Education Forum Meeting October 2008
Jenny Pate addresses the meeting
Members of the Diocesan Education Forum met together on October 9th 2008. The meeting opened with a prayer and welcome by Fr Sean Hall, Chairman of the Board of Education in the Diocese.
Jenny Pate, the Deputy Director of Education, gave members an update on the Sacramental Guidelines consultation. This consultation is ongoing, and conversation and dialogue throughout the diocese are continuing.
Jenny spoke about a recent address from Pope Benedict in which the Pope talks about children and First Holy Communion: "Where there is no element of faith," he says,"where First Communion would just be a party with a big lunch, nice clothes and nice gifts, then it can't be a sacrament of faith. But on the other hand if we can see even a tiny flame of desire for communion in the church, a desire also from these children who want to enter into communion with Jesus, it seems right to be rather generous."
Jenny talks about a recent address by Pope Benedict
An initial look at Parish Profiles followed and there was an opportunity for members to voice observations. It was generally agreed that any interpretations would need some clarification and development on the statistics first.
A presentation followed by Deacon Peter Lavery and his wife, Pauline, on "Home is a Holy Pace", the recent national initiative aimed at nurturing faith in the home. Peter is the diocesan coordinator for Marriage and Family Life, and he gave to each of the members of the forum a new Resource Pack for "Home is a Holy Place" which is available for Homes, Schools and Parishes, and is produced by the Catholic Bishops' Conference.
Peter and Pauline Lavery with the "Home is a Holy Place" Resource Pack
Peter told the forum: "There is nothing more fundamental to human existence than the family, but awareness of marital and family spirituality is so low, and the resources produced by "Home is a Holy Place" are excellent resource material to help us recognise, celebrate and proclaim the presence of God in our homes." Peter asked members to promote the resource when they had opportunity to do so.
Pauline spoke about the importance of recognising the holiness of people's everyday lives at home, "It's holy when the person at home does shopping for the person next door. There is nothing that God is not present in." she said.
Members of the forum were delighted to receive a copy of the Resource Pack and were very interested in promoting and using the material it contained.
The resource pack includes a 35 minute video and packs can be obtained from Peter Lavery. The video was made in collaboration with some families and individuals in this diocese, who also can be seen on the video.
For more information and to view the video online see the marriage and family life section of our diocesan website.
Before the meeting concluded there was an opportunity for members to share something with the group about what is happening in their field.
Finally, after thanking everybody for their participation, Fr Sean concluded the meeting with a prayer.
