Communio . . .
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June 22, 2008
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To strengthen our shared life in Christ
through mutual participation and the free exchange of ideas.
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Community of St. Malachi, 2459 Washington Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44113-2380. www.stmalachi.org
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Communio Archive
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Thoughts on Clustering and
the Eucharist
by Ellen McIntyre
(Ellen is a member of the Community of St. Malachi.)
For the last few weeks, my thoughts have frequently been
turning to two subjects,
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clustering (which may bring us pain, and the fact that with pain can come spiritual
growth)…and my deep conviction that Eucharist is central.
I am now attempting to put these thoughts on
paper. My belief is very strong in what we call the “Real Presence”…I
have no doubt that we receive Jesus, the Christ, whole and entire each
time we receive the Eucharist…but I have been coming to feel that we’ve
been too focused on Body/Blood and perhaps not conscious enough of
receiving the whole Presence of Jesus Who calls us to become what
(Who) we receive. I think we “let ourselves off the hook” so to
speak by teaching that “of course we can’t be really like Jesus,
because after all Jesus was God”. I am coming to see this as a “cop
out.”
I believe we are all called to be like Jesus, centered in God in a
deep prayer life yet continually reaching out to all of God’s
creation in loving, generous giving of ourselves and the gifts God has
given to us. This is how Jesus lived and how He calls all of us who
call ourselves Christian to live.
This brings me to the clustering process regarding pain and growth. I
have had my share of pain in my life as everyone does (I am quite
certain nobody gets to my age without having had some very painful
life experiences), but I have found that it was the painful and
difficult times in my life that drew me to become ever more centered
in God as that steady, loving Presence I can always count on. I have
learned the value and need for community through which God supports
each of us and teaches us to support one another. That is truly what I
have found in CSM, a people who try to live the Way of Jesus, centered
in God and Eucharist but reaching out in ministry, particularly to
those most marginalized or in need. So where does that leave us in
clustering??...I don’t know. I can only say that…
This is Church to me…you people are Church to me.
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Bishop Geoffrey Robinson Addresses Cleveland
by Fran De Chant
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(Fran is a member of the Community of St. Malachi and on the Program Committee
for FutureChurch.)
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His stance erect, voice clear and strong,
the Bishop addressed a near capacity gathering in the River’s Edge Worship
Space. June 5, 2008 was midway through a grueling North American tour, yet
Bishop Geoffrey Robinson, retired Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of
Sydney, Australia, gave a commanding presentation. He guided an attentive
audience through critical issues around power and sex in the Catholic Church,
tracing the map laid out in his recently released book, Confronting Power and
Sex in the Catholic Church: Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus.
Robinson’s book came out of his experiences as co-chair of the committee that
coordinated the Catholic Church in Australia’s response to the unfolding
revelation of sexual abuse by clergy. In that capacity he met and
interviewed hundreds of victims of clergy sexual abuse. “It was an
experience that changed me. I couldn’t go back to being the person I
was,” Robinson recollects.
“What allowed good and decent people to act in this way?” Bishop
Robinson identifies three immediate causes. He lists under the heading of
“Unhealthy”, a psychology, ideas and living conditions--all unhealthy, that
form a murky underworld we have participated in simply by belonging to the
institutional Catholic Church. Robinson uses as an example the flawed
concept of clergy on a pedestal. That idea, entrenched and exaggerated,
led certain clergymen to view themselves as not subject to the same rules as
others. The necessity of appearing to be perfect, at all costs and in
disregard of those victimized, set a false standard within the Church. The
ultimate result has been abuse and cover up.
Bishop Robinson turned his attention to the plight of his fellow bishops.
At ordination, a special oath of loyalty to the Pope is required of every
bishop. This places all bishops under severe pressure to protect the
Church at all costs and in all circumstances. “Does this put bishops on
an extraordinarily short leash? Yes, like about one-half an inch!”
When Pope John Paul chose to ignore two high profile cases of sex abuse that had
reached his desk, he sent an unfortunate signal to the hierarchy
worldwide. No response equated to no leadership. Tragically, a
momentous opportunity was missed. Instead of honest acknowledgment and a
comprehensive effort to halt wrongdoing and to treat victims justly and with
compassion, lack of leadership allowed the festering mess we all know to remain
and grow.
Bishop Robinson cited the Song of Songs as example from Hebrew Scriptures
of exalted sexual love. In place of the Judaic tradition of embodiment,
the Catholic Church absorbed into its morality the purity and property
regulations that controlled women in early societies under the domination of
men. Jesus changed all that by teaching that a man could be guilty of
committing adultery against his wife, a revolutionary challenge to the existing
ethic. But in abolishing an old set of laws, Jesus did not establish a new
explicit morality. What he did set forth by his words and his life is the
law of love. The Catholic Church still retains a moral theology in regard
to sex based on an ancient, oppressive code. Bishop Robinson proposes a
new morality of sexuality to replace it. Following Jesus, that will be a
morality of genuine love, one for the other.
How do we bring about necessary changes? “We must be the change we wish
to see in the world,” observed Robinson as he introduced ways to spur Church
reformation. First and most difficult will be making a substantial shift
in the culture of the Church. After two thousand years developing and
inhabiting the present clerical and ecclesiastic culture, reform will indeed be
a formidable challenge. Bishop Robinson sees hope in the fact that
embarrassment and discrediting done to the bishops by the sexual abuse scandal
has shaken them out of their complacency. Now as never before the ground
is fertile for real change.
An important lesson learned in Boston following the eruption of widespread
sexual abuse of minors and cover up by the bishops is that confrontation must
lead to conversation if ever we are to change. Further, the conversation
we are to have must include all members of the Church, lay as well as
ordained. The Pope must take a position of active leadership in
reform. Absence of papal direction early on proved costly to the entire
Church. The sexual abuse scandal has infused the energy for reform.
Now, with the grace and the will to move forward we can echo the timeless words
of John Henry Cardinal Newman:
Nothing on earth so ugly as the Catholic Church
Nothing on earth so beautiful as the Catholic Church.
Working together, the lay and the ordained, we can resurrect that beautiful
Catholic Church. In the hopeful words of Bishop Robinson, we can have “a
new Church for a new millennium.”
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Women Leaders in the Early Church
by Helen Brinich
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(Helen is a member of the Community
of St. Malachi.)
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St. Malachi is privileged to have as a member Sr. Chris Schenk, Executive
Director of FutureChurch. On Sat., May 24 she presented a Day of
Reflection with Women Leaders in the Early Church. We who attended
were inspired and encouraged by her instruction and the dialogue which was a
part of it.
The role of women in the early Church is well documented in the New
Testament. In his gospel, Mark mentions the women who accompanied Jesus
around Galilee. All four gospels witness to the important role of Mary
Magdalene. It wasn't until the 6th century that she became a
prostitute. There is nothing in the Gospels that suggest that this was
ever the case. It was women who stuck with Jesus during his passion and
crucifixion and who witnessed his resurrection. It was Mary, his
mother, who taught him.
Since history is written by men, it is necessary to read between the lines to
get a true picture. At the time of Jesus' life and ministry it was
accepted that women were inferior to men. It was the culture. In
spite of this, Jesus included women in his discipleship as much as would have
been possible at the time.
In his epistles Paul mentions many women who were active as ministers and
missionaries. He mentions Phoebe of Cenacae who was a deacon.
Prisca is cited 6 times as doing important missionary work. Women
presided at the Eucharist when it was celebrated in house churches during
the early years of persecution. The catacombs have frescoes which
depict men and women performing the same functions. Friezes on ancient
sarcophagi show women preaching the gospel.
Today, the mention of women in the New Testament has largely been removed from
the lectionary. Even Mary's beautiful and eloquent "Magnificat"
(My soul does magnify the Lord) is never read on Sundays. Women should be
restored to the lectionary. It needs to be recognized that women leaders
experienced God's call in the early Church. This fact should be received
with discernment not with dismay and panic.
Women have always found ways to fulfill their call. They had to fight
their way out of the cloister to found religious communities on behalf of the
poor. They succeeded in founding hospitals and schools which served the
needs of the people. They have been capable administrators and organizers,
but have seldom been recognized for their gifts. There has never been
as great a need for women's contributions to the life of the Catholic Church as
there is today. They are ready, willing and able.
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A Response to “Regarding Celibacy”
by David L. Alexander
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(David is from Arlington, Virginia
and is a regular Communio reader. David can be contacted at manwithblackhat@yahoo.com.
The following is a response to Bill Schubmehl’s comments on celibacy in the
April issue.)
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Mr Schubmehl asks: "Regarding celibacy, how does anyone who claims that
celibacy is important to the practice of the priesthood explain that the first
Pope had a mother-in-law?"
Want an answer to that?
The same Gospels that mention Peter's mother-in-law refer to him having left his
family behind to follow Christ.
Celibacy in the priesthood dates to apostolic times, when men were to give up
the joys of marriage for the sake of the Kingdom. Husbands and wives would agree
to live apart upon his ordination, the wife often joining the order of
deaconesses and performing charitable works. The first conciliar mention of a
celibacy requirement was the Council of Elvira in 308. (That's right; the fourth
century, not the twelfth.) But it would have already been understood by then.
The practice of priestly celibacy was more strictly followed in the West than in
the East. In the East, a married priest would refrain from relations with his
wife the night before offering sacrifice. It was considered just as much a form
of fasting as refraining from eating. For this reason, the Eastern churches to
this day do not have a regular practice of "daily Mass" in parish
churches.
In conclusion, yes, there was a married priesthood in the early Church, and yes,
it is possible to have one now. Assuming we are willing to support a priest and
his family, and assuming a man can perform his ministry without harm to his
marriage -- experience with other Confessions has shown that either one or the
other suffers -- it is important to look at the whole context of history, as
opposed to just citing the parts that suit us.
It is also important to allow for intellectual honesty in a forum such as this,
when challenges to Church teaching and/or practice are made. If for no other
reason, people have a right to know just what it is to which they are taking
exception.
That's the short answer. There are several books that give a longer one.
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A Day for St. Malachi Women
by Fran De Chant
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(Fran is a member of the Community
of St. Malachi.)
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Lively conversation rose on all sides of a long table pulled together in the
School Hall. Seventeen participants shared lunch on May 24 and spoke with
anticipation of their day, an afternoon dedicated to retreat and
reflection. Sister Chris Schenk led introductions around the
table. Then each woman voiced her hope, a little of what she expected to
find in an event for St. Malachi women entitled Women Officeholders in the
Early Church: A Retreat and Reflection Day.
We settled in a close group in the church pews. Chris began by presenting
and discussing the women in Scripture whose stories weave into the New Testament
narrative. These are women whose lives we know from the Bible and from
liturgy , although their impact is sometimes abridged or even eliminated in
readings selected for the three cycles of Sunday liturgies. Chris showed
photos of various sculptures of the woman who suffered from a flow of blood and
who crept up to Jesus to be healed. Hers is the image that adorned the
tombs of many early Christian women; her many representations led us to
appreciate this unknown woman in a new way. We felt this needy woman’s
distress and witnessed her courage as those first Christians who honored her
did. We considered other women who encountered Jesus, like the Samaritan
woman at the well. She was a strong woman, as was Mary from Magdala,
who was given her own name and title in the writing of the Gospels. From
the Gospels we also learned of gifted women St. Paul named in his
ministry.
“If these women leaders were living today, what would they have to share with
you as you struggle to witness to Jesus’ Good News in our world and in our
Church?” We shared our own stories in answer to this question.
Jesus, by his unconditional acceptance of women, empowers us in our day to trust
in our own insights, our evaluation of situations and judgment of actions that
need to be taken. Confusing to us is our Church’s reluctance to offer us
equality in leadership. From our group came suggestions of incremental
steps in recognizing women’s talents that we are ready for and that we feel
our Church should be prepared to take.
Photographs taken of women’s burial sites in the catacombs taken by Chris
showed us the major part they played in the rapid spread of the Christian
faith. New discovery and interpretation shows how prominent they were in
rites of table celebration. Unmistakably these women devoted themselves
and their resources to a faith that totally encompassed their lives. In
our time we experience great freedom in choosing causes and missions that excite
and challenge us. We stand on the shoulders of many strong, wonderful
women. We follow a great tradition of sisterhood in faith as we make
choices and take our places as women of the word.
Our afternoon of reflection concluded with a Prayer Service for Anonymous
Women. In a haunting chant, the legions of nameless women who have
given of themselves to make the world a better place were remembered with our
thanks and our love.
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Community of St. Malachi, 2459 Washington Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44113-2380
216-781-3110 www.stmalachi.org
Sunday Community Mass 11 a.m. Parish Masses Sat. 4:30 p.m., Sun. 9:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m.
Holy day: Vigil 5:30 p.m., 7 a.m., noon. Weekday: 7 a.m., noon. Legal Holiday: 9 a.m.
We celebrate Children’s Liturgy of The Word every other Sunday, please see the Calendar.
For information on the Sacraments, please call the Community Office.
THE COMMUNITY OF ST. MALACHI is a lay-directed, non-territorial personal parish of the Diocese of Cleveland. Although separate from the Parish of St. Malachi, we join together for many worthwhile activities. All are welcome to worship at the 11 a.m. Community liturgy on Sunday. Community members are expected to actively contribute of their time, talent and treasure.
Communio is a monthly publication of the Communications Committee of the Community of St. Malachi. Deadline is the second Sunday before publication. You ease our task by submitting materials by E-Mail or on disk. All viewpoints of interest to our Community in the context of our journey of faith are welcome
here. Viewpoints are those of the writers and not necessarily the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.
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complete the Newsletter/Communio Add/Removal Request Form
© 2007 Community of St. Malachi. Reprinting of articles originating in Communio is encouraged – please contact the Editors for permission.
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Communio
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E-mail joe_pulizzi@yahoo.com
Volunteers to collate and staple:
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