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In this issue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . April 2012
Pop e Benedic t XVIs Cuban pilgrimage
Reaching out to the Cuban majority and re-instituting the Faith........................................................3
Pell's performa nce was a reve lation
A genuine challenge to the wishy-washy claims of militant atheism..................................................5
Lost appetite for The Hunge r Games
Dark themes explored with fake heroes and false love .............................................................. 7
The inherent nature of marriag e
Parliamentary law must protect the sacred institution of one-man and one-woman....................... 10
Leonard Cheshire: a life o f servic e
Strong leadership in courage and charity........................................................................................11
Globa l warming models wrong a ga in
As long as the laws of nature exist, we will have tornadoes............................................................13
Easter vigil: night of the new c rea tion
Jesus is risen and dies no more......................................................................................................15
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Pope Benedict XVIs Cuban pilgrimageBy Faizaan Sami
The Cuban government,
the Roman Catholic
Church and the Cuban
humanitarian group, the
Ladies in White (LasDamas de Blanco), all
formidable entities in their
own right, found
themselves thrust upon the
world stage together as a
result of Pope Benedict
XVIs first trip to Latin
America in five years.
Ahead of the papals three-
day visit to Cuba, members of the Ladies in White were held by Cuban officials; a
series of detainments that were initially prompted by the occupation of a local churchin Cuba by members of the Republican Party of Cuba. The anti-Castro demonstrators
were attempting to influence the Pope before his impending arrival to directly address
the human rights abuses leveled against the Castro regime.
The United States, a long time advocate of the Ladies in White, naturally glommed
onto the public protest and, unsurprisingly, Havana was quick to accuse Washington
of propping up the subversive movement. Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for the
National Security Council said the detainments revealed the disdain of the Cuban
authorities for civilian rights and critiqued the acts of those who are standing in the
way of the basic aspirations of the Cuban people. For breaching the strict, state-
administered regulations of their weekly protest, the Cuban government has
prohibited the Ladies of White from future protests, revoking what was already a
narrowed platform to express their views. In light of their suppression, it was
expected that Pope Benedict XVI would emulate his predecessor John Paul II in
publicly denouncing the Cuban administration as well as meet with the religious
dissidents. However, the pope showed a reluctance to be drawn into alliance with
either the Cuban administration or the anti-Castro dissidents, even those that are
directly affiliated with the Church, demonstrating the Catholic institutions principal
intent to become reconnected with Cuban society at large and avoid intervention on
domestic matters.
The Ladies In White March On
Back in October 16th 2011, the Ladies in White marched in somber stride through thestreets of Havana holding white gladiolas just as they had done for eight years after
every Sunday mass at the Santa Rita de Casia Catholic Church. However, there was a
special significance attached to that day; it was the first silent protest without their
founding member, sixty-three year old Laura Polln, who succumbed to cardiac arrest
while under hospital care.
Polln founded the Ladies in White after her husband, Hctor Maseda, an independent
journalist, was arrested during the three day Black Spring raid in March 2003, along
with seventy four other Cuban dissidents. The journalists were accused ofsubverting
the internal order of the nation and received sentences ranging from six to twenty-
eight years incarceration. Gradually, Polln mobilized the wives of other dissidentsand held routine marches to push for their release, even under conditions of adversity,
when pro-government protestors would harangue the group during their marches.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/pope-to-find-challenges-opportunities-in-cuba/2012/03/19/gIQAHWxgNS_story.htmlhttp://cpj.org/reports/2008/03/cuba-press-crackdown.phphttp://cpj.org/reports/2008/03/cuba-press-crackdown.phphttp://cpj.org/reports/2008/03/cuba-press-crackdown.phphttp://cpj.org/reports/2008/03/cuba-press-crackdown.phphttp://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/pope-to-find-challenges-opportunities-in-cuba/2012/03/19/gIQAHWxgNS_story.html8/2/2019 April 2012 Download
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In March 2011 the remaining dissidents were released, largely due to the efforts of the
Spanish government and the Catholic Church in reaching an agreement with Ral
Castro for the prisoners to flee into exile; a condition that was not entirely adhered by
those that were released. In spite of certain developments, such as the release of those
incarcerated during the Black Spring, the subsequent fragmentation of membership
resulting from the emigration of reunited families as well as the regrettable death of
their leader, the Ladies in White have continued to demonstrate after every Sunday
mass. The impending arrival of his Holiness was viewed as an opportunity for their
claims to be finally heard by the leader of the very institution that helped them form
an unbreakable solidarity. However, compromised by the governments authority, the
Ladies in White and the Catholic Church were unable to establish a direct connection
on this particular trip.
The Prospect Of Conciliation Mediated By The Pope Benedict XVI
Received by Ral Castro at the Santiago airport on March 26th
, the papals visit to
Cuba is meant to commemorate the 400th
anniversary of the El Cobre sanctuary of the
countrys patroness, our Lady of Cobre, but there were certain other elements that
comprised his visit. Of course, the primary agenda was to reach out to the Cuban
majority and reinstitute the Catholic faith at a time when the country has been
incorporating certain minimalist civil liberties and opportunities to its citizenry. Mostof the Cuban faithful fled to the United States after the 1959 Cuban revolution, the
vast majority of which now reside in Miami, but an estimated 800 Cuban Americans
made the voyage to attend the Popes mass in Havana.
While the nature of the Popes visit was claimed to be pastoral, in light of the recent
demonstrations in Havana, comparisons have inevitably been drawn to Pope John
Paul IIs visit to Cuba in 1998, which had marked inferences regarding the protection
of civil rights and releasing incarcerated dissidents. Apart from the expected
denouncement of the U.S. embargo on Cuba, as previously iterated by Pope John Paul
II, Pope Benedict XVI was unlikely to be drawn into the current political skirmish.
Not only would intervention threaten the Catholic Churchs mending relationship withthe Cuban administration and thus its long-term goals in the country, but because it
wouldnt correspond with the Churchs current emphasis on counteracting its
dwindling supporter base. The Pope, however, did give a frank assessment of Cubas
political and economic Marxist framework, claiming it no longer corresponds to
reality. But far from advocating outright economic liberalization, he also criticized
the Wests capitalist model for leaving humanity devoid of values and
defenseless against predatory powers.
The Resurgence Of Catholicism In Cuba?
In some ways, there hasnt been a better time for the Catholic Church to re-establish
itself into the social fabric of this Caribbean island state, due in part to the efforts of
Cubas Cardinal Jaime Ortega, who has been able to position the church increasingly
as an intermediary force on the island. Under Ortega, the Church has offered care
centers and limited training programs, and pushed for church administered education,
not to mention it was the Cardinal who helped to negotiate the release of the Black
Spring political dissidents. With various external forces trickling into the socialist
state, the combination of light economic and social reforms under Ral Castros
government has highlighted a degree of adaptation of the stringent style of
governance that his brother practiced. Rals burgeoning relationship with the
Cardinal is indicative of the leaders acknowledgement of the Church as a positive
influence in not only uniting the population but also providing them it with a semi-
autonomous authority capable of adequately nurturing the population. As it seeks togain legitimacy outside of its U.S.-inflicted seclusion, the promotion of religious
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12842392http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57406080/100s-of-cuban-americans-visit-cuba-to-see-pope/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/27/world/americas/pope-benedict-in-cuba-for-second-leg-of-latin-america-visit.html%20http:/www.nytimes.com/2012/03/27/world/americas/pope-benedict-in-cuba-for-second-leg-of-latin-america-visit.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/27/world/americas/pope-benedict-in-cuba-for-second-leg-of-latin-america-visit.html%20http:/www.nytimes.com/2012/03/27/world/americas/pope-benedict-in-cuba-for-second-leg-of-latin-america-visit.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/26/pope-cuba-trip-cuban-catholics_n_1379298.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/26/pope-cuba-trip-cuban-catholics_n_1379298.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/27/world/americas/pope-benedict-in-cuba-for-second-leg-of-latin-america-visit.html%20http:/www.nytimes.com/2012/03/27/world/americas/pope-benedict-in-cuba-for-second-leg-of-latin-america-visit.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/27/world/americas/pope-benedict-in-cuba-for-second-leg-of-latin-america-visit.html%20http:/www.nytimes.com/2012/03/27/world/americas/pope-benedict-in-cuba-for-second-leg-of-latin-america-visit.htmlhttp://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57406080/100s-of-cuban-americans-visit-cuba-to-see-pope/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-128423928/2/2019 April 2012 Download
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freedom will deliver the benefit of reinforcing Cubas association with that of the
Latin American region in which Catholicism plays a prominent role.
On the other hand, with the backing of the Cuban administration, the Catholic Church
now has the capacity to influence public discourse in Cuba over the long term, a
prospect that would have been vulnerable if it visibly sided with the Ladies in White.
As he stood before several hundred thousand Cubans at the open-air Mass in Havana,
Pope Benedict XVI used the opportunity to directly connect with the public, ticking
all the right boxes. In his speech, the papal urged for the recalibration of Cubansociety characterized by greater civil liberties and material resources for Cubans,
going on to denounce the U.S. embargo, all of which reinforced the papals
indifference to government influence. Cubas Minister of Planning and Economy,
Marino Murillo, responded promptly and succinctly, confirming that in Cuba, there
would be no political reform. The various initiatives of the Church, such as
instituting Catholic teaching in schools, gaining access to broadcast
networks, declaring Good Friday a public holiday and building new churches have
been proposed to the Cuban administration but the general consensus is that the status
quo will remain. However, as marginal reform occurs under Ral Castros
administration and as both the president and Cardinal Ortega form a deeper
relationship, it is the sense of timing that could ensure that the popes visit will act asa catalyst for change in the hearts in minds of the Cuban public.
This analysis was prepared by Faizaan Sami, Research Associate for the Council on
Hemispheric Affairs. www.eurasiareview.com
PellsperformancewasarevelationGREG SHERIDAN www.theaustralian.com.au
THERE were times in
Monday night's greatdebate on the ABC's Q&A
between Catholic Cardinal
George Pell and militant
atheist Richard Dawkins
when you felt the boxing
authorities would step in
and call a halt to the bout.
Dawkins was so obviously
boxing above his weight
division, was so
completely outclassed inall aspects of the
encounter, that you felt the event promoters were being cruel to him.
The ABC deserves credit for broadcasting the debate and doing so in a reasonably
serious fashion, allowing answers to go a bit longer than usual so that whole thoughts,
rather than staccato sound bites, could emerge from our screens. And the ABC was
duly rewarded with nearly a million viewers, the highest ratings Q&A has ever got.
Given that Dawkins types appear endlessly on the ABC - indeed, it seems any C-list
London celebrity who can cadge a fare to Australia will be invited to proclaim their
atheist faith at length on ABC public affairs programs - here's a radical thought:
perhaps it was Pell who was the attraction on Monday night.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-17528294http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-17528294http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iQExZDfO2F14Ln4NPlq5bRtFoZKA?docId=12f596e0028b448aa8ad1b92226ee64ahttp://www.eurasiareview.com/http://www.eurasiareview.com/http://www.eurasiareview.com/http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iQExZDfO2F14Ln4NPlq5bRtFoZKA?docId=12f596e0028b448aa8ad1b92226ee64ahttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-17528294http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-175282948/2/2019 April 2012 Download
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This debate was an important event in Australian public life and it tells us several
things. First, though, there is a context we should bear in mind. Throughout human
history the vast majority of people, and indeed the vast majority of people alive today,
have believed a religious interpretation of life. Australia seems an unusually secular
society, though not as secular as Britain or France. But we are less secular than we
seem. One lesson from Monday night is that the ABC, and much of the secular media,
consciously or unconsciously, censor and sideline mainstream, orthodox Christian
voices. Two types of Christians are commonly asked to appear in the public affairs
part of media. One concentrates entirely on social justice issues, with an interpretation
always that governments should spend more money, and more or less promises never
to mention God. Tim Costello comes to mind. Another is what one might call the
"turbulent priest", the person whose main contribution to public debate is to criticise
or condemn the Christian denomination with which they are affiliated.
What was so distinctive about Pell was that he was a clear, self-confident, erudite but
easily understandable spokesman for mainstream Australian Christianity. In sidelining
such voices, the mainstream media, with honourable exceptions, sidelines the most
important and biggest non-government institutions in our society, and indeed the
institutions that in large measure created Western civilisation. This is a very
provincial Australian position. Sometimes the liberal position in Australia argues forgreater internationalism and cosmopolitanism in our outlook. If we were to take that
seriously we would take religion more seriously. Mervyn Bendle has an interesting
take on this in this month's issue of Quadrant, where he highlights the link between
faith and fertility. At its simplest, people of religious belief have far more children
than people without religious belief. Not only is the majority of the world committed
to a religious view of life, this majority is increasing.
If we want to be Asia literate we need to understand Islam in Indonesia, Catholicism
in The Philippines, Protestant Christianity in South Korea and the extraordinary
dynamism of the underground Christian movement in China. Pretending that religion
is a force only from the past is part of the baby boomer fantasy, to which so many of
the media class subscribe, that they are forever in revolt against the forgotten
authority structures of the 1950s, proving their subversiveness by using rude words on
TV and radio and mocking or ignoring religion.
But Pell's performance was a revelation in other ways. Melvyn Bragg, the author of a
splendid book on the King James Bible, though not a practising Christian, has
recently argued that the new militant atheism, represented by Dawkins and his
countless local imitators, is a destructive force because it seeks to annihilate, or at
least cut society off from, the great store of human knowledge, expertise and wisdom
embodied in the Christian tradition. Why would you favour such ignorance, is Bragg's
unanswerable question. Pell gave us a glimpse on Monday night of what the tradition
embodies: its wisdom, its urbanity, its range and depth. Dawkins's arguments lookedantique and clumsy. There was something faintly Edwardian about his materialist
inability to grasp, or even to concede the intellectual substance of, the tradition of
metaphysics going back to the ancient Greeks. When Dawkins explained that the
universe had come from nothing, but that nothing was really very complex and, in
fact, consisted of something, people laughed. Dawkins was annoyed and, like a
humourless school marm, peevishly scolded the audience: "Why is that funny?"
The new militant atheism is not used to being disagreed with and certainly it's unusual
for it to be challenged on the ABC. Pell was helped by his sense of humour, and his
sense of good humour. He remarked: "The trouble, well, there are many troubles with
Richard's teachings, but a fundamental one is that he dumbs down God and soups up
nothing. He continually talks as though God is some sort of upmarket figure within
space and time. Now, from 450, 500BC where, with the Greek philosophers, God is
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outside space and time. God is necessary, self-sufficient, uncaused, unconditioned.
That's the hypothesis you've got to wrestle with."
Over several decades of dedicated listening to ABC current affairs programs I must
have heard dozens, if not hundreds, of expositions of atheism - Stephen Fry,
Christopher Hitchens, Dawkins et al - but I don't think I've ever before on ABC
current affairs heard a clear, straightforward exposition of Christianity. It's as if when
discussing the Labor Party the ABC would interview only recalcitrant unionist Dean
Mighell, and when discussing the Liberals would interview only hostile former stafferGreg Barns. Christians have a legitimate complaint that, far from representing any
kind of social conformity, their views, as Christians, are not given the normal
democratic weight that their institutional consequence and popular allegiance would
suggest is appropriate.
The final reflection is that we should realise what a remarkable, and internationally
important, figure Pell is. The Catholic Church is the most significant non-government
organisation in the world and for at least the past decade Pell has been a pivotal figure
in its central governance in Rome. He was intimately involved in the decision to elect
former cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI. He has had countless key
appointments in the Vatican and there is talk - not from Pell himself, of course - of
Pell as Vatican secretary of state, the Catholic Church's foreign minister.
But here is the big story. God is not dead. In thinking so, the mavens of our culture
are in a small and dwindling minority.
LostappetiteforTheHungerGames
A video review of the hottest film since Twilight and Harry Potter.
Description
Reality TV meets Lord of
the Flies. Every year,
twelve boys and twelve
girls are chosen to take part
in the Hunger Games.
Watched by the entire
nation, this is action-packed
reality TV at its most
exciting - and most
dangerous. Katniss
Everdeen has grown up
struggling to save thepeople close to her. Now
she faces the biggest
challenge of all - the fight for her life. Winning will make you famous. Losing means certain
death.
Good Reading Review
This review will probably not be popular, but it's important to talk about these issues. It
discusses the entire Hunger Games Trilogy: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and
Mockingjay. War, persecution, abuse, suffering -- these are common themes in literature and I
am not overly disturbed by them, at least in principle. Dark themes are a part of life, and even
if they are difficult to face they can be invaluable for testing character, proving virtue, and
drawing out what is most beautiful in human nature, as well as the worst. In teen literature, it
all depends how they are dealt with. If a story about evil, abusive powers provides a context
for characters to choose how to respond and bear responsibility for that choice, it offers
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something invaluable. Even if characters go along with the evil, the narrative should not
absolve them from the responsibility of acting in that way. If, on the other hand, the narrative
claims that the characters had no choice but were forced to act that way by circumstances,
then it only helps to make readers more confused. If in addition a novel turns violence into
gratuitous entertainment, it only reinforces negative themes and desensitises an age group that
should be building their emotional intelligence, not killing it.
No doubt there are worse examples of this kind of literature, but in my view the ultra-best-
selling series and now movie The Hunger Games, is bad enough. In a dystopian vision of the
near future, Hunger Games is a terrifying reality TV show where twelve boys and twelve girlsare forced to compete to the death. The Capitol has imposed the games on the children of the
twelve districts under its control to remind them that rebellion is futile. Sixteen-year-old
Katniss Everdeen steps forward to take her sisters place, and though she sees it as a death
sentence, she is determined to survive for the sake of her family. Author Suzanne Collins
conceived the idea for Hunger Games while channel surfing between reality TV shows and
news coverage of an actual war zone. It is not a particularly uplifting theme, yet Collins has
many readers convinced that the books ethics are clear: it is a critique of the violent injustice
it describes. I am not convinced.
Survival
In the games, survival is the ultimate good and death the greatest evil; our heroine never
questions this. She and the other characters do whatever it takes to survive, and for games
contestants this means killing. Katniss is the good girl so she is subtle at first, dropping an
insect nest on someones head so they swell up and die 'naturally', or destroying another
groups food so they will starve. Her district companion Peeta confesses that to murder
innocent people costs everything you are, yet indirectly and later directly, both he and
Katniss still do it. The experience is like reading a first hand account of a Nazi soldier doing
horrible things to others in order to stay alive. The fact is, sometimes survival is not the most
important thing and it is necessary to be prepared to die rather than kill someone else. In
Collins books, survival only loses its appeal when suffering makes death more appealing
than life, justifying the suicide and mercy killing which are rife in the series. Towards the end
the rebelsincluding Katnisscarry a suicide bomb in case they or their friends are caught.
Failure to kill a captured friend is seen as a failure of friendship, and Katniss reluctance to
use it is a sign of her weakness. Darkness1; Characters0.Desensitisation and romance
Next there is brutal desensitisation so the characters wont get so hurt (it is not acknowledged
that this too is a form of harm), and romance used as a tool of survival. The games are
televised and sponsors must be sought to provide the food and medicine contestants will need
to survive. Body appearance is therefore important: each contestant has a stylist who must
first assess them without clothes (Katniss bravely resists the urge to cover herself), and then
a full body wax makes them camera-ready. This is probably normal for reality TV, but dont
tell me its brave. At first, the other contestants mock Katniss with explicit offers and gestures
because she is so 'pure'. But soon she 'toughens up' and is able to laugh rather than blush at
their provocative displays, and shows less of a concern to protect herself. As Katniss is 'built
up' (broken down), Collins seems to enjoy describing the loss of innocence; its quite
nauseating.
From the start, a fake relationship between Katniss and Peeta is played up to win sponsorship.
'One kiss equals one pot of broth', so Katniss maintains a star-crossed lovers routine with
long, lingering kisses and imaginary tears, and later the pretence that they are married and that
she is pregnant. Peeta himself falls for it, but Katniss is just confused about what she feels.
This doesnt stop her from kissing, hugging and 'comfort' bed sharing with Peeta, nor prevent
her kissing her old friend Gale 'to make up for all the kisses Ive withheld, because it doesnt
matter anymore, and because Im so desperately lonely I cant stand it.' This petty, selfish,
mockery of love is all that is served up in Hunger Games. Not only did Katniss embrace her
progressive desensitisation and confusedly false romance, but the book makes her a hero for
it. Darkness2; Characters0.
Feelings replace right and wrongNow to ethics per se. Actions are deemed right or wrong based on how the characters feel
about them. For Katniss the pattern is repeated over and over: a catastrophic situation is
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followed by her passionate but often unethical reaction, then a soul-searching analysis of her
feelings to deal with her guilt, followed by defiant justification that she had no choice, or, if
she had a choice, that she was confused, which is the fault of those who created the
catastrophe. Thus she becomes the victim-hero: none of the evilincluding that which she
did herselfis her fault: they made her do it. Is there not a little duplicity in someone who
curses the horrible culture that sacrifices its children to settle its differences, when she herself
has played along with it the whole time? Darkness3; Characters0.
Heroic rebellion
Some may claim that Katniss did rebel. First, her fake romance: What is rebellious or heroicabout this self-serving tactic? Second, Katniss' and Peetas threat of double suicide to demand
that they both be allowed to live: after killing so many others her effort to spare a friend rings
hollow. Third, her placing of flowers on her dead friends body: but then she goes on to
continue the games, fighting and killing What about the grand finale where Katniss joins
the rebels to bring down the Capitol? Running on hatred, bitterness and revenge, the rebels
use bombs and guns to kill hundreds of innocent citizens who get in the way. Katniss may not
like the large-scale killing, but she has no problem shooting a startled citizen who blocks her
path. Still, we are reassured, its not her fault. Darkness4; Characters0.
Sensationalism
Reinforcing all the above is the seductive sensationalism of the storytelling. It is like watching
a graphic news story that turns horrific events into entertainment, using excessive detail and
twisting the narrative to wrench every possible emotion from the viewer, constantly driven to
bigger and better shocks for impact. The screaming, the blood, the broken bodies, the
instruments of torture and the damage they do -- when all this is no longer enough the
emotional impact of the slow and graphic death of some poor, innocent character weve come
to like is thrown in. I dont know how on earth the movie will rate PG. How can this series be
a critique of using injury and death for entertainment when it does the same itself?! Thanks to
the gratuitous graphic detail not only the characters, but the readers too, are damaged.
Darkness5; Characters (and readers)0.
So, what do we do now?
Readers should question the lack of freedom and responsibility of these characters. Could
they have chosen to act differently? Are they responsible for choosing to act badly? Would
we be right to do the same in their situation? Are they heroes for acting as they did? If there isstill confusion, ask the same questions about Nazi soldiers. Also think about the effect of
turning horrible things into entertainment. Parents may find some helpful analysis of the
effect of desensitisation on our ability to love in Wendy Shalits shocking book A Return to
Modesty: Discovering the Lost Virtue (1998).
It will also help to look at alternative novels. Birthmarked (2010) by Caragh M. OBrien is a
recent favourite of mine. Though its also dystopian and deals with dark themes in a cruel
future world, the beauty of characters actions transforms the story completely. (update: Sadly
its sequel Prized was not as good, but we're still hopeful for book 3 which will be released late
in 2012). Another alternative is The Book Thief(2006) by Markus Zusak. In this interview
the author describes the beauty of human goodness which can be discovered in the midst of
great evil. There are so many more great novels which explore dark or difficult themes butclearly show protagonists taking responsibility for their actions. Trash by Andy Mulligan
(2010), The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom (1971), The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by
John Boyne (2006), The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy (1903), A Rose for the
ANZAC Boys by Jackie French (2008), Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie
Ford (2009), The Help by Kathryn Stockett (2009, mature readers), Anne Frank: the Diary of
a Young Girl (1947), Sophie Scholl and the White Rose by Annette Dumbach (1999, mature
readers),Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery by
Eric Metaxas (2007), Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza (2006, mature readers), St Maria
Goretti: in Garments all Red by Godfrey Poage (1998), Mans Search for Meaning by Viktor
Frankl (1946), Life Without Limits by Nick Vujicic (2010). Read and compare, and decide
who the real heroes are.
Reviewed by Clare Cannon. www.mercatornet
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http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Birthmarked-1-OBrien-Caragh-M/9780857071392http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Birthmarked-2-Prized-OBrien-Caragh-M/9780857074959http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Book-Thief-Zusak-Markus/9780330423304http://youtu.be/m7B8ioiZz7Mhttp://www.goodreadingguide.com/Trash-Mulligan-Andy/9780385752169http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Boy-Striped-PyjamasThe-Boyne-John/9781849920438http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Scarlet-Pimpernel-Baroness-Orczy/9780340894989http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Rose-Anzac-Boys-French-Jackie/9780732285401http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Rose-Anzac-Boys-French-Jackie/9780732285401http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Hotel-Corner-Bitter-and-Sweet-Ford-Jamie/9780345505347http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Help-Stockett-Kathryn/9780241956533http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Diary-Young-Girl-Frank-Anne/9780141039824http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Diary-Young-Girl-Frank-Anne/9780141039824http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Diary-Young-Girl-Frank-Anne/9780141039824http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Sophie-Scholl-and-White-Rose-Dumbach-Annette/9781851685363http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Amazing-Grace-William-Wilberforce-and-Heroic-Campaign-End-Slavery-Metaxas-Eric/9780061173882http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Left-Tell-Discovering-God-Amidst-Rwandan-Holocaust-Ilibagiza-Immaculee/9781401908973http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Mans-Search-Meaning-Frankl-Viktor/9780807014295http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Life-Without-Limits-Inspiration-Ridiculously-Good-Life-Vujicic-Nick/9781742375625http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Life-Without-Limits-Inspiration-Ridiculously-Good-Life-Vujicic-Nick/9781742375625http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Mans-Search-Meaning-Frankl-Viktor/9780807014295http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Left-Tell-Discovering-God-Amidst-Rwandan-Holocaust-Ilibagiza-Immaculee/9781401908973http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Amazing-Grace-William-Wilberforce-and-Heroic-Campaign-End-Slavery-Metaxas-Eric/9780061173882http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Sophie-Scholl-and-White-Rose-Dumbach-Annette/9781851685363http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Diary-Young-Girl-Frank-Anne/9780141039824http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Diary-Young-Girl-Frank-Anne/9780141039824http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Help-Stockett-Kathryn/9780241956533http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Hotel-Corner-Bitter-and-Sweet-Ford-Jamie/9780345505347http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Rose-Anzac-Boys-French-Jackie/9780732285401http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Rose-Anzac-Boys-French-Jackie/9780732285401http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Scarlet-Pimpernel-Baroness-Orczy/9780340894989http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Boy-Striped-PyjamasThe-Boyne-John/9781849920438http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Trash-Mulligan-Andy/9780385752169http://youtu.be/m7B8ioiZz7Mhttp://www.goodreadingguide.com/Book-Thief-Zusak-Markus/9780330423304http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Birthmarked-2-Prized-OBrien-Caragh-M/9780857074959http://www.goodreadingguide.com/Birthmarked-1-OBrien-Caragh-M/97808570713928/2/2019 April 2012 Download
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TheinherentnatureofmarriageIn his submission to the Senate Legal and
Constitutional Affairs Committee Inquiry
into the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill
2010, Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of
Sydney has said that over some thousands of
years marriage has only meant the union of a
man and woman. If this definition ischanged, the social glue holding society
together will be further damaged. No
practical or legal advantages will be gained
beyond those presently available. It is a
symbolic move and designed to prevent
Christians in the future from teaching about
the true nature of marriage, family and
sexual activity. Cardinal Pell has urged
Parliament to continue to recognise and support marriage as an institution between a man and
a woman.
Marriage is a union that is publicly recognised, honoured and supported because of itsunique capacity to generate children and to meet childrens deepest needs for the love and
attachment of both their father and their mother, Cardinal Pell said. Marriage is not simply
a loving, committed relationship between two people, but a unique kind of physical and
emotional union which is open to the possibility of new life. Cardinal Pell explained this
understanding of marriage also holds true for those heterosexual married couples who do not
or cannot have children due to age or infertility, because their sexual relationship still
expresses the potential for and capability of creating life. Marriage between a man and a
woman always has an inherent capacity for, and orientation towards, the generation of
children, whether that capacity is actualised or not.
Cardinal Pell reiterated that unjust discrimination against homosexual persons is always
wrong. At the same time, participation in particular social institutions is not always equally
available to all persons within society, because the meaning and character of those institutions
needs to be respected. It is not unjust discrimination against homosexual couples to uphold
marriage as being between a man and a woman. Marriage and same-sex unions are essentially
different realities. Justice, in fact, requires society to recognise and respect this difference."
Cardinal Pell pointed to the recent decision of the European Court of Human Rights, which
affirmed that there is no right to same-sex marriage under international law. The right to
marry is a fundamental human right. However, to respect this right means to accept the
objective reality of marriage as a union of a man and a woman that is inherently
procreative. Cardinal Pell also referred to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
which upholds the right of children to their biological heritage and warned that changing the
law on marriage would fail to protect this right.
The family, based on marriage, is the basic unit on which society and the extended family isbuilt ... It is a grave injustice to deliberately deprive children of the experience of being loved
and raised by their natural mother and father and to prevent them from having a developing
and ongoing relationship with their biological siblings. While some proponents of same-sex
marriage have proposed legal exemptions for the Catholic Church and other religious
communities from being required to perform same-sex marriages, His Eminence warned that
religious freedom is at risk for all Australians. An exemption would only apply to
religious celebrants, and would offer no legal protection for the vast majority of Catholics and
other Australians with a religious and/or conscientiously-held belief that marriage is a union
of a man and a woman.
Changing the legal definition of marriage would threaten the right of Catholics and all
Australians who believe in marriage to live, teach and publicly practise their belief thatmarriage is a union of a man and a woman. Cardinal Pell urged Parliament to consider the
profound social impact of a legal redefinition of marriage, warning that societys
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understanding of marriage and children will be fundamentally altered, at the expense of
children. When we equate same-sex relationships with marriage, it further undermines our
understanding of family by wrongly implying that biological connectivity of children with
their parents and siblings is not important ... it mistakenly says that having both a mother and
a father is an unnecessary and superfluous duplication. When legislatures act to change
laws, social norms change as a consequence and these impact on all members of the
community. Cardinal Pell called upon Parliament to recognise the enduring meaning of
marriage as a union between a man and a woman, uniquely designed for the gift of children
and the continuation of humanity.The real and distinctive meaning of marriage a meaning cherished and preserved for
countless generations of the human family must not be taken away because of a deeply
misguided idea that marriage only means any kind of committed relationship between two
individuals.
Catholic Communications, Archdiocese of Sydney.
LeonardCheshire:alifeofserviceFrom Wikipedia
Group Captain Geoffrey Leonard Cheshire, Baron Cheshire, VC, OM, (7 September 1917
31 July 1992) was a highly decorated BritishRAFpilot during the Second World War.Among the honours Cheshire received as a bomber pilot is the Victoria Cross, the highest and
most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded
to British and Commonwealth forces. After the war, he became a charity worker, setting up
the Leonard Cheshire Disability organisation as well as other philanthrophic organisations.
Leonard Cheshire was the son ofGeoffrey Chevalier Cheshire, DCL,LLD, FBA, a barrister,
academic and influential writer on English law. He had one brother, Christopher Cheshire,
also a wartime pilot. Cheshire was born in Chester, but was brought up at his parents' home
near Oxford. Cheshire was educated at Oxford, where he became friends with John Niel
Randle. On one occasion at Oxford he was bet half a pint of beer that he could not walk to
Paris. With no more than a few pennies and a pocket handkerchief he won his bet. Cheshire
graduated in Jurisprudence in 1939.
After learning basic piloting skills with
the Oxford University Air Squadron,
Cheshire joined the RAF after the
outbreak of the Second World War as a
Pilot Officer, and was initially posted in
June 1940 to 102 Squadron,
flying Armstrong Whitworth
Whitley medium bombers, from RAF
Driffield. In November 1940, he was
awarded the DSO for flying his badly-
damaged bomber back to base. In January
1941, Cheshire completed his tour ofoperations, but then volunteered
immediately for a second tour. He was
posted to 35 Squadron with the brand new Handley Page Halifax and completed his second
tour early in 1942, by now a Squadron Leader. August 1942 saw a return to operations as CO
ofNo. 76 Squadron RAF. The squadron had recently suffered high losses operating the
Halifax, and Cheshire immediately tackled the low morale of the unit by ordering an
improvement in the performance of the squadron aircraft by removing the mid-upper and
nose gun turrets along with exhaust covers and other weighty non-essential equipment. This
allowed the bombers to fly higher and faster. Losses soon fell and morale rose accordingly.
Later in 1941, Cheshire married the Americanactress, Constance Binney (21 years his
senior), but the marriage was short-lived and childless.
Cheshire became Station Commander RAF Marston Moor in March as the youngest GroupCaptain in the RAF, though the job was never to his liking and he pushed for a return to an
operational command. These efforts paid off with a posting as commander of the
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legendary 617 "Dambusters" Squadron in September 1943. While with 617, Cheshire helped
pioneer a new method of marking enemy targets for Bomber Command's 5 Group, flying in at
a very low level in the face of strong defences, using first, the versatile Mosquito, then a
"borrowed" P-51 Mustang fighter. This development work was the subject of some severe
intraservice politics; Cheshire was encouraged by his 5 Group Commander Air Vice-
MarshalRalph Cochrane, although the 8 Group Pathfinder AOC Air Vice-Marshal Don
Bennett saw this work as impinging on the responsibilities of his own command.
Cheshire was nearing the end of his fourth tour of duty in July 1944, having completed a total
of 102 missions, when he was awarded the Victoria Cross. He was the only one of the 32 VCairmen to win the medal for an extended period of sustained courage and outstanding effort,
rather than a single act of valour. His citation noted: In four years of fighting against the
bitterest opposition he maintained a standard of outstanding personal achievement, his
successful operations being the result of careful planning, brilliant execution and supreme
contempt for danger for example, on one occasion he flew his P-51 Mustang in slow 'figures
of eight' above a target obscured by low cloud, to act as a bomb-aiming mark for his
squadron. Cheshire displayed the courage and determination of an exceptional leader. It also
noted a raid in which he had marked a target, flying a Mosquito at low level against
"withering fire". Cheshire was, in his day, both the youngest Group Captain in the service
and, following his VC, the most decorated.
On his 103rd mission, he was the official British observer of the nuclear
bombing ofNagasaki. His vantage point was in the support B-29Big Stink. He did notwitness the event as close up as anticipated due to aircraft commander James Hopkins' failure
to link up with the other B-29s. Hopkins was meant to join with the others over Yakushima,
but he circled at 39,000 ft instead of the agreed height of 30,000 ft. He tried to justify this by
the need to keep the VIP passengers out of danger, but Cheshire thought that Hopkins was
"overwrought". "Many assumed that it was Nagasaki which emptied him. In fact, as he kept
pointing out, it was the war as a whole. Like Britain herself, he had been fighting or training
for fighting since 1939." He was earlier quoted as saying: "...then I for one hold little brief for
the future of civilization".
Cheshire left the RAF in 1946 and the time immediately after the war saw him start several
new ventures. One of these was a community called VIP (standing for the Latin phrase Vade
in Pacem, meaning Go in Peace) which eventually settled in a house called Le Court inHampshire which Cheshire bought from an aunt. VIP's aim was to provide an opportunity for
ex-servicemen and women and their families to live together, each contributing to the
community what they could, in order to help their transition back into civilian life. He hoped
that training, prosperity and fulfillment would result from united effort and mutual support.
He saw the community as one way of continuing to work towards world peace. But the idea
did not prosper and the community came to an end in 1947.
At the beginning of 1948, Cheshire heard about the case of Arthur Dykes, who had been one
of Cheshire's original "VIP" community at Le Court, Hampshire and was suffering from
cancer. Dykes asked Cheshire to give him some land to park a caravan until he recovered, but
Cheshire discovered that Dykes was terminally ill and that this diagnosis was concealed from
him. He told Dykes the real position and invited him to stay at Le Court. Cheshire learned
nursing skills and was soon approached to take in a second patient, the 94-year-old bedriddenwife of a man who had just been taken off to hospital after suffering a stroke. She was
followed by others, some coming to stay and others to help. Although Le Court had no
financial support, and his situation was financially perilous most of the time, money somehow
always seemed to arrive in the nick of time to stave off disaster.
Cheshire had been brought up a Christian, but had lapsed. In 1945, in the Vanity Fair club in
Mayfair, he joined a conversation about religion. "It was absurd," he said, "to imagine that
God existed, except as a convenient figure of speech. Man had invented God to explain the
voice of conscience, but it was doubtful whether right or wrong existed outside the human
mind. They were words affixed like labels to customs and laws which man had also invented
to keep social order." To Cheshire's surprise, as he sat back, "pleased with his worldly
wisdom," he was roundly rebuked for "talking such rot" by a woman friend who "was one ofthe last persons on earth he would have credited with" religious convictions.
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Arthur Dykes died in August 1948. After completing the arrangements for his funeral,
Cheshire idly picked up a book a friend had sent him. It was One Lord, One Faith by Vernon
Johnson, a former High Anglican clergyman who, against every cherished instinct and
prejudice, had converted to Roman Catholicism because, as he put it, "I could not resist the
claim of the Catholic Church to be the one true Church founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ to
guard and teach the truth.... She alone possesses the authority and unity necessary for such a
Divine vocation." On Christmas Eve, 1948, Cheshire was received into the Catholic Church.
That day there were eight patients staying at Le Court.]By the end of the following June,
there were twenty-eight. Cheshire dedicated the rest of his life to supporting disabled people,combining this with lecturing on conflict resolution.
In 1948, Cheshire founded the charity now styled Leonard Cheshire Disability, which
provides support to disabled people throughout the world. It is now one of the top 30 British
charities. Other organisations set up by Leonard Cheshire are: The Ryder-Cheshire
Foundation, set up by Leonard Cheshire and his wife Sue Ryder in 1959. It now mainly
operates in two fields: the rehabilitation of disabled people, through Ryder-Cheshire
Volunteers and the prevention and treatment oftuberculosis, through Target Tuberculosis. In
1953 Cheshire founded the Raphael Pilgrimage in order to enable sick and disabled people to
travel to Lourdes. The Leonard Cheshire Disability & Inclusive Development Centre is a joint
project by Leonard Cheshire Disability and University College London (originally set up in
1997 as the Leonard Cheshire Centre of Conflict Recovery). He founded the Memorial Fund
for Disaster Relief, a UK charity in whose benefit the Roger Waters concert The Wall - Livein Berlin was held. Cheshire opened this concert by blowing a Second World War whistle.
Leonard Cheshire was concerned about future remembrance and was influential in the
concept of the National Memorial Arboretum, founded by David Childs. The amphitheatre at
the Arboretum is dedicated to the memory of Leonard Cheshire.
On 5 April 1959, in Bombay's Roman Catholic Cathedral, he married Sue Ryder, also a
Roman Catholic convert and humanitarian. He and Baroness Ryder were one of the few
couples to both hold titles in their own right. They had two children, Jeromy and Elizabeth
Cheshire, and lived in Cavendish, Suffolk. He died ofmotor neurone disease on 31 July
1992, aged 74. Cheshire was later awarded the Order of Merit, was given a life peerage
as Baron Cheshire of Woodhall and Queen Elizabeth II paid personal tribute to him in
her Royal Christmas Message in December 1992. Former Pink Floyd member RogerWaters once described Cheshire as "the only true Christian I've ever met." There is a house
at Xavier College, a leading private school in Melbourne, Australia, named after Cheshire. St
Ignatius College, a private school in Sydney, Australia, also has a house named after
Cheshire.
GlobalWarmingmodelswrongagainThe observed response of the climate to more CO2 is not in good agreement with
predictions.
During a fundraiser in Atlanta earlier this month, President Obama is reported to have
said: "It gets you a little nervous about what is happening to global temperatures.
When it is 75 degrees in Chicago in the beginning of March, you start thinking. On theother hand, I really have enjoyed nice weather." What is happening to global
temperatures in reality? The answer is: almost nothing for more than 10 years.
Monthly values of the global temperature anomaly of the lower atmosphere, compiled
at the University of Alabama from NASA satellite data, can be found at the website
http://www.drroyspencer.com/latest-global-temperatures/. The latest (February 2012)
monthly global temperature anomaly for the lower atmosphere was minus 0.12
degrees Celsius, slightly less than the average since the satellite record of temperatures
began in 1979.The lack of any statistically significant warming for over a decade has
made it more difficult for the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) and its supporters to demonize the atmospheric gas CO2 which is
released when fossil fuels are burned. The burning of fossil fuels has been one reasonfor an increase of CO2 levels in the atmosphere to around 395 ppm (or parts per
13
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million), up from preindustrial levels of about 280 ppm. CO2 is not a pollutant. Life
on earth flourished for hundreds of millions of years at much higher CO2 levels than
we see today. Increasing CO2 levels will be a net benefit because cultivated plants
grow better and are more resistant
to drought at higher CO2 levels,
and because warming and other
supposedly harmful effects of CO2
have been greatly exaggerated.
Nations with affordable energy
from fossil fuels are more
prosperous and healthy than those
without. The direct warming due
to doubling CO2 levels in the
atmosphere can be calculated to
cause a warming of about one
degree Celsius. The IPCC
computer models predict a much
larger warming, three degrees
Celsius or even more, because they assume changes in water vapor or clouds thatsupposedly amplify the direct warming from CO2. Many lines of observational
evidence suggest that this "positive feedback" also has been greatly exaggerated.
There has indeed been some warming, perhaps about 0.8 degrees Celsius, since the
end of the so-called Little Ice Age in the early 1800s. Some of that warming has
probably come from increased amounts of CO2, but the timing of the warmingmuch
of it before CO2 levels had increased appreciablysuggests that a substantial fraction
of the warming is from natural causes that have nothing to do with mankind.
Frustrated by the lack of computer-predicted warming over the past decade, some IPCC
supporters have been claiming that "extreme weather" has become more common because of
more CO2. But there is no hard evidence this is true. After an unusually cold winter in 2011
(December 2010-February 2011) the winter of 2012 was unusually warm in the continentalUnited States. But the winter of 2012 was bitter in Europe, Asia and Alaska. Weather
conditions similar to 2012 occurred in the winter of 1942, when the U.S. Midwest was
unusually warm, and when the Wehrmacht encountered the formidable forces of "General
Frost" in a Russian winter not unlike the one Russians just had. Large fluctuations from warm
to cold winters have been the rule for the U.S., as one can see from records kept by the
National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA. For example, the winters of 1932
and 1934 were as warm as or warmer than the 2011-2012 one and the winter of 1936 was
much colder. Nightly television pictures of the tragic destruction from tornadoes over the past
months might make one wonder if the frequency of tornadoes is increasing, perhaps due to the
increasing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. But as one can read at Andrew Revkin's New
York Times blog, dotearth, "There is no evidence of any trend in the number of potent
tornadoes (category F2 and up) over the past 50 years in the United States, even as globaltemperatures have risen markedly."
Like winter temperatures, the numbers, severity and geographical locations of tornadoes
fluctuate from year-to-year in ways that are correlated with the complicated fluid flow patterns
of the oceans and atmosphere, the location of the jet stream, El Nio or La Nia conditions of
the tropical Pacific Oceans, etc. As long as the laws of nature exist, we will have tornadoes.
But we can save many more lives by addressing the threat of tornadoes directlyfor example,
with improved and more widely dispersed weather radars, and with better means for warning
the people of endangered areasthan by credulous support of schemes to reduce "carbon
footprints," or by funding even more computer centers to predict global warming. It is easy to
be confused about climate, because we are constantly being warned about the horrible things
that will happen or are already happening as a result of mankind's use of fossil fuels. But theseominous predictions are based on computer models. It is important to distinguish between
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what the climate is actually doing and what computer models predict. The observed response
of the climate to more CO2 is not in good agreement with model predictions.
We need high-quality climate science because of the importance of climate to mankind. But
we should also remember the description of how science works by the late, great physicist,
Richard Feynman: "In general we look for a new law by the following process. First we guess
it. Then we compute the consequences of the guess to see what would be implied if this law
that we guessed is right. Then we compare the result of the computation to nature, with
experiment or experience; compare it directly with observation, to see if it works. If it
disagrees with experiment it is wrong." The most important component of climate science iscareful, long-term observations of climate-related phenomena, from space, from land, and in
the oceans. If observations do not support code predictionslike more extreme weather, or
rapidly rising global temperaturesFeynman has told us what conclusions to draw about the
theory.
Mr. Happer is a professor of physics at Princeton. online.wsj.com
Easternight,thenightofthenewcreationDear Brothers and Sisters,
Easter is the feast of the new creation. Jesus is
risen and dies no more. He has opened the door to
a new life, one that no longer knows illness anddeath. He has taken mankind up into God himself.
Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of
God, as Saint Paul says in the First Letter to the
Corinthians (15:50). On the subject of Christs
resurrection and our resurrection, the Church
writer Tertullian in the third century was bold
enough to write: Rest assured, flesh and blood,
through Christ you have gained your place in
heaven and in the Kingdom of God (CCL II,
994). A new dimension has opened up for
mankind. Creation has become greater and
broader. Easter Day ushers in a new creation, butthat is precisely why the Church starts the liturgy
on this day with the old creation, so that we can
learn to understand the new one aright. At the
beginning of the Liturgy of the Word on Easter
night, then, comes the account of the creation of
the world. Two things are particularly important
here in connection with this liturgy. On the one hand, creation is presented as a whole that
includes the phenomenon of time. The seven days are an image of completeness, unfolding in
time. They are ordered towards the seventh day, the day of the freedom of all creatures for
God and for one another. Creation is therefore directed towards the coming together of God
and his creatures; it exists so as to open up a space for the response to Gods great glory, an
encounter between love and freedom. On the other hand, what the Church hears on Easter
night is above all the first element of the creation account: God said, let there be light!
(Gen 1:3). The creation account begins symbolically with the creation of light. The sun and the
moon are created only on the fourth day. The creation account calls them lights, set by God in
the firmament of heaven. In this way he deliberately takes away the divine character that the
great religions had assigned to them. No, they are not gods. They are shining bodies created by
the one God. But they are preceded by the light through which Gods glory is reflected in the
essence of the created being.
What is the creation account saying here? Light makes life possible. It makes encounter
possible. It makes communication possible. It makes knowledge, access to reality and to truth,
possible. And insofar as it makes knowledge possible, it makes freedom and progress possible.
Evil hides. Light, then, is also an expression of the good that both is and creates brightness. Itis daylight, which makes it possible for us to act. To say that God created light means that God
created the world as a space for knowledge and truth, as a space for encounter and freedom, as
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a space for good and for love. Matter is fundamentally good, being itself is good. And evil
does not come from God-made being, rather, it comes into existence only through denial. It is
a no.
At Easter, on the morning of the first day of the week, God said once again: Let there be
light. The night on the Mount of Olives, the solar eclipse of Jesus passion and death, the
night of the grave had all passed. Now it is the first day once again creation is beginning
anew. Let there be light, says God, and there was light: Jesus rises from the grave. Life is
stronger than death. Good is stronger than evil. Love is stronger than hate. Truth is stronger
than lies. The darkness of the previous days is driven away the moment Jesus rises from thegrave and himself becomes Gods pure light. But this applies not only to him, not only to the
darkness of those days. With the resurrection of Jesus, light itself is created anew. He draws all
of us after him into the new light of the resurrection and he conquers all darkness. He is Gods
new day, new for all of us. But how is this to come about? How does all this affect us so that
instead of remaining word it becomes a reality that draws us in? Through the sacrament of
baptism and the profession of faith, the Lord has built a bridge across to us, through which the
new day reaches us. The Lord says to the newly-baptized: Fiat lux let there be light. Gods
new day the day of indestructible life, comes also to us. Christ takes you by the hand. From
now on you are held by him and walk with him into the light, into real life. For this reason the
early Church called baptismphotismos illumination.
Why was this? The darkness that poses a real threat to mankind, after all, is the fact that he can
see and investigate tangible material things, but cannot see where the world is going or
whence it comes, where our own life is going, what is good and what is evil. The darkness
enshrouding God and obscuring values is the real threat to our existence and to the world in
general. If God and moral values, the difference between good and evil, remain in darkness,
then all other lights, that put such incredible technical feats within our reach, are not only
progress but also dangers that put us and the world at risk. Today we can illuminate our cities
so brightly that the stars of the sky are no longer visible. Is this not an image of the problems
caused by our version of enlightenment? With regard to material things, our knowledge and
our technical accomplishments are legion, but what reaches beyond, the things of God and the
question of good, we can no longer identify. Faith, then, which reveals Gods light to us, is the
true enlightenment, enabling Gods light to break into our world, opening our eyes to the true
light.Dear friends, as I conclude, I would like to add one more thought about light and illumination.
On Easter night, the night of the new creation, the Church presents the mystery of light using a
unique and very humble symbol: the Paschal candle. This is a light that lives from sacrifice.
The candle shines inasmuch as it is burnt up. It gives light, inasmuch as it gives itself. Thus
the Church presents most beautifully the paschal mystery of Christ, who gives himself and so
bestows the great light. Secondly, we should remember that the light of the candle is a fire.
Fire is the power that shapes the world, the force of transformation. And fire gives warmth.
Here too the mystery of Christ is made newly visible. Christ, the light, is fire, flame, burning
up evil and so reshaping both the world and ourselves. Whoever is close to me is close to the
fire, as Jesus is reported by Origen to have said. And this fire is both heat and light: not a cold
light, but one through which Gods warmth and goodness reach down to us.
The great hymn of the Exsultet, which the deacon sings at the beginning of the Easter liturgy,
points us quite gently towards a further aspect. It reminds us that this object, the candle, has its
origin in the work of bees. So the whole of creation plays its part. In the candle, creation
becomes a bearer of light. But in the mind of the Fathers, the candle also in some sense
contains a silent reference to the Church,. The cooperation of the living community of
believers in the Church in some way resembles the activity of bees. It builds up the
community of light. So the candle serves as a summons to us to become involved in the
community of the Church, whose raison dtre is to let the light of Christ shine upon the
world. Let us pray to the Lord at this time that he may grant us to experience the joy of his
light; let us pray that we ourselves may become bearers of his light, and that through the
Church, Christs radiant face may enter our world (cf.LG 1). Amen.
www.vatican.va
http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.htmlhttp://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html