Posted by Maris Valentine --Previous Message-- Your sharing of depression also impressed me and I understand where you are coming from. I also choose not to be depressed because it is horrible for me and horrible for those around me and so I also take my ‘little happy pills’ and I do not consider it is the ‘weak way out’. It is part of ‘taking up my cross daily’ and I give thanks that God has given researchers the ability to find the right medications for depression just as he has given others the ability to discover penicillin or make heart pacemakers or washing machines! Can I comment also on your heroic efforts to support families in your parish and other parishes with a faith-focus play-group. Well done! Be assured that Yahweh uses all our efforts to good effect. And just as he didn’t force you to take a more faith-active position when your own children were little, neither does he force the current batch of young families. You’ve seen very little for your efforts so far, but on the other hand you will probably be doing something else when the seeds start to grow and get watered by someone else. But they will get watered. And Yahweh will pick the flowers! Finally I hope you won’t think me impertinent if I offer you a little poem — not very well polished off, but it comes from the heart! A Whisper from Yahweh To some it is given — to make music. And a few are called to be healers. And though only a few can heal the spirit, And some who are given to prophet the faith, And when some find that their music has stopped, But for some there’s a word, a glance or a look, But whatever we do; however we struggle,
on September 1, 2006, 12:06 am, in reply to "Re: That Other Big Church Event..."
: Thank you both, Jo and Kevin, for your
: detailed and sympathetic responses to my
: "post". You're probably both
: right in that I rely too much on outside
: affirmation: I love your way of putting it
: Kevin: "Life is too precious a gift to
: allow some-one else...to ruin it for
: me"!
:
: However, for me the main point is still the
: relationship between the Church and families
: more generally. It seems to me obvious
: that, even though a couple gets married in
: the Church and has their children baptised,
: this does not necessarily mean that they
: will consciously and confidently live their
: family life as a Christian vocation. In
: fact, I was in something of this position
: when my own children were little. My husband
: and I wanted our children to grow up
: Catholic, but at that stage I myself didn't
: feel sure and confident in my own faith, I
: didn't feel comfortable talking to the
: children about God or praying with them, and
: so on. Then, when they were aged 7 and 10,
: my husband and I decided we really wanted to
: get more involved in the Church and,
: although it was a bit scary at first, we
: did.
:
: This leads me to the crucial point. If we
: had decided not to get more involved, if we
: had decided the "faith thing" was
: just too hard and dropped it altogether,
: would that have mattered to the Church? Or
: is it a purely private choice? If it
: matters (as I think it does), then surely it
: should be a public issue for all of us in
: the Church.
:
: I certainly agree that it is important to DO
: something if you feel there is a need - in
: fact, especially with regard to family life,
: I think "grass roots" action is
: much better than something imposed from
: "above" - but believe me, this is
: easier said than done! I spent almost all
: of last year trying to set up a playgroup
: with a faith focus, to support families with
: children in that vital pre-school age-group.
: My endeavours sparked a certain amount of
: interest in our parish, but getting people
: to actually come along was another matter!
: After a while I decided to send info. about
: my playgroup to other parishes that were not
: too far away - I contacted nine parishes in
: all, I think. I didn't get even one
: response. Two months later I again
: contacted the same parishes, this time in
: conjunction with National Vocations
: Awareness Week, but again with no results.
: Now, perhaps I was doing something wrong,
: but I couldn't help thinking, is this really
: a Church which thinks the family is so
: important as a Christian vocation, as the
: vehicle for passing on the faith? In fact,
: we don't seem to have a culture in the
: Church which encourages us to think that
: way.
:
: So what I am really trying to do is to put
: this as an item on our Church's public
: agenda. Thank you for the opportunity to do
: so in this Forum.
:
: --Previous Message--
: That Other Big Church Event….
:
: I always look forward to new articles on
: your website, Kevin, and I was especially
: interested in the one by John McSweeney
: about World Youth Day 2008. This article
: particularly resonated with me because I’ve
: recently been thinking about that other big
: Church event which has just finished – the
: Fifth World Meeting of Families. It was
: meant to show how much the Church values and
: supports marriage and the family, but I
: can’t help wondering what, if anything, it
: has achieved for the average family in the
: pew – let alone for those who are on the
: margins of the Church!
:
: The more I think - and pray - about this
: issue, the more concerned I become that the
: Church is making it harder, not easier, for
: people to come to God and/or live out their
: Christian faith through their family life.
: Of course, this may largely be because of
: the difficulty many modern people have with
: the Church’s teaching around
: marriage/sexuality, but I’m convinced that
: the problem is NOT that this teaching is too
: hard or too idealistic or too out of touch
: with today’s culture. For many of us, the
: problem is simply that we cannot make sense
: of the Church’s stance in terms of our own,
: real-life family experience! And when I
: reflect on my experience in the light of the
: Gospel, the Church’s understanding of
: Christian family life makes even less sense.
: Even when the Church’s teaching seems to
: come directly from Jesus – as in the matter
: of divorce and remarriage – the rigid,
: legalistic form which it takes is about as
: far from the spirit of the Gospels as you
: can get!
:
: In any case, whether or not the Church’s
: teaching is correct, there is definitely
: something else lacking. The theme of the
: recent Meeting of Families was “The
: Transmission of Faith in the Family”, and
: indeed, these days we hear a lot about the
: importance of parents as their children’s
: first faith teachers, and the family as the
: domestic church, etc. Yet in practice,
: Church leaders don’t really seem terribly
: concerned whether or not families are
: effectively fulfilling this role. It just
: doesn’t seem to be a real-life issue on our
: public agenda in the same way as, for
: instance, the question of getting young
: people involved in the Church. And how much
: in the way of resources does the Church put
: into providing formation for parents,
: practical assistance for families as the
: “domestic Church”, etc? Somewhere between
: little and nothing, so far as I can see!
:
: Maybe the recent gathering in Spain was an
: exciting, meaningful experience for those
: who were there, but what really matters to
: families is not the big, showy public events
: but what happens at the other end of the
: spectrum. That is to say, in the seemingly
: mundane and trivial happenings and
: interactions of everyday life. We need a
: theology and spirituality more firmly rooted
: in this experience, as reflected upon in the
: light of the Gospels. And we need a
: recognition that if the Church seriously
: expects so much from the family, it will
: have to put more resources directly into the
: family. The way things are at present, I
: believe both Church and the family are
: losing out.
:
:
: Hi Cathy, Congratulations for thinking, caring and trying to do something about those causes that you feel impelled (inspired by the Spirit) to do something about. After a long absence from Kevin’s Forums (Pastoral Care Course, sick husband, building a house, etc. etc.) I logged on the other night and was forcibly struck by your longing to debate and toss issues around and try to find answers.
While the calling of others is dance.
Others make words that dance in the air.
And others are told, “make the world prepare”.
Still others know only pitch-black despair.
Whether healers of body or mind.
Some are like rainbows, busy with gladness.
Regrettably some only flounder in sadness.
Or even much worse, conjecture at madness.
there are many called for the mundane sludge.
Yet all are called to be Yahweh’s delight —
to labour with courage and faith in his sight,
as children of majesty, not of dark night.
get rejected, belittled or run out of town.
But they keep on trying to do their best.
Tirelessly trying and taking no rest,
even when others ignore God’s bequest?
that the words won’t come, or their legs won’t dance,
the sludge and the drudge might continue for some.
And relief from despair might never come
for the lost or lonely whose minds are numb.
that says, “I understand — or give me a try!”
And hope springs eternal as the saying goes,
as many find comfort in sharing their woes,
their highs and their lows — and blowing their nose.
we’re never alone in this vast universe.
When we’re almost empty and a deadline’s near
a whisper from God that we hardly hear
might be all that we need to dry a tear!
By the way, have you read Kevin's "The Rhythm of Life"? Maris
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