#Christian Vanier

[foreverpraying]

Homeless Jesus by St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, Bay Village

"That oppressed people and those who oppress them, may free each other:

That those who are handicapped and those who think they are not, may help each other:

That those who need someone to listen may touch the hearts of those who are too busy:

That the homeless may bring joy to those who open their doors reluctantly:

That the lonely may heal those who think they are self-sufficient:

That the poor may melt the hearts of the rich:

That the seekers for truth give life to those who are satisfied they have found it:

That the dying who do not want to die may be comforted by those who find it hard to live:

That the unloved be allowed to unlock the hearts of those who cannot love:

That prisoners may find true freedom and liberate others from fear:

That those who sleep in the streets share their gentleness with those who cannot understand them:

That the hungry tear the veil from the eyes of those who do not hunger after justice:

That those who live without hope cleanse the hearts of their brothers and sisters who are afraid to live:

That the weak confound the strong and save them:

That violence be overtaken by compassion:

That violence be absorbed by men and women of peace:

That we may be healed:

These things, good Lord, that we pray for, give us grace to labour for.

Amen."

Give Us Grace to Labour: A Prayer of Therese Vanier

[sub-at-omicsteminist]

Why are you atheist??

I’ve been staring at this ask for a while now since it’s such an odd thing to just ask and I was trying to figure out when I’ve ever mentioned religion so I can answer in response to what they’ve seen but I don’t know when I’ve mentioned it.

I’ve never been a person of faith, I remember in year 2 (6/7 years of age) I was at a school Mass and I realised everyone else around me believed what was being said whereas I thought what was happening was just another story. I’ve always took religious teachings as stories to teach morals and guidance but I never took them literally.

I used to attended a Greek Orthodox church on Sundays and I’m christened Greek Orthodox and I didn’t mind it because the priest was a lovely person. He would say things like Science is the pursuit of understanding Gods creation and he would talk about how important education is. But the thing that stood out to me was he once said being trans isn’t a sin, it’s the journey God planned for that Individual. So when I was younger I wasn’t aware of the more homophobic and transphobic sides of religion.

It wasn’t until I started attending the Catholic secondary that I realised that some people used religion to back up ideas of hate and I became very anti Christian and stopped attending church because as a young Queer kid the bullying and being told I’m going to hell all the time really got to me.

My mum also became very unwell, she has a chronic illness amongst many other disabilities so I also thought if there is a God he doesn’t care because why would he make a child watch there mother slowly die and loose her mind and become abusive.

I loved talking to my friends about their religions though, I’ve always been fascinated with beliefs and faith because I’ve never had any. I partook in Ramadan one year to support my friend who was finding it hard and their family invited me to Iftar and I really respected how important their faith must be for them to do this because it was very difficult. Another experience I won’t forget was watching my friends mum create a Rangoli because she put so much care and attention into it and it is still one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen because of that care that went into it.

But it wasn’t until I was 17 I started recognising not all religious people are oppressive, some people use it for oppression but if you take people individually who believe in it that’s not a bad thing.

But there are still things I don’t like, for an example at my secondary we were put into religious houses and mine was house Vanier, turns out that guy was an awful person. His name is Jean Vanier if anyone wants to look him up but it’s just disgusting. Also the priest at the Catholic Church closest to where I live was found out to be preying on children, I have no idea what happened to him in the end but it was a big deal in my town. I also live near some Jehovah’s witnesses who for a month straight harassed me after pride because I assume they saw me coming home with pride face paint and stickers on and I had leaflets about sinning coming through the letter box constantly, and even now they still bang loudly on my door to preach when I’ve explained me, my mum and dad all have diagnosed ptsd and find it distressing. My RE teacher also told our class how he pressured his friend who was SA’d into keeping her baby and he was so proud of himself and it made me feel sick, he did loose his job because he told a student they’ll die and go to hell if they take the pill even though they were taking it for medical reasons.

That’s the part of religion I hate, it’s those individuals I hate. I don’t hate religion or people who practice religion but I hate the fact those things happened.

One of the kindest adults in my life was the school Chaplin, she told me she prayed everyday for my mum to get better and she prayed for me during my exams. I spent a lot of time in the chapel because it was quiet when I was having panic attacks and she used to just sit with me and talk me through them.

I’ve lost track of what I’ve written but

I’m not anti religion. Me not being a religious person isn’t anti religion. I’m anti people using religion as an excuse to be horrible to others.

I’ve just never had any sort of beliefs, in my mind everything is just a coincidence. I don’t believe in an after life, ghosts, superstitions or anything like that either. But that’s who I am and I don��t think that should offend anyone. But I also know I could be wrong and I can’t tell anyone their religion is wrong or right because I simply don’t know that.

I think I prefer the term agnostic (a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God) over atheist because it’s as simple as I don’t know but I don’t think anyone is wrong for having faith.

But also I want to add I’m a white person talking about religion and my experience, all over the world people have different experiences so it doesn’t actually matter what I say. I’m just answering an ask and if you ever want to talk to me about religion I’m always happy to.

[longatlanta]

Young diane webber nude

Le spectacle a été repris à la salle Pleyel à Paris en avril 2014.Ī Thousand Times Goodnight de Erik Poppe : Amanda Arward pour la meilleure bande originale pour un film, 2014, Norvège Par ailleurs, le compositeur a créé en juin 2011, au Festival des musiques sacrées du monde de Fès, au Maroc, sa première œuvre tout à lui, un « oratorio mundi » nommé Leylâ & Majnûn, d'après la légende du même nom, avec une quarantaine de chanteurs et musiciens de tous horizons. Les CDs de ses musiques à lui paraissent chez naïve, Long Distance, Universal, Sony et Warner. Il vient de créer la musique de Belle et Sébastien, l’aventure continu de Christian Dugay, de L’Odeur de la Mandarine de Gilles Legrand et de HUMAN de Yann Arthus-Bertrand.Īrmand Amar a fondé en 1994 le label Long Distance avec son complice Alain Weber et qui peut se prévaloir aujourd'hui d'une soixantaine de titres (musiques traditionnelles et classiques). En 2014, il reçoit le Amanda Award pour la meilleure bande originale d’un film pour A Thousand Times Goodnight du réalisateur norvégien Erik Poppe. Depuis, il compose les musiques des films Belle et Sébastien de Nicolas Vanier et Le Promeneur d’oiseau de Philippe Muyl. En 2012 Armand Amar écrit les bandes originales de deux films brésiliens : Mon bel oranger de Marcos Bernstein et Amazonia Eterna de Belisario Franca, et des nouveaux films de Yann Arthus-Bertrand Planète Océans, Alexandre Arcady Ce que le Jour doit à la nuit, et Costa-Gavras Le Capital. Le Concert (qui lui a valu le César de la meilleure musique de films en 2009), Va, vis et deviens (2006), La Source des femmes (2011) de Radu Mihaileanu, Indigènes (2006) de Rachid Bouchareb, La Faute à Fidel de Julie Gavras (2006), Le Premier Cri de Gilles de Maistre (2007), La jeune fille et les loups (2008) et Tu seras mon fils (2011) de Gilles Legrand, Sagan (2008) et Pour une Femme (2013) de Diane Kurys, Ce que le Jour doit à la nuit de Alexandre Arcady, HOME de Yann Arthus-Bertrand (2009), Les hommes libres de Ismaël Ferroukhi (2010). Un syncrétisme d'influences spirituelles et musicales qui se retrouve dans ses musiques de films dont voici une sélection : AMEN. Il travaille depuis, avec un nombre considérable de chorégraphes appartenant à tous les courants de la danse contemporaine comme Marie-Claude Pietragalla, Carolyn Carlsson, Russell Maliphant, ou Mourad Merzouki. Deux aventures parallèles enrichissent sa palette : son implication dans l'école de comédiens d'un Patrice Chéreau et l'enseignement au Conservatoire National Supérieur sur les rapports musique et danse. Soudain, ce qu'il recherche est là : un rapport direct à la musique, le pouvoir d'improviser sans contraintes, les vertus de l'échange in situ. Suit en 1976 la découverte de la danse, à l'invitation du chorégraphe sud-africain Peter Goss, anthropologue de formation. D’abord en autodidacte, toujours à la recherche très physique des expériences, puis pendant des années marquées au sceau d'un engagement total, qui le conduisent à pratiquer les tablas, à découvrir le zarb ou les congas, auprès de différents maîtres de musiques traditionnelle et classique. Fort des sésames d'instruments jugés alors exotiques, il part tôt à la rencontre de cet "ailleurs" promis par des musiques extraeuropéennes. "Français d’origine marocaine, né à Jérusalem, Armand Amar passe son enfance au Maroc. With admiration to the grate artist and composer Armand Amar.Īrmand Amar (born 1953 in Jerusalem ) French composer, who grew up in Morocco.] He won the 2010 César Award for Best Music Written for a Film for Le Concert (Radu Mihaileanu).

[jeffreystewart]

Norsery Rhymes from A to Z Happy Thorsday - Dvalinn, King of the Dwarves, and Bringer of Runes  Well here we are another Thor’s Day and another 20 min sketch of a Norse (and Germanic) mythological characters.  This week it’s Dvalinn / Dvalin / Dvalini / Dvalins the Dwarven (Dverg / Dvergr / Dwarf). One of the Dwarves mentioned in the in the Voluspa. As well as in the Hervarar sage, and in the Sörla þáttr, and several other sources. He was a busy fellow. Known as ‘The Sleepy One’, ‘The Dormant One’, ‘The Slow One’, ‘The Delayer’, ‘The Hesitating’ and ‘The Slumbering One’. The Bringer of Runes, and Master Smith. King of the Dvergr. His name has been translated to mean ‘drowsy’, ‘sleepy’, ‘unconscious’ or ‘slow’. From the old Swedish ‘Dvala’ for sleep, and slow, or to delay, and Danish ‘Dvale’, words for sleep or unconsciousness. All of which can either be taken as a way to represent his slow and sleepy demeanor or that like many Dverg names is meant to indicate that he lives underground along with, or like the dead. He is mentioned as having a huge family with many male descendants. It’s possible to think that he also had daughters as well, which is important as Dvalinn’s daughters are mentioned in several places as being Norns (Fates). Though this is really a reference to there being specific Norns for the Dwarfs, as an aspect of the Norns that appears as Dverg. So the three Norns who governed over the fate of the Dwarves called Dvalin’s Daughters speaks to his prominence more than anything. He is mentioned as a leader and eventually a great king, who lead his people out the mountains into the wider world leading them past rocky lands, wetlands, to an eventual new kingdom in the sand. Where it’s presumed, he built a sandcastle. As the Sun is called Dvalinn’s Deceiver for it’s ability to turn some dwarves to stone. No mention of any of them turning to stone is mentioned in the Voluspa where this travel from the mountains is written. But it’s possible that during their journey some were turned to possibly turned to stone, some were not, or they traveled by night to be careful. In the end given where they ended up in the open, and given the poem not mentioning any ill fate, it’s likely these dwarves he journeyed with were not cursed by the sun. The son of Durinn / Dulinn, who is also his partner in smithing, along with his brothers Berlinger, Alfrigg, and Grerr. Much like Dainn / Dain for the elves, and Odin for the Aesir and Vanier, Dvalinn is the one who brings the knowledge of runes to the Dvergr. Dvalinn is also sometimes associated as Dainn in some stories. Not to be confused with the Stag Dainn / Dvalinn that eats the branches and leaves of Yggdrassil the world tree along with his 3 brothers. Or the Elf named Dain mentioned in the Havalmal along with Dvalinn. Dainn along with Nabbi who is Dain’s brother, and are Durin’s sons, create Freya’s metal Battle Boar Hildisvíni. Dainn is the cutter of the runes to give their creations power. Dvalin and Durinn are one day captured by the Rus King Svafrlami, who forces them to make a sword, golden hilted and guarded, with a blade that shines like inner fire and light. A sword that will never miss, and will kill with the smallest cut. But as they know that he will kill them once they are finished they curse the sword that it not only cannot harm them, but once unsheathed it must kill, and will kill whoever is most at hand until three great tragedies have been done with it. So that once finished making the sword Tryfing and the King tries to kill them with the sword they make their escape as the sword kills first embeds itself in the stone instead of them, and then kills another that is close to the king. Mentioned along with Berlinger, Alfrigg and Grerr as one of the Brisingamen. Sons of Durinn who are masters of forge and jewelers who make a necklace with endless intricacy that shines like the sun, but while still being able to see all the swirling details and runes that go on forever. Freyja comes upon the dwarves and their necklace, or torc, the Brising, the Golden Gleaming Collar. In earlier tales there’s nothing implied in Freyja’s purchase of the necklace. In later Christian versions the Dverg infamously ask for each of them to have a night with her in exchange for it. While earlier and later versions suggest Freja keeps them at bay with her wit and charm, in the priest written version Loki claims to have followed Freya and sees her payments. Loki would then tell a different version of how paid to Odin and the other gods. The mead of Poetry is called “Dvalinn’s Drink” as it was initially created by either Dvalinn or his people.

[lawrenceop]

HOMILY for Quinquagesima Sunday (Dominican rite)

1 Cor 13:1-13; Luke 18:31-43

During this time of pre-Lent, this Septuagesimatide, the Church’s Liturgy has recalled the graciousness of God who, in his mercy, considering the sad and sinful state of humanity after the Fall, has gratuitously called us to befriend him in the person of Jesus Christ. As I said on Septuagesima Sunday, Christ has called us ‘Friend’, and so he has summoned us from the idleness of sin to labour in the vineyard of his Kingdom. For friends, as Aristotle says, love what their friends love. Aware of our weakness and unworthiness in befriending Christ, last Sunday’s Liturgy called us to a greater confidence in the sufficiency of God’s grace, for God’s power “is made perfect in weakness.” 

So, let not pride nor fear nor any other dreadful occurrence keep us from persevering in God’s service, from labouring in the vineyard of holy Church, from seeking the mercy and friendship of Jesus. For many would have read of the shocking and sad news of Jean Vanier’s abusive relationships, or of other distressing things done by fellow Christians. And perhaps their faith is shaken, and they wonder about the credibility of the Church. 

And yet, “nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”, so let no scandal, nor sin, nor evil keep us from Christ and his Bride the Church. On the contrary, we should run to Jesus and cling to his love for we have no refuge but him. Like the blind beggar in today’s Gospel, we run to Jesus, and will not be put off by those who rebuke us and dissuade us. Rather, we cry out “much more: Son of David, have mercy on me.” O Son of David, have mercy on your poor Bride, our holy Mother the Church. Lord Jesus, have mercy on us! 

My dear brothers and sisters, as Lent draws near now, may I invite you, of your charity and goodness, to offer up some of your penances in reparation for the sins committed by prominent Catholics: offer your prayers for those who have sinned; fast for those who have are victims of these sins, and who have been scandalised and so prevented from approaching Christ and the grace of the sacraments; and give the alms of your compassion and good works to help those who are wounded by scandals and the abuse of authority in the Church. Through these ways, you will be exercising charity. And in the pain and suffering that we share with the victims, as well as with good Catholics everywhere who are bewildered by the depth and extent of sin, we shall be showing charity. For as St Paul says in the epistle: charity “does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. [Charity] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” United to Christ through charity, offer up whatever sufferings you endure for the healing of wounds, for the sanctification of Christians, and pray that the light of truth, which comes from the Holy Spirit, will continue to purify the leadership of the Church. 

This Quinquagesima Sunday, the Liturgy focusses our attention on the mercy of Christ, who heals the blind man. May we too be healed this coming Lent of our blindnesses. Perhaps there are our personal sins we are blind to, or perhaps we do not see the ones in need of our love and compassion, or perhaps we are blinded by false idols that have been set up in our lives. Lord, have mercy, and let us see again. Let our eyes seek only your face, and to see only Jesus Christ. For there is none else to save us, nor who can love us so deeply and truly apart from God. Thus the psalmist says: “Put not your trust in princes, in mortal men, in whom there is no help. When his breath departs he returns to his earth; on that very day his plans perish. Blessed  is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God” (Ps 146:3-5)

Therefore, our focus today is on the charity of God, and on what he does for us if we trust in him. Having summoned us to friendship with God, which is charity, the Liturgy today makes explicit in the epistle the qualities of divine charity. And thus we marvel at how God befriends us, and how he deals with us as a friend: ”Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away… So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

Now St Thomas Aquinas says that “the greatest of friendships” is that of husband and wife. So Christian marital love is, in fact, founded upon charity; it is charity. As such, by grace, marriage mirrors on earth the love of God for the Christian soul. For we have each been espoused to God through baptism. Therefore, today’s epistle deepens our appreciation of that call that we heard two Sundays ago. God comes and has called you “Friend”, and today, we recognize that this call to friendship with God is in fact a call to share in the charity of God, to be united to him in love that is more intimate even than marriage. Hence heaven is often likened by Christ to a wedding banquet, and the Holy Mass is a foretaste of the wedding supper of the Lamb mentioned in the book of the Apocalypse. Therefore, you and I, coming to the Mass and receiving the Body and Blood of Christ, are here united by God to himself in an intimate union of charity that is like the greatest of friendships.

So, to prepare us for Lent, the Liturgy focusses us on the greatness of our Christian vocation. We have been called to friendship with Christ. We have entered into a covenant of marital love with God. We are being prepared by grace for union with God and a share in the life of the Blessed Trinity. And this great vocation is made possible despite our weakness and sins because God’s grace is sufficient for you, his power is made perfect in weakness. In the coming weeks of Lent, this is the one thing that we ask God to help us see: that we need no things, and  no other pleasures and goods and delights, and indeed, nobody, even, except Christ Jesus and his grace. Therefore, let nothing separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (cf Rom 8:39)

[humansofhds]

Emmanuel Correa, MDiv ’21

“There was a moment in my college career where nothing felt gravitas. Everything I did lacked gravitas. I felt disconnected from the real world. I felt that I needed to do something, to be of service to people, to live according to what God wanted me to do.”

Emmanuel is a second-year master of divinity candidate on the Lutheran ordination track.

Born into a Family of Service from Puerto Rico

I was born in Puerto Rico and lived there for most of my life. I studied at the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras, which is the main historic campus in the island. It’s a public university. I studied Hispanic literature with a special emphasis in mysticism and Latin American literature, especially on the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges.

I was mostly concerned with getting a PhD in the humanities; mostly concerned with my intellectual development. But I come from a family where we don’t pursue intellectualism as a goal. We value intellect, but are not interested in being the intellectual elite by any means.

My family is a family of service. They are health professionals. My dad is a family physician, my grandfather also. My grandmother is a physician. My mom is a psychological counselor. My brother is a physical therapist and my sister is an audiologist.

So we’re all oriented towards what Jesus said, “the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve.” That is the motto of my family. We are very self-effacing and we just like to serve. We like to help people in an imitation of Jesus Christ. If there’s something from my family that is very particular is that we are very committed Christians and we like to serve people in obedience to the Gospel message. That’s my family in a nutshell.

So in a purely intellectual and academic environment, sometimes I feel the odd one out, like in between two streams. I read wonderful books, like the Seven Storey Mountain, which led me to think about living the life that is actually being described, not just talk about it. To be existentially grounded, that feeling was burning inside me.

There was a moment in my college career where nothing felt gravitas. Everything I did lacked gravitas. I felt disconnected from the real world. I felt that I needed to do something, to be of service to people, to live according to what God wanted me to do.

The books I read talked about living a committed life in the service of God, living for a specific purpose in a very embodied way. It’s what I would learn to call incarnational, very involved. So by that time, there was a little bit of intention. I wanted to act upon that intention.

One Sunday, as I was going to my grandfather’s Lutheran church in my hometown, and this ties in with my call to ministry, my pastor was giving Communion to the congregation. This is for me the highest point of service, to give Christ to people. To be present to their lives, to listen to the suffering, all this kind of things. Once my pastor gave Communion, I saw myself in that role and I have seen myself in that role ever since. Everything I’ve done is to do precisely that. The seed was there. I was still tempted to do a PhD. That was in the burner.

When Hurricane Maria Hits, The World Stops

But before HDS, before DivEx, before everything, came Hurricane María. It has marked Puerto Rican history for my generation. This was a very big pause in life. Everything stopped. Regarding my experience of the hurricane, I’m still staggered by the fact that many of my contemporaries and I lived through this ordeal.  

Once you see, it doesn’t matter who you are, the hurricane affected us all in one way or another. It was a material, spiritual, and psychological shock.  I realized that I was not affected as much as other people, so I was compelled to help others who had lost more.

Outside of government help, people didn’t wait for the government. They started doing things in their immediate communities as quickly as possible and that was a very beautiful thing to see. It also reinforced my sense of ministry, which was being with people and listening to people—an important thing because you could feel so isolated.

We were literally isolated, there was no communications at all. You had to talk to your neighbors. It was important for the sake of surviving every day to listen to people. So listening has been an important focus in my sense of ministry and it’s something that I carried over into my application for HDS.

Hurricane María has cemented my sense of service. I need to be out there with the people. I can’t be in the ivory tower anymore. It helped me discern the fact that I’m more interested in ministry rather than pursuing an academic career. It’s a sobering thing that one goes through.

I had already applied to DivEx and the only way I could get signal was going to the capital in San Juan. Being rejected or accepted depended on me responding to the email. I saw my email and it said I was accepted. But how I was going to get there was the question, because the airplanes were either full or too expensive.

In my university they had an emergency program in which they took a group of more than 25 students from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, to Brown University to finish their semester. Many friends thought I should apply, so I did. I stayed in Brown University for around a year, so by staying there I was able to go to DivEx without any problems.

DivEx Offers a New Home

DivEx was a very interesting experience. I got to meet a lot of people that I now know in the MDiv program. They showed us around and gave us a view of HDS. “This is community. This is cool. This is the place I want to apply to,” I thought to myself. There was a perception that this was a close-knit and supportive community.

Afterwards, you realize it’s more complicated than that, but DivEx really helped my application to HDS. They see your face and know who you are. It’s a very practical thing for students, especially students from diverse backgrounds, to get the opportunity to at least see what they can do at HDS. Then, see if it’s a place where they can flourish.

So, I got accepted to HDS. I was super nervous at the time because I only applied to HDS. I have one mind as to what I want to do. I want to use Harvard’s resources and take all the classes that I need to be a good minister of Christ’s church. I’m not here to create any theory of religion. I’m not here to necessarily fulfill HDS’s slogan.

A Life of Service at HDS

I am here to fulfill what I feel is my life’s calling by God. I have to prepare for it, get the resources, the classes, the knowledge, the experiences of field work. In this case HDS provides a lot of good field opportunities to be a good minister, to what I believe is God’s calling in my life. It’s a very simple thing.

I’m not here to problematize too much. Well, if I’m going to problematize, it is to be like what Jacques Ellul said, “a holy troublemaker.” That’s something that I really apply to myself, but not necessarily to be THE ethical leader. I think that’s antithetical for the Christian ministers who are not out there to be the center of attention. They recognize they are part of a community belonging to God, which invites to exercise leadership through humility and mercy.

I’m here to serve the people in a specific manner. For me, God gets all the glory, God gets all of it. I’m not here to accrue awards, but to engage in my vocation. I am here to serve the poor, serve the needy, serve the marginalized.

To have a relationship with people, to be the nexus of dialogue between different groups. For me that’s the most important thing and for this, I have tons of people who inspire me to do this work, like Jean Vanier, Fred Rogers, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, and all these great religious figures who really lived out their faith. They willed one thing, which is to serve those in need in the name of Jesus Christ. It’s primarily to give oneself for the sake of others.

I’m just getting on the HDS wagon to do precisely that. HDS provides the framework where I can develop into that role.

In the future, my ideal is that I return to Puerto Rico. Yet, like a lot of people in my generation who left the island because they want to fulfill their careers and aspirations, that can take them away from the island. It’s not an easy decision, but one expects it’s for the best. It’s bitter-sweet. It’s mostly bitter than sweet because the island has a grip on you. I hope that I can go back and fulfill my ministry amongst my people.

Interview and photos by Kaitlin Wheeler

[revolutionoftenderness]

"Conscience is like the voice of God that shows the way of love in the here and now. Christians express their confidence in God. But they are often fearful of affirming confidence in themselves and their personal conscience. True self-confidence is a sign of respect for the child of God that we are, called to do beautiful things for him. We cannot love others if we do not love ourselves. We have to help each person to love and respect themselves and to have confidence in their own conscience and in the Holy Spirit who gave it to them. Jesus calls us not to judge, but to see the other as our sister or brother, through the eyes with which God sees him or her."

~ Jean Vanier, Signs

[artwork by William Baziotes]

[dijonbeaune]

François Labet et Louis-Fabrice Latour élus à la tête du BIVB

L’interprofession des vins de Bourgogne tenait ce jeudi 25 janvier son assemblée générale au château de Gilly-lès-Citeaux pour élire ses nouveaux présidents sous la mandature 2018-2021. Sans surprise, Louis-Fabrice Latour reprend le poste de président-délégué pour le négoce. Il est rejoint par François Labet côté viticulture.  François Labet, pour la viticulture, et Louis-Fabrice Latour, pour le…

[pope-francis-quotes]

https://youtu.be/vz67l3xkcYE

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8th May >> (@RomeReports) #Pope Francis #PopeFrancis "When #charity is done without tenderness and without #love, it is as if we add a glass of vinegar to the works of charity.”

Pope Francis in General Audience: When there is no tenderness we become too serious and bitter

After just little more than 12 hours have passed since his return to Rome from North Macedonia, Pope Francis was already at work again.

Shortly after 9 a.m. in the morning, he entered St. Peter's Square in the popemobile to greet all the pilgrims, especially these young ones.

As is usual every time he returns from an apostolic journey, Pope Francis dedicated his General Audience to remembering his visit to Bulgaria and North Macedonia. In Bulgaria he visited the throne of SS. Cyril and Methodius, two great evangelizers.

POPE FRANCIS

“Even today there is a need for passionate and creative evangelizers. This is so the Gospel may reach those who do not yet know it and may irrigate again the lands where ancient Christian roots have dried up.”

In North Macedonia, one of the most special moments for the pope was his visit to Skopje, the birthplace of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. There he was impressed by the tenderness of the Missionaries of Charity to the most needy.

POPE FRANCIS

“They do it with tenderness. Many times we Christians lose this dimension of tenderness. And when there is no tenderness we become too serious, too bitter. These sisters are sweet in tenderness and are charitable. They are charitable as it should be, without disguising it. However, when charity is done without tenderness and without love, it is as if we add a glass of vinegar to the works of charity.”

Pope Francis also noted how North Macedonia has received hundreds of refugees from the Middle East.

Before concluding his General Audience, the pope dedicated a few words in memory of Jean Vanier who recently died. Vanier founded the L'Arche communities, which is present in more than 30 countries. They take care of people with disabilities.

[romancatholicreflections]

5th March >> Daily Reflection/Commentary on Today’s Gospel Reading for Roman Catholics on Tuesday, Eighth Week in Ordinary Time (Mark 28-31).

Having overcome their initial shock at what Jesus had to say about the danger of wealth as a serious obstacle to being a follower of Jesus or being a member of the Kingdom, his disciples begin to take stock of their own actual situation. Clearly they cannot even be remotely numbered among the wealthy. Is there something to be said in favour of their relative poverty? “What about us?” asks the ever-irrepressible Peter. “We have left

everything and followed you.”

Indeed they had. At the beginning of Mark's gospel we are told that, on Jesus' invitation, they had abandoned their whole livelihood and become followers of Jesus. It was a bold step when they really had no idea where it would lead them.

Jesus replies: "There is no one who has left house, brothers, sisters, father, children or land for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not be repaid a hundred times over, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and land – not without persecutions – now in this present time and, in the world to come, eternal life. Many who are first will be last, and the last first."

This sounds like a pie-in-the-sky promise but has it been fulfilled? In fact, it has been – and many times over. By leaving a world where each one scrambles for a piece of the cake and where some get a huge piece and others only get crumbs, the Christian who truly has the spirit of the Gospel enters a community wherever everyone takes care of everyone else and where each one's needs are taken care of by a sharing of the community's resources.

This is how by leaving one's home and family and giving away one’s material goods one enters a new family in which there are far more mothers, brothers, sisters; where one home is replaced by many homes offering their warmth and hospitality, offering a home from home.

This is a reality which, unfortunately, has not been realised among many Christians who live their daily lives in the rat race for acquisition characteristic of our modern capitalist societies and who believe that what they cannot get by their own efforts they will never come to enjoy.

Yet there are examples. One of the most obvious is religious life where the words of Jesus are lived out. The question is why should only religious have this experience of shared love and shared material goods? There are other communities like L'Arche, founded by Jean Vanier – a saint of our time, where the fit and the handicapped share a life together. There are basic Christian communities or some charismatic groups where families live in a communal style sharing all their resources.

But, by and large, we have to a great extent failed to realise that Christianity is not meant to be a religion where individuals, rich and poor, live individualistic lives and carry out certain ‘religious’ acts to “save their own souls” but that it essentially consists of creating a whole new way by which people relate to each other in mutual love and care.

Jesus says that in his world the first will be last and the last first. In fact, he is saying that in his world there is no first and no last. Perhaps this can be illustrated by a story:

A rich man was concerned about his future salvation, would he ‘go to heaven’ or not. In order to motivate him, he asked God to be given a preview of heaven and hell. God agreed. God said that they would first pay a visit to hell. When they got there the man was greatly surprised. He was brought into a sumptuous dining room of a large Chinese restaurant all decorated in red and gold. In the centre was a large round table and on it were the most exotic and delicious dishes one could imagine. Around the table were seated the diners. They were the most miserable-looking group one could imagine, all sitting there motionless and in silence just looking at the beautiful food in front of them. The reason for their glumness was that they had been given chopsticks which were three feet long! There was no way they could get any of the food into their mouths. And they were going to sit there like that for eternity. That was hell!

God then brought the man to heaven. Again he was amazed. Because they were in an identical Chinese banqueting room, with the same kind of table and the same wonderful food. But everybody was in the highest spirits. The sound of laughter rang out everywhere. They were really enjoying themselves and the meal. Was this because they had the normal length of chopsticks? No! They also had three-foot chopsticks but here everyone was reaching out food to people on the opposite side of the table. And that was heaven.

It is a very good illustration of today’s Gospel. When everyone serves, everyone is served. When everyone gives, everyone gets. It is a lesson even we Christians seem to find difficult to learn.

[fromthe-point]

ECHL Transactions - Feb.27

Adirondack Thunder: Brian Bowen, F || signed contract, added to active roster Jake Linhart, D || loaned to Utica (AHL)

Atlanta Gladiators: Zach Magwood, F || assigned from Milwaukee (AHL) by Nashville (NHL)

Cincinnati Cyclones: Braeden Ostepchuk, G || signed contract, added to active roster [02.24]

Greenville Swamp Rabbits: Johno May, F || placed on injured reserve (effective 02.25)

Idaho Steelheads: Connor Chatham, F || activated from reserve Geoff Crisfield, D || placed on reserve Nolan Gluchowski, D || activated from reserve Clint Lewis, D || placed on reserve Brady Norrish, D || activated from reserve

Kansas City Mavericks: Jake Henderson, F || signed contract, added to active roster

Maine Mariners: Sean Campbell, D || placed on reserve John Furgele, D || activated from reserve

Orlando Solar Bears: Clint Windsor, G || activated from injured reserve

Rapid City Rush: Michael Turner, F || placed on reserve Sam Wilbur, F || activated from reserve

Reading Royals: Zach Todd, D || activated from injured reserve; traded to Rapid City

Utah Grizzlies: Christian Frey, G || loaned to San Diego (AHL) Joseph Mizzi, F || released from contract Cole Ully, F || activated from reserve

Worcester Railers: Alexis Vanier, D || placed on injured reserve (effective 02.18)

[9oodshots]

‘𝗦𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦’⁣ 🎬 𝗦𝗬𝗡𝗢𝗣𝗦𝗜𝗦 & 😎 𝗡𝗢𝗡-𝗦𝗣𝗢𝗜𝗟𝗘𝗥 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪:⁣ ⁣ 🎬: When a gaming-obsessed 14yo, Thomas [Louis Vazquez], is forced by his mum, Paola [Mélanie Doutey], to spend the holidays with his father, Christian [Jean-Paul Rouve], he is unimpressed by having no Wi-Fi while ‘roughing it’ with his dad.⁣ ⁣ Christian, a visionary scientist, forces Thomas to help him bond with a gaggle of endangered geese as soon as they are born before slowly training them to follow the sound of a microlight in order for them to learn a safe way to migrate between France & a wildlife sanctuary in Norway where they can nest & repopulate their species.⁣ ⁣ After Christian fakes legal paperwork & drives all the way to Norway, he & Thomas are distraught when they hear that the endangered geese have bird flu & need to have their wings clipped; in a panic, Thomas steals the microlight & begins the perilous journey home with the geese in tow.⁣ ⁣ With the help of a journalist, Diane [Lilou Fogli], who tracks his flight while building awareness of the plight of the endangered geese, can Christian & Paola help Thomas safely return as he tries to train the geese to fly the safe path that they need?⁣ ⁣ 😎: Based on real life events, ‘Belle & Sebastian’ director Nicolas Vanier has created a heart-warming story of tenacity in the face of both natural & human hurdles. Driven by panic that his beloved endangered geese will not be allowed to return home, Thomas takes it upon himself to get the gaggle to follow the microlight while, on the ground, Christian & Diane battle a bureaucracy that doesn’t value the importance of an endangered species just because the animals involved are geese & not something more newsworthy.⁣ ⁣ 📽️ Combined with the amazing work of ‘Belle & Sebastian’ cinematographer Éric Guichard, the movie has stunning flight sequences including the passage where Thomas has to negotiate his way through a very daunting lightning storm. The final scene just before the credits is visually stunning & well worth waiting for. 📽️⁣ ⁣ Thanks to @iconfilmaunz; 'Spread Your Wings [aka Donne-moi des ailes],' rated 𝗣𝗚, opened in 🇦🇺 on January 7th, 2020. ©️ (at Spread Your Wings) https://www.instagram.com/p/CKOjD6JlBiO/?igshid=7nxlai4w9phm

[jbankai89]

I've been noticing a lot of YOI fic writers seem to enjoy basing their stories (at least the ones I gravitate to) in Montreal. The problem with this is it seems that at least half of these stories are written with minimalist research involved, and its beginning to drive me insane.

That said, here's a brief list of things for writing a quebecois character based in or around Montreal.

Slang:

We ain't American. We have our own slang, and not fucking hoozer or whatever the fuck I always see on those inane “Canadian Slang” lists. Here's a few that a Monterealer may use:

Dep or Depanneur (Deh-pan-err) – corner store or convenience store.

Guichet (gi-shet)– ATM Machine

Soccer-Baseball – Kickball

Tabarnak – Literal translation is Tabarnacle, but it's the same as saying “fuck”

Caliss – Literal translation is Chalice, but same as saying “shit” (French for shit is merde, but you here caliss or tabarnak more often)

The Habs – Montreal Canadiens, our hockey team.

OQLF (Office de la Langue Quebecois) – Language Police. Literally a branch of government that can fine shops for not having enough french signage. A common phrase here when you see a shop where all the signage is in french (even in an 80% english bookstore chain like Chapters/Indigo/Coles) is “Bill 101 strikes again.”

STM – Our public transport system. The workers are notorious for being total asshats if you don't speak french to them.

Metro – Subway

Poutine (pooh-tin) – french fries, cheese curds, and brown gravy. We're hella serious about our poutine out here, and even high-dining restaurants like Au Pied du Cochon have poutine on their menus.

Cabane a Sucre – Sugar Shack. In March when it's maple syrup season, people come in droves to areas outside the city like Riguad, and go “Sugaring off”. This is usually an excuse to eat maple taffy (hot maple syrup drizzled on clean snow that hardens, you roll up with a popsicle stick, and eat like a gooey lollipop) and consume your body weight in maple-laced meat products like tourtiere (spiced meat pie), maple baked beans, maple bacon, and more. There's also tours of the maple farms, but most people show up for the sugar rush.

If translating something for JJ to say into french and you're making him Quebecois, please rememeber to use Quebec French, not France French. There is a huge difference. Like American English vs British English. Like we say char instead of voiture, petit noir is espresso, t'veux tu vider? Instead of voulez-vous chouchez avec moi, ma blonde (girlfriend), mon chum (boyfriend), and things like that.

Montreal is actually way more english than people seem to realize, and Quebec nationalism is being less and less a thing as time passes. There's a common running joke that goes, “You know you're in montreal when you're greeted with Bonjour/Hi.”

Locality&MIsc:

Montreal is divided into a bunch of different boroughs around a downtown core. NDG (Notre-Dame-de-Grace, lots of students live here), Westmount (high end, hella english), St Henri, Verdun, etc.

Montreal is a party town, and in the summer there are festivals practically every week. We have the International Jass Festival, the Just for Laughs festival, Osheaga (indie music & art), '77 Fest (punk), Heavy Montreal(formerly Heavy MTL), to name a few. In the winter we also have IglooFest. The legal drinking age here is 18.

Schooling in Quebec is different from the rest of the country. Elementary school is grades K-6, High school is grades 7-11, then we have CEGEP* for 2-3 years, then University.

*CEGEP is a long french acronym that translates basically to Educational and Professional College. You can take 2-year pre-university programs like Social Science, Liberal Arts, Fine Arts, Science, etc, or 3-year professional courses like Nursing or Library Tech. In Montreal, the major english Cegeps are Vanier, Dawson, Marianopolis, or John Abbott (John Abbott is located off-island in a town called Sainte Anne de Bellevue, or Sainte Anne's for short)

Canada/Montreal does have some American stores like Forever 21, H&M, Starbucks, Walmart, The Gap, American Eagle, etc, but we don't have things like Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Target, Kmart, etc.

If something is happening in Montreal, usually its on Rue Sainte Catherine (usually the Ouest(West) side), Rue Saint Laurent, or (occasionally) Crescent Street.

Places you go in Montreal: Atwater or Jean Talon Markets, Mont Royal (where you get stoned at the tam tams), Cat Café(with real live rescue cats), the Bell Centre for arena shows and hockey games, Old Montreal if you like european architecture, Sky or Unity if you're into clubbing and are gay, Le Drugstore if you're a lesbian looking for a bar, La Banquise if you want like a gazillion different types of poutine, Schwartz, Smoked Meat Pete's or Chenoy's for smoked meat, a Montreal specialty...that's all I can think of off the top of my head.

Montreal is very secular. I know more devout Jewish and Muslim people than I do christians. I have no idea where this Christian/Catholic JJ headcanon came from, but bear in mind that aside from yahoo fringe groups, Montreal/Quebec at large is not deeply christian. (This is my own experience. Even people I know who went to all-girls or all-boys religious private schools all came out of them atheist, agnostic, or (in one case) pagan. The one or two devout christian people my age I knew were shunned and ostracized in school, not the other way around.) There was also a big scandal a few years ago where the Quebec gvt tried to ban all religious paraphernalia from workplace environments, everything from crosses to hijabs to anything else you can think of, but it was believed that this was a roundabout racist excuse to target Muslim Women.

This is a sum-up. Any Montrealers wanna add to this, or add corrections to experiences that differ from mine, feel free. :)

[eglise22]

Se scandaliser, oui ; se désespérer, non

Beaucoup d'articles ont paru dans la presse et sur le web à propos de Jean Vanier. Faire le tri s'impose.

Voici deux témoignages empreints de charité et d'amour pour les victimes. Prions pour elles.

Les responsables de L'Arche Internationale, Stephan Posner et Stacy Cates Carney, écrivent dans une lettre adressée aux membres de L'Arche le 22 février 2020 :

« Nous sommes bouleversés par ces découvertes et nous condamnons sans réserve ces agissements en totale contradiction avec les valeurs que Jean Vanier revendiquait par ailleurs, incompatibles avec les règles élémentaires de respect et d'intégrité des personnes, et contraires aux principes fondamentaux de nos communautés.

(…) Nous reconnaissons le courage et la souffrance de ces femmes, et de celles aussi qui, peut-être aujourd'hui encore, resteraient dans le silence. Nous voulons dire aussi notre gratitude aux femmes qui, il y a quelques années, ont brisé ce silence au sujet du père Thomas Philippe et ont ainsi aidé d'autres à se libérer d'un fardeau injuste de honte et de peine. À toutes, pour ces faits qui se sont déroulés dans le contexte de L'Arche et dont certains ont été initiés par notre fondateur, nous demandons pardon.

(…) Pour beaucoup d'entre nous, Jean Vanier a compté parmi les personnes que nous avons aimées et respectées le plus. Nous mesurons le trouble et la douleur que ces informations vont provoquer chez beaucoup d'entre nous, à l'intérieur de L'Arche, mais aussi à l'extérieur… tant il aura inspiré et réconforté de nombreuses personnes partout dans le monde. Si le bien considérable qu'il fit tout au long de son existence n'est pas mis en question, nous allons cependant devoir faire le deuil d'une certaine vision que nous pouvions avoir de lui ainsi que de nos origines. ».

« Jamais nous n'avons porté une telle croix » explique à Aleteia le père Christian Mahéas, aumônier de L'Arche France.

En tant qu'aumônier de L'Arche, quel message désirez-vous faire passer ?

Le message est toujours le même : la relation avec les plus pauvres nous révèle la simplicité, la relation vraie, l'écoute… La dimension spirituelle que portent ces personnes est au cœur de nos communautés et nous devons l'honorer. Ces événements ne changent rien au message. Dans mon quotidien je ne pratiquais pas le discours de Jean Vanier, une personne que j'aimais beaucoup et que je connaissais depuis quarante ans, mais j'expérimentais ce que moi-même j'avais découvert. J'ai été treize ans à L'Arche avant d'entrer au séminaire, dont dix ans au Burkina Faso comme directeur. C'est tout ce que j'ai reçu et compris que j'essaye de transmettre en disant : « Soyez proches des plus petits, entrez en relation avec eux et vous verrez que quelque chose de beau se passera ». Je ne me pose pas la question de ce que je dois dire mais je continue en étant fidèle, semaine après semaine, à ma communauté, en accueillant les personnes, en célébrant la messe, en préparant des personnes handicapées et assistants aux sacrements.

L'essentiel est de dire : « Vous êtes les biens aimés de Dieu et je vous le dis au nom de l'Eglise ».

Lire la suite sur le site d'origine : https://fr.aleteia.org/2020/02/24/r...

Voir aussi, sur le site de notre diocèse : https://saintbrieuc-treguier.cathol...

via Paroisse Saint-Tugdual de TREGUIER https://ift.tt/2T1v2dP

[kayjay63]

Revered Christian leader ‘guilty of sex abuse’ Image copyrightGetty Images A religious leader who founded a celebrated organisation for people with learning difficulties sexually abused six women, an internal report found. Canadian Jean Vanier founded the global network L'Arche in France in 1964 and die… Read More

[romancatholicreflections]

8th April >> Sunday Homilies And Reflections For Roman Catholics on the Second Sunday of Easter, Year B 2nd SUNDAY of EASTER -Year B Alleluia Second Sunday of Easter Gospel reading John 20:19-31 vs.19 In the evening of the same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, “Peace be with you,” vs.20 and showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, vs.21 and he said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.” vs.22 After saying this he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. vs.23 For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.” vs.24 Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. vs.25 When the disciples said, “We have seen the Lord,” he answered, “Unless I see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.” Doubting Tomvs.26 Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them. “Peace be with you” he said. vs.27 Then he spoke to Thomas, “Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side. Doubt no longer but believe.” vs.28 Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God!” vs.29 Jesus said to him: “You believe because you can see me. Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.” vs.30 There were many other signs that Jesus worked and the disciples saw, but they are not recorded in this book. vs.31 These are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing this you may have life through his name. ****************************************** We have four commentators available from whom you may wish to choose . Click on the name of the commentator required. Michel DeVerteuil: A Recently deceased Trinidadian Holy Ghost Priest, director of the Centre of Biblical renewal Thomas O’Loughlin: Professor of Historical Theology, University of Wales, Lampitor Sean Goan: Studied scripture in Rome, Jerusalem and Chicago and taught at Blackrock College and now work’s with Le Chéile Donal Neary SJ: Editor of The Sacred Heart Messenger and National Director of The Apostlship of Prayer **************************************** Michel DeVerteuil Lectio Divina with the Sunday Gospels www.columba.ie General Comments Today’s gospel reading, like all of St John’s gospel, is an interweaving of several themes. It is not possible to follow up all the themes together; we must focus on one at a time, going deeply into it and allowing it to reveal some deep truth about Jesus, about ourselves and about life. Here I invite you to focus on the apostle Thomas; this is in accord with the Catholic church’s liturgical tradition for the Second Sunday of Easter. Therefore, although the reading includes two of Jesus’ resurrection appearances – both of them deeply moving – we stay with the second, the dialogue between Jesus and Thomas, and let the earlier appearance provide the context. We are free to identify either with Thomas or with Jesus, but not with both at the same time. tom model of faithWe need to be clear on how we understand Thomas. The popular interpretation puts him in a bad light, as “doubting Thomas”. This however is not the movement of the text, which culminates in Thomas’ admirable act of faith, the most explicit in the New Testament – “My Lord and my God!”. We are more in accord with the spirit of the text, therefore, when we look at Thomas as a model of faith. He was right to insist that before he could believe in Jesus’ resurrection he must see the holes the nails made in his hands, put his finger into the holes and his hand into the great wound made by the centurion’s lance. Thomas teaches us the important lesson that we must not separate the resurrection from the cross, since we are called to be followers of Jesus. He also teaches us the truth of the Church and of our individual spiritual growth. We cannot live the life of grace, the “risen life”, authentically unless we bear in our bodies the wounds of the cross. This means being conscious that we develop the capacity to love and to be loved only by dying to ourselves. Our wounds are also a constant reminder of our frailty, and that it is God’s grace that raises us up to new life. St Paul’s epistles show that the first Christians needed the corrective of Thomas’ faith. They tended to relate with the risen Jesus without reference to his crucifixion. They forgot that they were called to be “followers of Jesus crucified”, choosing to die with him so that they could rise with him (see especially 1 Corinthians 1). We Christians fall into the same error today when our lives and our teachings proclaim an abstract “disembodied” Jesus, dispenser of graces and teacher of morality – we forget the historical person who was put to death for proclaiming the kingdom of God. Thomas professes the true faith of the Church. We too must insist that the Jesus we follow is the true Jesus, the one whose risen body bears the wounds of Calvary. Jesus is the model leader and spiritual guide. He is pleased to give Thomas the assurance he is looking for, and then challenges him to look forward to the day when he will believe without seeing – always in the Jesus who passes through death to resurrection. The blessedness of believing without seeing came from the experience of the early Church. Jesus is not moralizing, but inviting Thomas – and us – to celebrate great people of faith, in our local communities and world-wide, who take up their cross with confidence in the resurrection. As always in our meditation we must not limit ourselves to personal relationships. We celebrate the resurrection faith lived by communities, nations and cultures. “You who remain ever faithful even when we are unfaithful, forgive our sins and grant that we may bear true witness to you before all men and women.” …Pope John Paul II, Service of Forgiveness, March 2000 Prayer reflection Lord, we thank you for the moments of grace of the recent Lenten season, when – as individuals and as a church community – we walked in the footsteps of Jesus by passing from death to new life. We thank you in particular for the great day when our church publicly asked forgiveness from other religions and cultures. We thank you for Pope John Paul who, like Jesus with St Thomas, invited us to see the holes that the nails of arrogance and self-righteousness had made in the body of Christ, and to put our fingers into the holes, to put our hands into the huge wound which the lust for power has made in his side, so that we could recognize how, just as you raised Jesus from the dead, you do not allow his Body, the church, to remain in the tomb, but always raise her up to new life. shared faithLord, we thank you for the times when reconciliation emerged triumphantly from the tomb of conflict: – the spirit of dialogue between our church and Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and African traditional religions; – the European Union created by former enemies; – the Good Friday agreement in Northern Ireland; – the peace process in the Middle East. Lord, we thank you for the experience of the military in Iraq. We pray that they will hear your voice calling on them all to remember those who have been hurt, who still have holes that the nails made in their hands and can put their finger into the holes they made, and unless they can put their hands into their side, they will refuse to believe. Do not let us forget the terrible legacy of hatred and resentment which had to be overcome; invite us to put our fingers into the holes made by nails, our hands into the great wounds made by lances, so that we can recognize with awe and wonder the spark of your divine life that is within us all. Remind us too of those who worked for peace during the long years of conflict when it seemed that they were working in vain. How blessed were they who did not see and yet continued to believe in your power to bring new life into the world. “Whoever sees anything of God, sees nothing of God .” …Meister Eckhart Lord, lead us to the blessedness of not seeing and yet believing. “Go for broke, always try to do too much, dispense with safety nets, aim for the stars.” … Salman Rushdie Lord, we thank you for friends, leaders and spiritual guides who challenge us as Jesus challenged Thomas. When we commit ourselves to a cause because we have tested its reality, they invite us to experience the blessedness of believing without seeing. “Beware of the seduction of leaving the poor to think about them.” …Jean Vanier Lord, forgive us that we want to help those in need without sharing their pain, we look for their resurrection but do not want to see their wounds: – young people have been deeply hurt and we serve them with pious exhortations; – we become impatient with those who continue to mourn the death of a spouse or a child; – we think we can restore a broken relationship by merely saying we are sorry; – we propose reconciliation between warring factions without acknowledging past wrongs; – we pray for peace in the world and do not agonize over its terrible injustices. We thank you for people like Thomas who will not let us get away with easy solutions; they insist that we must see the holes that nails have made in the hands of victims, put our fingers into the holes and our hands into wounds that lances have made in their sides, and only then believe that they have within them the capacity to rise to new life. “We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs.” …Step 5 in the 12 Step Method of Alcoholics Anonymous Lord, when we are converted from an addiction to alcohol, drugs, power or sex, we are so anxious to make a new start that we try to forget the hurt which was at the root of our problem – the loneliness of our childhood – the sense of racial inferiority – our disability – the fear of failure. We thank you for sending us friends who insist that we must face the reality of the past. We pray that like Jesus welcoming Thomas, we will invite them to put their fingers into the holes the nails have made and their hands into our sides, so that they can walk with us in our new life. *********************************** Thomas O’Loughlin Liturgical Resources for the Year of Matthew www.columba.ie Introduction to the Celebration Last Sunday we cried out with joy that ‘Today Christ is risen! Christ has conquered evil and death.’ Thisnewness theme is so central for us that we need an extended time to ponder the day of resurrection: so here we are again today thinking about the day he rose. Easter day is the day he told us that our sins were forgiven, it is the day he charged us to be forgiving. On Easter day he gave us new life, and charged us to be life-giving. So as we stand here celebrating resurrection, how do we stand in our lives as people claiming this belief? Homily Notes 1. Only one of the three elements in this gospel passage can be explored in the homily: to try to do more is to risk confusion and overload. I have chosen the image of the risen Christ who appears among his followers with the greeting: ‘Peace be with you’, and who follows this up with a sending out of the disciples to be bearers of peace and reconciliation. 2. Forgiveness, peacemaking, and reconciliation are not concepts that we run together in our minds nor automatically link to our identity as Christian, yet they are at the heart of the meaning of resurrection. Let us note how we tend to react to these themes. 3. Forgiveness brings to mind a very individualist notion of getting rid of that which hinders me from getting to where I want to go: heaven. Forgiveness can be seen as a kind of sacred selfishness or a personal escape hatch from doom. Seeking forgiveness can then become an introverted process of reducing the mystery of God’s love into my desire ‘to get off the hook’. jesus mediates4. Reconciliation and peacemaking seem to be sideline issues for most Christians: one more good work that you might engage in if that is your ‘thing’. Having a conscious attitude of seeking to overcome division or taking a positive stance towards the question of peace can be seen to be areas where some Christians might feel they have a role, but that these could not be said to be defining issues for Christians. Many First World Christians might even go so far as to say that even if one were uninterested in the building-up of a society of peace one could still call oneself a Christian and a believer in resurrection. 5. When we hear of ‘forgiving and retaining sins’ we think first of the priest in the confessional in the highly structured environment of the sacrament. The notion of ‘retained sins’ brings to mind many negative images of being frightened in the confessional and ‘the church’ wielding spiritual ‘power’. This command is therefore primarily a commissioning ceremony of giving out power and authorisation to the apostles and their successors. This range of ideas, limiting forgiveness to a specific sacramental moment often with negative echoes, can seriously impair our seeing the larger significance of this part of Christ’s resurrection message. forgive love6. To be a Christian is to be one who is forgiven, and so one who forgives. ‘Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.’ This forgiveness is declared to us in the Father raising Christ from death: death and destruction are not to have the final say in human life. This forgiveness and victory are shared with us in Christ’s gift of the Spirit. We are a people who, far from being cut-off from God, have God dwelling within us. 7. This people of the resurrection is then commanded to share this forgiveness and peace in their actions: it is the acceptance of this divine programme that constitutes real belief in resurrection. So the followers are constituted as a group who have a task to fulfill for the whole world: they must be the bearers of forgiveness. It they carry out this task then peace and for King). This is a ministry that Christ sends us out into the world to perform as his agents. It is a ministry not in some restricted sense of a job or function in the church’s administration or liturgy, nor in a special sense of a sacred encounter with a sacred minister (priest), but in the fundamental sense of a service performed to a suffering humanity. The risen Christ looks with love on all who suffer and are in bondage in one way or another, and sends us to bring peace and freedom. This is a central task of us Christians as a group and of each of us. It should be that to know there are Christians is to know that there are people who go around working for peace and proclaiming that God is forgiving. 8. Even in the case of the specific instance of forgiveness we call the Sacrament of Reconciliation we express the belief that the basic mission to forgive and reconcile belongs to the whole group: ‘… the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of the Son … sent the Spirit … for the forgiveness of sins … through the ministry of the church (the sacramental formula of absolution). 9. However, knowing that peacemaking and reconciliation is central to our role as Christians and our witness as a group is one thing, moving beyond this is something else again. The temptation is to harangue and preach: we must be reconciling! we must be peacemaking! we must condemn violence! and the cries go on and on. But such harangues make little difference in practice. Perhaps it is more useful to become aware of the complexity of our situation. First, we all are in favour of peace and goodness and reconciliation — it is almost axiomatic, like saying ‘humans want to be happy.’ But, second, while this is what we claim to want, most of us have vested interests in strife in some shape or form: be it in relationships, in the way we earn a living, in our national pride, or in more obviously exploitational activities. We want peace but only in so far as it is equivalent to our victory or at the very least only in so far as our own apple cart is not upset. Third, we must be aware of how precious our own positions are to us and how we dread having to change our minds or lifestyles. This change is painful and cuts deep. Peace making is only easy for those with no stake in the present situation. Finally, we must note that we as Christians have an abysmal track-record regarding peace. Hence it is all too easy to root around in Christian tradition and find justification for any type of intolerance and this makes the whole notion of peacemaking seem less urgent. Memories can be the great authorisation of strife and hatred, and to challenge some long-championed position in theology, politics, business, relationship, or social customs can seem both treacherous and foolhardy. 10. It is in this personal analysis of the contrast between, on the one hand, how big a stake so many of us have in violence, strife, struggle, and a culture of death, with, on the other hand, the command to forgive and make peace, that we individually discover the cost of believing in Christ as the conqueror of death. To even start the examination of this cost of discipleship in our lives is the first victory of peace. Do not ask ‘Do I believe in the resurrection’ — that can be a cosy religious word-game; but ask: Am I prepared to take the discomfiture, loss of pride, or perhaps loss of income that comes with working for peace, development, and reconciliation (cf ‘development [of the Third World] is another name for peace,’ Paul VI in Populorum progressio)? Peacemaking is never soppy, usually costly, and rarely easy. *********************************** Sean Goan Let the reader understand www.columba.ie Gospel John 20: 19-31 In this very packed Gospel, different facets of the Easter mystery are presented. Firstly we note that Jesus appears to the community pity gathered on a Sunday, they rejoice at his presence and receive through him the gift of the Holy Spirit and with this are given a mission, they are sent just as Jesus himself was. In these verses we have as good a summary of what Sunday Eucharist is all about as we will ever find. In short, it is about joy in the presence of the Risen Lord who give us his peace so that we can continue his task of revealing God to the world. Thankfully Thomas is missing because his refusal to believe means that the following Sunday we need to gather again and once again as a community of faith encounter Christ among us. Now, by a wonderful irony, it is Thomas who leads us in our appropriate response as we acknowledge Jesus as Our Lord and Our God. The words addressed to Thomas by Jesus are for the generations of Christians who have continued to proclaim the Easter message ever since: ‘Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.’ Reflection Jesus explainshow the kingdom will grow. Jesus explains how the kingdom will grow. Today’s readings originated with different communities at different times in the life of the early church but there is a striking similarity in their insistence that believing in the resurrection heralds a change in the way we live. We simply cannot be true believers if we close our hearts to those in need around us. If we accept the risen Christ and the promise of new life that he brings then we must be engaged in bringing about the kingdom of God. It is not characterised by a private piety but by an inclusive love which reaches out to those who are most in need. Today’s gospel gives us John’s Pentecost and reminds us that all that we would do in the name of Jesus is to be done in the power of the Holy Spirit. ************************************ Donal Neary SJ Gospel Reflections www.messenger.ie/bookshop/ Growing in Faith Our church community faces many big questions about the place of women, our views on sexuality, the need for consultation and for dialogue. We need to know what all of us believe, not just our leaders. We need to know how people find it to live their faith, in these areas of sexuality, justice, migration, ministry and other realities today. Recent Synods and letters of the Pope have tried to narrow connect theory and lived faith. There is a need to be able to grapple with the demands of today and the message of the gospel; To be able to discern our path in the peace and joy of the Easter message, knowing we don’t all have to agree with each other to say to say ‘my Lord and my God’. We are the people who are happy to believe; to show we are a community of faith and of joy, and we want to spread this faith that lives for justice and compassion. We will never get it fully right. But we can get it better and better if we unite with the Lord and hear each other with respect. That is our challenge at Easter. May the Lord bring the best out of our faith in bad days, and help us live with and enjoy the best of our faith in the good times. We want to make alive what is best in our Christianity. Thomas doubted at times; can I share my doubts of belief with the Lord? Lord, I believe in you, strengthen my belief.