Benedict XVI - the most inspiring Pope in my lifetime

Having lived through four Popes in my lifetime, two of which I can barely remember, there is no doubting that  for me personally the current one has inspired me most.

I am only just about getting over the shock of hearing that our beloved Pope, Benedict XVI, is to resign. My thoughts and feelings have included not only shock, surprise, sadness but also joy that he will, God willing, have some peace in his final days (let's hope years).  Pope Benedict XVI has in many ways, been a Pope of surprises right up until the end including his resignation.

He chose a name honouring a predecessor from before the Second Vatican Council - which in itself was a sign that he is someone truly aware of the hermeneutic of continuity of the Catholic Church before, during and after the Council.  This choice of name, choosing to honour a predecessor who was a man of peace undermined the idiocies of those who either think that nothing good happened before the Council or nothing good happened afterwards.

Pope Benedict's first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est reinforced the core of the Gospel message opening with the words, 'God is Love.'  All of his writings have been Christ-centred - including his series on Jesus of Nazareth - and bring our focus on the core of the Gospel message.

As an Englishman, albeit one living in Hong Kong, I shall never forget the first ever State Visit of a Pope to the UK.  The site of him speaking in Westminster Hall, where St Thomas More was condemned to death reminding us that the church and state can work together for the common good.

The media, including some that are nominally Catholic, have sometimes accused the current Pope of persecuting nuns in the USA.  The truth, as Fr Z reminds us, is that some, let's hope a minority, of religious sisters in the US have moved very far away from Catholic teaching with some opposing the sanctity of life and others openly saying that they have moved beyond Christ.  It is right to at least investigate and take action where necessary.

Pope Benedict's outreach to Anglicans who wish to become Catholic but without losing the beauty of their own liturgical and cultural traditions was a stroke of genius.  Others may talk about Christian unity but he helped deliver it in this way.

One of Pope Benedict's decisions that affected me most personally was his decision to liberate the traditional Latin Mass, which as he pointed out hadn't been abolished anyway.  The beautiful, Christ-centred nature of the extraordinary form of the Mass transcends cultures, reaches across divides of time and language and focuses our attention on the tabernacle and cross rather than the priest. My wife-to-be, a non-denominational Christian at the time, accompanied me to a Latin Mass in Hong Kong before we got married and said that this was a key factor in her understanding of what the Eucharist really means.

It may seem ironic but a Pope accused by the ignorant of being an arch-conservative was in fact, perhaps one of the greatest defenders of Vatican II.  As recently reported in the Catholic Herald, he has defended the true meaning of  the Council against those who have consistently tried to undermine it - including those who hate all things truly Catholic and false traditionalists who object to its authentic teaching.

Let us thank God for Pope Benedict and pray for him as he retires in a few days time.  We cannot understand the pressures that are upon him and we do not know the extent to which he is suffering.  May our Father in heaven give him peace and comfort and may the prayers of our heavenly mother be with him.

Good News

Almost two years ago (on the feast of the Holy Rosary no less in 2010) I had the idea of a Catholic Social group in the city in which I live.

I had lived there for over a year and met some great people at my church but the sheer volume of numbers of people teeming into Mass on a Sunday meant that it was not always easy to get to know people personally to socialise and pray with them.

Inspired partly by Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati I had a vision of groups of people engaging in activities such as hiking, cycling, grabbing dinner together etc where we could enjoy each other's company, meet others of the same beliefs and pray for each other.

Many, many people told me that this wouldn't work. One lady invited herself on a hike I organised and told me I shouldn't suggest prayers in case it offended people - I invited her not to come along! Other people said that I shouldn't organise regular meals as it would be too much for people and others said they'd come along but wouldn't co-operate.  They too had to be invited not to come along.

Fortunately, encouraged by a few people including my amazing wife-to-be, this took off and over the last couple of years I have seen God cement friendships, increase people's faith and see Catholics - and other Christians - get together regularly to share a meal, read and reflect on the scriptures together and intercede for one another.

It is easy to be negative - but I have seen what a difference God can make in our lives when we refuse to listen to those who undermine us but press on and do our best to co-operate with him.

I have a dream

Today is the anniversary of Dr Martin Luther King's inspiring speech - "I have a dream" - where he inspired thousands of people to join his fight against racial segregation and discrimination.

Thanks to Dr King, the battle against racial segregation is over but the battle for human rights should always continue.  It is interesting to note that his niece, Alveda Celeste King, an American Christian minister is also a  a civil rights activist - campaigning for women's rights and protection for unborn children.

Let us never forget to fight injustice, wherever it might be. 

How to protect the flock?

Following on from my last post about sheep stealing I wished to share what I believe are vital ways to protect the flock from being poached by others.

At Mass today, the priest spoke gently and kindly, explaining the faith with a sincerity that leads to understanding.  At Mass today no one could doubt the reverence, joy, orthodoxy and integrity of the priest and others present.  The Mass was in the Ordinary Form, in English, but there was reverence and joy.  The parish is clearly one that takes social justice seriously, with prayers for the poor and needy but not forgetting the widespread crimes against the unborn condemned so strongly in Vatican II - i.e. abortion, as well as euthanasia.

My wife and I are new to this parish but every time we attend Mass here we have been treated with respect and kindness.  When I went to see the priest the other day, he greeted me wearing clerical dress and was not ashamed of this witness to our faith.  He was kind, listened and prayed with me.

Throughout my life I have noticed that in many cases two things seem to go together - orthodoxy and kindness.  The priests and other members of the church who are faithful to Christ in what they teach are also so very often the kindest and most genuine in the way they behave.

As a child I remember being laughed at scornfully by a catechist who in the "spirit of Vatican II" (itself nothing to do with Vatican II) mocked me for suggesting that the 'special bread' we were to have at our community meal (by which she meant the sacrifice of the Mass) might actually be the Body of Christ.  It was only because of the kindness and orthodoxy of my parents and a minority of others that I was to be taught the true faith. How can we be surprised when droves of people leave our Church if we are afraid to teach the Truth?

A remedy for sheep being stolen or simply limping off into the wilderness?  Orthodoxy and kindness.

The irony of the sheep stealers

One of my passions is ecumenism - built on a belief that all followers of Christ have so much in common that we should celebrate this and pray, evangelise and work together for unity in love.  The sad truth that often strikes me though is that some Christians use inter-denominational events to entice and convert people from one denomination to another.

I know a number of friends and acquaintances brought up in the Catholic faith but due to poor teaching never knew the truth and beauty of the Faith.  Sheep stealers are those who will undermine the Catholic Faith of those they meet and seek to convert them to a denomination instead.  

 The sheep stealers seem to be consistent in the following steps:

1.  They will ingratiate themselves with Catholics and be friendly to them but start subtly undermining their faith - ridiculing aspects of faith that they disagree with.  The sheep stealers will almost always claim that the Catholic Church hates scripture and is just interested in money.  Quite rightly - most people of goodwill will realise that this is not the way a true Christian Church would behave.

2.  The next ploy is to invite Catholics to their places of worship where they are told that Catholicism is about guilt and they instead preach freedom. They will be introduced to people who say they were "raised Catholic, but found Christ." - quite often they will be people who were simply nominal Catholics, went to a Catholic School or happen to have had Irish or Italian parents and the odd religious image in their home.

3.  Thirdly they will be invited to "be baptised" regardless of whether they are already baptised or not or perhaps to sign a form professing their membership of a particular church.  They will of course also be invited to take part in various courses and made to feel more and more part of their new spiritual home.

4.  It is only when the Catholic is firmly an ex-Catholic that they are then introduced to the importance of parting with as much of their money as possible to their newly found church and how God will bless them so much for this.  

The irony of those people who have left the Catholic Church for another "bible believing church" is that they have left an organisation that compiled and wrote the Bible and uses scripture as the greater part of the Mass for assemblies that on the whole have nothing more than one or two verses of the Bible and a lot of one person's interpretation of it.

The greater irony is that having been told that the Catholic Church is rich and obsessed with money they may end up in a community that spends  more time asking for money than it does on proclaiming scripture.  

Let us pray for genuine Christian unity and protection against those that would undermine Christ's Church.

Cafeteria Catholic Guilt

Yesterday afternoon I met a friend of mine, a committed Christian who is not a Catholic, who paid me a compliment: "You are not like other Catholics, you are full of joy whilst they are filled with guilt and repression." Whilst I do not deserve this compliment (I am often not joyful and can be pretty irritable at times) this did make me think.

Why do so many people associate being Catholic with being racked by guilt and not joy? In my lifetime I have certainly made enough mistakes and turned my back on God at different times to deserve to feel guilty so why does so called 'Catholic Guilt' not apply to me? If I ever feel guilty about something, then I tend to realise that this is precisely because I've done something wrong, not because of the church trying to make me feel that way.

If at the end of each day I have sinned in any way, I will confess this and receive forgiveness because of what Christ did for me by dying on the cross. This daily examination of conscience brings me joy, peace and serenity. Not one day goes past when I do not need to confess and receive grace and in doing so, receive greater freedom and joy.

Our faith is more than a religion, a culture, a label - it is the joy of living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It means that we may make mistakes, mess up, sin and fall but we can turn back to Him and accept the grace offered us through His death and resurrection. GK Chesterton's wonderful imagery comes to mind: "Catholic doctrine and discipline may be walls; but they are the walls of a playground." In a playground, people will have freedom - they will sometimes fall over, but their friends will help pick them up again.

If someone has an identity as a Catholic because they went to a Catholic School, used to go to Mass, prefer fish on Fridays, drink Guinness or they support Glasgow Celtic (I've seen it all) but they don't go to Mass, then why look to them as to what being Catholic means? Listening to some rent-a-bores telling us how repressed they are because of their Catholic upbringing makes about as much sense as someone with a gym membeship they never use complaining that they're overweight.

Even going to Mass or Confession do not in themselves indicate that we are Catholic. If I go to Mass but pick and choose from a menu which parts of Christ's teaching to follow then what right do I have to go round telling people that being Catholic is about guilt?

Perhaps those of us who are brought up with a Christian faith will know how to discern right from wrong. If we decide to ignore this and do what we kow to be a sin, then of course, we will feel guilty. In this case we have a choice. We could choose to complain, criticise the Pope, campaign for the church to change its teaching, picket cathedrals and tell everyone we know about "Catholic Guilt". The truth is that they are suffering from something called "Cafeteria Catholic Guilt". The cure for this deadly disease is to examine how we think, act and behave and ask forgiveness - we will then experience freedom - Catholic Joy.

Another form of this deadly disease of Cafeteria Catholicism is when someone goes to Mass, undertakes numerous devotions and has their own favourite apparition but disobeys Christ by harbouring resentment, refusing to forgive or condemning others for their sins without looking at their own. This is no less Cafeteria Catholicism - picking and choosing from a menu - and can only bring bitterness and not the joy that is offered by Our Lord.

If we live life as a Catholic - offering ouselves in obedience and submision to Christ - then we will live a life filled with joy and a peace that the world cannot give. As Catholics we are called to surrender our lives to Him completely. When we do this, we will not see being Catholic as being about a bunch of rules to follow but we will be transformed from the inside.

If we invite Christ to live within us then we would not need rules to tell us to be generous, to love our neighbour, to forgive and bless as we would naturally be transformed. When we confess our sins, attend Mass in a state of grace, receive communion and read the scriptures with an open mind, then we cannot remain the same. We should no longer wish to commit adultery, harbour resentment or tell lies. If I go to Mass or say the rosary purely out of habit or obligation then I may not be open to graces that are offered.

My friend who sees joy within me knows that I have messed up, sometimes pretty badly, but also knows that Christ's grace is more powerful than any of my sins. If I go around feeling guilty when I have already been forgiven, then I am listening to Satan, the accuser, rather than Christ, our advocate. I do not always feel joyful but when this is the case, it is perhaps a reminder that I need to change in some way. When I do change, then the joy is greater than it was before.

To conclude, I would like to quote a man who lives the joy of a life committed to Jesus Christ:

"True freedom is rooted in knowledge of and loving obedience to God, as well as the grace of true penitence, the need for pardon, renewal and transformation."

- Pope Benedict XVI (speaking on 15th April 2010)

The State Papal Visit

It has been several months since I blogged anything due to the inconvenience of having a day job. There have been many thoughts in my mind over the last few months but I wish to reflect on the first ever State Papal visit to the United Kingdom.

There are many moments that struck me during the visit: the common Christian witness of the Pope and the Queen; the Pope sitting at the same place where St Thomas More was condemned to death within the Palace of Westminster and of course the Beatification of John Henry Newman.

The meeting between the Pope and the Queen had an impact on me. Both are heads of state and both are Christian leaders. Although they may differ on so many areas it strikes me that they both have something very important in common: they both strike me as committed Christians who have dedicated their lives to others. The Queen welcomed the Pope with the words, "your presence here today reminds us of our common Christian heritage" and he reminded her of the great contributions of so many British Christians from William Wilberforce, Florence Nightingale and John Henry Newman.

The speech in the Palace of Westminster struck me more than anything else. The speaker of the House of Commons recalled his predecessor, Thomas More and Pope Benedict recalled the witness of the 'great English scholar and stateman' in the place where the fomer speaker was condemned to death for refusing to put his loyalty to the King above that he owed to God. Listening to the Pope's words in front of so many politicians, I only pray that some of them may listen to his teachings and protect people from forms of socialism and capitalism that lead to injustices and poverty, avoid illegal war, protect all human life from conception, promote compassion and to protect freedom of conscience.

The Beatification of John Henry Newman began with my favourite hymn, Praise to the Holiest and I was moved throughout the ceremony by the crowds, the ritual and the words spoken. The life of John Henry Newman points us again to someone who put truth before convenience, a man whose life shows that we do not have the choice in life between orthodoxy, reason or compassion but they can and should exist together. Blessed John Henry Newman has often been called "the Father of Vatican II" in the sense that he anticipated key themes of the Council and rightly so. The Council he anticipated is not the false 'spirit of Vatican II' but its authentic teachings based on Scripture and Tradition. Blessed John Henry Newman and Pope Benedict share a love for Christ and his Church, a desire to spread the Gospel but rooted in the truth.

My overall impressions following the Papal visit however are that there was such a contrast between the love, joy and hope found in those who welcomed the Pope and the hatred, bigotry and ignorance all too evident in those who attacked and prosted him. The words of the Pope throughout his visit point us to Christ, the only name under which we can be saved.