In today's episode I explore a fine quote from Queen Elizabeth II's former chaplain Gavin Ashenden. It's a great reminder that any utopian vision that is presented to young people is bound to end in disillusion and bitterness. As Catholic teachers we are able to offer a much broader and ultimately truthful view of reality.

Grab your free access to my awesome resource for Catholic teachers right here:

https://cf.onecatholicteacher.com/oct-opt-in

Find out about booking Jonathan to come and speak at your school or event

https://cf.onecatholicteacher.com/catholic-speaking

Well, Hey everybody, Jonathan Doyle with you.

Once again, welcome friends to the Catholic teacher daily podcast.

I'm back on the horse for my American listeners.

The Australian summer break does seem to go for a long time.

If you're wondering where I've been.

I got back yesterday from some time down the coast.

Finally got some good weather, stayed at this wonderful little town

where once a year they have this.

Sort of big community thing where.

Well, how do I explain this?

Once a year, you are allowed to jump off the main bridge.

The Gaucher, the middle of the town.

There's a big tidal river there that runs out to the ocean and

you get to jump off this bridge.

It's about sort of six or seven meters.

And, uh, you get, uh, and then after that, everybody inflates.

Plastic inflatable animals and floats in the current, down towards the ocean.

Yes, I know.

It sounds a little unusual, but thousands of people do it.

We had a great time.

And so here I am back in the office today.

Got up early though at the coast, jumped on the motorbike with one of my

daughters on the back and off we went.

They're about 300 kilometers on the motorbike getting back home

yesterday, which is really good.

So I've had a few adventures, had a good break.

And really good to be back with you all.

I hope that, uh, keep me in your prayers.

I really want to try and stay with it this year and just keep bringing

you regular encouragement as Catholic educators all over the world.

It's been great to hear from many of you over the last few days.

I've really appreciated it.

And, uh, yeah, just, just stoked to be back and so grateful to have this chance

to just offer some encouragement each day.

Please make sure you've subscribed to the podcast.

Hit that subscribe button, wherever you're listening.

And of course, if you could share this with other teachers,

that's always a big help.

There's a bunch of links wherever you're listening to this.

You can book me to speak and get free access to our Catholic

teacher formation program.

10 weeks of free access.

It's called going deeper.

Check that out.

And finally there should be a link here.

To book a free 20 minute zoom call with me from anywhere in the world.

If you are a principal or in leadership in Catholic education, I am back

coaching and mentoring leaders.

Where you can get regular access to me.

And we can look at, uh, addressing all those sorts of challenging,

complex professional issues that beset leadership in Catholic education.

So if you'd like some personal coaching with me, go ahead and click that link

and grab a free 20 minute zoom call.

That'd be great now.

Today.

I want to share with you a really wonderful quote from Gavin Ashenden.

If you haven't heard of Gavin, Ashenden.

He is a very interesting person.

Who's a former Anglican Bishop who converted to Catholicism.

And as many of you will know, many Anglican converts tend to be.

Deeply Orthodox, deeply faithful, and they have a deep love

for their new Catholic faith.

And he is no exception.

He was also.

Private chaplain to her majesty queen Elizabeth, the second, may

she rest in peace for many years?

And of course, uh, when he became a Catholic, he resigned that position.

As you can imagine, it would be somewhat awkward being the chaplain.

To the head of the Anglican church, if you're infect a Catholic.

So, uh, not impossible, but obviously.

It would just make for some interesting.

Interesting discussion around the water cooler.

Alright, so he's a fascinating guy and I'll put some links here,

go check him out on YouTube.

He's he's a really brilliant, interesting guy.

And he published a piece that I really enjoyed a few days

ago on death, life, death.

Through the love and life and death through the lens of Benedict 16 and J.

R R Tolkien and in it, he finished with a really beautiful quote.

I don't want to find this for you here.

Let me read this to you.

He says this.

The church cannot quell the storms through which she sails.

But she can, and she must author rescue.

To those that recognize they are drowning.

And cry out for help.

A lot jumps to mind there.

It's interesting.

Isn't it?

When Jesus comes the storm in the boat, it's Jesus, that actually comes the storm.

It's not Peter.

It's a, it's not the apostles.

It was Jesus himself who comes the storms.

And so in Ashton says here, the church cannot squirrel the

storms through which he sails.

In the context of the actual video he was talking about, I guess the.

Vicissitudes of history, the challenges.

And sin and evil and wickedness that follows the human

story down through the ages.

The church cannot literally stop that.

Why can't she bowl?

She's not a political creation.

She has no political power per se.

She has no standing army.

She doesn't invade countries per se, unless she invades them

with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So the church cannot overpower.

It seems the.

Post-lab Syrian condition.

And if you're not familiar with that cool word, why wouldn't you be Catholic?

When we have great terms like post-lab Syrian.

Post-lab Syrian, of course means after the lapse, after the

fall in a fallen creation sin.

And evil are going to stalk the human story right throughout the ages.

And so this quote is saying that we can't.

Necessarily create utopia.

And I'm, I'm big on this.

I think if you paying attention, you will notice that utopianism.

Has been, has beset the human condition for, you know, centuries.

We see it most obviously through marks and now through cultural Marxism.

But this idea that we can create a perfect world.

Is a.

It's not biblical.

You know, there's a reason why the book of revelation has a new heaven and a

new earth it's God's sovereign action.

That will bring that about.

So, this is not, of course, to say that we then descend into defeatism,

that we withdraw behind the barricades and have nothing to do.

With the world around us, it's simply to recognize that.

The pair of the church is to reach out to those who are recognizing that

they're drowning and cry out for help.

In the journey of Catholic education.

This means that part of our task is to help young people see through.

The utopianism of their moment in history.

And personally, I think it's almost endemic in the education system.

At least in my country, there's a progressive fascination with

various forms of utopianism.

Particularly around things like environmental issues.

Uh, other issues.

You know, geopolitical issues that are often radically simplified

into good guys and bad guys.

And then young people are positioned.

To take a place on that.

And as I've been teaching my own children, the nature of geopolitics

and human sin is complex.

That's great.

Layers of complexity.

The call for our prayer and our discernment, not just simply, you know,

hashtag I stand with, fill in the blank.

So what I'm getting at here is that I think what Catholic education can do

and what Catholic teachers can do is to help young people see a bigger vision

to help to say to young people look.

There is objective evil and suffering in the human condition.

But what explains it?

You know what explains it?

That's one of the things I love about my Catholic faith is that.

The story of the fall.

Really explains the human experience.

It explains our capacity for good and beauty, but there's

something seems to be wrong.

And no matter what system or theory or politics you come up with, it remains.

So we can't save ourselves.

But what we can do is not be fatalist and go, well, it's all just terrible.

It's got no there's much beauty.

There's great beauty around us.

There's much goodness in the world as much worth fighting for.

But we can't save ourselves.

And what the church offers is a sacramental community of faith.

The draws people in it.

There's a reason that the church is sometimes referred to as the

bark of Peter, the ship of Peter.

You know the ship that calls everybody to clam, but on board, as

we go through the storms of history,

I've definitely found in the last few years with the, um, debacle of

COVID that, um, My faith has provided.

Uh, a grounding stabilizing experience as there was so much.

Uncertainty surrounding us.

So my message to you today, my friends is, as you go about

your work in Catholic education.

Help young people to see a bigger vision.

And is that as, as they draw upon the helps of the faith, as they enter into

the sacramental life of the faith, as they, as you help them to pray and to

become saints, they will play their part.

But let's help them to play their part based on truth.

Not on utopianism, not on some Marxist cultural Marxist view of

reality that shifts and change like the sandbars of the ocean.

But something much deeper, something much more true.

That is the rock itself.

The rock of Jesus Christ.

Begin to teach that with courage bureau.

Keep presenting Christ.

Keep presenting.

The help of the faith.

The bark of Peter, the ship that will carry any young person

throughout the storms of life.

All right friends.

That's it for me today.

Uh, If you like what you're hearing please make sure you subscribe share

this with some teachers go ahead if you're in leadership and grab yourself

that uh that free 20 minute zoom call with me there'll be a link somewhere

but that's it for today i've got some good stuff coming up this week so please

make sure you've tuned in for tomorrow my name's jonathan doyle this has been

the catholic teacher daily podcast and you and i are going to talk again.