The Saints and Adoration

AMDG

Today is the beautiful feast of All Saints and the students here have come up with a beautiful way of marking it – with the first of our monthly all-night adorations.  Aside from the mass this seems to be one of the best ways to mark the feast of all saints. There seems to be a link between Adoration and sharing in the Beatific Vision – we believe saints are in the presence of God, which is beyond our understanding, but has something to do with the most powerful force in the universe, that of Divine Love.  Rowan Williams the outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury, explained this the other week in much more eloquent words.  Making history by being the first Anglican Primate to address a Vatican Synod.  Although this happened three weeks ago I have been pondering his words since then, building on the theological anthropology of French Jesuit Henri du Lubac he said some beautiful things that are worth treasuring and meditating on .

To be fully human is to be recreated in the image of Christ’s humanity….. in his relationship to the Father… a relationship of loving and adoring self-giving, a pouring out of life towards the Other….. this is a contemplative humanity… that selfless attention to the Other that brings not death but life to the self. All contemplating of God presupposes God’s own absorbed and joyful knowing of himself and gazing upon himself in the trinitarian life. To be contemplative as Christ is contemplative To be contemplative as Christ is contemplative is to be open to all the fullness that the Father wishes to pour into our hearts.  With our minds made still and ready to receive, with our self-generated fantasies about God and ourselves reduced to silence, we are at last at the point where we may begin to grow.  And the face we need to show to our world is the face of a humanity in endless growth towards love, a humanity so delighted and engaged by the glory of what we look towards that we are prepared to embark on a journey without end to find our way more deeply into it, into the heart of the trinitarian life.

The rest of his address can be read here – and it is well worth your time, even worth printing it out as I have done for material for prayer.  The stunning tapestries (click here) in the Cathedral of Our Lady and the Angels in LA are beautiful representation of the Saints in adoration.  Why not join us in the chaplaincy in Manchester tonight – as we hold a vigil of adoration on this feast of All Saints, 9pm-9am.

 

 

Exciting news & spiritual synergies

AMDG

English: Manchester University Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So it has been announced publicly now that my next job is to be chaplain at Manchester University.  I will be moving in sometime by the end of this week.  I will be on my own till Christmas and then 3 other Jesuits will join me.  It is a very exciting new mission, with a conglomeration of over 85,000 students (the biggest in Europe I’ve been told) and 400-600 coming to the Sunday evening mass.  Outside the chaplaincy is also the busiest bus stop in the country (foot-fall wise) with more than 2000 passengers embarking and disembarking an hour, so we really are in the thick of it.  Fantastic!  Many of mates think it is hilarious that a scouser and Liverpool fan is going to Manchester to be chaplain, but as I said on local radio yesterday, over the last 20 years us Liverpool fans have had to learn humility, which is a good quality for a chaplain.  I hope that brought a smile to a few Mancunian faces….  Daniel into the lions den!

Probably by advent we will be taking back the Holy Name Church (next door to the chaplaincy) as the Oratorians will move to their newly founded oratory nearby.  We owe them a huge debt of gratitude as in essence they saved the Church.  Last week a national newspaper reported that Roberto Mancini (Man City manager) is a regular mass attendee click here, so I will have to exercise restraint in the pulpit!  At the back of the church is a beautiful copy of the Rubens painting of St Ignatius and St Philip Neri, the founder of the Oratorians (see right).  They were great friends and St. Philip encouraged a number of his own disciples who displayed a desire for missionary work to become Jesuits.  Philip was fascinated with the plans of St. Francis Xavier, whom he befriended before the latter set off on his missionary journeys. Ignatius used to pass along the letters of St. Francis reporting back to Rome, which Philip and his companions would read and discuss together in community.  However,  Philip was told by a wise Trappist that “Your India is to be Rome.”, a city which is always in need of missionary and reforming zeal!  We owe a great debt to Father Ray Matus and his companions for all the work they have done in Manchester and I hope we can keep the spiritual synergy going!

 

Trust, Surrender and Joy

AMDG

Mother Teresa of Calcutta (26.8.1919-5.9.1997); at a pro-life meeting in 1986 in Bonn, Germany (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am helping the Missionaries of Charity, popular known as Mother Teresa‘s nuns, with a triduum at the moment.   A triduum is three days of prayer or retreat, often before a particular feast or special day.  Here in Edinburgh, as with many of their communities, the Sisters do very important work with homeless and the poor.  Their life is also very impressive, in its simplicity and its commitment. They  don’t even have the privacy of their own room – I’m sure if you asked Jesuits to share rooms they would have a heart attack!  The Superior identified three themes for the triduum – a) Loving Trust, b) Total Surrender and c) Cheerfulness. She has also loaned me a copy of their constitutions to look at the passages on these themes.  Part III of the Constitutions, begins with a section called ‘Our Spirit’ which covers these three themes. So some of the things we have been sharing and praying about -

Trust - Is a key ‘disposition’ for those who aspire to hear the voice of God in the world.  Erik Erikson developed a theory of Psychological Development where he claims that all humans confront a set of ‘crises’ in their life.  Our personalities are formed depending on how we resolve these crises. The earliest crisis is one of basic trust or basic mistrust in the world. According to Erikson’s model (it’s just a model!) – this crisis often takes place at the first year of our life.  Trust opens us out to the world – mistrust makes us suspicious and cynical.  Radical Trust in God is embodied in people like Abraham, which is why he is so important to Judaism, Christianity and Islam –  the ‘Abrahamic Faith‘.  And trust is two-way – the forgiving trust that Jesus shows Peter, who is reinstated as the leader of the apostles, even after his multiple denial of Jesus, is an important touchstone for all of us who are honestly struggling with our weaknesses.

Surrender –  The paradox of surrender is that the total surrender to infinite love is one of the most empowering things that we can do with our life.  Crises and tragedies in our life can become moments of transforming grace because God speaks clearly to the broken-hearted.  For Catholics the unconditional ‘fiat’ of Mary at the Annunciation is one of the turning points of human history.  The emptying of self involved, on reflection, is awe-inspiring.  In our culture which prizes the individual and a celebrity subculture that inflates the ego – to empty one self in loving service is truly counter-cultural and hugely difficult in a time of unparalleled self-promotion. It is interesting how the desert becomes a place of encounter for God in the Bible – because in the desert we are stripped of luxuries and distractions.  The desert  becomes a special place of purification and preparation – and in Jesus’ case temptation.  His 40 days in the desert are portrayed in a fascinating way in Jim Crace‘s novel Quarantine.

Joy … tomorrow!

The Power of Modern Saints

AMDG

Blessed Miguel Pro SJ, one of the first martyrs to be caught on celluloid

It is often said that John Paul II canonized more saints that many previous popes put together.  Some have been critical of this, muttering about the lowering of standards, or cynical about the funds needed to set up a quick process for ‘a cause’ to be investigated.  Saint-making is easier, they claim,  for rich and powerful groups and religious orders who wish their founder or member to be elevated to the altars.  I feel that this criticism is often misguided, churlish and a little mean-spirited.  The desire of John Paul II to make saints that we could relate to in the modern world, that would make holiness an accessible and realistic goal was far-sighted and big-hearted. We all need inspiring role models to spur us on, especially in an age of dubious celebrity and a media that promotes a self destructive narcissism. It is great to be able to show youngsters powerful pictures of Blessed Miguel Pro SJ, being executed by Mexican authorities.  The picture, taken in the age of celluloid says this is not a legend, it is real, it is relevant, we can have a faith like his.

Todays saint Maximilian Kolbe in Auschwitz

Today’s memorial of St Maximilian Kolbe belongs to the same category.  Kolbe, the Franciscan, who offered to substitute his life for a condemned man’s in Auschwitz, is a modern saint, a martyr of the Nazi’s.  After a prisoner had escaped, 10 men were chosen to be put to death as revenge, when one of them pleaded that he was a family man, Fr or ‘Pate’ Kolbe offered to take his place, much to the amazement of the German Officer.  ’Are you crazy’ he said – the ten men were locked up without food and water, as hostages to be released if the  I have discovered not only photo’s of Maximilian Kolbe (right), but also an interview with an Auchwitz survivor who was an eyewitness to Kolbe’s death.  Now living in Sweden, 88 year old Tadeusz Raznikiewicz  was recorded and translated by a fellow parishioner in Upsalla.  It lasts about twenty minutes and is absolutely absorbing listening. You can listen to it  by clicking on this link – Kolbe eyewitness interview –  the interview starts about 18mins into podcast. through the website ‘The Saint Cast’.

‘Saint Cast’  is produced by a remarkable man in America, Dr Paul Camarata.  He is a brain surgeon and a marathon runner, and somehow he finds time in between these activities  to make these podcasts about Saints. Although the ‘American’ style of the podcast is quite different to European ears – I love listening to these podcasts, in fact through ITunes you can download all the previous episodes.

 

Role models, athletes & saints

AMDG

The incredible scenes at the Olympics these days – the joy, the support of the crowds,  the adulation was so powerful, particularly of your are British.   Working with boys the last few years I have seen with my own eyes how sport can ‘save them’ from lives on the streets in gangs. Coaching football I know how sport can give them meaning and discipline, so it is wonderful to see how Andy Murray, Jessica Ennis and the rest can be such positive role models.  But even the roar of the crowd, the glamour of gold fades away.  The love, so powerfully expressed in the stadium, is nothing compared to the patience of their families and friends as they embark on the discipline of training and single-mindedness of an elite athlete. There are striking scenes here too  in Edinburgh as the Fringe Festival begins, we are being bombarded with flyers and posters – it can get a bit much.  It feels like there is too much attention seeking – look at me!  Come to my show! On the other hand there is great energy and creative talent – it is exciting. Careers will be launched, shows will be commissioned, and these shows and personalities will have a big impact on our culture and televisions over the next years.  Seeing the pictures of comedians on the posters is revealing… we live in a golden age of comedy …. some of these people are starting to sell out football stadiums / becoming wealthy beyond their dreams as they sell their DVD box sets. Some of the comedy is no more than mockery, mean spirited, angry and cynical but some of the most popular stuff isn’t – its observational, balanced, self- deprecating, not nasty. However both the athletes and the comedians will find the adulation fades.  So again what lasts?

In this week of great Olympians, the church has quietly celebrated three of its own Olympians.  If you came to daily mass you know who I am talking about.  Our own St Ignatius on Tuesday, the founder of the Jesuits, in whose ‘Spiritual Exercises’ many people, kings, queens, writers, poets, and normal people like you and me, have changed our lives for the better. On Wednesday we remembered St Alphonsus Liguori – the founder of the Redemptorists, who changed the hearts and minds of so many young slum dwellers all over the world and then on Saturday we remembered St Jean Vianney – patron of parish priests. To whom 20,000 people a year  would visit and make their confession to. They would travel on pilgrimage from all over Europe, long before the days of Ryan Air….. They too are role models, but their legacy is much longer, more than gold it endures.

Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life (Todays Gospel)

Irresistible

 

AMDG

Sometimes being snowed-in may save your life

 Today we remember St Jean Vianney – the famous ‘Cure of Ars’.  I was  researching a bit about him yesterday and found a fascinating story.  Born into revolutionary France, when the faith was outlawed, Vianney as a young boy would travel miles to mass with his family to remote farmhouses.  The windows would be covered in cloth, to hide the shine of candlelight. Impressed by the courage of the priests who were risking their lives and the guillotine to celebrate mass, the seeds of a vocation were planted.  Incredibly as a young man, Vianney was press-ganged into Napoleons army to fight the Spanish.  On a forced march to the Spanish border he managed to slip away and was stranded in the mountain village of Les Noes.  The deep snows of a winter stranded him and kept him safe from the zealous gendarmes who were searching for deserters.  During the the long winter he set up a rudimentary school for the children.  He was ordained and his holiness led to the radical spiritual transformation of the community of Ars and its surroundings.  His fame spread far and wide, and soon over 20,000 people a year would travel to Ars on a pilgrimage, and to make their confessions to him, and these was the days before Easy Jet!  In the summer he could spend up to 16hrs in the confessional.

No wonder he is the patron saint of Parish Priests.  What is striking about his story is  the growth of his vocation in the most hostile circumstances, with so many obstacles put up against him.  Echoed perfectly in today’s readings of the Prophet Jeremiah being delivered from execution, and the Gospel of John the Baptist beheading by King Herod. Kings, Emperors, Revolutions – no matter how powerful  they seem, Gods will, sometimes working imperceptibly, will always find a way.   The most powerful force in the world – even greater that the  Higgs Boson or the magnificent  Jessica Ennis.  With an open heart the will of God is irresistible. 

Related articles

• Thousands visit St. John Vianney’s heart in England (catholicnewsagency.com)