Thursday, January 3, 2019

Going 'Walkabout'





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