Journey To Service

Augustine - The Mystery of God

2012-02-11T16:40:00.000Z

Augustine was born in 354 at Tagaste inAfrica, a region heavily latinized in both culture and language. He wasbrought up in the Christian faith, but without receiving baptism. An ambitiousschoolchild of brilliant talent and violent passions, he early lost both hisfaith and innocence. He studied rhetoric in Carthage and it was during thistime that he read the Hortensius by Cicero that altered his affections and awokewithin him “an incredibly burning desire for an immortality of wisdom”[1]. His realisation that one cannot effectivelyfind truth without Jesus led him away from this work to an inelegant Biblewhich disappointed him because there “he discovered neither the loftiness ofphilosophy nor the splendour of the search for the truth”^{^[2]}.His desire to live a life in God brought him into contact with the Manicheans,a group who presented themselves as Christians, promoted a rational religionand gave the prospect of a career. They proved incapable of dispelling hisdoubts and so he distanced himself from them and moved, first to Rome, and thenon to Milan where he acquired the habit of listening to St. Ambrose initiallyin order to enrich his rhetoric. Through the Prelates “allegoricalinterpretation of Scripture and use of Neo-Platonic philosophy”^{^[3]}, however,he was finally able to solve the seemingly insurmountable intellectualdifficulties of his earlier biblical encounters. "Thou hast made us forthyself, and our hearts are restless till they rest in thee!"^{^[4]} sums uphis discovery. The God he found was a personal God, “a God who made himself"tangible", one of us, … a God to whom he could pray, for whom andwith whom he could live”[5].This left him, however, with the problem of how he would relate the Greek conception of an immutable God with the Hebrew conception of apassionate God who interacts with and responds to human beings.

His association withthose who promoted acquisitive fantasies left Augustine in a position where hecould not understand how God could be spirit. "Nearly nine years passed inwhich I wallowed in the slime of that deep pit and the darkness of falsehood,striving often to rise, but being all the more heavily dashed down."[6]After hearing Ambrose, Augustine came to realize that the Christian faith didnot hold, as Manicheans had supposed, that God was bounded by human form andwas therefore embarrassed that he had held such easily confuted arguments forso many years. But, "what was the nature of a spiritual substance I hadnot the faintest or dimmest suspicion."[7] Although he now did not think of Godin a human body, he "could not avoid a concept of something corporeal inspace, either infused into the world, or infinitely diffused beyond it."[8] However, though his earlier Platonistreadings he was able to ascend "from bodies to the soul . . . on to thereasoning faculty . . . And thus, with the flash of a trembling glance . . .saw Thy invisible things."[9] According to Whitney J. Oates,"The Platonic tradition unquestionably prepared the way for him to acceptand realize the meaning of Christianity’s doctrine of God as Spirit."[10] Ambrose'ssermons, with their emphasis on the Pauline distinction of letter and spirit asa means of interpreting the chasm between the Old and New Testament[11], alsohelped Augustine to realize that true understanding of God’s justice, asrequiring punishment and reward, begins within the individual and that the keyto personal order is an attitude of subjection to God. The questions that beleagueredhim did indeed speak to the heart of his religious experience of the divine,and when he had removed those obstacles he found a way to a God who was nota phantasma but a real andtrue God. A triptych of consecutive and concentric revelations provided Augustinewith a realization that whatever God does is directed toward theultimate goodness of the created order but always with justice toward each ofHis creatures. The justice of God he now conceived as “afunction of the law of love”^{^[12]}; and this was an adequate apologetic for Judaism. His insights into the spiritual nature ofGod provided refutation for the pagans, and the new understanding of thegoodness of God and God's creation was the decisive argument against theManichees.

Augustine was a passionateseeker of truth and devoted almost thirty yearsto his composition De Trinitatae in whichhe asserts that humankind is made in the image of the triune God, and that animage of the Trinity, albeit “utterly imperfect and inadequate”[13], exists in man’s nature.In order to demonstrate this Augustine providedseveral illustrations of the Trinity in the human experience. There exists the“mind, and the knowledge wherewith the mind knows itself, and the lovewherewith it loves both itself and its own knowledge; and these three are shownto be mutually equal, and of one essence.”[14] We can realize, consequently, that as wehave three parts, God also has three parts. He does not attempt to hide thefailures of these illustrations and regards them simply as “footprints of theTrinity in creation”[15]and an inadequate image. He recognises the errors within them concerning the natureof God, and states that although they are “very far removed from [God].”(197), his point, in using them, has been to discover three things which ‘areexhibited separately, whose operation is inseparable.’ (198). Through this treatiseAugustine also emphasised the consubstantiality of the divine persons,asserting the procession of the Spirit from the Father. He maintains, continually,that Sonship as a relationship is second and subordinate to Fatherhood. Whilsta Divine Father and a Divine Son must necessarily be of the very same natureand grade of being, the latter issues from the former. Augustine designates theFather the principium of the Son, andthe Father and Son the principium ofthe Holy Spirit. “The Father is the beginning of the whole divinity, or if itis better so expressed, deity.”[16] The term “beginning” isused only in relation to the person, not to the essence since there is no“beginning,” or source, when the essence itself is spoken of. The“subordination”, therefore, is not the Arian subordination, as to essence, butthe trinitarian subordination, as to person and relation.

Augustineinsists, through reflecting a Neoplatonic unified “hierarchy of being”[17]and avoiding Plotinus’ notion of emanation, thatcreation is the free act of God where God chooses to create the world ex nihilo. God was the SupremeBeing on whom all other beings, including time itself, were totally dependentand therefore “deserving of the love and attention of the created”[18].For Augustine, the ethical task of loving eachthing appropriately was paramount.This means loving God, the very being of all that is, above all things. Inloving God, all beings prove that they are good because they tend backtoward their creator who had made them from nothing. Humans, however, possessfree will, and can only tend back to God by an act of the will. Man's refusalto turn to God is evil, so although the whole of creation is good, evil comesinto the world through man's rejection of the good that is, God. "Forwhen the will abandons what is above itself, and turns to what is lower, itbecomes evil - not because that is evil to which it turns, but because theturning itself is wicked.”[19]God allows evil to exist since it doesn't conflict with His goodness and itgives need for the existence of virtues such as courage, mercy, forgivenessand patience which are not theoretical virtues, but elements of character. When viewed as a whole, therefore, that whichappears to be evil eventually contributes to the greater good.

St Augustine understoodthat not everyone was aware that they were capaxDei. In response, he proposed the way of interiority - the turning from theouter world to the inner self.[20]"Do not go outward; return within yourself. In the inward person dwellstruth."^{^[21]} It is herethat an essential distinction is made between cogitare, and scire as hepoints out that one can know aboutoneself, but it is through understandingthe mystery of oneself that one can come to understand the mystery of God. “Weseek one mystery, God, with another mystery, ourselves. We are mysterious toourselves because God’s mystery is in us:”[22]Therefore, as humans are mysteries to themselves, God is to be understood aswholly mysterious. The restless pursuit of God involves pursuing a goal thatcontinually recedes from the seeker. If God is forever incomprehensible, doesthe mystery of human life remain unsolved? Our inability to reduce the comprehensibilityof God should not disturb us for “God manifests himself in just the measure ofwhich he knows the one who is receiving him is capable.”^{^[23]}As St. Augustine says, God will fill his capacity to the uttermost limit.Anyone who is so filled cannot desire further fulfilment. If God was to givehimself to a person more fully than one could stand the extra happiness would beoverstraining. If God were to explain more fully than one could understand,mind and heart would be darkened. All hear or see the same thing, but each seesor hears it according to the measure of one’s ability to comprehend it. And so,even though the Spirit of God is always manifested in the life of those whoshare in him, he remains invisible to all, because the mystery is forevertranscendent.^{^[24]} Wecomfort ourselves with the ever new and never changing truth that Jesus Christis the same yesterday, and today and forever: the mystery is always newtherefore the mind in understanding it, will never be deprived it of itsfreshness.

[1] Augustine Confessions3:7:12

[2] Benedict XVI TheFathers p177

[3] Ibid p179

[4] See http://www.staugstpete.org/Page.html

[5] BenedictXVI The Fathers p198

[6] Whitney J. Oates Augustine, Confessions book 3, section 11 Verse 40, in The Basic Writings of St.Augustine

[7] Confessions. 6, 3, 76

[8] Ibid. 7, 1, 91.

[9] Ibid. 7, 17, 105.

[10] Oates’s Introduction, xvi-xvii.

[11] Confessions. 6,4,6

[12] See http://documents.irevues.inist.fr/bitstream/handle/2042/756/63_IX_1_2_05.pdf?sequence=1

[13] See http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=2273&chapter=213790&layout=html&Itemid=27

[14] See http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/130109.htm

[15] Mariasusai Dhavamony - A Trinitarian Theology ofGod’s Kingdom p91

[16] Confessions. 4, 20, 29

[17] Henry Chadwick –Augustine, A very short introduction p58

[18] Werner J. Jeanrond -A Theology of Love p52

[19] Augustine, City of God. 12, 6

[20] Augustine, Confessions 10,6

[21] Augustine, On True Religion 39,72 See http://www.friendsofaugustine.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=67&Itemid=89

[22] Garry Wills – SaintAugustine Introduction p xii

[23] Five Centuries of StMaximus the Confessor

[24] ibid

2012-02-11T16:32:00.002Z

Marriage and Family Life--Being Deacon

More PowerPoint presentations from Richard Shewman

Múlier, ecce fílius tuus, Totus Tuus!Fergal

Essay 7 - Submitted Essay - despite the increasing secularisation of the modern day, the religious imagination still has a significant part to play in contemporary society.

2011-05-11T12:24:00.003+01:00

JosephCardinal Ratzinger, in his last homily before election as Pope in 2005, spokeof the threat that “the dictatorship of relativism”[1], because it “does not recognize anything as certain and …has as its highest goal one’s own ego and one’s own desires”[2]. Ireland is not immune to these attitudes.Scandals of recent years along with the rising tide of secularism have fuelledthe collapse of trust and the rise ofsuspicion in and towards institutions. Indifference to religious practice and theologicalilliteracy, have challenged “the religious and moral traditions of Ireland, thevery soul of Ireland”[3] and in a certain way have veiled the messageof the Gospel and “its powerful effect on mans conscience”[4]. These varied social changes “have profoundlyaltered our way of looking at the world”[5] andhave left many at the mercy of imaginative experimentation. Thesechanges have created a vacuum where “there is a glaring need for a form of thetranscendent in contemporary secular Ireland.”[6] There is much interestand experimentation in a range of new and ancient religious options; wewitness “the fetishisation of sport and spectacle which provides a communaloutlet for people to express a sense of the beyond themselves”[7], the proliferation of problemslinked to the drugs scene and the acceptance of new forms of social existence.

From the midst of this conflict and change, emerges of the realisation“that there is more to life than that which meets the empirical eye.”[8] Perhapswhen one feels that organised religion has become too narrow, too limiting orcold, the power of imagination kicks in and gives life to important things onwhich we deeply depend since it is the imagination that “givestrust, opens … hearts for love, and warms … lives in times that are cold andbitter.”[9] The expression of imaginationhas become more intense primarily because it appeals to the private person andfuels individualism, It pervades all aspects of society, boldly stating thatreligion is still important but that its consumption and practice has becomeprivatised.[10] One hears many timesrepeated the ‘I’m spiritual but not religious’ mantra which rejects the formalfor the more sensual and informal. Yet the statement still reveals an“emotional desire for religious experience”[11]. Deep down within eachindividual there is a place where God is active since “God … has alreadycommunicated Himself in His Holy Spirit always and everywhere and to everyperson as the innermost centre of his existence, whether he wants it or not,whether he reflects on it or not, whether he accepts it or not.”[12] The encounter with Godin this secret place is unique and therefore can only be expressed through useof the imagination proving that, in its raw and primal origins and power, “theimagination is religious [and] religion is imaginative.”[13]

If the power of the religious imagination isto be embraced, and its creative power unleashed for the good of all, then itmust be promoted and employed in a responsible manner. Chesterton acknowledgesthat “true imagination - and most especially Christian imagination - isgrounded solidly in the soil of humility. . . . Pride isdirectly inimical to creativity.”[14] Proper use of theimagination saves religion from being either “a mere system of rationalstatements on the one hand or an unsystemised mélange of experiences on theother.”[15] Ifreligious imagination is allowed to fall in line with the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes,images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred, it does little else butpromote secularism. Engaging with the preferred tends to open upthe possibility of promoting two interrelated directions: the sacralisation ofthe secular and the secularisation of the sacred. These two positions areneither set against one another nor against religion in general because“secularisation does not exclude sacralisation”[16] ascan be seen in the increasing number of pilgrims going to Knock, Lough Derg and CroaghPatrick and the unparalleled three million people who went to see the relics ofSaint Thérèse in 2001. Yet, both positions working together “mightshift the authority away from the institution to other elements of society.”[17]As the Institutional Church loses authority we also tend to find religionexpressed with new vivacity outside it in secular cultural forms likeliterature, film or art. So even if religious institutions lose authority, thepower of religion does not diminish in scope: the location of that power might,however, shift in focus. The interplay of secularisation and sacralisation mayindeed be “coordinate processes that, viewed over time, are part of the sameset shaping modern experience.”[18]

Despite increasing secularisation, it is apparent thatthe religious imagination still plays a significant role in contemporary culture.The medieval Irish sought, with agile and impudent imagination, to find roomfor as much as possible of their old religion within the framework of the new,sometimes with exotic or indeed unorthodox results.[19] So it iswith the modern: the spiritual dimension of each individual must be nourishedby religious experiences and the centralingredient to religious experience is the imagination because “we are more than our rationality. We have depths to ournature emotional, aesthetic and spiritual, and if we lose touch with them wediminish and distort our humanity.”[20] The influence of thereligious imagination on popular culture will anger some, enthral others yetleave none indifferent, uniting emotionally those who in respect toinstitutional religion, are quite polarised.

Much of our life is concernedwith survival, routine, chores, frustration and anxiety, and within the humanheart there lies awareness that life as we experience it is not the life thatwe were created for.[21] That awareness thiscreates a yearning similar to the longing for home, a longing for a“reality that is more real than the one in which we live”[22]. These sentimentsresonate with C.S. Lewis’ idea of the grass in heavenbeing harder than our feet are used to[23] , or the movie What Dreams May Come, (1998) which dramatises Heaven being a place thatallows one to experience that which the eye has seen and the ear heard but infar greater and deeper detail. This desire for life as it should have been isthe desire for the transcendent: a desire for that which is real, whole,peaceful, exciting, awesome, beautiful, and majestic. This desire may be temporarily satiated through music,silence, visual stimulation or chemical stimulation which gives one a feelingof ecstasy, oneness, rapture, awe, energy, in short an experience that isout-of-this-world. The desire to extend the experience stimulatesthe use of transcendent or poetic language since it is the only mode of communication that does notpresuppose the definiteness of one's present environment. It is speech which“creates its own environment and makes its own horizons.” It is eschatologicaland vocational speech that sees the internaland external connection between events by making metaphors and drawinganalogies. One only has to think of Margaret Thatcher quoting theprayer of St Francis on entering office[24];Nicolas Sarkosy recently referring to the Christian heritage of France[25]or Brian Cowen on leaving office quoting poetry “ó pheann Raiftearaí, an file” [26]on St Brigid’s Day.

Imagination enables us to develop something we desperately need intoday’s world, namely, tolerance and love throughout human society; qualitiesthat build up a sense ofpeace. We long to forget our momentary struggles, and find a way to leave them outside,ceasing our striving, forgetting our anger, and rising above ourpetty differences. We strive for a sense of connection. In a world dominated byviolence and inhumanity one to another, imagination “removes from us the takingof pleasure in cruel things”[27] The arts refine oursensibilities and the imagination behind them sensitises us. Theyare, by their very nature, a kind of appeal to themystery. Even when they explore the darkest depths of the soul or the most unsettlingaspects of evil, artists give voice in a way to the universal desire forredemption.[28] Albert Einstein sums this up when he says: “The mostbeautiful experience is to meet the mysterious. This is the source of all trueart and scholarly pursuit. He, who has never had this experience, is notcapable of rapture and cannot stand motionless with amazement, is as good asdead. His eyes are closed.”[29]

To conclude, the useof the imagination in assisting us to live out the future that is often sodimmed by negative prophecies may well be the primary task of art and religionin this time in history. “The fundamental task of imagination in ordinary lifeis to produce out of the society we have to live in a vision of the society wewant to live in.”[30] Indeed imagination, together with faith, serve to move all into thefuture with a vision of reality that unites together with the present. For thisvery reason alone, despite the increasing secularisation of the modern day, theimagination, indeed the religious imagination will always have a significantpart to play not only in moulding life experience, but in keeping the quiveringflame of hope and the bruised reed of faith alive at the core of our verybeing.

[1] Homily given at the Pro eligendo summo Pontifice Mass on18-04-2005, St Peter’s Square Rome

[2] Ibid, n11

[3] Homily of John Paul II given inGalway 30^th September 1979

[4] Evangelii Nuntiandi n4, 2.

[5] Benedict XVI Moto proprio Ubicumque et Semper, n2

[6] EugeneO’Brien “Catholicism, Deconstruction and Postmodernity in Contemporary IrishCulture” p47 of “Irish and Catholic?” Columba Press

[7] ibid

[8] DermotLane The Challenges facing religious education in contemporary Ireland (Dublin:Veritas, 2008) pp45

[9] Runar Eldebo “RomanCatholic Imagination According to Andrew M. Greeley”

http://www.pietisten.org/winter0304/greeley.html

[10] JohnLittleton & Eamon Maher “Contemporary Catholicism in Ireland – A CriticalAppraisal” p82

[11] EugeneO’Brien “Catholicism, Deconstruction and Postmodernity in Contemporary IrishCulture” p47 of “Irish and Catholic?” Columba Press

[12] KarlRahner “Foundations of Christian Faith: An introduction to the Idea ofChristianity” p139

[13] AndrewGreely “The Catholic Imagination of Bruce Sprinsteen” America Magazine;

http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=11047

[14] Eric Scheske “The Humble Artist” http://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=13-10-031-b

[15] F. Thomas Trotter“The Use of Imagination in ReligiousExperience”

http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=425

[16] JamesHolsten “Alternative Modernities: statecraft andreligious imagination in the Valley of the Dawn”

http://anthropology.berkeley.edu/Holston_Alternative_Modernities.pdf

[17] Conrad Eugene Ostwalt“Secular Steeples” p5

[18] James Holsten “Alternative Modernities: statecraft and religious imagination in theValley of the Dawn”

http://anthropology.berkeley.edu/Holston_Alternative_Modernities.pdf

[19] JohnCarey “King of Mysteries” Early Irish Religious Writings p 10

[20] Rogier Bos “Themeaning of Trancendence in the Post Modern World”

http://www.opensourcetheology.net/node/158

[21] JohnEldridge “Waking the Dead” p75

[22] Rogier Bos “Themeaning of Trancendence in the Post Modern World”

http://www.opensourcetheology.net/node/158

[23] C.S. Lewis “The GreatDivorce” http://cmunki.net/lionsden/articles/great_divorce.htm

[24] See http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104078

[25] See http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/9/6905/World/International/Sarkozy-hails-Frances-Christian- heritage.aspx

[26] See http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0201/briancowen_statement.html

[27] F. Thomas Trotter“The Use of Imagination in ReligiousExperience” http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=425

[28] The ReligiousImagination: Theology and the Arts (Film) http://cw.marianuniversity.edu/maap/2011s.pdf

[29] AlbertEinstein “The World as I know it” par6 http://www.aip.org/history/einstein/essay.htm

[30] NorthropFrye “The Educated Imagination” p 140 http://books.google.ie/books?id=PF3ldTeLloUC

Essay 6 - Submitted Essay - A study of the structure of Psalm 51

2011-03-27T14:45:00.002+01:00

The Psalms

“150 steps set up between life and death; 150 reflections of our rebellions and our fidelity, our agonies and our resurrections.”[1] The psalms are in essence poetic prayer, albeit prayer for a very different culture. They compose the only inspired hymnbook ever written and were used in the worship services of ancient Israel. In the same way, they have been used continuously as prayers and hymns in the Christian Church. Their language and images, however, are different from those we use today and the historical events to which they refer and along with the life situation of the composers are alien. It is not easy to identify with these prayers or to identify our own selves and our familiar world within them. Therefore, “the challenge for us is: how can we pray the psalms more fruitfully so that our prayer is not just a matter of reading words that do not come from our own hearts?”[2] In order to develop an answer to this question the message and structure of perhaps the greatest of the lament psalms, Psalm 51, which records the writer’s heart cry to God for divine deliverance from trouble and pain, will be used as a reference.

Structure & Parallelism

Perhaps the most important discovery to make concerning the psalms is that they are examples of Hebrew poetry which differs from our familiar poetry in that it doesn't rhyme. “Hebrew Poetry is the arrangement of thought and not sound”[3], and there seems to be two primary elements at work within it: parallelism and imagery. Parallelism, "first identified for modern readers by Robert Lowth in 1753"[4], is a literary feature in which the words of two or more lines of text are directly related in some way, forming “an idea unit.”[5] By restating a concept using somewhat different words, by using complementary hemistichs on a single thought or by building an idea more explicitly, parallelism forms the structural foundation of Hebrew poetry.

Psalm 51 is divided into three parts; vv1-9, vv10-17, and vv18-19 which is most likely a later addition to the main body of the psalm.[6] The primary concern of vv1-9 is sin, purity, and cleansing, while vv10-17 are more concerned with restoration and renewal of heart and spirit. This psalm is “spirit-inspired poetry”[7] in which three synonyms, “blot out”, “wash away” and “cleanse” are used to request forgiveness, and three synonyms, “transgressions”, “iniquity” and “sin” are used when David is referring to his offence. The structure of these two parts present distichs containing the above synonyms chiastically arranged about a core verse, like “two folding panels whose motifs reflect each other.”[8] The use of chiasmus, which “has been shown to be a basic element in the formal structure of biblical literature”[9], can be found on both a micro and macro level within this psalm. The macro-chiasmatic structure of both main sections of the psalm maintains their internal unity,[10] whilst the interplay of synonymous and introverted parallelism of the various verses gives the psalm its art form. For example, the first verse demonstrates introverted parallelism (micro-chiasmus), where "the lines are arranged so the 1st and 4th lines parallel and the 2nd and 3rd lines parallel"[11] after the scheme a-b-b-a. This verse is then mirrored in the ninth verse and paralleled through use of the term “blot out”. The second verse showing, in itself, synonymous parallelism is mirrored against the seventh verse and paralleled through the use of similar words like, wash, cleanse and purge. Verses three to five are chiastically arranged about the core verse of this section of the psalm, v4, where God is referred to as just and blameless. Overall the synonymous parallels are mirrored throughout the first section in an a-b to a-b structure, for example, 1b-9b, 2a-7a, 2b-7b, 3a-4b, 4a-5 and so on.. Verse six is perhaps an example of “proposition-conclusion”[12] synthetic parallelism where a realisation that God desires truth in v6a expands into a command like sentence asking God to teach David wisdom in v6b. A similar chiastic arrangement of synonymous, introverted and synthetic parallels exists within the second section of the psalm as can be seen in the appendix to this dissertation. A final synonymous parallel in v18 sets Zion in line with Jerusalem in order to indicate different aspects of the same city. This is followed by a climatic final verse where the author moves from right sacrifice to burnt offerings to whole burnt offerings to bulls being offered on the altar. It is clear to see that the many synonymous parallels used throughout the main body of the psalm “have the appearance of art and concinnity and a studied elegance;”[13] demonstrating that the psalm is highly structured and not just a ‘miserere’ that was emotionally blurted out.

Old Testament Background

This psalm was written by David when the Prophet Nathan had come to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband Uriah (2 Sam 11:1- 12:15). Of all the penitential psalms, it is perhaps the most intimate “with over forty-five appearances of either the pronoun “You” or an imperative verb directed to God, plus seven uses of the term “God.””[14] Traditional expressions of God’s mercy and forgiveness, along with the presence of references to washing, to ceremonies and instruments used to remove impurity, reveal the roots of this poignant psalm. For example, vv3-4 of this psalm, echo v6 from the book of Exodus which refers to “A God of loving-kindness and mercy… extending compassion … forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin.” Verse 9 refers to the hyssop plant[15] that was used in the preparations for Passover (Ex. 12:21-23), for sprinkling lepers or houses witnessing a spread of mold (Lev. 14:4–53) and in cases where one has had contact with the dead (Num. 19:18–19). The use of the colour white, a colour of purity and righteousness (Eccl. 9:8), is used in v7b, perhaps as a metaphor for renewal of the whole person. This use of imagery is secondary to the use of parallelism in this psalm but demonstrates another strong characteristic in the composition of Hebrew poetry. Throughout this Psalm and in 137 verses throughout all Psalms, the stress is on the heart since it is “the heart which is the centre of the Hebrew piety and religion.”[16]

Message

“Sin speaks to the sinner in the depths of their hearts” (Ps36:1) and it is this conversation between sin and sinner that gives rise to this lament of repentance. The heart experiences a heavy burden and the mind a shadow when they encounter the guilt of sin. There are four main messages presented in this psalm: a plea for forgiveness, confession of sin, an appeal for cleansing and God’s desired responses from humankind. David’s plea for forgiveness is based solely on God’s mercy and is naked of excuse or efforts of justification and loaded with honesty. In his confession of sin against God he reveals the power of his conscience that keeps his sin ever before him and clears God of any blame should punishment follow. His life has been surrounded by sin, that he has failed regularly and has separated himself from God. A future without God is not what he desires and so with nothing to offer only repentance he comes before God with one request: for complete purification from the sin that holds him captive and spiritual restoration. “You have received the grace of God. Do not let it go for nothing.” (2Cor 6:1) St Paul exhorts all to respond restorative grace and David relates three ways in which he will correspond with the grace he has received. He proposes to teach transgressors, so that other sinners may experience the same grace, to sing praises to God so that “heart speaks unto heart”[17] in a continuous dialogue of love and to offer the ultimate sacrifice of a humbled and contrite heart in an act of surrender to the point of dependence.

Christian Reading

As Christians we are urged to “Let the word of Christ dwell in [us] richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” (Col 3:16). As a school of prayer, the psalms continue to provide us with the language of prayer. Christ’s use of the psalms, together with the use of the psalms in Christian prayer down through the ages, reveals that “The entire Christ prays in this way. But it is made rather in the name of the body.”[18] It is in the psalms, that one encounters the outpouring of every human emotion and the reciprocal response of God speaking through the words of the Holy Spirit. Psalm 51 pairs up sin with pardon and shows that, "Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more." (Rom 5:20). It also demonstrates the two roles that are present in a human person’s relationship with God; God’s role in pardoning, making wise and restoring the individual, primarily through baptism, and our role in repenting, trusting and serving. For the Christian, the role of serving is extended towards Christ present in others since through this role, we emulate the role of the Father in forgiving those “indebted to us” (Luke 11:2-4) , in teaching all nations (Mt 28:19-20) and in admonishing those who have strayed (2Tim 2:24-26). “In fact God saves us "not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour" (Ti 3:5-6).”[19]

[1] See How to read the Old Testament - Psalms - Etienne Charpentier pp94-95

[2] See Catholic Ireland – The Psalms: Prayers for Today – James McPolin SJ http://www.catholicireland.net/church-a-bible/bible/old-testament/350-the-psalms-prayers-for-today

[3] See “Christ in the Psalms” – Bryan Hansen http://www.thewordteaches.com/The_Word_Teaches/Christ_in_Psalms.htm

[4] See Psalms – Geoffery Grogan p5 par 3. http://books.google.com/books?id=_DAbZDo4cucC&lpg=PA5&ots=FuhgdfQRiO&dq=%22first%20identified%20for%20modern%20readers%20by%20Robert%22&pg=PA5#v=onepage&q=%22first%20identified%20for%20modern%20readers%20by%20Robert%22&f=false

[5] ibid

[6] See Psalm 51 – Edward R.Dalglish pp 80-81 http://books.google.ie/books?id=4sYUAAAAIAAJ&lpg=PP1&ots=jx9lB-lxnq&dq=dalglish%20psalm%20fifty%20one&pg=PA77#v=onepage&q&f=false

[7] See Psalms: Finding forgiveness and restoration – Ralph F Wilson http://www.jesuswalk.com/psalms/psalms-11-forgiveness.htm

[8] See “The Psalms: strophic structure and theological commentary” - Samuel L. Terrien pp 402 - 403

[9] See “Chiasmus in Job” – Mitchell Dahood SJ p145 http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/myers/dahood.pdf

[10] See Restoration and its blessings: A theological analysis of psalms 51 and 32 -Jack Barentsen - http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/OTeSources/19-Psalms/Text/Articles/Barentsen-Ps51-GTJ.pdf

[11] See Hebrew Poetry - David Graves & Jane Graves http://www.abu.nb.ca/ecm/topics/theme4.htm

[12] See The-Poetic-Scriptures-Synthetic--Composite--and-Climactic-Parallelisms--Part-3 http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Poetic-Scriptures-Synthetic--Composite--and-Climactic-Parallelisms--Part-3

[13] See "Preliminary Dissertation," – Robert Lowth p. xxii http://www.archive.org/stream/isaiahanewtrans04lowtgoog#page/n6/mode/2up

[14] See “Psalm 51 – How Original” – Rabbi Benjamin J. Segal http://psalms.schechter.edu/2011/01/psalm-51-sin-how-original-text-hebrew.html

[15] See “Hyssop” – Wayne Blank http://www.keyway.ca/htm2006/20060609.htm

[16] See “Psalms” – David E. Graves http://www.abu.nb.ca/ecm/Ps00b.htm

[17] The motto that Newman adopted for use as a cardinal, Cor ad cor loquitur traced to St. Francis de Sales

[18] See “Discourses of St. Augustine on the Psalms” Passion of the Whole Body of Christ - par1 http://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/library_article/406/Passion_of_the_Whole_Body_of_Christ___St_Augustine.html

[19] See John Paul II General Audience Wednesday 8 May 2002 http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/audiences/2002/documents/hf_jp-ii_aud_20020508_en.html

Múlier, ecce fílius tuus, Totus Tuus! Fergal

Essay 5 - Submitted Essay - Christians are made not born - Sacrament of Baptism

2011-03-27T14:43:00.003+01:00

Tertullian and Conversion

When one reads into the life of this ecclesiastical writer, one can say with confidence that Tertullian was born of pagan parents and converted to Christianity.[1] His conversion from paganism to Christianity, revealed in his apologia, was a journey from enquiry into service[2], presumably through the gateway of Baptism. It was from this experience of radical change that he came to the conclusion that “Christians are made Christians and not born so.”[3] For most Catholics, this immense conversion experience has escaped our senses simply because of the age at which Baptism, the first of all the Catholic Sacraments to be received, is conferred. Yet it remains a most unique moment in the life of the individual because Baptism “the gateway to the sacraments, is necessary for salvation”[4]. Through this sacrament, “people are freed from sins, are born again as children of God and, made like to Christ by an indelible character, are incorporated into the Church.”[5]  Those who have received Baptism as infants rely more on the “nurture of grace which often yet gradually brings one to the grace of conversion.”[6] This journey is one that is dependent on being surrounded and formed by those who follow Christ; in the first place parents then teachers, religious, friends and many significant others.  If Christians are made, not born, then someone is responsible for introducing them to and nurturing them in the faith, and for structuring circumstances that confer God’s sanctifying grace and aid their lifelong formation.

Sacraments are outward signs

William A. Van Roo states that “A symbol is a meaningful sensuous image which terminates a human intentional operation, represents the imaged reality and may affect the human world with a manifold efficacy.”[7] Outward signs are messages, delivered through physical matter through which one communicates with the senses of another to promote an invisible truth. It is therefore necessary that not only the recipient but also those witnessing the conferral of any sacrament be immersed in the sensory signs of the invisible reality so that all may be renewed and strengthened in their Christian faith. Signs affecting sight, touch, hearing, smell and taste also serve to teach all involved that what they are witnessing is a supernatural action delivered through human means. Outward signs of the sacraments are a diptych of words and actions. In relation to Baptism, symbols of water, oils, light and the white garment are given significance through the actions of pouring, anointing and prayer. This combination of form and matter, essential to all sacraments ‘terminates the intentional operation’ and reveals the supernatural reality that it is Christ who acts to cleanse, heal and regenerate. The symbols observed and response returned, however, will remain inadequate if not understood with the context in which they rest. Symbols used in the conferral of a sacrament have their origin in the actions of Christ and their power in the grace that Christ attached to them. In other words, God’s grace is conveyed into our souls through material symbols that are permeated by grace.

In the sacraments, we believe that Jesus is truly present, especially in the person of the minister of the sacrament who acts in persona Christi and in the sacramental signs. This “incarnational principle”[8] is the basis of the entire Catholic sacramental system. In this way, God makes himself known to us and accessible to us in and through material things we can relate to. In turn these material things are ‘further filled, animated and elevated by the love of God.’[9] St. Cyril of Jerusalem when referring to the oil of chrism said “...this holy oil in conjunction with the invocation in no longer simple or common oil but becomes the gracious gift of Christ and the Holy Spirit producing the presence of His deity.”[10] They are signs because they point to the reality of God's presence and action which continuously remakes, renews and reforms not only human nature, but through it human culture and history itself. Pope Benedict XVI in his recent Lenten message also refers to this reality when he said “Baptism is not a rite from the past, but the encounter with Christ, which informs the entire existence of the baptized, imparting divine life and calling for sincere conversion; initiated and supported by Grace, it permits the baptized to reach the adult stature of Christ.”[11]

Of singular significance and worthy of mention is the baptismal font, which is considered to be the womb of the Church through which a person is reborn by water and the Holy Spirit. The word reborn does not contradict the title of this dissertation as it does not refer to a birth, but to a grafting in the spiritual sense; both are life giving actions with the latter giving new life to something already in being. This is an action of the Holy Spirit through which using the allegory of the vine and branches[12], “the Paschal mystery is ... grafted onto the history of ... every individual”[13] and the individual is grafted onto the true vine and thus draws life from the Father. Christ is the stock from whom all grace flows, the newly baptised the scion which receives life from the stock and grows. If the scion becomes separated from the stock, it simply cannot bear “fruit that will last.”[14]

Sacraments were instituted by Christ to confer Grace

According to St Thomas Aquinas, the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan was the moment of institution of the first of the seven sacraments, yet the obligation of a Trinitarian Baptism for salvation was not expressed until after Pentecost.[15] Seven sacraments were instituted by Christ and all give sanctifying grace so that he may be present in every baptised person and that they, in turn, may remain and grow in his love. Baptism brings sanctifying grace to the soul for the first time, “opens the soul to the flow of God’s love, and establishes union between the soul and God.”[16] In doing so, Baptism produces “a ineffaceable quality or character to the soul”[17] and orients it towards the other six sacraments. They not only give an increase in sanctifying grace, but provide differing sacramental graces which are keyed to our particular spiritual needs and our particular state in life. Therefore Baptism, the basis of the whole Christian life, is “completed only at our death”[18] and serves to build up over a lifetime, “Christianus alter Christus”[19].

Besides the two principal effects involving the removal of original sin and bestowal of grace, three other effects or fruits of grace are realised through the Sacrament of Baptism. It is the lifelong exercise of these other effects that move our membership of the Church from ontological to functional.[20] “As Christ was anointed Priest, Prophet, and King, so may you live always as members of his body, sharing everlasting life.”[21] Through the anointing with Chrism we are called to share in the priesthood of Christ, which means that we are to participate in the sacramental life of the Church and to share in Christ’s mission. It is Baptism that bestows ontological membership of the Church, but functional membership is realised by actively responding to the call of the Holy Spirit to be people who are self emptying, people of prayer and people who serve others. The post baptismal sacred anointing, which “announces a second anointing”[22] bestows the theological virtues upon the newly baptised. These gifts, imparted by God through the action of the Holy Spirit, if actively engaged with, will strengthen the Christian and empower them throughout life to work effectively within the realms of kenosis, koinonia and diakonia which “provides the basis for communion with all Christians.”[23] This metanoia, symbiotically aided and supported by parents, godparents and the wider Christian community should exemplify our lives as something radically transformed through Christ Jesus.

For the newly initiated into the faith, especially adults, the period of mystagogia, the making of the Christian, is the final stage of Christian Initiation. This period describes the life of a Christian believer after baptism and the first initiation rites in relation to the work that now must be done to ensure growth of the mind and heart in the ancient Christian faith. One might be forgiven for thinking that this period of growth applies more directly to RCIA candidates, however St. Augustine reminds us that for the infant, “Mother Church lends the feet of others that they may come; the heart of others that they may believe, and the tongue of others that they may affirm their faith.”[24] It requires all believers to not only reflect on the Paschal Mystery, but to actively incorporate this mystery into our daily lives. By continually immersing ourselves into the death and resurrection of Christ through the Sacrament of Baptism, “we are moved to free our hearts every day from the burden of material things, from a self-centred relationship with the “world” that impoverishes us and prevents us from being available and open to God and our neighbour.”[25] Sharing of our common faith is most effective when we worship and visibly share our theological beliefs with everyone around us. In doing so we recognise that through Baptism we form “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy people;”[26] who must continuously “praise God who called you out of darkness and into his marvellous light.”[27]

[1] From Tertullian the African by David E Wilhite p 24

[2] Tertullian’s Apologia Chapter XVIII par. 1 documents a journey of conversion probably like unto that he himself experienced “from enquiry about God, and having enquired, to find Him, and having found, to believe, in Him, and having believed, to serve Him.”

[3] Ibid Here, Tertullian confesses that “These (Christian) things we also once laughed at: we were one of yourselves;”

[4] The Code of Canon Law 1983 Can 849

[5] ibid

[6] Infant Baptism and the Covenant of Grace – Paul K. Jewett P190

[7] The Christian Sacrament – William A. Van Roo S.J. p154

[8] ibid p166

[9] Why be Catholic? – Incarnation - http://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otc.cfm?id=560

[10] The Holy Chrism by St. Cyril of Jerusalem par 5 p132

[11] Pope Benedict XVI – Lenten Message 2011 par. 1

[12] John 15:1 - 8

[13] Crossing the Threshold of Hope – John Paul II p74

[14] John 15:16

[15] See Summa Theologica – St Thomas Aquinas at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/aquinas/summa.TP_Q66_A2.html

[16] See The Faith Explained – Leo J. Trese p299

[17] See New Advent online Catholic Encyclopedia – Character - http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03586a.htm

[18] See The Breaking of Bread – Cardinal Cahal B. Daly Biblical Reflections on the Eucharist p187

[19] See Crossing the Threshold of Hope – Pope John Paul II p12-13.

[20] The Essence of Christianity – Michael Schmaus p 230

[21] See Rite of Baptism for Infants – Anointing with Chrism after Baptism

[22] See The Catechism of the Catholic Church No. 1242

[23] See Compendium of the Cathechism of the Catholic Church Q263 p 91

[24] Summa Theologica Online - St Thomas Aquinas - http://www.ccel.org/ccel/aquinas/summa.TP_Q69_A6.html

[25] Message of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI for Lent 2011 Section 3 Par. 1

[26] See 1 Peter 2:9

[27] ibid

Múlier, ecce fílius tuus, Totus Tuus! Fergal

Essay 4 - Submitted Essay - Social Justice - A Historical Perspective

2010-12-23T12:21:00.001Z

Introduction

In the closing chapter of the great novel “The Robe” written in 1942 by Lloyd C Douglas, Marcellus , a Roman Centurion who by the toss of a dice gained possession of the seamless robe of Christ, stands before Caligula and is asked for the final time to renounce his ‘misguided allegiance to this Galilean Jew--who called himself a King’[1]. In response, having undergone a radical conversion to Christianity and having exercised principles of social justice in his own life, Marcellus replies:

'Your Majesty, if the Empire desires peace and justice and good will among all men, my King will be on the side of the Empire and her Emperor. If the Empire and the Emperor desire to pursue the slavery and slaughter that has brought agony and terror and despair to the world'---- 'if there is then nothing further for men to hope for but chains and hunger at the hands of our Empire--my King will march forward to right this wrong! Not to-morrow, sire! Your Majesty may not be so fortunate as to witness the establishment of this Kingdom. But it will surely come!'[2]

Marcellus, through martyrdom, bears witness to the power of the Gospel; a power that he has come to understand can fundamentally amend many social realities that offend the dignity of the human person. Today as the Church strives to evangelise in a world that is torn by many injustices, the good news of Christ is not received nor entertained eagerly. Yet humanity, with all the difficulties facing it on many sides, has greater need than ever of the Gospel: “of the faith that saves, of the hope that enlightens, of the charity that loves.”[3]

Historical Aspects of Social Justice

‘Catholic social teaching is a central and essential element of our faith’[4], whose deep roots are firmly embedded in the Old Testament, especially in the Prophets who were outspoken advocates for justice in society. Exilic experiences along with the knowledge that individuals are made in the image and likeness of God, shaped the structures of social justice. Central to this was the Torah which called for integrity in the various areas of daily life. Stipulated within, were directives that directly concerned honesty in trading, fair treatment of slaves along with care of the poor, the widow and the orphan, and the oppressed. It extended unto the legislators and rulers whose duty ‘was to exercise justice in their dealings with their subjects.’[5] The Prophet Amos shows that in many instances these directives did not prevail, and he condemned those ‘who trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain’ and who ‘afflict the righteous…take a bribe, and push aside the needy in the gate’. (Amos 5:11-12).

The religiosity surrounding the social doctrine of the Old Testament was often exercised most scrupulously, whilst real heartfelt care and attention to the needy was lacking. In Isaiah 58 we read a poetic and emotive call for pure religion which is disposed to aid the helpless. Isaiah reminds Israel that fasting that serves self-interest and contributes to the oppression of the weak ‘will not make your voice heard on high.’(Is 58:4) The kind of life that God wished his people to lead was one always ordered to aid the immediate community and hence the nation. In order to meet this end one was reminded through the Prophet Micah ‘to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God’. (Micah 6:8)

A New Commandment

Catholic social doctrine ‘is a teaching founded on the life and words of Jesus Christ’[6], and in the New Testament is more anthroprocentric in its focus. The transition from the Old to the New Testament involves a quantum leap from a sense of justice where God is for those who experience poverty and discrimination, ‘to a God who makes himself one of them, who chooses poverty and weakness for himself’[7]. Another great change instituted by Jesus was the movement from social justice by rule of limited revenge to social justice by forgiveness, patience and generosity. He was the prophet who most exemplified its core values. Having delivered the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus brought into focus six elements of the prevailing Israelite social justice system that he came not to abolish but to release their full potential. Using the authoritative ‘I’(Mat 5:21-48), echoing the name of God from the Old Testament, Jesus radicalises the law focusing hearts and minds of the true meaning of love for neighbour. He caps this new philosophy with the teaching of the ‘Our Father’ demonstrating the intrinsic link that exists between faith and deeds in the unity of life. Pope John Paul II reflects this reality when he says ‘the unity of life of the lay faithful is of the greatest importance: indeed they must be sanctified in everyday professional and social life.’[8] Prayer therefore is a fundamental piece of our positive action towards others. It is the fuel that spurs us on to see in the other a valid image of the living God and in seeing it, we are challenged to respond to it accordingly.

The words and example of Jesus exemplified a necessary balance between the spiritual and the tangible proving that our mission in the Church should not only be one of personal spiritual activity but also one of public witness. This was engraved in the hearts and minds of all those who followed His example and in imitating Him, freely gave witness solely to ‘encourage one another and build up each other’. (1Thess 5:11) They lived lives dedicated to putting in place supports needed by the marginalised that acted towards the common good and in turn strengthened society. These were the deeds that gave life to their faith and caused St James to exclaim, ‘faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.’ (Js 2:17)

Christ has redeemed the person with all the richness of his personality and social life. He reveals that God is Father and that we are called to become his children in the Spirit and therefore brothers and sisters among ourselves. The New Commandment, ‘that you love one another and I have loved you’ (Jn 3:18), therefore ‘must inspire, purify and elevate all human relationships in society and politics’[9]. It is precisely on these relationships, and the love shown through them, that we will be judged. In Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus reveals how, in the end, those who exercised the corporal works of mercy toward a neighbour will be gathered up into the beatific vision and those who chose to ignore the needs of another will be counted amongst those who caused them and eternally separated from God.

Modern Social Doctrine

The Christian community, centred on the person of Christ, is a ‘community called to Christian orthodoxy and orthopraxis; right belief and right living.’[10] Over the past century and a half the Church has contributed to the building up of the kingdom by producing a significant body of teaching in the area of social doctrine that is now summed up in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. This has been developed by the universal Church through the teaching of the popes in encyclical letters from Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum through John XXIII’s Pacem in Terris to Benedict XVI’s Caritas in Veritate. These teachings, which are applied to the social issues and challenges of the respective age, are based on several key concepts which have, at their core, the promotion of the intrinsic dignity of the human person. Stemming from this belief in the sanctity of human life is solidarity, a teaching that promotes charity, motivates justice and strives to make all aware that ‘if one part suffers, every part suffers with it’ and ‘if one part is praised, every part rejoices with it.’ (1 Cor 12:26)

Pope Benedict XVI reminds us that ‘the just ordering of society and the State is a central responsibility of politics.’[11] Political authority, based on human nature, belongs to the same moral order established by God. This authority gives political leaders a responsibility to make decisions that follow the moral order and create laws and structures that allow people, either as groups or individuals, to reach their human and spiritual fulfilment more fully and easily. Only in this way is the common good achieved.

The Church wants her social doctrine to be part of catechesis which is ‘the systematic teaching of Christian doctrine in its entirety with a view to initiating believers into the fullness of Gospel life’.[12] The faithful must be reminded once again that this life of social action is walked on two feet; one of service and charity which provides immediate acts of mercy to the needy, and the other of justice which works, albeit on a longer time scale and in a more complex way, to change the structures of society that promote inequality. Christ calls us to be faithful in our actions, not necessarily successful. The lack of success may in certain cases cause one to doubt their efforts, but imprinted in the hearts of all who heed the call to ‘love one another’ must be the knowledge that charity ‘transforms our impatience and our doubts into the sure hope that God holds the world in his hands’.[13]

[1] See ‘The Robe’ Chapter 25 p507

[2] ibid

[3] Cardinal Renato Martino on presenting the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, Vatican City, 2 April 2004

[4] Raymond Field - Foreword to the Companion to the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church

[5] See ‘Social Justice’ by Dr Christian A. Eberhart < http://elcic.ca/GHDA/Resources/documents/BiblicalJusticeChrisEberherdt.doc>

[6] Raymond Field – Forward to the Companion of the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church p 7.

[7] Ranerio Cantalamessa – ‘The Canticle of the Sun’ p8 On the Franciscan Charism

[8] See Pope John Paul II - Christifideles Laici Chpt 1 par 17

[9] See Compendium of Social Doctrine no.33

[10] See the Companion to the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church pp 17-18

[11] See Deus Caritas Est par. 28(a)

[12] See the Compendium of Social Doctrine of the Church pp 529; cf. JPII Catechesis Tradendae, 18

[13] See Deus Caritas Est par. 39

Múlier, ecce fílius tuus, Totus Tuus! Fergal

Essay 3 - Submitted Essay - The Priestly and Yawhist Accounts of Creation

2010-11-18T16:01:00.001Z

Introduction

Thomas Brodie OP states that ‘Genesis is two things: a museum of the external world and a meditation.’[1] This wonderful definition explains that through inspired, yet limited human means, the authors, in exploring the origin and meaning of life reveal much about ancient culture and literature and perhaps, most importantly, harmonise these elements with great consideration so that they reflect a message not about history, but about present day existence. In the opening chapters, we are presented with two accounts of the story of creation, which do not exist in order to provide a scientific account or analysis of the great event but to ‘point the way to morality, righteousness, and salvation.’[2] It is important to remember that they are inspired spiritual writings and that ‘the inspired word of God has been expressed in human language and that this Word has been expressed, under divine inspiration, by human authors possessed of limited capacities and resources.’[3]

Both of the creation accounts given in Genesis draw on some of the influential near eastern writings that existed at that time. Perhaps the greatest parallels can be seen with the ancient Mesopotamian text the ‘Enuma Elish’[4], which relates the story of the birth of the gods through the primeval water names Apsu (male) and the abyss of chaos that is named Tiamat (female). Tiamat is killed and her corpse is ‘split… like a flat fish into two halves’[5], one of which is turned into the firmament and the other into the heavens. Where the mythical and biblical texts diverge is on their use of the thought process. According to Etienne Charpentier, the near eastern myths were very influential but their aim was to endorse created gods and then through ritual ‘gain control over this deity, to enlist his service.’[6] Biblical thinking turns this ancient model on its head by beginning with Gods address to humankind and leading through to the response to God through ritual.

The Yahwist Author

This author is the earlier of the two authors of the creation story and it is thought that this localised account of creation was written between 1000 – 950 BC at the time of either King David or Solomon. At this point in history the king was an all important figure since ‘he is the one who gives the faith unity’[7]. Agriculture was the most important activity and so many of the stories presented by this author use earthy images and detail humankinds relationship with the soil. The narrative is given in almost like a folk story, showing the strong influence of the near eastern mythology writings. Of immense importance and distinction to the Yahwist description is the role of water, especially rainfall in the role of cultivation. It is the rainfall that gives power to the soil to bring forth various types of vegetation and indeed, it is from the arable soil – adamah, that the first man – adam, is fashioned. Having all life forms linked to the soil is a way in which the ecological ideal of mutuality is enforced. Recalling Thomas Brodie’s image of Genesis as a museum, it is proper that the Yawhist author is ‘regarded as a witness to a primitive stage… in which nature played a major and formative role.’[8]

Yahweh, the name given to God in this account, is portrayed as an immanent, anthromorphological figure who is closely bound up with the ‘moral and psychological dilemmas’[9] of his created beings. This bind sets a redemptive tone and is used to show God as one who not only punishes a contravention but, as we see in Gen3:21, is also one who is moved to provide post-transgressional solicitude. Both man and woman are disciplined with ‘labour’: woman in childbirth, and man on ‘unfruitful ground’, they are banished from Eden and the human condition of yearning for paradise results. Pope Leo XIII summed this up when he stated that ‘God has not created us for the perishable and transitory things of earth, but for things heavenly and everlasting. He has given us this world as a place of exile, and not as our abiding place.’[10]

The Priestly Author

The first verses of Genesis, placed as a pretext to the Yawhist account, were written sometime in the 6th century B.C., by an author of what is called the Priestly tradition. According to the document hypothesis[11], this source is the most recent of the four original sources of the Pentateuch and it concerns itself with emphasising ‘the priestly tradition or interest, giving detailed explanations and descriptions of ritual laws and procedures.’[12] Of course central to the priestly source are the experience of the Babylonian exile and a deep consideration of why it occurred and how to prevent a reoccurrence. Most likely these first verses were written in response to the much more human centred Yawhist creation story and strive to put a transcendental yet distant God back into the centre. The priests of the time wrote primarily for the Babylonian exiles who were ‘completely disheartened people’[13] in order to keep up their hope and faith. The religious rituals, dates, measurements, chronologies, genealogies, worship and laws presented in the priestly writings had a tri-fold purpose: to remove those elements which were contradictory or unnecessary to the ‘final stage of the Israelite religion’[14], to make the exiles hungry for their own land and promote obedience to and right relationship with God as a way to make reparation for past wrongs.

The structure of the priestly account of the creation story is strictly chronological and almost generational with day following day with the fruit of each day almost setting the scene for the next. Inside this ‘vision of cosmic perfection’[15] also exist themes of separation designed to give a certain authority to each act. Along with this concern for order is the reference to God’s blessing over the animals and humankind and their mission to ‘be fruitful and multiply’ (Gen1:28) and on the Sabbath. The order in which these are created and blessed gave rise to the mistaken notion that man was created for the Sabbath, which in turn gave undue eminence to rules and regulations over human need and reason. Together, order and blessing were used not only as an expression of favour, but to show that Israel’s history was indeed ‘progressing according to a plan predetermined by God.’[16]

Conclusion

There are many other differences that exist between the two accounts of creation, yet, as already stated, they do not exist to provide a scientific analysis of how things came to be but together indicate a profound mystery. The thrust of research today is always towards solid scientific fact which at times moves so quickly looking for an undisputable answer, that is fails to stop and appreciate the question and indeed its essence. Biblical questions are spiritual questions and one who attempts to come to them with only a scientific methodology is in danger of missing the mystery. As John Metcalfe points out ‘spiritual things should be conveyed’[17] in a mystery. The creation accounts are mystical writings and once this is acknowledged, we begin to understand that although we are contemplating the spiritual wrapped in mystery, nonetheless they rest together on factual foundations. These foundations are summed up in the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church when it states:

‘The significance is that creation is the foundation of all God’s saving plans. It shows forth the almighty and wise love of God, and it is the first step toward the covenant of the one God with his people. It is the beginning of the history of salvation which culminates in Christ; and it is the first answer to our fundamental questions regarding our very origin and destiny.’[18]

[1] Thomas Brodie, ‘How Genesis Portrays the Human Heart.’ Spirituality July-Aug. 1995.Catholic Ireland.net (2008) http://www.catholicireland.net/church-a-bible/bible/old-testament/488-how-genesis-portrays-the-human-heart [accessed 26 October 2010]

[2] B.A. Robinson, ‘Comparing Genesis with the theory of evolution’, www.religioiustolerance.org (2009) http://www.religioustolerance.org/ev_bibl.htm [accessed 25 Oct. 2010]

[3] Commission, Pontifical Biblical. ‘Interpretation of the Bible in the Church: Methods and Approaches.’ Catholic Resources - Felix Just, S.J. Ed. Felix Just. Catholic Resources, 01 Aug. 2005. Web. 29 Oct. 2010. .

[4] The poem Enuma Elish is an ancient Mesopotamian religious poem that was written about 1100BC. It begins with sexual principals and leads to the creation ‘of the firmament’ as a result of violence. See http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/enuma.htm

[5] Ibid n.4 This reference is found at the end of the fourth tablet.

[6] Etienne Charpantier, How to read the Old Testament p 20.

[7] Charpentier ‘How to Read the Old Testament’ p27

[8] Theodore Hibert ‘The Yawhist’s Landscape’ p27.

[9] The Harper Collins Study Bible p7 provides a commentary on the Yahwist story.

[10] Rerum Novarum, n.21

[11] Meaning the documentary hypothesis on the identity of the Pentateuch’s authors. The four original sources have been named as the Yawhist, the Priestly, the Elohist and the Deuteronomical sources.

[12] See http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/475994/Priestly-code

[13] Virginia Gilbert, ‘The Priestly Writers of Exodus’ http://www.suite101.com/content/the-priestly-writers-of-exodus-a253758

[14] Hibert ‘The Yawhist’s Landscape’ p27.

[15] Eco-justice Ministries, ‘Comparing the two Creation stories in genesis’ http://www.eco-justice.org/Gen1a.asp

[16] See the ‘Priestly Document’ published at http://barrybandstra.com/tables/pt1/pt1_tb4.htm

[17] John Metcalfe ‘Creation’ p64

[18] Response given in the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church to Q51

Múlier, ecce fílius tuus, Totus Tuus! Fergal

Essay 2 - Submitted Essay - Year 1

2010-10-23T22:55:00.001+01:00

Reading St Paul’s letter to the Galatians in the light of Classical Rhetoric

In the classical Greek and Roman civilisations, rhetoric was an academic discipline that guided all acts of solemn verbal and written communication. The letter being studied in this dissertation gives good insight into the use of the principles of rhetoric as “the chief weapon at the service of truth”. Like any good set of tools, the implements provided are no good by themselves as a means to an end. Likewise, the principles of rhetoric by themselves are not sufficient in persuading the hearts and minds of those to whom argument or information is directed. Along with their use, the person using them must have a certain body of knowledge at their command, and must show great social and moral integrity. Through this unity of tools, knowledge and honour it is easy to see why the classical ideal of a great man was described as “a good man speaking well.”

Born in Tarsus, Paul, through his parents, has right to Roman citizenship and therefore a high level of education. It is known that he was educated at the school of Gamaliel, the great Rabbi, which would have provided him with a classical education containing, no doubt, lessons in the art of effective communication. Being a zealous Jew, he would have made the scriptures his own and through combining this body of knowledge to the arts learned in school, he would have proved himself a formidable influence and a strong character capable of persuading many.

The character of the one seeking approval from a peer group or an unconvinced audience is a most important facet of influence. Aristotle points out that there are three things that inspire confidence in an orator’s character: common sense, a polite, well disposed attitude, and a sound moral reputation. These must be present in an individual if the confidence of the audience is to be gained. Paul from the outset of his letter to the Galatians strives to gain this confidence. Having struck an initial tone of seriousness, he moves to engage the memories of his audience, reminding them of their outstanding kindness to, and care of, him when he was forced to stop in their lands because of illness. Once engaged in memory, they hear ‘ab initio’ of his character and reputation, one which is in line with the ‘recognised leaders’, which serves to show the Galatians that “his authority comes not by a community but through a community by God.” He uses the term apostle as his title, showing that his life now has a missionary purpose. This purpose is to carry the Gospel to the Gentiles, a purpose he explains was understood and confirmed by the Church at Jerusalem, through prayer, as being God’s will.

Historical examples of public documents, written at the time of Paul, show an organised rhetorical structure was commonly used. They usually begin with a greeting and a thanksgiving or exordium. This is then followed by the promotion of a thesis or propositio, followed by several arguments or probationes, and concluded by final remarks or peroratio and a last greeting. The letter of St Paul to the Galatians fits this mould accordingly except for one very striking omission. There is no thanksgiving. Instead it has been replaced by a statement of astonishment. This is well placed to grab the attention of the audience and to set the tone regarding the seriousness of the contents.

Classical rhetoric employs three general goals or aims of communication. Arguments are formed to persuade, to inform and to entertain and in each case a very definite goal is attached. Persuasion is linked to future events and situations and so arguments of this type are presented to influence politically towards a decision. Arguments developed to inform usually point to the past and tend to conclude with a condemnation or exoneration, whilst those arguments that allude to the present are usually reserved for ceremonial speeches. Since the central theme in this letter highlights the perils of the new gospel that promote the enslavement of a people through the Law, the thrust of Paul’s letter is one of looking towards the future, persuading all to live a life of freedom in Christ.

Paul has only one message in this letter and that is “the singularity of the Gospel” he carries. He teaches justification by faith in Jesus Christ and not through the Law, something that he himself has not learned from human mouths but through a direct revelation from the Christ. Pope Benedict XVI explained in the Year of St. Paul that being justified “means being made righteous, that is being accepted by God’s merciful justice to enter into communion with him and, consequently, to be able to establish a far more genuine relationship with all our brethren.”

The message contained in the letter is communicated using three classic rhetorical modes of argument. The first Paul engages with is autobiographical in nature when he presents the Galatians with accounts of previous personal conflicts and underscores his present high moral and spiritual standing. This is done to convey ethos to the audience, after all Paul is no stranger to them. He then moves to arguments that engage the experience of the audience and finally promotes scriptural argument using the story of Abraham as being the father of the seed - the singular seed – Christ, into who all are baptised in order to share in the linage of, and promise made to Abraham.

The Galatians were “steeped in the paganism of their day” and it was incumbent upon Paul to presents himself as one who shows interest and knowledge in their everyday reality. By alluding to the fruits of self indulgence in 5:19-21, vices that were common place before they received the spirit, Paul shows that he recognises them as a people who are living in an evil age and who long deeply for freedom. Hence, Paul uses the theme of freedom throughout the letter in order to appeal to their deepest yearnings. It is well established that this use of pathos is crucial in communications that are designed to win over the hearts and minds of an audience and to strongly enhance fundamental arguments within the text. He constantly contrasts freedom with slavery in order to demonstrate the crucial difference between justification through faith in Jesus and through the Law. One leads to freedom and the other to slavery. In 5:13 Paul serves to remind the listeners that true freedom is attractive but needs definition and that freedom can leave the door open to licence as it seemingly had done in Galatia.

According to Aristotle, “Persuasion is a form of demonstration, for we are most fully persuaded by something when we believe it to have been clearly demonstrated” The six arguments, which now follow, constitute the logos of this letter. “Logos (Greek for 'word') refers to the internal consistency of the message--the clarity of the claim, the logic of its reasons, and the effectiveness of its supporting evidence.” The arguments that Paul makes are rabbinic in structure , arguing from the lesser to the greater as can be seen especially in the argument regarding Abraham’s offspring 4:21 – 5:1. This mode, obviously learned in the school of Gamaliel, is employed because of the willingness of the Galatians to receive the rabbinic arguments of those carrying the new gospel. He aims to persuade the Gentile Christians that the works of the law are not required for justification.

These six arguments found in 3:1-4:31 can be placed into one of three main groups: autobiographical, experiential and scriptural argument which in this case is “primarily centred on Abraham” . The autobiographical argument style tends to use arguments from current and past life events. Paul uses this mode in his fifth argument to remind the Galatians of how they treated him “like an angel” whilst he was with them and now questions how he could have become their enemy. In the first and fourth arguments Paul uses experiential arguments to strengthen the message he sends. Firstly he reminds them that the works of the law were not present in their lives when they first received the Spirit and that having received the Spirit they received freedom from the slavery they once had to “elemental spirits of the universe” . He points out that by accepting the rigours of the law being promoted by the agitators, they will simply re enslave themselves to empty ritual. The strongest argument delivered by Paul is the Scriptural element we find in arguments two, three and six. Here Abraham is the primary focus. It is obvious that the agitators spoke of God’s covenant with Abraham and the outward sign of circumcision as a mark of that covenant. In his second scriptural argument, Paul also employs what is known as “terminological argument” where, in 3:8, he plays on four key words: faith, righteousness, Gentiles and blessing and links them in such a way that it is made clear to the Galatians that all are made righteous independently of circumcision.

To conclude, Paul’s use of rhetoric throughout this “most Pauline of the Pauline letters” and indeed throughout all his correspondence is the hallmark of his pastoral strategy. Having been brought into Christ not by human teaching but by revelation, which in itself is an apocalyptic term , Paul tries to express the urgency of his message in a way that always argues and explains but never brow beats. In this way, he not only teaches but himself gains a deeper understanding of the role of Christ in the history of salvation, within the community of believers. Although as St Peter states there may be “some things in them hard to understand”, St Paul’s letters prove that no one can fault him for making theology dull.

Múlier, ecce fílius tuus, Totus Tuus! Fergal

Essay 1 - Submitted Essay - Propedeutic Year

2010-10-23T22:49:00.005+01:00

Introduction

Cardinal John Henry Newman in his articulation of theological development pointed out that the seeds sown by Christ in the Church develop over time; so too with the diaconate. Newman pointed out that with any theological idea “In time it enters upon strange territory; points of controversy alter their bearing; parties rise and around it; dangers and hopes appear in new relations; and old principles reappear under new forms. It changes with them in order to remain the same. In a higher world it is otherwise, but here below to live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often”. (Newman, 1878) The history of the diaconate is such an idea, with this era brining new opportunities as the Church rediscovers the possibilities of the office of deacon. Just as for the Church, so too for individuals who are called to the diaconate, it means an organic change and the possibility of deepening one’s sacramental commitment as the Lord may wish.

The Scriptural Basis for the Diaconate

According to the constant tradition of the Catholic Church, the narrative of Acts 6:1-6, describes the first institution of the office of deacon. From her earliest times the Church has placed immense value on the notion of selfless service “one to another” so much so that from the womb of the infant church there arose an order of men directly responsible for the daily ministration. Throughout the Old Testament it is seen that the servant is usually a slave who belongs to another as “his money” (Ex. 21:21), a notion that placed lord over slave where one is without mercy on the other unless family or religion binds them. This restricted understanding of ‘love of neighbour’ was the focus of Jesus parable of the Good Samaritan. His answer to the Jewish lawyer’s question, set out the Christian notion of universal love, the universal love of the New Covenant that “the love of Christ compels us” to imitate (2Cor 5:14). This parable marked the pivotal moment when Christ revealed that true Samaritan charity involves putting others before oneself and extending mercy to all out of concern for the others fulfilment and without the expectation of a return act of charity.

The Disciples of Christ even unto the Last Supper still had no firm grasp on the meaning of this universal unrestricted love even though they had lived with its personified example for some years. Perhaps a good example of this is when Jesus “removed his outer garments and, taking a towel, wrapped it around his waist; he then poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet.” (Jn 13:5) There was no response from any but Peter who, when attended to by Christ, responded “You shall never wash my feet.”(Jn13:8) Perhaps this response was provoked by an understanding that what he was witnessing from Jesus was servitude and not the unrestricted and love motivated service that is the model of the paradoxical kingdom of God.

It was only after Jesus had ascended to Heaven and sent the Holy Spirit among the early Church, strengthening them in mission and reminding them of all He had taught them, that we see Christian ‘diakonia’ in action in the mindset of Peter when, turning to the crippled man he said “gold and silver I have none, but what I have I will give you”. (Acts 3:6) As their mission grew so did the demands of the ‘office’ to the point where it was no longer possible to exercise the daily distribution without overlooking some who depended on it. Exercising their mission of charity, serving at tables, also infringed upon their duty to the word of God. When this was realized the Church gathered and agreed to choose from among the followers seven men who would take charge of the daily ministration or ‘diakonia’. Thus seven were chosen for a specific ministry to the poor; among them Stephen, “a man full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom” (Acts 6:3). It is clear to see that from the example of St Stephen, that these proto-deacons exercised their mission and discharged their office to the marginalised both in holiness and justice. The title of ‘deacon’ does not actually appear until St Paul’s letter to the Philippians. In his opening sentence, he greets "all the holy ones at Philippi, with their bishops and deacons in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 1:1). It is important to remember that Paul addresses bishops and deacons only because in the early Church, the successors to the apostles, the bishops, celebrated the Mass. It was only when their work load increased that the bishops began to ask the council administrator they had appointed to teach, celebrate Mass, and baptize.

The Basis for the Diaconate in Historical Tradition

The first mention of a maturing of the office of deacon from that concerned with material distributions to one concerned with the mysteries of Christ occurs in chapter 15 of the Didache where it states “Appoint therefore to yourselves bishops and deacons worthy of the Lord, men who are meek and not lovers of money, and true and approved; for unto you they also perform the service of the prophets and teachers.” Indeed in this particular document it is clear to see that the three orders of Bishop, Presbyter and Deacon are already considered most necessary to the life of the Church. St Ignatius of Antioch in his letter to the Trallians again refers to this maturing of office when he states: “And those likewise who are deacons of the mysteries of Jesus Christ must please all men in all ways. For they are not deacons of meats and drinks but servants of the Church of God.” (Ad Tral 2:3).

As the Christian community grew and the number of Eucharistic celebrations increased, it became impossible for the Bishop to preside at every celebration and so the Deacon was given the task of carrying portions of the Body of Christ consecrated by the bishop to those absent and to the outlying churches to be dropped into the chalices at the various Eucharistic liturgies as a visible sign of unity. Deacons became very important in the early Church because of their relation to the bishop. As one ancient description says, they were “the eyes and ears, heart and soul of the bishop” (cited in Ditewig, 2004) in the community, informing him of who was in need and the special concerns of the people. The ancient form of basilica churches reflected this relationship, with the bishop’s chair in the apse, flanked by his deacons and surrounded by semi-circular tiers of benches for the presbyters. By the end of the first century or the beginning of the second, the deacon's place, at least in some churches, was already well established as a rank in the ministerial hierarchy. This is voiced by Ignatius of Antioch when he states “let all men respect the deacons as Jesus Christ, even as they should respect the bishop as being a type of the Father and the presbyters as the council of God and as the college of Apostles. Apart from these there is not even the name of a church.” (Ad Trall 3.1). The power of the Deacon continued to increase throughout the middle ages until “he had charge of church administration and of the care of the poor and thus held the purse” (Galles, 1995) which in turn caused some deacons to exercise “their office ill, and plundered the livelihood of widows and orphans, and made gain for themselves from the ministrations” (Hermas, Similitudes 9.26.2.)

The Basis for the Diaconate in Conciliar Teaching

From the documents of the Council of Nicea, it was clear to see that the glory days of the diaconate were over as it reduced and restricted the work of the order of deacons and elevated the presbyterate. For many reasons, mainly to do with power of office and confusion of roles, “what started out as mystery… ended up as administration” (Vanier, 1989), and steered the office away from its raison d’être and the example of Christ. The order of deacon lost much over the next two centuries, narrowed to a liturgical position and became a mere apprenticeship to priesthood lasting only a few months.

The 23rd session of the Council of Trent, 1562 recognized only the transitional diaconate and whilst there were proposals to restore the permanent diaconate, they were not implemented. Over the next four centuries, the diaconate remained as a transitional state yet the desire to reintroduce the office once again surfaced, when Pope Pius XII in his Apostolic Constitution “Sacramentum Ordinis”, 1947 spoke of the diaconate as part of Holy Orders. Ten years later he expressed the desire again in an address to the second world congress of the Lay Apostolate, but noted that the time was “not yet ripe”. (AAS 49, 1957) In 1963, the Second Vatican Council decree, Lumen Gentium, officially supported the desire of those bishops who wanted permanent deacons to be ordained “where such would lead to the good of souls.” (LG, 1964) Furthermore it proposed that “Deacons … receive the imposition of hands "not unto the priesthood, but unto the ministry." For, strengthened by sacramental grace they are dedicated to the People of God, in conjunction with the bishops and his body of priests, in the service of the liturgy, of the Gospel and of works of charity.” (LG, 29). In 1967 Pope Paul VI decreed through the apostolic letter, “Sacrum Diaconatus Ordinem” that “the diaconate is to be instituted as a proper and permanent rank of the hierarchy”. This letter was issued in response to the Second Vatican Council’s request for its restoration. Ultimately, the Council addressed the permanent deacon in six different documents. Diaconate formation programs began to appear in various dioceses throughout the world starting in 1968 until, almost ten years ago, in October 2000, the Irish Catholic Bishops Conference through the Clergy Commission Memorandum (2000, cited in McKeown, 2010) decided "in the light of the pastoral needs of the Church in Ireland” that the time was now right for the restoration of the permanent diaconate.

As we can see from the above reference in Lumen Gentium, the ministry of the deacon is typically described as a three-fold ministry: a servant of Charity, the Word and the Altar, something that has recently been confirmed by Pope Benedict XVI when by the Moto Proprio “Omnium in Mentem” some canons of the 1983 code of Canon Law were modified. A new paragraph was added to canon 1009 which clarified and focused on the role of the Deacon. It states "Those who are constituted in the order of the episcopate or the presbyterate receive the mission and capacity to act in the person of Christ the Head, whereas deacons are empowered to serve the People of God in the ministries of the liturgy, the word and charity". The Deacon is to be seen not only as a link between Altar and world, between the spiritual and the secular, but a bridge linking hope with the hopeless; a window that offers a glimpse in on what St Bernard of Clairvaux called “the invisible realities” of our faith. By virtue of his ordination and his sharing in the vocations to the temporal world with the laity, he is urged to seize every opportunity to set up the rule of love wherever he is. By doing so, he kindles and tends the flame of love without which the world cannot live. Service that leads an individual to focus beyond the present temporal realities, through a personal experience of the love of God incarnate, gives also to the receiver a peace that the world cannot give since “wherever love prevails and, in its dominion, heals, there is manifested a lustrous sign of the world to come.” (Schmauss, 1961). It is in this way that the Deacon will work to bring the laity into the missionary activity of the Church. The permanent Deacon, indeed the entire Christian community, with trust and hope in God, must strive to become again a community of people who are ready to serve in the same way that their teacher and Lord served, because, without this service, there is no real community.

Múlier, ecce fílius tuus, Totus Tuus! Fergal

Initial Essay - Not Submitted

2010-10-23T22:29:00.002+01:00

The Permanent Deacon at the Service of the Church

“To be in the world, for the world and not of the world”. With these words Pope Paul VI, addressed the participants in the First International Congress of Secular Institutes on 26^th September 1970. In it he summed up the mission of all those who desire to give themselves to forward the mission of Christ where ever they find themselves. This mission, as always, directs itself towards the wellbeing of others and their need for true fulfilment with a peace that the world simply cannot give. This mission has at its core, the charity of Christ exercised in the self-sacrificial service of others. For the permanent Deacon it is exactly this charism of service, empowered and mandated by the imposition of hands, that animates his raison d’etre and therefore, the above statement, directed towards the Consecrated of the secular institutes, can be directed and applied to the mission of the Deacon. In Sacrum Diaconatus Ordinem, Pope Paul VI reminded us that through ordination, the “special nature of this order will be shown more clearly”. Pope Benedict XVI, in his Catechises of 10^th January 2007 speaks of the laying on of hands as “an official conferral of an office…., but at the same time an entreaty for the grace to carry it out.” The grace needed to carry out the office conferred is, of course, freely given by Christ to those who ask for it most especially through the Eucharist. There is, therefore, a close link between the office of Deacon and the Eucharistic sacrifice. In the Second Vatican Council decree, ‘Ad Gentes’, it is stated that it is “beneficial that those who perform a truly diaconal ministry be strengthened by the imposition of hands, a tradition going back to the Apostles, and be more closely joined to the altar so that they may more effectively carry out their ministry through the sacramental grace of the diaconate.” Here the link between Eucharist and mission is established. The Deacon through the ‘mandatum novum’, is destined for the service of charity in close dependence on the Eucharist, which “is the source and the summit of the Christian life” (CCC, 1994 1324), and to the privileged service of the poor. In Mt10:8, Christ directs his twelve Apostles to go preach and heal, two missions of service that can only be carried out because they have received a free gift from God. They, in turn, with thanksgiving, must give freely to the needy in reply. The ministry to serve in the name of the Church, therefore by extension, has its source in the free gift of the Eucharist, and its summit in the free actions of service. The life of the Deacon should reveal this mystery of the Eucharist to all and should, at the same time, draw others into the same mystery through the example he gives. This will show that he is “in the world, for the world but not of the world”(Paul VI, 1970 par.13).

The notion of service to another, however, has a different emphasis in both the new and the old testaments. In looking at Hebrew bible, favoured by St. Jerome as more accurate than the Greek Septuagint, the Greek word ‘Diakonis’ does not appear at all. Throughout the Old Testament it is seen that the servant is usually a slave who belongs to another as “his money” (Ex. 21:21), a notion that placed lord over slave where one is without mercy on the other unless family or religion binds them. This restricted understanding of ‘love of neighbour’ was the focus of Jesus parable of the Good Samaritan. His answer to the Jewish lawyer’s question, set out the Christian notion of universal love, the universal love of the New Covenant that “the love of Christ compels us” to imitate (2Cor 5:14). This parable marked the pivotal moment when Christ revealed that true Samaritan charity involves putting others before oneself and extending mercy to all out of concern for the others fulfilment and without the expectation of a return act of charity.

The Disciples of Christ even unto the Last Supper still had no firm grasp on the meaning of this universal unrestricted love even though they had lived with its personified example for some years. Perhaps a good example of this is when Jesus “removed his outer garments and, taking a towel, wrapped it around his waist; he then poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet.” (Jn 13:5) There was no response from any but Peter who, when attended to by Christ, responded “You shall never wash my feet.”(Jn13:8) Perhaps this response was provoked by an understanding that what he was witnessing from Jesus was servitude and not the unrestricted and love motivated service that is the model of the paradoxical kingdom of God.

It was only after Jesus had ascended to Heaven and sent the Holy Spirit among the early Church, strengthening them in mission and reminding them of all He had taught them, that we see Christian ‘diakonia’ in action. Peter tells the crippled man “gold and silver I have none, but what I have I will give you” (Acts 3:6) As their mission grew so did the demands of the ‘office’ to the point where it was no longer possible to exercise the daily distribution without overlooking some who depended on it. Exercising their mission of charity, serving at tables, also infringed upon their duty to the word of God. When this was realized the Church gathered and agreed to choose from among the followers seven men who would take charge of the daily ministration or ‘diakonia’. Thus seven were chosen for a specific ministry to the poor; among them Stephen, “a man full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom” (Acts 6:3). It is clear to see that from the example of St Stephen, that these protodeacons exercised their mission and discharged their office to the marginalised “without fear, in holiness and in justice” (Lk 1:68) for all the days of their lives. The traits refered to in the Benedictus of Zachary, sum up how the threefold ministry of the Permanent Deacon should be lived out; service at the Altar and to the Word should be characterized by service in holiness and service to the marginalized, characterized by service in justice. In looking at the example of St Stephen, Pope Benedict XVI (2007) reminds us that “charitable social commitment must never be separated from courageous proclamation of the faith” and indeed these two traits represent, as it were the lungs of the mission of service entrusted to the Permanent Deacon which empower him to “permanently serve the mysteries of Christ and the Church” (Paul VI, Sacrum Diaconatus Ordinem, 1967)

According to Richard Foster in ‘The Celebration of Discipline’(2002), “true service finds it almost impossible to distinguish the small from the large service”. It “acts from ingrained patterns of living” and “springs spontaneously to meet human need. True service builds community.” True service must be preoccupied with charity that according to St Ignatius strives “to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labour and not to ask for reward, save that of knowing” that we are doing the will of God. If these criteria are followed by the Deacon, and he truly strives to be of service to the faith of others, then he knows that all those “on seeing these good works” of true service, may “give glory to the Father in Heaven.” (Mt5:16) Throughout history and in our own times there have risen up amongst us true ‘icons of service’. One has only to think of, St Elizabeth of Portugal who tended to the poor against her husbands wishes, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who served the poorest of the poor and Jean Vanier the founder of L’Arche whose charism it is “to be a sign of hope in a divided world.” Charter of the Communities of L’Arche". L'Arche International (1993). Their motivations, their power to transform lives and perceptions are rooted in Christian service. Their deep desire to keep attention focused on the marginalised and away from themselves shows how they desire to reveal something else of greater significance: the transforming power of the love of Christ in action. In this sense they are truly ‘icons’ because they live out a “spiritual communion between the heavenly and earthly realms.”(Lossky with Oupensky, 1999)

The Holy Father in his first encyclical Deus Caritas Est, summed up this ideal of service when he stated in section [33]: “With regard to the personnel who carry out the Church's charitable activity on the practical level, the essential has already been said: they must not be inspired by ideologies aimed at improving the world, but should rather be guided by the faith which works through love (cf. Gal 5:6). Consequently, more than anything, they must be persons moved by Christ's love, persons whose hearts Christ has conquered with his love, awakening within them a love of neighbour. The criterion inspiring their activity should be Saint Paul's statement in the Second Letter to the Corinthians: “the love of Christ urges us on” (5:14)

The Permanent Deacon himself is called to be a living icon “in persona Christi Servi”. (Diakonia of Christ 109). Using such a metaphor in the Latin Church perhaps sheds little light on what it entails since the veneration of religious icons is not a phenomenon associated with her faithful. Icons in the Orthodox faith represent “a bridge that connects the worldliness of the believer with the transcendent focus of the believer’s attention and action.” (Dcn Michael Ross: The Deacon – Icon of the Sign of Hope) In this way that the Deacon works to bring the laity into the missionary activity of the Church without drawing attention to his person or reputation. It is here that the Deacon realises that his strength lies “not in what he does but in who he is” (Faulk 2002) i.e. from his sacramental identity as an icon “in persona Christi Servi”. Perhaps the most tangible example of this strength is revealed in the Deacon’s presence on the Altar during Holy Mass and other liturgical functions. Cardinal Clancy, former Archbishop of Sydney, Australia once said that the Deacons “ministry in the sanctuary is an extension and a validation of his service to the world.” Not only is the Deacon to be seen as a bridge between Altar and world, between the spiritual and the secular, but a bridge linking hope with the hopeless; a window that offers a glimpse in on what St Bernard of Clairvaux called “the invisible realities” of our faith. This is exercised by working into his very fibre the Beatitudes, the theological and cardinal virtues along with the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

Some have commented that the introduction of the Permanent Diaconate in Ireland is mistimed and has happened too late. In a time where scandal and mismanagement have covered the Irish Church in crises one would wonder at why in this time the Permanent Diaconate has appeared in our country. There is no ‘season’ that is ripe for the Diaconate and likewise no season that can do without it as we are reminded by an Alexandrian called Denis who in history “praises the clergy, including deacons and the laity, for giving their lives to Christ whilst ministering…during the most difficult of times.” Again we must look beyond the temporal and realise that, as St John reminds us, “the Spirit breaths where he will; and you hear his voice, but you do not know from where he comes, and to where he goes:” Jn 3:8 During a time when the institutional Church in Ireland appeared to be at its peak and when it was seen as the instrument of hope working to better the lives of the masses of poor and neglected, an experience far from that ideal was being lived out by some of those entrusted to Her care. We now know that, as Jean Vanier put it, “what started out as mystery has ended up as administration”, that which began with the person became impressed with the ‘big deal’ that is temporary, and placed the person into its debt. This tragic derailment ended up giving life not to hope but to subtle and destructive forms of manipulation. It is nothing less than prophetic, that the Church, as she admits her errors and in dealing with those that society had shunned and placed into care should now rise from her faithful an order of men whose lives will be directed to the service of those who were previously forgotten and ill used, and who are now bereft of a personal experience of Christ and to those who have lost sight of true communal living. The permanent Deacon, indeed the entire Christian community, the Church, must become again a community of people who are ready to serve in the same way that their teacher and Lord served, because, without this service, there is no community.

In the final part of this treatise we turn our attention to the “handmaid of the Lord” to Mary, the Mother of God. Her life was immersed in service to God and His Incarnate Word. This service of Mary can be summed up in one word: ‘Yes’! Having heard the great news of the Incarnation, she was then informed that Elizabeth was with child. Without any thought of self, she immediately made out for a hill town of Juda in order to be of service to her kinswoman. This example of selfless concern is one the Deacon must take from Mary and animate in his own life along with her service to prayer. As the Magnificat shows Mary had a deep knowledge of scripture and a radical understanding of God’s thirst for justice. Mary’s life was a continuous meditation on the birth, life, passion, death and resurrection of Christ. She maintained a unique union with God through her persistent, pondering prayer and through this union, was given the strength to accept all that God asked of her. Along with all the other norms for the order of Diaconate as laid out is “Ad Pascendum”, the Deacon likewise has a service to prayer for the Church and with the Church and should make constant recourse to the school of Mary so that he may learn how to be prayer in action. John Paul II who had a deep devotion to Mary addressed the Permanent Deacons of Detroit on September 19^th 1987, reminding them that “in the example of her servanthood we see the perfect model of the our own call to the discipleship of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the service of his Church.”

Múlier, ecce fílius tuus, Totus Tuus! Fergal

We were there!

2010-10-10T14:46:00.003+01:00

Myself and my son, Michael were at this Vigil in St Peter's Square in June last. It was simply wonderful. See for yourself.

Múlier, ecce fílius tuus, Totus Tuus!

Fergal

Essay titles - The Pentateuch in the Old Testament

2010-10-08T19:01:00.002+01:00

Have also another essay to ponder on the Pentateuch from the Old Testament. Those titles are a little more examination like:

1. Compare and contrast the depiction of God in both the Priestly and the Yahwist accounts of creation. How would you attempt to reconcile the differences to a modern audience?

2. Discuss the relevance of the Passover for both Jews and Christians. Your account should include a thorough examination of the Passover as depicted in the Book of Exodus (and other biblical texts).

3. Evaluate the statement: "The God of the Pentateuch is not a character that modern Christians can relate to, nor should they be expected to."

4. The Pontifical Biblical Commission in 1993 criticised fundamentalist readings of the Bible. Describe how a fundamentalist reading of the Book of Genesis "refuses to admit that the inspired word of God has been expressed in human language and that this Word has been expressed, under divine inspiration, by human authors possessed of limited capacities and resources."

Help?

Múlier, ecce fílius tuus, Totus Tuus! Fergal

Essay Titles on St Paul!

2010-10-08T18:21:00.000+01:00

Ok!

We have received our essay titles for the assignment on St Paul. Plenty of reading to do first and then perhaps I will pick on. Or is it the other way around? Dilemmas ................... dilemmas!

_____________________________________ Múlier, ecce fílius tuus, Totus Tuus! Fergal

Beginning of a journey to service!

2010-08-24T12:34:00.001+01:00

Today sixteen men begin formal studies for the priesthood for Irish dioceses. Covering a wide range of ages – from the late twenties up to early sixties – and with an array of life experience, the new seminarians can look forward to a concentrated period of studies in the four principal areas of priestly formation, namely at a human, spiritual, pastoral, and intellectual level.

Ten seminarians will pursue their studies at the national seminary in St Patrick’s College, Maynooth;
four in St Malachy’s College, Belfast;
one in the Irish College in Rome and
one seminarian begins his studies in the Royal English College, Valladolid, in Spain.

Welcoming the students, Monsignor Hugh Connolly, President of St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, said,

“It takes courage and great commitment to embark on a religious way of life today, and we are very firmly of the view that our very best advertisements are our wonderful students both lay and cleric as well as a high calibre staff across the four principal areas of formation namely human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral.”

In his address to the new seminarians in Maynooth, Mgr Connolly said

“Forming priests and seminarians of prayer, solid faith, pastoral sensitivity and wholesome lifestyles has always and will always be Maynooth’s mission. The people of God need good priests, holy priests, priests who are faithful to Church teaching and especially priests who, in the words of the late Pope John Paul II, are prepared to ‘mould their human personality in such a way that it becomes a bridge and not an obstacle for others in their meeting with Jesus Christ.’”

Welcoming the announcement Bishop Donal McKeown, chair of the Bishops’ Council for Vocations, said,”Today’s good news for the Irish Church calls to mind Pope Benedict’s words as he reviewed the Year for Priests in June:

‘Priesthood, then, is not simply ‘office’ but sacrament: God makes use of us poor men in order to be, through us, present to all men and women, and to act on their behalf. This audacity of God who entrusts himself to human beings – who, conscious of our weaknesses, nonetheless considers men capable of acting and being present in His stead – this audacity of God is the true grandeur concealed in the word ‘priesthood’. That God thinks that we are capable of this; that in this way He calls men to His service and thus from within binds Himself to them: this is what we wanted to reflect upon and appreciate anew.’”

Bishop McKeown concluded,

“This profound observation is a valuable reflection for all seminarians and clergy. We need the prayerful support of the faithful at all times and so I ask for prayers for all seminarians, priests and for future vocations.”

Seminarians / Dioceses

A breakdown, by diocese, of the 16 first year seminarians for 2010 is as follows:

Armagh 1

Clogher 1

Cork & Ross 1

Derry 1

Down & Connor 3

Dublin 4

Galway 1

Kildare & Leighlin 1

Meath 1

Raphoe 1

Tuam 1

In the last five years the total number of new seminarians beginning their studies was:

36 in 2009,
30 in 2008,
31 in 2007
30 in 2006.

By the end of September the number of seminarians training in Maynooth will be 66.

_____________________________________

Múlier, ecce fílius tuus, Totus Tuus! Fergal

Social Justice

2010-08-14T16:19:00.007+01:00

Today on the feast day of St Maximillian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr we see how social justice is lived to a heroic degree. This one action of St Maximilian is in itself the very compendium of social teaching. This is what the Lord expects of each of us in relation to the others good. St Maximillian Kolbe taking that step forward out of line in order to save the life af a fellow prisoner was obviously living the words of Christ "Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Jn 15:13 Of course this great love for another is animated by a very deep love of Christ. This love for Christ is born by imitating the Mary Immaculate the mould of true love. St Maximilian was a true child of the Immaculate.

In doing a little research on the whole topic, I just came across a good site that lays out the basics of Social Justice. This is a very much overlooked teaching of the Church that underpins all the Church's activities in the social sphere. Something I feel I must try to get a grip on. I purchased the Compendium recently and have dipped in and out but I need to know what it is summary wise before I try to expound on it.

The site I mention above can be accessed by clicking on th etitle of this post and I feel it also sums up the social mission of service of the Deacon. In order to define social justice, let us begin, by taking a look at what social ministry is.

Social Ministry has two main aspects: social service (also known as Parish Outreach) and social action.

Social Service is giving direct aid to someone in need. It usually involves performing one or more of the corporal works of mercy. That is, giving alms to the poor, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick or imprisoned, taking care of orphans and widows, visiting the shut-ins etc. Another name for it is charity.

Social Action is correcting the structures that perpetuate the need. Another name for this is Social Justice. Through the lens of social justice, we begin to take a look at the problems and issues facing us in our own communities, the nation and finally the world, and we begin to ask questions such as, "Why is there so much unemployment in our area?" "Why are there so many poor in our community?" "How will the deforestation of our rain forests affect our global climate?" etc. Very often when you are performing social service, you also become involved in solving the problem which created the need in the first place, and the two are closely related and often blend together.

An example of this would be, someone comes to your food pantry, and tells you he/she has no food, because he/she lost their job recently. You may know of an employer looking to hire someone right away for a job requiring little or no skills. You give that person food, then place that person in touch with the employer. You then would have solved both problems for that person. (a) the immediate need of food through an act of charity (social service) and (b) you would have corrected the problem which created and perpetuated the need. (social justice)

_____________________________________
Múlier, ecce fílius tuus, Totus Tuus! Fergal

Regular Confession - An integral part of Discernment

2010-08-14T13:30:00.003+01:00

With thanksgiving to God for his limitless mercy and with thanks also to all the Priests out there who dedicate themselves to hearing the confessions of the faithful, I had the opportunity to attend Confession before Mass this morning. What a wonderful privilege it is for us to approach the Throne of Grace and Mercy in confidence and know that when we emerge from the Confessional we are again no longer that 2 minutes old!

Regular Confession is a must for all those seriously discerning a vocation. For those of us considering a vocation to the Permanent Diaconate we must get to know ourselves very well before we attempt to get to know those whom we will be serving in the name of Christ. Confession gives us the excuse to think about ourselves. Regular attendance at Holy Mass gives us the mirror we need in which we see ourselves reflected as we exist before Christ at that moment in time.

One thing I have noticed of late is that the screen is being used more and more for one on one Confession which in my mind is a very welcome thing. Almost every place about here that offers regular confession does so now in a Confessional where the Priest is completely separated from the Penitent by a wall or screen that contains an grid through which sins are confessed and counsel and absolution given. I for one am thankful for this arrangement is very rich in symbolism. I love going into the dark and after a few moments emerging into the light reconciled with God and neighbour.

I now know why Mother Angelica used to day that when you have offered your penance to the Lord in reparation for your sins, GO CELEBRATE!!!

_____________________________________
Múlier, ecce fílius tuus, Totus Tuus! Fergal

College Timetable

2010-08-13T22:19:00.002+01:00

Seems weird to be talking of college again. I thought those days were over. My last college stint was in 1999-2000 in Trinity College Dublin where I had entered for a Masters in IT in Education but the ould cancer put a stop to that and I had to graduate a year earlier than planned with a postgraduate diploma in IT in Ed. I suppose when it comes to education it's never over is it???

Just when I thought all interviews were over, I received a phone call from the Department that is running the academic side of Diaconate formatione in Mater Dei asking me to attend for an interview on Monday at 2pm. WHAT? WHO? WHY? Then I suddenly remembered I will be away in Tramore all next week and so I can't do it so I made my apologies. The woman on the phone knew I was phased; so much so that she rang back again about 20 mins later to confirm the 2pm appointment even though I thought I said I would be away!!!
She assured me that they will try to fix something up for the week after but between getting the car fixed and going back to school it's going to be tough. Perhaps this is a little taster of things to come time wise!! Things are indeed hotting up and I suppose it's getting exciting. I am looking forward to starting I just hope my poor wife can absorb it all.

As well as that I have received via email a preliminary timetable showing our Saturday obligations for the year. Having being told it would demand 1 Sat in 5, it now transpires that I will be at Mater Dei every Thursday evening and almost every Saturday over the coming year. Oh......... well I suppose it is an academic year and only for 8 months not twelve. Reminder to self: KEEP HOLY THE SABBATH! It must become a sacrosanct Family Day. Unfortunately, the Saturday morning scouting has to take a back seat so I have contacted the leader put that on hold for as long as I need to. I will miss that since I loved the trips out, the hiking and the tours but I am not leaving just putting it on hold till whenever.

School timetable looking good so far. There is talk of a half day on Monday and late starts Wed and Thurs. Please, dear God, don't let me lose the 1/2 day on Mon at least then I can pick up the kids from school on that day.

_____________________________________
Múlier, ecce fílius tuus, Totus Tuus! Fergal

Feast of St Lawrence - Deacon & Martyr

2010-08-10T16:03:00.005+01:00

Lawrence of Rome (c. 225 – 258) was one of the seven deacons of ancient Rome who were martyred during the persecution of Valerian in 258. Lawrence served as chief Deacon to Pope Sixtus II who himself experienced martyrdom three days prior to Lawrence. In fact, Pope Sixtus informed Lawrence, who was mourning the fact that his Bishop was going on to execution without him, that he would surely follow him to a similar fate. Lawrence is reported to have said "Where are you going, my dear father, without your son? Where are you hurrying off to, holy priest, without your deacon? Before you never mounted the altar of sacrifice without your servant, and now you wish to do it without me?" The Pope is reported to have prophesied that "after three days you will follow me".

Indeed, three days later Lawrence was sentenced to death for having collected the riches of the Church together and presented them to the prefect of Rome just as he was instructed to do. The riches he presented were the poor, the crippled and the outcasts of the city of Rome, true treasures indeed, and because the prefect thought that Lawrence was intent on making him look ridiculous he sentenced him to a slow and torturous death. Lawrence was grilled slowly on a grid iron part of which remains on display in the Church of St Lawrence at Lucina. Of interest too is the fact that the reliquary containing the burned head of St Lawrence is on view for the veneration of the faithful in the Vatican throughout the day of the 10th August. Aren't we Catholics a curious lot??

I knew very little about Lawrence and his story before I began my research into the Permanent Diaconate and can very well guess that those who are discerning a vocation to the Permanent Diaconate don't get very far without encountering Lawrence somewhere along the way. The story is facinating and serves as a very real example of how the Deacon and his Bishop share a special fraternal bond. His story is one worthy of serious study for those aspiring to the Diaconate. What can be learned? There are, I think, 3 important lessons in this story.

1. Filial devotion and obedience to the Church through our Bishop.
2. Recognition that we are called to be servants of all.
3. Defence of the faith in season and out of season.

Having attended Holy Mass this morning and having recited the Rosary before hand I offered all the merits associated with said devotions to the Lord for the temporal and spiritual needs all Permanent Deacons around the world, for those who are in formation and those currently contemplating and discerning a vocation to the Permanent Diaconate. One does not enter the discernment process easily; one enters with a little fear and trepidation. We know that we will be asked to relinquish a lot including time, perhaps friends, status and reputation. Today's world finds it very hard to understand a religious vocation and so those discerning along with those exercising a vocation to the Permanent Diaconate need our continuous prayers.

It will not be easy but, no matter how bad it gets out there for the Church and her members, we must remind ourselves that it has Peter as it's Rock, Christ as it's cornerstone, the faithful members as its building blocks and the blood and prayers of the martyrs as its mortar. It will stand and it will overcome all. The gates of Hell will not prevail against it. So rejoice and be glad.

The Divine Office accords this special prayer to him on his feast day:

Father,

you called Saint Lawrence to serve you by love

and crowned his life with glorious martyrdom.

Help us to be like him

in loving you and doing your work.

Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

In the Breviary of 1962 the prayer reads:

O Almighty God,

Who didst give unto Blessed Lawrence power

to be more than conqueror in his fiery torment;

grant unto us, we beseech thee,

the power to quench the flames of our sinful lusts.

Through Jesus Christ, etc.

Amen

_____________________________________

Múlier, ecce fílius tuus, Totus Tuus! Fergal

Interesting article on the Diaconate

2010-07-20T21:32:00.003+01:00

A most interesting article on the Diaconate written by Ernest J. Feidler that contains some excellent lesser known details about its restoration.

That article can be found here.
_____________________________________
Múlier, ecce fílius tuus, Totus Tuus!
Fergal

And in my haste......

2010-07-15T16:17:00.004+01:00

And in my haste to get 'signed up' for my studies, I forwarded my application directly to the Mater Dei Institute instead of the Vocations Director for the Diocese! Oops!

They quickly advised me that the form was an old version and didn't have a space for a personal narrative which they require as part of the admissions process. Had I forwarded it to the Vocations Director I would have been spared the extra work.

Anyway the course I will be following is called a BA in Theology and Lifelong Education. You can see the prospectus here.

Múlier, ecce fílius tuus, Totus Tuus!Fergal

Gaudium Magnum!

2010-06-15T09:58:00.006+01:00

Ok! The news I have been waiting for has just been communicated to me and those with the authority to help me discern my Vocation to the Permanent Diaconate in the name of the Church have found no impediment to my change in status from aspirant to student. I have been invited to apply to Mater Dei College in Dublin to begin my studies in September.

Needless to say it is immense relief but now real life concerns start to rise in my head. With a family of 6 childers, ranging in age from 12 years down to 7 months, there is a LOT of work to be done in the house and indeed outside of it when you take into consideration school demands and extra curricular demands etc. so it is constantly demanding. Can I afford to be absent from home one night a week, one Saturday a month and then absent again responding to the pastoral placement I will receive? Should I increase my wife's home workload while I take time out to study? Given that my wife has not yet fully recovered from the traumatic time she had giving birth to our 6th child, and that she still gets very tired very quickly can I afford to be away?

What if this opportunity had arisen 10 years ago or 10 years hence? I guess they would be very busy times in life too! In fact, I do sincerely believe that no matter where you are in life's journey this is your busiest time. Is there ever a stage in life when we say we are entering a non-busy time? No. So is it a case of 'Carpe Diem', trust in God and in the love of neighbour and all will settle? I guess so. Deep down I say yes!, but some say I am being naieve and unfair to my wife.

I know my faith gives me an answer that I fully believe and it is something that I mentioned in a earlier post, that when one turns his face to serve the Church, God will not leave his family without the Grace necessary to adapt and change. I have seen this happen already. I know that prayer really is the answer and through prayer all will be made clear even if it takes a while :)

My wife is most supportive and is certain that I should move on, but also she is anxious about the studies and how they will impact on my availability to and on my time with the family. Indeed these are very real concerns for both of us and perhaps have put my mind and heart into 'neutral' for the moment. I am in no hurry to respond with the 'Yea' or 'Nea' and will talk it all over with my Spiritual Director next week to see if he can help to shine more light on the whole process.

To be honest I didn't ever imaging getting this far and this is only year 1 of 4. There again I am not being ordained next week so perhaps I could try it out and see in real time how it impacts on the status quo and then readjust if we find that it is having a negative impact on my primary role as father and husband.

From what I have heard, the six of us who entered the 'Propedeutic Year' have made it through and have been invited to formally begin our studies. Thank God for that as all are very good and sincere men.

Múlier, ecce fílius tuus, Totus Tuus!

Fergal

The Assessment

2010-05-11T11:55:00.002+01:00

Ok. It's over and just let me say to sum it all up..........................folk are not getting in lightly. The whole process began on Friday 7th of May when we gathered once again in Emmaus Retreat Centre with the aspirants from the Archdiocese of Dublin. That evening was a relaxed affair and we were briefed on the proceedings that were planned for the following day. We then chatted for a while and retired to bed to get a good nights sleep.

Saturday morning arrived and I was into the interview panel at 9.30am for a 45 min interview with Fr Joe McDermott PP of Newbridge, Conor Hickey, the Director of Crosscare and a counsellor from Accord. That was grilling enough and really pinned me to my collar to try an explain exactly why I felt the Church needed the Diaconate again and why I felt I had anything to offer as a Deacon when there were many lay people fulfilling every role that the Deacon would be expected to attend to. I know Cardinal Clancy of Sydney Australia had a great response to that but for now let us just reflect on what Pope Paul VI said:

"For even though some of the functions of deacons are usually committed to laymen, especially in missionary lands, still "it is helpful to strengthen, by the imposition of hands—which goes back to apostolic tradition—and to link more closely with the altar, men who are to perform truly diaconal functions . . . so that through the sacramental grace of the diaconate they will be enabled to fulfill their ministry more effectively."⁴ This will be ideal to highlight the special nature of this order, which should not be regarded as just a step toward the priesthood, but rather as enriched with an indelible character and a special grace of its own so that those who are called to it can "serve the mysteries of Christ and of the Church" in a stable fashion."

After the interview I had about 15 mins before I met the psychologist. A lovely lady who put me very much at ease and we simply spoke about the journey to date. When we had finished talking she handed me a book of 563 questions that we would have 2 hours to complete. That almost made me mad! I broke off from answering in order to go for lunch which was a most welcome distraction I can tell you. That was very tough and very intimate. I cannot remember the test being that hard in '88 when I was considering Priesthood but I suppose times have changed and responsibility is now integral to the process so it has to be a very tough sieve.

When all was over I said my goodbyes, knowing that I was one of the very lucky ones who was able to go home at about 2ish. Some of the other lads were not seeing the psychologist until 5.30pm or thereabouts. A very long day for them.

So I will now remain quiet, persistently pondering my next move and await the decision of those charged with the responsibility of choosing and inviting.

Pray for us.

Múlier, ecce fílius tuus, Totus Tuus!Fergal

A most welcome Retreat

2010-04-25T16:18:00.006+01:00

Dromantine April 2010

I have just come home from what was a most welcome retreat. It took place in the SMA House in Dromantine, Newry, Co. Down. Now for those of you who do not understand the need for 'time away' let's revisit the Gospel of Mark 6:31 where it states "And he said to them: Come apart into a desert place, and rest a little. For there were many coming and going: and they had not so much as time to eat." Something I think we can all ascribe to at times. For some reason I have been feeling especially busy over the past weeks in school and perhaps my business has also taken me away from staff interaction. So it was definitely a well placed retreat.

As a final gathering for this propaedeutic year the aspirants from the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin, the Archdiocese of Dublin joined up with the aspirants from the Archdiocese of Armagh and Tyrone for what was to be a most enjoyable experience and one which had its immense emotional aspects too. The leader of the retreat was a Sister Pam Thimmes OSC who simply blew me away with the depth and breath of her immersion in God; a depth and breath in line with that of her knowledge of the Scriptures.

The theme of the retreat was 'Discerning your Vocation' and Sr Pam gave all but the first session which was given by the Abbot of Rostrevor, Dom Nolan OSB on the topic of prayer. He was obviously a deeply prayerful and spiritual man who alerted us as to why prayer should be given preference in our lives and how we could achieve that goal. He then led us through a slowly prayed and reflective Our Father before Night Prayer most of which he sung. That was beautiful. I always feel there is something missing from the recitation of the Office when there is no song, no hymn or chant. After all "He who sings prays twice over!"

I have to say for me there was a palpable air of finality throughout the weekend as this was the cumulation of a years discerning, and what a quick year it was. God only knows how many from all those men, who attended the retreat will stand to serve the Church in her mission and in her people. The great comfort is that some will, and the Church will be better for it.

Our assessment weekend is next in line and that will happen during the first weekend of May and the decision will be communicated to us probably half way during June.

Múlier, ecce fílius tuus, Totus Tuus!Fergal

An interesting preview!

2010-03-10T15:37:00.002Z

Múlier, ecce fílius tuus, Totus Tuus!
Fergal

Almost a year has passed!

2010-02-27T12:48:00.006Z

I know I have been very quiet whilst the propedeutic year has been taking place. We are almost done! We have two months to go before our retreat and then our evaluation will take place early May. The reports and references will then be sent to the Bishop who will in turn call forward those who are to be admitted to Diaconal formation.

It has turned out to be a year of great insight and indeed the propedeutic weekends have proved to be quite intense. My journey to date has been one of many emotions and much soul searching, which I suppose is the reason for the year. In the middle of it all our 6th child Sadhbh Maria Frances arrived (11th Nov '09) so the house has been hectic! Many folk have asked me the question "How are you gonna do it all?" some with sympathetic expression and others witha deep sense of curiosity. I simply explain that whenever one decides to go forward to do something new it is always at the busiest time no matter where in ones life path that choice is made. Had I considered this 10 years ago I would have been busy. If I was to consider this in 10 years time, I would be busy.

I deeply believe that busy-ness is a gift and has nothing to do with our choices and should not interfere with our decision making because when one decides to do something good for God and for the Church, that individual and those dependent on him / her will be given the Grace to go forward. I have already seen, in a very tangible way, the Grace of God at work over the past number of months in my family. So I repeat, considering a move to a new venture in life has nothing to do with busy-ness and everything got to do with Grace. That is why the discerning must be built on the bedrock of persistent pondering prayer.

The course directors from both the Archdiocese of Dublin and from my own Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin are very dedicated and always available to us which is great. They have worked together to give us a great insight into some of the facets in a life of service. I admire them for their committment since both of them have very big National & Diocesan portfolio's to commit to outside of this propedeutic programme.

The other 9 lads are great. All from different backgrounds and ages and experience which I personally find enriching. When I say 9 others I should point out that the 7 K & L lads are aspiring together with the 3 lads from Dublin. We meet up once a month in 'Emmaus' retreat centre in Swords, Co. Dublin for a thematic weekend where varied speakers delve into a topic again from different perspectives. Of course we gather to pray too and this is central to our days.

Only last weekend we were given our first assignment. To write a 2000 word essay on 'The Role of the Deacon in the Catholic Church'. Having trained in the discipline of Science and Maths and having engaged with them for almost 18 years at the black/white boards, I am excellent with precision like 1 + 1 = 2 or the expansion of sin(180 + A) I could push it to finding the roots of the complex equation z3 = 3+4i etc.

But an essay to me is like standing at the bank of a flowing river not being able to see the source or the summit and seeing the water flow as a torrent of identical molecules. Together, I suppose they make sense, but not seeing them all together leaves one in awe and a little perplexed as to who the whole things works together.

So after almost a year what have I to report? To be honest not a lot that I can share since the journey is a deep, spiritual and personal one. All I can say is that things are progressing and if you come across this post, I would ask you to please pray for us as we discern what it is God wants of us.

Múlier, ecce fílius tuus, Totus Tuus!

Fergal

2010-01-01T14:45:00.004Z

The first of the first '10. Happy New Year to all and through the intercession of Mary, Mother of God, every grace and blessing be yours throughout the year and always.

Múlier, ecce fílius tuus, Totus Tuus!

Fergal