Fr Peter's newsletter notes - December 2006

Sunday 3rd December

Preparation for Christmas includes attentive listening to the Word of God.

By the time this newsletter is printed, Pope Benedict will have, God willing, safely returned from his visit to Turkey. Obviously it is too soon to say what effect such a visit might have in terms of Christian-Muslim dialogue or in Turkey’s application to join the European Union. However, one thing is certain, his most vociferous critics and their allies in the extremist press were by and large silenced, not by force of arms but by the force of rhetoric.

One extremist newspaper could only come up with the following criticism of Pope after his visit to the House of Mary at Ephesus, ‘The Pope, who is still has still not apologised for his insolent slanders about Islam and our Holy Prophet, is now using a sneaky tactic and trying to separate the concepts of ‘Muslim’ and ‘Turk’. The Pope had earlier echoed the words of his predecessor, Pope John XXIII, and spoke of Turkey’s place in the history of civilisation, and of the shared values between Christians and Muslims. The evidence from this visit is that, for many parts of the world, it is obvious that the Christian message has only ever been heard second hand. This has a number of causes, anti-Christian propaganda, propagated through the press, the preaching of extremist imams, and those events of the past and present that have besmirched the Church, both in the Middle East and elsewhere. However, where the message is heard, then at least some form of respect might follow. It just may be that radical Islam is not the insuperable force it is made out to be by the secularist chattering classes.

The situation in Western Europe is somewhat different. There is, in the words of a professor from the National University of Ireland in Meynooth a ‘cultural amnesia’ in respect of so many of those aspects of life that are precious to the western mind. The professor was shocked at the vitriol poured out by student and academic alike at a recent public debate on the value of Christianity in the University. What had been lost, in his opinion was any understanding of the formation of the European mind. The concept of the person was not discovered overnight, but came out of the Church’s century-long meditation on Jesus Christ.

This might all seem a long way from preparing for the joy of Christmas during the season of Advent but, when the Church asks us to reflect on the birth of the Saviour, perhaps we need to ask ourselves the question, how much have I simply overheard the Gospel rather than hear it in its fullness? It is unlikely that any of us will change the course of history, but each of us has the divinely charged role to make sure that those with whom we live and associate have at least heard the message of Christ. There is a place in the world, unique to each of us, where Christ has asked us to act, but this is only possible for those who have truly heard the message of Jesus Christ. This message is first and foremost about liberation from sin and all its consequences both personal and communal. This liberation lets the meaning of life shine forth, the unity of love of God and love of neighbour, which reached a definite point in the person of Jesus Christ.

Sunday 17th December

The coming of Christ offers the hope of a shared future, and the rock on which to build life.

Last Friday I was invited to celebrate Mass in the Catholic Church of Mere, South Wiltshire where I grew up. It was the first time I had celebrated Mass there since my ordination. The Church looked as if it hadn’t changed. The fibrous panels were still sagging underneath the corrugated iron roof of the Nissen hut. The same pews, lovingly polished, and the serviceable interior, took me back many years. A number of parishioners, including some former pupils from Downside, had made the effort to come out on Friday evening, but it was obvious that a generation has passed since I was last there in 1982. The following morning I went, along with my mother, to fulfil the duties of filial piety, and visited the graves of my grand-parents, and to tidy up the lavender that was planted there over twenty-five years ago. They looked at rest on that bright morning in the small graveyard. The spirit of the place and tranquillity of the scene brought home to me how grandparents are the nearest any child grasps eternity. They always seem old in the eyes of a child, but they remain the essential contact with a world long past. They form a living tradition between the realms of past family and the present moment.

The Feast of Easter is the feast of the redemption of time, and the prayer for the scoring of the paschal candle at the beginning of the Vigil says that ‘all points of time belong to Him’. However, this embrace of time did not first become visible at Easter but at Christmas. The birth of Christ, and the Word becoming flesh, brings an eternal present into a world of constant flux. Just as grandparents and older relatives anchor each family in history, so the coming of Christ potentially anchors every person, family and people. The stillness of Christmas night reinforces this understanding of the eternal present entering time. For at least once a year the flux of everyday commerce gives way to stillness and peace.

As I stood over the grave cutting out the brambles that had intertwined with the lavender, it became obvious that the vocation of being a grandparent involved the future even if it remained for that particular grandchild obscure. The ‘eternity’ of grandparents with regard to their grandchildren involves not just a relationship with the past but also a future. There are strong parallels with the eternity of God entering time in Bethlehem, now over two thousand years ago, and the subsequent invitation to a shared future. The stillness of Christmas night is not just a transitory moment before the activities, celebrations and mass internal migration up and down the country. It is the reminder that God in Christ also wishes to share the future with us. However, for so long, and for so many, this accompaniment remains either unconscious or is tragically rejected.

These few weeks before Christmas is the time to remind ourselves once again that this shared future offered by Jesus Christ is not just for children, but for each of us whatever age. Our modern imagination is too easily swayed by either a false materialism or its opposite, a faux-spiritualism, and remains largely unable to see the transformation of all time begun at Christmas. Now is the time to grasp this shared future, and the real hope that this entails.

‘When and where is the Liturgy celebrated’ (CCC 1163-1206)

These are the last two questions raised by the Catechism as part of its introduction to each sacrament. The apex of the Liturgical cycle is the Easter Triduum. This gives Sunday its meaning as the Lord’s Day. Easter Sunday is described as the Great Sunday, and this marks the breaking-in of the kingdom of God into historical time. This breaking-in emphasises, in each liturgical celebration, ‘today’ as the ‘hour of Jesus’ Passover’. Every Eucharistic celebration connects with this one sacrifice on the Cross, Resurrection from the dead and outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

The Lord’s Day is thus both the first day of the week, and the final eighth day of rest. It is the day that every Catholic should participate in the Eucharist. Connected with this Passover is the cycle of Our Lord’s Feasts connected with His birth, The Annunciation, Christmas, Epiphany and the Baptism of Our Lord. The cycle of Our Lady Feasts is intimately connected with those of Her Son, and who shares uniquely in the graces flowing from her Son. The Easter Triduum also lies at the heart of all Martyrs and Saints Days, whether Feast or Memorial. The martyr has participated perfectly in the death of Christ, while the saint reveals in his or her life the reality of Jesus’ conquest over death.

The Eucharist is the heart of all Christian worship, but it is not the only way of praising God. The Liturgy of the Hours (Office of Readings, Morning, Midday, Evening and Night Prayer) extends the effect of the Eucharist because the saying of the Divine Office is the work of Christ the High Priest. The Church recites the Office in His name, and this lets the Eucharist penetrate every point of time.

The Liturgy of the Church is obviously celebrated in a Church building, but it is only true because the congregation are living stones building up the House of God. The physical Church is always the visible image of the greater Church. The Catechism emphasises that every Church building should be of ‘good taste and a worthy place’, a statement that has generated much theory and discussion over the ages.

The Infancy narrative according to St Luke (Part 1 ch.1:5-38)

The two accounts of the birth of Jesus Christ, given by St Matthew and St Luke, though agreeing in outline, differ in many of the details. An historian would have an impossible task to identify which details are correct beyond any reasonable doubt. The two Christmas stories have been blended over the years and turned into a seamless narrative. Each Gospel has its distinct viewpoint, but this can be lost when the accounts are amalgamated together.

St Luke’s begins with the figure of Zechariah, and his barren wife, Elizabeth. This pious priestly family is chosen by God, and are the recipients of His grace. Despite their disappointment and shame, they have persevered in following the law. No blame could be attached to them owing to their conduct though, unlike Mary, Zechariah doubts the message of the angel, and is struck dumb. God’s plans however, are not to be thwarted, and Elizabeth does conceive. John (the Baptist), their son, will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and his preaching of repentance will begin with the settling of family discord. The immediacy of the family is where God’s reign will be established, and the small scale of the mission makes it paradoxically applicable to everybody.

Later the angel Gabriel will appear to Mary, and she will be addressed with the words, ‘Hail Mary, full of grace’. This singular greeting shows Mary’s unique position as one already prepared to receive the Holy Spirit, and conceive the child Jesus. This child will fulfil the promises made in the Scriptures and, as the descendant of David, the kingdom of God will definitively be established through Him. The greeting of the angel also points to Mary as the daughter of Zion, and the embodiment of the hope of Israel. Our Lady’s perfectly structured human faith may be seen in her silence at the message, her pondering and questioning of the angel, and her final assent to the will of God. The Annunciation demonstrates the perfect relationship between divine initiative and human response. In this way Mary is the perfect example for every believer.