28 March: Lenten Pilgrimage XXI, Don’t drag it!

Two elderly sisters living out their days together after a life of service. They were both compromised physically, but were still managing to stay in their old home. Like the religious sisters we met yesterday, their Christian vocation did not end with retirement, pooling their capabilities to make sure the household still functioned. Although they could not get to church or the shops any more, they could offer the traditional cup of tea to a visitor, and they could still enjoy a good chat.

On this occasion the visitor was the parish priest, and after their short Communion Service, as he nibbled his ginger nut the conversation turned to the parish finances, which were not very healthy. Father went on at some length and in some detail, a worried man. But there was precious little his audience could do to help him.

At length one of the sisters piped up prophetically: ‘Father dear, stop dragging your cross, pick it up and get on with carrying it!’

Perhaps, like this good priest, we need a chance to let off steam but we also need someone to challenge us to be true to ourselves and the sometimes discouraging duties of our vocation. This Holy Week, let us pray to see our cross, indeed all our problems, in the perspective of the Cross of Jesus.

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22 March, Lenten Pilgrimage XVI: lead us to the fullness of life

Once again we gladly share some wise reflections from Canon Anthony Charlton, parish priest of Saint Thomas, Canterbury. Thank you Father Anthony! Something to think about on our Lenten Pilgrimage.

At the end of his teaching on the beatitudes, Raniero Cantalamessa OFM CAP says, “The best way to take the Gospel beatitudes seriously is to use them as a mirror for an examination of conscience that is truly ‘evangelical’”.

Here are some questions that can help;

Is my deepest desire for God or for passing things that only bring temporary comfort?
Do I depend on good feelings, or do I accept that doing God’s will sometimes involves the acceptance of enormous pain?
Am I seduced by power, or am I prepared to allow God’s power to reign in me?
Do I strive for holiness, or am I, at times, satisfied with mediocrity and lukewarmness?
When a brother, a sister, or a co-worker demonstrates a fault, do I react with judgement or mercy?
Are my intentions pure? Do I say yes and no as Jesus did? The clearest opposite of purity of heart is hypocrisy. Whom do I seek to please by my actions: God or other people?
Am I addicted to the approval of others?
Am I a peacemaker? Do I bring peace to different sides? How do I behave when there are conflicts of opinion or conflicts of interest?
Is the peace of God in my heart, and if not, why not?
Am I ready to suffer in silence for the gospel? How do I react when facing a wrong or an injury I received?

When we read or listen to the Beatitudes, we have a portrait of Jesus himself. He gives us these beatitudes as a way of true happiness that will lead us to the fullness of life.

1 March: The Open-handed Missionary VII

Yesterday we read how Cardinal Bawoobr said that sometimes ‘we get so caught up with a particular culture at a certain point in its evolution that we stay there and are not even aware of the fact that it is dynamic and evolving or that some elements need evangelisation.’ It’s a challenge for the Church wherever she finds herself.A challenge for apostles in Kent today, as it was for Augustine of Canterbury in 597 – witness his letters to Gregory recorded by Bede – and as it has always been for Bawoobr’s confreres. Being an African from Ghana did not make it easy for him to work thousands of miles away in Tanzania.

The Love of God and the love of neighbour come from the same source: we are challenged to approach our neighbour as poor and open-handed as when we approach the Lord. When Jesus tells us that ‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord”, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only one who does the will of my Father in heaven’, (Matt 7:21) it is in the context of candidates standing before the judgement seat, boasting: ‘did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’, and claiming to have the glamorous gifts.

When it comes to Judgement, Metz reminds us, those are not the things that God will be looking at. He empties himself of his rights as creator, and will judge us on how we demonstrate his power, but on how we love our sisters and brothers:

“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.” (Matt 25 34-40)

It’s Saint David’s Feast Day, and I cannot resist calling on Dylan Thomas in this context: we are called to love, not to be Pelagians, like Mrs Ogmore Pritchard, in Under Milk Wood with our hearts full of ‘tasks in order’ for ourselves or others, trying to tame God to fit our lust for domination of a world we convince ourselves we can control: ‘I must put my pyjamas in the drawer marked pyjamas, I must take my cold bath which is good for me’. Dylan has Mrs Ogmore Pritchard admonish: ‘before you let the sun in, mind it wipes its shoes.’ Deeds of control, of power and facile false prophecy are no substitute for straightforward care of our neighbour; that is love, that is evangelisation, that is open-handed evangelisation.

The challenge this Lent as always, is to deepen our awareness of this. It is good to remember that this is what we are made for as humans. We ought to be grateful that what is instinctive in the little girl with the rag doll or the young mother who ceases her self-harm, has been revealed to us in all its glory by Christ, the sun who stands at the door and knocks, the man who shows us his open, wounded hands and side, who asks, do you love me, and commissions us: feed my lambs, feed my sheep.

February 12: In a quiet corner.

If only there were windows in hospital waiting rooms!

They came slowly along the hospital corridor; she leaning on his arm and balancing the rest of her tiny weight on a sturdy  surgical walking stick. At the door to the treatment room they said goodbye and he sat opposite us in the waiting room. A conversation sprang up, helped, perhaps, by our being in a quiet corner.

As he talked to us with the gentle old local accent, he was arranging the things his wife of fifty years would need on her return: shoes, a sip of water, coat and scarf. Ever alert, he went to meet her as the treatment room door opened, and brought her to her seat, helping her to sit down, bending to change her slipper socks for outdoor shoes, making sure she was comfortable. It was her turn to join the conversation.

‘Just chit chat,’ said Mrs T later, ‘but chit chat can be important.’

Indeed. We did not consciously avoid discussing cancer, but talk of the journey home, of the imminent end of her treatment and her husband’s long daily walks took us out of the windowless, plastic-walled waiting room to the world outside. And beyond.

‘Someone above is looking after us through all this’, she said.

Someone down below was the means of that happening for her, and it was beautiful to see. Only later did I realise it was Epiphany, God made manifest. And someone down below was there in that sunless spot for me, as she ever is, in sickness and in health.

Stella Maris supporting seafarers in Ukraine

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Source: ACN via Independent Catholic News

Global maritime charity Stella Maris has announced that it has resumed regular ship visits in the port of Odesa in war-torn Ukraine, after almost a year of not being able to do so due to security and safety concerns.

On Tuesday, 24th January, the charity’s port chaplain Fr Alexander Smerechynskyy, and assistant chaplain Rostyslav Inzhestoikov, were granted special permission to go on board ships. With a military escort at all times, they were able to pay very welcome visits to seafarers who have been alone on their vessels in Odesa for many long months.

“Rostik and I are delighted that Stella Maris has been granted permission to visit ships once again in the port of Odesa,” said Fr Alexander.

Stella Maris is physically present and actively working in Ukraine to support seafarers and their families.

During the months that they were not allowed to visit ships, Fr Alex and Rostik have been supporting seafarers in many other ways, including ensuring the delivery of food parcels to seafarers trapped on ships in the Black Sea. They have been providing spiritual and pastoral support remotely to Ukrainian seafarers on ships around the world through messages broadcast via social media.

Through Stella Maris’ Centenary Emergency Fund, Fr Alex and Rostik have also been providing tens of thousands of pounds in urgent life-saving grants to hundreds of Ukrainian seafarers and their families in need of immediate assistance as a result of the war.

They also ran a soup kitchen to help families of seafarers in Odesa and helped organise safe places of refuge for Ukrainian seafarers finishing contracts overseas and their families fleeing the country.

Late last year Stella Maris launched a psychological support service for seafarers and their families in Ukraine. The programme provides medium to long-term support from professional psychologists in Ukraine, and delivers remote, ongoing psychological support for those most in need.

Stella Maris is the world’s largest ship-visiting network. The importance of a personal visit from the charity’s chaplains and volunteers, and the impact of the human touch on seafarers’ mental health and wellbeing cannot be over-estimated.

Seafarers, especially those working in conditions of heightened anxiety and stress, appreciate seeing a friendly face, ready to offer support and a listening ear. It reminds seafarers that they are not forgotten amid the horrors of the war

90% of world trade is transported by ship. However, the life of a seafarer can be dangerous and lonely. Seafarers may spend up to a year at a time away from home, separated from their families and loved ones, often working in harsh conditions.

Stella Maris’ chaplains and ship visitors provide seafarers and fishers with pastoral and practical support, information and a listening ear.

For more information visit: www.stellamaris.org.uk

Facebook: www.facebook.com/StellaMarisOrg

Twitter: @StellaMarisOrg

Instagram: www.instagram.com/stellamaris_uk/

23 January: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, VI.

Photo: Mazur/cbcew.org.uk

As we join with other Christians around the world for the Week of Prayer we pray that our hearts will be open to see and hear the many ways in which racism continues to destroy lives, and to discern the steps we can take as individuals and communities to heal the hurts and build a better future for everyone.

Day 6 Walking humbly in the way

Micah 6:6-8
Philippians 2:5-11

Commentary

Scripture reminds us that we cannot separate our love for God from our love for others. We love God when we feed the hungry, give the thirsty something to drink, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the sick and visit the prisoner. When we care for and serve “one of the least of these,” we are caring for and serving Christ himself.

But we are called to go beyond giving or serving from a position of power, where we maintain our status above the person to whom we are ministering. How are we to emulate Jesus who, though he was Lord of all, became truly the servant of all? What is power, and how are we to use it and to share it in the work of God?

God calls us to honour the sacredness and dignity of each member of God’s family. Caring for, serving and loving others reveals not who they are, but who we are. As Christians, we must be unified in our responsibility to love and care for others, as we are cared for and loved by God. In so doing, we live out our shared faith through our actions in service to the world and we find our true calling as servants of the Servant King.

Reflection

Yours are the power and the glory. 
Yet we see your greatest greatness when you stoop to serve. 
Creator, give us the power to be powerless 
and bestow on us the dignity
of the servant rich in love.

Prayer

Lord of the power and the glory, 
you became for us the servant of all. 
Show us the power and the glory of servanthood
and enable us to minister to your world
according to its needs and our abilities.

Questions

Where in your personal life could you bring blessing by yielding power?

How could the churches in your community share power to become more effective in service?

Caritas Newsletter, December 2022

CSAN Newsletter Advent 2022 Advent is a continuous call to hope: It reminds us that God is present in history to lead it to its ultimate goal and to its fullness, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. – Pope Francis Welcome from the CEO Welcome to the re-launched CSAN newsletter. To all our subscribers, thank you for your patience. It has been a time of transition in the team, but we’re now good to go again and we’re hoping to bring you a newsletter at least quarterly. Your feedback is always welcome. If you have any suggestions for the newsletter, or stories of social action in the Catholic community you think we should feature, please email us at admin@csan.org.uk with Newsletter in the subject box. We are now in the season of Advent, the season of hope. It can be difficult in the face of hardship and struggle to believe in hope. It can sound like a pious cliché, if it is only some vague aspiration that somehow things will get better. Christian hope is rooted in the reality of the Incarnation, the Word of God made flesh in the poverty of a manger in Bethlehem. Our hope is in the Good News of Jesus, a vision for a new way of being human and belonging, a vision of a kingdom of love, justice and peace. As Christians we don’t just sit around waiting for that to happen. We are part of making it happen. We are ambassadors for that Good News. May God bless all your work for the kingdom this Advent. You will find more information and resources on the season on Advent at the Bishops’ Conference website: https://www.cbcew.org.uk/advent/ Raymond Friel Cost of Living Crisis What has been exposed by the pandemic and the cost of living crisis is what was there all along, hidden in plain sight. Vast inequality between the most wealthy and the poorest, public services in a state of collapse after years of underinvestment (despite the brief springtime of appreciation during lockdown), millions of people living in poverty and isolation. We were not in a strong position when the situation worsened. We can see this all too clearly now as the UK is the slowest of the developed countries to recover from the pandemic. Our member charities know this reality. They work on the front line of disadvantage every day and report steeply rising levels of need for the basics of life, as well as more and more need for mental health support. So what can we do, what should we do? Christians have always responded to need, since the very first days of the Church. People in parishes all over England and Wales are mobilising to meet the humanitarian crisis in our country. Our charities are always looking for volunteers. If you’d like to find out more about the inspiring range of work they do, please visit our website:  https://www.csan.org.uk/member/. A major part of our work in the coming months will be sharing stories form our members, case studies of the work they do and the impact they have. We will feature testimonies from volunteers and project workers as well as the voices of lived  experience, glimpses into the reality of what it is like to live without access to the basics for a dignified life. The Catholic tradition has always insisted on justice as well as charity. In September of this year, the Bishops’ Conference Department for Social Justice published a Briefing Paper on the cost of living crisis. The paper included specific ‘asks’ of the government. You can read the full paper here: https://www.cbcew.org.uk/briefing-cost-of-living-crisis/. In our Cost of Living campaign we invite the Catholic community to write to their MPs with a version of these ‘asks’ modified in the light of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on 17 November. You will find more about how to get involved in our campaign here: https://www.csan.org.uk/cost-of-living-crisis/. Homes for Ukraine The other major initiative we are involved in this winter is the Homes for Ukraine matching service. This is a partnership between CSAN member St John of God Hospitaller Services and CSAN. The service brings together those in this country who are willing to host and those Ukrainian families who are looking for a home to live in, having been displaced by the brutal war in their homeland. Not everyone at this difficult time will have the means to host a visiting family, but for those who do, we would urge you to consider this opportunity to put faith into action by welcoming the stranger. You will find more information about the service here: https://sjog-homesforukraine.uk/ Aspiring Leaders’ Conference In June of this year, the first cohort of CSAN’s new ‘Aspiring Leaders’ programme gathered at the Royal Foundation of St Katharine’s in London for their first residential. The programme is designed for those who aspire to a leadership role in a Catholic setting. There were twenty participants in total drawn from a range of CSAN member organisations, and one participant from Caritas Europa. They were supported in learning groups by four facilitators, all experienced CEOs and Directors from the CSAN network.   Read More Clifton Diocese joins the Network Clifton Diocese is the Catholic diocese covering the West of England and includes the City and County of Bristol, the counties of Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire and Bath and Northeast Somerset.We spoke with Jason Charewicz, Caritas and Environmental Officer to find out more about their work. Read More Caritas Salford on the Cost of Living Crisis Find out about what Caritas Salford are observing and how they are responding to the situation in the Northwest of England, including details on their #BeeThere campaign this Advent. Caritas Salford is seeing significantly increased demand for support across its services, as it responds to people facing acute crisis this winter. Read More Pact wins new contracts Pact is a national Catholic charity that supports prisoners, people with convictions, and their children and families, by providing caring and life-changing services at every stage of the criminal justice process: in court, in prison, on release, and in the community.  Read More Don’t underestimate the long-term impact of the war in Ukraine, says Bishop Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski, Bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Family of London, talks about the devastating impact of the war but also the solidarity and welcome many people have shown throughout our lands to Ukrainians fleeing the war.  Bishop prays for the 27 migrants who perished in the English Channel a year ago It’s a year since the tragic deaths of 27 migrants in the English Channel – the worst-ever migrant tragedy in that body of water. Bishop Paul McAleenan has offered his prayers for the victims and their families, stressing that we have a “collective responsibility” to uphold the human dignity of migrants and refugees. 03 December 2022 International Day of Persons with Disabilities 10 December 2022 Human Rights Day, the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 20 December 2022 International Human Solidarity Day 28 December 2022 Feast of the Holy Innocents 01 January 2023 World Day of Peace 08 February 2023 Feast day of St Josephine Bakhita, World Day of Prayer, Reflection and Action Against Human Trafficking.  2022 Caritas Social Action Network. All rights reserved. Address: Romero House, 55 Westminster Bridge Road, London, SE1 7JB Website: www.csan.org.uk Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. Please feel free to share this newsletter with your family and friends and tell them to get in touch with us at admin@csan.org.uk if they would like to be on our email list. Thank you for your ongoing support.

30 July: Table talk

Everything stops for tea.

The elderly lady that Arthur and I garden for now lives alone in the house that was her bed and breakfast business. She constantly gave of herself to her family and guests with beautiful food, but now relies on carers to put her meals on the table, because sometimes she forgets important things like eating.

Today we were talking about this experience of giving back to God some of our faculties in old age and being cared for. ‘That is true,’ she said, ‘but we can still sit around the table and enjoy a cup of tea and good company. That is good, thank you for coming to see me.’

16 July: My Vocation today XIX, welcome!

Pope Francis has been proclaiming the important place of old people. The wisdom of his teaching has come home to me – quite literally – recently.

Home. My mother is in her nineties and lives some distance away from us in Canterbury. During the pandemic we did not visit, and local visitors were talking to her from the back door, so it was good for both sides when Mrs T came with me to see her. ‘You will be fed!’ she said, and we were, though she takes a labour-saving approach to shopping and cooking: on-line orders and prepared vegetables. And of course there were conversations until late. Setting the world to rights.

Back to Kent and time to do Mrs E’s garden. Mrs E used to run a guest house, a B&B before Air BnB. It was a true vocation, making strangers welcome. Now widowed, she lives with dementia, is often confused, but always brings me a cup of tea during the morning. Her instinct for hospitality remains strong! So far she remains in her home, with the help of carers, and is able to welcome friends for tea and biscuits.

I used to visit a convent to see one of the sisters on church business, but the sister who answered the door would always raise my spirits. The first time we met she told me, ‘Mostly we look after old people here.’ This from an old lady, walking with two sticks, and bent double. Making the stranger welcome is one of the seven works of mercy, and so is visiting the infirm. One good turn generates another in a virtuous circle.

How can I make someone welcome this week? Who might like a visit from me?

Here is a link to the US Bishops’ interesting reflections on the works of mercy.

July 10: Good Samaritan Sisters unite!

Sisters of the Good Samaritan, Uganda, in 2021 at the construction site for the dispensary they are establishing (Courtesy of Sisters of the Good Samaritan, Uganda)

Veronica McCluskie wrote this story for Global Sisters Report; click on her link to read the full account.

Sister Veronica is an Australian Sister of the Good Samaritan founded in Australia in 1857. In 2019 her leader, Sr. Patty Fawkner, was attending a meeting of the International Union of Superiors General, where she met Sr. John Evangelist Mugisha from Uganda leader of the Good Samaritan Sisters, founded in 1978, in Uganda. Both were founded by bishops concerned about people at the margins and founded congregations of women to meet the needs of their time. Both chose the good Samaritan to be the model. Read the full, inspiring story from Sr Veronica’s link above. It made me smile; I hope it does that for you!

Will T.