Becoming Christian takesa lifetime.

It begins in Baptism.

It will be completed when,raised up in Christ, we see

the face of God.

It is all God’s work, but itneeds our “Yes”.

It is a deeply personaljourney, but one we cannot

make alone.

CHRISTIAN

TOGETHER

A Pastoral Letter to God’s People of the Diocese of Bathurst

BECOMING

Dear Friends in Christ,

At the end of my first year as Bishop, I travelled through the Diocese for sevenregional meetings to reflect with you on our local church and where we are going. Itreminded me more deeply that we are pilgrims together. We begin to understand our faithand the Church when we see that these are works in progress. “Becoming Christian” meansrecognising the need for continuing conversion, both as individuals and God’s people.

In part, these meetings have been about learning how to talk to one another.We have also discovered something about the practicalities of consultation in our diocese,given the distances involved. It has convinced me more than ever that, as a diocesan family,we need to give special attention to communities that are outside the big centres. Making theChurch present there requires the imagination and generosity of all of us.

I am grateful for those who participated in the meetings; and also for those who,though unable to come, supported us in prayer. Many Catholics, however, decided not toattend, or did not consider it: and that points to one of our great challenges.

The Venerable John Paul II told us a quarter of a century ago that the Church inAustralia will not be what Christ wants her to be until indigenous people have made theircontribution to her life and that contribution has been joyfully received. We still have a longway to go, but in some parishes and schools a start has been made that we can build on.

It was great to listen to young people speak at almost every meeting. They arenot the future of the Church: they belong to the Church here and now. Along with the rest ofus, they are looking for something beyond the values of an appetite-driven culture. Theywant nourishment of soul. For their sake and everyone’s, we must make space for theirparticipation. Their ideas, energy and hope can lift us out of complacency and pessimism.The experience of World Youth Day, Manna Fest and Blast shows us a way forward at thediocesan level. I ask all parishes and schools to support these events in practical ways. Inaddition, I would like to see young people represented in every parish council as well as inworks of worship and service where they live. Along with the rest of us, they need to discovermore the power of God’s Word and the riches of Catholic teaching, in order to grow in faith.

There were not many young families at the meetings. This is understandable froma practical point of view: and that should make us think imaginatively about how to organiseconsultations in ways that make their participation easier. However, it was also a reminderthat young families are under-represented in many of our Parish Mass congregations. Again,there are practicalities that we could address there, but there may be deeper reasons, too.

It was in our families, the “domestic church,” that most of us began to pray. Itwas our parents who first taught us faith, not with lessons from the catechism, but with theway we saw they lived the values and priorities of the Gospel. If our families, however messyand imperfect, were places of love and forgiveness, we can look back and see that Christ wasactive there.

It is often remarked that our culture and economy are not “family friendly.”Pressures from outside, we hear, can often be too much for marriages and families to bear. Butwe also know that there is a fragility within so many homes; and unless it can be healed andstrengthened, even the most benign social environment will do no good. The renewal of thedomestic church has to be our pastoral focus. If we could begin to do that, how many drybranches in the Church would begin to bud with life again! I don’t pretend to know the bestway to achieve it, but let us put our minds together to see how we might begin.

Renewal of the domestic church would have an impact on our schools. Catholicschools are sometimes criticised for failing to communicate to their students a sense ofbelonging to the Church. However, a school is more than classrooms and teachers. It also getsits character from the students and the families who form the wider school community. If thatis renewed, so is the school.

One year after our diocese began, we were hit by the earthquake of the PublicEducation Act of 1866, which ended government funding to church schools. For the nexthundred years, the construction of a Catholic education system became the focus of theChurch’s pastoral energy. In recent decades, substantial (though not full) government fundinghas returned; yet school fees are rising; and the links between schools and parishes haveweakened. Few families in our schools participate in wider parish life. And there are manyCatholics, even active parishioners, who send their children to government or private schools,or keep them at home. This needs longer and more detailed analysis than I can give here, butit is important to sketch the outline, because these are questions to be explored.

At every meeting, people expressed concerns about a decline in Mass attendance.Although numbers are not our prime objective, the meaning and implications of these figuresneed careful thought. They have practical implications, of course. If people are not regularlycoming to Mass, they are unlikely to be supporting the Church financially, or participating inother works; and the capacity of parishes and the diocese to do things is diminished. Butthere are deeper considerations, too.

In the long history of the Church, patterns of publicworship have varied according to time and place. There can besocial or political causes of high rates of attendance. But when thosefactors are absent, what motivates people to come, unless they havesensed and believed that something special is going on at Mass?They may not be able to express a full theology of sacrifice,communion and anticipation: but they do know that here is mysteryand power. They do know, in these ordinary-looking neighbours andthis ordinary-looking priest; in this Word perhaps too quickly andawkwardly spoken; and in what looks like bread and wine: that hereis Christ.

We should adorn our churches and prepare andcelebrate our liturgies with lavish, loving care. What is goingon at Mass is worth all our best attempts at beauty. The way we dothis is itself a catechesis on the Eucharist beyond words. But alongwith that we need to renew our efforts to communicate to childrenand adults the full meaning of this gift. The introduction of the newtranslation of the Mass will be an opportunity for such a renewal:and I urge you to take part in the events that are being organisedacross the diocese for that.

Of course, this rests on the communication of faith and new efforts atproclamation and catechesis. At the heart of that is our discovery of the power of the Word ofGod. To read the Scriptures is not just to read about Christ, it is to meet him in a specialway. As Catholics, we read the Bible with heart and soul and mind; and we learn tounderstand it together. These days, there are many excellent resources, for all levels ofreaders, who want to get to know the Bible better. But most of us need some structure andsome company. In conjunction with the diaconate program, I hope that soon we could set upopportunities for this.

This Word, which we both minister and receive, is reconciliation in Christ.To announce it, we seek it. Along with our own sins, we bear the burden of the sins of thoseunited to us in the mystical body, the Church. As the Venerable John Paul II said, “Therecognition of past wrongs serves to reawaken our consciences to the compromises of thepresent, opening the way to conversion for everyone.”

There are many old sins for which we could ask forgiveness as a localchurch, including our treatment of the first Australians. The most scandalous rightnow involve crimes against minors by priests, religious and other adults. As Bishop, Ihave apologised directly to individuals who have been hurt in these ways and I repeatthat apology today, to all of them and publically.

We do not choose the time and place in which we are called to live thismission. But here we are: to touch this world, heal it and change it, while beingtouched and healed and changed ourselves. Becoming Christian takes a lifetime. Itbegins in Baptism. It will be completed when, raised up in Christ, we see the face ofGod. It is all God’s work, but it needs our “Yes”. And although a deeply personaljourney, it is one we cannot make alone.

Bishop of BathurstFeast of Mary of the Cross 2010