You may not have had this experience, but today I was reminded that sometimes what we've lost is actually rather nearby. The ticket that was hidden behind a credit card in your wallet, the receipt that was in the drawer of your desk, or the favorite shirt that was in the laundry basket - maybe these are things that older folks experience. But the point is that earlier I wrote about the Superior General's talk, and how I would just summarize things because I didn't have a copy, when all the time a copy was very much available right HERE. That's the place to get all the latest information, photos, and media.
Today, there was a "main event", the report from AIMEL, and the start of the "Market Place" sessions. All three were noteworthy for different reasons. The main event was the presentation by Fr. Bryan Massingale, a diocesan priest from Milwaukie who is an ethics professor at Fordham and very well known throughout the country for his passion, erudition, connectivity with students, and exemplary teaching style. He was introduced by Br. Ernest Miller, who shared a long list of Fr. Massingale's accomplishments, and recognitions. When the welcome was finished, Fr. Massingale came down and spoke to us from the front of the podium because he was a teacher and wished to move around as he spoke to us.
His first statement to us set the theme: What does it mean to be a courageous sign of hope in a time that does not know how to name itself? Using Pope Francis' quote “We are not living in an era of change, but a change of era", he proceeded to describe an existentially different time of living today, one that calls for courageous venturing into the unknown. A list of all the ways that the world is different - climate change, deep questions about sexuality, rising nationalism, the pandemic, etc. - became immediate when he showed two photographs, side by side. One was a Brothers community in North America (mostly older, white-haired, Brothers, some smiling, sort of) and the other was a Brothers community in the Southern hemisphere (none white, largely young, no grey hair, very much smiling). He posed the questions "Whose Institute is this? Who really belongs? Who counts?"
I very much liked a quotation that he used from Pope Francis' talk to priests and religious in Mozambique in 2019, because it applies so well to our current situation: "Whether we like it or not, we are called to face reality as it is. Times change and we need to realize that often we do not know how to find our place in new scenarios: we keep dreaming about the ‘leeks of Egypt' (Num 11:15), forgetting that the promised land is before us, not behind us, and in our lamentation for times past, we are turning to stone.” From there, he spoke about the virtue of courage, which according to Aquinas is the precondition of all virtue, It is the fortitude to endure hardships and fear for the sake of doing right in the face of injustice, translating convictions to actions. You need courage to dwell in the peripheries. And you need hope: the inner orientation of the human spirit that sustains one in the quest for a non-guaranteed future in the face of formidable obstacles. Plus you need "gnome", which is the ability to reason well in the exceptional situations that are not covered by the common rules of action. And finally you need YHWH, the Divine Mystery for which the word is in the future present tense - a tense that is not in English; - a presence that mysterious, dynamic, passionate. "Behold, I make all things new."
Let's hope that his presentation is uploaded to the Chapter website linked above. It's really impressive when someone can be both passionate and erudite, down-to-earth and deeply grounded in theology, passionate with us and empathetic to our priorities. At the end of his talk, it received the most sustained applause of any presentation or talk so far, and for good reason. After a break - during which I gave him a copy of my little book on De La Salle since he said that he'd learned about him mostly on the internet - there were some excellent questions, followed by excellent answers, all challenging and insightful. Example question: Can an organization as large as ours make radical changes, or does it require something very new? Part of his answer: "Yes! As an organization as large and global as you are, you need to make space for creativity and the experimentation to move into new frontiers and new places. Don’t stigmatize people who are doing so. ... We made changes in the past; we have a history; the spirit is ever new and ever creative." Another question: How should an all-male congregation address the LGBTQ issue considering that our young Lasallians and Partners are grappling with this too? Part of his answer: "First, we have to be honest about how the question makes us uncomfortable. It makes us uncomfortable because as religious men, our religious life makes us already suspicious and uncomfortable about how we live masculinity. By definition we are unmarried, and educators, called to be compassionate and sensitive. ... [And] we have to understand that we are called to a prophetic understanding of masculinity. We are called to the masculinity of Jesus, who at Gethsemane needed his friends to be with him, who allowed John to rest his head on his chest, who was not afraid of human touch (women washing his feet) and washed his disciples feet." In answer to another question, he spoke about what we can learn about other international organizational that have gone through different models of change, recommending John Quinn's book, Deep Change. There were other questions about conservative young people and priests, the goal of "radical availability" on the part of the Brothers, etc. The time moved quickly and 90 minutes were done in a flash. The session ended by Sr. Leslie leading us through an "important words for us right now" exercise using an online program that displayed the words we wrote on the "menti" website on the screen in a word cloud. The largest word was "courage".
We next came together again at 3:00 pm, when Alisa Macksey and Br. Nestor presented the results of the first phase of the AIMEL gathering. There was a bit of earphone juggling on my part, because Alisa spoke in English and Nestor in Spanish, taking alternate turns at reading the sections of the eight propositions from AIMEL. I needed the earphones for Nestor, but if I didn't take them off right away, or go to another channel when Alisa came on, there would a French translation in my ear. But most of it got through.
The question period was quite varied and serious. The propositions brought up all sorts of issues and concerns. Examples: Who gives the stamp of approval to the final document from AIMEL that will be created at the second session? (Answer: The hope is that we would entrust the delegates of IAMEL with the final approval.) Who does the implementation of the document - Rome, Regions, Districts? (Answer: It would be the work of CIAMEL with the next General Council and work with Districts on the implementation.) Are there discussions or specific proposals with respect to the General Chapter itself? (Answer: We’d like the General Chapter to contribute some possibilities to add to our second phase: comments and input. There was a brief discussion by AIMEL as to whether to have a joint meeting of AIMEL and the General Chapter in the future.) What do you want from the General Chapter? (Answer: We hope that things that are in line with your proposals would be incorporated into your own decisions.) Is it your intention for this CIAMEL to have some sort of deliberative authority? It seems to include a bold shift in empowerment. (Answer: We would like CIAMEL to be empowered to make decisions in dialogue with the General Council without necessarily requiring approval for every decision made.) A few "questions" were more in the nature of opinions. But generally the questions were thoughtful and focused. A proposal was offered from the central committee of the Chapter, regarding the acceptance and validation of the AIMEL proposals. It was written in language that was carefully nuanced and supportive.
When it came to the voting itself, the Moderator for the session pointed out that this would be the first actual Chapter Act to be voted on. A hand-count of the voting delegates was done by all the scrutineers, which yielded 66 voting delegates in the room. The vote was then taken electronically. The total votes recorded was 71. A bit of a problem here. The vote was retaken, and this time 65 people voted and 56 votes (53 positive and 3 Juxta Modum, which count as positive). General applause followed, and the session ended, with many going up to the front to congratulate Alisa and Br. Nestor for their work and its validation by the Chapter. One procedural concern on my part was communicated to the central community afterwards, via a quick email from my room prior to the next activity, but its neither necessary nor helpful to bring it up here. I was happy that the work of CIAMEL and AIMEL was understand, accepted, and brought forward.
After this, there were Marketplace sessions in different locations on the property. Those in my language subgroup, mentioned in an earlier blog, went to the Young Lasallian and Young Brothers presentations. Br. Dylan Perry showed several videos prepared for the occasion which succinctly shared the results of those gatherings, after which he had us highlight with post-it stickers which ones we thought had already been done well or not been accomplished yet. It was a clever way to get a pulse on where the group stood.
The second Marketplace session focused on the "Notes" that the Brothers had sent to the Chapter, only 100 in number. The presentation provided a summary of those notes and began a longer discussion of what we had learned during the day's events and what we wanted to "privilege" as we moved ahead. It was a very good group conversation.
Today's activities finished at 6:43, seven minutes before Mass in the main chapel. A quick run to my room and then to the chapel, where the Mass would be in English, with Fr. Massingale as the main celebrant. I had volunteered to sing in the choir and therefore was busy with that for most of the Mass, although our point of view was rather limited.
