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Catalyst for RenewalSeeking truth and renewal through conversation
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CATALYST SUGGESTION SHEET #13 CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY IS SPIRITUALITY RELEVANT TODAY IN AUSTRALIA? The Australian poet, Les Murray, answers this question very well: While (the Christian) vision is no longer the dominant one (in Australia), and may never have been, neither is any other at the moment. There is as yet no other vision abroad in our society which commands the same authority as ours does, the same sense of being the bottom line, the great reserve to be called on in times of real need. Many of the themes of the rallies are necessary problem solving and little more, and much in the spiritual supermarket is fair weather stuff, adjuncts to a prosperity which may now be vanishing. Unbelief, once a daring and rather aristocratic gesture, must now have exhausted most of its glamour; it is certainly no longer exclusive, or particularly rebellious. Much the same could be said of sexual indulgence, pornography and the like. Having by now surely lost most of its flavour of forbidden fruit, sexual licence has to justify itself in terms of whatever real satisfaction it can give; its utility as a bait to draw people out of traditional ways and beliefs, and if possible into new allegiances, must by now also be wearing thin. And it will be difficult at the very least, for the cult of unremitting youthfulness and physical beauty to survive in the era of aging populations which it has helped to produce. By now liberal humanism is as badly fragmented by dissension as our witness ever was, and its fiercest adherents are often covertly uneasy at its lack of gentleness, its readiness to force the facts and its desolate this-worldliness. Its unrelenting adulthood forces people onto the thorns of tragic complexity and the strange intractability of the world, and often when people who subscribe to it relax for a moment, their eyes are seen to contain an almost desperate appeal: please prove us wrong, make us believe there is more to it than this, show us your God and that Grace you talk about. We are more widely judged on our own best terms than we think, and more insistently expected to be the keepers of the dimension of depth than we find comfortable. (Les A. Murray, "Some Religious Stuff I know About Australia" in D. Harris et al, eds., The Shape of Belief: Christianity in Australia Today, Lancer, 1982, pp. 25-26 of pp. 13-28.) WHAT IS SPIRITUALITY? Spirituality is living relationships - with the Great Mystery (however we name that), with ourselves, with other people and with the created world. Spirituality is at the heart of being human. This fourfold relating finds its unity in the Source of all Unity - the One we call, in our Western English language tradition, God. A healthy spirituality is a living and deepening integration of those relationships and goes on integrating them in a never-ending journey of discovery. We cannot live a fully human life without spirituality. Nor can we live an entirely private life with spirituality. Of its very nature, spirituality is communal, finding its fullest expression in love. "Private spirituality" is a contradiction in terms. An authentic spirituality will have us constantly moving in a self-transcending way, always going beyond ourselves, always seeking to ground life in the Great Mystery rather than mere ego or ideology or project. It will seek to heal and build relationships, it will proceed by way of facilitation rather than conquest, and it will be recognised by the grace and freedom it brings to the market place of human endeavour. Spirituality is mutuality, living life as dialogue, attentive, listening. It will, in the end, always see life as a mystery to be lived rather than a problem to be solved. FOUNDATIONAL SPIRITUALITY AND SPECIAL SPIRITUALITIES It is helpful to distinguish between foundational spirituality and special spiritualities. Foundational spirituality is a theoretical construct, containing all - and only - the essential features of spirituality. No human life can contain all the essential features, fully expressed, fully lived. Special spiritualities are the lived instances of spirituality, expressing some of those essential features. While special spiritualities do not explicitly and fully express all the essential features of spirituality as such, neither do they express any features that would be contrary to those essential features. The major religious and cultural traditions of the world have many special spiritualities as part of their traditions. Within Catholicism, for example, we have, among others, the special spiritualties of the Benedictine, Carmelite, Franciscan and Jesuit traditions. Special spiritualties provide ways of developing a rich and well-grounded personal spirituality that suits a certain temperament, lifestyle or phase of development. However, some special spiritualties may in fact be obstacles for certain people who are not suited to the ways of that special spirituality. THE DISTINGUISHING MARKS OF CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY Christian spirituality is a special instance of spirituality as such. While it shares with any authentic spirituality the fourfold relationship, it has its own way of expressing and fulfilling that. The distinguishing marks of an authentic Christian spirituality might be indicated as follows:
Catalyst Suggestion Sheets are written by Michael Whelan SM and published by Catalyst for Renewal Incorporated in conjunction with the Catalyst journal, The Mix. For further information please contact: Catalyst for Renewal Incorporated, PO Box 139, Gladesville NSW 1675 Australia. Tel/Fax: +61 2 9998 7003 BACK TO THE INDEX OF SUGGESTION SHEETS
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2010 Programs Paddington 3 March “I feel passionate about Spirituality in the Pub” Speakers: MICHAEL WHELAN sm, Director of The Aquinas Academy & GERALDINE DOOGUE, ABC television, radio presenter and author. Both Co-founders of Catalyst for Renewal and Spirituality in the Pub 7 April “I feel passionate about global justice” Speakers: BEN SPIES-BUTCHER, lecturer in Economic and Political Sociology at Macquarie University & JENNIFER BURN , senior lecturer in Law at UTS and General Editor of the Immigration Review. 5 May “I feel passionate about being uploaded”. Speakers tba
2 June “I feel passionate about Reconciliation/Healing”. Speakers tba
7 July “I feel passionate about storytelling”. Speakers: MARY LEAHY rsj, Chaplain to the Merchant Navy at Sydney Ports & tba
4 August “I feel passionate about parenting”. Speakers: RABBI JACKI NINIO, Assistant Rabbi at Temple Emanuel in Woollahra. and PETER CERNEAZ, single parent and artist. Moderator: JULIE McCROSSIN
1 September “I feel passionate about an inclusive society”. Speakers tba
6 October: “I feel passionate about where the hell we find God in tough times”. Speaker: RICHARD LEONARD sj, director of the Australian Catholic Film Office Responder: tba
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