Chris Chatteris SJ's blog

DAVID MACGREGOR of the East London Daily Dispatch writes about one South African woman's search for the spirit of ubuntu.

Its tenacious survival, particularly among the poor, reminds us that we do not live by economic indicators alone and humanity can still transcend the limitations imposed by our material conditions.

The press has been full of the word ‘miracle’ recently. Stories about people being found alive in the rubble of Haiti – nine, ten, even 14 days after the earthquake. When confronted with such unexpected events the reaction even of the most cynical is to exclaim: ‘It’s a miracle!’

The skill and determination of the rescue teams who succeeded in digging people alive from the rubble days after the quake restore one's faith in humanity, and for one man at least, also in God.

Terrorists are such effective geography teachers! Who could have located Yemen quickly without Google Earth until the Christmas Day bomb attempt on United Airlines? And who even knew of the existence of the Cabinda Enclave until the Togolese soccer team was attacked on its border?

The disaster in Haiti has been described by it's President as 'unimaginable' and by many of his people as 'the end of the world'. The estimates of the numbers of the dead range from 50,000 upwards. It's of tsunami proportions, but concentrated in a small island nation, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere.

There's a certain high dudgeon about in the celluloid circles in South Africa with regard to the playing of South Africans (such as Winnie Madikizela-Mandela) by foreigners. (See Stop Whining and Start Acting in The Sowetan http://www.sowetan.co.za/Entertainment/Article.aspx?id=1099352). Clint Eastwood's Invictus is an almost unanswerable reply to this complaint.

The death of Fr Louis Blondel brings to four the number of Catholic priests murdered in South Africa in the past 12 months. The figure suggests that as a group clergy are, like the police, particularly at risk from violence. Fr Bourgeois, who witnessed the killing of Fr Blondel in the Diepsloot presbytery on the night of Sunday/Monday last is reported as saying that he had been hijacked five times.

A recent new experience for me has been presenting a current affairs programme on Radio Veritas. The station's catchphrase is 'the good news for a change'. During a crit of the programme 702's Ray White pointed out a 'disconnect' between this slogan and the really bad news the show was looking at – the plight of traumatised migrants who continue to cross the border from Zimbabwe. Ray White articulated an unease I myself felt when using the phrase on air.

Fr Chris Chatteris, SJ, of the Jesuit Institute - South Africa has written a book entitled Vocations and what to do with them: Discerning Priestly and Religious Vocations.

It has been written as a handbook for vocations directors and for those who assist them. Its aim is very practical – to help the person who accompanies those trying to discover whether God is calling them to the priesthood and/or religious life.

The Jesuit Institute is publishing this book as an e-book. To order it please send a cheque (for R150 or US$20) to our postal address (see bottom of page) or alternatively e-mail Tracy (admin@jesuitinstitute.org.za) requesting a copy. She will contact you with our electronic banking details and upon confirmation of your deposit will send you the PDF file by e-mail.

A preview of the book is also available.

Chris Chatteris looks at the life of a rare, genuinely big man who could admit when he erred

Guardian of the Light: Denis Hurley Renewing the Church, Opposing Apartheid by Paddy Kearney (UKZN Press and The Continuum International Publishing Group)

I was fortunate enough to be in Durban in 1985 when Alan Paton dubbed Denis Hurley "guardian of the light" in an address at Hurley's 70th birthday celebration.

Read more at:
http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-10-20-seeker-of-the-truth

The newspaper billboard summed up Minister Pravin Gordhan's difficulties perfectly - 'No Money, But We'll Deliver'.