Issue 50 - The Pilgrim - June 2016 - The newspaper of the Archdiocese of Southwark

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Education The Pilgrim June 2016 Giving young people a voice Jessica Gjeloshi explains the role of the Youth Executive Board in the diocese of Southwark During this year, we are called as Catholics to celebrate the Jubilee Year of Mercy. Pope Francis in his message to us all has said that this time is “meant for everyone: people of every age, from far and near”. It is important to remember that faith is for people of all demographics. Although our faith may stem back two thousand years it should still resonate with the youth in the Catholic community and allow them all to connect with it on a personal level. The Youth Executive Board (YEB) is a group which aims to act as a voice for the young people within Catholic education across the Southwark diocese, allowing them to play an active role in the work of the Church within their own community. Its formation was requested by Archbishop Peter himself and it works throughout the year alongside the Diocesan Education Committee and the Education Commission to make Catholic education as valuable as possible. The students who represent the board come from various schools across the diocese. The group meet three times a year to discuss their personal experiences being educated in a Catholic school and what they feel they have gained from it. Jacinta, a member of the board, described the YEB’s meetings as “a chance to constructively critique issues concerning education in our diocese”, which then enables the group to think of a plan of action to tackle any concerns raised. Edward, also a member of the YEB, said he felt that as part of the board he is able to make decisions that can help thousands of students' education. Edward’s comment sums up the primary goal of the YEB which is to enable students themselves to make relevant changes to their own schooling and to the schooling of others, giving young Catholic people the power to make a change to their own community. A topic discussed in YEB’S last meeting was how students felt they had benefited from their sex education lessons and what they felt could be improved to make The members of the group spoke about how they felt there were a great deal of improvements that could be made to the way the subject tackled and the information, or lack of, that was being put across to students. Other things discussed were the way in which religious education lessons are structured once students reach sixth form and what they hope to achieve in them through the qualifications that can be gained at the end of their time in school. Another topic discussed was the question of how schools in the diocese could come together through the celebration of their patron saints’ feasts days to build a stronger sense of community. By making these decisions, members of the YEB are able to develop a range of interpersonal skills which can take them throughout life. They gain skills which will enable them to work alongside others as a team towards a common goal and within the group build on their leadership skills by taking on roles such as chair, vice chair and secretary. The vice chair of the board, Pamela, said that she feels its “up to us all to do what we can to make a change.” Through these changes to Catholic education we can make students’ time in Catholic schools more rewarding and enable them to feel closer to their faith by being active in the work of the Church. Mass matters more than rugby By Lucy Russell Last month I noted a remark from Edgar’s rugby coach: “What are you doing to that kid?” It was a comment made when his dad explained he wouldn’t be able to make away games this season, because of his first Holy Communion preparation. Edgar made his first Holy Communion on the Feast of Corpus Christi, along with 11 other children, during a beautiful Mass at St Thomas’ in Deal. I love the liturgy. A school friend once likened going to Mass with taking an indigestion remedy:” It’s like taking antacid for the mind and soul. I go in feeling stressed out, and emerge calm.” Mass is the most profound encounter we can have on earth with Jesus. The word “liturgy” originally meant a “public work” or a “service in the name of or on behalf of the people.” In the Christian tradition it means the participation of the People of God in the work of God. It says in Psalm 119:164 that the people of Israel interrupted their work “seven times a day” to praise God. Jesus, who was Jewish, took part in the liturgy and prayers of his people. He taught his disciples to pray, and gathered them in the upper room to celebrate the liturgy of all liturgies: the gift of himself in the last supper, when he said, “Do this in memory of me”. The liturgy is a remembrance of the Last Supper. Jesus continues his work in, with, and through his Church today through the liturgy. In the New Testament the word liturgy refers not only to the celebration of divine worship, but also to the proclamation of the Gospel and to active charity. Going to Mass does many things for me. It gives me time to sit quietly, reflect and pray. It’s a rendezvous with Jesus that reminds me that God loves me. It inspires me to go out afterwards and keep trying. The fact that the format of the Mass remains the same, with the same prayers, can also be of great comfort at difficult times. I have always found Catholic funeral Masses easier to bear, because I can hold on to the structure of the liturgy: the format and prayers. I know what is coming next, and so I don’t feel as though I am in free fall. The first Communion Mass at St Thomas’ was followed by a party for the whole parish community. The word religion actually comes from the Latin word “religare”, which means to bind or connect. What the Church offers is a bond with other individuals, which helps to connect us all to the wider universe. There are times when we all need a bit of togetherness. Together we can make a difference, together we are stronger. There is a strong sense of community at St Thomas’. After the Sunday Masses, everyone comes together for refreshments, older and young. There aren’t many other places where that happens. I enjoy watching Edgar play rugby. But being present for Edgar’s first Holy Communion was a different, and far more moving experience. St Theresa of Avila said: “Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you, all things pass away: God never changes.” So in answer to Edgar’s rugby coach, what I hope we are giving to Edgar (and James) is faith and spirituality, and the knowledge that rugby, and everything else, will pass away. But God will always be there. Page 8
The Pilgrim June 2016 Europe and the common good Fr Ashley Beck, assistant priest at St Edmund of Canterbury, Beckenham, and lecturer in pastoral ministry at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, continues his series exploring modern papal encyclicals On the feast of Pentecost, we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit on the disciples and, like the whole of the season of Eastertide, this leads us to reflect about, and to celebrate, the nature of the Catholic Church. The Holy Spirit dwells within the Church as a guarantee of truth, of freedom from error. That is what we mean when we say that the Church is infallible in its teaching ministry. Much of this ministry is articulated in the ministry of the Vicar of Christ, which is why we talk of the pope being infallible. So Pentecost and the weeks following are a good time to think about the subject of my monthly articles this year, encyclical letters from the popes of the last century. Pope St John XXIII, as many of you will still remember, was only pope for five years, having been elected at a great age, and many saw him as a stop-gap or a “caretaker” pope: but in those years he achieved a tremendous amount, above all by calling the Second Vatican Council, which opened only a few months before he died of cancer in June 1963. But two of his encyclical letters are also very important and we will look at the first this month, Mater et Magistra, issued in the summer of 1961. The letter’s opening words are a good Pentecost statement: “Mother and teacher of all nations - such is the Catholic Church in the mind of her founder, Jesus Christ.” For us it might not seem a very striking description but it actually sets a tone in addressing the “nations” which strikes the reader as somewhat warmer and more ‘motherly’ than had been true in the recent past (the pope actually got the phrase “Mother and Teacher” from Innocent III in the Middle Ages). The letter celebrates the 70th Pope John XXIII meeting President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1959 anniversary of the letter of Leo XIII, which we looked at in March, Rerum Novarum, seen as the beginning of the modern tradition of Catholic Social teaching, and the pope addresses social issues in the light of Catholic moral teaching. As with all papal encyclicals, there is a lot of emphasis on continuity. That is why the anniversaries of Rerum Novarum are seen as important. But at the same time the tradition grows and develops as the Church responds to changes in the world, to history. The change in tone is crucial, reflecting Pope John’s overall approach of warmth and a desire for reconciliation, but there are two big ways in which the letter shows a shift, a movement, in Catholic teaching. The letter is significant in many ways in the rather complicated world of Italian politics in the late 1950s and early 1960s which is too big a subject to be looked at here. But one thing the pope does is to endorse moves towards what we call the “welfare state.” He welcomes what he calls “an increase in social relationships” and “a development in man’s social life”. Drawing on the writings of the Jesuit anthropologist and theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, the pope welcomes a sense of interdependence in the human family. This means that when the state intervenes to help people it is a good thing “even in matter of such intimate concern to the individual as health and education, the choice of a career, and the care and rehabilitation of the physically and mentally handicapped.” In the years immediately after the Second World War the Church in some places had seen welfare state policies as a sign of centralised state control and an undermining of the place of the family (partly because of what had happened in Communist and Fascist countries). For most Catholics 15 years on this was less of a threat. The pope’s endorsement is important all these years later at a time when many of the services associated with the welfare state are no longer provided in the same way, if at all, a change generally criticised by Catholic bishops and charities. The second important development - and very topical in this month - is over international relations. Pius XII after the war had reminded Catholics that the sovereignty of nation states cannot be absolute. It is only relative and there needs to be international bodies to stifle national aggression. Pope John takes this further, specifically endorsing intergovernmental organisations: “The demands of the common good on the international level include: the avoidance of all forms of unfair competition between the economies of different countries; the fostering of mutual collaboration and good will; and effective co-operation in the development of economically less advanced communities.” Mater et Magistra was written three years after the signing of the Treaty of Rome, which set up the Common Market, the EEC. Italy had been a founder member of the common European institutions set up from 1950, and Pope John’s words are an endorsement of the ideals and aims of the EEC, which has grown into the European Union. Of course Britain was not a member of the EEC in 1961. But it is hard to square the pope’s vision with the outlook of the “Leave” campaign in the current EU Referendum debate in this country. His vision should help to guide as we pray about how to vote. By Fr Daniel O’Leary Into every life, the wise ones say, comes one shining moment. It is a moment of glory. The curtains part, the vision is granted, and something is changed forever. That single experience, in one way or another, stays with us always and colours the whole of our lives. It is the timeless time when the veil is drawn from the mystery of our existence, when our essence is disclosed to us, when we discover – even if only fleetingly – who we really are. It is a highly personal moment of truth. Your one bright and shining moment may have to do with naming what or who you really love; with revealing to you the job or relationship that is slowly destroying you; or with becoming aware that all your decisions and reactions spring from a deeply hidden anxiety, anger or fear. Or it might be that you need no longer be afraid because you are loved unconditionally by a God who delights in you; that, without a doubt, the universe and life itself are safe places for yourself, your children and all you love; that everything that has ever happened to you is not happen-chance but part of a carefully crafted love story. Feature/Column Have you experienced a shining moment? In the popular film ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, George Bailey experiences a shining moment The Leaven Carmelite Secular Institute CALLING ALL Single and widowed women Seeking to dedicate their life to God Through vows in secular society. Contact: The Secretary, The Leaven, c/o The Friars, Aylesford ME20 7BX. Tel: 01883 742488. Email: kinman@ouvip.com www.theleaven.org.uk It might be that your shining moment happens when God comes to you usually disguised as your life, in all its bits and pieces; that apart from one or two cherished beliefs, nothing matters very much. You realise that it is in our weakness and sinfulness that we are strongest of all and that we are indestructible and untouchable as long as we remain close to God. The human life of Jesus in time and space was one of the brightest shining moments in the history of creation. In the fullness and totality of his very own humanity lies the secret passage to the heart of God. And, therefore, likewise with us. It is during our most desperate, ecstatic, despairing, joyful, routine, hopeless times that those luminous moments of clarity surround us with transparency. We are held in a threshold between two phases of our lives – not to do with the chronological time of years and decades but with the kairos-time of falling into mystery, of falling in love with God. These moments heal and transcend the damaging religious education of our childhood days and liberate us into the belief that we are all gods-in-the making, that even from our murkiest and most sinful encounters with evil, God can bring light. Page 9
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Issue 50 - The Pilgrim - June 2016 - The newspaper of the Archdiocese of Southwark

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