Reflection with Bishop Nicholas Hudson

On 7 July, we were joined by Bishop Nicholas Hudson. He is Auxiliary Bishop in Westminster with oversight for the Agency for Evangelisation, Youth and Justice and Peace in the diocese. Bishop Nicholas joins us, representing Cardinal Nichols. He will encourage us in our ministry with young people and offer a reflection for our conversation together. Read Bishop Nicholas Hudson’s reflection here.

Prayer and connecting

Don’t let them rob you of hope and joy, or drug you into becoming a slave to their interests. Dare to be more, because who you are is more important than any possession. What good are possessions or appearances? You can become what God your Creator knows you are, if only you realize that you are called to something greater. Ask the help of the Holy Spirit and confidently aim for the great goal of holiness. In this way, you will not be a photocopy.
You will be fully yourself.  Pope Francis, CV 107.

Connecting
How am I arriving here this morning?
How am I called to be fully myself today?

O God, we know that you are with us, and that you accompany us in all that we do.
Grant that by the light of your Holy Spirit we may have the wisdom to accompany others well and the courage to take up this work.
We pray through Christ, our Lord.
Amen

Breakouts
What have you heard which may be of use to you in your work of accompaniment and support of young people?

Feedback from participants:
Vocation – career, getting married, religious life – who am I for? It stretches that, gives it a deeper meaning.
Living for joy by serving others
Set up society for y.p to aspire to these goals
Who do you care for? – should define us
What am I doing?
How do we help the stranger?
Covid-19 has far reaching implications for the future
Small gestures can make a big difference especially in the me, myself and I culture we live in
Skillsets – how do we use these? How can we go a step further and empower others?
Facing god in the best way possible – Job descriptions
Witness of the saints – mental illness, disabilities – story you can connect them to – can be used as a guide
Be curious – what generosity have they shown during this time – BLM – would be great to acknowledge them
Who are you for? Who is right in front of you?
transition – lose people – how do we build those bridges?
The importance of personal relations
Volunteering ideas:
Use my eyes –helping the visually impaired with online activites
Age concern – befriending
Pre-recorded songs of praise – outreach to the wider community
Covid phone ins – do wordsearches together
Work with the schools liaison team at the uni

RESOURCES:

The second mountain – David Brooks
Fr Stephen Wang's Pause for Faith YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbrIxeH2TSwEc8eVwwMGv8w
BCYS Called to Act – 4:32

From Million Minutes:
Nominate a young person/group for a Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati Award today, find out more information here.
‘Prepare the Future’ Pope Francis has called us to ‘prepare the future’, not passively ‘prepare for the future’. With this new 12 unit resource we hope your young people - as prophets of change for the world - will begin to paint a picture of tomorrow. Each unit offers leaders’ notes (also suitable for young adults) alongside young people’s notes and resources for reflection. We also provide editable material for you to create your own, bespoke resources. The first two units – Called to be and Called to listen – can be downloaded now at: millionminutes.org/future.

For more details on our next conversations and to register please visit: millionminutes.org/conversations