A New Pentecost?

The questions asked of the Franciscans by a recent Minister General, Hermann Schaluck, get to the heart of living with hope in turbulent times.  Indeed, they could also be asked of the Church in Ireland and many other parts of the world at this time.

“The present situation of crisis can be seen as a threat of death or as a test of faith in the Lord of history and in His unfailing presence. In a time of great transition and rapid change, the need is all the more urgent to read the sign of the times.  Are we seeing the signs of collapse or the signs of a New Pentecost?  Or both? Is a New Pentecost still possible today in the Church, in our communities or in ourselves?" 

"Of one thing I am certain: if we are able to read these signs, to contemplate them from a perspective of faith, we shall discover many tracks of life – footprints of God and of the living Spirit. And we shall finally realise that the signs of crisis can be transformed into invitations to a new beginning and harbingers of new life. By placing the person of Jesus Christ at the centre of everything, by seeking above all to live the Good News of the Kingdom of God and its justice, we wish to reiterate our conviction that the following of Jesus Christ will open our eyes to a new vision, to new values, new priorities and new criteria. Our achievements will never exhaust the splendour and potential of the Kingdom of God.”

 I am reminded of the Jewish Hasidim definition of hope: “Living joyfully when there are no easy answers.”

Church Crisis - A Rebirth in Pain

On 4 July 1994 Vaclav Havel, poet, playwright, and peace activist,  then President of the Czech Republic, was award the Liberty Medal by the American government in a ceremony in Philadelphia.

In his speech he reflected on the extraordinary changes taking place on a global scale, changes that have only increased in the intervening years.

He spoke of death and new birth.

He said: 'Today, many things indicate that we are going through a transitional period, when it seems that something is on the way out and something else is painfully being born. It is as if something were crumbling, decaying and exhausting itself, while something else, still indistinct, were arising from the rubble.'

I was very struck when I came across these words recently.

They speak powerfully to the situation we are experiencing within the Catholic Church here in Ireland and in many parts of the world.

Something is 'on the way out' - a whole model of Church rooted in clericalism and authoritarianism. Before our very eyes we see it 'crumbling, decaying and exhausting itself'.

Something new is being 'painfully born', arising from the 'rubble'. But what is being born is as yet  'indistinct' for we live in a 'hinge period' in Church history.

Such a time demands courage and hope from courageous souls. We are being asked to hold firm in the trust that, despite signs to the contrary,  the same divine Spirit who brooded over the dark waters at the dawn of history drawing creation out of chaos, watches over this new work of God's creative goodness.

The Eucharist as Poultice

Some years ago I came across a quote from a medieval English writing, The Epistle of Privy Counsel. The faith-filled message has stayed with me.

It speaks with beautiful simplicity of our encounter with God as healing and life-giving. The image of the poultice is used.  A  poultice is a home-made remedy that is laid on a festering wound to draw out the poison.

'Take good and gracious God, just as he is,

and without further ado

lay him on your sick self  just as you are,

for all the world as if he were a poultice.

For touching God is eternal health.

You are touching his very being,

his own dear self, no more, no less.'

Particularly, when sharing in the Eucharist, I recall this image if I am aware of being burdened in some way. 

Just before receiving we pray: 'Only say the word and I shall be healed.' We are invited in simple trust  to bring ourselves with all our needs to the Lord, to 'lay him' on our wounded selves, and allow him to draw from our hearts and minds and bodies all that is not life-giving, all that is not of him.

The feast of Corpus Christi celebrates with joy the gift of healing and fresh hope given us in the Eucharist.