The importance of sycamore trees
The importance of sycamore trees
Before I became a Catholic, reading and reflecting on Scripture, hearing the Word expounded, meeting with other Christians for prayer and praise, and praying on my own, were all important things I did in the practice of my faith. And when I did became a Catholic they remained just as important to me, although I also began to appreciate the reality of the Mass much more than I had before. I encountered some more things people did, such as the Stations of the Cross, saying the rosary, exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, honouring Our Lady and the Saints and asking them to pray for us, and going to places like Lourdes. I now understand some of these practices more than I did and am much the better for doing so. The others I may come to understand more fully one day in the future when the Spirit leads me in that direction. But I see them all as part a fascinating spiritual landscape to be explored. A corporate distillation of 2000 years of shared spiritual reflection
But how many hours a day should I spend in prayer, or in reading the Scripture or in saying the Office, and how often should I say the rosary or go to Mass during the week, and how much of my money and time should I give away to those in need? The answer could well be ‘a lot more than I do’ but, apart from the useful discipline of the Sunday obligation, it’s the S word – the should word that often indicates that the cart is before the horse and that there is a major loss of the plot. St Paul (1 Corinthians13:3) went as far as saying ‘and even if I give up my body to be burned – if I am without love, it will do me no good whatever’. What St Paul (and, indeed, St Thérèse of Lisieux) meant by ‘love’ was inseparable from an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. Originally the word ‘charity’ meant this kind of love (derived from the Latin caritas), but somehow the ‘should’ type of do-gooding gave birth to the unpleasant expression ‘as cold as charity’.
Sycamore Fig
Zacchaeus (Luke chapter 19) was a rich man but his riches did not win him any friends. His neighbours hated him as a tax-collector and a collaborator with the Roman army of occupation, and they suspected him of ripping them off. When Zacchaeus heard that Jesus was coming, the crowd would not let him get through to the roadside as Jesus came along. Being, like me, vertically challenged, he couldn’t see what was going on. But Zacchaeus had one quality that was to prove the gateway to life. He knew that he wanted to see Jesus very much indeed. He was so determined that he single-mindedly climbed a tree*, perhaps spoiling his expensive clothes in the process and causing some loss of dignity. But he wanted to see Jesus more than anything else. And not only did he see Jesus but Jesus looked up and saw him. And Jesus honoured him beyond his wildest dreams – he chose to come eat with him in his house. Here was totally undeserved and freely-given grace that filled him with joy. We are not told whether Jesus told him that he should clean up his act or even ‘should’ give up being a tax-collector. But when so much love is freely given there isn’t any ‘should’ about it. Zacchaeus reacted to the grace offered by Jesus by repenting and wanting to make amends to anyone he had defrauded by misuse of his office.
Religious practices are good sycamore trees if they help us to see Jesus and to reach out to him. If we let them become ends in themselves they are sycamore trees on the wrong road into Jericho. But if we let the living Holy Spirit lead us to the ways of organising our spiritual life according to where we are at the moment on our faith journey, the Lord will be spending more time at our house.
*The sycamore of the Bible is not the familiar Acer pseudoplatanus, (a kind of maple) that is so common in Britain but the Sycamore Fig , Ficus sycamorus . The tree Zacchaeus climbed would be much smaller than the ones around Wuthering Heights!
On the Road
We know that each inquirer’s journey in faith started long before s/he approached someone in the parish. In recent months we have met up with some people from close to home and some from eastern Europe, from Asia and from Africa. Diverse experiences of church and Christianity enrich our conversations and become parables that question our perspectives. We meet at a particular point on our roads of faith and know that God was there long before.
BarTimeus was on the Jericho road ahead of Jesus. This man seems to be nameless - recorded for us as ‘son of Timeus’. I’m reminded that all who come seeking baptism are already sons and daughters in human and divine relationships. Already they are prepared to recognise Jesus the Christ, already they have shouted out (or, at least, whispered their questions to someone) and been directed to ‘journey in faith’!
In his dark existence the son in next Sunday’s gospel story seems to have been waiting – on the ‘look out’ for possibilities of a different way of living, or seeing. He was restricted in physical sight but not in insight. He found the Son who took those possibilities way beyond his imaginings. We are told he was begging – waiting to be given what he needed to live on. So often we are witnesses in our Journey in Faith groups of the hunger that has developed for people when they experience new challenges in life. The birth of a child, or should I say, the awesome experience of becoming a parent, is one of those sparks that ignite a desire to see more, a recognition that they now perceive life differently. For others it maybe the death of someone close or a new stage in their children’s lives, or simply the culmination of years of questioning. For many different reasons people can find themselves “no longer at ease in the old dispensation…” (cf Journey of the Magi, TS Elliott). Ways that ‘fit’ for them in the past are no longer are enough.
Was the beggar’s ‘trigger’ the noise of the crowd around Jesus? The opposition he encountered made him shout louder. Recently a young mother faced an obstacle to being received into full communion. The questions she had then increased for her but they also led her to a firmness of resolve and a deep peace. Along with this she had a willingness to wait for God’s timing, not hers. Of course, she also took action but it was coming from a place within her that she had not, until then, known in its depths and its patience. The initial anxiety that she felt as a process of discernment was suggested gave way to insights and commitment beyond her expectations.
We all struggle sometimes to find a place from which to face the road ahead. In sharing the insights each is given we are all led to be more aware of our own way on the journey of discipleship. We may be blind to so much of God’s ways for us but have the assurance that healing is offered. With Bar Timeus we, too, ask, “Master, let me see again."
Inquirers, sponsors and catechists alike, as Bar Timeus, come together to walk the road of faith for one reason and then find quite other reasons for continuing. Perspectives are altered on this journey. It may be a profound alteration as with another young woman who recently told us that she had never understood forgiveness before. The unfolding revelation changed her. Feelings of revenge and anger had seemed to her, a normal, even correct response to something like the murder of an innocent child. For many months the forgiveness offered by the child’s mother had bothered her. Now, however, she saw differently and felt that this change in her way of ‘seeing’ had effected a profound change in her. Looking back over recent months she spoke of seeing herself to be a different person now.
The beggar in Mark’s story was probably in a static place on the road so as to beg alms from those leaving Jericho and heading for Jerusalem. As that man became a traveller on the road he saw his life in a totally new way. He had somehow recognised that the person he was told was Jesus of Nazareth was in fact the Messiah and nothing would be the same again. He called out to Jesus as Son of David, not Jesus of Nazareth. He saw what other, sighted people could not see. Some tried to keep him quiet, keep him back – to keep him in his place? Once he was given sight Jesus told him to go, he was cured by his faith. What he did was to follow Jesus along the road from Jericho to Jerusalem – that faith led him was on a road of discipleship. There was nothing to hold him back now that he could see. To make the journey along that road takes courage. Asking for sight or insight means all that was familiar is open change. We are witnesses of this in the lives of our inquirers. May they see evidence of it in us too. It is the encounter with Jesus who asks to fill our needs that gives us what is necessary for the way ahead. As disciples there is companionship with him and his work to be done: a destiny in ‘Jerusalem’ to be faced.
Signs of the Times
The recent cultural campaigns asking questions about God’s existence, and whether or not that should matter to us – should matter to us!
You may have seen the bus campaign sponsored by R. Dawkins & friends ‘There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.’ Produced in opposition to the visual Christian messages found in the public domain, the comment seemed to suggest that worry was associated with God while enjoyment wasn’t.
But the statement has also engendered a healthy Christian response, with one local church displaying the sign ‘There is probably no bus; so why not come in and enjoy God.’ Another has used the modern text message of: OMG! adding ‘Learn to say it and mean it’…and I’ve seen www.lookingforGod.come! with an arrow pointing to the church nearby.
The latest Alpha promotion asked several questions including ‘Does God Exist?’ with the familiar method of expressing an opinion in tick boxes of: □Yes, □ No □ Probably.
I saw examples where people had indeed ‘ticked a box’; one was Yes and one was No. The No was on a large billboard, where the person had made a significant effort to climb up and make their mark in a bold lime green. The Yes was in one of the tunnels at London Bridge station, where hundreds of people could potentially see this affirmative sign. The fact that people were stimulated enough by the question to physically express their declaration of belief was very interesting.
It made me consider all those people who are searching, who are asking the same questions and who are coming to our RCIA groups to figure this out: Is there a God?, Does God exist?, What do I believe?, What does it mean to say Yes?, Could we ever be satisfied with .. & How do we respond to… a Probably?, Are we part of transcending a Probably into a Yes?
These larger questions go well beyond ‘What does it mean to be Catholic …..??’ but they are linked to the deepest and innermost questions an enquirer might ask. How do we, as those walking alongside listen, respect the curiosity within the questions…. and wait. The Rite #6 mentions the periods of the RCIA and the steps that are part of the process with 6.1 ‘The first step: where an enquirer reaches the point of initial conversion and wishes to become Christian.’ Until that conversion of heart and mind, we are there to show through our lives, words and actions, the Yes of God’s love.
That waiting may challenge us not to rush to tick our own boxes. Do we turn our RCIA time into an assessment: Have they done this? Do they meet our criteria? Are we trying to give them the big answers too soon? Paul addressed this in his letter to the Colossians 4:4-6 when he suggests that we ’Be tactful with those who are not Christians and be sure you make the best use of your time with them. Talk to them agreeably and with a flavour of wit, and try to fit your answers to the needs of each one.’
Public displays which demonstrate a Christian presence and invitation may be the trigger/ prompt for those who are searching and some groups invest significant funding to promote their option. A 2005 study by the Heythrop Institute for Religion, Ethics, and Public Life called ‘On the Way to Life’ pointed out that: “If the religious community seeks to evangelise the culture, it must also be aware that it is being evangelised by the culture.”
In the world, in our Catholic communities, and in our RCIA groups, our witness, sincerity and visible Yes may also animate someone’s quest to encounter Jesus Christ, who makes God known to all.
What were you arguing about on the road?
We have just had Sheila O'Dea (formerly of North American Forum on the Catechumenate) with us in the Diocese for three days reflection on our practice of RCIA. At the centre was the Word of God for last Sunday - and the whole thing of 'what were you arguing about on the road,.. being afraid... not saying anything.' This particularly struck me because it amazed me that the 'arguments' about initiation of adults come about because people dont even have copies of the Rite and are simply doing their own thing - many clergy hadnt opened the Rite since they were given it, let alone have studied and reflected on it together, with people from their parish. So that was the first point of encouragement: everyone who is involved at 'leadership' level in the process should have their own copy of the rite, read, mark up and inwardly digest! The Rite is the skeleton and our task is to put flesh on it, and not to replace it with a programme!! Flowing from this essential of knowing the rite inside out, the second point of encouragement: to get to know the community inside out too! If initiation of adults is the responsibility of the baptised and takes place in the heart of the community, a gradual process accommodated to the liturgical year, then we must know the community, and then we can 'link up' our enquirers with people who can accompany them - a single mum with another mum for example, a 20-yr old university student with a student, a family with a family and so on..
The third point of encouragement: the whole mystery of Christ really does unfold over the course of the liturgical cycle, and if we are reflecting on the Word of God Sunday after Sunday after Sunday, then we can be sure that our catechesis will be suitable and complete. These 'feasting on the Word' for at least one year is what the Church calls 'appropriate' preparation - together with the catechumens we feast and grow into the Body of Christ.
RCIA is about who we are as Church - and the focus is not about 'getting sacraments' but on becoming a member of the Body of Christ and doing the mission of Christ! RCIA is about how we celebrate Liturgy and how this forms us as 'Church'. RCIA is about how we do catechesis - and the goal is communion with Christ. And finally, RCIA is about living and sharing the life we have with others - to be a place, a heart, that offers hope and listening, peace and reconciliation - the mission!
What now? Well if we really believe that RCIA is not about 'them' but about 'us', then can we do a few simple things for ourselves?
Encourage 'feasting on the Word' for all the community - many many Catholics still havent heard that God is really present in the Word... there is a 'famine of hearing the Word' (Amos). Can we celebrate the Liturgy of the Word really well every Sunday, and teach people how to open to the power of God's presence through the Word?
Q: To start with, have all the Ministers of the Word in your parish been offered and taken up formation? Including praying with the Word? And then, what about other opportunities to reflect - in families, neighbours, parish groups of any kind?
You Can’t Be Serious!
Over the past couple of Sundays the foot stamping antics of the bold John McEnroe questioning the referee decisions at Wembley seem very appropriate. It is easy to imagine Peter and the other disciples talking among themselves saying “He can’t be serious?”
“How could He possibly mean that the whole adventure will end in total failure? – on a Cross! Surely not!”
“And what does he mean by saying we must become like a stateless child, one who has no say and that’s the way to leadership!”
“And we must work with others who are outside our group and not shut them up!”
He can’t be serious – but maybe He is.
A number of years ago with a small group we visited the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi – it was a most moving occasion. What stayed with me, however, aren’t the beautiful frescos by Giotto or even the image of Francis himself but the question put to us by the American Friar who led us around the building. “Before we begin, can I ask you; “Are you here as tourists or pilgrims?” Rather shame faced we replied “Pilgrims”. Then he said “Great – I will try to bring you into something of the experience of Francis.”
The question has continued to haunt me. Am I a tourist or a pilgrim? – The tourist goes on a journey and tries to capture the moment taking the photo before even looking at the scene, trying to capture the moment - a journey of refreshment and hopefully excitement but essentially the tourist doesn’t change. The adventure just adds to his or her levels of experience and possible knowledge. The Pilgrim on the other hand sets out on a journey where hopefully he or she will experience change, possibly radical change, and come back seeing with different eyes, becoming, in the words of St Paul, a new creation.
These past few weeks are definitely an invitation by the Man Himself to get off the tourist journey into becoming an Adult Christian and move away from a rather shallow discipleship – away from the pick and mix of many a market based media approach to spirituality with instant formation and preference. The invitation is to step into deeper waters, to reflect and grapple with the riddles and ambiguities of the Man from Galilee – a task not just for one or two evenings but for years to come.
How is it possible to die and rise again – to be open to complete failure– and make that a creative way of life?
If we are caught up in the language and behaviour of “Who is the greatest?” what hope is there for true peace?
The great Mohammed Ali, used the phrase “I am the Greatest” not simply as a sign of personal vanity but as a profound challenge to the prejudices and bigotry of his own nation at a time when black people were very definitely second class citizens. Is it possible to use the language of dying and rising, becoming like a child, working with those outside of our group, beyond the pale, in a similar imaginative way?
The challenge to catechists, inquirers and catechumens is to allow the gospels of these weeks to find a deep home within and to resist the temptation to water down these radical sayings of Jesus and like the disciples to hide behind: “We don’t understand what he’s saying and we’re afraid to ask”. Or like the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane to simply run away.
Surely! He can’t be serious?
A prayer every catechumen should know
Listening to the Gospel on Sunday I was struck again by the power of the Magnifcat. It bursts in as a response to Elizabeth's friendly and formal greeting. It is as though these words have been bubbling up in Mary and Elizabeth is first person she has seen who can begin to understand what she is going through.
A favourite bugbear of mine are those songs which are predominantly in the first person, 'songs about me and Jesus, which often come from different ecclesial traditions fit uneasily in our liturgy with its ecclesial/communal dimension. I was once asked, 'yes, but what about the Magnificat - is that in the first person' But looking at the text it anything but self-centred. Elizabeth says Blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled. Mary's response is two-fold: it's not about Mary it is about God — she is blessed for what God has done for her; he is holy, and she has come to realise that the fulfilment of God's promise affects everyone — the world will be turned upside down by the child in her womb. We sometimes forget that Mary sings her song before Christ is born — she is a prophet.
So why should every catechumen know this prayer? Well, it is a core liturgical text. Sung by the Church every day as part of Evening Prayer. It occurs a number of times in the Lectionary either as part of the Gospel, as yesterday on the Assumption, or in place of the psalm. When the liturgy refers to a song of thanksgiving such as following communion or at the end of a penitential service the Magnificat is often given as an example. So part of the reason a catechumen should know it is so that they can participate in the prayer life of the Church. There is both a richness and a radicalism in the text which has sustain the Church's prayer across the centuries.
Furthermore I think it offers a model of prayer:
- that the fundamental attitude or starting point should praise and thanksgiving — for what God has done for us
- that our petitions should remember the lowly and hungry — that God has an option for the poor
- that our prayer links us with the wider Church across time and space — even to Abraham
- that God's promises will be fulfilled.
Some thoughts about putting it into practice
- Ideally introduce the text within the context of the Gospel passage
- Use the Magnificat in your prayer
- Sing it — it's the original Marian hymn. There are plenty of settings — try to use one which sticks closely to the text. If your parish has a regular sung Evening Prayer why not use that version.
- Use it as a building block to praying Evening Prayer together possibly in a simplified form.
- Make or obtain a prayer card with the text on and give one to each catechumen inviting them to pray it every day.
- Have an Advent reflection using the Magnificat perhaps focussing on Mary'. What does the text tell us about Mary?
- Magnificat is the first word of the Latin text and is used a shorthand way of referring to the text in any language. It can be translated as proclaims, rejoices, glorifies.
- The clip art is from a site run by Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in Peru who provide an image for every Sunday
Making Enquiries
At this Sunday’s Mass we had a talk by the St Barnabas Society. It was St Barnabas who introduced Paul to the disciples in Jerusalem, and spoke in his support to those who were wary about his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus.
I was struck by the account of welcome and help (emotional and financial) that is given to clergy and religious, from other Christian denominations, that come to full communion with the Catholic Church. There was a particular relevance to our community, as last year we welcomed a former Anglican priest and his family. So at first hand we could empathise with what we were hearing.
Two questions arose for me:
- How does the welcome and support we give our inquirers and catechumens compare with that offered by the St Barnabas Society; and
- is there a patron saint of catechumens?
From my own experience, we still have to work at engaging with the ‘whole parish concept’, rather than having an RCIA team that does it all. Having ordinary parishioners who can be introduced to inquirers was a point discussed at the RCIA Network Study day at Tooting Bec (13.6.09). Catechists have their place but weekly structured meetings don’t necessarily fulfil the Period of Evangelisation and Pre-Catechumenate, which ‘is a time of no fixed duration or structure, for inquiry and introduction to Gospel values, an opportunity for the beginning of faith.’
Potential Inquirers come from diverse backgrounds, at any age, with or without dependants. It must be quite daunting to people to make that first step and knock on the church door. But if they are also being alienated from their family and friends by their decision, that must make it a very difficult step to pursue. There are ways we as a community can make it easier. This is a just a suggestion. You will have others that work, do share them.
- Offer an invitation to them to bring their family and friends to your parish church. This is not about converting them, but saying this is what we do because we are catholics.
- Have a ‘drop in’ hour, say 3.30pm-4.30pm: ideal if your church is on the school route. 5.30pm to 6.30pm is a good time to catch those returning home after work. Have parishioners who can chat about what it means to be a member of your parish church. (This is also an evangelising moment).
The above also apply to catechumens. Another way of offering support is by the optional rites eg Blessings [RCIA 95-97] can be done at any time. Think how you feel when you receive a blessing: they can be a real boost, whether in a small group or within the whole assembly. Do remember to extend the invitation to the catechumens’ family or friends.
As to my second question I did find a saint for catechumens: Saint Robert Bellarmine whose feastday is on September 17.
Being dogmatic or About a Boy
At the recent Network Study Days One of Us one thing that I heard a number of times was either 'I have never thought of it like that' or I had not realised it meant that'. These moments of revelation were often connected with fundamental aspects of rite. They were theological equivalent for not being able to see the wood for the trees. We may have read the Rite through but unless we have grasped some guiding principles or recognise the assumptions that the text is making we may miss the meaning. To give one example I think the rite assumes that parishes are places of life long learning. A surface reading of the rite might assume that mystagogia ends at Pentecost rather than the neophyte is initiated into a community that continues to want know more about the love of God and has opportunities to do so.
One of my favourite phrases in my favourite paragraph (75) is a suitable catechesis… 'accommodated to the liturgical year'. You could breeze past that without a pause. An interesting aspect of the Rite is that does not contain a syllabus, at first glance there are only rites but I would argue the information is all there. But first a quotation from Pope Benedict:
…in the Church's ancient tradition the process of Christian formation always had an experiential character. While not neglecting a systematic understanding of the content of the faith, it centred on a vital and convincing encounter with Christ,as proclaimed by authentic witnesses. Sacramentum Caritatis 64
This echoes the General Directory for Catechesis that the object of catechesis is to promote communion with Christ. (GDC 30)
Back to my favourite phrase. What is the purpose of the liturgical year — 'to unfold the entire mystery of Christ' (GNLYC 1). I would suggest that within the simple phrase 'accommodated to the liturgical year' is a the foundation of the catechetical content of the catechumenate — to know the life, mission, teaching, passion, death and resurrection of Christ as unfolded through the liturgical year. We hear this story unfolding but it is not enough to know the story that would be seeing only wood. The story has meaning and challenges to how we live our lives.
In a review of the recent book by Karen Armstrong The Case for God the reviewer Paul Vallely summarised part of Armstrong's argument about the differences between earlier centuries understanding of belief and current perceptions:
We see a number of revealing shifts in meaning 'I believe' has become scientised to mean 'I assert these propositions to be empirically correct.' What it originally meant was 'I pledge my heart and my loyalty'. Jesus was asking for commitment not credulity. Similarly the word dogma now means a ruling laid down by authority. But originally it meant a teaching that cannot be expressed verbally but which is intuited through the liturgy.
…a vital and convincing encounter with Christ,as proclaimed by authentic witnesses…
A final reminder as to why the life of Jesus is not only foundational but necessary is the results of the Biblical Literacy survey. It is an area rich in anecdotes which we who are familiar can find amusing or astonishing, or perhaps should remind us that we can take these things for granted. As in one of a group of art students going round the National Gallery after seeing numerous Nativity scenes and asking why is it always a boy?
Who Shepherds Whom?
Mark tells us that the crowd reaches that ‘quiet’ place before they do. Like Moses with the wandering Israelites, Jesus sees that the crowds waiting for them are “Like sheep without a shepherd.” So, they are shepherded and nourished by him and his words – the crowd’s need for other food will come later. This is still our way: we feed at the table of the Word then at the table of the Bread and Wine.
As Jeremiah promised and we hear in the first reading, Mark shows Jesus acting as the “virtuous branch… The Lord-our-integrity”; God, who will look after his own sheep when their leaders have failed to do so. Jeremiah’s anger at the leaders almost leaps out at us as he berates those shepherds of Israel who do not take care of the people, who do not build them up in unity. There are threats for them: “…you have not taken care of them. Right, I will take care of you for your misdeeds…” But for the people, there is the assurance of God’s care: “I myself will gather…I will raise up shepherds to look after them…” God will not let the flock remain un-shepherded living in fear.
In our parish contexts of walking our road of faith with inquirers, catechumens, candidates and new catholics and with each other, what warnings, teachings and hope might this particular part of ordinary time offer us and prepare us for? Who shepherds us and those with whom we share our stories? As catechists what warnings are we offered about how we shepherd others, for example, those who come as inquirers, and how we allow ourselves to be shepherded along the way. How well do we each know the Lord as “My Shepherd” in truth; and how do we build up the unity of God’s people?
A presumption is, of course, that our notion of shepherding is real, never ‘soppy’. Shepherding is not for ‘whimps’, even in these days when farmer-shepherds often get around to their sheep on quad bikes. So too, taking care of God’s people doesn’t happen without cost to oneself. Indeed, we know it’s a pre-requisite of being a disciple of Christ who laid down his life for the flock!
At the Rite of Acceptance the parish community, sponsors and catechists promise to help the inquirers to “find and follow Christ”. From then on the period of the catechumenate enables them to become “familiar with the Christian way of life…” [The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) n75]. The promise has been made to live along side, to shepherd, the catechumens within the community. The Rite gives us the scaffolding of the example and the support that helps them embrace this familiarity:
“… the catechumens learn to turn more readily to God in prayer, to bear witness to the faith, in all things to keep their hopes set on Christ, to follow supernatural inspiration in their deeds, and to practice love of neighbour, even at the cost of self-renunciation.” [RCIA n75.2]
Jesus’ invitation to those who returned from their mission was to join him in some lonely place to rest. The primary response to conversion and on-going conversion is for the catechumens and ourselves to step back to make time for a deepening of our ‘readiness to turn to God in prayer’. Yet, Jesus shows that the shepherding of those in need challenges us with the ‘practice of love of neighbour’. That service will come with cost to ourselves and our plans. Had the twelve still had nothing to eat while Jesus taught all that day? They are then asked to feed all of that crowd!
In Sunday’s liturgy we will have prayed the psalm before hearing the gospel passage. In that ancient prayer we state our trust in the Shepherd who leads us and spreads a banquet, even though the journey passes through the valley of darkness. May summer breaks offer some ‘rest for a while’ and opportunities to shepherd and be shepherded.
The Power of Three
Solemnities abound at this time in the Liturgical Calendar: Ascension, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, Corpus Christi and we can have a feeling of there being too much of a good thing! And so for the week in which we celebrate The Most Holy Trinity I offer a trinity of mini-reflections and accompanying images. May they bring blessing in some guise or other.
Firstly, the lectionary readings for the Solemnity.
The final part of the Deuteronomy reading is a gift for those newly initiated intent on ‘deepening their grasp of the paschal mystery and making it part of their lives’ [RCIA paragraph 244] as disciples rather than neophytes:
“So acknowledge today and take to heart that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. Keep his statutes and his commandments which I am commanding you today for your own well-being and that of your descendents after you, so that you may long remain in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.” [Deuteronomy 4: 39-40]
But then, very much in the mystagogical spirit of ensuring that the whole community be inspired and renewed by their experience of the sacraments [RCIA paragraph 246], we find within the gospel another gift: a reminder of the real purpose of all our membership and ministry:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. [Matthew 28: 19]
Truly – the power of three!
Secondly, an extract from a current ‘best seller’.
Mack is the main character in The Shack [Wm Paul Young 2007, Hodder & Stoughton] and is beset by what becomes known as ‘The Great Sadness’ when his much loved daughter is abducted from their holiday tent and presumed murdered. He is called, supposedly by God, to make a journey to the shack believed to be the site of her murder. On arrival he encounters ‘the Trinity’:
“Thoughts tumbled over each other as Mack struggled to figure out what to do. Was one of these people God? What if they were hallucinations or angels, or God was coming later? That could be embarrassing. Since there were three of them, maybe this was a Trinity sort of thing. But two women and a man and none of them white? He knew his mind was rambling so he focused on the one question he most wanted answered.
“Then,” Mack struggled to ask, “which one of you is God?”
“I am” said all three in unison. Mack looked from one to the next, and even though he couldn’t begin to grasp what he was seeing and hearing, he somehow believed them. “
Through his encounter with these three beings, Mack’s life is transformed and his relationships broadened, deepened and renewed.
A very different power of three!
And finally, for RCIA team members.
A diocese in the North of England is planning an evening offered in four venues during the early summer. Called Reflect, Refresh, Renew they are offering a chance to engage in this trinity of catechetical activities. Each separate component represents an important dynamic in the life of catechists and RCIA teams. Developing as reflective practitioners will ensure their ministry remains grounded in the reality of their particular context and the needs of their enquirers and catechumens. Ongoing ministry over a number of months, and often years, becomes stale and lifeless without times of refreshment and inspiration. To renew implies review: openness to an honest appraisal of how things have gone, and whether the aims and processes articulated at the beginning of the journey have been met. This then enables a renewal of the vision and fresh heart for the journey. Put the three separate components together however and what is on offer has the potential to be much more powerful than the individual components: a different energy, a more complete process.
Indeed – a very different power of three!
