REFLECTIONS AND NOTES WINTER 2005
Teacher notes page 2-3
REFLECTIONS: The Pope, leadership and the community
EXPRESS YOURSELF: Words and pictures
COMMUNICATION AND UNDERSTANDING
Principal reflections
Prepared by Fr Christopher Gleeson SJ
For the school assembly
For parents and the newsletter
A Prayer
ALL ON THE LINE
WORDS Christopher Gleeson SJ
 Photo: John Casamento. |
It is well known that there was a real connection between Pope John Paul II and young people. Talking and listening to youth, enjoying their company, was always a high priority for the Pope on his many pilgrimages around the globe. His love for the young inspired and illuminated the challenges he extended to them.
In May 1982, at Scotland’s home of rugby, Murrayfield stadium, over 40,000 young people from all over Scotland gave the Pope a rapturous welcome. They chanted his name repeatedly, applauded every line of his speech and sang ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone.’ The Pope chose to speak to them about an episode in the life of St Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland. Referring to the miracle of the loaves in the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel, John Paul II noted that Jesus had been teaching the huge crowd of five thousand all day and, as evening approached, he did not want to send them away hungry. Andrew pointed out a small boy who could provide five barley loaves and two fish. This was all the food available to so many. Jesus miraculously fed the five thousand and still had something left over.
Pope John Paul II was making the point that Andrew and this little boy offered Jesus all they had at the time. His invitation to the crowd of young people was expressed in these words: ‘Left alone to face the difficult challenges of life today, you feel conscious of your own inadequacy and afraid of what the future may hold for you. But what I say to you is this: place your lives in the hands of Jesus. He will accept you, and bless you, and he will make such use of your lives as will be beyond your greatest expectations. In other words: surrender yourselves, like so many loaves and fishes, into the all powerful, sustaining hands of God and you will find yourselves transformed with "newness of life".’
Young people love a challenge and want to be nudged beyond their comfort zone. Here the Pope is asking them (and us) how prepared we are to place all we have, all our gifts and talents, in the hands of Jesus. ‘Your lives cannot be lived in isolation, and even in deciding your future you must always keep in mind your responsibility as Christians towards others. There is no place in your lives for apathy or indifference to the world around you.’ Pope John Paul II’s message is akin to the beautiful words of an anonymous writer: ‘Blessed are they who place themselves in the hands of Jesus. He will place himself in their hands.’
Christopher Gleeson SJ is the Director of Jesuit Publications.
Teacher notes page 2-3
REFLECTIONS: The Pope, leadership and the community
(See Australian Catholics pages 5, 6—7, 8, 20—21)
This edition of Australian Catholics offers insight into the many perspectives and roles of the Pope within the church. The following exercise asks students to see the connection between their spiritual leader and other leaders they know. They should encourage awareness, empathy and creative writing skills.
Exercise 1: Community leaders
Students may read Daniel Street’s page 6—7 reflective piece on Pope John Paul II and answer the following:
- Think of a leader in your life (sports coach, singing teacher, principal, parish priest, local MP, Prime Minister) and tell us about their great qualities. What makes them fit to lead their specific community?
- Think of a few different kinds of leaders. Do they share some common characteristics? What makes them different? Do their communities sometimes overlap?
- Think of the Pope. What qualities did he display as a leader? Can you identify the difference between telling people how to do something and showing them?
- In your opinion, was the Pope a good leader of his chosen community? How did he demonstrate that? How do we choose our leaders? Do we need them? Why? Who are the leaders in your school community? How are they chosen?
Exercise 2: Budding biographers
Teachers may like to have students focus on the following ideas, before undertaking the exercise: what is the purpose of biography? What kind of writing style is used for this genre? Are there different styles used within this one genre? What is the difference between biography and autobiography? If you could write anyone’s biography, whose would you write? Why? Have you ever met a person you admired from a distance, or someone famous? What happened when you met them?
- Using the timeline and photo spread on page 22, retell the story of the Pope’s life. Perhaps you could make a story book of his life. He was known for his wide travelling of the globe; why do you think this was important to the Pope? Kate Stowell’s article on page 8 shows his commitment to reconciliation and understanding of different cultures. Why would this be a point of interest in a biography?
Photo: John Casamento.
EXPRESS YOURSELF: Words and pictures
(See Australian Catholics pages 8, 21,22—23, 25)
Images are an important part of many stories. This winter, Australian Catholics includes many images of the Pope. The following exercises ask students to access their imagination, using the photos as inspiration.
Exercise 1: Junior journalists
Teachers may like to lead in with discussion questions, such as: What is the role of the media in our community? Why are people interested in photos? What does a photo add to a news story or a feature article? What is the difference between a news story and a feature article? Where would we find an example of each?
- Find an interesting photo from home and tell us the story behind it. Who are the characters? What was the weather like that day? What are they talking about? What are they all feeling? Are they enjoying themselves? What are they doing–why are they doing it? Is it something we see many people doing, or is it unusual?
Exercise 2: Creative writing
 Photo: John Casamento. |
The following task exercises the use of realistic dialogue in creative writing, also aiming to encourage awareness among students in their communication. Are they succinct, what register do they use to address different social groups (ie, parents, friends, friends’ parents, teachers, shop assistants)? Where is slang appropriate? How do we pronounce our words? How do we understand people’s different accents?
- Using one of the images from page 8, 22—23 or 25, write down what you think the Pope is saying, or the conversation he is having with the other people in the photo. Imagine why they have met and create a story through their dialogue. What might they have to say to each other? What is the tone of their conversation? Are they discussing something important, or is it something lighthearted? What kinds of words do we use in our everyday conversation? Do you think the Pope would say ‘um’ in his conversation? Would he use slang?
- From the Pope photos, go further and tell the story of what happened next. Is what happened first necessary too? Use your imagination. Write the next part of the story, then create a series of different endings. Use the ‘pick-a-path’ construction to flesh out possible storylines. Be inventive in their presentation: you could create a poster with different paths leading from the central storyline, or make a traditional book with ‘turn to page __’ for each different path the story could take.
COMMUNICATION AND UNDERSTANDING
(See Australian Catholics pages 10,12, 18—19)
Australian Catholics held a vox populi among those attending a memorial Mass for Pope John Paull II. The following activities strive to improve students’ awareness of modes of communication and the importance of public and personal expression.
Exercise 1: Vox populi
Before students conduct their own vox pop, teachers might ask students to research the following: What is the definition of vox populi? When was it first used as a means of understanding a community? What English words do we use that share the Latin root of either ‘vox’ or ‘populi’? How do we see newer incarnations of this practice today? Eg, Newspoll, talkback radio, SMS voting, chat rooms, newsgroups, census. Who uses the results, and what for?
- Interview classmates or other grades on a variety of topics. These topics could be related to the Pope, ie in the same vein as Australian Catholics: ‘What do you remember about Pope John Paul II? What are you looking for in the next elected Pope?’ Or, on relevant social issues either in the wider community or the school community. Are there any pressing issues going on at school? What does the community think? Perhaps some results of the vox pop could be published in the school newsletter or yearbook.
Exercise 2: Papal Penpals
The following is a take on the good old, snail mail letter. Teaching letter-writing technique and standards, also discussing this form of communication and its relevance today. Why do we write letters? How has technology affected the importance and presentation of the letter? What do you imagine will happen to written correspondence in the future? How does it feel to get a hand-written letter?
- Write a letter to the Pope. What would you like to tell him? Where will you address this letter to? Let him know what’s going on for you and how you feel about it. Did you feel touched by the Pope’s work? Have you seen or read anything in the news since he died that is particularly interesting, either about him or something else, that you think he might like to hear about from you?
Exercise 3: Sacred songlines
The articles on pages 10 and 12 show how people use their creative talent as an expression of many things–gratitude, love, joy. Teachers may explore with students what it is that constitutes a song. Corroborate with music teachers to create a class song for the Pope. Tune the class in to Jane Chifley’s music on her website, www.eternitymusic.com.
- Write a song dedicated to the Pope. Perhaps use children’s letters to the Pope as a basis of what they would like to express to him.
On board Prime Minister Bob Hawke’s plane, on loan
for the 1986 Australian visit, Pope John Paul II speaks with students
from the School of the Air. Photo: John Casamento
Principal reflections
Prepared by Fr Christopher Gleeson SJ
FOR THE SCHOOL ASSEMBLY
On May 13th 1981, Pope John Paul II was being driven round in his open-topped ‘Popemobile’ in St. Peter’s Square in Rome, where about 10,000 people were gathered to see him. He was blessing the crowd when a gunman opened fire and hit the Pope with four bullets, also wounding two other people.
Two years later the Pope had a private meeting in prison with his would-be assassin, Mehmet Ali Agca. Pope John Paul later said: ‘I spoke to him as a brother whom I have pardoned.’ The Pope tells his own story: ‘Around Christmas 1983 I visited my attacker in prison. We spoke at length. Ali Agca, as everyone knows, was a professional assassin. This means that the attack was not his own initiative, it was someone else’s idea, someone else had commissioned him to carry it out. In the course of our conversation it became clear that Ali Agca was still wondering how the attempted assassination could possibly have failed. He had planned it meticulously, attending to every tiny detail. And yet his intended victim had escaped death. How could this have happened? The interesting thing was that his perplexity had led him to the religious question. He wanted to know about the secret of Fatima and what the secret actually was … '
(from Pope John Paul II, Memory and Identity — Personal Reflections, Weidenfeld & Nicholson, London, 2005).
FOR PARENTS AND THE NEWSLETTER
On May 28 1982 Pope John Paul II started his visit to Great Britain. He met many sick and disabled people and gave them the Sacrament of the Sick. Only a year after being shot and seriously wounded, he spoke to those who were ill or disabled: ‘I myself have had a share in suffering, and I have known the physical weakness that comes with injury and sickness. It is precisely because I have experienced suffering that I am able to affirm with ever greater conviction that nothing at all can ever separate us from the love of God. ‘Dear friends, there is no force or power that can block God’s love for you. Sickness and suffering seem to contradict all that is worthy, all that is desired. And yet no disease, no injury, no infirmity can ever deprive you of your dignity as children of God. ‘We often find in the Gospels the loving bond of affection between Jesus and the sick or disabled. We believe in Christ’s healing love and we reaffirm that nothing will separate us from that love. Surely Jesus wishes to say: "Be clean; be healed; be strong; be saved."’
Nicholas Hutchinson FSC, Praying Each Day of the Year — May to August, (Matthew James, Essex, 1998).
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