Fr Peter's newsletter notes - July 2004

Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time - Sunday 4th July 2004

The most memorable images for me this last week were the incredible pictures of a twelve-week-old foetus in his mother's womb that were published in the papers. They will far outdo in importance the pictures of Saddam Hussein in the dock, and will mark the beginning of a new stage in the current argument over abortion, and by extension the question of the type of sex education for children. These pictures will, I believe, have the same importance as the first pictures of the earth from outer space. Those early pictures of a fragile earth set in the deep blue of space marked a new stage in the ecological movement, that made it possible for environmental issues to become a mainstream issue in our society. It now seems incredible that these issues were not widely questioned before. The pictures of a fragile earth gave all the evidence needed for man to turn from domination of the earth to stewardship of the globe.

The newspaper pictures breathed life in all its beauty, and did not require any argument for life or against abortion. Already a number of newspaper columnists have said how these pictures have transformed their casual acceptance of abortion. The pictures might not have convinced these agnostics completely, but as they admitted, ignorance of what is entailed in abortion can no longer be hidden. It might seem strange for those of faith to admit, but the development of science, so often thought of in purely negative terms can come to aid of faith, by simply indicating that positions deeply held by believers are based on truth and not on prejudice.

The long term impact of these pictures, and all those that will be developed in the future, will forever temper the shrill voices raised about a woman's right to choose, as thought this was the only issue that mattered. They will also temper, I hope, the use by the more extreme groups of anti-abortionists of pictures of dead foetuses, that serve to disgust rather than inform. There could also be profound pastoral implications of such pictures. Many women were led astray to seek abortions in years past with disingenuous information about the medical and moral implications of such acts. Those who seek reconciliation should be able to look to the Church as the place where forgiveness, however tragic the sin, is offered. Above all these pictures give the Church the possibility on focusing on the beauty and mystery of life, and its obvious divinely created nature. Only God could be the author of such delicate and infinitely complex works of art.

This Sunday the Church in this country has designated as 'The Day for Life'. The pro-life stance of the Church embraces the totality of human existence, from conception to natural death. This year's focus is on the family, as the natural place for the flourishing and nurturing of human life. The problem is that we are only all too aware of marriage breakdown with its attendant miseries that permeate throughout society. The extent of marriage breakdown has made many 'good' people are wary of becoming married, lest their fragile relationship perishes with marriage's demands. This can develop into a vortex of decline, where serial monogamy, as typified by 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' makes entering any lasting commitment virtually impossible.

The solution to this is not to throw up our hands in horror, but to become living examples of committed life, a life that brings with it a deep joy. This is part of the lay married apostolate, to reveal to the world, that far from being a caricature, the love engendered in marriage is of lasting value as it mirrors the love of God to the world, and Christ to His Church. It is thus a faithful, reconciling and life giving love. This Sunday is dedicated to supporting and blessing this apostolate which is unique to lay people. It is also a tremendous witness to the world and to our benighted culture that seeks for meaning, but resists all serious attempts to discover it through self-renunciation and committed purpose.

Seventeenth Week of Ordinary Time - Sunday 25th July 2004

Some of you might have seen in the bookshop, a recent work by Francis Wheen, entitled 'How mumbo jumbo conquered the world'. It is an extended diatribe against all the forces of religious/spiritual reaction, which have been in the ascendancy since the early 1980s. He unites Mrs Thatcher's return to 'Victorian values', with the revolutionary government of Ayatollah Komeni, and the astrologers used by Nancy Reagan to determine the propitious moment to announce government policy. Much of the book is a witty romp through these events, and the comical outbursts of the new religiosity. His critique of alternative medicine is spot-on when he shows how alternative medicine always remains alternative unless it works, since then it becomes part of the mainstream. He argues that many well-intentioned 'alternative' medics cause much unnecessary pain to the terminally ill by suggesting these bogus forms of healing as an alternative to standard forms of palliative care. The author's great love is that of science, and the European enlightenment, which aimed to release humanity from the shackles of ignorance and superstition.

The trouble with such a broad analysis that relies on wit to pass on its message, is that the truth is lost both in the detail and in failing to establish the broad categories of thought. The author has a religious, an almost mystical belief, in the power of science and rationality to cure the world's ills and govern the peoples in fairness. His 'religious' fervour fails to grasp that most important distinction between 'religion' and 'faith'. The two are not the same.

The religious sense of man is constitutive of him. The worship of God is giving what is due to God as creator. This is not faith as such, but the expression of a natural desire that man has to worship the Creator for all that exists including himself. Faith is the acceptance of a revelation from God, over and beyond the human desire to praise and thank God. For the Christian, faith is expressed in accepting Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and with all that it entails, in the way of discipleship and final judgement.

This distinction allows the religious person to counter the danger of fundamentalism which collapses everything into God's sovereign will or its secular equivalent. The fundamentalist has no need of reason, and the worship of the lack of reason brings together strange bedfellows, devotees of new age spirituality and suicide bombers. Both are at the opposite extremes of the desire to detach themselves from reason and its concomitant responsibility. The liberal thinker's difficulty in distinguishing between religion and faith leaves him in the bizarre position of having to sanction religious practises which he would find intolerable in secular life. Hence fox hunting is out but the ritual slaughter of animals is in. The subtle relationship between faith and reason leaves him dumbfounded because he fails to see that reason far from being a closed system is animated a 'religious' desire to know. This desire to know opens the human heart to the possibility of the deepest wisdom. which the Christian finds in the person of Jesus Christ. The Christian can use their reason to understand their faith, and to question their faith. This is not a matter of believing or doing whatever one likes but is the only human way of appropriating the truths of faith to oneself, and to allow for grace to animate every part of life.

The modern insistence on the separation of religion from science has proved all too detrimental in trying to make distinctions between religions, and it has failed to grasp that it is the same human subject who desires both to know scientifically the workings of the world, and religiously the sheer wonder of creation and its purpose.

The Readings from the Prophet Hosea, Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year C, Cycle II

The Book of Hosea written in the 8th century BC uses his own unhappy and difficult life as the divinely inspired means to reflect on the relationship between God and His chosen people. The image of the covenant as marriage between God and People is at the heart of this prophetic book. The unfaithful marriage will be cleansed once God has withdrawn with His people into the wilderness to rediscover their common commitment. This reconciliation will bring forth the fruits of justice. (Monday)

The problematic institution of kingship in Israel formed 'a third party' between God and His people that allowed pagan cults to flourish with royal approval. These cultic practises are organised with vigour but are ultimately meaningless, and will lead to the destruction and exile of the people. (Tuesday)

Hosea describes beautifully God's call and His everlasting fidelity to His chosen people. 'Do good and avoid evil', is the foundation of the natural law. This law is not just theory but should be put into practise, and particularly in the establishment of justice. The worship of God is a necessary part of justice, but any merit due to sacrifice requires the appropriate interior disposition, revealed in public life through just dealings with others. (Wednesday)

The golden age for Hosea and the Prophets was the time of the wilderness, when God formed his recently liberated chosen people. The images used by Hosea are those of a caring parent, and it is this parental love that prevents God wreaking vengeance on His creation after their apostasy. (Thursday)

The last oracle of Hosea ends on a point of hope. The people will be restored. They will be infused with a new life, and be given protection once again by God. The prophet makes a plea to the wise person to discern the workings and judgment of God in his or her world. How do our practises at work, at home compare to the will of God, and where is God nurturing us day by day? . (Friday)

The Readings from the Prophet Jeremiah, Seventeenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year C, Cycle II

The public life of Jeremiah was interspersed with a number of symbolic actions that explain the flawed relationship that existed between God and his chosen people. The rightful place is literally 'around' God, and not stuffed into a dank hole along a foreign riverbank. This fate will await the people who have abandoned the ways of God. (Monday)

The tragic sights of judgement with the dead and hungry littering the countryside are met with lament and recognition of sinfulness. The call to remembrance addressed to God has not been met with a corresponding faithfulness from the people, and thus they are in a state of helplessness. (Tuesday)

Jeremiah is very conscious of his call, yet feels in the face of persecution a sense of foreboding in front of his enemies. His vocation has led to a painful separation from the company of men, but this isolation will not continue for ever, and will only end when the righteous return to him. (Wednesday)

The work of the potter is compared to that of God who does not simply cast aside a blemished pot but remoulds it till it becomes perfect. This continual work of God's will for the Christian reaches its climax with the coming of Christ, whose gift of the Spirit will transform fallible clay from the inside. (Thursday)

The sense of guilt can often arouse deep antagonism when it is confronted with the truth. Jeremiah draws out the unwarranted venom of the religious leadership as they see their livelihood at stake. It is a reaction that fails to grasp that true faith requires a dedicated following of God's law. Only this will bring that eternal safety prophesised by Jeremiah. (Friday)