5 minute read
sharing our faith
Since 1882 CBC Fremantle has been educating boys from diverse backgrounds and nationalities in the Catholic faith. The College’s Religious Education programme focuses on the holistic spiritual formation of each student and a diverse range of activities provides each boy with opportunities to explore his own spirituality within a Catholic environment.
The CBC community prays formally throughout each day and teaches the importance of prayer and reflection in life. The College welcomes students to celebrate Mass each week. Through the sacraments, prayer, and example, boys are inspired to seek God and express their love in the generous service of others.
Every year students engage in Retreats that are tailored to the needs of their year group and intended to help them focus on their understanding of God. The senior students also have the opportunity of participating in a powerful Kairos Retreat, which invites them to explore their spirituality even further.
CBC Fremantle welcomes families and children from other Christian denominations and finds great solidarity in sharing Christian values while holding true to our distinctively Catholic ethos.
PURPOSE OF THIS DOCUMENT With an increasing secular society and associated decrease in church attendance, at CBC Fremantle we are conscious that we can often be the primary source of evangelisation for our community. While we thrive on the chance to share our faith traditions with our students, staff and families, we are also aware that this mission is charged with responsibility to respond effectively to the needs of the people in our spiritual care. our students. Evangelism is the act of sharing the message and teachings of Christ and is at the core of our faith tradition as a College. When we evangelise, we are sharing the Good News of Jesus with others in our community and beyond. An Evangelisation Plan provides everyone with the chance to shape their unique approach to education, which is primarily to spread the Gospel.
Church communities evangelise in different ways. For Catholic schools this embodies continually striving to teach students to integrate faith, culture, and life. The evangelisation process involves Christian Witness, reflected in actions and words, as well as the Ministry of the Word, proclaiming the Good News in the same ways as Jesus did.
NEW EVANGELISATION The challenge that our Catholic schools face today with entire groups of the baptised having lost a living sense of faith or even no longer considering themselves members of the Church and living a life far removed from Christ, requires a pastoral response called ‘new evangelisation’ which is captured in the following actions:
The first is to stir disengaged baptised people to develop the gift of faith they received through Baptism. The second is to strengthen the faith of those who express themselves with ‘sincere religious feeling’, but who know little of the fundamentals of the Christian life. The third is to strengthen the faith of those who have reached adulthood, but whose religious formation has not deepened since their childhood and teenage years.
New evangelisation recognises that the ‘divine power of the Message’ germinates in people over
time. As such, our community aims to develop our young men into Catholic leaders who have an active faith and are a model to others in creating a more just society. This requires commitment from families, staff and parishes, and begins with the Catholic curriculum.
Every educational activity in a school is part of its curriculum. What makes the Catholic school curriculum distinctive is its efforts to contribute to the development of Baptised students as followers of Jesus Christ who can live the ‘new life of Christ’ in the world of today, and to the growth in awareness of ‘something of the mystery of Christ’ in those who have not received Baptism. The forms of the Ministry of the Word that are appropriate to the Catholic school – primary proclamation, initiatory catechesis and Religious Education – are integral to the Catholic curriculum. This occurs through the integration of faith, culture and life into the nine curriculum Learning Areas, the first of which is Religious Education. For new evangelisation be be successful, primary proclamation and initiatory catechesis are the priorities for Catholic families and parishes, and both are required for the faith development of children and adolescents.
quick definitions
Primary proclamation is the process of talking about Jesus through the Gospels in order to allow others to know Him better. Examples at CBC are Mass and Liturgical celebrations, as well as aspects of Religious Education and written documentation.
Initiatory catechesis nurtures faith and is oriented towards action and works of mercy. The Christian Service Learning programme, College Immersions and advocacy for the marginalised are perfect CBC examples of action that deepens the understanding of the Gospel proclamation and increases faith.
Christian Witness means to share the teachings of Christ.
Ministry of the Word is communicating the message of the Gospel.
Good News is the whole teaching of Christianity – it is ‘News’ because Christ revealed what had previously been hidden from the world, and it is ‘Good’ because it describes the infinite goodness of God.
At CBC Fremantle we believe in the inestimable worth of every human individual, for each is made in the image of God and is a reflection of God’s goodness. Similarly, in Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis references Benedict XVI to reveal the heart of the Gospel: “Being a Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life
a new horizon and a decisive direction.” As a result, “The entire community is called to evangelise and educate the young, and the urgent need for the young to exercise greater leadership.” Therefore, our evangelisation involves staff, families and students and arises from the desire ‘to grow in Christ’ so each of us can demonstrate an active, whole-hearted faith articulated by Edmund Rice, “The will of God to be done in everything we undertake.”
PHOTO Students at the Kiwirrkurra Immersion 2019.
