Download Catholic Outlook October 2011 in PDF format

8 CatholicOutlook October 2011BISHOP ANTHONY FISHER’S HOMILYSRE Mass for the Confraternity of Christian DoctrineSt Patrick’s Church, Blacktown, 9 September 2011Does being a Christian make anydifference to the way we live? Afterall, don’t many non-Christians, evennon-believers, live just as good livesas many Christians? If somethingis good, it is surely good for everyhuman being, not just Christians orany one particular group.Yet when St Paul talks today ofhis experience of conversion (1Tim 1:1-2, 12-14), it is clear thatfor him it meant the completeupside-downing, inside-outing ofhis worldview and values. “I usedto be a blasphemer and a persecutorof Christians,” he says, “but thegrace of Our Lord filled me withfaith and love”; having been shownmercy I now preach and teach thatmercy myself.For St Paul, one of the firstChristian catechists, the Damascusexperience was so radical he wouldspend the rest of his years talkingabout leaving behind the oldman and putting on the new; beingliberated from an old way of lifeand embracing the new one; beinggrafted on to Christ, imitatingChrist, living through Christ andwith Christ and in Christ; being,if needs be, a fool for Christ bythis world’s standards. For Paulthis meant confronting law-abidingJews and philosophically mindedpagans, as well as young Christianswith the radically good and radicallynew Good News.Yet if we Christians do havesomething different to offer, weneed not deny the wisdom in otherreligious traditions or in the naturalmorality of human beings, some ofwhich we can draw upon ourselvesand much of which is the commonground upon which we live andwork with people of all sorts.Once the foundation of Christianfaith was laid, St Paul himself didnot hesitate to build up humannorms and virtues in his newChristians. Though he thoughtJesus’ Way was something verynew, he readily assimilated whateverwas true from the heritage ofthe peoples he taught.Of course, in some ways his taskwas easier than ours. At least thesurrounding cultures were essentiallyreligious. Everyone believedin God, perhaps too many gods, inthe afterlife, in the requirement topray and live a good life.In our contemporary culture, onthe other hand, God is marginalisedand much of what is offeredinstead for our valuing is unhelpful,even harmful. The messagescoming from our industries, polities,academies and media can becorrupt; the reigning ideologies ofconsumerism, individualism andrelativism wrong-headed; the practicesof the age hard-hearted orsoft-headed, such as credit beyondour means, consumption beyondour credit, sex and drugs as recreations,inappropriate incarcerationof some troublemakers anddetention of some strangers. Andso Christians today are increasinglycounter-cultural, contra mundum,as this world goes.Yet we are never really againstthe culture or against the world,because we adore the Maker of ourworld and Lord of our history, andwe appreciate all He has given us,including our natural environmentand human achievements, the greatphilosophies and institutions, technologiesand traditions, the familyand workplace and community.If Christians greet the world witha critical mind and the eyes of faith,it is so they can live well in theworld, not escape from it, and purifythat world and bring it to God.True Christian morality, weknow, has a profound and persuasiveecho in the heart of everyperson, believer and non-believeralike, because it marvellously fulfilsour heart’s desires while infinitelysurpassing them.Even in the midst of difficultiesand uncertainties, every personsincerely open to the truth can, byBishop Anthony with the recipients of certificates of 10 years’ service to SRE, including student SREs representingCaroline Chisholm College, which has been involved in SRE for 10 years. Photo: Alphonsus Fok & Grace Luthe light of reason and the hiddenaction of grace, comes to recognisewhat is right. And so however muchsome people differ from us andsometimes persecute us, Christiansin the end have no enemies, exceptsin and death.Other people, however misguided,are still the image of God forus, still intended by God to be ourneighbours, friends, brothers andsisters, fellow saints.There are, dare I say, only tworeligions – Catholics and still-tobe-Catholics– and the still-to-be’sare like catechumens with their footalready in the door, already joinedto us, as long as they are seekingthe truth with a sincere heart andliving as good a life as their lightsreveal to them.So why bother with evangelisationand catechesis and SREand the rest? Aren’t all beliefsequally worthy and all moralsequally sincere? If those withoutCatholic faith can be saved, isn’tignorance bliss? Shouldn’t we justleave them to their own devices,to follow their own lights and finda path for themselves?To which Paul might answer thismorning: how could you know thegrace and peace and mercy of Godthe Father, how could you experiencethe faith and hope and love ofChrist Jesus His Son, and not wantto share them with others?Can ignorance of God and Hisways, of His plan for humanityand His providential care, of HisIncarnate Son and His redeemingfriendship, of His Holy Spiritand His spiritual gifts, of His HolyChurch and her Word and sacraments:can ignorance of such thingsbe bliss? Surely such ignorance is adeprivation, a terrible loss?And so, says Paul this morning,God chooses people, sometimesthe most unexpected people, andcalls them into His service, andgives them the faith and hope andlove they need to pass on the faith.At World Youth Day in Madrid,which I was privileged to attendwith nearly 300 young people fromthe Diocese of Parramatta, the Popeconfronted the post-modern question:Do we really need foundationsfor our lives? He observed that“There are many who … believethey need no roots or foundationsother than themselves. They take itupon themselves to decide what istrue or not, what is good and evil,what is just and unjust; who shouldlive and who can be sacrificed inthe interests of other preferences;leaving each step to chance, with noclear path, letting themselves be ledby the whim of each moment.”Christians, the Holy Fatherargued, have an alternativeapproach to life. We know “thatwe have been created free, in theimage of God, precisely so thatwe might be in the forefront ofthe search for truth and goodness,responsible for our actions; notmere blind executives, but creativeco-workers in the task of cultivatingand beautifying the workof creation.”“God is looking for a responsibleinterlocutor, someone who can dialoguewith Him and love Him,” thePope continued. “Through Christwe can truly succeed and, establishedin Him, we give wings to ourfreedom. Is this not the great reasonfor our joy? Isn’t this the firmground upon which to build thecivilisation of love and life, capableof humanising all of us?”This is the task of the CCDand its SRE teachers: bringingresponsible interlocutors to God,young people with big questions,searching minds and open hearts,laying foundations for their livesand giving wings to their freedom,so they might build withChrist a civilisation of life andlove for Western Sydney. What anexciting project is yours! Thanksbe to God for your contributionto that adventure.