Caki, caki

Last Friday, friends (Jo & Cath) at St. Mary’s College Crosby, helped me organise  a coffee morning.  We were raising money  for Sr. Brigitte’s charity which will provide  safe refuge, education and care for girls living on the streets in Tanzania. (See 'Continuing Links')  Staff and 6^th formers gathered in the library at break time where tea, coffee and copious amounts of cake were served.   Everyone was extremely generous and we made £100 which is just great.  Many thanks to all who ate!  Only £1100 to go now...

Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman

Today Pope Benedict beatified Cardinal Newman.  While writing a short piece on Newman this week, I found myself particularly engaged with two aspects of his work.  Firstly his ‘Theology of Conscience’ which holds that while the individual’s conscience should be informed by papal authority it is the conscience itself that is primary.  I also admire Newman’s insistence that faith is a matter of both the head and the heart.  His works fused the objective and the subjective elements of faith, resulting in a dynamic theology and beautiful prayers, poetry and prose.   One of my favourites:

“God has created me to do Him some definite service; 

He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another.

I have my mission – I may never know it in this life but I shall be told it in the next...   

I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. 

He has not created me for naught.  

I shall do good, I shall do His work...  

Therefore I will trust Him.   

Whatever I am, I can never be thrown away.   

If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him.   

If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him.   

He does nothing in vain.  

He knows what He is about.   

He may take away my friends.   

He may throw me among strangers. 

He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me 

-- still He knows what He is about.”

Racial Justice Sunday

It’s two months since I left Tranzania and I am very much missing the place and the people – not to mention the sun!  I’ve started work as a Pastoral Assistant for the Parishes of St. Agnes and St. Aidan .  Not having my days dictated by timetables and bells is a little strange but I’m sure I’ll get used to it...  As part of the job, I’m writing a weekly reflection for the newsletter and I thought that as I’m also missing writing the blog a bit (and I notice that it is still getting occasional visitors), I’ll post some of the reflections.  

Sunday just gone was Racial Justice Sunday.  My six months in Tanzania gave me a little insight into  what it is like to be an ‘imigrant’, part of a minority.  I’m very aware though that my experience as a mzungo in Tanzania was overwhelmingly positive and that this is not always the case for imigrants and minority groups in the UK.  It was with a particular interest then that I perused the Racial Justice Sunday web site and  put together the reflection:

“Racial Justice Sunday offers us an opportunity to reflect on the fact that we are all members of the human family, bound together by our common humanity.  The theme this year is: ‘Migration - Building Bridges or Barriers?’

Part of our Christian heritage is the Biblical tradition of migration and the welcoming of strangers, particularly those who are vulnerable and in need.  It is not a new phenomenon and is an essential aspect of our mission and ministry.  Migration is also an integral part of British history and an important dimension of our current reality.  It continues to be a pressing social issue that touches deeply on human dignity.

The scriptures teach us that migration is also a theological event:  God’s covenant was revealed to the chosen people when they were in the process of migrating.  Jesus and his family were forced to become refugees in Egypt, to escape persecution.

Following the life and teachings of Jesus then, demands that we be prepared to follow his example; crossing borders of all kinds, to create a community of compassion and generosity reflective of God’s unlimited love for all people.

The parables in today’s Gospel present us with the image of a seeking, welcoming, loving and embracing God.  We are likewise encouraged to welcome the excluded, wounded, vulnerable and despairing.  Our relationship with God cannot be separated from our relationship with fellow human beings.   God calls us to ‘live fully’ and there is a joy in living lives geared towards wholeness and inclusion.” 

More information on Racial Justice Sunday can be found at: www.ctbi.org.uk/490