tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354877482024-02-20T13:20:28.495+00:00John-Francis' BlogA place to share some reflections on faith, journeys and life in general...John-Francis Friendshiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566171172212687893noreply@blogger.comBlogger337125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35487748.post-3516792009274985882021-12-22T17:40:00.004+00:002021-12-22T17:40:44.200+00:00SHARING IN THE LIFE OF THE LORD<p></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg4M_l4r0NQqpdQjvIZ13IUmXy2RTY2p4rVkuY5r_RK8XTqF_PW6QpkjxAUoG3B25p6PDsWj8y77Xdt5A1YTOaNDpRsgBnAI-lIScBYK61d_uy9JKDY3rSTFbOD9tvlvSmP_zAGrpI9O3NQtgZv4gX2IWi7WbJiVvCumGloViP19OSdzv-kxrA=s934" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="622" data-original-width="934" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg4M_l4r0NQqpdQjvIZ13IUmXy2RTY2p4rVkuY5r_RK8XTqF_PW6QpkjxAUoG3B25p6PDsWj8y77Xdt5A1YTOaNDpRsgBnAI-lIScBYK61d_uy9JKDY3rSTFbOD9tvlvSmP_zAGrpI9O3NQtgZv4gX2IWi7WbJiVvCumGloViP19OSdzv-kxrA=s320" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Today I heard someone say of the
Eucharist: ‘It will be wonderful to receive the wine again’. They were
commenting on the way the chalice has been withheld since the pandemic began
and is only being offered again in some churches.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Whilst I understand her desire
for this intimate encounter, I am also sad that the comment suggests there is
something ‘missing’ when we cannot receive from the chalice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The words caused me to sense how easy it is
to understand the sacrament we share in as a ritual, cultic meal or – at
another extreme – what would amount to a cannibalistic feast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both mislead us as to what we share in when
the Eucharist is celebrated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I wrote
in <i>The Mystery of Faith</i>:</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">‘The Holy Spirit invoked on the
gifts of bread and wine animates the ‘yeast’ of Christ in the unleavened bread
and wine of the Kingdom. Christ will not depart from the Sacrament, coming to
us in either the Host or Precious Blood. So if you can’t receive from the
Chalice (receiving from the same cup as your sister or brother in the Body is
an important sign of our common-unity) don’t dip the Host into the Chalice! The
fullness of grace comes through <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">both</i>.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Surely, what matters is not that
we ‘drink the wine’, anymore than that we should ‘eat the bread’ but that we should
partake of Him who said: ‘This is my body … my blood’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>St John recorded Jesus as saying: “Very
truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his
blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have
eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true
food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood
abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live
because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the
bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and
they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever” (John 6.53f).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those words shocked some to the extent they
stopped following Him (John 6.66f) – I doubt whether inviting people to ‘share
a sip of wine in memory of me’ would have quite such an effect!</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The reason why I’m sad is that
some have, clearly, never had their eyes opened to the heart of this
Mystery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christ is not divided between
Chalice and Host; rather, we receive the fullness of grace through either the
Bread of Life or the Chalice of Salvation, the precious Body and Blood of
Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We say ‘Amen’ to what we receive
– that we may become more fully that on which we feed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Isn’t that the reason we share in this Sacred
Banquet?<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /></span></p><p></p>John-Francis Friendshiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566171172212687893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35487748.post-62850028812603542962021-12-18T15:33:00.001+00:002021-12-18T15:33:14.236+00:00THREE MASSES AND A BABY ...<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhfLHqrbDq6X8d8n6jTF2Wyq9N8DJDy0B62I16jj9gFDJWhcVvE-XacNqIrt5s62RY9jxjKv5jSwP7qMT10jASyzlskPNl0i4JfuZ2DTMDKB8N5jt80KFgfIaQo9AS33PZ1b-Q4rStKFQxRIMA-APgQnQs_FYQus-ENbujIK8Re-UmVkeFDA1w=s1920" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1920" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhfLHqrbDq6X8d8n6jTF2Wyq9N8DJDy0B62I16jj9gFDJWhcVvE-XacNqIrt5s62RY9jxjKv5jSwP7qMT10jASyzlskPNl0i4JfuZ2DTMDKB8N5jt80KFgfIaQo9AS33PZ1b-Q4rStKFQxRIMA-APgQnQs_FYQus-ENbujIK8Re-UmVkeFDA1w=s320" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Those responsible for the
Liturgies of Christmas Day will recall these two aspects of the celebration –
the different Masses celebrated throughout Christmas Day and the place of the Crib.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Dating back to at least the 4<sup>th</sup>
century, <b>three Masses</b> are offered:</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Midnight
– the <i>Mass of the Angels </i>(or <i>Angel’s Mass</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Dawn
– the <i>Mass of the Shepherds<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Day – the <i>Mass of the Word</i>(or
<i>King’s Mass</i>)</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">‘Common Worship’ provides three
sets of Readings for the Day but gives no instruction as to how they are
used.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the sequence of the
Readings shows how they fit into the theme of the Masses:</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Midnight: <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Isaiah 9: 2-7<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>Ps.
96: 1-2, 2-3, 11-12, 13<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">R. Today is born
our Saviour, Christ the Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>Titus
2: 11-14<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">R. Alleluia, alleluia.<br />
I proclaim to you good news of great joy:<br />
today a Saviour is born for us,<br />
Christ the Lord.<br />
R. Alleluia, alleluia.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>Luke
2: 1-14</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Dawn:<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>Isaiah 62: 6-12<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Ps.97:
1, 6, 11-12<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">R. A light will
shine on us this day: the Lord is born for us.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>Titus
3: 4-7<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">R. Alleluia, alleluia.<br />
</span><span class="text"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";">Glory to God in
the highest heaven,</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" />
</span><span class="indent-1-breaks"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span></span><span class="text"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";">and on earth peace among those whom he favours.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">R. Alleluia, alleluia.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>Luke
2: 8-20</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Day:<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>Isaiah 52: 7-10<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>Ps.
98: 1, 2-3, 3-4, 5-6<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">R. All the ends
of the earth have seen the saving power of God.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>Hebrews
1: 1-4<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">R. Alleluia, alleluia.<br />
A holy day has dawned upon us.<br />
Come, you nations, and adore the Lord.<br />
For today a great light has come upon the earth.<br />
R. Alleluia, alleluia.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>John 1: 1-14</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Then there’s the matter of what
to do with the <b>Baby</b> …</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">It was St Francis of Assisi who ‘invented’
the first Christmas Crib at Greccio in c.1223.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Thinking people didn’t realise the enormity of God entering human flesh,
he invited the villagers of Greccio to Mass in the middle of the night and,
beneath the altar, placed a crib containing the image of a baby (the <i>bambino</i>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the priest uttered the words of Institution
(‘This is my body … my blood … ‘) over the wafers and chalice on the altar, so
the bambino was seen to cry and, from that time onwards, it became the custom
to place a bambino on a small cushion on the altar, in place of the small
crucifix lying before the gaze of the priest, at Midnight Mass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After Mass, it is processed to the Crib where
prayers are offered – and, for this one day, all genuflect to the image as they
pass.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Crib was never meant ‘for the
children’ but adults, and whilst many will now have children’s Crib Services,
the Blessing needs to take place at Mass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Like others, the Crib Service at my church was immensely popular but I
would always tell the children that because Christ was born during the night we
would be blessing the Crib at midnight, and many came back with their parents on
that one, most holy, night.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Finally, the Kings will have
begun their journey and, wherever possible, it’s a good custom to show the
three moving along window ledges (for example) on the days between Christmas
and Epiphany.<o:p></o:p></span></p>John-Francis Friendshiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566171172212687893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35487748.post-87931032900097856062021-10-06T15:26:00.011+00:002021-10-07T17:27:41.044+00:00WHY I AM A PROTESTANT<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5DmvOlLENHm90nK__5vKo_c58mqVhYOeq9ix-AmL2SAc-b8KYRPJX1fTJqyBy9L-cgJadd6TovTtN01e2JCvbdwPC70iJmzZ14evi8THcDJVVXEzdskvyn3OzFoC-9UWd-fE3Yg/s860/Bible.jpg" style="font-weight: bold; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="860" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5DmvOlLENHm90nK__5vKo_c58mqVhYOeq9ix-AmL2SAc-b8KYRPJX1fTJqyBy9L-cgJadd6TovTtN01e2JCvbdwPC70iJmzZ14evi8THcDJVVXEzdskvyn3OzFoC-9UWd-fE3Yg/s320/Bible.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt;">WHY I AM A
PROTESTANT</span></b></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt;">I am a protestant because Jesus
was.</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus’ life was one of protest –
he protested about abuse of power (Matthew 5.38f), the corruption of money (Luke
12.33f) and the danger of pride (Luke 18.9f). He protested at the way the poor were
treated, about the arrogance of the rich, and the voices of deceivers. He
protested about the way many judge others without admitting their own faults
(Matthew 7.1f), about religious hypocrites (Matthew 23.1f) and the dangers of
being duped by Satan – the liar and teller of falsehoods (Matthew 16.23f). He
protested about greed, jealousy, and envy (Mark 7.20f). He protested that we need to love all,
especially our enemies, and that we need to forgive others if we want to be
forgiven.</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus protested on behalf of the
oppressed, hurt, abused, downtrodden, abandoned, alienated, and victimized
(Luke 7). He also protested about those
who are narrow in their outlook; he went to places and stayed with people he
wasn’t supposed to and talked with those no good Jew was allowed to (John
4). </span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The bible is a protestant
book. It protests about those who are
neither hot nor cold (Revelation 13.15f), about those who are callous or
passive in the face of evil (James 4.17).
It protests about the grip of sin and the need for nations to act
righteously (Jeremiah 3.17). It protests
at the ways many are blind to the good in others, blind to what people
different to us have to offer and deaf to wisdom that comes from those unlike
us.</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt;">I am protestant because I
protest at the way people can ignore the plain word of scripture; at the way
what is offered in the bible for our formation as God’s creation is ignored. For example, incense, the Book of Proverbs tells us, makes the ‘heart glad’ (Prov. 62.5) and was offered to Jesus at his birth; yet
there are those who reject its benefits, deny the insights which come from other Christian traditions, and refuse to learn from the wisdom of the
ages.</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Yes, I am a protestant ... but that doesn't mean I'm not a Catholic as well :-)</span></p>John-Francis Friendshiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566171172212687893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35487748.post-995015007905285352021-10-06T14:38:00.005+00:002021-10-06T16:34:57.155+00:00THOUGHTS OF ONE GIVEN AWAY AT BIRTH<p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwCqo4MdqH4O7jd2QlY0ITSuUKruN_VCYF_AMn4BznHwT1bnYCnpF4ERVpmW-uy34ulhan0ZWlVGJrnxCEkWBl5XezvPUJlyhnHrjxTER3yZatw6SqtQrcEELiXnnnSMK4DoP_Qw/s450/given-away.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="450" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwCqo4MdqH4O7jd2QlY0ITSuUKruN_VCYF_AMn4BznHwT1bnYCnpF4ERVpmW-uy34ulhan0ZWlVGJrnxCEkWBl5XezvPUJlyhnHrjxTER3yZatw6SqtQrcEELiXnnnSMK4DoP_Qw/s320/given-away.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I was born to an unmarried mother
in an emergency nursing home in 1946. She, like others in her situation, had
served in the Second World War and, after what must have been a brief affair
with a soldier (or, possibly, having been raped – no father's name appears on
my Birth Certificate), gave me up for adoption shortly afterwards. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt;">It appears she came from an ordinary
family but there was little, if any, support for unmarried mothers in 1946 and
she was persuaded to have me adopted. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
know she wanted to keep me but social conditions and family morality, combined
with the economics of the pre-Welfare State, meant there was insufficient money
to raise a child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was also the
social stigma attached to being an unmarried mother and, therefore, she was
sent to a place away from her home in order to give birth. Whilst I have
letters showing she had a struggle to give me up, she did not talk about my
birth which remained hidden from common knowledge, and although she married soon
afterwards my very existence was never spoken of. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt;">At a time when many are reporting
historical abuse towards unmarried mothers I count myself fortunate. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Until the advent of orphanages, usually run by
Religious Orders as local authorities didn’t have to pay salaries to Sisters,
babies born ‘out of wedlock’ or born to women with a large number of children,
might have been ‘disposed’ of because the mothers could not afford to keep
them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some would have been given away (and
Charles Dickens writes of the conditions many faced in <i>David Copperfield</i>)
but others would be allowed to die or be killed.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s easy, simplistic, and
dangerous to judge a previous era by the standards of our own. Two years after I
was born the Children Act 1948 set out new support measures for children across
the UK. Until then, local authorities had <i>no</i> duty to provide care for any child
whose parents were unable to do so - that was the responsibility of others. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
notion that children had ‘rights’ is fairly recent; it was not until 1990 that
the UK signed the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CRC.aspx" target="_blank" title="Convention on the Rights of the Child">United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child</a> (UNCRC), which sets out the
rights of every child ‘to survive, grow, participate and fulfil their potential’.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Married women, of course, shared
the lot of children in that it is only recently they were regarded as not
being the property of their husbands. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unmarried
mothers fared even worse – ‘fallen’ women who had no place in decent society. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much of the blame for this is traceable to the
ancient notion that women needed controlling by men, an understanding that is
still common in many places.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fear
behind this is that, without domination, women were a threat because they were
the givers and takers of life; every religion has added a gloss to this by declaring,
in one way or another, that woman can be either ‘saints or sinners.’</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt;">I am deeply and forever grateful to
my adoptive parents for the wonderful upbringing I received, and I also recognise
the pain that my birth mother must have experienced. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we must not judge the mores of previous
generations in the simplistic way that many in the media are now doing - and encouraging others to do the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s easy to point a finger, but we should be
slow to judge, ready to listen and explore - and only then discern the right response.<o:p></o:p></span></p>John-Francis Friendshiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566171172212687893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35487748.post-56857958907542819832021-09-29T11:53:00.009+00:002021-09-30T10:54:31.812+00:00WHAT’S THE POINT? <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzYDY6aMTsZDj_dNu0lJ-UlzYfEH9YLdLXv7q1buUJjlA6z3XjIzvOvbJ30P0cqLBY5CAzgTYlO65_2lfIl8PsMRjeoDw6rreFK0PzNhhprjEXpANLhbrpXKWNvEYG7V8uq6OHzg/s525/Me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="525" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzYDY6aMTsZDj_dNu0lJ-UlzYfEH9YLdLXv7q1buUJjlA6z3XjIzvOvbJ30P0cqLBY5CAzgTYlO65_2lfIl8PsMRjeoDw6rreFK0PzNhhprjEXpANLhbrpXKWNvEYG7V8uq6OHzg/w228-h155/Me.jpg" width="228" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Palatino;">I
recently heard someone say of a murdered friend: “I’ll always remember her for
teaching me that the most important thing in life is to put yourself first”.
That comment struck me as at odds with what many would say and what the gospel
teaches: ‘… the last will be first, and the first will be last. … whoever
wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be
first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be
served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’ (Matthew 20.16,
26f)</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">The
emphasis on ‘self’ – self-improvement, self-help, self-will – can easily lead
to a focus preventing growth, for growth depends on being part of a community
and interaction with others. ‘Self’ concern can also feed into the belief that
we should try to get as much out of life as we can, a narrative embraced by
many in society to the extent that the need to give more than we get is
forgotten. This, in turn, informs the way we can understand our relationship
with the planet: private companies and governments seem to view creation as
offering a never-ending source of materials to be plundered, without
considering that the planet needs compassionate care lest Mother Earth reacts
to our selfish pursuit of gain.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">Western,
industrialised society has developed against the backdrop of a spirituality
which stresses the ‘positive’ attributes of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such a spirituality is known as ‘cataphatic’
because it affirms that the more we seek the more we can discover about God who
is revealed through the created world which reveals images of the divine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is the way of light and enlightenment. This
has meant we have tended to overlook or even reject the way of unknowing nor
realised the importance of darkness – the ‘apophatic’ way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was stresses the unknowability of God;
that we can never understand God whose brightness is shrouded in a cloud, who
hides in darkness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God is to be found
along the way of unknowing and so our goal is not to gain increasing knowledge
but to be stripped and made empty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God
is an eternal Mystery and to be fully human is to accept the mystery of our own
identity; that we can only realise that identity as we open ourselves to the
Mystery; to understand that Mystery requires us to stand beneath it,
contemplate it and realise that being human involves the loving gaze upon a
darkness that contains light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As T. S.
Eliot wrote in <i>East Coker</i> (The Four Quartets):</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">Descend
lower, descend only<br />
Into the world of perpetual solitude,<br />
World not world, but that which is not world,<br />
Internal darkness, deprivation<br />
And destitution of all property, […]</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;"> O
dark, dark, dark. They all go into the dark,<br />
The vacant interstellar spaces, the vacant into the vacant […]<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">And
we all go with them, into the silent funeral,<br />
Nobody’s funeral, for there is no one to bury.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">I
said to my soul, be still, and let the dark come upon you<br />
Which shall be the darkness of God. […]</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">I
said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope<br />
For hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love,<br />
For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith<br />
But the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting.<br />
Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought:<br />
So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing. […]<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">In
order to arrive there,<br />
To arrive where you are, to get from where you are not,<br />
You must go by a way wherein there is no ecstacy.<br />
In order to arrive at what you do not know<br />
You must go by a way which is the way of ignorance.<br />
In order to possess what you do not possess<br />
You must go by the way of dispossession.<br />
In order to arrive at what you are not<br />
You must go through the way in which you are not.<br />
And what you do not know is the only thing you know<br />
And what you own is what you do not own<br />
And where you are is where you are not.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">__________________</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">Our
society teaches us the necessity of making a profit, yet rarely stops to count
the cost of that to creation. Earlier societies realised they were part of the
whole and understood life as a costly gift for which they needed to give thanks
to the Giver, rather than viewing life as a right. People like Francis of
Assisi recognise themselves as part of a whole with which they need to be in
communion – Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Brother Fire and so on. The consequence
of emphasising individuality is that we can ignore the fundamental importance
of community.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">To
be human is to know oneself as part of that whole. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mother Earth, like the universe, is in a
constant process of development, it grows and wains, expands and retracts, and
all of this involves what St Paul described as ‘birth pangs’ (Romans
8.18f). For life to exist we have to accept it involves pain and
suffering as well as joy and happiness, and to be fully alive is to be someone
who experiences anguish and grief and doesn’t try to hide from those
conditions. Pain killers have an important part to play, but suffering unites
us and provides the means to offer compassion.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">The
glamour we can long for needs resisting lest we become misled and fail to
realise the cost of living, which involves the pain of birthing. The more
attention we give to externals offered for our enjoyment, or as the goal of our
desires, the less we may give to the heart of life. External temptations, along
with the drugs offered to numb us, need resisting lest we are misled and fail
to realise the true wonder of life.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">‘Do
not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in
those who love the world; for all that is in the world—the desire of the
flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches—comes not from the Father
but from the world. And the world and its desire are passing away,
but those who do the will of God live for ever’ (1 John 2.15f).</span></span></p>John-Francis Friendshiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566171172212687893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35487748.post-14922473882642166962021-09-25T16:44:00.003+00:002021-09-25T16:44:27.764+00:00HARMLESS FUN? <p><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Last night I heard <span style="color: var(--primary-text); font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;">a priest on TV making light of consuming quatntities of "wine" and having to eat lots of "bread"at the end of the Eucharist and my heart was saddened. Surely priests, of all people, should revere the gifts entrusted to us lest we are unworthy of the Giver. She might think it was just a 'joke', but others will see we don't care if fun is made of the faith - and cold be forgiven for thinking they can do the same.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span style="color: var(--primary-text); font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps I am overly sensitive, but I find the way people use that which is holy in a cavilier way, or who take the Holy Name of Jesus Christ in vain, to be - blasphemous. I realise there are many other - perhaps more important - matters of concern on the media, but I'm reminded that Jesus said: "</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you." (Matthew 7.6).</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">It's easy to consider such things 'a bit of harmless fun', or to say that worse things are said in theological college Common Rooms. But what's said in the privacy of such a place is one thing; what is said via public broadcasting quite another.</span></span></p><p><br /></p><div><div class="stjgntxs ni8dbmo4 l82x9zwi uo3d90p7 h905i5nu monazrh9" data-visualcompletion="ignore-dynamic" style="border-radius: 0px 0px 8px 8px; overflow: hidden;"><div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 12px;"><div><div class="tvfksri0 ozuftl9m jmbispl3 olo4ujb6" style="margin-left: 12px; margin-right: 12px;"><div class="rq0escxv l9j0dhe7 du4w35lb j83agx80 pfnyh3mw i1fnvgqd gs1a9yip owycx6da btwxx1t3 ph5uu5jm b3onmgus e5nlhep0 ecm0bbzt nkwizq5d roh60bw9 mysgfdmx hddg9phg" style="align-items: stretch; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-flow: row nowrap; flex-shrink: 0; justify-content: space-between; margin: -6px -2px; padding: 4px; position: relative; z-index: 0;"><div class="rq0escxv l9j0dhe7 du4w35lb j83agx80 cbu4d94t g5gj957u d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz rj1gh0hx buofh1pr n8tt0mok hyh9befq iuny7tx3 ipjc6fyt" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex: 1 1 0px; font-family: inherit; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; padding: 6px 2px; position: relative; z-index: 0;"><div aria-label="Leave a comment" class="oajrlxb2 gs1a9yip g5ia77u1 mtkw9kbi tlpljxtp qensuy8j ppp5ayq2 goun2846 ccm00jje s44p3ltw mk2mc5f4 rt8b4zig n8ej3o3l agehan2d sk4xxmp2 rq0escxv nhd2j8a9 pq6dq46d mg4g778l btwxx1t3 pfnyh3mw p7hjln8o kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x tgvbjcpo hpfvmrgz jb3vyjys rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9 a8nywdso l9j0dhe7 i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr f1sip0of du4w35lb lzcic4wl n00je7tq arfg74bv qs9ysxi8 k77z8yql abiwlrkh p8dawk7l" role="button" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; align-items: stretch; background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: var(--always-dark-overlay); border-left-color: var(--always-dark-overlay); border-radius: inherit; border-right-color: var(--always-dark-overlay); border-style: solid; border-top-color: var(--always-dark-overlay); border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline-flex; flex-basis: auto; flex-direction: row; flex-shrink: 0; font-family: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; min-height: 0px; min-width: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; user-select: none; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><div class="n00je7tq arfg74bv qs9ysxi8 k77z8yql i09qtzwb n7fi1qx3 b5wmifdl hzruof5a pmk7jnqg j9ispegn kr520xx4 c5ndavph art1omkt ot9fgl3s" data-visualcompletion="ignore" style="border-radius: 4px; font-family: inherit; inset: 0px; opacity: 0; pointer-events: none; position: absolute; transition-duration: var(--fds-duration-extra-extra-short-out); transition-property: opacity; transition-timing-function: var(--fds-animation-fade-out);"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="cwj9ozl2 tvmbv18p" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 4px;"></div></div></div></div>John-Francis Friendshiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566171172212687893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35487748.post-69643355768368062862021-09-21T10:12:00.002+00:002021-09-21T10:26:59.834+00:00HOLY WISDOM AND THE PANDEMIC<p><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><i>The following is the text of an email sent to Rachel Cooke at </i>The Guardian<i> in response to an article on 'understanding the pandemic through the arts' <br /></i><i><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/sep/19/mary-beard-twelve-caesars-interview">https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/sep/19/mary-beard-twelve-caesars-interview</a></i></span></p>
<p>
</p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: left;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Dear Ms Cooke,<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">I
was interested to read your article concerning Mary Beard’s comments that the
arts might help us understand what we went through in the pandemic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whilst realising how much Ms Beard has to
offer and delighting in her presentations, I was reminded that, not long ago,
society would have turned to religion to help that understanding. For religion
was known to offer a fount of wisdom drawn from streams which have flowed for
thousands of years from deep within the human and divine story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sadly, the actions of some may have convinced
others that – far from being a place to turn to for enlightenment – religion is
for bigots, fundamentalists, and the unenlightened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that storehouse, if neglected, is still
there.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">More
than a prop or fable, God has been realised as the seat of wisdom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People have been reminded of the need to
treasure up God’s ‘words’, to ‘incline’ their hearts to understanding the
depths of divine revelation and find the ‘knowledge’ that comes from God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Drawing on these ancient ways the Church (and
other faith groups) still has access to that wisdom of the ages to enlighten
questions arising from the pandemic, and some of her members would be able to
unfold this.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">The
outburst of that dark, hidden force was a shocking reminder that we are not in
charge of our destiny but subject to powers beyond our control. Our forebears
would know that we need to turn to God and say, ‘insh’allah’ – thy will be done
- not in blind resignation, but with faith that God will bring life out of
death and light out of darkness for God desires the good of creation.
They would (as many still do) pray: ‘Deliver us, Lord … from every evil … ;
that, by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from
all distress, … ‘ for the pandemic carries another, darker, virus – the virus
of fear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Faith teaches us to face life
with caution and beware the danger of being trapped by anxiety and worry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Faith teaches us to look to God as that
creative source of life which lies beyond the darkness.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Ms
Beard has the knowledge to open the wisdom of the Arts, but religion has the
ability to offer a deeper wisdom, the divine wisdom of the ages contained in
the pages of so many sacred books and in the experience of saints and
mystics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps you could find some
room to share this, too?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">With
best wishes,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">yours
faithfully,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">(Fr.)
John-Francis Friendship TSSF</span></p><p></p>John-Francis Friendshiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566171172212687893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35487748.post-5727156836994789922021-08-24T11:49:00.007+00:002021-08-24T12:03:01.868+00:00BR RAMON SSF: CONTEMPLATIVE AND MYSTIC <p><span style="font-family: Palatino;">It was a sunny spring day in 1978
when, gardening in the vegetable patch at Glasshampton monastery, I first met Raymond
Lloyd. He joined me in digging out weeds and we talked about the Religious Life and his own sense of vocation. Converted as a child to a radical, joyful
Christianity (and pacifism), this former Baptist minister had already lived with a
small community of hermits in Roslin, Scotland. The (ecumenical) <i>Community
of the Transfiguration</i> had never numbered more than five living in the
manner of the Desert Elders and influenced by the spirituality of Bl. Charles
of Jesus (<i>Charles de Foucauld: 1858-1916</i>), Taize, and the worker-priest
movement.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">Raymond was on a journey of
discovery as he sought to respond to the call of the Spirit. Having been
impressed by the Cowley Fathers and feeling a strong pull to their life he was
due to stay with the Society of St John the Evangelist and thought God might be calling him to them, but the rest is the history of how he came to become Ramon SSF, a great
mission preacher, Franciscan hermit, and writer of many popular books on prayer
and spirituality.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 72pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">Solitude’s
stillness is the place of vision,<br /><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>Gazing
on Beauty, wrapped in silence still,<br /></span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> Sharing
the glory of the triune splendour<br /></span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> Learning
the meaning of the Father’s will.<br /></span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> (</span><i style="text-indent: 36pt;">A
Hidden Fire, </i><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">p.211)</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">Apart from having his heart set
on God, what’s noticeable about Ramon (like so many others called to the
different forms of solitary life) was his poverty/radical simplicity,
hospitality, and the way he, like others at that time, was aided by that remarkable
Anglican contemplative, Mother Mary Clare SLG (1906-1988), who profoundly
influenced the development of the solitary life in the Church of England:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">‘We
must learn to wait upon the Spirit of God. As he moves us, we are led into
deeper purgation, drawn to greater self-sacrifice, and we come to know in
the end the stillness, the awful stillness, in which we see the world from the
height of Calvary.’ (<i>Mthr. Mary Clare SLG</i> – source unknown)</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">For me, Ramon’s spirituality mirrors Jacopone da Todi whom he wrote about so eloquently, not least in his book
<i>Jacopone</i>, and to understand what motivated Ramon one has only to read
that book: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>For
since God’s wisdom, though so great<br /> Is all intoxicate with love.<br /><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> Shall mine not be inebriate,<br /></span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> And so be like my Lord above?<br /></span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> No greater glory can I give<br /></span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">Than sharing His insanity.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">Ramon included that stanza in his
gift to the Third Order, <i>Franciscan Spirituality </i>(p.43), and if I were to
recall anything about him which might animate the calling of any of
us it is that profound and simple matter of being ‘intoxicated’ with love – an
intoxication which draws on a profound relationship with Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His was a deeply catholic faith which valued
the Sacraments and if ever the Society has nurtured a saint, we need to look no further than
this joyful, Christ-centred friar.</span></p>
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;"><i>(including extracts
from <a href="https://canterburypress.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9781786223456/what-do-you-seek">What Do You Seek? <br />Wisdom of the Religious Life</a>, Canterbury Press, 2021<br /></i><i>More information
about Ramon SSF can be found in:<br /></i><i><a href="https://www.brfonline.org.uk/products/a-franciscan-way-of-life-brother-ramons-quest-for-holiness?_pos=1&_sid=425d0db0b&_ss=r"> A Franciscan Way of Life</a>, Arthur Howells,
BRF, 2018)</i></span></p>John-Francis Friendshiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566171172212687893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35487748.post-33532473081592187462021-08-24T10:46:00.001+00:002021-08-24T10:46:24.880+00:00ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI: CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER AND CONTEMPLATIVE LIVING<p><span style="font-family: Palatino;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjm4Mh0GE1-eMU2EfmBCWdvK46m70m9mixPgJ7pn4FOHYIO426Vn-JOP0FRITnRRNnQYLYCBAtuc6C8hYVtzd5Uu4EZFfYuAhMqFZ5xSmC8yXSAhMenL988HIMvek8fwlkTeqeAA/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="298" data-original-width="337" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjm4Mh0GE1-eMU2EfmBCWdvK46m70m9mixPgJ7pn4FOHYIO426Vn-JOP0FRITnRRNnQYLYCBAtuc6C8hYVtzd5Uu4EZFfYuAhMqFZ5xSmC8yXSAhMenL988HIMvek8fwlkTeqeAA/" width="271" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Palatino;">I suppose we are all familiar
with Francis view of Creation by which he contemplated Christ in all things –
as St. Bonaventure wrote in his Major Life of St Francis (IX:1):</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><a name="_Hlk52273891"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">‘In everything beautiful,
(Francis) saw him who is beauty itself, and he followed his Beloved everywhere
by his likeness imprinted on creation; of all creation he made a ladder by
which he might mount up and embrace Him who is all-desirable.’</span></a></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">He was no ‘nature mystic’ but celebrated
the presence of God beneath the outer forms of creation. But did Francis practice what we would call
‘contemplative prayer’, or did he live contemplatively? What is contemplative prayer? Is it desiring and gazing and allowing
ourselves to be held in the compassionate gaze of God whilst treating all those
<i>logismoi</i> – distracting thoughts – that come to us as so many children
wanting to distract or gaze? Or is it
certain practices – Centring Prayer, for example, or spending time before the
Blessed Sacrament or an icon or candle and seeking to be still? Do our contemplative prayer-practices ‘stand-alone’
or do we find that they begin to affect the rest of life? Do we want to ‘perfect’ our prayer, or are we
content to let our desire for God be all we cling on to? Are we beginning to
live contemplatively’? What do we mean
by ‘contemplation’?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;"><i>Contemplation<br />
</i>The
root of the word concerns a space reserved for sacred purposes from the Latin
word <i>templum,</i> a piece of ground consecrated for the taking of auspices,
or a building for worship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At one time
it was associated with a long thoughtful look at something but has come to be
concerned with simply taking a ‘long, loving look at the real’ (<i>Walter
Burghardt SJ</i>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It could be described
as a way of offering a balance to activism for it invites us to stop and focus
our distracted attention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a way to
realise a sense of being at one with an-other and can be practiced by anyone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Swiss-born German artist Paul Klee
observed: ‘In a forest I have felt, many times over, that it was not I who
looked </span><span style="font-family: Palatino;">at the forest. </span><span style="font-family: Palatino;"> </span><span style="font-family: Palatino;">Some days I have felt that the trees were
looking at me … were speaking to me … I was there listening … I think that the
painter must be penetrated by the universe and not want to penetrate it.’</span><span style="font-family: Palatino;"> </span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">Be still and know that I am God.
(Ps.46.10)</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: Palatino;">Contemplative
prayer<br /></span></i><span style="font-family: Palatino;">Contemplative prayer is one of
the classic forms of Christian prayer.</span><span style="font-family: Palatino;">
</span><span style="font-family: Palatino;">Whilst Discursive prayer is a prayer using words where we talk to
God and meditation a type of prayer where we think about God,
contemplation is a type that does not use words or thoughts but a
prayer-practice where we are simply with God or, rather, that we are fully open
to God: ‘Deep contemplative prayer is not so much learning how to contemplate
God by some method or practice as it is becoming aware that it is God who
contemplates us’ (</span><i style="font-family: Palatino;">Bp. Rowan Williams)</i><span style="font-family: Palatino;">.</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;">For some it is
exemplified in the English tradition by the medieval work of an unknown author,
</span><i style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;">The Cloud of Unknowing</i><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;">: ‘Lift up your heart to God with humble love: and
mean God himself, and not what you get out of him… Try to forget all created
things that he ever made, and the purpose behind them, so that your thought and
longing do not turn or reach out to them either in general or in particular’
(Ch.3).</span><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;">The writer then points out what
had become clear to all contemplatives: ‘When you first begin, you find only
darkness, and as it were a cloud of unknowing. You don’t know what this means
except that in your will you feel a simple steadfast intention reaching out
towards God. Do what you will, and this darkness and this cloud remain between
you and God… Reconcile yourself to wait in this darkness as long as is
necessary, but still go on longing after him whom you love’ (Ch.3).</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">‘For He can well be loved, but he
cannot be thought.<br /></span><span style="font-family: Palatino;">By love he can be grasped and
held, but by thought, neither grasped nor held.’<br /></span><span style="font-family: Palatino;">(</span><i style="font-family: Palatino;">The Cloud of Unknowing</i><span style="font-family: Palatino;">, Ch.6)</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: Palatino;">Meditation<br /></span></i><span style="font-family: Palatino;">Contemplation is sometimes
confused with meditation.</span><span style="font-family: Palatino;"> </span><span style="font-family: Palatino;">Meditation is
a practice which uses a particular technique, such as a mantra, to focus the
mind in order to train attention and awareness.</span><span style="font-family: Palatino;">
</span><span style="font-family: Palatino;">One mantric prayer used by St. Francis was the simple: “Deus meus et
Omnia – my God and my All”.</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">“Whatever a monk keeps pursuing
with his thinking and pondering, <br />
that becomes the inclination of his awareness.” (Buddha, <i>Majjhima Nikaya 19</i>,)</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;"><i>Centring Prayer</i> is a name given
to various forms of meditation designed
to aid the development of contemplative prayer by preparing our faculties to
cooperate with this gift. ‘It is an attempt to present the teaching of earlier
time (e.g. The Cloud of Unknowing) in an updated form and to put a certain
order and regularity into it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not
meant to replace other kinds of prayer; it simply puts other kinds of prayer
into a new and fuller perspective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During
the time of prayer we consent to God's presence and action within’ (<i>Contemplative
Outreach</i>).</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: Palatino;">Mindfulness<br /></span></i><span style="font-family: Palatino;">Rooted in ancient practices of
Eastern and Western meditation this concerns focussing on opening the soul to
God.</span><span style="font-family: Palatino;"> </span><span style="font-family: Palatino;">In secular terms certain practices
are recommended in order to achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and
stable state.</span><span style="font-family: Palatino;"> </span><span style="font-family: Palatino;">Mindfulness has been
described as ‘the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we
are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s
going on around us” (</span><i style="font-family: Palatino;">What Is Mindfulness?,</i><span style="font-family: Palatino;"> Mindful.org, 2014).</span><span style="font-family: Palatino;"> </span><span style="font-family: Palatino;">Is Meditation, which usually concerns
openness to God through a loving inclination of the heart, the same as
Mindfulness or is Mindfulness, primarily, a discipline focusing on developing
inner freedom through practising certain techniques? </span><span style="font-family: Palatino;"> </span><span style="font-family: Palatino;">Are mindfulness practices closer to the
ancient practice of ‘recollection’ which is the first step on the contemplative
path?</span><span style="font-family: Palatino;"> </span><span style="font-family: Palatino;">Or are they simply two sides of
the same coin?</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;">All have their
pitfalls, especially when we become focussed on perfecting techniques. It’s
easy to forget that meditation needs to be understood in the context of the
commandment to love God and neighbour – in fact, it’s all about putting self
aside to centre on God rather than attaining a particular experience – and repenting
of the sins which separate us from them? </span><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;">Living in a society where the self often seems
all important Jesus teaching to put self aside, and that those who seek to
save their life will lose it – and those who lose their life for his sake will
find it – are challenging.</span><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;">As is his
observation that whoever wants to follow his way must deny themselves and take
up their cross.</span><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;">This seems to make clear
that we ought not to be too concerned with the perfecting of techniques but by the
loving gift of self through our practice (Matt. 16:25f).</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;">The </span><i style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;">orans
mentale</i><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;"> (mental prayer) of which St Teresa of Avila wrote in her </span><i style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;">Book of
the Life</i><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;"> (Chs.8-10) seems similar to aspects of Mindfulness. </span><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;">But her practices were motivated by a desire
for intimacy and “unknowing” (‘the soul’s profit consists not in thinking much
but in loving much’ – </span><i style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;">Foundation 5.2</i><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;">), not for the benefit of the
individual but for the purpose of the exercise of ‘good works’ brought about by
loving desire.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: Palatino;">Orthodoxy </b><span style="font-family: Palatino;">uses the word </span><i style="font-family: Palatino;">theoria</i><span style="font-family: Palatino;">
to indicate beholding God leading to theosis, which is union with God through
the ascetic practise of hesychasm, that process of letting the mind be enfolded
in the heart to enable the sinful person to be changed, by grace, into a child
of God. </span><span style="font-family: Palatino;"> </span><span style="font-family: Palatino;">It is connected with the desire to
create a pure heart which enables the vision of God (Matt. 5.8) and, in the
Christian tradition, is rooted in the cosmic Christ.</span><span style="font-family: Palatino;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: Palatino;">Contemplative
living<br /></span></i><span style="font-family: Palatino;">For some the practice of
contemplation/meditation is an important part of their prayer life.</span><span style="font-family: Palatino;"> </span><span style="font-family: Palatino;">It is quite possible to develop such a
practice separate from the rest of life – having a ‘quiet time’ can be
important in a hectic life, but I wonder if it’s really possible to have such a
distinction between contemplative prayer and contemplative living? </span><span style="font-family: Palatino;"> </span><span style="font-family: Palatino;"> </span><span style="font-family: Palatino;">In </span><i style="font-family: Palatino;">New
Seeds of Contemplation</i><span style="font-family: Palatino;">, Thomas Merton wrote: ‘Contemplation is life itself,
fully awake, fully active, and fully aware that it is alive. It is spiritual
wonder. It is spontaneous awe at the sacredness of life, of being. It is
gratitude for life, for awareness, and for being. It is a vivid realization of
the fact that life and being in us proceed from an invisible, transcendent, and
infinitely abundant Source’ (New York: New Directions Press, 1962: 1-3). So
Merton begins to invite us to consider practice </span><i style="font-family: Palatino;">contemplation in action </i><span style="font-family: Palatino;">which
will affect the way we look at the homeless as much as the trees.</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;">Later, in a survey
(Robert Toth, </span><i style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;">The Merton Institute</i><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;">) most of those contacted defined
contemplative living as ‘leading a less busy, more quiet life or engaging in
certain practices such as meditation, centring prayer or yoga. </span><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;">In the popular imagination contemplative
living is still influenced by the close connection between contemplation and
monks and nuns who leave "the world" and live in monasteries.’</span><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">‘There are some profoundly
important characteristics in Merton's interpretation of contemplative living
that distinguish it from popular notions of spirituality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, it is specific in its focus
on our four essential relationships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Secondly,
it asserts that our contemplative/spiritual practices lead us to a clearer
understanding of our responsibility in these relationships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thirdly, it emphasizes that our everyday,
active life is our spiritual life and that our contemplation should guide
our actions; and fourthly, it provides direction to our actions that
deepens and transforms our relationships in ways that are visible
and measurable. These distinctive characteristics of contemplative
living make it tangible and easy to adopt as a way of life.’ <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(<i>Contemplative Living</i>, The Abbey of the
Arts, <a href="https://abbeyofthearts.com/blog/2007/07/29/contemplative-living/">https:///abbeyofthearts.com/blog/2007/07/29/contemplative-living/</a>)</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">That was clearly an impetus to
the development of monastic life and would seem the cause for St. Francis’ <i>Rule
for Hermitages</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Richard Rohr OFM has
said that ‘Creation itself was Francis’ primary cathedral, which then drove him
back into the needs of the city, a pattern very similar to Jesus’ own movement
between desert solitude (contemplation) and small-town healing ministry (action)’
(<i>A Cosmic Mutuality</i>, CAC, October 6<sup>th</sup>, 2020).</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;">Like others who
heard the call to live with a deepening awareness of the presence of God in all
things Francis found an example of the contemplative life in Mary the Mother of
God.</span><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;">She had listened to the Word, given
birth to it in the silence of her womb and contemplated Him with a growing
awareness of His identity as she became what she was called to be:</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">Hail, holy Lady, most holy Queen,<br />
Mary, Mother of God, ever Virgin.<br />
You were chosen by the Most High Father in heaven,<br />
consecrated by Him, with His most Holy Beloved Son <br /></span><span style="font-family: Palatino;">and the Holy Spirit, </span><span style="font-family: Palatino;">the
Comforter.</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">
On you descended and
still remains all the fullness of grace <br />and every good.<br />
Hail, His Palace.<br />
Hail His Tabernacle.<br />
Hail His Robe.<br />
Hail His Handmaid.<br />
Hail, His Mother.<br />
and Hail, all holy Virtues, <br />who, by grace and inspiration of the Holy Spirit,<br /></span><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;">are poured into the hearts of the
faithful so that from their faithless state,</span><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;"></span></p><div style="text-indent: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">they may be made faithful
servants of God through you.</span><span style="text-align: center;"> </span></div><p></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">Both Francis and Merton show that contemplation
affects the one who contemplates and concerns living in true relationship with
oneself, God, others – and nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
Fr. Richard Rohr OFM has written: ‘For Francis, nature itself was a mirror for
the soul, for self, and for God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clare
used the word mirror more than any other metaphor for what is happening between
God and soul.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The job of religion and
theology is to help us look in the mirror that is already present.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All this “mirroring” eventually effects a
complete change in consciousness’ (<i>Contemplating the Goodness of God with St
Francis</i>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;">Rohr points out
that contemplative practices will affect the psyche to the extent that they can
lead to a movement of the soul to want to live in such a way.</span><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;">Finally, our own Fr. Gilbert Shaw said in a
talk to the Sisters of the Love of God: ‘(God) has brought in the Kingdom.</span><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;">There is nothing static about it: it is not
an escape of the soul from the encumbrance of the body; nor is it a mystic
consciousness of entities and experiences beyond the temporal.</span><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;">It is the experience of the whole of life
lived for the will of God’ (</span><i style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;">Paper on Contemplative Prayer</i><span style="font-family: Palatino; text-indent: 36pt;">).</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Palatino;"> </span></o:p><i><span style="font-family: Palatino;">John-Francis
Friendship TSSF<br /></span></i><i><span style="font-family: Palatino;">9<sup>th</sup> October,
2020</span></i></p>John-Francis Friendshiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566171172212687893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35487748.post-20325168582880176802021-08-14T12:38:00.045+00:002021-08-15T16:22:33.031+00:00THE CHURCH POST-PANDEMIC<p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWYAN2aorlYzs-oxfdLpXJVOJwqvn88-dr44HhS3gdOtrlb0POO8ittg1Kb-5EBOltGQyqeW78tu5ETTIpMqCIg2vOlQe_Lt4WFEgay-bVKm1C8WULLIZzalYDsw5ip8tqTdMqRw/s976/Covid.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="976" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWYAN2aorlYzs-oxfdLpXJVOJwqvn88-dr44HhS3gdOtrlb0POO8ittg1Kb-5EBOltGQyqeW78tu5ETTIpMqCIg2vOlQe_Lt4WFEgay-bVKm1C8WULLIZzalYDsw5ip8tqTdMqRw/s320/Covid.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: Palatino; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: left;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">In my ministry of supervising such people I listen to the concerns brought by a varied group of men and women, from mostly Anglican and Roman Catholic backgrounds, accompanying clergy and lay-people in their journey with Christ. Without breaking the confidentiality of such groups, one of the pressing and fundamental matters emerging from some directees at present is the way their churches are not engaged in any process of reflection on what the
pandemic has revealed – how it affected people's relationship with God and the positives and negatives involved – there are even, it appears, a few churches against such an activity.</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">It’s clear that some lay people have been exposed to a variety of forms of online Christian gatherings for almost 18 months (often not with their own parishes) and have profound questions as churches re-open. This is especially true for those who have discovered new ways of being fed and nurtured by what they’ve experienced online which can have given them fresh insights into their relationship with God through prayer groups encountered, sermons heard, or different forms of worship in which they've shared.</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">As a consequence, it appears that a number don't want to go back to church; that in light of their experience during lockdown, what 'going to church' offered pre-pandemic no longer satisfies. Whilst, clearly, this doesn’t apply to all I wonder how many churches are engaging in any organised reflection on the experience of the pandemic? A reflection that would enable people to talk about how it affected their faith-journey and asking what God might be telling us through the pandemic; what there is to learn and how we might now grow.</span></p></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt;">I wonder how many are engaged in this process or
might consider such a possibility?</span></p>John-Francis Friendshiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566171172212687893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35487748.post-19689900071082029792021-08-06T11:52:00.057+00:002021-09-12T12:48:35.389+00:00TRACTS FOR OUR TIMES - Exploring Christian Faith<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHnTfJv5-zkOaDSt8Ekefe7C2Ge1gssrAHH19wPmAGfEgTnmt71ROIp8eP1JPhOwzMgiG9v6xd58e47KfN7iKoM2eoC6GGe9qyV__Sdx0l6v9-JgOXFE85X0V4Ofa4MJnZd-e0Jg/s611/Mystery+of+Faith.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHnTfJv5-zkOaDSt8Ekefe7C2Ge1gssrAHH19wPmAGfEgTnmt71ROIp8eP1JPhOwzMgiG9v6xd58e47KfN7iKoM2eoC6GGe9qyV__Sdx0l6v9-JgOXFE85X0V4Ofa4MJnZd-e0Jg/w131-h200/Mystery+of+Faith.jpg" width="131" /></a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;"><br /></span></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">Simply written modern <i>Tracts for our Times </i>(some having informed the writing of <i>The Mystery of Faith</i>) which </span><span style="font-family: Palatino;">seek to do what it says on the label. Links to YouTube versions, where available, are provided)</span></p><h2 style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">TITLES IN THE SERIES</span></b></h2><div><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">1.
</span><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/1ejfqh87z4niw97/1.%20I%20Believe%20in%20God.pdf?dl=0"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
Believe in God</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> (You Tube: </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/35487748/1968990007108202979"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">https://youtu.be/F-DG9Z_MnDQ</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">2.
</span><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/i2705n2471ue8mn/2.%20I%20Believe%20in%20Jesus.pdf?dl=0"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
Believe in Jesus </span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"> (You Tube: </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/35487748/1968990007108202979"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">https://youtu.be/1QRmD-IdO78</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">3.
</span><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/qf012zlsvtwxi7i/3.%20I%20Believe%20in%20The%20Holy%20Spirit.pdf?dl=0"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
Believe in the Holy Spirit </span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">(You Tube: </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/35487748/1968990007108202979"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">https://youtu.be/T8OVQobYyqc</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">4.
</span><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/whc8cp4zqcnfyln/4.%20Deepening%20Prayer%20%28rev.2%29.pdf?dl=0"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Deepening
Prayer </span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">(YouTube: </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/35487748/1968990007108202979"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">https://youtu.be/RS06Sro6bK8</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">5. </span><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/x2400tvk93bq4rj/5.%20The%20Ministry%20of%20Healing.pdf?dl=0"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
Ministry of Healing </span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">(You
Tube </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/35487748/1968990007108202979"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">https://youtu.be/C3pPPsA7r2Q</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">6.
<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/om67xh4sy4gfps7/6.%20The%20Sacrament%20of%20Confession.pdf?dl=0">The
Sacrament of Confession </a> (You Tube: </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/35487748/1968990007108202979"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">https://youtu.be/Je3BvuUr6qs</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">7.
<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/j7p9t835um0hbdi/7.%20Praying%20for%20the%20Departed.pdf?dl=0">Praying
for the Departed</a> (You Tube: </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/35487748/1968990007108202979"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">https://youtu.be/qM-gyh5ruR8</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">8. </span><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/bwud9g245bhiu3p/8.%20The%20Longest%20Journey%20-%20%20Preparing%20for%20death.pdf?dl=0"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
Longest Journey – Preparing for Death</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">9. </span><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/bwud9g245bhiu3p/8.%20The%20Longest%20Journey%20-%20%20Preparing%20for%20death.pdf?dl=0"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Dealing
with the death of one we love</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">10. </span><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/vzpx566xx2zbvg9/10.%20Is%20this%20a%20Catholic%20Church.pdf?dl=0"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Is
this a Catholic Church?</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">11. </span><a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/TRACTS%20FOR%20THE%20TIMES%20%E2%80%93%20EXPLORING%20CHRISTIAN%20FAITH%20.docx#_Hlk82345442"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Holy Baptism</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">12. </span><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/nmpgf5m5bmk2a9f/12.%20The%20Eucharist.pdf?dl=0"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
Eucharist</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">13. <a name="_Hlk82345510"></a><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/vp6rzg820nf9mwo/13.%20First%20Holy%20Communion.pdf?dl=0">First Holy Communion</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">14. </span><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/r3lt63zhnqhjcfi/14.%20Reservation%20of%20the%20Blessed%20Sacrament.pdf?dl=0"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Reservation
of the Blessed Sacrament</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">15. </span><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/kids898r4eifu2s/15.%20Let%20there%20be%20light.pdf?dl=0"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Let
there be light</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">16. </span><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/zwtzphrazbac2lu/16.%20A%20Selection%20of%20Prayers%20and%20Devotions.pdf?dl=0"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">A
Selection of Prayers and Devotions</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">17. </span><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/wuedrxo4uiewpy4/17.%20Use%20of%20the%20Body%20in%20Prayer.pdf?dl=0"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
Use of the Body in Prayer</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">18. </span><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/87stbik79wka0pr/18.%20The%20Use%20of%20Incense.pdf?dl=0"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
Use of Incense</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">19. </span><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/1198xpeoy38l1yo/19.%20Mary%20and%20the%20Saints.pdf?dl=0"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Mary
and the Saints</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"> (You Tube: </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/35487748/1968990007108202979"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">https://youtu.be/FR1v5oEjVbo</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">20. </span><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/37ajfgpoy1o9y43/20.%20The%20Rosary.pdf?dl=0"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">21. </span><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/1qs8hk1zkvus918/21.%20Lent%2C%20Holy%20Week%20and%20Easter.pdf?dl=0"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Lent,
Holy Week and Easter</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">22. </span><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/ltgefma1lsdcfva/22.%20Traditional%20Customs%20and%20Devotions.pdf?dl=0"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Traditional
Customs and Devotions</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></span></span></div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">_______________________________________</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">For a fuller exploration:</span></i></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><a href="https://canterburypress.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9781786221803/the-mystery-of-faith">The Mystery of Faith, Exploring Christian Belief</a></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">(This book is intended for
individual and group use. It is divided into 8 sections with discussion questions
at the end of each. For those wishing to use it over 6 sessions, a suggested
means to do this is available from <a href="mailto:jff2209@yahoo.com">jff2209@yahoo.com</a> Please also email for a copy of any of the leaflets shown above)</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>John-Francis Friendshiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566171172212687893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35487748.post-57926738807023357942021-08-02T16:12:00.032+00:002021-08-12T19:12:35.340+00:00THE TRIUMPH OF FORM OVER SUBSTANCE<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuS_gqCzvNdUzO4GQZjaNBl5FGvxI-JvDygGmRqmPKkR0gCJlYIQYYpN8PpGUaL73BsNgkXlffagIzfIRBknpQMbyLfpvToEIuDoJAlT6i80NK0thDTlJVFZFB5RWOucDfmu2XnQ/s1280/BCP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuS_gqCzvNdUzO4GQZjaNBl5FGvxI-JvDygGmRqmPKkR0gCJlYIQYYpN8PpGUaL73BsNgkXlffagIzfIRBknpQMbyLfpvToEIuDoJAlT6i80NK0thDTlJVFZFB5RWOucDfmu2XnQ/s320/BCP.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype; font-size: medium;"><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 12pt;">As
(one of) the oldest members of the (new) Sodality of Mary, Mother of Priests I’m conscious of the paradox that at the same time as one’s memory begins to fade it
also reaches back further. </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I also realise that the number who can recall events from 60+ years ago
lessens as people of my age begin to die off: but it also means one can have a
certain clarity concerning events which those who are younger may not have
experienced.</span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We carry history.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt;">One
of those events concerns the debates in the 1960’s about the
Book of Common Prayer when many were increasingly dissatisfied with the 1662 Rite
of Holy Communion. So I’ve been surprised and concerned in noticing people expressing
the view that it is a beautiful liturgy from the dawn of the Church of
England (a dangerous notion) which helps define its identity (equally
debateable). This is the liturgy we struggled
to be freed from so that developments in Eucharistic theology – not least the re-claiming
of its sacrificial nature and the action of the Spirit – could be expressed in language not from the 17th century which was often misunderstood, a language
which might express the wonders of Elizabethan English but which also spoke to many outside
the church of its antiquated nature.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f">
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</w:wrap></v:imagedata></v:shape><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Over
the years I’ve noticed that, in religion, there’s always a danger of form taking precedence over substance, feelings over facts. That what and how we do something becomes
more important than what lies behind why we do it – what the form seeks to
express about the substance of faith and issues of worship is ignored: this
is what I like. This seems true for
Catholics (and Anglo-Catholics) in particular because Christianity is an
incarnational religion – matter matters – and so the senses have an important
part to play. But I wonder whether, to a greater or lesser extent, it’s true of
all denominations – and religions? Is it something of greater concern to the
aesthete than the ascetic?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt;">For
example, Mass in Latin can appeal to those who love the language and its universality
as opposed to vernacular translations only understandable by people who speak
that language (of course, those who don’t understand Latin might have a similar
problem … ). Exactly the same would be
true of the use of the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) or the Authorised (King James) Version
of the Bible (AV) which can appeal to those who love the cadences of Shakespearian
English but can leave most people wondering what it’s saying.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><v:shape alt="A page of a book
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</w:wrap></v:imagedata></v:shape><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.25pt;">To maintain the use of the
1662 Communion Service ignores advances in liturgical understanding and developments
in the way texts created at a particular time reflect the social and
theological understanding of those times. It also ignores the compilers
statement that: <i>IT is a thing plainly repugnant to the Word of God, and
the custom of the Primitive Church, to have publick Prayer in the Church, or to
minister the Sacraments in a tongue not understanded of the people.</i> (Article
XXIV) </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Finally,
it ignores the way Anglo-Catholics, in particular, struggled to persuade the
Church (of England) to develop a more theologically ‘catholic’ eucharist, a
struggle seemingly forgotten by those who still support use of the BCP Communion
Service (although few, I imagine, would use the Rite as instructed by the
rubrics). </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The way our forebears created the
English Missal (and influenced the Rite of 1928) seems forgotten or overlooked even
though these were enormous improvements on 1662 whilst keeping the cadences of BCP English.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Whilst
this is true for the Communion Service it is equally true for the two Offices
of Morning and Evening Prayer and liturgical developments in the RC Church and
Church of England. As a former Religious I was involved in this and noticed
that all Orders set about revising their Offices – to the extent that the
Society of St Francis spearheaded those revisions resulting in <i>Common
Worship</i>. Those for whom the Office - especially the psalms - is the centre of their life and who pray it four - or seven - times a day it was clear that the form and language of the old Prayer Book did little to enable a living relationship with God - the language might be of interest to classists but simply didn't carry the prayer of those for whom the Office was central. It felt like two lovers, one of whom was talking to the other in an outdated language. Eventually every community has revised their Office and enriched their common prayer so that no Anglican Order now wojld consider using the 1662
version. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt;">In a similar way it was Anglican
Religious who were at the forefront of developing the use of Plainsong (e.g.
CSMV Wantage and the <i>Manual of Plainsong</i>). They were also involved with creating more recent
chants both of which have been realised as important aids to prayer in a way Anglican Chant
can never be – so no Anglican Order has ever used that chant in its common
Office. Plainsong has a meditative
quality lacking in Anglican Chant, possibly one of the main reasons why (unlike
Plainsong) Chant rarely features on the radio in people’s choice of ‘meditative
music’.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWvv733S_3mLStKMqGa6VpfWTEGyE2yckK2hI0eLXDpxWjdO5BLN9Lic7FZJ54UPfcRbW3ihRZ3FyJGlWVCS6RYcz2MSv8dWgffnRsRCsNds-kjSXaSPVLZG0KlmkSkZT1K4zT6w/s201/Picture2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="151" data-original-width="201" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWvv733S_3mLStKMqGa6VpfWTEGyE2yckK2hI0eLXDpxWjdO5BLN9Lic7FZJ54UPfcRbW3ihRZ3FyJGlWVCS6RYcz2MSv8dWgffnRsRCsNds-kjSXaSPVLZG0KlmkSkZT1K4zT6w/s0/Picture2.jpg" width="201" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt;">I’ve
noticed a tendency to see both Anglican Chant and the BCP as defining the
essence of Anglicanism. Yet, surely, for
Catholics these can only be a historical expressions lest a particular theology
and liturgical usage emerging out of a specific geographical reformation,
becomes an idol. The importance of Catholic Societies such as the Sodality of Mary which ‘seek(s) to renew our Anglo-Catholic heritage and
look(s) to the heroic priests of the past to inspire us and strengthen us’ (<a href="http://sodalityofmary.co.uk/about-us/">http://sodalityofmary.co.uk/about-us/</a>) is to maintain and promote catholic form and practice. Catholics need to be concerned with the substance of that faith, worship and sacramental teaching, and recognise the dangers of being attached to the
forms that faith has taken, especially when these were developed as a re-action
against Catholic practice.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt;">After
publication of the revised Eucharistic Rites by the Roman Catholic church (the <i>Missale
Romanum</i> revised by Decree of the Second Vatican Council and published in
1969) use of the previous ‘Tridentine Mass’ was forbidden (an instruction
recently re-iterated). Given the changes
to the Church of England Eucharistic Rite finalised in 2000 consequent to the
recovery of the fundamental, creative place of the Holy Spirit and the
sacrificial aspect of the Eucharist, perhaps our Church should have done the
same (although I hate to think of the outcry there would have been)? </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt;">For
both Roman Catholics and Anglicans the issue is the same – is the Liturgy to be
a living celebration or petrified (if beautiful) totem?</span></p></span><p></p>John-Francis Friendshiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566171172212687893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35487748.post-16876135912910446712021-08-01T15:40:00.006+00:002021-08-01T15:40:57.229+00:00NURTURING THE WORLD'S SOUL<p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY5oEl4t0-vizwoVSWVJ1zi4zO4lZjUAynX42vu-dYTxUi9p-F-n2fJY90bnSq4nPc4aNv0ts-UlfdPoV3Gjh8_NiezKbE-nfAOSWMtwfB22DRWRJWTMEyroeyn-PMupEKazjNfQ/s566/anima+mundi.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="566" data-original-width="497" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY5oEl4t0-vizwoVSWVJ1zi4zO4lZjUAynX42vu-dYTxUi9p-F-n2fJY90bnSq4nPc4aNv0ts-UlfdPoV3Gjh8_NiezKbE-nfAOSWMtwfB22DRWRJWTMEyroeyn-PMupEKazjNfQ/s320/anima+mundi.jpg" width="281" /></a></div><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">'Creation itself is now calling
to us, sending us signs of balance, and the soul of the world, the <i>anima
mundi</i>, which the ancients understood as the spiritual presence of the
earth, is crying out.’ (Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, <i>Prayer of the Heart in
Christian and Sufi Mysticism</i>, p.71)</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">A culture which has ceased to
realise the <i>anima mundi</i>, privatised the spiritual, encouraged the
notion that any religion we devise is as good as others whilst scorning those
practices and disciplines which the mystics have taught, will not restore what
has been abused simply by addressing the external needs of nature. Instead of
being slaves of consumerism we need to re-connect with the world's soul by
acknowledging and tending our own, admitting (literally) that prayer is central
to life as it connects us with our Divine Lover, and letting ourselves become a
prayer: 'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me (on the world)'.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">It seems that our culture has
become bored with the effort required to nurture the soul, telling us that ‘I’
and my superficial wants are central and can be gratified by other gods.
Advertisers have persuaded us of the importance of satisfying our superficial
desires and so the world appeals to the eye (and the ego-‘I’), feeds our
appetite for pleasure, and offers apparent satisfaction by its appeal to our
senses. Yet only when we dive deeper into the heart and realise the indwelling
soul can we begin to address that lost inner world which connects all creation.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Try holding the earth in your
heart – and if that is too much, your small part of it: the flower you see,
grass on which you walk or tree against which you rest. Hold them before God,
realising they are held in the heart of their Creator.</span></p>John-Francis Friendshiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566171172212687893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35487748.post-59804063700404822202021-07-12T09:00:00.014+00:002021-07-12T12:47:50.816+00:00EURO 2021 - A Reflection<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAZ3uhAXG3yy-uEK6oSIvkAenFam8Tv1rGfek_EWK0WhFgliwjmnALQKeqyiISqLqcMUR7G2LLhLBen4FMZ880z9hmWRJenBS2_MpKwRDVWpMQIsE10Cfyaf72t2s5eGKAa4qGTQ/s300/Football.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="209" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAZ3uhAXG3yy-uEK6oSIvkAenFam8Tv1rGfek_EWK0WhFgliwjmnALQKeqyiISqLqcMUR7G2LLhLBen4FMZ880z9hmWRJenBS2_MpKwRDVWpMQIsE10Cfyaf72t2s5eGKAa4qGTQ/w114-h164/Football.png" width="114" /></a></div><p></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11pt;">Last night the English football team
lost to the Italians in the final of the Euro 2021 match. They had played well,
and many had commented on the good example they were setting; yet, as a consequence, they have
been abused and insulted. The appalling behaviour of some fans is the subject of
criticism by government ministers and comments on this morning’s ‘Today’
programme on Radio 4. Yet it was the BBC who decided to schedule ‘The Darkest
Hour’, a film about Churchill and plans for the evacuation of Dunkirk, on the
eve of the match; a cynical piece of programme planning that left no room for
doubting that this was another way of supporting ‘our boys’ and reminding the
country that we beat the Nazis (and their Axis partner, Italy) in the end. The
final against Italy was, therefore, to be played out in the context of World
War 2.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11pt;">The media have been clearly
involved in hyping the English team to a point of hysteria and must bear a
large part of the blame for creating the climate where violence would break
out. The BBC, whom I have supported and seen as a bulwark against popularism,
is meant to be the ‘British’ Broadcasting Corporation but have acted as if England = Britain: no wonder many Scots (or Welsh) feel ignored and their place in the Union
forgotten. For some days more than half the 'national' news broadcasts were dovoted to football ignoring the fact this is mean to be about all the news and not just a particular sport. The popularist excitement and expectation created by the media should be of concern and I had expected more of that broadcaster created by Lord Reith to set an example to the whole nation, one which would uphold certain standards in
broadcasting. Yet, in the past decade or so, its quality has diminished as it
has sought to ‘reflect the nation’ and has now shown just how ignorant are some
of its present producers and executives. I hope the BBC will help us reflect on the place of
football in national life and remind people that it is just another sporting
game – and consider how they need to regain their own integrity if they are to
fulfil their responsibility.<o:p></o:p></span></p>John-Francis Friendshiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566171172212687893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35487748.post-26507575146417482792021-06-28T10:38:00.027+00:002021-06-29T08:49:37.490+00:00WHAT DO YOU SEEK? Treasures of Religious Life<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJHTu9iTU8w2QP9B95-WeKBpW_gtENP14B22afGBIcYXG1Iuc_8EpHF118M31KbibERTKeq6a5WDnuBg9LYswDJo0-JCV9ViZSAOn70nX_fzp_sk8J6gEcVqMC3vAIvbDRPAcjxA/s2048/What+Do+You+Seek+%2528cover+04.21%2529.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJHTu9iTU8w2QP9B95-WeKBpW_gtENP14B22afGBIcYXG1Iuc_8EpHF118M31KbibERTKeq6a5WDnuBg9LYswDJo0-JCV9ViZSAOn70nX_fzp_sk8J6gEcVqMC3vAIvbDRPAcjxA/s320/What+Do+You+Seek+%2528cover+04.21%2529.jpg" /></a></div><span>F</span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">ollowing
his previous best-seller, </span><i style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">Enfolded in Christ: The Inner Life of a Priest</i><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">,
and </span><i style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">The Mystery of Faith: Exploring Christian Belief</i><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">,* this new book explores
the wisdom offered to the world by the Religious Life as it has been lived, in
particular, by Anglicans.</span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;"> </span><div><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype, serif;">(* <i>An interview about the book is available via <a href="https://youtu.be/k114d_eVzPo">YouTube</a>)</i><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif;">It is
concerned to show the way in which this life has a treasury of basic knowledge
concerning human life and how we can live together. The Life has been present,
in some form, in the Church from the beginning of Christianity and in the
Anglican Communion for almost 200 years, but is frequently overlooked or considered
irrelevant yet has helped mould both individual well-being in Christ and the shape
and wisdom of the Christian world.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif;">Whilst
it uses stories concerning various communities it is not primarily intended to
promote the Life, although it was written with a view to help those who may be
considering their call. Chapters include: <i>Seeking God</i> and the wisdom of
the Desert tradition; <i>The Monastic Way and Contemplative Living</i>; <i>For
the Sake of the Kingdom</i>, offering insights into the way the Life responded
to growing social needs; <i>Habits and Hearts</i>, looking at the way we
express what lies most deeply within us; <i>Priests and Prophets</i>,
reflecting on how the Life might inform both the ordained and those seeking to
live prophetically, and <i>The Hidden Monk</i>, exploring the way the ‘monk’
(nun) lies in the depths of us all.<br /></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif;"><span style="text-align: center;"> ___________________________</span></span></div><p></p>
<p class="Body"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: trebuchet;"><i>From the </i><b>Foreword</b><i> by the Bishop of Manchester</i></span></p><p class="Body"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: trebuchet;">‘Perhaps
this book should be required reading for all presenting themselves to their Vocations
Team or priest, who feel God’s call must, because this is the only model they
have ever seen, mean becoming a ‘vicar’. In our pluriform age, consideration of
Religious Life should be required of those who seek to help people find their
path among today’s array of options.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Above
all this is a book for <i>any</i> prepared to acknowledge that what they are
seeking is not merely to better themselves, who acknowledge that the small
voice from within will be quietened neither by enthusiastic activity nor
internal contemplation, but by recognising that this call comes from beyond.
The one we are seeking is God, and we seek because God has already sought us.’ </span></p><p class="Body"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: 9pt;">
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: 9pt;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">COMMENDATIONS<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: 9pt;"><i></i></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">At a time when so many are looking for ways to live
a meaningful and authentic Christian life, this is a timely book. Those who are
simply interested in finding ways to incorporate ancient monastic wisdom into
their daily lives will find John-Francis’ reflections thought provoking. Those
who might consider a monastic vocation for themselves, will find the same
questions an aid to their discernment.<br />
<i>Br. James Koester SSJE, <b>Superior, Society of Saint John the Evangelist</b></i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">John-Francis was my Novice Guardian when I first
joined the Society of St. Francis. I learned a lot from him then, and I have
learned more since reading this book. He speaks of the Religious Life with
great affection and thanksgiving. It has encouraged me to go back to the roots
of my vocation, to 're-plant' myself in the love of Christ. May this book
inspire many others and raise up vocations to the religious life and all
pathways to God. <br />
<i>Br. Nicholas Alan SSF, <b>Guardian, Glasshampton Monaster</b>y and
co-author of ‘Seeing Differently: Franciscans and Creation’<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">This is beautiful and accessible book introduces the
treasures of the Religious Life through the lens of John-Francis’ varied
experience and Anglican practise. Much more than a personal spiritual
reflection, the breadth of his encounters and research mean the book is an
excellent resource for those unfamiliar with the religious life and in
particular how this has been expressed in the Anglican tradition. For those of
us who have been exposed a little in religious life circles in the UK there is
much delight in the collected quotes of so many familiar sisters and brothers.
For those seekers coming afresh, encountering an unfamiliar world, John-Francis
is an excellent guide.<br />
<i>The Rev. Simon Lewis, <b>Dean of the Community of St. Anselm</b>, Lambeth Palace</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Over the centuries monasticism existed seamlessly
alongside society, with many points of connection. That changed with the
dissolution of the monasteries in England under King Henry VIII but with
monasticism's re-establishment in the Church of England in the nineteenth century
Christian men and women were once again able to hear God's call to enter the
monastery while those who were not called could come alongside monastic
communities for spiritual benefit. John-Francis Friendship has not only lived in
a Franciscan community but has also drunk from monasticism's spiritual well for
decades. His insights are fully monastic while also easily applicable to all
Christians. This book is not only an excellent primer on monasticism but a rich
treasury of monastic wisdom that will strengthen all readers in their
single-minded pursuit of God.<br />
<i>The Rev. Dr. Greg Peters (Visiting Scholar, Von Hügel Institute , St.
Edmund's College , University of Cambridge and <b>author of ‘The Monkhood of
All Believers</b>)</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">To enter this book is to find oneself in another
world soaked by the presence of God; it is to realise that all life, communal
and individual, and indeed the natural world around, participates in a greater
reality of love and there finds meaning and purpose. In a time of global
pandemic, the ancient way chosen by Religious in answer to the deep question
‘What Do You Seek?’ is more relevant than ever, and I firmly predict we shall
see a renaissance in vocations to the religious life in coming times.
John-Francis Friendship brings all his experience and wisdom to open up the
rich hinterland of the religious orders that have contributed so much to church
and society in this beautifully written book which will inform and inspire in
equal measure. <br />
<i>The Very Rev. Dr Frances E F Ward, <b>former Dean of St Edmundsbury</b>,
parish priest, theologian and writer.</i></span></span></p></div>John-Francis Friendshiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566171172212687893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35487748.post-75381324422322426332021-06-21T11:56:00.000+00:002021-06-21T11:56:02.632+00:00INTERCESSION<p></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnrIVKfYveXdvc4OEOSS7f9b0fx8juWLgM9botaYxh7gLuxj8qsJFHZIX_DB_8xL9J03RlSzx7-vEJDJ9m4xn2kTr9k6yvLmR4rXXURuLVR59HBKEyefHkdGbe5tR3549AzuoUXg/s2048/Orans+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1518" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnrIVKfYveXdvc4OEOSS7f9b0fx8juWLgM9botaYxh7gLuxj8qsJFHZIX_DB_8xL9J03RlSzx7-vEJDJ9m4xn2kTr9k6yvLmR4rXXURuLVR59HBKEyefHkdGbe5tR3549AzuoUXg/s320/Orans+2.jpg" /></a></div>One
of the most difficult questions to answer concerns the way prayer for the
well-being of another often appears unanswered. A spouse might pray that their
partner doesn’t die or a parent that their child be healed – after all, didn’t Jesus
say: ‘I will do anything you ask in my name.’ (John 14.13). But the fact is
that many do not find that Jesus does what they ask in prayers they offer. This
is something people have grappled with for a long time and in The Mystery of
Faith I gave some attention to that question in a number of places, including
writing this in Chapter 11 (p.90):<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">‘Asking
for something on behalf of another might be a natural response to a deeply felt
need – ‘Oh God, let Mary get better!’ But if we’re going to ask someone for
something, it’s best to be in a relationship with them. And when we bring our
desires (supplications) to God, we need to trust that God will respond to them in
the right way. Our heart might be overflowing with concerns, but we need to let
go of them to God otherwise they can become overwhelming:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">‘Thy will be
done<br />
on earth as it is in heaven.’</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Intercession
isn’t about getting God to do what we want (no matter how good our intentions);
it’s learning to open our hearts to God’s compassionate love, offering our
concerns to Christ (because it’s he who prays for us) and then trusting him.’</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>*</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Many
Christians have been led to believe that prayer concerns this matter of asking
for things but were never taught of the importance of the context in which
intercession is offered – without a context, intercession would seem little
more than a ‘penny-in-the-slot’ affair: you offer the prayer and get what you ask
for. But, if they thought about it, I imagine few would accept that understanding.
If every prayer ‘in Jesus’ name’ were answered exactly as offered there’d be
chaos! John might pray for a rainy day and Jill for a dry one; Pedro for
Barcelona to win and Johannes for Berlin; Yuri might even pray for success in
robbing a bank! But what about that prayer which is offered for the healing of
a loved one? Surely, if there is a loving God such a request would be granted?
Again, to quote from The Mystery (Chapter 6, p.51):</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">‘What
to make of suffering<br />
</span></i><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">But
if God is good why should there be suffering? Couldn’t God have created a world
where people didn’t hurt each other, where Nature was kindly? The scriptures,
especially the psalms, reveal ways in which people have grappled with
suffering, even blaming, but always in dialogue with, God (e.g. 22). The Book
of Job grapples with this: there you’ll find lament, complaint, accusation –
but trust that God will not, in the end, abandon Job utterly. We touched on
that in Ch.2, recognising that suffering is part of the mystery of life and can
reveal depths of compassion we might not otherwise experience. …</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Our
forebears, wanting to help us connect our suffering with his, and to show just
how much Christ suffered, often showed his wounds in graphic detail. You may
have seen the famous 16th century Isenheim Altarpiece by Matthias Grünewald
which the monks, who cared for victims of plague, placed in their hospital. I
remember being deeply moved on kneeling before an ancient statue of the dead
Christ and noticing how his body showed the signs of beating, blood pouring
from wounds in his head, hands and feet, and knew that all pain and suffering
was to be found here. …</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">What
did God experience as Jesus hung there? God-in-Christ must have known immense suffering
in order to fully share in this world-changing moment. Apart from the physical,
emotional and spiritual suffering he saw the love of friends and the anguish of
his mother – such deep anguish that only a mother can have for her child. He
saw the absence of insight in some, the superficiality of others and lack of
interest in the onlookers. He saw it all, and more – he saw the depth of his
own Heart. Fear was there yet, beneath that and stronger than that, he saw
love, love now darkly crowned. And, for one brief moment, he cried in the words
of Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27.46) … ‘</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">* <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>*</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Of
course, some will say – ‘but if God is good, why didn’t he make a world without
suffering?’ Others, as I wrote: ‘seeing so much injustice, pain and suffering, (will)
decide that if God does exist then ‘he’ must be very evil to have created such
monstrous things. But recognising such complexity Christianity knows that
‘evil’ must co-exist with ‘good’; what appear to be random, sometimes chaotic
processes are indispensable if we’re to have the universe we know (and we can’t
know any other). If things had been even slightly different, life probably couldn’t
have emerged from primordial chaos.’ (Chapter 2, p.15)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">It’s
a sad fact that, without suffering we would never know the depths of compassion
of which the heart is capable, never know what love is able to express –
Christianity alone holds this paradox of life and suffering being intrinsically
entwined, which is why the Crucified is central to our faith. The question,
‘why doesn’t God heal the one I love’ has no other answer apart from the image
of the Crucified; again, to quote from The Mystery of Faith: ‘Here is our
God-made-Man hanging on the Cross. Not an all-mighty, ever-powerful Lord but
someone naked and vulnerable. That is the uniqueness of our faith – the God in
whom we believe, the maker of heaven and earth, who was prepared to know what
it is to be human, to be weak, frightened and lonely, just as you and I can be.
That’s why people have been drawn to and by this moment. It’s what’s inspired
great artists, writers, musicians and poets who identify with Jesus hanging,
dying, on the cross’ (Ch. 6, p.58).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Living
in a culture where we expect pain and suffering to be cured and where pills and
treatments can suppressor even eradicate pain, it’s almost inevitable that we
feel suffering, especially ‘innocent’ suffering, doesn’t belong in life. Many
expect God to act like the ultimate doctor – but, reading the bible, that’s
never been the view of people of faith. When people are taught about intercession
it needs to be set in the context of trusting in the ultimate purposes of a God
who seeks the good of all Creation. ‘Thy kingdom come; thy will be done’ needs
to be the context in which our intercessions are offered. So, long before
teaching about this matter of praying-for-healing, we need to understand and
believe that God, who suffered and died for us, continues to suffer with us and
is leading us to at-one-ness with Him. The Sacred Heart of Christ still bleeds
for us but would also enfold us in His mercy and compassion. As a recent
theologian has said:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">‘To
ask for something in Jesus’ name does not mean that we invoke him verbally and
then desire</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaFJ1cUksD7rY3TJG0MwpZYYtUS7MAaCYXx5k9RjGeEwizjo9HvkM56emKxvZCsOK7kFWwCCrr8EX9JaiRvk_xDqQ7NvXxK-Wa6Mv57DvNKf_ELjYye5-RTkHOTzjd4a4WFwiI-g/s1574/Orans-Prayer-from-the-Domitilla-Catacombs.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1574" data-original-width="1467" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaFJ1cUksD7rY3TJG0MwpZYYtUS7MAaCYXx5k9RjGeEwizjo9HvkM56emKxvZCsOK7kFWwCCrr8EX9JaiRvk_xDqQ7NvXxK-Wa6Mv57DvNKf_ELjYye5-RTkHOTzjd4a4WFwiI-g/s320/Orans-Prayer-from-the-Domitilla-Catacombs.jpg.jpg" /></a></div> whatever our turbulent, divided heart or our appetite, our wretched
mania for everything and anything, happens to hanker for. No, asking in Jesus’
name means entering into him, living by him, being one with him in love and
faith. If he is in us by faith, in love, in grace, in his Spirit, then our
petition arises from the centre of our being, which is himself, and if all our
petition and desire is gathered up and fused in him and his Spirit, then the
Father hears us. Then our petition becomes simple and straightforward,
harmonious, sober, and unpretentious.<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">'Then
what St. Paul says in the letter to the Romans applies to us: we do not know
how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us, praying the
one prayer, “Abba! Father”! He longs for that from which the Spirit and Jesus
himself have proceeded: he longs for God, he asks God for God, on our behalf he
asks of God. Everything is included and contained in this prayer. … [If we pray
in this way] we shall see that God really answers our prayer, in one way or
another. Then we shall no longer feel this “one way or the other” is a feeble
excuse offered by the pious, and the gospel, for unanswered prayer.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">'No.
Our prayer is answered, but precisely because it is prayer in Jesus’ name; and
what we ultimately pray for is for the Lord to grow in our lives, to fill our
existence with himself, to triumph, to gather into one our scattered life, the
thousand and one desires of which we are made. … To pray in Jesus’ name is to
have one’s prayer answered, to receive God and God’s blessing, and then, even
amid tears, even in pain, even in indigence, even when it seems that one has
still not been heard, the heart rests in God, and that is—while we are still
here on pilgrimage, far from the Lord—perfect joy.' (Fr. Karl Rahner SJ)</span></p><p></p>John-Francis Friendshiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566171172212687893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35487748.post-42614627498512135732021-06-09T14:25:00.003+00:002021-06-09T14:25:34.399+00:00BEING BENEATH<p><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ3xlP7163y7RNCeb39uwW4GIDaKh_Bsy3-l5_qjtJch6vTdT40KrbJs4bCloZDbfbI_lsOmxYb8WZrwVApE3mq3jFgo6lkDtzfAvNSRuZtokMwf-VgDAb8hILBmtHQsqB03ynHA/s400/Sarratt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="308" data-original-width="400" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ3xlP7163y7RNCeb39uwW4GIDaKh_Bsy3-l5_qjtJch6vTdT40KrbJs4bCloZDbfbI_lsOmxYb8WZrwVApE3mq3jFgo6lkDtzfAvNSRuZtokMwf-VgDAb8hILBmtHQsqB03ynHA/w379-h291/Sarratt.jpg" width="379" /></a></div>EACH Spring and Summer I would
cycle with my mother through the green lanes that wound their way from the
suburb’s edge where we lived, through the countryside, to the little village
where she grew up and where she tended the grave of a child she had known. My
memories are of sitting on the handlebars of her bicycle (until I was old
enough to ride my own) as we passed through cool, green tree-tunnels until we
emerged into hot, dry days and arrived at the wooden gate leading into the sun-burnt
land surrounding the Norman church – a church which served a hamlet abandoned
over the years in favour of the site of the present village a mile away.<p></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Most of us can trace our roots
back to that ancient farming world. The life of our ancestors would have depended
on the natural world in ways we can hardly imagine and part of the attraction
of the countryside might be that our roots remember the world from which we
came. Clearly, many are attracted to spend time drinking from this spring; urban
rush and noise fall away. The blessed silence, broken by the sound of birdsong or
leaves rustling in the wind, sweet smell of air unpolluted by exhaust fumes can
give a sense of entering a different world and touch memories stored deep within
us. Unlike our rural forebears we of today’s suburb and city often forget the
need to reverence our sustaining Mother, the Earth, reminding ourselves that
the internet can never truly satisfy our deepest desires but can blind us –
prevent us from penetrating further than what the screen before our eyes allows.
Of course, it's easy to sense God in the glories of a garden and the beauty of
nature, but saints find God in the weed growing through a pavement of a city
street.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Yet gardens, when cultivated and
not paved over, can reveal the beauty of bush and flower; allotments allow some
to sink bare hands in humus enabling a connection with our Mother. Our roots
can only be satisfied by that way of earthy humility. But even then, some fear
the encounter and, responding to a developing generation increasingly separated
from the world, shield skin with gloves preventing thus that encounter.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">However, there’s a wonderful practice
within the Orthodox tradition of Christianity which forever remembers our at
oneness with Earth. In praying before an icon of a heavenly saint (or at other
times) the Sign of the Cross – with Trinitarian fingers held together, one bent
into contact with the palm – by touching the forehead and then bending low to
the ground (on which our feet walk and into which we will be buried) before
concluding with a horizontal marking of the shoulders from left to right, a final
marking tracing the horizon of earth and sky and sea. Naming the Source of all
life, the One who came to make all things whole, and the Spirit constantly –
invisibly – moving through creation, that faith-full encounter with the ground and
what lies hidden beneath, affirms that whilst we’re of the earth, we come from and
are destined for glory.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Christian faith is Incarnational –
it says: ‘I may be flesh and blood but to be fully human I need to be in touch
with the Spirit which gives life.’ Maybe we sense an echo of an oh-so-dim
memory planted deep within of the divine Spirit flowing throughout Nature; the
Spirit who penetrates everything in Nature and binds us together – the divine ‘glue’
that helps make us whole. At every Mass when bread is taken and wine poured,
blessed and given our Faith tells us that this blessed Creation can be
transformed to reveal the divine – the yeast of Christ leaving the flour that
made the Bread of Life.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I find the same sense of seeing through
outward things into the universe beneath when I pray before the Tabernacle in a
church. There, Christ is present beneath the fragile form of a wafer of bread.
In that ever-so-ordinary form there is something extraordinary, and the Divine
which inhabits and transforms bread is also present throughout nature. So I sit
or kneel and am moved to whisper, ‘Lord, I adore you; lay my life before you,
how I must love you’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>John-Francis Friendshiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566171172212687893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35487748.post-44927635286696806552021-06-08T14:26:00.005+00:002021-06-08T14:27:56.491+00:00COMPASSION QUARTERLY - DIVINE COMPASSION 2021<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg87OH2gAJzVMSofmXQXnAuZw8Xb6dndSALdL9yNtbOlqYpU5PEdVHExa862UUm85KteHsM5RUkv_vfxMHTOKK8Lu5Y595LEDyXni9ssMMmEhCteGeDz1qAZE2wOtFQjf88gFCcNQ/s135/Picture1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="135" data-original-width="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg87OH2gAJzVMSofmXQXnAuZw8Xb6dndSALdL9yNtbOlqYpU5PEdVHExa862UUm85KteHsM5RUkv_vfxMHTOKK8Lu5Y595LEDyXni9ssMMmEhCteGeDz1qAZE2wOtFQjf88gFCcNQ/s0/Picture1.jpg" /></a></div><p>Here is a link to the latest edition of <i>Compassion Quarterly</i> - Divine Compassion 2021</p><p><a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Documents/RELIGIOUS/RELIGIOUS%20SOCIETIES/CHJM%20-%20THE%20COMPASSIONATE%20HEARTS%20OF%20JESUS%20AND%20MARY/COMPASSION%20QUARTERLY/18.%20%20Divine%20Compassion%202021.pdf">file:///C:/Users/User/Documents/RELIGIOUS/RELIGIOUS%20SOCIETIES/CHJM%20-%20THE%20COMPASSIONATE%20HEARTS%20OF%20JESUS%20AND%20MARY/COMPASSION%20QUARTERLY/18.%20%20Divine%20Compassion%202021.pdf</a></p>John-Francis Friendshiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566171172212687893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35487748.post-75251580566004240192021-04-07T17:55:00.005+00:002021-04-07T17:55:54.452+00:00FLYING THE FLAG <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiJw6l3ds1Bblcktj-qHHwJ9or5oPRYDP-hvWUr-5fhBddz9bXdGi41ZeUnl0lMETAvN8-b-SOo2Ddxb96d3Pe0vFomcL-3xXnKm546NW6OTPTblKp-HCEuYApZ4zqTP1v-DSwmA/s867/Media.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="867" data-original-width="650" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiJw6l3ds1Bblcktj-qHHwJ9or5oPRYDP-hvWUr-5fhBddz9bXdGi41ZeUnl0lMETAvN8-b-SOo2Ddxb96d3Pe0vFomcL-3xXnKm546NW6OTPTblKp-HCEuYApZ4zqTP1v-DSwmA/s320/Media.jpg" /></a></div><p>I<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;">’ve sometimes wondered if we can really do without a god.</span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;">In a society which gradually turns from the God who has offered a narrative by which to live, other gods begin to fill the space caused by the absence of this Divine Person. Football seems one example, families another, the ‘Last Night at the Proms’ allowed people to sing of things ‘British’, but each carry (and some depend on) elements of tribalism. Now the government has introduced into every TV broadcast another symbol that has powerful, emotional overtones – the Union flag, and a woman journalist has received death threats for questioning the reason and wisdom of this development: </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/bbc-calls-police-over-threats-23862000" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;">https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/bbc-calls-police-over-threats-23862000</a></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;">The move might seem innocent and
laudable, yet there's a cynical aspect which has darker aspects because it offers a totem of belonging and
an (un)conscious appeal to tribalism. </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;">For some it becomes a badge of honour, an idol
demanding allegiance or a (not so) subtle means of approving nationalism.</span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;">Unlike many countries, the United Kingdom
seemed to have recognised that the national flag can appeal to nationalism and found
a host of other ways of affirming our identity – from seeing the monarch as a
sign of unity to the simple delight of certain things ’British’.</span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;">Other countries displayed their flag (as if
they were unsure of the countries their leaders represented) and some demand
acts of devotion, but nationalism in the UK has always appealed to a tiny minority.</span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Now, however, the flying of the
flag by government ministers seems to have given the green light to extremists
and a woman’s life has been threatened as a consequence of one Party using the national
flag of party-political purposes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How
tragic.<o:p></o:p></span></p>John-Francis Friendshiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566171172212687893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35487748.post-14056204493411939682021-04-02T08:56:00.017+00:002021-04-02T18:40:58.496+00:00NOTES CONCERNING GOOD FRIDAY AND HOLY SATURDAY CUSTOMS<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiksWHLv_nOJmIohDAGYFoyhVu4nnVqDiUfN-G25jpcrz69MjGkB5qIvU7bKAWg6oFNXG0skHwzN1Onx2oy8ZQVzpxiG73sHc_4WfSGC8-ClyrOWwe64-JzlCASOrE3UihCSIbkdQ/s1000/Depostion.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="1000" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiksWHLv_nOJmIohDAGYFoyhVu4nnVqDiUfN-G25jpcrz69MjGkB5qIvU7bKAWg6oFNXG0skHwzN1Onx2oy8ZQVzpxiG73sHc_4WfSGC8-ClyrOWwe64-JzlCASOrE3UihCSIbkdQ/w455-h154/Depostion.jpg" width="455" /></a></div><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">TODAY is unlike
every other Friday of the year. It has
borne the name ‘Good’ since early in the Christian era because it was on this
day that Life triumphed over death, Love over hate, Light over darkness, forgiveness over sin,
and God over the forces of evil and the sign of this is the place where it
occurred – the Cross. </span></span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;">As
full choirs cannot sing at present, here is a recording of Bach’s profound </span><a href="https://youtu.be/ZwVW1ttVhuQ" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;"><i>St Matthew Passion</i></a></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><i style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><b>Good Friday customs<br /></b></span></i><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;">Although this day saw the triumph of good, it is also a day of
deep sadness that a Man in whom God lived had to die in order to fulfil this
victory. As a mark of sorrow and sense of loss, the Divine Office is
abbreviated until Easter Day Matins and the usual notes of joy ar4e omitted. </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;">It begins with the Psalms, </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;">which are said </span><i style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;">sotto voce</i><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;">,</span><i style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </i><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;">the </span><i style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;">Glory
be </i><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;">is not said and only the Collect offered immediately after the Benedictus.</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; font-size: 11pt;">At </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; font-size: 14.6667px;">the main Liturgy of the Day, during the reading of the Passion, all genuflect at the point when Jesus gave up His spirit and, in a similar way, a</span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; font-size: 11pt;">fter the Cross has been venerated and placed in a prominent position, anyone passing genuflects to remind themselves that this is the wood one which Christ died. There is also a custom that one of the Hosts that had been reserved for Holy Communion is not consumed at this Liturgy but replaced in the ciborium and taken to the 'secret place' (in case it is needed for the dying) where it is kept until being placed back in the tabernacle (or aumbry) after Mass on Easter Day. Some churches have a small tabernacle in the Sacristy for this purpose where it can be securely kept until Easter Day.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvqw6gu7yIX-zHVb-85NLEg9DFwaxPg99UkYvXeVIxMhslstJtjCC7C70oWbZIJEG4D1JqBqqosMShQ08l3Tj-D34IqYR8XzyWnRijXQ5cRi1YtMn_dNrkWhTOJ_4jx0ol35zpPA/s1600/Epitaphios.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="633" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvqw6gu7yIX-zHVb-85NLEg9DFwaxPg99UkYvXeVIxMhslstJtjCC7C70oWbZIJEG4D1JqBqqosMShQ08l3Tj-D34IqYR8XzyWnRijXQ5cRi1YtMn_dNrkWhTOJ_4jx0ol35zpPA/s320/Epitaphios.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">In the early evening the Cross is taken from the altar and ‘buried’ so
that the body of Jesus </span></span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">doesn’t remain on view but is taken from the cross and laid in the tomb, thus completing the Liturgy of Good Friday. A small table, surrounded by flowers and candles, should be placed in the chancel and, during the Liturgy, the Cross is taken from the altar and placed beneath the Epitaphios (burial shroud) on the table, symbolising the Tomb of Christ, thus completing the biblical account of this day. </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; font-size: 11pt; mso-spacerun: yes;">H</span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; font-size: 11pt;">ere is a short </span><i style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="https://thescentofhiddensprings.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/night-prayer-and-liturgy-of-burial-with-blessing-of-graves.pdf">Liturgy of the Deposition</a> </i><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; font-size: 11pt;">that can be used for this observance.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><i><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><b>Holy Saturday customs</b></span></i></span></p><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">T</span></span><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">oday priests devotionally wash and anoint church altars with oil, symbolising the way the dead are normally treated
before burial.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Whilst Jesus’ body wasn’t
treated in this way, it is a custom that helps us connect with the desires of
Mary Magdalene who came to Jesus’ tomb early in the morning of Easter Day. This can be extended to washing the statues as a further devotional act offered to the saints. And whilst this is the 'day of preparation', it is also the day when Christ entered into deeper darkness to draw our primordial, metaphorical parents - Adam and Eve - from death to life </span></span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;">and so the crucified is
left lying in the darkness until Easter Day, </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;">and so the Crucified is
left lying in the darkness until Easter Day.</span><p></p>John-Francis Friendshiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566171172212687893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35487748.post-4420363068474266672021-03-27T13:14:00.000+00:002021-03-27T13:14:01.861+00:00from hero to servant to mystic: Navigating the deeper waters of priestly spirituality<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7t56O7-khYcsVjSqMa4pSzZ78uF4qyXzyffIRmCOZuWUwFSCn1EygV26aTF19ToEXfn3noiAH0fLR5cquN_SroTrbcXLQty4uwQzueVkpIHfRLWcD6lF4maC2QWTbzlYcHL9-fg/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="260" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7t56O7-khYcsVjSqMa4pSzZ78uF4qyXzyffIRmCOZuWUwFSCn1EygV26aTF19ToEXfn3noiAH0fLR5cquN_SroTrbcXLQty4uwQzueVkpIHfRLWcD6lF4maC2QWTbzlYcHL9-fg/" width="156" /></a>This book is an important contribution to both the matter of priestly spirituality and priestly formation. Whilst it is written by a Roman Catholic and addressed to those in formation and those who guide them, what Fr. Detisch uncovers and unfolds is of fundamental importance to any clergy and spiritual directors. A precis f the book can be found <a href=" https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Pd08rRWun8ubsnddExYfGqJmz5H1wtV5NbI70yW7ozw/edit?usp=sharing">here</a>.<br /><br /></p>John-Francis Friendshiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566171172212687893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35487748.post-18696756016233707722021-03-07T10:54:00.002+00:002021-03-07T10:54:07.063+00:00EXTRACT OF NEW YEARS DAY SERMON BY METROPOLITAN ANTHONY OF SOUROZH<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLN0oCctQCoJvIR7Rol-lUt90fPB917llUpSeEUz1D8OmyHv_fh-s0QMbItWe6iwxniugQ2byG3d7swRC8BsgLMnUh4e1SUKfqL6dYlWwaaEb4cNwMJMJWJW4JUBZmAQ0L9O0BTA/s720/Anthony.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="720" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLN0oCctQCoJvIR7Rol-lUt90fPB917llUpSeEUz1D8OmyHv_fh-s0QMbItWe6iwxniugQ2byG3d7swRC8BsgLMnUh4e1SUKfqL6dYlWwaaEb4cNwMJMJWJW4JUBZmAQ0L9O0BTA/s320/Anthony.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #616264; font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><p></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">31st December 1969</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">We can enter this year
creatively, but only on condition that we enter with hope, that is with the
certainty that the Lord is in this year, that He is the master and will lead us
to the right place, and with the faith that nothing in this year will happen without
the will or acquiescence of God. If this is our attitude we shall see that
nothing is chance, (whoever believes in chance does not believe in God) that
there are no pointless meetings and every person is sent us by the Lord. And if
we enter this year with the knowledge that everything — light and dark, good
and terrifying — is a gift of God and is sent us so that through us faith,
hope, love, joy and the strength of the Lord should enter the world, if we
firmly believe that every person who crosses our path is sent in order that we
may bring him the word or action of the Lord or receive it from him, life will
be meaningful and rich. Otherwise it will remain a matter of chance, an endless
string of fortuitous events.</span></p>John-Francis Friendshiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566171172212687893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35487748.post-11973123072064918092021-02-26T12:07:00.002+00:002021-02-26T12:21:02.989+00:00SPIRITUAL DIRECTION AND PASTORAL SUPERVISION<p style="text-align: left;"></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif;">'Spiritual
Direction is the contemplative practice<br />
of helping another person or group<br />
to awaken to the mystery called God in all life<br />
and to respond to that discovery<br />
in a growing relationship of freedom and commitment.'<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif;">(W.A.Barry SJ and
W.J.Connelly SJ)</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif;">We are
all aware of the physical, psychological and emotional aspects of our nature,
but to be fully human means we are open to developing
our spiritual nature as well.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif;">The spiritual is
experienced in a variety of ways. Whilst many are common to humanity
there are aspects unique to the individual. Some have recognised and
developed their spiritual nature, and all religions seek to address this aspect
of our humanity. A Spiritual Director (sometimes called a 'Soul
Friend' or 'Spiritual Accompanier') is one who, through their particular gifts
and training has developed certain skills to help individuals explore a deeper
relationship with themselves and that which lies beyond -
the Other.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif;">Whilst Spiritual
Direction addresses the whole person it differs from psycho-therapy or
counselling in being the process of accompanying a person on their journey into
wholeness and holiness as they seek to respond to the call of
that which lies deepest within them, which many call God. It offers
a welcoming space to explore. It is non-judgmental. It is
not about telling people how to behave but how to listen and respond to the
movements going on within them.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif;">Spiritual
Direction provides a relationship that affirms the Directee in their
desire to grow towards God and enables them to be honest, providing a
safe space where woundedness is gently accepted as life-stories are explored.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">NOTES ON:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tQzpL6lyqA_Up5JC5gFGg93WcTQD48mlo-lr28MxQ20/edit?usp=sharing">Personal information</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ovt9ooqnmb9xRkSHvGWaRR78Ti5O_45cS4FlVPVmYBM/edit?usp=sharing">Spiritual Direction and Supervision of those in ministry</a></p><div><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EZvzofTjkvg3Bxysp6KgxikNNixv24b-oq0_eOXiyVg/edit?usp=sharing">Spirituality</a></div>John-Francis Friendshiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566171172212687893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35487748.post-57143072686228158432021-02-10T13:25:00.003+00:002021-03-05T18:26:39.113+00:00ROOTED AND GROUNDED<p style="text-align: center;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC3CTJp9n31-J6B9-pk_KcvxbZNSPs6XPEhrLlNg3JpWrNHvGqAIVxxtbz6ndXSdnAWVFCME0UdyCK4Fkl_LLodPI9qifrgOqF_ofLTq5B7oXuiFu2XmQ8JqQuonVC5jCEhkzhaA/s2048/Oak+tree+in+Plum+Lane+10.02.221.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC3CTJp9n31-J6B9-pk_KcvxbZNSPs6XPEhrLlNg3JpWrNHvGqAIVxxtbz6ndXSdnAWVFCME0UdyCK4Fkl_LLodPI9qifrgOqF_ofLTq5B7oXuiFu2XmQ8JqQuonVC5jCEhkzhaA/s320/Oak+tree+in+Plum+Lane+10.02.221.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11pt;">Taking a ‘long, loving look at
the real’ has become more possible for some during lockdown when there’s time
to stop and do just that. The tree that greets me each time I walk down Plum
Lane invites me to halt and look ‘at the real’.</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11pt;">See the plants at its base - bark and bird, squirrels, and, depending on the season, leaves on branches. And </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;">if I stand long
enough and gaze more lovingly, I notice its ‘tree-ness’: its strong presence
and at-one-ness with nature.</span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;">Not just
the moss and lichen on its bark but those microscopic, white, underground
threads that connect with other shrubs and trees – that ‘wood-wide web’ as it’s
been described – which, although unseen, is there.</span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;">I sense its power and the wonder of its being
and that fills me with that same sense – wonder – at what I can see and touch, and
what is </span><i style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;">hidden</i><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;"> from sight.</span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;">And,
if I want to deepen that, I begin to find words to express what I feel.</span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;">I can ‘talk to the tree’ and sense its
gratitude; and I can give thanks to the One who enabled its being.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiedidQtUY5AA_JXNU91xNfCCVxP1J_A5PneC69EuuzAis_T0dYGvd4HEkxcTn-18N907Vf0VSpRSlXXbI5sNH9O2rtl_8yiOD4Jp8Ew6TdbzuwrZE0o4FpLCaG3WJ6y58JwJwy4Q/s2048/Bark+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiedidQtUY5AA_JXNU91xNfCCVxP1J_A5PneC69EuuzAis_T0dYGvd4HEkxcTn-18N907Vf0VSpRSlXXbI5sNH9O2rtl_8yiOD4Jp8Ew6TdbzuwrZE0o4FpLCaG3WJ6y58JwJwy4Q/s320/Bark+2.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11pt;">It is the great trunk I initially
see, a body telling of age, strength, stability, and silence, like an ancient abbey
that has stood in the same place for centuries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Through the seasons of the year and the seasons of humankind – of peace
and plenty, war and loss – it is there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then, beginning to raise my eyes, I see its majestic crown; boughs
raising themselves to the skies like arms which must be uplifted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Branches which reach up and up because that’s
what the tree needs to do – to stretch out to the light. The highest like long,
slender, spidery fingers emerging from hands connected to the heart; shoots
moving in the breeze whose leaves breathe oxygen and take in carbon dioxide and
connect with the deepest roots hidden beneath the earth. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>High branches straining to heaven, like incense
curling from the censor, prayerful desires giving out (and taking in) that the
tree might live and, in doing so, give life. </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 11pt;">But its roots, too, though hidden
are vital for its life. And, why all this magnificence? From this great oak to a small snowdrop each strains for the sun to be enlivened, to produce leaf and petal, to multiply and fill the earth. Each year, it returns its growth to the earth so that life can continue - and, when it dies, its body will decay and, in decaying, give life to the earth.</span><p></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11pt;">We, of course, are like trees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Crowned with our spectacular life, needing to
give for our own sake and the sake of all, as well as take.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take but, more importantly, be rooted in deep
darkness where we are fed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does Western,
‘advanced’, society value and feed roots?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Are we encouraged to nurture that life which cannot be seen so that, at
times such as this when we can feel so alone, our hidden roots connect with all
so we can be nourished meaning, as the psalmist said, that all the trees of the
wood can shout for joy (<i>Ps. 96.12</i>). What do we return to the earth which has given us so much? What do we return to this planet which has enabled our life so that others may live?</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">When I am among the trees, </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs_SrMRQaI1KN66I2zo7QoUVDaUlM_tSxS2aJrUq4akATqRNbpEEyZ6WrksJzuEkyoU-KrJwODSSNaP6OJHIu-AnPfVxxo6u-g3wB_QD38Sqr2Xw8h1OJpZfQsIAZeTCbsmgrtag/s1632/Oxleas+Woods+02.12.11+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1632" data-original-width="1224" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs_SrMRQaI1KN66I2zo7QoUVDaUlM_tSxS2aJrUq4akATqRNbpEEyZ6WrksJzuEkyoU-KrJwODSSNaP6OJHIu-AnPfVxxo6u-g3wB_QD38Sqr2Xw8h1OJpZfQsIAZeTCbsmgrtag/s320/Oxleas+Woods+02.12.11+%25281%2529.JPG" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">especially the willows and the honey locust, <br />
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,<br />
they give off such hints of gladness.<br />
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.</span><p></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">I am so distant from the hope of
myself,<br />
in which I have goodness, and discernment,<br />
and never hurry through the world<br />
but walk slowly, and bow often.</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Around me the trees stir in their
leaves<br />
and call out, “Stay awhile.”<br />
The light flows from their branches.</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">And they call again, “It’s
simple,” they say,<br />
“and you too have come<br />
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled<br />
with light, and to shine.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Mary Oliver<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11pt;">
</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></p><p></p>John-Francis Friendshiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566171172212687893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35487748.post-21119828092139857012021-02-10T13:22:00.003+00:002021-02-10T13:22:33.690+00:00SEEING<p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTy9CLlG6hEqRBnLVJMVp4oDmKsDaCBFJ3RdXKfSACS3Idn-zzT1Wfc5QO7df9IqBZKQ2XZcCoKOv_N0HK2Dih7c69g_t-iEM9GKMTiCa-KCK_OdAXhFWsVkaKLnZxtGTC9Tzofg/s1024/SEEING.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTy9CLlG6hEqRBnLVJMVp4oDmKsDaCBFJ3RdXKfSACS3Idn-zzT1Wfc5QO7df9IqBZKQ2XZcCoKOv_N0HK2Dih7c69g_t-iEM9GKMTiCa-KCK_OdAXhFWsVkaKLnZxtGTC9Tzofg/s320/SEEING.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><p></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">About fifty metres from where my
partner and I live there is a grassy knoll, a mound standing about five feet
high behind a set of old railings separating it from the surrounding 1930’s
housing. Most of the year it’s unremarkable, the sort of thing you’d just drive
or walk by without paying attention. True, in Spring it’s covered with
daffodils and then bluebells and cow-parsley but, for the rest of the year, it
looks like prime real estate ready for a couple more houses. But if you stopped
and looked at the crooked sign behind the fencing, you’d discover that it’s
actually a Bronze Age burial chamber – the last remaining of six in the area,
the rest having been bulldozed to make way for the 1930’s art deco housing of
the Laing Estate. A 3- to 4000-year-old round barrow in London’s Zone 4.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Just opposite stands a majestic
oak, planted at a time – maybe 300 years ago – when this land formed part of an
estate of the Earls of Shrewsbury. Again, it’s something most people drive or
walk past without probably noticing. Another tree. A large tree, yes – it’s
about five feet in diameter – but it’s just a tree. I’ve often walked past it
but have found it’s called to me to notice it. And, as I’ve stopped to gaze,
I’ve gradually been amazed by what I see. Ancient bark, grey-gnarled like the
skin of an old, old man; its massive roots burrowing down into the earth giving
life to various plants the seeds of which had gathered at its feet; birds and
butterflies in its branches and insects climbing over an under its skin. Leaves
which take in carbon dioxide and give out oxygen and then fall to the ground to
be turned into mulch and compost, the means whereby other plants can live. How
we need to learn the lessons about giving and taking its very presence can
teach us. Do we give more to Mother Earth or take from it? What do we need to
change in our behaviour?</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">I’ve long loved trees and, yes,
like our much-maligned Prince of Wales, I talk to mine, touch it tenderly and
meditate on what it tells me. How it stands there year in year out, witnessing
to the value of stillness and stability. It takes moisture from the earth and
gives back so much more. But, for most people, I guess it’s just a tree. Unless
you stop and ‘take a long, loving look at the real’ (<i>Walter Burghardt SJ</i>)</span></p><p></p>John-Francis Friendshiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566171172212687893noreply@blogger.com0