The Catholic Times 2nd October 2015

FEATURE/NEWS FOCUS 5

HEART OF THE MATTER Cindy Wooden

“W HEN God calls,and when it’sa genuine, au-thentic call,

you just go,” says Claz Gomez,National Young Vincentian’s Co-ordinator for the St Vincentde Paul Society (SVP).

“Nothing gives you greaterpeace and joy than to actuallyfollow that call.”

Claz experienced her callingvery powerfully, while walkingthe El Camino pilgrimage routein Spain five years ago. At thetime she had slipped away fromher faith, but she spoke a “halfhearted” prayer of surrenderwhile utterly lost during herwalk.

What followed next was a pow-erful mystical experience whereshe recounts “God planted theseed of youth evangelisation inmy heart”.

At the time her response was“Evangelisation? That’s not cool,”but doors soon opened to leadClaz in the direction of workingwith young people.

She joined the SPES (StPatrick’s Evangelisation School)community at St Patrick’s churchin London’s Soho and was invitedby one of the trainers to interviewfor the post of Co-ordinator ofYouth Evangelisation and For-mation at Ealing Abbey, and gotthe job.

Together with working atYouth 2000, this gave her theopportunity to guide young peo-ple in their faith, and led her to-wards her current post at theSVP where she works with YoungVincentian Development Officersto start up youth groups in pri-mary and secondary schools aswell as parishes and universitiesacross England and Wales.

Claz is a dynamic blend ofcontradictions. She comes acrossas hip and streetwise, yet unex-pectedly, the 31-year-old has beendiscerning her vocation with anenclosed order of DiscalcedCarmelites for the past threeyears.

With a Filipino mother and aSpanish father, she has an un-usual heritage, but her roots arefirmly Catholic.

When her parents weren’t busyworking long hours doing twojobs each, the family would praythe Rosary together.

Now, having returned to herfaith, Claz describes a rich spir-itual life which she says helpsher remain firmly rooted in Jesus.

Each morning she practisesthe ancient monastic traditionof Lectio Divina, meditating onthe day’s scripture to uncoverher mission for the day. She alsoattends daily Mass.

While her home parish is StMichael’s and St Martin’s inHounslow, she also attends Mass-es at other parishes either onher way to work, during herlunch break, or at the end of theday.

She has a spiritual directoron whom she depends very closely and she is still heavilyinvolved with Ealing AbbeyYoung Adults.

Her spiritual director has described her as being “on loan”to the SVP, where she has aclear sense of mission.

By encouraging the growth ofthe four Young Vincentian apos-tolates, Mini Vinnies (for seven-11-year-olds), Youth SVP (11-14year olds), SVP B-Attitude (14-18 year olds) and SVP1833 (18-33-year-olds) Claz says her mis-sion is to encourage a Christ-centred spirituality amongstyoung people.

Claz says: “The Young Vin-centian spirituality is about put-ting Christ at the centre of prac-tical works.

“Mini Vinnies for instance, areencouraged to see, think and do.They see a need, they reflect onhow they can help and then theypray to put their love into action.It may be something relativelysmall like tidying the table afterdinner, or helping their teachercarry books, but it encouragesan independent will in childrento do good in the spirit of Chris-tian love.

“Older children in Youth SVPand B-Attitude are encouragedto put their love in action throughgood works such as visiting olderpeople in residential homes, serv-ing food to the homeless and de-livering food parcels to the hun-gry.

“And my mission is to growthe Young Vincentian groups inschools, parishes and universitiesso that the bridge between faithin Jesus and good works may bestrengthened.”

Claz is very clear that Jesusneeds to be, or at least, becomethe centre of all we do.

This is one of the many bene-fits of the SVP’s Young Vincent-ian Programme which, she says, “encourages spiritual for-mation, volunteering, social ac-tion and good citizenship inyoung people”.

This is particularly important

when working with teenagersfor whom, she says, she has aparticular soft spot. She has agreat love for teenagers becausethey go through so many changesduring this stage of life – be-havioural, emotional and spiri-tual – and need a lot of love andencouragement.

“For me, I see this as a reallycritical time in their life whenthey are being formed,” Clazsays.

“Their personalities and innerlives are being shaped and theyare beginning to realise thatthey are independent persons,and have their own thoughtsand their own feelings. Theyneed someone to believe in themand the opportunity to exploretheir thoughts and actions.

“That is what the Young Vin-centian programme provides. Asafe, structured activity andprayer programme to help themcome out of themselves and reachout to others, that they maylearn about who they are andwhat they stand for in a Chris-tian context.”

Claz is a firm believer thatthe desire to do works of loveand faith is something that iscontinually growing and pro-gressing.

“All acts of love can grow,” sheexplains. “Something that is mo-tivated for ourselves, for example,helping someone to feel goodabout ourselves, can develop tobecome selfless. With God, ourcapacity for love has to grow,from self-orientated to other-ori-entated.”

F or this reason she believesthat there is great meritin the progressive nature

of the Young Vincentian pro-gramme. Referring to the MiniVinnies she says: “The youngeryou start to form your own desireto help another person, the deep-er the roots are going to go – ifthey are watered and if they arefed.

“When children reach second-ary school they are ready forthis desire to develop and YouthSVP and B-Attitude take themfrom doing small acts in thehome and school, to doing greateracts of love in the wider com-munity.”

This is in line with the adultSVP members’ work, befriending

the lonely and vulnerable by car-rying out weekly visits.

It is not, however, necessaryfor children to belong to MiniVinnie groups before they joinYouth SVP or B-Attitude. Eachgroup introduces young peopleto the very practical Vincentianspirituality and provides themwith age appropriate resourcesand activities.

Claz says the SVP has an ur-gent need for more Young Vin-centian Development Officers,(YVDOs), the adult volunteers(very often former teachers them-selves) who help set up groupsin schools and parishes.

At the moment there are partsof the country where YVDOs arelacking, so those schools andparishes are missing out on theYoung Vincentian programmes.

Claz says: “We definitely needmore YDVOs. They don’t haveto be SVP members, and we provide them with training twicea year. The next training sess-ion is in February. They are ess-ential to the work of the SVP’sYoung Vincentians and their pas-sion and dedication is invalu-able.”

Asked what Claz would liketo communicate to young peopleshe says with her customary en-thusiasm: “You have a lot to give!Don’t be afraid to take risks ifGod is guiding you to do some-thing – because He doesn’t callthe equipped, He equips thecalled!

“Let’s face it, you are the futureof the Church so remain openand attentive to His will becauseHe desires to pour immenseblessings into all your activi-ties, whether that be in a resi-dential home, a soup kitchen, orat a primary school helping theyounger ones with their home-work.”

n Claz is writing to everyparish and school in thecountry to introduce herselfand the Young Vincentianprogramme. If you would liketo find out more about settingup a youth group in yourschool, college or parish, or ifyou are interested inbecoming a YVDO, or if youwould like general informationabout the SVP, contact Claz byphone: 020 7703 3030 or e-mail: ClazG@svp.org.uk

PROFILEClaz Gomez tells Anita Boniface how a call towards youth evangelisationled her to the SVP, encouraging the growth of Young Vincentian apostolates

P OPE FRANCIS speaksoften about memory andmotion, the importance

of remembering where you camefrom and setting off withoutfear to share the Gospel.

That’s what he did in theUnited States. He circled theStatue of Liberty in a helicopterand flew over Ellis Island notpreparing to condemn theworld’s great superpower, butto reflect on its history andpromise as a land that welcomespeople, makes them part of thefamily and allows them tothrive.

Over the course of six daysin the United States, Pope Fran-cis let the US public see whohe really is with touching bless-ings, strong speeches, prayerfulliturgies and an unpluggedproclamation of the beauty offamily life, even when it includesflying saucers.

With constant television cov-erage and a saturated socialmedia presence, Pope Franciswas no longer just the subjectof screaming headlines aboutthe evils of unbridled capitalismand a “who-am-I-to judge” atti-tude towards behaviours theCatholic Church describes assinful.

Instead, he repeatedly admit-ted his own failures and re-minded people they, too, havefallen short.

He urged them to trust inGod’s mercy and get a move onproclaiming that to the world –first with gestures and maybewith words.

Sin is sin even for Pope Fran-

cis. Human life is sacred atevery stage of its development,and that includes the lives ofconvicted murderers, he saidduring the visit. People areblessed and at their best whenthey are part of a family com-posed of a mother, a father, chil-dren and grandparents. Thewell-being of a nation is servedby businesses and enterprisesthat make money, but that donot make money their god.

The Pope’s proclamation ofthe Gospel in Washington, NewYork and Philadelphia focusedon reinvigorating people’s faith,hope, trust and commitment toloving God, serving others andliving up to the founding idealsof the United States: equality,opportunity for all, religiousliberty and the sacred dignityof every creature – human esp-ecially, but also the earth.

Pope Francis had never beenin the United States beforelanding in Washington on 22ndSeptember. He was welcomedto the White House and becamethe first pope to address a jointmeeting of Congress. He joinedleaders of other religions inhonoring the dead and comfort-ing their surviving family mem-bers at ground zero in NewYork. He addressed the UnitedNations. And, in Philadelphia,using a lectern once used byAbraham Lincoln, he called forrespect for religious freedomand for ethnic and cultural diff-erences.

At home and abroad, PopeFrancis scrutinises people andidentifies something good and

beautiful in them. He affirmstheir core concerns, and he chall-enges them to grow.

For the Catholic Church – inthe United States as else-where – the key challenge is“not about building walls, butabout breaking them down”, ashe told the bishops, clergy andreligious of Pennsylvania on26th September.

From the beginning of histrip – on 19th September inHavana – the Pope made itclear that with all the importantmeetings he would have, hisprimary purpose was to jointhe celebration of the WorldMeeting of Families in Philadel-phia from 26th-27th Septem-ber.

And he insisted it be a cele-bration, not a funeral or a sim-ply a session for rallying theobedient, loyal troops beforethey set out to battle.

T he big challenge, he toldmore than 100 bishopswho came to the meeting

from around the world, is torecognise just how many beau-tiful families God has blessedthe Church with.

“For the Church, the familyis not first and foremost a causefor concern, but rather the joy-ous confirmation of God’s bless-ing upon the masterpiece ofcreation,” he told the bishops.“Every day, all over the world,the Church can rejoice in theLord’s gift of so many familieswho, even amid difficult trials,remain faithful to their prom-ises and keep the faith!”

Tossing aside the text he hadprepared for the nighttime fes-tival of families, Pope Francishad tens of thousands of peoplewatching him with awe or withlaughter or with tears as hedescribed the blessing of real-life families.

“Some of you might say: ‘Ofcourse, Father, you speak likethat because you’re not mar-ried,’” he admitted. But heproved he knew what he wastalking about. “Families havedifficulties. Families – we quar-rel, sometimes plates can fly,and children bring headaches.I won’t speak about mothers-in-law,” he quipped.

But mothers-in-law deservea break and understanding, ifone applies the Pope’s words tothe bishops the next morningand to hundreds of thousandsof people gathered on Philadel-phia'’ Benjamin Franklin Park-way for the event’s closing Mass.

Trust the Holy Spirit, he toldthe crowds. Recognise that Godis at work in the world. Treasurethe little daily gestures thatshow love within a family. Aff-irm all those who do good,whether or not they are “partof our group”.

“Anyone who wants to bringinto this world a family whichteaches children to be excitedby every gesture aimed at over-coming evil – a family whichshows that the Spirit is aliveand at work – will encounterour gratitude and our appreci-ation. Whatever the family, peo-ple, region, or religion to whichthey belong!” he said.

Americans finally meetPope Francis and getto see who he really is

Answering the call toyouth evangelisation

Claz Gomez – ‘Don’t be afraid to take risks if God is guiding you to do something – because Hedoesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called!’ Picture: SOCIETY OF ST VINCENT DE PAUL