The
Catholic Weekly
Online
Sydney
7 December 2003
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When in Rome do as the ...
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When in Rome do as the ...
NOTHING’S IMPOSSIBLE: Anthony McCarthy in Rome
By Damir Govorcin
“When in Rome do as the Romans do.” Anthony McCarthy is heeding this advice by St Ambrose ashe participates in a nine-month formation program at the Emmanuel School of Mission in Rome.
The program provides an opportunity for 15 or so young people from across the world to live together in a “year of formation … a year for the mission”.
Anthony, a member of the Sydney University Catholic Chaplaincy, will complete the program in July.
Since he has been in Rome, Anthony has immersed himself in the city’s culture, cuisine and history.
But not for one moment has he forgotten the real reason why he is in Rome.
“To truly live in Rome is to live the life of the Church,” says Anthony.
“The city oozes with Catholic heritage which speaks of an inspired vision for life.
“The Church today faces the problem in how do we bring Christ to the major cities of the world?
“A mammoth task but nothing is impossible for God.”
Anthony is an avid sports fan and keen sportsman.
Missing the Rugby World Cup and not being able to play cricket in Sydney with the Papal Bulls (St Michaels, Belfield) have been tough, but so far the sacrifice has been worth it because Anthony was able to experience one of the most exciting and inspiring weeks in the Church’s recent history.
In the space of just six days, the Pope celebrated the Silver Jubilee Mass of his pontificate, beatified Mother Teresa of Calcutta in front of more than 400,000 people, and installed 30 new cardinals at a consistory - all in St Peter’s Square.
“It is an immense privilege and joy to be able to live in Rome and witness some of the Church’s most historic events of the last decade,” says Anthony.
“It was certainly a sacrifice to leave my family and friends, miss the Rugby World Cup, miss Christmas, miss an entire cricket season - and, perhaps worst of all, live three winters in a row, but I hope and trust that these nine months will be greatly blessed and that I will carry this experience with me for the rest of my life.
“I pray that I can then share these blessings with the Church back home, for that will make the experience truly worthwhile.”
The five pillars of the Emmanuel School of Mission program are spiritual formation, intellectual formation, community life, mission and the Roman dimension.
Anthony says the school’s focus is to form missionaries for the new millennium, missionaries who may travel to distant countries to preach the Gospel, but who very often will simply strive to live out their faith and mission in their own city, their own country, within their own milieu.
The central element of the school is that the spiritual formation seeks to deepen the prayer life of the students.
The intellectual formation consists of a broad and comprehensive study of Christ and the Church as revealed through Scripture, tradition and the Magisterium, while community life provides daily challenges as students from 10 different countries try to get on with each other.
“It is amazing to see the personal and cultural differences between people of different backgrounds, differences that are not always easily solved,” says Anthony.
“Prayer and forgiveness are part of the staple diet.”