Roman audience and final lecture on 'discipleship'

Papal Audience 31st October 2007, Rome.

 

Hi everyone,

 

Today we all attended a General Audience with Pope Benedict XVI. This was an excellent experience.

 

It started out by having to set off at 8.25am even though the audience was not due to start until 10.30am and we only lived a few minuted walk from Saint Peter's Basilica.

 

We were not sure whether the General audience would be in the Auditorium or outside in Saint Peter's Square. In Summer it is outside because of the good weather and the huge crowds. I suspect that from next week it will be inside since the weather is fast cooling.

 

When we set off I could not decide what the weather would be like and I was thinking we might be indoors. For some reason I decided not to take a coat or an umbrella.

 

This turned out to be a mistake because it rain steadily for most of the time and we ended up being outdoors.

 

We were all dressed up in suits and collars and I was getting very soaked. One kind member of our group who also had an umbrella gave me his waterproof jacket which I wore over my head and that made everything very comfortable.

 

We had excellent seats, We were up at the side raised section right next to the Papal undercover canopy in front of Saint Peter's. Interestingly, in front of  us was a large group of Japanese ladies who turned out to be Buddhists visiting St Peter's. One of our priests ministers in Japan and he talked with them in Japanese. One Buddhist lady was fascinated by the image of the crucifix on the main platform. She said "I cannot comprehend the idea of the person you call God being put on the Cross."  Again this lady captured the sheer scandal of the cross and the sign of the absolute love that God had for us that God would become one of us and love us unto death. This mystery is something we constantly marvel and wonder at.

 

It poured but our spirits were excellent.

 

When the Pope arrived he looked well and energetic and was happily waving to the different groups announced.

 

He gave a talk in about five different languages and was fluent in all of them. Amazing.

 

I reckon we were only 30 metres from him and we got some wonderful photos of him,

 

This is such an amazing experience. Here is the leader of the world's catholics, one of the most reconisable people in the world and yet humble, friendly and only metres from us. Excellent.

 

I got someone to photograph me with the Pope in the background. If you look at the photos I load on my photo site www.mysteriousthree.com   you will see me, looking wet and ragged and the man in white to the right of me, in the distance is the Pope.

 

It was an excellent experience but we were happy to come home and get into warm dry clothes. It wasn't too cold but one cannot be too careful,

 

(also, please find below the final segment of the excellent lecture series on "discipleship. Very inspiring content)

Cheerio

 

Paul

 

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 Fuellenbach Lectures on Discipleship - (final section)  (part VI _ final)

 

Some factors which appear to have been present in considering who to elect in the 2005 Conclave to elect the next Pope :

 

- Cardinal Ratzinger took his office seriously - when he was Cardinal prefect of the Sacred Congregatiom of the Doctrine of Faith he would always meet personally with visiting Bishops on their ad limina visit to Rome - he would not ' as others did ' send a representative.

- if anyone knew what it meant  to "be Catholic," it was cardinal Ratzinger. Who would fill the void left after the 27 years reign of John Paul II?  He would certainlt hold onto the catholic identity.

- in his homily at the funeral for Pope John Paul the world saw another side of the man often badly represented by the media in the past. He was a man of prayer and passion and also a moving emotional element.

 

We believe in "christ has died, christ is risen, christ will come again."  we have a witing hope - nourished by the Spirit who helps us participate now in the world to come (the 'already and the not yet'   ).

 

It is good to preach about the Lord's prayer once in a while at masses.. It is THE PRAYER !!

 

Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God as having arrived with him. So, what should we do in response? CONVERT ! But, now we need 'guidelines for action'.

 

The "sermon on the mount" (matthew's Gospel)

 

Mt 5-7. This is our Rule of Action and gives us  our guideRule for prayer.  This shows us the pattern of behaviour for those who follow the Lord. Our rule of conduct. The sermon on the mount  also answers the question: "what should a disciple pray for?" - what ought to be the core of your petitionary prayer? What ought we be asking for in our prayer?

 

In response we are given the OUR FATHER. IN THE OUR FATHER ARE a the basic concerns of Jesus' whole message. In some ways it is not the most poetic or "nicest" constructed prayer ever written - it is somewhat abrupt but really the Lord's Prayer is a kind of GUIDE-RULE TO CHECK ALL YOUR PRAYERS AGAINST.

 

FR. F. Mentioned at this point that the intercessions (prayers of intercession/ faithful) for Sunday Mass are really important. Sunday mass is for carefully thought-out  and prepared prayers. Sunday mass is not the time for ad-libbed or 'from the assembly' prayers (which might be more suited to weekday masses) because in the intercessions for Sunday mass we bring the BIG WORLD and its issues to the Lord. At times when people bring their prayers ad-libbed they tend to be about little things like someone's dog who is sick etc. But especially at Sunday mass we are presenting the world and its people to the Lord in prayer! 

 

 

From 1985-1995 a study listed that there had been 6000 publications on the topic of the Our Father. Interest in this essential prayer is immense. (also a lot of writing on the topic of Psalm 23 - the Lord is my Shepherd). These prayers are the most prayed prayers in all Christian churches.

 

As central as the Lord's Prayer is, there is always a danger that overuse may lead us to take it for granted. This is a treasure of inestimable value. It imitates the whole of the teachings of Jesus. So we must not forget to reflect deeply upon it.

 

Interesting to note that the concept of "Father" in the Gospels and the writing of the early church was deliberately COUNTER TO THE  patriarchal and dominating image of Father in the cultures of the time. Here was a different type of Father. Not LIKE  the earthly father. This concept of Father that Jesus gives is a new meaning to a familiar word. It is Jesus' Father that Jesus is introducing us to , not jist any father. Jesus says "my Father and your Father."  - We are drawn into HIS FATHER by being joined into Jesus' life.

 

The concept of a divine "mother" figure at the time of Jesus was always connected to Pantheistic (pagan) religions. The Judaeo-Christian religion insisted on the concept of Father.

 

Listen to the EXPERIENCE  of Jesus that he is trying to express with the words he used.  It is true that God is more like a mothe and whilst Jesus readily used metaphors and images to descibe what God is like he didn't those images as a form of address when relating deeply to the one he called "Abba" "dearest Father" . Jesus, the God  made flesh - incarnate - used incarnate words and to give flesh to his relationship with the one in heaven he used the Hebrew word "abba".

 

This gives meaning to Jesus instruction - "call no one earth your Father" - because , to Jesus, there is NO comparison between earthly fatherhood and God as "FATHER". There is only ONE  Father (God in Heaven).

 

One of the biggest challenges and mistakes we can make is assuming that all cultures have to become like ours. Not all cultures do and see things the same way and they need not all become uniform. Scripture passages such as Galatians 4:6 and Romans 8:14 show that we are being drawn into an "Abba" experience.

 

There is no easy answer to calls by slome scholars that we call God "our mothers to avoid some form of gender bias.  However what we do know is Jesus used the term Father to describe HIS relationship to the one he experienced as Father and that this relationship and meaning for Jesus to the "father" is one stripped of any earthly limitations to the word.

 

The Theologian and writer, Australian Jesuit priest Gerard O'Collins has written a short but excellent book on the Lord's Prayer and he also talks about gender issues in relationship to this prayer. He puts some brakes on feminist interpretations - the Our Father" refers to the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

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The "Didache" - a catechetical text written for Jewish Christians around 110 AD says " A Christian should pray the Our Father three times a day (replacing the traditional prayers three times a day -morning, noon, night- of the Jewish faith practise).

 

Later, it was thought for a while that the Lord's Prayer was a prayer that ONLY baptised Christians should pray - for no-one can address God as "father" unless they have the Holy Spirit SO -they thought - if you are not baptised, you are not yet drawn into relationship with Jesus which then makes us able to join and unite in him in calling God our Father.

 

In one of more ancient rite (or eastern rites?) there were twelve different introductory phrases to lead people into the recitation of the Lord's Prayer. This is a reminder of how important, how central this prayer is.

 

It is good to pause before praying the Lord's Prayer; so that the significance can sink in - a treasure is coming _....  To let us know that this is the ONLY one Jesus gave us.

 

This becomes an identity prayer - a sign of our Christianity. Anyone who claims to be Christian and yet does not know  the Lord's prayer is probably an impostor.

 

Matthew and Luke both have a version of the Lord's prayer. Matthew's gospel was written for Jewish Christians - hence his addition of the instruction to have 'less babbling' - less 'going on and on with endless words'

 

Luke's Gospel - Written for pagans who had to learn to pray.

 

The church uses the Matthew version - Matthew is more flowing for recitation. Luke's version is more staccato. Yet their substance is basically the same.

 

This is basically a Jewish structured prayer form -

 

1. Address:  "Dearest Father!" (Luke)

2. Thou petitions: 

        -Name

        -Kingdom. (Matthew adds 'thy will be done'.

3. We petitions:

        -Bread

        -Debts

4. Concluding Request. 'lead us not into temptation'

 

Also, all Jewish prayers had a closing doxology such as "for the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory are yours forever and ever. Amen.

 

The "Didache" adds what would have been here and shows that it was used in liturgy from the earliest times.

 

The Lord's prayer contains a huge basic concern. Summary of Jesus message.

 

Mark and Matthew vary in a couple of places.

 

Every group, every movement- every leader in Jesus' time would have had a distinctive prayer that represented what they were about and gave identity and recognizability to their followers. Whether the leader/group would have been John the Baptist or the Qumran communities or so on..

 

The Lord's prayer comes from a request by Jesus' disciples : "Lord, teach us to pray as John the Baptist taught his disciples to pray?"  (Can you give us an identification tag so we can know who we are and others can recognise."

 

The :"Our Father" is the Christian Manifesto.

 

Let's look at the  elements of the Lord's prayer in detail.

 

1. The Address -

 

To whom does a disciple of Jesus address themselves in prayer.

 

Normally: A Jewish person would stand there with hands outstretched... And pray: " Almighty and ever powerful God.  You who led my ancestors out of the wilderness..... And who taught us to Love you with all our Heart, mind, soul and strength......."

 

Jesus says "cut all that out... Just say..... "Dearest Father........"

 

We are infinitely loved children of God. By being drawn into Jesus we share his relationship within God. A relationship which is "ABBA" (DADDY) TO A DEARLY BELOVED ONLY SON OF GOD.

 

What should one ask for first.

 

John 17: 26.  I have revealed your name and I will continue to reveal it.

 

He reveals who God is and wants to draw us into this relationship. 

 

"Hallowed be thy name."  These are petitionary / begging prayers (not thanksgiving).

 

Keeping God's name holy is very Jewish thinking (the prophet Ezekiel says in the Old Testament, speaking God' words - "you have defiled my name and I will sanctify my name  (when the messiah comes)"

 

Name: This is the TRUE God of Jesus. Therefore Jesus' one desire is if only the whole world would know this - who God is. God's true nature - God's identity - God's name -

 

So  we really pray : Let me know you more and let all know and letthat day dawn wheb everyone knows you and yiur true and full identity and nature and the fullness of the relationship that signifies. Give us this fullness O God. (give us the 'real thing' pleasèf this is what we desire).

 

Your name:

May it be revealed and respected-

- To me

- to all

- ultimately in its fullness.

 

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Now looking at the petition relating to the Kingdom.

 

It is IN experience of the Kingdom - already here but not yet revealed in fullness) that you cry for the kingdom to ARRIVE IN ITS FULLNESS.

 

Let us have enough of the kingdom now to become present to us, so that I can keep pointing to it and keep showing people that the Kingdom is already here (even if not fully revealed). And of course all the while we long and pray that this kingdom come soon in its fullness.

 

Matthew's Gospel adds - "thy will be done"

 

In Hebrew grammar, if you wanted to stress an important point, they didn't underline it, they didn't us capitals or bold print, they would repeat the same point using different words.

 

Matthew - In the heavens - God is the undisputed leader and uler. God Reigns the Heavens= God 'wills' the Heavens.

 

So, it simply says "Let what rules the Heavens _ let it come down to earth.

 

God's will= God's Reign

 

Some exegetes of he Bible see a seed of the Lord's prayer in Jesus'  prayer in Gethsemene :  "Father, let this cup of suffering pass, but not my will, but yours be done."

 

Like the Jewish belief _ if one trule faithful person kept the first commandment perfectly, then God's kingdom would descend to earth and fill it.

 

In the gospels, when Jesus thought of his impending death, he is no hero. Whenever he saw the cross loominh before him - he is extremely upset, horrified. Not simply because of the reality of  suffering and death but the thought of being 'cut off from the love of the father' - this was hell, this was agony to Jesus. Unbearable..

 

In Hebrews -   5:6-8 . In the days of his earthly existence he cried tears to his Father to save him from death.... He had to learn obedience. "

 

Jesus also says in the Gospels "I must be baptised .. And how great is my distress until it is over."

 

Jesus knew that doing the Father's will would be a horror - it would be a dread for him. Jesus says to any who would follow him - You will need to experience like me doing God's will at the expense of your own. You will be tempted to 'play God' because it will be easier to follow you own will than the will of God? And you will cry out like me! Do you think it will be easier for you than it was / is / for me.

 

Jesus never took his humanity lightly.

 

Total commitment to the Father's will out of love - not out of bargaining or reward for sacrifices given _. It is because Jesus LOVED that he suffered so much - even to death.

 

Paul - God made Christ into SIN (into a curse) - into a condemned experience - so that he crucify this and defeat it.

 

Crucified people could hang on the cross for days - for Jesus they even put him on a kind of platform/ seat in order to extend his life and increase his agony. This is why Pilate was so shocked to hear Jesus died so soon. The sheer devestion of being cut off from the Father (even though he trusted the Father was always with him) surely multiplied the agony and accellerated his death - crushed.

 

When anyone commits themselves to Jesus and te Kingdom it will be hard... Strength from God will be needed to persevere.

 

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"give us this day our daily bread"

 

This is NOT just a petition for food (bread)

 

For bread;it must have a link to whole of Jesus' teaching. The Church Fathers already realised this and said in their commentaries "careful."

 

This whole part of the Lord's prayer is really addressing the "table fellowship" 

Of Jesus' ministry.

 

St Jerome who translated the early manuscripts from the original Hebrew language says this really translates as - "the bread of tomorrow, give us today"

 

St jerome translated the gospel of Matthew into Latin using both Hebrew and Greek manuscript versions.

 

So this part of the prayer really seems to mean "the bread which you will give us in your Kingdom, the bread of the heavenly feast of the Lamb, give us this bread today. The word in Hebrew is "mahar". Why did they not translate it more fully. It IS BREAD but it is really something more. More fully it seems to mean: "Give us today enough food that we can make of it a sign of the Kingdom where will one day all eat the banquet feast of heaven together.

 

For early Christians ANY meal was a special meal and a holy occasion. Every meal was a reminder of their table fellowship.

 

Fr F. Tells a story of a family tradition of people he knew. He would often stay for dinner and his place was always set at the top of the table. One day he wasn't staying for dinner but pointed out that there was still one extra seat at the head of the table. The family explained that they had a tradition whereby they always set that extra place ro "remind us of Jesus" and if a guest comes, they sit there.

 

Jesus shares more than a meal with us - he dwells with us.

 

Also, the Lord's prayer says "give Us"  (not "give ME"). We are always called to remember those who have none.

 

A meal, for us, is always a holy event (sacred).  Our petition is also that Jesus will always be present in a meal.

 

We Catholics have always celebrated feasts with a meal. Things are given to enjoy.

 

The Kingdom is compared as a great meal, with enormous festivity.

 

Any meal, party should 'smell of the (joy of the) Kingdom.

 

Fr F. Gave an example in his missionary experiences. Whenever a new house was completed for a community membe®when the time came for them to move in, the whole community and Fr would havea procession with the family to their new house. They would then have a party with all the neighbours at the new house and Eucharist would be celebrated there. The house would be blessed, statues and a little prayer altar would be set up and they would be given a small chalice and paten to remind them of Eucharist and they would celebrate this moving in as like an annual feast day. In this way the people would be connected to and reminded that the values of the Kingdom are in the very centre of Life and that is where Eucharist is to be found and experienced too.

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  FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS:

 

In this part of the prayer - even though we are followers of Jesus, we remain sinners. We are not perfect. We are constantly in need of forgiveness. The Greek language words used in this part are transliterated as "os gar"  which literally means the rather confusing "as we here with". The full meaning of this is "FORGIVE US OUR SINS SO THAT , IN THE RECEIVING OF FORGIVENESS I MIGHT FIND THE STRENGTH TO FORGIVE THOSE WHO FORGIVE ME."

 

Sometimes this line has been interpreted to mean "forgive us only to the extent weforgive others. However, this is not really capturing the meaning. In any case, forgiveness is a divine prerogative. We would not be able to forgive other unless we experience God's loving forgiveness ourselves. So, the better understanding in this passage is "God forgive us, so that we can pass this God's forgiveness to others.

 

TRUE DISCIPLESHIP IS ABOUT

COMPASSIONATE

LOVING

SERVICE.

 

In matthew's gospel the following is added "if you do not forgive others their sins God will not forgive yours. But this can really be saying "if you do not forgive others then you are blocking God's forgiveness to you - you are being a barrier to God's forgiveness wanting to fllow to you and through you to others. This is what it means to offend the Holy Spirit - not allowing the Spirit to do its work.

 

The example for this is the incident in Simon's house where Jesus got his feet washed by the woman. "how many sins must have been forgiven this woman - for one who is forgiven much loves much. " it is out of that profound gratitude that she knows love. Forgiveness is first. Love flows from it. From God's love and forgiveness we are strengthened in order to be able to pass it on to others (we cannot hope to sufficiently thank God for these gifts so we pass them on in love to others).

 

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LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION.

 

You cannot talk of the Kingdom of God without contrasting it with the Kingdom of evil.

 

Mk 1:16-3:12. He came from out of the world to kick out evil from the world and destroy it. There is a battle going on between the two kingdoms. Ultimately the "temptation" spoken of in this prayer is the temptation to despair from the idead that the Kingdom cannot be seen. If we stop hoping and believing that the Kingdom is amongst us then we stop witnessing to it. When the fire goes out! Nothing worse than losing all fire in ministry and only hiding behind the sacraments  with not excitement, no drive.... Deliver us Lord from that temptation to lose faith, hope and love - and trust in the Kingdom being present.

 

Fr. F. Said that he had, in his mind, a theoretical "prayer drawer" where he puts every prayer intention asked for him. Every day he asks God to keep in mind and remember the prayers he has placed in the prayer drawer. God remembers them better than anyone.

 

He asked us to put him into our prayer drawer and when we go through that drawer, when we find a little him in there "pray that the the Fire may never go out!"

 

Then Fr F. ANNOUNCED that there were actually nine beatitudes. The word beatitude means "congratulations" better than "happy". The ninth beatitude is this:

 

"congratulations to the lecturers who have an attentive audience".

 

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Fr.F. Then concluded by presiding at mass with us. In the hoomily he told this inspiring true story. He was pastor of a parish where ther was also an assistant priest. This assistant priest had a superb singing voice and was preparing to  sing the Good Friday Passion Gospel at the 3pm service. A couple of hours before the ceremony the priest cam to Fr. F. And said "I can't do the 3pm service!". 

 

"WHAT do you mean can't?"

 

" I am having a priesthood crisis. I can't do it!"

 

"I bet you were having this crisis last week too but you tell me NOW two hours before the mass?"

 

Then Fr.F. Had an  inspiration in what to reply. He said to the struggling priest: "listen, before you decide whether you can or cannot do the mass, please go and do this- Go up to your room and sing the Easter Alleluia twelve times through!"

 

The priest looked doubtful; "I can't sing the Easter Alleluia, its Good Friday!"

 

Fr F. Replied : "one minute you are having a priesthood crisis and now you are having SCRUPLES! GET UP THERE YOU DUMMY AND SING!"

 

The priest went upstairs and Fr F. Was downstairs. He prayed to God that this might be inspired and felt bad that he may have made him feel worse. After a few minutes silence he could hear the voice of the priest singing upstairs. He sang the Easter alleluia twlelve times through and for good measure the Exsultet Easter Hymn. Moments after finishing the priest rushed downstairs and said: "I can do it. It worked. I sand the words of the Easter hymn and Easter Exsultet and the words and music catapultet me out of my crisis. I can do the mass" .

 

Fr f. Was glad he could do the mass but was unsure as to whether it was a short term reprieve or not.

 

Every Easter for many years Fr Fuellenbach gets a card from this priest and in this card it assures him that he is happy and fulfilled in his priesthood with these words : "the Easter Alleluia stuck! Happy Easter!"

 

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Studies in Rome

Hi everyone,

My Mum and Dad have headed back home after an enjoyable stay here in Rome. I am so grateful for the time to catch up and relax and look at some special places in Rome.

For me, its back to lectures, and we have had an excellent lecturer ever day this week, speaking about "Discipleship, following Jesus who walked on the earth"

Fr John Fuellenbach has given the talks and they are very inspiring. I hope to be able to give a more full summary soon. His talks are based loosely around his new book, "Throw Fire".

A little taste of his book can be found in the following link, although his lectures are more general to the topic of discipleship  and the nature of the God we are called to be follow.

http://www.tere.org/secondary/gcse/index.html


He has also written some classic books:  namely:
*The Kingdom of God: Message of Jesus Today by John Fuellenbach (Paperback - Mar 1996)

 

*Ecclesiastical Office and the Primacy of Rome: An Evaluation of Recent Theological Discussion of First Clement (Studies in Christian antiquity) by John Fuellenbach (Hardcover - 1980)

 

 *Church: Community for the Kingdom (American Society of Missiology) by John Fuellenbach (Paperback - 2 Jul 2002)

 

Having engaged with these excellent talks, it is clear how our discipleship must reveal itself in practical and concrete ways in our lives and actions. So, it is very relevant and timely that the Pope's latest general audience was on the topic of St Ambrose, and particularly how it is often not as much WHAT we say but how we live what we are saying that brings home the truth of Jesus' good news: (see Pope's message below)

cheers everyone,

paul

AMBROSE: CATECHESIS INSEPARABLE FROM LIFE WITNESS

 

VATICAN CITY, OCT 24, 2007 (VIS) - During today's general audience, Benedict XVI continued his series of catecheses dedicated to Fathers of the Church, turning his attention to the figure of St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan. The audience, held in St. Peter's Square, was attended by more than 30,000 people.

 

  It was from Origen that Ambrose (ca. 340-397), considered to be one of the four greatest Doctors of the Church, learnt to know and comment the Bible. It was Ambrose, the Pope explained, who "brought meditation upon the Scriptures into the Latin world, ... introducing the practice of 'lectio divina' to the West." This practice "guided all his own preaching and writing which flow, in fact, from his listening ... to the Word of God."

 

  With him catechumens "learnt first the art of correct living" in order "to be prepared for the great Mysteries of Christ." His preaching was founded on "the reading of Sacred Scripture" with the aim of "living in conformity with divine Revelation.

 

  "It is evident," the Pope added, "that the preacher's personal witness and the exemplary nature of the Christian community influence the effectiveness of preaching. ... From this point of view, one decisive factor is life context, the reality of how the Word is lived."

 

  Benedict XVI recalled the fact that St. Augustine in his Confessions recounts how his own conversion was not due "chiefly to the beautiful homilies" of Ambrose, whom he knew in Milan, but above all "to the witness of the bishop and of his Milanese Church, who sang and prayed together like one single body." Augustine also tells of his surprise at seeing how Ambrose, when he was alone, would read the Scriptures without moving his lips, because at that time reading was considered as something to be proclaimed out loud in order to facilitate its comprehension.

 

  It is "in such reading, ... when the heart seeks to achieve an understanding of the Word of God, that we catch a glimpse of Ambrosian catechesis," said the Holy Father. "Scripture intimately assimilated suggests what must be announced to convert people's hearts. ... Thus catechesis is inseparable from life witness."

 

  "Those who educate in the faith," he continued, "cannot run the risk of appearing like a clown who plays a role, ... rather he must be like the beloved disciple who rested his head on the Master's heart and there learnt how to think, speak and act."

 

  St. Ambrose died on Good Friday, his arms open in the form of the cross. "Thus," the Pope concluded, "he expressed his mystical participation in the death and resurrection of the Lord. This was his final catechesis. In the silence of words, he spoke still with the testimony of his life."

Roaming around town

Today, I enjoyed another excellent day of wandering Rome with Mum and Dad.

We visited the Church of Saint Clement. This is such a wonderful church because of the fact that the present church is build upon the ancient Church of St Clement, and this in turn is built upon a pagan temple. Three different levels and visitors can go down and look at them. Amazing, and very well preserved. it is also the tombs of Cyril and Methodius and of course St Clement.

We prayed especially for blessings for my uncle, Clem, whose patron saint is this saint. We also prayed for my parish priest i had as a child, Fr Cyril Shand, who died not long before I was ordained.

We then visited the amazing church of St Peter in Chains where the chains believed to have been used to hold St Peter are kept. Also, the famous tomb of Julius II including the statue of Moses by Michaelangelo is in this church.

After lunch we visited the ancient civic centre of Rome, the Roman Forum. Mum, Dad and I walked through the ruins and looked at the buildings and monuments that are all that remains of the centre of the ancient Roman empire. The one I like the best is the ancient Rostri, the stage where public citizens could come and speak to the people, and this is where Marc Anthony gave his famous speech after the assassination of Julius Ceasar.

We also went to see the church of Mary and the Martyrs and Angels. You may remember that we tried to go there the other day but were unable to because of an enormous state funeral there, which also blocked the streets.  

Today we tried again, but excitement seems to be following us, because AGAIN the streets around this church were entirely blocked to traffic. Thousands of people waving red flags were having a rally and march in the streets around there. It was a peaceful march from what we saw and in fact the march, although crowded, allowed us to moved more easily across the streets by foot. When we came to the church, there were protesters holding an enormous banner. We just walked past them and they let us in. When we came out, there was someone holding up a sign saying something in Italian like 'the church should give justice" or words to that effect. I just gave a friendly smile and moved on. The person holding the sign looked a bit surprised, perhaps they were expecting a less friendly reaction?

We went to mass at a local church which has English language mass for the weekend. St Susanna's. They had children's liturgy and excellent music. It reminded me of home.
I have uploaded some more photos of our days together at www.mysteriousthree.com

Also, the college whereI am staying has published a few photos of the recent diaconate they had at St Peter's. Somehow I ended up in a few photos, (just to prove that I was there and didn't sleep in and miss it!) so if you would like to visit the site of these photos, it is at :

http://www.pnac.org/resource/public/photoload.aspx?domain=PUC&id=2007.10.04%20-%20Diaconate%20Ordination

cheers and God bless

Paul

St Pauls outside the walls, Therese and Anselmo

The other day we paid a visit to the Basilica of St Paul "outside the walls" of the old Roman City. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Saint_Paul_Outside_the_Walls)

 

 Here is where St Paul was buried, his tomb is regarded to be directly under the main altar. St Paul is my patron saint and I have a special devotion to him. He was a lawyer who was zealous in the letter of the law and believed that by complete adherence to the religious law of his time as interpreted by the legalistic establishment of his time, one was righteous. In this overzealousness Paul set about persecuting this new group of disciples of a man called Jesus, whom he misguidedly believed to be corrupting the true worship of God. On his way to damascus to capture more of these people later to be known as Christians, he was struck to the ground by an unseen force and saw a vision of blinding light. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Caravaggio-The_Conversion_on_the_Way_to_Damascus.jpg )

He heard a voice which he later realised was Jesus saying 'saul, saul why do you persecute me?' . He realised with horror that his blind obedience to the rigid and inflexible letter of the law had actually led him to go against God's will revealed in and through Jesus God the son. From then on Paul became the most bold of all disciples fiercely proclaiming the love of Jesus and the life of discipleship in The Holy Spirit. Paul knowingly warned about reliance on the letter of the law- it cannot save, only Jesus and his grace does that. He spoke graciously about the freedom and responsibility that came from a new law - that written by the Spirit upon our hearts.

 

I have always been deeply impressed by Pauls writings and his constant message to us. I have in some small way known the meaning of putting God's spirit before legalism, having come myself from legal training at university. I have never seen visions but at times in my life I have been 'spiritually knocked off my horse' in realisation that Jesus does not desire rules and regulations but grace and Spirit, and above all love.  I love having Paul as my patron saint.

 

I have wanted to visit this basilica the last two times I was in Rome but circumstances prevented me. I was content though because I always believed that one day I would return and visit this place. That day finally came on October 1st and it lived up to expectations. It was not just the absolute beauty of the building, it was not only the fact that something really special and joyful seemed to bouy up our whole group as we took a tour through this church, celebrated Mass at the Martyrs chapel there and got to pray and the newlyexcavated front of the tomb of Paul in front of the main altar.

 

Ironically the celebrant of the mass, which we all concelebrated here did not mention St paul once! Ha ha. No matter- all around us and in fact all around Rome and the world we can see and experience reminders of this great Apostle to the Gentiles.

 

There was another unexpected surprise awaiting me here though.  I am speaking about  Saint Thérèse of Liseux, not only a very popular saint but since 1997 the church has declared her  a 'doctor of the church' given the significance of her writing and influence. It was her feast day on the day of our visit to St Pauls and the mass and homily made several significant and meaningful mentions of her and her spiritual writings. For some time I had been feeling drawn to read more on her life and writing and had not yet done so, and so here I was at St Pauls hearing more about her than my patron. It ended up being a perfect if unexpected combination. It was a bit like going to a dinner party to see a longtime friend  and finding not only them but also another unexpected extra guest who has also been invited, and then striking up a new level of friendship with the guest. That is what it felt like as I reflected not only on Paul but also Therese as I experienced this tour.

 

I had not realised until I went and found her works that Thérèse had an enormous respect for and quoted st pauls words often. Thérèse had a special sense of mission to pray for and spiritually sustain in prayer priests. She particularly wanted to pray for missionaries and since she was too ill to be  a missionary herself, she would be a spiritual missionary by offering her prayers and everyday actions to God as an act of love whichshe trusted would bear enormous fruit in the lives and ministry of others. It was later revealed that this turned out to be more effective in the lives of countless people than we could have imagined. St Thérèse also lived St Pauls words to the full- "if I had faith so as to move mountains but did not have love I am nothing whatsoever." Therese, wanting to be missionary, teacher, martyr, priest, warrior for Christ and so much more finally realised in prayer that she was called to be all of these (in a sense) by finidng her vocation to be 'love in the very heart of the church' thus being united in faith so closely to God who is love until she positively exuded love to anyone she met or wrote to or prayed for.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9r%C3%A8se_de_Lisieux

 

Sorry to be so gushing about this but I cannot describe effectively what an impact this day and following days have had on me as i reflected on these things and went and read as much as I could on this saint . Even though some of her words and expressions are firmly couched in terms of piety of the 19th century, her thought is still relevant and is in fact essentially timeless. I had known previously and felt particularly attracted to her concept of  'the little way of holiness' which fits with one of my favourite themes of making the events, chores and challenges of our everyday life and action the very substance of our sanctification and holiness of daily life. I believe that even the most mundane of chores if done with love is connecting us to the love and transforming grace of God, which cannot fail to produce enormous fruitfulness even if we don't always see it.

 

Occasionally Thérèse and her writing has been accused of being overly sentimental or pietistic. However again I was amazed to read that in the last 18 months of her life (and her death from tuberculosis was reportedly dreadfully protracted and horrific right up to the end) she experienced no consolation and a kind of endless dark night of the soul. But this ongoing sense of desolation reminded her that even Jesus felt no consolation on the cross and even cried out "My God, My God, why have you abandoned me". For her critics, not that she was trying to justify herself, Thérèse did not equate discipleship of Jesus or closeness to God with feelings of warmth, consolation or comfort. A closer look reveals a person who held on in trust through times of doubt and emptiness, and used these times to show love, kindness and graciousness to others when she could have been forgiven for 'biting people's heads off' with irritation because of her illness and pain.

 

This is all a long way of saying that this visit to St Pauls opened my eyes even wider and was a deeply moving moment of renewal for me. We went out in the cloister garden after mass at St Paul's and there in the garden were a couple of the most beautiful roses in full bloom. What a wonderful day.

 

It appears that Paul has once again been knocked flat off his horse. It was certainly not a bad feeling!

 

In that chapel where we had mass was an ancient crucifix where it is believed a saint prayed and the head of Jesus on the crucifix turned toward her. Interestingly the head does seem at a very odd and unnatural angle to the body!

 

One last amausing thing. As we were going into the sacristy of the Basilica of st paul's, to vest for mass, I got an unexpected surprise.  A cute little puppy dog came bounding out of the sacristy ( I have never seen a dog in a basilica before - it apparently belonged to the sacristan). It bounded up and came over for a pat. It was very cute. I laughed and said  to it ' st Francis says to say hello!'  I joked with the other priests "maybe this is the hound of heaven?"

 

Another stunning feature of this church is its windows. They appear to be made of a kind of opaque golden glass but amazingly they are actually made of highly polished, very thin and translucent stone  - alabaster - giving a pleasing golden light to the inside.

 

It was an excellent day and I have a lot of photos of my visit on my website www.mysteriousthree.com

 

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this week has been a free week for traveling. "Some of our group went on an optional tour to the Holy Land but I stayed home in Rome to wander about, rest, I have a small cold, and read up on Thérèse and other reflective books. One day I hope to go to the Holy Lands but I do not feel the time is right.

 

I did get to go to Saint Anselms University, San Anselmos, a benedictine college and monastery. It is beautiful. http://www.santanselmo.org/images/dott_hc_mons_valenziano/index.htm

 I got to have lunch with one of the staff and also met a young Jesuit from Sydney who was completing a thesis on images of Mary in the Chinese church. I mentioned that I had been to China many times and my brother Ben lived there.

 

I got invited to visit there after a lecturer from San Anselmo did a class for us at our college.  I got to talking with him in the break and mentioned that my uncle Clem studied at this college in the sixties. This college tends to specialise in aspects of Liturgy. Also Fr Clem took me to visit this place (Anselmos) and we got to concelebrate with the community of monks when I was  here with him in 1999. It was a wonderful day. I had lunch with the community, got a tour of the chapel and cloister and the excellent library. I also got to see and talk about the new Roman Missal (sacramentary) that was issued in 2002. I saw a latin version of it, it is still being carefully translated into English but we don't know how long this process of translating, review, episcopal and Vatican approval will take. Nothing secret and confidential here though, anyone can buy a latin version in Rome now, if they can read it, but my Latin is fairly basic. I was shown some of the changes that the New Missal for the mass will make. They are not huge, there are clarifications of ambiguities, changes of a few words, a simplification of the options in the penitential rite and things like this. YOu may have heard of various controversies arising about early confidential drafts of the translation to English of this latin text but really I suspect that speculation arising from leaked drafts is full of misunderstanding and is probably unhelpful. I just commented, well when it comes out I will take the view that 'just give it to us and I will implement it' I don't believe in causing a fuss and jumping up and down, the liturgy is bigger than one person, certainly bigger than me and my whims.

 

If you are wanting to read a bit more about the updated roman missal we have a foretaste of it because the introductory General instruction to the 2002 Edition has been translated into English but has not fully been implemented everywhere until different bishops conferences around the world adopt it. It is a complex and consultative process.

 

The new english version of the missal could possibly still be years off being fully issued. Basically they are aiming at a translation that is very faithful to the latin text version, simple, clear, unambiguous. It will also focus on preserving ancient versions of the oepning and closing prayers and deleting those wordy alternative opening prayers that were basically created anew for the previous edition. Some of the translations of the present opening and closing prayers of the mass (whilst not wrong) are very loose and general echoes of what the actual original text is saying so this new version aims to be more precise and literal to the text. Also the new translation is apparently open to the concept that as well as our 'everyday' english there is room for using words that are more 'formal' more liturgical and distinct from casual speech so as to highlight some aspects of the special and sacramental nature of liturgy. This is why we might not use words such as 'hallowed' in everyday speech -probaby we would use the word 'holy' in daily speech, but the church is suggesting that more this more formal and less everyday vocabulary could still be fitting in a liturgical setting to convey the mystery and majesty of what is happening. At least that is my take on some of the aspects under consideration, but it won't be wholly foreign to us, it seems to be structurally very recognisable as the forms we have become used to.

 

I got to pop into a church just near the Anselmo college. This church is a 4th century church called Santa Sabina.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Sabina  It is an excellent and untainted version of any early Christian Basilica, simple, uncluttered with beautiful vertical lines, classic columns and a simple timber ceiling with stars painted on it. The floors are of geometic patterns. A paneled door (5th century) in the side portico outside features on the top left of the door the earliest depictions of the crucifix . Prior to this depiction which became popular after this, the shame and horror of the crucifixion was too recent, to scandalous too real a possibility of being their fate too, so images of a fish or a jewelled victory cross etc were common. By the 5th century, Christianity was legal and the church was now more settled in its public position and appeared to need to remind itself of the reality of Christs cross and suffering F before this time suffering and martyrdom were so real they needed no reminding but rather needed strength to remember the glory they were called to and promised.

 

Cheers and I hope this reflection has been interesting. I enjoyed my visit.

 

Paul

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Principal - St Mary's College Maryborough, 2008

Hi everyone,

Below is an official announcement from Brisbane Catholic Education and on behalf of the Parish. I add my congratulations to Mrs Joy Massingham on her appointment as Principal of Saint Mary's College Maryborough, and extend a heartful welcome on behalf of the whole community. I would also like to thank the appointment panel for their work and role of discernment and also again give thanks for Mr John Mula's wonderful work and support as Principal. With every best wish to you all.

Sincerely, 
Fr Paul Kelly.

Appointment to Principalship

I am pleased to announce on behalf of Archbishop Bathersby and in conjunction with Father Paul Kelly, Parish Priest of St Mary's, Maryborough, the appointment of

Mrs Joy Massingham as principal of St Mary's College, Maryborough from the start of the 2008 school year.

Joy is an experienced teacher and leader in Catholic schools who is currently Deputy Principal at St John Fisher College, Bracken Ridge where she has held leadership positions since 2001. Joy holds a Master of Social Science (Pastoral Counselling) from the Australian Catholic University, a Bachelor of Education from the Brisbane College of Advanced Education and Certificate Two in Systematic Theology from the Institute of Faith Education.

This appointment follows a selection process involving national advertising, and a panel involving Sr Rose Cavallo, Pastoral Associate, St Mary's Parish, a parent representative, a representative of School Board and representatives of Brisbane Catholic Education on behalf of the Archdiocese.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge with gratitude the leadership of John Mula as principal of St Mary's College since Term 4 of 2002 and wish him all the very best as he takes up his role in the diocese of Cairns.

I trust you will make Joy welcome as she commences in her role in 2008.

Vicki Tanzer

(Acting) Executive Director of Catholic Education

Archdiocese of Brisbane

18 September 2007

Destination: Rome

Greetings from Rome,

I have safely arrived in Rome, after the trip to Florence. The train trip to and from Rome worked out as easily and as smoothly as I had hoped. As I came back I was delighted that it worked out so smoothly and it is so relatively easy to travel around Italy without any worries. I had hoped so and it turned out to be true.

I left my hotel in plenty of time and got down to the Florence train station, which was a bit of a mistake, because my train was an hour late. That will teach me, but I still prefer to be early than late. AT one point I was worried they would cancel my train altogether because others came and went and my scheduled train just stayed up the top with the words 'ritarde' (delayed) beside it. But it arrived and and bundled myself onboard, mysteriously with an extra packet stuffed full of things, and here I had promised myself I would try to lead a more uncluttered life and I have brought back with me more than i went to Florence with. Oops. people were friendly on the train, even when i pulled my bag from the overhead rack and my umbrella fell out and hit a man over the head. He was very understanding. One should never let these things go to ones head!

In Rome, and I am now at the College and they are very welcoming and friendly. I hear there are about 232 students for the priesthood studying here, including about four from Australian dioceses, namely Perth, Melbourne and Sydney, but I have yet to meet these students. I think they are rather intrigued with my accent, although would be familiar with it through people they have met.

Among the priests who are doing this sabbatical renewal course here are priests from all over the States and also two very nice priests from our neck of the woods: the Solomon Islands. We have already had very interesting conversations and I think this will be really excellent.

Thinking of you. The course starts formally on Wednesday and so tomorrow is a fairly quiet day for just settling in and getting orientated.

Last night I watched the news and the Pope was in loretto at an italian national youth conference. He looks extremely well and happy, which is excellent and the young people are responding to his words very well. I just saw a text of his address and it is very encouraging to everyone:

The Pope was asked various questions by the young ones in this meeting and replied to a number of questions that were put to him. One question addressed "the disquiet shared by many young people from all parts of the world and all religions" concerning their place in history and their fear of being left on the margins. The Pope replied by indicating how "according to the divine plan, the world has no margins. ... For God we are all at the center, ... equally loved and called to undertake great deeds, ... each using his or her own talents."

"Dear young people," said the Pope, "in Jesus' name I repeat to you tonight: Go! Live! Love! In God's eyes each of you is important, You are important to your family and friends, ... to your country, to the entire world, to the Church and to Jesus Christ." The Holy Father also exhorted the young people not to feel marginalized "because no life is unimportant. ... You must realize that you are important protagonists, because you are at the center of God's love."

Benedict XVI then delivered a talk to the participants, whom he described as "the hope of the Church in Italy," and he invited them "to open their hearts and offer everything to Jesus" with the "interior strength and trusting abandonment" that was Mary's.

"What a stupendous exhibition of youthful and inspiring faith we are experiencing this evening!" he cried. "This evening, thanks to you, Loreto has become the spiritual capital of youth, the center towards which multitudes of young people on the five continents turn. ... The Pope is close to you, and for each of you he asks from the Lord the gift of a full and happy life, a life rich in meaning."

"Today, unfortunately, a full and happy life is not infrequently seen by many young people as a distant dream. ... Do not be afraid, Christ can fulfil the most intimate aspirations of your heart! ... Each one of you, if you remain united to Christ, can achieve great things. ... You should not be afraid to dream of great plans for goodness, and you should not let yourselves be discouraged by difficulties. Christ has trust in you and wants you to realize all your most noble and exalted dreams of true happiness."

The Holy Father then recalled the Annunciation, when the angel told Mary "of her participation, in the most intimate possible way, in the greatest of God's plans: the salvation of humanity." The Pope emphasized how "her 'yes' changed her life and the history of humanity entire. ... And from Mary we learn to pronounce our own 'yes,' because she really knows what it means to respond generously to the requests of the Lord."

Mary, Benedict XVI continued, "knows of your great desire for love, your need to love and to be loved. Looking at her, ... you will discover the beauty of love. ... true and profound love." All young people starting out in life "cultivate the dream of a love that will give full meaning to their future. For many of them this is achieved in marriage and the creation of a family."

"I well know that today such a dream is becoming ever less easy to accomplish. How many failures of love do we see around us! ... The Mother of God, the community of believers and the Pope are near you and pray that the crisis affecting families in our time does not become irreversible," said the Holy Father, and he renewed his invitation to participants "not to be afraid," because "for those who trust in God nothing is impossible.

"This is true for people destined for married life," he added, "and even more so for those whom God has called to a life of complete detachment from the goods of the earth and of complete dedication to His Kingdom. Among you are those directed towards the priesthood, consecrated life, and others who aspire to be missionaries."

"Be certain that a life dedicated to God is never spent in vain," said the Holy Father. He then concluded his talk by reminding the young people of the celebrations for World Youth Day 2008, due to take place in Sydney, Australia. "Let us pray," he said, "that the Lord Who accomplishes all prodigies may enable many of you to be there."


I like how the Pope has affirmed and encouraged people of every vocation. It is very nice.


Cheers everyone and be assured of my continued thoughts and prayers for you all back home


cheerio

Paul

Florence II

Hello again everyone,

Have a look when you get the chance of my latest piccies hot off the press from Florence.

its on my webshots site which can be accessed as before, or try this shortcut link

www.mysteriousthree.com


I have fixed the problem with the system that publishes whatever people reply to my travelogue. SOrry for the confusion. When I was in France, when i had to edit the publishing list, it all showed up in French and I had to guess what it was asking me. Anway, now its all in English so I can read it again and click the right buttons to ensure thi8ngs go the right direction.

Cheers
Paul

Westminister 2007

Yesterday, Sunday 15th July 2007. Attended the 10.30am mass at Westminister Catholic Cathedral. The primary Catholic Church in United Kingdom. It is the church where Cardinal Cormack O'Connor has his bishops chair.

Lit a special candle at a side chapel dedicated to the Holy Souls of the faithful departed, and offered prayers before mass  and during the mass for the repose of the soul of Bobbie Rollings, and for the comfort and consolation of Noel and famuily and friends at this time of sadness.

The Mass was so peaceful and so beautiful. The mass had a choir singing. It was like angels singing. It filled me with such serenity and peace and hope.

Thinking and praying for you during this mass.

The homily ironically touched upon a topic I mentioned in an earlier log, about what to do when we come across someone in need, like those who ask for money in the street. Although the homily did not contradict my point it was still challenging. It reiterated that Jesus really meant to see each other as brothers and sisters - we are all linked. I totally agree with that too. He also mentioned that this did not mean we should let other walk all over us, but he added that past rip-offs and past hurts can sometimes be an excuse for peope stopping from moving out of their comfort  zone. he didn't put it liek this but the meaning was the same:  " should most hurts have an expiry date?"


After Mass, I walked back home to the tube train station via 10 Downing street (well past it, you can't get through that area but near it). I have put the latest photos on my webshots site and you can find the link below at the footer to this message.

god bless everyone, continuing to keep you all my thoughts and prayers

Paul

London

Hi everyone.

I have just arrived in London. And ready to greet me when I arrived was the most beutiful draft versions of two more songs I have done a very rough draft of. I know someone who does them up nicely with proper arrangement, and I have been blown away by my own song in the hands of a nice arranger (sorry if that sounds like boasting but it has come up nicely)

when i get a chance I will find a way of posting the songs so you can all hear them and see what you think

cheerio

by the way there are a couple more logs from Shanghai but technical problems have prevented me from publishing them. I can't get the info off my little palm diary onto the internet. All efforts have failed but I am working on it.

cheerio for now

Paul