Thought for the day
Bodily hunger and thirst are easy to recognise—we feel them directly. The deeper hungers can take longer, especially in our “culture of distraction” where there is so little room for reflection and real conversation. These hungers are just as real, of course, and call for recognition and response. But the first step is really awareness and attention to the hints and nudges life provides.
Prayer
You have formed us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in you. Amen
THE PAROCHIAL NOTICES
- LAST WEEKEND’S FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS
Collection R 5 441, 90 Planned Giving R 2 218, 88
Southern Cross R 114, 00
Thank you most sincerely for your generosity!
- WINTER HAS ARRIVED … COLD WEATHER … DISTRIBUTION TIME OF OUR WOOLEN ITEMS. Anik Broadhurst is asking for any items that have been knitted with the wool that was given out at the beginning of the year. Please contact her on 021 4396987 or 0839771099 for collection. Any unused wool will also be collected.
- THE SACRAMENT OF FIRST HOLY COMMUNION is celebrated on 23rd June at 10h00. We congratulate Noel Beukes, Courage Madiraya, Nicole Matsika, Tyrese Mbuthi, Lebohang Moleli, Tanki Moleli, Rutendo Mutero and Lisa-Rayne Watson on their first reception and celebration of the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
- The Women’s Choir from Cologne Cathedral will be singing at the 17h00 Holy Mass in the Cathedral on Sunday 18th They will give a short concert after the Mass.
Please note that if it is your intention to get married in the Catholic Church, you need to give the Church at least SIX MONTHS notice of your intention to do so. Please contact the Cathedral office to set up an appointment with one of the Cathedral clergy to complete the Pre-Nuptial Enquiry and to arrange the required Marriage Preparation Classes.
The Banns of Upcoming Marriages
03rd August @ 14h00 Rudiger Moser & Kim Moser Convalidation
PLEASE NOTE THE FORTHCOMING EVENTS
- MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER WEEKEND on 19 -21 July 2019. It is a weekend to gives couples an opportunity to rekindle the flames of romance. Just call Graham or Patuele on 084 502 3805 or 076 930 3818
- TAIZE PILGRIMAGE:
The Taize Community here in Cape Town is hosting a pilgrimage from 25th to 29th September 2019. All parishes are supporting this initiative and our parish has been asked to host 30 to 50 young people from 18 to 35 years of age by giving them a place to sleep and a light breakfast. They will be collected from this area to be transported by bus to the pilgrimage venue in Rondebosch, where they will take part in a full day’s programme. They will be given lunch and supper there and be transported back to the parish at approximately 9 pm. If you able to accommodate at least 2 people please would you contact Margie Cook on 0824618607.
CHILD SAFEGUARDING:
The Cathedral Parish is completely committed to ensuring the safety of our children. For further information consult the website of the Archdiocese: adct.org.za using the Ministries Tab or contact our Parochial Coordinator, Margie Cook on 0824618607.
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The discovery of the fifth murdered homeless person in Pretoria should be a cause of concern for us all. It raises once again the spectre of a possible serial killer on the loose. The way in which we respond to such a situation and the way in which the police deal with it will also tell us a lot about how we all view one of the most marginalised sectors of our society.
Many of us in South Africa may have the impression that serial killers are a ‘foreign’ phenomenon, something that happens in the United States. This is not true. South Africa has had many serial killer cases and, as our own famous profiler Micki Pistorius has pointed out, many cases remain unsolved. And despite specialists like Pistorius our police service is overall under-resourced to hunt them down.
My fear is that — unless the police have a lucky break — the search for the ‘homeless killer’ will take a long time.
This may be compounded by public attitudes to the killer’s victims.
Most people, let us admit, regard homeless people as at best a nuisance, at worst a threat. Their presence begging at street lights — and at times it seems like they’re at every street light — is often irritating. Being approached by them at street corners or at the gate of one’s home feels like an intrusion, even a ‘threat’. They inspire in many fear — fear of being robbed or attacked, but above all a fear of the marginal other, that reminds us daily of the growing inequality in South African society.
For, at a deeper level, in this climate of economic instability, they remind us of the precariousness of our own lives. A sudden reversal of fortune, retrenchment, long-term unemployment or an addiction spiralling out of control — and we could all too easily join them on the streets. Are we surprised, then, that our instinctive default position is to try to ignore them?
It would be easy for us to ignore the fact that homeless people are being targeted in Pretoria today. It is even tempting, given that they are a human face of South African unease, to downplay investigating the murders, to focus on more ‘serious’ crimes — for which, please read crimes affecting ‘us’. Even more distressing is the prospect that some may subconsciously feel relieved that the ‘cause’ of our fears is being removed.
This is wrong. Homeless people, following the Bill of Rights and our sense of human decency, are entitled to the same protection as any person living in South Africa. In theological terms they are as much in the image and likeness of God as the ‘rest’ of us. Our hostility to them dehumanises us. Our indifference to their victimisation now will make us in a certain sense accomplices of the killer.
The police have committed themselves to solving the case. We must support the police in any way we can in bringing the killer to justice.
