Living the Ascension
The feast of the Ascension is a feast which might not seem to reach into the everyday living of our faith. Although Mark's account gives us the barest of details, simply telling us that Jesus was taken up into heaven, this only happens after Jesus has spoken to them and conjuring up all kinds of seemingly strange images about snakes and poison. However, I think the Ascension and the Gospel for the day offer us quite a lot to go on both personally and as a member of the Catholic Community. First of all the commands:
1) Go out to the whole world
2) proclaim the good news to all creation.
These are pretty demanding commands. Is going out to the whole world something simply geographic? Is it easier to think in terms of great distances rather than the whole of the world gathered in my town or place of work? Keeping things at a distance is often much easier. And proclaiming the good news to the whole of creation? Not just people? That made me think - how do I proclaim the good news to the whole of creation? Does my lifestyle and choices actually make good news for the whole of creation? Over the last couple of years, the LiveSimply network have been promoting the call of creation to live simply, sustainably and in solidarity with all. How do you or your church community rate yourselves in those three areas?
A few years back, a colleague and I were invited to lead an evening reflection for a Lent group in a Derbyshire village. During the evening, there would be a fasting supper. However, the person who invited us to lead the reflection suggested it would probably be worth eating before we came as there wouldn't be much to eat (Honestly!) During the evening, the finest home made soups, freshly baked breads and rich cheese appeared. It seemed that somewhere along the line, the point of the fasting supper had been lost Maybe too, we have missed the point of proclaiming the good news to the whole of creation, especially when we proclaim it only in words.
At the risk of being overly political, maybe you've seen the advert being used by the BNP for the elections next week. An image of Jesus, pretty negative BNP questions about multiculturalism and then the question "What would Jesus do?" I think the answer the Gospels give is not one the BNP would expect: "Go out to the whole world, proclaim the good news to all creation" - speak with it, touch it, nurture it, heal it, support it, stand in solidarity with it. The whole of creation - including people.. The feast of the Ascension calls us to rise above our small concerns and to be lifted out of our small world view . That means proclaiming the good news to all creation - and living simply, sustainably and in solidarity.
One final question: how does our catechesis - especially in this season of mystagogy - tap into the nature of faith and politics as a lived reality.
Who says religion and politics don’t mix?
This week sees the inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the USA - just in case you'd missed the fact. He is of course the first mixed race president, with a diverse almost global heritage. It is also quite striking that his inauguration takes place the day after Martin Luther King Day. There are huge (and one would have to say, almost messianic) expectations being laid on his shoulders from around the world. His inauguration is definitely seen as ‘good news'. His name - ‘Barack' does mean ‘blessed' or ‘blessing' (Swahili/Arabic).
Next week, we really begin to get to grips with Mark's gospel. It is worth taking the time to sit down a read the gospel in its entirety before turning to look at how we experience Mark's gospel in the lectionary - its very short, only sixteen chapters and will probably take less than an hour to read. It has a very direct beginning and a most peculiar ending - which most of us tend to miss. But in reading the gospel as a whole, rather than relying on the weekly snapshots in the lectionary, we get a stronger sense of who Mark is and the situation he was writing in and people he was writing for. As Mark was writing for Christians facing terrible persecution in some ways he offers quite a dark gospel filled with moments of conflict and testing. But from the outset, the gospel makes it clear that Jesus really is good news in the darkest of times.
Bringing these two images of ‘good news' together, leads me to ask how is our faith ‘good news for the whole world'. We can be pretty good at spiritualizing or internalizing the good news bit and of course it does have these dimensions. But its also a good news that demands to be lived and proclaimed in the political arena. We've probably all heard the old argument that religion and politics don't mix - and there are things going on in the world that would seem to support that. However, we can't be Catholic and Christian without being political. If it is a way of life rather than a leisure pursuit then faith and politics have to mix. So how does our faith affect our politics? Our voting in elections? Do we vote in a way which is good news for all or good news for me (and I'm asking myself that question)?
This does raise some questions for our practice as catechists. How do we make the connection between faith and politics? How do we share a faith that is ‘good news' both personally and politically?
If you do find time to sit with Mark's gospel this week, see what you notice and what good news it offers you. And then have a look at the table in the front of the missal which lays out Mark in Ordinary time and notice what is added in from John's gospel and what is left out of Mark's.
And do pray for Barack Obama and his family this week as he becomes the 44th President of the United States of America.
Is This It?
God our Father,
From living stones, your chosen people,
You have built an eternal temple to your glory.
Increase the spiritual gifts you have given to your Church,
So that your faithful people may continue to grow
Into the new and eternal Jerusalem.
You are God's building. By the grace God gave me, I succeeded as an architect and laid the foundations, on which someone else is doing the building. Everyone doing the building must work carefully. For the foundation, nobody can lay any other than the one which has already been laid, that is Jesus Christ.
Didn't you realise that you were God's temple and that the Spirit of God was living among you? If anybody should destroy the temple of God, God will destroy him, because the temple of God is sacred; and you are that temple.
(1 Cor 3:9-11,16-17)
As I looked at the readings for this week, I was led in a variety of directions. Rather than trying to make them fit neatly together, I offer a little mosaic of random thoughts. Hopefully something will grab you!
First image:
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been leading a course called Know Your Faith in one of our deaneries. On the way to the parish venue, I pass through a former mining village with a rather dark, bleak looking church building. A notice board outside the building has several peeling signs outside asking “Is this it?” 
I don’t know if it refers to the church, the village or life in general. But it is a striking image. Every week when I pass, I wonder what the people who pass make of the sign and also what it says about the Christian community that gathers there. Is it a question people ask on arrival or exit?
A course participant a few years back asked those gathered “If our parish closed down tomorrow and nobody went there again, would anybody else notice? Would they miss us? Would it make a difference?”
The images in the readings this week also offer very striking images of the Church. Ezekiel talks to us about the water flowing from the sanctuary, the water which brings life wherever it flows. Bearing new fruit that never withers and never fails. Is that an image which captures the spirit of our Catholic community in whichever parish we find ourselves? Do we bring life to all we meet and all we touch?
If you think about your parish community, which image would capture its spirit?
What image of Church runs through the catechesis you offer? Is it true to life?
Would anyone outside the community notice if nobody gathered there again?
Second image
The second reading is again quite striking – certainly for our ministry of catechesis. We are building on foundations already laid. It is a good reminder that when we meet people, they are already part of God’s building and we aren’t starting from scratch. Something brought them here. Just as Paul reminds us that Jesus Christ is the foundation, the GDC reminds us that the purpose of catechesis is communion and intimacy with Christ. Our ministry is to nurture that communion and intimacy. But we do need to proceed carefully – our role is not to tell people who Christ is but to create the space and opportunity for people to encounter Christ. And that includes us. The problem is, when it comes to Jesus the Christ, we all have our own experience, our own relationship. We need to be careful that we don’t impose or overlay our experience of Christ on someone else. Communion and intimacy grow more through prayer, liturgical experience, and encountering Christ in scripture. Creating these opportunities is skilful, it demands that we must be vulnerable and intimate with each other if we are to be intimate with Christ. We also have to be prepared to encounter Christ anew and for our intimacy with Christ to deepen and be changed. Talking about Christ or what the catechism says is much easier.
Professor David F Ford n his book Self and Salvation talks about the ‘vague face of Christ’. I offer the quotation below. Its hard reading, but well worth the effort
“The most obvious problem regarding the face of Jesus is its apparent vagueness. Nobody can see this face. We do not even have an artistic or photographic evidence of it. So people might imagine any sort of face and project whatever they like onto it.
But the fact that we don know what Jesus looks like might be helpful to us:
“…the undetermination of (Jesus) face is intrinsically connected to both the mystery of God and relationship to every other face. It is the openness of the hospitable face, the good undetermination of not being self-contained. This face is alive with the life and glory of God, so its openness has all the capacity for innovation and surprise which belong to God. It is so oriented to others that knowing and loving this face means being called to know and love them. Its self-effacement constantly urges those who look to it that they should route their seeking the face of Christ through other people. This is the long detour of recognising Christ in others, not one of whom is irrelevant to knowing and loving him…”
(Adapted from David F Ford, Self and Salvation, CUP 1999:172-3).
A Space For Encounter
Walking round the local mega-supermarket last year in Autumn (part of a well known ‘family’) was like entering a time-warp. In the same aisle were Halloween costumes, Bonfire Night essentials and a few early reminders that Christmas wasn’t too far away. In the milk aisle, the plastic cow was mooing and the plastic chicken clucked next to the eggs. In the background, over the PA system, someone was giving a commentary on life in the store – bargains on aisle 26, Golf Clubs on aisle 2 – oh, and “Sandra on aisle 24 is 40 today, lets all sing: Happy Birthday too you…”. By the time I got the shower-gel aisle, I was completely overwhelmed with the endless choices – Which water do I want? What kind of bread do I want? What kind of cereal, soap, ….? The experience became somewhat surreal and for a moment, time stood still and I began to feel like I was caught in some weird sci-fi universe in which “resistance is futile”.
So, what has this got to do with RCIA? The key thing is to trying not to overwhelm people all at once with the speed of the process and all that’s on offer.
As many of our parishes will be preparing to welcome new enquirers over the next couple of months maybe we need to be aware that in new situations people can easily feel overwhelmed, carried along by the momentum of the group and end up feeling a like there’s no way out - or that ‘resistance is futile’. We often speak of meeting people ‘where they’re at’ and not where we want them to be. This requires discernment on the part of the enquirer and of catechists – and it requires us as catechists to be aware of any of our own desires and tendencies which might be coming into play. It also means avoiding the temptation of the October – Easter ‘course’. RCIA is a gradual process, not a treadmill. How does the way we work in parishes allow for the different speeds at which enquirers will journey?
We also need to avoid the RCIA curriculum approach – we’re not about putting everything our faith brings to us on offer all at once – like the supermarket shelves. We are about creating space for an encounter with Christ. As Pope Benedict said recently, Christianity is not a moral code or a philosophy, but an encounter with a person. In speaking of Paul on the road to Damascus he said "this change of his life, this transformation of his whole being was not the result of a psychological process, of a maturation or intellectual and moral evolution, but it came from outside: It was not the result of his thinking but of the encounter with Jesus Christ.”
( http://www.zenit.org/article-23546?l=english)
In exploring the implications of conversion for us as Christians today, he said "We can touch Christ's heart and feel him touch ours. Only in this personal relationship with Christ, only in this encounter with the Risen One do we really become Christians. And in this way, our reason opens, the whole of Christ's wisdom opens and all the richness of the truth. Therefore, let us pray to the Lord to enlighten us, so that, in our world, he will grant us the encounter with his presence, and thus give us a lively faith, an open heart, and great charity for all, capable of renewing the world."
( http://www.zenit.org/article-23546?l=english)
Handing On Our Faith – Looking Back and Looking Forward
At this stage in the year, most of us are thinking about the way our current journey changes as our RCIA groups reach an ending and start to think about beginning again. Reviewing the journey and planning ahead are important tasks. How do we undertake our review? There are the usual reflections on what worked well and what worked not so well, but maybe our review needs to take place at a deeper level.
This year, the Diocese of Nottingham has chosen Handing On Our Faith as a theme for the year. It struck me that the Handing On Our Faith prayer offers some key points for reflection at this stage of our journey in RCIA.
Father,
Our faith is a gift from you.
Help us by the power of your Spirit
to grow in love, so that we may be
Faithful to our baptism
Alert to the needs of our world
Inspired to proclaim your Word
Tireless in upholding justice
Hopeful in forming the future.
By handing on our faith as a gift,
may we share the hope given us by Jesus your Son.
Amen.
How do we offer ‘Faith as a Gift’?
Most gifts are gift-wrapped and part of the excitement and anticipation is untying the bows and peeling back the paper to explore what is inside. So perhaps the first question for reviewing and planning is: do we concentrate on the outer wrapping (what we do) or exploring what’s inside (why we do it)?
Tom Groome talks about our faith as offering ‘eight gifts for life’ which offer some insights into what we’re about. Recognising that
that all are good people made in God’s image and likeness
that we live in a gracious world and are called to see God in all things
that we are a community for life, made for each other – as Timothy Radcliffe says “I am because we are”
that we offer a tradition to inherit, a living tradition expressed in all times and all places, not a dusty traditionalism
our faith is built on a reasonable wisdom which isn’t about suspending reason to believe but integrating faith and wisdom
we have a spirituality for everyone which is expressed and lived in a variety of ways
our faith is faith that does justice beyond the scales
to be Catholic demands an openness to welcoming everybody even if there are aspects of their situation which seem at odds with Church teaching
That’s quite a checklist! Maybe a question for our parish RCIA teams in planning and reviewing is to reflect on these ‘eight gifts for life’ and to consider also how faith is a gift in our own lives first and then where they are found in our parish practice and how they underpin what we do in RCIA.
The central part of the prayer offers a ‘mini Catholic manifesto’ and again might offer guidance for our planning and review:
How do we talk about Baptism with our catechumens and candidates? In her recent book Living Baptism Clare Watkins reminds us that Baptism isn ‘t primarily for ourselves, it should make a difference to the world:
“…baptism is not simply about religious piety, about which group you belong to, or worship with. Baptism is not a private, devotional affair, but carries with it a demand for the transformation of life, and an empowerment to live in a changed way…baptism makes a difference to the world, a difference oriented to God.”
Clare Watkins
Is our catechesis connected to the needs of our world, locally and globally? Does it take account of what takes place outside the Church doors? Does it offer people the means to see God’s presence in all things?
How do we proclaim the word of God? Is it a fundamental part of our process or an add on? Does it make the connection between the stories people bring with them and the word we proclaim in scripture?
Is our catechesis connected with justice? Does it form us as people who are concerned and active in upholding and promoting justice?
What future does our catechesis seek to form? Is our catechesis hope-ful? Is it about forming the future or the here and now?
There are a lot of questions there, but if we are serious about reviewing the journey, reviewing our work as catechists and planning for the future, we need to have some framework which we can check with and reflect on. Hopefully this offers some useful suggestions!
All Are Welcome In This Place!
We all know that our parish community is a warm and welcoming community - its just that sometimes we hide it quite well!
I have three distinct experiences of moving to new areas and finding a new parish. When I left college and took my first job in a completely alien city, I found a warm, welcoming and vibrant parish community - people introduced themselves, told me what kind of things were happening in the parish and invited me to join in with certain groups and activities. When I moved to a new city with a new teaching post, I moved to a very active and lively parish - who didn't need anyone else. They were quite happy with themselves, thankyou very much. After a couple of months, I gave up. I felt quite invisible. It was a frustrating and isolating experience and for a time, I didn't go to Church at all until I moved house and thought I'd try again. It was a relief to find a parish where I met families I knew and children I taught. In my present parish (another city), there was a gradual initiation into the community in several stages. Week 1 - nothing. After a couple of weeks, when people began to realise that I was still there, there were a couple of nods of the head. After a month, there were greetings exchanged and finally conversation.
Stepping into a new place, meeting a new community can be very intimidating. Parish communities are no longer as stable and established as they once were - people move for work and a whole variety of reasons. Perhaps in larger parishes, new faces are lost in the crowd. So how do we welcome new people into our communities?
Our readings for the first Sunday of Advent asked us to ‘Stay Awake'. Maybe during Advent and the Christmas season, we can stay awake and watch for the new faces and families who join our communities and perhaps old ones we haven't seen for a while. We may only meet them once or twice, and how we welcome them on those occasions makes an impression and might well make a difference. Take a special care to notice those who come to Mass on their own. How do we welcome those for whom English isn't a first language? Do we have information in Polish, Portuguese etc?
Take a parish audit:
- When you walk through the doors of the Church, what is your immediate impression?
- Is the word "Welcome" obvious?
- Is information regarding mass times, facilities and contact numbers (e.g. Children's Liturgy leaders) immediately noticeable?
- Before Mass, who is there to welcome people?
As the new Church year starts, clear out the clutter of old notices and papers and create a fresh and welcoming space.
The First Sunday of Advent is one of the times, through the year, when many parishes celebrate the Rite of Acceptance into the Catechumenate. The continuing welcome we extend to those journeying towards initiation or reception into the Church makes a difference to their experience and the experience of the parish journeying with them. What opportunities are there for the two journeys to interact? Celebrate the liturgies of the RCIA publicly during the Sunday liturgy, pray for the Candidates and Catechumens during the General Intercessions, introduce the parish community to the candidates and catechumens and the candidates and catechumens to the parish community. Evidence suggests the welcome of the community both during the journey towards initiation and afterwards makes a difference to whether the newly received stay with the Church or disappear off the radar.
There is information available on the internet.
- Visit Portsmouth diocesan website and for downloads on the Ministry of Welcome, Tips for Being a Welcoming Parish and Keeping in Touch.
- Also CASE Resources which has suggestions for welcoming people back to Church this Advent and Christmas.
Stay awake. Keep watch.