FINDING OUR FAITH ...an address by Michael Morwood (delivered at the SJA masses Pentecost Sunday June 03, 2001)

With a new understanding of cosmology and biological evolution; when the creation and Adam and Eve stories can no longer be held as literal truths, how does the Church create a new tradition for our times? This question is posed by author and theologian Michael Morwood. A former priest from Australia who received his MA at Boston College, he is the author of "Is Jesus God?", and "Tomorrow's' Catholic: Understanding God and Jesus in a New Millennium". Morwood explored the idea that the church in our day is faced with its greatest shift ever in passing along the story of Jesus.

Morwood explained that the task of the Church in any age is to present the message of Jesus. This is referred to as our "Tradition". The early Christian communities had a strong reliance on the story of creation, but our modern understanding of the cosmos requires a monumental shift from that doctrine to one that embraces the new cosmology. In that challenge we must change our "religious imagination".

A primary need is to understand that "God Is Everywhere". A fundamental word is the word IN. We "live IN God". God is important to and IN the entire scope of creation; from the barren fields of Mars to all the species of our Earth. Some 99.9% of all species to ever have inhabited the Earth died out before the first appearance of Man. The question arises: what about the salvation of all creatures and people that existed before Jesus? We need to see that God does not work only through or for humans.

In that light, if the question was posed "Did Jesus come from God?". The answer is, of course, a resounding "Yes". The message of Jesus was that God could best be seen IN the embrace of a child by a mother or father. It is seen IN the love and support of ones' fellow man. The "WOW of the Pentecost is this message of Jesus...in all languages the message is LOVE.

The Roman Catholic Church must begin to establish a new tradition in this light. Morwood posed three primary objectives: To rescue the story of Jesus; to free it from the separate, judgmental, "High Christology" model. Secondly to affirm our personal relation of shared spirit; to no longer tell Hindus, Muslims, or other faiths that they have no salvation. And lastly that you and I have to move the Church into the future. We have to foster the knowledge of the new cosmology and our role in Pentecost.

David Rotert David Rotert is a communications technician. He, his wife Sue and two boys used to walk to SJA each Sunday. They since moved to St Louis Park, but are now happy to make the drive. David and his family have been attending SJA for over 10 years. You may see him serving host or wine on Sundays, and doing the readings whenever he can help. He is also always game for a good philosophical discussion.

Morwood commented on the parish of SJA saying that it was obvious some considerable work had gone into shaping this community...these things do not just happen. He noted that it was great to be here on Pentecost. While that was a WOW! event, he felt that SJA was a WOW! congregation.

"Is Jesus God? Finding Our Faith" will be the focus of a workshop led by Morwood Tuesday, June 5 at 7:00 PM in Hospitality Hall. All are invited to this challenging and refreshing look at faith in our modern times.