Rome - Tuesday

Our Vatican II study group started tonight.  We made our way to the Lay Center located in the Passionist Monastery which has one of the largest gardens in Rome and overlooks the Coluseum.  On our way there, we passed the Church of the Four Crowned Martyrs - an very old church that looks much like a fortress and is the place where popes would go for protection when they were under siege.  Buried here are fourmartyrs, who are nameless. They were martyred because they refused to pay allegience to Aesclepius, the god of medicine.

The group that is here numbers about 18 and comes from all over the country.  Six of us are professors, some work in parishes or dioceses, others in other walks of life...all very interested in the Council and how its teachings can be promoeted today.  As we introduced ourselves and told why we were here, I was touched by the shared love for VII regardless of age.  Those born after the council spoke of how it has envigorated them and their faith lives. Those who were, themselves, young adults during the council talked about how much it meant to see oneself as an adult in the church, whose gifts mattered and were wanted. There was a mix of hope and concern.  It is going to be a very interesting week.

The Scripture in our evening prayer seemed very appropos.  Romans 12:9-12

" Do not let your love be a pretence, but sincerely prefer good to evil. Love each other as much as brothers and sisters should, and have a profound respect for each other. Work for the Lord with untiring effort and with great earnestness of spirit. If you have hope, this will make you  cheerful. Do not give up if trials come; and keep on prayering."

Roma!

I am in Rome on a study trip focused on Vatican II and what is happening 50 years after the Council. The trip was  planned to coincide with the opening of the Year of Faith. I hope to blog at length about this experience. Some of the content of the trip may not show up until i have had a chqance to get home and reflect on it.  In the meantime this will also act as a travelogue... well one through my eyes anyway!

I arrived in Rome on Saturday and have begun sightseeing.  It is a chaotic stimulation of the senses - with people everywhere and cars, too.  The metro (subway) ride was one for the books. I now have a new appreciation for the meaning of "packed in like a can of sardines." Saw the Spanish steps yesterday - or actually where they are. So many people were sitting on them that I didn't actually get to see very many of the steps.

It is a little disorienting to see how the old and the new compete for space.  Down the street from where I am staying is the coluseum.  I have walked past the baptistry where Constantine was baptized; seen the building where the Lateran councils were held; and been in a 1st century church.  Later this week, I am told, I will be standing in the very room where Ignatius stood.  And yet I am here to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the opening of VII.

We are staying on the grounds of the Irish College which is the Irish seminary in Rome (just like the North American College is the U.S. seminary in Rome). We have been invited to dinner a couple of times which was wonderful except that I am afraid people will not understand how I can retun from Rome with an Irish brogue!

Inspirations

When Edgar Mitchell went to the moon, he had an amazing experience that began with seeing planet Earth floating in space..... 

"The presence of divinity became almost palpable, and I knew that life in the universe was not just an accident on random process. This knowledge came to me directly - noetically. Clearly, the universe had meaning and direction.

Then my thoughts turned to daily life on the planet. With that my sense of wonderment gradually turned into something close to anguish. It seems as though humans were unconscious of their individual role in - and individually responsibility for - the future of life on the planet... When we see our fundamental unity with the processes of nature and the functioning of the universe - as I so vividly saw from the Apollo spacecraft - the  old ways of thinking and behaving will disappear."

Edgar Mitchell, NASA Astronaut

Founder of IONS

Inspirations

Collaboration - Empowering through values

For CEOs, organizational openness offers tremendous upside potential —
empowered employees, free-flowing ideas, more creativity and innovation,
happier customers, better results.

But openness also comes with more risk.
As rigid controls loosen, organizations need a strong sense of
purpose and shared beliefs to guide decision making.

Teams will need processes and tools
that inspire collaboration on a massive scale.

Perhaps most important,
organizations must help employees develop traits
to excel in this type of environment.

IBM 2012 CEO Study

Inspirations

 

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., used to quote Theodore Parker
a 19th century abolitionist who once said:
 

"The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice.

It bends towards justice, but here is the thing:
it does not bend on its own.

It bends because each of us in our own ways put our hand on that arc

and we bend it in the direction of justice...."

Inspirations

I have been encountering wonderful "sound-byte" quotes that are just too good not to share and so am going to begin a series of these quotes under the title of "Inspirations."  Enjoy.

From an interview with Bill Isaacs, MIT professor and author of Dialogue: The Art of Thinking Together.

 

"Make sure you listen to yourself and the person sitting next to you.

Listen to the course of the world and to your own nature;

and you’ll know what to do.

 

Most people think that dialogue is a form of talking.

It’s more about articulating what’s been heard and at what level.

What are you actually listening to?

 

And then [it’s] the moral equivalent of saying, “Stand still.”

In there for the long haul!

Yesterday, scientists announced the discovery of a subatomic particle they have been looking for since the idea of its existence was first developed in the 1960s.  That's right! For 60 years scientists have been trying to find this little rascal.  Why spend so much time looking? What does it do?

Well, as I read the media reports, it is that which causes matter to have mass.  "What is that?" you rightly ask.  Well, it seems it is that which slows our world down so that everything does not move at the speed of light - which of course we all know has no mass!  It is, in a sense, that which embodies energy.

Why am I sharing this with you?  First because it is truly exciting. The discovery was made in Lucerne Switzerland with the use of the world's largest particle accelerator... 17 miles long... the Hadron Collider.  The whole idea fascinates me.

But secondly, and maybe more to the point, scientists did not give up.  They followed their dream for over 60 years - never mind all that went into their studies and work prior to that.  What an inspiration!

And then this morning Bill Gates, in an interview on CBS, said that in the begining he and Steve Jobs worked 'fanatically' to make their ideas a reality.  When asked what he meant by 'fanatical' he simply said, it was all they thought about, spending all day and many nights eating, dreaming, and working to create their idea.

So what about us?  I do believe in eating and sleeping and taking good care of ourselves, but really - are we willing to stay in for the long haul, no matter what we see happening.  Those scientists and engineers, were.  Some teams made mistakes along the way, thinking they had reached the end, only to find out they had a loose cable! 

And what about ministry? There are plenty of loose 'cables' out there, but can we hang in for the long haul? It is worth a wonder...

The Grandchildren

What is a grandchild worth?
What are millions of grandchildren worth?
What is the worth of all their children, and the children's children?
And what is the worth of a beautiful, safe, productive earth on which they all can dwell?

                                                                                                                                     Kathleen Allen

The New Story

We are creating a new story (this is what I say when I give talks) in which we are redefining ourselves (that is how people answer me back).  So much of our energy is caught up in dealing with the old story but it tires and defeats us, even if we liked the old story.  We can ignore the new story or pretend it isn't happen, but it is.  Our world is changing and so are we.  Who we are with, what we do when we are together, all of it is changing. 

Margaret Wheatley, in Finding Our Way, says:
When it is time for a new story to emerge, holding onto the past only intensifies our dilemma. We experience our ineffectiveness daily, and we descend into a profound sense of loss.  What we ask of the tellers of the new story is their voice and their courage.  We do not need them to create a massive training program, a global approach, a dramtic style.  We only need then to speak to us when we are with them.  We need them to break their silence and share their ideas of the world as they have come to know it. If you carry this story with you it is time to tell it, wherever you are, to whomever you meet.

Now is the time and we are the tellers.  We journey together upon the invitation of the Spirit.

Finding God

This weekend was the University of Dallas Ministry Conference. Lots of people from lots of walks of life.  My two talks were on collaboration and spirituality.  Simple enough?  Straightforward?  Not so much!  As people listened to the call to share the mission in their own gifted way and call forth the gifts of others in the talk on collaboration, what came out was the pain of those for whom this is not happening.  People shared stories of parishes in which parishioners do not get along, Anglos not speak ing to Latinos. We heard about parish clusters that are not sharing funds or resources even for poorer parishes going without.  There were other stories of trying to work with pastor or staff that do not share a vision of collaboration. And then there were stories of young adults leaving communities where their elders were either fighting or too tired to care any more and blocking the way for change.

The second talk on spirituality was called "Seeking God."  I think I should have called it "Finding God" because that seems to be our challenge.  We explored the history of spirituality in which we have moved from a distant God to an accessible God to realizing that we are called to find God in one another.  That last, it appears, is the hard part.  Easy enough to do that with saints!  But what about sinners?  People poured out stories of struggling with the results of sexual abuse of minors, or fear about sons and daughters who have lost their way.  There were stories of people who just don't care side by side with stories of people arrested in foreign countries because of their belief in God.

I came away from both sessions feeling overwhelmed, near tears, and rather helpless.  How can one find God and share in Jesus' mission in the face of such difficulties?  But is that not what we are called to do? Just that.  We are called to be disciples, to care for one another.  This is not a nice faith we have.  It is one that calls us to do difficult things as we grow and explore who and what God wants us to become.  It invites us to discover who God is becoming in and amongst us. 

We cannot shy away from the poor or the ugliness in life.  They are with us even us Christ is with us. In the words of William Reiser: It is their words, their sorrow, their anguish and pain that pour from our lips as we pray.

Clustered and Linked

This past week I was the guest of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, invited there to give a daylong leadership day on the Emerging Models findings. It was a great day - good people and gracious hospitality.  Their challenges are not unique but do harken to the future path of many dioceses. 

The population of Iowa is declining, due to the decline of family farming and the consequences of the economic downturn.  The number of available pastors has also declined, half as many as 10 years ago, so that 2/3rds of the parishes are linked or clustered.  In both cases there is but one pastor... clustering is a more formal arrangment than linking. 

As the Vicar General noted in his remarks, these gatherings were once all clergy.  Now the majority in the room are lay ecclesial ministers, including principals.  Schools are being consolidated along with parishes.  There continue to be too many parishes for the population even though Archbishop Hannus has closed 44 parishes in the past 16 years.  They are part of the new narrative that is being written and must be told. 

What can we learn from them?  Part of the challenge is parishioners overly identified with a parish or a high school or a town and unable or unwilling to move into a collaborative arrangment with a group once considered 'the enemy.'  Iowa is about small town America. Many of our Catholics, and not a few of our immigrants live in these areas.  How are we being challenged?  How do we find a future filled with hope?

World Population

This coming Friday is the day believed to be the time when the earth's population will reach 7 billion.  It was just 110 years ago at the turn of the 20th century that there were 2 billion people on this planet.  There are so many implications of this that it is hard to imagine.  Nearly 1 billion do not have enough to eat each day.  Soon the #1 challenge will not be war but having be enough potable water.

On the other hand there are more people who can come up with solutions to our most pressing problems.  Cyberspace and global cyber villages will allow people to communicate and work together towards a solution.  This is the time when collective intelligence is critical.  We must work together!

No surprise here!

The findings of the Emerging Models Project pointed to the good news that there does not appear to be any role confusion between the clergy and the laity in our parishes today.  While one cannot speak for every individual, the roles and understanding of the two groups are unique, needed, and welcome.

What people don't want to know!

“One of the things that has become really clear in this symposium on lay ecclesial ministry is that the territory in which we do ministry is changing rapidly… What this is going to require of us in ministry is that we need to change our ministerial maps.” 

This is part of a video on this changing map as Bob McCarty (NFCYM) discusses his impression of the new landscape. Here, belonging is important, as is an affective experience of faith. How are we going to engage our faith community? This is the question we all need an answer for!

Bob McCarty after attending the Collegeville Symposium

Number of Lay Ecclesial Ministers Rising

According to CARA, the number of lay ecclesial ministers has risen significantly.  CARA reports:

Currently the number of lay ecclesial ministers in the United States totals about 38,000 or about two per parish (up from 29,000 in 1997, representing a 31% increase). Fourteen percent of these individuals are vowed religious and 86% are other lay persons. Overall, 80% are female and 20% male. Four in ten are under the age of 50 (for more see: The Changing Face of U.S. Catholic Parishes).

CARA goes on to report that the number of people in formation for lay ecclesial ministers exceeds the combined total of the number in seminary colleges and theologates plus deacon formation programs.

Are we ready for this?  How are we preparing ourselves for a future in which ministry will often come from lay ecclesial ministers or even more likely from each other?  This is one of the questions we ought to be asking ourselves today.  Who does ministry?  How does it happen?  Where does it happen? The face of the church is changing.  Are we ready?

Shaped in the crucibles of their respective histories

Robert Schreiter's opening talk at the Crossing Over Conferences has been published in Origins (8/18/2011), as has the talk given by David DeLambo.  They are worth the read!

Lincoln Portrait

Last night brought the great pleasure of hearing Van Cliburn reading the libretto for the "Lincoln Portrait" by Aaron Copland.  His deep, resonant voice brought the words to life, words taken from Lincoln's own pen.  They carry meaning, I believe, both for our country today, and possibly for our reflections on Vatican II and the church's course today:

"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves and then we will save our country." [Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862]

Collegeville Lay Ecclesial Ministry Symposium

240 pastoral leaders and theologians gathered in Collegeville this week to continue the conversation on lay ecclesial ministry.  Brought together by St.John's University, the USCCB, and 43 supporting organziations, these leaders spent three days in conversation about what we are growing to understand about this critical role in the life of the church.  Essays were penned by seven authors and sent out as pre-reading. The authors then were engaged by participants with questions about their ideas.  The areas included the theology of LEM, ritualization, authorization, Scripture, and Canon Law.  Participants then dialoogued with the authors and one another, wrote recommendations. and then voted on them. 

Cardinal George, addressing the gathering, confirmed that lay ecclesial ministers do, in fact, minister publicly 'in the name of the church.'  While careful to say that the clergy maintain the visible roles of proclamation, sacraments, and governance, calling ordination a sacrament of governance, he also talked about the "pastoring" role of lay ecclesial ministers.

Bishop Blase Cupich, in closing the gathering, thanked the participants for taking seriously their participation in the teaching office of the episcopate as they gathered to keep the conversation about LEM alive and open.  He reminded them of the work still flowing from the National Ministry Summit in Orlando in 2008.  He also spoke of sharing in the pastoral role of the bishops. 

In addition to gaining clarity in our discussion on LEM, the presence and role of the new faces of diversity were significant.  From prayer - sometimes entirely in Spanish - to recognition that cultural and age diversity are the key questions of our time, participants clearly are recognizing the changes among us.

At the end of the gathering the authors posted a revised list of 8 statements about LEM. They were careful to say that, while the statements may not be complete or extensive, they believe them all to be true. 
Here are the eight statements:

1. Spirit: Lay ecclesial ministry is the work of the spirit.
2. Baptism: Baptism is the foundational sacramental source that empowers the lay ecclesial minister.
3. Vocation: Lay ecclesial mnistry is a genuine vocation to ministry discerned within the ecclesial community.
4. Relationships: Lay ecclesial mnisters enter into a distinct set of relationships within the life of the Church. Their ministry is characterized by appropriate formation, the authorization of the hierarchy, leasership in a particular area of ministry, and mutual collaboration with the ordained and other ministers. These characteristics distinguish the ministry of the lay ecclesial ministers from other ministries and the broader participation of the lay faithful in the ocmmunion and mission of the church.
5. In the Name of the Church: Lay ecclesial ministers serve in the name of the Church.
6. Authorization: The bishop of his delegate authorizes the lay ecclesial minister for ministry in the name of the Church.
7. Ritual: Public rituals provide an opportunity for the ecclesial community to receive, affirm, and celebrate the ministry of the lay ecclesial minister.
8. Structural Support: The presence of lay ecclesial ministry calls the Church to provide systems of support and adjust parish, diocesan, and national structures and policies to more fully integrate this new reality in the ministerial life of the Church in the United States.

Germany - A Sober Side

I cannot write about my time in Germany without reflecting on the ever present spectre of the wars this country has known.  As we toured the churches and cathedrals most are in stages of repair from the devestation of the war with photographs somewhere in the back that show the churches after the bombings.

As part of our trip across the country we visited the Marienborn Checkpoint.  For those of us here in the US who may not have thought about this a lot, the concept of the separation of the east and west in Germany is limited to a single wall in Berlin and Checkpoint Charlie.  According to the ever available Wikipedia, Marienborn was the largest inner German checkpoint of the GDR (The German Democratic Republic) and was the primary route between West Germany and West Berlin.  At its height, the checkpoint employed app. 1000 people who were deeply trained in detection and intimidation techniques. Lighposts flooded the area with light day and night - enough ampage to light a city of 20,000. 

The checkpoint at Marienborn now provides an audio walking tour of the buildings and operations during the cold war era.  You could see what was considered contraband: toys, games, radios, books, etc.  You saw where they took apart cars and trucks looking for people or contraband being smuggled, questioned people or detained them, and the area where farm animals were quarantined.  All very sobering.

From there we visited the German wall memorial at Grenzdenkmal Hötensleben.  It is appropriate to remember what happened here. In Berlin the wall was a single wall separating the city. Today all evidence is removed except the rock that is embedded in the streets.  However at Grenzdenkmal, a portion of the wall was preserved.  It is more than a wall!  It is an expanse of land that was guarded, lighted, mined, and patrolled. Please look at the you-tube video (link above) to see what it was like.

What I learned as I listened was the fact that the wall was designed to keep people in far more than to keep people out.  With all the people that had tried to return to West Germany after the war, the GDR needed to keep workers to keep the state going.  Once a person reached retirement age at 65 they were no longer confined to the East. I have to tell you that this led to interesting reflections on my part about the need to control people, their minds and their bodies.  What happens to us when we place the needs of an institution above the needs of human beings?

Then - as fate would have it - I arrived in Austria just in time to witness the funeral cortege of Crown Prince Otto Von Habsburg,  last descendent of the throne of what was the Holy Roman Empire.  It turns out that while in Germany we visited the church of St.Severus in Quedlinburg which was often visited by the early Holy Roman Emperors. It was an amazing collpase of history to be in Vienna on that day.

The Holy Roman Empire itself ended with the invasion of Napolean, but the line of the emperor continued until the last person in this position, Karl Von Habsburg, was forced to abdicate after the First World War.  His oldest son, who would have been the next emperor, lived a long and politically active 93 years and died this summer.  His passing was honored by the Austrians with a very long cortege in which people were dressed in their native costumes - all very Bavarian looking - and banners, and drums.  According to the BBC: "On Saturday, the Austro-Hungarian Empire seemed to come back to life as moustachioed men in richly brocaded Habsburg-era uniforms marched behind his coffin in solemn procession through Vienna."

All of it the ending of an era.  Much to think about....

CrossingOver - Future in American Parishes

Bringing the the perspective of the American Parish was Dr. Brett Hoover,CSP.  Dr. Hoover has been a theologian in residence at Loyola of Chicago, working with the Inspire Program.  His thoughts are placed in an 'eschatological trajectory' which sees parish as an interim structure until the coming kingdom arrives.

He shared some of the trends evident in parish life in the US tht included the following:

• Cultural diversity is reinventing the church in the US.  1/4th of the US population will by Latino/a by 2050.  Today, for example, Chicago is only 50% Anglo!  The cultural narrative is changing as Latino/as move from migrant to mainstream.
• A new narrative would move from parallel cultural or linguistic parishes in the same community to shared parish.
• Challenge calls for recognizing who is invisible in our parishes and how do we move towards reconciliation that does not require uniformity?  How do we deal with the attendant grief?
• He spoke of a 'cultural comprehensibility' that invites us to move away from parish as polemic to parish as a 'center for seekers.'  In this way evangelization means we are becoming something new together. 

I believe we will all hear more as Dr.Hoover publishes his thoughts about the growing and graced cultural reality of parish life today!