KATRINA

By the time this paper is published, the United States may well have accomplished a miracle of salvage and repair in New Orleans. Certainly, it is well equipped to achieve such. Sad then that the first words the world heard from this Super Power in the wake of the hurricane were not offers of help or commiseration for the afflicted, but “Looters will be shot.” Blatant anti-Americanism? No, but a lesson for us all. We can all be charitable and kind when our emotions are moved, as we were when the Tsunami hit South East Asia. But the quality of mercy must be founded on more than emotion. It needs to be an integral part of our everyday lifestyle. Otherwise, self-interest may find us out.

LYTHAM ROAD

History reminds us that it was not until the followers of Jesus had been expelled from the synagogues that the first Christians found their feet. It was only then that they realised that they were not a branch of Judaism but something new, “The Church.” Today it is not a matter of being expelled from anything, though some would argue that we are being eased out of our schools. No, today we are more likely to be treated as obsolete; regarded as nice, but irrelevant. In the end the effect is the same, we are not being asked to be martyrs but we are being asked to live in very different circumstances. And like our predecessors we are being forced to come to a new awareness of the mission of the Church. We are re-discovering that being loyal “members of the club” is never enough; slowly, painfully, we are beginning to re-learn what it means to be disciples of Jesus. This is Adult Education, big-time.

Bishop Patrick spoke to us recently of the need for Adult Christian Education, and indeed it has been a major part of our diocesan agenda for fifteen years now. But Adult Education will achieve little, if we confine it to talks and courses designed to explain and deepen the teachings of the church, the so-called “feeding of the people.” Worthy as this is, it will fall like good seed on arid ground if all parts of the Church community do not first come to reassess their role in the mission of the Church and their relationship to one another. Adult Education must never become a matter of “evenings out” for the broadening of the mind.

Real Adult Education only takes place through hands-on experience. Being an active Christian along all the Lytham roads of the diocese, St. Cuthbert’s is not alone, cannot be a simple matter of doing what we are told and keeping the rules, a sort of religious painting by numbers. The “un-Churched” people of our day look for a spirituality that goes deeper than the mere compliance with rules. Satisfying that need is our mission, but if parishioners are continually fed hand- me–down decisions made by members of the Clergy and a few carefully selected advisors, the opportunity for real Adult Education will have be missed. There is nothing like accepting responsibility, for teaching us the really important lessons. Evangelisation is the key to Adult education, as it is to so much else.

The truth is that to secure our future not just on Lytham road, nor simply on the map of any town, but in the hearts of the people who live there, we must learn to look outwards. There needs to be an energy and a thrust to our keeping of “The Faith”. Loyalty alone will not suffice. We must learn to think instinctively not of our own needs, but of those our neighbours who do not as yet know Christ. We may even be surprised to find that he is already in residence in their hearts. Ours is the task of revealing his presence to those who were unaware of it. And it would be an error to turn this “revealing of Christ to others” as an attempt to justify Catholic teaching at all costs. In the business of mission we have learning to do too. In turn, Christ will richly reward our efforts with the gift of even greater intimacy with him. The Church has always come up with a fresh vision of itself through its efforts to evangelise. It will prove so again.

The best Adult Education happens only when people are actively involved in Evangelisation. What teacher has not said, “I only really learned my subject when I tried to teach it to others?” We learn by doing. When Bishop Patrick visits St.Cuthbert’s for its main celebration on November 3rd, we hope it will not be simply a time for reminiscing. What a help it would be to the rest of us, if the parishioners were then ready and able to suggest ways in which they could begin to reach out to those friends and neighbours of theirs who may have abandoned Christ, or have never known him. The notes from C.A.S.E. on page 3 may help them. That would not only help to bring new life to Lytham Road, it would also help to put flesh on all this talk of evangelisation.