welcomeJune 27th 2012

please relax

Are we in danger of missing the point?

Losing sight of five great treasuresJames Hanvey – On the way to life

1. A loss of confidence in any overarching story that claims to give significance or meaning (the meta-narrative)

“I’m six how old are you?”

“I’ve got an Xbox”

“I’ve got a girlfriend\boyfriend”

“I’ve got an A grade”

“I’m on a good salary”

“I have responsibility”

“I have successful children”“I had a triple by-pass”“I’m 94 how old are you”

Missing the point

“This is not to happen amongst you” John 12 1-20

9:34 The disciples are arguing over which of them is the best!

10:13 The disciples are “protecting” Jesus from children because if children have access to Jesus then what happens to their own status?10:28 Peter is stressing to Jesus all that he has given up to

follow him hoping that this might be a qualification for special consideration

10:37 James and John want to sit nearest to Jesus in the kingdom!

10:41 The others are annoyed with James and John for asking, privately hoping that they would not be relegated to some hidden place themselves 10:47 The people nearest to Jesus tell Bartimaeus to be quiet

“don’t bother the master”.

Watch for the patterns in Luke

“The disciples were arguing over which of them is the best!” LK9:34

And suppose we get caught up in “Could try harder”. So we fall back onto our own limited resources

“By means of a diversion a man can avoid his own company 24 hours a day” Louis Pascal

“The problem with modern living is that we worship

our work, work at our play, play at our worship”

Terry Hershey

2. A loss of trust in the notion of authority and institution

3. Losing a sense identity rooted

with in tradition

“We are going to have Brooklyn baptised, we just havn’t decided what religion.” David Beckham

“For peace of mind.... resign as general manager

of the universe.”

Larry Eisenberg

“Caution: Cape does not enable user to fly.” British Home Stores Batman costume

“I love deadlines. I love the wooshing sound they make as they fly by.”

Douglas Adams

4. Loss of absolute certainty - objectivity (It depends)

A growing restlessness and discontentment

“The desire for personal affirmation through instant gratification leads to a search for a heightened experience with a consequent increase in boredom and an inability to find contentment in the ordinary.” James Hanvey

“I’ll just have to go back, back to my old life.”

5. Isms...Individualism, Materialism and Consumerism

“Year after year cook books and diet

books are the biggest sellers;

learn how to cook it, then how to

avoid eating it”

Andy Rooney

Supposing we have a bit of a tendency to get caught up in our own sort of self sufficiency

“Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a levite, when he came to that place and saw him, passed by on the other side.” Luke 10:31-32

“Every man for himself,”

said the elephant as he danced among the

chickens.”

Charles Dickens

Stretch!June 27th 2012

beware the risk of narrow vision

“Always remember that every subject you study is part of a

bigger picture. Never allow yourselves to become narrow. We need good historians and philosophers economists, but if the account they give of human life is too narrowly focused, they can lead us seriously astray.”

Twickenham Address to Pupils

“Don’t fall into the narrow way of being. The Church cannot shut herself up, inactive, in the privacy of her churches and thus neglect the mission entrusted to her by divine providence, the mission to form man in his fullness.” Oscar Romero

•You’re quietly irritated by other people’s enthusiasm

•You are less comfortable with the idea of “sharing” resources•Training days start to feel irritating

•New ideas annoy you

•You put your name on your cottage cheese •Practical mundane tasks become appealing•You personalise your wheelie bin•You (Head teachers) stop playing on your swivel chair when no-one is looking

symptoms

Resentment “I volunteered, I was the first to crack.” I’ve been left with more to do than the others

Performance Vague feeling that I’m not doing all I should be doing – it is never accomplished

Isolation Feelings of disassociation – “Does anyone here appreciate me for what I am trying to do?”

Chore The feeling that I’m doing a duty of service rather than being fulfilled. It’s just a job.

Disappointment The feeling that I’m not getting my entitlement, my remuneration or my worth

Have you caught yourself getting grumpy these days?

“But if in my life I fail completely to heed others, solely out of a desire to be

“devout” and to perform my “religious duties”, then my relationship with God will

grow arid. It becomes merely “proper”, but loveless.” Deus Caritas Est, 18 (Pope

Benedict XVI, 2006)

“It becomes merely “proper”, but

loveless.” Deus Caritas Est, 18 (Pope

Benedict XVI, 2006)

“The task of the teacher is not simply to impart information or to provide training in skills intended to deliver some economic benefit to society; education is not and must never be considered as purely utilitarian.”

Chapel of St Mary’s University College

September 17th 2010

“education... is not and must never be considered as

purely utilitarian.”

Chapel of St Mary’s University College

September 17th 2010

“O that today you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts as at Meribah” Psalm 94

There is no distinction between knowledge and love

“May the world of our time, which is searching, sometimes with anguish, sometimes with hope, be enabled to receive the Good News not from teachers who are dejected, discouraged, impatient or anxious, but from whose lives glow with fervour, who have first received the joy of Christ." Pope Paul VI's apostolic exhortation "Evangelii Nuntiandi,"

“Your life is not about you.” Mother Teresa

Catholic schools educate when they

“Help people to grasp their own identity and to reveal those authentic needs and desires that inhabit everyone’s heart, but which often remain unknown and underestimated: thirst for authenticity and honesty, for love and fidelity, for truth and consistency, for happiness and fullness of life”.Pope John Paul ll “Consecrated persons and their Mission in Schools” Oct 2002

“Seeing with the eyes of Christ, I can give to others much more than their outer necessities; I can give them the

look of love which they crave. Here we see the necessary interplay between

the love of God and the love of neighbour which the first letter of John speaks of with such insistence.” Deus Caritas Est, 18 (Pope Benedict XVI, 2006)

Acts of “Unusual Kindness”.

“The inhabitants treated us with unusual kindness. They made us all welcome by lighting a huge fire because it had started to rain and the weather was cold.” ACTS 28v2

“As you come to know God better, you find that you want to reflect something of his infinite goodness in your own life. You are attracted to the practice of virtue. You begin to see greed and selfishness and all the other sins for what they are, tendencies that cause deep suffering, and you want to avoid falling into the trap yourselves. You begin to feel compassion for people in difficulties and are eager to do something to help them. You want to come to the aid of the poor and the hungry, you want to be kind and generous.”

The Pope at St Mary’s Twickenham. 17th September 2010

The Pope at Westminster Cathedral.

.

“Deep within your heart he is calling you to spend time with him in prayer, but this kind of prayer, real prayer, requires discipline. It requires time for moments of silence everyday. Often it means waiting for the Lord to speak. Even amidst the business and stress of our daily lives we need to make space for silence, because it is in silence that we find God. And in silence that we discover our true self. “

thank youJune 27th 2012