Being Catholic in Australia requires great courage and great faith in a society that no longer believes in Christian values says Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB.
Speaking at a gathering of Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulchre recently, the Archbishop of Perth said the challenge of being Catholic would become “ever stronger and ever more demanding” and would require “great faith”.
The Archbishop made the remarks when preaching on the New Evangelisation during an investiture ceremony at St Joseph’s parish in Subiaco earlier this month.
“The New Evangelisation isn’t new in terms of its message, the message is the same; it’s the same as it’s been for 2,000 years… that God loved the world so much that he sent his son so that the world would not be lost but would be saved,” Archbishop Costelloe said.
“At its heart, even what we might call the strategies are the same; to gather as community to celebrate the sacraments, to be a community of prayer… of mutual support … that reaches out to others in love and care.
“What is new is the context in which we are called to live our lives as Christians. No longer are the values that we hold dear as Catholics and the values that we see in our society around us closely aligned to each other.
He said the challenge of being faithful to what it means to be a Catholic community was becoming ever more demanding and required great courage and faith.
“That courage and faith will come, ultimately of course, from the Lord but it will also come from the support and the encouragement, the understanding, and the compassion, the forgiveness and the love that we show to each other and draw from each other as a Christian community,” Archbishop Costelloe said.
Recently returning from the synod on the New Evangelisation in Rome, the Archbishop said there were two things central to the New Evangelisation; that Christ is at the centre of our lives and that those lives are shared and nurtured in community.
“Our faith is nothing if it is not centred firmly and clearly and explicitly on Jesus … not just in theory, but in practice.
“Jesus stands at the heart of our lives and of our faith and not as somebody who lived long ago to whom we look as a source of encouragement and inspiration, not only that, because he is that, but much more … Jesus is alive … we encounter him in the Church that more than anywhere else we encounter him as we gather around the altar to celebrate the Eucharist.”
The Church was, and must be, the living sign that Jesus continues to be alive and active in our world today, the Archbishop said.
“The New Evangelisation must begin from the place and community that is active in the person of Christ … He calls us together to be his disciples … In other words, he calls us together to be the Church.”