REFLECTIONS AND NOTES EASTER 2005

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Reflections and notes page 2-3

Deadly dreaming
Building community
Praying while talking
Relationships

Principal reflections
Prepared by Fr Christopher Gleeson SJ

For the school assembly
For the newsletter
Prayer

DEADLY DREAMING
page 17 of Australian Catholics

Katherine Gerner, in her article Deadly Dreaming (see page 17 of Australian Catholics magazine), tells us Christine’s story. An Aboriginal woman, she was taken from her family at an early age to be raised in a Catholic girls’ home. Twenty-five years in an abusive marriage ended with her being jailed on a charge of attempted murder. Finally she had struck back at her husband and consequently faced life in prison. Those few months, paradoxically, she views as a blessing—free from drugs and alcohol, she was eating proper meals at last. On release, she had to endure the loss ofher children to her husband in a custody battle. A truly awful life, but not beyond redemption. At Penrith Australian Catholic Ministry (ACM) she found welcome and a helping hand, but above all, she learned to express herself through art. Her beautiful scarves tell her story and bear witness to the new life she has built for herself. A true Easter story.

Students, having read the article, would benefit from a lecture on the symbolism ofAboriginal art, a lecture from an art teacher or a visit to a gallery.

To increase their understanding of the experience of being taken from one’s family, the film, Rabbit Proof Fence, might be screened at the school.

Class discussion on the following topics would help students understand the problems Christine faced:

The class could be divided into four groups, each responsible for introducing the topic to the class prior to discussion.

BUILDING COMMUNITY
pages 10, 12, 18, 20 of Australian Catholics

There are several articles in the Easter edition of Australian Catholics that deal with building community. Sr Helen, in her work as Pastoral Associate, worked to unite people of widely different backgrounds and nationalities together with the homeless, the drug-addicted and the orphaned into a warm and cohesive community.

Pat Edwards in Adelaide has become one of the catalysts in developing a Basic Ecclesial Communities (BEC’s) program in his city. In Kyabram, a group of women decided to introduce a ‘Faces of Jesus’ program in their parish by inviting members of the parish to contribute a photo of themselves and their thoughts on a passage of scripture, to be displayed in the church.

A 22-year-old Josephite Community Aid volunteer, Margaret Nguyen, organised many functions and activities to help members of the Sudanese community now settled in Australia. Reading these articles provides a picture of the amazing variety and creativity present within our Catholic church and the exciting outbreaks of new life among the people of God: profoundly telling of the Easter message.

Students could then be asked to read the article Neighbours (page 18).

1. Describe the set-up of the BEC’s program in Adelaide.

2. What does it hope to achieve?

3. Explain: ‘Some good leaders found the lack of outcomes hard to deal with.’

4. What are some of the difficulties experienced by the members of the BEC’s?

5. Comment on: ‘Maybe it’s our responsibility to invite them in.’

6. Do you find your parish welcoming? Kathy Cuthburtson of Launceston, Tasmania, says: ‘It’s not about getting people back to church, it is really about building relationships in the community.’

7. Why is building community so important in today’s world?

8. Kathy speaks about the positive things that have come out of belonging to a BEC: list some of them.

Read the article Faces of Jesus (page 20).

Students might like to reproduce this experience in their own classroom.

Each student could produce a photo and a passage from scripture which they are asked to explain in terms of their own lives.

The results of this could then be displayed on a poster or in a small booklet.

Read the article One Life Only, another example of building community (page 12).

Students will find it helpful to be shown a map of Africa with Sudan clearly shown.

The short summary at the end of the article outlining briefly some of the events in Sudan’s recent history could be read aloud, followed by a short discussion on the difficulties experienced due to religious hostility between the Christians and the Muslims in that country.

1. List some of the activities that Margaret, the Josephite Community Aid worker, set up in order to help the Sudanese settle into their new country.

2. Do you have any ideas about helping to make the Sudanese or other settlers in your parish feel welcome?

Students might be asked to read the article, Helen’s call to Rome (page 10) and answer the

following questions:

1. Describe the makeup of the population of Kensington, an inner suburb of Melbourne, that Helen came to work in?

2. How did she go about establishing community among these people?

3. What are some of the difficulties associated with sharing a house with strangers and drop-ins?

4. Why was she able to leave the work she had done behind her and obey the call to Rome?

Sr Helen Frawley

PRAYING WHILE TALKING
page 23 of Australian Catholics

Reading this article reminds one of the impression of being completely alone, sometimes even in an echo chamber, that frequently accompanies prayer. It is true that we often seek a quiet place at a quiet time for prayer and that we use the absence of these two requirements as an excuse not to pray, but the idea of the prayer of conversation sets these objections aside. ‘Where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am in the midst of them.’

Students might like to read and discuss the article, focusing on conversations they have found memorable. Our encounters with other people, listening and exchanging ideas, sharing experiences, even talking about the weather can be a meeting with God in prayer. The article ends with a reference to the writer’s favourite conversation in the Gospel, the conversation between Jesus and the two disciples on the way to Emmaus.

There are many conversations in the Gospels; here are some of them that the students might like to discuss:

As a group activity, students might find it helpful to choose one of these passages and discuss what is revealed about Jesus in the encounter.

They could then prepare a presentation of their chosen passage for the whole class. This could take the form of drama, a poster or a Power Point presentation.

RELATIONSHIPS
page 13 of Australian Catholics

This is an enormous topic and one that touches every human being intimately. Part of who we are and why we become that is tied up in the relationships we have with other human beings. We all seek love and approval and, in turn, we want to give our love to the people who are special in our life. However, it is because relationships touch our innermost being that we find it hard to talk about them except in vague and abstract terms. Andrew Hamilton SJ, inhis article on the topic, has gone some way to provide guidance on the form a discussion might take.

Read the article on relationships and answer the following questions. This could be as part of written homework.

1. What were the advantages of the more formal and prescriptive social rules of earlier times?

2. Is there a downside to the greater freedom and tolerance of our society?

3. In what ways has the pill affected the possibilities of life and relationships available to women?

4. How has society’s attitude to sex changed in modern times?

5. Marriage relationships have become more unstable: who is disadvantaged by this?

6. What are the rules the Church lays down for sexual relationships?

7. Can you explain why the church is so strict about sex?

8. What do you look for in a friend?

9. As our relationships deepen, we become more real: can you explain why this is true?

Class discussion of the article might begin with a brainstorming session during which people call out the characteristics that make up a good friendship.

Each student could then be asked to write down a question he/she would like to ask the writer of the article. The questions could be placed in a box and read out, giving the class the opportunity to answer the question.

Principal reflections
Prepared by Fr Christopher Gleeson SJ

FOR THE SCHOOL ASSEMBLY

Lessons from Geese

By Milton Olson

1. As each bird flaps its wings, it creates an ‘uplift’ for the bird following. By flying in a ‘V’ formation the flock adds 71% greater flying range than if the bird flew alone.

Lesson: People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going more quickly and more easily because they are travelling on the thrust of one another.

2. Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone, and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the ‘lifting power’ of the bird immediately in front.

Lesson: If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those who are headed where we want to go and be willing to accept their help as well as give ours to the others.

3. When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies at the point position.

Lesson: It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and share the leadership. As with geese, we are interdependent.

4. The geese in formation ‘honk’ from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

Lesson: We need to make sure our ‘honking’ from behind is encouraging and not something else.

5. When a goose gets sick or wounded or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it is able to fly again or dies. Then they launch out on their own, with another formation, or catch up with the flock.

Lesson: If we have as much sense as geese, we too will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong.

‘For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many are one body, so it is with Christ.’ 1 Cor. 12/12

FOR THE NEWSLETTER

A family

A family is a place
to cry and laugh
and vent frustration,
to ask for help
and tease and yell,
to be touched and
hugged and smiled at.

A family is people
who care when you are sad,
who love you no matter what,
who share your triumphs,
who don’t expect you to be perfect,
just growing with honesty in your own decisions.

A family is a circle
where we learn to make good decisions,
where we learn to think before we do,
where we learn integrity and table manners and respect for other people,
where we are special
where we listen and are listened to,
where we learn the rules of life
to prepare ourselves for the world.

The world is a place where anything can happen;
If we grow up in a loving family we are ready for the world.

From A Canopy of Stars: some reflections for the journey, by Christopher Gleeson SJ, David Lovell Publishing, 2003.

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