The Catholic Leader - July 2

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The Catholic Leader, July 2, 2017
Conversations
Clear teaching
THE June 18 The Catholic
Leader carried a commen-
tary by Capuchin Father
Raniero Cantalamessa on the
Gospel of the liturgy of the
Feast of Corpus Christi.
Corpus Christi is the first
feast whose object is not an
event in the life of Christ but a truth of faith – his
real presence in the Eucharist.
It was so good.
I thank you for this special item in what has
become rare in Catholic newspapers; that is,
faith-filled and inspiring teaching on the Catholic
faith.
A salient statement in the column should cause
all who read it to pause and contemplate – “if
there is a danger that believers face at present in
regard to the Eucharist it is to trivialise it”.
Sunday sermons used to take an article of faith
and explain and reinforce the teaching.
Now one gets the impression that the priests
are restricted to the Gospel of the day and resort
to some source which gives them stereotyped
presentations which seem to lack inspirations,
with few exceptions.
Being still
BISHOP Robert Barron
sounded us out by alleging
excessive noise in the liturgy
(Your Daily Bread, CL,
25/6/17).
Liturgy (Greek: “service
in public sphere”) is a public
and communal expression
of our worship of God and
God’s truth working on us. Psalm 46(10) says:
“... be still and know I am God”.
That “stillness” refers to re-direction, not mere
silence.
The Septuagintal Greek word gave us “scho-
lastic” as it was “leisure” time away from usual
pre-occupations – what we moderns call “chill-
out” time.
It is the time in which we step back, re-learn,
recognise and celebrate in the truth.
Liturgy is neither a frenzied unity nor a silent
acquiescence.
Liturgy both ceases us being distracted from
God and leads us to experience God in His truth.
Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Emeritus Benedict
XVI) said in 1985: “To enter into the Eucharist
in its deepest significance means to enter into
this exchange of wills.”
Call for sensible
regulations
I REFER to the question
“To mine or not to mine?”
(CL 18/6/17, page 9).
Did not our Creator put
“things” in the earth he cre-
ated for man to find and use?
True, man sometimes
misuses such discoveries,
but this should not prevent their use for the
betterment of our living – it is up to us, through
sensible regulations, to use them as obviously
intended.
Funding concerns
SPOTTING the education
funding con on Catholic
parents in Simon Birming-
ham’s rushed legislation,
Liberal Senator Chris Back
(CL, 25/6/17) vainly called
on the Federal Education
Minister to go back to the
drawing board.
A $50 million “concessional” transitional
package in 2018 to the National Catholic Educa-
tion Commission (NCEC) won’t pacify the
anger of the Catholic education sector.
The Federal Government should hold discus-
sions with the NCEC to re-calculate a proper
needs-based funding model for Catholic schools.
The thousands of families that make the
choice for Catholic education won’t wear the
2017 version.
It will be at the Government’s electoral peril
if it ignores the funding concerns of the Catholic
sector.
Have your Say
Post: GPO Box 282,
Brisbane, QLD 4001
FAX: 07 3236 4897 @
The views expressed in the Letters to the Editor
are not necessarily endorsed by and do not neces-
sarily represent the views of The Catholic Leader
or the Archdiocese of Brisbane. Letters are sub-
mitted on the condition The Catholic Leader may
edit them in a manner which meets publication and
style requirements.
Kenneth
Thomas
Mount Mee,
Qld
Vince Hodge
Paddington,
Qld
Dr Luke
McLindon
Oxley, Qld
Des Lavey
Riverhills, Qld
Brian
Gibbon
Pialba, Qld
Retweet Australians react to the recent release of information
from the 2016 Census. Prayer List
chelsea bond jo mcmanus tim denney ash ghebranious
#Census results reveal
neither Australian parliament
or Australian television actually
reflect the people they claim to
represent ...
One in five from China, India
http://The changing face of
Straya #census
1 in 6 people being over 65
is not an indication of Austral-
ians living longer. It’s an indica-
tion of a low birth rate. #auspol
#census
#Australia #Census – 20%
of migrants now from China &
India. 49.3% of pop are first or
second-generation residents.
This month
pope’s intentions
Lapsed Christians – That our broth-
ers and sisters who have strayed from
the faith, through our prayer and witness
to the Gospel, may rediscover the merci-
ful closeness of the Lord and the beauty
of the Christian life.
This week
Lebanon – Lebanese Cardinal Bechara
Rai consecrated Lebanon and all the
Middle East to Mary in Fatima, praying for
peace and stability.
China – The Vatican has expressed
“grave concern” over the situation of a
bishop in mainland China who has been
in government custody for almost 10
months and moved repeatedly in an
apparent attempt to prevent him from as-
suming leadership of his diocese.
South Sudan – As millions of people
face hunger, rebels fighting the South
Sudan government in the southern parts
of the country are recruiting fighters from
among refugees in camps in northern
Uganda.
Yemen – The United Nations has
warned Yemen is facing the worst chol-
era outbreak in the world, with suspected
cases exceeding 200,000 and the num-
ber increasing at an average of 5000 a
day.
Bernice
Sellars
Bowen, Qld
No-name letters
THE Catholic Leader reminds writers to Have
Your Say that letters should carry a name,
address and contact telephone number.
We receive many letters from anonymous
writers requesting publication. Without your
name and contact details this is not possible.
We will not usually publish a letter that has
already appeared in another newspaper,
neither will we normally publish anything
which is more than 400 words.
We routinely edit contributions for defa-
mation, grammar, prolixity, coherence and
style.
In the past, culture regularly conformed people
to silence in public functions.
The post-conciliar Church recognised that
what is debilitating for an older person is inform-
ing for a young person; that older people respond
to classical forms which are deadening for
younger people; in-between there are a myriad
of postures.
Truth manifests itself multiculturally.
Noise to one is meaningful sound to another.
Loudness is not the necessary opposite of rev-
erence; silence may manifest fear or ignorance
and not the necessary image of an attentiveness.
Ninety per cent of the vocalisations (includ-
ing multiple ad-lib asides and commentaries) are
expressed by the priest or within impenetrable
prayers (Gloria, Creed) but no mention is made
of these shortcomings. Young people and their
music rated a particularly low mark.
Why is a silent laity the only issue?
Whatever its exterior manifestation, liturgy
must be an effective sign of an interior stillness;
an openness to the movement of God within a
communal presence.
Health in Christ
THANKS for the story on
the good work Beth Burt,
midwife and leader, has done
(CL 25/6/17) over her years
at Mater Health, Brisbane.
The story allowed me to
“stand back” and appreci-
ate how blessed we are to
have a world-class Catholic health service on our
doorstep – a health service where all staff aim
and are encouraged to espouse the values Jesus
Christ displayed, all those years ago – regardless
of creed.
Christian values?
I AM disappointed with the
decision taken by the St Vin-
cent de Paul Society to allow
selected “Vinnies” stores to
trade on Sundays.
Many conference mem-
bers of the society were
outraged, having objected
strongly against such a move before the pro-
posed “trial” in Queensland was implemented.
The temptation to increase income seems to
have overshadowed the society’s adherence to
Christian values.
Two paragraphs contained in Section Three
of “The Catechism of the Catholic Church” are
worth a read.
2194. The institution of Sunday helps all to
be allowed sufficient rest and leisure to cultivate
their familial, cultural, social and religious lives.
2195. Every Christian should avoid making
unnecessary demands on others that would hin-
der them from observing the Lord’s Day.
It must also be mentioned that these Sunday
workers are unpaid.
Every
Christian
should avoid
making
unnecessary
demands on
others that would
hinder them from
observing the
Lord’s Day.