The Parish Council of St Joseph, Scarborough held a meeting on Thursday, June 21, to discuss Archbishop Gilbert’s Pastoral Letter – “Deepening the Spirit of Solidarity”. Sr Phyllis Wharfe SJC reports on the meeting:

“We began by giving our own understandings of solidarity. These ranged from the individual to the political, solidarity was a deep and complex concept, but one which had real power for our life as a community and for the transformation of our society – think Poland.

We then reflected on some cultural manifestations of solidarity in Tobago – len’ han’, seine pulling, communal preparation of farming land, the village community structure.

Then we looked at some of the cultural customs that destroyed solidarity – the hustling mentality – we forget the purpose of our coming together at a wedding, harvest or wake in our greed for food, which we collect in our containers, and then on our plates.

We become aggressive wherever we have to wait for service – the bank, the Communion line, the road. We even feel entitled to the exclusive service of the two priests we have given (Frs Dwight Black OP and Steve Duncan); we have a right to get them both back. 

We then considered the definition of solidarity according to Pope Benedict XVI:
Solidarity means people care about and feel responsible for each other. It means they have a sense of individual awareness and reciprocal responsibility. It means people are conscious of the fact that when they give, they receive, that they can only give what has been given to them and that what they have been given never belongs to them for themselves alone.

This led us to reflect on Vocation, Mission and Ministry, Spirituality, and Service.

Vocation - We all are being called by God to perform our part in the advancement of the Reign of God – God calls, we are invited to answer. Discernment of this call can begin with an awareness and acceptance of the particular gifts each one has, and a reverent receptivity for the gifts other people in the community possess. 

How can we achieve this in a culture that repeats to us that we are no good? What does Scripture tell us about ourselves?

Mission and Ministry – The Church has a mission “to make Christ visible” to the national society. Solidarity reminds us that we have an important task to perform for the world, the Church, and for ourselves, and that we have the capacity to deliver.

Spirituality – We came to this one quickly, as it was very clear that this solidarity thing was very demanding.  Initial and ongoing conversion, a Eucharistic spirituality which requires us to surrender our selfishness and individualism to the Lord, and a deep sense of Communion as solidarity cannot live in isolation - these were seen as basic elements of the spirituality that was necessary to support solidarity.

Service – All this talk was nice, but what were we going to do about it? This led us to look at certain areas in parish life where solidarity was non-existent and to suggest ways of growing in this virtue.

We will hold these suggestions and wait until the full meeting of the parish to collect ideas from all of you so that we can move together towards deepening the spirit of solidarity in Scarborough.