Youth focus on local renewal and engagement

The Australian Bishops have identified the liturgical year of 2018, beginning on the first Sunday of Advent (3 December 2017), as a national Year of Youth.

The Year of Youth invites the church into dialogue about the importance and life-giving presence of young people in the church and society. It calls for dialogue and active engagement focussed on the reconnection and renewal of a new generation of young people in the life of the Church.

The St Vincent de Paul Society’s national youth team is led by Youth & Young Adults Representative, Cathryn Moore, who sits on National Council. Throughout 2018, the Society’s youth team will share updates on their activities in The Record, beginning with an overview of what the Year of Youth will entail.

The Year of Youth aims include:

• prayerfully discerning the Australian Bishops’ vision for ministry with young people, ‘Anointed and Sent’
• authentic and personal engagement by Church leaders in the challenges and successes in young people’s lives
• acknowledging the Holy Spirit at work in the lives of young people, and young people acting upon the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church
• upholding the dignity of young people, ensuring a safe environment from physical, emotional and spiritual harm.

The Year of Youth is focussed on local renewal and engagement.

Pastoral announcement 

Open new horizons for spreading joy: young people, faith and vocational discernment

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Joy and peace to you. I give thanks for your faith and witness in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, in the communion of the Holy Spirit.

From the Catholic Bishops of Australia, I bring a message of deep joy and hope.

The Church in this land is entering a time of discernment as we move towards the Plenary Council of 2020 when we will chart a course into the future, with young people a crucial part of that journey. During 2018 the Church will contribute to the next Synod of Bishops in Rome, announced by Pope Francis as a dialogue on Young People, Faith and Vocational Discernment. In 2008 we celebrated World Youth Day in Sydney, the pilgrimage around Australia of the Cross of Christ and the Icon of Our Lady. In 2018, we want to engage with youth in new ways and they with us, helping young people to encounter God in Jesus Christ. We seek to awaken love and open your spirit to others so that you find and commit to the meaningful life God intends and so make a difference in the world.

We invite Catholics in Australia to celebrate a Year of Youth, from the beginning of Advent 2017 (Sunday 3 December 2017) to the end of Ordinary Time in 2018 (Sunday 25 November 2018). Here we will seek to open new horizons for spreading joy for the young Church and our communities. As we prepare with joy for this Year of Youth, we invite all the People of God to join us on this journey. The Year of Youth is a journey for the entire Body of Christ.

Throughout history, it has often been young people who have inspired renewal and change into new opportunities for witness and evangelisation. Many saints, including our own St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, were young adults when they set out on their path to holiness. Young people have a great capacity to address injustice and create new opportunities for joy and hope. Today, many young people want to serve, and others are willing to take a chance to make the world a better place. Leaders and older members of the Church must continue to listen to and benefit from the many graces of youth, supporting them to discern their vocation and identify their call in the world, within communities where they are safe, nurtured and respected. Working in partnership with young people’s passion and energy will help us all become more fully alive as the Body of Christ. But all of us are called to a journey of conversion, which requires an open heart.

As Bishops we invite you, the youth of Australia, to open your hearts to Christ. You are deeply loved by Jesus and the Church. We appreciate your gifts and contributions, and we want to journey with you.

At World Youth Day 2016, Pope Francis called young people and the Church to ‘open new horizons for spreading joy’:

My friends, Jesus is the Lord of risk, he is the Lord of the eternal ‘more’. Jesus is not the Lord of comfort, security and ease. Following Jesus demands a good dose of courage, a readiness to trade in the sofa for a pair of walking shoes and to set out on new and uncharted paths. To blaze trails that open up new horizons capable of spreading joy, the joy that is born of God’s love and wells up in your hearts with every act of mercy. To take the path of the ‘craziness’ of our God, who teaches us to encounter him in the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the sick, the friend in trouble, the prisoner, the refugee and the migrant, and our neighbours who feel abandoned. To take the path of our God, who encourages us to be politicians, thinkers, social activists.

Pope Francis, World Youth Day
Vigil with Young People,
30 July 2016

These words of the Holy Father challenge us to welcome new opportunities for sharing the joy and hope of the Risen Christ. You have dreams for your future. Jesus also has dreams for you and your future. We want to accompany you as you discern the path that God has for you.

With Christ as our ever-present companion, we want to work with you to take courageous steps for building a civilisation of love where we can all become what God wants us to be.

In this Year of Youth, we ask you to listen to the deep questions in your life. Do not be afraid to question and to seek understanding. By doing so humbly and prayerfully, you equip yourself to fulfill your baptismal call to become missionary disciples in today’s world.

We entrust the Year of Youth in 2018 to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the intercession of Australia’s Patron, Mary Help of Christians. We draw inspiration from St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, whom we ask to pray for us and to join us on the way.

Yours sincerely in Christ,

Archbishop Denis Hart
President
Australian Catholic Bishops Conference

Christ Our Joy

The Year of Youth image is titled Christ our joy and was painted by artist Amunda Gorey in Alice Springs.

The image, which will be central to the celebration and prayerful discernment of local Australian communities throughout the Year of Youth, was unveiled at the Australian Catholic Youth Festival in December 2017.

Christ our joy is rich in symbolism, tradition and meaning. It depicts the diversity of young people through the varied use of colour and the dots of different shapes and sizes. Some are gathered in communities, others more isolated. Some are closer to God or the cross, others further away. The central figures are Jesus and Mary against a cross. They point to the Resurrection as the source of our joy. Jesus extends a hand toward his mother Mary, and with her to the Church; with his other hand, he points them all to his Father, God.

‘Everyone will see, feel and sense the painting differently. Each is valued as our stories and experiences are different,’ Ms Gorey said.

It is hoped that all communities of faith will find inspiration in this image as they respond to the invitation to a Year of Youth. You can learn more about Amunda and her artwork on her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/amundagoreyart/