Cathedral news...

Today has been yet another day with tragic news of loss of life and devistation. There is no greater tragedy than the loss of those we love. Our grief in these days is tangible. And so we gather with friends to know their comfort. And we pray to know the comfort and presence of God.

My reading today led me to Wikipedia. There the entry for Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Christchurch. Makes especially difficult reading:

"The Cathedral administrator, Monsignor Charles Drennan, said that engineers had indicated that it was unlikely the building could be saved."

A Cathedral is THE church of a diocese. Still we live in hope that our Cathedral can be saved. Our ancestors have worshipped here. We have gathered here on the most significant moments in the life of our diocese. This is OUR church. We made sure that our family and friends who visited the city saw OUR Cathedral. We were proud of what our Canterbury and Westland Catholic ancestors had achieved in building this "suitable temple" to the Glory of God.

But we know too that a Cathedral is but a sign that points us to God. And even if our Cathedral lies in ruins, our God is alive and present with us.

Even in the midst of such destruction, because God is with us and loves us, we have nothing to fear.

Sunday evening

It has been a long day (once again) for all of us. We have all spent time with people who are suffering and we have all suffered the effects of this tragedy.

The darkening hours of evening are traditionally in the church of once again giving everything to God. The New Zealand Prayer Book has a beautiful night prayer:

Lord it is night.

The night is for stillness.

Let us be still in the presence of God.

It is night after a long day.

What has been done has been done;

what has not been done has not been done.

Let it be.

The night is dark.

Let our fears of the darkness of the world

and of our own lives rest in you.

The night is quiet.

Let the quietness of your peace enfold us,

all dear to us, and all who have no peace.

The night heralds the dawn.

Let us look expectantly to a new day,

new joys, new possibilities.

In your name we pray.

Amen

Sunday: God's story gives meaning to our stories

This morning I travelled to Darfield for the 8.30 Mass. After Mass we shared a cuppa. There were many stories of survival and stories of suffering shared.

I arrived back at OLV just as parishioners were emerging from the 10.00am Mass. Again stories, suffering, survival.

Over the morning I spoke with a couple of different media people who were at OLV to report the feelings of people. I found these people, as were the couple on Wednesday evening, to be most respectful and sensitive.

I realised in chatting with them, that they were seeking people's stories. They wanted to interview those who had been affected. I understand this. This is important. There would have been many church services around the city today that featured the stories of those who were suffering. Open microphones in the midst of services would have provided the opportunity for many to share and hear.

But I realised last night at OLV (6pm) and this morning at the Darfield and OLV Masses, that the Catholic Mass is different.

We gather here with our own stories, which we have shared during the week and continue to chat about over the cuppa after Mass. But the Mass is not primarily about our human story. It is the event at which we gather to hear God's story.

And at our Masses this weekend, with the readings of the Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time, God once again did not miss this opportunity to speak to us, to encourage us, to love us:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,

what you will eat or drink,

or about your body, what you will wear.

Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

Look at the birds in the sky;

they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns,

yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Are not you more important than they?

Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?

Why are you anxious about clothes?

Learn from the way the wild flowers grow.

They do not work or spin.

But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor

was clothed like one of them.

If God so clothes the grass of the field,

which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow,

will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?

So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’

or ‘What are we to drink?’or ‘What are we to wear?’

All these things the pagans seek.

Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,

and all these things will be given you besides.

Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.

Each day has enough suffering of its own.”

Matthew 6:24-34

Cathedral: a symbol of ...

I was saddened to hear Bob Parker announce that Christ Church Anglican Cathedral "will be rebuilt." Without a doubt the mayor's intention is to convey that our city has a future, and that rebuilding some badly damaged buildings must not be considered impossible.

Yes, the Cathedral may well be rebuilt. But today such unfounded dreams are powerless to give us the comfort we need.

My sadness is that the beauty and meaning of this Anglican Cathedral is being misread. The first Anglican Christians of Christchurch City built this Cathedral for one purpose only: to give glory to God. They placed the spire atop to point the people of the city to God. This cathedral was truly an icon: a window through which people glimpsed the beauty of divine life. The building was an icon of God.

Whether or not this Cathedral continues to stand at the centre of our city, in no way affects the degree to which God will be present among us. In fact a Cathedral that is reconstructed to be a secular symbol and a Godless icon is a confusing counter-sign. A Cathedral is not a Cathedral if built (or rebuilt) to satisfy nostalgia.

In the mind and language of many, the Cathedral is seen as little more than as an icon of the city, a symbol of who we are. When people speak about the Cathedral they usually do so without mentioning God. The sacred has been reduced to the secular. We have missed the point our ancestors were making in building "to the glory of God".

A Cathedral (and any Christian Church) stands to be a window (icon) through which we see the divine more clearly. A Cathedral is not essentially a symbol of a people, but a sign that raises the mind and heart of needy people to the Almighty and generous loving-God.

This is especially important for the people of our region in these days of suffering. The overwhelming outpouring of support and love shown among friends, neighbours, strangers and even enemies is real love. But it is not simply this. Such love is also a vivid sign of God's love for us and God's presence among us.

It would be the greatest tragedy if this sign was left unread, especially in these days.

If we see a Cathedral simply as a secular symbol of a people and their city, we will also see the generous love among people at this time as nothing more than a group of people at their loving best.

The fact is a much greater treasure: a Cathedral points us to God. Where there is love between people lived in practical and generous ways, there is God.

People, and the Cathedrals they build, are signs that point to God and lead us to God. On this journey together, human life is liveable, even amid destruction and death.

If we begin to think that these signs are the destination, the journey is over, and we are left floundering and rudderless in the struggle of present human existence.

Let the Town Hall, the Civic Chambers, the Arts Centre and the Avon river be symbols of our city and images of who we are and what we can achieve. A Cathedral is much more: not a symbol of what is human but a sign that directs us to God. A Cathedral is a symbol of all that God can achieve in us if we are receptive.

It is this ultimate and divine reality that provides us with hope and meaning in these days of distress.

helpless and waiting

It is Thursday evening, just over two days since the Tuesday early afternoon quake.

There are so many people suffering in our region. As I write loss of life has been suffered by 98 people, leaving behind suffering family and friends. As let we know the names of only a small number of those who have died. We mourn with their family and friends. But we know too that we will know many of the others who have died once we hear their names. This is a time of great suffering with grave fears held for 228 others who are missing.

We know too that this will be among the greatest of New Zealand tragedies.

I was speaking tonight with a friend whose house has been badly damaged. He and his family were suffering, but there was no sign of this in conversation with him. He was concerned for others. He said his suffering was nothing compared to that of so many others. This generosity of spirit is characteristic of so many good people in our city.

The sense of helplessness that so many of us feel as we wait is heightened as we head for bed. The Prayer of the Church gives us a daily night prayer as we commend all our anxiety, our helplessness and waiting, to God:

"Save us Lord

while we are awake

protect us while we sleep.

That we may keep watch with Christ

and rest with Him in peace

Amen.

May the Lord grant us

a quiet night

and a perfect end

Amen.

pointing to God

Cathedral spires and towers are built to point people to God. For centuries church bells have rung a call to prayer and worship.

In these days of devastation in Christchurch we have witnessed the collapse of many structures. Buildings that now lie in ruins, only days ago housed our families and sheltered our work. The two Christchurch Cathedrals have lost spire, towers and bells.

In this modern age we shy away from ancient symbols calling us to ritual worship. Yet our devastated Cathedrals are speaking in these days with a new voice.

So many citizens tell with shock of witnessing the Anglican Cathedral spire fall to the ground. Others struggle to deal with the reality of the collapsed towers of the Catholic Cathedral. All of us are affected by both losses.

In their fallen state, our city Cathedrals are reminding us to look to where they once confidently pointed, rather than to focus on their passing physical beauty. Our Cathedrals pointed us to God.

Yes, both the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament and Christ Church Cathedral were magnificent buildings. But there is something more. They were built to lead us to God. And as they lie in part ruin, they remind us again of the fundamental human desire for the full life of God.

Our buildings may now appear destroyed, but our God is alive.

Even for Cantabrians who might never enter these holy places for prayer, these Churches are vivid symbols of much that is stable and sacred.

The Cathedral builders founded their lives on the conviction that God was real and tangible in earthly events and personal encounters. Our Christian ancestors knew that God loved them. They constructed their Cathedrals to be physical, visible and audible signs of the beauty of earthly and eternal life with God.

The name “Cathedral” is given to the Church that houses the chair of the Bishop of the diocese. From this chair (‘cathedra’ in Latin) a bishop speaks of the life-giving relationship of love between the human reality and the reality of the life of God. The two Christchurch bishops have spoken in these days expressing this reality:

The Anglican Bishop Victoria Matthews writes “People are suffering terrible anxiety. There are still many people who have been unable to make contact with members of their family and with their closest friends.”

Catholic Bishop Barry Jones promised his “prayer for those who have been killed and injured, and also for those closest to them who never imagined when they last saw them that anything like this would happen.”

Without the usual central city spires towers and bells calling us to live in love of God and neighbour, what signs and symbols do we have to direct us to what is essential?

Fortunately, these painful hours have been marked by outpouring of love and support. Locally, neighbours are reaching out to strangers. From the ends of the earth practical support and assurances of good-will are reaching our region. These actions speak powerfully of the love of God.

In these days we are seeing anew what is essential. The new plasma screen and fashion clothes are forgotten as we realize that we are created for love of neighbour, stranger and even the enemy. We are created for love of God. Where there is love, there is God.

On Wednesday evening of this week, just 30 hours after the devastating quake, Bishop Jones led parishioners of the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch in the celebration of the Mass at Our Lady of Victories Church Sockburn. Without the central city Cathedral reminders pointing us to God in prayer, we still gathered as people of faith. At this celebration of the Mass we prayed from the ancient ritual:

God our Father

you set the earth on its foundation

Keep us safe from the danger of earthquakes

and let us always feel the presence of your love

May we be secure in your protection

and serve you with grateful hearts.

We make this prayer

Through Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

"in time of earthquake"

There is a Mass in the Roman Missal for use "in time of earthquake".

Tonight (Wednesday 23 February 7.00pm) Bishop Barry Jones will celebrate this Mass at Our Lady of Victories.

At such a time, when we are surrounded by such devistation, destruction and the death of so many people, with many others unaccounted for, we feel helpless. In our need we turn to God.

In our prayer we will pray for those who have died, and for those who grieve. We will pray for strength for those who continue to search for those who remain unaccounted for. We pray for all the people of our city, and our country. In the midst of our suffering, may we know God's peace and love.

While you may be able to be present tonight for the Mass, many others will prefer to stay at home. I invited those at home or in other places to take some minutes between 7 & 8pm, to pray with us. We will be united in this prayer.

Our Lady of Victories Catholic Church

106 Main South Road

Sockburn

www.olv.co.nz

earthquake

It is hard to know what to say tonight. It has been a day of suffering for us all. The moment the earthquake struck I went over to the school and spent time with students staff and parents. The staff did a superb job at ensuring that the children felt safe. I know that many of the staff, like me, were struggling to deal with their own uncertainty. But, despite their own anxieties, they did a superb job.

At that stage we did not know the extent of the damage. Nor did we know of loss of life.

Now, nine hours after the quake, we know that many of our citizens have died in the tragedy. We know too that many others are trapped in the ruins of buildings.

And we know that some of the most significant symbols of faith in God, and stability have been reduced to rubble. Our Catholic Cathedral has suffered significant damage as has the Anglican Cathedral.

Our Lady of Victories Church will be open 24 hours a day until further notice for prayer and sanctuary.

Tomorrow evening (Wednesday 23 February) 7.00pm Mass at our Lady of Victories will be celebrated for peace and safety in the time of earthquake. You can find details on the website at www.olv.co.nz

In the midst of this suffering we know the presence of God with us. May those who suffer most know the love and presence of God,

The opening prayer for the Mass in time of earthquakes:

God our Father

you set the earth on its foundation

Keep us safe from the danger of earthquakes

and let us always feel the presence of your love

May we be secure in your protection

and serve you with grateful hearts

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit

one God, for ever and ever.

Amen

be holy!

Each week in every parish, the Sunday Liturgy of the Word is celebrated with four scripture readings. The Rite of the Mass also gives three psalms to accompany the Entrance, Offertory and Communion processions of the Mass.

The scriptures also feature in many of the prayers of the Mass. You will notice that the revised peoples’ prayer before Communion is a quotation from Luke 8: “Lord I am not worthy, that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed”.

Every Liturgy is rich with the voice of the Word of God. The response “and with your Spirit” is also a precise quote from the scriptures.

To be honest, there are some weeks when, even with so much divine inspiration, I find it difficult to find something to communicate to parishioners in the Sunday homily. This is never because the passages of scripture are not relevant. Nor is my struggle because God is going through a ‘quiet patch’ and has stopped talking to me. The problem is always with me. Some weeks I get caught up in the routine and responsibilities of life. I forget to listen.

We are all a bit like this. We forget to listen to God, the one who communicates most lovingly to us. God is speaking to us not only in every word of scripture, but in every moment of life. We need often to be reminded to remember.

This is the prime reason for the Church teaching the “obligation” of Catholics to participate in Sunday Mass. This is not an external rule, but a natural compulsion of the human heart. The healthy heart obliges the believer to gather with our family of faith that we might together remember. “Do this in memory of me.”

There are other weeks when every word of the given Sunday scriptures speaks volumes to me. Some days the scriptures seem to shout. Today is one such day. “Be holy!”

Without a doubt my openness has been helped by many of the circumstances I have found myself in over these days. I think of the great energy and enthusiasm at the parish meetings (Sockburn Parish Council last week and Darfield on Thursday). The same positive perspective and excitement was also visible and audible at the meeting of parishioners in Darfield last Sunday.

Much of the discussion at these meetings was about the Pastoral Plan of the Christchurch Diocese, and particularly our local (Christchurch West Pastoral Area) response. Submissions need to be received by the bishop before 31 March. (ref. the Pastoral Plan document)

The tendency (expectation even) in such pastoral planning meetings is that parishioners will ‘fight’ for their own personal preference of Mass time and Church. This may be a sign of the commitment that people have to parishes and to the worshipping community.

The remarkable thing about the parish meetings I mentioned above was that while those attending do have their own strong personal preference for Mass times and Churches, these were set aside in the light of the bigger Pastoral-Area picture.

The most important thing is not whether we retain a church building or a Mass time. The most essential question is ‘how can our parish (and Pastoral Area) be a more effective communicator of the Gospel to ALL the people who live in our parish’. To say this another way, we could quote the first verse of the first reading at Mass today: how can we as a parish, a pastoral area and a local Church of the Diocese of Christchurch “BE HOLY”.

What does it mean to BE HOLY?

Holiness is not achieved simply by living the doctrines and practices of the Church. While it is essential that we do keep these commandments, this adherence to the letter of these good laws is not what makes us holy.

Keeping the letter of any set of rules is easy if the rewards are attractive or the punishments severe enough. It is God who gives holiness, and this relationship satisfies every desire of the human heart. Remember the Gospel last Sunday: “You have heard how it was said, but I say to you.”

Holiness is a gift of God which is given in generous abundance to anyone who knows their desire for God. Thankfully God gives this gift in the midst of our struggle and suffering. Our acknowledged human imperfection is a magnet for this great gift of God.

This is why we begin every Mass with an invitation: “Brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.”

The Catholic liturgy is not a human attempt to make ourselves feel better by the music we choose and the prayers we pray. Instead the Liturgy of the Church begins with an acknowledgement of our human reality (our sinfulness), and then through word and prayer, ritual, song and action, the Liturgy tells us what God is like.

In the Liturgy we do not seek to pray what we mean. The Liturgy of the Church is a the gift that nourished the Apostles, and the growing early Christian community. This unfolding Liturgy has been the food of life for pilgrims in Aotearoa and popes in Rome. These sacred prayers and real rituals formed the faith of our Catholic ancestors in Ngahere, Waimate, Whataroa and Addington.

We have a responsibility to ensure that the gift of faith that we have received, and which is expressed, taught and celebrated in the Liturgy, is passed on to future generations.

In the Liturgy we (as have those before us) receive this gift anew. In the Mass we seek to mean what we pray. We celebrate not create the Mass.

When we regularly submit ourselves to this ultimate action of God, we become holy.

a full life...

Today has been one of those days when I have been overwhelmed by the richness and fulness of Christian life - especially as a priest.

The day was spent between OLV and Darfield, with Masses and meetings in each place. After the Darfield Mass I met with the Christian Ministers of the Malvern region. Then there was another meeting at Darfield before returning to Christchurch late afternoon.

I had an unexpected meeting with a friend and we chatted about life, and the high points and low points...and the beauty of architecture.

Reconciliation and Mass followed, then a couple of hours at the desk on Sunday's homily. As I began to prepare this homily yesterday I was captivated by the first verse of the first reading "be holy as the Lord your God is holy". You will have to wait until Sunday to hear the punch line!

Now it is just on 10pm and Chopin is providing superb company along with a glass of shiraz.

Mid afternoon I heard of the death of a new-born child whose mother is 'inconsolable'. I cannot imagine the suffering of the mother. At this distance I feel very helpless - enough to drive me to prayer.

the beauty of the Liturgy

Today I was a part of a gathering of a dozen priests who met to deepen their appreciation of Pope Benedict's understanding of the Liturgy. It was a most informative and hope-filled gathering.

After a leisurely lunch with the priests gathered at the end of the session I was left pondering the situation we find ourselves in. It is clear that in the years after the Second Vatican Council, priests and teachers did their best to communicate the teachings of the Council. Unfortunately these years coincided with a societal 'resistance' to what had gone before. People were happy to discard what had gone before.

There certainly were some things that needed to be discarded. However in this process some things that had always been known to be essential also lost prominence and even vanished completely.

In this turmoil some essential aspects of the sacred nature of the liturgy were forgotten.

Our gathering today helped us to address this loss. Today's gathering was a hope-filled new beginning. As we departed we decided that we would meet every month to grow in our appreciation of the beauty of the Mass.

you have heard...but I say to you

You have heard that it was said…

…but I say to you

Christianity :

the way of love fulfills ‘the law’

I think it was George Bernard Shaw who said: ‘Christianity might be a good thing if anyone ever tried it”. We know that Shaw was exaggerating since many people have given their lives as Christians. The saints provide us with remarkable examples of the breadth, beauty and adventure of life in Christ. In a brief glance around our parishes and families we also see many people who have embraced Christianity wholeheartedly, and whose lives bear witness to their faith in Jesus Christ.

But perhaps there is also a good amount of truth in Shaw’s challenge. I often wonder if most Christians (myself included more often that I would like to admit), reduce Christianity to a set of (albeit sound) rules surrounded with good values.

The temptation is for us to reduce our Catholic faith to a set of “isms” including legalism and moralism. We then settle for living by these good rules (which naturally include the Ten Commandments) and think that there is nothing more to it. We fall into the heresy of believing that my adherence to these rules will win me salvation.

This is not only the most prevalent Christian heresy, it is also a tragedy for those who fall into this trap. In such an existence everything becomes a burden and an effort. Life does not feel like life—it is more of an existence, an endurance. We survive and we cope. We begin to believe that this is what life is meant to be. We start to settle for an existence rather than a life. Such a burden is not Catholicism. It is not Christianity.

The people of the Old Testament embraced “THE LAW” when Moses returned from his mountain-top encounter with God, carrying the tablets of stone. These Ten Commandments became the heart of their life. God had spoken. This was the best thing that had happened to them up to this point. These desert-dwellers built a gold case (the Ark of the Covenant) to enshrine this divine communication. When they arrived in Jerusalem (the heart of the promised Land) they built the new Temple around this sacred Tabernacle.

Within a short time they had turned these ten revelations into 618 burdensome precepts. The Pharisees represent this misguided precision. Now “keeping the rules” was more of a focus than the constant and life-giving communication of God. The WORD had been reduced to words.

In Jesus THE WORD of God takes on human flesh. He lives and breathes. He is alive and dwells among us: His hair in the wind, His mouth opening and shutting, His fragile skin…

In this Incarnation, God ensures that we can no longer avoid the reality of a God who is alive and who lives not in a far-off heaven, but among us. In this event, the old covenant is not dismissed or rejected but is fulfilled. Yes, we have heard how it was said…: but now something new is happening.

The Ten Commandments are not reduced in meaning or in value by the event of the incarnation. The rules are no less important. Instead we see more clearly that these words are signs that direct us to and focus us anew on THE WORD who is God, and who dwells among us.

Perhaps it is useful to use an example: We teach our children to behave well and to speak to others respectfully. Sometimes we use discipline to correct them when they are disrespectful or misbehave. We consider this to be important, not because we like rules, but because we love our children. We know that if they show the outward signs of love, they are more likely to meet people who will love and support them. We want our children to have loving friends.

When the teenager does ‘fall in love’, we see a remarkable transformation. Now the ‘rules’ of appropriate behaviour and speech are kept not simply to avoid punishment, but because the heart has been changed. This is what we mean by life. Now life is moral and legal without being legalistic and moralistic. The goal of the rules and discipline has bean reached: there is relationship. There is love.

It is only in intimate awareness of the presence of Jesus with us in every moment, that we are able to find the life we seek.

Fish & Chips

The bit that catches my imagination in this week's readings is from the Gospel: “You are the salt for the earth”.

The reason it struck me is initially practical. Each week I meet with a friend at a country pub, to share a beer and to chat about life and matters of faith. I was hungry and ordered fish and chips. They needed more salt. Without salt chips are bland and don't even taste like what they actually are: potato.

Catholic Christians are called by Jesus to be 'salt' for the 'earth'. In being this 'salt' Catholics are not adding to people's lives something that is foreign or an optional extra. Instead it is Christ that enables us to be what we are created to be. Without a personal relationship with Jesus, humans are not even able to be human.

Too often people settle for an existence that is little more than survival or endurance. This is not life. God lives among us in Jesus so that we might have life, and have it in abundance. In this relationship of love we discover that we are no longer simply surviving or exixting, enduring or coping. Now we are able to LIVE.

If we are to be this Catholic “salt” for our world we must be visible and audible as Catholic in our families and workplaces, even in the pub and all aspects of our social and recreational life.

Catholicism is the faith that is made courageous in the Eucharist so that we can speak the truth about human life to humans. As the parishioners of the local Church of the Christchurch diocese we live every moment as the 'salt' of Christ for our communities.