal. We recall these events that gave us new life.

When we think of something that happened a long time ago – especially when it happened before we were born, it is easy to slip into nostalgia about the past. In this mode we remember what has happened, knowing that it has already happened. It is over. While this mode of memory can help us to learn from the mistakes and methods of the past, this is not the kind of remembering the church calls us to in Holy Week.

In his Palm Sunday homily last year Pope Benedict reminds us that “following Christ demands as a first step the reawakening of the nostalgia for being authentically human and thus the reawakening for God”.  This is not a simple recalling of a mast event, but a present re-membering (that is, giving living body to) the past reality that is really a present event and a living experience today.

Perhaps it is helpful to consider an example. From history many of us have learned of the Battle of Waterloo. We know that this event happened. We have no doubt since our knowledge has come to us from many independent sources. There is no doubt that for the families of the (almost) fifty thousand soldiers that died, this event was unforgettable.  Now, for the descendants of these families, to have an uncle who died in the fighting has become a badge of family honour.

But the death of Jesus is not such an ‘historical’ memory for the disciple. The difference is that whereas Napoleon and his soldiers are now dead, Jesus is alive. The blood on the battlefields of Belgium is no longer visible. But the suffering of Jesus continues. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus are not simply moments of history. These events are the present reality of the life of the twenty-first century disciple.

Jesus is alive and present. Napoleon is dead and gone. The community of Jesus is alive and thriving today, not because of our successful pastoral plans, but because Jesus is alive.

I invite you to immerse yourself fully in the events of Holy Week. You have begun by being at this Palm Sunday commemoration of the Passion of Jesus today. You might continue this evening Sunday 6-7pm) with the opportunity for the Sacrament of Penance when several visiting priests will be present

If you are apprehensive about this sacrament, or have not been for many years, do not be afraid – just come. Tell the priest that you are not sure what to say and he will guide you.
Tomorrow (Monday) evening join with the bishop and priests of the diocese who gather to celebrate the Mass of Chrism. From Thursday we enter the Triduum with the events of Holy Thursday evening and Good Friday leading us to the great celebration of the resurrection of Jesus at the Easter Vigil (Saturday evening) and the Masses of Easter Sunday.

As we walk this journey together we do so not as passive spectators or students of history. Instead we journey this path as struggling Christians sharing (in our own lives) in the suffering and death of Jesus.

We know the promise too, that those who walk this path, and who live this life confident in the personal presence and activity of God, will share in the glory of the resurrection.    






Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Cathedral Bells Removal

The following media release was fowarded from Paddy Beban the Diocesan Manager this afternoon.



Background
.
Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Christchurch Post-Earthquake Stabilisation Fact sheet
The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, one of the most significant buildings of its type in the Southern Hemisphere, suffered significant damage in the earthquakes that have struck Christchurch since September last year, particularly the magnitude 6.3 earthquake of February 22.

Situation
The Cathedral is currently in a precarious state, and the main dome and the north tower could potentially collapse further should a sizeable aftershock occur. These sections of the Cathedral also present a falling hazard, and until stabilised will continue to prevent the adjacent Cathedral College from reopening.

Identified damage
Collapse of large sections of both front towers 
Substantial damage to the main dome over the sanctuary towards the rear of the building.

Assessment
A full assessment of the damage to the Cathedral is not possible until the building is made safe for assessors to enter. Parts of the two front towers and main dome must be dismantled for this to occur.

Work to be undertaken
Structural engineers and heritage specialists from Opus International Consultants are carrying out a controlled dismantling of these areas. The aims are:
To reduce the likelihood of further damage to the Cathedral in the event of a significant aftershock
To protect the adjacent school buildings 
To make safe the Cathedral so that assessors can enter the building and carry out a full
assessment 
To ensure as much of the Cathedral building as possible is able to be retained and rebuilt.

Deconstruction
This is time-consuming task. It involves: 
The recording of heritage features 
The careful taking down of stonework and structure below the dome down to roof level, and other parts of the building so that as much material as possible can be salvaged.

Timetable
Deconstruction of the north tower is expected to take up to two weeks to complete (April 7 – 21)*
Removal of the main copper dome and the stonework below the dome down to roof level, and subsequent stabilisation and weather proofing, could take a month (April 26 – May 20)*.
* These dates are approximate and could easily change.

Expertise and equipment
Removal of the main dome will be completed using a 400-tonne crane - one of the largest mobile cranes in New Zealand. A professional stonemason will also have a key role in the deconstruction process.

Future decision
No decision on the future of the Cathedral will be possible until assessors have completed a full assessment of damage to the inside of the Cathedral and the relevant experts have had an opportunity to study the report and consider the ramifications of the findings.