SUNDAY FORUM: Sharing a well-kept secret with the world (Sunday Forum)

by Brian Coyne , LINDEN, NSW, Saturday, February 13, 2010, 23:05 (167 days ago)

Dear Friends,

Over the next six weeks I am proposing that we in the Catholica Community might join in the initiative of the Bishops of Australia in a Lectio Divina Journey Towards Easter. Yesterday on the forum [LINK] I was writing of one of the 'best kept secrets' about the Church in Australia is that WE DO NOT HAVE A VOCATIONS' CRISIS. The Catholic Church in Australia has a larger, more professionally and theologically qualified and higher paid workforce than it has ever had in its entire history. Per head of population our ratio of professional workforce to either the 14.3% of practicing Catholics, or the overall baptised (100% Catholic population), is probably better than for any other single country in the entire world. Another well-kept secret — despite the publicity that one particular individual gets — is that this country also probably has the best crop of pastoral bishops anywhere in the Western world. The majority of the bishops in this country are probably as frustrated with 'let's please Mummy/let's suck up to the Big Daddy in the sky' politics of Rome as the rest of the general population. Many of them come across as sincerely struggling to understand the spiritual challenges faced by young people, modern families and the ordinary population.

This year some of the best of them have put together an initiative — which has the endorsement of the entire Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference — and they're going to be presenting a series of internet reflections based on the Lectio Divina method of spiritual reflection and meditation. The entire project is being facilitated by the Broken Bay Institute using the Vividas on-line streaming technology that has been used over the past two years for the excellent series on St Paul and St Luke.

The line-up of bishops is impressive and includes some of our best bishop-communicators so there is an expectation that it is not merely 'hype' that this series is going to be 'innovative'. Here's the list of twelve (about a third of the bishops of Australia) who'll be involved as presenters.

• Archbishop Philip Wilson (Adelaide)
  
• Archbishop John Bathersby (Brisbane)
  
• Archbishop Denis Hart (Melbourne)
  
• Archbishop Mark Coleridge (Canberra-Goulburn)
  
• Archbishop Adrian L. Doyle (Hobart)
  
• Bishop Michael Putney (Townsville)
  
• Bishop Christopher Saunders (Broome)
  
• Bishop David Walker (Broken Bay)
  
• Bishop Gregory O’Kelly SJ (Port Pirie)
  
• Bishop Eugene Hurley (Darwin)
  
• Bishop Gerard Hanna (Wagga Wagga)
  
• Bishop Joseph A. Grech (Sandhurst)

As Catholica is a rapidly growing global community — about two thirds of our readership these days are based in countries other than Australia — it is a bit of a thrill to show off some of the good things that characterise contemporary Catholicism in this Great South Land of the Holy Spirit.

Screen clip of Bishop David Walker from his presentation

The series itself does not begin officially until 7.00 pm Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time tomorrow evening, 15th February, but already online is an introduction by Archbishop John Battersby and Bishop David Walker. Bishop Walker's presentation in particular is worth watching because he explains what Lectio Divina is and how the series will run and how we are encouraged to enter into the spirit of the exercise. (I must say I have a growing appreciation for his presentation style. I've only met the man once — and that was over a meal — but all the feedback I pick up from people working in the Broken Bay diocese is always very positive about the leadership style Bishop Walker engages in. He comes across as a man who listens as much as he commands, preaches and hands out orders as though he exclusively has all the answers to humanity's problems.)

One small criticism of the series might be that it tends to be of the nature of a pulpit with one-way communication — the Bishop preaching to the people — rather than engaging in a two-way dialogue. We can help address that shortcoming here on Catholica though by providing feedback (which I'm sure at least some of them will read with much interest even if they feel constrained from responding to our queries, responding reflections — and heresies — directly).

What I recommend is that if you would like to participate check out Bishop Walker's introduction to the Lectio Divina method of reflection sometime over the next day before the series begins. Each week it would be good to get volunteers from our community to write — or for those who have the video skills (I'm thinking of you, Daniel, Stephen and Billy, LOL) — present a responding reflection. This might focus on the selected scripture passages themselves, or it might focus on the reflection of the bishop on the scripture passage, or it might be a combination of the two. We would then invite further comment from all members of the community. To kick things off I'll volunteer to do the first one and get something up on Catholica by Tuesday evening. I'd also call for volunteers who might like to have a go at writing or presenting the lead responding reflection over succeeding weeks. (In other words we're looking for five or six volunteers. If you're interested let me know in this string or by email. I hope we might get a goodly representation of female perspectives as well. To both males and females: don't be shy. This sort of feedback is important. Nobody is judging anyone's writing or presentation skills, nor how qualified you are theologically, but essentially seeking 'from-the-heart honesty about how the words of Scripture cause a response in you' ... how does this bring the Spirit of God/the Spirit of Jesus into your lived life?) I propose to keep the weekly reflection at the top of the board each week so that other members of the community can respond at their leisure through the week.

To get started click the banner or link below and check out the introductions from Archbishop Bathersby and Bishop Walker.

You might also like to check out the introductory booklet produced by Bishop Walker and the Broken Bay Institute which provides a more detailed introduction to Lent and the reflections we'll be following. The booklet can be found at:

Our journey is in the desert. Following Christ, we leave our false oasis of instant gratification, indulgence of every whim and stuff—lots and lots of stuff. The body of Christ is not an oasis in the desert but a desert in the oasis. In our diabetic coma of self-absorption, we are at times vaguely, silently aware that we have gorged on the promises of the Aussie Dream and are left hungry.

We go to church on Ash Wednesday to be told that we are dust and to dust we shall return; the collagen-injected lips turn to dust, even the pilates-lengthened muscles, the 12 essential vitamins and minerals and the bottled water. We are told that we can live forever with the right combinations of exercise, diet and elective surgery. But we know—in those inevitable moments of disquieting silence—that the oasis is not all it’s cracked up to be, and so we enter the desert where we can no longer turn from the inevitable dust, where the seemingly impossible happens: destructive self-centeredness is transformed into cruciform living.

As we pray the Lenten lectio, individually or with others, may we discover anew the God who continually calls us to become transformed into this cruciform way of living in order to share more deeply in the Easter Mystery of resurrection life.

[From Bishop Walker's introduction to the booklet]

Brian Coyne
[Editor & Publisher]

Tags:
Bishops of Australia Lenten Reflection