It's 12:15 am (on May 8th) and I've just returned from a very nice evening with some of the Brothers here at the Chapter. It's too late to relate the events of this day. Tomorrow is a "break" day. I've signed up for the trip to Assisi. Therefore, I'll do a double-duty blog post tomorrow and fill folks in about the events of the two days. For now, here is a photo of the group from this evening.
LtoR - Brs. Louis, Dylan, Nick, Chris, me, and Luke))
Okay. I'm back. It's a day later, but I'll complete this day's blog with the information from the day. As all the other days, it was chockfull of listening, speaking, conversing, and processing. The theme was "Discover - The Life of the Brothers."Our morning speaking was Br. Eric de Clermont-Tonnerre, O.P., a Dominican theologian, formator (homiletics), former provincial, and author whose current specialty is working the laity.
His talk was rather dense and even more scholarly than yesterday's. I took a lot of notes just to keep myself engaged enough to pay attention, althoug it's always hard for any translator to convey sophisticated theology French, rapidly delivered, into comprehensive English ideas. His focus was on "Fraternity" and community. He provided philosophical and theological background about what that means. "By being, living, thinking, working and celebrating together in diversity, we become community. It aslo depends on the circulation of the living Word rather than just doing things together. ... Every act of living together is not only a gift but also a task. Facing that which disappoints us in
living together, it’s important to persist if we have Jesus ahead of us." He suggested that each of us do "a personal inventory of powerful experiences of fraternity in your life, whether dramatic or more quiet" because we will find out where our solidarity is truly exercised.
The most interesting bits for me happened during the question period. Question: In a religious institute in which we share a charism between religious and lay partners, what structure of criteria do we have for fraternity? Answer: "The religious vows are something that are established by an institution. The second case is newer idea. You have to be very clear - built and structured together by rules or documents that can give meaning to the mission. What’s most important is that this collaboration must be real; there has to be a real shared responsibility. And the fraternity experience is something that is recognized and celebrated. It is a fraternity that has to be concrete, human, and spiritual all at once." I would say that there weren't really any surprises or major revelations. It was an opportunity to think about what fraternity and community meant in our context.
When we gathered again at 3:00 pm for the report from the Secretariat for Assocation (Br. Paco and Heather Ruple Gilson), we found a paper bag with our names on it at our desks. We were used to finding little gift trinkets from various regions or districts at our places, and I'd left copies of The Teacher's Saint and the SRRL booklet prior to my presentation, but this was the first time that there was a paper bag full of a wide variety of things. When we tries to peek in, Br. Paco would say from the front, "Do no open the the bag!" in three languages. Most Brothers complied. In the ten minutes before the session, when Brothers trickled into their places, it became a mantra in the room ... sort of like those in Rome churches, or the Sistine chapter, who every once in a while loudly proclaim: "Silencio!"
When the become, the presentation was very interactive, from the seeds (there were 67 small seeds and a slightly larger, darker seed in each package, representating the 67 to 1 proportion of Partners and Brothers in the ministries at this time), to a small handout showing the "ghosts" of association (all the hidden assumptions peopel have about taking association seriously) to a really fine series of suggestions about what a next step might look like), to a sparkler that illustrated the impact good formation could have, and so on. The presentation was tightly scripted, in the good sense, really engaging, and include most of Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences in some way or other. The point that was made was very strong, appropriate, and well contextulatized. It may be summarized, for me, in Heather's statement: "We ask you to trust us as we move forward. ... I offer you an invitation as a persone with de facto association - all of those who have a deep level of commitment and vocation. We are waiting. We are waiting to set out to unknown islands and venture further in our journey of mission and association. Join us. But we need both. We need actions and structures. We need to be empowered so that we can accompany each other in furthering the mission." This was a bold proposition to Lasallian stalwarts.\
From the questions and comments that following the presentation , a period that had to be extended into the next activity, The questions - condensed by me - include: What do you want from us? (Answer: Approve the proposals of the AIMEL, which has been done, and to trust the AIMEL process.) Shouldn't this Secretariat be split from "mission"? (Answer: It hasn't been a problem and may be an advantage. Also This chapter has a real opportunity to reimagine the central government. CIAMEL has some wonderful people. Can we reimagine the Secretariat structure that really meets the needs of mission, formation, and Young Lasallians.) What are your biggest fears with regard to association? (Answer: My fear is not enough formation for lay people. It’s not consistent. // One of my fears is that it is too late in some parts of the Institute to shore up the mission there? A second one is that Brothers will continue to make decisions for lay people, assume things about the Lasallian vocation, about lay people, rather than inviting us to learn things together.) What is meant by "intentional communities". (Answer: "When we speak of intentional community. We are not advocating mixed communities. The founder knew that the only way was to bring teachers into his home. That’s going to look different now. I’m not able to live in a community, but I need to get together with other Lasallians, to pray with the Brothers, etc. Invitation and bringing lay members to the table is a start.) Some Brother comments: "The force of association and mission is great, but we have to talk about our life as Brothers also.". "The center doesn’t mean Rome, it means centers of excellence where expertise exists. We need to think about what the organization will really look like." "I don’t know all the structures that need to change. But I do know that structures for partners were created to replicate the ones for the Brothers. I don’t think they are no longer effective." The conversation was rich, thought-provoking, honest (mostly), and helpful.
As in the previous days, we then proceeded to our language sub-groups Marketplace sessions. The ones group I was in went to the International Strategy Group committee presentation and the one by Solidarity, the charity arm of the Institute.
The ISG presentation and discussion looked at the proposal for funding the retirement needs of Brothers in countries that don't have a social security system or the like. It was sobering and well-supported by the research. Some of the details of the proposal - such as how to exactly build the fund - were subjects of discussion. But I don't think that anyone doubted the wisdome of the committee to proactively prepare for the legitimate needs of Brothers who will be retiring and/or in need of healthcare in the next seven years and beyond.
The Solidarity presentation was very well prepared and presented, with brochures, overviews, time for questions, and a clear vision for the future. In the last seven years, Solidarity has distributed over 40 million Euros to a wide variety of needs throughout the Lasallian world, and do so with very minimum administrative costs - certainly less than virtually all other major charities. Their effecitveness and flexibility in terms of timely needs is very impressive. And their proposals for future support were realistic and reasonable. As a Brother sitting next to me make the observation that the "team" for Solidarity included four very competent women, which was unique in the presentations so far. Brother Amilcare also described the office style as fully collaborative, with weekly meetings and honest input on the part of everyone. It's certainly clear that whatever combination they're using is working well, and that others could / should learn from it.
After the two sessions, some of us stuck around to create the expected poster that highlighted the major words and thoughts that the group noticed. This would be hung up in the main corridor for others to see.
Mass in language groups then followed. The English-speaking group met in the Trinity chapel downstairs - the one that the community uses - and it was a fine liturgy with familiar English hymns and great participation. Later, I was invited to join a group going to dinner and was happy to do so. It's one of the really nice opportunities at a General Chapter to spend time with other delegates outside of planned sessions and meetings, of which there are a lot! A thoroughly enjoyable evening ensued.
