Money and misery

I was talking to my neighbour just now about the news story about the man who did not trust banks. He was moving his life savings, £80,000, over 100,000 dollars, and put it on his car roof in plastic bags. Yes, he did, drove off and the money came off and went missing. My neighbour said his best option was to kill himself which I thought was a sad take on the matter. It is terrible that money can mean more than life itself to some people.

Our Lord warns us that money can be stolen. Store your treasure in heaven is the alternative.

I would really like to know how that man now assesses his life now. Does he count his blessings and think he can still smell a rose and can still enjoy a sunset? Who knows?

St John Chrysostom says this, 'Sojourn with the rich and see how plentiful are their sorrows, how bitter their complaints.'

I remember asking another neighbour of mine about the people who lived in the flat above me, what were they like. He said three words, 'money and misery.'

Post restante

The photo may seem a bit mundane. Let me explain. I was in the local priory when I noticed the pile of letters. They were for a priest, Fr Brendan, who died two years ago. He was a dear man and much loved. It was rather poignant but reminded me as a believer, a ‘saint’, he is still with the rest of us saints waiting to take his place in eternity. He is not in some far off place detached from us. He is also still considered as being part of the religious community he served and was a member of. Each year on his year’s mind a photo of him is placed on the altar.

Perhaps amongst the community of the saints death is a rather meaningless dividing line.

St John Chrysostom called the body of believers the faithful throughout the whole world, those who are, and those who have been and those who will be.

A Time To Dance

Though I am wary sometimes of the motives of ‘inter faith dialogue’ there are times when I feel an empathy with other faiths. Yesterday, I went to the HIndu Dawali celebration in Trafalgar Square. A band came on stage and got everyone dancing in a circle. It was an overcast day but the rhythm and music and the sheer enthusiasm of those there to just have a good time was impressive and seemed to link us all momentarily. The MC said that Dawali was about recognising the past and looking forward to the good things of the future. There was nothing liturgical or sectarian and the dancers just embraced the moment. We seemed to be joined by our common humanity. Enjoying music and dance became a common bond.

Sadly on the radio was news of the Catholics in Iraq being killed in their own church.

When in the 17th Century the Portuguese came into contact with the Hindu Indians on the coast, as they opened up trade routes, they thought the Indians had already been converted to Christianity. They thought their gentleness was a result of Christian belief.

Though Hinduism with its very different symbols, an elephant headed god, may seem remote to us our own scripture says there is a time to weep and a time to laugh and a time to mourn and a time to dance. Ecclesiastese 3.4

God in Man

The other day I was talking to a friend of mine who is a Catholic priest. He is very involved in a community political organisation that works for the rights of poorly paid workers in London. I asked him if he felt any problems working with an organisation run by multi faith and non faith groups. He told he saw no conflict at all and that he saw Jesus in everyone.

Though I am not a Catholic and this is not an exclusively Catholic viewpoint I am impressed by the Catholic view of the Godness of Man. It is a contrast to the saved and unsaved demarcation that can exist in some areas of the church.

Fr Tom said Catholic doctrine says this:

Our resemblance to God lies in our very being; not merely in our memory, understanding and will, but in the totality of what we are. Being an image of God each of us is loved by Him. However far we stray, God wants us to return to Him. In other words each of us has a destiny in God. This is the foundation of the idea that every human being has equal dignity with every other.

Happiness

I was just talking to one of my neighbours. I was saying to her lightheartedly that some people seem to have the gift of being able to make money but I didn’t. She said that as long as I was happy and healthy then that was all that mattered. Fortunately I am both those things.

I have been reading a book called Affluenza by Oliver James.

‘One study ( regarding materialism ) showed that those with materialistic values, such as wanting money or prestige, were far less likely to be religious, and they were unhappier, drank and smoked more, and in the case of women were at greater risk from smoking disorders. Compared with non-believers, the only sort of religious people who are not protected against depression, are ones whose involvement in faith is guided by self seeking end, seeing belief an investment, such as those who think that prayer would be instrumental in making them successful in work or love.

I know the man in this picture, sadly no longer with us in the flesh, and he had it both ways; he was rich and religious. By the way, as you can tell from the photo, he was very happy!!

Still small voice

Last night I decided to go and see the Pope. The last time a pope visited was about thirty years ago so I thought I may never get the chance again. I had heard him on the radio and found him wise and gentle.

I got to Hyde Park Corner and there was a reasonable crowd and I thought I should be able to see him. My ears, however, were assailed by a discordant noise. A group of Moslem protesters, cordoned off by the police were in full voice. One man had a microphone. He was attacking the visit, my faith and my country among other things. He was condemning all who did not turn to Islam to hell. His voice spoke of God but it was a voice full of anger and hate.

I wandered away to be out of earshot. I got chatting to a nice guy who was taking photos. He pointed out some snipers up on the monument at the corner of Hyde Park. I had not noticed them.

I asked him if he was Catholic and why he was attending. He said that he went to church as a child but had not been since. He said that some kind of inexplicable yearning had brought him to see the Holy Father.

This, I thought, is how God communicates. I thought of the still small voice that spoke to Elijah. I compared it to the ranting man on the microphone.

Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude.

1 Cor. 13.4

Taste and see

How often do we long for something or wait expectantly only to find we tire of the thing after a while? We will sometimes jump through hoops to get something material but put off seeking a spiritual pleasure.

St Gregory has it about right.

There is a great difference, dearly beloved brethren, between corporal and spiritual delights in that the former, when we are without them, enkindle in the soul a strong desire to possess them, but once they are are attained, they quickly satiate us. Spiritual pleasures, on the contrary, when unattained, produce a certain aversion; but once we taste them the taste awakens desire, and our hunger for them increases the more we taste them..so we see that, if we do not taste these delights,we cannot desire them, because their flavour is unknown to us...so that the psalmist says ’Taste and see that the Lord is sweet’ ( Psalm 33.9 )