The Gospel for this Sunday, Trinity Sunday, Year B, comes from the final verses of St Matthew’s Gospel, and contains what many refer to as ‘The Great Commission’.

I recall pondering this Gospel segment in times past, but I haven’t gone back to find what was written back then. However I do remember that no one knows where this mountain location is in Galilee and that it is the same location that Jesus and the Apostles withdrew to when He wanted to teach them privately.

It seems fitting that Jesus wanted them to re-gather in this place of special shared memories to give them the sending forth that constitutes them as Apostles. They are the ones sent out by Jesus with the primacy to continue His ministry.

Wikipedia says this: An apostle, in its most literal sense, is an emissary, from Greek ἀπόστολος, literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν, "to send off". The purpose of such sending off is usually to convey a message, and thus "messenger" is a common alternative translation; other common translations include "ambassador" and "envoy".

From that angle, the privacy of this world changing event makes sense.

All of us who through their response to God have become disciples of the Lord Jesus, and who have been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirt, share in their ongoing mission.

Have you wondered ‘But why did some hesitate?’

The answer could lie in the profound change in their relationship with Jesus. Before the Passion, Jesus was teacher, companion, confidant, friend, preacher, miracle worker and they had gradually come to accept that He was indeed Son of God. But it was the kind of acceptance based on faith. When He showed Himself to them glorified and risen, this was an experience of His power and majesty as Son of God – a whole new ballgame, as we might say.

It is one thing to accept a truth, and quite another to be confronted with the reality of that truth.

In this meeting between Jesus and His Apostles on the hidden mountain, it is quite likely that Jesus displayed a level of authority, kingship, majesty, power and victory that was well beyond anything they had previously experienced when He had shown Himself risen to them.

Most of them had the usual response to a manifest presence of God: flat, face down on the ground in worship.

But the rest were in ‘stunned mullet’ mode, or frozen because they no longer knew how they should relate to Jesus, or how He wanted them to relate to Him.

He is Lord of the universe, and yet He invites a relationship that is closer than a spouse. 
One of those both/and things that are so paradoxical.

And what does Jesus do? He makes the first move, He comes up to them, He doesn’t berate them, and He speaks to them. He meets them where they are at.

Then He speaks those words that have resounded through the centuries:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And look, I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.”

Here is the purpose of their sending forth as Apostles, to bring everyone into the profoundly personal ongoing relationship that God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, wishes to have with everyone, and through that relationship profound unity and love with each other.
​
In His goodness, may the Lord Jesus enable us to come to deeper understanding of His total authority over everything, grounded not only in faith, but in the experience of His divine presence, so that we may come to that unlimited trust in Him which dispels all fear and sets us confidently on this mission to go, disciple, baptize and teach. Amen.

​The Gospel for this Sunday, the Ascension of the Lord, Year B, comes from the concluding verses of St Mark’s Gospel, Chapter 16, a direct continuation of verses from last week, and contains the instructions Jesus gives to His disciples before His ascension, and what happens afterwards.

Although they aren’t so much instructions, as regal commands. This is Jesus functioning as King of the universe and conqueror of death.

Our task is to proclaim the good news of Jesus everywhere.

How people respond to that proclamation will determine whether they enter His eternal kingdom or not.

Jesus tells us the signs that will distinguish believers from un-believers. These signs are certainly not associated with the timid; but are associated with those who dramatically extend the kingdom of God.

Only those who have complete confidence in the kingly reign of Jesus can cast out devils in His name, and can expect the sick to get well when they invoke the healing power of God.

This is warrior stuff, and not for the faint of heart, nor for wimps.

It is quite a challenge, isn’t it? Most of us fall a long way shot.
But this is what was considered normal in Gospel times.

Jesus then ascends to His place of kingly power and authority, seated at the right hand of the Father on the throne of heaven.

When the disciples do their part and preach, the Lord Jesus provides the evidence that their preaching is true through the signs and wonders that accompany the preaching; working together to extend the kingdom of God.

There are those for whom this is still happening today, eg Sr Briege McKenna, Damian Stayne, Costandi Bastoli, and those of recent memory, eg Dr John Bonnici Mallia, Fr Emelien Tardiff, and many others.

There are still places on earth where signs and wonders are expected when believers preach, and where if there are no signs and wonders, credibility is lost quickly eg Fiji, Uganda.

This is what the Gospel and the Lord Jesus consider normal.
​
May God grant that we, too, will return to considering this as normal. Amen.   

A Christian is someone who has accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour. Most of us find the Saviour part easy, and it is the Lord part we struggle with.

​This relatively short talk (34 mins) is one of the best I have ever heard on that topic:

Joe Chircop is one of the founders of the Servants of Jesus Community in Western Sydney, it is an ecumenical community, and this talk was presented in the middle of the lockdown that Sydney experienced from mid March - late May. 2020. His heritage is Maltese.
 
The first 3 mins are rather slow, as they give background to why he is speaking on the Discipleship topic. The last few minutes contain a prayer which extends to all online viewers.
 
Here is an excerpt:
 
Imagine if a young man proposed to a young woman - re marriage - and instead of giving her... and the young woman instead of giving herself she says to the man, you can have my jewellery, you can have my house, you can have my car, you can have my property, you can have my wealth: what would we think of that? We would think that's a bit strange. But actually Jesus is asking us the same thing, but we often say, well I'll give You my tithe, I'll give You my house, my talent or whatever, but refuse to give Him our selves.

.......................................................

I am blogging about this talk because I want to be able to find it again, and I am hoping that you might want to find it again too. All too frequently the things we share on social media get submerged and rarely found again.

I see this talk as a great resource for anyone assisting those who have recently accepted Jesus as their Saviour, and for those assisting others on their way to the fullness of the Christian life. As we all know, it is possible to get stuck along the way, and this video will go a long way to helping people get unstuck. It is short enough to be played at a Youth Group or Connect Group as a discussion starter.

Why? Because it often isn't easy to have a conversation about the truths this video contains, and I have rarely heard them expressed so clearly and in an easily understandable way.

But there's another reason I am blogging about this talk, and that is our responsibility to share with others the good things we have found. All too often we come across a great book, podcast episode, twitter thread, newspaper article or video link, and we do nothing to pass that good stuff on to others. 

It doesn't take much effort to write a review of a book and post it online at Amazon, Goodreads or elsewhere. It doesn't take much effort to like and share a podcast episode on Facebook. It doesn't take almost any effort at all to like and retweet a twitter thread. It is normally only a matter of using a search engine to find an online version of the newspaper article and to then share it on social media, or to take a photograph of the article and share that instead. It is rather easy to share YouTube videos on social media, and even easier to click the like button or to add a positive comment.

And yet so few people think to do so.

Your challenge today, should you choose to accept it,
​is to determine which content had the most positive impact upon you and your life during the past 7 days, and to then share it with others in at least 2 different ways, and with at least one of those ways being through social media.   

This talk was given by Archbishop Christopher Prowse at Seven Hills, NSW on Saturday 18 February 2017, the 50th anniversary of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. #ccrgoldenjubilee2017
 
(As usual, this is only the edited gist of the Archbishop's talk. The content of this talk he expressly asked to be distributed far and wide.)

In this talk I want to give you a bishop's perspective on the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Catholic Church and on the contributions of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR) over the last 50 years.
 
Australians are a practical people. In Rome you mix with all sorts, and you get to know the qualities of various nationalities. You can depend on Germans to have precision, and upon Italians to have a party with drinks and pasta. Us colonials, being practical, bring the drinks and the glasses to drink them from.
 
In this talk I would like to make 6 points with practical application for our lives.
 
The whole Church is charismatic
When the charismatic renewal began 50 years ago, it was a wide spread explosion; a tsunami of the Holy Spirit. The whole Church is charismatic because the whole Church is animated by the Holy Spirit. We are part of the same Church begun under the power of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and prefigured by Mary - the one overshadowed by the Holy Spirit when she said Yes to God. Mary was the original charismatic.
 
Expand your minds. Much depends upon the hope you have that the Holy Spirit can bring light into our darkened world.
 
St Francis of Assisi and St Benedict all started movements. Their response to God started when they were lay people and developed into a religious vocation. The CCR has been mainly led by lay people, which is something distinctive about this movement. It has been a grass roots 'bottom-up' movement. These last 50 years have seen the start of many lay Catholic movements, and most of them have origins in the charismatic movement.
 
At Vatican II Pope St John XXIII prayed for a new Pentecost, and this prayer has been echoed by subsequent popes. John XXIII was very wise and had a great sense of humour. When asked how many people worked at the Vatican, he replied, 'about half'. In the documents of Vatican II the Holy Spirit is frequently mentioned.
 
We belong to the Latin Rite of the Church, but there are 27 different Rites. The Eastern Rites have a far more developed understanding of the Holy Spirit than we have. The Ukrainian Rite understands the Trinity this way: God the Father is the source of the river; God the Son is the shape and banks of the river; God the Holy Spirit is the water of the river which flows.
 
This flow of the Holy Spirit can be seen in Rublev's icon of the Trinity, based on the story of the three men who came to visit Abraham. In it there is a circular movement. Others express this dynamic flow of the Holy Spirit as a circle of a dance.

Marriage is another way to understand the Trinity, husband, wife, and the love between them. Not too long ago I went out to Temora to share in the 65th wedding anniversary celebrations of a couple – a couple still holding hands! When asked what their secret was, the answer came, 'The secret is not the me, but the we; not the mine, but the ours'.
 
Catch the wave!
 
Kerygma
Jesus Christ is Lord and Saviour. That is the initial proclamation of the Gospel, our kerygma.
 
Finger wagging doesn’t make people disciples.
 
People can go through Catholic schools and all the sacraments of initiation and not come out the other side with a relationship with Jesus. A personal encounter with Jesus does not happen automatically on this 'conveyer belt'.
 
First we need to invite people to open their hearts to Jesus; everything else will follow after that crucial first step. Jesus won't come in unless He is asked, so our invitation has to include, 'You have to ask Jesus to come into your life and into your heart'.
 
It is only after people have asked Jesus in that we find that they want to know more about Him. That's why catechism has to come after kerygma. We have to give them a thirst for Jesus before we begin any kind of teaching.
 
A bishop is the kerygmatic and catechetical leader of his diocese.
 
Young people are tribal, they want to feel like they belong. Give them a chance.
 
Example vs Testimony
Hearing testimonies of the action of Jesus in people's lives has helped me a lot over the years.
 
The Catholic instinct knows that there is a difference between witness and testimony. A gothic cathedral gives witness to the faith of the people who built it 24 hours a day 7 days a week. But the cathedral cannot give testimony.
 
You can only give the answer when people ask the question. If people are not asking you the reason for the faith and hope and joy that you have, then you are not living your faith properly.
 
Catholics are not proselytizers, but we are inviters. We don't impose, but we propose. As Pope Francis said in his 5 Oct 2016 General Audience, 'The real mission is never proselytism, but rather attraction to Christ, beginning with strong union with Him in prayer, adoration and concrete works of charity, which is service to Jesus present in the least of our brothers'.
 
We take the scriptures seriously, but not literally in a fundamentalist way. We take Jesus as our model. Look at Him with the woman at the well (John 4). As a Jew He shouldn't have been talking to a Samaritan, let alone talking to a woman on her own especially one coming for water in the hottest part of the day (indicating that she was a social outsider) and asking her for a drink. Notice that He didn't start by saying, 'You should be a Jew and worship at the Temple'. He started in a non-threatening way, with easy conversation and dialogue – waiting for her to be intrigued enough to ask questions.
 
In a similar way with the man born blind (John 9), Jesus is patient. When the man is healed, he doesn't know what Jesus looks like. But when he has become hungry enough to want to know more who this Jesus is, Jesus comes quietly and introduces Himself.
 
There are good Catholic commentaries on the scriptures out there. Go looking for them.
 
Healing and Holiness
These things are not just for canonized Saints, they are universal calls and gifts.
 
Experientially in the charismatic renewal we learn what Vatican II taught, praying for healing and growing in holiness is what normal believers do.
 
Holiness is a gift from God. The closer you come to Jesus, the warmer your hearts are.
 
Here's what normal holiness looks like: In Melbourne there was a taxi driver who belonged to one of the early prayer groups. He would pray before he started work – for safety and for all the passengers of that day, and kept his taxi clean and sweet-smelling. He played gentle, uplifting background music. Around the inside of the taxi were various holy pictures. He took care to be a safe driver and a good listener. If his passenger wanted conversation he would take part. Many times he was asked why he was so happy and contented, or what this or that holy picture was all about – and that was his opening to talk about Jesus with them and sometimes to even pray with them.
 
Open to all
The charismatic renewal has been quite ecumenical and generally quite youthful. There has been a sense that everybody is welcome – especially in the early days.
 
Keep being open. Don't let your prayer groups devolve into places where anyone under age 70 isn't welcome. Be places where I can send our young people after their World Youth Day experiences, places where they can grow and be accepted and not be told verbally or non-verbally that 'we don't do things that way, and don't want to try' and they get the message that they are not wanted.
 
Mary
Mary, our model of the charismatic dimension of the Church is a great gift. The Peter dimension is hierarchical, and we need both. It is the interwoven circle and the triangle. The circle has the charisms and the gifts to share and serve; it has a Marian dimension of gentleness and motherliness. The circle softens the triangle.
 
Your deference to authority is good. Bishop Long asked me after Friday night's big Mass at the cathedral why there wasn't any sounds of the charismatic gifts. I told him, 'that's because you didn't give them the green light to go for it, they were just waiting for your signal of permission'.
 
I know you love the pope, and your bishops and priests. Keep loving them.
 
Don't get discouraged. Catholics think and work in 100 year blocks. It is a huge ship and it takes time to turn. We are not on a speedboat. The last 50 years is just a blink in time to the Church. Be patient as the Church comes to a greater understanding of the charismatic renewal and God's purpose for it.

Before the keynote address began, conference participants were introduced to the new National Director for the National Centre for Evangelisation, a new entity bringing together the former Catholic Enquiry Centre and the National Office for Evangelisation. Shane Dwyer was very surprised to be considered for this role. 'The task in front of us is daunting. What to do? How to do it? But I don't see that as a problem, rather as an invitation to be responded to. Everything will go right if we stay close to Him, and allow Him to lead us in this task of calling people to come close to Him. Part of this role will be supporting bishops in this ministry. Sadly we often don't support each other in ministry effectively. Yet we are all on the same side. None of us have all the answers, but we can still work towards them together.'

This final keynote address of the conference was given by Bishop Nicholas Hudson, auxiliary bishop of Westminster. You won't find him on social media, but a few YouTube clips of his speeches can be found online.

Bishop Hudson is the 4th of 5 boys, educated at Jesuit schools and studied history at Cambridge. He then studied in Rome and obtained a licentiate in Fundamental Theology. In 1986 he became chaplain to the L'Arche communities. In 2014 he was made auxiliary bishop of Westminster.

His keynote address was entitled, 'Oases of Mercy: Parishes which radiate Christ'.

NB. These notes are rough, they do not contain everything said, and will lack his particular emphases. The full text of his keynote is available at http://proclaimconference.com.au/doc/resources/281016/2016%20Proclaim%20KeynoteBishopHudson.pdf but might not be available online for longer than 2 years.

Good morning. Thanks for the warm welcome
Some parishes are truly Oases of Mercy. The parish of St Egidio in Rome is a good example. Some parishioners back in the 1980s started a prayer group, and over time felt a desire to assist the poor. They began with soup and offering shelter at night. Later on they worked out that the need for literacy and education was just as big as the need for food and shelter, and did something about that too. These days they are feeding around 200 people a day.

Pope Francis used this phrase first when he said 'Wherever there are Christians, everyone should find an oasis of mercy' : Misericordiae Vultus 12

St John XXIII spoke about a parish being like a village fountain to which all have recourse in their thirst.

In Evangelii Gaudium 28 Pope Francis said that a parish is 'a community of communities, a sanctuary where the thirsty come to drink in the midst of their journey, and a centre of constant missionary outreach.'

In Evangelii Gaudium 24 Pope Francis shared this vision of Church, and by extension of parish:
The Church which “goes forth” is a community of missionary disciples who take the first step, who are involved and supportive, who bear fruit and rejoice. An evangelizing community knows that the Lord has taken the initiative, He has loved us first (cf. 1 Jn 4:19), and therefore we can move forward, boldly take the initiative, go out to others, seek those who have fallen away, stand at the crossroads and welcome the outcast. Such a community has an endless desire to show mercy, the fruit of its own experience of the power of the Father’s infinite mercy.

Blessed John Henry Newman spoke about radiating Christ, and penned an inspiring prayer to explain it better:

Dear Jesus, help me to spread Your fragrance everywhere I go.
Flood my soul with Your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of Yours.
Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel Your presence in my soul.
Let them look up and see no longer me but only Jesus!
Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as You shine, so to shine as to be a light to others;
the light, O Jesus, will be all from You; none of it will be mine: it will be You shining on others through me.
Let me thus praise You in the way You love best: by shining on those around me.
Let me preach You without preaching, not by words, but by my example, by the catching force, the sympathetic influence of what I do, the evident fullness of the love my heart bears to You. Amen

The way to proclaim Christ in the 21st century is to make our parishes oases of mercy, radiating the face of Christ. When Pope Francis calls us to be missionary disciples, he wants us to be missionaries of mercy. This, in turn, calls for a new way of doing things, and each of us individually and collectively have to ask, 'What more must I do?'.

At the beginning of the millennium St John Paul II invited us to 'put out into the deep'. Now Pope Francis asks us to enter into a 'resolute process of discernment, purification and reform' EG30 in order to find 'new paths for the Church's journey in years to come' EG1.

The first step in this process is to celebrate what we already do that is having a positive evangelistic impact. Discover what you do well, and then ask what more the Lord may be calling us to do.

The next step is to review the evangelistic potential of what we do under 5 headings, Prayer, Caritas, Faith Formation, Marriage & Family Life, and Evangelistic Outreach.

For example, if Prayer is going well, how do you deepen it? How do you unlock its possibilities for evangelisation? What are the prayer needs of our young people? Does the parish have opportunities for genuine forms of popular religiosity, eg processions and rosaries?

'Genuine forms of popular religiosity are incarnate, since they are born of the incarnation of Christian faith in popular culture. For this reason they entail a personal relationship, not with vague spiritual energies or powers, but with God, with Christ, with Mary, with the saints. These devotions are fleshy, they have a face. They are capable of fostering relationships and not just enabling escapism.' EG90a

Under the heading of Caritas, we might be doing well with our care for the elderly and food for the hungry, but how are we doing in the area of inclusion of people with disabilities? You might like to look into setting up a monthly Faith and Light group: a mix of intellectually disabled people, their family and friends, parishioners and young people gathering together for friendship, sharing, prayer and celebration.

There is always a danger that we focus our Evangelistic Outreach inwards instead of looking outwards. While there is some evidence that people with Christian backgrounds are finding their way  to the Catholic Church, our track record with the unchurched is very poor.

Have you heard about Night Fever? The idea behind Night Fever is simple: open a city centre church at night, fill it with candle-light and prayerful live music, and invite passers-by inside.

(Ed. Read about what has happened with Night Fever at Chicago, Saskatoon, Blackpool and Dublin:
https://nightfeverchicago.org/
http://saskatoonrcdiocese.com/news/nightfever-offers-outreach-conversation-prayer
http://www.castleriggmanor.co.uk/faith-and-life-stories/2014/12/13/nightfever
http://irishcatholic.ie/article/nightfever%E2%80%99s-simple-invitation-reaps-huge-response )

We need to think about how to reach out to those who come nowhere near the church threshold. Do you have a Welcoming Group set up to greet those that do cross the threshold?

In your parish communities it is good to make 3 year plans for outreach, and to have a mission activity to focus on in the next 18 to 24 months.

Form evangelisation teams. Discernment about how to evangelize as a parish/team can happen before or after the team is formed. Having an evangelisation team is essential. Do not walk alone, walk together under the leadership and guidance of the bishops. Jesus did not walk alone, He had a team. Like His team, ours should ideally have 12 members.

Again, like Jesus, prayer is essential before choosing the members of the team, and once the team is chosen. You want people with solid prayer lives in the team. You also want the diversity of the parish reflected in its team members, across age, occupations, ethnicity etc. You want membership of this team to be their primary parish role, and not a secondary one.

The purpose of the team is to keep the parish mission-focussed, and to become the 'mission conscience' of the parish. It is their task to discern how to evangelise and how to resource those initiatives.

What exactly do we mean by evangelisation? Just like there is a multiplicity of ways of praying, there is a multiplicity of ways to evangelise. Evangelism is about communicating a relationship with Jesus in word and deed in such a way that people ask, 'Who is this Jesus you love and worship?'

Pope Francis reminds us that the spiritual and corporal works of mercy are the criteria upon which we will be judged. We will be judged on the basis of love, as St John of the Cross puts it.

The corporal works of mercy are:

To feed the hungry
To give drink to the thirsty
To clothe the naked
To shelter the homeless
To visit the sick
To ransom the captive
To bury the dead

We don't have to reinvent the wheel, look at some of the ways others are already doing them:

Mary's Meals https://www.marysmeals.org.uk/# feeding the hungry
Water Aid http://www.wateraid.org/au giving drink to the thirsty
Read http://www.clothingpoverty.com/ about the hidden world of fast fashion and second hand clothes.
St Mungo's http://www.mungos.org/ helps the homeless
Little Sisters of the Poor http://www.littlesistersofthepoor.org.au/ looking after the sick and dying
Prison Fellowship https://www.prisonfellowship.org/ assisting those in prison
Catholic Funeral and Cemetery Services http://cmsmission.org/solutions/cfcs/ burying the dead
(Ed. This last one is best guess, CFC were the initials I wrote down and the screens flashed quickly)

When considering the works of mercy, we are encouraged to look at them by Pope Francis in the context of the story of the Good Samaritan. Jesus told this story to answer the question, 'Who is my neighbour?' and through it we understand that our neighbour is not just someone in a far-off land; our neighbour is more often the person we meet close at hand and whom we find to be in need. The Latin word for mercy is Misericordia, having a heart (cor) for the poor (miseri). Mercy needs to be not only affective (touching our hearts), but effective (bringing real relief). In order to make our parishes oases of mercy, they must become places which have a heart for the poor.

A pathway for discernment could go like this:
Take one of the five headings for evangelistic initiatives eg Marriage & Family Life.
•Ask, what do we already do well in this area?
•What more could the Lord be calling us to do in the light of Evangelii Gaudium?
•Then prayerfully consider each of the works of mercy in the light of that initiative (eg Marriage & Family Life) and the light of Evangelii Gaudium and see what possibilities those considerations lead to.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has very good material on their website about the New Evangelisation http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-we-teach/new-evangelization/ . In particular there is a practical and feasible list of ways of suggestions for putting the Corporal Works of Mercy into practice http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-we-teach/new-evangelization/jubilee-of-mercy/the-corporal-works-of-mercy.cfm
These are the suggestions for Visiting the Sick:
•Give blood
•Spend time volunteering at a nursing home – Get creative and make use of your talents (e.g. sing, read, paint, call Bingo, etc.)!
•Take time on a Saturday to stop and visit with an elderly neighbour.
•Offer to assist caregivers of chronically sick family members on a one-time or periodic basis. Give caregivers time off from their caregiving responsibilities so they can rest, complete personal chores, or enjoy a relaxing break.
•Next time you make a meal that can be easily frozen, make a double batch and give it to a family in your parish who has a sick loved one.

Many of these suggestions are already being done by individuals and families in parishes. Have a think about how they could be organised better, to help more families and give a louder proclamation of mercy.

My father taught me about how acts of mercy are meant to be part of family life. He was a school teacher, working Monday to Friday and Saturday mornings. When he came home from work on a Saturday he would take me – and a hot shepherd's pie – in the car to visit old Mr Flood. His flat was so bare, but he would sit day in and day out at his window and smile and wave to us boys. That smile of his, I realise now, radiated Christ to us. We met Christ in Mr Flood. We always receive more than we give. I think what Pope Francis would say is 'Yes, that's what I am talking about. Do more of it.'

The L'Arche movement was founded by Jean Vanier. He spent 10 years in the Navy and then studied philosophy and later taught philosophy. He met a priest who invited him to befriend two men who lived at a local psychiatric hospital. Jean felt a deep call to share his life with these two men, and bought a little house and called it l'Arche (The Ark). He had no idea he was starting a movement; he began just by doing it. The best way to proclaim mercy, is to start doing it. The easiest way to evangelise, is to start doing it.

The vision of L’Arche is found in Luke's Gospel:
'Jesus said to His host: ‘When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not ask your friends, brothers, relations or rich neighbours, for fear they repay your courtesy by inviting you in return. No; when you have a party, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; that they cannot pay you back means that you are fortunate, because repayment will be made to you when the virtuous rise again.'' (Luke 14, 12-14)

Soon after Jesus says, “Do this and you will be blessed.” Jesus doesn’t say they will be blessed. He says you will be blessed. Why? Because in the poor person, to whom you give a welcome, you welcome Jesus. When you reach out to the poor, you touch the wounded body of Christ. In assisting the poor you both meet and proclaim Christ.

But we need to also talk about our faith, and to add words to the mercy. Telling people who the Lord is for us is vital. When visiting Mr Flood we never talked about our faith, we never even said Grace with him. If we had, maybe it could have opened up a gentle conversation about God; either by inviting him to more prayer, or by asking if he minded us praying.

The spiritual works of mercy are:

To instruct the ignorant
To counsel the doubtful
To admonish sinners
To bear wrongs patiently
To forgive offences willingly
To comfort the afflicted
To pray for the living and the dead

The spiritual works of mercy are about expressing our faith in words. Pope Francis speaks strongly about them in Misericordiae Vultus 15:

'We cannot escape the Lord’s words to us, and they will serve as the criteria upon which we will be judged: whether we have fed the hungry and given drink to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger and clothed the naked, or spent time with the sick and those in prison (cf. Mt 25:31-45). Moreover, we will be asked if we have helped others to escape the doubt that causes them to fall into despair and which is often a source of loneliness; if we have helped to overcome the ignorance in which millions of people live, especially children deprived of the necessary means to free them from the bonds of poverty; if we have been close to the lonely and afflicted; if we have forgiven those who have offended us and have rejected all forms of anger and hate that lead to violence; if we have had the kind of patience God shows, who is so patient with us; and if we have commended our brothers and sisters to the Lord in prayer.'

We need to focus on both the words and the deeds of mercy. With both we need to proclaim Jesus, and we definitely need words in order to evangelise:

'There is no true evangelization if the name, the teaching, the life, the promises, the kingdom and the mystery of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God are not proclaimed.' Evangelii Nuntiandi 22

The early church used the kerygma to announce the Gospel to others. Kerygma means proclamation. It is the core proclamation of the Gospel. The key to evangelisation is proclaiming who Jesus is for you in a way that leads others to Him. Pope Francis says that it’s simply telling people, 'Jesus Christ loves you; He gave His life to save you; and now He is living at your side every day to enlighten, strengthen and free you.' Evangelii Gaudium 164

Pope Benedict XVI told the Bishops of the Philippines on 18 Feb 2011 : 'Your great task in evangelisation is therefore to propose a personal relationship with Christ as key to complete fulfilment.'

Listen again to St Peter's proclamation in Acts 2:22-24

'Men of Israel, listen to what I am going to say: Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God by the miracles and portents and signs that God worked through Him when He was among you, as you know. This man … you took and had crucified and killed ... But God raised Him to life … Now raised to the heights by God’s right hand, He has received from the Father the Holy Spirit, who was promised, and what you see and hear is the outpouring of that Spirit.'

How do we share this core message with people? Sometimes opportunities take us by surprise. In Rome I was asked to look after 3 young women, aged around 19. On the way to visit St Peter's Basilica I talked to them about St Peter and the major events of his life with Jesus and his life with the early church and his martyrdom. By the time we got to the Confessio I was just about finished telling the story and said, 'And this is where he was buried. Right here, but about three levels down'. This profoundly affected at least one of these bright young women who said, 'I just don't understand why no one has ever told me this before. How come I've never heard this? I wish I'd known it before!'

Another time the English World Cup rugby team were visiting, and one of them decided that he wanted to play on the College's organ. The music attracted other team members to the College chapel. On the walls of the college were frescoes of martyrs from the time of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. It wasn't long before someone asked me who these people on the walls were, and I started telling them about the stories of the ways they heroically stood up for the truths of the faith and refused to be a part of a church that had broken away from unity with Rome. One of them, with tears, spoke on behalf of the others, 'I don’t understand why no one has ever told us this before. This is all news to me.' Many of our young people could say the same to us: 'You never told us. There's so much about Jesus and our history that no one ever told us.'

This proclamation of who Jesus is, and of how others have testified to that, needs to be present in every homily, every class and every talk we give. When I meet young people preparing for Confirmation, I challenge them, and remind them that when you make these baptismal promises for yourself, you are saying you believe Jesus is who He says He is:

You are saying you believe He was God made human; that He was a historical person; that He was born a little over 2000 years ago in Bethlehem; that He grew up in Nazareth; that, at about the age of thirty, He was anointed by the Holy Spirit and began a ministry of teaching and preaching and healing; He worked many miracles which proved He was divine; but, after three years, His people rejected Him; they had Him put to death by crucifixion. But He had promised them He would rise from the dead. When He returned to the Father, He sent the Holy Spirit upon His disciples. And it is this same Holy Spirit who comes upon you and leads you into the fullness of life.

Now, that’s the kerygma, the core proclamation. It’s what we mean by kerygmatic catechesis.

Every time someone comes along, adult or child, for sacramental preparation dare to ask, 'When you say the Creed at Mass on Sunday, do you believe in everything we say there; or are there some parts you wonder about, would like to discuss, or know more about?' After all, if we can't talk about these things in formal catechesis, then when can we? At all the different stages of faith development we need to revisit this core message of a relationship with Christ, in word and in deed, in such a way that makes people ask, 'Who is this Jesus whom you love and worship?'

Ever thought of changing the world one heart at a time? That's how Jesus began with Peter and Andrew, Matthew, John and James. I do believe it is one heart at a time that we begin to radiate Christ – showing every person whom we encounter not just that our parish is an oasis of mercy but that they will find an oasis of mercy in us, in each of us. To be able to embrace individual hearts this way comes from years of meeting the Lord daily in prayer. Then you begin to radiate Christ. And it is where we need start too: on our knees. As more people do the same: giving themselves daily to the Lord in prayer, giving themselves daily to their neighbour through acts of generosity, self-sacrifice, charity and loving kindness – then, little by little, our parishes will become oases of mercy which radiate Christ. And we will find our Church becomes missionary in ways we never imagined possible.
……………………………………………………………….
My response

It is some months now since this talk was given, but I do remember how after this talk everyone tumbling into the area where food and drink could be found had this upbeat sense of 'Yes, I can do that' about these ideas for evangelisation, or 'now I understand what this kerygma stuff is and how to do it'. We were all grateful for these very practical ideas and explanations.
​
What these words cannot convey are the video-clips and photographs Bishop Hudson showed us. We were all deeply moved by a little girl with intellectual disability praying the Our Father and the photographs of parishes including people with all kinds of disabilities in their activities.
……………………………………………………………………
 
In the next issue will be notes from the workshop on the opportunities and challenges for parishes as they seek to proclaim Jesus Christ.

The second keynote address of the day was given by Daniel Ang, the Director of the Office of Evangelisation for the diocese of Broken Bay. You can find more of his thoughts on his blog, 'The Time of the Church', and via Twitter, and can learn more about his background on LinkedIn.

The keynote address was titled, 'The Evangelising Parish in the Australian Church: Strategies for Prophetic Witness'.

The full address is available on his blog: https://timeofthechurch.com/tag/proclaim/. With footnotes, and 12 point Calibri font, and without pictures it runs to 11 A4 pages.

(My notes will not be that extensive, and hopefully will act as a 'short version' that might encourage people to read the long version.)

Good morning. I dedicate this keynote to my late sister-in-law. At the age of 20 I was baptised and confirmed, having come from a Buddhist-Taoist heritage. To the small community that witnessed, nurtured and supported my conversion I will be forever very grateful. To others the day of my entry into the Catholic Church that November may have seemed ordinary, but it was a vital spiritual breakthrough for me. In my life, and in the lives of others, the grace of Christ continues to be powerful, and the parish remains the privileged location for it to happen.

Our parishes face many challenges: among them declining Mass attendance, increasing age profiles, the impact of the Royal Commission, decreasing religious literacy, increasing bureaucracy, and the need for structural change. History and cultural momentum will no longer carry us forward, as it did in times past.

There is a need for greater openness and responsiveness for what God wants to do in our parishes. While the call and the desire for renewal are present, they have to battle against the weight of church culture and maintenance of the status quo. Against change we have lots of pastoral antibodies. Taking the first step requires a conversion of the whole parish community.

For this to happen we need to reclaim the 'why', the rationale, of our parishes. We want that 'why' to be Jesus, and not entry in to Catholic schools. Additionally we must communicate the 'why' and the vision for how to achieve it.

Matthew 28:19 is our great commission:
Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations; baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you.

We do lots of sacraments and catechesis, but making disciples is our weakness.

Having a vision for our parishes supplies the energy to get the goals done. While we do not have a road map or certainty for our future, we do have a story of the kind of disciples and community we want to be. Such a vision becomes the heart-beat and pulse of a parish-engine of change. What is the alternative? Choosing to stand in the silence of unquestioned routine, and accepting the consequential pace of survival rather than the pace of growth.

Aim for a vision that is 10 times better than what you have now, not just 10% better. The vision of the Gospel is extravagant.

Even the early part of Pope Francis' Evangelii Gaudium begins with a grand dream looking out and not down:

27. I dream of a “missionary option”, that is, a missionary impulse capable of transforming everything, so that the Church’s customs, ways of doing things, times and schedules, language and structures can be suitably channelled for the evangelization of today’s world rather than for her self-preservation. The renewal of structures demanded by pastoral conversion can only be understood in this light: as part of an effort to make them more mission-oriented, to make ordinary pastoral activity on every level more inclusive and open, to inspire in pastoral workers a constant desire to go forth and in this way to elicit a positive response from all those whom Jesus summons to friendship with Himself. As John Paul II once said to the Bishops of Oceania: “All renewal in the Church must have mission as its goal if it is not to fall prey to a kind of ecclesial introversion”.

We need a vision for parish life, lest those in the pews ask, 'Are we going anywhere?' The aim is to move from engaging people to build up the church to become a church that builds up people. If we are in maintenance mode then we are continually looking for people to plug up the gaps, to keep the cogs of the wheels turning. It has been said that if you build the church you rarely get disciples, but if you build disciples you get the church. When we stop focusing on seating capacity alone and start focusing on sending capacity as well then we will be on the way to mission mode.

Any vision needs strategy to achieve it. Both vision AND strategy are needed. Putting on more programs is not always the better thing to do. When there is a lot of rivalry for resources, silos of parish ministry develop. While we don't want the same routine, we don't need meaningless additions to a busy parish schedule either.

Four foundational principles of an Evangelising Parish:
Proclaiming Christ
Growing Personal Discipleship
Discipleship in the midst of the Church
Missionary Orientation

1. Proclaiming Christ
The heart of our Gospel is Jesus, and proclaiming the Good News about Him – especially the basic truths summed up in the kerygma.

What is the kerygma? Pope John Paul II gave this answer:

The subject of proclamation is Christ who was crucified, died, and is risen: through Him is accomplished our full and authentic liberation from evil, sin and death; through Him God bestows "new life" that is divine and eternal. This is the "Good News" which changes man and his history, and which all peoples have a right to hear. Redemptoris Missio 44c

Pope Paul VI challenged us in Evangelii Nuntiandi 22:

Nevertheless this always remains insufficient, because even the finest witness will prove ineffective in the long run if it is not explained, justified - what Peter called always having "your answer ready for people who ask you the reason for the hope that you all have" - and made explicit by a clear and unequivocal proclamation of the Lord Jesus. The Good News proclaimed by the witness of life sooner or later has to be proclaimed by the word of life. There is no true evangelization if the name, the teaching, the life, the promises, the kingdom and the mystery of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God are not proclaimed. The history of the Church, from the discourse of Peter on the morning of Pentecost onwards, has been intermingled and identified with the history of this proclamation. At every new phase of human history, the Church, constantly gripped by the desire to evangelize, has but one preoccupation: whom to send to proclaim the mystery of Jesus? In what way is this mystery to be proclaimed? How can one ensure that it will resound and reach all those who should hear it? This proclamation - kerygma, preaching or catechesis - occupies such an important place in evangelisation that it has often become synonymous with it; and yet it is only one aspect of evangelisation.

Pope Francis made it even easier to grasp in Evangelii Gaudium 164

In catechesis too, we have rediscovered the fundamental role of the first announcement or kerygma, which needs to be the centre of all evangelizing activity and all efforts at Church renewal. The kerygma is Trinitarian. The fire of the Spirit is given in the form of tongues and leads us to believe in Jesus Christ who, by His death and resurrection, reveals and communicates to us the Father’s infinite mercy. On the lips of the catechist the first proclamation must ring out over and over: “Jesus Christ loves you; He gave His life to save you; and now He is living at your side every day to enlighten, strengthen and free you.” This first proclamation is called “first” not because it exists at the beginning and can then be forgotten or replaced by other more important things. It is first in a qualitative sense because it is the principal proclamation, the one which we must hear again and again in different ways, the one which we must announce one way or another throughout the process of catechesis, at every level and moment. For this reason too, “the priest – like every other member of the Church – ought to grow in awareness that he himself is continually in need of being evangelized”.

We never graduate from hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our task is to build up a parish culture where our lives are swept up into His, and not just into our parish story where Jesus is mentioned occasionally. Those who walk through the doors of our churches expect us to proclaim Jesus, each and every time, even if they don't yet know whether they want to respond to Him or not.

2. Cultivating Personal Discipleship
To follow or not to follow Jesus as His disciple is a personal choice that no one else can make for you. The essence of evangelisation is one person telling another person how the encounter he or she had with Jesus changed them. Personal witness/testimony and exchange/dialogue are needed for conversion to be made possible. Programs do not make disciples. Disciples make disciples.

The 2011 National Church Life Survey (NCLS) reported that 60% of those who attend Mass in Australia had either some or no spiritual growth through their experience of parish life. The other three possible responses were much growth a) mainly through this congregation b) mainly through other groups or congregations c) mainly though own private activity.

Everyone is at a different stage of discipleship commitment. We need to build bridges for each differing commitment group to find what they need to advance to the next stage of discipleship commitment.

When people want to stay healthy, they seek out a personal coach. When people want to stay spiritually healthy they seek out a spiritual director.

Recognise that at every stage - even in those who have never heard of God - He is already present in his or her life and has been active in it. There is no life to which Jesus is alien or not present.

In proclaiming Christ to non-Christians, the missionary is convinced that, through the working of the Spirit, there already exists in individuals and peoples an expectation, even if an unconscious one, of knowing the truth about God, about man, and about how we are to be set free from sin and death. The missionary's enthusiasm in proclaiming Christ comes from the conviction that he is responding to that expectation, and so he does not become discouraged or cease his witness even when he is called to manifest his faith in an environment that is hostile or indifferent. He knows that the Spirit of the Father is speaking through him (cf. Mt 10:17-20; Lk 12:11-12) and he can say with the apostles: "We are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit" (Acts 5:32). He knows that he is not proclaiming a human truth, but the "word of God," which has an intrinsic and mysterious power of its own (cf. Rom 1:16). Redemptoris Missio 45c

Both the preaching of the kerygma and personal conversion are required to sustain and grow a missionary culture.

Faith is born of preaching, and every ecclesial community draws its origin and life from the personal response of each believer to that preaching. Just as the whole economy of salvation has its centre in Christ, so too all missionary activity is directed to the proclamation of His mystery. Redemptoris Missio 44b

Parishes do not grow when the members of the parishes are not growing. Our personal spiritual growth has an impact on church growth.

3. Discipleship in the midst of the Church
Evangelising parishes create disciples in the midst of the church. A parish gives its members more possibilities for the life of faith, vocation and holiness than they could discover as 'lone ranger Christians'.

The growing cultural diversity of our parishes is a source of richer and deeper faith. Remember the diverse peoples present at Pentecost and see in that diversity the choice and preference of the Holy Spirit.

Small groups are a vital instrument of ecclesial support and differentiated unity. Most of us came to an active apostolic faith through small groups. That experience of small group discipleship and learning is what we need to offer others. Flowing from the Eucharist we share is the capacity for interrelationship, trust, unity and collegiality that makes small groups successful.

In 2020 a special opportunity for collegiality will be offered to us through the Plenary Council (National Synod), with Australian clergy and laity 'on the road together' discovering the collective vision, gifts and charisms we have, discerning how God is calling us to use them, and working out how to respond to that call. It will be a time to take hold of the faith with which Jesus Christ has already endowed the Church.

An Australian parish, and an Australian Church for that matter, that is not discerning God's call cannot hope to grow because it cannot see what God has already given and deeply invites.

4. Missionary Orientation
A parish exists for the sake of the world, not for its own sake. Our parishes are called to be a hospital or wellspring for those who are wounded and for those who thirst.

Joseph Komonchak explains:
To enter the Church is not to leave the world, but to be in the world differently, so that the world itself is different because there are individuals and communities living their lives because of, in, and for the sake of Jesus Christ.

We have to believe that there is a harvest of souls that we have been prepared by God to reach. When we believe this our parishes will move into mission mode and away from maintenance mode.

Conclusion
The four foundational principles of an evangelising parish are proclaiming Jesus, individually and collectively deepening our personal response to Him, growing in and with the church, and having a missionary orientation.

All four have to work together. Any missing principle makes us unfruitful.

We have yet to see what God can do for us, with us and through us, in our local parish - if we place our hope and trust in Him.
………………………………………………………………
My response

Daniel Ang's full keynote speech has far more detail and nuance than these notes of mine. With such densely packed ideas in it, being able to read it at your own pace and unpack the implications is a worthwhile exercise.

We have to talk more about Jesus. Compared to how much we talk about our priests, diocesan politics, sick and dying friends, our children and various parish ministries, we don't do a lot of talking about Jesus at all. Unlike other churches we don't have regular opportunities to hear testimonies of how God has worked in the lives of people like us. Generally you have to go to a weekend retreat or prayer and praise rally to hear some, unless you are involved with the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults), an Alpha program or a Life in the Spirit seminar. We need something regular that is easy for people in the pews to access, for example testimonies in the half hour prior to vigil Mass and Sunday evening Mass – even if it is only once a month.

Likewise it is so easy in our homilies to just retell the Gospel story, or to get so caught up in an anecdote to help people grasp a truth in the Gospel story that we fail to make an effective logical link and bring the point home. How often have you heard a homilist approach a Gospel passage from the point of view of What did Jesus do? What else could He have done instead? Why did He choose to do that? What does this teach us about Jesus? This is the kind of stuff we need more of.

'And who is Jesus for you?' That's a question I was asked either during the conference or soon after it. I don't have a good answer for that, and yet I know that I should. While I can delve into memory and drag up a theoretically correct response, that's not what my conflicted heart would say. Sometimes it takes a long time for the heart and soul to catch up to what the mind knows to be true. Yet unless I can come up with an authentic answer to this question, my ability to evangelise is going to be severely limited.

Sometimes we get so caught up in the 'me and Jesus' part of our spiritual life that we forget that there is a greater purpose. If we knew just how many people were counting on our deeper conversion to Jesus, so that they could come into relationship with Him, maybe we would get serious about daily prayer; daily reading of scripture; joining a small group for prayer, sharing of faith and study; getting to the sacrament of Penance on a regular basis, and regularly volunteering time in service to others. Any spiritual growth in our parish has to start with us, otherwise it won't happen.

Venerable Mary Potter wrote this in 'Devotion for the Dying', Chapter 2, page 35:

We know that to all who use one grace well, another is given, and another upon that, and so on; that thus a chain, as it were, of graces is formed, one linked to the other, reaching to eternity, and that one grace lost is a chain of graces lost.

Small groups are where faith is shared and grows, and where people receive the personal pastoral care they need (a listening ear, prayer for urgent needs, practical help and encouragement).

Getting people to join small groups, now that's the hard part. Discussion/study groups during Lent are a good way to start, because people tend to be open to doing 'a bit extra' during Lent that they are not open to during the rest of the year. Having pre-prepared options for those Lenten Groups to continue with once Lent is over is crucial, otherwise the momentum is lost. It takes at least 3 small group meetings for people to get comfortable with each other enough to start opening up about what matters to them.

In our time there is a multiplicity of small group options available, for example Marriage Encounter, Couples for Christ, Teams of Our Lady, Cursillo, Legion of Mary, Antioch, Alpha, St Vincent de Paul Society…and many more. The more groups the merrier in each parish, because each group can reach people that the other groups can't.

I like what St Benedict's parish in Halifax is doing, (of Divine Renovation fame), when at the beginning of Sunday Mass people are encouraged to connect briefly with another person and to promise to pray for each other during that Mass. It is a very good gentle ice-breaker method of readying hearts for small groups, and getting people comfortable enough with each other over time so that if one of the people you've prayer-partnered with 2 or 3 times over several months invites you to a small group the chances of a 'yes' are very good.

One theme that has been very strong through Proclaim 2016 and everything else I've read over the last 12 months is the need for a paradigm shift from calling for volunteers to plug ministry holes to helping people discover the gifts and talents God has given them and finding ways to help them use those gifts and talents in His service. Even one extra person using his or her strengths in a ministry role that needs those strengths can make a world of difference. When someone is working in their strengths, and thus in a way that the anointing of the Holy Spirit can come upon them, wonderful things happen that bring people closer to Jesus. St Benedict's, Halifax, the Archdiocese of Seattle and other places are finding Clifton StrengthsFinder a useful tool in bringing about this paradigm shift.

Am I excited about the possibilities that the Australian Plenary Council (National Synod) of 2020 has? Yes! But at the same time I still carry many disappointments from the diocesan synod that happened 2010-2012 and from which I haven't seen any fruit. There may have been some, but it hasn't made any difference to my life largely because even though I wanted to be engaged in the process, it was limited (for me) to a single survey list of questions. I had far more engagement with the Synod on the Family through Archbishop Coleridge's excellent blog, and the Twitter reports. With social media having progressed in the interim, there is hope that those who don't get to the face to face components of the Plenary Council can still be engaged in it.
………………………………………………………………………
Some video and audio from the keynote speeches and workshops at Proclaim 2016 are now online. Firstly at http://www.proclaimconference.com.au/resources , and with video at http://www.xt3.com/proclaim2016/ , and audio at http://www.xt3.com/library/view.php?id=20738&categoryId=26 .
……………………………………………………………………
 
In the next issue will be notes from the homily from the second Mass of the conference with Bishop Nicholas Hudson, auxiliary bishop f Westminster presiding

The title of Cardinal Wuerl's Keynote address was Pope Francis, Renewal and Parish Evangelisation
His Archdiocese of Washington bio.
His Wikipedia page.
He can be found online at Twitter using @Cardinal_Wuerl and on his regular blog http://cardinalsblog.adw.org/

Thank you for your kind introduction. It is pleasant to be a part of Proclaim 2016. So much of the renewal and evangelisation is in the lived experience in our parishes. That's where every kind of action takes place. Our Pope speaks of his experience of parish in Evangelii Gaudium 28:
'The parish is not an outdated institution; precisely because it possesses great flexibility, it can assume quite different contours depending on the openness and missionary creativity of the pastor and the community. While certainly not the only institution which evangelizes, if the parish proves capable of self-renewal and constant adaptivity, it continues to be “the Church living in the midst of the homes of her sons and daughters”. This presumes that it really is in contact with the homes and the lives of its people, and does not become a useless structure out of touch with people or a self-absorbed group made up of a chosen few. The parish is the presence of the Church in a given territory, an environment for hearing God’s word, for growth in the Christian life, for dialogue, proclamation, charitable outreach, worship and celebration. In all its activities the parish encourages and trains its members to be evangelizers. It is a community of communities, a sanctuary where the thirsty come to drink in the midst of their journey, and a centre of constant missionary outreach.'

Amoris Laetitia 202: 'The main contribution to the pastoral care of families is offered by the parish, which is the family of families, where small communities, ecclesial movements and associations live in harmony'.

How do we see that each parish carries out these many missions?

There is a new spirit of welcome evident today. Pope Francis is reaching people. We can see the development of his thought through Evangelii Gaudium, the Synod, Laudato Si and Amoris Laetitia. He writes from the perspective of a pastor of souls, so they are not theological treatises but words from a pastor of souls.

So what does the Church/Christ offer us today? What do we bring to the world of today? A while back I was giving a keynote address at Harvard University on the topic of the Role of religion and faith in a pluralistic society. Following the address there was time for questions. A lawyer, in full garb, named Albert had his hand up. 'What do you people, and religion in general, think you bring to our society?' My answer was a return question, 'What do you think the world would be like without the voices of the religious traditions in our world – reminding us You Shall Not Kill, You Shall Not Steal etc, - reminding us that someday we must answer to God for our actions. How much more harsh would this culture be? 'His answer, 'It would be a mess.'

The Christian Gospel teaching us about right and wrong and about God's love may seem to being eclipsed by secular voices. At the Synod for the New Evangelisation one of the speakers described secularism as a cultural tsunami that has washed across our world, taking with it so many cultural markers and frames of reference: on marriage and family, on right and wrong.

The present energy and focus in the Church is towards openness and outreach. That level of energy has increased with Pope Francis' smiling face of welcome to the world. What is the New Evangelisation? St John Paul II spoke of the need for a New Evangelisation, new in ardour, new in method and new in expression. Pope Benedict renewed this call for a new evangelisation, seeing it as a prophetic task of love to evangelise the whole world. Pope Francis calls us all to the work of the new evangelisation. It is a hallmark of his ministry and preaching. 'Go Out, Go Out', he says, 'Go Out and share the beauty of the Gospel and the amazement of the encounter with Jesus.'

Outreach is especially involved in parish ministry. Blessed Paul VI taught us that we have to do more than just speak the words, we have to be modern examples of them: we only listen to teachers if they are witnesses.

How do we invite people? Sometimes it is just a matter of actually doing it. As I went down the street yesterday a Church of Scientology brochure was offered to me. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have run into a Catholic lady handing out parish bulletins? On a plane recently I had an aisle seat, and the person sitting next to me asked,
'Have you been born again?'
'Yes'
'When?'
'At Baptism.'
'Oh, you're a Catholic'.
She had a lot of bags, so I asked her whether she had a bible. She didn't, but she did have some 3"x5" cards with scriptural texts on them. One had the passage from Matthew 16 where Jesus tells Peter that he is the rock on which He will build His Church. She asked me, 'Tell me about this church thing'. So I did. But I was struck by how much we take for granted. So many people have no idea about anything about the Church, the sacraments and the Eucharist. Afterward the man across the aisle leaned over and said, 'Hey Father, I'm a Catholic, and I didn't know that.'

Renewal requires these elements:
•Renewal of personal faith. Not just the assent of the mind, but prayer asking the Holy Spirit to fill us.
•To stand confident in the truth. We don't have to apologise for our Risen Lord.
•The desire to share it.

The evangelising disciple has to know and be confident in the message.

In 1962 Vatican II began with the goal of preparing the Catholic faith and mission to shine forth to bring people to receive the Church's love. The purpose was to present better the precious deposit of Christian doctrine, and to make it more accessible to Christian people and people of goodwill and to show the strength and beauty of the doctrine of the faith.

Looking back over the time from the mid-1960s until now, we can see the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Pathways of renewal began, some consistent with the Gospel, some not and they introduced confusion into the liturgy and catechesis. Even before becoming Benedict XVI, Cardinal Ratzinger began to work on the hermeneutic of renewal and against the hermeneutic of discontinuity. This need for a deeper appreciation of our faith - so that we can be prepared to speak it - has been verified by a whole line of pontiffs.

Paul VI stood up for the truth despite the times of turmoil around him. John Paul II's task was to implement Vatican II and he spent 27 years doing that. Benedict XVI's writings renewed our appreciation of scripture and patristics – the profound roots going back to the revelation of Jesus Christ. With Pope Francis we are the beneficiaries of 50 years of preparation for this time of fresh perspective. Pope Francis brings his own emphasis to this renewal – that the role of the laity in the renewal is absolutely essential. 'Go out, encounter people, accompany them on the journey so that more people may experience Jesus Christ.'

Collegiality – working together collaboratively and co-operatively- is also for parish, reinforcing the message of the college of bishops. Amoris Laetitia gives us a perspective on renewal and its content shows us how to do what Pope Francis invites us to do – to listen. The Synod on the Family, in its two parts, was a time to listen, to talk, to dialogue. Out of that experience, and consensus, came the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia. In it is a focus on the human person as the object of an invitation to faith, speaking more about grace and less about law and obligation. The shallow happiness with which many are content falls short of the joy that should be the sustenance of every believer.

We can now actually hear, understand and be willing to share our faith, as a result of these post Vatican II years. We need to hear that God is a loving forgiving God. While we might get tired of asking for forgiveness, He never gets tired of granting it. At the same time we have to be aware of these words of Jesus, and do them: 'You will be My witnesses; go out, and make them disciples'. God's mercy and our conscience leads us to focus on living our lives as an expression of mercy and love.

The principle attributes of a missionary disciples are:
•Listening
•Accompanying
•Discerning
•Evangelising

The Synod on the Family was preceded by extensive consultation. Pope Francis understands this process of listening to the faithful. This synodality, this journeying together is essential for the Church today. Not just listening, but accompanying. We are going at this together. This involves a change of style and intensity which has implications for parish life and personal outreach. Pastors need to do more than just teach Church doctrine, they must take on the smell of the sheep and realise that we are here to serve. Our liturgy does not have to be so complex that it is off-putting.

Not too long ago I was in a cab in Rome. The traffic was chaotic and the cabbie was the type to drive while looking at you. 'Have you met this Pope?' 'Yes!' 'You can understand him when he speaks, not like you people.'

We need to present the faith, the kerygma, in all its clarity. In Pope Francis' morning homilies at Mass we see a continuous renewal of the kerygma of faith made simple.

We have to help our people discern what does it mean to say Christ is Risen.

Amoris Laetitia 37: 'We have long thought that simply by stressing doctrinal, bioethical and moral issues, without encouraging openness to grace, we were providing sufficient support to families, strengthening the marriage bond and giving meaning to marital life. We find it difficult to present marriage more as a dynamic path to personal development and fulfilment than as a lifelong burden. We also find it hard to make room for the consciences of the faithful, who very often respond as best they can to the Gospel amid their limitations, and are capable of carrying out their own discernment in complex situations. We have been called to form consciences, not to replace them.'

People respond as best they can to God's call within their limitations. We are called to help form their consciences. We need to do this so that we can all grow closer together to Christ. As we do this, we all draw closer to Christ.

What kind of qualities do our new evangelisers need to have?
It is a moment of grace. Calling parish a neighbourhood of grace is a beautiful description. We are living in a new moment – given the history of the Church and the special emphasis that Pope Francis brings.

Courage & Boldness
In the Acts of the Apostles, before Pentecost we see the apostles timid. Afterwards we see them bold. Peter and Paul both boldly preached Jesus, and this boldness was born of the confidence in the truth of the message.

Connectedness to the Church
We are not individuals, we are members of the Church. Renew this revelation, recognise it. Our membership of the community that passes on the good news of Jesus is our authentication. Children get to the heart of things much better than we do. For 30 years I have kept a letter I received from a child called Dominic who was then in Year 4: 'Dear Bishop, I find it amazing that you knew somebody, who knew somebody, who knew somebody, who knew somebody…..who knew Jesus.' It is our living continuity with the disciples who knew Jesus that matters.

Sense of Urgency
We are not passive bystanders. We have to be involved, and play our part in the New Evangelisation. It is our turn now. Others will take it up later. When we look at the visit of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth we see what urgency looks like in action – she went in haste on a long and difficult journey.

Joy
It is alright to smile. The Gospel is a glorious announcement. Christ is risen, truly risen. He is with us. 'You should see Me in the faces of the people you care for.'

We are called to reinvigorate our faith every day, to share it, and to be open to the movement and outpouring of the Holy Spirit as we try to bring the Good News to others: as we share the simple announcement: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
…………………………………………
We were then given a discussion question: What is one thing that struck you about Pope Francis' vision of evangelisation for your parish?
………………………………………..
My response

Cardinal Wuerl is even more impressive in person than on paper. He went out of his way (just like Pope Francis) to greet and chat to as many non-dignitaries as possible. Even sitting still he still exuded the presence of the Holy Spirit.

There is a lot to unpack from this talk, and it bears reading and re-reading several times. However the part that stayed with me the longest was that we are living in a privileged time of grace, prepared by God during the last half-century and that we need to respond to God's call for us Now. When I think about all this the picture of a big wave of grace comes to mind, building and building - a bit like a tsunami-, and that we need to ride that wave as it begins to move. But the time is short, and if we are too slow to respond, then we will miss that wave of grace.

The call to 'Go Out' is one we need to hear and work out how to respond to. Frequently we put on programs and expect people to come to us, and to come to the parish buildings. As was recalled to me recently, Jesus did not sit in a synagogue and wait for people to come to Him. He went to every town and village He could get to. Somehow we need to get out of our parish building mindset and set up outreach in the community, where people go and gather. Granted, there is a significant amount of red tape (paperwork) and money that local Councils want these days for setting up a street stall – or to get a pop-up stall in a shopping centre – but our commitment to mission has to find ways through these obstacles.

On the good news side, it isn't necessary 'to reinvent the wheel'. St Paul Street Evangelisation is doing great work, and training people too. Their Twitter feed is worth following @spstreetevan . Faith on Tap @FaithOnTap, Theology on Tap and Spirituality in the Pub are all doing their outreach in venues where schooners and middies available. The very good work 40 Days For Life does as a public witness against the evils of abortion cannot be underestimated from an evangelical perspective either.

Anyone who has listened to Pope Francis over the past few years has heard that we need to do more to truly listen to people and accompany them where they are at. The next step, of helping them discern how best to respond to God in the concrete circumstances of their lives, hasn't had much 'air-play' up until now. But we do need to plan for it, otherwise it won't happen. Maybe we will hear more about that when we start getting the listening and accompanying going.

That Roman cab driver sure issued a challenge! It is all too easy to forget that we speak in what to the ears of others is 'unintelligible church-speak'. To get any traction with our listeners, we are going to have to learn the local patois, just like Our Lady did when she came to speak to St Bernadette at Lourdes.

I loved Cardinal Wuerl's description of the Church as a community of believers who have passed on their knowledge of Jesus from the first disciples to us today. Viewed that way, Church isn't an option extra but is the way we meet the living, breathing Jesus.

Urgency: I can't tell you how often my memory replays for me Warwick Neville saying 'The Gospel message is always urgent'. If it doesn't bother us that the things we have failed to do today may have stopped someone encountering Jesus, then it should. But for that encounter there is a chance he or she could be eternally lost. Hmmm, that parish Facebook page that I started pushing for over a year ago, just think how many people might have been reached or at least have had a thought about God cross their brains if it had happened back then.

For myself, I am making a point of trying to get into conversation with anyone who crosses my path whether it be waiting at the chemist, sitting on a train or bus, or trying to make sure that the stranger who came to church this morning was acknowledged as a person. So far the openings haven't come to speak directly of faith in Jesus, but hopefully these 'practice runs' will eventually produce that kind of fruit. On the plus side, every person has been memorable and in quieter moments prayed for afterwards.
…………………………………………………………………
 
In the next issue will have the homily from the opening Mass of the conference with Archbishop Coleridge presiding. I often find that the conference homilies contain the true keynotes of conferences like these.

A reminder that these notes are indeed rough. Many times I may not have caught Cardinal Wuerl's thought correctly or have mis-decoded my hasty scrawls. Apologies for any errors.
 

Workshop 2D: What is the Kerygma? What is it we should proclaim?

This workshop was presented by Archbishop Julian Porteous of Hobart.

Diocesan pages about him http://hobart.catholic.org.au/archbishop/biography

His blog http://bishopjulianporteous.com/

His Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/bishop.porteous

Twitter https://twitter.com/BishopJulianP

(Ed. There have been far fewer postings on these social media sites since he became Archbishop of Hobart in September 2013.)

Before we formally began the workshop, Archbishop Porteous gave a short plug for his new book, 'New Evangelisation : Pastoral Strategy for the Church at the Beginning of the Third Millennium'  rrp $24.95

We are here for Proclaim 2014, but what do we proclaim? What is the message we are to deliver?

Let's look at what Jesus proclaimed?

Can you summarise that in 10 words or less? Have a go now…..

So what did St John the Baptist proclaim? (10 words or less)

Repent. The Messiah is coming. I am not Him.

John asked people to respond to that message by baptism, which at that time wasn't yet a sacrament but a symbolic act of ending one way of life and starting a new different way of life. We use the English word 'repent', but the actual word in Greek is 'metanoia' . The meaning is closer to 'turn back to God', 're-orient your life', 'change your direction'.  John was very insistent on making sure that the repentance was authentic, 'If anyone has two tunics he must share with the man who has none, and the one with something to ear must do the same.' Luke 3:11. 'No intimidation! No extortion! Be content with your pay!' Luke 3:14 John the Baptist was a powerful and effective preacher, otherwise multitudes would not have gone out to the desert wilderness to hear him preach. He kept the message simple, 'Repent, do the public washing as a sign of that repentance, then live out the change in your life.'

So what was the message of Jesus? (10 words or less)

The kingdom of God is here. Repent and believe.  Matt 4:17, Mark 1:15,

All of the other messages of Jesus are out-workings of this core message.

This kingdom is not of this world. The kingdom is where God rules over the hearts and minds of those who decide to live under His rule. The Jewish people were expecting the Messiah to initiate a new Davidic kingdom, the kingdom Jesus preached was very different. The importance of the kingdom to Jesus is underlined in the Our Father where we pray 'Your kingdom come' asking that the kingdom might break into our lives right now, and in its fullness in the 'not yet'.

God's kingdom comes in us when we bring our lives under the reign of God. Jesus refers to Satan as the prince of this world. So we have a choice about whose rule we will live our lives under, and that decision is very important. Knowing that Jesus is the strong man who has tied up Satan and burgled his property helps us choose wisely. Mark 3:27, Matt 12:29.What do we have to do to enter into the kingdom? Repent and believe. Benedict XVI talked about the 'door of faith' and in John 10:9 Jesus talks about Himself as the gate. On earth the kingdom of God is imperfect, as the many parables of Jesus about the kingdom in Matt 13 teach.

So what did the early Church preach?

Was it Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again?

Was it John 3:16, 'For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not be lost but may have eternal life?'

Peter preached like this, 'God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ' Acts 2:36 and asked his listeners to respond by repenting, believing/ being baptised and then receiving the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38.

Jesus spoke of the kingdom: the Church speaks of Jesus, 'I want to tell you about Jesus.'

(Ed. We should not be at all surprised at this, for don't we expect a bridegroom to talk about his bride, and for a bride to talk about her bridegroom?)

The Church's message is that 'I want to tell you about Jesus', and 'I want to tell you that He is Lord' – a divine title, 'and that He is the Christ'- the anointed one, the messiah, and that Jesus is the way, the path, by which we enter His kingdom. How do we respond to this message? By repenting, being baptised and receiving the Holy Spirit. Doing this will release the power of the kingdom and baptism is no longer just symbolic but the entering into a whole new reality.

So what did St Paul preach? Paul goes to Philippi and writes a letter to the Philippians, Paul goes to Thessalonika and writes letters to the Thessalonians, Paul goes to Athens and there is no letter to the Athenians, then he goes to Corinth and there are letters to the Corinthians. Something went badly wrong in Athens. Paul reflects on this on his way to Corinth and makes a big decision, 'I'm going to do things differently'. This is what he said in 1 Cor 2:1-2, 'When I came to you it was not with any show of oratory or philosophy, but simply to tell you what God had guaranteed. During my stay with you, the only knowledge I claimed to have was about Jesus, and only about Him as the crucified Christ'.  And what happened? 'In my speeches and the sermons that I gave, there were none of the arguments that belong to philosophy; only a demonstration of the power of the Spirit'. 1 Cor 2:4. When Paul preached only about the crucified Christ he saw the power of God work.

Paul's experiences teach us something very important. The proclamation of the kingdom cannot skirt the Cross. If it does it sells the Gospel short and without power.

So how do we preach the Gospel today, in 2014? What is our message? We need to preach the crucified Christ too. The big question is how do you build up to that message? How do you build up to speaking about the Cross and the Passion? Preaching that way on street corners doesn't work so well these days. Let's look at how the great preachers of our time, the Popes, have been doing it. After all, no one likes to hear the word 'Repent'.

St John Paul II preached this way at his inaugural homily on 22 Oct 1978

"Brothers and sisters, do not be afraid to welcome Christ and accept His power. Help the Pope and all those who wish to serve Christ and with Christ's power to serve the human person and the whole of mankind. Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors for Christ. To His saving power open the boundaries of States, economic and political systems, the vast fields of culture, civilization and development. Do not be afraid. Christ knows "what is in man". He alone knows it."

Benedict XVI preached this way at his first homily on 24 Apr 2005

"If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. No! Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide. Only in this friendship is the great potential of human existence truly revealed. Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation. And so, today, with great strength and great conviction, on the basis of long personal experience of life, I say to you, dear young people: Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything. When we give ourselves to Him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ – and you will find true life. Amen."

Francis I preached this way at his first Mass after his election with the cardinal electors on 14 Mar 2013

"The same Peter who professed Jesus Christ, now says to him: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. I will follow you, but let us not speak of the Cross. That has nothing to do with it. I will follow you on other terms, but without the Cross. When we journey without the Cross, when we build without the Cross, when we profess Christ without the Cross, we are not disciples of the Lord, we are worldly: we may be bishops, priests, cardinals, popes, but not disciples of the Lord.

My wish is that all of us, after these days of grace, will have the courage, yes, the courage, to walk in the presence of the Lord, with the Lord’s Cross; to build the Church on the Lord’s blood which was poured out on the Cross; and to profess the one glory: Christ crucified. And in this way, the Church will go forward.

My prayer for all of us is that the Holy Spirit, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Mother, will grant us this grace: to walk, to build, to profess Jesus Christ crucified. Amen."

Our message can be one of invitation: Discover Jesus. Open your heart and your life to Him. Allow yourself to have a personal encounter with Him.

The invitation to personal encounter needs to be given clearly. Our task is to help others discover the treasure that is Jesus Christ.

What does kerygma mean? It means good news. For a fuller explanation visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerygma

(Ed. At the conclusion of this workshop we were a bit frustrated that there wasn't more time spent on the How we could actually preach the crucified Christ to the people of our time, ideas for introducing Him into conversations etc. Should you have any ideas on this matter, please use a comment to share them.)

 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

The next blog-post will be about the workshop on the RCIA – ideas about welcoming new Catholics and ensuring they stay.

Some of the workshops have been made available as podcasts via www.xt3.com

To access them visit http://www.xt3.com/library/view.php?id=17454