WELCOME A CATHOLIC PERSPECTIVE ON ENLIGHTENMENT

Transcription

1 WELCOME A CATHOLIC PERSPECTIVE ON ENLIGHTENMENT

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4 10 give aways that you went to a It seems normal that someone might put ash on your face (and you secretly compare the size of your mark) Catholic school You genuflect in lecture theatres and anywhere where seats are arranged in lines You made up the sins you confessed in the confessional because you couldn t think of any If someone says Have a nice day, you reply And with your spirit You ring up your kids school and think it is normal to hear the secretary say Our Lady of Perpetual Succour can I help you? You still have resentment for the chosen ones who got to play Mary or Joseph Even though you recognise the verses, you couldn t find them quickly in the Bible No matter what the meeting is, you still expect to begin it with a Sign of the Cross You couldn t recite the creed without 200 people helping

5 STRUCTURE 1. Naming the dark 2. Naming the light 3. Becoming the light

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7 James Hanvey SJ On the way to life On the Way to Life

8 The loss of any overarching story which gives significance or meaning metanarrative iculture

9 Postmodernism. The loss of objective truth. All points of view are equal. Conviction is indoctrination

10 Faith is a kind of mental illness, one of the world s great evils, comparable to smallpox virus but harder to eradicate. Root of All Evil. Channel

11 1Religion is Indoctrination 2 Religion is Superstition 3 Religion will be made redundant as science advances 4 Real intellectuals don t believe 5 Religion is of itself... evil

12 Has given birth to several children

13 1. Profound mistrust of 1. insecurity authority and institution

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15 2. Idolatry

16 We have become consumers. By this, I don t mean that we buy things, what I mean is that our identity has been shaped at a deep and profound level by a conviction that we are worth it. Shopping has told us who we we are. Fr Keiran Conry Bishop of Arundel and Brighton

17 You have the right to have what you want, exactly when you want it. Because on the menu of life, you are Today s Special. And tomorrow s. We may be the king, but you my friend are the ruler.

18 Image Courtesy of Annie Vallotton Their thoughts have become complete nonsense. Romans 1:21

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20 55. We have created new idols. The task of the teacher is not simply to impart information or to provide training in skills intended to deliver some economic benefit to society; education is not and must never be considered as purely utilitarian. Pope Benedict XVI to teachers. St Mary s University College. Sept 17 th 2010

21 We have created new idols EG55

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30 3. individualism

31 bucket List

32 Every man for himself, said the elephant as he danced among the chickens. Charles Dickens

33 Insecurity. Idolatry. Individualism

34 One can observe in many agents of evangelisation, even though they pray, a heightened individualism, a crises of identity and a cooling of fervour. RG78

35 There are Christians whose lives seem like Lent without Easter. EG6 Are we a little Lent without Easter?

36 an evangelizer must never look like someone who has just come back from a funeral! EG10 We evangelise with who we are, our whole self!

37 Naming the darkness The various means of masking reality: angelic forms of purity, dictatorships of relativism, empty rhetoric, objectives more ideal than real, brands of ahistoric fundamentalism, ethical systems bereft of kindness, intellectual discourse bereft of wisdom. EG.231

38 One of the more serious temptations which stifles boldness and zeal is a defeatism which turns us into querulous and disillusioned pessimists, sourpusses. EG83.

39 Ever display the behaviour of a sourpuss? When is it you?

40 STRUCTURE 1. Naming the dark 2. Naming the light 3. Becoming the light

41 The grey pragmatism of the daily life of the Church, in which all appears to proceed normally, while in reality faith is wearing down and degenerating into small mindedness. EG83 When do we notice the onset of small mindedness?

42 You put your name on your cottage cheese New ideas start to annoy you You arrive at inset days believing they ll be pointless Practical mundane tasks become appealing You re irritated by other people s enthusiasm You don t tell her that you love her because she already knows You become territorial in the staff room You purchase adhesive numbers to personalise your wheelie bin

43 The church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules. The most important thing is the first proclamation: Jesus Christ has saved you. And the ministers of the church must be ministers of mercy above all. Fr Antonio Spadaro SJ. September 30 th. 2013

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45 So what is the big picture that enlightens the detail?

46 I Invite all Christians everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ. EG3

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50 On the lips of the catechist the first proclamation must ring out over and over: Jesus Christ loves you; he gave his life to save you; and now he is living at your side everyday to enlighten, strengthen and free you. EG 164.

51 People prefer to listen to witnesses: they thirst for authenticity and call for evangelisers to speak of a God who they themselves know. EG150

52 It is no longer I that live, but Christ who lives in me. Gal 2:20. EG160

53 STRUCTURE 1. Naming the dark 2. Naming the light 3. Becoming the light

54 Matthew 5:13-16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

55 Which one were you? Have you ever cheated and were you any good?

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57 Imitate Imitate Imitate (and see how it changes us)

58 The first thing, for a disciple, is to be with the Master: to listen to and learn from Him,

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61 To imitate Christ Is a beautiful experience, and a bit paradoxical, he said. Why? Because the person who puts Christ at the centre of his life is off-centre. The more you unite with Jesus and make Him the centre of your life, the more He makes you abandon yourself, decentralize yourself, and open yourself to others. Vatican Website Papal Address 23 rd June

62 New Balance? Will an encounter with your school be with people who are acting like Jesus because they see in him some worth imitating, or will it appear more like a disjointed multitude of doctrines.

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64 THANKYOU FOR LISTENING

65 WELCOME A CATHOLIC PERSPECTIVE ON ENLIGHTENMENT

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