Kia ora koutou,
One of the great figures of Catholicism from the 19th Century is Cardinal St John Henry Newman (1801 – 1890) whose feast day comes up on Wednesday, 9 October. Newman was an English theologian, academic, philosopher, historian, writer, and poet, ordained first as an Anglican priest and then later as a Catholic priest. Among other things, he has been called the ‘absent Father of the Second Vatican Council’ because his writings on conscience, religious liberty, Scripture, the vocation of lay people and many other topics were extremely influential in shaping the documents of the Council. He was made a saint in the Catholic Church in 2019.
Writing about Newman’s life in a feed titled “Saint of the Day”, the author notes that “Before Newman, Catholic theology tended to ignore history, preferring instead to draw deductions from theoretical first principles. After Newman, the lived experience of believers was recognised as a key part of theological reflection.” (Emphasis added) There is a quote attributed to Newman that reflects this important insight:
“I sought to hear the voice of God and climbed the topmost steeple. But God declared: ‘Go down again. I dwell among the people.”
Newman’s life and writings speak to what we are on about in Passionist Family Groups: finding God among the people, including people that we might never otherwise have been naturally attracted to; paying attention to our lived experience and the lived experience of others; seeing our family group interactions as something that is a part of a healthy robust spirituality and not separate from it.
John & Kerry Kleinsman
Readings – 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time:
https://universalis.com/20241006/mass.htm
First Reading:
Genesis 2: 18-24 – A man and his wife become one body. “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone.’”
Second Reading:
Hebrews 2: 9-11 – Jesus, the one who sanctifies, and we, the ones who are sanctified, are of the same stock; that is why Jesus openly calls us sisters and brothers.
Gospel:
Mark 10: 2-16 – What God has united, humankind must not divide. A husband and his wife are no longer two, but one body.
Link to Homily Studio:
https://foodforfaith.org.nz/series/homily-studio/
Each week, Fr John O’Connor of Christchurch Diocese leads an audio podcast conversation with 2 or 3 other people about the readings for the Sunday ahead. Click on the link above to listen to this week’s reflection and, if you like what you hear, sign up for the weekly email.
Reflection on the Readings for 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time:
The theme of marriage comes through strongly in the readings for this coming Sunday. This year, we hear these readings within the context of remembering and celebrating the month-long Season of Creation, which finishes with the Feast of St Francis of Assisi on the 4th of October. A question we have been pondering is what connections there may be between these two realities; how reflection on the theme of creation might speak to the sacrament of marriage and how reflection on the theme of marriage might speak to our care for God’s creation.
While the links may not, at first glance seem obvious, there are at least three that come to mind:
- We are invited to see marriage and love as part of the wonder of God’s creation and, whatever our vocation in life is, to celebrate it as one of God’s many gifts; something beautiful and utterly good, able to reveal something of the mystery and love of the Godhead as well as the utter goodness of the world in which we live.
- St Francis is well known as being concerned for God’s creation but, equally, he is also known as the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable – for the poor and outcast. In our parishes and families, we all know of persons who experience the reality of divorce, and we are called to show great care to these people. We don’t need to be reminded of the motto for Family Groups – creating a family for all. This means ensuring PFGs are a place of unity and peace where all people can find a non-judgemental place of welcome and love and healing, whatever their marital status.
- Pope Francis writes in his 2015 Encyclical that St Francis “shows us just how inseparable the bond is between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior peace (n. 11). In the Spirit of Laudato Si, and reflecting on the theme of unity which links all three of the readings this week, we are invited to a broader vision of communion and solidarity that takes account of all creation. +Peter Cullinane recently wrote in a WELCOM article on the Declaration on Human Dignity: “Marriage is designed to reflect [the] unity of love and life.”Within the marriage sacrament, that unity of love and life is powerfully expressed in the conception of new children. However, as beings who are part of creation, marriage as a rich sign and expression of the unity of life and love surely also directs us toward a concern for unity and harmony that extends to all levels of creation? Family Groups push us to seek that unity of love and life beyond our nuclear families. Perhaps it is now time to think about how, as members of Family Groups, we can extend that unity beyond our parish groupings to embrace all of creation.
Some weeks ago, we were asked to provide feedback regarding the aims and goals of the PFG movement. On the back of today’s readings, heard within the context of the Season of Creation, perhaps it’s time to expand the aims and goals to include this broader and key aspect of our faith?
Pope Francis on St Francis of Assisi (Laudato Si)
10. I do not want to write this Encyclical without turning to that attractive and compelling figure, whose name I took as my guide and inspiration when I was elected Bishop of Rome. I believe that Saint Francis is the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology lived out joyfully and authentically. He is the patron
saint of all who study and work in the area of ecology, and he is also much loved by non-Christians. He was particularly concerned for God’s creation and for the poor and outcast. He loved, and was deeply loved for his joy, his generous self-giving, his openheartedness. He was a mystic and a pilgrim who lived in simplicity and in wonderful harmony with God, with others, with nature and with himself.
11. … His disciple Saint Bonaventure tells us that, “from a reflection on the primary source of all things, filled with even more abundant piety, Francis of Assisi would call creatures, no matter how small, by the name of ‘brother’ or ‘sister’”. Such a conviction cannot be written off as naive romanticism, for it affects the choices which determine our behaviour. If we approach nature and the environment without this openness to awe and wonder, if we no longer speak the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world, our attitude will be that of masters, consumers, ruthless exploiters, unable to set limits on their immediate needs. By contrast, if we feel intimately united with all that exists, then sobriety and care will well up spontaneously. The poverty and austerity of Saint Francis were no mere veneer of asceticism, but something much more radical: a refusal to turn reality into an object simply to be used and controlled.
12. What is more, Saint Francis, faithful to Scripture, invites us to see nature as a magnificent book in which God speaks to us and grants us a glimpse of his infinite beauty and goodness.
Please remember in your prayers …
We don’t have access to the list of personal prayers so, this week, we are suggesting a focus on prayers for our world.
- For the people of Lebanon, Gaza, Palestine, Yemen, Israel, Ukraine, Russia; for terrified children, grieving families, the frail and elderly, the injured and dying; the homeless and vulnerable.
- For peace in our world, an end to conflict, a coming-together of leaders and a willingness to mediate and negotiate; to work for peace
- For the victims of sexual abuse; for healing and justice
- For our country and its leaders; that justice and care for the vulnerable will be uppermost in their agenda
- For all those who are ill or troubled; those suffering economic difficulties; children who suffer poverty and harm; families under pressure
- For our environment: that we will live with every part of creation as Sister and Brother as St Francis did; that over-consumption and waste will be a thing of the past so that our earth will be restored
- For ourselves; that we might forgive one another and ourselves and find joy in each day and God in one another, as Cardinal St John Henry Newman teaches us
Prayer from Laudato Si – A prayer for our earth
All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love, that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with peace, that we may live as brothers and sisters, harming no one.
O God of the poor, help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth, so precious in your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives, that we may protect the world and not prey on it, that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.
Touch the hearts of those who look only for gain at the expense of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing, to be filled with awe and contemplation, to recognize that we are profoundly united with every creature as we journey towards your infinite light.
We thank you for being with us each day.
Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle for justice, love and peace.
Humour
‘We all come from dust, and we will all return to dust.’ That is why I never dust … it could be someone I know!