2023 | ISSUE 12 | SJC Newsletter

The call to be a disciple – World Youth Day reflections.

In Pope Francis’ opening remarks, he reminded young people of how much they are loved by God. ‘The Lord does not point his finger but opens his arms, embraces us all, as we see with Jesus on the cross, who opened his arms so wide to be crucified and die for us,’ he said. ‘Jesus never closes the door, never, but invites you to enter; Jesus receives, Jesus welcomes.’

When Jesus calls us, he went on, he calls us ‘as we are’. ‘We are called as we are—with the problems we have, with the limitations we have, with our overflowing joy, with our desire to be better, with our desire to succeed …

“Think about this. Jesus calls me as I am, not as I would like to be. We are a community of brothers and sisters of Jesus, sons and daughters of the same Father.” – Pope Francis.

On the 24^th of July I embarked on a pilgrimage for World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal, via Rome and Assisi, Italy. I did not know what to expect, part of pilgrimage is to be open to the unknown, to be open to the spiritual plan that God had for me, and for the group of 85 other emerging leaders whom I travelled with.

Over this time, we had the privilege of meeting with and listening to a range of influential Catholic leaders including; Fr Stephen Wang PhD, Rector of the English College, Sr Nathalie Becquart, Undersecretary of Synod of Bishops, Chiarra Porro, Australian Ambassador to the Holy See, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization and unexpectedly, the Holy Father, Pope Francis.

Each of these people spoke independently of knowing what the others had shared with us. What became apparent to me were the similarities in the messages, and the thread that was revealed. To understand the call to discipleship is to understand God’s love. The community and communion that God has with us. I was privileged to be in a small group of Melbourne pilgrims who were able to meet with the Holy Father for a forty-minute Q&A. A surreal experience. In this, Pope Francis spoke of the need to accompany the young people whom we work with and to meet them where they are at, just as Jesus did with St Peter. This is a profound, yet simple notion, as teachers and as a school it is important to always remember our purpose. What we are called to do and who are we called to be? How do we as a broader St Joseph’s College community strive to push our young people to be themselves, to deeply engage/reengage in their Catholic faith and to be people who live a life in service of others?

These are the questions that keep coming back to me as I have left the sunshine of Lisbon to return home to Geelong. Our faith tells us that to be a disciple is to, at least in part, find the quiet, listen and discern deeply and to walk the path of life, knowing that Jesus will find you on the journey.

Charlie Purdy
Religious Education Curriculum Area Leader

A video from @melbournecatholicschools Instagram of Charlie Purdy reflecting on his time in the Emerging Leaders Program.