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An Auckland parish priest has challenged the Church to make contemplative prayer a priority throughout its schools.
Writing in an integrated schools newsletter, Fr Peter Murphy stated that Christianity is at a crossroads.
Fr Murphy wrote that the New Zealand bishops’ document “The Catholic Education of School-Age Children” last year came as a wakeup call for the Church in this country.
This was especially in the realisation that, “despite the success of our schools, we were producing predominantly cultural Catholics and not followers of Jesus Christ”.
“Our young people are being educated in a very secular world which, in many instances, is hostile to anything that smacks of religion and where conventional religious words carry little weight,” Fr Murphy continued.
“On the other hand there is, in the words of St Augustine, this restlessness in the human heart to search for the transcendent.
“The challenge for us as Church is to find a new language that speaks to the restless heart, especially among the young.”
Fr Murphy, of Papakura parish, suggested a return to the “foundation” of the “practice of contemplative prayer, to which all followers of Jesus are called”, as a way forward.
The call to contemplative prayer needs to be taken seriously, he wrote.
“In the years that I have been meditating with children in our schools I have become very aware that the retaining of a Catholic Christian character lies very much in the spiritual development of the teachers.
“Unless there is equal emphasis given to spiritual formation of teachers (not just children) the religious (curriculum) development remains just a head trip.”
Fr Murphy recommended the example of Townsville diocese, which has implemented the practice of Christian meditation throughout the school system.
“It would be excellent to see such a programme implemented New Zealand-wide. Are there any visionary leaders ready to take this on?” he asked.
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