Some things to mull over...

The challenges we face as followers of Edmund Rice in a country like Australia today...

HE ONE THING you can say about "being Catholic" is that we are never short of things to mull over. The opening of another year, the beginning of Lent, the challenges facing the Church in Western society, the sea change that has been happening in the life of the Christian Brothers Congregation – all of these sorts of things provide an opportunity for reflection and asking questions about what do we do next?

Br Kevin Ryan, Holy Spirit Province Leader, in his thank you for all of us who have been working in Edmund Rice Ministries poses some of the questions we need to be mulling over in the Edmund Rice Network.

This newsletter also provides much "good news". One of the best bits of news concerns the growth that the Christian Brothers are again beginning to experience in their work in the third world. Vocations are on the rise again and the tone of news coming from the international level of the Edmund Rice Network has changed from one of pessimism at declining vocations almost to one of being overwhelmed by the work to be done. The harvest is full but the number of labourers is few.

In our own neck of the woods, there is also positive news with a deepening interest amongst young people about spirituality. The Christian Brothers have responded to this with the establishment in Perth and Adelaide of two new hospitality houses open to young people. They are seeking fresh ways in which to elicit interest in vocations and voluntary commitments to Edmund Rice Ministries. Walking around any of the Christian Brothers schools one also picks up a mood of optimism and confidence. The core work of Edmund Rice that the Christian Brothers established in Australia over a century is continuing on imbued with that founding spirit of service to others and lifting young people up through access to high quality education.

Our schools today are better resourced than they have ever been and, in many ways, morale has never been higher. There is also a sense of excitement out in all the newer ministries that have been established in recent decades seeking to reach out to sectors of society who remain marginalised against the mainstream of Australian society.

There remains one enormous and paradoxical challenge to all this though. The fact is that there has been a massive abandonment of institutionalised faith practice in Australia. The paradox is that there seems to be a big increase in spiritual awareness and much searching, particularly by young people, for alternative ways to respond to God's movement within us. The Christian Brothers have long had a close affiliation with young people through their schools, Edmund Rice Camps and in other ways and are very much alive to these changes happening within society.

In a sense, the Church in the Western world today face challenges that are every bit as significant as those which Edmund Rice faced more than two centuries ago when he endeavoured to give the second class citizens of Ireland, and later countries like Australia, a "fair go" through access to basic education. Today the significant challenge is not in providing basic education. The Church today does though face a huge communication problem and, for some reason, not totally connected with the allure of secularism and consumerism alone, is unable to maintain communication at a significant level even with her core baptised constituency. In a diverse number of ways the Christian Brothers are seeking ways to address this challenge.

In the privacy of spirituality programs, like Qavah and the other formation programs run in Edmund Rice Ministries, we are able to address some of the difficulties with openness and candour. When we enter the public arena it seems very difficult to maintain our spirit of openness and candour and to reach out to those now tens of millions across the face of the Western world who are increasingly turning a deaf ear to anything much the Church has to say. Could we ask: What would Edmund Rice have done? What would Jesus have done?

As Kevin Ryan said in his address, the Brothers are "open for business". Could we suggest there are three issues that you might reflect upon as you make your way through this newsletter: