The future of Canada: elections part IV: section C.

SECTION C

Part One of this talk appeared in April, pp. 27-30. The author raised the question: what has to be done to rebuild the spiritual Foundations of Canada. Do we still acknowledge the necessity of Christ as Saviour? How can we respond to help overcome what Pope Benedict describes as the "dictatorship of relativism?" How do we deal with the crisis in marriage and Family life which is now upon us?

The address was delivered in Quebec City on December 30, 2006, at the Catholic Christian Outreach (CCO) Rise-Up Conference.--Editor

PART II: A NEW SPRINGTIME FOR CANADA

Father Tom Rosica, C.S.B.

THE CRISIS OF FATHERHOOD AND PATERNITY 

We must take seriously the crisis of fatherhood in the world. The present challenges to fatherhood cannot be understood in isolation from the culture in which we live. Many people today ask whether fathers are really necessary, or even desirable for the raising of children. In spite of the convictions of some that the absent father's role can be assumed by the mother herself, or by other male influences, the effect of fatherlessness on children is deeply alarming.

In his 1964 drama, Radiation of Fatherhood, the young Polish Bishop Karol Wojtyla suggested that becoming a father meant being "conquered by love," which liberates us from the "terrible" and terribly false freedom of self-absorption.

This was the heart of John Paul II's paternity for so many young people today: in a world of delusions and illusions, he made things "fully real," because his spiritual fatherhood was a reflection of the fatherhood of God. I am convinced that the young people responded so positively to him because in many cases the old Pope was the father that many of these young people never had and the grandfather they never knew. Pope John Paul II was a great role model for us--teaching what paternity is all about. He was able to draw such love and loyalty because he embodied paternity in a world increasingly bereft of fatherhood, with its unique combination of strength and mercy.

Several years ago, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger remarked that, "the crisis of fatherhood we are living today is an element, perhaps the most important, threatening man in his humanity."

The crisis of ideologies

Excessive tensions arising from Church politics, gender issues, liturgical practices, language, false interpretations of the Second Vatican Council--all of these influence our belonging to Christ and the Church. Many times these tensions can lead to a feeling of God's absence in our lives and in the Church, as well as a sign that we may be on the wrong path. This reality must not be dismissed lightly.

Are we not often stuck today in the Church in an endless argument between devotion and liturgy or in a constant dispute between charity and justice? This impasse is revealed when devotion is treated as the enemy of liturgy, and charity as the betrayer of justice, or when liturgy is reduced to private devotion, and justice not recognized as constitutive to the Gospel.

The grumblings, discontent, cynicism, fatigue, unfair labelling and pigeonholing of others, lack of charity and hope of my generation and older generations rise to fever pitch, and keep us blinded to a new generation of young people who might be much more serious about Church, God and discipleship of Jesus than we are! Many of my generation do not wish to admit this fact. And we don't know what to do with you. Keep it up and keep us guessing!

The legacy of John Paul II 

Pope John Paul II knew about Catholic Christian Outreach, loved this movement and blessed it. One of his last acts before the final hospitalization in 2005 was to respond to C.C.O. message from Rise Up 2004 in Toronto. What lessons did we learn from this great leader and friend?

We learned from him that in order to be authentic believers, we must have a deep, personal relationship with Jesus. Christianity, Catholicism, the Sacraments are not courses, things, ideas, passing fancies, symbols--they are a person and his name is Jesus. Theology alone, trendy pastoral programs and new age, politically correct jargon will not save us. Jesus will.

Through World Youth Days and re-invigorated youth and young adult pastoral ministry in the universal Church, John Paul II unleashed something totally new, unthinkable some 25 years ago! The reality of that new thing is just beginning to sink into our minds, hearts, churches and religious congregations.

The Pope reminded us that the heroes the world offers to young people today are terribly flawed. They leave us so empty. The world today and especially young people have the increasing need of the fascinating lives of the saints and blesseds. During his Pontificate, Pope John Paul II certainly helped us to rediscover these heroes and heroines in our tradition--in fact, he beatified 1338 women and men, and canonized 482 saints. How often do we turn to them as role models and share their stories with our contemporaries?

One of the most profound lessons that John Paul II taught us in the twilight of his Pontificate was that everyone must suffer, even the Vicar of Christ. Rather than hide his infirmities, as most public figures do, he let the whole world see what he went through. In a youth-obsessed culture in which people are constantly urged to fight or deny the ravages of time, age, disease, he reminded us that aging and suffering are a natural part of being human. In the end it was the Gospel of Life in Technicolour, in all of its agonizing beauty that captivated and touched the entire world ...

The challenge and mission of evangelization 

The greatest challenge facing the Church at the beginning of the new millennium is the task that has always been entrusted to her: Evangelization. The Church is called in every epoch, and therefore in our own, to embrace anew the missionary mandate of the Risen Christ: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you" (Mat. 28:19-20).

The Evangelization of today's world--the new Evangelization and of such great interest to and so often spoken about by the Servant of God John Paul II, and repeated by Benedict XVI--is a task in which the Church places great hope; yet the Church is fully aware of the innumerable obstacles she faces in this work due to the extraordinary changes happening at a personal and social level and, above all, to a postmodern culture in serious crisis.

In his words to the German bishops in Cologne, Pope Benedict XVI manifested a profound apostolic desire:

"We must reflect seriously on how we might carry out a true evangelization today, not just a new evangelization, but often a true first evangelization. People don't know God, they don't know Christ. A new paganism is present, and it is not enough just to maintain the community of believers, although this is very important. I believe that together we must find new ways of bringing the Gospel to today's world by preaching Christ anew and by establishing the faith."

The words of these two Popes inspire us in our efforts and mission. People live as if the truth didn't exist, as if the desire for happiness which is at the heart of human experience is destined to remain unanswered."

The secret of Catholic Christian Outreach

At the beginning of our conversion process there is always a personal encounter with Christ which radically transforms life; an encounter made possible by credible witnesses who relive in the movement that unique experience of the first disciples: "Come and see" (John 1:46). I have found that there is always a 'before' and 'after' in the lives of those who belong to ecclesial movements and communities. For some, the conversion of heart is often a gradual process which takes time. For others, the conversion is an unexpected and all-encompassing 'lighting bolt' experience.

Many of you have experienced a deep inner transformation, at times to your own surprise; in fact, many never would have imagined yourselves preaching the Gospel in this way or participating so actively in the Church's mission.

One of the greatest obstacles to the work of evangelization has always been routine or habit, which eliminates the freshness and persuasive power of Christian missionary outreach and witness. The movements, yours in particular, break with the habitual way of doing business.

You direct your efforts courageously and naturally at today's modern Areopagus that is present in culture, in the mass media, politics and the economy. You give special attention to those who suffer, to the poor and marginalized. You do not wait for those no longer practising the faith to return to the Church on their own: you seek them out. You do not hesitate to reach out by taking to the streets and public squares, by entering supermarkets, banks, schools, universities and colleges and wherever people can be found. Your missionary zeal carries you "to the ends of the earth."

Three biblical requirements for our mission: urgency, boldness and solidarity

In order to evangelize and transform our Canadian culture, and call it back to its deeply Christian roots, we need a biblical strategy, biblical vocabulary and a biblical vision. I wish to leave you today with three words that come to us from the Sacred Scriptures--from Luke's two volumes of the Gospel and Acts of the Apostles. And those three words are: urgency, boldness and solidarity.

Urgency

On the fourth Sunday of Advent this year, we were invited into the deeply personal scene of Mary's visitation to Elizabeth (1:39-56). There are two aspects of the Visitation scene to consider. The first is that any element of personal agenda of Mary and Elizabeth is put aside. Both had good reason to be very preoccupied with their pregnancies and all that new life brings. Both women had a right to focus on themselves for a while as they made new and radical adjustments to their daily lives. Mary reaches out to her kinswoman to help her and also to be helped by her. These two great biblical women consoled each another, shared their stories, and gave each other the gift of themselves in the midst of the new life that they must have experienced: Elizabeth after her long years of barrenness and now sudden pregnancy, and Mary, after her meeting with the heavenly messenger, and her 'irregular' marriage situation and pregnancy.

The second point of this moving story is Mary's haste. Luke tells us that she undertook in haste the long and perilous trek from Nazareth to a village in the hill country of Judea. She knew clearly what she wanted and did not allow anyone or anything to stop her.

In his commentary on Luke's Gospel, St. Ambrose of Milan describes this haste with an almost untranslatable Latin phrase, "nescit tarda molimina Spiritus Sancti gratia" which means: "the grace of the Holy Spirit does not know delayed efforts" or "delayed efforts are foreign to the grace of the Holy Spirit." Mary's free choice to move forward and outward is reflective of a decision taken deep within her heart followed by immediate action. There was no time for prolonged reflection, a think-tank, a discernment workshop, or other stall tactics. Mary was inhabited by a biblical urgency. May the Mother of the Saviour fill you with this divine urgency in your mission.

Boldness

Luke offers us a second requirement for our work in the Acts of the Apostles chapter 4: the gift of boldness. In Acts 4:31, we meet one of the first crises faced by the early Church, and how the Spirit was present in the midst of it all. Peter and John were arrested and brought before the officials and were interrogated, threatened and ordered to speak no longer in the name of Jesus the Lord. Once released Peter and John returned to the community and it was at this point that the community utters a remarkable prayer. The occasion of the prayer is not a result of actual harm inflicted on the believers but rather the fact that the word of God was chained, impeded by force, threatened and suffocated. The community doesn't ask for protection, it doesn't ask that some cloud will come down and cover these terrible people, or remove the wretched leaders, it doesn't ask that they'll be done away with quietly, it doesn't ask for an end to difficulties, nor does it ask for revenge. It asks for no power or strength or military might, it does not ask for wealth, it doesn't even ask for their conversion. Rather the community prays for guidance, and simply wants to understand the events in the light of faith to discover the meaning of what has happened, why are these things happening to us, why is the word of God enchained, why are these oppressors, who are our own people, forbidding us and threatening us, not to speak in His name.

Prayer is the essential expression of the community, the main way of facing up to difficulties. When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word with boldness. What do we mean by boldness?

The word in the Scriptures in the New Testament is "parresia"--not "parousia," which refers to the final coming of Christ. The parresia is the boldness that is the fruit of courage. Despite the threats, despite the challenges, despite the difficulties, despite the very fact of losing our life, we must not enchain the word any longer but speak that word with courage and with boldness. This is a crucial moment in the life of the early Church.

There is nothing politically correct about preaching and living the Gospel. In fact, the Gospel message is at times completely incorrect in the eyes and ways of the world, and of the university! The gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed with boldness and with courage. A boldness that does not overpower, that is not rude, that does not bully, that is never disrespectful, that never shows off or flaunts gifts that one has received--but where the Spirit has been so lavishly poured out upon us as individuals and as a faith community, the church has an obligation to announce and to proclaim Jesus Christ boldly, unapologetically and unabashedly.

Today I beg the Holy Spirit to fill your hearts with this boldness, so that you may proclaim the message of God through your words, and even more, with your lives, especially on the many university and colleges campuses where you are across this vast land.

Solidarity

There is a third requirement found in Luke's Acts of the Apostles, chapter 18. Paul left Athens and went to Corinth where he devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

But when the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles."

One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: "Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city." So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.

Let us not despair over any of the hostile or indifferent environments where we find ourselves at present. Even in hostile and sinful Corinth Christ had many who were his own. We are not alone in our own places today. The Lord has many friends in these places, and we need to develop networks of solidarity, companionship and prayers the Lord's people.

We need one another to become saints, as Cardinal Ouellet pointed out so beautifully this morning during his masterful conference on the holy ones of Quebec.

Conclusion

What is required of those entrusted with this important work of Evangelization is to think big, and to cast out the nets into the deep. I remember the famous advice of architect Daniel Burnham to Chicago's city planners a century ago: "Make no small plans. They have no magic to stir men's blood." Unfortunately many have made some very small and meager plans for our futures. We must learn how to think big! "Duc in altum!" Now is not the time to think small, to retreat, to bemoan losses, closures, failures, scandals and deaths. Something new is happening in the Church and in Canada, especially in the lives of young people who are the new disciples and apostles in waiting!

The Gospel must be proclaimed anew with confidence, enthusiasm, and with gratitude for its proven beauty. Jesus understood his sense of mission in terms of "reaching out and drawing in," which constituted one fluid movement analogous to breathing. The enterprise to which we are called is far more fundamental than any of our concerns and far more crucial than we can imagine. There must be a priority, urgency, passion, creativity and hope in our pastoral ministry and Gospel witness.

In one of his most significant address of his Pontificate, Pope John Paul II addressed the 50th General Assembly of the United Nations Organization on October 5, 1995 in New York City. He concluded his masterful address with these words that are so applicable to our own efforts today in Canada:

"We must not be afraid of the future. We must not be afraid of man. It is no accident that we are here. Each and every human person has been created in the 'image and likeness' of the One who is the origin of all that is. We have within us the capacities for wisdom and virtue. With these gifts, and with the help of God's grace, we can build in the next century and the next millennium a civilization worthy of the human person, a true culture of freedom. We can and must do so! And in doing so, we shall see that the tears of this century have prepared the ground for a new springtime of the human spirit."

Dear young friends, deep in this cold, Canadian winter, a new springtime of the human spirit is dawning. It is beginning here in Quebec, in the very place where the faith was born nearly 400 years ago. Take courage, take heart, rise up and hold your heads high. You are not alone. The saints and holy ones of Quebec will give us the hope and courage to reclaim our heritage.

Rise up, young people of Canada and do not be afraid. You are that new springtime. This is your shining moment.

Merci beaucoup.