A Long Way from Galilee

A Long Way From Galilee

Kevin Clarke

Published by

An Imprint of Melrose Press Limited

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Cambridgeshire

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FIRST EDITION

Copyright © Kevin Clarke 2016

The Author asserts his moral right to be identified as the author of this work

Cover by Melrose Books

ISBN 978-1-910792-52-0

epub 978-1-910792-53-7

mobi 978-1-910792-54-4

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CONTENTS

Dear Pope Francis

SIN

Defining sin – Original sin – Sin and the incarnation of Jesus – Old Sins: New Sins – Scandal – Summary

BEING CATHOLIC Part one

The tradition – A New Approach to Catechesis – The Incarnation of Jesus – The Second Vatican Council

BEING CATHOLIC Part two

The Catholic Church in England – Where To Next?

MINISTRY IN THE CHURCH Part one

The Example of Jesus – The Apostolic Era – The Early Church – The Constantinian factor – Ministry Today

MINISTRY IN THE CHURCH Part two

Ministry and authority – The Distribution and the Exercise of Authority – Priesthood – Ordination – Hierarchy – Magisterium – Sensus Fidelium – Summary

THE PAPACY

A brief history – Cause and Effect – An Alternative Approach

THE MASS

The Constituent Components of Mass – The Body of Christ – The Sunday Assembly – Our Sunday Mass – Why Go To Sunday Mass?

IN CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dear Pope Francis

We have come a long way since our inception in Galilee, and in order to preserve the memory of Jesus, we have developed a highly elaborate support apparatus. This has enabled us to withstand the tests of history, but at what price in terms of our present outlook and sense of priorities?

Moreover, we are often inclined to focus on the apparatus more than the message it is intended to serve, and to identify with the practices of the faith as much as the faith itself. This is accompanied by our seeming inability to portray God and the incarnation of Jesus in a language which reflects the currents of modern thought.

As a result, there are growing numbers of people in today’s society without any conscious awareness of a personal affinity with the divine or even the need for such an affinity. Science and reason are judged to provide a more than adequate explanation for our material existence, and to offer the prospect of solutions to meet our future physical and mental aspirations.

The Church is viewed as an introspective organisation, with self-interest high on its agenda; an entity which claims to hold all the answers, that displays a noticeable dislike of modernity in any form, and expects total membership loyalty and conformity. We also continue to attract adverse publicity relating to past incidents of child abuse and reported attempts at a cover-up in official circles.

In short, we are in a mess. It is a mess which is mainly of our own making, and unless we are willing to acknowledge this and re-trace our steps to try to identify the likely causes, we could struggle to find effective long term solutions.

In the meantime, we are called upon to promote Jesus in the arena in which we find ourselves, and with a current audience who might at best be described as indifferent, and at worst nakedly hostile to what we have to offer. We need to realise that there is no longer an automatic constituency for the Christian message, and that we are in competition with other persuasive and well-funded concepts in an environment in which ‘relativism’ has become a social grace.

This does not prevent us from highlighting the merits of our faith assertions, but it does require us to pursue a policy of charitable persuasion rather than dogmatic assertion. All too often, we begin in a negative fashion by bemoaning the advance of secularism into what was hitherto regarded as our ‘home territory’ and conveniently overlooking the possibility that this might be due, in no small measure, to the lack of any convincing or inspirational alternative from us.

For the most part, we seem content to adopt the same well-used religious agenda that presupposes a receptive audience and to follow a story line which appears to lack the benefits of modern biblical, theological, and scientific scholarship to present a case which is attuned to the signs and the needs of the times. It is hardly surprising that people are no longer listening to what we have to say as intently as in the past.

In order to re-kindle a genuine interest in a religious agenda we have to do more than issue doctrinal statements in isolation or simply promote a series of rituals and other pious practices. We need to re-examine the way in which we present our case for God, whose image for many people (if they ever give it a thought) is of some form of aloof personage who exists alongside the things of the world and calls for our continued reverence and obedience whilst sitting in perpetual judgement on our response.

We should be attempting instead to promote a greater awareness of what we believe to be our personal relatedness to this Creator God; what this means for each of us as individuals, and more particularly as individuals who are in relationships with one another and with the world around us. After all, this was the ‘Good News’ which we were given by Jesus, and it is the message we should be striving to share, by showing how he exemplifies our human potential, and adds such a joyful relevance to our daily lives.

We must also accept that people are unlikely to be convinced by intellectual arguments alone, no matter how well they may be presented. They will wish to see evidence of how these principles shape our outlook and influence the way in which we behave, particularly our treatment of others who are in need or who hold different views. Jesus called for a change in people’s hearts and minds, whereas our attention over recent centuries has been directed towards the latter. I believe we need to restore a more balanced outlook by putting ‘heart’ back into the equation.

A further difficulty which we face at the present time is that a number of those who are in a position of authority within the Church seem oblivious of these issues, or see no reason to look for solutions beyond present authorised policy. The frequent argument is that the Church has overcome problems in the past and will do so in the future, even if this results in some membership shrinkage over the short term. I have no doubt that the Church of Jesus will prevail, but I find it difficult to condone what is either the arrogance or the complacency which is attendant in this sort of attitude.

My point of reference is that of an English Catholic and a parent, who is anxious to ensure that his children and grandchildren will wish to continue, of their own choice, to enjoy their faith inheritance. For their sake, I consider that a change in attitude is required by our pastoral leadership, and a willingness to undertake a review of our entire religious curriculum under the guiding principle of honesty. Honesty, in the way we describe our ‘Deposit of Faith’, the provenance of some of the claims which we are inclined to attach to it, and the manner in which the whole subject is presented.

Against this background, I have identified a number of present teachings and practices that give me cause for concern. My purpose is not to challenge traditional beliefs, but rather the way in which these appear to me to have become distorted in their re-telling. Conflicts which arise in the process of faith’s self-understanding are not usually between a straight affirmation or a straight denial, but about meaning, about making sense of what we profess to believe – about interpretation.¹

On the night of your election as the Bishop of Rome, you asked for people’s prayers and for their support to help you achieve your vision for the Church. You can be assured of my continuing prayers, and this is my attempt to provide support by highlighting some of the issues which I consider to be in need of your attention.

Your personal style and approach has already produced a marked difference in people’s perception of the papacy, the Catholic Church, and indeed religion in general. I hope and pray that you are able to build on this and that we can all work in concert with you under the guidance of the Spirit, in order to return Jesus to the forefront of people’s consciousness.

The Lord be with you.

1 Gabriel Daly, Faith and Theology (The Tablet 19; 25 April 1981), p.446.

SIN

I have chosen this as my opening topic because I consider that the entire Catholic psyche is coloured by our attitude towards sin. This seems to be based on a dualistic notion of two distinct worlds – one ‘divine’, the other ‘profane’, which insists that the true form of our humanity is set in a previous lost paradise or in a future age after this world has ended.

It holds that to be human is to go radically astray, to be wrong-footed from the start, to be flawed as a result of a first sin at the beginning of time. It refuses to accept ignorance, mortality, and mistakes as the normal condition of humanity.¹

We also have a tendency to treat sin as if it is the driving motor of God’s involvement with the world. It was sin which led to the ‘fall’ and our expulsion from the Garden of Eden. It was sin which was seen as the underlying cause of Israel’s continued misfortunes and which led eventually to the giving of the law on Sinai. The crucifixion and death of Jesus is frequently viewed as an unavoidable