On 14 January 2022 I was appointed to the CLC World Executive Council. Co-opted alongside a fellow young person named Daniela (from Colombia/Netherlands), we will serve on the ExCo until the next CLC World Assembly is held in August 2023.
Christian Life Community is a world community of ordinary people who gather regularly to share faith and life. As members of small local communities, we become companions on the way. Animated by Ignatian Spirituality, we walk with each other towards fullness of life in God’s presence (see John 10:10).
Discerning the way to Yes
During two weeks discerning the invitation, I spoke with wisdom figures and friends. I looked closely at saying no.
Ultimately I was very moved by the stirrings of joy and consolation which I felt when imagining saying yes, and especially when sharing the question with companions from the CLC Asia-Pacific Animating Team. There was a quickening of spirit and an energy and enthusiasm for our common life in CLC, where people on different paths journey together.
My Ignatian journey and CLC
My experience with Ignatian Spirituality began as an 11-year-old student at a Jesuit high school learning about “Inigo” Loyola. I now have a number of Jesuit friends.
Some years ago I joined a CLC community in Melbourne. We moved through different life seasons, encouraging each other to listen to the renewing presence of God among us. I believe this is the CLC way: to help one another respond to the Spirit at work in our experiences, friendships and choices.
In my work as a Religious Education teacher, I invite high school students to grow attentive to God’s presence in their lives. Thanks to CLC, I feel comfortable encouraging these students in their spirituality.
Young people and CLC
Australia is a pluralist and secularising society whose prevailing culture views religion with scepticism. Young people close to CLC in Australia may at times feel a certain hesitancy about engaging in church, yet there is a spiritual hunger below the surface which CLC helps us understand and meet. We are each on a personal journey to integrate our spirituality with our public-facing lives.
Feeling at home in a CLC local community, I came to feel at home in the world. Good and true friends are like diamonds.
Click here to read the letter sharing this news with the World Community of CLC.
Read more about CLC at the CLC Australia and CLC World websites.
Lovely article, James, on your experience of CLC, how it has been a source of support and integration of the spiritual in your everyday life! Your students are lucky to have you as a teacher, even if skeptical at times! 🙂 Wonderful to have you on board the World Executive Council! Your thoughtful perspective is much appreciated, and I look forward to our seeking together the presence and promptings of the Spirit in this endeavor!
Absolutely Ann Marie it is a joy to belong to the CLC community. I’m delighted now to be walking with you for this journey as a World ExCo also. Yes, may we indeed seek the presence and promptings of the Spirit along the way! May God give us the gift of encouragement – for each one of us personally, for how we relate with each other, and for how we engage with our world community.