Day 18 of #31DaysWithIgnatius

Have been thinking about my #motives today; about my intentions, and why I do the things I do. I’ve tried to be as Mary, to evaluate the#inner, rather than jump from one task to the next task, like Martha. What it comes down to is this reminder and challenge: to clothe oneself with kindness, #compassion, tenderness and mercy. To serve from a place of love, yes, but not without first attending to Love by sitting still.

#31dayswithIgnatius #marymartha #gospel#reflection #meditation #self #awareness#prayer #ignatian #mercy #love #Jesus

In celebration of Ignatian Spirituality, and to mark the feast of St Ignatius of Loyola (31 July), I have taken on the challenge of posting a picture a day that speaks to me of the lessons learned from all things ‘Ignatian’; including ‘finding God in all things.’ Here it is, as posted on Instagram (@fcjAustralia).

Four Voices, One Message

Words do not convey the gratitude and joy I feel for having stumbled upon this jewel-of-an-example of what good humanity can achieve. If you watch one video today, make it this one.

Beyond (L-R): Dechen Shak-Dagsay, Tina Turner, Regula Curti and Sawani Shende-Sathaye.

“Beyond” is a compilation of song and prayer featuring four different voices that convey one shared universal truth.

The opening lines say:

A compassionate heart takes the fear away and gives inner strength. It is vital to educate the heart beyond yourself. The true meaning of life is love. By giving, you find true happiness.

You can watch the video here through SBS.

21 September 2014: Happy Birthday, Marie Madeleine

We were driving through the French countryside as Sr Mary Campion told us about the caring quality of Madame d’Houët. This was not news to us since we know that as a landowner, mentor,  founderess and caregiver,  she was a woman who looked after and cared for  the many in her charge.

What did occur to me however was that in the midst of hard work and discipline, Marie Madeleine ensured and encouraged that those in her care took Sundays off to picnic, play games and simply enjoy each other’s company. Her love for dancing as well as playing with the many children in her domain taught me that life for this woman, was ultimately for living and for celebrating, echoing the gratuitous joy expressed in the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius:

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my understanding, my memory and my will. You have given all to me, and I return them. Give me only your love and your grace, for that is enough for me.

How have you celebrated today?

I know that for two of our FCJs in Melbourne, they celebrated their own birthdays with their sisters gathered around them with cream sponge cake.

For other companions, glasses were raised in memory of Marie Madeleine.

As for me, although I had a very sombre and much-needed day of rest, I now have champagne to sip on as I wind down for the evening with my husband and children.

Thank you, chère Marie Madeleine, for reminding me that life is for living and for celebrating, no matter how unceremoniously. That we take time to to pause and reflect and ponder the gifts given to us in this world is grace enough,  don’t you think? What are your thoughts?

VIDEO: How To Change The World

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I have only just discovered “Kid President”, a series of web clips starring a young boy with a huge heart. Many of his videos are remarkably refreshing, injecting humour,  dynamism and authentic goodness into the online world. This one in particular has a wonderful message for us all: the world is changed by ordinary people – little people living out big love.

On Canonisation, Happiness and the Catholic Faith (A Personal Reflection)

You know that spark of energy you sometimes get in the morning (perhaps after coffee)? When you open your eyes and feel so grateful for another day? I had that today, and it’s not even my birthday. Though the morning has worn off, I’m still bursting to share my joy with you because it involves you too. True story: I woke up feeling especially good about being Catholic.

Making headlines the world over is the canonisation of two of the twentieth-century Church’s most influential Catholics, the late popes, John XXIII and John Paul II, on this Divine Mercy Sunday. I’m not old enough to remember the ‘good pope John’ and have a smattering at best, of the significant events of John Paul II’s pontificate. But today I rejoice in celebration with the millions of faithful worldwide as the current pope, Francis and his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI officiate at the ceremony in this historic event. What’s there not to be happy about?

Photo: Reuters. Pilgrims pose with cut-out pictures of the two pontiffs in Vatican City.

Feeling a little left-out of the events in Rome, I rummaged around before Mass this morning, for a photo of John Paul II that I had kept from among my grandparents’ snapshots. It shows the then-spritely pontiff descending a plane which had landed at the miniscule dot of an island-nation known as Singapore. The year was 1986. If memory serves me right, it was one of the proudest days for my grandfather, who often told us stories of his pilgrimages to various holy sites around the world, including Europe and the Holy Land. With the pope in his hometown, my grandfather must have been over the moon that a part of that world was now in his backyard.

It is this precise universality of the Catholic faith that I treasure today. I recalled the funeral Mass of John Paul II that was televised internationally. I remember seeing the masses of people, from all over the world, notable and unknown alike. I recall the reported conversions and return of many Catholics to the Church attributed to the death of such a holy man. I remember that this man installed World Youth Day, the largest international gathering of Catholic youth in the same place at the same time.

Yes, as crowds gather, and news reporters, photographers and videographers prepare their devices to record this day in phenomenal numbers, it is easy to say that the Catholic faith is a beautiful thing.

But in truth, this feeling of joy and pride at being Catholic came about on Saturday at some point. I know we are in the season of Easter, typically marked by hope, rejuvenation and joy, but yesterday was especially so, at the ordination of some friends in the Redemptorist congregation (CSsR) to the Order of Deacon. Both provinces of Australia and Vietnam were united in prayer. Members from the Kew community of FCJ Sisters were in attendance, in support of their Vietnamese neighbours, whose monastery they frequent for daily Mass.

Photo: G. Anderson, 2014. Stole and Dalmatic (liturgical garments) laid out, ready for Investiture.

I have written about this topic before, but I will say it again: to be present at a public profession of faith is something remarkable. To witness and pray with and for a candidate – and friend – is a humbling experience that makes the presence of God almost tangible.

Officiating the ceremony was Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne, Vincent Long OFM Conv. who spoke an impassioned and heartfelt homily to the congregation. Bishop Long’s speech lamented the current climate of Catholic identity in Australia as “a seriously damaged brand, at least at the level of public perception in the wake of the Royal Commission Hearing.”

But he goes on to say that despite the “battered, bruised” image of the Church, we are nevertheless at a “critical juncture as the new exile.” He called for the congregation, but especially the deacons, to be as prophets at this time, “prophets who accompany their people and point us to the sign of the new kairos (reign/kingdom of God), and lead them in the direction of the kingdom” with humility, service and simplicity.

What gave me hope is that these are words that I, an ordinary member of the Church, can believe in. Bishop Long acknowledged the real brokenness of our time, but not with despair. “Our wilderness [as Catholics], our exile is daunting, disorienting and challenging. And in the pope’s words, we are bruised, hurt and dirty.”

For all our efforts to promote the mission and identity of the Church, and the gospel at large, such a statement speaks from a place of truth, from a place of reality that we cannot ignore. Yes, this wilderness Bishop Long speaks of can sometimes feel like a rather isolated place, and that “the wind of secularisation has blown away what’s left of our defenses.” But more so are we encouraged to band together, and “…not to retreat fearfully. Not to disengage with the world, not to, as [the] pope says, not to engage in self-referential pop, but a time of faith, a time of courage as we are called to accompany our people in the new exodus.”

I draw emphasis on the themes of accompaniment and companionship that the FCJ Sisters live by. I thank most graciously, our friends at the Redemptorist community, especially to the new deacons, who have shown us by example, what beauty, grace and joy there is in professing our faith. May God’s blessings continue to be upon Pope Francis and his fellow leaders, and all the faithful. May we, like John Paul II and John XXIII, all aspire to sanctity – the radical sanctity that comes from true humility, selfless service and love for Jesus Christ.

How is that for challenge and inspiration? If I have not convinced you, let me end here, with a quote from a saint:

Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and ‘Hallelujah’ is our song. | John Paul II

By virtue of our internationality and universality, in what joins us and in what diversifies us, may we continue to true to the gospel as members of the faithful. For all Christians, this is indeed a happy day. Alleluia, alleluia! Not just this day, but every day.

Holy Thursday 2014: Welcoming the Outsider, Restoring Relationship

Holy Thursday has a special place in the hearts of all who know and love the charism of the Faithful Companions of Jesus. For the sisters, it is also the feast or foundation day, as Patricia Grogan fcJ describes:

As [Marie Madeleine] dwelt on the great love of her Lord on the mysteries of his paschal meal, passion and death, she gave him her heart, her soul and her entire being, consecrating herself at the foot of the cross to the work for which God had been so long preparing her. In this hidden way, in the silence of her heart, the Society of the Faithful Companions of Jesus was born.| P. Grogan fcJ, God’s Faithful Instrument, p.75

With this in mind, I offer the following for your reflection.

I wrote recently about this year’s Palm Sunday being a Palm Sunday like no other. The same is also true for Holy Week.

Earlier in the week, I was speaking to a friend who visits refugees at a detention centre. He mentioned in passing that he had taken in food for them, so I asked why, thinking, “Don’t they have enough to eat?”

Image: Upper Room, acrylic on canvas. Copyright Gail Meyer.

We celebrate the Eucharistic meal at every Mass. It is familiar to us who practise our faith, but it can also mean that we forget its significance and meaning in its origins. The Gospel reading for Holy Thursday says that it was during supper (John 13:2) that Jesus got up and began to wash the feet of his disciples. It is during this meal that Jesus says:

If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet,
you ought to wash one another’s feet.
I have given you a model to follow,
so that as I have done for you, you should also do. (John 13:14-15)

The Washing of the Feet, as many have rightly interpreted, is about humility and selfless service, aspects found in the Eucharistic meal. But it is also about justice, about restoring right relationship among people. Ron Rolheiser offers the following:

The Eucharist, among other things, calls us to justice, to dissolve the distinction between rich and poor, noble and peasant, aristocrat and servant, both around the Eucharist table itself and afterwards, outside of the church. The Eucharist fulfills what Mary prophesied when she was pregnant with Jesus – namely that, in Jesus, the mighty would be brought down and the lowly would be raised up.

…The Eucharistic table is a table of social non-distinction, a place to which the rich and the poor are called to be together beyond all class and status. | Ronald Rolheiser, Our One Great Act of Fidelity (2011), p.73-74)

In response to my question, my friend explained to me that it originated with the bringing of fruit – fruits like rambutan or durian, reminders of home’s comforts; or grapes, a luxury item for them, though inexpensive for Australians. He then recounted an incident where he brought in steamed dim sims (dumplings) and the group enjoyed them with their own mix of fish sauce, garlic and chili.

As I listened to the stories my friend told me, I found myself extremely moved. It’s one thing to read the stories and reports of refugees and those detained inhumanely on Nauru and Manus Island, but it’s another thing to hear from someone who has been in contact with them.

He told me that he had met with a group of asylum seekers, who on their arrival to Australia would eventually become the last group to do so, since the day on which they arrived was the same in which the Abbott government brought in the ‘boat turn-back’ policy. My friend also told me how a husband, wife and their baby who was 8-months’ old on arrival recently “had their one-year anniversary”, and also how detainees face negative consequences for conversing with Australians at the compound’s fence.

I began to weep, my heart heavy with grief for these people and for the state in which we find ourselves as Australians. I do not write this to burden you but to show you the realities of what is going on around us. Whether or not you feel passionately about the issues concerning asylum seekers, it cannot be denied that such is a “contemporary cross.” And in line with the Chapter Decree of the Faithful Companions of Jesus, we are to be “channels of hope, love and mercy in our villages, towns and cities” by standing at the foot of these contemporary crosses.

The symbol of a cross was not always the hope of the resurrection Christians recognise today. It was a mark of shame, persecution and death. Jesus Christ changed all that. With this in mind, where do you see in your world, contemporary crosses? What can you do to change things from destruction into life? What hope can you bring to the world? In what ways, great or small, do you restore right relationship in your care for the poor, the marginalised and those on the outside?

Image source: Darwin Asylum Seeker Support and Advocacy Network (DASSAN)

As we journey into the holy mystery of the Easter Triduum, may we remember each other, not as this person or that, but as an equal member of the Body of Christ, as one part to a unified whole.

Conversing with the refugees | Image source: DASSAN

Insight: The Personification of Ignatian Identity: Fr Frans van der Lugt SJ, Jesuit Priest Killed for Staying with People

It was in the middle of the night when I found out that Dutch Jesuit priest, Fr Frans van der Lugt SJ was shot dead by a masked gunman in Syria. The news was like something out of an action movie. I had read about this priest a few months ago, when he made headlines for refusing to leave the besieged area of Homs, so long as there were still people there who were suffering. Having lived in Syria since 1966, van der Lugt was said to have been well respected by the community around him. Spokesperson for the Vatican, Fr Federico Lombardi SJ is reported to have said of Fr Frans’ death:

“This is the death of a man of peace, who showed great courage in remaining loyal to the Syrian people despite an extremely risky and difficult situation.”

I personally stand in sorrow at the death of such a man, but also with great admiration and encouragement. Though our brother-Jesuits have lost one of their own, though the people of Syria have lost an ally and a friend in Pater Frans, the Church and the world have gained in him, an examplar of faith, courage and fidelity to God.

As I thought about the loss – and it is indeed very much that – I remembered the words of St Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus to which Fr Frans belonged, and spiritual father of the Faithful Companions of Jesus. In his Principle and Foundation [SPEX #23] we have a teaching on indifference (better understood as non-attachment), application of which does not come so automatically to our human nature:

Yet we have in Fr van der Lugt, an immediate and real-life example of this ideal, personified. In his life of service and ministry, we see how his actions came from a deep conviction of God’s call to love, and in his death, we see a man who devoted his whole life to the greater glory of God. Ad majorem Dei gloriam.

May we remember in our thoughts and prayer, the memory and repose of Fr Frans van der Lugt SJ; the people of Syria to whom he served and for all who are affected by war and civil unrest. We also pray for ourselves as members of the faithful, to be in the world, in like example of Fr Frans and St Ignatius before him, as lovers of peace, restorers of justice and people for God.

Photos from #LighttheDark Vigil for Asylum Seekers (Melbourne)

My family and I made it to Federation Square in Melbourne city to help shine light on the darkness that is the tragedy of detention centres like the one on Manus Island, which allowed 23-year-old Iranian asylum seeker, Reza Berati to suffer unjustly and die. Regardless of political leaning, every life is sacred and every human being deserves to be humanely treated and cared for.

Here are some photos from our night out. I was especially delighted to have met up with Sr Margaret Claver fcJ who joined us. I wish to express grateful thanks as well, to all who supported this night, through prayers, messages and thoughts, to help express an Australian culture that we can be proud of.

An individual flame is small, but together, we can shine a light so bright, for hope, for peace, for humanity, for all.

Melburnians stand tall even before it gets dark.

Sr Margaret Claver fcJ meets us at the vigil after a long day. Thank you.

Laying down of lights, messages and tributes in memory of Reza Berati and all asylum seekers.

Light the Dark Vigil for Asylum Seekers

Another day, another death, another disaster. More bad news. It sounds horrible and pessimistic, but there is some truth in it. Earlier in the week, I uploaded a picture on Facebook and Twitter that read: Believe there is good in the world. The letters ‘be – the – good’ were highlighted. I really liked the image because while it said on one level, that we ought to believe and keep on believing that there is good in the world, there is the other incentive that in believing in this goodness, we ought also to embody the good.

GetUp! Australia has called for Australians to hold a candlelight vigil for all asylum seekers, in the memory of 23-year-old asylum seeker, Reza Berati who died during the week under Australian care. As well as lighting a candle for Reza and those who suffer from the atrocities that are results of unfair governmental policy, the vigil will also symbolise the need for truth and transparency on this human rights and life issue.

Image credit: GetUp! Australia

Fr Bob Maguire has expressed in an email:

This morning, new reports have emerged from an Australian guard working for security contractor G4S, that local guards working for the company were in a frenzy and jumped on Reza’s head in a rage on Monday night, inside the detention compound. Immigration Minister, Scott Morrison, now admits his initial information was wrong – that in fact most of the violence that happened on Manus occurred inside the Australian-run detention facility. Some people inside the centre say asylum seekers were attacked. The truth is we don’t yet know, because we’re being kept in the dark and journalists aren’t being allowed in to shine a light on what really happened. What we do know is that a young man named Reza came to Australia from Iran seeking our protection. Instead he was brutally killed. (via GetUp)

As an Australian, I am appalled that asylum seekers – that people – like Reza, are being treated so unjustly in detention. Moreover, as a Christian and practising Catholic, I am especially moved to do something (small though it may be) for a greater cause.

A few weeks ago, I posted a gospel reflection on being salt of the earth:

You are salt of the earth…You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. | Matthew 5:13-15

Tonight’s vigil is a fine example in which we can show our worth, our value and our confidence, by living out the command to be “light of the world”. I believe in the power of an individual act of kindness and compassion that can change an entire group. I also believe in the importance of my being Catholic, not because Catholics or Christians are the only ones who care, or ought to show they care, but because this kind of movement is at the heart of the gospel.

In today’s Sunday liturgy, the readings speak loudly and clearly on loving one’s neighbour and on being holy as God is holy. Psalm 103 reads:

As far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.

So too, we are called to be compassionate people, not just to our friends or those we know or deem ‘safe’, but to all “as far as the east is from the west…”

If you cannot make it to Federation Square tonight 23 February 2014 from 8pm for the #LighttheDark vigil, please remember us in your thoughts and prayers – for the cause, for the supporters and for those who need a sign of hope. The adage is true: it is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness. Or to adapt another phrase: many hands make lights work. Be a light for someone today, do not curse the darkness and in this, be compassionate and holy as God is.

REFLECTION | Be Salt of the Earth (With Courage and Confidence)

In today’s age, we take for granted, the commodity of salt. Our fast-food diet has more-or-less become saturated with so much salt, sugars and unwanted fats to excess that we now opt for products and diets branded as “sugarless,” “salt-free” and “low-carb.”

But salt has always been a natural mineral, as ancient as the earth itself. It has been used among other things, as a seasoning, a preservative (to keep meats for rotting) as well as an antiseptic. In the time of Jesus, salt was especially valuable. Roman soldiers were paid with salt (from which we have the word, “salary” in Latin, salarium) and we also have the phrase about a person “being worth his/her salt”, attributing to a person’s worth or value.

Imagine then, what it might mean for us today, that Jesus says to us:

You are salt of the earth…You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. | Matthew 5:13-15

You are valuable. You are worthy. You are splendour, radiating God’s light. Stand firm, stand tall, in this confidence, that in God’s eyes, you are so wonderfully loved.

In Urgings of the Heart: A Spirituality of Integration, we read that this confidence in oneself first, is what enables compassion for others, in what is called an “I-Thou” relationship:

An “I-Thou” relationship with another requires that we first have an intimate relationship with ourselves… Intimate relationships depend on an inner connection: to be in touch with another, I must be in touch with myself. On the other hand, it is primarily through relationships that we learn about ourselves. | Au, W. and Cannon, N. Urgings of the Heart (Paulist Press, 1995), p.119.

As challenging as it can be, we need to foster a culture and mindset of compassion, love and acceptance of oneself with and in all our flaws. No one is saying that we are perfect, or that we will always be full of flavour, vitality and richness at every moment. But through the grace and gift of our lives as God’s children, we are encouraged to accept ourselves as worthy salt, and to stand confidently in the goodness of God, as God has made us. Only then are we more able to be light that shines for others (Mt 5:16).

For reflection:

Do you see yourself as valuable?

Note internally, where there is any resistance or challenge, if any, at the thought of you being of great value. Bring this to God in conversation.