Advent Wreaths and Looking forward to St Mark

Now that Advent is nearly over and all the candles on the Advent Wreath are lit I was trying to remember the first time I saw one in a Catholic Church in South Africa.  I'm sure it doesn't go back 20 years.     It's interesting that Wikipedia says that  it's originally German and Lutheran.  Wreaths of evergreens with candles going back before Christianity but I don't see the Advent Candles being particularly Catholic.  In fact the first one I ever saw had red candles with a white one in the middle for Christmas Day.  I imagine that we adopted three purple and one pink very recently.  


I think it's a rather nice custom but doesn't seem to sit very happily at the beginning of Mass.  A child usually lights the unlit candle for the week with the others already lit.  There is a little prayer and then we carry on with Mass as if nothing had happened.  It works much better in the home where it presumably originated.  We have always burnt one special candle for Advent and never converted to four!




This year, where gospel readings are concerned, is very much a Year of St Mark.  I'm looking forward to that as it is almost certainly the earliest Gospel and I love it's immediacy and it's teasing Messianic secret.  


I like to think that Mark is the John Mark of Acts and possibly the young man running away naked in Gethsemane because as a composite it fits with my picture of dare devil youth, of someone who couldn't get on with  Paul (I think Paul must have been insufferable as a companion.) though  Barnabas obviously saw his potential and he became the legendary founder of the Church in Alexandria, in Africa. 

HG Bishop Antonios Markos

St Mark is much venerated by the Coptic Orthodox Church and Bishop Antonios Marcos, the Coptic Orthodox Bishop for Africa, named the Cathedral in Johannesburg in his honour. The Copts are very much in need of our prayers and support at the moment with all the turmoil in Egypt and their fears of continuing persecution.

"Spiritual" and an Ecumenical Service on Gaudete Sunday.

Recently I have come across a number of people who answer the Religion box with the word "Spiritual".  I don't know what this is supposed to mean as many of the people I ask can't really tell me.  I think it means "I don't belong to any organised religion.  I am not an atheist or agnostic.  I love angels and things like that...I just feel one with nature....I'm in touch with my inner being...I'm spiritual."  This is my limited distillation of what I have heard.  Being Spiritual means anything you want it to mean a la Lewis Carroll's caterpillar.

I think this picture sums it up.  As Catholics we have tried very hard to get away from pie in the sky when you die.  The picture is entitled "The Spiritual Path"!

I attended the Ecumenical Service I mentioned in the last post.  I did say I couldn't see the point of it.  St George's Singers provided some good music...a lot of it in Latin!   Everybody did their bit and I did change my attitude.

One thing in particular did worry me and it came out of Park Town North Methodist Church and that was what made me think of "Spiritual".  They had a little litany addressed to angels that came across as bordering on superstition. The sort of sentimental nonsense that we as Catholics are often accused of.  For example

V: You speak to your people through angels
R:  Keep our ears & hearts open to the whisper of angel voices.


V:  Angels come among us and many have entertained them unawares.
R:  Keep us watchful and waiting for the spirit beings in our midst.  Teach us to recognise them in all their disguises.


V:  Angels come among us, their presence comforting and disquieting.
R:  Make us sensitive to their presence feeling their spirit hands guiding us to the future, guiding us to heaven where we will see and hear clearly what we have glimpsed in shadow.


It seems to me to play into the hands of those who are 'spiritual' and encourages a spirituality without responsibility.  It goes with pictures like this one!

St Raphael the Archangel

We have a developed angelology in Christianity inherited from Judaism with its later influence of Persian Zoroastrianism.  An angel is a messenger in the Jewish and Christian traditions and doesn't have wings other than cherubim and seraphim in Isaiah.  A whole hierarchy has been developed with Angels, Archangels, Principalities, Powers etc and a demonology to match that probably owes a lot to the dualism of Zoroastrianism.

We don't seem to have a particularly sentimental attitude to angels in the Church though sometimes devotion to Guardian Angels borders on it.

In fact Archangels are portrayed as being particularly strong.  Neither Michael, Gabriel, Raphael or Uriel lend themselves to sentimentality!

The Anglican contribution, St Francis, Parkview & St George's Parktown, was much more nuanced and centred on environmental issues.  At one point I wondered if it wasn't struggling to be so meaningful that it ended up a little meaningless.  The Dutch Reformed contribution was only in Afrikaans, NGK Parkkruin, but it was straight forward.

The Coptic Orthodox from St Mark's Cathedral, Parkview, sang what was effectively a Litany of the Saints for Advent.  The protestant churches seem to mix up Advent with Christmas so we sang O Come all ye Faithful and a few other carols but it was interesting to see how liturgical they have become.

I nearly forgot the singers from St Peter's by the Lake Lutheran Church!

Overall it was too long with maybe too  much music and the  litanies should have been cut down also 5,00pm is not a good time to expect a good attendance!  On the positive side there was a great effort made to produce something worthwhile, and the Axis churches getting together is a good thing...contrary to my comments on the previous post.  For example I discovered friends from other churches who I didn't even know went to church!  I am sure the next time will be a great advance on this first service.  We were late comers to the occasion and will doubtless have more input next time.

Food for the Homeless, Struggling through Advent & a Desultory Ecumenism

St Vincent de Paul

Last Saturday saw the annual Christmas Lunch for the Homeless at Holy Trinity.  It has been going on for many years and is a parish initiative.  We fed about 300 in two sittings and at least another 300 had a meal to take away.  The parish also feed about 100 or so at lunchtime 5 days a week and the St Vincent de Paul Society feed another 250 on Monday evenings and the Medical students from Wits have set up a medical centre in a custom-built  pharmacy and consulting rooms recently built by the church in the crypt.   The most encouraging thing about the SVP is that most people are under 30 and black so I rather stand out like a sore thumb if I turn up there!  This gives the lie to the urban white myth that black people are not interested in volunteering and expect to be paid!

The Christmas Lunch is hosted by a complete cross section of the parish which not only underlines that but shows that we whites are in the minority......  Holy Trinity reflects the Catholic Church in Africa, young, vibrant and committed.

Advent

I've been working my way through Fr Russell & Annemarie's Advent book. Remarkably I have only missed one day (is this a record?)! (Scroll down for more information)

 The only problem with it is the readings.  Isaiah, so far, a bit of Psalm and a bit of Gospel.  Sometimes they are too bitty....verses 1 to 4 and 9 to 12...that sort of thing.  It would have been much better to have included the readings in the book despite the size being doubled along with the price.

Ecumenical Advent Service
This is how it is billed:

Ecumenical Advent Celebration 


A combined song-service, for the Advent of Christmas, by all churches (Catholic, Anglican, 
Orthodox and Protestant) on the Jan Smuts Ave Axis, will be held at the Maranatha Church, 3 
Sherborne Rd, Parktown (right next to St George's Anglican Church) on Gaudete Sunday (11th
of December) at 17h00.
 All welcome: do come and share this most joyous celebration day on the Christmas calendar.

I get the impression that our priests have been pressured into this one and with a 6,00pm Mass someone will have to stay behind.  Maranatha is a Dutch speaking Dutch Reformed Church ( as opposed to Afrikaans).  I do wonder about the value of these things, and I am a former Chairman of the Jan Smuts Axis.  Our parish priest made an appeal for people to go as Catholics are never well represented and our congregation is bigger than all the other churches put together.This joint service was formerly on Ascension Day which gave us a good let out as it is a Day of Obligation so no-one could go!  Priests were told to wear copes!  How odd!  The Anglicans will certainly have better copes than us and they like wearing them more than we do.

I'm not sure what the service is for....the most joyous celebration day on the Christmas calendar?  I think not.  Is it to show that all we jolly Christians can get together and share our commonality?  It's a mystery to me.

A Small Effective Approach to Dialogue between Catholicism & Islam.

Last Saturday, the eve of Advent Sunday, we held an Advent Dinner for our friends of the Turquoise Harmony Institute at Holy Trinity.

The Institute is a Turkish Muslim Organisation that works for interfaith harmony in line with the teachings of Fethullah Gullen and for the last three years they have provided an Iftar Meal during Ramadan for the church.  We had often wondered how to reciprocate and an Advent Dinner is the result.

They came to the 17,30 Mass, had a tour of the church and then there was a brief explanation of what Advent is all about.
After the dinner, which was excellent, the Imam gave a presentation on 'Mary in the Islamic Tradition' and one of our laypeople gave a presentation on 'Mary in the Catholic Tradition'.  The evening was very successful as we have really become good friends.  The discussion at the tables was very good as we see Mary as the bridge between us as these representations of Our Lady in Catholic and in Muslim art show us.

I have been fortunate in having a long personal relationship, over at least 10 years, with the Institute through my former position at the SABC but this is the first time I have attended one of the events at my own church despite initiating their contacts with various religious bodies when they first arrived in South Africa.

It has really only been the Catholic Church that has encouraged contact, not just through the Jesuits but through the Emeritus Bishop of Pretoria, George Daniel.  I am sure that this is because, as Catholics, we are secure in our faith in the same way that the Turquoise Harmony Institute is.  Therefore we have an excellent interfaith relationship as neither feels threatened by the other.  I am sure that is the key to successful interfaith and inter-Christian dialogue.

Benedict XVI in Benin, Black Tuesday and an attempt at keeping Advent

The Holy Father's visit to Benin has been a great success but it has hardly figured in the secular media, even ours and we are in Africa!  80 000 people attended his final Mass.  I was particularly taken by his address to young children so here it is:

God our Father has gathered us around his Son and our brother, Jesus Christ, who is present in the host consecrated during the Mass. This is a great mystery before which we worship and we believe. Jesus, who loves us very much, is truly present in the tabernacles of all the churches around the world, in the tabernacles of the churches in your neighbourhoods and in your parishes. I ask you to visit him often to tell him of your love for him.

Some of you have already made your First Holy Communion, and others are preparing for it. The day of my First Holy Communion was one of the most beautiful days of my life. It is the same for you, isn’t it? And why is that? It’s not only because of our nice clothes or the gifts we receive, nor even because of the parties! It is above all because, that day, we receive Jesus in the Eucharist for the first time! 


When I receive Communion, Jesus comes to live in me. I should welcome him with love and listen closely to him. In the depths of my heart, I can tell him, for example: “Jesus, I know that you love me. Give me your love so that I can love you in return and love others with your love. I give you all my joys, my troubles and my future.” 


Do not hesitate, dear children, to speak of Jesus to others. He is a treasure whom you should share generously. Throughout the history of the Church, the love of Jesus has filled countless Christians, and even young people like yourselves, with courage and strength. In this way, Saint Kizito, a Ugandan boy, was put to death because he wanted to live according to the baptism which he had just received. Kizito prayed. He realized that God is not only important, but that he is everything.

What, then, is prayer? It is a cry of love directed to God our Father, with the will to imitate Jesus our brother. Jesus often went off by himself to pray. Like Jesus, I too can find a calm place to pray where I can quietly stand before a Cross or a holy picture in order to speak to Jesus and to listen to him. I can also use the Gospels. That way, I keep within my heart a passage which has touched me and which will guide me throughout the day. To stay with Jesus like this for a little while lets him fill me with his love, light and life! This love, which I receive in prayer, calls me in turn to give it to my parents, to my friends, to everyone with whom I live, even with those who do not like me, and those whom I do not appreciate enough. Dear young people, Jesus loves you. Ask your parents to pray with you! Sometimes you may even have to push them a little. But do not hesitate to do so. God is that important!

May the Virgin Mary, his Mother, teach you to love more and more through prayer, forgiveness and charity. I entrust you to her, together with your families and teachers. Look! I have this rosary in my pocket. The rosary is like a tool that we can use to pray. It is easy to pray the rosary. Maybe you know how already; if not, ask your parents to help you to learn how. At the end of this meeting, each one of you will receive a rosary. When you hold it in your hands, you can pray for the Pope, for the Church and for every important intention. And now, before I bless you all with great affection, let us pray together a Hail Mary for children throughout the world, especially for those who are sick, who are hungry and in places of war.

Let us pray together: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.


Here are the highlights of the visit with wonderful music!

Today is Black Tuesday, particularly for those of us in the media as the SA Parliament has passed the Protection of State Information Bill that will seriously curtail investigative journalism and is widely thought to be a means of hiding corruption within government.  It is a step backward towards the days of Apartheid by the African National Congress who was most responsible for bringing the previous regime down and prides itself on transparency in government.  What a joke!  It's Animal Farm all over again.  I am sure that this bill, when signed into law, will be challenged in the Constitutional Court and if the Court finds it to be unconstitutional it will create a crisis as the government has already complained about matters be brought before the Court that hamper its policies.  I suppose the next step will be to change the Constitution as we trek away from the ANC Founding Father's democratic ideals.


Fr Chris Townshend, Information Officer of the SA Catholic Bishops. Conference has just passed this on:  "The Bells of St Marys Catholic Cathedral, Cape Town and (hopefully) St George's Anglican Cathedral will be rung in Funeral Peal to protest the Secrecy Bill."

Advent is upon us and as I said in my previous post I think we have a tendency to let it pass us by.  As a child the great 'O' antiphons had a great impact upon me and singing 'Come, O come Emmanuel' reinforced the antiphons and the build up to the Feast of the Nativity...it doesn't seem to happen now.  Part of the reason is that the holidays begin on the 16th December and in Johannesburg many people go away so that the congregation and the Schola Cantorum are depleted for Christmas....and to a lesser extent at Easter.


This year I am going to make an effort thanks to Fr Russell and Annemarie's little Advent Book.  I don't guarantee success as I am easily led astray! 

A Book Launch in preparation for Advent.

Fr Russell Pollitt addresses us.

On Thursday 17th November  I attended the launch of “Rejoice Mountains and Hills”  at Holy Trinity. 


 The book contains weekday reflections for the Season of Advent and was written by Fr Russell Pollitt SJ & Dr Annemarie Paulin-Campbell of the Jesuit Institute. We heard about the book from Annemarie and Fr Russell mainly thanked people their help in producing the book but what was particularly interesting was an appreciation of the book by Nonthando Hadebi of St Augustine's College, our Catholic University and comments on the prayers by Fr  Jacques Pretorius, the Anglican chaplain to St John's College.  

Dr Annemarie Paulin-Campbell

We the piled into the food and wine afterwards!  Funny, at most book launches they come first.


Advent as a period of Preparation for Christmas seems to have fallen away.  It's not punted as a period of selfdenial or fasting and abstinence though the Eastern Churches certainly commemorate Advent in that way but then their Lent is also much more rigorous. 


 I think it  should be more recognised particularly as in the secular world Christmas begins somewhere towards the end of  October and finishes on the 23rd or 24th December!  


I really like this little book because it has its feet firmly on the ground when it comes to devotion during what is a particularly busy time for everyone.  In fact the book uses that business as a platform for prayer & meditation.  


Each day begins with a prayer to help focus on the theme for the day.  Then there is a text and reflection on the text.  It' need only take a few minutes or it can take longer depending on your situation at that particular time of day.  Congratulations to Fr Russell and to Annemarie  for providing such a user-friendly little book that I will certainly use during Advent.   


Copies of the book can be purchased from The Catholic Bookshop (Cape Town), Paulines (Johannesburg/Durban) and Holy Trinity Braamfontein. It costs R35.

Evangelism & the New Missal

As the chilling statistics we cannot ignore tell us, fewer and fewer of our beloved people -- to say nothing about those outside the household of the faith -- are convinced that Jesus and His Church are one. As Father Ronald Rolheiser wonders, we may be living in a post-ecclesial era, as people seem to prefer

a King but not the kingdom,
a shepherd with no flock,
to believe without belonging,
a spiritual family with God as my father, as long as I’m
the only child,
“spirituality” without religion
faith without the faithful
Christ without His Church.

So they drift from her, get mad at the Church, grow lax, join another, or just give it all up.


A comment that resonated with me by Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York speaking in his capacity as President of the USCCB at the opening of their Autumn Plenary Session.  


This illustrates the importance of Pope Benedict's emphasis on the so-called "New Evangelism".  Evangelism isn't new at all, it's just something we've forgotten about, are embarrassed by and would prefer to keep our Faith under a bushel. Maybe we let it out on Sundays but push it back under the bushel in the church car park.  I find it very difficult to be a "public Catholic" and when I retired from the SABC I was astounded and mildly embarrassed when the Head of the Service, Dennis O'Donnell commented on my Catholicism and the things I had done...he's 110% more Catholic than I am!  I am sure I am not alone in feeling that way but is it right?  We are called to evangelise, to be witnesses to Christ.  Maybe I should be a little more assertive in future.


The New Missal
The First Sunday in Advent is almost upon us.  The SACBC has come up with a Commissioning and Decommissioning process for the New and the Old.  Here it is in full:

The 1ST Sunday of Advent is fast approaching – an important day in the ongoing life of the Church, Together with the rest of the English-speaking members of the Church throughout the world, we will be introducing the full edition of the newly translated 3rd edition of the Roman Missal. Over the past few years, and particularly during this last year, we have in various ways been preparing for this event, by means of workshops, articles, Become one Body one Spirit in Christ etc. As has been pointed out by many, the publication of this new Missal is not a suggestion that the Sacramentary we have been using since the heady days which followed Vatican II is “bad” or to be rejected. Rather, this new Missal is part of an ongoing progression – we have studied, learnt, reflected, prayed the Missal, and have developed an improved text – language which is closer to the original, and at the same time more poetic. Change can be threatening – but it does indicate that the Church is alive and open to that process rather than stagnant. This is not change for the sake of change, but rather an opportunity for renewal, revitalization and growth in appreciation of the Mass which is central to our lives. This translation has not been undertaken lightly, but is the result of many years of work by a great many experts both academic and pastoral. The Liturgy is often described as the “official prayer of the Church gathered for worship” and as such we need to embrace this new translation – not just as new words, but as a real opportunity to renew our love for the Eucharist and our commitment to the Church. It is fitting that, in all our parishes, we mark the occasion of the inauguration of the Missal ceremonially. This may be done in several ways. We offer the attached ceremony, as proposed by the Canadian Bishops’ Conference. By“decommissioning” the Sacramentary which has been in use, and “commissioning” the new Missal, we emphasize the respect that should be shown in terms of Liturgical Books. We propose that the De-commissioning the Sacramentary take place at the end of Mass on the Sunday preceding the 1st Sunday of Advent – i.e. the Feast of Christ the King (20th November), and the Blessing the New Missal at the beginning of Mass on the 1st Sunday of Advent (27th November) In order to avoid confusion, may we suggest that in each community, people be asked to place all the old leaflets which have been in use for the past two years in a suitable container. These can then, in accordance with good conservation practice, be recycled. De-commissioning the Sacramentary 1. After the Prayer after Communion, the Priest pauses for a moment of silence and then reminds the faithful of the many events this book has been a part of in these or similar words: Dear Friends in Christ; today is the last (Sun)day in which this Sacramentary will be used. It has served our community well for many years: it has been present at baptisms, funerals, marriages, and above all at the countless Masses that have been prayed in this church. We pause to give thanks for all that God has done by means of the words contained in this book, and trust that God will continue to bless us in the years ahead. All pray silently for a time. Then the Priest, with hands outstretched says: Father of light and wisdom, We praise you for your gifts: for giving us the power to see and the ability to write and read and to use the arts of printing. Bless + this book as it is taken out of service and grant that all who have used it or heard its words may grow in wisdom and grace before you and all your people. Father, we praise you through Jesus Christ your Son in the love of your Holy Spirit, now and always and for ever. All:Amen. 2. The Mass continues in the usual way with the Final Blessing. After the Dismissal, the Deacon, or in his absence the Priest closes the book for the final time, saying: For everything there is a season. At the closing of this book, we look to the opening of a new season of grace. 3. The Sacramentary is carried out in the procession by a server or other appropriate minister. 4. The Sacramentary is then reserved in the sacristy, a parish library or museum, or disposed of in a dignified manner. Blessing the New Missal and the Advent Wreath (if latter is applicable) 1. The new Roman Missal is carried in the Entrance Procession by a server. 2. After the reverence to the Altar, the Priest goes to the Advent Wreath or another convenient place, while the server stands nearby holding the new Roman Missal. 3. After the Opening chant, the Priest pauses for a moment of silence and then reminds the faithful of the importance of the Roman Missal in the life of the Church: Dear Friends in Christ: As we begin a new liturgical year on this First Sunday of Advent, we bless our Advent Wreath and at the same time receive and put into service a new book to be used at our altar. There has been a book called the Roman Missal since the year 1570, and many of the prayers contained in this book have been used since at least the fourth century. But while it is a book of tradition, it is a book for our future, for celebrations that will be held in our Church for years to come. It is right to pause for a moment to mark these beginnings: the beginning of this season and year of grace, and the first use of this book. All pray silently for a time. Then the Priest, with hands outstretched says: Father of light and wisdom, we praise you for sending your Son to save us from our sins and to be light in our darkness. Bless us + as we gather in his name, bless this wreath as a sign of his light among us, and Bless + this Roman Missal; grant that all who use it or hear its words may grow in wisdom and grace before you and all your people. Father, we praise you through Jesus Christ your Son in the love of your Holy Spirit, now and always and for ever. All:Amen. 4. The first candle of the Advent Wreath is lighted. 5. The Priest then opens the book to the opening rites and the Mass continues in the usual way with the Sign of the Cross.

I think it's a good idea as it does create an end and a new beginning.  We are fortunate as we've been using a lot of the new Missal over the last couple of years but not the new Canons etc, so we are really in to most of it.  I think the priests are the ones with the problems, we'll just jog along as usual!

All Souls, A Funeral and thoughts on All Saints on Sunday!

Four members of Holy Trinity Scholar Cantorum

My guess on the music at Holy Trinity was correct, good Latin plainsong that you can sing along with in many instances....Pater Noster, for example.  What was particularly good to hear was the Dies Irae, the first part during Solemn Vespers and the second part during the Offertory.  No organ as it is All Souls.

The funeral at the Anglican Cathedral of St Dunstan in Benoni was rather strange.  For a start the church was full and the sound system was either not switched on or didn't work so you couldn't hear anything other than the odd word from the Dean, the Very Rev William Mostert who had a booming voice.    We sat through a Eulogy and four Tributes and heard not a word!  The hymns were "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "Onward Christian Soldiers".  "Jerusalem" (not William Blake!) was sung between the two Readings.  We also sang the Lord's Prayer and there was the committal.  The Anglicans have an excellent funeral service in their Prayer Book, I wonder why it wasn't used?

This Sunday sees one of those strange mix ups the Catholic Church has got itself into transferring major feasts to the Sunday following.  All Saints is four days after All Souls.  Almost as bad as making a mockery of the Twelve Days of Christmas by moving the Epiphany!   I do hope that sense prevails in the future and these Feasts get put back in their proper place.  The argument is that more people will be there to celebrate them if they are on a Sunday.  Do you really think they will notice?  I don't think it matters with some feasts like the Assumption, that hasn't been moved here, but when the move has other ramifications I think it's silly.

All Souls, the New Missal and a Funeral.

This is such an important feast and, as I get older, one that really reminds me of those I know who have died.

We have two Masses today and I will go the Sung Mass this evening.  We work on a Pious List where you write down the names of those who have died on a form which is then placed in an envelope and goes into a "box" of some sort before the altar.  They are all prayed for at every Mass during November and the "box" is also incensed with the altar during Sung Masses.  Unfortunately I haven't a clue what the music will be but as the Schola Cantorum are singing Solemn Vespers before hand the Mass setting will probably be Latin plainsong.

We seem to have the balance right between things everyone can sing in English, Latin or an African language and settings to listen to and that is a no mean achievement!

New Missal
It has arrived and, unlike the colourful CTS version for England & Wales we have the monochrome Pauline version.  Our parish priest, Fr Russell Pollitt SJ, doesn't like it and has written an interesting article about it's implementation on his Blog.   The comments are interesting......   I was even encouraged to comment myself.

"Well, we belong to an authoritarian and hierarchical Church that seldom, if ever consults! In this instance it ignored the consultation in much the same way as it did with Humanae Vitae! We can grumble but we will be ignored. Unfortunately the Catholic Church is the Catholic Church and there is no-where else to go so we put up with it and like Fr Russell voice our “loyal dissent”. Unfortunately ultramontanists believe that any dissent is disloyal.

The 1966 Missal was rushed through and certainly resulted in a lot of unsatisfactory English but we are used to using it. I have always hated “And also with you” but I became used to it.

I think that the major problem with the new Missal is that the layout makes it very difficult to read fluently and I am sure we are going to listen to some horrendous stumblings over the next few weeks. The Mass is always the Mass, thank goodness and I don’t have to read it! Most of us won’t really listen anyway."

Funeral
I'm going to a funeral this afternoon, appropriate for All Souls Day, of a past District Governour of Rotary, Billy Hills.  He was a kind, compassionate outstanding personality who's high position in Rotary International never went to his head.  Pray for the repose of his soul.  It's at the Anglican Cathedral in Benoni, a church I have never visited.

A March for Economic Freedom.

The numbers marching for Julius Malema's ANC Youth League March for Economic Freedom probably wasn't as many as he had hoped for but it does hi-light the issue of massive unemployment amongst young people in particular and the hopelessness of the situation of many people in our country.

The "demands" are secondary to "I need a job" and they are just political window dressing, Free Education, Free Electricity, Confiscate Land without compensation, change the Constitution to do so, Nationalise the Mines....that is all a smoke screen because it would make no difference to any of the unemployed on that march if the demands were acceded to overnight.

I have great sympathy for the need for Economic Justice, it's part of being a Catholic where the life and dignity of the human person with a preferential option for the poor and vulnerable goes way back before Leo XIII 's Rerum Novarum in 1891.  Benedict XVI's has of course expanded on this very recently but human nature always seems to get in the way.  In our democracy the politician must always pander to those who will put him into power, the poor and vulnerable, but seems never to have their interests at heart.  Julius Malema is an obvious example in terms of his wealthy lifestyle and yet his constituency don't seem to see the dichotomy.  I was much amused by his chanting "We want what the whites have got,"  when he personally has more than most whites!  He is just one example and if we look beyond our borders it seems to be almost universal that politicians are there for short-term personal gains rather than really helping the poor.

If we are really honest nobody likes the poor and homeless.  We hate being constantly harassed at every traffic light by a beggar or a hawker and wonder if they really want to steal from you.  They make me feel guilty and I admire St Francis of Assisi  more and more because of his personal courage in embracing not only the leper but also living with and caring for the outcasts of society, the poorest of the poor.  It's a humbling thought when you look out of the car window.

To end on a lighter note.  There is a fine British Anglican blog, a bit right wing for me, I must admit called Archbishop Cranmer.

I hasten to add that Thomas Cranmer has not risen from the flames which we Catholics were instrumental in lighting it is merely a namesake.  I found this illustration on the blog though as a Catholic I naturally dispute the date.

Leave the date as it stands and it could be a badge for the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.

Caritas aids one million people in East Africa as Pope makes food crisis plea

Why aren't the Church's efforts better known?  This is an amazing achievement!

"Drought triggered the current crisis, but it’s as much a manmade as natural disaster." said Caritas Internationalis Humanitarian Director Alistair Dutton

Credits: Eoghan Rice/Trocaire

Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday 5 October highlighted the plight of 13 million people at risk in East Africa’s ongoing food crisis. Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and other parts of the region face a severe food crisis caused by drought, conflict and social injustice. Somalia is the first famine of the 21st century, with hundreds of thousands of people in danger and one in three children suffering from malnutrition.

Pope Benedict urged the international community to tackle the humanitarian emergency. He invited everyone “to offer prayers and practical help for so many brothers and sisters so harshly tested, particularly the children in the region.”

The Caritas network of Catholic aid agencies is helping over one million people in East Africa’s food crisis, providing families with food, clean water, and a way to support themselves in the future. Caritas is developing and implementing programmes worth more than €30 million ($41 million).

Presented to Pope Benedict were Bishop Giorgio Bertin, Apostolic Administrator of Mogadishu and President of Caritas Somalia; Paolo Beccegato, Head of the International Department for Caritas Italy; Ken Hackett, outgoing CEO of Catholic Relief Services (a U.S. Caritas member), and Alistair Dutton, Caritas Internationalis Humanitarian Director.

“Caritas members all over the world have moved quickly to help prevent suffering in East Africa through our partners on the ground,” said Dutton. “We will continue to care for the hungriest and most vulnerable victims.

“Drought triggered the current crisis, but it’s as much a manmade as natural disaster. We must tackle chronic underdevelopment and help communities adapt to changing climates across the region. We must seek an end to conflict in Somalia if this is to be the only famine in East Africa this century.”

The Pontifical Council Cor Unum is hosting a meeting 7 October in the Vatican, inviting Catholic aid agencies including Caritas and representatives from the Church of England to discuss new efforts to tackle the crisis. In Ethiopia, Caritas and its church partners have distributed food to approximately 500,000 people and is providing clean water to an estimated 250,000 people. In Kenya and Ethiopia, diocesan partners run feeding centres for malnourished children. To aid refugees fleeing Somalia, Caritas members are working in refugee camps to build sanitation facilities like showers and latrines.

Because farmers have lost crops and livestock to the drought, Caritas is distributing drought-resistant seeds and is giving more than 10,000 animals to needy farmers. Ongoing programmes will improve water systems and train farmers in conservation techniques so that communities are more resilient in the face of extreme weather.

Veritas & an Evening Mass

I was in Cape Town for the Veritas Awards this weekend, flew down Saturday morning and back to Johannesburg Sunday morning.  It has nothing to do with our rather dreary Catholic Radio Station of the same name; it is South Africa's oldest and biggest wine competition.  Veritas' 21st Birthday and the slickest, best organised yet with over 400 people at a formal dinner.

Dave Hughes, NOT St Vincent

One of my fellow Catholics who has been involved as a judge and chairs the judging panel is Dave Hughes.  He was be-medalled to the degree that I thought he must be a Papal Knight at least but they were all medals relating to his drinking abilities.  For some years now he has organised a St Vincent's Day Mass, St Vincent of Saragossa, the Patron of Vineyards, 22nd January, and it is attended by Catholics and non-Catholics alike.  A very jolly day, apparently though I have never been in the Cape at the right time to attend it.


St Vincent was a deacon martyred during the Diocletian Persecution in Valencia.  Why wine?  I haven't a clue.  He also looks after brick makers and sailors, maybe wine is the common thread.  As you can see from the dalmatic he was a deacon and we know a surprising amount about him as his "Acts" were widely read in the 4th century.  Dave's initiative in establishing the St Vincent's Day Mass as an annual event is to be applauded.

The result of my trip was having to attend an evening Mass at St Theresa's Edenvale.  It's convenient to go to as you will have realised from previous trips and the Mass was fine with a good homily only to end with my least favourite sing-a-long, Shine, Jesus, Shine......what nonsensical words......


This surely makes a lot more sense....click on....anyone can join in.

Feast of St Francis of Assisi.

I've been reading on Ship of Fools a discussion on what to do on or near the Feast of St Francis.  So many churches, particularly in the States, seem to be filled with pets to be blessed!

This is what an Episcopalian in New York City has to say:

St. Francis day is the most well-attended service of the year at my place. Bigger than Easter or Christmas (sadly!), with nearly 3,000 in attendance. Almost all have pets with them (dogs mainly, but the odd ferret, parrot and fish) and there is a procession of animals up the aisle, including a baby elephant, yak, a tortoise, baby swans, and a macaw. There is also a liturgical dance troupe with giant flags, which I feel is a bit overkill, and is just a nightmare for the ushers, as they have to keep the dogs out of the aisles so the dancers don't trip. There is an Ecology Fair after the service where animal blessing stations are set up. I do find it very frustrating though, since it is so well-attended and we do nothing for membership or fundraising. The Dean doesn't even ask people to come back. Ugh! It is such a lost opportunity.







Poor St Francis!  The encounter with the leper, the embracing of poverty, his rejection by many, including his own father, the hard physical labour, the establishment of the OFM, the attempt to stop the crusade and his meeting with the Sultan, the stigmata....the list is endless and all reduced to blessing goldfish!

From The Testament of St. Francis:

“…the Lord gave me, and gives me still, such faith in priests who live according to the rite of the holy Roman Church because of their orders that, were they to persecute me, I would still want to have recourse to them…..And I act in this way because, in this world, I see nothing physically of the most high Son of God except His most holy Body and Blood which they receive and they alone administer to others. I want to have these most holy mysteries honored and venerated above all things and I want to reserve them in precious places.”

The new Missal is coming our way at the beginning of Advent but as we have been using the not completely revised version for the people's parts for a couple of years now hardly anyone will notice.  The Altar Missals are here and there is a little booklet for the laity, if they feel they need one, with the all the new words.  I think it'll be a bit of a damp squib as not many really listen to what the priest is saying anyway.  Not for us complaints about the translation of "calix" in the Canon!


Apparently the new lectionary is out at the end of the first quarter of next year and readings are from the Revised Standard Version rather than the Jerusalem Bible....I wonder why?