2010

5th November 2010
Address to Dioceasan Gathering  

Earlier this year there was a movie being screened in the cinemas entitled, “The Road”. Some of you may have seen it.

I’m not much of a movie-buff myself, so I didn’t see it personally. However, a friend lent me the book, and I have to say that it was one of the most disturbing books I have ever read.

The book is set in post-apocalyptic United States after it had been devastated by a nuclear war. The entire country has been scorched – the countryside is burned like after a bushfire, cities have been destroyed, houses everywhere lie empty or ruined, very few people are left alive and they are in survival-mode struggling for their very existence.

A father and his young son walk alone through the empty, bleak landscape, heading slowly for the coast.

Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. They have nothing but a pistol to defend themselves against the men who stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food…and, each other.

The father is fixated on his responsibility to protect the boy at any cost. The son is still young enough to see the good in people and want to reach out to the wretches they meet on their journey.

The son’s generosity-of-spirit gradually influences the father’s unsympathetic “take-no-prisoners” attitude, to the point where the son softens his father, allowing him to accept the stark reality in which they find themselves.

“The Road” is a book/movie about hope, life, courage, resilience. It encourages the reader to appreciate the NOW and not to constantly anticipate the future or to long for the past, a tendency most people have when the going is tough and life has little to offer.

That is particularly so when there seems little possibility for improvement. How do you keep your spirits up when the future seems so bleak?

Dear friends, I quote that story to you since I think it may say something to our current situation in the Church and in this Diocese.

We are going to spend time tomorrow looking at the document “Moving Forward Together”, which for those who have had some exposure to it, is a development of the Diocesan Pastoral Plan emerging from the 1992/93 Diocesan Synod.

Some of you may think that after almost 20 years of Synod development we haven’t moved forward very much!

My own observation is that the energy which was generated by the Synod has morphed into tokenistic support of the Synod principles and direction. Many enthusiasts have become tired – there is a temptation to admit defeat, to curl up and wish that it would all just go away!

You might say to me…well that’s part of the problem! You, Bishop Michael, are on your way out! We read in “Aurora” that you are looking to retire! You admit that you’re tired and worn down by the multiplicity of abuse problems.

So what good is it for us to endorse this new stage of development when we might get a bishop who will poo poo the whole thing!

Like the father and son in “The Road”, one can either curl up, give up and die (as so many did), one can push on with determination towards an uncertain future, but a future which is consistent with the teachings of Vatican II and consistent with an authentic Gospel response to the issues of our time. But more importantly we can embrace the now and live it to the full.

I have travelled with you and the Diocesan community along the Synod road for 16 years. Together, we have struggled to be faithful to the spirit of the Synod. It will soon be time for me to hand over to a new leader – I pray he will be one to breathe fresh life into our Diocese.

In retrospect we could probably have done better, but it seemed wise to me to wait for some to catch up, rather than rush on ahead, thereby risking a wider division which would create even further anxiety.

“Moving Forward Together” offers a clear framework for future pastoral planning in the Diocese. The 1992/93 Synod presented the theory of pastoral planning –this document presents the structure in which the theory can operate.

Every parish, every council, every committee, every group, every organisation in our Diocese may now have a document which can underpin their reason for being.

This document will be like a blood-transfusion into a body which has become listless and weakened.

My analogy of “The Road” may be strengthened by the exemplary life of St Mary MacKillop. She experienced quite serious obstacles, but she stuck to her guns to achieve the best for country children – with spectacular success. Her recent declaration of “Sainthood” is proof that later generations of Australians were in awe of her resilience and courage.

Dear friends, I think that later generations of Catholics in the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle will look back on our era expressing appreciation for our fidelity to a more inclusive view of Church, one where all the baptised accept a rightful place in its mission.

As the father and son walked on towards the coast, there was little to sustain their flagging spirits but the challenge that they were “carrying the fire” as they went along.

“Carrying the fire” was a recurring comment all through the book. Towards the end the father becomes increasingly more ill – he knows he is dying. He turns to his son and says:

“This has been a long time coming. Now it’s here. Keep going south. Do everything the way we did it.
You’re going to be okay, Papa. You have to.
No I’m not. Keep the gun with you at all times. You need to find the good guys but you can’t take any chances.
No chances. Do you hear?
I want to be with you.
You can’t.
Please.
You can’t. You have to carry the fire.
I don’t know how to.
Yes you do.
Is it real? The fire?
Yes it is.
Where is it? I don’t know where it is.
Yes you do. It’s inside you. It was always there. I can see it.
Just take me with you. Please.
I can’t.
Please, Papa.
I can’t. I can’t hold my son dead in my arms. I thought I could but I can’t.
You said you wouldn’t ever leave me.
I know. I’m sorry. You have my whole heart. You always did. You’re the best guy. You always were. If I’m not here you can still talk to me. You can talk to me and I’ll talk to you. You’ll see.
Will I hear you?
Yes. You will. You have to make it like talk that you imagine. And you’ll hear me. You have to practice. Just don’t give up. Okay?
Okay.
Okay.
I’m really scared Papa.
I know. But you’ll be okay. You’re going to be lucky. I know you are. I’ve got to stop talking. I’m going to start coughing again.
It’s okay, Papa. You don’t have to talk. It’s okay.”

Dear friends, we are the ones who are called by the Church “to carry the fire” today. Through our baptism the fire is inside us.

It was always there – I can see it!

Most Reverend Michael Malone
Bishop of Maitland-Newcastle

The Road is a 2006 novel by American writer Cormac McCarthy.The novel was awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction in 2006.
A film adaptation of the novel, directed by John Hillcoat and written by Joe Penhall, opened in 2009 and stars Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee as the man and the boy.

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