After another well prepared and moving morning prayer, we were straight into Rita Ferrone’s second keynote, “Can Liturgy Change the World?” I found her exposition of the assembly’s self offering as participation in the Priesthood of Christ exercised in liturgy inspiring. The way liturgy can change the world is by ruling out toxic individualism and acknowledging that when when part of the Body of Christ suffers, we all suffer. She challenged us to avoid liturgy as personal therapy or consumerist. She see hope in the synodal approach with its emphasis on community, mission and belonging.
After another Morning Sing with Dr Anthony Young, we had the keynote from Rev Dr Richard Leornard SJ, entitled, “Anchored in Hope: Why Alleluia is our Song.” It was typically discursive and funny, but effectively landed the message that optimism and hope were very different outlooks. He deplored the falseness of the happiness industry and a society more isolated than ever despite greater technology for connection. The loss of meaning in people’s lives and youth suicide was highlighted. His reasons for hope in our Catholic faith included the number of professing Catholics in the world, perseverance despite the crises – ie not letting those who have failed children in the church make the decision that the church is no longer relevant and the the promise of Jesus to be with us. He noted that if St Paul, who murdered Christians, was accepted then no-one is beyong God’s love. He highlighted the evangelising tools of Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals and just being inviting. He described his approach as leaving who is saved to God rather than judging.
The rest of the sessions I attended had to do with youth matters, as I am interetsed in how the parish and schools can be more in sync.
Gen Bryant had a Mini- keynote, “Transforming Tomorrow’s Leaders – Call to Action for Mentors.” He encouraged us to see the gifts of young people, keep inviting their participation and accompany them when they need it.
Dr Anthony Young spoke from his experience within the school system. He complained of a siloed church: school vs parish. He suggested we could sing them together and gave examples of events that were often messy but enthusiastic and transforming. His advice was to be open and inviting, avoid turf wars and egos, encourage links with institutions and encourage singing groups rather than soloists – villages of musicians. He said we should be sharing repetoire across schools and churches especially leading up to major events.
Lauren Bierer spoke on “Building Bridges between Parish and School with Music.’ She reinforced the need for shared repetoire as school and parish have quite separate sources for liturgy, which is not helpful.
The last session before the closing prayer that I attended, was a panel looking at, “Meeting Young People Where They Are.” I was surprised that apart from the obvious answer, that they were at Catholic schools, they were at Adoration, EYM, YCW / social justice groups. It was suggested that as mass is a ritual for the initiated and since even Catholic students are essentially unchurched, a simpler ritual like adoration had appeal and lead to social interaction around that.
I find the conferences an encouragement to persist and a place to get insights and practical advice that is not generally available. I’m not sure we need two overseas keynote speakers, as the local keynotes were fine. Rita Ferrone was very impressive as a speaker and Ricky Manalo was engaging enough, but local speakers are the way to go for an Australian conference.