By Lorraine Alexander on the Occasion of the 2015 FIDES Graduation

FIDES Reflection By Lorraine Alexander on the Occasion of the 2015 FIDES Graduation I’m very pleased to have the opportunity to present this reflection this afternoon, and while it focuses on my experience of the FIDES journey, I’m sure it will resonate with you.

I have a very clear memory of standing in the airport lounge where we gathered for prayer before setting off. I remember feeling rather nervous because I only had a nodding acquaintance with most of you, and being the eldest, I was worried about fitting in and keeping up. But above and beyond that, I was filled with the excitement of anticipation, because I already had a deep faith, and I felt that in going on pilgrimage I was responding to Christ’s invitation to ‘come and see’, and I couldn’t wait! I couldn’t wait to walk where He walked, and see the same landmarks that Christ would have once looked out upon; to touch the soil, rock, sand, water! As amazing as those experiences turned out to be, it wasn’t those physical places where the power lay for me. It turns out, that for me, it was the unmapped journey, the inner journey that really made the pilgrimage spectacular! And ‘that journey’ continues.

I can’t imagine that the journey would have been half so enriching had I made it with a different group of people. As RECs this job simply doesn’t work if it’s not grounded in faith, actioned through faith, and nourished by faith. Believe me when I say, it was a real privilege to journey with you. Your faith was daily on display, without embarrassment or excuses because it’s simply part of who you are, and that’s why you’re so very effective at what you do.

The pilgrimage was something of a re-awakening for me. It reminded me that graces could be found in unexpected moments, people and places, and that God constantly breaks through with irresistible invitations, gifts and blessings:  through the bird song on Mt Nebo,  through the cream dust and rubble of Jordanian towns and the irrepressible spirit of the people we met  through barren desert landscapes where the Bedouin still celebrate the nomadic life of their ancestors  through the experience of storm and calm on the sea of Galilee  through the kindness and caring of my fellow pilgrims.

I could keep naming moments of grace and blessing that will stay with me for the rest of my life, but we’d be here for a very, very long time! I can’t however, move on without naming ‘Bethany Beyond the Jordan’ because I believe that something quite extraordinary happened there. To my mind, we entered that site, still as strangers, but we left it as a cohesive group. The experience of the Spirit in that place was palpable. That same Spirit that once hovered over the waters at creation, that hovered over Christ in that location, breathed a kind of unity into us! I remember a stillness settling over us in that place… and then suddenly, like a spell being broken, the air changed. Looking down the riverbank I could see the breeze moving through the tall grasses on the opposite side. I remember it rippling across the top of the water and enveloping us all, Ruach… the breath of God! That was the spot too, where those amazing voices led us for the first time in that soulful hymn, ‘I love you Lord, and I lift my voice’. It was the first time that I’d heard it, but surely, it’s become our Pilgrim’s Anthem.

I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would get to experience Eucharist (in every sense of that word) in such extraordinarily special places: in Jordan, in Israel, in Italy. I’m so grateful for having had the experience of hearing Christ speak through the most insightful homilies I’ve ever heard; homilies that had the power to speak straight to the heart, and yet, that’s a poor choice of phrase because they did much more than that but I don’t have the words to express it. I think when Fr Chris speaks in the context of the Mass, it’s more than just the exercising of a great gift or talent, I think something else is happening there… and I only wish we’d had the foresight to record him.

The pilgrimage was a feast for the senses, impossible to process at the time! For me, it’s still an experience filled with great latent power and I find myself grinning from ear to ear whenever I hear the scriptures. In fact, only a few weeks ago, my Parish Priest took me to task when he asked, “Why on earth were you grinning at me all through the Gospel? Of course, I wasn’t aware that I was doing it, and I can see why it might be rather off-putting! I was simply there in the moment as he read; back in the Holy Land seeing it all unfold.

I’m so grateful that the FIDES experience didn’t end with the pilgrimage. The learning opportunities that we’ve had since that time, have offered me a process and a plan that’s enabled me to integrate the pilgrimage experiences with my work at school. Experiencing a deepening of my relationship with Christ on the pilgrimage has brought new dimensions to my understanding of relational trust in my interactions with colleagues. Likewise, the deep listening that’s required on pilgrimage brought greater clarity to the simple act of genuinely listening to co-workers. I’ve found a new confidence in my leadership too. I wanted to change the way we programmed in Religious Education so I applied the ‘Open to Learning’ model given to us by David Eddy, and I experienced really good results, even at a time when teachers were saying they couldn’t take on another thing. The ‘Why’ ‘How’ ‘What’ framework gave everyone a voice, respected individual opinion and valued each person’s wisdom… ultimately keeping Christ at the heart of the dialogue.

The FIDES experience has also enhanced the way in which I work with teachers and students in the classroom. Being able to share first-hand experiences through my slides has helped students make connections between scripture, the sacraments and the actions of their lives. Facilitating that connection has created opportunities for students to ‘evangelise’ through naming how they are living the message of the Gospel in their day-to-day interactions.

That process of working in different classrooms has not only been beneficial for students but it’s been really worthwhile for teachers to see ‘their students’ demonstrate a real spiritual-curiosity about the events, people and places of the scriptures, and it’s created in the students, a hunger for more! It’s also been something of a guilty pleasure for me too, because depending on the scripture being studied I get to re-live a different part of the pilgrimage every time I join in a lesson.

The learning ‘Post Pilgrimage’ has thrown a few challenges out there too… like Kevin Wagner’s challenge to find bold ways for our students to witness to their faith, in fact, to evangelise, even in the primary school setting. But it’s also given us some great resources to respond to those challenges; resources such as… the ‘Open to Learning Model’ and the ‘Ladder of Inference’ presented by Tim and Joy which can help us reason our way to better solutions. These resources can help us turn our learning communities into places that also throb with the joy of the Gospel and radiate forgiveness, justice and mercy.

The FIDES PROGRAM has better equipped us to give real leadership to the Catholic identity, life and culture of the school within the evangelising Mission of the Church…  It’s also given us a great support network that bridges the divide between primary and secondary.  It’s given us a peer mentor that’s dismantled the isolation that sometimes accompanies this role.  It’s turned supervisors into fellow pilgrims, and dare I say friends.  And it’s brought Christ close in the most transformational of ways.

I found FIDES powerful beyond words, and I’ll be forever grateful for the journey.