The Cross and Compassion in Lourdes...

Half a dozen of us from the parish had a week’s pilgrimage in Lourdes this week. We were blessed to attend the Traditional Rite of Mass in the Upper basilica on Sunday, and I celebrated our own Mass in one of the side chapels of the Crypt. We prayed our Rosary in front of the Grotto (from the meadow so as not to disturb the supposed silence of the Grotto area itself), attended the processions and went to Confession. But not all was great...why? Well...

The picture you see here is that of a huge Rosary made out of balloons which were let go of one by one so as to "send our prayers up to Heaven". I felt this was nonsense; too reminiscent of the 1970's; all too gooey, all too feminine for my taste. It is beyond me as to why we have to have such childish, emotion-laden gimmicks at the very shrine where Our Lady pleaded for us to “wash in the spring” (the conversion of Baptism and its renewal in Confession), where she pleaded for “Penance, Penance, Penance” and asked that we “Pray to God the conversion of sinners”. No wonder the Church is short of men; such antics do not appeal to the masculine spirit, while a spirit of penance is surely proper to us all...  

Now, I say that a few of us had a week in Lourdes, but the truth is that only some of us did! For those who do not know, I have a measure of Chronic Obstructive Airways Disease, and when I contract a chest infection I tend to come down with a bang. Well, the night before we left, noting all the signs (raised temperature, increasing dyspnoea and a more productive cough) I took myself off to the local Walk-in Centre where I was given antibiotics and prednisone. I thought I would be fine. Not so. Lourdes has a slightly higher altitude and a lot of the streets are inclines, so I did not do so well: in the fight for control of my body the infection and the COPD fared better than I! So I took myself off to the Accuiel treatment room where we discovered my oxygen saturation was low and my lungs very tight (I told them that one -and it was audible to the naked ear, so to speak!) Once I was stabilised the staff sent me back to the hotel -but insisted I use one of their wheelchairs to deal with the inclines. But it proved a significant experience: I was acutely embarrassed at having people move out of my way as I returned to the hotel, and very humbled that those much more ill and disabled than myself showed me so much concern. I got an acute sense that there is a reverence for the sick from the sick as well as the healthy; a feeling that there is a real community among those who are ill. There was an implicit, even explicit, recognition of one’s humanity beneath the person’s illness or disablement that so many souls carry around in their body. “Making up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of His Body” (Col.1v24) is palpable in Lourdes. This was perhaps the most graced visit I have ever had in Lourdes, though the kind of Lourdes experience I hope not to repeat for some years to come...

Reception of a Convert

We are a most blessed people, because to be Catholic is to have received the greatest gift God can ever give. It must be the thing we treasure most; above all people, places and things, because Catholicism gives us God Himself from whom all the people, places and things we love come to us.

We might be called to this gift of Faith when baptised into it as babies, or we might be called to it as an adult: the eldest person I’ve seen received into the Church was in her 70’s. We might be called to Catholicism from atheism to Faith; from another religion to Christ, or from another Christian denomination. It doesn’t matter how or when we get here, as long as we get here. We receive the call to the Faith when God wills. We simply rejoice that we have been called at all, because none of us deserves it -who can deserve to receive the forgiveness of their sins in Confession, or receive the very Body and Blood of Christ in Holy Communion?

Why would we choose to answer the call? Why choose to be Catholic? I’d like to suggest four good reasons.

First, because Catholicism gives meaning to life.  We can give our life a purpose: such as preparing a good life for our kids; contributing to world peace; advancing science. But purpose is simply what we will do with our life; the meaning of life goes beyond what we hope to do or contribute: the meaning of life is to know and love God in this world so as to reach heaven to be happy with Him forever.  

You know, everyone in the world will suffer dark days: the break-up of a treasured relationship; finding ourselves in an abusive relationship; the loss of a job or a loved one –or worse, the death of a child. Our Faith tells us that all this evil, all this suffering, comes from the fact that Adam and Eve, as the pinnacle of creation, said ‘no’ to a loving, obedient relationship with God, and so lost creation’s share in God’s life, happiness and peace, gaining instead all the opposites: sorrow, trouble and death. But our Faith also tells us that Christ came into this suffering dying world as one of us; came to suffer and die, then do something we could not do: rise again to destroy death and restore life. Now, for all those who faithfully suffer and die with Him in this world, there is eternal life, happiness and peace with Him in heaven.

A second reason to be Catholic is that it is the One True Faith. As Vatican II reminded us, “We believe that Our Lord entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant to the apostolic college alone, of which Peter is the head, in order to establish the one Body of Christ on earth to which all should be fully incorporated who belong in any way to the people of God.” (Unitatis redintegratio 3)

A third reason to be Catholic is that in this one true Faith, God has given us all the helps we need to endure our suffering and stay united to Him: these helps are called the Sacraments:

In Baptism He unites us to Himself;

In Confirmation He seals us with the Spirit of Pentecost and commissions us as His witnesses;

In Holy Communion He feeds us with His own Body and Blood as our daily bread for strength in adversity.

In Confession He restores us to union with Him when we have turned away from Him by deliberate sin;

In anointing of the Sick He heals the soul –and sometimes the body- so as to prepare us for heaven. It is also a living sign of His desire to restore us to the fullness of life.

In Marriage He blesses our love and unites the couple in His eternal, indissoluble love.

Finally, to stay with us as our Good Shepherd who keeps us safe in the truth and supplies our needs by providing sacraments, He gives us the priesthood, especially the episcopate and supremely, the Pope.

In each of these sacraments God is with us in every turn of the page as we write the story of our life and journey towards Him.

A fourth reason to be Catholic is that the Church promotes the culture of life and stability while the world around us promotes the culture of death and non-life-giving sexual experience. Let us be clear: the world promotes death by abortion, euthanasia and sexual experiences that preclude life. The Church promotes life by protecting the unborn child, the terminally ill and sexual experiences that generate life. She proposes care, not killing, as the answer to human suffering, and by promoting sex as sacred to marriage for the union of the couple and the stability of the home and society. This pro-life, pro-family stand can make us an enigma to people; even those closest to us. They might see us as judging them, when in fact we never judge people, only actions, and opinions. The Church is a spiritual NHS who warns people of the dangers of their actions and opinions so as to save them from harm.

How important is Holy Mass in Catholic Life? It is central; it is its core; it is essential.

Holy Mass makes present the very Sacrifice of the Mass which saves us: as St Paul says, “every time you eat this Bread and drink this Cup you are proclaiming the death of the Lord” (1 Cor.11v26).  Surely we all want to be saved? Can we sincerely expect to be saved if we wilfully and continually turn our back on the very act that saves us?

Holy Mass also makes present the very Lord Himself in His Body and Blood: “I am the Living Bread that comes down from heaven. He who eats this Bread will live forever, and the bread that I shall give is My Flesh, for the life of the world. He who eats Me will draw life from Me” (John 6). Since Our Lord is Risen, Ascended and present on the altar surrounded by the angels and saints, then we are at Mass we are in heaven. As I often say to folk, “You don’t have to die to go to heaven; you only have to come to Mass, for Mass brings heaven to earth”.

How important is prayer and a life of good deeds? Again, it’s essential. Prayer is conversation with God; in prayer we speak to God and stay silent to listen to God. Silence, remember, is not the absence of prayer; it is its core, because in silence heart speaks to heart without use of the lips. Like lovers who look into one another’s eyes across a table, or the wife holding her husband’s hand as he passes from this world to the next, words are not needed; a look says it all. To gaze silently into the face of God is to know God and love God. Remember too, that just as when we stop speaking to someone we lose our friendship with them, so if we stop praying to God we lose our faith. On the contrary, to speak to someone is to get to know them, and to pray is to get to know God: we pray not simply because we believe, but in order to believe.

Tonight N., is called by God into His Holy Catholic Church; called by Him into His holy family; called by Him to be bound to Him by a covenant made in the Blood of His own Son, offered on the cross as made present in the Mass. Tonight n. stands as a witness to God’s culture of life and stability; tonight s/he gains access to all the Sacraments that will sustain N. In the journey to home to heaven. Tonight, for the first time, s/he will receive Him in Holy Communion; for the first time she will respond to the call of the angel of revelation; “Happy are those who are called to the wedding banquet of the Lamb!” (Rev.19v9). Tonight, N.takes a full part in the banquet of heaven on earth.

Mass without Holy Communion?

A lady recently told me her son does not come to Mass because being in a civil marriage, he cannot receive Holy Communion. This set me thinking: how many Catholics have developed the idea that Mass is given to us only as a means of providing us with Holy Communion? Is that also the reason why so many are happy to have a Service of the word with distribution of Holy Communion when Father is away? Is it the reason why many Catholics –not only the lapsed- never appear at weekday Mass unless it is being offered for their loved one? I think it is; I think we have promoted reception of Holy Communion in such a way that we have diminished a right understanding of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Holy Mass is not simply a fraternal banquet, nor is it simply the ceremony by which Holy Communion is made available to us; it is the re-present-ing of the Act by which was gained the world’s redemption. Holy Mass is the source of every good thing that we possess, from the talents we rejoice in as our gifts and graces to the people we cherish for their gifts and graces, since it is through the Sacrifice contained in the Mass that every grace which has come into the world has come. All the graces made available to us through the Sacraments and the Life of Christian Faith, as well as every grace of Salvation History -to Abraham, Moses et al, and to Our Lady (her Immaculate Conception) are given in view of the infinite and eternal merits of Christ Jesus our Lord. perhaps we need to remind ourselves that to stand at the foot of the altar is to stand at the foot of Calvary and place ourselves in the stream of blood and water which flowed from the Lord’s pierced side. I remind myself of this every day when I pray before each offering of Holy Mass that the Precious Blood of Christ will wash away my sins, and that the water which flowed from His side will fill me with His grace to heal my sinfulness (my concupiscence), that I may stand before Lord without offence to His glory, scandal to His people or the loss of my own soul.

I think it is time we re-educated Catholics on the value of the Mass per se; to remind them that the Church does not oblige us to receive Holy Communion every Sunday but to attend Mass every Sunday, whether or not we receive Holy Communion. While reception of Holy Communion is the most perfect form of participation in the Mass, to ‘miss Mass’ because we have broken the fast, because we are in need of Confession or because we are in an irregular situation, is to do more harm than good. It is, as a lay friend of mine says, ‘to side with the wrong side in eternity’. I make no apologies for reminding my parishioners in homilies and Newsletters that since Holy Mass contains the Sacrifice by which we are saved and the Real Presence of the Saviour Himself surrounded by His angels and saints, that we do not need to die to go to heaven; we need only come to Holy Mass.

A Bit About Angels...

Angels seem to be badly understood today. Often when attending a child’s death I hear someone say “Well you have an angel in heaven now”. But people do not become angels in heaven; we remain human souls. I was only recently asked, “What are these dominations, powers and virtues we hear about in the new translation?” My answer, “They’re angels” is of no help to many, who think there are but angels, archangels and nothing else.  I think then, that a brief look at angels might be of help to those who have not received any instruction on angels in their lifetime as a Catholic.

An angel is a being who is pure spirit and whose privilege it is to praise God continually in heaven while enjoying the vision of His glory.

There are nine ‘Choirs’ or ‘grades’ of angels:

1.    Seraphim
The highest choir of angels. These are the angels who are attendant before God's throne, cf. Isaiah 6:1-7.

2.    Cherubim
Cherubim are the second highest choir. They are found in the New Testament at Rev.4v6.

3.    Thrones
Thrones are described as Angels of Humility and Peace.

4.   Dominions

Dominions are said to be angels of Leadership, making known the commands of God.

5.   Virtues

Virtues are said to control the elements and are sometimes called "the shining ones." They are also said to take charge of miracles and to provide grace and valour.

6.    Powers
Powers are Warrior Angels, defending the cosmos and humans from evil spirits who attempt to wreak chaos.

7.    Archangels
Archangels are those most frequently mentioned in scripture.  They have a unique role as God's messengers to people at critical times in salvation history, such as in The Annunciation.

8.   Principalities

These are said to inspire man to art and science.

9.    Angels
These angels are the lowest rank of angel. They are described as caring and as giving help to those in need.

A Guardian Angel is that angel appointed by God to individually watch over and guide us.

Angels and Holy Mass

The Preface of the Mass (of the Blessed Virgin) says:

Through Him the Angels praise your majesty,

Dominions adore and Powers tremble before you.

Heaven and the Virtues of heaven and the blessed Seraphim

worship together with exultation.

May our voices, we pray, join with theirs in humble praise, as we acclaim:

This is a reminder that our liturgy is a uniting of earth with heaven; that liturgy is not so much an earthly thing as a heavenly thing.  This is why liturgy demands a sense of the sacred, with heavenly music and a focus that is clearly on God. To my mind this is where many celebrations of Mass fail, since they are more a celebration of the community with music more akin to that of the local dance hall.

An interesting note is the line in the Roman Canon:

“command that these gifts be borne by the hands of your holy Angel to your altar on high...”

‘Angel’ is capitalised here to show that the ‘Angel’ is in fact Christ: God made Man, since, as Hebrews 9v12 tells us, it is Christ Who has entered heaven taking with Him His own Blood; it is not borne by the hands of a mere creature (an angel) but by God the Son. God is described as an angel several times in Holy Writ:

Genesis 31v11; Gen. 32v23-34; Ex.14v15; Judges 13v9.

I do hope this has been useful to those who have heard but not understood what they have heard in the vernacular Mass...

End of Life Issues - A Personal Dilemma

My siblings and I have recently had a most challenging conversation, given that our mum has severe Alzheimer’s disease, moderate emphysema, and is blind. With constant breathing difficulties, repeated respiratory infections and the limitations imposed by blindness on a demented lady of 82, we are aware that mum’s life is coming to an end.

My siblings are not Catholic and so are very much influenced by the secular belief in judging by the ‘quality of life’, which I am not since ‘quality of life’ is entirely subjective (an incapacity one person will accept or tolerate another will not accept or tolerate), and our family desire an objective criteria for care. Our discussion was not divided however, because the culture of life approach –which is eminently reasonable- we could all agree upon: to neither shorten nor lengthen mum’s natural span of life by medical or nursing omissions/interventions. Since I am not the legal next of kin, I was more than pleased to have this underlying goal agreed upon. Working it out was not so easy, and may still leave some difficulty if other illnesses develop, such as Congestive Cardiac Failure, which often comes with long-term emphysema.

There was common ground on the expectation that if mum becomes unable to take fluids by mouth, she will have fluids given intravenously or subcutaneously at a rate over each 24 hour period of 1.5L (equates to c.7 drinks per day) to 2L (equates to c.10 drinks per day) until the moment of death. if we are told giving fluids is a treatment that cannot be demanded, we might need to point out that this is a deliberate act to procure death, which is inconsistent with medical practice as commonly understood. We also agreed that we expect mum to be given oxygen support, but not mechanical ventilation, and that unless there is severe pain from cancer or such as fractures we do not expect opiates to be given. We agreed too that in the situation of a massive cerebral event such as CVA (stroke) we can allow sedation to relieve cerebral irritation or psychological agitation, but only at a level that does not go beyond that which is necessary to resolve such irritation/agitation. Finally, we do not expect antibiotics to be continued in the case of an unresponsive infection, nor do we look for Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation should Cardiac Arrest occur. We expect too that all basic nursing care (hygiene, oral care, pressure area care, incontinence care, emotional support etc) which is commonly called TLC (Tender Loving Care) be given at all times. Let us hope the medical and nursing staff can support us in this so that mum’s life span comes to a natural and dignified end which is neither shortened nor extended beyond that willed by God. All this is written down to give to whichever physicians are attending mum in her final days.

It was not easy coming to this kind of agreement, nor easy to discuss mum’s death while she is still with us, especially since she has been so supportive and wise a mum. She has kept us fed and clothed when money was short, and on the right track when we veered from the straight and narrow –which we didn’t always appreciate at the time. It was because she fought for our rights all of her life that we intend to fight for her at the end of her life, and by our discussion, hopefully minimise any disagreements at mum’s bedside when her entrance into eternity is in fact immanent. 

Collaborative Ministry: Leaven and Sacrifice

Collaboration with the people of God has many benefits: not only does it help the people ‘own’ the Faith, but Pastoral Council’s can discern and respond to local pastoral needs; Finance Committees can help the priest make informed decisions; Catechists can relieve his workload with Marriage, Baptism and First Communion preparation, and a Secretary, a Bookkeeper and Gift Aid Organiser can relieve the burdens of administration. I personally could not manage without such collaborators.  But collaboration is not a new idea and we are wrong if we think it is: for years the SVP was the charitable arm of the Church among the local poor; the Legion of Mary a sound evangelical and pastoral arm in their door-to-door and street contact work; meanwhile, choirs and servers made the laity present in the liturgy –almost indispensably so. Today’s collaboration seems to be more a proliferation of Committees and meetings, and when this happens, at least three dangers threaten. First, the priest can lose his identity as father and shepherd; second, the people of God can be distracted from their proper vocation of being the leaven in the world, and third, we can empower the few at the expense of the many (with teachers used as Catechists; Bank workers and Business people placed on Finance Committees, and musical groups replacing large choirs). There can be little or no room left for Mr and Mrs Joe Bloggs.

I think we need to recover two core things. First, Vatican II’s clarification of the authentic lay vocation as the leaven in the world, which is reiterated in the Catechism:

940 “The characteristic of the lay state being a life led in the midst of the world and of secular affairs, lay people are called by God to make of their apostolate, through the vigour of their Christian spirit, a leaven in the world" (AA 2 § 2).

942 By virtue of their prophetic mission, lay people "are called . . . to be witnesses to Christ in all circumstances and at the very heart of the community of mankind" (GS 43 § 4).

Surprising as it may be to some, Vatican II always spoke of lay mission and never of lay ministry, this latter term being, I suggest, linked to the misimplementation of Vatican II. The Council’s vision of lay involvement is authentically re-iterated by Pope John-Paul II in Christifidelis laici 23:

“exercise of such tasks does not make Pastors of the lay faithful: in fact, a person is not a minister simply in performing a task, but through sacramental ordination.....”.  

Apostolicam Actuositatem 24 is relevant here:

“the hierarchy entrusts to the laity certain functions which are more closely connected with pastoral duties, such as the teaching of Christian doctrine, certain liturgical actions, and the care of souls. By virtue of this mission, the laity are fully subject to higher ecclesiastical control in the performance of this work.” 

There is a great need today to have well-informed Catholics influencing the worlds of the media, education, health care and politics. The vocation to lay mission must surely, therefore, be swiftly recovered.

Second, and essentially, we have to recover an authentic priestly identity. When a priest becomes primarily a co-ordinator of teams his self-awareness as shepherd of souls can be lost, along with his self-identification with Christ and the Mass which oblige him to be a man of self-sacrifice and pastoral action. It is all too easy to collaborate to the point he becomes more a Team Leader or religious Social Worker than a priest, and this can set up a conflict within him.

My own experience was that having set up hospital lay-ministry teams in two different assignments I began to focus on ‘facilitating and empowering’, becoming all-but a ‘parish manager’. Then, by opening the presbytery door at all hours of the day and night to the most troubled of people (in the attempt to be the ‘ever-approachable pal priest’ who was frequently seen in biker gear rather than Roman collar) I lost my self-identity as ‘priest’ –and very nearly my vocation. It was time with another priest who asked me to offer his twice-weekly Traditional Mass when he was on holiday that brought me to realise what I am, rather than simply who I am. I recovered a sense that I was not presiding at a community meal among friends when celebrating Mass, but offering up the “holy and unspotted Sacrifice” to the Merciful Father “through, with and in Christ” for “the redemption of souls and in hope of health and well-being” (Roman Canon).

Perhaps it is time for us to re-focus on what collaboration truly is: forming the people for their authentic vocation of leavening the world while assigning practical tasks within the parish, yet avoiding giving the impression that the Church is a democratic entity. It is certainly time to get back to seeing the priest as the man of Sacrifice and shepherd of souls, rather than Co-ordinator and facilitator. We must still have our lay activity, first because it is their Divine Commission, second because priests are all but impotent without them since we do not function as first-line troops in the world. Certainly the image of the priest as father for the family of God and man of sacrifice must be recovered. It is, I think, the loss of such a priestly identity that eases priests out of the priesthood, and what is left when sacrifice and fatherhood are gone is not attractive to young men who are called to be fathers and fighters for country or Faith –after all, who would give up the joys of marriage and family life to be little more that a celibate Team Leader or religious social worker..?

On Loving God

I was approached by a 20-something, male parishioner who occasionally views EWTN, most especially The Journey Home (my own favourite and one I highly recommend to those who have access to EWTN). On this programme guests can often be heard to declare their love for God. The young man’s comment was, “I hear people talking about how much they love God, and I just don’t feel that, so I’m never going to be like the saints.”  There was a sense of despondency in his voice, so I pointed out that such despondency means that he already loves God, he just doesn’t feel it; that he is mistaking emotion for love.

I think this man’s plight may be more common than we think. I pointed out that as a young boy he probably thought of Superman or Batman as heroes, and was likely to be a bit obsessed by them with a desire to grow up and be like them. His parents would have facilitated this by buying him the requisite videos, comics and toys, and gleefully told people ‘Oh he just loves superman!’ As a boy he would not have corrected them, yet the truth is the sort of love he had for Superman was simply an admiration of heroism, strength and prowess etc. It would not be the kind of love he had for his dog, or even less the love he has for his mum and dad.

 What we are talking about when we say we ‘love Superman’ is admiration, respect and the like. Perhaps if we had a children’s TV series focusing on Christ which proclaimed His miracles, His teachings, His time with His Disciples etc, we might encourage the same sort of admiration and desire to imitate Christ that we facilitate for Superman. Boys might then grow up less likely to think about being like Superman than being like Christ; more likely to recognise that their love for God has to be about imitation of Christ rather than emotion for Christ.

Not that an emotional love towards God is necessarily excluded, but it should never be the basis of our union with Him, for emotions are unfixed, and can change from love to anger when life goes astray. How then, to develop a mature love for God? Well, that one needs to be answered by the saints, but as the young man’s parish priest I had to offer some kind of advice, and the advice I gave was as follows...

Read the Gospels daily –in there we find a man of compassion, wisdom and inner strength.

Meditate on the passages you read –how would you feel toward Christ if you were the forgiven sinner or the healed paralytic? Speak to Him as though you were.

Contemplate God’s attributes: God is infinite in all that we need and desire, as well as in holiness and goodness. Contemplate the fact that He is all-knowing; all-powerful; all goodness and beauty.

Contemplate with thankfulness all that Christ suffered for you. Make meditation on the Passion as that which Christ did for you a central part of your prayer life.

Contemplate with thankfulness all the good in your life, all of which flows from Him since He is the source of all goodness.

Contemplate with thankfulness the wisdom and goodness of God in that He has made all power for salvation present to you in the Mass; the application of that salvation permanently available to you in Confession, and will strengthen you in that salvation by Extreme Unction (Anointing of the Sick) as you leave time and enter eternity.

Contemplate the struggles you have overcome with His unseen grace and by His helps, seen (in help from those around you) and unseen (your inner strength and wisdom which come from Him).

Read the lives of the saints who show you how love of God can transform you.

Not the greatest advice, I know, but my own love for God is less one of emotion than it is of admiration, thankfulness and the desire to please by close imitation (in which I fail so often!). Emotion is not excluded from loving God, but it is not its essence. What keeps me going is my thankfulness to Him and my admiration of Him, which solicit within me the desire to be like Him and the desire to please Him by my imitating of Him, that I may be with Him forever in heaven.