In this issue
- Prayer for the 36th Provincial Chapter
- We Need Your Voice, Energy and Presence
- Walk With Us Thursdays Schedule
- From the Cultural and Racial Diversity Committee
- The Transformative Community: Transforming Our Narrative for These Times (Part One)
Prayer for the 36th Provincial Chapter
Here is our prayer for the 36th Provincial Chapter of Holy Cross Province. We invite you to pray it and share it with other members of the Passionist Family. We thank Phil Paxton, C.P., for authoring the prayer for us.
Dios Amoroso,
We thank you, for You have led us
to grow together in the Passionist Way.
You have called us, not only as individuals,
but together as a Passionist Family,
juntos como hermanos y hermanas,
to recognize more and more the crucified of today.
We hold in our hearts and minds
all of crucified creation: migrants and refugees,
and those beset by poverty and violence, systemic racism,
injustice and oppression, pain and distress.
As we prepare for our upcoming Provincial Chapter,
keep us forever on the path we pray.
Help us to continue to hear the cries of the crucified,
as we work together as the visionaries You have called us to be.
Foster in us the leadership required to meet the needs of our times.
May whatever conclusions we draw, whatever actions we take,
be done en el amor de Cristo Crucificado, and in His name, we pray.
Amen.
Join us for Walk With Us Thursdays!
Dear Passionist Family:
As we continue to engage together in preparing for Chapter 2023, we need your voices, energy and presence more than ever. This Chapter invites us to further look together at ‘who we are’ as a Passionist Family of Holy Cross Province.
What does that mean?
What does that look like?
What does that call us to?
Beginning Thursday, March 23, the Chapter Planning Committee (CPC) invites you to join us for Walk With Us Thursdays to prepare for the communal discernment that will take place at our June 2023 Chapter. These conversations will be held via Zoom at 4:30 pm, PDT; 5:30 pm, MDT; 6:30 pm, CDT; 7:30 pm, EDT.
Walk with Us Thursdays Zoom Link
Our first session this Thursday will be a time to pause and pray together; we will share an overview of our time together this June in Sierra Madre as well as share the topics for the remaining Thursdays.
We recognize that we all have very busy calendars, but we pray that you will find a way to join us for this important work and preparation for our June 2023 Chapter, and we look forward to being with you.
May the Passion of Jesus Christ be Always in our Hearts!
The Chapter Planning Committee:
Faith Offman, Chair
Joe Castro
David Colhour, C.P.
Phil Paxton, C.P.
Jim Strommer C.P.
Elizabeth Velarde
Keith Zekind
From the Cultural and Racial Diversity Committee
The work of this Committee has been underpinned from the beginning by our outstanding Statement on Cultural and Racial Diversity affirmed at the June 2022 Assembly. In the days that followed we have had several Passionist Family conversations on all the underlying issues brought to life in the Statement.
As we prepare for our 2023 Chapter, we invite you to again open the pages of the Statement on Cultural and Racial Diversity and simply read it.
Read the Statement on Cultural and Racial Diversity
The Passionist Family has been called to journey together toward consciousness raising, both individually and collectively. Just take in all the beautiful, poetic, prophetic words and see where they lead your heart.
A friend and collaborator of the Passionists, Dr. Ed Poliandro, read the Statement and responded with his reflections presented in the video below.
Dr. Poliandro is the Senior Advisor and Trainer in the Mount Sinai Health System Office of Diversity and Inclusion in New York, and has worked for many years with Roman Catholic leadership and local parishes on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion.
The Transformative Community: Transforming Our Narrative for These Times (Part One)
By Mark Clarke, Community Works, Inc.
The organizational or core story
In his last speech to Parliament, Winston Churchill talked not about politics but spirit. “Spirit is what lies beyond our senses, thoughts, and feelings. Spirit is pure. Spirit is tranquil. Spirit is in harmony with truth… this is the essence of humanity – your true self or what I am calling your Inner Core” (Wadhwa 36). Churchill understood that an organization’s capacity to have an impact is rooted in its core corporate narrative. The collective meaning experienced in the fundamental core is rooted in its mission, vision, and values. When simultaneously a group is faithful to this aspirational call, the world experiences them as having integrity and authenticity. Hitendra W. Wadhwa, in his book Inner Mastery and Outer Impact, states, "At the very center of the sun is what scientists call its core. The core represents only 1 percent of the sun's volume. Remarkably, this 1 percent is responsible for 99 percent of the energy the sun generates" (1). Similarly, an organization's core is often under-appreciated and yet motivates and implores service excellence to impact the world. The narrative or organizational story expresses the central core in words and symbols that touch every member's heart.
The organizational story embodies the essence both within and beyond the group. This narrative fosters identity, purpose, and belonging, calling forth the group’s deepest aspirations.
The narrative offers a collective compass in historical moments of rapid and continual change. Contemporary organizations and societies have seen and continue to see several significant shifts:
- From tribalism to interculturalism
- From individualism to interdependence
- From silos to collaboration
- From human-centric only to eco-centric, connecting with all of God's creation on earth and in the universe
These shifts raise societal questions requiring groups to reevaluate and shape a new narrative.
Organizations struggle to understand and make these concepts real as they become open to increasing diversity, cooperation, and collaborative relationships. Thus, every group is invited to explore their assumptions, beliefs, and understanding of the world. This self-reflection allows the group to reimagine their narrative for a time of emergence.
Any direction or narrative must appreciate the connection between the various global crises. As Pope Francis said in Laudato Si': “It cannot be emphasized enough how everything is Interconnected (93). Laudato Si', helps us understand that we cannot segregate issues such as climate crisis, racism, immigration, inequality, and others into isolated or neat compartments. Instead, new opportunities emerge through exploration based on their interrelatedness.
Today’s contemporary questions ask groups to reshape their core narrative as they seek to participate in an evolving world. Religious communities are not immune to the process of change. They, like all groups, must examine how their core beliefs and practices meet the world's needs. It means being open to a continual change process with new questions and challenges that significantly shape our society's future.
Continued in the next issue...
