Love Does Not Rejoice Over Wrongdoing But Rejoices With The Truth

 Of all the arguments that I will present here on behalf of our Vicar and Priest, Father Harry Howell, none will rival the requirements of Love underlying our faith–

to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind and with all our strength; and the second which is like the first, to love our neighbor as ourselves…

Through gathering facts, deep personal prayer, attendance at the Holy Mass and by reference to Sacred Scriptures, I have sought the will of God in the situation surrounding the involuntary retirement of Father Harry, and I offer my personal contemplation of what the Spirit is saying to my heart within this correspondence: With all love and due respect for all the brethren who have, as the Apostle Peter says, ‘received the faith of equal value’ at the mission of St. Patrick of the Forest, and for the good of all his Church, I do not believe that the unwilling retirement of Father Harry Howell is the will of God. I believe that the will of God is that, ‘His servant should remain in his post.’

This Scandal Which Need Not Be

From the inception of this scandal, I have taken the position of attempting to clarify the realities and difficulties that the entire Church faces today–within the Church, within our families, and ourselves–and have attempted to inspire faith and trust in the Holy Spirit, the true Comforter of the family of God. In considering all this, I have not forgotten either the mission of the Church in the world and here in our community, which is a guiding concern.

There are people in search of and await the coming of the Messiah within their lives and souls. As Nathaniel was in being told by Philip within the Gospel passage, that they had found the promised one in Nazareth. Unfortunately, for many who are awaiting the coming of God in their lives today, these same also judge the Church–validly or not–in much the same way that Nathaniel viewed Nazareth in his time– ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth? He asks. As we know and testify to, there was good to be found in Nazareth, and as we also know so abundantly through the grace we receive, there remains so now within the Church, and forevermore–Jesus Christ.

Yet too, we also know that ‘There is no righteous man on earth who continually does good and never sins.’ Which at the core of our situation surrounding Father Harry’s disputed retirement is exactly the cause. Sin, and therefore, disobedience to God’s will in failing to love each other through continual failure in finding paths of authentic repentance and forgiveness of trespasses.

This has brought about the revelation of unresolved and long-standing anger, dissension, isolation, and now, an extreme measure which has lead to this scandal which need not be…

a scandal which could still be alleviated, cured and healed by sincere individual and ecclesial sacramental reconciliation and penance, followed by works of love among the brethren together in the field of souls.

The Garden of God

Below dear brethren, are the seeds we’ve received and need to rediscover (with trust) in this hour of drought for the examination of our conscience in this situation. Which, if allowed to sprout into Repentance, will grow with the coming rains of Confession, and flower in the sure sun of Forgiveness, which in due season will bloom as they sway together once again in the perfect wind of divine consolation and Mercy: Yet, let us remember our own flower. For at the end of the season it will not be judged by the Gardener who planted the seeds according to if we agree or disagree with the beauty of the flowers about us, but on the beauty of the flower before Him alone.

So let us examine ourselves in the field without reference to another, but in deference, instead, to the Image of the Gardener of all beauty…

Love is patient,

Love is kind.

It is not jealous,

(love) is not pompous,

it is not inflated,

it is not rude,

it does not seek its own interests,

it is not quick-tempered,

it does not brood over injury,

it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with truth.

It bears all things,

believes all things,

hopes all things,

endures all things.

Love never fails.

If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing. For we know partially and we prophesy partially, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. (Corinthians 1: 4-10).

Repent, believe in the Gospel, the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.

The Laborer Deserves His Wages

From a scriptural viewpoint of Mark 10: 28-30 as well as historically speaking, it is easy to discover and come to an understanding that we, the members of the body and family of God, are the brothers and sisters and mothers and children of all those who have left home and lands for the sake of Jesus and the Gospel. (Mark 10: 28-30). This implies a divine responsibility. The Church is called to care tenderly for Christ and the spread of the Gospel in the very person(s) who has left all to proclaim it, as Jesus did from heaven (see: Philippians 2: 6-8) and as Father Harry has on earth.

This is not to say that the brethren have not cared lovingly for Father Harry. God the Father of us all, who sees in secret, has seen your works of love on his behalf. Yet, for the Church (also in Wales/or England, this diocese and the mission at St. Patrick’s) Christ has loved us all to the end, and this must be our same sentiment for Christ present in His servant–Father Holwell.

I am going to write our Bishop and ask:

• That Father Harry remain as Vicar of St. Patrick of the Forest
• That the Church will help establish suitable retirement and living arrangements
• That he understand: that this extreme and undiplomatic measure taken in seeking the unwilling retirement of Father Harry has failed to take into account, nor even sought the counsel, sense of the faith, or wisdom of other (all) parishioners and their representatives on the parish council; And act accordingly.

A Final Word

My position and mission in this and all difficulties is the same as the Word made Flesh and His Church: to lead souls into paradise. If Jesus Christ is the truth, the way, and the life–the Catholic Church is the truth, the way, and the life…, for the Church is Jesus Christ Himself reconciling the world to the one true God and Father of us all. And what is the work we must do? It is the work of the Father in the world–that we should believe in Him, and the one He sent…

Let us work towards this end in the perfection of his love.

I repeat the words of the Apostle Paul below with humble prayer and longing hope for your full comfort and unity in the Holy Spirit… ‘Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.’

James Mary Evans

O’Lord I am your servant, the son of your handmaid, you have loosed me from my bonds.

Now In This Time

 And peter began to say unto him: Behold, we have left all things and have followed thee. Jesus answering said: Amen I say to you, there is no man who has left house or brethren or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who shall not receive an hundred times as much, now in this time: houses and brethren and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions: and in the world to come life everlasting.  

Mark 10:28-30

NOW IN THIS TIME

I have recently received a letter from a fellow parishioner, and brother of ours, Ivan Cermak, at St. Patrick of the Forest Mission concerning the retirement of Father Harry Holwell. After reviewing the contents of the letter carefully, I’ve decided that many elements of “Father Harry’s Retirement” are troubling to me–and if found to be true–should be troubling as well to each Christian soul whos faith, trust and salvation are found hidden deep, as the saints teach us, within the birthplace of the Church: the Sacred Side of Our Divine Redeemer and Savior, Jesus Christ, the Holy and Righteous One of God.

The troubles we face and the power to overcome

In the Church of our days, as is obvious dear brethren, this same faith and trust in our salvation whether corporate (within the Church) or domestic (within our families) is seemingly being put to a hard test. We find ourselves under attack in some terrible manner or another by the guile and cares of this passing world, the weaknesses of our own flesh, and the reality of the Devil with His intelligent tactics set against the plan of salvation.

On this Divine Mercy Sunday, I am reminded of the Power which has loosed me from my bonds to sin and death and brought me, quite unexpectedly, into the Life of the Catholic Church. This day recalls both a terrible and marvelous reality within my life–the first, unspeakable, as from the deepest valley of human sorrow and despair no one heard my cries except that of a Woman, and the last, ineffable, in that from the very highlands of divine consolation in God a poor man was raised from the ground and my enemies were put to flight. It will be the same for the Church. 

Through this victory of love and mercy I have received the gift of faith, hope and love. I have followed love and love has led me to discover that in every way, and time after time, as Catholic history proves–this faith and salvation of ours is the work of God in the world, it is the will of the Father, and thus, the Redemptive Love of Jesus Christ in submitting Himself to the will of the Father within the souls of men will always prove the stronger in its unity than all the forces that threaten to divide.

The way of the Holy Spirit

By way of the Holy Spirit the Power of the Redemption of Jesus Christ comes to us. He acts to constantly remind us of the Power of His Love which helps us to overcome the triple threat spoken of above. The important things and cares of the world which bind our souls to earth through blinding our eyes to the things of heaven dissolve away in instant awe at the presence of the divinity, the weakness of the flesh is vivified, convincing us of sin and its opposition to the holiness we are being drawn toward at the final perfection, and finally, in regard to the Devil and all the unclean spirits which harass the temple of our heavenly souls, we too can repeat in the Spirit along with Jesus…,

‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.’ Luke 10:18

It is here, in the Holy Spirit that we realize the power given us from above, which we must own, and then use in overcoming the trevail of these days–within the Church, within our families, and of course, within ourselves…,

‘Behold, I have given you the power to tread upon the serpents and scorpions and all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall hurt you. But, yet rejoice not in this, that spirits are subject unto you: but rejoice in this, that your names are written in heaven.’ Luke 10:19-20

Where we are today

I will speak plainly here, if anyone does not believe that the situation surrounding Father Harry’s retirement does not grieve the heart of Jesus, that person is mistaken. The way of the Holy Spirit does not include inspiring that which is contrary and opposed to the unifying principle of holy love and divine charity shared among the members of the one sacred body. Dissension, anger, lack of communication, name-calling, power struggles, and failure to repent and forgive one another constantly is not the will of God. Yet, despite all this garbage dear Brethren, the way in which the Holy Spirit helps us all along this narrow road will not fail, that is, He can only be deterred and rebuffed by the hardening of our hearts to His Love, and similarly, by our failure to love one another in every situation, including this one.

 What must we do?

First, and foremost, we must allow the Spirit of God to create a new heart within us. We must not shy away from allowing Him to instill within our souls a steadfast will to avoid the threats to charity and unity we face. This, in turn, will reawaken that which needs to be strengthen–our will to live in peace and true fraternal care for one another in accord with the spirit of the Gospel and its mission, and specifically here, our need to follow obediently the new law of love, which Our Lord commands of us…

…’love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.’ John 13:34

This, the law of divine charity and mercy, is the supreme law by which all the circumstances surrounding the retirement of Father Harry should be addressed and actions on his behalf be undertaken.

For the sake of discernment and clarity concerning Father Harry’s retirement according to the letter I’ve received, I resubmit its major points below for the reader:

1.) Father Harry has been commanded (involuntarily) to retire by the end of June 2007.  

2.) There has been no consideration of how (financially) Father will retire.                            

3.) There has been no consideration of where Father will live (a home) after he retires.     

4.) The claim is made that Father is being fired at the urging of a few parishioners without consulting or notifying the rest of the faithful at St Patrick of the Forest.

5.) The claim is made that the diocese has arranged that Father Harry not be qualified for any kind of Church-based retirement program because of his part-time status.

6.) The claim is made that Father Harry must retire because of the Diocesan rule of retirment at 75 years of age. Yet, there is evidence that at least two parishes in the diocese employ “retired” priests past this age.

7.) Father Harry has been paid by our mission half-time minimum wages for nearly ten years, yet Father has been working at substantially more than half time during this period of time.

8.) Father Harry has health problems, and recently has been diagnosed with prostrate cancer. The claim is made that life-saving treatment of his cancer would not be available to him if he returned to England.

9.) The claim is made that there will no longer be a priest during the week after Father Harry retires, and that the best solution for all concerned would be to have Father Harry “retire” right where he is, in the house he lives in now, and where he desires to stay. The advantages are that the mission would benefit from weekday Masses, annointings and other priestly support. He costs very little and Father Harry is more than willing to do it.

In closing, I believe in the Lord’s Words to provide all those things which He has promised to those who have left all things for His sake and that of the Gospel. And so, I trust in His Church, this Diocese, and the brethren of St. Patrick of the Forest Mission to follow the inspiration of their hearts in accomplishing His will on behalf of Father Harry. 

Open For Comments

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James Mary Evans – Divine Mercy Sunday

O’Lord I am your servant, the son of your handmaid, you have loosed me from my bonds

Psalm 116