Adult Faith Formation Coordinator Dominican Sister Margaret Scharf helps people to deepen their relationship with Jesus – to come to know who He is and who God is in their lives. Photo: Supplied.
By Amanda Murthy
“Our various Archdiocesan agencies were formed in response to people’s needs. Sometimes, Catholics are not aware that they have a need,” she said.
“Just by creating the awareness to encourage them to ask for help, and extend the available resources, we can play our role in bringing Christ back into the Church and the Church back into Christ.”
This is a process that takes time, Sr Margaret admits. However, the ongoing needs of people in the parish and school communities have been taken into account and an action plan is being implemented.
She explained to The Record that there are several gaps in the Church that she hopes to bridge through her role.
“One of the gaps which we have identified is: what is happening to the young adults in the community?
“It seems like they’re in the Catholic environment until they finish school, and sometimes lose touch with the Church. It’s only when they have their own children and desire that their children receive the Sacraments that they start to come back to the Church again.”
Sr Margaret explained that this is not entirely the fault of young adults because often there aren’t any associations or programs that cater to young families and Catholics in the faith community.
“The Church includes other groups with particular needs for spiritual and faith formation. For example, many faithful people in the Catholic community find their spiritual and faith journey a personal challenge because there may not be programs on offer for parishioners.
“Then, there are those who are distanced from the Church as a result of various hurts and those who are thinking of returning to a parish faith community,” she said.
By identifying some of these needs, Sr Margaret said the big questions now revolve around how we encourage people to come back home to the Church.
This is a question Sr Margaret has asked and answered many times during her ministry, from the time she joined the Congregation of Dominican Sisters of Western Australia some 42 years ago.
Sr Margaret, under the guidance of Bishop Sproxton, has been working with schools and parishes to fulfil the spiritual needs of the community. Photo: Supplied.
From the start, her time and energy was invested in primary education and administration, the development of religious education programs and training of catechists in both the Diocese of Geraldton and the Solomon Islands, upholding the Dominican focus of prayer, study, community and preaching.
With a strong academic background in spirituality, Sr Margaret’s has ample experience in spiritual direction and supervision, leading retreats and presentations for parishes, Catholic school staffs and Religious communities.
Sr Margaret is also a composer-come-songwriter with works published in WA and the USA since the 1970s.
Sr Margaret said new plans are currently underway for Adult Faith Formation in the Archdiocese.
“At the moment, the several Archdiocesan agencies have created the Adult Faith Formation Network, providing programs in various areas of church and life. Under the leadership of the Vicar for Adult Faith Formation, Auxiliary Bishop Donald Sproxton, an implementation group has been formed with a mandate to work towards designing a strategic plan that can be implemented in parishes.
“For parishes, we will focus on foundational topics and expand gradually, so that parishioners will be offered more in-depth programs in spiritual and faith formation.”
Sr Margaret shared some of the more common topics discussed during the parish formation workshops, according to parish needs.
God has always taken the initiative in calling us to a deep friendship, constantly reaching out to us.
“We know there is a need in the parishes and, similarly, I have designed an ongoing spiritual and faith formation programme for potential leaders in schools, called ‘Galilee’ as I found there are very few programs for Catholic educators.
“It is so important that Catholic educators are equipped with the necessary knowledge so they can empower their students and staff to be better leaders and to encourage a society that prays and embodies the Church’s teachings,” she said.
Sr Margaret said while responding to the programs made available to the Catholic community, she reiterated the importance of gaining information on faith from the proper channels.
“We agencies want to offer people foundational topics. We are dealing with adults – the desire is to offer some depth to their learning experiences.”
Sr Margaret added that the Church has people who minister in all areas of life who are qualified and experienced, having done the background work in order to give the best of the teaching and process work needed for participants to deepen their relationship with God and the Church.
“God has always taken the initiative in calling us to a deep friendship, constantly reaching out to us. If and when we do respond, we need to nurture our spiritual and faith life in order to develop this loving relationship.
“Only then, will we realise how this deep friendship connects us to God and others, and the reign of God will become a reality on earth, as in heaven,” she concluded.
From pages 14 to 15 of Issue 15: ‘Archdiocesan Plan 2016 – 2021: Halfway mark filled with determination to commit to bring Church in Perth closer to Christ’ of The Record Magazine