Jacob's Well: Our Spiritual Songs II
As the seasons change, and times in Australia begin their focus on daylight and sun, I thought it is auspicious to return to a musical interlude for this week’s Jacob’s Well. We all know how music heals, lifts and transforms us. While we are divided by geography and circumstances, music always builds and strengthens the bonds that unite us. Here are some additions to the MYM Corona Comforts Spotify Playlist that might help you through the day. Don’t forget its address: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3nvlMNqv8D0zr7sO1hqrrE?si=hrH9hy6BRGWu4p-Yi-LWug
OneRepublic- Wild Life
OneRepublic has just released a new song, ‘Wild Life’ and they are stealing MLF’s ideas! Fitting with this year theme, its ethereal reverberation and the iconic vocals of Ryan Tedder offer an uplifting pop song to start the day, or a retreat session!
I Surrender- Hillsong Worship
MYM Sydney has been recommending some great music in the last few weeks with its Music Monday choices. I love them all! ‘I Surrender’ by Hillsong Worship has been on repeat over this last weeks. Consistent in the style of the band and the genre, its slow crescendo-ing draws me deeper into prayer and love.
Meet Me in the Middle of the Air- Paul Kelly
We love this song, especially after ABC’s 7.30 report produced a stunning video of the song with the Melbourne landscapes. Paul Kelly (with the Stormwater Boys) is a music genius and a national treasure! “Meet Me in the Middle of the Air,” is a spiritual song unparalleled in his work, and in the Australian music landscapes. Paul Kelly has a complex relationship with religion, faith and God, but few people could produce a song so poignant, prayerful and moving. Based on Psalm 23, with the emblematic title drawn from 1 Thessalonians 4:17, this song never fails to stir the heart and touch the soul.
Any other suggestions for our spiritual songs collection?
Jacob's Well: Literature from Indigenous Australia
Reflecting on the input from Shannon Thorne from around the Well (from Marist 180, proud Kamilaroi man), one of the lingering thoughts for me is the invitation to keep broadening my education and to listen directly to the voices of Indigenous people in Australia. We can do this in the relationships we build with people in our communities, areas and networks. We can listen to Indigenous elders and voices on our radios, televisions, social media feeds and in written articles and editorials. We can also access the enormous library of books, fiction and non-fiction, that explore historical and contemporary expressions of people’s lives.
Over the weekend, I investigated a number of suggestions for contemporary literature written from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives. Here are some of the recommended books to honour the voices, histories and cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The synopses are taken from other writers who have reviewed these works.
Our Home, Our Heartbeat by Adam Briggs, Kate Moon and Rachael Sarra
Adapted from Briggs' celebrated song ‘The Children Came Back’, this book is a celebration of past and present Indigenous legends, as well as emerging generations. At its heart honours the oldest continuous culture on earth. Readers will recognise Briggs' distinctive voice and contagious energy within the pages of Our Home, Our Heartbeat, signifying a new and exciting chapter in children’s Indigenous publishing.
Finding the Heart of the Nation by Thomas Mayor
Since the Uluru Statement from the Heart was formed in 2017, Thomas Mayor has travelled around the country to promote its vision of a better future for Indigenous Australians. He’s visited communities big and small, often with the Uluru Statement canvas rolled up in a tube under his arm. Here, through the story of his own journey and interviews with twenty key people, Mayor taps into a deep sense of our shared humanity. He believes that we will only find the heart of our nation when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are recognised with a representative Voice enshrined in the Australian Constitution.
Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko
Wise-cracking Kerry Salter has spent a lifetime avoiding two things - her hometown and prison. But now her Pop is dying and she’s an inch away from the lockup, so she heads south on a stolen Harley. Kerry plans to spend twenty-four hours, tops, over the border. She quickly discovers, though, that Bundjalung country has a funny way of grabbing on to people. And the unexpected arrival on the scene of a good-looking dugai fella intent on loving her up only adds more trouble - but then trouble is Kerry’s middle name. Gritty and darkly hilarious, Too Much Lip offers redemption and forgiveness where none seems possible.
Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia edited by Anita Heiss
What is it like to grow up Aboriginal in Australia? This anthology, compiled by award-winning author Anita Heiss, attempts to showcase as many diverse voices, experiences and stories as possible in order to answer that question. Accounts from well-known authors and high-profile identities sit alongside newly discovered voices of all ages, with experiences spanning coastal and desert regions, cities and remote communities. All of them speak to the heart - sometimes calling for empathy, oftentimes challenging stereotypes, always demanding respect.
Respect by Aunty Fay Muir, Sue Lawson and Lisa Kennedy (illus.)
This tender and thoughtful picture book is the first in a new series, Our Place, which welcomes and introduces children to important elements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. Using spare and poetic text, a young girl is encouraged to respect culture, stories, song, ancestors, Elders, and Country. Authors Aunty Fay Muir and Sue Lawson have previously collaborated on the excellent language book Nganga, and you may know illustrator Lisa Kennedy from her work on Welcome to Country and Wilam: A Birrarung Story. The gorgeous language, universal themes and vibrant illustrations make Respect a truly beautiful book to pore over with little people.
Homeland Calling edited by Ellen van Neerven
Homeland Calling is a collection of poems created from hip-hop song lyrics that channel culture and challenge stereotypes. Written by First Nations youth from communities all around Australia, the powerful words display a maturity beyond their years. Edited by award-winning author and poet Ellen van Neerven, and brought to you by Desert Pea Media, the verses in this book are the result of young artists exploring their place in the world, expressing the future they want for themselves and their communities.
Australia Day by Stan Grant
As uncomfortable as it is, we need to reckon with our history. On January 26, no Australian can really look away. There are the hard questions we ask of ourselves on Australia Day. Since publishing his critically acclaimed, Walkley Award-winning, bestselling memoir Talking to My Country in early 2016, Stan Grant has been crossing the country, talking to huge crowds everywhere about how racism is at the heart of our history and the Australian dream. But Stan knows this is not where the story ends.
Welcome to Country: A Travel Guide to Indigenous Australia by Marcia Langton
Welcome to Country is a curated guidebook to Indigenous Australia and the Torres Strait Islands. Author Professor Marcia Langton offers fascinating insights into Indigenous languages and customs, history, native title, art and dance, storytelling, and cultural awareness and etiquette for visitors.
Black Politics by Sarah Maddison
Author Sarah Maddison interviewed a number or prominent activists, politicians and Aboriginal leaders including Mick Dodson, Tom Calma, Alison Anderson and Jackie Huggins, in an effort to put together a text that explores the dynamics of Aboriginal politics. If you’re looking to familiarise yourself with the numerous challenges faced by Indigenous communities, this book is a must.
Born Again Blakfella by Jack Charles, with Namila Benson
Born Again Blakfella, written by Jack Charles with the help of Namila Benson, chronicles the life of the musician and Senior Victorian Australian of the Year, who was stolen from his mother when he was merely a few months old. Often referred to as Uncle Jack Charles, the Aboriginal Elder shares his story in his eye-opening new autobiography.
Jacob's Well: The Circular
Last week, Br Ernesto Sanchez, the Superior-General of the Marist Brothers, released his first Circular, “Homes of Light.” It is number 420 in the history of these unique documents. You can find it here: https://champagnat.org/en/brother-ernesto-sanchez-presents-Circular-420-of-the-marist-institute/. Its release inspired me to answer the questions, what is a Circular, and what are they about?
The Circular is a type of message to a group of people. They are situated in a tradition going back to Saint Marcellin Champagnat, whose first Circular was composed in 1828. Since then, in the style proper to each person and each period, we find them, in thousands of pages, with news about family, information, instructions, recommendations, reflections on our life and mission. The other unique element about them are they are written by a Superior-General: it is a tradition reserved for this position, although a number of them had some help, and traditions are always malleable!
As mentioned, we have over four hundred of these messages, but they vary in length, content, context and style. Each Superior-General has put their own flavour in their Circulars or used them for specific purposes. In addition, they are changed over time, as technology and contexts has amended their purposes. For Champagnat, getting a message to the Brothers with specific instructions and practical news was his major concern, as sending letters in the post was the most effective means of mass communication. In more recent years, the Superiors-General have shifted to more philosophical and reflective ground. The Circulars have been more focussed on setting and communicating vision, reflecting on history, theology and the mission as key themes. Again, others have focussed on a specific topic, setting the tone for detailed action, as Br Benito Arbués, the eleventh Superior-General did in his Circular, “Concerning Our Material Goods.”
To give you a glimpse of their depth and breadth, here are some of the Circulars that continue to inform our Institute:
One of the first Circulars from Marcellin was short, concise and still full of richness. The Circulars started as short letters to the brothers. Here is an example:
Marcellin Champagnat
1830-08-15
This letter was no doubt a Circular intended for all the communities. The original, in fact, shows traces of another letter which was placed on top of it before the ink had dried. From these traces we can see that the other letter, at least in its opening lines, was identical with this one. We can therefore conclude that in the beginning Fr. Champagnat himself wrote out copies of his Circular letters to the eighteen communities which then made up the Institute, except perhaps for those he was going to visit within the next few days, to whom he would deliver the message in person.
As for the vacations, after the community moved down to the Hermitage, they had been and still were two months long, as before (Avit, AA, p. 98). We also know that the schools reopened around All Saints, so the vacation normally began in early September. Given the disturbances taking place in the country at that time, why was it thought better to delay the start of the vacation by two weeks? We have no way of knowing for sure. To get some idea of the climate of French society at this time, see the Introduction, above, and also Life, pp. 174-176; Avit, AA, pp. 96-98; O.M., I, pp. 481-482.
Jesus, Mary, St. Joseph
My dear friends,
I’m afraid I didn’t inform you that the vacation would begin only on 15th September. All the parish priests want it this way, and they say that the glory of God is involved here.
Don’t be frightened; Mary is our defender. The hairs of our head are all counted, and not one of them can fall without Gods permission. Let us be totally convinced that we have no greater enemy than ourselves. Only we can hurt ourselves; no one else can. God has said to the wicked, you can go just so far and no farther.
I leave you in the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. We do not forget you in our prayers. Pray for us, too.
I have the honour to be your very devoted father in Jesus and Mary,
Champagnat, sup. of the M.B.
Marys Hermitage, 5th August 1830
There have been many Circulars that reference or centre Mary, but this one marked one of the most challenging, renewing and visionary of Br Sean Sammon’s Circular. It offered a contemporary interpretation of the person of Mary, as well as invited the reader to take courageous action to move to new and confronting spaces. It also offered questions for reflection, marking a shift in style that invited personal and communal consideration. Check it out here: https://champagnat.org/en/Circulares/in-her-arms-or-in-her-heart/
Br Charles Howard, the only Australian Superior-General, was a man of tremendous presence and intellect. One of his great insights was the Circular “The Champagnat Movement of The Marist Family.” Written in 1991, the letter was ahead of its time: The Church, and many provinces of the Marist Institute, have been very slow to honour the longstanding vocational call and promise of the “laity.” This Circular outline many of the invitation and visions that we are only now still enacting and growing with our Marist Associations, and other movements of Marists around the world. It is also one of the first that explicitly addresses all members of the Marist family, not only the Brothers. Check it out here: https://champagnat.org/en/Circulares/the-champagnat-movement-of-the-marist-family/
Four down, four hundred and sixteen to go!
Jacob's Well: Marist Pilgrimages
In this third segment on pilgrimages, here are some examples of pilgrimages in our Marist story that are continuing to take shape. Although our short-term circumstances may limit the physical pursuits of these pilgrimages, the anticipation and preparation are just as important as the external movements towards them. They are all part of the journey.
Marcellin and his pilgrimages
The spiritual gifts of pilgrimages were instilled in Marcellin by his mother, Marie-Louise, from an early age. Although unable to travel great distances, pilgrimages to significant places of Christian history were popular throughout France in Marcellin’s time. One significant site for Marcellin and his family was La Louvesc. It is the site, of the Basilica of Saint John Francis Regis, a popular saint in France where his tomb is contained and is the site of significant religious history for the country. Currently, it also holds the incorrupt body of Saint Therese Couderc, founder of the Congregation of Our Lady of the Cenacle, and a contemporary of Marcellin.
One of the first recorded pilgrimages of Marcellin to this site came at the conclusion of one of the most difficult years of his initial education. At the end of one year, June-July, 1806, Father Perier, Superior of the seminary told him that he should not consider advanced studies. Saddened but not disheartened, Marcellin made a pilgrimage with his mother to La Louvesc, to the Tomb of Saint Regis, to implore Mary's help. During other times in his life, especially in times of difficult and seeking intercession, Marcellin would journey to this same holy place. In 1823, Br Jean-Baptiste Furet writes, “When the new troubles struck, Marcellin prescribed special prayers and called on the Community to fast for nine days on bread and water. He himself made a pilgrimage to the tomb of Saint John Francis Regis at La Louvesc, interceding with him for the necessary light and strength.” According to the testimony of Madame Sériziat on Father Champagnat's pilgrimages to La Louvesc, "The good Father Champagnat went rather often on pilgrimage to La Louvesc, on foot through the mountains. On his return, which was at night, he knelt on the door-steps outside the exterior church door and, bareheaded, remained in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, awaiting in this manner, the opening of the church in order to be able to celebrate Holy Mass."
For Marcellin, a pilgrimage came at a time of great need and questioning. To journey with questions, doubts, and to ask for help are vital part of the pilgrim’s experience.
L’hermitage: the heart of Marist pilgrimages
The historical and spiritual home of the Marist Brothers, and those who follow in Champagnat’s footsteps, has always been L’Hermitage, located near the town of St-Chamond, in France. Built by Marcellin Champagnat and his first Brothers, the Brothers first moved from La Valla to the Hermitage in 1824. In 2010, the renovated Hermitage was inaugurated as a centre for Marist pilgrimage. The community welcomes and accompanies mainly Marist groups from around the world and local parish groups. It is an international community of Brothers and Laypeople, living under the same roof, sharing in a fraternal life, praying together and being co-responsible for their ministry to pilgrims. It is a special and beautiful place.
You can check out a virtual pilgrimage to Marcellin’s bedroom in the L’Hermitage, as well as the Chapel, constructed for the Feast Day of Champagnat this year: https://champagnat.org/en/dia-de-sao-marcelino-champagnat-peregrinacao-virtual/
LaValla and surroundings places
LaValla is more than a name for a building or a magazine. It is often referenced because the village, and a number of surrounding places and villages, are part of the fertile ground that gave life to the early Marist story. LaValla, Marcellin’s first parish, as well as Le Rosey, Marhles, Les Maisonettes, Le Bessat, and a number of other villages, are important sites of thousands of Marist pilgrims for decades. Being able to tread the streets where Marcellin walked is akin to travelling back in time. Walking through the harsh inclines and terrain of the mountains and hills of this area gives new insight into the conditions that led to the Memorare in the Snow story. Wadding in the cool waters of the River Gier as it cascades through the valley and refreshes the fields of L’Hermitage gives added weight to the imagery and spirituality of “Water from the Rock.” It is special country. It can be home. It can provide answers and refreshments, as well as challenges and questions. It calls you. Can you hear it?
Fourvière
Another important place of pilgrimage for Marists, across all branches of the greater Marist family, is the Marian shrine at Fourvière dedicated to Our Lady since 1170. Fourvière is an ancient site, now part of the Historic Site of Lyons World Heritage Site declared by UNESCO in 1998. Fourvière Hill was originally the location of the Roman Forum and a temple. As early as 1168, a Christian chapel was built on the hill, which by that time had already become a Marian shrine. The chapel was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and to the medieval English Saint Thomas Becket (1118-70). Its popularity as a place of pilgrimage increased significantly after Lyon’s preservation from plague in 1643 was interpreted as an answer to the prayers of the city leaders.
The interior of the chapel, restored in 1751, has not greatly changed since this time. The Basilica was consecrated in 1896, in fulfilment of a vow by the city of Lyon, and in thanksgiving to Our Lady for protecting the city from the ravages of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, and Fourvière has always been a popular place of pilgrimage, as can be seen from the plaques placed round the wall of the chapel.
On 23rd July 1816 the twelve Marist aspirants, priests and seminarians, climbed the hill to the shrine of Our Lady of Fourvière. They placed their promise to found the Society of Mary under the corporal on the altar while Fr Jean-Claude Courveille celebrated Mass. After communion which they all received from Fr Courveille’s hand, they read out their declaration promising to devote themselves and all that they had to the foundation of the Society of Mary. On the left of the chancel is a plaque commemorating this event, and on the opposite side of the plaque commemorating the Marist Brothers (FMS). Since these early times many Marist celebrations have taken place either in this chapel or in the basilica but the first time that the four branches of the Marist Family celebrated together at Fourvière was on the 150th anniversary of the Fourvière pledge, 24 July 1966.
I hope this gives you all a taste of the concept and reality of pilgrimage in our Christian tradition. May you be inspired to continue to listen to God’s gently whisper, to pack a bag, and take those needed steps towards your personal invitations of freedom, growth and adventure.
Jacob's Well: Christian Places of Pilgrimage
The Christian sense of pilgrimage has a long history, though it is never explicitly explained in detail as a religious practice in the scriptures. Pilgrimage seems to mark its recorded beginnings as part of the Catholic tradition in the fourth century, when Christians wanted to travel to the places that were part of Jesus’ life, or to the graves of the martyrs and Saints Peter and Paul in Rome. As mentioned previously, pilgrimage is not a uniquely Christian practice, but its longevity and significance has added depth to one’s discipleship. A few pilgrimage trails, most notably Europe’s medieval Camino de Santiago, have been reconstituted in recent decades and become popular with Christians and non-Christians alike.
Pilgrimage is both a social and an interior process, and occurs both in individual or small group contexts, such as hiking the Camino de Santiago, and in organized group contexts, as with the tour groups that travel to Rome, Lourdes and Fatima. As was true in the Middle Ages, many people who travel on pilgrimages carry symbols like a scallop shell or a special scarf that mark them as pilgrims. These listed pilgrimages marks some of the more well-known and established routes of Christian history.
Pilgrimages to Jerusalem and the Holy Land
To a Christian, Jerusalem during the Middle Ages (500–1500) was a place of hope and desire. As a place of desire, Christians wanted to visit and experience the tactile as a way of deepening one’s relationship with Jesus by walking in the streets and churches that marked important locations in his life. As a place of hope, Jerusalem and other sites in the Holy Land set the heart on fire, because these sites were the origins of their faith. To be close to these places meant to be close to Jesus. This idea remains as true for Christians today, as it did hundreds of years ago.
The goal of any Christian living at that time was to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. At the time of the Crusades, the tradition of making such a trip to a sacred place already had a long history, dating back to the 300s and even earlier. The journey was difficult, long and treacherous: modes of transport, communication and provisions were very different to the comforts and ease of today’s tools of travel. Months of hard work, through culturally and linguistically diverse lands add personal and spiritual significance and hardship to the pilgrimage. The reward: Christians wanted to see the buildings that the Roman emperor Constantine had erected to house the holy sites during his reign in the fourth century. The flow of pilgrims slowed with the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem in the seventh century. Also, continuing political turmoil in Europe up through the ninth century made pilgrimages to the Holy Land the privilege of a select few.
By the twelfth century, travel to the Holy Land from Christian Europe was virtually impossible. The desire, however, remains as constant and palpable as ever, and people have continued their attempts to journey to Jerusalem and the Holy Land until the present day.
The Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela
One of the oldest pilgrimage routes in the world runs through Northern Spain, terminating at the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. This is the burial site of St. James, whose remains were transported from Jerusalem to Spain by boat. For the average European in the twelfth Century, a pilgrimage to the Holy Land of Jerusalem was out of the question—travel to the Middle East was too far, too dangerous and too expensive. Santiago de Compostela in Spain offered a much more convenient option. Pilgrimages to the area haven’t ceased since medieval times, and the route has enjoyed revived popularity since the 1980s. The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela now stands on this site.
Traveling pilgrims can expect barebones accommodations along the Camino de Santiago, or Way of St. James. Monasteries provide hostels for travellers and ask for small monetary donations in return. Pilgrims should be aware that a special Credencial, or religious passport, is required to stay at a monastic hostel.
The pious of the Middle Ages wanted to pay homage to holy relics, and pilgrimage churches sprang up along the route to Spain. Pilgrims commonly walked barefoot and wore a scalloped shell, the symbol of Saint James (the shell’s grooves symbolize the many roads of the pilgrimage). Along each part of the journey rests historical sites, churches and traditions that makes this pilgrimage one of the culturally and spiritually richest experiences, for Christians and non-Christians.
In France alone there were four main routes toward Spain. Le Puy, Arles, Paris and Vézelay are the cities on these roads and each contains a church that was an important pilgrimage site in its own right. Check out videos on the world’s largest thurible that swings throughout the Cathedral on special days and upon request (that request being a substantial donation!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xndYdKR5tY0
Via Francigena: The Pilgrimage to Rome
From Breena Kerr (http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20181203-a-1000-year-old-road-lost-to-time):
In 990AD, the Archbishop of Canterbury named Sigeric the Serious had a more practical reason to walk to Rome. Having risen into his prestigious office, he needed to visit the Vatican to be ordained and collect his official garments. At the time he made the journey, there were many different paths to Rome. But Sigeric, who’d left from Canterbury, wrote down his route home through Italy, Switzerland, France and into the UK, cataloguing the towns he stayed in on his journey. The route he took now makes up the official Via Francigena. The only part that cannot be completed on foot is the English Channel, which medieval pilgrims crossed by boat (and modern pilgrims on the Dover-to-Calais ferry).
As the Renaissance blossomed in Europe, the Via Francigena began to decline in popularity. Trading routes multiplied and shifted to pass through Florence, one of Italy’s most significant intellectual, artistic and mercantile cities at the time. As the Romans expanded their dominion, they built roads to connect the conquered cities back to heart of the empire.
The Via Francigena became, for the most part, forgotten, although sections remained in use as local roads and footpaths. Things remained that way until 1985. That year, a Tuscan anthropologist, writer and adventurer named Giovanni Caselli was looking for new topics to write travel books about. As an enthusiastic hiker who had also walked the old Silk Road through China, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, Caselli decided to walk the Via Francigena after learning about Sigeric’s route.
“I would go into a town and ask the local people, ‘What’s the oldest route from here to there’,” he said. “And it worked, because the local memory of these paths still exists.” Caselli walked all the way from Canterbury to Rome, crossing the British countryside, the English Channel (by ferry), French Champagne country, the Swiss Alps and the rolling hills of Tuscany.
After Caselli published his book about the Via Francigena in 1990, the route started gaining attention. In 1994, the Via Francigena became one of the Council of Europe’s designated Cultural Routes. Then in 2006, the organisations that oversee the Via Francigena decided on the official route that pilgrims walk today. Many pilgrims see it as an alternative or follow-up to Spain’s better known – and much busier – Camino de Santiago.
Marian Shrines: Places of Miracles
Tied to the history of Christian pilgrimages resides Mary. All over the world, pilgrimages to places with stories, devotions and encounters with Mary, the Mother of Jesus, exist on almost every continent (a Marian shrine at Antarctica is yet to be established: maybe Mary doesn’t like the cold?). Ranging from the well-known places of Lourdes and Fatima, to smaller shrines in most obscures locations in Yankalilla, South Australia, Penrose Park, New South Wales and Canungra, Queensland, the journeying to these Marian places is another benchmark of Christianity pilgrimages.
There are some many more places of pilgrimage to list, both here in Australia and overseas. Hopefully we will be able to visit them one day! What are some of your favourites?
And as a preview for next week, we will look at important Marist places of pilgrimages and the places where Marcellin went on pilgrimage too!
Jacob's Well: Pilgrimage
Another request has arrived. I was asked to share on some of my overseas experiences, and boy, was I excited! I love to share my travel stories, but upon reflection, realise that the same enthusiasm may not exist for other people! For me, I have struggled through hours of photos of relatives and their overseas trips, and I am forever traumatised. Instead, I thought I would share these stories with the underlying sense of their purpose, for me: to go on pilgrimage. In the coming weeks, I want to share some major places of pilgrimage within the Christian tradition, as well places of Marist pilgrimage. Firstly, however, let’s explore together the foundations of pilgrimage.
The act of making a pilgrimage – traveling to a sacred place to encounter the divine – is ancient, probably as old as humanity itself. Its spiritual significance exists in every major religions and faith system. The people of God, descended from Abraham, experienced their seminal formative journey from Egypt to the Promised Land in such a powerful way that it shaped their entire religious, cultural and personal identities.
Pilgrimages are undertaken for many reasons: seeking healing and peace, an attempt to make amends, to do penance, to seek answers to questions, to lose weight or to visit a sacred site. Often, it is thought that the destination is the focus of the journey, and that the way of getting from point A to point B is simply the practical manifestation of getting to this arrival. However, a pilgrim realizes that the journey is essential to the pilgrimage. The journey teaches us about ourselves. Why am I short-tempered with my fellow travellers? Do I dread the details of the journey? What am I feeling on the journey? In addition, the journey allows us to be drawn into a deeper relationship with God. How do I encounter the holy on this quest? What is God inviting me to learn, not only at our destination, but on the way? How is God present with me on the journey?
As Christians, we are a pilgrim people. We are always journeying to the most sacred of places. For some, this is expressed journeying to heaven, or building the Kingdom of God or to holy ground. This sacred place is more aptly described as experiencing the fullness of God coupled with the sense of returning home. This is the invitation and gift of pilgrimage: a journey of growing into fullness, and recognising God is present at all stages. In order to make the most of this journey, we must plan well. We need to be fed: Scripture and the Eucharist will provide some of the sustenance needed. A journey requires a map: the guidance that prayer gives us. We travel with others (family, friends, co-workers, strangers) and we are invited to discern the places and reasons that each of these people are present in our life, into our pilgrimage, for God does nothing by chance.
Pilgrimage is a pervasive theme throughout Scripture. The Apostle Peter refers to it often, and at the beginning of his first epistle, he addresses believers as sojourners and pilgrims (1 Peter 2:11). Similarly, the Apostle Paul constantly reminds us of our pilgrim status when informing us that our citizenship is in heaven: For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:20). The letter to the Hebrews is an operating manual for the Christian’s pilgrimage. It locates the Christian squarely in the desert, likening the Christian life to the wilderness wanderings in the Old Testament. The Old Testament is full of references, understandings and experiences of pilgrimages. Our Christian understanding of pilgrimage is deeply informed by our Jewish ancestors.
The invitation of being on pilgrimage is more than a physical one. In our current circumstances, we are limited in being able to access, or not access, the traditional geographical places of pilgrimages. However, we are never limited to take on the perspective and heart of a pilgrim.
There is a richness of literature that exists on pilgrimage, especially in the Christian tradition. Please explore it: I will add some more over the coming weeks. I offer a couple of introductory reflections on pilgrimage that may assist you in moving into a pilgrim’s mindset.
From Dee Dyas, The University of York:
The Old Testament presents several physical journeys which also have a deeper spiritual meaning. The journey made by Abraham and the story of the Exodus from Egypt both emphasise the theme of God journeying with his people and stress the importance of being willing to obey and trust God. Abraham, a key figure in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, is shown in Genesis 12:1-9 leaving his home to go in search of a land which God promises to show him, becoming a 'pilgrim' or 'sojourner' whose willingness to obey God makes him a model of faith and obedience. In the story of the Exodus from Egypt, the Israelites travel through the wilderness to the land of Canaan, experiencing both hardships and God's care and guidance. The Exodus motif plays a key role in Christian thought and the long journey through the wilderness towards the Promised Land was later interpreted as a paradigm or model of the Christian journey through a fallen world towards heaven.
In time, the city of Jerusalem developed into a centre of pilgrimage, a place where God could be encountered in a special way. Pilgrimage to Jerusalem on the three feasts of Passover, Weeks and Booths became a requirement for all male Israelites who would often have been joined by other family members. During periods of exile, pilgrimage to Jerusalem took on additional emotional and spiritual significance.
The New Testament picks up many motifs from the Old Testament but also shows some important changes in emphasis. The Fall of Humankind, and the stories of alienation, disobedience and conflict which follow, provide the backdrop to the drama of redemption told in the New Testament. In the Gospels, Jesus Christ is shown winning forgiveness for humankind through his death on the Cross, making it possible for individuals to return to God and eventually reach heaven, vividly portrayed in the Book of Revelation (Revelation 21:9-22:5). The focus shifts from seeking God in the earthly city of Jerusalem to finding him in Jesus Christ, believed to be God made man.
New Testament writers stress that salvation will be offered for a limited time only before Jesus Christ returns to judge humankind (Matthew 25:31-33). This event, often called the Last Judgement, will be unexpected (Matthew 24:36-44) and cataclysmic (2 Peter 3:10-13), as the created world dissolves and is remade. Human beings therefore need to be aware of the essential transience of this world and its pleasures (John 2:17; 1 Corinthians 7:31; James 1:11) and prepare themselves to face God's verdict on the way they have lived. Christians are therefore encouraged to see themselves as 'pilgrims and strangers on the earth', 'temporary residents' whose true home is in heaven (1 Peter 2:11; Hebrews 11:13). The Christian life itself is thus seen as a journey towards that homeland in which the individual believer seeks to follow and obey Christ through an alien, frequently hostile world (John 14:6; Mark 8:34). Figures such as Abraham are presented as examples of faith to be imitated (Hebrews 11:1-16).
From Robert B. Kruschwitz, Baylor University.
Pilgrimage typically involves traveling to places that are closely associated—through art, architecture, or a saint’s life—with God’s mission in the world. In its essence, “pilgrimage is a journey nearer to the heart of God and deeper into life with God,” Eric Howell explains. “The hope of all pilgrimage is realized when we have renewed eyes to be happily surprised by God’s mysterious presence in all times and places, even at home.” After sketching the history of this practice, Christian George commends pilgrimage for Christians of all ages and abilities, “as a spiritual discipline that reflects our journey to God, that gives great energy to our sanctification, and that engenders a spiritual vitality that is both Christo-centric and community-driven.”
The history of Christian pilgrimage draws on biblical travels to the festivals at the Second Temple in Jerusalem (537 bc-ad 70). Peter describes all believers as pilgrims (1 Peter 2:11), for they join Abraham’s walk toward a city built by God. Christian George notes, “By the time Constantine’s mother, Empress Helena, brought pilgrimage into vogue by traveling to the Holy Land in 326, a living tradition of sancta loca, or holy places, pertaining to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ had already materialized.” Detractors from Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335-c. 395) to the Protestant Reformers criticized the physical dangers and spiritual excesses of pilgrimage, yet the practice flourished in the medieval period and revived in the eighteenth century. Great European cathedrals, sites of martyrdom, and places where notable saints had served were added to the list of destinations. Even the Puritans, who objected most to the corruptions of pilgrimage, nevertheless “embraced biblical precedents like Abraham’s journey, Israel’s Exodus, and the sacred travels of the Magi, giving great exegetical and homiletical attention to the pilgrim psalms 120-134, Christ’s infant journey to Egypt, and New Testament passages like these.”
Pilgrimage today “to places like Iona, Taizé, Skellig Michael, Mont St. Michelle, Mount Athos, Assisi, Jerusalem, and Rome…can serve as a unifying commonality among Christians of every denomination and tradition, [which] fosters reconciliation and ecumenism,” George notes. Anyone can practice the discipline of pilgrimage—children seeking to concretize their faith, young people hiking across Europe, or adults seeking spiritual renewal. “Those who cannot travel—the elderly, the poor, the hospitalized, or those with physical disabilities” practice pilgrimage by setting the Lord always before them. He explains, “some of the greatest pilgrimages I have ever taken have been in the midnight moments of my life, the hospital moments when I opened up the Bible and travelled to Jericho, where the walls came tumbling down.
As an armchair pilgrim, I went to Egypt and saw the Red Sea stand up for God’s people to march through.” “The discipline of pilgrimage reminds us to slow down and take life one step at a time. It reminds us that life is an emotional, physical, and spiritual journey that requires upward and inward conditioning. It moves us from certainty to dependency, from confidence to brokenness, from assurance in ourselves to faith in God,” George concludes. “A regular diet of spiritual disciplines like pilgrimage can splash our dehydrated Christianity with fresh faith and gives us a greater hunger for the holy.”
Check out the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History Essays: Pilgrimage in Medieval Europe: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pilg/hd_pilg.htm
For a musical sense of the purpose and emotional heart of the idea of pilgrimage, based on Psalm 23 and 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-17, have a listen to Paul Kelly and the Stormwater Boys, “Meet Me in the Middle of the Air.”
Buen Camino!
Jacob's Well: Subsidiarity
Continuing to draw on the richness of Catholic Social Teaching tradition, I wanted to share some thoughts on a lesser known, but equally important, concept of subsidiarity. It often gets lost in the workings and emphases of our Church, but it is crucial in building the Kingdom of God that is grounded in justice, fairness, respect for every person and in modelling power structures that are accessible, inclusive and revolutionary. It is often linked with the concept of participation as well, and this link is significant and broad. I will cover this in a future edition.
Firstly, the resources!
I love the resources from Caritas Australia on our Catholic Social Teaching:
https://www.caritas.org.au/learn/cst/subsidiarity-and-participation
PovertyCure is an initiative of the Acton Institute that seeks to ground the battle against local and global poverty in a proper understanding of the human person and society, and to encourage solutions that foster opportunity and unleash the entrepreneurial spirit that already fills poverty-stricken areas of the developed and developing world.
https://www.povertycure.org/learn/issues/human-person/subsidiarity
Secondly, I wanted to share some thoughts (some of the best I have ever experienced) from one of my favourite lecturers and teachers while I was in the Philippines, Francisco Castro. Here are some of his thoughts on subsidiarity that really explain and engage the concept.
In the early centuries of most of our countries, people were grouped in small units. There was still no such thing as big nations with centralized states. Political power, which was in a very minimum, was mostly involved with making sure there was peace and order among people. The different groups and individuals were made to unify peacefully, more or less. So what we would find, at that time, was the dominance of small social units like the family and the village.
2. Slowly, over time, societies became more complex…and slowly centralized States were organized. In passing, it may be interesting look at the history of the Church. What we can notice is that the Church played a social role that later will be done by the State. Affairs like education and health care were more in the hands of Church activities than in the States. If one had any problems, it was mainly the Church who was consulted. Even Kings and Princes consulted the Church.
3. Later on, societies became really complex and the State became more important. Then began the problem of State rule and domination. Some philosophers and even theologians began to promote the idea of freedom in front of centralized State authorities. So there was the beginning of moving out of the “organic” living in society to a more individual living in society. Surely we see the effects even today.
4. Over the course of history more and more societies tried to look for autonomy of local groups. More and more the government was understood as “helping out” the local levels. The totalitarian way was discouraged. Taking care of the whole society should not be the exclusive competence of the State. People, in individual and small units, had to have a voice. This was the start of “subsidiarity”.
5. So this idea of subsidiarity is not anything new in history. During the time of Pope Leo XIII the big problem was industrialisation—many people were in very hard work conditions. Many individuals and families did not have a voice in their work conditions. So Catholics called for help—how to help the voiceless workers of industrialism.
6. Years later, with the “Cold War”, the human rights were so violated by governments. Pope John XXIII for example, had to worry about how to limit the power of States over individuals. He raised the question of how to let everyone have a voice in governance of whole societies.
7. Society is basically composed of people. This is easy to see. But how are people living together—socially? The Compendium gives us an idea of this “living together” by discussing civil society (see Compendium #185). Civil society involves all and everyone in society related as individuals and as groups. Individuals are not isolated from one another. Individuals are social beings—they live “in” a social setting. Each individual is really within a network of relationships with others.
8. As each individual (and we can also add the small social group like the family) lives within a wider social setting, each one can take an initiative regarding how to live and how to pursue happiness. It is not wise to remove this capacity to take initiative. Every social activity must keep in mind the place that each one can have—the role that each one can play for the good of the whole. In society we find more complex and more assembled areas…but we also find individuals. We find the “higher orders” and also the “lower orders”. An example of a higher order is “the economic world” or “the market” or “the State”. An example of the “lower order” is me and my family, me and my circle of friends, or even myself. Social life is not just run by the “higher orders” …it is also run by the “lower orders”.
9. Compendium 186 would insist that a society must have the “attitude of subsidiarity”. This is the attitude of supporting, promoting and developing the “lower orders” of society. Let this not look so abstract. What the document is saying is that people—even in their own levels of social life—must have the chance to say something about the way the whole society should run. Let people—individuals and small social units—have a role. Let people in the “lower level” have a voice.
10. Why is this important? This is important because very often in society the small individual level—the “lower level”—is “absorbed and substituted”. Only the higher order makes decisions. Only the higher order says how society should run…and everyone else just follows. The individual, therefore, is so absorbed in the group and it is the group that substitutes for the individual.
11. So we read that subsidiarity is a way of “assistance offered to lesser social entities” (186). Now because the lower order is respected, the higher order—like the State—should “refrain from anything that would de facto restrict the existential space of the smaller essential cells of society” (186). The initiative, freedom and responsibility of social members in their own realms must not be supplanted.
12. Is this important? Yes, it is. If individuals and very small social units have no voice, they can be easily abused by the higher levels. It is also important because t reminds the higher orders to give space for the lower orders. Again, as we said above, give voice to the people. “This principle is imperative because every person, family and intermediate group has something original to offer to the community” (187). The absence of subsidiarity would result to the ruin of initiative and freedom. There will be the domination of bureaucracy, for example. There will be the domination of big monopolies of higher levels.
13. So how will subsidiarity be put to effect? The Compendium proposes the following (187):
· “respect and effective promotion of the human person and the family;
· ever greater appreciation of associations and intermediate organizations in their fundamental choices and in those that cannot be delegated to or exercised by others;
· the encouragement of private initiative so that every social entity remains at the service of the common good, each with its own distinctive characteristics;
· the presence of pluralism in society and due representation of its vital components;
· safeguarding human rights and the rights of minorities;
· bringing about bureaucratic and administrative decentralization;
· striking a balance between the public and private spheres, with the resulting recognition of the social function of the private sphere;
· appropriate methods for making citizens more responsible in actively “being a part” of the political and social reality of their country”.
14. Be careful. The document is not saying that the higher order be dropped. The higher order must be present and active. But it should always stimulate the lower order. For example, there is the need to “stimulate the economy because it is impossible for civil society to support initiatives on its own” (187). Once the lower order is stimulated and given the chance to take initiatives, then the higher level will again have to refrain from intervening. The Compendium tells us that “institutional substitution must not continue any longer than is absolutely necessary, since justification for such intervention is found only in the exceptional nature of the situation” (187).
Finally, I wanted to share again some glimpses of some of the wisdom of the Church that engage and explain the concept of subsidiarity in a concise manner.
Still, that most weighty principle, which cannot be set aside or changed, remains fixed and unshaken in social philosophy: Just as it is gravely wrong to take from individuals what they can accomplish by their own initiative and industry and give it to the community, so also it is an injustice and at the same time a grave evil and disturbance of right order to assign to a greater and higher association what lesser and subordinate organizations can do. For every social activity ought of its very nature to furnish help to the members of the body social, and never destroy and absorb them.
Quadragesimo Anno (“After Forty Years”), Pope Pius XI, 1931, #79.
State and public ownership of property is very much on the increase today. This is explained by the exigencies of the common good, which demand that public authority broaden its sphere of activity. But here, too, the “principle of subsidiary function” must be observed. The State and other agencies of public law must not extend their ownership beyond what is clearly required by considerations of the common good properly understood, and even then there must be safeguards. Otherwise private ownership could be reduced beyond measure, or, even worse, completely destroyed.
Mater et Magistra (“Mother and Teacher”), Pope John XXIII, 1961, #117.
Private enterprise too must contribute to an economic and social balance in the different areas of the same political community. Indeed, in accordance with “the principle of subsidiary function,” public authority must encourage and assist private enterprise, entrusting to it, wherever possible, the continuation of economic development.
Mater et Magistra (“Mother and Teacher”), Pope John XXIII, 1961, #152.
The same principle of subsidiarity which governs the relations between public authorities and individuals, families and intermediate societies in a single State, must also apply to the relations between the public authority of the world community and the public authorities of each political community. The special function of this universal authority must be to evaluate and find a solution to economic, social, political and cultural problems which affect the universal common good. These are problems which, because of their extreme gravity, vastness and urgency, must be considered too difficult for the rulers of individual States to solve with any degree of success.
Pacem in Terris (“Peace on Earth”), Pope John XXIII, 1963, #140.
It is for the international community to coordinate and stimulate development, but in such a way as to distribute with the maximum fairness and efficiency the resources set aside for this purpose It is also its task to organize economic affairs on a world scale, without transgressing the principle of subsidiarity, so that business will be conducted according to the norms of justice. Organizations should be set up to promote and regulate international commerce, especially with less developed nations, in order to compensate for losses resulting from excessive inequality of power between nations. This kind of organization accompanied by technical, cultural, and financial aid, should provide developing nations with all that is necessary for them to achieve adequate economic success.
Gaudium et Spes (“The Church in the Modern World”), Vatican II, 1965, #86(c).
The primary norm for determining the scope and limits of governmental intervention is the “principle of subsidiarity” cited above. This principle states that, in order to protect basic justice, government should undertake only those initiatives which exceed the capacities of individuals or private groups acting independently. Government should not replace or destroy smaller communities and individual initiative. Rather it should help them contribute more effectively to social well-being and supplement their activity when the demands of justice exceed their capacities. This does not mean, however, that the government that governs least, governs best. Rather it defines good government intervention as that which truly “helps” other social groups contribute to the common good by directing, urging, restraining, and regulating economic activity as “the occasion requires and necessity demands”.
Economic Justice for All, U.S. Catholic Bishops, 1986, #124.
The “principle of subsidiarity” must be respected: “A community of a higher order should not interfere with the life of a community of a lower order, taking over its functions.” In case of need it should, rather, support the smaller community and help to coordinate its activity with activities in the rest of society for the sake of the common good.
Centesimus Annus (“The Hundredth Year,” Donders translation), Pope John Paul II, 1991, #48.
It is true that the pursuit of justice must be a fundamental norm of the State and that the aim of a just social order is to guarantee to each person, according to the principle of subsidiarity, his share of the community’s goods. This has always been emphasized by Christian teaching on the State and by the Church’s social doctrine.
Deus Caritas Est (“God is Love”), Pope Benedict XVI, 2005, #26.
Love—caritas—will always prove necessary, even in the most just society. There is no ordering of the State so just that it can eliminate the need for a service of love. Whoever wants to eliminate love is preparing to eliminate man as such. There will always be suffering which cries out for consolation and help. There will always be loneliness. There will always be situations of material need where help in the form of concrete love of neighbour is indispensable.[20] The State which would provide everything, absorbing everything into itself, would ultimately become a mere bureaucracy incapable of guaranteeing the very thing which the suffering person—every person—needs: namely, loving personal concern. We do not need a State which regulates and controls everything, but a State which, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, generously acknowledges and supports initiatives arising from the different social forces and combines spontaneity with closeness to those in need. The Church is one of those living forces: she is alive with the love enkindled by the Spirit of Christ. This love does not simply offer people material help, but refreshment and care for their souls, something which often is even more necessary than material support. In the end, the claim that just social structures would make works of charity superfluous masks a materialist conception of man: the mistaken notion that man can live “by bread alone” (Mt 4:4; cf. Dt 8:3)—a conviction that demeans man and ultimately disregards all that is specifically human.
Deus Caritas Est (“God is Love”), Pope Benedict XVI, 2005, #28b.
The strengthening of different types of businesses, especially those capable of viewing profit as a means for achieving the goal of a more humane market and society, must also be pursued in those countries that are excluded or marginalized from the influential circles of the global economy. In these countries it is very important to move ahead with projects based on subsidiarity, suitably planned and managed, aimed at affirming rights yet also providing for the assumption of corresponding responsibilities. In development programmes, the principle of the centrality of the human person, as the subject primarily responsible for development, must be preserved. The principal concern must be to improve the actual living conditions of the people in a given region, thus enabling them to carry out those duties which their poverty does not presently allow them to fulfil. Social concern must never be an abstract attitude. Development programmes, if they are to be adapted to individual situations, need to be flexible; and the people who benefit from them ought to be directly involved in their planning and implementation.
Caritas in Veritate (“Charity in Truth”), Pope Benedict XVI, 2009, #47.
A particular manifestation of charity and a guiding criterion for fraternal cooperation between believers and non-believers is undoubtedly the principle of subsidiarity, an expression of inalienable human freedom. Subsidiarity is first and foremost a form of assistance to the human person via the autonomy of intermediate bodies. Such Underlying the principle of the common good is respect for the human person as such, endowed with basic and inalienable rights ordered to his or her integral development. It has also to do with the overall welfare of society and the development of a variety of intermediate groups, applying the principle of subsidiarity. Outstanding among those groups is the family, as the basic cell of society. Finally, the common good calls for social peace, the stability and security provided by a certain order which cannot be achieved without particular concern for distributive justice; whenever this is violated, violence always ensues. Society as a whole, and the state in particular, are obliged to defend and promote the common good.
Laudato Si’ (“Praise Be”), Pope Francis, 2015, Chapter 4, #157.
[T]he principle of subsidiarity is particularly well-suited to managing globalization and directing it towards authentic human development. In order not to produce a dangerous universal power of a tyrannical nature, the governance of globalization must be marked by subsidiarity, articulated into several layers and involving different levels that can work together. Globalization certainly requires authority, insofar as it poses the problem of a global common good that needs to be pursued. This authority, however, must be organized in a subsidiary and stratified way[138], if it is not to infringe upon freedom and if it is to yield effective results in practice.
Caritas in Veritate (“Charity in Truth”), Pope Benedict XVI, 2009, #57-58.
The principle of subsidiarity must remain closely linked to the principle of solidarity and vice versa, since the former without the latter gives way to social privatism, while the latter without the former gives way to paternalist social assistance that is demeaning to those in need.
Caritas in Veritate (“Charity in Truth”), Pope Benedict XVI, 2009, #57-58.
It is the responsibility of the State to safeguard and promote the common good of society.[188] Based on the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity, and fully committed to political dialogue and consensus building, it plays a fundamental role, one which cannot be delegated, in working for the integral development of all. This role, at present, calls for profound social humility.
Evangelii Gaudium (“Joy of the Gospel”), Pope Francis, 2013, Chapter 4, #240
Let us keep in mind the principle of subsidiarity, which grants freedom to develop the capabilities present at every level of society, while also demanding a greater sense of responsibility for the common good from those who wield greater power.
Laudato Si’ (“Praise Be”), Pope Francis, 2015, Chapter 5, #196.
Jacob's Well: Solidarity
“If you want peace, work for justice.” Pope Paul VI’s invitation in the encyclical Populorum Progressio or “The Development of Peoples” in 1967 marks a significant articulation of one of the keystones of Catholic Social Teaching: Solidarity. The core of solidarity is this, ‘God asks us to look at our lifestyles and to live simply, sustainably and in solidarity with those in poverty.’
Catholic Social Teaching is often described as one of the hidden treasures of the Catholic Church. The tradition of solidarity has been intensively engaged with over the history of the Church, but the reforms and invitations of the Second Vatican Church propelled Catholic Social Thought into the forefronts of theology and education.
It is grounded in the evangelical invitation of Jesus in Matthew 25: In truth I tell you, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers [or sisters] of mine, you did it to me. (Matthew 25:40)
I love the resources from Caritas Australia on our Catholic Social Teaching:
https://www.caritas.org.au/learn/cst/solidarity
Catholic Social Teaching.org.uk is a livesimply initiative, a network of 60+ charities who support the radical idea that God calls us to look hard at our lifestyles and live simply, sustainably and in solidarity with poor people at home and overseas:
http://www.catholicsocialteaching.org.uk/themes/solidarity/
Check out this fantastic article that explores solidarity in the context of Laudato Si.
https://www.americamagazine.org/issue/laudato-si-joins-tradition-catholic-social-teaching
CST 101 is a collaborative 7-part video and discussion guide series presented by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Relief Services on Catholic social teaching. The videos bring the themes of Catholic social teaching to life and inspire us to put our faith into action.
https://www.crs.org/resource-center/CST-101?tab=solidarity
Finally, I wanted to share some glimpses of some of the wisdom of the Church that engages and explains the concept of solidarity in a concise manner. If you have made it this far (who knows who reads this!), thanks for being in solidarity with me as we journey into this important awareness!
Solidarity is not a feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of so many people, both near and far. On the contrary, it is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good; that is to say to the good of all and of each individual, because we are all really responsible for all.
- Saint Pope John Paul II, On Social Concern [Sollicitudo rei Socialis], 38
It is a word that means much more than some acts of sporadic generosity. It is to think and to act in terms of community, of the priority of the life of all over the appropriation of goods by a few. It is also to fight against the structural causes of poverty, inequality, lack of work, land and housing, the denial of social and labour rights. It is to confront the destructive effects of the empire of money: forced displacements, painful emigrations, the traffic of persons, drugs, war, violence and all those realities that many of you suffer and that we are all called to transform. Solidarity, understood in its deepest sense, is a way of making history, and this is what the Popular Movements do.
- Pope Francis, World Meeting of Popular Movements 2014
To love someone is to desire that person's good and to take effective steps to secure it. Besides the good of the individual, there is the good that is linked to living in society: the common good. It is the good of "all of us", made up of individuals, families and intermediate groups who together constitute society. … To desire the common good and strive towards it is a requirement of justice and charity.
- Pope Benedict XVI, Charity in Truth [Caritas in Veritate], 7
It is good for people to realize that purchasing is always a moral — and not simply economic — act. Hence the consumer has a specific social responsibility, which goes hand-in- hand with the social responsibility of the enterprise. Consumers should be continually educated regarding their daily role, which can be exercised with respect for moral principles without diminishing the intrinsic economic rationality of the act of purchasing… It can be helpful to promote new ways of marketing products from deprived areas of the world, so as to guarantee their producers a decent return.
- Pope Benedict XVI, Charity in Truth [Caritas in Veritate], 66
At another level, the roots of the contradiction between the solemn affirmation of human rights and their tragic denial in practice lies in a notion of freedom which exalts the isolated individual in an absolute way, and gives no place to solidarity, to openness to others and service of them. . . It is precisely in this sense that Cain’s answer to the Lord's question: "Where is Abel your brother?" can be interpreted: "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?" (Gen 4:9). Yes, every man is his "brother's keeper", because God entrusts us to one another.
- St. Pope John Paul II, The Gospel of Life [Evangelium Vitae], no. 19
Interdependence must be transformed into solidarity, based upon the principle that the goods of creation are meant for all. That which human industry produces through the processing of raw materials, with the contribution of work, must serve equally for the good of all.
- St. John Paul II, On Social Concern [Sollicitudo rei Socialis], 39
We have to move from our devotion to independence, through an understanding of interdependence, to a commitment to human solidarity. That challenge must find its realization in the kind of community we build among us. Love implies concern for all - especially the poor - and a continued search for those social and economic structures that permit everyone to share in a community that is a part of a redeemed creation (Rom 8:21-23).
- United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Economic Justice for All, 365
The solidarity which binds all men together as members of a common family makes it impossible for wealthy nations to look with indifference upon the hunger, misery and poverty of other nations whose citizens are unable to enjoy even elementary human rights. The nations of the world are becoming more and more dependent on one another and it will not be possible to preserve a lasting peace so long as glaring economic and social imbalances persist.
St. Pope John XXIII, On Christianity and Social Progress [Mater et Magistra], 157
III. HUMAN SOLIDARITY (Catechism of the Catholic Church).
(Please note: excuse the outdated gendered language: this is the language of the Church at a specific time in history and has not been retranslated)
1939 The principle of solidarity, also articulated in terms of "friendship" or "social charity," is a direct demand of human and Christian brotherhood.
1940 Solidarity is manifested in the first place by the distribution of goods and remuneration for work. It also presupposes the effort for a more just social order where tensions are better able to be reduced and conflicts more readily settled by negotiation.
1941 Socio-economic problems can be resolved only with the help of all the forms of solidarity: solidarity of the poor among themselves, between rich and poor, of workers among themselves, between employers and employees in a business, solidarity among nations and peoples. International solidarity is a requirement of the moral order; world peace depends in part upon this.
1942 The virtue of solidarity goes beyond material goods. In spreading the spiritual goods of the faith, the Church has promoted, and often opened new paths for, the development of temporal goods as well. And so, throughout the centuries has the Lord's saying been verified: "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well":
Jacob's Well: Mental Health
Our mental health and wellbeing are crucial parts of our overall health. We are growing, as a society, to talk more openly about our mental health. We are learning this truth more and more: it is ok not to be ok.
Here are some resources for your ongoing mental health, for your own use, or to offer as helpful resources to people in our ministries. A number of these services are offering COVID-19 specific services and programs. The online spaces offer privacy and security, while still providing comprehensive and personal service. A number of these sites offer connection to a health care professional if needed or wanted.
Please look after yourself, and please share your feelings and mental health with people in your life that you trust, love and find support. In addition, reach out for help whenever you need it. I am here to listen and be present, as well as other people in our team, in our Marist ministries and in professional mental health services .
Mindspot
MindSpot is a free service for Australian adults who are experiencing difficulties with anxiety, stress, depression and low mood. We provide assessment and treatment courses, or we can help you find local services that can help. The MindSpot team comprises experienced and AHPRA-registered mental health professionals including psychologists, clinical psychologists and psychiatrists who are passionate about providing a free and effective service to people all over Australia. We have a dedicated IT team to ensure that this happens as securely and efficiently as possible. MindSpot is based at Macquarie University, Sydney. We are funded by the Australian Government and contracted by the Department of Health as a regulated clinical service. We are Australia’s only free therapist-guided digital mental health clinic. We provide information about mental health, online assessments, and online treatment to adults with anxiety, stress, depression and chronic pain.
Beyond Blue
Beyond Blue provides information and support to help everyone in Australia achieve their best possible mental health, whatever their age and wherever they live. Beyond Blue is here to help people in Australia understand that these feelings can change. We want to equip them with the skills they need to look after their own mental health and wellbeing, and to create confidence in their ability to support those around them. Our vision is for everyone in Australia to achieve their best possible mental health. Through our support services, programs, research, advocacy and communication activities, we’re breaking down the stigma, prejudice and discrimination that act as barriers to people reaching out for support.
https://www.beyondblue.org.au/
Moodgym
Moodgym is like an interactive self-help book which helps you to learn and practise skills which can help to prevent and manage symptoms of depression and anxiety. It is like an interactive, online self-help book which teaches skills based on cognitive behaviour therapy. Moodgym consists of five interactive modules which are completed in order.
This Way Up
This Way Up is an online initiative of the Clinical Research Unit for Anxiety and Depression, UNSW at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney. At This Way Up we believe that everyone should be able to access practical, effective, and evidence-based resources to help them improve their mental health. Our team of dedicated mental health clinicians have taken the research-backed tools and strategies used in face-to-face psychological treatment, and created practical online courses to guide you through using new coping skills to improve how you’re feeling.
headspace
headspace began in 2006 to address this critical gap, by providing tailored and holistic mental health support to 12 - 25 year olds. With a focus on early intervention, we work with young people to provide support at a crucial time in their lives – to help get them back on track and strengthen their ability to manage their mental health in the future.
Jacob's Well: National Vocations Awareness Week
August 2 to 9 marks National Vocations Awareness Week across Australia. It is an opportunity to engage with the vocational expressions within the Church in Australia. The Vocations Office of the Province of Australia has produced this attached resource for this week.
This resource offers some reflection materials on the life of the Marist Brother. In particular, it launches three videos on three aspects of our life: Mission, Community and Spirituality. These videos were visioned, created, actioned, and produced by Conor Ashleigh, a visual storyteller and communications consultant who has journeyed with numerous Marist communities around the world for many years. His passion and insight into the realities of our world have captured the modern context of the Marist Brother in Australia in a stunning and meaningful manner.
These media presentations will also feature in our social media platforms during this week. Please feel free to check out these platforms, browse our content, and witness the contemporary expressions of Marist Brothers life in Australia. Details of our platforms are listed on the last page of this resource, or search for “Marist Brothers Life” on Facebook and Instagram. Coupled with these videos are some written resources and imagery that offer complimentary perspectives on the life of the Religious Brother.
My invitation to each of you is to spend some time this week reflecting on the beautiful whispering of God in your heart and to God’s invitations in your life. Some questions may assist you:
What are I being called to do at this time?
What are I being called to be?
How do I want to live my discipleship of Jesus more fully?
What expressions of my discipleship am I being called to?
What expression of Christian, Marist and/or religious life am I being called to?
Jacob's Well: Marcellin and his maternal influence(r)s
In this age of social media, the role of an influencer is a source of income for some, and a source of inspiration or guidance for others, for better or worse. There might be people on your feeds that you specifically follow out of interest, or in search of deeper connection with them. Good for you! However, this form of profession has always been with us throughout history: people who, by their example, advice or behaviour, change the way others see or act. Their identification in our lives, and in the lives of other people, whether for good or bad, is important.
A return to Marcellin. A little history about Marcellin, and the women that influenced his life. It is not a coincidence that Marcellin had a strong devotion to Mary: his lived experience was one of being surrounded by courageous, intelligent, faithful and powerful women.
This week, I wanted to share some stories of these women in Marcellin’s life.
From Br Lluís Serra Llansana, (2001), “Founder of the Institute of the Marist Brothers”:
While political events unfold, Marcellin lives a close relationship with his mother. Mrs. Champagnat is involved with the silk and lace trades, and she expands the family income by farm work and milling. Marcellin's mother, Marie Therese, exercises a moderating and calming influence upon her husband activities. A few years older than her husband, her forceful character and her competence in managing home and children make it easier for her to fulfil her obligations. She raises her children carefully, putting the emphasis on piety, social relations and a spirit of thrift. Louise Champagnat, Marcellin's aunt, is a Sister of Saint Joseph. She was expelled from her convent in the Revolution. The influence she leaves upon Champagnat by her prayer, teaching and good example is so marked that he will frequently remember her with pleasure and gratitude. When he is seven years old, Marcellin asks, "Aunt Louise, what is the Revolution? Is it a person or some kind of wild animal?" In the environment of the time, one could not but feel the pulse of history. Marcellin's upbringing unfolds at the intersecting point where the new ideas introduced by his father meet the deep, traditional religiosity represented in his mother and aunt. At the heart of the family, problems are experienced in all their intensity, and find their resolution through a spirit of moderation, one that is more at the service of people than of ideology. There prevails a spirit of community, a closely-knit bond among the brothers and sisters.
Another story from Br Lluís Serra Llansana, “Marcellin's Pilgrimage to Lalouvesc”:
In the summer of 1803 two recruiters for the priesthood visited the Champagnat family to see if any of the boys in the family might consider the priesthood. When the proposal to train for the priesthood was presented to the three sons, it was only Marcellin who showed interest. The one great drawback was that Marcellin was almost illiterate. His father thought this to be too great an obstacle and repeatedly questioned the lad on his intentions but Marcellin's mind was made up: he thought only of becoming a priest.
Marcellin was 14 years old... his decision to enter the priesthood caused him to do some study under his brother-in-law Benoît Arnaud, married to Marcellin's sister, Marianne. Formerly, Arnaud had been a seminarian. Marcellin made little progress in his studies whilst staying with his brother-in-law over two years. Benoît decided to tell Marcellin to forget about studying and to do something else. However, this failed to shake Marcellin's determination. He prayed harder invoking the intercession of St John Francis Regis.
Finally, Benoît brought him back to his mother, declaring that he could not agree with Marcellin's going to the seminary. Yet the more the obstacles piled up in his path, the more determined Marcellin became in his vocation.
His mother, seeing her son's determination suggested a pilgrimage to Lalouvesc (or La Louvesc), in the conviction that they would find help at the shrine of St John Francis Regis. For this Pilgrimage they walked the 40km from Marlhes to Lalouvesc and back in three days. When they returned, Marcellin declared that he had made up his mind to go to the seminary. He was sure it was God's will for him to do so.
Br Seán D. Sammon, (1999), “A Heart That Knew No Bounds”:
What about the women who inspired Marcellin? Marie Thérèse Chirat, his mother, was the first. A prudent person of steadfast character, she married Jean Baptiste in 1775. Marked by “utter integrity, sterling faith, and a love of work,” this woman instilled in her son the rudiments of prayer and the first stirring of his vocation. Louise Champagnat was the second woman to encourage Marcellin. A religious Sister of Saint Joseph and a sister to Jean-Baptiste, she was expelled from her convent by the new government and sought sanctuary with his family during the days of revolutionary excess. Louise assisted in the boy’s early religious formation; she was probably the first to model for him the merging of a life of prayer with one of service to others.
Finally, there was Mary, the mother of Jesus. While a later arrival in Marcellin’s life, in the end, she would make all the difference. Devotion to her was part of the rich texture of faith in the local dioceses of Lyons and Le Puy. Marcellin would, in time, place Mary at the center of the community of brothers he founded. In keeping with the spirituality of his times and particularly of the region around Marlhes, she became eventually for him a “Good Mother,” his “Ordinary Resource”.
Jacob's Well: A Video Break
For the last few weeks Jacob’s Well have been heavy on content. For this week, I thought I would offer a few short videos that may comfort, inspire or help you, in this mid-winter period that overshadows us. You may have seen them, or they may new to you.
The Great Realisation | Tomfoolery (from Kiwi-born Welsh YouTuber and poet, Tomos Roberts). This story will soon be released as an illustrated book.
Psych2Go, an organisation that wants to contribute to positive mental health through access to introductory psychology. Its videos are informative, fun and a gateway to deepen your understanding and wellbeing. Always consult professional help at all stages of your mental health journey. Here is one example of their videos, 7 Things That Harm Your Mental Health.
TED-Ed. It is an extension of TED’s mission of spreading great ideas through animations, where you will find carefully curated educational videos. Highly enlightening and beautiful. “What happened when we all stopped” narrated by Jane Goodall.
Jacob's Well: Marcellin and the Three Virtues of the Violets
One part of the Marist folklore that has found grounding in Australia has been the image of the so-called “three Violets” and the associated virtues of humility, simplicity and modesty. It has become a symbol of being Marist in a number of environments, even though it is not a native flower to Australia. The purple flower that is referred to in documents, lapel pins, banners and classrooms finds its origins in the wild fields of France. The Violet of reference is itself unremarkable, and it is assumed that it was deliberately chosen by Marcellin for that reason. One of the asserted character traits of Marcellin was that he wanted to highlight the ordinary aspects of life, and so would use his environment to illustrate his teachings. The violet itself, is supposed to grow wild in the fields of LaValla, and throughout France. It could be a Common Dog-Violet (Viola riviniana. French name: La violette de rivin), Early Dog-Violet (Viola reichenbachiana. French name: La violette des bois), Sweet Violets (Viola odorata. French name: La violette ordorante) or any of the other common violets that form part of the 400-500 species of Violets in the genus of Spring flowering plants in the family Violaceae.
Sometimes in history, the story we tell in a modern context says more about ourselves, than it does about the original context from which the story grew. For Marists, it has become a way of expressing identity, somewhat losing its aspirational leitmotif along with the movements of time.
The three virtues of humility, simplicity and modesty which Marcellin Champagnat put before the Marist Brothers as cornerstone virtues can be found in the light of comparison against, or in compliment to, the French Revolution’s famous trilogy of “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”. It is important to remember that while Marcellin emphasised personal discipleship to Jesus, engaging with civil society as an active and positive participant was also of significant importance. This understanding underlies another of Marcellin’s oft-quoted phrases of being a “Good Christian and a good citizen.” The two ways of being are interconnected.
Evidence of Champagnat’s constant references to this phrase is found scattered throughout the Furet biography of Marcellin:
“…in order to be Religious truly devoted to Mary and genuine imitators of the humility, simplicity and modesty of that noble Virgin and of her hidden life.”
“In leaving the purchase in the hands of the Brothers, there was the danger, despite all precautions, that they might deviate from the humility, simplicity and modesty becoming their way of life.”
“The Bishop was very edified by the humility, modesty and simplicity of Father Champagnat.”
“...the Society of Mary, as modelling itself not on previous Congregations but on the primitive Church and on Nazareth, the characteristics of the Society, as humility, simplicity and modesty.” (Marist Fathers Chapter 1852)
“…he wanted humility, simplicity and modesty to be the distinctive characteristics of his new Institute.”
This formula of three virtues is typical of 19th century spirituality and was placed in the Society of Mary Constitutions in the article on the Society’s spirit. From Colin’s article, the formula passed to the Rule of the Brothers, confirmed by their General Chapter of 1852 – 1853. Champagnat was a living example of the three virtues he placed before his Brothers. His directness, authenticity, simplicity and sense of humour caused some surprise, not to say scandal, among some of his contemporaries. One contemporary priest wrote:
“His confreres criticised him a lot when he began his work. They would have liked to stop him doing it on the grounds that it was not in keeping with the priestly character, living as he did such a wretched life which was far too poor. When he built the Hermitage he did all the masonry work himself.”
In the Footsteps of Marcellin Champagnat: A Vision for Marist Education Today, article 104, briefly describes a modern understanding,
“To simplicity we link humility and modesty, making the “three violets” of our Marist tradition: patiently allowing the action of God to work through us and seeking “to do good quietly”. In being aware of our own limitations and potential, we are more likely to be understanding of young people, respecting their dignity and freedom.”
One of our former Superiors-General, Br Charles Howard, also provides a short explanation of the virtues, in his Circular, “Marist Apostolic Spirituality”,
“Humility is a basic element in our relationships since it has to do with clear self-understanding. It means knowing and accepting the truth about ourselves, being honest with ourselves, being free of pretension and self-delusion. Simplicity has to do with the way we live the truth of ourselves, giving us a personal transparency, which allows others to know us and to relate to us as we are. Modesty can be seen as the result of humility and simplicity especially in the respect that we show to others, our sensitivity towards them in what we say and in what we do. These Marist virtues give “a quality of authenticity and kindness to our relationships with our Brothers and with other people that we meet.”
So, what does it mean for us today?
Jacob's Well: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Resources
Yesterday, July 5, the Catholic Church in Australia celebrated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday. This year's theme, ‘Together in the Spirit’ reminds us that the call of solidarity, especially with the poor and marginalized, is an intrinsic part of our discipleship. In our current context, the ongoing importance of learning from, and engaging with, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples cannot be understated. In this spirit, here are some resources that might assist you in your own life, and in your ministry.
Firstly, an important issue to address is terminology. One of the best guides comes from the ACT Council of Social Services. It is important to understand the contexts of the words we use, and the impact they can have. In some places, there is a preference, or a movement away from, of the use of indigenous, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander or other terms.
It is important to note that preferences in terminology will vary across Australia for individuals, communities, and agencies. Furthermore, these preferences can change over time. When seeking good practice for your communications, we suggest you discuss preferences with staff, clients, stakeholders, the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander community and their agencies.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander’ (adjective) is a term extensively used and has wide acceptance throughout Australia when referring to Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders, and related topics.
‘Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples’ (plural) is a preferred term used by some, to refer to the many Aboriginal groups and Torres Strait Islander groups within Australia. This can also be applied when referring to other topics such as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander cultures. By doing so, you are referencing two cultures rather than a joint ‘culture’.
‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person’ is a term used when referring to a person of both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent.
Indigenous
‘Indigenous’ (capitalised) is a term extensively used throughout Australia when referring to the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia, and related topics.
Be aware that some, if not many, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples are dissatisfied with the term ‘Indigenous’.
Reasons may include:
• It can detract from the preferred identity of the individual, or group of people
• Although the term is used for inclusiveness, Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders are dissimilar in many ways, such as their identity, culture, traditions, language, beliefs, ethnicity, issues, protocols, continuity of existence, and history before and after the settlement of other peoples
• It is a generic term and does not adequately describe Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples
• The term is merely used for convenience, to alleviate repeating ‘Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander’. Taking this into consideration, you may prefer to articulate either Aboriginal, or Torres Strait Islander, or both.
‘Indigenous Australians’ is another term used to describe the indigenous peoples of Australia. Acceptance of this term varies.
‘indigenous’ (adjective, lower case) can refer to anything native to a particular region or country, such as flora or fauna. It is also used internationally to describe all indigenous peoples of the world. It is not appropriate to use the term ‘indigenous’ in lower case when referring to Australia’s Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples.
‘non-Indigenous’ is a term used in Australia when providing two perspectives, the Australian Indigenous peoples, and the rest of the Australian population. As previously stated, there is some dissatisfaction with the usage of the term ‘Indigenous’. There is also some dissatisfaction from the rest of the population with being labelled ‘non-Indigenous’. You may prefer to rephrase your communications.
Aboriginal
‘Aboriginal’ (adjective, capitalised) is a term extensively used and widely accepted throughout Australia when referring to Aboriginal peoples and topics. Aboriginal peoples are the first peoples of mainland Australia and many of its islands such as Tasmania, Groote Eylandt, Hinchinbrook Island and Fraser Island.
‘Aboriginal’ (noun, capitalised) is less preferred today. As an example, you may prefer to say, ‘Matthew is an Aboriginal person from Yass’, rather than ‘Matthew is an Aboriginal from Yass’. You may hear a person say, ‘I am Aboriginal’ (where the word ‘Aboriginal’ is used as an adjective), rather than ‘I am an Aboriginal person’. This is a personal preference expressed by the individual.
Some government and non-government agencies have asserted a preference to use the term ‘Aboriginal’ only in their communications.
Reasons may include:
• Aboriginal peoples’ dissatisfaction with being labelled ‘Indigenous’ or ‘Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander’
• Recognition that their core service group is Aboriginal peoples
• Recognition that their core business and issues predominantly relate to Aboriginal peoples
• Recognition and respect for the traditional custodians of the land they work on.
First Australians, Australia’s First Peoples and First Nations Australia
‘First Australians’, ‘Australia’s First Peoples’ and ‘First Nations Australia’ (capitalised): these terms may be seen as growing in acceptance. You may wish to discuss preferences with staff, clients, stakeholders, the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander community and their agencies in your region, to gauge general acceptance.
There are agencies in Australia that have been named accordingly, such as the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples and the First Nations Australia Writers Network. You may also encounter usage of these terms in speeches such as a Welcome to Country or Acknowledgement of Country, media such as film (e.g. The First Australians) and within email acknowledgements.
First Nations or First Peoples
‘First Nations’ or ‘First Peoples’ (capitalised) can refer to the peoples or nations of people who were there from the beginning, prior to the settlement of other peoples or nations. These terms have some general acceptance but can also be perceived as generic or not adequately describing the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia.
The term ‘First Nations’ is also used in Canada when referring to descendants of the original inhabitants of Canada such as the Mohawk and Cree.
Find the full document here: https://www.actcoss.org.au/sites/default/files/public/publications/gulanga-good-practice-guide-preferences-terminology-referring-to-aboriginal-torres-strait-islander-peoples.pdf
The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council (NATSICC) is the peak advisory body to the Australian Catholic Bishops on issues relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholics. The council was founded in 1992 and the Secretariat is based in Adelaide. There are over 130,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholics in Australia and it is the youngest and fastest demographic. Their website is excellent for resources related to their work and spirituality: https://www.natsicc.org.au/ The Resources Tab contains excellent sections for deepening your understanding of culture and faith, as well as liturgy resources that could be used in a variety of settings: https://www.natsicc.org.au/resource-hub.html
Common Grace is an online Australian Christian movement for justice. It is drawn from various Christian traditions. The organisation focusses on inspiring and organising Australian Christians to think, speak and act like Jesus for a more just world. Common Grace is a diverse community of people passionate about Jesus and justice campaigning on four key justice areas: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander justice, climate change, refugees and asylum seekers, domestic and family violence. Information is here: https://www.commongrace.org.au/aboriginal_and_torres_strait_islander_justice
The two peak organisations for resources and engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are Reconciliation Australia and National NAIDOC committee. They are the starting points for any information.
Reconciliation Australia is an independent, not-for-profit organisation. Their vision is for a just, equitable and reconciled Australia. Their purpose is to inspire and enable all Australians to contribute to the reconciliation of the nation. Reconciliation Australia was established in 2001 as the national body on reconciliation in Australia. This organisation was established following the disbandment of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (CAR) in 2000. The CAR was established in 1991 under the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation Act 1991. Here is the link: https://www.reconciliation.org.au/
NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia each July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This year, the celebrations will be postponed to November. NAIDOC is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities, but by Australians from all walks of life. The week is a great opportunity to participate in a range of activities and to support your local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. NAIDOC originally stood for ‘National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee’. This committee was once responsible for organising national activities during NAIDOC Week and its acronym has since become the name of the week itself. The National NAIDOC Committee (NNC) make key decisions on National NAIDOC activities including the dates for the week-long celebrations, the focus city, the theme, the National NAIDOC Poster Competition winner and the National NAIDOC Awards winners. The NNC is a voluntary Committee independent of Government and comprises of eight committee members and two co-chairs. Link: https://www.naidoc.org.au/
Finally, the ABC series “You Can’t Ask That” is an excellent resource for first-hand, raw conversations with people from diverse backgrounds and experiences of life. Check out the episode from Series 1, “Indigenous” which asks Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for their opinion on the most appropriate terminology to use. Here: https://iview.abc.net.au/show/you-can-t-ask-that/series/1/video/LE1517H008S00#playing
May we continue to listen to the voices of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and progress towards greater understanding, peace and love.
Jacob's Well: Mary's Books
We all know of the importance and place of Mary in our Marist and Christian traditions. Each of us also have a unique perspective and relationship with Mary, the mother of Jesus, whether it is one of high regard, personal connection, confusion, little thought, neutrality, or somewhere on the spectrum of these evocations. The origins of our Christian story are interwoven with the story of Mary, and her story and place has continued to be woven throughout two thousand years of the evolution of the Christian family.
One of the temptations with Mary is to have her as the centre of our Christian spirituality. Even in the Brothers, we can lose sight of the devotional practices that put Mary on a pedestal, one that she would have been uncomfortable with in her lifetime. Within my own community, in our Chapel, our sacred space consists of a beautiful statue of Mary, a solid white candle and flowers that decorate the area. While these symbols highlight the presence of the divine in their own way, it is important to reflect on the deeper focus and meaning of the symbols, and on what is present and absent in one’s representation of God. One of the clearest elements of Marian spirituality is the fact that Mary always leads us to Jesus. Having a grounded, well-reasoned and historically informed perspective on Mary leads to a healthy personal spirituality. Here are some resources about Mary that can contribute to a positive and knowledgeable understanding.
Kathleen Coyle’s introductory book is a short and substantial presentation of the history and theology of Mary. Kathleen balances the concise nature of her writing with poignant insights about the person of Mary, and her interpretation over the centuries. An excellent preliminary read.
Here is a summary of the book:
Here is a portrait of Mary as a woman, strong and resourceful, who proclaimed God’s compassion for the poor and oppressed of her day. Traditional images have often portrayed Mary as silent and submissive. Her convictions firmly rooted in current scholarship, Sr Kathleen Coyle presents Mary as a model of discipleship – a strong, active and resilient woman of faith – who continues to hold great importance for Catholics seeking to express their faith today. As she scratches for and develops a Marian theology more in tune with today’s issues and attitudes, the author critiques Marian symbols and traditional images. She calls for a new theology that restores to our understanding of God the divine prerogatives borne by the image of Mary through the ages. With a new theology of the Trinity, the church can retrieve Mary as a woman of faith, a model disciple, proclaiming a song of liberation for the poor and oppressed of our world today.
This book, for me, is the definite study of Mary in the Biblical texts. One of the first and best ecumenical (Protestant, Anglican, Roman Catholic) surveys of the evidence for beliefs concerning Mary. These scholars analyse what can and cannot be surmised from the Biblical texts, how later traditions evolved, and whether there is room for dialogue and consensus. You will be a Marian expert after this read!
Here is a summary of the book:
The role that Mary plays in God's plan of salvation is an issue that over the centuries has divided Christians and their churches. In part, these differences stem from disagreements about what the New Testament says about the mother of Jesus. This book should go a long way toward solving the disputes. It is not a collection of essays but rather a collaborative statement prepared by a team of Protestant, Anglican, and Roman Catholic scholars who have reached substantial agreement on how Mary was pictured by Christians of the first two centuries. This book follows the same methodology as an earlier volume, Peter in the New Testament, produced by the same research group. The status of that first book as an ecumenical achievement of American biblical scholarship is attested to by the welcome it received and by its translation into five foreign languages. In light of the difficulty of the subject matter, Mary in the New Testament may be an even greater achievement. If Roman Catholic and Protestant scholars can agree on what the oldest Christian sources said, is the way open for the churches to agree on a fundamental Christian attitude toward Mary? This book is written by scholars, but it is not meant only for scholars. The authors have taken pains to make the work intelligible to students, clergy, and the knowledgeable laity of their churches. It combines scientific research with a respect for Christian sensibilities.
Sr Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ, is one of the most prominent theologians of our time. In her book, she offers a grounded and thorough contextualisation of Mary, both within her own history and story, but also within the traditions her grew out of, and the people that preceded and proceeded her. This book breathes life into my soul whenever I read it.
Here is a summary of the book:
The first century Jewish woman, Miriam of Nazareth, mother of Jesus, proclaimed in faith to be Theokotos, the God-bearer, is the most celebrated female religious figure in the Christian tradition. So varied and manifold are the traditions about Mary, both popular and scholarly, that some would speak of Mary as a collective noun or refer, in George Tavard's memorable title, to The Thousand Faces of the Virgin Mary. In this text, which forms a diptych with Friends of God and Prophets, Elizabeth Johnson offers an interpretation of Mary that aims to be theologically sound, spiritually empowering, ethically challenging, socially liberating, and ecumenically fruitful. In particular, she construes the image of Mary so as to be a source of blessing rather than blight for women's lives in both religious and political terms.
There are so many books I would like to share about Mary, but let’s start with these three. Happy reading!
Jacob's Well: Salve Regina
As this time of isolation and changed social conditions has taken its toll on our spirits, it has also been a time of tremendous hope and creativity. Recently, I stumbled across this recording on YouTube: Salve Regina (tono simple), 450 voces – coro virtual, Música Católica: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0YWKLNhTvE&t=0s
The Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen) is a Marian hymn. It was first recorded as being used as a processional chant at Cluny, France by 1135. The authorship is now generally ascribed to Hermann Contractus. Around 1218 the Cistercians adopted it as a daily processional chant and in 1251, it was established as an ending to Compline (Night Prayer, in the traditional canonical hours prayer structure, commonly known as the Liturgy of the Hours or the Divine Office). It is one of four Marian antiphons, with following versicles and prayers, traditionally said or sung after night prayer, immediately before going to sleep. It is said from the end of Eastertide until the beginning of Advent.
Latin:
Salve, Regina, mater misericordiae, vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve. Ad te clamamus exsules filii Hevae. Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle. Eia, ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte. Et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui, nobis post hoc exsilium ostende. O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria. Amen.
English:
Hail holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us. And after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary. Amen.
As many of you may know, the Salve Regina has an important and long history in our Marist story. Marcellin had a strong and personal devotion to Mary that was expressed in many ways throughout his life. One particular story, in the midst of some difficult events in 1830 and the years prior, highlight this:
After the events of 1830, since the Congregation was not approved by the Government, the story went abroad that it would be suppressed. In fact, the Prefect 30 of the Loire, whether he had received ministerial instructions or was simply spurred on by the evil inclinations of his heart and his hatred of religion, was preparing to close the novitiate.
In these circumstances, instead of losing his calm and his courage, Father Champagnat, as usual, had recourse to the Blessed Virgin, confiding his community to her. Having assembled the Brothers, who were now beginning to be anxious, he assured them: "Don't be frightened by the threats made against you, and put aside all fear for your future; Mary who has gathered us in this house, will not allow us to be driven from it by men's malice. Let us be more faithful than ever in honouring her, in showing ourselves her genuine children and in imitating her virtues; let us redouble our confidence in her and remind ourselves that she is our Ordinary Resource. To merit her protection and to keep away every danger, we shall sing the Salve Regina of a morning before meditation."
This was the only precaution he thought necessary to take; and Mary, in whom he had placed all his confidence, didn't let him down: the Prefect was transferred and the house was in no way disturbed. Afterwards, the singing of the Salve Regina in the morning was maintained and became an article of Rule.
After this particular year, it became a tradition that the Brothers would always begin the mornings with the Salve Regina. This tradition continues today: morning prayers around the world in Marist Brothers communities still incorporate and intone the Salve Regina.
One of the most beautiful stories of the Salve Regina comes at the end of Marcellin’s life. It was the last song he heard before he died, sung by the gathered brothers as the cancer that had been slowly consuming his body took its final toll on our Founder.
During the night, he continued his aspirations to Jesus, Mary and Joseph. At about half past two, he remarked to the Brothers that their lamp was going out. "Excuse me, Father", one of them explained, "but the lamp is burning well." "But I can't see it", he protested. "So bring it closer." This was done without any improvement in the situation. "Ah", he said, with a dying voice, "I understand that it is my sight which is failing; my hour has come; thanks be to God!" He then whispered a few more prayers and soon his agony began. It lasted for more than an hour but was mild and peaceful. The vomiting had stopped, for nature was utterly exhausted. At twenty past four, his breathing slowed up and became more laboured and then spasmodic. The Brothers were at that time assembled in the chapel for the singing of the Salve Regina. The Litany of the Blessed Virgin was immediately begun, and during its recital, without effort or struggle, the pious Founder fell asleep in the Lord.
His death took place on Saturday, June 6th, the vigil of Pentecost. He had declared several times during his sickness: "I would like to die on a Saturday, but I don't deserve that favour, while I do hope for it from Mary's kindness." Not only was he given that grace, but also another: he died at the time, which for thirty years he had devoted to meditation and to union with God. It was during the prayer which followed the Salve Regina that the Mother of Mercy led him from exile to the fatherland, and showed him Jesus, the fruit of her virginal womb.
For Marist Brothers today, here in Australia and around the world, the Salve Regina hold a special and unifying place. Every Marist Brother knows this hymn. In communities where languages are multiple and communication difficult, the Salve Regina hold our fraternity together. Personally, I can recall many significant memories of Marists together joining their voices in the intonation of the Salve Regina. There is nothing quite as stirring in my heart as when the fallen body of a Brother is placed in his final resting tomb as the Brothers gently, stoically and with quiet tears, sing the Salve Regina.
Have a blessed week.
Jacob's Well: The Boy Who Died Twice
Last week, in conversation with the MYM Sydney team, we were discussing one of the reported inspirations of Marcellin Champagnat, Jean-Baptiste Montagne. This narrative has been etched into our repertoire of Marist traditions in recent decades, proclaimed from lecterns of school assemblies or studied in religion classes across our Marist education institutions. History, though, is never simple, and seldom complete. One of the tenets of a historiographical framework is the understanding that past events, people and narratives are construction (or reconstructions) based on evidence, examination and interpretation. History is not a cold study of objective truth, but the highly charged activity with great power and influence over present and future events. I digress. Essentially, we are shaped by the stories given to us, but we should always be aware of the malleable and incomplete nature of history. Even in our own Marist patrimony.
So, in 2017, Brothers Michael Green and André Lanfrey, two of the current historians of our Marist Institute, undertook a critical analysis of the Montagne experience. The story that we thought we knew isn’t the complete picture. As a result, Jean-Baptiste Montagne has become the boy that died twice. Here are some teasers of the article by Br Michael:
Marists of today often believe that they know well enough the basics of the Montagne story. What they may not realise is that it is an event that was constructed a long time after the death of this youth, using a seminal story that was told from the beginning and connecting it with other data which came to light in the last century and which have been connected to it. It may surprise many Marists to learn that there is, in fact, no proven link between the original story and death of Jean-Baptiste Montagne, or even any evidence that Marcellin visited the Montagne home on the night in question. The young Montagne boy did indeed exist – we have his birth, death and burial records – but whether he is the “dying child” of the story appears to be highly questionable. Indeed, there is no record of any attempt to identify the child as J-B Montagne until the 1930s, and no active promotion of the name until after 1966 when Marist scholar, Brother Gabriel Michel, linked the death and burial records of this boy with the old story that had been with us from the time of Marcellin. The link is theoretically possible, but there are difficulties with sustaining an argument for it.
Br Michael Green elaborates on the evidential basis for his doubt of the dying boy being Jean-Baptiste Montagne:
There are problems with the location, the year, the age of the child, the improbability of the Montagne family’s disconnection from the faith and their local parish, and also the low likelihood that a priest to anoint the dying boy would have been sought from La Valla rather than from nearby Tarentaise. First, all of the early accounts (among them the Life by Brother Jean-Baptiste Furet; the Memoir of Brother Sylvestre; and the Notes of Father Bourdin which recorded the actual words of Father Champagnat) speak of the event taking place with a child in foothills of Mt Pilat whereas, of course, Les Palais is up on the plateau. None of them names the child. The Bourdin notes are additionally interesting because of the sequence in which he orders the events. This entry in his notes seems straightforward enough: “What made the work urgent: a child sick in the foothills of Pilat, needed the sacraments... Goes to a neighbour for a moment, returns, child dead, reflection: “How many children far from the means of salvation... if instructed, know how to repent, know...” But Bourdin – quoting what he has heard directly from Father Champagnat own lips – lists this encounter after Marcellin’s recruiting Jean-Marie and two other brothers, his buying the house, the beginning of the brothers’ work with young people, and La Valla’s pre-existing “drunken schoolmaster” leaving town.
This all takes us well into 1818, eighteen months after the death of J-B Montagne. Perhaps Bourdin does not mean to imply a chronology in his notes but the order is curious, nonetheless, especially when considered against other inconsistencies among the accounts. Brother Laurent, the next oldest account after that of Bourdin, is clear that the event occurred in 1818.
A third reason to question whether young Montagne is the dying child is prompted by the age given in the different documents. While Brother François, in his notebooks, describes the young person’s age at seventeen, all other accounts – including the official version of the Life by Brother Jean-Baptiste – have the child at eleven or twelve. We know J-B Montagne was sixteen when he died. Even though chronological age might have been regarded to be of less importance at the time than level of maturity, it is another inconsistency. Taken together, and from French writers known for an often-pedantic accuracy, it is not easy to explain away, let alone to reconcile, these apparently varying accounts….
Another thing to which Laurent draws our attention is that the situation of the “dying child” was not a one-off, and that Marcellin was growing in his appreciation of the extent of this problem for at least two years after taking up residence in La Valla. The civil registers indicate that seven relatively young people over the age of seven died in Marcellin’s first year at La Valla, coming from six different hamlets.
Finally, there is the problem of why Father Champagnat would have been the priest called to attend J-B Montagne, when there were two priests at Tarentaise, just a twenty-minute walk away. To get a message to La Valla would have been a two-hour trek down to that town, with no guarantee that he would have been there, then a steep two-hour climb back….
So, on the balance of probabilities, it seems problematic to claim that Jean-Baptiste Montagne was in fact the dying boy. It is much more likely to have been another child of the parish. That does not mean, however, that we should forget the Montagne story. In fact, it is most instructive to look at why this story and this boy have captured Marist imagination, since Brother Gabriel Michel started recounting the name and place to Marist pilgrims in the late 1960s. But let us approach it as nuanced mythology rather than dubious history. Like all good foundation myths, it tells us more about why than what.
Poor Montagne. Br Michael proceeds to highlight additional historical evidence to support his hypothesis. However, as Br Michael highlights, the importance of the story isn’t in the literal details, but the meaning that we garner from the substance of the legend.
The story of Marcellin’s encounter with the dying child is, like all good founding myths, a tale that one generation should to continue to pass onto the next, as a way of maintaining integrity and identity, and of defining deeper purposes. But such myths also risk being read simplistically. One key for Marists in their unlocking of the Montagne story is for them to see it in the context of its origins. As we contemplate the Montagne myth, it is not Jean-Baptiste, in the final analysis, on whom we should be focussed. Perhaps this is one reason why the early Marist chroniclers did not give a name to the “dying child”. That child represented all young people whose circumstances meant they had a diminished capacity for appreciating who they were as a son or daughter of God and what the Gospel of Jesus Christ could mean in their lives. The focus is, rather, on those who respond to this need and what is needed for them to be the kind of Marist evangeliser that Marcellin imagined. It is a story ultimately about the reader.
In the same edition of Marist Notebooks, there is another article by Br André Lanfrey, which takes the hypothesis even further. I have attached this edition, number 35, with both articles. Enjoy the (unsettling) reading!
Jacob's Well: Jesus and Justice
It would be near impossible this week to be untouched by the voices of our brothers and sisters amid difficult and oppressive circumstances. Unfortunately, these voices are not new: the voices of those who suffer injustice echo throughout history, and in all parts of our modern world. As Christians, God always invites us to hear and listen to the cries of the poor, in the myriad and diverse ways that these roars of pain and hurt come into our lives. And even when these shouts fall on ears that do not listen, or are lost as whispers in time and space, God hears. And God moves. With justice.
The concept of God’s justice is one of the richness, oldest and most powerful values in the Judeo-Christian tradition. The Old Testament is bursting at the seams with stories, psalms, praises and people who proclaim the justice of God with full voice. This manifestation is not out of the Marcionite understanding of God that separated the experiences of the divine in the Old and New Testament into dualistic entities. The story of the Jewish people, and the subsequent Christian communities, is deeply tied to the justice and liberation for the people of God. In our Catholic tradition, Catholic Social Teaching is one of the most substantial expressions of this ongoing legacy of God’s justice and needs many weeks to unpack! Finally, the concept of God’s mercy cannot be separated from any discussions of God’s justice. It is crucial to hold these additional elements as part of this reflection.
I would like to draw your attention to a few examples of the words and actions of Jesus that continued, developed, and emboldened this understanding of justice. There are plenty more in the Gospels that illustrate the ongoing action of God as the embodiment of mercy and justice. This week, I would invite you to reflect on these passages as we delve into the beginning of this massive idea: The Justice of God.
As we covered in a previous week, the proclamation of the Reign (or Kingdom) of God was central to the ministry of Jesus Christ. In fact, it is central to the entire being of Jesus: God is his everything, and for whom, with us, he gave his life. So, we see at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, in the Gospel of Luke, his first words are grounded deeply in the tradition of his ancestors and their understanding of justice.
When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”
And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. (Luke 4:16-20)
Jesus, right from the beginning of his ministry, signals out this unique group: the poor. The poor is broad in his understanding, as expressed in the Gospels, and is always connected with the unjust ways that the poor are treated and systematically oppressed. Make no mistake: the poor are not poor because of their own circumstances, but because the system is not built for them. Jesus was never satisfied with the status quo. Jesus didn’t die because he said nice things: he was challenging a system of oppression, exclusion and death. His cry remains as relevant today as it was two thousand years ago.
The quintessential expression of God’s Justice, for Jesus, is captured in the Beatitudes.
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:1-12)
One of the most poignant reminders I have seen at this time has been this question: if you were listening to Jesus say this, what would be your response? In echoing some of the arguments that exist in our world today, would you be the one who would stand up and say, “No, Jesus, blessed are all people!”? Or is your response one that truly listening to the words of Jesus?
Luke’s Beatitudes takes Jesus’ words one step further. Jesus absolutely singles out people who are suffering and who are bringing about the Kingdom of God. For Luke though, there are harsh words for those who opposed this preferential option for the poor.
Then he looked up at his disciples and said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
“Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
“Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
“But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
“Woe to you who are full now,
for you will be hungry.
“Woe to you who are laughing now,
for you will mourn and weep.
“Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
“But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
(Luke 6:20-36)
The concept of God’s Justice is intimately connected to the Love of God. In fact, God will not only bless those who suffer. God is on the move. Parable after parable express that God will not remain locked in place waiting for those who need God. These parables are revolutionary: of course, the ordinary person would not leave the ninety-nine to search for the one! God is profoundly challenging us. This is the Justice of God.
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
So he told them this parable: “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
The Parable of the Lost Coin
“Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15: 1-10)
This text is followed by one of Jesus’ most powerful parables of love, loss and forgiveness, the Parable of the Prodigal and His Brother (or more commonly known as the Parable of the Prodigal Son). I invite you to read these, and the other parables of the Gospels, and to be unsettled and uncomfortable by their challenging nature.
Finally, one of the foundational Gospel texts of justice highlights one more important fact: God not only with those who are oppressed, poor or excluded, but God IS one of them. Matthew clearly states this. It is God that suffers as well.
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31-46).
May you continue to be inspired to be a person of action, and an agent of change. A disciple of the Justice of God.
Jacob's Well: Games, Games, Games!
My hope with Jacob’s Well is to provide a variety of useful resources, ranging from input for your personal and spiritual formation, as well as practical ideas and suggestions for your ministry. This week, let’s return to some hands-on resources to animate your day: games! Apart from the intrinsic value of games as purveyors of fun and joy, games have always served a purpose in ministry to build and foster community. During this time, when the physicality of our usual frivolous endeavours is temporarily absent, there are plenty of variations being developed for the online spheres that can benefit the current delivery of our ministry.
In one of the earlier Jacob’s Well editions, the podcast, Youth Ministry Answers, was provided as a resource. I am increasingly impressed by the content that they are producing in this podcast, and their accompanying website. It is a bit of a gold mind for Christian youth ministry. Granted, it does have a focus on engaging teenagers in a North American setting, and they push their “Grow” Ministry Framework and Curriculum heavily. However, the ideas and discussions are on-point with current youth ministry programs and engagement. I was listening to a recent episode called, “10 Tips on How To Build A Weekly Strategy For Online Youth Ministry,” (which is worth a listen in these current times, although we are already doing some of these, and very well!). They spoke of examples of icebreaker and engagement fun for an online setting and that might be excellent resources for you. Some you will recognise, and others may serve as inspiration for a variation.
Check out some of their suggestions here: https://stuffyoucanuse.org/games/
Another great free website for games, with new resources for interaction, is Youth Group Games. This is a popular free site for group games, but its design content and quality remain high. Again, you will recognise several games that you would have used and/or played, but they do have good context-specific games for online and isolation environments.
Check them out at: https://youthgroupgames.com.au/
Finally, this next website is one of many subscription-based programs but offers some free games that might be useful. They are mostly for in-person use, but with our team, your creativity knows no bounds!
Check it out: https://www.playmeo.com/activities/?subscription=free
Jacob's Well: Movies for Ministry
Welcome to our second requested topic for the year! I am always excited when I get the chance to generate some ideas and discussion on topics submitted by the team. And this week, I am certain that everyone has plenty of thoughts on this practical subject. We know how useful and powerful media can be in our ministry. Movies, in particular, craft people’s lives in stories that evoke the strongest and wildest emotions and responses. We all possess scenes from movies that we will remember for a lifetime: whether it is sweeping scenes of roaring seas, the hum of a lightsaber that lights a darkened theatre with neon warmth, or that first momentous introduction of our favourite cinematic character. Great movies have the ability to express universal truth, and by doing so, express deeply the movement and love of God in profound ways, consciously or unconsciously.
Sorry, I am beginning to sound like the introduction to an award at the Oscars.
For this week, I wanted to share some of the movies that you might find useful in ministry settings. There are so many! Please contribute your own ideas as well, as we build a stockpile of blockbuster proportions. I am sure that we will need a few editions of this particular topic! I hope these are helpful!
Disney Films
Disney has always had a remarkable ability to produce films with universal and timeless appeal. While the materials are drawn from well-known and crafted narratives from various cultures and traditions, Disney movies usually highlight two particular themes that resonate across their movies: Identity and Transformation. There are three particular movies that speak to me, at the moment, that provide substantive materials on these themes.
Frozen 2 is an excellent exploration of the journey into transformational space. “Into the Unknown” is a confronting song of hesitation mixed with curiosity and courage, when one is on the cusp of change brought about a mysterious divine spirit. “The Next Best Thing” is a heart-song about grief and facing anxiety with small powerful steps.
Moana is a brilliant vocational story: a journey of self-discovery and encountering the divine with profound effects. The “Song of the Ancestors” is a vivid articulation of embracing one’s identity and vocational discernment at its finest. And, no spoilers, but I could spend hours talking about the spiritual insights of Moana’s encounter with the divine.
Inside Out is one of my favourite films, and its internal journey, coupled with the external narrative, is a healthy mix of these two themes of identity and transformation. It is another great example of the movement through liminal space in the universal experience of puberty.
Side note: check out some of the short-animated films from Disney. They are brilliant!
These titles available on Disney+
The Way
The Way is a 2010 American-Spanish drama film directed, produced and written by Emilio Estevez and starring Martin Sheen. The film honours the Camino de Santiago and promotes the traditional pilgrimage. Pilgrimage has a longstanding Christian connection, and as an area of spirituality, really speaks to people’s hearts and life experiences. The movie is an emotional journey that asks, and faces, some difficult questions of life, relationships and faith, just as all pilgrimages do. We are a pilgrim people.
The Way is available on Netflix
Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium
This movie is a hidden gem. It is a fantastical journey into the creative and absurd, and its heart is warm, profound and full of wisdom. Natalie Portman’s character’s (Molly Mahoney) journey of self-belief, her struggle and joy of faith and encountering the divine offers a rich resource for our ministry. One of my favourite scenes is one I call “37 seconds.” In the day where Molly and Mr Magorium spent a day of adventure and fun, they are in a clock shop, all for a bit of mischief. In anticipation of a little scheme that is about to unfold, Molly comments, “37 seconds…. Now we wait.” Mr Magorium replies, “No. We breathe. We pulse. We regenerate. Our hearts beat. Our minds create. Our souls ingest. 37 seconds, well used, is a lifetime.” I love it.
This film is available on all good online purchasing platforms