Making the difference” “” “

“I am convinced that one of the priorities of our archdiocese today is the development of the faith and the spiritual growth of Catholics, in particular of those who exercise or have the intention of exercising some ministry in the parish or at the service of the diocese”. That’s how the archbishop of Glasgow, Msgr. MARIO CONTI , explains the initiative of the archdiocese that for the second year running is offering adults a crash programme in religious education. News of the project is carried by the diocesan monthly “Flourish”. Videos, DVDs, Bible courses, lectures and seminars will punctuate the two courses for the pastoral year 2004-2005, planned respectively for November this year and February 2005. And meanwhile, at the end of four years of studies, the first nine “students” of the Loyola Institute for the programme of formation for the ministry (Limex) have been awarded their diplomas. Father Hugh White of St Andrews and Edinburgh created the programme in the early 1990s. IN THE PARISH. Holy Scripture, prayer, ethics and morals, family spirituality, ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue, reflections of Christ, the meaning of life, Church and sacraments: these are some of the themes that will be tackled in the “courses” promoted by the diocese and assigned to priests, religious and lay teachers. The courses are held in the evenings (from 7.30 to 9.00 pm) on different days each week in many parishes to permit the greatest possible participation of the faithful. “In our second year of activity – observes Father JOHN MC GRORRY, director of the Centre for Religious Formation – we have built on the experience of last year, in the conviction that we are offering an opportunity to an ever-greater number of people to gain a deeper understanding of their own faith”. DREAMING BIG. “Making the difference in the world” is the motto of the theology course of Limex, four years of coursework on Friday evenings at the office of the Curia which have prepared the first nine “graduates” to place their new-found knowledge at the service of others. During the ceremony for the award of the diplomas, held in St Andrew’s cathedral in recent weeks, Archbishop Conti presented a towel to the diploma-holders, “a symbol – he said – of the witness of service that Jesus offered by washing the feet of his disciples”. MARK MARKULY, director of Limex, remarked that “in an ever-more confused world, constantly bombarded with information and disinformation, it is becoming ever-more difficult, but at the same time ever-more necessary for the Church to ‘raise’ Catholic adults furnished with a solid grasp of our tradition of faith”. Being Christian apostles, he continued, “means dreaming big, cultivating hopes and ideals”, while at the same time “coming to terms with the reality of violence, hunger and injustice of the world”; a situation in which, nonetheless, “the voice of God continues to be heard”. THE FIRST SMILE. “I felt a need to give a rational foundation to my faith – says ANDY MILVAIN, who with his wife Ann Marie took the diploma in Pastoral Studies -, and what helped me was the dynamism of Limex: the study of texts, personal reflection, group discussions and the sharing with other students”. “As Christians today we have the responsibility to be active witnesses of faith in all the environments we frequent. By studying at Limex my faith was strengthened and I learned to appreciate also that of others”, said ELLEN MC BRIDE. But what is faith? For MICHAEL PAUL GALLAGHER, Jesuit and lecturer in theology at the Gregorian University in Rome, who in recent days gave an introductory lecture to the diocesan course of religious education for adults, “it’s a ‘yes’ of man to the ‘yes’ of Christ, it’s like the first smile of a child” who “feels himself loved”. But today faith “is sick, as if scarred by deep wounds”. “With the loss of collective memory – explained the theologian – the ‘stories’ have been forgotten and the language of the faith has been lost”. To this is added “the spiritual loneliness of many who fail to find companions in their search for meaning” and “the lack of those feelings for God and for man that our forefathers had”. That’s why we need, in Father Gallagher’s view, to “rediscover the essence of the faith” by cultivating “biblical spirituality and the reasons for believing” through the fusion between “reason and feeling”. The “ocean in which we swim itself provides us with values and models of life, perhaps without us being conscious of the fact”. “Faith also requires a greater consciousness of responsibility for our actions, and hence commitment in the service to justice; but – said Father Gallagher – “a new sense of belonging to the Church as the community of which we all form part” is also needed”.