Thinking With Dominic

St Dominic strikes out with zeal to win souls back for Christ

At the moment I am preparing the Pilgrim guide for our pilgrimage to Turin and Tuscany - it is taking up a lot of time, hence the few posts over the last couple of weeks. It also sees me up very late at night as I try to get the work done. We're off on the 21st of next month, so I have to get the guide to the printers. The guide will consist of biographies of the Saints we will be meeting, extracts from their writings, prayers, a little on the various places we are visiting and then a section on the Shroud giving the history of the relic and offering some meditations and prayers for our pilgrims for the time they spend before the Shroud.

One of the places we are visiting is Bologna, we have Mass at the tomb of St Dominic and, I hope, we might even have time to visit St Catherine of Bologna. Writing St Dominic's bio for the guide I am struck by similarities between his time and ours, and I found myself wishing he could come back again and perhaps spend a few years preaching in Ireland. As you all know, and as any Dominican will tell you, he was an extraordinary man. Such fire and zeal - and courage.

Dominic was a canon, a diocesan priest, and it was when he was travelling with his bishop to make arrangements for a marriage treaty between the King of Castile and the King of Denmark, that he passed through the south of France and saw the damage the Albigensians were causing through their heresy. Many of them were sincere people, but misguided. Few knew the Scriptures and had little philosophical knowledge to help them shift through the arguments the Albigensian preachers were making. All of them wanted to live good lives and sought reform in the Church and society as much as in their own lives. In one encounter Dominic spent a night with an Albigensian "deacon" who, he realised, had very little knowledge of the faith. By morning Dominic had converted him, but he realised that there was a need for a serious re-evangelisation to meet the heresy head on. After a few years discernment Dominic realised that he could do very little, if anything, as a diocesan priest, he needed to be free to go out and carry out this mission, and so the Dominican Order was born.

All of this gets you thinking about the Church's response to the ideologies that are out there today and leading so many of the faithful astray. Many of those who adhere to these ideologies are good people who want to live good lives, but ignorant of the Gospel and Church teaching (though many of them will have spent years in Catholic schools or catechism class) they embrace a secularist understanding of Christianity and they cross the house. So far, if I can be honest, the Church in the industrialized west has failed to win these souls back or even offer a serious challenge to the rise of these ideologies. Indeed sometimes I think some of the leaders of the Church have retreated to the trenches, raised the white flag and they are hoping they won't be noticed, just left alone and unharmed to quietly and unobtrusively live some form of inoffensive Christianity.

I think this is what Pope Francis is attacking when he speaks. He once told the bishops to make a mess in their dioceses - many commentators interpret this as creating unorthodox chaos, but perhaps it means something else - perhaps he is telling safe and comfortable pastors to get out there and preach the Gospel even if it stirs up a hornet's nest - even if people are offended! The Church in the west is often crippled because it is afraid to preach the truth lest someone is offended and the media jump on it to bash the Church. Francis is direct in what he says - not always prudent I believe, but he is certainly putting it up to the timid pastors and their flocks to say it as it is...just as Dominic did.

"Faint heart never won fair lady", nor do cowardly shepherds and cautious apostles ever win souls. Dominic's great virtue was zeal - he was on fire - his mother's dream-vision was indeed prophetic, we could do with some of that fiery zeal today. These thoughts will, no doubt, occupy me as I offer Mass at Dominic's tomb on the 28th April, and I will ask him to help us all in these times, most especially our pastors. 

Today I was talking about this with the venerable Prior of Silverstream and he asked me: "Why didn't you become a Dominican - I can see you as a Dominican". They wouldn't have me! And St Teresa long ago claimed me for her own. But zeal is not confined to Dominicans, it is meant to be in all of us. Let us pray for each other, dear brothers and sisters, that we will be open to this fire, and have the courage to stand up and face the challenges of these times. We need to stick together, we need to talk and plan. We have yet to strike out in a real evangelical push to win souls for Christ and his Church, not apologetically, but with the conviction that the Church is the sacrament of salvation in the world and she is missionary for a reason. 

The Light To Enlighten The Gentiles

The old priest Simeon holds the Infant in his arms and recognises him.  Overflowing with joy he sings the Nunc Dimittis, for now God has fulfilled his promise and the Light has come into the world. 

We mark this feast with the blessing and lighting of candles, to remind ourselves that Christ is the light of the world, that he casts out the darkness, and now we his disciples are called to take that same light and carry it to every corner of the world.

It is interesting to note that the Paschal Candle is lit over us twice in our lives - at our baptism when we come into the Church, it is burning beside the baptismal font and after we come out of the waters our own baptismal candle is lit from it. The second time is at our funeral, when our lifeless bodies lie before the altar as the Requiem Mass is offered for us. Between these two occasions the light of that Paschal Candle is supposed to burn within us as we live our Christian lives. The candles we carry in procession at today's Mass symbolise then, not just Christ who enlightens us and the world, but that same light burning within us, lit by God, which urges out into the world as witnesses and evangelisers.

A Prayer To The Spiritual Mother Of Ireland

Today is a Sunday, so in Ireland we can't celebrate the feast of our secondary patron St Brigid. However, we can pray to her and ask her to watch over this little country in which she lived, served God and found holiness.

What would she make of Ireland now? I do not know, but I do not think she would be pleased. Pope Benedict XVI in his Letter to the Irish encouraged us to look to our Irish Saints, to follow their example and ask them to intercede for us. Given what lies ahead later this year we need our countrymen and women in heaven to pray hard for us, foremost among them the patrons of this land. 

Let us ask St Brigid, our spiritual mother, to help us in the months ahead, that as our leaders are desperately trying to tear apart the Christian fabric of our society, we will have the strength to resist and the courage and initiative to rebuild a more just and Christian Ireland for the future. May the holy souls of our Saints come walk among us once more, manifest themselves to rouse the consciences of our people and pastors, and lead us in this difficult times. 

Let us not forget that Ireland belongs to God and his Saints - it was bought with the blood of the Lamb; may Brigid cast her cloak over the whole of this country and reclaim it for Christ.

Tolkien And Purgatory

Someone asked me about yesterday's post - that the Lord of the Rings could be used as an evangelical tool. They asked me how. Well, there are many great Christian virtues displayed, and the central theme of the little one being at the heart of it all is Christ's teaching on the least being the greatest (I also see St Therese's Little Way in the adventure of the hobbits).

But there are excellent examples of how Tolkien's work can be used to reveal Catholic teaching and one concerns purgatory. It is the third volume, The Return of the King, Aragorn needs assistance and he turns to the souls of treacherous soldiers who now haunt what is called the "Paths of the Dead". These soldiers had sworn allegiance to the King of Gondor to come to assist it in war, however when the need was greatest these men fled and took refuge in the mountains, safe (or so they thought). They died, but their souls could not rest - they had sinned, they had a debt to repay for their cowardice and treachery and they could not enter into their rest until the debt was paid and atoned for.

And so Aragorn arrives, he is the true King of Gondor and holds them to their oath, they now go to the aid of Gondor and when the city is saved, they are finally released from their oath, they have repaid the debt, atoned for their treachery and they can now enter their rest. That, as you can see, is a wonderful exposition of purgatory, it is the place where we repay the debt our "treachery" (sin) to the King (God) has caused. And so the discussion can begin!

It's All Over

I remember the first few minutes of watching The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring movie. A fan of Tolkien's work, I was interested to see if Peter Jackson could pull it off. In those first few moments I thought to myself: "He might actually be able to do it" and as far as I am concerned, for the most part, he did. Last Friday evening as the credits began to roll on the third Hobbit movie I said to myself, "It's all over". What an adventure it has been.

While the LOTR movies were greeted with acclaim, the same could not be said for three Hobbit movies which even some of the most devoted fans saw as Jackson trying to cash in on his original success. To be honest, I would not be so harsh, I genuinely think that Jackson just wanted to linger a little bit longer in Middle Earth and to include in the movies additional material, much of it taken from the Appendices of the LOTR, which will lay the foundation for what will happen later. And, overall, I think he has done a good job doing that. 

Yes, The Hobbit is a short novel, a tale which is much simpler that the epic which follows, but we must remember that while the tale is focused, there is a lot more going on in Middle Earth as Bilbo and his dwarf friends reclaim the dwarf kingdom under the mountain. I think what Jackson wants to do is to set The Hobbit against the bigger picture; as we will discover when Frodo begins his adventures, Bilbo's story did not take part in isolation. The hobbits for all their hopes, cannot exist apart and untouched by what is happening in the world. That said, one of the major criticism I have of the original trilogy is Jackson's idyllic preservation of the Shire at the end of the wars: Tolkien was at pains to show that even the peaceful Shire fell under the shadow as Saruman and his minions invade it, Jackson falls down there - the Shire cannot, and didn't, exist apart and untouched by what was happening in the world.

The two movie trilogies have opened up Tolkien's world, and values, to a whole new generation and that is a good thing, and I am delighted for that. We live in the age of the image, and many people no longer read, Jackson may well have brought people back to the books and that is a good thing, not only because it encourages people to read, but because it brings them face to face with Tolkien's vision, and it is a very Catholic vision. The LOTR is one of the great works of the Christian imagination and Christian literature and it could well be seen as a great instrument for evangelisation. 

These books are not mere fantasy unlike the genre which has grown up after them; when you compare them with the brutal and immoral world of Game of Thrones, for example, you see an altogether different spirit at work, Other works in the genre deal with good and evil but under the strain of original sin, devoid of grace, but the world and adventures in the LOTR present the bigger picture, the great battle, and there is grace, and it is at work in flawed creatures who are raised up through their struggles. When you read the LOTR you are aware of the presence of great hope even in what seem to be hopeless situations (see Gandalf's talk with Pippin as Minas Tirith seems to be about to fall). It is a work worth reading, studying and discussing.  

So thanks to Peter Jackson for his work, but while the filming is over, the works remain and I hope future generations will be as fascinated with Tolkien's work and teaching as previous generations. And I hope the Church, and her catechists, will realise just how important Tolkien's work is for the work of evangelisation.

UPDATE: The Thirsty Gargoyle has an excellent review of the Hobbit movies, it is well worth reading. His central argument: for all the wonderful stuff, Peter Jackson doesn't get Tolkien. I think he has a point.

The Unseen World

An Italian director is working on a movie about Blessed John Henry Newman, and she has cast oscar winning actor F. Murray Abraham to play the Blessed - that sounds interesting. Rome Reports has a news item on it (see below).    The director, Liana Marabini has a devotion to Blessed John Henry, and in this movie, due to be released mid 2011, she is reflecting on his priesthood.  "Newman was above all, a wonderful priest" she says in her interview - true.  The beatification of a priest is always a call to the priests of a particular age to look upon the one glorified to find the lesson for their own lives.  Newman has much to say to the priests of our time. I will look forward to seeing this movie.

I see the director is convinced of the role film can play in evangelisation.  In her interview she says: “A film is a very good tool to have evangelize the culture and the world.  It's exactly what we need now, we need God in our lives in order to live better, to be more successful, to be happier.” I could not agree more.  Members of the Fraternity, remember her and her work in your prayers.

Columbanus For Taoiseach!

Recent news from Ireland is not good.   In the past few days we have had to accept the IMF bailout, our government have had to face up to the fact that Ireland is facing financial ruin, and yesterday the junior partner in the coalition, the Greens, have said that they are pulling out of government and are "suggesting" that a general election be held in the second part of January.   Many thought the Taoiseach would go to the President last night to request a dissolution of the Dail (our parliament) and call a snap general election.  He didn't - he said that they will stay to see the budget through - due in a couple of weeks and expected to be the harshest since the foundation of our state.   So all not well here on the Emerald Isle, which does not shine with as much vigour as it once did.

But today we celebrate the feast of one of our greatest Saints, St Columbanus. When we Irish are in the doldrums having made a mess of our economy, it might be a good idea to look to those who are the glory of our land and see why they are.   Columbanus is probably the Irish St Paul - this is what I told my parishioners at Mass this morning.  Like Paul he left everything and offered himself to the Lord to preach the Gospel in foreign lands. 

Columbanus was a monk of the monastery of Bangor and its principle teacher at one stage, but he heard another call (the call within the call) - to be a pilgrim for Christ.  So with twelve volunteers he left Ireland and set out for Gaul (France) to assist in the re-evangelisation of Europe.   There, as good Irish Saints always do, he started founding monasteries all over the place - the Irish were great for founding.  These communities lived according to Columbanus' own Rule.  If St Benedict's Rule is known for balance, Columbanus' is a bit on the severe side, and this caused a few problems for the Gauls (les French).  This, and few other Gospel quirks like being faithful to the teachings of Christ, caused offence, and next thing he was being herded out of Gaul and told to go back where he came from. 

Well, Columbanus being Irish he had that stubborn streak that can almost be virtuous, and so he went to Italy to bring Christ back to the Italians - no mean feat.  Again, he got the itch to found and he established a monastery at Bobbio which would become the jewel in his crown.  Bobbio became one of the most important monasteries in Europe, and a great centre of learning and evangelisation.  It was there that Columbanus died in 615 at the age of about 70.  He has left us his Rule and a number of writings which are noted for their zeal and literary beauty - we Irish don't do things by half, as you see from the financial crisis - if we're going to ruin the country, then we'll do it right!

I'm told that a few years ago the Irish bishops made a request to the Pope that St Columbanus be declared the seventh patron of Europe - a marvellous suggestion.  He would be an ideal candidate, although I suspect there may be some who think seven patrons would be enough and the last place should be given to a man, not yet sainted, who had an important role to play in the liberation of Europe in the 20th century - one who who also represent the popes among the patrons.   But no harm to make the suggestion. 

St Columbanus reminds us Irish of what is most important in life, and now that we need to start again and begin a badly needed renewal in all areas of Irish life we would do well to listen to him and to the Christ he devoted his life to serving.  We need a new Columbanus in Ireland today (and in Europe which needs re-evangelisation again), pray that Lord will send us one.  In the meantime, we can but ask our great missionary Saint to help Ireland at this time, and to assist  the Apostolic Visitators in their work for the renewal of the Church in our land.    In fact, perhaps dear Columbanus might do a good job in getting the country back on its feet - we probably a need a tough Abbot to sort us out, a man not used to mincing his words and one well used to austerity!  No better man than Columbanus!