Tuesday 5 to Monday 11 August 2008  Stradling the generations we talk with Moyra who is busier than ever and we begin our three part series looking at World Youth Day in review.  Got an inspiring story to tell?  Check out the About Us tab for easy instructions.  All the best for a great week.  Ka kite anō.  

Reflect with Suzanne Aubert, who might just turn out to be New Zealand's first saint

Tuesday - Not only does God permit us to love him, but he commands us to love him with all our heart. 

Wednesday - Let us not be troubled by the remembrance of our past sins, so often has he purified our souls in his precious blood.

Thursday - If we are not well, if we have a headache, let the children find us the same calmness, gentleness, patience, as at any other moment.  Let us try to make them happy.

Friday - Let us not lose any opportunity of practicing acts of charity.  Let us be good to everybody, ingenious in excusing small faults, and skilful in interpreting proceedings which might more or less be open to criticism. 

Saturday - Jesus is the great chemist who himself prepares all remedies.  His heart is the heating lamp, his love the alembic; the results of his skill consist of love, and the price he demands for all his remedies is again love.

Sunday - The spirit of the Church is patient, prudent, and confident in God.  But it is laborious, zealous, and watchful to avail of every opportunity which divine providence puts in its way.  Let us be penetrated with it.

Monday - It is by means of self-control that we succeed in acquiring great moderation. 

Email twidle.bj@xtra.co.nz to subscribe to daily reflections based on these quotes

 Beyond reason

Walking on water...Watch video.  And from last week, another great miracle to inspire us... Watch video.  

 

Before you go... Presbyterians place strong emphasis on good, sound education, says Ian McKinnon, deputy mayor of Wellington and former Headmaster at Scots College on www.presbyterian.org.nz. “The purpose of education is to produce a person who is trained, to produce thinking people who think creatively and to produce civilised people who respect the differences in each other.”

People are mistaken, says Ian, if they think that schools are the only providers of education. “Schools can’t do it all by themselves. Family, community and school are the providers of education. The family’s role in education is to give a warm, nurturing environment where a young person develops the confidence that comes from feeling secure. If a young person doesn’t feel secure they are not necessarily going to give expression to their talents and abilities. The community provides the young person less-structured experiences. If you see those three as a triangle with the young person in the middle, one side of the triangle non-functioning impacts on the other sides.

“We know we have too many young people slipping through the net of the schooling system. Is the breakdown in the family? Is there a breakdown in community? When there is a breakdown, schools can become a less appealing and less successful place. Part of the reason why is that schools are having to concentrate on countering the shortcomings of the other two and not give enough emphasis to what they are there for.”

While young people today can look more adult, Ian says, people should not mistake this for genuine maturity. “Though young people look considerably more sophisticated than previous generations, often because of the experiences they are having, it doesn’t mean they are any more mature in being able to cope with the pressures of life. Just because young people now can jump into bed with each other because we give them condoms and a sex lesson in the fifth form, it doesn’t mean to say they’ve got the maturity to manage what that means in terms of a relationship. Just because young people can drink alcohol furiously doesn’t mean to say they have the judgement to realise when to stop. It’s maturity that allows people to stand up to the pressures of life, not being sophisticated.”

Ian is unconvinced that studying youth issues is the most effective way to help young people. “I get so frustrated; nobody has been more analysed than the adolescent. By the time I finished headmastering, I had shelves on adolescent development and if even half the energy had been extracted from that and gone into a direct connect with young people, it would have been better. Everybody who writes deep tomes about how to manage the adolescent should have to teach a class of 15 year olds on a hot Friday afternoon.”