Diversity and multiplicity on the spiritual journey

15 December 2010
Intermission

India/Sri Lanka (English-speaking) Group
Varghese, Patrick, Augustine, Srimal, Lijo, Tessa

Points discussed in the group

People who are living with a negative experience, or people who have lived a negative experiences in their life, what kind of spirituality can we propose?

1. To make young to reflect on their life… what are the spiritual, religious needs of man?
2. Did you ever felt the need of God as a spiritual need, which will have to be fulfilled?
3. If you are asked to review your spiritual life, what will be the aspect.

As we see the basic problem today facing the faith formation of the young is obviously the difficulty in making the young realize the role of a personal God in their lives. Their experience of their own selves and that of the world does not offer them any direct connection with God. So as educators what can you do to bring about this relationship with a personal God in the lives of the young?  Do the activities that we propose to the young favor a personal relationship with God? What kind of a God-image are we projecting to our young? Does it make them more frustrated or does it create an attraction in them?

What kind of an image of God have you created for yourself right from your childhood? Has it undergone some changes as you grew up? If yes, has it been for better or for worse? What image of God do you have right now? What are the factors that have played a role if you have undergone a change in your image of God? Who are the people who have played a role in it?

Very often it is said “values are not taught but caught”, in this light how important you think has been the role of the family in forming religious values in your lives? How strong has been this role of the family in your faith formation? Do you think that the existence of the families is a real need for a better world? In the present context of “composed families”, “gay families” etc. how are these things going to have its effect on the faith formation of the children?

To youth:  In the history, there has been many ‘types of spirituality’ proposed by the adults (elders) for the young addressing the challenges of particular period. The demanding need  is to have a spirituality from the young for the young, taking into consideration the existing challenges. Therefore the question is: What would be a ‘spirituality’ (that includes the dimensions of experience, reason and responsibility) that you propose for the youth of today?

To the parents, animators and educators:  There is an essential and qualitative difference between ‘human-spirituality’ and ‘christian spirituality’. The personal experience and the historical revelation of God are the fulcrums of christian spirituality. Faith is an attitude of dialogue with God who calls everyone to meet Him in ways he reveals himself. Taking to heart these fundamental aspects of christian spirituality: 

1. How do we live and express our Christian spirituality?
2. How do we transmit this spirituality  or how do we help our youngsters to imbibe or personalize these essential aspects? 
3. Do we create an environment of authentic christian spirituality that helps our youngsters to be inspired to live this spirituality? (The values are not taught but they are caught. So too spirituality)

Man is not religious by birth. But he can become a religious being. The person gradually enters into rapport with God through natural psychic process. If man is not naturally religious then what is that which orients him towards God and the religious message? It is his impulse, his desires, his personal experience of God.

Man has a natural desire for God. But he has also certain negative tendencies which can tend to lead him astray. There are many religious life styles and spirituality which in one way or the other speak of helping the person to reach God, the Transcendent. But they also advocate perverse practices. For eg., human desire for happiness and longing for sexual pleasure has given rise to the so called religious practices advocated by Rajneesh and Osho. So,

• How can we deal with these two desires – good and bad – to evolve a way to living our life and to enter into rapport with God? 
• In spirituality the human desire and experience have a great influence. There are many people who have some negative experience of rejection, exploitation, depression. What spirituality can be proposed for such people who undergo negative experiences?

There are different spiritualities and religious movements: Christian spirituality, spirituality like Franciscan, Salesian, Ignatian etc., Hare Rama Hare Krisna movement, New Age spirituality, Art of Living, Yoga etc.  There are some common elements in different spiritualities and movements.  At the same time there are some differences. 

• As Christians how do you respond to the presence of such diversity and multiple spirituality?
• What could be your attitude towards Christian way of living the faith and the other person living a particular Spirituality? 
• What are the challenges of Christian spirituality in the context of great diversity and multiple spirituality?

Text: Srimal

Photos: Augustine, Patrick, Lijo, Srimal, Varghese

Need for an integrated process

Basic models and foundational experiences
1 December 2010

English-speaking Group

Varghese, Patrick, Augustine, Srimal, Lijo, Tessa

Here are the main points made by the Indian/Sri Lankan group in our Wednesday morning discussion. They are presented here in point form.

• Often the youngsters don’t find very many models among the adults.  So much of talk is being done, but very little of actualization in practice.  This creates a frustration in many of our youngsters. 

• There is an increasing need to treat spirituality, not just as something for two or three days or months, but an integrated process that takes them throughout their whole life. In this journey the youth need a constant help and encouragement from the adults. They expect real witnesses much more than just the teachings and theories. This calls for a real effort from the part of the adults. 

• The young find the traditional prayers, sacraments and rituals meaningless as these things make little of influence in their lives.  Much of it remains as an abstract idea. The role of the Catholic church in communicating the Gospel Message to the youth of today needs to be stressed. It has to evaluate and find out where they have failed in communicating the message of Christ and also it has to propose innovative ways of offering the gospel message to the youth. 

• There is another phenomenon that is taking shape today in the form of travelling groups, which go from one place to another, carrying just a photo camera and a shoulder bag. They spend days and days on taking photos going from place to place.  Later on getting back to their own places they write their journals and make a reflection on all that they have come across during their journey.  Now, can we call it a spirituality? What is it that these youngsters looking for? 

• What is needed today is a creative thinking. We need to keep in mind the important Christian religious identity linked to the four dimensions – communitarian, ethical, cultural and emotional. We will have to start from their daily life experiences and derive a spirituality out of these experiences and need to be convinced of the spirituality model which we are proposing to the youth.

Submitted by Sr Tessa George
Photos  by Joe Boenzi

Radical rethinking needed

Spirituality as a holistic faith journey: what genetics and psychology can teach us
24 November 2010

Indian Group 

Lijo Vadakkan, Varghese Pallipuram

Youth of today have many doubts with regard to their life of morality and life of faith. In their day to day life, they are come across situations of crisis with regard to their moral life. They look for answers for their questions relating to their life of spirituality. Very often they do not approach priests and religious for getting answers to their moral and spiritual problems. We are able to satisfy some of their needs like intellectual needs, security needs, recreational needs etc. In the Catholic Church, we have educational institutions which provide quality education to the adolescents and youth. We have vocational training centres to equip the youth with a trade and thus the youth are able to get a job. We also have facility for providing recreation to the youth, through our youth centres. We have failed in satisfying the spiritual needs of the youth. Priests and religious are not competent enough to satisfy the youth convincingly in resolving some of their questions relating to moral issues and areas of Faith.

In the context of India, we have many past pupils who have passed out of our own Christian institutions and they hold good positions in the society. We do not see these past pupils leading a good moral and value based life in the society. They are caught up in the worldly attractions like getting power, position, money etc. by using any illegal means like taking bribes, involved in corruption etc.  We might ask what sort of education we are giving them, if they are not able to lead a good moral and spiritual life in the society. One area of concern in the context of India is that we are not able to impart the Christian values to the youth because of the religious fanaticism existing in the society. Our Christian institutions are targeted at times by the Hindu fanatics for imparting Christian values to adolescents and youth. Another area of concern is the witness value of the Church. Priests and religious are not able to convince the youth on certain moral and Christian values because they are not truly becoming witnesses of Christ, today. Youth do not find role models in priests and religious.

Some radical changes in the Catholic Church will have to be thought of in accompanying the youth of today in their journey of Faith.

Secretary: Varghese Pallipuram
Photo: Joe Boenzi: "Morning walkways at Salesian University", 2010; "Garden walkways, Shrine of Bandel", 2009.

How can the Church better reach the young?

Youth and Religiosity in the Socio-Cultural Context of Europe
10 November 2010

Discussion Group: 

Patrick Anthonyraj Alexander, Srimal Gajasinhage

Tessa George, Varghese Pallipuram Matthew

Augustine Toppo, Lijo Vadakken

Group discussion on youth spirituality in Europe, as understood from our reading and from our own experiences of living recently on this continent.

• Young people often seek for an immediate joy and happiness. “Here and now” is a kind of watchword for them. But the Church’s message always has an eschatological tone where this Joy and Happiness is seen as something that comes later on. So how can we build a better rapport between the Church and the young without at the same time sacrificing or diluting the Gospel values? 
• We also need to be very open to the positives aspects in the young. Our starting point could be exactly the good that we find in them. There is need for a serious examination of conscience to see what exactly the Church’s attitude towards the youth is. 
• Very often the youth are not culpable but victims. Many of them find themselves victims of discrimination, social injustice, the social set up etc.
• Often the Christian ethics places too much stress on Sexuality.  Good or bad is often decided upon basing one’s sexual conduct.  The youth find this attitude of the Church very frustrating.  
• The youngsters have also lost the sense of sacredness of the body. 
• The tendency of the Church at times is to bring the youth into its world of thinking without making any effort to enter into their world. If we have to be effective in our approach towards the young what is required would be to enter into their world and see the good in them and start from there. (Love what the young love, and they will begin to love what you love! Don Bosco)
• We also come across a group of youth that shows itself to be very active, full of initiatives, with regular meetings, sharing etc. But what exactly is the motivation behind this coming together? Is it that they are really interested in Gospel values and their Christian identity or is it because they want to satisfy some of their own basic personal needs like need to be together, social status, personal benefits from the Church etc.
• At times there is a tendency to make the youth involved in accomplishing so many activities (for example, during the summer the youth who make a trip to Lourdes to help the sick, or a group that takes up a project work to help missions etc. ) But then, it lasts for that summer and then comes to a standstill. Instead of creating a fragmented spirituality of this sort we need to educate the youth for an integrated spirituality.
• Great events like World Youth Day (WYD) try to give a clear message to the youth that the Church is really interested in them. But these events should also be used as an occasion to communicate the Gospel values in a deliberate manner.  
• The principal persons in the lives of the young are Parents, Teachers, Priests, Nuns etc. and so these persons should be well motivated to pass on the values to the young.

In the Indian context we have a very good example RSS or VHP people who have a clear cut strategy in brainwashing the young in spite of the differences of caste and creed and language. If not going to such an extreme of fundamentalism, we also see the need for a clear strategy even in our evangelization especially among the young.

Secretary: Lijo
Photography: Joe Boenzi, South Asian Discussion Group 10 November 2010

Our young people in context

The World of Youth in Today's Context              

GROUP MEMBERS

Varghese Pallipuram Matthew

Augustine Toppo

Srimal Gajasinhage

Lijo Vadakken

Patrick Anthonyraj Alexander

Points discussed in the group

• The young are basically interested in spiritual activities. That is the reason they flock to the centres and movements of new spirituality.
• The content of the new spirituality is same as the catechism or homily of our parish priests and parents when we were young.
• The youngsters are not careless; but cared less. The second part of the chapter ‘ nuovo interesse per la spiritualità’ indicates clearly that the young have a longing for the spirituality. The reality that the young not frequenting the church gives us (parents, animators, etc)  the challenge of offering a new and creative sprituality that will satiate their spiritual needs.
• They combine psychology and spirituality and offer to the young in a way that attracts them. Only the form is different. In the catholic spirituality we have more profound and deeper experience.
• The experience of Buddhistic sprituality in Sri Lanka is simple, participative, profound and involves greater preparation on the part of the youngsters. It helps them to have an experience of God. Even the meditation with chanting.
• It is a challenge for animators, catechists, formators and parents to create innovative and meaningful forms of spirituality and offer them to the young.
• Youth spirituality in the context of religious pluralism will have to be given a serious thought. Good elements/values can be taken from other religions – inculturation. 

Youth do not show much interest in participating in the traditional religious practices. They are looking for some new experiences of spirituality. Are we prepared to give them what they are looking for?

Secretary: Patrick Alexander
Photography: "Kids at the Pastoral Centre, Shillong," 2009, by Joe Boenzi

Young people in the changing contexts of India

THE INDIAN CONTEXT
13 October 2010

Discussion Group: 

Tessa, Patrick, Lijo, Varghese, Augustine 

The Indian context is characterized by a blending of various cultures, languages, religions and ethnic groups. The Indian society is undergoing tremendous changes in all spheres. In such situation the youth that we find are those who are looking for guidance to adapt themselves in changing environment.

Social Context:
Youth find themselves amidst clash and confusion of values. Some practices which were considered as taboos in the past are freely accepted as normal practices. eg. smoking.

Breaking of social bonds of families have great impact on the youth.

Educational context:
There are youth who have no access to higher education.

On the other hand the youth who have access to education is more of employment oriented rather than quality education for the formation of life of the young.

Economic context:
Under the impact of globalization and other economic forces,  young people are able to earn lot of money in a short time. The city culture is creeping in i.e., youth from the periphery are moving to the urban areas and the cities in search of jobs.  In such situation the desire to earn more money, to get rich by quick money and other such economic desires are those which control other aspects (religious practices, time table, family life etc.).

Religious context:
For some religion and ethics is considered more as a private affair. At the same time, there are youth who show great interest on prayer and their sense of belonging to the church. ‘Jesus Youth’ movement has attracted many youth and they show great interest in prayer and greater participation in the religious activity.

There is a greater openness towards new religious movement, search for spirituality and new ways of meditation.

Secretary: Augustine Toppo

Photo "Youth of Rural Meghalaya",  by Joe Boenzi