W.Y.D.
+ Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney
3 Aug 2008
Would Youth Day has come and gone and now is the time for a final column on this happy topic.
W.Y.D. was a success, religiously as well as organizationally I believe. People generally, not just Catholics, recognized that Pope Benedict was a kindly holy man, with a strong and attractive message for the old as well as the young.
But the big stars of the week were the pilgrims themselves. The Police Commissioner praised them, the police were happy to work with them and even the general crime rate in Sydney dropped substantially (was their good behaviour contagious?).
The Catholic Church in particular was able to present the central Christian claims, that Christ’s teachings are true and make a difference for the better.
Often particular Christian doctrines emerge in public controversies over social justice, human life, marriage and family, where competing views are struggling for majority acceptance. Often the central religious issues are ignored or forgotten.
I often recount the story of a talkative businessman who sat next to me on a flight across Australia. He talked a lot, was very frank, and tried to sell me a block of land. He made one point however which was very interesting and the reason I have quoted him frequently.
He claimed that in business and in daily life what was crucial was to identify what are the few most important issues, and to find the correct solutions to these. When this was done well, he claimed that the myriad secondary problems fell into place. I believe that he was right; that it is vital to identify what are the central questions and then to work out the answers.
Are religious questions central to the good life? I believe they are for most people as our brain, our psyche is wired up for prayer, for an appreciation of the Transcendent; of the Mystery greater than ourselves. We are impelled to seek meaning in our lives.
Once we begin to search we encounter basic questions, Does God exist? Is God interested in us? Is He (or she or it?) kind and reasonable?
I often ask senior primary students “What is God made of, sugar and spice and everything nice?” Nearly always someone answers God is love.
More personal questions follow; or perhaps come beforehand. Does God expect us to live in a particular way or can we make up our rules? Is there life after death with reward and punishment?
The Christian Churches have clear answers to these questions which are common across the mainstream denominations. Differences comes later, often about the nature of worship (how many sacraments?), and about the interrelationship of local communities (does the Pope have a role or are local congregations only loosely connected?)
Christ believed that how we answered the basic questions about God and love is important for this life and the next.
W.Y.D. helped focus attention on these central challenges.
