Ecclesia curvata in se

Well, that title may have got your attention! I just hope my Latin is correct. If Pope Benedict can give his resignation in Latin, perhaps a Latin response is called for? (Translation to follow).

I like to think that the Pope's resignation was a selfless act. There comes a time when a leader needs to admit that he or she is no longer up to the job and it would be in the best interests of their organization for them to move on. I hope that is what the Pope, guided by the Holy Spirit, has concluded. However, the Vatican does rather have a reputation for manipulative and shady dealings and I can't help wondering whether Benedict is simply making sure that another conservative like himself is elected - having already loaded the College of Cardinals with men after his own heart. Pity the next Pope anyway with this eminence grise in the background!

There now follows a period of intense activity behind the scenes in the Vatican, and across the Roman Catholic Church until a new Pope is elected. Because the whole process is so secretive, we have no idea what the job description is, nor the person spec, nor the priorities which the new Pope will identify. One simply hopes that the new Pope, like his predecessor but one, will have a real heart not just for the Church but for the world. It is so easy for a Church to be preoccupied with its own agenda.

Perhaps that is the sin of the Church? Luther described sin as curvatus in se - 'turned in on oneself', hence the title of this piece. Is that the Church's problem? And we in the CofE - and in the Mossley Hill Team - can hardly afford to throw stones. It is a constant dilemma, one with which I have struggled for years.

Yesterday, I was present at a 'Streetfaith' meeting: a gathering of people of faith and of none to share together concerns and action for the homeless and destitute in Liverpool. (Did you know there is a hard core of some 20 people in Liverpool at the present moment, who have no proper home?) I sit at these meetings uncomfortably, knowing how little I actually contribute. I am humbled by the work that is done by some local churches, by organizations like the Basement and the Whitechapel Centre (not faith organizations); I am indignant at the conditions in which some people find themselves either because of their own poor choices, or because of circumstances not of their own making (seriously exacerbated by Government cuts); and I feel helpless to know what to do myself. At least, I can be informed to help defend the cause of the weak and to pray, rather than join the chorus there often is about it being 'their fault'.

Today is Ash Wednesday. Lent can so easily be a time for an increase of religion, feeling better about oneself  because of whatever rigours, deprivations or disciplines one has taken on. Increasingly, I feel it is a time for engagement, for confronting the powers of negativity, hopelessness and despair both in one's own life and in the world around. Luke's account of the Temptations ends somewhat ominously: The Devil left him until an opportune time. The battle is not over. It never is - till Kingdom come.