Fr Peter's newsletter notes - November 2004

Thirty-Second Week of Ordinary Time - Sunday 7th November 2004

Last week Islington Council, the home of lost causes, demanded that a new Church of England school, for which it did not pay, must abandon its saint's name, St Mary Magdalene. Their argument was that such a name could well be offensive to members of other faiths, and that 'Church-going is now a much less significant part of people's lives'. Of course, what the Council's spokesman should have said if truthful was that the name offended him and that Church-going is of no interest to him. Too often anti-Christian sentiment is allowed to hide behind a purported desire not to offend those of different beliefs. This is the current form of anti-Christian action in this country, not outward persecution as such but the systematic chipping away at anything that stands for faith. The government has succeeded in changing the admission procedures to Catholic schools, with the unfortunate assistance of the Bishops of this country who, at the same time, still pay 10% towards any new building, despite having lost control of the admission process. I am glad to see that the Governors of the Church of England school are putting up a fight against the Council's attempts to impose its beliefs on others.

This promotion of the agnostic society by stealth is aided and abetted by a lazy journalism that is too ready to give simplistic labels to everything. Every newspaper has written that the Christian right from the mid-West elected President Bush but, as the vast majority of Americans are Christians, many must have voted for John Kerry as well. However, you would be unlikely to see a headline saying 'Kerry victory made possible by Christian left'. This demonstrates a journalistic laziness which speaks volumes about the prejudice that occupies their minds and which has replaced the diligent search for the facts on the ground.

Both examples show that the important issue for countless people, whether actively religious or not, is the possibility of being able to lead a moral life within a society that promotes moral values. The belief in 'nothing', and the practical rejection of God, cannot produce a society with lasting values. The only way to govern such an entity is with ever more draconian laws designed to eradicate any moral kind of thinking ('prejudice') in wherever form it may appear, such as Church schools. The imposition and promotion of this 'nothing' has now become a major concern, whether it be to the parent of school age children, and the American voter. After the recent sacking of Rocco Buttiglione, the same concerns will surface in relation to the structures of the European union.

For the last fifty years, we have believed that a vague form of Christianity has informed the social and political structures of Europe. Unfortunately, many examples in the public sphere now demonstrate that there is something else that animates these, a militant and pervasive atheism, dressed sometimes in the clothing of management and at others in the language of human rights with responsibility and devoid of a rational foundation - a veritable wolf in sheep's clothing. Some of the phrases used will have the ring of an older Christian order, but have now been warped to suit very different ends. These recent events can be seen as wake-up calls to politicians about the real concerns of the average person, who might not be an avid Church-goer, nor even particularly religious, but to whom a background faith form the warp and weft of life, both private and public.

Thirty-Third Week of Ordinary Time - Sunday 14th November 2004

A few days ago I was sorting out some papers in the Parish Office, and discovered a whole pile of documents relating to the Diocesan Education Department. They concerned the re-organisation of schools in West London, and particularly the establishment of a Sixth Form College in St Charles Square. This would involve the closing of the Cardinal Vaughan and Oratory Sixth Forms. All this is now past history, both schools have thriving sixth forms and the Diocese also has a well-established College. This would hardly have been a credible possibility if one believed all the published documents and media comment of the time. Much now looks so bad-tempered, ill-informed rather than reasoned argument, while the condemnation of parents, who only wanted the best education for their children, as 'evil' and 'selfish' looks offensive at worse and childish at best.

The papers interested me personally since I was a Chaplain and Governor to the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School for a number of years. More generally they also revealed much about institutional conflict within the Church and, by extension, throughout other large organisations. The case also shows the corrosive influence a few antagonistic individuals can possess in a closed environment. I am sure many city-workers who work in small teams unfortunately find themselves in a similar situation. This can be a very disheartening experience, and make one question the very purpose of applying any effort to the work at hand.

This Sunday's Gospel, the penultimate Sunday of the Church's Year, is Jesus' account of the circumstances surrounding the end of the world. The types of disputes mentioned above are hardly apocalyptic in extent but they do have a power to consume us. The advice Jesus gives is to remain steadfast and to keep your own counsel at first. The description of flashes of lighting darting from one side of heaven to another aptly describes most anger-driven conversations. A reasoned argument will always leave a trace, something on which our minds can work. A flash of vitriol, like a sparkler, is ablaze one minute but all that is left afterwards is either a bitter taste or an ugly burnt lumpy wire. The immediate temptation is to rush in, especially if something precious is perceived to be at stake but, as Jesus reminds us, 'the end is not so soon'.

The Gospel also tells us that the experience of conflict is the virtually necessary condition of being a follower of Jesus. This is all part of the birth-pangs of the world, not something that a believer especially searches out, but something for which he or she should be prepared. The resolution of conflict requires a certain level of self-detachment and, while not something easily achieved, is possible with some spiritual training. Jesus tells his perplexed disciples 'do not prepare your own defence'- in other words, do not race in with your affronted ego but step back and let God speak first to you. We have all been involved with disputes that could so easily have been resolved had both parties let God speak first. Often His words are silence: 'there is no real dispute'.

Where there is genuine conflict, the acceptance of Jesus as the Lord of history can help put our own particular case into perspective. This is not to deny the importance of the situation but rather of recognising the power of Jesus to heal and to resolve. Where a conflict remains irresolvable, then the need to discover why becomes imperative, and is something that can be achieved through prayer and reflection. At all times one must remain steadfast to the truth and not succumb to the temptation to use unresolved conflict as a cloak for our own personal ends. Everything will be resolved in the end by God, so this should always give us hope even when the opposite seems the all too likely outcome. All we need to remember for our own lives is that 'the end is not so soon', and 'that we are not to prepare our own defence'.

Thirty-Fourth Week of Ordinary Time - Sunday 21st November 2004

The exhibition of children's art, just opened in the Tate Modern, has been featured in the press with pictures of graphic installations of crack-dens littered with prostrate bodies lying on the floor and abandoned babies in carrycots. It looks from the pictures as highly provocative, but the attention to detail and the quality of execution make this into some form of work of art. However, a nagging feeling persists that it might be too much like an exercise in self-indulgence. It is always easier to speak from a position of ignorance but I have never thought that drug-taking was a necessary part of life, nor do I believe the propaganda of the drug-rehabilitation industry that it is always very difficult to stop. There is no reason why countless homes have to be burgled to fund a habit that could be changed easily. Too much of drug taking has become an excuse, and the product of the systematic abandonment of meaning and hope. In this way it affects all classes of peoples, whether city high fliers or teenage dropouts. It is at heart a spiritual problem, but this is the one area that no government funded body can easily admit. Because the deepest causes are not recognised, no bureaucratic endeavours, multiple announced police crackdowns, confiscation of bank accounts, and seizures of drugs at airports, etc., will solve the problem.

The average drug taker can so easily oscillate in mood from being the hapless victim to becoming 'universal conqueror', from an insatiable craving to unsustainable high. Both are inauthentic expressions of being human and respond to the worst aspects of the 'child' inside us. The difficulty is that the welfare state emphasises those baleful sides of humanity rather than the cultivation of virtue requiring the exercise of willpower and the making of difficult choices. The weak and vulnerable need to be looked after. This is the hallmark of a civilised society and a precept of our faith but, in doing so uncritically, a demand is generated that can never be satisfied since the impetus to change is lacking.

This anti-society of drug takers, their dependents and hangers-on are all part of Christ's kingdom. The 'coronation' of Jesus took place on the Cross, and is the place where He visibly demonstrated God's unfathomable love for humanity, good and bad alike. This love is to be accepted in a child-like but not childish way. The acceptance of Christ's love in our heart is not about turning us into hapless victims, nor of becoming 'superstars'. Instead, this acceptance should form the backdrop of our moral choices, and be the support that helps sustain our courage when the going becomes difficult.

Part of me wants to go and plant a cross in each of these installations at Tate Modern as an expression of hope, and as a challenge. The hope is the ultimate triumph over evil, and the challenge is to choose meaning over meaningless, and commitment over dissipation. The extent of Christ's rule is universal but the method of kingship is unique. It is not imposed but must be accepted, and the challenge presented to us is, as St. Paul describes, 'Be conformed to Christ'. To speak of 'challenge' might sound to some people as more 'Boys' Own' than modern catechetics, but the establishment of God's kingdom is only possible in the human dimension through the acceptance of His challenge. It gives the deepest possible meaning to our lives, and can help us overcome all those temptations to dissolution that are so ready at hand in contemporary society.

First Week of Advent - Sunday 28th November 2004

Just over twenty years ago, the Prince of Wales caused a minor storm similar to that of recent weeks with his comments on modern architecture. His description of a possible addition to the National Gallery as a 'monstrous carbuncle on a much loved friend' might have been intemperate but it certainly won public support. The original winning scheme was dropped and an alternative architect invited to design the now very creditable addition to the National Gallery. Needless to say, the architectural establishment, a coterie of self-appointed arbiters of taste, were up in arms over this royal intrusion into their own private domain of expertise. One architect of that time, now a Labour Lord, gravely announced that we must be living in fascist state to be dictated to by a royal over taste. These and similar foolish words revealed nothing other than the paucity of their arguments. As has become so apparent, most 1970s architecture is appalling, and all it needed was someone brave enough to say so.

Something similar has been taking place over the question of education. The paucity of the government's arguments over the merits of 'child-centred education' (which came in response to a private memo from the Prince of Wales), is revealed by its ready use of the litigant's claim in a court case that her employer, i.e. the Prince, used the expression 'people should not rise above their station'. As far as is known the Prince never used that expression, but the claim was enough for ministers to launch a rather undignified attack on the Prince. What has been lost is a proper discussion over what statement 'child-centred education' actually means.

Every act of learning requires an implicit acceptance of ignorance, otherwise there would be nothing to learn. Learning requires a basic humility both to the truth and to one's own lack of understanding, whether it is a particular subject at school or the deeper questions about the meaning of life. This humility can become the spur for a sustained effort and commitment needed for reaching the desired goal, whether it be an exam, a qualification, or a medal - sporting or military. A significant part of this striving is to reflect on the purpose and necessity of one's desired goals, and strange to say it is often failure that makes us complete these issues more profoundly. Perhaps they turn out to be illusory, or perhaps in-appropriate. Alternatively, something else might have emerged, a change of career or job for instance or, more profoundly, a life not dedicated to self but a life of service, whether to family, in the Church, or in society as a whole.

God is the ultimate goal in life, and gradually the Christian should realise that everything that deflects from this path has no lasting value. The vocation of the Christian is to holiness, and this is expressed in the ways of service mentioned above. The unifying principle behind these different vocations is the denial of our sinful selves, and the embracing of the Cross. This can and should make the Christian's life a 'living sacrifice'. A former Benedictine headmaster, when asked by a television presenter, for what did he prepare his pupils for in life, replied death, the ultimate acceptance of the Cross, as the gateway to life. The answer took the interviewer surprise.

The emphasis on child-centred learning at school is to turn this whole quest for holiness on its head. The child has now become 'God'. Little is made of the proper disposition to learn, and instead everything has become rights without concomitant responsibilities. At worst this turns every classroom and school into a film set of 'Lord of the Flies', or the antechamber to a Mad Max film. It is refreshing to hear the truth from such an unlikely source. In a providential it may act as a wake-up call as to the real purpose of catholic schools. The competition for high places in league tables has put immense pressure to downgrade the essence of Catholicism to just being 'nice', 'full of talents', and giving money to charity. I do not think the old monastic headmaster would be very impressed.

The Readings from St Paul's Letters to Titus, Philemon and the 3rd Letter of St John, Thirtieth-Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year C, Cycle II

Towards the end of his life, St Paul commissioned Titus to build on the foundations he had established on his missionary journey to Crete. This involved appointing presbyters and overseers for each community. Apart from possessing a strong moral sense, each candidate had to have a secure understanding of the 'unchanging message' and be able both to teach and defend to it. This letter shows an emerging 'Christianity' that involves both tradition and teaching authority. (Monday)

St. Paul emphasises to Titus the close connection between right conduct following from right faith. He uses the classic Greek concept of 'teaching for life' (paidaea) with its emphasis on piety, moderation and justice, and places this process in a Christian context. This is a life lived between the two comings of Jesus Christ. This type of teaching, he considers, is best conducted by older men and women, who can in their wisdom bring the younger generation to its spiritual senses. (Tuesday)

The temptations to wrongdoing, from which Titus and his community were liberated, are the same from which we are being liberated. The rite of baptism initiated a new way of living that would put into practice the compassion showed by Our Saviour. Thus the Christian way would be marked by obedience and gentleness. (Wednesday)

St. Paul writes to Philemenon, a brother Christian on behalf of his slave, Onesimus, who has deserted his post but in the meantime has become a Christian. The point of St. Paul's argument is not for the abolition of slavery but for the transformation of existing social relations with the power of the Gospel. Eventually this process will lead to the transformation of all social relations and the abolition of every form of slavery. (Thursday)

St John, the most mystical of New Testament writers, does emphasise the centrality of the Incarnation, God becoming man, as the fulfilment of divine love. The Christian's ability to love, a divine command, is the imitation of the love Christ showed us. (Friday)

The Readings from the Book of Revelation, Thirtieth-Third Week of Ordinary Time, Year C, Cycle II

The Book of Revelation is the most obscure book in the New Testament. As a literary work it is both partly apocalyptic, the description of the final battle between good and evil, and partly prophetic, the need for conversion in life and morals. The judgement of God is harsh, yet it is the judgement of the Lamb who represents the victory of the crucified Jesus. The ethos of the book, with its clash of empires, the good and the evil (Rome), contrasts strongly with that of St Paul's Pastoral epistles which recommend a de facto accommodation with the Roman Empire.

The author writes to seven Churches to warn them of the impending crisis. In many ways the situation facing them differs little from that facing Church communities today. Each Church is both commended and censured. The Church in Ephesus is complimented for its steadfastness through persecution but also reminded about its lack of fraternal charity. (Monday)

The Church in Sardis is castigated for its failure to life up to its original promise. The community is now dying though, as always, a few faithful remain. The last city, Laodicea, a city renowned for its material wealth, is suffering spiritual poverty. (Tuesday)

The book now moves from the earthly to the heavenly, with a vision of God's court which is dominated by an empty dazzling throne. The elders are historical figures surrounding the throne and recognise God as the 'Lord' who has revealed Himself in the history of the chosen people. (Wednesday)

The vision moves forward, and the scroll containing the details of God's redemptive plan is opened by the Lamb since he has brought its contents to fulfilment through his own self-sacrifice. (Thursday)

The bitter-sweet taste of the scroll reflects the simultaneous triumph of the Church and the persecution of believers. The act of eating by the author initiates the author's worldwide prophetic mission. (Friday)

The Readings from the Book of Revelation, Thirtieth-Fourth Week of Ordinary Time, Year C, Cycle II

The vision of St. John now moves to that of the Lamb, the central image for the crucified Jesus, who offered His life as a perfect sacrifice. The actions of the Lamb have revealed the full meaning of God's love, and those who have accepted and imitated His suffering can now participate fully in the victory that is expressed in the heavenly Liturgy. (Monday)

The end will be brought about by two events. The first is the harvest, to be conducted by Christ, but this is not something that believers should fear since it is the fitting consequence of the planting of the seed of faith. The opposite is true of the second, the vintage that expresses divine judgment passed on the wicked. Even though every believer knows God does forgive, God cannot tolerate evil as such. Those who die unforgiven can only realistically expect God's wrath. (Tuesday)

St. John now begins his description of the seven plagues that will herald the end of time. The sea of glass evokes images of the crossing of the Red Sea by Moses, and the singing of the song of deliverance. Now the sea is the final judgement and the song celebrates the opening of salvation to all the nations. (Wednesday)

The final plague has now destroyed Babylon, the code name for Rome. The city was condemned for her idolatry and her luxury. This city is every place where the pursuit of money and sexual licentiousness has replaced the worship of God. Even the most powerful city cannot resist the judgment of God. However, amidst all this destruction is the quiet call to join the wedding feast of the Lamb. (Thursday)

The vision of the final judgment shows that death has no further purpose. It was never in the original intention of God. Everyone will be judged on their own merits. The Lamb has revealed the mercy of God but this does not preclude the possibility of everlasting annihilation. The reading of books emphasises that it is in this life that we choose God, and conform to His ways since, after the 'first death', no further meritorious actions are possible. (Friday)

The Gospel readings from the First week of Advent, First Week of Advent, Year A, Cycle I

The Gospels presented by the Church for the first week of Advent emphasise both the present moment and the universality of the message. The recognition of both is the best preparation for celebrating the first coming of Jesus at Bethlehem, as well as the last coming at the end of time when He will judge the nations. The centurion in the Gospel shows the type of faith needed to accept Jesus. The servant is the first Gentile to be healed in Matthew's Gospel and therefore points to an impending universal mission on the part of Jesus and the Church. This 'soldierly' humility preserves the dignity of the supplicant as well as recognising Jesus' unique power to heal. (Monday)

The knowledge revealed by Jesus is nothing abstract but is rather a committed knowledge established on a personal relationship, a relationship that can only flourish on child-like trust. The disciples can begin to know what the previous generations, mentioned by Isaiah, can only aspire to grasp. (Tuesday)

The universality of Jesus' message is emphasised by the pagan setting of the feeding of the multitude. The God of Israel has power over other peoples as well, but these, like us, need educating through the word prior to being feed. The sympathy of Jesus for the crowd will ultimately lead to His self-sacrifice, and His body and blood will be the food for everlasting life. (Wednesday)

The new community, those who have listened to the Sermon on the Mount, will establish a true foundation on Jesus Himself only if their listening is followed by action. The faith is neither just that of the head or the heart, but of an active good life that continually reflects on the acceptance of Christ. (Thursday)

Jesus does take pity on the blind men who encounter Him, as He takes pity on us. They both recognised their obvious blindness, but also of the ability of Jesus to heal them. Both aspects require a humility of spirit to accept our spiritual/moral blindness and the need to seek Christ's singular healing. (Friday).