Write Non Fiction In November : #WNFIN Day 2

Today is All Souls Day, one of my absolute favourite days of the year because so many souls in purgatory get helped closer to the happy day of their entrance into the fullness of heaven.

Maybe there will be more on that later, but I've had an image in my mind for months and today seems like a good day to share it.

Some months back I attended a weekly ecumenical prayer group. They were all good people and well-seasoned prayer warriors and it was a privilege to get to know them. However the leader and maybe some of the others had a completely different vision for church unity and sometimes only God can fight city hall. The perception (which I fully acknowledge may not have been the reality) was that unity was only possible if you had been judged an insider by your spoken spontaneous prayers and by your bible alone fundamentalist credentials. In other words, a unity based on doctrinal conformity, was their vision for unity.

That's a very different vision to the 'unity in diversity' principle from the Catholic perspective where ecumenical unity is the amazing work of the Holy Spirit and the theologians spend centuries ironing out the details. It is a unity based on relationship, upon love, mutual respect, shared prayer, common service and common witness, and where differences are seen as potential richness to be shared and explored, all the while acknowledging that we are probably going to agree on very little doctrinally.

Jesus used the parable of the mustard seed as an image of His church. It is a tiny seed that grows into a huge shrub. Obviously it is going to have deep roots, a strong trunk, several branches and lots of twigs.

I've been imagining a tree with a much bigger trunk like an oak or cedar, and fewer branches that start quite a long way up the trunk of the tree. The trunk is the Catholic church with a very large high canopy with lots of vertical branches representing dioceses and religious orders. Then there are branches that jut out sideways from the truck: there's a big Orthodox branch, and then there's a Lutheran branch that quickly send out many smaller branches like the Calvinists, the Baptists, the Anglicans and the Methodists and gets prolific with thousands of tiny twigs of denominations and non-denominations.

From the Catholic perspective there's all these twigs that each and every one draws life and growth from the trunk. The New Testament, the Christian canon of Scripture, the doctrine of the Trinity, the Apostle's Creed and Nicene Creed, baptism and so much more come from the trunk. When a member of a twig tells a member of the trunk that the trunk is unworthy of unity, it's all one can do to stop rolling around on the floor in uncontrollable laughter – and all because the trunk doesn't look like a twig!

From the twig's perspective, there are lots of other similar twigs nearby, and they are able to develop gentle relationships with each other. But the trunk has been seen as a backdrop only, sinister because it casts shadows and because it doesn't look like a twig and from the view of the twig it looks rather dead, lifeless and uninteresting because the twig cannot see the canopy but only the bark of the trunk.

O that the twigs might wake up and rediscover that they are unable to fulfill all of God's purpose without the trunk, and vice versa. The more they draw from the trunk the stronger they will become, the less they draw from the trunk the greater risk they run of being separated entirely from the trunk by the storms and winds of the enemy.

All the tree lives on the sunshine of God's love and the water of the Holy Spirit and the roots of the mercy and Cross of Jesus.

We have been promised this epic flood of grace by God, bringing levels of fruitfulness never ever seen before. Do you think this is possible if the twigs, branches, trunk and canopy don't work together? Neither do I!

But it is not enough just to pray for unity, especially if you are only in your hearts of hearts praying for twig unity. Unity has to be on the Holy Spirit's terms, not on ours. It has to be supported by seeking relationships with each other, prayer opportunities with each other, ways to serve with each other and ways to witness to the world with each other. Efforts once or twice a year aren't enough.

Unity does not mean sameness. One quick look out the window at the variety of plant, bird and insect life proves that sameness isn't in God's vocabulary, and yet each part fulfils its purpose in its ecosystem and is utterly necessary for that ecosystem to flourish. Unity means a variety of gifts working in harmony for a common purpose.
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So let's get on with it…and if you happen to have a burden on your heart for the cause of church unity make sure you invite (co-opt, conscript, or whatever it takes) a member of the trunk to work with you…and don't drive them away with incessant demands 'to show me where the proof for that is in the bible' and prayers against the evil of religion. Last time I checked, religion was still a virtue, viz "The virtue of religion is the supernatural, infused, moral habit that inclines us to give to God the worship that is due Him as Supreme Being and as Creator and Lord of the universe."

This talk was given by Archbishop Christopher Prowse at Seven Hills, NSW on Saturday 18 February 2017, the 50th anniversary of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. #ccrgoldenjubilee2017
 
(As usual, this is only the edited gist of the Archbishop's talk. The content of this talk he expressly asked to be distributed far and wide.)

In this talk I want to give you a bishop's perspective on the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Catholic Church and on the contributions of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR) over the last 50 years.
 
Australians are a practical people. In Rome you mix with all sorts, and you get to know the qualities of various nationalities. You can depend on Germans to have precision, and upon Italians to have a party with drinks and pasta. Us colonials, being practical, bring the drinks and the glasses to drink them from.
 
In this talk I would like to make 6 points with practical application for our lives.
 
The whole Church is charismatic
When the charismatic renewal began 50 years ago, it was a wide spread explosion; a tsunami of the Holy Spirit. The whole Church is charismatic because the whole Church is animated by the Holy Spirit. We are part of the same Church begun under the power of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and prefigured by Mary - the one overshadowed by the Holy Spirit when she said Yes to God. Mary was the original charismatic.
 
Expand your minds. Much depends upon the hope you have that the Holy Spirit can bring light into our darkened world.
 
St Francis of Assisi and St Benedict all started movements. Their response to God started when they were lay people and developed into a religious vocation. The CCR has been mainly led by lay people, which is something distinctive about this movement. It has been a grass roots 'bottom-up' movement. These last 50 years have seen the start of many lay Catholic movements, and most of them have origins in the charismatic movement.
 
At Vatican II Pope St John XXIII prayed for a new Pentecost, and this prayer has been echoed by subsequent popes. John XXIII was very wise and had a great sense of humour. When asked how many people worked at the Vatican, he replied, 'about half'. In the documents of Vatican II the Holy Spirit is frequently mentioned.
 
We belong to the Latin Rite of the Church, but there are 27 different Rites. The Eastern Rites have a far more developed understanding of the Holy Spirit than we have. The Ukrainian Rite understands the Trinity this way: God the Father is the source of the river; God the Son is the shape and banks of the river; God the Holy Spirit is the water of the river which flows.
 
This flow of the Holy Spirit can be seen in Rublev's icon of the Trinity, based on the story of the three men who came to visit Abraham. In it there is a circular movement. Others express this dynamic flow of the Holy Spirit as a circle of a dance.

Marriage is another way to understand the Trinity, husband, wife, and the love between them. Not too long ago I went out to Temora to share in the 65th wedding anniversary celebrations of a couple – a couple still holding hands! When asked what their secret was, the answer came, 'The secret is not the me, but the we; not the mine, but the ours'.
 
Catch the wave!
 
Kerygma
Jesus Christ is Lord and Saviour. That is the initial proclamation of the Gospel, our kerygma.
 
Finger wagging doesn’t make people disciples.
 
People can go through Catholic schools and all the sacraments of initiation and not come out the other side with a relationship with Jesus. A personal encounter with Jesus does not happen automatically on this 'conveyer belt'.
 
First we need to invite people to open their hearts to Jesus; everything else will follow after that crucial first step. Jesus won't come in unless He is asked, so our invitation has to include, 'You have to ask Jesus to come into your life and into your heart'.
 
It is only after people have asked Jesus in that we find that they want to know more about Him. That's why catechism has to come after kerygma. We have to give them a thirst for Jesus before we begin any kind of teaching.
 
A bishop is the kerygmatic and catechetical leader of his diocese.
 
Young people are tribal, they want to feel like they belong. Give them a chance.
 
Example vs Testimony
Hearing testimonies of the action of Jesus in people's lives has helped me a lot over the years.
 
The Catholic instinct knows that there is a difference between witness and testimony. A gothic cathedral gives witness to the faith of the people who built it 24 hours a day 7 days a week. But the cathedral cannot give testimony.
 
You can only give the answer when people ask the question. If people are not asking you the reason for the faith and hope and joy that you have, then you are not living your faith properly.
 
Catholics are not proselytizers, but we are inviters. We don't impose, but we propose. As Pope Francis said in his 5 Oct 2016 General Audience, 'The real mission is never proselytism, but rather attraction to Christ, beginning with strong union with Him in prayer, adoration and concrete works of charity, which is service to Jesus present in the least of our brothers'.
 
We take the scriptures seriously, but not literally in a fundamentalist way. We take Jesus as our model. Look at Him with the woman at the well (John 4). As a Jew He shouldn't have been talking to a Samaritan, let alone talking to a woman on her own especially one coming for water in the hottest part of the day (indicating that she was a social outsider) and asking her for a drink. Notice that He didn't start by saying, 'You should be a Jew and worship at the Temple'. He started in a non-threatening way, with easy conversation and dialogue – waiting for her to be intrigued enough to ask questions.
 
In a similar way with the man born blind (John 9), Jesus is patient. When the man is healed, he doesn't know what Jesus looks like. But when he has become hungry enough to want to know more who this Jesus is, Jesus comes quietly and introduces Himself.
 
There are good Catholic commentaries on the scriptures out there. Go looking for them.
 
Healing and Holiness
These things are not just for canonized Saints, they are universal calls and gifts.
 
Experientially in the charismatic renewal we learn what Vatican II taught, praying for healing and growing in holiness is what normal believers do.
 
Holiness is a gift from God. The closer you come to Jesus, the warmer your hearts are.
 
Here's what normal holiness looks like: In Melbourne there was a taxi driver who belonged to one of the early prayer groups. He would pray before he started work – for safety and for all the passengers of that day, and kept his taxi clean and sweet-smelling. He played gentle, uplifting background music. Around the inside of the taxi were various holy pictures. He took care to be a safe driver and a good listener. If his passenger wanted conversation he would take part. Many times he was asked why he was so happy and contented, or what this or that holy picture was all about – and that was his opening to talk about Jesus with them and sometimes to even pray with them.
 
Open to all
The charismatic renewal has been quite ecumenical and generally quite youthful. There has been a sense that everybody is welcome – especially in the early days.
 
Keep being open. Don't let your prayer groups devolve into places where anyone under age 70 isn't welcome. Be places where I can send our young people after their World Youth Day experiences, places where they can grow and be accepted and not be told verbally or non-verbally that 'we don't do things that way, and don't want to try' and they get the message that they are not wanted.
 
Mary
Mary, our model of the charismatic dimension of the Church is a great gift. The Peter dimension is hierarchical, and we need both. It is the interwoven circle and the triangle. The circle has the charisms and the gifts to share and serve; it has a Marian dimension of gentleness and motherliness. The circle softens the triangle.
 
Your deference to authority is good. Bishop Long asked me after Friday night's big Mass at the cathedral why there wasn't any sounds of the charismatic gifts. I told him, 'that's because you didn't give them the green light to go for it, they were just waiting for your signal of permission'.
 
I know you love the pope, and your bishops and priests. Keep loving them.
 
Don't get discouraged. Catholics think and work in 100 year blocks. It is a huge ship and it takes time to turn. We are not on a speedboat. The last 50 years is just a blink in time to the Church. Be patient as the Church comes to a greater understanding of the charismatic renewal and God's purpose for it.

This question was posed to Catholic bloggers by @theAnchoress and answers are being posted using the hashtag #whyremaincatholic.

Such a worthwhile question deserves an attempt at an answer.

The short answer is that any alternative is completely unthinkable.

I remain a Catholic

Because the Catholic Church today is the same Church begun by Jesus with His Apostles.

Because the Catholic Church has been a continuous witness to the resurrection of Jesus for almost 2000 years.

Because the Catholic Church wrote the New Testament under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and is the 'Church of the living God, which upholds the truth and keeps it safe' 1 Tim 3:15 or as other translations say 'the pillar and bulwark of truth'.

Because the Catholic Church has preserved the faith of the Apostles and the early Church and has never watered down its teaching on abortion, contraception and marriage, unlike other churches.

Because the Catholic Church has been led by a successor of St Peter, the prime minister of Jesus, for its whole history.

Because the Catholic Church deals in reality and not in symbols. Baptism makes a person a child of God. Penance cleanses a person of sin and grants power to overcome sin. Confirmation empowers a person with the gifts of the Holy Spirit to enter into the mission of the Church. Eucharist feeds us with the true body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, to make us one with Him and with each other. Marriage transforms the bond of love between a man and woman into a life-giving icon of the love between Jesus and His Church. Holy Orders transforms a man into a priest. The Anointing of the Sick always heals, body, mind, soul, spirit at a level chosen by God and protects a person in the final conflicts between good and evil as death approaches.

Because the Catholic Church is universal. Anywhere in the world I can walk into a Catholic Church and can participate in the Eucharist. Where ever we find ourselves, we offer the same perfect sacrifice to God that Jesus offered on the Cross.

Because the Catholic Church prays in unity. Across the whole world (apart from those places where regional feast day liturgical prayer takes precedence) members of the Catholic Church are praying the same set of psalms, canticle and intercessions at morning and evening prayer each day. The scriptures read at Mass are the same, too.

Because the Catholic Church is serious about calling Her members to holiness. She is the one surrounded by the great cloud of witnesses, Hebrews 12:1, of Saints from every age, nationality, and walk of life. We know, treasure and celebrate the great witnesses to Jesus in every century, and are encouraged to imitate their virtues. Thecla, Clement, Perpetua, Augustine, Jerome, Gregory, Basil, Benedict, Boniface, Patrick, Francis, Dominic, Catherine, Gertrude, Charles Borromeo, Ignatius, Kateri, Bernadette, Maximillian Kolbe, John XXIII and many thousands more.

Because the Catholic Church is bigger than any one of its worst members. Even if a priest is at enmity with God the sacraments he celebrates are still 100% valid and life giving.

Because the Catholic Church is the wise householder who brings out from Her storeroom things both new and old Matt 13:52. Not only does she share all that the Holy Spirit is teaching her now, but she preserves and shares all that the Holy Spirit has taught her in the past. What a vast treasure house there is of the writings of popes, Saints and Councils, of prayers, songs, meditations and scripture commentaries, of wisdom on how to live the counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience, and on how to live family and community life.

Because the Catholic Church gets persecuted, just like Jesus promised She would.

Because the Catholic Church enables its members to worship in the fullness of the truth and the fullness of the Holy Spirit. John 4:24. Safeguarded in truth by the magisterium of the Church and open to the miracles and charisms of the Holy Spirit under the pastoral care of the bishops.

Who wouldn't want to be in, and remain in, the Church that Jesus Christ founded?

That's why I remain a Catholic.