Tuesday 29 December 2015

Has He Risen In Your Heart

Has He risen in your heart
Have you let Him be free
Do you show Him the lock on your door
Or do you give Him the key.

Song by Joe Fahie from “Don’t Give Up the Ship”


Once we have journeyed forward in life and look back, the path that we have taken becomes quite clear.  The events that make up our life and the fruits that flowed from them can be clearly seen; getting married, having a family, getting a new job, a death of a family member, etc.  Each of these events causes one’s life to turn in a certain direction, often taking on a different perspective.  But as we are going through them, their future impact lies in mystery .  

So on looking back to my late twenties, a time when I was experiencing much confusion and pain, I now see it as a time of tremendous growth.  It was a time of feeling lost, but also a time of remarkable insights.  It was time of uncertainty in respect to the future, but also a time of expanding horizons and new discoveries.  

The lessons that life teaches us is those moments of turmoil are really gateways that lead to something greater.  Perhaps
one of the greatest lessons that I had learned in my late twenties was that I could count on faith to guide me through these gateways.  Faith, as I had discovered, became something real, sustaining, and life giving.  We have nothing to fear from faith.  My upbringing might argue that faith meant not accepting reality, but faith actually takes us to a different level of reality where hope is the dominant attribute.  And with hope, comes joy; joy even in the face of what appears to be trying circumstances.

The cause of my pain and confusion was a problem with love and trust.  And pain and confusion will remain until we begin to travel the road towards greater love and trust.  Even though we may know this in our heads, it will benefit us little until it becomes an experience of the heart.  And this is where the dilemma lies.  How can we begin the journey
towards something as elusive as love and trust when love and trust may be lacking from one’s experience.  The lessons that I had to learn, and that each of us must learn, is that you cannot, not by yourself.  Nothing we can do by our own genius, wit, intellect, or personal effort can bring love and trust to a heart that lacks it, "by ourselves".  Until we face and accept this fact, then the fruits of love and trust will remain elusive, and our efforts will lead only to disappointment. 

The love and trust of which I speak had little to do with how we might normally understand these terms. After all, I had a very loving marriage and family.  The love and trust of which I speak has to do with a respect for oneself, to see oneself and one's life as a valuable gift.  This in turn leads to gratitude, a counting of one's blessings. These special qualities of heart are available to everyone, but many never attain it, or acquire it fully.  The reason for this is that love and trust of which I speak are gifts to be received, not possessions to be earned. They are free for anyone who may want them, but many fail to ask.  This is the human tragedy of our time.  Many fail to ask.  Many do not know how.  How can we discover this “pearl of great price”?

My search not only took me to many fine writers:  It also took me to community.  Since my baptism into the Catholic faith tradition, I attended mass weekly with my family.  Attending mass is one thing, but the experience of being a part of that community of faith is another.  Although at times, I would experience a sense of oneness with those around me, largely I attended mass out of some sense of obligation, not so much to the church itself, but to those within my circle who thought it was important..  I enjoyed the services and the music.  I enjoyed listening to the words of wisdom from the priests who presided over these services, but I was not involved in the community.  I was more like a spectator at a football game.  I watched from the bleachers. 

It was during one of these masses that an invitation was extended to all of us in the congregation to be a part of the religious education program.  Before, this would have passed right over my head.  But this time I heard it, and I said to myself: why not.  When I arrived home, I called the parish to express an interest in becoming a teacher.  

My invitation was accepted without hesitation, and before I knew it, I was meeting with a group of new catechists to be prepared in this role of teaching a Sunday school class.  This time of teaching not only provided a much needed service for our parish church, but also grounded me more firmly in my own understanding of the Catholic faith.  It was after one of these classes, when speaking to one of the other teachers that I learned about the prayer group in our parish that met on Thursday nights.  

For some reason, I was instantly interested.  That next Thursday, I attended my first prayer meeting.  The connection that I experienced with this small group of people began the moment I walked through the door and I discovered a place where I not only felt welcomed but very much at home.  My experience with the people of this small group remains vivid in my memory today even though we have since dispersed and moved off in many different directions.  The songs we sang began to touch my heart as my love for music expanded.  With new found trust, I began to share some of my inmost fears.  I was given the gift of their time, their listening, their attentiveness, and their care.
 
Still I struggled much from isolation and an inability to enter deeply into a sense of relatedness.  This became more obvious as I continued to meet with this group of people who were so open in their faith.  It was as if that still flicker of inner light within me was smoldering  and one little breeze would blow it out.  I experienced this deeply one cold November evening as I sat at this meeting with the others.  

Then one of the other people in the group shared a scripture.  “Let me turn your heart of stone into a heart of flesh so that you may love as I love you.”  It was as if these words were spoken to me personally, and tears welled up in my eyes as I cried out in faith: "Jesus please help me”. 

I cannot possibly explain what happened at that moment.  But it was as if the walls around my heart shattered into a thousand pieces, and I was overwhelmed with a sense of love different from anything I had ever experienced before. It filled me with a joy, and I burst into laughter and proceeded to hug everyone in the room, much to their surprise and mine as well.  

This awakening that I had experienced caused a shift of priorities within.  Things that I thought were so important for my happiness and well-being fell away.  My faith in God, and Jesus’ brotherly love came to the forefront of my life.  These were not things I initiated.  They happened as a result of my asking.  “Seek and you shall find.  Knock and the door will be opened.  Ask and it will be given.”  It was this beginning experience that brought me in touch with the true essence of faith.  

It was now clear to me why the Christian faith took root some two thousand years ago and continued to spread through each successive generation up to this moment of time.  The Holy Spirit was not a fabrication of some mystical writers in ages past.  The Holy Spirit of Pentecost is the same Holy Spirit that continues to transform burdened hearts today.  Unbelievably, I became a recipient of that same Holy Spirit.  

Wednesday 23 December 2015

Jesus as Saviour and Healer

Witnessing to Christ often means moving away from our theological language and expression - eg  Jesus died on the cross for you. I like this explanation of Jesus as Savior given by Fr. Laurence Freeman, Spiritual Director for the World Community of Christian Meditation. Enjoy!


For some people, those whom Jesus calls to be disciples, the
experience of His message enters into us and we move to another level of relationship with Him. This is where, you might say, we begin to experience Jesus as Savior. The word Savior means healer. The early Christians spoke of Jesus very often as the Divine Physician.

He heals us of the wounds of sin, of the wounds of our suffering, the wounds of humanity. No one gets very far in life without being wounded, without being hurt, without having their self-esteem damaged or their hope disappointed, or their love rejected, or without the experience of betrayal. Being let down. No one gets very far without being hurt.  And those hurts that life give us can run very deep into our psyche.  And then to deal with those wounds, we often build walls to protect ourselves: ‘This isn’t going to happen to me again. I’m not going to put myself in that position again.’ So we start to get hardened hearts; we start to build up resistance to love, resistance to other people. We become more isolated, less trusting. Then we wonder why we’re sad. This is where we need healing.

For some people, who we could call the disciples of Jesus, the experience of His teaching enters into us and begins to heal us of those wounds. It may be through any number of ways; maybe through scripture, maybe through friends, maybe through an inspired spiritual teacher, maybe through the sacraments. 


Different ways for different people. He gets in in all sorts of different ways. He’ll find a way under the door, even if we’ve locked the door. When we begin to sense that we are feeling better as a result of this relationship with Jesus, we begin to feel more self-acceptance and wholeness. We begin to see how we can relate to other people more lovingly. We’re capable of forgiving the hurts that people have put upon us, and letting them go. We’re capable of more compassion. We’re capable of being more patient with ourselves even though we have lots of problems and lots of faults, but we don’t beat ourselves up all the time.

These are the ways in which we begin to experience the saving and healing work of Jesus. It’s gradual. There may be dramatic moments, but it’s gradual and it is irreversible. It’s not like the pills you take when you’ve got a toothache, a temporary relief of pain. It’s a curing, it’s a healing. 

In the gospels, Jesus is often shown as a miraculous healer, but again, he didn’t want his disciples advertising him as ‘Jesus the miraculous healer’.  He told them not to promote Him like that. In many of those healing stories, He heals by touching; and He still heals us by touching us. There is an interior touch, a spiritual touch which heals when his power comes into us.

As we begin to recognize Jesus in this way, as our Savior, as one who heals in our life, our relationship with Him has moved to a much deeper and more personal and intimate one. He’s no longer just a great spiritual teacher of humanity but we now have a personal, mysterious, experience of Him, and it will be expressed in different ways by different people.

Fr. Laurence Freeman 
Spiritual Director for World Community of Christian Meditation 

Tuesday 22 December 2015

Continuing My Early Faith Story

We have each experienced milestones in our lives, events that give rise to radical change in our outlook on life. In my first posting, I shared with you about my early spiritual life and values up to the time I was baptized.  In this posting I would like to continue with my faith story during my early post-baptismal years. 

When I was twenty-seven years old, I remember reading an article in a business magazine called:  “Career Success!  Personal Failure!”  It was an article about the dilemma experienced by many people in business pursuing a career for the purpose of attaining success, recognition, achievement and financial security.  The author of this article pointed out that despite the successes of many people in accomplishing their goals, they nevertheless continued to feel that they were failing.  They continued to carry, within themselves, a sense that something was missing from their lives.  


When I read this article, it related so much to what I was feeling.  Although I was fairly successful with my career, and accomplished many of the things that I set out to do, I was still unhappy and very dissatisfied with myself.  The things that I desired and thought would fulfill both my outer and inner needs were failing me, and left me with this question as to what I might be doing wrong.  Although this was a painful concern at the time, I see now that much good came from this time of trial.  It's only when we feel the pain of the moment that we have the courage to look within ourselves and admit that something is wrong. The pain I felt gave me the courage to begin to look at my beliefs, to examine their source, and then to make the necessary changes that would lead in a more positive direction.  This discernment would eventually change the direction of my life, and lead me into areas not previously imagined.

Growing up farm was a great place to be as a child; however, our family did suffer financially.  My early life witnessed this struggle, particularly with my parents, who worked very hard, but had trouble making ends meet.  Although these were happy years, I did receive a lot of reminders, particularly from my mother, about the importance of education, and pursuing a career, and having a secure job. 

When I finished high school, I approached my career and early working life with a deeply engrained belief that my happiness and well-being depended principally upon what I could accomplish for security.  This was what I believed, and this is what I pursued.  And it really took me by surprise, several years later, to discover that all of those things I was accomplishing did not bring the happiness that I expected.  

In writing this, I am not suggesting that there is anything wrong with success, recognition, achievement or financial security.  Gerald May, in his book “Will and Spirit” stresses that the wholeness we seek is comprised of two needs; our need for meaning and purpose, and the need for belonging and love. 

Meaning and purpose in life will result from moments of success, recognition and achievement.  There is a sense of mission and growth that we experience from our efforts in this area.  However, if our primary focus and attention is only in that area, then we may sub-consciously deny the fact that that we also have as great a need for belonging and love.   Without the fulfillment of this latter need, our lives will feel incomplete on another level.  

In my mid twenties, I did not know this.  I was beginning to discover that, although my efforts were bearing fruit in one way, in other ways they were failing.  The pain of this experience was for me Providence’s way of saying that a change was necessary.  I needed to begin to take the time from my preoccupations with success, and make some shifts that would lead to a feeling of greater wholeness. 

My search brought me too many exciting authors who spoke to me through their books.  The one who had the most impact at me at this young age was John Powell SJ.  His light psychological approach to dealing with relationship issues
appealed to me as I gobbled up his books:  “He Touched Me”, “Why Am I Afraid to Tell You Who I Am”, “Reason to Live Reason to Die”, “The Secret of Staying in Love”, “Fully Human Fully Alive” and the list goes on.  It was through these books that I discovered I had difficulty in loving.  Although I was growing in awareness of the importance of love, and loving relationships, it became increasingly clear to me that what I understood in my head was not as strong in my heart. Inside, I experienced a deep sense of isolation and alienation that kept me at a distance from others. I was functioning well in my working relationship, a good listener to other people’s concerns, but revealed little about myself.  I thought that if anyone knew who I really was inside, (the darkness, fear, and doubt) I would be immediately rejected.  Therefore, it was best to keep such things to myself.  

Fortunately for me, my faith was growing stronger, and I began to turn to God to seek a path that might lead me away from my painful dilemma.  

Christmas Greeting From Catholic Grandparents Association

Sent: Monday, December 21, 2015 3:14 PM

Subject: Grandparents News December 2015


Dear Ronald

Wishing you a Joy filled, Blessed and Peaceful Christmas.

We hope that you will enjoy reading it and also will be able to pass copies onto others who you may know. It is wonderful also if you could get a copy printed for your local parish or, perhaps, for those who don’t have access to the internet.

The work of the CGA continues to spread across the world. We are entirely supported by donations and it is through the generosity of our members that we are able to further our mission and purpose in keeping Prayer at the Heart of the Family and in passing on the Faith. 

Your sincerely




Founder of The Catholic Grandparents 

Monday 21 December 2015

Notes Taken From Archbishop On Witnessing

During one of the presentations by Archbishop Mancini on the building blocks of the New Evangelization, the followings notes were taken as it relates to being witnesses to our faith. This may be of particular interest to Grandparents who wish to share their faith within the family context. 



If we are to be a disciple of Christ, a follower, then we must also be a witness. We must possess within ourselves a sense of our own story or personal testimony. We profess that we are Christian. We profess that we are a follower of Christ. What goes out from us that gives witness to that? If we have a relationship with Christ, how has it changed us?

This can be experienced at various levels. The first level of witnessing is usually expressed in the way we live. Through the way we live, we convey to those around us, who we are and what we believe. This is living our faith. 

Now there’s another side of that. Through the way we live, we also convey who we are not. As a result, this does not, by itself, completely convey the Christian message. Living by example is usually not enough.

So that moves us to the area of witnessing in other ways. What is witnessing? 

First of all, perhaps we should look at what it is not. Think of a court situation. In witnessing, we do not become the judge. In witnessing, we do not become the policeman, or the arresting officer. In witnessing, we are conveying to another what we have seen, what we have heard, what we have experienced. And when we witness to our faith in Christ, we focus on our experience as it relates to our encounter with Christ. 

In 1st Cor. 2:1-5, St. Paul says: 

“When I came to you, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom but with a demonstration of the Spirit of power so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.”



To St. Paul, witnessing is proclaiming the power of Christ.

Perhaps witnessing could be described as the sharing of what we’ve seen and what we’ve heard from our own experiences. What has Christ taught you? What has Christ done for you? Do you have life experiences of moments of your own death and resurrection?

Tertullian defines grace as "the awareness of the fact that I am acceptable by God despite my unacceptability."  Can we imagine the New Evangelization to be like an AA meeting. Joe comes forth during the meeting, and introduces himself: "My name is Joe. I’m an alcoholic."  And the community responds: "Good evening Joe. Welcome to our meeting." Grace becomes an awareness of the fact that I am acceptable despite my unacceptability. This awareness that we are acceptable despite our unacceptability gives us cause to witness to the goodness of the transforming presence of Christ.

Being a witness makes us ambassadors of Christ. An

ambassador is one who is called to represent, or to be a witness for the other.

Thursday 17 December 2015

A Grandfather's By-weekly Blog

I must begin the process of entering the social media world with a confession, namely that I know very little about how it operates, and therefore I am relying on the Len’s expertise to coach me along until I gain some proficiency in the system. With this in mind I will begin with a bit of personal family history.


Religion and church has been an integral part of my life as far back as I can remember, and for my first 20 years it was often a point of heated discussion in my family, resulting in strained relations and much internal tension. Fortunately however, I attended two churches during this growing up time; a Catholic and a United Church.  Both, I must admit, were a source of quiet, belonging and peace, and I was happy to attend. 

My early life, in those days, was probably a little different from anybody else born into a “ mixed marriage” with a compassionate and accepting Baptist Mom, a lapsed Catholic Father, who I think was a bit guilty about his distance from the Church.  A kind and compassionate Grandfather and a rigid but loving Irish Grandmother, both staunchly Catholic, hovered in the background, forming a mixture of relationships that often resulted in tension filled family discussions about my religious life. 

In the interest of brevity I shall focus on my Grandfather. Subsequent BLOGS will expand on other aspects of my religious life.


Readers of this BLOG will have no difficulty in understanding that all of this religious tension and activity in the life of a young male growing to manhood was tumultuous to say the least.   But through years of internal family bickering, my Grandfather was the quiet voice, a gentle man who said little, but was a shining example of a Christian by the way he lived and interacted with others …an attitude for others, regardless of background or state in life, that he acquired as a medic in the front line battles of the first world war in France and Belgium.  This example of a grateful Grandparent living his life in a Christ-like way slowly and unconsciously penetrated my inner self, and became a major influence in my eventual choice to convert to Catholicism.  This remains as a force in my present life as well.




Future BLOGS will expand on Grandparents in the church of today.


Ron Beed


Tuesday 15 December 2015

Catholic Grandparents and the Multimedia


The purpose of this posting is to describe to the members of the Nova Scotia Catholic Grandparents how we are using the multimedia (various internet platforms) to assist in meeting the objectives of the group.  Please read the first posting (letter to the Archdiocese re Catholic Grandparents) for a summary of the objectives of this group.

Blog Platform
First of all, our group will be using a blog for the purpose of sharing stories, a personal faith legacy, or communications such as this posting. This blog has been established using the Goggle platform.  The Google platform contains many features: e-mail under the prefix “gmail”, goggle interactive groups, and blogging to name a few.  The e-mail for the Nova Scotia Catholic Grandparents group is: rcatholicgrandparents@gmail.com.  Anyone wishing to make a posting to this blog can do so by sending it via attachment using this e-mail address.  The blogger administrator can then copy it into a blog posting.   

The blog itself has the name Nova Scotia Catholic Grandparents.  Once this name is googled, it will lead you to the blog postings; however, new blog postings and/or modification to existing ones cannot be done here.  This is a read-only public blog which anyone can see and read.

At the present time, only the blog administrators can make postings or modify existing ones within the blog.  This can be easily changed for members who wish to make their own postings simply by signing into the blog using above e-mail address and password which can be provided. 

Anyone can copy a blog posting to another internet platform like E-mail, Facebook or Twitter.  First go to the blog using the procedures described above.  All the blog postings are now available on one large scroll sheet.  Go to the posting you wish to copy and left click on the posting Title.  This posting now stands alone.  Go to the top left hand corner of your screen and find the link address for the posting.  It will start with “http”.  Right click (to highlight it) then left click “copy”.  The link for this posting is now in memory.  Go to Facebook or Twitter.  In the comment area, right click and then paste the link.  That posting is now available for your Facebook friends to read.  If you wish to send it to a single individual, it can be done by pasting it into an e-mail communication to that person on your contact list.

For those who would like to receive an e-mail notification of all the future entries to this blog, please enter your e-mail address in the "subscribe box" at the top right hand corner of the blog posting.  This is a means for you to keep in touch with all of the activity of this group, particularly if you do not use Facebook or Twitter. As mentioned above, if you wish to make a posting yourself, send your submission to the e-mail address shown above.

 

Facebook Platform (FB)
FB is the most commonly used internet platform.  Almost everyone is on it.  A FB group, under an administrator has been set up using the name: Nova Scotia Catholic Grandparents.  Right now, this is a closed group and only its members can see the postings.  Currently, any existing member can invite others from their FB community to join this group.   All postings from our blog will be displayed here using the copy/paste method described above.  This will probably be the primary area to share blog postings since it is the platform most commonly used.   Again, currently, only existing members can see them, but this can be changed to make them public.

Since all members of this FB group have access to these postings and their corresponding links, these can be copies and pasted into your own FB account for display to your FB friends or sent privately by way of FB messenger to another FB user.  This would be similar to an e-mail communication.


Twitter Platform
Twitter is the second most commonly used internet platform.  A group account has been set up in twitter under the name “CatholicGrandparents” with the hashtag “@CGrandparents”.  If you are a current twitter user, a search using either of these names will help you to find this group.  Current postings from the blog are also found here via tweets with the attached blog link.   Tweets can only be put on this group account by the administrator using the cut and paste features described above.  Anyone, however can read the tweets and activate the attached blog links, copy and paste the blog links into their own twitter account.  


If you are a twitter user, you can follow this group.  All of the group postings from “CatholicGrandparents” would then flow into the news-feed of your twitter account.  If you wish, you can favor them, or retweet them to your own followers or to a specific follower using their hashtag. Private communications are also available with other twitter users similar to an e-mail communication. 

I hope this is useful.  Be free to send an e-mail to rcatholicgrandparents@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Prepared by Len Moore

Sunday 22 November 2015

Early History of Spiritual Life & Values

If we take the time to reflect on the events of our life, we will, in all probability, remember special times of wonder, which I refer to as “graced moments”. Many writers have spoken of these moments in their books and articles, and have usually described them as life changing, or moments of clarity and insight.

I have early memories of grace as a child and I would like to share with you one event that happened when I was nine or ten years old. I recall as vividly as today when it happened. It was early one spring morning after a good night’s sleep. I got up out of bed. No one was around. My parents were about their chores, and my other brothers and sisters were either off doing chores or still sleeping. I stepped out the front door onto the door step of our farm house where I lived.




My mind was still quiet from my sleep. I then experienced a moment of clarity, of awareness, that remains stamped in my memory today. The spring air was very still, and contained a refreshing warmth and fragrance. I could hear the running of the water in the near-by stream that was swelled by spring rains. The swallows were flying around the barns and I could hear the flapping of their wings. For several seconds that seemed much longer, I experienced being suspended in a harmony, a peace, an inner contentment and joy with everything around me. For those few seconds, it was as if time stopped. And I experienced within myself a moment of joy and peacefulness, but not about any particular thing. Beyond the beauty of what I saw and heard and felt, there was something more that cannot be named; something ineffable, something deep, inner, holy. It was a graced moment that still remains vivid in my mind today. It was a gift.

On looking back at the beginnings of my own conversion to Christianity, I am left with many positive memories of this somewhat magical time, and I count my blessings for the love and acceptance that I received during a time which could have been filled with grave concern and division. 


I was not raised in any faith practice. In fact, if anything, a belief and dependence on God was looked upon more as a crutch or an escape from reality rather than something of a positive influence. Although these concepts were not strongly enforced in our upbringing, they were nevertheless subtly present, and they were views that I also openly shared during my adolescent years. As not to present my early venturing into adulthood as entirely negative, my parents did instill in me a conviction that all people deserved to be treated respectfully regardless of their station in life, and life on the farm certainly taught by example the need we have for the people around us.

There is a connectiveness among neighbours that is much more evident in a farming community than in the city. And

this deep understanding of interdependence leads to a type of generosity and respect for others that might otherwise be obscured by a more independent lifestyle. Therefore, even though I carried with me a disconnection with the concepts of faith, faith practice, and God, I was blessed with a gentle acceptance of others and a respect for their beliefs, even when it was different from my own. 

One is always surprised with those special experiences of life that lead to a conversion of one’s attitudes and beliefs, particularly those that are deeply engrained. This certainly happened to me in relation to matters of faith and faith experience. It came about mostly by observing the faith qualities that I saw in others who became important to me. These faith qualities were not expressed to me, but lived out in their lives in a free and spontaneous manner.

For two years in my late teens and early twenties, while working and studying, I boarded with a family in the South End of Halifax, a Catholic family I grew to love and admire. They were the Clarks. This was perhaps my first exposure to parents who practiced their Catholic faith, and at the same time, did what was necessary to share that faith with their five children. I heard them speak about God to the children in the way that parents would speak to young children. I saw the rushing around on Sunday to prepare five active children for church. I grew in appreciation of their commitment to this task, and I admired their freedom and spontaneity in faith expression that came out in so many subtle little ways in our day-to-day encounters. All in all, I thought, that if a life of faith could make visible such admirable qualities, then something very good has and can happen from living such a life.



I also made good friends with a fellow boarder, Ron, who was in full time attendance at St. Mary’s University. He was my age, and also a Catholic who practiced his faith. His friendship meant a lot to me and I admired his strength of character, his outgoing personality, and his friendly accepting mannerisms. During the day our paths did not cross too much since he was attending university and I was working. But we did meet daily at the important times of sharing meals with the Clarke family. It was in the sharing of meals together that our friendship and mutual respect for each other grew. On Sunday evenings, I noticed that he would often return to the university. After weeks of observing this, I asked him what would be going on at the university on a Sunday evening. He told me that he attends a folk mass there with some of his fellow students. He asked if I would like to come sometime. I accepted his invitation. 


The folk mass instantly appealed to me with its up-beat music, homilies directed towards young people, and explanations of the liturgy that seemed designed just for me. I experienced the sense of community that existed among these young university students, and enjoyed their friendly and welcoming manners. I felt at home.

At this same time, I began to date a girl who would later become my wife. When Mary Anne finished high school, 
she had entered the Sisters of Charity at
Mount St. Vincent Motherhouse in Halifax. However, after further discernment, she decided to pursue a different path. By coincidence, she ended up working in the same office as myself. We instantly became friends, and after a year of working together, we began to date. Mary Anne was firmly rooted in her Catholic faith. I admired this conviction and wished secretly that I could be as convinced as herself of the importance of living a faith in God. We openly shared our own unique experiences and views on life, and the seeds of desire to share her faith experience begin to germinate.

It was through these initial encounters with faith in action that I began to desire to share in what they had, and through this desire I began to pray for faith. The act of praying would suggest a belief in God. Perhaps faith had already taken birth and I did not realize it. However, after praying for a very short time, faith became real to me and with it a desire to be a part of the Catholic Church. I asked my friend Ron about how to join the Catholic Church. He was excited about the prospect, and introduced me to a priest at the university, a Jesuit by

the name of Father Pianfetti. Father Pianfetti was a quiet and saintly man who instantly agreed to take on the task of providing the instructions that would lead to my baptism. On June 24, 1967, with Ron as my Godfather, and Mary Anne at my side for support, I was immersed into the waters of baptism, and become a member of the Catholic faith community.

Monday 27 April 2015

Initial Newsletter to Archdiocese re Grandparents



  Catholic  Grandparents  Faith Community of Saint John XX111 Parish “      “  finding practical ways and means to pass the faith to  grandchildren.”     Logo used with  permission.
We are the Catholic Grandparents Faith Community of Saint John XX111 Parish in Dartmouth [ 2008 .] A parish initiative engaged in developing practical ways and means of passing on the faith to our grandchildren , sometimes known as the “ unchurched “  or “ the seekers.“

 How did this Initiative begin ?

In 2009 while visiting the National Shrine of Mary at Knock in Ireland I was introduced to an organization titled the Catholic Grandparents Association [ CGA ] whose primary purpose in life was to assist grandparents to pass on the faith . The organization was founded and is still led by  Catherine Wiley as a way to offset  the decline in attendance of adult grandchildren in our church’s and the growing disconnect in matters of faith that exists between many  grandparents and grandchildren.

The CGA  was well received in Europe, Rome and Australia and I thought it should be in Canada as well, so I joined the CGA as an associate member and began discussions [  ongoing ] to include  Saint John XX111 Parish as  the Canadian  associate. And naturally enough we decided to focus our activities within the bounds of our parish here in Dartmouth in a one year trial period . We commenced our activities in January 2015 and titled our initiative The Grandparents Faith Community of Saint John XX111 Parish.

The Goal.

The ultimate goal of this Initiative is simply expressed, but not easily attained is to build an ongoing personal relationship between grandparents, grandchildren [the unchurched] and Christ leading to a sharing of faith that is common to all. We must be  vigilant in assuring that the relationship between us is a mature one that is built and maintained on an understanding of how God’s  plan is playing out in each  of our lives ,in an atmosphere of  mutual respect , especially when our opinions, beliefs or  activities are in conflict.

The Challenge.

We believe that grandparents understand and appreciate that they have received a great gift of faith in our lives; we know grandparents are concerned with the disconnect they see with their adult grandchildren in matters of faith; they appreciate and value the special bond of love and respect they share with grandchildren and they have a strong desire to pass on their gift of faith to the grandchildren.  [I suppose this is a way of saying that a gift is not really a gift until you give it away.] We also know from the experience of others and me as well that our grandparent’s example of living in faith and their heartfelt invitations to join them in church created lasting, powerful, positive and warm memories, which may be an opening for dialogue.  It is also our believe that many  [ but not all ] grandchildren are searching for a spiritual base in their lives ,they are open to  examples  of living in faith and many will accept an  invitation from grandparents to begin a respectful dialogue on these matters.

We are under no allusion that developing a Grandparents Faith Community will be easy to achieve or maintain .We know that the task is a daunting one, especially when you consider that the disconnect between many grandparents and grandchildren in matters of faith is quite pronounced. Note1. Nonetheless we have begun the task of finding common ground to begin a dialogue, which includes the basic and powerful human need of all people to belong and to be in some sort of relationship with a God of our understanding. Grandparents and adult grandchildren also value an involvement in social concerns and our experience indicates that a gentle invitation to dialogue from a loving grandparent may be well received, at least in most cases.

And of course we enter the process of building grandparents faith community with confidence and knowledge that Christ is the directing force behind the Initiative and His Will, will or will not be done.   

The Foundation.

We are aware that the level of success of the Initiative will be determined by the extent that we acknowledge a Biblical base, by seeking guidance from the Holy Spirit and by the mature quality of relationships with adult grandchildren. The level of success of the initiative will also be determined by the extent that we are able to discover ways to engage our adult grandchildren into meaningful two-way conversation. This implies that we must be open to listen to things we may not want to hear and that may even contradict the faith experience we are trying to convey.

Searching scripture for a Biblical base for the Initiative led us to the 2nd. letter of Paul  to Timothy ,Paul’s trusted companion  and future Bishop of Ephesus when he writes  “ I remember your sincere faith , a faith that first resided in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice , and I am sure dwells also in you. “  This passage highlights thee important role of grandparents [   and parents] in passing on the faith from generation to generation, a process that continues to this day with grandparents and parents still paying a vital role in the process.

Participation by grandparents and grandchildren is essential to achieve success in building the faith community. We appreciate that this is a process that will take time, effort and trial and error on our part and we are beginning by encouraging grandparents to connect with grandchildren by sending the grandchild a   purpose designed celebratory communiqué that is focused on a shared story, an event or time of faith in times past and highlights the Christ that is in the event.  The focus of each communiqué is on the needs of grandchildren, emphasizes the sense of gratitude, pride and love felt by grandparents for their grandchildren as they celebrated the occasion and highlights the sense of well being, of belonging and  sharing common faith experiences in Christ centered activities.

Grandchildren are invited to accept the communiqué from their grandparents as a gift of faith, a remembrance of the spirit of Christ present in special events like Baptisms, first communion, confirmation, graduation, marriage, birth of a child, anniversaries, funerals, or other faith filled events AND they are invited to open a dialogue by replying to the communiqué on our face book, twitter, blog and any other social medium system available to us. Obviously a central ingredient in the success of this program is the material in the communiqués which must be carefully prepared with a focus on the needs of adult grandchildren.

Our Direction.

 Archbishop Mancini’s Pastoral Letter to the people of the Archdiocese in October 2014 titled Quo Vadis, Domine ?  Asked the question  “Lord, where are you going? “  This is an excellent question to ask of us, but we are barely beginning our journey in building this faith community and quite honestly we do not have an answer to this question. We realize that the process of building the faith community must be deliberate and will evolve through time, experience, reflection and a degree of risk taking.  This is why the trial period in 2015 is so important for us as we build our organization, encourage support and participation from the congregation and reach out to the “ unchurched “who live   beyond the boundaries of the church. Not everything we do this year will bear fruit but we will continue our efforts to the end of 2015 when we meet to assess our progress…or lack of ….

Our activities to date.

We began in January and our agenda includes
 … Two   8 week courses on writing a guided autobiography of our lives and faith development to be passed to family members as a gift of faith from grandparents; in progress. Second one begins in April.
… commissioned a series of ads on Seaside FM Community Radio for broadcast in Lent as a way to spread the word that we are a Catholic voice in the community; in progress.
… writing the communiqués and developing the social media system; start date is April 15. in progress.
…  offering a Fall/Winter small group discernment course with the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius Loyola; begins in October.
… planning a review session to assess our progress and chart a course for the year 2016; November.
… meeting with church organizations to identify an activity in the community that can be supported as an acknowledged activity of Saint John XX111

 Acknowledgements.

We are thankful to Fr. Paul Morris, the Grandmothers group at St. Vincent De Paul, Father Earl Smith, SJ, the  members  of the Grandparents Faith Community in Saint John  XX111  including Aileen,  John and Sandy, Joan, Burke, Deacons  Larry Worthen and Len Moore , Barb, Karen , Tom,  the Knights of Columbus , the CWL , Sister Claire Marie, CSM  and  others. Special mention to Fr. Irek Bim , our Pastor, Bishop Mancini and John Stevens at the Archdiocesan office for their financial and administrative support.

By-Line.

Ron Beed, An adult convert to Catholicism. Educated at St. FX, St. Mary’s and Carleton Universities. Graced and gifted by a twelve year association with Father John Trainor, SJ and his program on the Spiritual Exercises at the Jesuit Spirituality Centre in Halifax and Guelph, Ontario. [[Married to Aileen with four children, eight grand children and one lovely little great grand daughter.]]
 Note 1.   Kristan- Johnstone Largen.  “ Religious Identity in the 21st.Century.Virtual Communities, Double- Belonging ,and the Place of the Individual. ” [ Paper presented at the Dr.Paul Watson Lecture , Saint Mary’s University, Halifax. NS., November, 2014.]