We were encouraged to think big with respect to forgiveness and gratitude not just that which we offer but also that we accept for ourselves. For, as he pointed out, joy is an important indicator that we are fully alive.
‘The important work to be done at parish level is to guarantee pastoral care. Therefore, it is vital that lay leaders are trained to take over religious services when priests are not there.’
At times I felt I was part of the church of the present and other times I felt I had been, like Dr Who, transported back in time to situations that I encountered as a little girl in the church of the late 1950s and 1960s.
One thing I am sure of is that parishes must give lead roles to younger Catholics’not through tokenism, but simply because they are already members of Christ’s body and he speaks to us through them.
So far I learned two lessons. On board the disabled ferry we were kept reasonably well informed at each stage and it was accepted, while on the later ferry they didn’t give the passengers any information and the people became pretty angry. That’s the moral to this story.
‘WYD confronted me and created a lot of profound questions like, How can our simple human likeness be diminished by some peoples’ need to be right and to force their view on others?’
It is no longer enough to just believe but it is now a duty to share and testify to the love, joy, hope and faith that I witnessed in Sydney.
‘WYD brings us closer to Jesus even in those moments when we are struggling. It is often those difficult times that teach us more about ourselves and others and, in doing so, we can learn more about God.
Recent reports to the council show rises in foodbank use of 20 to 70 percent along with record high demand for budgeting advice and other support services.
As human beings we have an innate sense of what is right and wrong, what is just and unjust. This sense can be diminished over time, it can remain partial (just on our own behalf or that of my group) or it can become blind in certain circumstances. But it is there.