By the time you read this Lent will be upon us. I was very struck by the article by Fr Jonas Abib from Brazil and his practical advice on fasting, whereby he reminds us that fasting actually makes us more spiritually and intellectually sharp. I know when I have a problem to solve or am wrestling with an article, I might pray but I tend to turn to chocolate and endless cups of tea, rather than fasting for inspiration. It will thus be a challenge this Lent to try and do what he says. I also look forward to spending more time in reading the bible. Marcellino's informative articles on Dei Verbum, the Vatican II document on the Catholic understanding of the Scriptures, have made me want to look at the original document again and be inspired.

This whole call to holiness has been very much on my mind recently. Whereas miracles can be impressive and worship, uplifting, there is nothing like examples of sacrifice and suffering for the gospel to really inspire us. Whether it is Mother Teresa, the subject of a new series on Holiness by Fr Raniero Cantalamessa OFM Cap, or the Christians I met at a conference in Malta recently, who were suffering persecution for their faith in far corners of the globe, I realised there is a special joy and authority that comes from suffering for the gospel. The suffering church might need us, but we need it.

Holiness manifested in the integrity of our lives is one of the things that Avril Baigent underlines in her article as an important factor in evangelising young people. We not only have to believe the gospel, but live it ourselves if we are going to convince young people of its validity. This is a call not just for youth workers, but for us all, because we witness not just as individuals but as a community of faith, a family. Charles Whitehead in his article shares about a fascinating document he came across produced by the Archdiocese of Baltimore called "Evangelisation in the Catholic School", and looks at the complementary roles of family, parish and school in passing on the faith to young people. Dave Palmer shares about the new youth video series that Catholic Evangelisation Service team are in the process of working on, which it is hoped will be a useful tool for youth groups in parishes and schools. Andrew Brookes on the Scottish news page also shares about the recent tour of the World Youth Day Cross and the effect this had on Scottish youth and the evangelisation of young people generally north of the border.

The role of the community in evangelising is brought out in the testimony of Nick Earl, a young man from Norfolk, who has been helped to leave a life of drug addiction and crime, by the love and witness of many people, particularly one Catholic family who took him with them to the New Dawn conference.

One of the big areas of Christian challenge for young people and for us all, is in the area of our sexuality and relationships. How do we cope as Christians to give witness in a society which has very different sexual attitudes than those espoused by the gospel? Starting this month, in Goodnews we plan to have a series of articles and witnesses from various Christians sharing how in their lives they have coped with the difficulties and challenges of following Church sexual moral teaching in the world today.

Whether it is fasting or struggling to remain sexually pure or simply trying to live the Christian life generally, we are often brought up against our weakness and need for God's help. Fr Pat Collins CM reflects on the paradox that it is often when we are at our weakest, that God's power is demonstrated in the most powerful way (cf2 Cor 12.10). He challenges us to move beyond our comfort zones into areas of weakness so we can experience this for ourselves.

The Holy Spirit has been drawing my attention, as far as England is concerned, to the great numbers of Christians from other countries who are coming to our shores at the moment. They come in different guises, some, like a whole wave of Brazilian evangelicals over the last decade, actually have come as missionaries to share the gospel with us - others, as Huw Lewis shares in his article are asylum seekers. Whatever the reason they come - to work or to study, many of these immigrants bring with them the religious fervour of their countries of origin. If we do not welcome them we risk missing out on the help of valuable fellow Christian workers, whom God has sent to help us in the re-evangelisation of our islands.

 

Kristina Cooper