Celebrating a wedding recently, I was struck by how generous God calls us to be. It takes real generosity to share your whole life with another person, even someone you love very much. Whatever our calling in life, every Christian has a fundamental vocation to generosity. No Christian can live for themselves or by themselves. Married, single, religious or priest, every friend of Jesus is called to give themselves generously in some way – that is part of life in the Church.

Recently Pope Benedict announced the next World Youth Day will be in Rio in 2013. The theme will be the words of Jesus: ‘Go, and make disciples of all the nations’ (Matt. 28:19). In Madrid the Pope asked us to be rooted and built up in Christ, and now he is urging us further in the demanding, life-giving mission of the friends of Jesus. Rooted and established in Christ, we know that we must share that life with others. The saving Gospel and our friendship with Jesus is not something we can keep to ourselves. Like the first apostles, we have a mission to spread the Gospel everywhere. How will we do this? First of all, by being people who are authentic followers of Jesus: people who know him and allow themselves to be led by him; in the manner of our living and our decisions; our values and our care for others; but also by our life of faith, our integrity and faithfulness. To be an apostle is an amazing mission – a life of generosity, a joy to be shared with others.

Fr.David Reilly is the new Youth Chaplain for the Archdiocese of Westminster

Well wasn’t it a wonderful time out in Madrid?  I thoroughly enjoyed it, in spite of the challenges due to the heat and long nights!  So many of you showed enthusiasm in Spain to deepen your faith and understand what is Christ is asking of you on your return.  Well now back with our families, communities and parishes, the memories of WYD, must still be very much lingering in our hearts and minds.  It is interesting to see fellow pilgrim ‘Friends’ columns on Facebook rapidly increase as pilgrims ‘add’ each other, view each other’s photos and delve into the lives of each other on, thus getting to know each other on a different level.  However whilst adding each other on Facebook and cherishing our emotional and spiritual experiences out in Spain can be a good thing, these by themselves will not sustain us for the journey of faith that Christ is asking us to walk now.   This is why the Diocesan Youth Support Team would like to encourage you to come to our pilgrim sessions for after WYD, this will focus on how we can live out and be nourished in our faith in our parishes, and be salt and light to the people around us in society. Please come along!

Dates for your diary:

11th September 2011 WYD Pilgrims Reunion and Mass
@ St Aloysius, Somers Town, NW1 1TA - 2 to 4:30pm

30th October 2011 WYD Follow-up Meeting - Where do we go from here?
@ Vaughan House, 46 Francis Street, SW1P 1QN - 2 to 4:30pm

27th November 2011 Follow-up Meeting - And finally…
@ Vaughan House, 46, Francis Street, SW1P 1QN - 2 to 4:30pm

We look forward to seeing you all again soon!

Questions on the faith? See: http://www.xt3.com/library/list.php

Are you aged between 18 and 25? Are you looking to undertake a gap year? Are you looking to deepen your Catholic faith with other like minded young people? Are you interested in working with young people aged 7 to 18?

SPEC the diocesan retreat centre is now recruiting for their 2011-12 team.

As the 2010 - 11 SPEC year draws to an end, two young volunteers, Narquita and Erik, explain what the community has meant to them over the past year:

As young pilgrims from across the Diocese of Westminster continue to prepare for World Youth Day in Madrid. It is important to note that there are many other pilgrimages also available for young people to attend. One such pilgrimage is the annual Pentecost Chartres Pilgrimage which each year helps young people appreciate the riches of the Catholic Church and how our brother and sisters in Christ from former generations lived out their faith through prayer and penance.

Do consider joining this pilgrimage in 2012 organised by Juventutem

On May 1 we saw the beatification of John Paul II; this means he’s performed at least one miracle. If he is found to perform another miracle, he will be canonized a Saint. But how does the Vatican decide what a miracle is? Jo-Anne Rowney takes a look at the meticulous process.

What is a miracle?
Miracles can be of any kind, but the majority of cases have been miraculous healings from terminal medical illnesses and conditions. Political accomplishments don’t tend to come under miracles, so John Paul’s role in the downfall of Soviet Communism won’t get him canonized.

The meticulous process
John Paul’s first miracle recognised by the Vatican concerns a French Nun who was cured from an aggressive form of Parkinson’s after writing John Paul’s name on a piece of paper. The Pope had just died two months earlier of the same disease. The actual process the Vatican undertakes can be lengthy. The ‘miracle’ has to be proved using various steps before someone can be named a saint. Mother Theresa and John Paul II may be the most famous recent beatifications, but they are far from the norm. The Vatican actually carries out about 30 beatifications per year, and few are similar to the global blessed cases.

Grassroots movement
Firstly, a grassroots movement is ideally started by people that believe the person has led a saintly life. The local Bishop then opens a “Cause for Canonisation” and begins the investigation. If this proves fruitful then the case is referred to Rome. Silvia Correale, Postulator says: “It’s that sense from the people of God, who believe a person was a saint. Today, we would refer to it as public opinion. That common sense of everyday people is a sign. The number of spiritual graces are also taken into account. ”

The Congregation for the Causes of the Saints is the Vatican Office which deals with these sort of queries. They are tasked with “approving miracles, martyrdom and heroic virtues of various Saints of God.”

Heroic virtue
The Congregation undertakes a complete investigation into the person’s life. A file known as “positio” is collected for review. Special attention is given to whether the candidate followed Christian virtues to a heroic degree. Card. José Saraiva Martins, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, had said: “These documents are reviewed by experts in history, by theologians and cardinals. Afterward, all the documents are sent to the Pope, who then approves the heroic virtues. The case of John Paul was approved by the pope on December 19, 2009.”

Scientifically inexplicable
First, the Congregation seeks the advice of a panel of doctors from around the world, who are not connected to the Vatican. For a recovery to be declared miraculous, it must be “complete,” “instantaneous,” and “durable” , this means the cured condition doesn’t return,  as well as scientifically inexplicable. Interestingly developments in Science don’t seem to have slowed down the amount of beatifications. Card. José Saraiva Martins, Prefect of the Congregation for Causes of Saints: “If the doctors say there is no scientific explanation in the light of modern medicine, the healing goes to the theologians, so they can see if there’s a relationship between the alleged miraculous healing and intercession of the candidate to the altars.”

God’s work?
Once the ‘miracle’ has passed the doctors test and is signed off a panel of theologians have to judge whether it is the sort of thing God would do.
Then the Cardinals and Bishops of the Congregations have to ensure that the beatification is in the Church’s best interest – some beatifications may offend politically, or be insensitive for example.
Lastly, it is referred to the Pope who has the final say. If the miracle passes all of this then the person is beatified. To begin the process for canonization another process is initiated with a second miracle.

The waiting game
The Congregation keeps a file of all those considered for beatification on record in the Vatican archives, but the vast majority of those who are beatified will never become saints. There are six new Saints, including the first ever Australian. There are currently over 10,000 named saints. Usually people are only considered for beatification after they’ve been dead for five years, but in the case of John Paul, due to overwhelming public opinion he was ‘fast-tracked’. There was no reason to wait for support to build, as he was so well loved. In John Paul II’s case, the first miracle was the healing of the French nun Marie-Simon Pierre. She suffered from Parkinson’s but found herself cured once she prayed to John Paul after writing his name down on a piece of paper. Now he needs a second miracle to become a saint. This could take longer that his faster beatification process. At least three/four years have to pass to show the miracles are permanent and complete. However, there is already a list on the Vatican website of the alleged miracles that are under investigation. In the mean time, the number of saints continues to grow. There are currently more than 2,000 open cases for canonization.

Did you know?
Martyrs are considered a special case in which the most important thing is to prove that they died for defending God’s name. If that’s the case, a miracle is not required for beatification, only to be canonized.

Pilgrims from across the diocese are currently participating in a series of monthly gatherings giving them an opportunity to pray and reflect on their faith in preparation for the World Youth Day (WYD).

There are still some limited places available for the WYD Pilgrimage in Madrid, 11-22 August. Over the next few weeks we will be finalising numbers and would encourage people aged 18-35 still wanting to come to Madrid with the Diocese to speak to their parish priest immediately. Parishes have been asked by the Archbishop to nominate 1 or 2 young people (aged 18+ as of August 2011) to represent their parish in Madrid. If you would like to come as a non-parish representative, please speak to the Diocesan Youth Support Team immediately to avoid disappointment. For more details see our website: http://www.rcdow.org.uk/wyd/ or speak to one of the team on 0207 798 9357.

On Sunday 10th March Bishop John Arnold celebrated Mass at the Young Adults in the North event at St.Monica’s in Palmers Green. Over seventy young adults from across the diocese came together to join the parish community and to meet afterwards in the hall nearby. The theme of the night was: ‘Do you believe this’, drawing on the inspiration of the Sunday Gospel. The Bishop in his homily challenged us to think about the real meaning of Lent and to really live out the Gospel.

After a time of food, the Sunday Gospel was read out again ‘On the Raising of Lazarus’, small group discussions followed where people shared with each other on what faith and the message of eternal life meant to them. The night finished with ‘Grill the Bishop’ where the young adults were given the opportunity to ask the Bishop questions on key areas of the faith. The questions were varied and included the four last things (heaven, hell, purgatory and the last judgement), the salvation of those from other religions, the devil, homosexuality and the new missal.

The Diocesan Youth Support Team would like to say a special thanks to Bishop John for his time and to the many people who helped out on the evening.  We would also like to encourage those who enquired about Westminster Diocese’s World Youth Day pilgrimage yesterday to look at our website section for more information about representing your parish. There are limited places available.

For more information on our pilgrimage to Madrid: http://www.rcdow.org.uk/wyd/
For more information on any questions you may have on the Teaching of the Catholic Church see: http://www.catholic.com/library/faith_tracts.asp

Over thirty people were present as we began our Mind the Gap Film Season with the 13th Day on the 22nd of March, a story on the Message of Fatima. It was a timely way to begin our Film season in Lent with its message of redemption, hope and the holiness of God. It provoked a lively time of discussion and we would like to thank the young adults who attended.

For more information on the rest of our Lenten Film Season: http://www.rcdow.org.uk/youth/news/?item=3272

For more information on the message of Fatima: http://www.theotokos.org.uk/pages/approved/appariti/fatima.html

Jo-Anne takes a look at what we can do to live more simply this Lent, taking us back to the basics.

Think of Lent and think of fasting. However, the idea of fasting is often met with an audible groan. The idea of giving up anything, let alone something we like, for 40 days is becoming inconceivable for most people, or worse a chore. Archbishop Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster in his recent pastoral letter called Lent a time of “renewal” a time when we go back to the “foundations” of our faith. His reminder that all we do during Lent is to bring us closer to God, takes us back to the very heart of Lent.

If you’re still scratching your head, and wondering what you should do for Lent, narrow it down to three things. As Archbishop Nichols said in his letter “repentance, self-denial, almsgiving and prayer are the recipe for Lent.” So here are some ideas for ingredients to make your Lent a fruitful experience!

Repentance

Lent is a time of penance, reconciliation, where we repent of our sins and get back to the basics. That is why confession is an important task during the Lenten season, the Church advises us to go at least once a year, and if you haven’t been yet this is a perfect time to take a step back and go to Confession. Talk to a priest if you’re unsure, but don’t miss this chance to reflect.

Increased prayer

We also come closer to God through increased prayer, so why not start Morning Prayer and/or Evening prayer. If you’re a student your chaplaincy is bound to have both of these, or if not your chaplain can help and guide you through it. Most Catholic Churches also have Morning and Evening Prayer so take a look in your newsletter for the times.

Or why not join a prayer group, the youth group pages list the wide variety of opportunities there are for young people in London, whether its Youth 2000, or Soul Food, or perhaps a rosary group.

If you’re looking for something more personal you could try and attend Mass every day or if you’re very busy with studies or work attend an extra service during the week.

The Stations of the Cross are also well suited to the Lenten journey, maybe you have time to meditate on the suffering and death of Our Lord. CTS have some good books to help you with this too.

There is also the ‘Faithful Pilgrim’ group booklet available from the diocese bookstore. www.rcdow.org.uk/bookstore or the more personal prayer booklet ‘Walk with me’.

Giving more

 The second is increased generosity to the poor, whether this is alms giving, so donating to charity, or volunteering. The Cardinal Hume Centre is always looking for volunteers, and if you’re looking to volunteer a bit longer than 40 days runs a mentor scheme that could be a rewarding experience. There is also the Passage, and the St Patrick’s, Soho, soup kitchen, which is currently running on Thursday’s from 5pm in St Anne’s church. Or why not join your parish Justice and Peace group? Check on the diocese website for your contact. Of course these are just suggestions, and no one would expect you to try them all! If you did want to that’s great too.

Abstaining

The third thing to observe during Lent is abstinence. The Archbishop asked us to consider marking our journey through Lent with self-denial, especially on Fridays by abstaining from meat. This may seem too hard, or a strange suggestion, but it is relatively easy. Feasting during Lent was far more severe in ancient times. Socrates reported in some places all animal products were forbidden during Lent, while others advised people to only consume fish, fish and fowl, others banned eggs and butter – hence the ritual gorging of Pancakes on Shrove Tuesday we now observe! Other believers abstained from food for days, reducing themselves to one meal a day. Fasting for Ash Wednesday and the odd Friday doesn’t look so bad now does it?

The old trick of manipulating what we give up (“jaffa cakes don’t count as biscuits so I can eat them”) was just as rife in the mediaeval times though. In Germany and artic regions, people would munch away of beaver tales because they looked like fish!            

While we may all be very busy, taking time out during Lent helps us readdress the balance. Don’t miss the opportunity the Lenten Season offers to us to revitalise our souls as well as our bodies!

 For some more suggestions on what to give up for Lent have a look at Catholic Chronicles, 101 fasting ideas for Lent: http://www.nicksenger.com/csc/101-practical-fasting-ideas-for-lent

Jo-Anne Rowney works for the Diocese of Westminster, Public Affairs Office.

One of my frequent roles is that of ‘Apologist’, someone who engages in ‘Apologetics’ (a word derived from the Greek apologia meaning ‘defence’ or ‘reasoned argument’). This is the field of Christian theology that involves defending the Catholic Faith from attacks on it, and objections to it. So, as an Apologist, I write, and appear on TV and Radio, to argue the case for the Catholic position, and show why the Church’s teaching is reasonable (indeed, the most reasonable of all positions there are!). It is an endeavour that has a clear Scriptural mandate in 1 Peter 3:15, one of the earliest Papal Encyclicals, in which St. Peter himself calls on all Christians to “be ready to give a defence for the hope that is within you, but do it with gentleness and relevance”. The task of Apologetics is one that is fundamental to the New Evangelisation, since we cannot plant the ’seed’ of the Gospel message in people’s hearts, unless we first clear away the ‘weeds’ – the misunderstandings and errors – that prevent that seed from taking root and growing. Moreover, at a time when the Church is under particular attack, with the nascence of the ‘New Atheism’ in a culture that is increasingly antipathetic to the Gospel message, the apostolate of being an Apologist has become more and more important, and the Church needs more ordinary lay Catholics to be able and willing to defend her. Through groups like Catholic Voices, this is a calling that is finally being answered.

Peter D. Williams is a speaker for Catholic Voices, Pro-Life Campaigner for Right to Life, and Graduate Theology Student at King’s College London.