57
years ago this October an ecumenical (general) council, summoned by the late
Pope John XXIII assembled in the Vatican. John pleaded to the prelates of the
world to read the signs of the times. The council issued 16 documents - four
constitutions, three declarations, and nine decrees. The most significant of
these documents were the constitutions, particularly those dealing with the
liturgy, divine revelation, and the church. Indeed the doors were thrown open,
and a new spirit entered the universal church.
There
are those who would strongly (and even vehemently) argue that Vatican II
inaugurated a huge period of decline. Priests and religious left their
presbyteries, monasteries and convents and the laity fell out of the habit of
attending church. Today, fewer than 11.8% of Catholics regularly worship in a
church. This wasn’t quite the spirit that was expected by the Church Fathers.
There
are some theologians who claim that there is much yet to be implemented from
Vatican II, and those who would happily say we have gone too far! Yet we should
not avoid the reality. We need priests. We need an assembly of God’s
people. We can look at our lack of priests and our thinning assemblies as
disasters or as challenges. While this Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 12:49-53) ends at
verse 53, verse 56 helps make sense of Jesus’ warnings: ‘You know how to read
the face of the earth and sky. Why don’t you know how to interpret this present
season (Luke 12:56).’ How is it that we can put a man on the moon, explore
deepest inner and outer space and yet be unable to see what is plainly in front
of us? What is there? Secularism? Self-indulgence? Consumerism?
Some
years ago the then Archbishop of Sydney asked Catholic school principals to
confirm their compliance with church teachings (later withdrawn), and for
families seeking to enrol their children in Catholic schools to be practising
members of the church. These are not unreasonable demands – if this is the way the signs should be
read. What do you see? And what should we do about it?
The
Spirit of God is not beholden to our pleas for priestly vocations, filled
churches, nor a return to the Catholicism of yesteryear. It will blow where it
will. The human vessels the Spirit chooses to lead may possess roles yet to be
created; maybe the institution of the Church will be transformed beyond our
understanding, maybe it will be a more authentic image of Jesus himself. In the
meantime we need not lose faith that the Spirit is very present. And we too are
called to be equally present to the same reality which is our world.
Peter
Douglas
REFLECTION
WHEN LAW AND MORALITY COLLIDE
Father Kevin
Bates SM
The Reproductive
Health Care Reform Bill 2019 that has been tabled in the NSW State Parliament
this past week, has raised concerns among people of faith and among many
politicians who were blind-sided by the way in which the Bill was introduced as
well as its content. All normal consultative processes were side-stepped so
normal debate in the various Party Rooms was deliberately avoided.
As well as this
legislation, the proposed return of a Euthanasia Bill in the near future raises
questions about the moral fabric of our society in general, the courage of
people of faith and our ability to respond to the prevailing culture which
seeks to remove all rights beyond those of the individual.
Arguments for
euthanasia and abortion are often cloaked in the language of compassion, often
well-meaning but leaving important questions unanswered. They come from a moral
position which places some individual’s rights over the rights of others
impacted by their choices, and of the community in general.
It seems clear
that the proponents of these various causes, take no account of faith, of God
and of God-centred morality. The individual is at the centre and is the one
that matters most. We only have to listen to the rhetoric of those who propose
these Bills to hear the truth of this.
Such
self-absorption can only be destructive of persons and of the moral fibre of
society. When we read for instance that an abortion under the new legislation
can be obtained for almost any reason, including economic ones or that the sex
of the child is not the one wanted, the line we have crossed becomes starkly
clear.
Everything is
now geared to the satisfying of “my rights” regardless of the consequences for
others let alone myself.
The Church is
clear in our opposition to abortion and euthanasia. It’s not so much that we
are against something as we are for the sanctity of each life regardless of
circumstances, and that each person has an inalienable right to be here, no
matter how inconvenient they may be to the rest of us.
The question for
us is, do we believe that these values should be enshrined in law?
Each person,
made in God’s image, has a mission, even as a vulnerable foetus or a dying
patient. Each has something to teach us, something of love and compassion to
draw out from us. In God’s beautiful economy, we simply don’t have the right to
deny them this opportunity.
Having said
this, we also continue to journey with each other. When someone has been
through the experience of abortion, we need to understand the stress that has
led them to this decision. Likewise we hear the pain of those anguishing over
the suffering of a loved one whose life seems to hold nothing good anymore. We
never stop walking with each other, listening to each other, seeking to
understand each other and looking to create a way forward together.
As people of
faith, as the Church, we are committed through our baptism to be a prophetic
presence in society. We don’t need to preach at people, imagining we have all the
answers to what are sometimes complex questions. However we do have the
responsibility of standing up in whatever way we can for the rights of the most
vulnerable in our society.
At the coffee
shop, place of work, gym, wherever it is we engage with friends and colleagues,
let our voice be calm, confident, courageous and clear.
God’s loving
purpose for each person really does matter and is ignored at our common peril.
We can easily
see the results of the moral vacuum that much of society is embracing. The
levels of violence, especially domestic violence, addiction, loneliness and
lack of direction tell us that something is very much in need of healing.
Let’s pray for
the wisdom and courage we need to be that gentle, presence of the Gospel,
especially in those forums where the voice of Jesus needs most to be heard.
by Father
Kevin Bates SM
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