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The Archdiocesan Lenten Program for 2001 will focus on evangelisation. Fr Chris Toohey (pictured) writes on developing a new focus to follow the Great Jubilee
Lent 2001
has extra significance when you think about it as the first Lent since our celebration of the Great Jubilee. Many people have remarked that the year of the Jubilee was a grace-filled time for the Church. It was a
joyful time and a gift from God.
Now it is over and the new millennium has definitely begun, there seems to be a question emerging among Christ’s followers. The question could be put as, “Where to from here?”
or “Now the Jubilee is over, what’s next?”
Back in May 2000, we at the Catholic Adult Education Centre began work on the Lenten Program for this coming season. (The Archdiocesan Lenten Program has become
something of a tradition. Twenty-two have been produced in an unbroken sequence.)
We asked ourselves where might we be in the time immediately following the Jubilee? One answer kept coming back to us. The
Jubilee would result in a heightened awareness and sense of the Church’s mission.
In 1975 Pope Paul VI wrote his apostolic exhortation on evangelisation, Evangelii Nuntiandi. He wrote it at the end of the
Holy Year. He observed, “that the Church has been sent out and given a mandate to evangelise the world …” It is the duty and joy of the Church to proclaim the Gospel. It is a mission shared in by every Christian in
union with the Church and under its teaching authority.
Paul VI went on to set the scene and context for the evangelising activity of lay people. He said that their role is “to put to use every Christian and
evangelical possibility latent but already present and active in the affairs of the world. Their own field of evangelising activity is the vast and complicated world of politics, society and economics, but also the
world of culture, of the sciences and the arts, of international life, of the mass media. It also includes other realities which are open to evangelisation, such as human love, the family, the education of children
and adolescents, professional work, suffering”.
This teaching has found a strong voice in the person of John Paul II who has urged all in the Church to embrace the challenges of evangelisation as we enter the
third millennium.
The Archdiocesan Lenten Program for 2001 was produced out of a desire to be faithful to the spirit of what has been taught by those two great popes and by the Second Vatican Council.
Of course, all of this seeks to put into practice the final command of Jesus given to the apostles.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Mt 28:19, 20).
It is obvious that if we are to fulfil our
mission to be messengers of the Gospel then we must stay close to Christ. Without him we can do nothing. Without him our words are empty and our efforts are futile. In other words, to proclaim him we must follow
him. The Gospel and the person of Jesus are one and the same. We, like the characters in the gospels, are the disciples of Jesus. We learn from Jesus who is gentle and humble of heart, who came to serve and not be
served, who with courage and great love gave up his life for his friends.
If Jesus Christ is living in us, we will find ourselves living as he did.
His goodness will radiate from us, even when we are
not conscious that this is so. Our life will find its purpose and our activity will have immeasurable meaning.
During Lent we refocus on our relationship with Jesus Christ so that we are more able to fulfil
our mission. Over the centuries three activities have been practised as ways to maintain our conversation with Jesus: prayer, giving to the poor and fasting.
For Catholics prayer during Lent includes a call
to celebrate the love of God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. My own personal experience has taught me that the encounter with Christ in these two sacraments can change one’s life in ways that
are unforeseen by anyone, other than the Lord himself.
The 2001 Lenten Program was produced as a tool to help people focus on these truths.
At the Catholic Adult Education Centre we believe that the
greatest con- tribution of the Lenten Program, over the past 22 years, has been its encouragement for people who want to meet in small groups. When we encounter each other in Christ’s name we support and encourage
each other on faith’s journey, learn to respect the life story of others, gain new insights, find ways of articulating our faith, build support networks, share spirituality, and encounter Jesus himself.
If
you have not been part of a Lenten group before then give it a try this year. Better still, start a group yourself. The Lenten Program is the ideal tool. It takes you through each session in easy steps and provides
practical help for you to manage a small group of six to eight people.
The program takes the group through five weekly sessions. Each session contains the Gospel reading for the following Sunday and a step by
step approach to a prayerful reflection on that Gospel as it touches different aspects of one’s spiritual life. It is not expected that you should share these insights with other people in your group.
As
well in each of the five sessions a real life story is told of a person’s attempt to bring the values of the Gospel to their various situations and circumstances. These are everyday people with everyday fears,
feelings of inadequacy. Not necessarily knowing what the future holds, they simply aim to do their best. You’ll hear stories of a difficult childhood, of overcoming depression, of struggling financially, of seeking
to make a positive contribution.
While their stories may be very different to your own, we hope that they will help you to reflect on your personal sense of mission. Essentially there is only one mission and
that is the mission of Jesus, but we all share in it in ways unique to each person, according to the gifts God has bestowed on us and our circumstances in life.
The program also contains a reflection on the
personality of St. Peter, the leader among Christ’s chosen disciples. There are some beautiful prayers and real gems from the Church’s spiritual tradition.
Overall Life After Jubilee: the Mission Continues,
is simple and uncluttered. It also comes on CD with 20 tracks to enable quick and easy reference to any of the Gospel readings and/or personal stories.
All of us at the Catholic Adult Education Centre wish
you a fulfilling Lenten season. Even though it is a month away, now is the time to get organised.
Let’s hope that 2001 sees us taking up the challenge of the legacy left to us by the Great Jubilee.
The 2001 Lenten Program can be obtained by calling the Catholic Adult Education Centre on (02) 9643 3660. You can fax us on (02) 9643 3669 or visit us at 3 Keating Street, Lidcombe.
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