FROM A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
YOUNG people are becoming ta.sre and more tired with courses which deal with problems such as drug addiction and sexual promiscuity, says Mgr. Michael Buckley in the November issue of the Wood Hall Newsletter.
He writes: "They do not want to hear any more about 'hippies' and drop-outs or the age barrier. They need the positive side of Christian living and want to see our Christian Faith challenging the world.
"They are becoming even more disillusioned with rigid attitudes which classify things as black and white. They need guidance and firmness, yet with a certain elasticity within which they feel free.
"They long for something exciting yet lasting which will stretch them to the limit of their powers. The reception they gave to Mother Teresa of Calcutta was something never to be forgotten. 'They said she was real. The inference is obvious."
'HIPPY' PRIESTS Commenting on certain priests who seek to influence ytoitnindgar pdesople by adopting their s
Mgr.
writes: "Too ninny priests and so-called leaders of youth go 'hippy' with the young.
"They zsre a menace to the truth and to the young people whom they are pretending to serve. It is the spirit within a priest which makes him real for young people so that he can get across to them."
On school retreats he says: "It is practically impossible to get through to young people of the Fourth Form upwards if the retreat is held in school surroundings. They must be 'lifted out' of their schools and homes and given a new look at f the nature of modern ieteOl retreats ts M gr. Buckley observes : "Trends today are moving away from the complete dialogue retreat to one which gives ample scope
silence
for and deep meditation. People do not want a crowded programme. They
need inspiration, information and challenge".
MORE SERENITY
Following the success of five week-end courses attended by whole religious communities, Wood Hall is to offer similar opportunities in 1971.
Mgr. Buckley writes : "The Renewal of the Church is very much in the hands of women Religious. It is stupid to criticise their new form of dress just as it is wrong to claim that one needs to be identified with everything in the world in order to communicate with it.
"The upsets in religious life were necessary if there was to be a growth, but at the moment there is a levelling out and certainly more serenity among Religious.
"It is impossible to say what the Church of the future will be like. All we know is that the Church will always be there. In many ways, recent changes in our structures have only been peripheral. We have a long way to go yet if we are to follow the guides of the Holy Spirit."