The Australian branch of Christian Life Community has come together for a national gathering, this year marking 50 years in Australia. ‘CLC at 50: Our Past, Our Present, Our Future’ was held in Melbourne and online for participants from other states.
The group is part of the 25,000-strong international association of Christian laity that draws its inspiration from the teachings of Ignatius of Loyola. The 17–19 July gathering was one of prayer and reflection, with the final day considering where the next generation might take the CLC. Almost half of CLC Australia’s membership turned up for at least part of the gathering, said the president Dr Michael Walker.
CLC in Australia is in good shape after 50 years, Dr Walker said. ‘We are a human organisation, which means there is a bit of untidiness, but we are nonetheless in good health. We’ve had a great five decades to get us to this point, starting out as just a handful of people who accepted invitations from the Jesuits to come and see.
‘We always need to remember to keep our focus on formation—a work that’s never done.’
National formation working group leader Kay Hooper has been part of CLC in Australia since its inception and spoke about its place within the broader global context of the Catholic Church’s current direction, particularly in relation to synodality.
‘Pope Francis used that term synodality to describe the way of being Church,’ Ms Hooper said. ‘It calls all baptised to a shared journey of listening to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. It requires ongoing practice of discernment by the community of the baptised, animated and guided by the Holy Spirit. The Greek word synodos, she pointed out, in the context of discipleship, means ‘on the way, together on the way with Jesus, in the circumstances of our times’.
The internal ‘engine’ of the community remains Ignatian spirituality, which she defined as ‘guided by a profound discernment of God’s will’.
‘It is this that guides followers of Ignatian spirituality to make decisions based on what God wants of them, particularly that specific call to the service to which God calls them.’
The nub of the national meeting was to consider a new national project that aims to reflect CLC in Australia’s priorities of forming members and sharing national spirituality, caring for God’s creation and walking with the excluded.
Introducing a new project, Ignite the Way, Frances Tilly, executive director for mission formation with Jesuit and Ignatian Spirituality Australia, said the goal of the national project was to take the existing expertise of the members and apply it collectively.
The project’s title, Ignite the Way, ‘is about deepening discernment in common, and that would I hope encourage you because you are not beginners,’ she said. ‘There’s so much experience among you. So it’s about deepening and working together in a way that enriches and bringing what we have together.’
To clarify why ‘discernment’ is a necessary tool for modern social challenges, Ms Tilly played a message from the Society of Jesus Superior General Fr Arturo Sosa Abascal in Spanish, which translated as: ‘Discernment is necessary when the Christian community finds itself in the intersection between the message of Jesus and the concrete challenges of the life that we live.’
It is needed, the message continued, to help us reflect on what God wants us to do, ‘so that we follow Jesus more closely and love him more deeply.’
Ms Tilly urged the gathering to take advantage of their time together to dream, share experiences and learn from each other. She said the aim was for each person to leave with a concrete plan, ‘a plan that contributes to giving form to the change that we all desire’.
CLC in Australia spent the final day of the gathering looking forward and listening to younger voices as they considered their future direction.
‘We can’t remain inward-looking and always dwell only on the needs of our own community,’ Dr Walker said. ‘The gift of our spirituality isn’t something we should be hoarding for ourselves. We need to be taking it out to others, and that is also the surest way to ensure that we continue to grow, because it brings us in contact with other people.’
First published in Melbourne Catholic (https://melbournecatholic.org/news/clc-australia-celebrates-50-years-of-ignatian-inspired-life-and-love)
Photos: Francis Anthony
