whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. (Mark 10:44)

We’ve heard this message so many times before – but we need to be constantly reminded! Why? Because ego takes over so easily and whether it is said, or just thought: “I’m your mother”, “I’m your teacher”, “I’m the principal”. However, I’m sure we all know one or more parents, teachers, principals (or others in authority) who live this passage daily – as an inspiration to their communities and to their credit.

For this passage to really register with young people, they need to see it lived – since it flies in the face of ‘conventional wisdom’. Look at the politicians of many countries around the world and you should catch my gist! This sort of leadership enables people and helps draw out the God-given goodness in each person; both for the benefit of the community and the glory of God.

Have a great week!
Patrick

Sing joyfully to the LORD (Ps 98:4)

We each have much for which to be thankful. An ‘attitude of gratitude’ towards our Creator is entirely appropriate. Life being what it is, there will be some times when we will ‘sing joyfully to the LORD’. There will also be times when it is difficult to see the positives. In my experience, taking my reality to God in prayer helps me to re-focus and count my blessings.

As educators, will young people see us ‘singing joyfully to the LORD’? Clearly, our lived example is important. However, it must be authentic. Our lived example might occur through how we care for those in need, as well as our participation in rituals. Our lived example might occur through our ability to speak of our faith and the blessings that we have received. Such lived examples may prompt young people on their faith journey. The rest is up to God.

Have a great week…and term!

Patrick

I’ve already shared a great video from thepopevideo.org. Themed around the Year of Mercy, there are others to check out, such as inter-religious dialogue, care for creation and respect for women. They are short (just over a minute) and very much to the point.

Just read a beautiful quote of St Francis. In a letter to the superior of a religious house who was upset with the conflicts in his community, Francis said:

Love those who act against you with violence, and do not ask of them anything but what the Lord gives you. And it is precisely in this that you must loive them, not even desiring that they become better Christians. And this is more valuable to you than life in a hermitage. And in this will I recognise that you really love the Lord and me, his servant and yours, if you do the following: let there be no brother in the world, even should he have sinned to the maximum, who after looking you in the eyes feels perhaps obliged to leave your presence without obtaining mercy, if he sought mercy. And if he did not seek mercy, ask him whether he wants to receive it. And if after that he comes before your eyes a thousand times, love him more than me, seeking to win him for the Lord. And always have mercy on such brothers.

Struggles

Doubts

Fear

Worry

Can paralyse

Or make life feel

Like a treadmill

Going fast

Going nowhere

Determination

A glimmer of hope

Self-honesty

And prayer

Keep one going

Then shines

The moment of grace

Unexpected

Pure gift and

Delight

It shatters the gloom,

Salves

And makes whole

Like nothing else

the Lord takes delight in his people (Psalm 149:4)

The parent delights in their children – in all the things that they do, in their abilities, in their existence. How do we know that the LORD delights in us? We are loved in our family and in our community. We are supported and enriched through our relationships with our family and our community. The Scriptures, too, are an ongoing gift to Christian communities. They guide us and are spiritual food for the journey. An end point of the combination of these factors is that we feel safe, loved – that we belong.

Our role with young people is to be the LORD’s heart and hands – to take delight in the young people in our care. We can support and challenge them as they grow, as they discover and develop their gifts and talents. Primarily, we can love them as they are – as the LORD does for each of us.

Have a great week…and break!
Patrick

Jesus said, ‘anyone who comes to me I will never drive away’ (John 6:37)

Such wonderfully comforting words are a solace for those who are emerging from a difficult time. Such is grace – we do not earn it – yet we are bathed in it. We may be admitting fault for an earlier indiscretion – looking to make things right. Maybe we have stepped away from our faith or have felt separated in some way. The door is never closed – let’s know that we are valued and loved.

And so it is with the young people in our care. The God that loved each of us into life, invites us to draw closer. In the silence of the heart of each young person who prays to draw closer to God, they are welcomed, valued and loved. There are no conditions, no entrance fee – just grace, abundantly unearned grace. Grace that wraps around us and says to each of us: “I love you as you are”.

Have a great week!
Patrick

We believe that each person is created in the image and likeness of God and so has an inherent dignity.

This video shows that beautifully

Peace
Patrick

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death (Phil 3:10)

We can view pain and suffering as something to be avoided – a view commonly held in our society. Alternately, our pain and suffering can serve a redemptive purpose. We may emerge from a difficult period with a clearer sense of who we are, a clearer sense of what matters in life. We can fill our lives with things and/or achievements when what most matters is our love and how it can give life.

A young person will be well nurtured in an environment where they are loved into life – by their family, by their friends, by their school. Thus they will have a living example of Jesus’ self-emptying, self-sacrificing love to follow. Such an example of love is vital as they grapple with life’s difficulties. In so doing it may help them to grasp self-sacrificing love’s redemptive potential – when ‘the wound becomes the fountain’, to quote one of my lecturers.

Have a great week!
Patrick

Today, 27 May, is the 49th anniversary of the 1967 referendum that changed Australia’s constitution so that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders were counted in the census. Until then, they were considered under the Flora and Fauna Act. Someone who is making a difference is my friend, Scott Darlow.

Check out his videos Down Like Flies and Solid Rock