Informed Political Engagement

It has often been said, even by Prime Ministers, that religious leaders should confine themselves to religion and not meddle in politics, but what does that really mean?

Politics can be very divisive of families, communities and countries.  The same was true in Jesus time. The Pharisees tried to exploit this to discredit Jesus and thereby weaken his influence on people.  In the gospel story he was in a no win situation. If he supported the paying of taxes; he was a collaborator with the hated Romans and their idolatrous rule. On the other hand, if he supported withholding of taxes he was a revolutionary who could then be easily denounced to the Romans. 

Jesus chose a third way, which was not proposed by the Pharisees and similarly often not proposed by those who seek answers to political conundrums from Church Leaders. The new way Jesus shows is to teach the principles and then allow people to make their own decisions from that point onwards. Jesus did not tell people what to do, but he pointed out moral principles and the consequences of their actions. The role of the church is the same.

Render unto Caesar. So what belongs to God? Simply put: everything. I cannot stand here and teach about what the Christian response to the ethical, moral and spiritual challenges of society are without wishing to influence your response when you leave this church. I want us all to be a positive force in society, building and guarding the rights of all people.  If you wish me to influence you on these matters within these walls, and then become someone else when you leave, a grand schizophrenia is at work. If religious leaders did not inform politics of Australia, education, health care, social welfare and all forms of social justice would not have any prominence in our society. Currently, the rights of refugees, the family, the old and vulnerable whose lives are under threat from euthanasia and the unborn are being championed by the leaders of Christian church. This is role and calling of leaders of the Christian faith.

Most of us voted today or during the last week. We all have a calling in the political life of this country, to shape her future and safeguard her people. To do this we need to engage in the public square openly as Christians.  It is my calling as a priest theologian to guide this parish towards the correct incorporation of Catholic teaching into our daily lives. If I don’t do this I am negligent, staying ‘out of politics’, therefore, is not an option for any of us.  I am not saying that the priest as teacher always gets it right. However, if the principles of Christian ethics and the natural law are followed there is a much better chance of a just society emerging.

The price of ignoring our political responsibilities are significant. An extreme example is that of Martin Niemöller (1892-1984) a prominent Protestant pastor who eventually emerged as an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler and spent the last 7 years of Nazi rule in concentration camps. He wrote: First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out -- Because I was not a Socialist Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out -- Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out -- Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Catholic activists, and I was protestant. Then they came for me -- and there was no one left to speak for me.

We need reflection, challenge and reform. We need to be open to listen to the views of others and then make up our mind, not based on moral principles, not on feelings or sympathies. 

Homily, 16th Octiber 2011, 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

The Wedding Feast of Baptism

In the midst of all the publicity surrounding the British Royal wedding this year, in my mind I have a picture of a socialite waving an invitation, absolutely ecstatic that she had been invited. It was a time of happiness and joy, and as many weddings are, and an occasion to cement social and political ties among families and countries.

The wedding feast in the gospel is similar. It was a big occasion, and opportunity to show that everyone in the land was reconciled and happy together. That is why the king reacted so strongly when some of his people refused to come to the wedding. This was open defiance and a declaration of war, hence his reaction.

As with many of the stories of Jesus, there was an open and closed version. The open version is clear. The closed version, that which would have only been understood by Christians living around 80-110AD, is about baptism. The early church looked on this parable as a story about baptism, at a time when it was very dangerous to be baptised.

Yesterday I asked a young boy what baptism was, and he answered me that it was getting closer to Jesus. He is right and for his age that I just the answer I wanted. However, when we are adults, the answer becomes a little more involved, just as life becomes a little more complex. Baptism is about a lot more than the good feeling of becoming closer to Jesus. Baptism was serious business, and it still is today, with direct consequences in certain parts of the world. Recently an Egyptian told me that in his country Christians cannot be in the government, military or police: nothing like this happens in Australia. It does not have the consequences of the early church where submitting to baptism could well condemn a person to social exclusion and persecution, but it does have the consequences of changing our lives in this life and the next.

The parable tells us of those who were too busy to come, a clear reference to the Jewish people of Jesus time who chose not to accept him. He then went to the Gentiles, to those who were not Jewish and were not the chosen people. Many of them understood the king and accepted the invitation, knowing the love and commitment that was required. The wedding garment signifies the love. St Augustine, writing in 400, says   Listen to him: If I give away all I have to the poor, if I hand over my body to be burnt, but have no love, it will avail me nothing. So this is what the wedding garment is. Examine yourselves to see whether you possess it. If you do, your place at the Lord’s Table is secure. (Sermon 90,5-6)

Augustine wrote at a time of persecution, when faith was challenged and many fell away. Without love we cannot sustain our commitment to Christ and we fall, just like those who are described as without a wedding garment.

We come today because of our commitment and desire to deepen our love for Christ as guest as the banquet.

May God strengthen, sustain and guide us!

Homily 9^th October 2011, 28^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, OLQP Broome.

Blessing pets on St Francis of Assisi

Today the Christian Church remembers a remarkable person, Francis of Assisi. (1182-1226)

He was born in 1182 almost a thousand years ago in Italy. As a young man he sought adventure but also looked to the future. After an illness he underwent a change after a voice in a dream told him to ‘follow the master rather than the man’. He returned a changed man, and began to meditate and pray a great deal.

This conversion led Francis to share his family’s wealth with those less fortunate. Concerned about this, his Father took him to court in 1205, which led to that famous scene where Francis returned all his Father’s possessions to him, including his clothes, thereby renouncing his inheritance. Many people joined Francis, and they lived according to simple rules of poverty (not owning anything), and the teaching of the Church. He was one of the great originals, as he introduced a radical way of following Christ and depending entirely on others. This gave hope and strength to those on the edges of society.

Francis was a whole man. He wanted to be like Jesus Christ in every way, not to pick and choose what to believe or follow: every word had to be obeyed, every action tested to see if it conformed to God’s will.

Francis loved creation and lived very close to it.  He preached to the birds on number of occasions, and they listened, but to him this was less important than preaching to people to save them from their sins. He rescued lambs from slaughter, but this was less important than saving lepers from a rotting to death, unloved and uncared for. He tamed the wolf at Gubbio but was more concerned with people of the neighbouring towns who were fighting with each other.

We recall Francis’ love for all God’s creation was not just for the beauty of what he saw. He loved creation for two reasons:

God made it and therefore to was good

In creation one could see signs and learn about the creator.

Today we bless pets and remind ourselves of our God who gives great gifts to our world. He gives us the gift of companionship through our pets, who teach us to care and love even as they show us an aspect of the beauty of God’s creation.

Blessing of Pets, OLQP 4th October 2011, Feast of St Francis of Assisi.

Our Own Masters?

Each of us are aware of people who are completely full of themselves. They are so concerned about their own cares, their own ideas, their own thoughts, their own dreams and goals that there is no room for anyone or anything else. I am sure that as I am saying this, all of you here can think of someone who fits the bill, and we ourselves may have been or maybe still are that person.   If we are that person, or if we know that person, the characteristics are instantly recognisable: self-centredness, conceitedness, being always right, a disregard for others views or inspirations and many others. Sometimes this is hidden behind a stated desire for the independence of self or others, or maybe in terms of freedom fighting, but it is thinly veiled. However, probably the most insidious and damaging characteristic is that of self-sufficiency, to the detriment of community.

Traditional societies, such as aboriginal culture that we here in the Kimberley are so privileged to live in or near, values the community dimension of life. The major events, decisions, joys and pains of life are laid bare by individuals so that they are shared by the community. There is not one single person in control. This does not destroy the person, but reassures the individual that they are not alone.

On the other hand many modern societies like to emphasise the cult of the individual. In these societies, and we can count our own in this group, nothing is able to get in the way of the desire or aspiration of the individual. This can often lead, of course, to an exalted view of our own importance and a disordered understanding of the attainment of our own desires. Put simply, we are limited and finite beings, we are not capable of everything, and we are not our own gods and masters.

That is where our Gospel parable chimes in so eloquently. Israelite society was strictly organised but had God as its centre of its law. Over its history there had been times when they disregarded God’s place at the centre and as a result completely lost their way.  The greatest crime of the tenants was not to hold back the rent (this is not an economic parable), but to reject the place and their need for God claim for themselves something they had no right or capability to hold. They rejected the prophets (the messengers) and then God’s own Son, and then are not able to produce the fruits of the kingdom, as they have put themselves above it. I think that is where this parable challenges our society and the direction that it seems to be going at great speed.

Faith is the antidote to rampant individualism that sees oneself as the centre of the universe.

Any society that has put itself at the centre of the universe has ultimately fallen amid an avalanche of human rights violations and totalitarianism. The history of the twentieth century is littered with examples of violent atheistic regimes.

This is not the society envisaged by Jesus as he told this parable. It is not the society that the church strives to build on this earth to prepare for the perfect society in the next. Our task is to allow ourselves and others to recognise the place of Christ at the centre of our world, the fact that as individuals we cannot be and do everything, but as a group with Christ at our head we are able to achieve things of which we can hardly dream.

Homily OLQP Sunday 2nd October 2011, 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time