Rest in Peace Japulu

Fr McKelson used to speak of coming home to Melbourne, and did not like me pointing out that he had spent twice as long at Bidyadanga as here! In there lies a great truth, because for all the years he was away he carried a lot of the local church and his family with him.

After hearing and answering God’s call he was sent to Rome where his inner linguist emerged. He lived in a German speaking house, in an Italian speaking city, attending lectures in Latin and spent his holidays in France. He loved being able to smuggle newspapers and cigarettes to other Australian students who lived under stricter regimes.

In 1954, the newly ordained 24 year old Kevin McKelson arrived in Broome to assist the legendary Fr Worms, the Pallottine missionary anthropologist. Worms taught him to tread very gently on the Kimberley earth, as it belonged to another people, many of whom had had their spirit broken. Kevin listened and then was able to learn, live and teach the art of reconciliation. This required a great humility so that he would be able to say, with Isaiah “See, this is our God in whom we hoped.”

In Broome he implemented the tried and true pastoral strategies of his youth. He built a faith community with lots of social activities and sport. With Donnelly McKenzie he started the basketball competition in 1955, building a court by crushing ant bed retrieved from the bush. Later they collaborated and started the Broome Saints Football Club. He encouraged marriages between local women and the Malay or Japanese pearlers. He taught the men English, learning Japanese and Malay on the way, and blessed their marriages. A relationship with God started with relationship with others.

Lagrange Mission became his home in 1961. He would remain through joys and frustrations for 34 years.  Not long after his arrival Cyclone Bessie destroyed the Mission. Madelene Jadai, here with us today, was born during that cyclone, as is Margot Toohey, the nurse who delivered her. Fr McKelson rescued her and her mother from the collapsing hospital during the eye of the storm. He was far from being an adventurer, but history made his life a huge adventure. Lagrange taught him the primacy of relationship, of connecting people with each other and God. Many a dinner at Lagrange ended with the salt, pepper, knife and fork being used to teach the ‘skins’ (the aboriginal kinship system). If you don’t know the skins, he would say, you will never understand local people. It is all about relationships.

A key to relationship is language, enabling is to relate to God and each other in a context of mutual respect. After the Mission was rebuilt, Kevin concentrated his efforts on inculturation, the translation of the Christian message into forms and idiom accessible to the people of the five local language groups. This necessitated the learning, recording and understanding of languages and culture, which became the work and love of his life centred on the Missa Bidyadanga and Aboriginal Our Father. He was trusted by the senior men, who shared their cultural secrets with him and acknowledged that he understood more about the aboriginal law than most local people.

Lagrange was fully staffed by lay missionaries. Fr Kevin was the father figure, holding the mainly young lay missionaries in a family unit. He treated all with respect, and tried to understand, with varying degrees of success, the issues of young men and women a long way from home and family. He always looked for ways to make connections between people and groups of people, with, of course, God at the centre.

One of the greatest tests of our Christianity is forgiveness. If we can’t forgive then our faith is not deeply rooted. Fr McKelson often spoke about the cultural right to payback, and the Christian response of forgoing retribution. In 1994 I witnessed a person come to Fathers place, and he welcomed him with open arms, made him a cup of tea and spoke genially of old times. I later discovered that some years before this person had done his best to destroy the mission and Kevin’s reputation, even threatening Kevin’s life. It has been a terrible time for him yet in this he kept the faith, as St Paul wrote to Timothy, even to the end, and all of Bidyadanga were witnesses.

Kevin made courtesy an art form. Whether he was greeting visitors or growling wrongdoers, he spoke and acted with respect.  Martina Badal told me: We would milk the goats, drinking the half the milk and filling the bucket with water. Japulu found out and just told me:” Martina, you know not to do that. Don’t put water in the milk. Do you understand? He was strong but gentle.”  The same day, at the markets on Broome I was told: As a green young girl many years ago, living beyond the Spinifex Horizon, Fr Mac was my Light in the Wilderness whenever he came to Frazier Downs for dinner. (Jenny Di Marchi)

Last Monday my phone was running hot all day. Charlie Wright reminded me that when Hail Mary Bell rang Father had taught everyone to freeze with their head down to say the Hail Mary quietly. You could hear the bell from Blackrock, 3kn away! Each person ringing had a story, but at the end of each story was the quip: he really loved us, each one of us. Kevin lived, with more success than most, the Beatitudes we just heard proclaimed. 

As age and health caught up with him, a move south was necessitated. The McKelson family gave one of their own for the missions, so that others may come to know God. He returned after a long life well lived, but he was now living behind the veil of dementia. He trusted in God but was never presumptuous, so would want us to pray that his experience of purgatory be freeing as he hurries toward our heavenly resting place.

Nyamu nyina ngayu Japulu!

Homily, Requiem Mass for Fr Kevin McKelson SAC, St Brendan's, Flemington, VIC, 6th December 2011.

An Example on the Straight Track

I have been spending a bit of time lately thinking about Fr Kevin McKelson, who died during the week. He was my parish priest when as a new priest I was appointed to Bidyadanga,  (Lagrange Mission). He used to tell me that Fr Worms, who was his first parish priest when he came to Broome taught him to tread very gently on the Kimberley earth, as it belonged to another people, many of whom had had their spirit broken. Fr McKelson learned, lived and taught the lesson of the art of reconciliation. That is the message of Isaiah today when he urges: Comfort O comfort my people. This is a word of encouragement, a call to awake from sleep and to take our place in society. In my years living and working with Kevin McKelson, he never stopped urging people to stand up and take their place in society. If we do not, he used to assure people, others will stand up and take it for themselves. If we want good to happen, we have to stand up and be counted.

John the Baptist proclaimed this and provided witness by his life. The Gospel account tells us as much about what John the Baptist looked like and ate as his words. If he lived today he would be a media hit with his strange getup and alternative diet. As John the Baptist was, we are being called to be a bit alternative in Advent. There are issues about which we should stand up and being counted and upon which we can make a difference.

The time leading up to Christmas can be a time of giving and sharing, or a time of consumer frenzy and a time of extreme greed and avarice. We have the opportunity to make a difference. In the continuing question of the detention of asylum seekers, we can voice an opinion and make a difference. Yesterday I read in the newspapers about the debates on same sex marriage. Christians have the opportunity to contribute to the debate and say clearly that marriage can only be about a man and a woman who provide the safest place for the rearing of children. It is not justice or equality to have enshrined in law that two fathers or two mothers is just as good as God’s plan through the natural order.

People have been talking to me all week about how kind and loving Fr McKelson was, but also that he spoke his mind. He did not compromise the faith to be popular. I recall on occasion where his life was threatened for maintaining a moral stance when those around him stepped away. As Christians we need to have the courage of our convictions, and John the Baptist leads us in humility, courage and faith.

St Paul believed that the end of the world was imminent. In one sense he was marking time, but even within that framework he urges us to lead good lives because only then will we experience true peace.

As dvent continues let us make the decision to stand up and enter the season, to fill in the valleys and break down the barriers, to build a better and more godly world starting with ourselves.

Homily Second Sunday of Advent year B 4th December 2011, OLQP Broome. 

Actively Waiting

It is no surprise to any of us that the season is changing. The mangoes are almost finished, the build-up has begun, and plans are being made for holidays and Christmas. The church’s year changes along with the natural year. Central to Christianity is that Christ became one of us, and so therefore the natural world and the behaviour of its people teach us about our faith.

Our natural world is in a time of waiting. Here we wait for the rain and the greening of the country. The waiting is not passive, because around us the temperature is rising, the humidity increasing and the clouds are beginning to tease us from the horizon.

Often we talk of keeping vigil. We wait beside someone who is sick, worried or bereaved. We do not wait for the sake of it, nor do we wait in a drowsy of lazy state. We wait with eyes wide open with expectation that something will happen.  For Christians the time before Christmas is a time of vigil, a time of expectant waiting, a time of hope. We call this time Advent.

Karl Rahner, the famous Bavarian theologian of last century, describes it this way: The term Advent connotes not only an arrival but also that which is yet to come. It has a strange interpenetration of the present and the future, of what exists and what is yet to come, of possession and expectation. So too, in the liturgy of advent, the present and future of Christian salvation are mysteriously interwoven. [i]

In a time filled with such wonder and opportunity, it is important not to lose our way, go troppo or just be subsumed in the mindless rush of parties, end of year windups and consumer madness. We need to actively listen to God in and around us. So how do we stay awake, how do we keep our guard? We have to actively listen to the scriptures and the country. Active listening involves three Rs: Receiving, retaining and responding.

To stay awake we need to begin to understand God’s plan, and we can only receive by being in contact with God through prayer and meditation. When we begin to comprehend, we will retain that knowledge in our hearts and live it in our lives. We will be seen as people of hope. Thus we will be able to respond positively to the invitation to draw closer to the loving embrace of our God. In other words, we will be able to stay awake during Advent! Practically, this means taking time to nourish our soul. We are all busy, there are parties and celebrations galore for everyone. This is a good thing, but it ceases to be this when the peripherals eclipse the centre. If we cannot actively listen to God talking to us during Advent, then we are asleep, and we will most certainly miss him when he comes. 

Stay awake! Listen, learn and live in the present, past and future all at once. This is the gift being offered to all who look forward to the coming of Christ at Christmas.

Homily First Sunday in Advent Year B, 27th November 2011.

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[i] Karl Rahner, The Eternal Year (London: Burns and Oates) 1964, 13.

A King For Us

On Friday night at a wake, while being plied with food and drink and thinking how much running I would need to do, I commented that I was being treated like a king, which effectively meant that I was happy for people to fuss over me while I sat and did whatever I wanted to do: in other words, it was all about me and my desires. In the way home about this more and remembered a recent and unusually popular movie.

The Kings Speech tells two stories of being King. Edward VIII came to the throne of England in 1936 and abdicated less than two years later. Although touched by his devotion to the woman he loved but whom he could not marry, the British were horrified that he could put his personal desires and preferences over the fate of the realm.  In June 1937 his younger brother Bertie ascended the throne. He lacked self-confidence, could not speak in public because of an impediment, and was shy. However, he knew that these were his issues, not those of his country, and that he has to forgo self-centeredness for the sake of his people. He had a very different idea about what the role of king. An unlikely hero called George VI was born. From the outset his people knew his weaknesses, but also knew that he would die for them. George VI did not leave London during The Blitz, toured the theatres of war and stood with his people. As the movie points out, he was constantly making rousing speeches that were excruciating for him to deliver. He was one for others.  His was a model of kingship for others that could be emulated.

George received his model of kingship from the Prince of Peace, Jesus. Jesus turned the prevailing model of ruthless, selfish arrogant power-hungry kingship on its head. In its place he was the shepherd who nurtured his flock, the one who sought out the strays and lead them back to the fold: he shall, in the words of Isaiah, I shall look for the lost one, bring back the stray, bandage the wounded and make the weak strong.

Even though Christ gave us the ideal model of leadership 2000 years ago, the dark side of oppression, aggression and violence still endures, and as history teaches, sometimes prevails. Jesus’ model of kingship is one that serves, even in the face of terror. In many persecutions of the church over the centuries, men and women have died with the words Long live Christ the King on their lips, attesting that in the face of darkness, Christ offers us eternal light, something oppressors cannot take away. This hope and strength is what terrifies oppressors, is what made Stalin nervously ask ‘how many divisions has the Pope’. The same fear of the truth is what drove Hitler, Pol Pot, Mao Zedong and other despots to prioritise the destruction of the Catholic Church. Today our oppression is the more subtle that would banish religion from the public sphere to be just another interest group in society, like a sporting or social club.

At the end of time we will all stand before God and give an account of our faith or doubt, our selflessness or selfishness, action or inaction. This is a constant call to us to vigorously engage in the life of our society, challenging it to conform to the ideal of the prince of peace, so that our world and ourselves can be what God have given us the opportunity to become.

Homily Christus Rex Year A 20th November 2011, OLQP

Christians have Talent

When we think of the word talent, we think of our gifts, so naturally, when we read this passage from Matthew we hear Jesus challenging us, in an indirect way, to use our gifts. Ah, how presumptuous we can be! The word talent derives its meaning because of this gospel passage. This calls us to look at it more closely.

A talent in first century Palestine was fifty pounds of silver, or fifteen years’ wages for a working man. The master gave each of his servants a lot of money. Servants usually didn’t get anything, but here was a master giving them lots.  Now we can get into the story. Firstly, if we are given lots, lots will be expected.  Secondly, what do these ‘talents’, this money, represent? We could simply take it as natural abilities that we all have to greater or lesser extent. It is our duty as humans to develop and use these gifts. However, there is something that is not given to all humans, or which many people leave dormant, that blitzes money and natural ability. The key to this story is faith. Faith is on the one thing, common to all of us here today, that can change us and our world.

When the parable is considered in this way, the conclusion, which I have always seen as a bit harsh takes on a new meaning. When we co-operate with the grace of God, we progress along the way of perfection. If we are able to recognise and then utilise the gifts given to us, our faith will animate our lives, in turn encouraging greater gifts to emerge in our lives and the lives of those whom we touch. Thus to those who have will be given more, because they are able to see what they have, be thankful for it and then be open to accepting even greater gifts. It is not matter of favouritism but recognition.

That is where the first reading can inform our discussion. I would not be surprised if most of us listened to it cringing, or dismissed it as outdated sexist garbage. Both of these reactions are valid, but they miss the point. Thank God we are not fundamentalists in our interpretation of scripture. We believe that the scripture needs to be interpreted through the lens of the prevailing culture at the time.  Women were possessions, taken for granted, and used accordingly. It was a very wise man who actually stoped for long enough to consider the benefit of having such a person in his life. The book of proverbs showcases such a man. This is someone who will be able it appreciate the talent around him and use it for the common good. This is radical, as it proposes trust and freedom of expression, the same liberties God gives to those he created. The perfect wife uses these liberties to share in what her hands have worked for and let here works tell her praises at the city gates.

God allows us the freedom and allows us the same choice. We can use the opportunities and gifts given to us to let our faith hope and love soar and grow, or we can hold them so closely that we will stifle them, just as the servant did with his one talent. If we allow ourselves and our faith to soar, there will be no great surprises in life and we will not fear about the future, for we will be, in the words of St Paul, sons and daughters of the light and of the day.

Homily 13th November 201,1 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time year A

Staying Alert!

After spending a long time catechising a young couple on the virtues and sacramental aspects of marriage, the bride to be had an important question for me to consider. I braced myself for this curly challenge, only asked how many bridesmaids she could have at the wedding! After all my catechesis, all she could think about was superficialities. If it stopped there I could have taken it, but, alas, it did not, for in preparing the liturgy both bride and groom declined to choose anything. They asked me to pick some nice passages and get someone to do the readings, ever conscious that the whole thing would not take too long. At this I suggested that the civil celebrant down the road might be better suited to their needs, but they pointed out that they were both Catholic, and wished to be married in the church. This glimpse of light was all the evidence for faith that I could perceive in them.

They, in a very real sense, were the foolish virgins. They reminded me that they had their ticket and were taking the right course of action. However, it was all words. In the gospel it was similar, all glitz and glamour. The bridesmaids were too busy about themselves to think about the future. They didn’t care because someone else would take care of them. Well, in the real world we make decisions and live the consequences of those choices. The foolish ones of the Gospel were forced to play catch up, and sometimes catch up just doesn’t work. The foolish virgins missed out because they could not see what was right in front of their face.

The conclusion of the book of wisdom urges us to seek wisdom in all that we do. Wisdom is s divine gift that takes us beyond the grave: it belongs to the soul and therefore is eternal. Wisdom urges us to prepare for the future, not in a paranoid or frenetic way , but certainly in a sensible and determined way. The wise virgins fell into this category. They enjoyed themselves but knew that they had to prepare or else the bridegroom would pass them by as he entered the party. That is the lesson for us as well. We are challenged to be ready, not afraid or scared as some are, but ready to recognise and welcome the grace of God when it is available.

The readings between now and Christmas call us to look for the Messiah, to look for the grace of God while it may be found. Opportunities will pass today and tomorrow and never come again. If we are not attuned, then we will never see God in our midst. If we are so worried about what shoes are ton be worn, or how many bridesmaid there are to be, we will miss the bridegroom altogether.

We are challenged as to how we guard our own faith, which is kept alive by the oil of charity. St Augustine wrote: watch with the heart, watch with faith, watch with charity, watch with good works, make ready the lamps and make sure they do not go out. Renew them with the inner oil of an upright conscience. Then shall the bridegroom embrace you and lead you into the banquet room where your lamp will never be extinguished (Sermons 93)

Walk this week with open eyes and challenge yourself to see something new in another person and in the country around you each day this week.  In this was we will be better prepared to find God.

Homily 32^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time year A OLQP

Can a Little Knowledge Make Us God?

For many years Catholics were discouraged from reading scripture. There were many reasons for this practice, but the main one was the lack of education of most of the population. Books were scarce, and mistakes in those books were common. Universities were places of learning from books for the privileged few, whereas most of the population learnt their faith from preaching, songs, poems, statues and stained glass windows. Direct reading of the scriptures by those who were not experts in these times introduced a great margin for error. 

A little knowledge can be quite dangerous.

Last week I was in the jail when I was confronted with a man who asked me why I allowed people to call me Father. I was clearly wrong, he insisted, and the scripture clearly stated this fact. When I asked him whether teacher s and rabbis needed to be banished them from our vocabulary as well, he became defensive, but stuck to his guns. It was written there and he was not to be dissuaded from his assertion. When know we are ignorant we are empowered to listen to those with knowledge, but when we believe that we have all the answers, we are in big trouble.

The gospel passage today can be taken to condemn all Jews, as well as banishing us from using the words father, teacher and rabbi. If we do so we will be missing the point and allowing scripture to speak only to our prejudices. The unbroken tradition of the church, teaching these passages over the last two thousand years, speaks to us far more holistically.

If we are more concerned with position, pomp and power than service, then we shall be mimicking the worst excesses of the Pharisees.  If any of us think that we are better, closer to God or more worthy because of our position or calling, then we are placing ourselves in the position of God and do not warrant the title teacher, father, rabbi, dad, mum, granny, officer, mr, mrs, or any other term of respect. The greatest among you must be your servant. Christ lived perfect servant leadership.

Jesus called us to be humble in discipleship and to whatever leadership we called. This is non-negotiable for a Christian. It is just as well that today we investigated the new translation of the Confiteor before Mass.  At the beginning of Mass we are given the opportunity to acknowledge our need for God and be humble before him and each other. It is a lifelong task! May God accompany us on the way.

Homily, 30th October 2011, OLQP, 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A