“
“On Mission until our last breath.”
25th General Chapter
The past century is a large part of many of us...we are experiencing the
continuing expansion of our self awareness. I believe we can and
must be bridges...we are not finished...and we know bridges get
walked on! We are facing a prophetic role no-one would have
imagined forty years ago. It often seems to me a dark path – no-one
has been here – no-one can tell us how to do it.. But the Holy Spirit,
the Great Connector, is doing the guiding, and we know well that we
can trust the leading of the Spirit.
“Old men and women ought to be explorers,
Here and there does not matter.
We must be still and moving
Into another intensity for a fuller union, a deeper communion...
...in my end is my beginning
T.S Eliot
Trust in the Providence of God
In God and for
God
Mary MacKillop 1881
Rising every day in God
Hands that never fail
for God
Hope for the new day in God
Instrument of love for God
Every breath a breath in God
Every word we speak
for God
Let us be ever
in your grace
Let all we do
be done for you
Awake to the presence
we are in
The work of our hands
only for you
All our strength
contained in God
Hearts that we might
tend for God
Every step a step in God
Welcome to the stranger
for God
The ordinary done in God
All our hearts desire
for God
Let us be ever in your grace
Let all we do be done for you
Awake to the presence
we are in
The work of our hands
only for you
Let us be ever in your grace
Let all we do be done for you
Awake to the presence
we are in
The work of our hands
only for you
“There are two futures:
The one I Plan
And the one that meets me!
And the one that meets me
...
Is
God’s future.”
One
Holy
Inclusive
Open
Welcoming
catholic
Whole
Holistic
Becoming
apostolic
Sent
avposte,llw
xlv
The Four Marks of the Church
Four Descriptors of Catholic Christian
Community
one
holy
catholic
apostolic
WTT
Deuteronomy 6:4
`dx'(a, Ÿhw"ïhy> WnyheÞl{a/ hw"ïhy> lae_r"f.yI [m;Þv. WTT
"Hear, O Israel! YHWH our God, is one!
Leviticus 19:18 18 …You shall love your
neighbour as yourself:
Luke 10:27 "You shall love YHWH your God
with all your heart, and with all your soul, and
with all your strength, and with all your mind;
and …your neighbour as yourself."
Mission
can be described
as
an encounter
with mystery
in unexpected places
and in unsuspected
ways.
A Community
‘not on’ about
something
bigger than
itself…dies
28
jP'v.mi
Mishpat Context - Shalom
~Alv'
God’s Will – Wish for Health, Wholeness,
Healing, Liberation, Freedom
for all humanity within the context of creation.
The Goal of Salvation is Shalom
Shalom – soteria> salus> salvation
Derived from the Hebrew Root – to lift up – to redeem, to
[vy
`[;yvi(Am [;veAh Why"[.v;y>
make whole, to deliver, to restore, to save
Messiah, Hosea, Isaiah, Joshua
Jesus
Do Justice ~ Mishpat ~
jP'v.mi
To uphold was is right according to the Tradition of
YHWH’s Will
(Shalom – Peace – Wellbeing - Health, Wholeness,
Healing, Liberation from all from all that oppresses
and denies and crushes Life)
in both legal proceedings and in the conduct of
Life. This justice is based on the kindness and
mutuality which recognizes the needy and
responds in ‘familial’ identification.
To be in ‘Right Relationship’ with the Divine
Presence in all (Self- Others - Creation).
Mission ~ Discipleship ~ Service
Hospitality – Sacrifice
The Capacity to Transcend
Diakonia - Koinonia
Jesus called forth a collective movement – a community –
not one individual leader to continue to live and
proclaim His unique Vision of bringing about the
Reign of God – here and now – in his time.
Where two or three gather in My Name…there will be
conflict – but I will be with you!
Love one another – it is a simple and as difficult as
that!.
(Leunig
Tika -
Context
Maori Spirituality
a creation-centered
spirituality. It’s foundation is God the
Creator, the Source of all being. Its goal is to
acknowledge, enhance and restore the Tapu
of created things while acknowledging the Tapu of
the Creator.
Tapu- as Context for Tika
Flowing from the Source - Matapuna
A State of Well-Being –
Having a sense of order
A Sense of Peace, Joy, Mission, Outreach. Tapu=
Things that bring dignitiy, worth and value to a
person – and contribute to those things that are
about a person.
Tapu = Sacredness through the links with Atua.
Tika
Keeping a
Direct
Course
Direct
Straight
Just –
Fair –
Fitting
In Order
Proper
Worthy
Moral
Legal
Correct
Upright
Tika
is demonstrated
through Tikanga which
seeks to acknowledge,
address, enhance and
restore the Tapu and
Mana of Atua, Tangata
and Whenua. When
Tapu and Mana are
fully restored then
dignity and worth,
value and sacredness
are brought to life in
the “being” with the
potential for
power.
Journey ~ Risk ~ Trust
Context of the School Community
Implications for
A. Serving Community (teachers, auxiliary staff,
BOT, parents, caretaker, local priest)
B. Children
C. Designated Leadership
What custom, structures, processes would support
the value of Justice/Right-Relationship/Tika?
Time to reflect on Transformation
–
The scenes are not always beautiful. The process is not always painless
.
Transformation is a messy matter.
The distance between an acorn and an oak, a caterpillar and a butterfly, a rally and a
riot, a sinner and a saint…admits of many strange twists and turns.
In the midst of transformation we can only be assured of unknowing. The past
offers no hope of return. The future offers no promise of arrival.
Attentiveness to the Journey
becomes the important activity but always in reference to the unknown.
We must, as the Peruvian Proverb indicates…
Create the Path…by Walking.
Create a new heart, Holy God,
beckon our lives through your word,
open our eyes to your call,
united as one for your world.
Heighten our minds to your thoughts,
heal us of pride and of hurt,
may we go forth in your name
we pray our hearts change.
The heart of the cross,
lowly and poor, calls us on.
God, it is you promising hope,
promising truth.
Restless, the hearts who yearn for
your peace in this land.
Deepen the dream justice brings life,
justice redeems.
Dream Lady –
The Spirit of God has been given to me
And the giving has not been in vain.
The Spirit of God has been given anew
So that anyone seeking the truth,
The life and the way
May know Jesus Christ is God's name.
Make sure your prisoners go free,
Make sure your blind people see,
Otherwise, I've wasted my time
Walking around Galilee.
Kevin Bates
Make sure the poor hear the word,
Make sure your children are heard,
Otherwise, I've wasted my pain
Hanging there in my agony.
Make sure the hungry are fed,
That the homeless ones all have a
bed,
Otherwise, I've wasted my life
Coming on back from the dead.
Be sure when breaking my bread,
That courage and joy have their
head.
Otherwise, I've wasted my love
Pouring my spirit. my blood.
Living from the Heart
Mary MacKillop...
1.
• She understood and treasured
the gift, abilities and
dedication of her sisters, and
‘had an extraordinary capacity to
her assessment of the needs
work in the way that the spirit of
of the time, and of the Church
wisdom works. For within her is
structures within which she
a spirit intelligent, holy, unique,
worked was insightful and
manifold, subtle, mobile,
accurate.
incisive, unsullied , lucid,
• Above all, it is apparent that
invulnerable, benevolent,
her life, her decisions and her
shrewd, irresistible, beneficent,
actions grew from her
friendly to all human beings,
profoundly living relationship
steadfast, dependable,
with God. This was the
unperturbed.
deepest foundation and the
keystone of all she was, did
and decided.
2.
Mary MacKillop’s way of being in the midst of
enormous complexity inspires awe. In the
midst of changing and seemingly chaotic
conditions, the unreliable modes of Church
authority, uncertainty at every level, with her
primary consideration the well being of her
sisters and her openness to the guidance of
the Spirit, she somehow seemed to navigate
the stormy seas of her times. She had the
courage which is such a central component
of any desire to change. She could see the
big issues and she confronted them
...She was firmly planted in her own Centre, in
her ground of Being, in her essence in God.
She was ‘true in her heart’. This was her
secret.
Scripturally, the word ‘heart’ describes the centre
and essence of the person, the pattern f their
wholeness, and the dwelling place of God. It
was a primary aspect of Mary MacKillop that
she was true in her heart, and it was from
this true heart that there came her capacity
for spiritual discernment and her ability to
see with clear perception. Seeing with the
eyes of the heart as she did, she had the
capacity to feel and express her emotions
truthfully as she lived and spoke from her
centre. Her letters reveal a woman ‘true in
her heart’ as Jesus was true in his heart.
It was deep in the heart of Jesus that she found
her own heart. She writes, ‘when storms
rage, when persecutions of dangers threaten,
I quietly creep into its deep abyss. And
securely sheltered there my soul is at peace
though my body is tossed on the stormy
waves of a cold and selfish world.
Elizabeth Cain
God’s Gift ~ Grace ~ at the Core of
Spirituality
Grace...
God’s own Spirit
imparted freely and immediately
to all human beings.
It is God’s own self-communication, which permeates the world
at its inmost roots. Not a separate thing or a special gift that
shows up every now and again, grace is the animating force of
all human history, present even before Jesus Christ. Co-existent
but not identical with our race, it comes to expression wherever
people express their love in car for others, creative art, literature,
technology, all the good, critical dimensions of responsibility, and
trust, even in darkness.
E. J. 42
God
Help us to change. To change
ourselves and to change our
world. To know the need for
it. To deal with the pain of it.
To feel the joy of it. To
undertake the journey
without understanding the
destination. The art of
gentle revolution
May the Spirit of God shine
through us today as we
move on to create community
for the sake of God’s
Mission
Amen
Be
Calm
and
Full
of
Hope
Blessing
We give thanks to the Spirit of
God dwelling at the heart
of our existence.
May the Justice of God act
through us.
May the Compassion of Jesus
shine through us.
May the Spirit of Truth and
Integrity guide us in wisdom
in our lives and through our
Ministry of Leadership
Amen
Safe journey Home Now
0n your Cowasaki!!
Ka Kite Ano!!
‘Gratitude…
is the Memory of the
Heart’.
We Give You Thanks
For the Bread and Wine we share here,
for the friends that we embrace.
For the peace we find in healing, for all
who gather in this place.
For the faith of those around us, for the
dead and all those here.
For the hope we find in memory,
for the love that draws us near.
WE GIVE YOU THANKS, WE GIVE YOU
THANKS FOR THE GRACE TO RECEIVE,
IN YOU WE BELIEVE.
WE GIVE YOU THANKS, WE GIVE
YOU THANKS, WITH FAITH AND
HOPE AND LOVE WE GIVE YOU
THANKS.
For the movement deep within us
For the stories that we bring, for the signs of
God’s Compassion.
For the journey that we sing. For the Word
that holds our promise.
For the gifts that we can claim.
For the wonder that surrounds us.
For the song that sings our NAME…We
WE GIVE YOU THANKS, WE GIVE YOU THANKS
FOR THE GRACE TO RECEIVE, IN YOU WE
BELIEVE.
WE GIVE YOU THANKS, WE GIVE YOU THANKS,
WITH FAITH AND HOPE AND LOVE WE GIVE
YOU THANKS.
For the water bringing new life, for the
fragrance of release. For the fire that blazes
inward.
For the Call to bring forth peace.
For the ‘blindness’ now enlightened, for the
bound that are now free.
For the brightness of a new day
For the Kingdom we will be!
WE GIVE YOU THANKS, WE GIVE YOU THANKS
FOR THE GRACE TO RECEIVE, IN YOU WE
BELIEVE.
WE GIVE YOU THANKS, WE GIVE YOU THANKS,
WITH FAITH AND HOPE AND LOVE WE GIVE
YOU THANKS.
Go Out!
You may not rest
secure
For need calls loudly
You must seek God
there
And loving
Will be your flame
“Do All You Can with the means at your
disposal and calmly and Leave the rest to
God.”
“Be Calm
and
Full
of
Hope!”
Mary MacKillop
Foundress of the Sisters of Saint
Joseph of the Sacred Heart
Hoover’s
Theory
for
Groups
How do we do it?
What do we do?
Ministries
Networking
Policies
Organisational
Doubt
Strategic Plans
Systems
Resources
Finance
Processes
Procedures
Practical Application
Appraisals
Action
Budgets
Ideological
Doubt
Resources (who, how, when)
Reports
Ethical Doubt
(Adaptation)
THE “HOW”
Absolute
Doubt
Who are we? (Identity)
NAME
The Original Dream
What are we on about
The Deep Narrative/Story
MISSION STATEMENT
Symbols
Goals
Inspiring Leaders Past
Mission
THE “WHY”
Ministry
If you have the
“WHY
For Living...you
can deal with
any “HOW”.
Spirituality
Passion
What do we
say about
ourselves?
Vision
Statement
Values
Motto
Sayings
Rituals
Celebrations
Motivation
Commitment