Rediscover the joy of the Gospel

SCIAF emergency appeal to help assist war victims in Ukraine

The Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund has launched an emergency appeal for Ukraine and is urging people in Scotland to donate to the humanitarian response.

SCIAF’s Ukraine appeal will help people in need of emergency food, water, safe accommodation, hygiene kits, transport and child support services during this humanitarian catastrophe.

Within the span of a week, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia has seen hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing to neighbouring countries. Over 100,000 people are thought to be internally displaced because of Russian attacks.

SCIAF is a member of Caritas Internationalis, the international Catholic humanitarian network, which is leading a global response to the conflict.

Caritas Ukraine is supporting people displaced by the conflict inside Ukraine, and SCIAF’s sister agencies Caritas Poland, Caritas Moldova and Caritas Romania are supporting refugees who have managed to find safety in neighbouring countries. They are monitoring and assessing the situation continually, and providing essential humanitarian relief.

Donations will go towards the Caritas response both in Ukraine and in neighbouring countries.

Alistair Dutton, Chief Executive of SCIAF, said:

“Within one week, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has driven hundreds of thousands of people from their homes. Now they are fleeing for their lives, desperately afraid and clueless as to what the future holds. As we watch the unfolding events in horror, we know that people want to help.

“This is an emergency appeal to help the people of Ukraine and we urge people here in Scotland to show their solidarity and give generously.

“Your money will provide food, water, safe accommodation, hygiene kits, child support services and more.

“We pray for restraint, peace and security in the coming days.

“This crisis is a reminder of the suffering people face around the world at the hands of conflict. SCIAF is proud to help people in times of need with the help of generous Scots.”

Tetiana Stawnychy, President of Caritas Ukraine, said: “This is a huge trauma for all people. I’ve been seeing parents struggling to shepherd their children through this.

“We have 25 centres to help people along the way throughout the country where they can have hot food, shelter, psycho-social support.

“I can’t emphasise enough the solidarity we see of everyone inside this country.”

Ireneusz Krause, Deputy Director, Caritas Poland, said: “The situation is complex. There are 3,000 children evacuated from Ukraine into Poland and we are expecting 7,000 orphans. We are coordinating this with Polish authorities.

“There are 30–40 kilometres queues to enter Poland and they are waiting a couple of days, mainly women with small kids. Our volunteers are supporting them there, including food items and medical assistance.”

Donate to SCIAF’s Ukraine Appeal by visiting sciaf.org.uk/get-involved/appeals/741-ukraine-appeal or calling 0141 354 5555.

Pope’s message for Lent

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Lent is a favourable time for personal and community renewal, as it leads us to the paschal mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For our Lenten journey in 2022, we will do well to reflect on Saint Paul’s exhortation to the Galatians: “Let us not grow tired of doing good, for in due time we shall reap our harvest, if we do not give up. So then, while we have the opportunity (kairós), let us do good to all” (Gal 6:9-10).

1. Sowing and reaping

All too often in our lives, greed, pride and the desire to possess, accumulate and consume have the upper hand, as we see from the story of the foolish man in the Gospel parable, who thought his life was safe and secure because of the abundant grain and goods he had stored in his barns. Lent invites us to conversion, to a change in mindset, so that life’s truth and beauty may be found not so much in possessing as in giving, not so much in accumulating as in sowing and sharing goodness.

The first to sow is God himself, who with great generosity continues to sow abundant seeds of goodness in our human family. During Lent we are called to respond to God’s gift by accepting his word … Regular listening to the word of God makes us open and docile to his working and bears fruit in our lives...

What about the harvest? Do we not sow seeds in order to reap a harvest? Of course! But what kind of harvest are we talking about? A first fruit of the goodness we sow appears in ourselves and our daily lives, even in our little acts of kindness. In God, no act of love, no matter how small, and no “generous effort” will ever be lost. Just as we recognize a tree by its, so a life full of good deeds radiates light and carries the fragrance of Christ to the world…

In truth, we see only a small portion of the fruits of what we sow, since, according to the Gospel proverb, “one sows, while another reaps”.

When we sow for the benefit of others, we share in God’s own benevolent love: it is truly noble to place our hope in the hidden power of the seeds of goodness we sow, and thus to initiate processes whose fruits will be reaped by others. Sowing goodness for the benefit of others frees us from narrow self-interest, infuses our actions with gratuitousness, and makes us part of the magnificent horizon of God’s benevolent plan.

2. “Let us not grow tired of doing good”

The Lenten season calls us to place our faith and hope in the Lord since only if we fix our gaze on the risen Christ will we be able to respond to the Apostle’s appeal, “Let us never grow tired of doing good”.

Let us not grow tired of praying. Jesus taught us to “pray always without becoming weary” (Lk 18:1).

We need to pray because we need God. Thinking that we need nothing other than ourselves is a dangerous illusion.

If the pandemic has heightened the awareness of our own personal and social fragility, may this Lent allow us to experience the consolation provided by faith in God, without whom we cannot stand firm. No one attains salvation alone, since we are all in the same boat, amid the storms of history; and certainly no one reaches salvation without God, for only the paschal mystery of Jesus Christ triumphs over the dark waters of death.

Faith does not spare us life’s burdens and tribulations, but it does allow us to face them in union with God in Christ …

Let us not grow tired of uprooting evil from our lives. May the corporal fasting to which Lent calls us fortify our spirit for the battle against sin.

Let us not grow tired of asking for forgiveness in the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, knowing that God never tires of forgiving.

Let us not grow tired of fighting against concupiscence, that weakness which induces to selfishness and all evil, and finds in the course of history a variety of ways to lure men and women into sin.

One of these is addiction to the digital media, which impoverishes human relationships. Lent is a propitious time to resist these temptations and to cultivate instead a more integral form of human communication made up of “authentic encounters” face-to-face and in person.

Let us not grow tired of doing good in active charity towards our neighbours. During this Lent, may we practise almsgiving by giving joyfully. God who “supplies seed to the sower and bread for food”) enables each of us not only to have food to eat, but also to be generous in doing good to others.

While it is true that we have our entire life to sow goodness, let us take special advantage of this Lenten season to care for those close to us and to reach out to our brothers and sisters who lie wounded along the path of life.

Lent is a favourable time to seek out – and not to avoid – those in need; to reach out – and not to ignore – those who need a sympathetic ear and a good word; to visit – and not to abandon – those who are lonely. Let us put into practice our call to do good to all, and take time to love the poor and needy, those abandoned and rejected, those discriminated against and marginalized.

3. “If we do not give up, we shall reap our harvest in due time”

Each year during Lent we are reminded that goodness, together with love, justice and solidarity, are not achieved once and for all; they have to be realized each day. Let us ask God to give us the patient perseverance of the farmer and to persevere in doing good, one step at a time.

If we fall, let us stretch out our hand to the Father, who always lifts us up. If we are lost, if we are misled by the enticements of the evil one, let us not hesitate to return to God, who “is generous in forgiving”. In this season of conversion, sustained by God’s grace and by the communion of the Church, let us not grow tired of doing good.

May the Virgin Mary, who bore the Saviour in her womb and “pondered all these things in her heart” (Lk 2:19), obtain for us the gift of patience. May she accompany us with her maternal presence, so that this season of conversion may bring forth fruits of eternal salvation.

Given in Rome, at the Basilica of Saint John Lateran,

FRANCIS

Archbishop who ‘walks the walk’

By Marian Pallister

When the then Bishop William Nolan addressed the delegates’ mass during Glasgow’s COP26, his homily was so inspiring, so pertinent, so emotive that the congregation in a packed St Aloysius burst into spontaneous and lengthy applause.

Yes – unexpected, and in Scotland certainly unusual that a homily would receive such a response. You can see why on the Justice and Peace website.

The announcement that Bishop Nolan had been appointed Archbishop of Glasgow has been received with the same spontaneous acclamation – you could almost hear that same enthusiastic applause.

The response of Justice and Peace Scotland has been less ebullient: the satisfied smiles of cats rewarded with the cream are perhaps closer to the Commission’s collective reaction. This is, after all, ‘our’ bishop, the Bishop President of Justice and Peace Scotland. His work for the Commission has been energetic and wide reaching, not just guiding but participatory.

This is a bishop who walks the walk.

Bishop Nolan has travelled to Calais and got his hands dirty helping out with Care4Calais’s refugee work. He has stood in rain, sleet and sunshine at the North Gate of Faslane, taking an active role in the protests against nuclear weapons.

Who can forget the thorn he brought from his Galloway diocese to brandish as an illustration of the thorn in our collective flesh that he firmly believes weapons of mass destruction are?

Divestment from nuclear weapons has been another campaign he has championed.

And he has sought justice for the most vulnerable in our society, speaking out against benefit cuts, calling for additional payments. The list is long.

Justice and peace are what make Bishop Nolan tick. And if we are to mention peace, then we must recognise the role that he, along with the then Justice and Peace Commission chair Honor Hania, played in ensuring that Pax Christi Scotland could come into being.

It had long been felt that the international peace movement should have a member organisation in Scotland, rather than being part of a UK membership. This called for an application process that not only involved Brussels (headquarters of Pax Christi International) but the Scottish Bishops’ Conference.

The support offered at every level by Bishop Nolan and Honor Hania got the Scottish Pax Christi up and running – and Bishop Nolan has continued that support, speaking at a number of Pax Christi Scotland on-line events throughout the pandemic.

On March 21, he will speak at another such event, this one marking the 40th anniversary of the Scottish Bishops’ Conference statement condemning nuclear weapons.

This is just days ahead of him being installed as Archbishop of Glasgow, yet he deems it important and will yet again speak out against the manufacture, possession and use of nuclear weapons.

Glasgow is indeed a blessed diocese.

Rediscover the joy of the Gospel

By Ronnie Convery

It’s time to rediscover the joy of the Gospel … that was the powerful message of Glasgow’s new Archbishop in his first homily as successor of St Mungo.

“We seem to have lost our enthusiasm for the good news, and yet that’s the whole purpose of the Church’s existence. The Church exists to preach the good news!”

In a brave rallying call, which seemed to echo the message of Pope Francis’ landmark exhortation The Joy of the Gospel (Evangelii Gaudium) the new Archbishop called for an era of fresh enthusiasm from all in the Church and in wider society.

“In the world in which we live so many people don’t see the Catholic Church as a source of joy, but rather as something that’s going to weigh them down and impose burdens on them … yet Jesus tells us that he had come so that we might have life and have it to the full!”

In a stark assessment of the challenges facing Catholics the new Archbishop acknowledged scandals which had weakened the credibility of the Church in recent years, especially the child abuse scandal. In a powerful acknowledgement of past failures by Church authorities he repeated the apology expressed by Archbishop Tartaglia several years ago and spoke of his admiration for the survivors who had come forward to tell their pain-filled stories.

“It’s only in recent years that we have realised how sinful people in the Church can be,” said the Archbishop. “We have to reach out to the survivors to help than and we have to change our ways to ensure that what happened in the past never happens again.”

Preaching without notes, Archbishop Nolan had particular words of encouragement for priests … “I commend you for your perseverance – but that’s not enough. We have to rediscover the joy of the Gospel and the enthusiasm of our ordination day,” he said.

To religious and lay people his message was one of encouragement too. He said it was easy to look around and be discouraged that things are not as they were in the past, but, he said: “We do not live in the past, we live in the present!”

He urged parents and grandparents not to be despondent if their children don’t practise the faith … “You have sown the seed and now have faith in the Holy Spirit to nurture that seed of faith” he advised.

He reached out to representatives of other churches too, acknowledging the ‘scandal’ of bigotry and division. “We have to be united in faith, hope and love,” he urged.

He spoke too to leaders of civic society and politicians, praising them for their commitment to creating a better society, and urged them to work with the Church and each other ‘hand in hand’ never questioning each other’s sincerity ‘even when we don’t always agree’.

“We persevere with hope, putting our trust in God and if we do that then Glasgow will flourish through the preaching of the word and the praising of God’s name”.