Chris McDonnell, UK
christymac733@gmail.com

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High Summer days

Those of us who have reached the Autumnal days of life have experienced a degree of change that has been monumental. It has touched all aspects of our lives in a transformative manner no other generation has undergone. The social and political consequences of recent years have been profound and not always for the good.

It would be foolish to imagine that the Church would not be touched by the immensity of such change, as indeed it has. There has been a fundamental shift in many ways. So many questions have been asked, not all of them with a neatly packaged answer.

But then that is the story of human life on earth, ever-changing, ever-adapting. With over seven billion of us crowded on to our small blue planet, huge challenges will confront us in the coming years. We may be the first generation to appreciate the awesome issues that face us; we may also be the last generation that has a chance to do something about it.

With the passing years the impact of the Council is diminishing. Just as a stone thrown into a large pool creates an initial ring of disturbance, waves slowly subside as they spread outwards. There is a risk that, in a similar manner, the teachings of the Council will be diluted with time. It would be interesting to offer the word ‘Council’ to this Millennial generation and then to listen to their response; or to the deafening silence that may be the alternative option. When did you last hear of the Council in a sermon? Yet there are those who not only don't talk of the Council but seem intent on turning the clock back.

This Bishop of Rome has time and again stressed the word ‘dialogue’. In his address following the award of the Charlemagne Prize in May 2016, Francis used these words

"If there is one word that we should never tire of repeating, it is this: dialogue. We are called to promote a culture of dialogue by every possible means and thus to rebuild the fabric of society. The culture of dialogue entails a true apprenticeship and a discipline that enables us to view others as valid dialogue partners, to respect the foreigner, the immigrant and people from different cultures as worthy of being listened to. Today we urgently need to engage all the members of society in building ‘a culture which privileges dialogue as a form of encounter’ and in creating ‘a means for building consensus and agreement while seeking the goal of a just, responsive and inclusive society’. Peace will be lasting in the measure that we arm our children with the weapons of dialogue, that we teach them to fight the good fight of encounter and negotiation. In this way, we will bequeath to them a culture capable of devising strategies of life, not death, and of inclusion, not exclusion."

Not just eloquent words to mark an occasion, but words lived out in the actions of a sincere and honest man. ‘Building a just, responsive and inclusive society’, how often do we need to hear those words before we act upon them? We see in so many countries a flagrant disregard for such a good and caring society and at times, lest we become blind to it, here at home in the UK as well.

We have reached the date of the Summer Solstice, the mid-point of our annual passage round our star, the longest daylight time of the year. It is no small wonder that our ancestors were in such awe of the Sun, for it controlled the cycle of their lives. They went to great lengths to acknowledge this dependence as the many stone circles of Europe testify.

Now we have celebrated Trinity Sunday, the gift of creative love of Father, Son and Spirit that dwells in us all, and moved into the strangely titled ‘Ordinary time’, Cycles and Seasons, Feasts and Festivals. Through it all runs the thread of the Gospel narrative, the endless story of Jesus of Nazareth.

In the midst of so much clutter and distraction, it is important that we remember our tap-root of faith. There is nothing ‘ordinary’ about our faith, it is an extraordinary gift of the Trinity that it is ours to nurture and share with others. There are times of hurt, times of forgiveness – in the words of Ecclesiastes ‘a time for every purpose under heaven’.

So we move on, stumbling here or there, impatient, careless and frustrated. But move on we must for there is no turning back. The ash left when a fire has run its course cannot be reformed into a pile of logs, but it can be used to nourish the earth so that other trees might grow.

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