Wishes, dreams, and visions for the future are often the things that urge us on, the wings that take us beyond our imagination. Irish poet, Patrick Kavanagh, in "Pegasus" says to his innermost self that he likens to an old horse:

           I have hawked you through the world
           Of Church and State and meanest trade.
           But this evening, halter off,
           Never again will it go on...
           As I said these words he grew
           Wings upon his back. Now I may ride him
           Every land my imagination knew.                                   

It is reported in The Tablet 30 October, 1999, that Cardinal Martini, the Archbishop of Milan, set before the European Bishops his dream for the Church. He made three points: a return to biblical spirituality, integration of basic faith communities into the parish, and a revision of papal primacy. 

Martini says that the Bible is the book from which we are born as Christians. It helps us to cross ecumenical bridges. "We have found in the Bible a very broad terrain of understanding with the Churches of the Reformation." The situation of Christians today reflects that of the early Christians who were a minority in society. The only power we have now is that of the Holy Spirit. We have to meet people face to face to find common ground on which to reflect. 

For Martini, the parish should be the sign of communion and hope for the world, a credible alternative to a fragmented society and ethics. To do this, the parishes need the values that have been lived by the people who form the basic faith communities though this often causes friction in the parishes. 

Cardinal Martini says that the absolute authority wielded by the pontiff should be rethought in the interests of ecumenism and Christian unity. He listed a series of knotty problems including the lack of ordained ministers, the position of women in society and the Church, marriage discipline, penitential practice, and relations with the Orthodox Churches. His call for "the full exercise of episcopal collegiality" was greeted with applause by the bishops. 

He concluded by saying, "Hope is a gift of the Spirit which fills our hearts with the joy and optimism that comes from above. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus had lost hope. They did not regain it by being told, 'You have to have hope,' but by having the Scriptures explained to them. They came to understand that there was sense in what had happened, an opening, a calling: that what they had thought was a failure was really a victory. And thatís the gift of hope: to be able to see revealed in things, the plan of God."

Chris Diamond, Cobble Hill, B.C.