Sometime back, I thought I might read once again John Steinbeck’s, The Grapes of Wrath. It is a sweeping saga of poverty, injustice, and the human spirit in the depression era in the United States. One part in particular stands out for me, about a “preacher man” bearing his soul to the main protagonist of the story, Tom Joad. In the face of injustices dividing American society at the time, the pastor arrives at a surprising insight that takes him beyond his once held certainties:
"I figgered about the Holy Sperit and the Jesus road. I figgered, 'Why do we got to hang it on God or Jesus? Maybe,' I figgered, 'maybe it's all men an' all women we love; maybe that's the Holy Sperit—the human sperit—the whole shebang. Maybe all men got one big soul ever'body's a part of. ' Now I sat there thinkin' it, an' all of a suddent—I knew it. I knew it so deep down that it was true, and I still know it."
Beginnings? Where to begin (excuse the pun) when reflecting on beginnings. The idea that we are all bound by one big soul that everybody is a part of might be a good place to start.
We begin a new year. This is not a static thing, it is dynamic and constantly on the move. Already, we are entering the Easter season which is very much about the transformative journey of life, death and resurrection. It would be safe to say that many of us would like this year to be less “unprecedented” than 2020!
As Easter approaches, we may well tap into a deep seated yearning to experience “new life” and new beginnings. For some of us, we may have arrived at this point of time more resilient and gifted with new and exciting opportunities. For others, this time may well find us encumbered with experiences of unspeakable losses and shattered dreams.
If anything, the year of an unprecedented pandemic (which, by the way is far from over) ushers us into a new year, and new beginnings, with, hopefully, a handy tool bag replete with learnings and insights.
I wonder how we might bring along these learnings and insights to our conversations about another kind of new beginning: the emergent entity, “CatholicCare Victoria”. When the Bishops of the various Dioceses and the leaders of the three CatholicCare/Centacare agencies (Ballarat, Sandhurst, and Melbourne/Gippsland) sat around the table so to speak, it may not have at first been thought possible that we could come together as a combined, state-wide, Catholic social services provider.
There is of course a great deal of work that has been done - and a great deal of more work yet needing to be done - as we grow into this new way of being, this new beginning.
One of the challenges for us as an emergent CatholicCare Victoria is finding a shared and meaningful language that speaks to our identity and mission. We can draw on our pastoral heritage whereby we envisage Christ as the humanisation of the creator God who has created us all with an inherent dignity.
It is through our service provision, our advocacy, and the way we relate respectfully with our clients and each other that, we discover our groundedness in the Gospel vision of Jesus. It is in this sense that we as CatholicCare Victoria respond to the call to be the continuing presence, or “incarnation”, of the ongoing mission to humanise the world around us. To do as Jesus did: to name the things that diminish the person, to challenge the prevailing structures, and to proclaim, through action/engagement with government and the local Church, the “good news” that God’s love is one that brings liberation and lasting transformation for families and communities.
May the emergence of a newly formed CatholicCare Victoria, be an impetus for us to find a language that unites us deeply, in purpose, vision and transformative action. It may be possible that the lesson that Tom Joad learnt early on in his never ending search for liberation and justice, that we are all part of one big soul, may also resonate with us.
Paul Zammit | Senior Manager, Pastoral Care Services
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