Father Bob

Life after Holy Week

I short weighted you last blog. Sorry about that. It was, what’s called, Holy Week for us Catholics.

There were loads of ritual things to participate in. The local Galilee school kids re-enacted the events of Jesus of Nazareth’s famous Last Supper, execution on the day after and resurrection two days later. The Age newspaper dropped in, took a beaut photo and published it on Good Friday morning. It had a grade 6 boy shouldering a (light weight) cross and heading for the church door. Colour photo, too.

You couldn’t see the kid’s face, because that would breach privacy.

It’s the same out there on the streets where, by the seasonal way, Jesus is condemned to death, etc. every hour of every day. Where and when? – go look and listen!

Our street reporters can’t provide graphic evidence of street poverty, because their photos would breach privacy. I’m not saying we should provide you with graphic evidence, even “snack” sized movie reports, but it would be one way of letting you in on what’s going down in a street near you.

Not to grab your money, mind you, but your attention. Then, just maybe, your registration of interest in learning the art of social activism.

There’s many forms of social activism. One, not to be discouraged or sneered at, is social voyeurism. That’s when you catch yourself witnessing something around you which is disturbing to you as a human being with conscience, a crew member on spaceship Earth starting to wake up to the need for mutual responsibility.

Over the next few months, some of us will evolve to the next stage of social activism, not just noticing but assessing the degree of rightness and wrongness.

I say the next few months, because the Olympic Games in Beijing will trigger, has already triggered, indignation over China’s human rights record.

Some say the Games are sacrosanct, not to be used for political advantage. Others say the advantage sought isn’t political but moral. Yet others remind us morals and politics are inexorably interwoven.

Were global critics of the US invasion of Iraq being selectively indignant by observing silence over China’s law and order campaign in Tibet?

Closer to home, in July, the Aussie Catholics will play host to the world’s youth during a week of celebrations, religious and secular, in Sydney.

I’ve been asked by a national broadcaster to write a blog, couple a week, about WYD, as it’s known in Catholic circles and will become known, closer to the event, in the wider community.

I guess a moral assessment of WYD, Pope Benedict present and all, may attempt to weigh up the costs and the outcomes.

I’ll leave that exercise to others more versed in megabucks.

If the exercise raises the morale of local and global youth, then, it’s a good thing. There’s so many “big days out” already pitching at the “youth” demographic that one more, heavily weighted in favour of justice and peace, seasoned with religious devotion, won’t do any harm and may do some good.

A lot of ordinary people, not all churchgoers, are involved in providing accommodation for thousands of overseas visitors. A lot of good just must come out of so many random acts of kindness.

Another lot of ordinary people will be organising massive religious exercised associated with the WYD. Melbourne is already bombarded with requests from local WYD headquarters for local parishes to join in the spirit of the occasion.

These “big events”, sacred or secular do put a big strain on the local host neighbourhoods.

We know, here in South Melbourne / Albert Park, the burdensome privilege of hosting the Grand Prix. Randwick, and other venues around Sydney, should expect not just a financial profit but, also, a social spiritual outcome, a blessing, for the neighbourhood.

RJM

Street Report #19 - Stormy Weather

Unfortunately it was a busy night out there tonight, and even during the downpour of rain we had people come to the bus for food. 

We had lots of soup (2 big loads of it) and by the end of the night that all went as did the cheese sandwiches and 110 hot dogs. Also we had 4 cakes that we cut up and distributed as well as the chips and chocolates that the Foundation gave money for to purchase for the people.

 

We had coincidentally 2 separate families come for the first time to the bus and these 2 families were living sadly in their vehicles.  I gave them the Foundation's numbers as well as mine in case they needed extra assistance 'til they settled down hopefully soon somewhere.

I bought nappies and baby food for both the families (spent app. $60.00 on each family at the IGA in Fitzroy St) who have fallen on hard times, it was sad to see these people as you could tell by their looks that they had recently fallen on hard times and they felt uncomfortable coming to the bus asking for food for their respective families.  Also gave out blankets I had with me on the bus to one of the families.

HJS

Resurrection

I was in Primary School, 1941, when the German merchant/raider Kormoran sank the HMAS Sydney, off the coast of Western Australia.

70 Germans died – 600 Aussies.  Experts discovered the two wrecks just last week leaving aside, with respect, the Kormoran’s story, I’m suggesting the discovery of the Sydney led to a sort of resurrection.

A daily newspaper published the name, rank, serial number and occupation of the 600 crew members when the Sydney sank, as they say, “with no survivors”.

Lots of elderly relatives and friends remembered those sailors as if they just walked in the kitchen door.

That’s a resurrection, as far as I’m concerned.

The Sydney’s discovery will make this year’s Anzac Day even more deep and meaningful.  Again, I think Anzac Day is like a resurrection for friends and families who lost loved ones at Gallipoli and in France.

I’m a Catholic Parish Priest, as many of you will know, so I’ve been confronted with Resurrection issues since Ash Wednesday, forty days ago.  Known in Catholic circles as “Lent” that period focused from the start on Easter or Resurrection Sunday, on the empty grave.

I don’t care how Jesus got from that empty grave to where he is today.

RJM

St Patrick's Day Dilema

The Catholics have caught themselves in a bind this coming week.

St Patrick’s Day is always on March 17th.  Once in every 60 years, March 17th falls in the week before Easter.  Catholics call it Holy Week (because it includes Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday).  It’s the only week of the year that’s “untouchable”, so far as the church officials are concerned.

Some of us remember the outcry from church HQ when the AFL scheduled a match for Holy Thursday.

People voted with their feet.  They went.  Holy Thursday has never been a crowd puller for as long as I can remember.  There’s a respectable number, maybe the same as a “good’ Sunday Mass crowd.  Good Friday is much more attractive as a religious / spiritual experience.

Good Friday’s risky, as we know from recent reports that someone in Rome insists the Jews need a special mention in the ritual prayers.  I thought we’d got over all that 40 years ago.  The majority of Aussie Catholics won’t have a bar of anti – any race or religion infiltrating parish churches.

Anyhow, back to good old St Patrick’s Day.  It falls on the Monday of Holy Week so the powers that be, colleagues of mine, by the way, not some beings from outer space, decided it can’t happen without compromising the “holiness” of the week.

Tell that to the Irish.  Our HQ says St Pat’s day has to be celebrated on the 14th!  Melbourne’s Irish say: “Let the Roman Catholics do what they like but no Irishman will celebrate St Patrick except on the 17th”.

See what tangled webs we weave for ourselves.  See how easily special days and special places can become divisive instead of all embracing.

Special weeks that made sense in villages and towns before the industrial and technological revolutions can scarcely be expected to be observed in our post modern towns and cities.

White Australia’s just over 200 years old so we have to shop about for special times and places to mark with public respect.  Anzac Day, coming up soon, grips the Aussie heartstrings, at least for half a day.

We mix our religions, and we expect them to mix, that’s the religion of a national day and the religion of a sporting event.  The silence, a spiritual achievement among 100,000 people, is special.

The ritual words concluding with “Lest we forget” are special.

I admit there’s plenty of grog around on St Pat’s Day but that doesn’t defile the meaning of the Day itself.  It may scandalise quite a few, especially these days when drinking and driving, drinking and fighting, drinking and barracking are all under scrutiny and, even, lawful restraints.

This Parish of Sts Peter & Paul, founded by the Irish in 1850’s, developed by the Irish through it’s Emerald Hill Mission stage right up to it’s mature Parish stage ending in the 1960’s, when the State Government socially engineered the city and the Parish out of existence.

This St Patrick’s Day, we parishioners who remain, celebrate our Irishness by flying the Irish flag, together with the Aboriginal and Eureka flags, from the balcony of the Parish house, itself here from the 1860’s when the Irish started creating buildings of HOPE so far away from the Emerald Isle.

What the world needs now is HOPE – not an anaemic “I wish” but a robust “I expect”.

Easter is marketable as the annual feast day of great expectations.  Chocolate eggs are the secular preferred symbol of Easter.  Eggs are about new life.

St Patrick’s Day reminds us this year especially, that if Gerry Adams and Ian Paisley can shake hands, there’s hope for us all!

The AFL/ARL starts again, this Easter, and hope springs eternal for all supporters.

Happy Easter

RJM

Forgiveness

Two or three weeks and we’re at Easter. Because I’ve got two feet, one in the church world, the other in the secular world, I get a double go at Easter.

John Safran had on his Triple J programme, a couple of months ago, a singer of ballads who performed one about “When Jesus died, he came back as chocolate eggs”.

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. In church, say on Easter Sunday, it would be risky. Any day in secular society, it would be a chance to put Jesus into daily life. Risky again, but for a different reason.

The death and resurrection theme I’ll leave, if you don’t mind, for later.

Sin and forgiveness is closer to my mind because I’ve been stunned by a couple of examples of both, gleaned, not from church, but from the secular press.

One was a woman from Rwanda where millions were killed a few years ago. She was from tribe A, Tutsi, massacred by tribe B, Hutu. She’d lost husband and children. She was at a “truth and reconciliation” session arranged by South African Bishop Tutu, (Church and State have a different relationship depending on where you are in the world).

She identified her family’s executioners in “court” that day. Then she asked to be lead across the room to the man. I forgive him, she said, and want to take him home to be my son.

Too much, isn’t it! You or I couldn’t do that. We’d want revenge (we call it justice) because we’ve been brought up on retributive justice. We’ve rarely heard of “restorative justice” where all aggrieved parties and the offender(s) are in the same room together to seek truth and reconciliation

The only point I want to make here is that it seems possible to forgive, even if not forget.

I’d just got over reading that shocking example of human heroism when I’m, confronted with Gusmao and Ramos Horta, leaders of East Timor, both set upon recently by armed men. Gusmao escaped injury, Ramos Horta almost died.

Both men expressed forgiveness, without forgetfulness, and care and concern for the family of the man who, allegedly, led the attack, and was shot dead at the scene.

It’s alright for me to ‘preach’ this heady stuff on Good Friday in church at 3pm.

That’s when, annually, Catholics (and others) gather to hear the sacred story which goes like this: Part of God becomes human. Other humans kill this part of God. God forgives humans. Humans become part of God!

Great story (known in the trade as “myth”). Great ending. Sorry – never-ending.

South Melbourne Catholics will have a truth and reconciliation session in the week of Good Friday we call Holy Week. Check our website. All welcome. Bring your sins, not other people’s. Be forgiven, but only if you forgive others.

Our school kids (Galilee) will be present to learn from us adults at least the good intention of forgiveness without forgetfulness. Thank Gusmao and Ramos Horta for a practical demonstration.

Street Report #18 - Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil

Assisted David by feeding him. Giving him fags. But more importantly by listening to his story. He was in Grey St last Saturday minding his own business. Four men attacked him as they thought he had tried to break into their car.

End result was he was rushed to hospital near death literally. He stupidly discharged himself and is liable to collapse at any time. Tried for a good hour (or longer) to get him to accept a lift back to the Alfred. He just wasn't interested as he found his drink more important and he reckons he deserves a rest and said he would go back tomorrow. Hopefully he will.