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exaggerate the event. But we w.ould like to learn from it.
"During this period, Hans Urs von Balthazar wrote an article. 'Why I remain in the Church.' He V. rote: 'There are those who think they do a service to God by belabouring His Church, as they would a dusty mattress. Let them heat away. as long as they beat their own breasts, and identify themselves with the Church."
The archbishop does not agree: "There is, of course, a delicate line which distinguishes Christ from the human, ecclesiastical earments he wears in the Institutional Church. But it is a very delicate line. I seem to remember a rendering of the Tenth Station. Jesus is stripped of His garments.' which runs: 'They dragged them off so roughly that the skin came with them.' Something similar could happen when we attack the Institutional Church.
Archbishop Murphy continues: "Love of the Pope is not Just some personality cult. There's a phenomenon in the Church. which I can only call a spiritual ricochet. We cultivate, in our devotions. the Mother of God. only to find all our devotion discharging itself on Christ her Son: through Mary to Jesus. We cultivate Christ, and find ourselves led to the Father and warmed by the Holy Spirit. We cultivate the Pope. and we find ourselves embracing the Institutional Church. the Episcopacy, the Priesthood. and all the unworthy hands that feed us:•
Before concluding with an
appeal for a votive Mass of Our Lady in preparation for the Pope's visit, Archbishop Murphy quotes from a telegram from Lloyd George supporting the Catholic Province of Wrales, as an example of the kind of generosity he hopes Welshmen will show Pope John Paul.
Other bishops take the Pope's visit as a theme to link with Advent preparation. Bishop Holland of Salford begins with an exhortation "Stay awake!" which could have its effect. if well delivered by the parish priest. He goes on to give thanks for the Pope's recovery and for the fact that he does not intend to distance himself from the people (relying, apparently on the care of the "British Bobby"). He then stresses the importance of the run up of spiritual preparation for the Bishop Murphy-Connor of Arundel and Brighton runs through the Pope's titles. as Rock, Vicar of Christ, Shepherd and Servant of the Servants of God. He then announces he will visit each deanery in the New Year to get to grips with spiritual preparation.
Bishop McMahon of Brentwood wishes preparation to take the form of a building of community spirit and rejection of materialism.
"In -particular," he says, "I like the idea adopted by most parishes of dividing the parish into small groups for house Masses. for discussions based on the leaflets specially prepared by the Brentwood Religious Education Service. and to discover, in these small groups, new ways of serving the local community and the wider church."