This is a picture
that captivated me as a
child. My mother framed it in the early 50’s and it hung proudly in our
kitchen; it still remains there today.
The atmosphere
and backdrop was far removed from my family’s humble existence, but for me
it speaks to me at so many
different levels.
1. After many years in Priesthood I am about to leave my parish, and
embark on a wonderful journey of discovery. I’m going to
“Walkabout”
Walkabout
Australian A temporary return to traditional
Aboriginal life, taken especially between periods of work or residence in
modern society and usually involving a period of travel through the bush..
This concept also has wonderful biblical interpretations:
Deuteronomy 26:5
“Then you shall declare before the Lord your
God: “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few
people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. “
In Hebrew
ה וְעָנִיתָ וְאָמַרְתָּ לִפְנֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ,
אֲרַמִּי אֹבֵד אָבִי, וַיֵּרֶד מִצְרַיְמָה, וַיָּגָר שָׁם בִּמְתֵי מְעָט; וַיְהִי-שָׁם,
לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל עָצוּם וָרָב.
2. A Changing
Church:
The
Catholic Church in Ireland is undergoing rapid change… Moving away from the
familiar, many are experiencing a sadness and desolation. To some this
picture speaks of the absence of God.
The boy in the picture represents a God
who has left the scene, has left
us, and will be back at some
undetermined time.
To me
God’s is very present in our new
situation; our God is calling on us to
embark on a new journey,
a journey of discovery.
This is
not a time of sadness; ‘to give our Church a decent Christian Burial’; no this is a “new dawn, a new day” the beginning of a ‘new church’ .
Our mission is not to ‘bury the old
Church but to birth the New Church….. a wonderful privilege.
3. A New Beginning
We have no choice but to begin where we are.
And where
we are is in the middle.
Our
beginning is not our own .
Nether
shall our ending be.
We are the
middle people.
What we seek
is to savour the sweetness…
And stare into the pain.
We are the middle people (Chardin I think?)
4. I begin
my journey in the Holy Land (What
better place to begin!) in the Tantur Ecumenical Center. The theme of the ‘Hakimah’ Women in the Bible
