How to stay thankful in our ministry?

We invited Sr Gemma Collins CJ to join us and share with us her thoughts about how we might stay grateful in our ministry. It helped to give us grounding for our own reflections and a conversation about what this means for our work with young people. Are there things to learn about our own approach to our ministry? Are there learning’s we can share with our young people?

To help to prepare for the conversation we asked you to take a few moments to consider the following two questions:
- How have I remained grateful in times of anguish and difficulty?
- How has thankfulness led me to new, unexpected places?

Prayer and connecting

Are you looking for passion? As that beautiful poem says: “Fall in love!” (or “let yourself be loved!”), because “nothing is more practical than finding God, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, whom you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything”.[70] This love for God, that can approach everything in life with passion, is possible thanks to the Spirit, for “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Rom 5:5). Pope Francis, Christus Vivit 132

Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyên Van Thuân, when imprisoned in a concentration camp, refused to do nothing but await the day when he would be set free. He chose “to live the present moment, filling it to the brim with love”. He decided: “I will seize the occasions that present themselves every day; I will accomplish ordinary actions in an extraordinary way”.[78] As you work to achieve your dreams, make the most of each day and do your best to let each moment brim with love. This youthful day may well be your last, and so it is worth the effort to live it as enthusiastically and fully as possible. Pope Francis, Christus Vivit 148

Faith sharing: What am I grateful for this morning? In life? In ministry?

Sr Gemma Collins CJ Input: Gratitude
Sr Gemma began by reflecting on how Cardinal Martini helped young Italian Catholics reengage with the sacrament of reconciliation. He encouraged them to move from the tribal cultural catholicism to a place where their faith is intentional and to use the sacrament as a means to do this. He said that he don’t want anybody to come in and only talk about their sins, to make a confession of their sins, before they have first made a confession of light. He encouraged them to reflect on how they have been given graces and gifts within their life – to discover those places in life which shine with the brightness of God’s goodness. From this we see how we can place gratitude as one of our foundations for our spiritual life.
St Gemma continued to share how the pattern of staying thankful can be found in the Ignatian Examen – St Ignatuis said it was essential to discipleship
We begin every night with looking at what has been the gift of the day - during COVID-19 we probably have all got to a point where we are grateful to have just gotten through the day but at least I can thank God for that - that I didn’t go under. The prayer reminds us that we are never alone. I survived the day because you never left me, we are not hung out to be left to dry by God.
Some people express this as the sacrament of the present moment - recognising the presence of Go in the here and now. When we go over and over things that have happened in the past or think ahead to the future (what we can’t change and what we can’t control) we forget to live in the current moment.
Young children are great reminders of this. They have the ability to stay present to the present moment and let the present be present to them. Building on this, Sister reminded us that “If you’re too busy, you’re too busy”. How many times have we all been too busy to - have a cup of tea with someone? Do work? To sit down? - Giving thanks. Living in the present moment = Experiencing what we already posses
Quoting Thomas Merton: “In prayer we discover what we already have, you start by where you are and you deepen what you already have and you realise that you are already there, we already have everything, but we dont know it and dont expierence it, everything has been given to us in Christ, all we need is to expierence what we already possess.”
Wherever gratitude is – has to start from the sense that we are becoming aware of what we already have. Remember that discipleship isn’t a performance related activity! God wants us to be who we are - it is a genuine voyage of discovery.
Quoting the Cloud of unknowing: “Its not what you are, or what you have been, but what you want to be that God see’s with merciful eyes”. Get in touch with our deep desires. What do we long for? We thank God for what we already have and ask God to help us to become aware of our deepest desire.

To be thankful people we need to:
-Live in the present moment
-Be people who get in touch with what we already possess
-Get in touch with our deepest desire - we get in touch with God who is our deepest desire, and who is desiring in us through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Breakout room discussion: What has struck you from what Sr Gemma has shared? What implications does it have for - you? - your ministry? - your young people?

Feedback from participants:
To help with routine - Evening and  morning prayer
Prioritise people – put it at the top of your to-do list - Meet people where they are at (Cultural Catholicism)
Chaplaincy – “loitering with intent” – no such thing as wasted time with people (best time spent)
Ministry – learn from one another – being kind, forgiving one another and yourself (only found in lived experience) – trust in God
Be honest about difficulties/vulnerabilities - accepting help - being present and recognising what is going on and finding the grace in that

Questions that arose - in regards to Sr Gemma’s input:
Q: How do we encourage our young people to live in the now? A: Ignatian Examen - as it allows them to be reflective (feelings, reactions to things). The best way to invest in your future, is to invest in the now. Becoming present to the present.

How do we get our young people to get in touch with their deepest desires? Cardinal Turkson quoting Pope Francis: “Do not prepare for the future, prepare the future”. Listen to young peoples desire - Beware of the danger of being an older person justify and squash the desire in young people. In these days how do we accompany them so that they can build the future? A: Pope Francis CV 3 types of listening. See the desire beneath the desire

Is it so that young people understandably are looking forward to the future, whereas older people are often looking back?

RESOURCES SHARED:

Alone[T]ogether: https://www.alonetogether.org.uk/shapingtheday
Pray as you go: https://pray-as-you-go.org/prayer%20tools/
https://pray-as-you-go.org/article/walking-with-god
Cloud of Unknowing: https://www.catholicspiritualdirection.org/cloudunknowing.pdf
https://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-examen/

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