OMI Birmingham

The Birmingham Bullring and Secular Culture by Pawel Ratajczak O.M.I.

The Bullring is a large shopping complex located in the city centre of Birmingham , England . You could compare it to Toronto 's Eaton Centre, Alberta 's West Edmonton Mall, or even Minnesota 's Mall of America, but the Bullring is more appealing than these because it encompasses an entire district in the city. More than just a shopping mall, the Bullring is a place of encounter and energy. It is a symbol of regeneration, of a new Birmingham that is moving beyond its past of red-brick factories. I would like to use the Bullring as a point of reference in my reflection on secular culture.

Almost every day I walk from the Oblate residence at St. Anne's church to St. Michael's parish in the city centre. The Oblate team to secularity, of which I am a part, is responsible for these two parishes, and moving between them means a fair amount of walking. My stride takes me into the Bullring , past the multicolored displays, food stalls, and throngs of shoppers milling about. There is the conspicuous presence of teenagers, a group that is often under-represented in our two parishes. Looking at them, many times I wish that these young men and women would make a commitment to Christian community a regular part of their lives. Yet the Bullring attracts the youth every day of the year: the kaleidoscope of images, store displays, and interesting architecture all play a part in making this shopping complex an alluring place.

There is always something happening in the Bullring , the energy never stops: monitors display the latest news from around the world, and people mill around, whether they're shopping, eating, waiting for their bus, or simply sitting down and watching others. The Bullring is where people come to lose themselves, even if just for a while - it is a place where ordinary life stops, and supercharged consumer reality begins.

I think the Bullring reflects secular culture in many ways. It is full of energy, life, and vitality. Advertising budgets make it an interesting location, with the decorations changing seasonally - almost like the Church's liturgical year. Also, the Bullring is a place of encounter: it is where people gather . There are high school students enjoying a pizza; trendy business people looking for new clothes at the ritzy Selfridge's department store; and retirees doing food shopping - these all find common ground at the Bullring . Much like secular culture, the Bullring does not require commitment : shoppers arrive and depart at their liking, without any obligation. Allegiance to a particular store can easily change when prices drop at a competitor's location.

Yet the Bullring 's supercharged consumer reality does not last long. Young people have to go home, back to families, parents, and the stresses of adolescent life. Business people have to leave the Bullring to face the rivalries of the workplace. Retirees need to return to their apartments, where they often live alone. The Bullring is only a part of life, and not its sum total. Even supercharged consumer reality is not immune from the joys and sorrows of human existence.

Secular culture and the Bullring are not built on principles that last through millennia; by themselves, consumer reality and other aspects of secularity would not last through persecution or extended hardship. People would not offer up their lives for a chance to go shopping, even in the alluring Bullring . In addition, without God, secular culture can turn on itself, and show appalling disregard for human life - we need only to look at the plight of unborn children, and the fate of people like Terri Schiavo to confirm such an attitude.

This is why the Church's message of encounter - with Jesus Christ - is still indispensable to the people milling about the Bullrings of today. Christ offers a fundament for life that will never be out of style like a passing fad, a fundament that will last: as the prophet Isaiah says, "Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?" To engage in today's consumer society people need money, but Christ's message is free , so that everyone, even the poor, can fully participate. Finally, Christ and the message he brings respects the dignity of all human life, whether weak or strong.

As I walk to St. Michael's, our city-centre parish, I pass through the crowds of the Bullring . I often wrack my brains trying to find out how we, the Oblates ministering to secular culture, will reach these people. I am certain, however, that the message of Christ - the Risen One - is urgently needed in secular society, and the Bullrings of today.

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