life is changed, not ended

Two years ago today my father died. Three years ago tomorrow my mother died. Both were relatively young (74 & 70), but as my father, Con, often said: we are only allocated three score and ten years on earth.

Only now, two and three years on, do I find myself celebrating and rejoicing in so many aspects of their lives. The pain of initial grief has passed. But the sadness remains.

This morning in Amberley I celebrated Mass for them both, and I will do the same tomorrow at the Cheviot rest home.

As I was leaving the Cheviot presbytery this morning to drive to Amberley I picked up the cd of Faure's Requiem to accompany me on the drive.  Many of these great Requiem compositions are masterpieces. Faure is a favourite of mine. In particular the "In Paradisum"

In paradisum deducant te Angeli; 

in tuo adventu suscipiant te martyres, 

et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Ierusalem. 

Chorus angelorum te suscipiat, 

et cum Lazaro quondam paupere æternam habeas requiem.

May angels lead you into paradise; 

upon your arrival, may the martyrs receive you

and lead you to the holy city of Jerusalem. 

May the ranks of angels receive you, 

and with Lazarus, the poor man, may you have eternal rest.

Evelyn Mary O'Connor 1938 - 2009

Cornelius Michael O'Connor 1935 - 2010

May these, and all who sleep in Christ

find in Your presence O God

light

happiness

and peace.

it is night

I was sitting outside earlier as the sun went down. 

It is now dark and the only noise is the occasional jet passing overhead.

My day has not been as busy as many of you will have had. But still in these moments before I head for bed it is time for prayer.

Compline, the Night Prayer of the Church, is a beautiful way to end the day. We all have other prayers as well. One of my favourite bedtime prayers is from the New Zealand Anglican Prayer Book:

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.

—New Zealand Book of Common Prayer

You might like to take ten minutes to join the monks of New Malleray Monastery as they pray Compline at the end of their day.

for the greater glory of God

Last weekend I celebrated Mass again at some of the most beautifully built and immaculately maintained churches in the country.  The people of the Hurunui (North Canterbury) clearly knew well what it was to build (and maintain) for the greater glory of God (AMDG), a sacred place in which to worship God.

As I savoured the beauty of these churches, and was inspired by the faith and commitment of those who built them, I remembered similar ponderings a couple of years ago on a visit to Rome.

The blog entry from that visit is re-printed below.

an entry from the blog archive: 31 July 2010
(note that this was written before the Christchurch earthquakes and the destruction of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament)

This morning I was at the burial place of St Ignatius of Loyola for Mass to celebrate his feast day, 31 July, the anniversary of his death in 1556. The Church of the Gesu is a magnificent temple to the glory of God. It was clearly built by people who rejoiced that Ignatius had helped them to know God's presence with them and God's love for them.

Adjoining the church is another structure which is built around the rooms where Ignatius lived the last years of his life on earth. You might remember that I wrote about these rooms in an earlier blog reflecting on "perspective".

As I spent time in the Church this morning during Mass, and later in prayer at Ignatius' tomb. I couldn't help but think that Ignatius (in his life on earth) might have been a bit uncomfortable with the sumptuous decoration of his burial place. I heard someone making a similar comment many years ago and the comment stuck in my mind.

But this morning, while praying in the midst of an example of the ultimate beauty that humans can create, I had a sense that Ignatius would be very comfortable with this place. Of course he would be happy because he is now savouring the fulness of life with God. But he would also delight that in this beautiful church humans were giving to God what belonged to God. Ignatius would rejoice that here was a place where humans could taste something of eternal life.

For most of the last century there has been a growing sense that a church building should be a simple structure with little ornament. There is evidence of this even around our own Christchurch diocese. People argued that the church is a gathering space, a house for God, therefore it should look much like our own homes. It needs to be comfortable since people like comfort; carpet, padded chairs, precise climate controls etc. This movement has been fed by the idea that Jesus was born in a stable therefore it would be wrong for a church to resemble anything more grand.

Take a moment to think about churches that were built more than 100 years ago in New Zealand. The ones that survive are (mostly) beautiful buildings. I think of the 'old' churches that have been a part of my life: St Patrick's in Oamaru, Sacred Heart in Timaru, St Patrick's Waimate, Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Christchurch (interestingly all designed by the same architect Francis Petre).

Each of these churches was built at significant expense and sacrifice. People who lived in poverty gave extraordinarily generously to fund these ambitious building projects. Each church would have cost well over one hundred times the average house price at the time. The Catholic's who built these churches knew that, while they could not live in luxury themselves, they could participate in the building of a appropriate home for God in their midst.

But this house for God was not to be just an ordinary house. It was not an enlarged living-room, or simply a "gathering-space." The churches our ancestors built, they built to be sacramental signs for their present and their descendants' future. It was essential to them that whenever a passer-by saw this church, they would know it was a church. In some way, even in a passing glance, their mind and heart would be raised to God. For those who passed through the doors there would be no doubt that, their bodily senses were tasting a heavenly reality.

Many of the churches built in the past fifty years cost only as much as a dozen houses. It is significant to note that while the fabric of many new churches is brick and plaster with carpet and beige gib wall interior, the more affluent suburbs in Christchurch feature private homes with design and materials once the domain of churches: columns, stone and marble, natural material interiors and art. There has clearly been a shift of priorities.

A Church building does not exist to blend into a secular landscape. The church is not simply an expression of the present trends and priority. Instead people need a church to be what a church by definition always was; an anticipation of our heavenly future. A church building must give a sense (literally a taste, sight, sound, smell, and touch) of a reality that is beyond our earthly human routine and struggle. If a church does not do this, why would anyone go there? If the Liturgy of the Church does not activate these senses of heaven, I might as well spend Sunday morning in bed or at brunch.

Ignatius of Loyola knows all of this now better than he ever did on earth. It was good to spend time at his grave this morning and allow my own priorities to be reset by God. I'll give Ignatius the last word here, especially since this best-known prayer of his is the prayer of one who seeks to give all to God:

Take Lord, and receive all my liberty

my memory

my understanding

and my entire will

all that I have and possess.

You have given all to me

to you O Lord I return it

All is yours.

Dispose of it, wholly according to your will.

Give me your love and your grace

that is sufficient for me.

and the tvone documentary on the post-earthquake Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament:

Battle at the Basilica

Catholic Hurunui

Today the website for the parishes of North Canterbury is launched. You will find this at

www.catholichurunui.co.nz

circumstances

Joy and peace in life, are not the consequence of being free of suffering, grief or pain. Painful realities are simply (for all of us at times, and for many of us much of the time), an inescapable part of the reality of life. 

I will go so far as to say that there is no such thing as "good" circumstances or "bad" circumstances. Yes, it is true that there are some circumstances we do prefer; freedom from anxiety, absence of suffering and pain for example. But whatever the situation, and whatever the circumstances we find ourselves in, these are simply the circumstances and the situations in which God is waiting to show us His ultimate love.


We desire nothing more than experience of this love.

This is the key.  Joy and peace is real in the life of anyone who knows the love and embrace of God in every circumstance. No circumstance is (in itself) more or less likely to provide an experience of God's love and mercy.


We all know people who have everything the world can offer, but who still do not seem happy.  And we know of others who appear to have nothing going for them, but they radiate peace and joy.

There is a great example in today's Old Testament reading. Job was a "blameless and upright" man who "feared God and shunned evil".  He had sons and daughters, thousands of sheep, camels, donkeys and servants. No doubt he had a good number of wives as well. What more could a man want?  These were Job's circumstances, and in them he was happy.

Well, God and the Devil were having a chat one day about how things were going. God said: 'look there, see my servant Job. He is "blameless and upright" and he loves and serves me'.   

The devil was quick to reply: 'well of course he loves and serves you. He has everything he could need. He has sons and daughters, sheep, camels, donkeys...  If you did not look after him so well he would turn against you!'

'No, he would not turn against me if he lost all he owns', said God. 'yes he would' said the devil, ' no he would not' 'yes he would no he wouldn't...'

OK said God. I allow you take everything he has, but do not harm him.

Well what happened over the next few days for Job was literally a week from hell. Job's family and stock were killed. (the actual account is much more dramatic Job 1:13)

Job's response: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. And in all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong." (Job 1:21-22)

Well, true to form, the devil would not let it go. Again the devil and God have another chat. God again points out Job to the devil: "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you moved me against him to destroy him without cause." (2:8)

The devil has an answer of course: 'ah, yes, but if you harmed his bones and his flesh, then he would "curse thee to thy face."


God agrees to a second testing,and Job has a second week from hell. Now he is "afflicted with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head."


But still Job does not turn from God.


Here today we are close on three thousand years later, and on this Sunday in churches all over the world we are hearing this tale of Job. Why? What is the message for us?


It is this:

Personal achievement of human success (possessions, popularity, promotions) can never provide the degree happiness that we seek or need.

Grief, anxiety, pain and suffering are not in themselves an obstacle to the personal intimacy with God which is the high-point of a human life.

If Job were alive and experiencing his suffering today, chances are that his friends would suggest he visit a counsellor. This is not bad advice. It is good to talk, especially in the midst of suffering. A counsellor might suggest medication. There are times when medication is necessary; perhaps when chemical imbalance needs to be corrected.

However nothing in Job's situation suggests that this is the case. Instead, every indication in the account, is that Job is reacting naturally, realistically and healthily to very traumatic events.

Job turns to God, and honestly communicates with his maker about the circumstances he finds himself in.  

This vivid dialogue continues for another forty chapters of the book of Job. And in the end God blessed Job with much more than he had in the beginning.

the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before.  All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the LORD had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.

The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. And he also had seven sons and three daughters... Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.

After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so Job died, an old man and full of years.

The purpose of human life is not primarily to avoid pain and tension. It is to live in awareness of the presence of God with us and the love of God for us. It is inevitable that we might prefer one set of circumstances over another, this situation over that, or these feelings rather than those, but our deeper desire is for the knowledge that God is with us in every moment, in every event, and in every encounter.

Thanks be to God, there are no circumstances, and no situation that are an obstacle for God.

And therefore every circumstance, every situation is little more than an opportunity for us to know and experience God's presence with us and God's love for us.

Nothing on earth can bring us greater happiness.

Thanks be to God!

Consecrated Life

Today, February 2 the Church celebrates a Day for Consecrated Life.

There was a time when Catholic parents prayed that at least one of their children would become a priest or religious sister or brother.  


My sense is that those days have passed. 


Perhaps there are some healthy reasons for this. There were situations when a parent pressured their daughter or son towards religious life (or priesthood). The young person (in childish obedience rather than adult discernment) simply gave into the pressure, instead of themselves listening for the voice of God. There were (and are) many other pressures and fears that could lead people to make a vocational choice that God had not intended for them.


But I have no doubt that parental (and community) prayer for vocations to the religious life and priesthood will return when we awake again to the fact that (as Newman prayed) God has created every person for some specific purpose. We will return to earnest prayer for vocations when we know again that human health and happiness is found most easily and deeply when we live in harmony with God's personal and inner call to each of us.


The one who is called by God to marry, will struggle more in their search for happiness in life if they choose religious life. The one called to be a religious sister or brother or priest will have more difficulties if they instead opt for marriage. The person who is called by God to serve Him as a single person will find most happiness, peace and meaning in their life when they follow this divine call.


However if I choose to ignore the voice of God, and even for unhealthy reasons make another choice, God will then work with me and use me as His instrument in the path I have chosen.  Life in my chosen path will have more hurdles for me, but this is not a problem for God.


In fact this is what God is having to do with us most of the time: find ways of co-operating with the awkward decisions we have made!

It is significant that the feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple is the day chosen by the Church to especially remember the Consecrated Life. The reason is that every year on this feast we remember that Mary and Joseph made the ritual visit to the temple with their 40-day old child to 'present him to the Lord'.

This simple ceremony was a clear reminder to the parents that their child was not their property or possession. Human life belongs only to God.  There is a wonderful freedom in this awareness. We are released from making any decision regarding life and death. 

I accept that I cannot make any decision about my neighbours possessions. I cannot paint her fence or spray his roses without receiving their approval. This is because the fence and the roses belong to her, not to me.


The same is true of human life. The healthy human will acknowledge that it is not the full truth to speak about "my" human life. While God has given me the gift of life, the full beauty of a human life is realised and released when I present my life to the Lord in every moment.


Human life always belongs to God. Thankfully from the moment of conception until natural death, we are the possession of the loving and merciful God.


This reality is beautifully expressed in the prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola: 'Take Lord, receive....you have given all to me, now I return it....give me only your love and your grace. That's enough for me'.


And the beauty of this reality is powerfully and visibly expressed in the lives of those who publically and perpetually 'present their lives to the Lord'.

expectation

Today's Gospel reading got me thinking, and praying, and expecting.

They said, "Where did this man get all this?
What kind of wisdom has been given him?
What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!
Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary,
and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon?
And are not his sisters here with us?"
And they took offense at him.
Jesus said to them,
"A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and among his own kin and in his own house."
So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there,
apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them.
He was amazed at their lack of faith.
Mark 6

The problem with the locals, was that they could not see past Jesus as the Jewish kid, who lived down the road and who played ball on the street with Zed and Zaza. 

If any adult whom we knew as a child does well, we will certainly hear people who also knew them back then remark: 'but he is just that kid who always kicked the ball into my garden. Who does he think he is now?' 

The same thing happened with Jesus, the Son of God.


People's preconceptions prevented them from looking to him with the expectation and hope that is the mark of faith. The fact that they knew him as the neighbour's boy Jesus, prevented them from seeing his divine reality. As a result they expected nothing of him except that he would kick the ball over their back fence, and then trample on the cabbages when rescuing it.

This is the tragedy of a lack of faith: we turn to God with expectation of nothing, when in fact we need EVERYTHING from God.  

The person of faith is not the one who has no difficulty believing in God or sensing the presence of God. 

Instead the faith-filled person is the one who knows that they are weak, vulnerable and sinful, and who turns to God expecting EVERYTHING.

God does not miss an opportunity to work miracles in the lives of those who turn to Him expecting nothing less than everything.