Bairbre Cahill
I wrote recently about the impact it can have to identify with the story of others. Walking in the shoes of others can challenge us and help us to grow in faith. I have a book that I dip into on a regular basis called, All Saints – Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets and Witnesses for our Time (edited by Robert Ellsberg, published by The Crossroad Publishing Company, available on Amazon.co.uk). It is a book that we were given many years ago but which still draws me back on a regular basis.
Day by day through the year, this book offers an insight into the life of someone who has lived by their faith. Now not all of these people are saints. Most are Christian, but not all. We have much to learn from people of other faiths too. Many of those we read about have died within the past 50 years.
So although many familiar names are there – such as, St Anselm and St Brigid, St Anthony and St Teresa of Avila – so too are Archbishop Oscar Romero, Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement in America, the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins and Jean Donovan, who was murdered while working as a lay missionary in El Salvador.
What strikes me is the great richness in how faith can shape a person’s life. One person may write beautiful poetry or profound theology whereas another will get involved in social action to tackle injustice or risk their own life to help others.
I come away feeling that there are no limits to what the Holy Spirit can do when we are willing to follow. The tapestry of stories shows that God is present and active in all aspects of our lives – personal, community, political, spiritual, creative and academic.
And so I was really struck by a short piece in The Irish Catholic recently in which Justin Bieber talked about his faith. Now I’m not suggesting I’m a fan – or a Belieber as they are called! However, I think it is really important for our children and young people to hear someone like Bieber speak about faith. Having been brought up with a strong Christian faith Bieber, who found fame at a very young age, drifted from that faith and went through what he describes as an “uncomfortable phase” in which his behaviour, his reputation and his music all suffered.
Having taken time out to reassess his life, Bieber has re-engaged in his relationship with God and found a renewed purpose and direction in his life.
Opportunity
When people like Justin Bieber, Katie Taylor or Ger Brennan open up and talk about their faith it offers us an opportunity to engage with our own children and young adults to explore what faith offers them in their lives, how does it guide them, how do they feel life might be different without faith, how can they nurture their relationship with God? I’m not suggesting that we offer dire warnings that their lives will go off the rails if they stop praying and going to Mass.
Rather, I’m suggesting that we can open up a useful dialogue, listening to the views of our children and encouraging them to think about why faith matters and how it can shape our lives and the choices we make. Wherever our children go in life I always want them to feel that God is at the centre, drawing them into relationship, offering them life in all its fullness.
For ourselves and our older children and young adults a book like All Saints can offer an opportunity to connect and reflect.
Younger children won’t necessarily identify with the story of Oscar Romero or St Teresa, but if it is Justin Bieber, Katie Taylor or Ger Brennan – well that’s another matter entirely!
