A time for thinking and good deeds for everyone
Editorial
For readers of a different demographic, Harry Styles is a 32-year-old English singer and a former member of the hugely successful boy band One Direction.
For readers of a different demographic, Harry Styles is a 32-year-old English singer and a former member of the hugely successful boy band One Direction.
In his spare time the musician is a seriously good marathon runner and for the past year or two has been the world’s most popular male singer, his concerts rivalling the success of his female counterpart (and former girlfriend) Taylor Swift. Harry, it’s fair to say, is set for life.
A couple of weeks ago when the war in Iran finally took hold, and on stage at the start of a global tour (Australian dates are November and December for the true believers), Harry wasn’t backward about having his say.
“In a world like we have today that feels so chaotic, it’s easy to feel so hopeless,” he said.
“But seeing this room, where there is so much hope, I encourage you to keep being the change in the world that you want to see.
“There are so many dangerous things that feel so powerful but love and kindness are powerful. Go out and spread it, the world could use a little peace right now.”
We don’t know what religion Harry follows and he has said in the past that he is guided spiritually more than anything, but among his many body tattoos are a cross and a Bible and he was spotted among the crowds at the Vatican when Pope Leo was announced as the new pontiff last year.
None of this qualifies him as a spokesperson to be listened to in great depth but as well as being a decent sort, Harry has 47 million followers on Instagram. So, what he says counts to a lot of people.
The takeout for me in his few words comes down to hope. Things aren’t great globally right now but Harry can see in his following, a desire to do better and to be better. Love and kindness can achieve much he says, so go out and preach it and do it.
Dr Christina Kheng, the Singapore based lay academic who was invited to Adelaide to help with the Dialogue Week leg of the 2026 Synod here, doesn’t immediately come across as a Harry Styles fan but said much the same thing as the superstar when she was in town a few weeks ago.
She was taken by the hope and desire for unity she found among school students in particular. Young people are not only the future but are also the present she said, and don’t forget it.
Christina hopes that the people who made the time to sit down and truly listen to other people and their thoughts, will make a habit of it way beyond the official end of the Synod.
Listening is for life she said. Discuss and try new things with others and never give up hope.
Easter, of course, is the ultimate time of new life and new beginnings.
Our cover story in this month’s newspaper follows a woman who will be received into the Catholic Church on April 4. She is from alone, 83 people will be baptised into the Church across the Archdiocese this Easter, a 66 per cent increase on last year.
Part of the reason they want to be baptised, we can assume, comes down to the hope that being part of a larger, accepting and giving group – or Church in their case – can give.
It’s personal, and so subjective of course, but the Easter Vigil in St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral is for me the standout Mass of the year. It begins, outside in the dark, where a flame is lit and carried into the Cathedral with a good many of the gathering in tow.
Inside, it is a different Cathedral to every other day of the year. The people about to be baptised – the Elect – gather near the altar with their families and friends and last year not a seat was untaken.
The build-up takes about an hour and is carried out in almost complete darkness save for a trickling of ‘fairy light’ type bulbs adorning the perimeters of the aisles. Ancient ceremony and drama dominate. No-one in the pews speaks and no-one looks at their mobile phone either, the brightness of the screen would be an instant give-away to all and sundry. It is perhaps, the most calming hour of the year.
Seconds before we can see fully again, a magical tinkling reverberates around the Cathedral to signify the coming of the lights, a pageantry more typically associated with Christmas maybe but it uplifts everyone immediately and for some time I’d guess.
The greater message of the Mass aside, I’m already looking forward to my hour of solitude among the many at the Easter Vigil this year.
I’ll use it for a time of reflection and renewal of hope, for everyone.
Much as, in their different ways, I imagine Christina and Harry will be doing too.
