Gospel Method of Communication These workshops for parents follow an action-based style of communication used by Jesus. They are not a series of illustrated talks or lectures, so participants will not be deluged by words. Jesus rarely relied solely on words when he wanted to bring about an important change/growth in people. Instead, he caused people to do something the Apostles feeding the five thousand, Peter walking on the water etc. -
and made their action the channel for his message. Shared activity allowed deep truths to emerge without Jesus having to say anything.
Example: The catch of fish
Take the miraculous catch of fish (Luke 5:7-77) which awakened Peter to the tremendous mission Jesus wanted him to take on. How did it work? Jesus asked Peter to go out fishing with him. Peter, who was aware that he knew more about fishing, pointed out that such activity was useless at that time. Jesus did not explain what he was about, he just went on expecting the boat to be rowed out. So Peter did as he was asked - with some sharp words that he did this under protest; ‘If you say so... Then it all changed. There was tremendous excitement - and a lot of hard work - as unexpected results were achieved. We might have expected Peter to see the point later, when he thought about it. But it did not happen later. Understanding came with the action! As the effort to haul in all the fish began to ease, Peter found that he already knew what this was about. Before the fish were landed, he was exclaiming that he saw something deeper in this result - and expressing fears that he might not be good enough to do what Jesus was leading to. (Choose someone else for what you have in mind, Lord, I am a sinful man!) Jesus said nothing - until Peter had come to this point & opened his heart and mind to a new possibility. Then he only had to reassure Peter that he would do even better at leading people than at fishing! The heading for this story in the Jerusalem Bible is: The first disciples are called. That calling was in the privacy of their own hearts and it was done through an activity - fishing - which belonged to the world they understood. But the fishing was carried out at the wrong time, so it seemed strange. This new angle troubled them. Yet, because they could not apply stereotyped responses, it also made them alert to the possibility of an unforeseen result. The workshop sessions follow this method which Jesus used.
Workshop Method
Participants are asked to do things that are almost ordinary - but not quite. So, like the fishing in Galilee, it doesn’t seem quite right. In the Reconciliation programme participants are asked to use Paper People to talk about Confession. Using such nonsense characters to discuss a Sacrament often starts the kind of protest that came from Peter. People may think they are too wise or sensible to take part in these activities! There is, however, serious research into adult learning which comes down on the side of the Gospel method.
It suggests that, when we are faced with realities which do not quite match, the resulting uneasiness makes us open to learning because we want to reconcile the differences. So, taking the Lord’s example, these workshops remain committed to communication through actions which cause parents to ‘launch out into the deep’ and consider new possibilities. Like Peter’s Fishing - it works!