An Image that Conjures up our Passing from this World to the Next.

This week, we have had the funeral of Barbara Jakiemczuk, who was a very quiet and highly respected parishioner.  It was not as if I had any long conversations with her, but she was always there with her husband, Ilian, in Church, on a Sunday at 9.30am, or Saturday at 6.00 pm. She may not have been noticed by many parishioners, but then again, she may, for it was not difficult to recognise her prayerfulness and ‘presence’ at Mass. After the funeral ceremony, in conversation with a parishioner friend, with whom she used to meet each week, I heard she was very good company and they both enjoyed a good laugh, together! Of course, it helps, enormously, to have displayed a photograph of the person who has died, as this aid to memory brings to the congregation the erstwhile ‘real’ presence of the deceased – even though there is a chance that this intensifies the great sadness felt at the so recent loss of someone we love. In this photo we see the demur and quiet, loyal and straightforward Barbara, enjoying a drink at some party, with family and friends.

Barbara Jakiemczuk 

The Mass, which she attended so regularly each Sunday, is a foretaste of the Heavenly Banquet. This puts me in mind of the ‘Kingdom of heaven’; this quite wonderful image may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. (Mt. 22: 2)

Wedding Feast at Cana 

Clearly, Barbara in the picture, is engaging in conversation with somebody, and once again I am reminded of the ‘Dynamism of Heaven’. We cannot pass round the white wine at Mass, nor break into engaging conversation with those present, and yet the spirit of what we are about is just as dynamic. Each other person, who belongs to the worshipping congregation, in particular, is important, and, as our Sign of Peace shows, that the ‘neighbour’ to whom we turn, at this special point in the Mass, is a friend already, or a friend to be made – or should be! 

By contrast, there is a beautiful Eucharistic hymn entitled, “O bread of heaven”, and in its last verse it has these lines:

Beloved Lord in heaven above,

There, Jesus, thou awaitest me;

To gaze on thee with changeless love;

Yes, thus, I hope, thus shall it be: 

Many years ago, the phrase ‘Changeless Love’, always, conjured up in my mind a certain ‘stillness’ before the Blessed Sacrament, and, without wishing to offend anyone, a rather boring existence! Over the years, I have come to realise that there is a real ‘dynamism’ in being still, quiet, and at peace, before the Blessed Sacrament – ‘drinking in’ the real presence of the person of Jesus, in his greatest attitude of love; for me, this realisation has had to be acquired, as the dynamic aspect of it was unappreciated as a younger monk. It may be that to some, even now, adoration before the Eucharist can appear to be lacking in dynamism. 

It happened that Barbara’s funeral was on the 22nd February, the feast of the Chair of St. Peter.  This means that, in truth, it is the feast of the whole Church – the Church consisting of the whole family of God’s baptised children, and, quite deliberately, the Church focuses attention on the Office of St. Peter and his successors as this is the mark of unity – of singularity – which binds this ‘Family of God’ in the ‘togetherness’ of the Church.  This great feast celebrates this essential UNITY. But, I want to take this aspect of unity a little deeper, for I am sure that, when certain things occur in our lives, this not just by chance, or accident.  St. Peter was involved closely in Barbara’s life, and death. Also, It is no accident that Peter is often shown with the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, for Peter stands with Jesus as they welcome God’s friends to their salvation.

St. Peter Receives the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven from Jesus 

During the liturgy of the funeral, I had a glorious ‘vision’ of the faithful and loving Barbara at Heaven’s gate, and St. Peter was there to welcome her – just as ‘old friends’ are wont to welcome each other. Then graciously, and courteously, he leads Barbara to Barbara’s greatest friend – Jesus, the one who is the Gate of Heaven for us; Jesus said: “I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.” (John 10; 9).  The joy of meeting Jesus – the first person we will meet after death, (cf1 Thess 4; 17) was enormous, and she had tears of love and gratitude in her eyes, for the infinite, and undeserved, love she was receiving. My ‘vision’ went on to show me Barbara, who could not help but recite, in her heart, the ‘Magnificat’ of Our Lady – Mary the Mother of God: “My soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my saviour, for he has looked on the lowliness of his handmaid and all generations from this day forward will call me blessed.” (Luke 1; 46-48). After meeting Jesus, and enjoying his lovingly warm company, Jesus himself takes her to meet, who else but his Mother. This meeting was supremely happy, with hugs and kisses, tears and laughter, all round. Barbara and Our Lady were kindred spirits, but then came the joy of meeting God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, with more of the same happiness and affection, and each moment driving home that greater understanding of the majesty of the Three Persons in the One God – unity and diversity known to us as a faint shadow of likeness, from our family experiences on earth. Soon, she was mingling with her other relatives and friends, and many new people, all ‘wrapped’ in the dynamic joy of God’s kingdom.  How wonderful it was as conversation ‘bubbled over’ – all interspersed with beautiful silences of mutual love and understanding, never before experienced.

Silences of Earthly Mutual Love and Service – a Pale Shadowy Reflection of the Joys of Heaven

Quite soon, she was to think of all those still left behind on this earth, struggling with so many, seemingly, insurmountable challenges; you see, Barbara then saw the world, and all who live there, as it really is – a shadow-land – where people are taken up by the unimportant things, rather than putting their concentrated efforts into the life-giving, essential things, that are all to do with God and his Kingdom. Shakespeare got close to it, putting these words onto Macbeth’s heart. 

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

(Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5, 19–28) 

I come back ‘down to earth’ and would say that it is interesting to ‘replay’ the sorts of visions that may come to us, when engaged in the ordinary things of life!  It is interesting to reflect, that Barbara Jakiemczuk, unknown to all ‘intents and purposes’ to me, and, possibly, to almost everyone in the Parish Community of Leyland, St. Mary’s, may well be one of the most important of Parishioners in the eyes of God!  

May she, and all the faithful departed, rest in peace.

(Unfortunately, in sending out this blog by e-mail, ‘Word Press’ distorts the original

formatting of the document.  Readers are, therefore, advised to visit the website

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 At a recent ministers’ fellowship meeting, one of my brother ministers came out with the rather profound statement: “I don’t consider myself to be ‘religious’!”  I agreed that I felt the same, but this opening gambit needs further explanation.  According to my dictionary, religious means spiritual, sacred, holy and implies aspects of devotion, piousness and, to some extent, a sense of duty.  Religion, I think, in its truest sense, encapsulates all of these, though over centuries, it seems to have lost much of its original meaning, becoming corrupted by human misuse until it almost becomes something unsavoury and not to be countenanced – something less than normal – often a term of derision, or weakness, in fact.  The main point I want to make in this blog is that actually religion should not be considered ‘something additional to the life we lead’, but is, in fact, completely integral, to that life. When my friend the minister said he did not consider himself to be religious, the interpretation that makes sense is that he really wanted to distance himself from “religiosity”, which for many people refers to that corruption of the word ‘religious’ over the course of centuries. 

Coming back to true meanings, in pronouncing oneself as feeling ‘religious’ one would need to be very careful, otherwise it would begin to sound like a person was taking pride in oneself, and in one’s achievements.  Very few of us would take kindly to some person saying of himself that he was holy or pious, or that his actions were always in line with the sacred, the devout and the dutiful.  Surely, such descriptions would sound much better were they to be applied, truthfully, by an objective observer, and this puts me in mind of last week’s article, where one of the themes centred on the observation: “Thou art a soul in bliss.”  

Religion, in its true sense, is concerned with our way of dealing with human belief(s) in a divine power.  Experience tells us that there are many different systems of beliefs – i.e. different religions – and also, many different concepts of divine power – i.e. belief in one god (monotheistic), or indeed, in a plurality of gods, (polytheistic), but the essential element of all religious beliefs is that there is some power above, and far beyond, all man’s capabilities – infinite, creative power, far beyond our wildest imaginings, and our (human) relationship with that power.

The Big Bang – Flaring forth of the primeval fire ball possibly 13.7 billion years ago.

(Some of the most recent astronomical discoveries reveal distant galaxies, many millions of  light-years away from earth, and that these are travelling away from us at speeds in excess of a million miles per second.  This contributes to the ‘Big Bang’ Theory.) 

However, for the purposes of this blog, I think it is necessary to leave behind the general discussion and narrow things down to the particular.  Christians believe in the power of one God – almighty and everlasting – all powerful and all loving.  Unfortunately, not everyone can accept this idealism and there are many different, sometimes controversial, sometimes comical ideas of what God is, and this brings us, inevitably to consider the nature of God – and our relationship with Him. 

The Nature of God:

WAATCH EAGHT – T’ BOSS’S GETTEN ‘IS EYE ON THI

Many, I am sure, picture God as some kind of policeman, or avenging angel, even

some kind of manipulator, and woe betide anyone who steps ‘out of line’.

TEK CARE, MATE, T’BOSS IS IN A BAD MOOD TODAY –

MUST ‘AV GOT EAUT WRUNG SIDE O’ T’BED

All joking aside, I cannot do better than to fall back on some of the most basic of precepts.  Last week, the readings at Mass described the Creation i) of the earth, land, sea, sky, birds, fish and beasts, and (ii) of man and woman, in God’s own image and likeness.  From here, I think, we must go deeper, to register our beliefs that God made us to ‘love him and serve him, in this life, and to be happy with him for ever in the next’.  In creating human beings, it is important to note that there was no compulsion; God did not have to make us; God could easily have managed without us – all of us; God made us out of love and for no other reason, and the very important point to note here is that the ‘love process’ is ‘two-way’.  God loves us – enough to create us – and he wishes nothing more than that we should love him in return.  We do that by serving him – by doing his will – and this brings me back to the discussion that forms the opening subject of this blog.  The two-way process of love is what religion (and religious), is all about, and strange as it may seem, forms part of a wonderful insight very much connected with that prayer of divine genius, the ‘Our Father’. The phrase “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” is fundamental and central to the conversation. God’s will is absolutely basic, sublime, fascinating and as beautiful as the face of ‘Love’ itself – for God is Love, and God’s will, for us, is the face of utter beauty, mercy, peace and fulfilment; it is God, Himself. Now, is that ‘religious’, or is it simply a matter of being human? 

The will of God converses with us each day, each moment, throwing out invitations for us to respond. God gives us a ‘golden divine thread’ to knit a pattern that belongs to this life, then goes on for ever and ever, in the next. God wants us to accomplish marvels, even in the small and seemingly uneventful life we lead. Wouldn’t anyone who is Love want this?  And, in absolute confirmation of all this, we have the exclamation of the one who, some 2,000 years ago, was the most fully ‘complete’ and ‘human’ being on earth, and is now Queen of Heaven. At the Annunciation, the angel told her she would become the Mother of God’s Living Word – the Mother of Jesus – and Mary, once she had absorbed the stunning news, that she would be the Mother of the Messiah, the Mother of God, said, “Be it done to me, according to your word”.   Mary lived an unobtrusive, quiet and obscure life, unknown to the great leaders of her time, fully in God’s will. Yet we know that she is acclaimed in the book of Revelation as somehow ‘over’ and ‘above’ the cosmic creation.

“A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun,

with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” Rev 12: 1.

 From that moment onwards, that was the ‘leitmotif’ – the recurring theme – of her whole life. It was because she lived God’s will, so perfectly, that she became the Mother of God. In the book of Revelation we have the description above, of the greatness of Mary in the plan of things. She is ‘Queen of all Creation’.

 God’s plan for us: 

One of the main arguments for the existence of God (St. Thomas Aquinas, 1225 – 1274) comes from the design and order of things – there being a purpose, a directive principle, in all the works and processes of nature. Thus, everything in nature, every living thing, has a dependence and inter-dependence on everything else – and all in accordance with the plan of a supreme power.  The conclusion, here, is that the whole design is so large, and of such complexity, that it could not have happened by chance – the chance being an immeasurably large number, (so large as to approach infinity), to one against this being true – and we are part of that design. We may say we were born in 1984, 1979, 1962 or whenever. Actually God has had us in his mind from before time began – always, we were part of His plan; he had always thought of us; he always loved us; we always were close to his heart. And it is, precisely, the living of God’s will that makes each person become fulfilled, in his or her vocation. In other words what happened for Mary, in much smaller proportion, happens for us. 

Take a small green leaf in an arrangement of flowers. If that small leaf was not there, the arrangement would be out of harmony. If the smallest little plant in the garden were absent, then something would be missing in that garden.

Each of us has our own place, within the ‘Grand Design’ of things. Blessed John Henry, Cardinal Newman, mentioned in last week’s blog, wrote a prayer or meditation on this point:

Man’s Relationship with God: 

So, to be angry at God’s Will, especially in moments of difficulty and suffering, to be antagonistic, or to feel that life is just a series of monotonous moments, filling in the time we are alive, is simply an unintelligent way to think and act.  The intelligent way would be, always, to accept God’s will with love, full in the knowledge that this – our acceptance – is pleasing to God, but in order to ‘yield’ fully in this way, we would first need God’s grace – his gift – which would allow us to be open and honest in recognising our NEED for God.  Once having come to that ‘standard’, it would be most helpful to train our minds and hearts – as Cardinal Newman states – in putting (ourselves) without reserve into (His) hands; in our ‘training’ the help and support of other like-minded people would be a blessing, for then we would have the advantage of learning from others, wise in these ways.  From a purely ‘earthly’ or ‘human’ point of view, and without reference to God, it would be just too difficult to be wisely intelligent and ‘rejoice’ in all that ‘providence’ might send us, but once we recognise our NEED for God, then we have our life on the ‘right track’, and this is what the saints, mentioned in last week’s blog, achieved.  This argument leads, inexorably, to the implication that to be fully human, using our intelligence to the full, a person needs to be closely attached to God – to be on the ‘Royal Road to Sanctity’ in other words. Without an awareness of the Divine, one of the greatest gifts a person has – intelligence – cannot be exercised to the full!

I think it a truism to make the point, that those who are saints – those who are fulfilled, human beings – will be people who practice their religion. They will value the sacraments, frequently receive Jesus in Holy Communion at Mass, and join in activities that are externally religious, for example, spending time in prayer, helping others, being loving people. But, over and beyond all that, there is an awareness of something else, something purely of their nature, and of the nature of the cosmos in which we live. Put simply, we are all creatures made in the image and likeness of God; it is inherent, therefore, in our nature to be calling out for joyful and positive reference to him – in fulfilling his loving plan for us – as we respond to his will, in our lives. 

What is Religion then? It is, essentially, very much akin to our experience of life, when we act according to our nature – a nature that is created in the image and likeness of God – and seek out that supreme, divine power that created us. 

(Unfortunately, in sending out this blog by e-mail, ‘Word Press’ distorts the original

formatting of the document.  Readers are, therefore, advised to visit the website

www.stmarysblog.co.uk should they wish to read it in its intended format).

 “Thou art a soul in bliss; but I am bound

Upon a wheel of fire, that mine own tears

Do scald like molten lead.” 

(Shakespeare’s ‘King Lear’ (Act IV, Scene 7)) 

‘Thou art a soul in bliss’. In last week’s blog, Father Jonathan wrote a moving account on the subject of ‘Purity of Heart’, and something of the life and sufferings of Blessed Chiara Luce Badano, who died in her late teens of a terrible cancer.  Purity of Heart is what I would call the ultimate goal of those who wish to love God with their whole mind, whole soul and with all their heart.  Of such holy people, any observer may well be able to say, “Thou art a soul in bliss”.

Beatified – Cardinal John Henry Newman and Chiara Luce Badano  

One can point to others, in recent news items, who have also become ‘blissful souls’ – Blessed John Henry Newman, who was also beatified just a few days before Chiara Luce,  (September 2010), and, as I understand it, the process of beatification of Pope John Paul II is already well underway for the summer of 2011, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and within our own life-times, we have seen the canonisations of holy men and women, Padre Pio, Father Damien of Hawaii, Maximilian Kolbe, Maria Faustina Kowalska … .. the list is constantly growing … .. and seemingly at an increasing pace.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Father Maximilian Kolbe 

However, to obtain the ‘full’ picture, we must look at the rest of what King Lear had to say: “… but I am bound upon a wheel of fire, that mine own tears do scald like molten lead.”  This, to me, seems to reflect something terrible, something rather dreadful and terrifying, in process.  On the one hand, we have the wonderful image of a soul who can look on God, in the full knowledge that pure love flows both ways – love and friendship and trust.  Otherwise, we have a soul in torment, ‘bound upon a wheel of fire …’ and this at once puts me in mind of the parable of Lazarus, who, having died and gone to heaven, cannot help the rich man who, in awful torment, sees Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham and cries out: 

“Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.‘ (Luke 16:24.)

Lazarus at the Rich man’s gate – Fyodor Bronnikov, 1896 

The second image does not bear thinking about, but think about it we must.  The parable, given by Jesus, was given for a purpose – a very serious and meaningful purpose.  We cannot, and must not, ignore it, as if it were some story without intent. Having made the point that there are many people who enjoy God’s favour – favour in the world today – we can also see many examples of the ‘Rich Man’, who ignored Lazarus’ pleas when he was barely alive and starving, when he would willingly have eaten the leavings from the Rich Man‘s table, scraps that were given to the dogs.  We can see many examples of people turning their backs on God and, by their actions, saying: ‘I do not want to be your friend – you are nothing to me – I do not believe in you’.  We can see many examples of people, who, through their pursuit of riches, power – self-advancement of all kinds – turn their backs on those-in-need in the world, ‘dishing out’ slavery, injustice, deprivation, inhumanity – even genocide – to millions ‘tagged’ with the name ‘Lazarus’. 

Of course, this rejection of God and His love, is the essence of sin – and we are all sinners – even those blessed with sainthood.  Well, that’s a depressing note to hit!  We began with those who, through purity of heart, can be seen as souls in bliss, and now, we’ve hit rock-bottom – we’re back to sinners and sinning!  But, it need not stay like that.  We have one great ally on our side.  Jesus came to live as a man among us.  He came for one reason, and one reason only – to free us from sin and eternal enmity towards God – and this gives us hope, and a promise of a bright future, if only we will accept him and his great gift – the gift of himself in self-sacrifice – pure atonement for all our sins.  

It is very sad, I think, that many today, and all down the years – reject Jesus and his wonderful gift – the gift of life, of love and of happiness for ever in heaven.  I find it hard to even contemplate the alternative.  Shakespeare’s words make me shudder.  The reality – the loss of God’s friendship – would be a disaster.  Let us pray, then, that God will help us, with his grace, to hang on to the first part of our quotation from King Lear – but not the second:  

“Thou art a soul in bliss.”

Chiara Luce Badano as a young attractive healthy girl 

All human beings search for the good in life – as they see it, and underneath, all, in their own way, are seeking happiness. When you begin to really think about this, there are so many different aspects; our present culture in England finds many of the young are ‘wounded’ people – those who are wounded, already, because of events in their young lives – those ‘wounded’ because of a physical condition, perhaps from birth, (i.e. those born deaf, blind, with learning difficulties, or with genes that could make them ‘unbalanced’, psychologically).  All will make choices at every stage of their lives – choices that affect all that happens to them, subsequently. In most cases, the making of choices is not done in isolation, but usually in the context of those who are a part of their lives, and involved within the events that happen to them. Some can make choices that will lead them to the finding of true, internal, happiness, despite an external condition. Others make choices that can be mistaken and harmful, many times leading to anguish in many different ways. St. Augustine of Hippo argues that, even when we sin, we are seeking happiness, and we will then learn, if the choice is a bad one, that happiness is not to be found down that route. Some can ‘wrap themselves in cotton- wool’ and think they are as ‘happy as can be’, without taking into account what this world is really like. They – like ‘Howard Hughes’ – can live in a ‘bubble’ of their own making, thus losing touch with the realities of this world.

Chiara Luce Badano helping younger girls in living the Gospel 

Essentially here, we are discussing every person’s search for happiness. But, Jesus has his own ‘recipe’ for happiness and this can be found in the ‘Beatitudes’ (Matthew 5; 1-12 or Luke 6; 20-23). Sometimes, the opening phrase of each ‘Beatitude’ reports Jesus as saying: “Blessed are you … …”; and sometimes, they begin: “Happy are you … …”. Our liturgical texts, at present, use the word ‘happy’. It sounds a weaker and rather less noble word than ‘blessed’, and yet it has the advantage of being easily understood; it also corresponds more with our experience of today’s ordinary life. Jesus’ recipe’ for happiness is diametrically opposed – runs ‘clean counter’ – to what the ‘world’ would expect. For instance, one thing he says, in Beatitudes, is: “You will be happy, if and when, you are in tears”.

Chiara Luce Badano a few months before she died of a painful cancer in 1991 

Jesus is inviting us to look again at what happiness is. We imagine happiness is something akin to a state of pleasure for our senses giving us continual emotional ‘highs’. Jesus says something quite different … you will be happy not only when you feel good feelings, but when you actually face up to reality, and ‘link’ with it. This implies a continual, obstinate searching for the good. If one spends all one’s life living for what is good – trying to build good all around one, then one will find happiness. The ‘Gospel-person’ realises that evil is so widespread, and deep, that it has no limit. To overcome evil, there must be no limit to doing good; it must never have a boundary. This is the message of the Beatitudes. 

One of the eight ‘Blessings’ is: “Blessed are the pure in heart, they shall see God”. Purity of heart is much wider than purity in sexual affairs, though it includes the latter, and impurity in sexual matters will break the heart. In this narrow sense, it is easy to be cynical and think that purity is just for those people who are simple minded and do not live in the real world of constant impurity and evil.  The larger, wider, meaning concentrates on what it means to be single minded and focussed, undivided, unmixed and resolute in what we do – to desire and will one thing, and one only.  Purity of heart has God as its one and only focus. 

One of the most beautiful expressions of ‘purity of heart’ was when a young man in Religious Life wrote a ‘love’ letter to Chiara Luce Badano.  This young religious could never have written to a girl still alive on this ‘mortal coil’, in the way that he wrote to this ‘saint’ – alive in Christ – even if dead to the world. He wrote admiring her beauty, her eyes, her face, her engaging smile and her personality – words of love, in this love letter that Chiara Luce would only receive, in heaven. But, what struck me, above all else, when I heard it, was that he wrote: “It is not your physical beauty that I really love, but that beauty of soul that is so apparent in you – it is this that makes me say, ‘I love you’”.

Chiara was declared ‘Blessed’ by the Church on 25th September 2010, and there was then a whole series of celebrations concerning this young girl and her life, tragically cut short, for she was only 18 years of age, when she died of osteogenic sarcoma, – one of the most serious and painful forms of cancer.  

Chiara’s Parents – Ruggero and Maria Teresa Badano 

Throughout her terminal illness, she was supported by her parents, by those with whom she was united in the family of the Focolare Movement, by the doctors and nurses and many other friends. Her loving acceptance of her ‘lot’ – incurable cancer, et al – with great joy, and her continual concern for others was remarkable – a sign of holiness that has affected many people. Her life was an expression of holiness ‘in the mystical body’ – embracing those who remain and those who have gone before – somehow caught up in a ‘holiness of unity’.  This is not very surprising, when we remember that all Christians are united, with others, in the one body of Christ; this means we are all involved with each other, for good, or for bad.

Some of the 25,000 people at a vigil in St. Peter’s Square Rome – And other celebrations at the beatification of Chiara Luce Badano September 26 2010

 If anyone wants to look up more about Chiara Luce Badano, then look up the website http://www.chiaraluce.org/ and click on the small Union Jack for the English Version.  At present only the section marked “life” has anything in it. There are other websites available if you search under the name Chiara Luce Badano.