The second and final assembly of the 5th Plenary Council of Australia is still at the half-way mark, following a disruptive but seemingly fruitful day on 6 July. Since the last blog-post I have watched the Mass for the Church from last night, and the Plenary tracker episode from last night, as well as many religious blogs from 6 July and 7 July, and the livestreamed morning session. Due to the events of yesterday I didn’t expect any voting results to be released at 1pm, so I didn’t go looking for them.
 
The first official media briefing I was aware of happened on Monday evening and was published on YouTube. I kept looking for more media briefings, in the obvious places, and found nothing until I heard a remark about Archbishop Coleridge talking to the press. Eventually I looked at Facebook, and on the Plenary Council page found two official media briefings published via Facebook live. It makes no sense to me either. But both Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s media briefings were worth viewing, which I did back to back last night.
 
One of them mentioned the wording of the welcome to country from Tuesday morning, which was particularly good:
“We pay respect to elders past, present and their youth, as they hold the dreams of the future. I also extend that respect and acknowledgment to all of you today and the lands from which we’re all gathered, and also to your ancestors and where you’ve come from as well.”
 
Archbishop Coleridge re-quoted from his ACBC homily of 27 Nov 2018:
“According to the papal preacher Raniero Cantalamessa, “ordination provides the authorization to do certain things but not necessarily the authority to do them. It assures the apostolic succession but not necessarily apostolic success”. It’s the Spirit who provides the authority and the success.”
 
The point being that apostolic success is dependent on people with the right charisms of the Holy Spirit collaborating together on the right projects. Just because someone is ordained doesn’t mean they have charisms of preaching, pastoring and administration. Since the gifting of charisms depends on baptism (and confirmation) and not ordination, recognition of this could be the path forward for new governance models and the role of women in the church.
 
One of the outcomes from yesterday is an understanding that the Yes with reservations is suitable for collaborative votes, but it is not suitable for deliberative votes. Reading between the lines, one has to wonder whether all the bishops were listening when the assembly was told Yes with reservation votes would be counted as No votes. Because a special meeting of bishops was held behind closed doors, we are not privy to why some of them voted No and some of them voted Yes with reservations.
 
Another outcome from yesterday is that Motion 4, the one about women in the church, will be adjusted by a panel of 4, two members and two experts, and then the votes on that revised motion will be held on Friday.
 
Subsequently the two motions that didn’t get dealt with yesterday have to be squeezed in between today and tomorrow. But even that has necessitated a better outcome. Decisions have been made to make the time set aside for spiritual conversations shorter, more streamlined and focused on the motions; and a more iterative and real-time consultative process has been sketched out for the rest of the second assembly, with each motion taking as long as it takes to get it right – or so we hope.
 
In last night’s Plenary Tracker Mary Coloe had useful input. She reminded us that there are parts of discernment that happen before a decision, and there’s discernment that happens after a decision. When a decision is made and general discomfort results, like happened yesterday, then general agreement is that the wrong decision was made and a better one needs to be found. It is quite normal that sometimes discernment is clearer after a decision is made.
 
I feel I need to declare that many of the conclusions made by John Warhurst in his media release at 6.39pm yesterday don’t hold water; and will go through some of them in detail. I accept that it was probably written in haste, and under strong emotions, and used provocative language like ‘failure, desperately, stunning blow’ etc, and which he will likely regret writing for a long time to come.
 
The vote was not a failure to give unqualified recognition to women in the Church. Actually the motion was too big and too unwieldy. Even the large number of Yes with reservations votes from the non-bishops bears out that truth.
 
I can’t see how a rejection of contemporary values matters at all. Ditto ‘reflecting the will of the people’. We believe in a God, as James 1:17 says, with Whom there is no such thing as alteration, no shadow of a change. It is His will, and His will alone that we desire to discern and implement. Finding ways to express that holy will which enable each culture and epoch to take that holy will on board is the perennial challenge of the Church throughout the ages.
 
Warhurst wrote ‘the church desperately needs women in leadership roles at a time with the number of male priests is draining away’. Women in leadership roles has absolutely nothing to do with the numbers of male priests, absolutely nothing. The sense I’ve picked up from many plenary council members on this topic is that this is far more about baptismal dignity and opportunities for collaboration in decision making than anything else. That there are women in rural and remote areas who are undertaking various pastoral tasks and desire to be included in decision making regarding those under their care is the issue, not that the situation is due to absence of priests in those areas.
 
He also wrote the following which seems patently unfair: ‘But it is the refusal of many bishops to consider discussing with women the creation of women deacons – should Pope Francis authorise such a ministry – that is so disheartening’. That this part of the motion is even on the table, approved by both steering committee and drafting committee for deliberation, and not expunged after amendments to the draft motions were sought is prima facie evidence that the bishops are more than happy to discuss and debate this part of the motion.
 
Warhurst also frames the non-approved vote as ‘a blow to hopes raised that in the wake of the disastrous child sexual abuse royal commission that promised church reforms that would mean no more "business as usual” ’. If you think by the mere placement of women in decision making bodies the conditions for future abuse evaporate – have I got news for you! For abuse to happen, and for abuse to continue, there is a degree to which women are enablers viz young woman goes to older woman to report abuse from a significant person in the older woman’s life, and the initial and perhaps ongoing response is disbelief. It happens. Putting women in decision making positions is not going to stop abuse. Some argue that having a woman present will reduce clericalism, but we’ve all seen clericalized women, with paid professional careers in diocesan curia and similar places and their job description/allegiance is to bishop and curia, not to pew-sitters and whistle blowers.
 
The non-approved vote on motion 4 does not mean it will be ‘business as usual’ after the second assembly ends. That’s grossly unfair. To have even had these discussions at plenary council level and to have had broad consensus, as evidenced by between half and two-thirds voting Yes at both consultative votes and deliberate votes, means that business will most definitely not be ‘as usual’. Through all the sharing and listening, as uncomfortable and intense as it has sometimes been, there has been a massive shift in collective thinking. How that works itself out in practice – it’s too soon to tell – but to deny that it has happened is unjust.
 
Compared to previous days, online commentary has been abundant. Whether that’s because of today’s controversies or because it has taken this long to get a sense of how the second assembly is going, or both, is up for debate. Daniel Ang and Philippa Martyr have made excellent written contributions to the wider discussion, and I’ll now present some of them, two from each, albeit they are paraphrased and edited.
 
Daniel Ang. 6 July. Edited.
Tensions within the Council are not only the result of issues with the process of the Council itself but also with the distinct ecclesiological imaginations at play among members - with at least two primary dialects evident on the Council floor. One dialect focusses largely on the outward organisation or ‘form’ of the Church and the re-distribution of its goods. The other sets its focus upon the inner life of faith, on the common need for conversion and the call to evangelisation.
 
History has shown us that when the organisation and practical actions of ecclesial bodies lose contact with the Catholic tradition, its teachings and sacramental life, they not only diminish but ultimately disintegrate.
 
Philippa Martyr. 7 July. Paraphrased and edited.
As a woman with work and study commitments, with care commitments to elderly parents and to a teenager, it wasn’t possible for me to become a Plenary Council member because I didn’t have months to spend with ‘gifted sharers of their personal journeys’. In the absence of ordinary people like me, a group of privileged women and their man friends have tried to impose their pet projects on the Plenary Council.
The papal commission on the diaconate has two broad options. It can uphold Vatican II’s understanding of the diaconate as part of a continuum of Holy Orders. This means it’s not open to women. Or it can go back to a more primitive understanding of the diaconate. This means uncoupling it from the priesthood altogether, and if ordained at all, ordained in a way that separates them completely from the priesthood.
 
Lest anyone erroneously think that deacons have any part in diocesan decision making, Bishop Mark Edwards recalled his experience of being a deacon as having no decision making input at all. A deacon’s role is to serve the Word of God, to serve the poor, and to do whatever the bishop wants them to do. It’s far from glamorous.
 
Bishop Edwards also shared how a brave table member was willing to call other table members to a higher understanding than the general consensus of opinion. This person shared that evangelisation, is offering someone something precious we have found, it is not focused on getting more rear ends on pews. Facilitating someone’s response to Jesus and an encounter with Him has to take primacy; whether or not that leads to them attending some kind of worship in person is up to them.
 
In one sense it was ‘business as usual’ on Wednesday evening at Mass. Zero mention was made of any of the tumultuous day that had been. Even though it appears to be standard operating procedure, it is flawed. It is so much better to acknowledge that there has been turmoil, to even offer the opportunity for sign of peace-like gestures of solidarity to each other, and to then invite everyone to leave their cares and concerns behind for this brief hour, and to focus together on God. Ignoring it makes it worse. Ignoring it induces anger.
 
I did read some commentary expositing that with the explicit mention of public juridic persons in some of the earlier motions that this effectively means that leadership of socials services, hospitals, educational institutions etc have a place at the decision making table alongside bishops, clerics and religious. That feels like a sea-change with monumental implications, although no-one would doubt that better collaboration among them would be a very good thing.
 
There are a few notions from last night’s plenary tracker that deserve mention:
Mary Coloe said she’d be quite happy to receive authorization to preach (she does regularly train seminarians in the arts of preaching) and sees no reason why authorization to preach cannot be separated from ordination.
Mary also spoke about the disparity of resources devoted to seminary education compared with resources devoted to non-seminary education. Studying theology at any level, if you are not a seminarian or already ordained, is a voluntary thing, depending on person’s interests, ability and the depth of his or her pockets -since it is quite expensive.
 
Then Genevieve shared from the heart about the many years she has served as a reader at Mass, and how demoralizing it has been to have to accept that her contributions have not been valued because she’s been seen as a lesser substitute because a male reader wasn’t available. With Pope Francis recently opening up the ministry of lector to women, this has thankfully changed. But the years of hurt remain. Been there, done that, still bear the scars. I stepped down from public proclamation of the scriptures some 20 years ago, firstly due to a perception that I was too visible for some people (when actually it was willingness and ability to step in at short notice), and secondly, because if being a lector was only officially for men, I’d better step down and hope and pray that some men stepped up. I had also noted that when a man speaks publicly the message is unimpeded. When a woman speaks publicly the message is always impeded by what she is wearing, despite her very best efforts to the contrary.
 
Someone has to lead and someone has to follow, otherwise unified action isn’t possible. But is leadership of the first among equals variety, which actively consults on decision making unless dire urgency makes that impractical. That’s the kind of leadership that makes marriage, parishes and dioceses work. In biblical and Christian history that kind of community leadership has been given by God to male priests and male elders. Exceptions to that rule, like Judith and Deborah, are quite rare.
 
Be careful what you attribute to the Holy Spirit. Was yesterday’s impasse due to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit? Or was it due to the clout of the C.C.C.G * and the emotive language they’ve been using? Or was it a bit of both? There’s been so much whipping up of emotions, and so much, ‘we want this or else’, that discussion failed at times to be collaborative and became combative. Singularly lacking has been efforts to help those with hurts and grievances to come to peace and healing through forgiving the perpetrators (real and/or perceived) for the sources of those hurts and grievances. True clarity cannot come if there are blockages to love and emotional baggage in the way. Very welcome would be any kind of prayer for healing of hurts, and any gestures of mutual reconciliation- and for first nations as much as for abuse survivors as much as for women and men who carry wounds due to sub-optimal clerical behaviour.
 
No decisions about us without us: that’s women, first nations, disabled, homeless, those with non-standard sexual orientations etc. Sadly that seeking of input from the people affected directly by the decisions has been rare. Witness how often we put in toilet facilities with wheelchair access and then fail to provide any ramps to help those with wheelchairs get to those toilets. This is about moving towards a collaborative model for decision making, and to an extent it is about justice. However we have to acknowledge that the decision making buck has to stop somewhere, and that’s the demanding role given by God to the clergy.
 
Thankfully Archbishop Coleridge gave an answer to why there isn’t a 9th part in the plenary council considerations about marriage and family. Two reasons were given: One was that compared to the other 8 topics significantly fewer responses from the listening phase had been received about marriage and family. It was also thought that considerations upon marriage and family were more appropriate at a local and diocesan level than at a national level at this time.
 
Stay tuned for more tomorrow.

* C.C.C.G. are the Concerned Catholics of Canberra Goulburn the organisation behind Plenary Tracker.

The second and final assembly of the 5th Plenary Council of Australia is now at the half-way mark. Since the last blog-post I have watched the Mass for the Unity of Christians from last night, and the Plenary tracker episode from last night, as well as blogs today 6 July 2022, the livestreamed morning session, and the results of the second full day of voting.
 
There is so much to deal with, may God give me sufficient grace to do justice to all of it.
 
After yesterday’s comments about God’s ombudsmen being His prophets, a further notion came into view: It was when the leaders of Israel had good working relationships with the prophets that the best results happened. When prophets and leaders are in alignment with each other and with God effective battle strategies are given and implemented, warnings of enemy raids are received and acted upon – and God’s people flourish. We need to actively encourage those the Holy Spirit has bestowed charisms of prophecy upon, especially those called by God to speak truth in His name to power.
 
I had let some issues pass through to the keeper from the goings on prior to the Opening Mass. But with the content of this morning’s prayer service that is no longer possible.
 
Let’s start with some uncomfortable truths and a reminder that it is not against human enemies that we have to struggle, but against the sovereignties and the powers who originate the darkness in this world, the spiritual army in the heavens. (Eph 6:12)
 
In Jeremiah 44:16-19 there is a confrontation between the followers of the Lord God and the followers of a female goddess called the queen of heaven. Forsaking the Lord God was an act of rebellion. The followers of this goddess refused to listen to God through the prophet Jeremiah. Behind every god or goddess is a demon. The worship of this particular goddess continues in our day through parts of the new age movement and in the worship of the earth mother. It includes a refusal to call God ‘Father’. Depicted as a woman with many breasts, it had women as high priests and had healing rituals with the female principal, archetypes. That kind of worship usually includes witchcraft and harlotry. The demons behind female goddesses are among the strongest in existence. But the Lord wants to give His people victory. To disarm and to expose the evil powers, is part of the Christian calling to extend the kingdom of God. If you want the glory of God to return, and evangelisation to be effective, then the evil forces behind the various forms of earth mother worship must be dealt with.
 
The first nations people are a spiritual people and they are acutely aware of the ongoing battle between the good spirit and the evil spirits. Some first nations were more open to the Holy Spirt and some first nations were more open to evil spirits, particularly those associated with the earth mother entity. That’s why all first nations rituals and practices need to go through a discernment process, so that only those inspired by the Holy Spirit become enculturated.
 
The line between what is of the Holy Spirit and what is not of Him got crossed several times this morning at the prayer service, and it was also crossed several times before the Opening Mass began on Sunday. This needs to be officially repented of.
 
At minimum, could we be specific and always use Holy Spirit and not the shortened ‘Spirit’, please?! There’s good reason why the Church insists on the title Holy Spirit. That way there’s no doubt at all about which Spirit is being invoked.
 
Which gets me started on the ‘let’s permit the spirit of the land to enter into us and flow through us’, or ‘calling upon creation, breathe in the land and let it flow through us’. That terminology is not referring to the Holy Spirit! Anything not of the Holy Spirit is spiritually dangerous stuff. The context was in drawing upon sources, but shouldn’t the deep riches we call upon be the Bible and the lived tradition of the Church and its magisterium throughout Christian history?
 
Bishop Bosco Puthur’s homily on 4 July 2022 is instructive, especially this excerpt:
 
“The conditions given for receiving the promise of the Holy Spirit are that we love God and keep God’s commandments. Do we really love Him? Do we follow the Lord’s commandments, or are we making new commandments influenced by the spirit of the world? Are we incapacitated to receive the Holy Spirit promised by the Lord because we are so consumed by the spirit of the world?”
 
Such worldliness includes all the popular issues of our day which do not conform to the Gospel. Feminism, relativism, transgenderism, and all the ‘if it feels good do it’ philosophies are aspects of that worldliness.
 
Back to procedural matters. There was an intervention this morning from the steering committee about voting on matters liturgical. Since some motions today will have to with specifics pertaining to the Latin rite liturgy (a.k.a. Western rite, Roman rite, Novus Ordo), the Eastern Rite bishops will not vote on these motions. Therefore they will abstain from voting on those specific motions. Now this brought to light that all the Plenary Council members could abstain from voting on any motion. This was news because I thought we were all under the impression that voting was mandatory. Unfortunately, further clarification was not given upon whether the two-thirds majority required was on a baseline of all eligible voters or on a baseline of total of actual votes excluding abstentions.
 
Bishop Hurley’s homily last night explained how ecumenism is an imperative because every missing piece in the Body of Christ jigsaw matters. We are incomplete without the missing ones, and each jig-saw piece gives context and meaning to the surrounding jigsaw pieces.
 
The big debates today were on two topics; about women in the Church and about whether the term LGBTQIA+ should be used in a specific motion or instead language less targeted and wider ranging.
 
The latter is easier to deal with, it’s a choice between explicitly naming all sub-groupings of persons and risking missing some out; or using less targeted language which encompasses everyone in a general way. It’s one of those arguments you can see both sides of. Possibly if that multi-lettered term was less politically charged it wouldn’t have been an issue.
 
I’ve read through the motion about the role of women in the Church as it was voted upon, and I can see why it didn’t obtain a two-thirds majority in either vote. It tried to do too much. If that big motion had been packaged into four smaller motions, some of them would have been approved. It is a great pity that resolutions concerning adequate remuneration were not in a separate motion. Although many felt like the failure to get a two-thirds majority was a slap in the face, in reality most of that motion was half-baked and needs a lot more work before the implications of implementation of every part of that motion are understood well enough for general approval to be reached. The numbers who voted Yes, even though they were insufficient, should be seen as an encouragement to keep working at it until it is fully baked.
 
There was also an amendment which failed to pass, something along the lines of an acknowledgment of the hurts and frustrations of womenfolk in the Church. I can see why this one didn’t pass too. Firstly, not all women in the Church are exasperated to the same extent as those who drafted the amendment, if at all. Secondly, such acknowledgement is as fraught with implications as getting a government to say sorry to first nations people. Additionally some members may have felt that the hurts and frustrations were self-evident and/or lacking the future looking aspect required for inclusion in a Plenary Council motion. Sadly some members took this failed amendment quite personally, and the most obvious reasons for not getting it approved have nothing to do with misogyny.
 
I think the rest is going to be rebuttal of some of the discussion in the Plenary Tracker unless I remember something else.
 
I found myself getting increasingly angry with the general use of the terms inclusion and exclusion without references to specifics. There is a very big difference between inclusion/exclusion from the Mass, from the parish community, from receiving Holy Communion, from being a parish council member, from being a candidate for ordination, from enrolment of children in Catholic schools, and many other things. Each has very different terms of reference.
 
Comment was made about how inclusion was going so well in schools, hospitals and social services, so how come it isn’t going so well in the rest of the church? There’s a simple answer. When it comes to hospitals and social services, if you are in need, you get helped. When it comes to schools, if you agree not to rock the boat too much when we get a bit Catholic, come on in, we’ll take your money and enroll your child.
 
Absolutely everyone is welcome to attend a Mass, or any other kind of prayer. Obviously if your intent by attending is to conduct a protest, you won’t be welcome. Ditto if you significantly interfere with the ability of people to participate in the Eucharist by screeching, demanding money in a loud voice or otherwise making a scene.
 
Receiving Holy Communion however is a completely different ball-game. By receiving Holy Communion you are reaffirming that you believe all that the Church believes and teaches and that you are committed to living completely according to those beliefs and teachings. Why? Because being in communion requires both love AND truth. Ask a divorced person about what happened to their marriage, and ‘we were no longer being honest with each other’ will be part of that explanation. If you have ever accompanied someone going through the R.C.I.A. programme (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) or read testimonies about someone’s R.C.I.A. experience, you will see a common theme of the struggle to be able to say with sincerity ‘I believe all that the Catholic Church believes and teaches’. Only when that milestone is reached does immediate preparation for the sacraments of initiation begin.
 
When it comes to receiving Jesus in Holy Communion the Church takes things deadly seriously. Jesus is giving His whole self to us; our response has to be giving our whole self to Him – nothing less is appropriate. Even though the Church looks like a bit of a bully it is a protective stance, not an exclusive one. The Church takes 1 Cor 11:28-30 very seriously. “Everyone is to recollect himself before eating this bread and drinking this cup; because a person who eats and drinks without recognizing the Body is eating and drinking his own condemnation. In fact, that is why many of you are weak and some of you have died.”
 
Where the rub comes for many is that Church teaching expects chastity according to state of life for all its members. That’s right. Sexual activity only between a husband and wife, and not acting upon their sexual inclinations for everyone else. Yes again, being Catholic isn’t easy, it isn’t for wimps.
 
Admittedly asking probing questions of each other is not normative unless it becomes unavoidable, or some public scandal has occurred. Don’t ask, don’t tell, is standard operating procedure, with the caveat that even if none of the rest of us knows, God does know, and if a sacrilegious communion is made, there will be God-initiated consequences and they will be unpleasant in the here and now, and most definitely in the hereafter.
 
Remember, during those times in your life that you are unable to make a sacramental communion, you can make a spiritual communion either according to an approved form or in your own words expressing the desire for sacramental communion and asking for Jesus to visit your soul spiritually because at this time you are unable to receive Him sacramentally. Don’t set spiritual communion at low account, great Saints have made a comparison between sacramental communion and spiritual communion as between gold and silver.
 
The Jesuit present at last night’s Plenary Tracker made some pertinent points. Councils are important and necessary, but change is a lot longer process than that. Historically some changes have taken 200 years to be accepted by the Church on a world-wide basis. Change normally doesn’t originate in Councils but from mavericks like Blessed Frederick Ozanam who founded the St Vincent de Paul society, like the youngsters in Melbourne who began driving a van with soup and sandwiches to the homeless, like St Francis of Assisi who founded the Franciscans not because he wanted to but because so many people wanted to live the kind of life with Jesus that he pioneered.
 
Somehow, we have to give up the notion that all discrimination is negative discrimination. There are very good reasons why we only permit qualified electricians to fix electrical problems. There are very good reasons why you have to be over a certain height to go on some fairground rides.
 
We have significant precedents in salvation history that despite living on elbow rubbing terms with cultures that had priestesses, only the male descendants of Aaron could become priests in Israel and Jesus only had His chosen Apostles, all male, at the Last Supper when the Eucharist was instituted. Women can choose to rant and rave about this to God and to everyone else, or they can re-read the passage about the thorn bush in Judges 9:7-15 and perhaps conclude that leaders accept leadership because they’re not productive at anything else – dear sisters, please take stock of those things you have excellence in doing, and happily continue to do those things. Accept that as St Paul says we can’t all be eyes in the Body of Christ, we can’t all be arms, there are things that you dear sisters can do that are absolutely necessary and that no one else can do. Just because a kidney is hidden and unseen and not as out there and visible as a mouth, when it comes to keeping the body alive and healthy - the kidney is far more essential.
 
I fully sympathise with all grievances about priestly ineptitude, gaslighting and high-handed behaviour. But Chesterton speaks true when he says in What’s Wrong With the World, ‘We all admit that a lazy aristocracy is a bad thing. We should not by any means all admit that an active aristocracy would be a good thing. We all feel angry with an irreligious priesthood; but some of us would go mad with disgust at a really religious one.’ In other words, yes, it is bad, but it could be a lot worse; be careful what you wish for.
 
But we can’t hold onto our well-earned grievances. Not if we want to pray ‘forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us’ authentically. Forgiveness is a non-negotiable. By golly gosh it is hard to do, but if we look at the crucifix and at Him who died as much for me as for the person who has hurt me, and see that Jesus wants us both to be reconciled to Him and to each other – it becomes easier. Ask for the grace to forgive, if necessary ask others to join you in seeking that grace. We can’t possibly be witnesses to His kingdom of love and mercy unless we are loving and merciful in our own lives.
 
In late breaking news, somehow the Plenary Council is going to divide the motion on women in the church into small parts and vote on each separately. That seems a tall order given how pressed for time the timetable already is. Perhaps they might not be having as much time off on Friday as they thought – since I can’t see any other way of squeezing it in and giving each part due consideration.
 
What will tomorrow bring?

​The Gospel for this Sunday, the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, is taken from the end of Chapter 9 of St Mark. It comes straight after last week’s Gospel where Jesus gave a lesson on servant leadership and set a child before the Apostles and told them ‘Anyone who welcomes one of these little children in My name, welcomes Me’.

This triggers something in John the Apostle, something that might have been niggling at him for a while, because the words are ‘Ioannes ephe’ ‘John said’. This carries more weight than the more usual ‘Ioannes eitte’, and ‘ephe’ includes connotations of declared, which could include ‘blurted out’.

“Teacher we saw someone else driving out (ekballonta) demons in Your name, and we tried to stop/prevent/hinder/debar (ekolyomen) him (she/it) because he/she does not accompany us (ekolouthei).”

The first ‘him’ (auton) is definitely masculine 3rd person singular. Neuter or feminine 3rd person singular would have been different words. But even Bible Hub’s use of Strong’s 846s’s doesn’t seem to limit the use to masculine only viz ‘Strong’s 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.’

The second verb, ekolouthei, is 3rd person singular, which leaves the ‘he/she/it’ wide open.

Just as a veil has been placed over the ‘someone’ and over whoever and how many of the apostles/disciples constituted the ‘we’ who saw and the ‘we’ who tried to hinder; the ‘auton’ could be a veil as well. Who has never said ‘him’ with their lips, but inferred ‘her’ with an inflection, a roll of the eyes or a conspiratorial smile?

Why was this niggling at John so much that he had to bring the topic up?
Was it because someone else was doing deliverance ministry?
Was it because they (unspecified exactly how many apostles) tried to shut it down?
Was this question niggling at someone else, and John got co-opted to ask the question because he was the least likely to fall out of favour with Jesus?

Prior to this, in Mark 3:15 the apostles were authorised by Jesus to cast out devils. Then in Mark 6:7-13 the apostles get sent out in pairs as missionaries, and they cast out many devils.

Therefore the crowds have seen people other than Jesus, in the authority of Jesus, casting out devils. They have seen the words and the actions done by the apostles, and have also seen the results. At least one person among those crowds was paying careful attention to this; or had received reports of these apostle-initiated deliverances from a friend or relative.

We then see in Mark 9:18 that the apostles (how many?) had been unsuccessful in casting out the spirit of dumbness from a boy.

From Matt 12:27 we know that a ministry of exorcism pre-existed among the Jewish people, because Jesus asks the Pharisees, ‘If it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils, through whom do your own experts cast them out?’

It is extremely interesting that John says ‘we saw someone’, when he could easily have said ‘we saw a man’. And even more interesting is the reply of Jesus, ‘Do not stop (kolyete) him/she/it/they/them (auton). No one who performs/works/constructs (poiesei) a miracle (dynamin) force/miraculous power in My name can quickly turn around and speak evil of Me.’

Neither John nor Jesus excludes anyone from ‘someone’; Jew, Gentile, child, woman or man.
With the ‘No one’ Jesus includes everyone.

And yes, it is possible for Jesus to have placed a similar ironic emphasis on ‘auton’ as John might have done. Nod nod, wink wink, I get the message you are trying to convey to Me, and which you want to keep from the majority of the apostles lest they be scandalised.

So who would the apostles have felt they had the right (and duty) to boss around?
A Jewish expert in exorcism? No.
A Jewish man? Unlikely.
A Gentile man? Maybe.
A woman? Likely.
A child? Likely.

Who would the apostles have considered to be ‘not one of us’?
A non-disciple? Possibly.
A Gentile? Definitely
A woman? Possibly.
A child? Probably not thought of in ‘us and them’ terms.

Who could have been at desperation level with a demonic situation, but not confident enough to ask Jesus or the apostles for help, yet enough of a believer to know the power of the Name of Jesus, and willing to pray and to try anything to resolve the situation?

A youth? A woman? A Gentile? Any combination of these?

Someone thoroughly grounded in faith in Jesus, who heard or saw that ordinary people were by faith using the power of Jesus to cast out devils, were immensely encouraged by this, and who when confronted with the demonic confidently stepped out in faith – and were successful.

It matters not who exactly they were (age, gender, nationality), - and being male isn’t excluded from that either -; but it does matter that this ‘someone’ gave an amazing demonstration of faith in the name and mission of Jesus, and it does matter that we are open to the possibility of God using anyone in this manner.

Could you ever hope to shut someone down who had discovered this?
Someone who had seen and heard the power of God released through his/her co-operation?
Not on your nellie. No way Jose.

Can you imagine Jesus being absolutely delighted with the news of the faith and ministry of this ‘someone’? Can you imagine Him mirroring the response of Moses in Num 11:28-29?.

‘Two men are prophesying in the camp. My Lord Moses, stop them!’ Moses answered, ‘Are you jealous on my account? If only the whole people of God were prophets and the Lord God have His Spirit to them all!’

While the ‘someone’ could have been anyone from these ‘not one of us’ groups, I’ve been particularly struck that it could have been a woman.

This ministry of exorcist has officially been confined to a subset of ordained men, who have particular authorization from a bishop, and special training. This is wise and prudent.
But the lesser ministry of deliverance has since Mark 16:17 ‘These are the signs that will be associated with believers: in My name they will cast out devils’ been open to anyone with sufficient faith in Jesus.*

You could even, based on Genesis 3:15 ‘I will make you enemies of each other: you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring. It will crush your head and you will strike its heel’, say that holy women might even be exceptionally gifted in this area.

Consider this:
https://www.catholicexorcism.org/post/exorcist-diary-143-female-exorcists

Could it be that just as the majority of women are good cooks, but the great chefs are men; that the majority of good exorcists are priests, but there are a few exceptionally gifted women, with the Mary, the mother of Jesus in the lead, who far excel them?

The bottom line is:
You must not stop those God is using – whoever they are.

What does that mean, practically, for us?
Firstly, that all of us should be praying for an increase in faith.
Secondly, that there’s a lot of evil in this world that needs to be cast out, and that we should be willing and open for God, if He so chooses, to do that through us.
Thirdly, that we should be on the lookout to encourage anyone operating in one of the Holy Spirit’s charisms, especially if God has called them to a ministry of deliverance, and to choose to support them rather than thinking about how to shut them – and the associated weirdness that can be part and parcel of such a ministry – down.

Let’s pray.

Dear Heavenly Father, the faith of this ‘someone’ is astonishing to us, as is Your powerful response to his/her faith in Your ardent desire to set people free from the tyranny of evil spirits.
Please forgive me for my lack of faith in You, in Your goodness, and in Your absolute power to save. As the disciples said, we too say, ‘Increase our faith!’ ‘Increase my faith!’.
Upon all those who are already Your ministers of exorcism and Your ministers of deliverance, and upon all those whom You are calling into these ministries, pour out a double portion of Your Holy Spirit. Under the increased anointing of the Holy Spirit may they be more than twice as effective in these ministries as they have ever been before. Please send these frontline warriors of Yours extra protection and extra assistance from Your holy angels. May none of them ever become casualties in this battle for the salvation and deliverance of souls.
Should you want to call me in this ministry direction, or to any other charism-based ministry, my answer is Yes. I want to co-operate with You to the very best of my ability. Please enable me to do that. Please take away my fears, and the fears of all whom You are calling into battle formation against the enemies of our souls. Please grant us a share in the holy confidence You gave to this ‘someone’.
Please show me how, and help me, to recognise when Your holy charisms are at work through others, and inspire me with ways to meaningfully support and encourage them. Amen.
Mary, mother of Jesus, Help of Christians, Mother of Mercy, intercede for all of us. Amen.
…………………………………………………………….
* You might say, what’s the difference?
An admittedly poor analogy might help.
​It is a bit like the difference between a sacrament and a sacramental, except that it is more the difference between a sacramental with the full backing and authority of the ‘Church universal in time and space’ and an ordinary sacramental activated by faith. For lower level cases, the ministry of deliverance will be sufficient; for anything beyond that the ministry of exorcism is needed.
Thank God for both types of ministry being effective in His Name.

​Yesterday I was asked a question about the validity of incorporating rituals from Australian indigenous culture into church events, especially 'welcome to country' and 'smoking ceremonies'.

The questioner had recently read this article, and understandably was disturbed by it https://blog.canberradeclaration.org.au/2019/11/25/australia-my-country-the-smoking-ceremony-and-its-effects

I mistakenly thought that his worries were due to this report about the recent Australian Catholic Youth Festival in Perth http://bernardgaynor.com.au/2019/12/18/observations-from-the-australian-catholic-youth-festival/

That's one side of things.

Then there is this other side summed up by St John Paul II in his address to Australian indigenous peoples: "You are part of Australia and Australia is part of you. And the Church herself in Australia will not be fully the Church that Jesus wants her to be until you have made your contribution to her life and until that contribution has been joyfully received by others."

http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/speeches/1986/november/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19861129_aborigeni-alice-springs-australia.html

and also in

http://romawaterman.com/the-black-stallion/

Both of these positive visions are worth re-reading slowly.

How I replied to my friend went something like this. When it comes to these ceremonies, intention matters, and the careful selection of who leads them matters. As always we need to discern if malice is intended, and if so, to act decisively against that.

Yet we are also called to embrace the good in the cultures that we find, and to preserve and use that good. The Maori's have greatly enriched New Zealand, and the world, with their wisdom, rituals of welcome and the Haka.

So what we are looking for is a carefully discerned 'both/and' not an either/or; and I do recognise that we all shy away from the things that are strange to us.

There are plenty of examples of bad inculturation around, which means that we have to do better and work harder at producing healthy inculturation which is genuine and not just done because it is seen as being politically correct.

When it comes to 'Welcome to Country', there are good values worth preserving. It is good for us to acknowledge that we are part of a continuum, and that we owe much to those who have gone before us, whether they Aboriginal elders past and present, or whether they are the ones who built our parishes, schools, shopping centres and transport infrastructure. We inherit legacy from both sides, and as we partake of the fruits of those labours of theirs, it is only right and just to acknowledge and give thanks for that – although we should go further and actually pray for them too, and for ourselves that the dreams and visions that God implanted in them for this city, municipality, school, parish, diocese, recreation area would be completely fulfilled.

It would do us all good to grow in this type of respect. In the lives of St John Francis Regis and St John Vianney we read that whenever they came to a parish or diocesan boundary they would pray and invoke the assistance of the holy angel to whose care that parish or diocese had been entrusted.

Smoking ceremonies and indigenous sprinkling rites I admit I am more ambivalent about, firstly after reading about the possible dark sides of those rites, and secondly because we have legitimately good holy water that is far more spiritually effective anyway if used in faith.

However I admit that the more bush fire seasons I live through, the more the symbol of smoke as cleansing and uniting becomes meaningful. Smoke speaks of facing unknown dangers together in solidarity. Smoke speaks of the abundant renewal that comes to our bushland once a bush fire has come through it. Smoke speaks of holding onto what is essential as you rebuild life after a fire, and letting go of what is not essential. Smoke speaks of managing resources for the good of all generations, by regularly keeping the build-up of undergrowth under control with hazard reduction fires.  It makes sense to substitute sprinkling rites in places where there is high fire danger.

Definitely there are good values embedded in these ceremonies, but we do need to exercise prudence and get any chants and indigenous language used in them translated carefully from several translators.

It certainly doesn't hurt for us to relearn the truths that our actions have both natural and spiritual consequences, to learn greater respect for the Holy Spirit and to remove anything occult from our lives.

There are still treasures from indigenous culture that have yet to be fully valued, evaluated in light of the Gospel and welcomed into the kingdom of God. And there are still treasures of the Gospel that have yet to have their turn of enriching indigenous culture. We still have much to learn on both sides.

​May the Holy Spirit and the holy angels of God always assist us as we take up this challenge. Amen.

St John Paul the great, pray for us.
St Paul VI, pray for us.
All holy friends of God from the Australian indigenous nations, pray for us.
Our Lady, Help of Christians, pray for us.

It is said that if you can fake sincerity, then you have got it made. This priest, Fr Bill Meacham, was the genuine sincere article, someone St Peter himself would be proud of.
 
This story will be told in parts. First the context details, then the homily at his funeral, followed by the rough transcript of a video tape of him speaking about his priestly life on the occasion of his 50th anniversary of priesthood. After that the homily from the local memorial Mass and then my own memories and some of those shared with me during our time of mourning his loss.

Fr William John Meacham, known to all and sundry as 'Fr Bill' came into this world together with his twin brother on 1 Feb 1933. He was ordained to the priesthood on 8 Mar 1958, and was the parish priest at St John the Baptist, Woy Woy from Nov 1982 until Mar 1997 when he was forced to retire due to ill health. His latter years were spent in Pottsville on the far north coast of NSW, helping out in parishes around that region as required. Later on he required nursing home care until the good Lord decided that his time of earthly service was ended on 1 Jun 2016.

The Funeral

The mementos on the casket included a white chasuble, a white stole, his chalice, his rosary beads, a photo of him as a young priest or seminarian, and his divine office – opened at a page with a prayer card of St Mary MacKillop.

​The readings were rather standard, Wisdom 3, Psalm 23, The Beatitudes from Matthew 5. However the 2nd reading from Ephesians 3 that begins 'I pray before the Father from whom every family gets its name…' was really apt because he was a priest who continually prayed for his people, and who got others to pray as well. I will expand upon that topic later.
 
For various reasons his good mate, Fr Aub Collins MSC was unable to preside over the funeral, so his ordination classmate Fr Michael Kelly did the honours instead:
 
'As the Passover drew near, Jesus arranged for His disciples to prepare the table for the Last Supper. There with His apostles He said, 'Take and eat of this, for this is My Body, the new Manna. This is My Blood. This is Me. Now you go and do what I have done.' On His death bed Jesus gave the family of God the gift of the Mass. 'Go out', He told them, 'cure the sick, look after the poor, if they have sinned, give them My forgiveness.' When Cardinal Gilroy ordained us back in 1958 he told us that the same gift has been conferred on you as given to the Apostles. We were commissioned just as they were, to transform bread and wine into Jesus, and then to go out to the poor and the lonely. Fr Bill went out in joy, to go out like Jesus. He wasn't a book man, but he was a prayer man and a Mass man. He prayed through all his apostolates, the jail, other parishes and Woy Woy, first and foremost giving them the Mass. After a recent Mass at Bateau Bay where Fr Bill's death had been announced a lady came up and spoke to me. Years ago her parents were living at Woy Woy, but they had both lapsed in their faith. Now her dad was seriously ill, so she called the presbytery. Within 30 minutes Fr Bill was at her dad's bedside giving him the sacraments and the last rites. That was the kind of man he was, a man for others. I was up there with him some three weeks ago and I anointed him. Then I asked him to anoint me. I asked him, 'Bill, are you ready?' His answer was, 'Well Mick, we are only going to meet the Master.'

The video clip
 
In our funeral booklets told us that there would be a slideshow after Communion. What we never expected in a million years was this extraordinary video clip which preceded the slideshow. Who expects the deceased to preach to you at his funeral? Therefore it took a little while for me to stop being gob-smacked and to start the pen moving over the paper, so some of the early detail is missing.
 
It was a relaxed and happy Fr Bill that we saw. The room where the food and drink part of his 50th ordination celebrations took place had seats around the perimeter for the adults and lots of children in the middle playing happily. May God reward the person who took this video and arranged it such that it felt like Fr Bill was talking directly to the viewer.
 
It started something like this 'I'm going to tell you a bit about my life as a priest. If you want to listen, that's fine. If you don't, well that's fine too.' And then he did a quintessentially Fr Bill thing, he moved from standing up to getting down at the level of the children, half-reclining on one elbow on the floor. He spoke first about his parents, how his Dad would go and visit the poor every Sunday morning and bring them assistance and how his Mum would go every Friday to visit her housebound mother. From their example and from their faith in God he learned that 'you gotta care for and look after people, especially the sick and the needy'. He decided that the best way to love God and help people was to become a priest. He recalled a day soon after his ordination, at home with his family, when his dad brought in the mail containing the news that he had been appointed to Katoomba parish. Being a Penshurst boy, he had little desire to be sent that far away. But he went, and God blessed him there. From there he was sent to South Hurstville and then to Waitara. It was at Waitara that he experienced the darkest days of his priesthood when his Mum died. Some 10 months after that, his Dad died. Sometime after that one of the Sydney auxiliary bishops (Muldoon?) told him that Cardinal Gilroy wanted to see him. 'O God, what have I done now?' 'No, its not quite like that, I think Gilroy wants to talk to you about doing prison chaplaincy.' So he went to see Gilroy, and Gilroy sent him to serve at Long Bay Jail. Having no clue about how to tackle such an appointment, he contacted Fr John Brosnan 'Brozzie' who was serving as chaplain at Pentridge Prison for advice. It was good advice. 'Don't whatever you do sit on any committees, they're nonsense. Don't ever be critical of the men and women inside. Say to yourself, 'There would I go except for the grace of God'. Just walk around and be friendly with them.' So I did. I would tell them 'Believe in yourself. Believe that you are loved by God and that Christ lives in you. You can choose to live that way, or your old way. How to do it? Act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with your God.' For all of us, what we've gotta do is to love one another. God loves you, just as you are. We don't take that truth in nearly enough. Remember, you can take nothing with you when you go, except your kindness and concern for others.'
 
At that point the video clip ceased, and we were heartbroken at missing the rest of the story.

​The slideshow was good; it showed Fr Bill as a boy growing up in his family, and the close relationships he kept with his brother and with his sisters all his life. There were lots of photos of him dressed in pre Vatican II clobber and offering Mass the pre Vatican II way. But there were also shots of him relaxing on holidays and doing some mild horsing around, living life to the full with gratitude.
 
The church of St Declan's Penshurst was full to capacity for Fr Bill's funeral Mass. It says a lot for someone who had been out of circulation for 19 years. It says a lot when many drove over 90 minutes in peak hour traffic on a Friday prior to a long weekend to get there, and many of them were aged under 50.

The Memorial Mass
 
This fell on the Monday of the long weekend, and we had numbers close to a Sunday Mass attendance. A good many had not been in church much since primary school days, but they came back to pray for Fr Bill and to honour him.
 
The homily for the Mass by the current parish priest, Fr John 'Jack' Robson, went something like this:
 
'It is good to see so many here this morning in honour of Fr Bill Meacham. I did not know him well. All I know is hearsay. He was a hardworking priest to this parish. I have been doing school interviews recently, and many of the parents are ex-St John the Baptist students who were at the primary school during Fr Bill's time. He left a deep and lasting impression on them, and on the whole school. Many made their sacraments with him, some he even baptized. The lives of each of us leave an influence on others whether we know it or not. Pondering that is quite humbling. We hope that this influence is for the good, but it is nonetheless true. It brings to mind a time I was walking along the beachfront at Manly when a young mum with three kids came up to talk to me. 'Sir, you haven't changed a bit'. It turns out she was a pupil from my teaching days. I would tell my classes, 'My name is Mr Robson, but you can call me by my first name, which is 'Sir''. This mum said, of all the teachers I had, I remember you most. Fr Bill's influence went beyond anything he could have imagined. Moving the school site from near the church at Woy Woy over to where it now stands was bold and visionary. In 2 years' time there will be three streams of classes from K to 6. It is growing. I do wish that some of that growth would translate to this part of the parish. Fr Phil, Fr Tim and I will keep plugging away, hoping to inspire parents in their faith enough for them to hand the faith on to their children. Fr Bill, servant of God, priest, man, we remember. He was subject to our same frailties, yet he devoted himself and his life to the service of God and to you, the people of this parish.'

Shared Memories

Fr Bill was a tall gangly man, who walked with a loping off-centre stride. He had a booming voice, a crooked smile and a heart of gold. He had no time for airs and graces, and many a time his shirt needed tucking in again. After he gave up the 'coffin' nails' (cigarettes) he would walk and walk in his white shirt with the gold crosses on the collar and black trousers. There were lots of 'God luv ya nows' and invitations to trust 'in the good Lord and His blessed Mother'. Homilies were short and pithy, with no highfalutin language.
 
One parishioner was surprised that one of the hymns for Fr Bill's funeral wasn't the Galilee Song, because one of her strongest memories of him is him processing down the aisle of the church, swinging his arms to the rhythm of the beat and belting out 'So I leave my boats behind, leave them on familiar shores. Set my heart upon the deep, follow you again my Lord.' (The hymns we did have at the funeral were 'Will you love Me?', 'Gentle as Silence', 'Strong and Constant' and 'Here I am Lord', with 'Bridge over troubled water' as background music to the slideshow.)
 
Another lady of Asian descent spoke movingly of how Fr Bill was a rock for her when her husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and her children were still in primary school. He helped her through not only her husband's death, but dealing with life and grief afterwards.
 
Another mum's life fell totally apart when her teenage son committed suicide. All of us worried at how tempted she was to do the same. But Fr Bill's prayers and support got her through the worst of it and now she's in a place where the light of Jesus beams from her face.
 
Someone else shared with me 'out of the blue' how much Fr Bill's sense of inclusion meant to her when she was a young mum with children at St John's. At the school Masses he would always particularly welcome the mums who weren't Catholic and made them feel for the time of that Mass that they truly belonged.
 
Fr Bill could talk to anyone, especially those who were doing it tough. The precursor to Mary Mac's Place was The Cottage where people could drop in for a cuppa or a meal and be accepted without question. Its founders could not have made it happen without the support and inspiration of Fr Bill. The Cottage being next door to the presbytery, he would drop in too for a yarn. He'd sit down next to someone, size up the situation pretty swiftly, join them in conversation and then lean over and say, 'You know being on the turps isn't good for you mate.' Sure enough, in the next week or so that person would find Fr Bill and open up their hearts to him, and find the grace to start changing their lives.
 
Here's a few comments that were made online about Fr Bill:
 
One of his signature calls was ' God loves you no matter what.'
 
He always took time to be present to the school kids, and to remember their names with a 'G'day ……..'.
 
'What a great man he was! With his gruff manner, when he first arrived at Woy Woy I thought he was sent to the wrong parish. Maybe he should have gone to some country town in the outback. Those thoughts soon passed on. He was the most compassionate priest anybody would ever meet.'
 
'What lovely childhood memories I have of this man including gathering the children around the altar to tell stories like Jesus did. I often think of him and his gentle loving ways.'
 
'He was amazing, he was so caring. He made everyone feel special. There will never be another like our Father Bill'.
 
'Fr Bill was an inspiration to me by way of his living example of humility, compassion, simple lifestyle and living example of a true priest of Christ.'
 
'The most down to earth Priest I've ever had the pleasure to meet. He will be sadly missed.'

And the rest of the memories... 
 
Fr Bill was first and foremost a man of prayer, and a man of prayer that got his people praying too. Before every Mass either Morning Prayer or Evening Prayer was prayed. He wanted that atmosphere of prayer in preparation for Mass. He would join in, and go and get vested as the Benedictus ended. As he sat on the end of a pew, there would often be an interruption from a person seeking a blessing, sharing a confidence or wanting absolution. After morning Mass was the rosary, and he stayed as often as his duties allowed to pray it with his people.
 
At some point before my time Fr Bill had organized a vocations crusade. He asked everyone to commit to coming to Mass an extra day a month to pray for vocations, and after each Mass we would pray the parish prayer for vocations together. We still do. And people still keep that commitment, one lady I know shows up for her day every 17th of the month. This is that prayer:
 
Prayer for vocations
Lord Jesus Christ, You said ‘The harvest is great but the labourers are few. So pray to the Lord of the harvest, to send workers into His harvest’. I pray to You now Lord, at this my daily/weekly/monthly Mass for Vocations: In Your gracious goodness, gift our community with worthy Priests and Religious. May those You choose recognise Your call and respond with a generous heart. And may they always remain true to Your name. Fill with Your strength those who serve us now and remind us to encourage them so that by their happy lives, they will inspire others to follow them. Amen.
 
You won't be surprised to hear that the diocese went through a very dry vocations patch for some 15 years, and that the only young man ordained in that era came from Woy Woy.

We had a parish prayer too, which was prayed at the end of every Sunday Mass. It still gets incorporated every so often into the prayers of the faithful.

Parish Prayer 
Father pour out Your Spirit upon the people of this parish
And grant us a new vision of Your glory
A new experience of Your power
A new faithfulness to Your Word
And a new consecration  to Your service
That Your Love may grow among us
And Your Kingdom come
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
 
Every 5th Saturday of the month had Morning Mass praying for married couples, and especially for married couples going through rough patches.
 
Fr Bill was one of those priests that could be seen walking up and down the presbytery driveway or the verandah of the hall praying his breviary.
 
He was a very good confessor.
 
He was also well ahead of his time before 'inclusion' was a buzz word. At every Sunday Mass he would always begin by 'welcoming any visitors and people not of our faith.' In the same way he was ahead of his time in putting on an annual Christmas Eve Mass at the parish school, where lots of those who would have felt uncomfortable about going inside a church were happy to come, and the children could sit down the front near the altar and pay as much attention as they were capable of.
 
Anything that curbed him from helping people as he saw they needed helping (bishop's decisions, bureaucracy, Catholic Schools Office etc) he was impatient with.
 
Only a few months back there was a parish meeting with our new bishop. He asked us what was good about our parish, and over and over again Fr Bill's name came up as the person who had engaged them in parish life and called forth gifts in them that they hadn't recognized in themselves.

The Rosary Makers who get together each Tuesday morning to pray and to make rosary beads and scapulars probably started in Fr Bill's time too, and he most definitely encouraged them. Only God could count the number of rosaries that have gone off blessed to mission lands abroad and to catechist classes close at hand.
 
He organized bus loads to go down to Randwick for the beatification of Mary MacKillop in 1995, and kept the spiritual temperature of the parish healthy with parish missions from the Redemptorists and from Fr Aub Collins MSC.
 
He was generous with practical wisdom too. If a couple came to him preparing for marriage, he'd tell them to start with a simpler honeymoon than they were planning and to go for a better holiday together some 6 months down the track when they'd enjoy it far more after all the initial awkwardness had worn off.
 
In his time the 50th anniversary of the parish came up. He knew what to do, worked out the parishioners who had the ability to get things done, put them in a room, gave them a few parameters and watched them work out the jobs that needed doing and each one volunteered for the parts that appealed to them. Every fortnight or so until the celebration events were over, the group met to checked in with each other on progress. Never, ever have I seen a team work so well, so productively and so happily as I saw that team do. We had a parish celebration dinner at a local club, a big celebration Mass at the school, a parish history booklet printed, and commemorative bottles of port.
 
Lest you think it was all roses, there were thorns. One parishioner still goes to sleep by counting curates rather than sheep. The parish needs two fully gung-ho priests for it to hum, and so often Fr Bill would be given someone to work with who was only capable of shouldering 50% of the weight they needed to. There were health issues too, and recovery from a serious car accident. God alone knows what he had to deal with long term after an inmate knifed him in prison. To those close to him he would share the grief he had over the ignoring of his recommendations for choosing which of the teachers on the shortlist who would be best able to help the children. Because he cared what happened to people, he sometimes had to use the whisky bottle to calm down after bureaucratic frustrations. He kept his distance from bishops, and always sent someone else out to welcome them and look after their requirements.
 
Each of his parishioners knew that they were loved by God, and by him. No one since has yet been able to love the parish into life like he did.
 
May the Master he served so well, show him the full extent of His Mercy and grant Fr Bill all the eternal rewards he so richly deserves. Amen.

..............................................................

If you knew him (or even if you didn't) and want something to remember him by, here are some bookmarks (below) arranged on an A4 page. You will need 160-210 gsm paper to print them on.

St John the Baptist, pray for him.
​St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, pray for him.

Workshop 1F: Room for everybody – Disability and Inclusion

This workshop was presented by Rev Dr Anthony Gooley a deacon from the Archdiocese of Brisbane and currently working with the Broken Bay Institute, together with Zachariah Duke, a PhD student who also lectures at the Broken Bay Institute.  Dr Gooley has recently published a book called 'Bite Size Vatican II'.

This is Maria's story.

Maria is 36 years old, and has a range of disabilities including some intellectual disability and physical difficulty in communicating due to a malformation of the palate. Some sounds she is able to make are recognisable as words.

Maria was moved to a group home, in a location she had no connection with, but not by choice. This was chosen for her by the department of disability services. The three others who live in the group home have similar disabilities. She did not know these three prior to moving in. Her main source of interaction with other people is with paid workers eg cleaners, case workers, those who prepare meals.  There is a high turnover rate with these paid workers: they don't stay long. Friends are few, and family rarely make contact.

Due to the move, Maria was also now in a new parish. She got noticed quickly because she was very physical in her response to the music. If the music was good, she would clap and sway. Mostly she didn't clap according to the rhythm of the music, and she would sit as close as she could to the musicians. Her behaviour was seen as annoying by most people.

In the same parish was a bloke named Paul. He was married with children, was employed and had lots of friends. He was also a valued member of the parish and the parish choir. After observing what had been going on, Paul decided to ask Maria a question: 'Would you like to join the parish choir?'

This question was the start of a major transformation in Maria's life. She now had a reason to go out of the group home for choir practice : something that wasn't medical, governmental etc that was her choice and not chosen for her. She was also meeting people on a person to person basis, not on a doctor to patient, or carer to client basis. Over time she was invited to join the choir at the coffee shop after Mass, and other activities they decided to do as a group. Once the choir group started focussing on what Maria could do rather than what she couldn't do, it was only a matter of time before someone offered her a part-time job that suited her abilities. Now she not only belonged, and had access to relationships that could last, she also had the little bit of independence and self-worth which comes from being employed and a colleague.

Paul was able to reach out to Maria because he grew up with a brother who had Downs Syndrome, and the confidence to relate to her and the ability to smooth her integration into the choir group. He recognised that both Maria had the capacity to become a valued choir member and that the choir had the capacity to include someone a bit different into their activities – and he acted on it. As a result of his invitation to Maria, some of the community grew in confidence in relating to her and in the capacity to include others in similar situations.

Thinking Time

We were asked to take a few minutes to write down some of the things a person could do to contribute to a choir other than singing. This are the ideas the workshop attendees came up with:

Helping with the administration of the music sheets, preparing the tea and coffee after the practice, playing a musical instrument, playing a percussion instrument, helping set up the electrical stuff (microphones, amplifiers, etc) work the overhead slides, turn the pages of music for the organist, help choose the music, doing the photocopying, setting up the music stands, filling the folders with copies of the new music, and handing out hymn books.

Those with disabilities still have the same needs we do, the basic ones (food, clothing, shelter, safety) as well as the need for an income, for social interaction, for good health, for purpose etc)

Society is still fearful of disability, and sees a disabled person as a cost and a burden rather than a person.

Disability is a common, but varied experience. Most people will experience a bout of disability in their lives (failing eyesight, reduced mobility, broken bones, mental illness etc)

Zachariah then told us a bit about his qualitative inquiry into how the Catholic Church in Australia is doing with regard to inclusion. He spoke about some of the 25 interviews he had conducted with people across Australia and the questions that were part of that interview process:

• Describe the extent of inclusion in your parish/ school/ deanery/ diocese.
  
  
• Does the practice of inclusion match the talk about inclusion in your area?
  
  
• Is your parish/school/deanery/diocesan policy backed up with resources?
  
  
• Have there been any modifications to liturgy and worship to make it more inclusive?
  
  

As you might expect, in some places we are doing well and in other places not so well with regard to inclusion of those with disabilities in church life.

Inclusion is a planned and intentional activity

• Most parishes don't plan to exclude people, they just fail to plan to include them.
  
  
• At any given time 20% of the population has a disability of some sort (mobility, eyesight, healing, intellectual and emotional disabilities etc)
  
  
• Maybe there are people in your parish who are not in the pews because they simply can't get in (eg no ramp, too far to walk from car park to pew)
  
  
• Maybe there are people in your parish who are not in the pews because they have experienced hurt, misunderstanding and exclusion at some time in the past (eg they were supposed to do a reading at a special Mass but they could not get up the stairs necessary to do so)
  
  
• Maybe there are people in your parish who are not in the pews because they don't know you want to include them (eg we are a safe, understanding place you can bring your autistic child to)
  
  

  Plan for access

• Access (ease of getting in and out of your building) is only one issue, but a complete audit of accessibility of all areas is essential (eg there is little point being able to get into the building if you then can't gain access to a toilet).
  
  
• Inclusion is much, much more than providing ramps and toilets for those with limited mobility. Inclusion is knowing that if you are not there, that you will be missed.
  
  
• There is no access without planning
  
  
• Don't assume you can fix access problems without the input of those who find it difficult to access your buildings. Talk with them, learn from them. Plan with them.
  
  

Engage in advocacy

• Meet with local disability groups. It is one way of making sure they know you want to include them.
  
  
• Learn from these groups, they are your best teachers on the path to inclusion
  
  
• Find out about the issues and challenges they face
  
  
• Show solidarity with them, as allies and advocates in their needs (eg if the local railway station needs a lift, join them in lobbying the various levels of government.
  
  
• Get your local parish social justice group involved
  
  

Consider how those with disabilities can serve at a parish level

• For each type of service, greeters, collectors, readers, altar servers, extraordinary ministers of holy communion etc ask, 'Who could do this role?'
  
  
• Focus on what a person with a disability can do, not on what they can't do.
  
  
• Ask them what they would like to do. The answers may surprise you.
  
  
• Think also about other ways of service : social media communication, parish bulletin folding, setting up for social functions, operating  the overhead screens, cooking, driving, craft group etc
  
  

Inclusion is about evangelisation. It is about welcome.

Don't be afraid to put up great big signs to say, 'we have a ramp', 'we have a hearing loop'.  

The spirituality and theology of communion give us an excellent framework for thinking about inclusion.

Novo Millennio Ineunte 43-50 and Lumen Gentiium Chapter 5 are well worth meditating on in this context.

The spirituality and theology of communion is the key to understanding the central concept of Vatican II.  

Communion suggests that inclusion is at the heart of the self-definition of the Church, and not a special project for communities. Communion regards the Eucharistic assembly as the realisation of inclusion and communion. Periodically it is worthwhile to have prayers for those with disabilities in the prayers of the faithful. By Baptism each person becomes a member of the Church, so each baptised person who has a disability is fundamentally included and this just needs to become a lived reality in parish life. We need to minimise the numbers of those who say in words or by their behaviour 'you are not welcome'.

When the priest hold up the host and says, 'The Body of Christ' to which we respond 'Amen', we are saying Yes, Amen to the Body of Christ present in the whole Church, in His ministers, and in Jesus Himself.

Communion highlights the necessity of a spiritual foundation of inclusion. Inclusion is one of the authentic signs of the Kingdom of God. We need to encourage prayer and reflection on these matters. We need to name the struggles and to work on them. We need to form parishioners in holiness.

Getting 'buy in' from parishioners at a parish level is not easy – because inclusion is not a glamorous issue.  

The challenge is to find ways to connect with those not yet included. Three possible pathways are employment, housing and the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). In any parish there are parishioners who are potential employers, providers of work experience and advocates for those with disabilities.

What are the options for valued work in a parish context for those with disabilities?

Who are the small business owners in your parish?

A lot of people don't know what kinds of help are available to them, if they or a loved one has a disability.  

Principles to guide inclusion in a parish context

• Plan with, not for, people with disability
  
  
• It is not about the disability, it is about Maria and Jose, Meena and Aaron-real people with concrete needs.
  
  
• It is not about something we are doing for them (people with disability) but something we are doing for us (the Catholic community). Without them we are diminished. Anything we do to help someone with a specific disability will also benefit everyone else who has a lesser form of that disability.
  
  
• Beware of talking to people as though they were children or babies, they're not.
  
  

God's big revelations have been Himself, Holy Scripture and Community (Israel/Church)  

We need to invite others to become part of the inclusion process. We need to help them to get to know people with disabilities, to prepare them to succeed, and to do as much myth busting about various disabilities as possible.  

The Australian Catholic Disability Council  (Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ACDCouncil )

https://www.catholic.org.au/advisory-bodies/australian-catholic-disability-council

https://www.catholic.org.au/media-centre/councils/cat_view/11-councils/50-australian-catholic-disability-council

This Council has produced many publications, including braille versions and audio versions of Papal documents.  

Working on inclusion is taking part in the mission of Jesus, who enabled people on the margins to return to the full life of the community.      

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In the next blog-post will be about the workshop on the Kerygma – the essential part of the Gospel to proclaim.

Some of the workshops have been made available as podcasts via www.xt3.com

To access them visit http://www.xt3.com/library/view.php?id=17454