February 4, 2021

By Faith Offman, Ministry Team

Way back when the Ministry team first met, Fr. Mike Higgins, CP, shared something I think important and profound and it has stayed with me. As we were a ‘committee’ to look at Passionist Family Ministry, he pondered…historically, as Passionists, our ministry has flowed out of our community life…how will it look coming out of committee…how do we ‘re-imagine’ community life in the context of Passionist Family…what does that mean for ministry…

I find myself continuing to ponder those thoughts - change, shifting, new possibility and new reality! Vowed community life certainly finds itself in the midst of on-going change; as in the midst of COVID, all of Passionist ministry finds itself in the midst of change. Both of these areas of change are profound, all-encompassing and interconnected. As we learn (discover ways) to embrace these changes we try many things, think outside the box and step into the unknown.

In reflecting on the many changes that I have observed and/or have been a part of, I am struck by the deep connection between community and ministry. As we shift from language (and lived experience) of Passionist Community comprising Vowed Religious with support from the Laity to Passionist Family language where Vowed and Lay together create community and ministry to keep the Charism alive, what emerges within us? What structures need re-imagining? Can we trust that we will together discover a new stride? These questions, it seems to me, are what our Vision Fulfillment Process is all about!

I have long loved kaleidoscopes and I find them surfacing as a metaphor for me around all this. Tiny shards of glass coming together to form beautiful, amazing mandalas - drawing us in to the center – the light (God, Charism?) and out again. Mandalas of color, shape and luminosity that are ever shifting and changing. No matter how carefully you try to put down the kaleidoscope, the pattern will not remain the same, yet each dissolving image regenerates itself into a new creation.

When a kaleidoscope is held up to the light – it is the light that brings the pattern together – the charism that holds us. The kaleidoscope echoes a lingering sense of what used to be, interlaced with an aura of things to come as it opens unimagined vistas – one simple turn and the shards fall away, only to come together again in an even more brilliant mandala. The kaleidoscope demands a listening eye to open windows to the soul and spirit.

Perhaps that is where we find ourselves – learning the ‘dance’ of Passionist Family Community and Holy Cross Province Ministry. Deepening our trust in the light of our Charism to show us the possibility and the way while focusing not on the dissolving shards of glass but on the re-arranging and re-generating new means of engaging, sharing with and responding to the “Crucified of today”. We discover new ways to hold the space for the dreaming and synergy needed to carry out the mission.

Much new ministry (in both response and delivery) is and continues to happen. COVID and technology have opened possibilities for ministry beyond individual sites within and beyond the Passionist Family – exciting new ways of connecting and working together. We nourish our own souls – filling our well (Visionary Day; Advent/Christmas/Epiphany Retreat; Conversations around Race) so we can better share the light of our charism (online live streaming; Zoom retreats and workshops to nourish and connect with our constituents) within each of our ministry sites as well as between the sites.  Brand new ministries - food service in Sierra Madre, on-line Spiritual Direction - begin to take shape, recharge our energy and transform our imaginations.

The Ministry team dispersed the proposals generated at Chapter and new Working Groups were created and assembled to further explore and respond. The ever changing landscape of our Province and World demands new wineskins for the creative, unique and evolving responses to community life and the ministry that flows out of it.

The Ministry Team formed following Chapter has disbanded as such, recognizing the deep connection between community and ministry, as well as acknowledging the ‘shards’ beginning to take on new shapes and colors. The members all find ourselves in various Working Groups that touch our life experience and passion. Working together within our respective ministry sites as well as the Province at large creating the kaleidoscope mandala that will work today, and evolve into tomorrow.

These are exciting times, confusing and not yet completely comfortable, but we are learning to navigate the ever-changing landscape