Sunday Newsletter

Masses Today

6.30 (Vigil) Donnchadh Manning (Month's Mind); Maureen Lally, (Anniv).
11.00 Joanna Neber, Whitehall, (Anniv.)
6.30: Willian Morris, (Anniv)

As I Was Saying...

'Reflective pieces' are all the rage at this time of year. Invariably, these are dominated by a sense of loss, while the future is regarded with foreboding. The loss concentrated on the economic crash, while the foreboding centred on matters environmental. The future of the planet is at stake. However, even if the economy had not crashed in 2008, loss and foreboding would still mark our end-of-year musings. Because insecurity is a human reality. Of course, our awareness of this is heightened during times of crisis, or at particular times of the year, like now.

That said, however, the precarious condition of our environment has to be taken seriously. The lesson of history is that the economy will recover. The environment is different. Experts warn us that we are approaching 'tipping-point'. If we fail to act now, the damage will be irreparable. An Anglican clergyman, Colin Morris, told this cautionary tale. 'Genesis in Reverse' he called it. If one were to write a bible for the 21st century, he said, it would start with the story of how man dismantled the world, rather than how God created it. And it might run like this.

"In the end, mankind systematically demolished the home God had given them even though they had nowhere else to go. They plundered the earth, slaughtered one another, and their brothers and sisters of the animal kingdom. And this was the seventh day from the end. They polluted the clear air with the fumes of their machines, poisoned the sea with their garbage and turned rivers into foaming torrents of chemical waste, and began ever so slowly to choke themselves to death. And this was the sixth day from the end. They stifled all truth that wasn't their truth and scoffed at the warnings of the prophets and were deaf to the ominous sounds of the earth in torment. Arrogance and self-righteousness drowned out wisdom and humility.

And this was the fifth day from the end. And they said the strong are entitled to most of what's going and the weak can have the rest. But the more they had to lose, the more they feared those who had nothing to lose, so they built ever bigger walls and larger armies to protect their self-interest.

And this was the fourth day from the end. They slept uneasily and awoke afraid and set to work to create the ultimate weapon. Then they said, 'Now we feel really safe!' But their enemies didn't feel safe, so they too created an ultimate weapon, and the whole world lived under the shadow of extinction and called it peace. And this was the third day from the end. Then having proved by their cleverness that they could make anything, they said, now let us make God in our own image, let us gaze into a mirror and worship the one we see there. And this was the second day from the end. And they were mesmerised by the gleaming products of their ingenuity, and they cried 'Bigger! Faster! Stronger! Richer! Louder! More!' And they became obsessed with a desire nothing could satisfy. And this was the day before the end. Then there was chaos and uproar, and when the din subsided, human life had vanished. And the ravished earth rested on the seventh day. Then God broke the silence. 'Back to the drawing board,' he said sadly."

Like the old Greek philosopher, 'I have told this truth so that it may not become true!' Happy New Year!

-Dick Lyng

A NEW LAW I GIVE YOU...

As we begin our pilgrimage anew, filled with new hope and new resolution, here are ten commandments that might just provide some 'food for the journey':

  1. Acknowledge your helplessness. You are a creature, not the creator. God is the only self-sufficient being. All is a gift. If you try to guarantee your own immortality, you mimic the sin of Adam and Eve. Proper living begins with the words: "I am not God!"
  2. Pray prayers of helplessness, gratitude, and praise. Hold the world up each day to God. Hold up both its great wonders and its great pain. Pray in gratitude. Pray from your weaknesses and helplessness: "Lord, hang on to me lest I slip away from you. Do for me what I cannot do for myself."
  3. Welcome and accept the present moment. Don't let pressures and heartaches of life steal the present moment from you. Only it is real. Drink it in. It's the only place you will experience love and joy. If not now- when? If not with these people -with whom? If not here -where?
  4. Give yourself permission to be inadequate. Both God and nature give you permission not to be perfect. Don't be too hard on yourself and, especially, on others. Everyone falls short. God doesn't keep you from falling and failing, but redeems you when you do fall. Fear not, you are inadequate!
  5. Be sufficiently loving and critical, both at the same time. If you're critical without being loving, you're destructive. If you're loving without being critical, you're weak. Your loved ones, your family, your church, need you to be loving and critical, both at the same time.
  6. Be non-classifiable. Admit that the right and left have both run out of imagination and that their sympathies are highly-selective. Don't be naive, but don't be sophisticated either. See both as phases to pass through. Forgive your past.
  7. Bless what's good in the world. Never denigrate beauty. All that's good and beautiful has God as author. Honour that before speaking any word of challenge to the world.
  8. Be shockingly "Catholic" -earthy and wine-drinking. We have divine permission to be happy. Jesus scandalised people with his capacity to enjoy life. He drank wine and let his heart be warmed by friends. Don't confuse John the Baptist with Jesus. John was the ascetic, not Jesus.
  9. Accept ageing with good grace. Rely more on the paschal mystery than on cosmetics. All that dies brings rich new life, even our own bodies. Paschal wisdom will do more for your joy than a face-Iift. Ageing is an art form.
  10. Serve the right God! God himself is the happiness and peace of his dear friends. Don't serve any other God than this One. Don't bow to any molten calf, created in the image and likeness of our own tensions, bitterness and twisted jealousy. Never forget the insight of Athanasius: "The glory of God is man fully alive!"

-Fr. Ronald Rolheiser is a Canadian priest and writer.

MUSIC FOR THE CHRISTMAS PENITENTIAL SERVICES

"In response to Fr Lyng's comments in last week's newsletter, the choir wish to make it clear that it has not traditionally been involved in providing music for the Penitential Services. Therefore the choir did not absent themselves as no commitment was made."

(Some choir representatives asked me to publish the above in this week's Newsletter. I have no problem doing so! D.L.)

ITEMS OF INTEREST

Te Deum

Not because of victories
I sing,
having none,
but for the common sunshine,
the breeze,
the largess of the spring.

Not for victory
but for the day's work done
as well as I was able;
not for a seat upon the dais
but at the common table.

-Charles Reznikoff

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