Fr Peter's newsletter notes - June 2004

Twelfth Week of Ordinary Time - Sunday 20th June 2004

Each week the lunchtime study group has been making its way through the sacraments of the Church. This week was the turn of 'Reconciliation'. So far each booklet has provided a succinct disposition on the sacrament and its place within the life of the believer. The pamphlet on Reconciliation began with two key observations, firstly we live a society which finds 'remorse' extremely difficult, secondly that the sacrament of reconciliation has been marginalized within the mission of the Church. We all find it difficult to admit to our mistakes. This maybe for many motives, but I think that pride is never far from the surface. However we have added in the light of psychological analysis a whole host of further reasons why we are not to blame. Some might be truly mitigating in assessing wrongdoing but most have become a convenient excuse to do as we want. The second is slightly more difficult to explain. Much of the 'modern' Church, especially in its misapplied post-Vatican II theology has taken forgiveness and reconciliation from the heart of the Gospel and put it to one side. The emphasis has been placed on 'resurrected life' as the quest for personal fulfilment. It has become too easy to forget that the death of Jesus on the Cross, was the supreme act of reconciliation that broke the culture of sin and death, and opened up the fountain of grace, and the possibility of resurrected life. This has most certainly been achieved by Jesus Christ but we are still in need of reconciliation both for ourselves in our relation with God, and in our relations with each other.

This mission of reconciliation has been passed onto the Church by Jesus Himself, both when Peter declared His true nature, and when the risen Lord breathed the Holy Spirit onto the apostles for the forgiveness of sins. The early Church quickly recognised that this donation included the possibility of further post-baptismal reconciliation for those who had sinned after their Baptism. The practise developed especially in relation to spiritual guidance. The early Irish monks would confess to a spiritual director, a Priest, as an essential part of their search for perfection. This practise has developed through the history of the Church. The sacrament of confession was seen within that larger frame of becoming in imitation of Jesus Christ 'an ambassador for reconciliation', and making penitence and forgiveness a way of life.

The booklet brings out the dramatic aspect of the practise of confession where two people assume the roles of Christ (the priest) and sinner (the penitent). The conversation between these two is the 'matter' of the sacrament while the form is the prayer of absolution. Both matter and form are required for a valid sacrament, and so the author concludes each 'actor' must be either a 'good' sinner or a 'good' priest. Amongst other things, the 'good' sinner has to remember well, not just his/her faults but also the great acts of mercy shown to us by God, essentially in the gift of His Son. This ground of hope allows us to remember ever more clearly and so remove those blind spots, as we experience the grace transform our lives.

The advice to become a 'good' confessor I found very timely. The prayer of absolution refashions us once again into the image of Christ and applies the fruits of Christ's Death and Resurrection to the life of the particular believer. The confessor, the author suggests, 'must show sensitivity to the penitent's complex developing and unfinished life, with its patterns of virtue and sinfulness being redeemed by grace'.

The power of good drama resides both in the script and in the actors, and so it is with the Sacrament of Confession. This drama is the individual believer's and priests privileged contact with that cosmic drama of Jesus Christ's conquest over sin and death. Consequently the refusal to use this sacrament will lead to the sin of presumption, the belief that I am already saved. Difficult as it can be going to Confession, such a belief does not make much sense judging by the state of the world, nor does it take seriously Christ's death on the Cross, nor his call to sanctity, and eventually to eternal life.

Thirteenth Week of Ordinary Time - Sunday 27th June 2004

The cooked breakfast is now no more on Eldon Street, and a phase of culinary history is over. No longer will workmen, bankers and secretaries, amongst others, be able to avail themselves of that masterpiece of English cuisine, the cooked breakfast. This is hardly going to effect the city, but the replacement of these innocuous Victorian buildings with more faceless office blocks will make our street just a little less user friendly. Eldon Street is already a rat run where a vehicle can pick up speed, and it will become only more so. These two cafes were in their way the only two places left where workers of all sorts could congregate and they were evidence of human life in the neighbourhood. Many arguments could be raised as to why the area must be redeveloped, but many would revolve around unlocking value from the land for the owner. The question remains though as to who unlocks the value and whether the proceeds belong solely to the owner or is there also a wider constituency who should benefit.

This little scenario is being played out countless times and in innumerable places, and is the battleground between the free market and collective responsibility. This will be an endless conflict between those who insist that the free market generates value, and those who believe everything must be controlled by the government. Even the most rampant free marketer must realise that money cannot buy anything, and the greatest control freak must realise that the government cannot know everything. The endless quality of this discourse can only be resolved through a higher good, that of the 'human person'. The Holy Father, in his Encyclical on work, emphasises that the world of work is established through relationships, not servitude. The dignity of the person must be paramount. This dignity is both a right of the worker, but also his or her duty. The recent accounting scandals both here and in America, are obviously classic cases of foolish greed. Such outcomes involve a large number of people, and point to something more than individual moral weakness, to a collapse in a sense of culture and of society. No longer do large numbers of us feel any duty towards our community local, national and international.

The heavy handed approach of the Financial Standards Agency is no way forward since it treats, so I am told, all financial transactions as inherently flawed, and so much time must be spent proving the reverse. Trust is an essential part of all human relationships whether in the home or in the world of work and when it is denied no possible human culture can flourish.

The free market, needs constraint but limits based on virtue, not excessive legislation. The fallen nature of man requires the imposition of law since human choice can be deeply flawed. However the spiritual dimension of man requires a personal goal, which is the cultivation of the virtues, that help shape the person and the organisation. A recent writer argued that the application of the four cardinal (hinge) virtues would be as follows: practise the virtue of justice by fostering an adherence to the law; practising the virtue of temperance by controlling the desire for immediate gratification and financial gain; practice the virtue of courage by sustaining long term worthwhile projects despite the difficulties; practise the virtue of prudence by cultivating the proper lifestyle and corporate history to do right here and now without losing sight of the end goal.

The Christian would wish to go further and conform his life to Jesus Christ, the embodiment of natural virtues transfigured with divine grace. However we should share with our religious and non-religious colleagues in the workplace the desire the see the human person at centre of all relationships that determine the world of work. This is the true third way.

The Elijah cycle from The Second Book of Kings, Twelfth Week of Ordinary Time, Year C, Cycle II

The last chapters of the Second Book of Kings describe the tragic events that led to the destruction of both kingdoms. Behind the flow of historical events lies the hidden hand of God guiding the course of history. The kingdoms fell owing to the sinfulness of the king and the people. The national apostasy began really with King Solomon and his pagan wives but reached its depths with King Jeroboam. The tragedy of the Northern kingdom's collapse is that the people were really the unwitting victims of regal syncretism. (Monday)

King Hezekiah, one of the better kings remembers to seek God's help in order to be delivered from Israel's enemies. The prophet Isaiah answers his prayer by promising that a remnant will survive. In the meantime the Assyrian army is routed by the angel of God, and Judah left in peace for the time being (Tuesday)

The Southern Kingdom of Judah did produce kings that followed the ways of God, and Josiah is probably the greatest. His religious reforms included restoring the Temple and instituting the laws of the recently rediscovered book of the Law. The king and people publicly renew their commitment to the covenant. (Wednesday)

The kingdom by now was only notionally independent and was a buffer state between Egypt and Babylon. The opportunistic changing of sides rather than trusting in God, led to Nebuchadnezzar's capture of Jerusalem and the deportation of the governing classes, and the imposition of a vassal king. (Thursday)

This vassal king, Zedekiah rebels against Babylon, and the city is finally destroyed in a second attack. All the religious utensils from the Temple are removed, an act that many years later will bring its own destruction on Babylon. Thus ends the line of kings that began with King Saul. (Friday)

The Readings from the Prophet Amos, Thirteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year C, Cycle II

The prophet Amos was the first to attract a dedicated book, and he thus initiated a new period in God's revelation to His people. The backdrop of all prophecy is the covenant established by God with Moses, and the subsequent infidelity of the people. God is the ultimate author of history, and His hand can be glimpsed in all the events of history. The calamities to befall Israel were seen as His judgement on their misconduct, both economic and moral. (Monday)

Amos' was a harsh message. The duties expected from the covenant had been abandoned by the king and his people. Such actions are described as 'sin'; wrong doing in relation to the revelation of God's care. Sin out of justice demands punishment, and expectation of God's judgement. God's fidelity is constant, and He will send His Son, who will be both the judge, but also the means of salvation. (Tuesday, replaced by Sts Peter and Paul)

'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 institution of kingship with its shrines would inevitably lead to a royal cult that would become anxious not to hear the truth. Amos cuts through this institutionalised hypocrisy, and reluctantly preaches the word, on the consequences of this deformed worship of God. (Thursday)

The corruption of the worlds of commerce and finance would not lead to any immediate punishment but to a progressive abandonment by God, and the collapse of meaning. This might not seem the greatest punishment, but is the prelude to eternal distance from God. (Friday)