2016 HORIZON, Number 3, Summer

Summer 2016 www.nrvc.net | Volume 41, Number 3

Assessing candidates 3

Updates

5

The essentials of vocation assessment

By Father Raymond P. Carey

12 Assessing cross-cultural candidates

By Father Gerard McGlone, S.J. and Fernando Ortiz 19 Saying no to a candidate

By Sister Adrienne Kaufmann, O.S.B. 25 Selecting a psychologist to assess candidates

By Ronald Karney

26 Uncover the meaning in service

By Father Thomas McKenna, C.M. 31 Feed your spirit: Love your weakness

By Sister Penelope Martin, O.C.D.

33 Book notes: Reminder of God’s tenderness

By Sister Michelle Lesher, S.S.J. 35 Film notes:

Innocence robbed and redeemed

By Daniel Grippo

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Editor’s note

Matchmaker, make us a match

W

HEN I FIRST STARTED WORKING with the National Religious Vocation Conference decades ago, the executive director once remarked that religious communities were looking for the kind of people who would make good spouses and parents. That surprised me. Back then I thought religious life somehow required qualities that were set apart and vastly different from qualities needed in lay life. I now understand that the communities waitCommunities waiting ing on the other side of VocationMatch.com are looking for much of what on the other side of the singles on the other side of Match.com want: healthy, mature, generous VocationMatch.com spirits. Good relationships in religious communities and out are forged are looking for much of from grounded, whole human beings. what the singles on the The question is how to spot such people. That is where the cool-eyed other side of Match.com behavioral assessment taught by Father Ray Carey in NRVC workshops want: healthy, mature, and introduced on page 5 comes into play. Vocation directors can gather objective evidence of the important personal qualities needed in religious generous spirits. life. Our writers in this edition delve into this rich topic of assessment, including the extra pains it may take to do appropriate cross cultural assessment (page 12). As the the world becomes increasingly intercultural, it is supremely important to pay attention to the cultural factors at work during admissions.

Not every match is heavenly of course, and I’m grateful for the wise counsel of Sister Adrienne Kaufmann, O.S.B. who shares in plain language on page 19 how and when to tell a candidate “no.”

As this edition of HORIZON goes to press, religious communities around the world are assessing and admitting new candidates—in their own way, with their own resources, and filtered through their distinct charisms. Getting the right match is important—including characteristics that are distinct from what singles and marrieds need. We hope this edition, as well as the many online HORIZON Carol Schuck resources we’ve listed on these pages, will make that process work even better.

—Carol Schuck Scheiber, editor, cscheiber@nrvc.net

Scheiber, editor

Summer 2016 | HORIZON | 1

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HORIZON Journal of the National Religious Vocation Conference NRVC Executive Director Brother Paul Bednarczyk, C.S.C. HORIZON Editor Carol Schuck Scheiber

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EDITORIAL INQUIRIES & ADVERTISING All editorial inquiries, including article proposals, manuscript submissions, and requests for writer’s guidelines should be directed to the editor: Carol Schuck Scheiber, cscheiber@ nrvc.net. For advertising rates and deadlines, see www.nrvc. net or contact the editor. © 2016, National Religious Vocation Conference

HORIZON is an award-winning journal for vocation ministers and those who support a robust future for religious life. It is published quarterly by TrueQuest Communications on behalf of the National Religious Vocation Conference.

National Religious Vocation Conference Board for 2016-2017 Brother Paul Bednarczyk, C.S.C.

Executive Director

Sister Michele Vincent Fisher, C.S.F.N.

Region 7

Sister Priscilla Moreno, R.S.M.

Region 9

Father Toby Collins, C.R.

Canada

Brother Ronald Hingle, S.C. Region 5

Sister Anita Quigley, S.H.C.J. Region 3

Sister Gayle Lwanga Crumbley, R.G.S.

Region 9

Sister Maria Iannuccillo, S.S.N.D.

Region 4

Brother Tom Wendorf, S.M.

Region 9

Sister Anna Marie Espinosa, I.W.B.S.

Region 10

Sister Kristin Matthes, S.N.D.deN.

Region 4

Father Vince Wirtner, C.PP.S. Region 6

Father Don Miller, O.F.M.

Region 6

2 | HORIZON | Summer 2016

Updates

workshop helped vocation directors and communications professionals to better work and plan together.

Because of the positive response of participants, NRVC is considering offering the Vocation Ambassadors kickoff workshop again next year. Photos of the event are on NRVC’s Flickr site: flickr.com/nrvc.

Order VISION now

The Trinitarians sent a team to the Vocation Ambassadors kickoff program in June. Attending as a team to prepare a communications strategy involving the ambassador were: (left to right) Mr. Jordan Milligan, Father Stan DeBoe, O.S.S.T., and Father James Mark Adame, O.S.S.T.

Vocation Ambassadors kicks off From June 10-13, NRVC sponsored a workshop in Notre Dame, Indiana called “Share the Sacred,” which kicked off an ongoing project of young adults serving as Vocation Ambassadors around the country.

Twelve religious communities prepared a young adult to serve as a spokesperson for their community and for religious life in general. The communities attended in teams of three: young adult ambassador, communications professional, and vocation director. Three representatives from Vocations Ireland also took part in the event, along with several individuals who were on the Vocation Ambassadors design team.

Participants learned communications strategies and tactics, and each team devised its own project for sending forth Vocation Ambassadors to promote religious life. In addition to commissioning ambassadors, the Updates

The 2017 VISION Vocation Guide may be ordered at vocationnetwork.org/orders, along with multilingual bookmarks and posters.

While VISION is popular with parishes, retreat centers, and campus ministries, it may be ordered by anyone. Religious communities that are VISION sponsors receive free shipping. New this year is a special Spanish section that will appear in print and online.

Bishops to host gathering of Catholic leaders in 2017 The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is convening a gathering of Catholic leaders in July 2017 with the intent of forming “missionary disciples.”

Called “The Joy of the Gospel in America: A National Convocation of Catholic Leaders,” this event will take place in Orlando Florida July 1-4, 2017. By invitation only, the event will bring together key leaders from dioceses and Catholic organizations from across the country.

The assembled Catholic leaders will engage in strategic conversation, under the leadership of the bishops, with the goal of “forming missionary disciples to animate the Church and to engage the culture.”

The USCCB will be inviting key organizational Summer 2016 | HORIZON | 3

Resource helps women’s communities evaluate their vocation readiness

Father Benedict Croell, O.P. talks with young people at Georgetown University. A recent study about vocation and college experiences shows the importance of presence and programming during formative student years.

leaders from Catholic organizations, movements and apostolates, missions, religious institutes, agencies, and institutions.

Study sheds light on vocation and college A recent study explores the connection between college experiences and vocational choices, underscoring existing evidence that Catholic colleges and universities play an important vocational role and that religiously supportive environments and programs are important for vocations. The presence of brothers, sisters, and priests on campus—in a variety of roles—was also found to be significant.

The study was released in spring 2016, and was conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. It may be accessed at nrvc.net under the “Studies” tab at “Links to studies and reports.”

HORIZON, VISION win awards NRVC’s two main publications, HORIZON and VISION, together received seven honors in editorial award competitions this past spring. The awards recognized reporting, features, essays, blogs, and reviews. Details are at nrvc.net under the “Resources” tab, “Periodicals overview.”

4 | HORIZON | Summer 2016

The National Religious Vocation Conference (NRVC) has provided all of its women’s community members a complimentary copy of “Vocation Culture: Reflection to Action,” an instrument to help communities evaluate and strengthen their internal vocation culture. NRVC members may also download this resource or an equivalent resource for men’s communities for free. (Members must log in first, then go to Resources / Member only resources.)

Coming out of the Women Religious Moving Forward in Hope gatherings in 2012 and 2013 was a request for resources to assist in strengthening the vocation culture within women’s religious institutes. In response NRVC created this instrument, which consists of a series of behavioral questions intended to be used by religious institutes in diverse settings. These questions were written by women for women and are based on eight critical needs identified by the Moving Forward in Hope participants.

In addition to the free downloads for members, copies may be ordered at nrvc.net: $6 for members; $9 for nonmembers (plus shipping and handling).

Mark your calendar Day-long NRVC workshops on communal life, marketing, addictions, or immigration. Overland Park, Kansas OCTOBER 27 NRVC Convocation in Overland Park, Kansas OCTOBER 27-31 National Vocation Awareness Week NOVEMBER 6-12 World Day for Consecrated Life FEBRUARY 5, 2017 National Catholic Sisters Week MARCH 8-14, 2017 Religious Brothers Day MAY 1, 2017 n Updates

Photo: Courtesy of Saint Ursula Academy, toledosua.org

By interacting with candidates during service opportunities, weekend visits, retreats, etc., vocation directors can get to know the person and observe her or his interpersonal skills. Above a sister from the Toledo, Ohio diocese works with a student of St. Ursula Academy in Toledo, to pack groceries for charity.

Every vocation director needs skills in assessing applicants.

The essentials of candidate assessment

I

N 37 YEARS OF ASSESSING CANDIDATES for religious life and priesthood, I have encountered a variety of “criteria,” spoken or implied. They range from the mega-ideal (does the candidate have three bona fide miracles prior to acceptance?) to mega-low (can the candidate fog a mirror with his or her breath?). And of course, I’ve seen everything in-between.

With reasonable criteria in mind for initial acceptance of a candidate, the most helpful tool a vocation director can use is a competent methodology for assessing candidates. This article briefly summarizes a method I have taught for decades through NRVC’s “Behavioral Assessment I” workshops. (Editor’s note: the next Behavioral Assessment workshop is tentatively scheduled to take place in Chicago during the summer of 2017.)

Carey | Behavioral Assessment

Father Raymond P. Carey Father Raymond P. Carey, Ph.D., is a priest of the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon.

He serves as an adjunct professor at Mount Angel Seminary Graduate School of Theology and as a counselor to priests and religious. He regularly conducts workshops for the National Religious Vocation Conference, and he has received the NRVC Harvest Award.

His doctorate is in clinical psychology.

Summer 2016 | HORIZON | 5

“Behavioral assessment” (BA) is an extensively tested methodology in the clinical psychological literature.

What is presented here is a modified application of these principles to the world of assessment for possible entrance to a religious community. The question is: how do vocation directors assess whether or not a person should be granted entrance to begin formation in a religious community or diocese?

Through a chronologically-based interview, the assessor teases out data relative to the person’s skills and learnings, decisions and choices, lived experiences, practices, discipline, social learning, and faith. The point is to measure the relative confidence The fact that a vocation director should have behavioral in the efficacy of the individual assessment is beginning the process of mem“evidence based” bership. The methodology also helps reduce, but can identify data that may raise not eliminate, cautions strong enough to disinterviewer bias. courage candidacy. The methodology is data-based and assumes the good will and veracity of the candidate, unless the data from the interview calls that veracity into question.

Behavioral assessment is not about determining personality or characteristics or interpreting motivation.

Nor does it involve psychologizing about why a person is the way a person is. BA looks at what a person does and how a person acts, rather than why a person acts.

BA requires a profound respect for the uniqueness of each person. It requires the hard work of listening carefully to an individual’s experience. The fact that BA is “evidence-based” helps reduce, but not eliminate, interviewer bias. As well, a BA report can be reviewed by those charged by canon law and congregational constitutions to admit to a congregation or diocese, and it increases the superior’s confidence in accepting or rejecting an application.

Additionally, BA is criteria-based, both positively and negatively. It requires that a congregation or diocese has carefully identified and delineated what they are looking for in a candidate. What, behaviorally, is required to live as a member of the congregation in our context? BA should provide the positive data on which a recommendation of acceptance takes place, and not just rely on “acceptance in the absence of obvious pathology.”

Further, BA is learning-based. In other words, the data suggests whether or not the candidate is a learner.

It does not assume readiness for final vows or orders, 6 | HORIZON | Summer 2016

but for religious communities it does pose the question, “What evidence gives us confidence that this candidate can learn to live our religious life well?”

Unlike the sophisticated skill and extensive training required for using psychometric assessments, the method of BA is not esoteric. Dominicans, for example, know better than anyone else what it takes to live the Dominican charism well.

The methodology of BA easily adapts cross-culturally. Every culture evidences behaviors, cognitions and expressions of affect. Obviously the person conducting a BA interview needs to be as fully educated as possible in regard to the culture of a given candidate. Finally, there is no gender-bias inherent in the BA methodology. The same cannot be said for a number of theoretical models of personality from the academic discipline of psychology.

Three Tools of Behavioral Assessment Three major tools comprise the methodology of BA.

1. Interviewing skills The parameters of this article do not allow me to identify and expand on 12 primary interviewing skills that the Behavioral Assessment I workshop presents. Suffice it to say that the process of becoming a competent interviewer calls for lifelong practice in listening accurately, phrasing questions helpfully, paying attention to non-verbal cues, doing sufficient reinforcement of the interviewee, taking responsibility for the control of the interview, and learning judicious use of indirect leads. As well, one needs to learn to take copious notes while still attending to non-verbal cues.

2. F D I C Whether one is identifying a particular attribute such as work ethic or identifying a particular problem area such as abuse of alcohol, the tool of “FDIC” can be enormously useful.

The letters do not, of course, stand for “Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.” They stand for Frequency, Duration, Intensity and Conditions. If one gathers information in those four categories, one will have considerable data obtained in an efficient and useful manner. For example, the frequency with which one applies a positive work ethic, the duration in which this has taken place, and the intensity or importance of that phenomenon to the individual as well as the specific conditions under Carey | Assessment

Photo by Minh Vu. Courtesy of Saint Meinrad Archabbey

A person’s faith history, prayer and worship practice, and attraction to religious life are all relevant areas to explore in a behavioral assessment.

which the work ethic is applied all provide immediately helpful information to the assessor. Likewise, rather than accepting a candidate’s statement, “I had a little drinking problem in college, but no longer do,” the assessor can apply the FDIC tool and find out exactly how often a person drinks alcohol, how much he or she consumes, the degree of intoxication, implications of that intoxication, and the conditions in which the person consumes alcohol. Answers to those questions will provide much richer information than the hypothetical sentence posed above. In short, FDIC is helpful for elaborating on the presence of skills or the presence of areas of concern.

3. Observation Vocation ministers often have the advantage of actually observing candidates in a variety of settings. Whether a candidate attends a community jubilee ceremony, a funeral or a Come and See weekend, or participates in an immersion experience in a community ministry, the vocation minister has a wide sample of behaviors to Carey | Assessment

observe. One can see in vivo whether a candidate has appropriate social skills, or gets along well and respectfully with peers, or grasps information accurately, or a whole list of other skills. Cloistered communities have long valued the observational opportunity of having candidates present for a weekend or longer. Often such an experience yields the information the community needs to determine whether to move forward with a candidate.

Six Common Areas for Assessment Each religious congregation has specific charisms, missions and traditions that will call for assessment in areas related to the uniqueness of each congregation. Whether that uniqueness relates to a monastic, teaching, missionary, health care, or a parochial ministry tradition, each of those traditions will call for attention to development of specific skills. As well, priesthood as practiced in rural dioceses differs significantly from priesthood as lived in large urban archdioceses. Thus, assessment needs to take into account the key question, “Assessment for what?”

Summer 2016 | HORIZON | 7

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There are, nevertheless, some common areas that virtually all vocation ministers attend to. Some examples follow.

Family background When I take a candidate’s family history, in addition to the fundamental data about the variety of relationships, I listen for three main things. First, I want a strong sense of the social learning milieu in which the candidate grew and developed. Second, I want a behaviorally-based grasp of the primary value system of the parents, that is, the value system in which the candidate has been reared.

Third, I want to identify the primary “gratitudes” that the individual holds for each parent independently.

Academic background Beyond the data available on academic transcripts, the primary concern here is evidence that the person learns from his or her experience. It is also imperative to attend to decision-making skills, ability to consult competent and appropriate helpers, and the ability to set goals and manifest the discipline to follow through with those goals and commitments.

Occupational history In examining a person’s work history, no matter how extensive or humble, it is important to listen for data relative to the development of a strong work ethic, for data indicating ability to work collaboratively and cooperatively, and for evidence of an ability to work well with those in authority. In addition, it helps to listen for skills in problem-solving and conflict management.

Faith history

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In this category I suggest listening for information about a person’s initiation into and practice of the Catholic faith. Specifically, I listen for consistency, major influences, quality of catechesis, prayer practices and any reading relative to faith or spirituality. If the person is a convert to Catholicism, one needs to attend to the experiences that led to the decision to become Catholic. It also helps to listen for evidence that the person can work inclusively with a variety of assumptions in regard to ecclesiology.

Attraction to religious life, priesthood In this section a primary concern relates to a candidate’s

8 | HORIZON | Summer 2016

Carey | Behavioral Assessment

ability to distinguish baptismal commitment to worship and ministry from a genuine attraction to religious life.

More specifically, I pay attention to how they came to apply to a particular religious congregation. Has he or she done some homework? What assumptions does the person hold about community, common life, communio?

(See Lessard, 2003, listed on page 11.) As well, I pay attention to what alternatives a candidate has considered in the event the religious congregation in question denies his or her application.

Psychosexual history Toward the end of the interview I take a brief sexual history of the candidate, emphasizing identification of skills for celibate loving specific to the congregation in question. Missionaries, for example, need a number of celibacy skills that differ from those that support monastic life or those required for a variety of apostolic ministries.

More specifically, I listen for decisions about sexual involvement with others, particularly in regard to the context in which any sexual activity may have occurred.

There is a significant difference between sexual expression in an exclusive relationship and that which occurs in a “hookup relationship.”

As well, I take a history of masturbatory activity, listening for any evidence suggesting obsessive-compulsive behavior. Additionally, I suggest a close examination of behavior relative to any use of pornography (FDIC). It is my view that because pornography is inherently evil, predicated on the reduction of another human being to be an object of sexual gratification, any use of pornography should be eliminated before beginning initial formation.

In regard to primary sexual orientation, I listen for evidence of integration of one’s sexual truth. One can make the case that the skills of celibacy for heterosexual and those for homosexual candidates are not the same.

While many of the intimacy skills are comparable, such as reverence for persons, positive self-esteem, kindness, generosity, other-centeredness, there are differences in other skills. I have come to believe, not with universal agreement among colleagues, that there are three skills that our gay and lesbian candidates need that our heterosexual candidates do not need. First, I believe our gay and lesbian candidates would do well to give themselves permission to think of themselves in ways other than the primacy of their sexual orientation. While not in any way denying the truth that we are all made in God’s image, heterosexuals seem to have the luxury to think Carey | Behavioral Assessment

of themselves in a variety of ways, and rarely in terms of the primacy of their sexual orientation. Second, one’s integrity is not contingent on “coming out of the closet.”

Pointedly, heterosexuals do not “come out of the closet.” One should feel free to share that The question is, information without any ethical “Does the evidence imperative compelling them to support the announce their homosexuality. decision to admit Third, one should learn not to this candidate to consider one’s self as untruthful initial formation?” if others make unfounded assumptions. It is not necessary, for example, to announce one’s homosexuality to someone who assumes heterosexuality, and feeling like a liar when one does not correct the assumption.

Miscellaneous categories Finally, I gather information about a candidate’s health, a list of any prescription medications, a list of any regular use of over-the-counter medications, the candidate’s height and weight, the candidate’s exercise routines, the candidate’s alcohol and other substance use history, any legal encumbrances including taxes owed, and a list of assets and debts.

If the candidate has been previously married, I suggest a detailed history of the decision to marry. If the person is divorced, I would listen carefully to how he or she has processed that experience. Incidentally, I find it wise advice to not accept any divorced candidate until the person has in-hand a declaration of nullity from the appropriate diocesan tribunal.

If the person has been widowed, I would look carefully, for example, at how the individual has processed that experience. I would look carefully at whether evidence suggests that religious life is a “handy way to find meaning in life again.”

In the case of either divorced or widowed candidates, the question of adult children is essential. Specifically, I would want evidence that any adult children are selfsupporting and not in need of their parent’s assistance. It is my opinion that no one who has a minor child on the planet should be accepted into candidacy.

A note about report writing It is my firm belief that a vocation minister who conducts a behavioral assessment has an ethical responsibilSummer 2016 | HORIZON | 9

After getting to know a candidate and conducting a behavioral assessment, it’s important to give clear feedback to the person about whether the incorporation process should continue. Pictured here is Sister Carol Quigley, I.H.M. (left), a spiritual director and member of the IHM Sisters of Monroe, Michigan.

Photo courtesy of IHM Sisters, Monroe, Michigan

ity to write a report of the assessment for the appropriate religious superior. Writing a report requires the assessor to carefully craft each word and to be responsible for being able to support each word from the data collected.

Writing the report reduces the error variance that easily accompanies verbal reporting and editorializing. A written report brings with it the challenge to have a real person emerge from the presentation of information.

Further, any impressions or recommendations contained in the report are accountable to substantiation from the data presented.

My suggestion to the writer of such a report is to present the body of the report in the manner of a news reporter, that is, without editorial comment. The reader then has access to data and evidence, and therefore will be able to weigh the appropriateness not only of the candidate, but also of the assessor’s impressions and recommendations.

I further suggest that the report conclude with two distinct sections: impressions and recommendations.

In the impressions section the writer would do well first of all to summarize all the data that supports the candidate’s application. More specifically, that would require the writer to identify from the candidate’s story all the indicators that suggest he or she meets the criteria the congregation requires to begin initial formation. In the impressions section the writer should list any areas that 10 | HORIZON | Summer 2016

raise concerns about the efficacy of the candidacy.

There should be no surprises or new information in the impressions section. Additionally, every opinion about the candidate should find support in the data presented in the body of the report.

In the recommendations section, I find it useful to use one of four categories of recommendation.

1. Acceptance In the case of a candidate who impresses positively, as described above, and in circumstances in which there are no major red flags, it can be entirely appropriate to simply suggest acceptance of the candidacy into initial formation. It seems important to reiterate that no one is looking for “finished products” nor is the task to determine readiness for vows or orders. The question is, “Does the evidence support the decision to admit this candidate to initial formation?”

2. Rejection This category, in my decades of consulting with vocation ministers, seems to present the greatest challenge.

People find it hard to say no to candidates. And yet ethically it is sometimes precisely the gospel-thing to do.

I have known of cases in which vocation ministers, in Carey | Behavioral Assessment

an effort to be “pastorally sensitive,” have simply strung candidates along when the candidates simply should have been told that religious life is not for them, and that they need to find other more appropriate ways to serve the church. When no is the appropriate answer to the candidate’s application, I suggest the main reason for the rejection of the candidacy be provided to the candidate, but not a long list of negative reasons. This category of recommendations is meant to be a definitive rejection, meaning that one’s successor would be expected to honor it as well. I recall one case that I actually assessed twice, seven years apart, in which a woman was seeking entrance into yet another religious community after 17 years of trying. While she had been refused admittance,

HORIZON RESOURCES Bertrand, Catherine S.S.N.D. “What I expect from a vocation minister.” HORIZON, 2007, No. 4.

Carey, Raymond P. “Assessing candidates with mental health concerns.” HORIZON, 2005, No. 3.

Carey, Raymond P. “Frequently asked questions about sexual misconduct by clergy and religious.” HORIZON, 2002, No. 4.

Carey, Raymond P. “Vocation issues raised by younger candidates.” HORIZON, 2002, No. 2.

Carey, Raymond P. “Vocational assessment helps for identifying candidates at risk for pedophilia or ephebophilia.” HORIZON, 2002, No. 4.

HORIZON Admissions edition, 2001, No. 3.

HORIZON Psychological assessment edition, 2010, No. 2.

Lessard, Gaston S.M. “What do we mean by community? What do candidates dream about?” HORIZON, 2003, No. 3.

BOOK Bryant, Kathleen R.S.C. Vocations anonymous: A handbook for adults discerning priesthood and religious life. Rogationist Publications, 3rd edition, 2014.

WORKSHOPS Tentatively, Behavioral Assessment I and II will each be offered by National Religious Vocation Conference, July 2017 and September 2017.

Carey | Behavioral Assessment

no one, it seems, helped her to understand that religious life was not for her.

3. Acceptance with conditions Sometimes candidates will present for admission having lots of positive data to support their candidacy. At the same time, they may have special needs that other candidates do not have. An older candidate who has been away from studies for a long time, for example, may need to take a course in study skills. Another candidate may need help with language acquisition. Yet another candidate may be relatively new to Catholicism and may need tutoring in Catholic culture and theology. The operative imperative in this category is, “Can the individual fully enter into the formation program at this time?”

4. Delayed decision From time to time candidates present who may, in the future, be suitable for initial formation, but may not be ready at the moment. In such a case it may be helpful to outline exactly, positively, and behaviorally what it is they need to accomplish before their application would be revisited.

This category differs from category two (rejection) in that the door is open for the candidate to address the areas that need to be remediated. At the same time the burden is on the candidate to choose to do the required work or not. My suggestion is that the report should be prepared for the exclusive use of the leadership (provincial superior or bishop of a diocese). The NRVC workshop “Ethical Issues in Vocation and Formation Ministry” (nrvc.net), addresses the complexity of information management in detail. In addition I recommend that the candidate not receive a copy of the report because it is being prepared for the exclusive use of the leadership.

••• It is imperative that assessors recognize that each candidate is the beloved of God, made in the image and likeness of the Holy One. No methodology or policy enjoys that dignity. A candidate, therefore, should experience the respect and reverence appropriate to being a child of God, regardless of the outcome of an assessment. Every assessor needs to function from a constant perspective of humility. The task is not to attain metaphysical certainty, but to come to a reasonable conclusion about the efficacy of a candidacy. n Summer 2016 | HORIZON | 11

It takes extra effort and understanding to assess a candidate from a different culture.

Sister Pat Twohill, O.P. of the Dominican Sisters of Peace blesses Phuong Thuy Vu during a ceremony to welcome her as a candidate.

Assessing cross-cultural candidates

By Father Gerard McGlone, S.J. and Fernando Ortiz Father Gerard J. McGlone, S.J., Ph.D., is director of counseling services, staff psychologist, and faculty member at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, Italy. Fernando Ortiz, Ph.D., is director of the Counseling Services at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. He specializes in personality assessment, multicultural competencies and clinical skills.

12 | HORIZON | Summer 2016

A

NY DISCUSSION ABOUT THE PRACTICALITIES of assessing a candidate from another culture might best begin with a clear vision as to “why” intercultural competency has value. The current societal and world situation beckons us to pay attention to cultural realities as never before.

An essential Gospel mandate is to “go and teach all nations.” The very definition of who we are as a faith community—catholic means universal— impels us to be inclusive and to go forth to all in the world. As Pope Benedict XVI reminded us in Verbum Domini, 2010: God does not reveal himself in the abstract, but by using languages, imagery and expressions that are bound to different cultures. This relationship has proved fruitful, as the history of the church abundantly testifies.

Today it is entering a new phase due to the spread of the Gospel and its taking root within different cultures, as well as more recent developments in the culture of the West. It calls in the first place for a recogniMcGlone Ortiz | Cross-Cultural

tion of the importance of culture as such for the life of every man and woman. The phenomenon of culture is, in its various aspects, an essential datum of human experience.

This essential information is often simply ignored or minimized. Or worse it becomes a source of mockery, hatred, and division. In the words of Pope Francis at Ground Zero in New York during his 2015 visit to the U.S.: I trust that our presence together will be a powerful sign of our shared desire to be a force of reconciliation, peace and justice in this community and throughout the world. For all our differences and disagreements, we can experience a world of peace. In opposing every attempt to create rigid uniformity, we can and must build unity on the basis of diversity of languages, cultures, and religions and lift our voices against everything which would stand in the way of such unity. Together we are called to say no to every attempt to impose uniformity and yes to a diversity accepted and reconciled.

Today, this mandate is as ancient and new as scripture has laid out for us: “I set before you life and death,” (Deut. 30:19) what will we choose today? In the new age of terror, threats and fear, our responses to this gospel mandate become even more timely and critical.

Perhaps, the “why” of intercultural competency might be re-framed as a mandate to understand, know and love the other in the name of a holy peace that conquers prejudice, fear, ignorance, and hatred in all forms—in our hearts, communities, and world. Does this vision permeate your religious community?

Cultural, racial identity front and center As we frequently witness in the United States, race, religion, and culture are a critically important component of peoples’ identities. For example the Black Lives Matter movement has heightened the importance of sensitivity to race within universities, cities, political campaigns, and law enforcement institutions. The Confederate flag has become a contentious symbol deeply rooted in history for many, and even higher education institutions have been reconsidering whether they continue to maintain confederacy symbols on their campuses. This concern came to the forefront after the 2015 Charleston, South Carolina church shootings.

The political climate regarding refugees to this country has also highlighted the significance of culture, McGlone Ortiz | Cross-Cultural

race and our national religious freedoms and identities. This is the present context of our society grappling with the realities of culture, ethnicity, race, religion, and other identity markers. No institution—religious or otherwise—is immune from self-questioning around these issues. Pope Francis has urged religious communities throughout Europe to open their doors to this new wave of immigrants. Because of their mission to human formation, religious communities are training religious leaders who will be ministering to people affected by these multi-faceted issues, and thus religious institutions need to model intercultural competencies now more than ever. How open are you and your community to this vision and this praxis?

Basic intercultural competency Intercultural competence is multidimensional and multifaceted. Vocation teams and communities need awareness, knowledge, sensitivity, and skill in navigating the complexity and nuances of culture. (This competency and these processes are more fully explained in our 2010 HORIZON article, “Assessment with cross-cultural candidates.”) Ideally, prior to any vocational interview the vocation director and the team have cultivated an awareness of their own cultural expertise. Additionally, they will have assessed the community’s expertise or lack thereof. This allows for a “rightness of fit” between the candidate and the community.

The vocation team ideally is aware of the culture of each applicant. However, awareness as a mental faculty does not suffice. Awareness should be coupled with knowledge. Vocation team members should familiarize themselves with their own culture(s) and expand upon this knowledge to know and to understand the cultures of applicants.

It then makes sense that awareness coupled with knowledge of culture are the two essential components of interculturally sensitive practices. Sensitivity allows the vocation personnel and the team to avoid approaching the vocational discernment process in an ethnocentric, biased, and prejudicial way. The ultimate goal is for these professionals to develop a pattern of cultural competency that comes with a sustained praxis, or the actual exercise of these competencies with any candidate from culturally diverse populations.

We emphasize praxis because an intercultural competency is not an internalized mental exercise, a one-time event or immersion experience, or one culturally significant meal, but rather cultural competency is Summer 2016 | HORIZON | 13

The practical nature of a competency

Newer sisters are starting to reflect the cultural diversity of the United States, as seen in this photo of the Core Team for Giving Voice, an organization for younger sisters.

tangible and measurable. Others can see, touch, and appreciate it because of its various expressions. Religious communities that model these competencies well attract diverse candidates who clearly flourish within them.

Happiness has a contagious effect in vocational recruitment and retention.

The onus to demonstrate intercultural competence is not exclusively on the vocation director, the team, or on a welcomThe candidate, too, ing religious communeeds to demonstrate nity. The candidate, too, needs to demonstrate awareness, knowledge, awareness, knowledge, sensitivity, and practice of sensitivity, and practice cultural competency. of cultural competency.

A candidate may be naïve about his or her own culture and oblivious about the cultures of the other members of the religious community. She or he may not be interested in getting to know the others and may even disregard their cultures. Moreover she or he may hold marked ethnocentric biases about certain specific cultural groups. In some communities, for example, the candidate may want to only celebrate the cultural celebrations of her or his own ethnic group. They may joke about other’s cultural practices and show a lack of sensitivity. This would be divisive to the religious community and most likely this intercultural incompetence would also be expressed in pastoral assignments.

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We recognize that sometimes it is practically very challenging to know and to understand every single candidate’s culture. In these instances we recommend that the vocation director and the team ask questions about the candidate’s cultural background. The vocational team can pose open questions and express genuine curiosity and an interest in getting to know the applicant’s cultural roots. Visits with the family of origin are highly recommended. Culture is broadly understood to encompass country of origin, ethnic affiliation, cultural practices and behaviors, and language. These cultural identifiers play an important role in forming the candidate. As part of religious formation, an initial evaluation of the candidate’s cultural identity and competencies will be helpful as the community evaluates the candidate’s future suitability for ministry in diverse settings. One should not expect these competencies to develop in a short-term period. Instead these competencies are usually acquired through practice, constructive feedback, and prayerful discernment and reflection. It is a process not an event.

This can be especially challenging for someone who has grown up in an exclusively monocultural environment with little to no exposure to diversity. In an increasingly multicultural church, it is not uncommon for someone to say, “This is the first time I have met someone from X country, or for me to hear X language being spoken.”

Interculturally competent admissions processes Intercultural competencies need then to permeate the entire vocational admission process—in the candidate, the team and in the community. Respect for cultural issues should be included in the way the religious community structures the interview, for example. This may include assembling a vocation team that reflects cultural diversity itself, even if the team members are not members of the religious community. Similarly, the forms and documents used should be constructed in a way that is sensitive to culturally diverse applicants. For the actual interview and conversations with the applicant, the vocation team should be informed of any cultural issues that should not be omitted. The key question one must ask the applicant: with what language do you pray? If this is not English, all forms, processes and interviews will need to be in that language of prayer.

This will require creativity, thoughtful planning, and the allocation of resources. If a religious community is McGlone Ortiz | Cross-Cultural

interviewing a relatively large number of applicants from Vietnamese or Nigerian background, for instance, the community could invest in having experts or consultants from these two cultural groups review the forms used, the interviewing and screening processes, to ensure that these components of the admissions process are interculturally competent and meeting high standards for intercultural sensitivity. A community might also consult with other religious communities more experienced in this area. It is important then for religious communities to foster this level of consultation with cultural experts.

It may well be that if external experts are not available; the community itself may foster an organizational system of “cultural brokers.” These cultural brokers can be individuals who are embedded within the religious community and who are very well versed in cultural sensitivity—truly competent. In some instances, for example, the religious community may have individuals who have lived in different countries. They have been fluent in a different language and by their extensive missionary or cultural experiences have an expertise that can be tapped by religious communities. Using the cultural brokers from other religious communities might also be an easy and useful alternative if the community does not have anyone with a specific cultural competency.

Use of competent professionals Specific to assessment practices, religious communities can retain the professional services of licensed psychologists who are familiar with culturally sensitive instruments to evaluate candidates. These psychologists have the educational background, expertise, and specific training to conduct clinical interviews within a context that is respectful and inclusive of culture. These individuals may not be the ones that they might typically use for Anglo-candidates. Moreover, they administer and interpret evaluating tests that have demonstrated reliability and validity for ethnic and culturally diverse candidates. These tests might vary according to each diverse population. In the event that there are no standardized assessment instruments for a specific ethnic group, these psychologists use alternative means of assessment. This can rely on indigenously derived questionnaires and other non-standardized modalities.

Ultimately a face-to-face, comprehensive, and detailed interview is one of the most reliable assessment tools to fully capture the candidate’s childhood, education, vocation, and psychosexual history. During the clinical interview, the psychologist can also inquire McGlone Ortiz | Cross-Cultural

about the person’s upbringing and cultural influences on the person’s development. Assessing the candidates’ acculturation levels and processes is vital to the admissions process. The fundamental premise should be that a person’s cultural conditioning most likely has influenced the person’s childhood, education, vocational identity development, and other aspects typically evaluated by psychologists. Culture can no longer be a question or two in an assessment and simply treated as an unimportant variable during the assessment process.

Limits to traditional assessment The traditional assessment model has constructed and standardized some evaluation tools (e.g., Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory) based primarily on normative samples in the United States. In some cases, these widely used clinical inventories and questionnaires have also been validated with culturally diverse samples, including non-U.S. cultures.

Unfortunately, this standardization and Culture can no longer cross-cultural generalbe a question or two ity is severely lacking. in an assessment and Religious communisimply treated as an ties are attracting new unimportant variable members from other during the assessment countries and cultures process. for which these U.S. and European constructed and normed tools have not been appropriately adjusted. However, the tool that has consistently showed promise with diverse and Anglo candidates to religious life and dioceses has been the Rorschach Inkblot Method. The new norms and standardizations would be preferred over the older Exner Scoring System.

Ethical considerations for this assessment practice should be discussed prior to administering and interpreting tools for these ethnic and cultural populations.

Many reasons exist for this under-development of appropriate assessment norms for international groups and U.S. ethnic minorities, including the lack of funded research on test development, lack of professionalization of psychology in other countries, and the profit-driven commercialization of assessment methodologies. Most assessment companies are based in the United States and they have created an entire industry motivated primarily by commercial interests to sell only those assessment Summer 2016 | HORIZON | 15

tools that are marketable. In some cases, the purchase of testing materials has become too prohibitive for religious communities. Additionally these measures often overpathologize candidates from under-represented cultures.

In other words these tests make candidates from nonEuropean backgrounds look sicker than they really are.

In light of this current context of commercialized assessment tools, we suggest religious communities creatively design assessment practices outside this restrictive testing paradigm. Religious communities may, for example, rely on qualitative assessment methodologies that make use of extensive behavioral and clinical interviews. These can be conducted in the most culturally sensitive way by including cultural consultants, as indicated in the previous section. These interviews can be strengthened by Whoever evaluates on collecting collateral data behalf of the welcoming in the form of direct behavioral observations. religious communities Vocation teams might must think creatively, also interview collateral culturally, and ethically sources in a familiar and outside the traditional useful format called the assessment paradigm.

360-degree evaluation (i.e., they might speak to parish priests in countries of origin, community mentors, and other informal sources of behavioral information). This type of executive assessment has proven useful in both initial and ongoing formation programs with diverse candidates.

Whenever possible, the evaluating committee can also include non-standardized indigenous questionnaires or measures in the original language, even when these have not been normed, published, and commercialized by the assessment industry. Cultural consultants can help in the reading and interpretation of these indigenous data-collection questionnaires.

The main idea we propose is that whoever evaluates on behalf of the welcoming religious communities must think creatively, culturally, and ethically outside the traditional assessment paradigm. A few examples might illustrate how this approach could play itself out.

Ortiz-McGlone assessment model Two current assessment models can be easily identified.

First is the traditional model (etic) which is based on the belief of the “universal psychic unity of humankind.”

It believes that because of this universal belief of psy16 | HORIZON | Summer 2016

chology, assessment theories and models can be used anywhere regardless of cultural and linguistic variation.

The etic model uses evaluation inventories created in a top-down fashion. This model relies on American and Euro-centric tools of assessment. The etic model has dominated the development and commercialization of psychological evaluation tools.

In a radical departure from this scientific and wellestablished model, the indigenous (or emic) model rejects the imposition and importation of Western tools of assessment. It has developed indigenous methodologies for assessing individuals in their respective countries.

The emic model uses a “bottom-up,” qualitative approach to assessment tools.

Looking at the etic and emic approaches to psychological assessment, we propose a combined approach that is both standardized and indigenous, both qualitative and quantitative—one that embraces the best of psychometric science from the etic approach and yet utilizes a culture-perspective as well (Ortiz & McGlone, 2015).

Case study: Joseph Santos Joseph Santos is a 28-year-old Filipino applicant to a religious community in the United States. He completed both high school and college seminary training in the Philippines. The admission process to both the high school and the college seminary included some detailed clinical interviews conducted by an indigenous Jesuit psychologist at Ateneo de Manila University. This indigenous psychologist does not use any Western developed clinical tools because he believes they do not adequately capture the personality dynamics of Filipino applicants to religious formation in the Philippines. In an effort to develop a more socially and culturally relevant assessment methodology for religious formation, native Filipino psychologists have developed several personality measures used to evaluate individuals. For example, Joseph’s evaluating psychologist administered to him the Philippine Thematic Apperception Test and the Panukat ng Pagkataong Pilipino, a multidimensional personality inventory developed in the Philippines.

Joseph immigrated to the United States where after four years of living in this country he sought entrance into a religious community. In his case, the Ortiz-McGlone Assessment Model would advocate for obtaining any indigenously derived assessment data at Joseph’s country of origin. If some standardized instruments of assessment exist in the United States that have been appropriately normed with Filipinos, these could be used McGlone Ortiz | Cross-Cultural

as adjunct strategies to maximize the utility of the assessment process.

The U.S. religious community could also consult with Filipino psychologists to more fully interpret any traditional instrument administered to Joseph. This balanced assessment process advocates for an integration of assessment methods, and in the event that one does not find appropriate tools, religious communities can flexibly adapt an evaluation approach based on consultation and qualitative methods.

Cultural self-identification Culture is a very powerful influence that shapes the way we think, feel, and relate to others. When a vocation director interacts with a canIntercultural living is a way of life that starts in formation for the Xaverian Missionaries, didate for admission to religious or including Father Ernesto Moriel Guerrero (left) from Mexico, who is with Father Gerardo Erseminary formation, culture will be nesto Pretel Ortiz of Columbia. Both men work in countries other than their homelands. During graduate school Xaverian missionaries study and live with men from up to 12 countries. implicitly and explicitly expressed and shared in various ways. The candidate’s genotype and appearance is not an accurate indicator of his or her culture. Culture can be internalized in the form of developmentally be at a phase of discovering one of these values and beliefs, and they can reside in the person’s subcultural aspects of their own self-concept. conscious and conscious structures. The candidate can Additionally the very concept of self might be quite then access these cultural artifacts or simply not activate varied, and this needs a fuller examination and explothem during interviews and interactions with the vocaration. The more Western concept of self is focused tions team. Depending on the candidate’s level of comfort on the individual and on the process of individuation; and cultural identification, the candidate may choose to maturation is viewed as separation. In other societies the openly share her or his cultural background and specificoncept of self is more communal and familial; to indically identify him or herself within a cultural group. viduate would be an absurd process for them. One exThe vocation director can openly ask candidates ample that might illustrate this point came up at a recent what their cultural identification is and how they can workshop when the novitiate staff invited the “family” to be addressed. This obviously will depend on rapport a vow day of a religious; the entire village showed up for building and trust. It is important to be mindful of the the ceremony. candidate’s level of cultural and ethnic development.

Sometimes candidates may not have a fully developed Intersection sense of cultural identity, or they may be in the process of psychopathology and culture of developing it. This may be the case for candidates who may have been the targets of xenophobia, racism or During a vocation director’s initial assessment interview, prejudice, or who have experienced trauma and discrima discernment process ensues that may include cultural ination. Increasingly candidates come from multi-ethnic identification and rapport building and a diagnostic and multi-cultural backgrounds, having parents who formulation. Such an interview is a delicate balance beare from different ethnic groups. Such candidates may tween discerning what aspects of a candidate’s behavior McGlone Ortiz | Cross-Cultural

Summer 2016 | HORIZON | 17

may be culturally normative and which might be clinically diagnosable. Some behavioral expressions will be more readily diagnosable since there are specific and discrete mental health criteria that can be applied by a trained professional. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-V (DSM-V) is a good example of a set of clinical criteria that can be used for identifying symptoms and behaviors that can be problematic for religious or seminary formation.

Tardiness and introspection can be two examples. It may be that a candidate’s cultural upbringing had a less formal observance of time and punctuality. In some rural societies time is maintained by observance of the season and changes in daylight and not necessarily by looking at a timepiece. Exactitude in the measurement of time may also differ from Where does one draw western conceptions of the line between what punctuality. However, is socially acceptable tardiness can also be a because of a candidate’s behavioral expression culture, and what clearly of passive aggressive behavior and behavioral represents an area where avoidance. It can also be growth is needed a symptom of lack of mo—or simply indicates a tivation. How does one psychological diagnosis? sensitively differentiate between cultural aspects and problematic behaviors in this case of tardiness?

Similarly some cultures cultivate a sense of modesty, non-assertiveness, and mindful self-disclosure, especially in the context of interviews and conversations with strangers. Others would perceive this as introversion, which may be the result of normative cultural conditioning. However, introversion can also be influenced by social phobia, timidity, and self-concealment. The candidate may be intentionally withholding information because of anxieties, worries, and social awkwardness.

Once again, where does one draw the line between what is socially acceptable because of one’s culture and what clearly represents an area of growth or simply a psychological diagnosis?

When the assessment process finds some applicants to endorse cultural beliefs that result in unacceptable behaviors, this should not necessarily result in an automatic rejection of the applicant. For example if the assessment team has evaluated a candidate from Nigeria, and this candidate endorses cultural beliefs about women that offend Western sensibilities, this cultural 18 | HORIZON | Summer 2016

belief may be amenable to intercultural sensitivity training. We advocate for cultural sensitivity and not for an absolute cultural relativism that honors and blindly accepts every cultural belief and practice in the name of “multiculturalism.” Some candidates may come from cultures deeply entrenched in a patriarchy that oppresses women, and these candidates may be very intransigent about modifying their beliefs. The evaluating team will need to judiciously evaluate the candidate’s level of belief endorsement, degree of belief malleability and the person’s adaptability to a new cultural setting, and whether belief endorsement is compounded by psychopathology.

••• Wherever your community falls along the continuum of intercultural understanding, we hope these practical suggestions will move you forward. May God’s grace be with you and your community as you develop, sustain, or expand an interculturally competent vocational assessment process. We also believe that if you have the vision to attain intercultural competency—if you can answer this “why”—and this vision permeates your community, the “how” and “what to do” easily follows. n

Related resource in HORIZON “Assessment with cross-cultural candidates,” by Father Gerard McGlone, S.J. and Fernando Ortiz, HORIZON 2010, No. 2.

References Carlota, A. “The development of the Panukat ng Pagkataong Pilipino (PPP),” Philippine Journal of Educational Measurement, 1985, No. 4, pp. 55-68.

Guanzon-Lepeña, M.A., A.T. Church, A. J. Carlota, and M. S. Katigbak. “Indigenous personality measures: Philippine examples,” Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1998, No. 29, pp. 249-270.

Lagmay, A.V. The Philippine Thematic Apperception Test.

Manila: University of the Philippines, 1965.

McGlone, Gerard and L. Sperry. The Inner Life of Priests.

Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2012.

Ortiz, Fernando and Gerard McGlone. To Be One in Christ, Intercultural Competencies for Formation and Ministry. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2015.

McGlone Ortiz | Cross-Cultural

One of the most difficult tasks for a vocation director faces is to tell a candidate no. An experienced minister shares how and why she does this.

Saying no to a candidate

O

NE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT aspects of my work as a vocation director is speaking a hard word to women who are calling themselves to community.

Father Ray Carey, in training us to be responsible vocation directors at his Behavioral Assessment workshop, said something that I have brought to mind many times: “Once you have concluded that a woman is not called to religious life, you may not waste a day of her one precious life hoping she will come to that realization by herself; you must tell her.” It is difficult to speak the truth with wisdom and love, leaving a discerner with a word of hope. Even when a prospective member has a seemingly strong self-image, it is not easy to hear a hard truth. Furthermore, it is not easy for a vocation director to speak a hard word. The purpose of this article is to make the task of identifying and communicating with inappropriate candidates a bit easier.

Sister Adrienne Kaufmann, O.S.B. Sister Adrienne Kaufmann, O.S.B. is a sister of Mother of God Monastery in Watertown, South Dakota.

She has been vocation director for 11 years.

She chairs her community’s vocation committee of 15 sisters, and from 2010-2014, she was co-chair of NRVC Region 8, which encompassed Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. She holds a doctorate in conflict analysis and resolution, earned in 1999 from George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia.

Criteria for membership in my community During 11 years in vocation ministry I have identified six critical areas in which an applicant needs to be healthy to be part of our Benedictine community. An acceptable applicant needs to have economic, social, physical, emotional, spiritual, and psychological health. All six of these factors are Kaufmann | Saying “No”

Summer 2016 | HORIZON | 19

essential for our religious life—and probably for religious life in most communities. If one of them is missing, the response to a discerner needs to be no. I will examine each of these indicators, then look at ways I might say no while speaking both truth and hope. All of what I share here is based on our experience here at Mother of God Monastery in Watertown, South Dakota.

Economically sound Discernment requires freedom—freedom to come, and also freedom to leave. Those with insufficient finances to sustain themselves if they leave should not be admitted to community.

We can expect that about 50 percent of those who enter formation will leave.

New members need to Communities are have resources to fall back on, so that leaving does aging populations. not trigger a situation of We need women poverty or even homelessand men capable of ness. A key question then taking the future of is: Do discerners have the community into resources that enable them their communal hands to land on their feet if and working together they would leave the comtoward a secure, munity? There are those purposeful future for whose deepest motivation for considering religious the community. life is insecurity about the future. Some discerners are clearly intimidated by the prospect of facing the future alone. Some lack the capacity to develop a secure platform on which to craft their own future. For example they may lack the social skills or the motivation to attain stable employment; they may have no financial savings or assets. They may be living paycheck to paycheck; they may have been unemployed for a year or more; they may be living on an unemployment check, or even on some other type of social welfare income. A number of inquirers have been living with parents or other family members. Therefore we need to ascertain that they have the ability to live independently. Indicators such as these are, at minimum, a yellow flag, more likely a red flag, because they may indicate dependency as a way of life.

Communities are aging populations. We need women and men capable of taking the future of the community into their communal hands and working together toward a secure, purposeful future for the community.

Their contributions to the community need to outweigh 20 | HORIZON | Summer 2016

their needs. Therefore—even though they might be very likable—those without the wherewithal to discontinue a formation program (if needed)—and land on their feet— are not candidates for religious life.

Debt—Debt can be an indicator of fiscally irresponsible spending. As we consider a candidate for religious life we need to be mindful that she or he someday is going to be responsible for the health of the community’s finances.

Debt is a serious concern. Much credit card debt today is due to over-spending one’s budget and to materialistic habits of purchasing wants rather than needs. It is important to assess whether the candidate has attitudes and habits that lead toward vowed poverty and responsible use of community resources. We require that all debt except education debt be paid in full before applying to the community.

What do we say to candidates when we say no in these cases? I speak about discernment as freedom— freedom to enter, and also freedom to leave. I ask them for a plan of how they would support themselves if they were to leave. Many discerners believe religious communities are financed by the Catholic church. I speak with them about the responsibility each religious institute has for being self-supporting, and how community life requires inter-dependence: each member a contributor to the whole.

Socially skilled Loneliness may be due to lack of an ability to bond. This world is filled with lonely people who long to belong.

They live disconnected from meaningful human bonds.

Sometimes the reason for their loneliness lies in their inability to live in close relationship with others. When a discerner indicates she has family, even children, and is not close to any of them, I want to know why. If she has no viable relationships with family, what kind of relationships will she be able to build within community?

When others are blamed for one’s loneliness, at best, this indicates a lack of creativity in seeking out meaningful relationships.

Children—Sometimes discerners have children who are unstable and are not independent of parental assistance. Some adult children need parental support in order to survive. The son or daughter might have a congenital condition, or may have been in an accident that has caused a permanent disability, or adult children may have a mental illness or addictive behavior that has deKaufmann | Saying “No”

Photo by Sebastian Wiertz

Even the most prayerful and sincere candidates can misjudge their own suitability for religious life. The process is two-way, and vocation directors have the responsibility to their communities to admit candidates who are truly in a position to contribute.

stroyed the capacity for sustained independence. Whatever the situation, a woman or man with a dependent (or unstable) adult child is not truly free to enter a religious community. The community will inevitably either need to help support the child, or the parent will spend an undue amount of time torn between parental obligations and community responsibilities.

Over-dependence on virtual relationships— virtual friendships, social networks, Internet use, smart phones, and television can compete with essential community-building communication.

Facebook, Instagram, and other social media are part of the life of many religious. Yet social media relationships can distract from face-to-face community relationships. Over-dependence upon computer use for maintaining social bonds is a serious impediment to healthy religious community life. Entry into religious life necessarily means letting go of habits of entertainment and social communication that draw the new member away from full community engagement. It is imperative for my community to speak clearly to our applicants about expectations for use of technology, and to assess compatibility of the discerner’s lifestyle with our policies on the use of technology.

Internet pornography—Pornography found on the Internet is an increasingly prevalent problem, even among candidates to religious life. There is no room for being naïve about Internet pornography; even nice people can have bad habits. Although the incidence of Internet pornography is higher among applicants to men’s Kaufmann | Saying “No”

communities than to women’s, all communities should guard against virtual violations of the vow of celibacy.

This activity easily becomes addictive, and therefore, for us a candidate who has engaged regularly in Internet pornography, or any other pornographic activity, is unacceptable for religious life.

Guilt can motivate a desire for religious life. Candidates may think religious life will protect them or be a life of reparation for sinful behaviors. This, of course, is not their stated reason for entering community, but it can be a hidden agenda that must be brought to light through behavioral questions asked of candidates.

Anti-social behavior—tendencies toward isolation do not bode well for community. There are men and women who apply to religious community to escape the world and its demands. From the outside, religious community seems to be a quiet, peaceful existence, free from the need to engage in the world. What is not sometimes understood by a discerner is the level of social engagement required to fulfill the charism and mission of the community, as well as to strengthen community life. The ability to sacrifice one’s time, solitude, and preferences for the sake of the whole is essential for healthy community living. Good communication skills and a heart capable of compassionate engagement are pre-requisites for community life. Washing dishes, being present for community prayer, and welcoming an unexpected guest at the front door are just a few of the demands that draw us away from solitary contemplation.

What do we say to a candidate when we say no in regard to social indicators of unsuitability? I suggest that Summer 2016 | HORIZON | 21

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the candidate find an informal faith community within his or her parish or local surroundings with whom to share community. If I assess that the candidate would benefit from counseling, I suggest she work with a counselor to overcome behaviors that inhibit healthy social interaction. When candidates feel at a loss about finding a counselor, I recommend Catholic Social Services, Lutheran Social Services, their parish, or another trusted social service agency.

Physical health Religious life is more demanding than a full-time job. It is a 24/7 lifestyle, and my community requires applicants to be healthy. Candidates are surprised to learn of the rigors of community life. Many see religious life as an easier lifestyle than their current one. There is a prevalent false image of lots of free time to pray, spend hours in adoration, and read. Few understand the stamina needed to live religious life. We do not accept candidates unless we can reasonably expect them to maintain good health for 20 years or more.

Obesity is our most prevalent health issue among candidates. As a vocation director, when I am faced with an obese discerner, I share with her a stark truth.

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If she continues her present lifestyle, her health can be expected to break down prematurely as the years pass.

The community can require obese candidates to begin a weight loss program and demonstrate some success in losing weight before they enter the community. Those who are defensive about this requirement are not accepted into community. Most discerners truly want to lose weight, and a vocational call is an incentive for them to take action. We also know most of them will struggle with this challenge for a lifetime. Severe obesity can also be related to experiences of verbal, physical, or sexual abuse; therefore it is important to screen for deeper problems. Initial formation is not therapy.

To be receiving government disability, whether permanent or temporary, is an unacceptable situation for a woman entering religious life.

Throughout my 11 years as a vocation director I have been disheartened by the number of women on disability who seek community. When I talk with them about the rigors of religious life, some quickly assure me that they could work full-time, but disability payments give them an opportunity to do volunteer work. I really challenge this attitude as an honesty issue, reminding them that our taxes are supporting their lifestyle of dependency.

Sometimes people are on disability due to temporary conditions, such as a serious injury. We have a policy that a candidate must be off disability and working fulltime for a minimum of two years before we will permit her to open an application. This policy protects the community from those who think they are healthier than they really are. In addition, it allows a person who has been in recovery for sufficient time to get re-accustomed to a lifestyle with fewer discretionary daytime hours.

What do we say to the candidate when we say no because of physical health? For those with physical impediments I emphasize the intensity of religious life and the stamina it takes to be “on call” from early morning to evening every day. I suggest to them two religious groups that accept people with disabilities, one a vowed community, one a secular institute. I suggest they approach their parish and explore spiritual connections they can pursue in their local area.

Emotional health Emotions, those we consider “positive,” and those that we consider “negative,” are a part of life. The issue, when considering a candidate for community, is how the person expresses or represses emotions of all types.

Kaufmann | Saying “No”

Emotions expressed through community-building words and behaviors are essential to healthy community living. Furthermore, what is considered proper expression of emotion in one culture or family may be deemed improper in another culture. Being “too loudly happy” all the time, is different than being “too loudly angry”; but there is a community culture of acceptable emotional expression that needs to match the personality of the candidate.

Candidates who have a history of abuse have often developed unhealthy patterns for dealing with emotions.

Passive aggressive behavior or the “silent treatment” are patterns for expressing displeasure that are inconsistent with healthy community life. Candidates whose peace is consistently so fragile that it is easily ruffled, tear at the fabric of community. One criteria for evaluating whether discerners who have experienced trauma or abuse have sufficiently healed and are ready for community is how easy it is for their “buttons” to be pushed. Those who are frequently and easily overwhelmed, angry, or upset are still in a wounded space that requires that they do more work on emotional healing before they enter community. We do not expect candidates for community to be perfect models of human behavior—after all, they are entering a community of sinners, not saints—but we do expect them to have a relatively stable and healthy pattern of emotional behaviors. Initial formation is not meant to be therapy!

When it is necessary to say no in these cases, I use a body metaphor that seems to help emotionally-wounded women look at their story as a journey from “open wounds to scars.” Open wounds bleed easy and often, at the least touch or irritation. Scars are reminders, but they do not hurt when touched. A scar does not re-open again and again. I suggest to the discerners that there is help for healing wounds in spiritual direction and counseling. I assure them that healing is possible, and when those wounds have become scars, they can re-open discernment.

Spiritual compatibility There is more than one spiritual path to the Divine. A candidate for community must be able to experience our community as a spiritual home.

Some communities are steeped in liturgical spiritual traditions; others are more devotional in their communal spiritual practices. It is important to assess whether or not the spirituality of the discerner is consistent with the spiritual rhythm of the community. When candidates Kaufmann | Saying “No”

question the spiritual practices of the community, this is often an indication of discomfort. I have been asked questions like, “Why doesn’t your community pray the rosary together?” “Why don’t you have the tabernacle in your main chapel?” “Why don’t you have a large cross behind your altar?” Of course there are answers to each of these questions—answers that match the spiritual path of our community. If a candidate shows resistance to our community’s spiritual path, she probably needs to seek out a community more compatible with her spiritual preferences.

As communities become There are some dissmaller we have less cerners who have had little capacity to absorb or no spiritual direction. those whose behaviors There are some who resist can disrupt community spiritual direction because life or who are likely they believe they get their to have periods direction straight from when they require God and do not need diminished workloads outside help. This is a red flag for me. Those who are or treatment. not open to formation are oftentimes spiritually rigid in their approaches to God. A key question that must be probed is whether the seeker is willing to be spiritually formed in the spirituality of the founder. One way that we test a discerner’s comfort with the spiritual life of our community is requiring her to fully engage in community life for a minimum of two one-week visits before she is accepted into community. We also share with her key passages of the Rule of Benedict, giving her an opportunity to meditate on these parts of the Rule. We do the same with our charism and mission statement. She needs to know if her heart resonates with our spiritual path.

If there is a serious mismatch at the spiritual level, I very often explain to discerners the difference between devotional and liturgical spirituality. I do not try to present one path as intrinsically better than another, but I do say that God created us differently; therefore we often fit better in one spiritual home than in another. I assure them that God is bigger than one spiritual path and loves us all! I also sometimes have to help discerners understand that they will not be able to mold the community toward their preferences.

Psychological health Responding to a call to community requires psychologiSummer 2016 | HORIZON | 23

cal health. Initial formation is not therapy.

Sometimes discerners suffer from one or more mental illnesses. Some are on strong medication as a permanent part of controlling their illnesses. Why not accept them into community? As communities become smaller we have less capacity to absorb those whose behaviors can disrupt community life or who are likely to have periods when they require diminished workloads or treatment for mental health issues. In addition, members coming into community need to have capabilities for some aspects of community leadership. We need to assess an applicant’s ability to be a net contributor to the life and mission of the community.

Psychological testing is, in my opinion, essential. It reveals pathology, and it also points to areas that might become problematic during initial formation. It helps both the discerner and the community to understand where stress points lie. Psychological testing can be especially challenging when the candidate is not versatile with the English language. I believe it is worth the effort and expense to find a culturally appropriate avenue for psychological assessment. [See “Assessing cross cultural candidates,” By Father Gerard McGlone, S.J. and Fernando Ortiz, p. 12.]

Within our community we have learned how valuable it is for our psychologist to be in collaborative communication with our admissions team. We engage our psychologist in several ways: 1) He does two psychological tests and analyzes the results with both the candidate and the admissions team. 2) He interviews the candidate doing both a detailed sexual history and investigation of key issues that we as a team have surfaced for him to analyze more deeply. 3) The admissions team receives a written report from the psychologist that reviews both the results of the psychological testing and his interview. 4) After receiving the report the admissions team meets with the psychologist to discuss the report and talk through any concerns we have. 5) For those we have decided not to accept, we ask the psychologist how much to share with the candidate when denying admission to the community. His advice helps us to be truthful while bearing in mind the candidate’s capacity to hear the refusal without further psychic pain.

In cases where a “no” has to do with psychological health, our message to the candidate depends on who she is and what the concerns are. This depends on how our psychologist has advised us to talk about the reasons for refusal. The nature of the conversation depends upon the candidate’s ability and willingness to seek professional assistance. What I can always say is: “No matter how 24 | HORIZON | Summer 2016

hard this decision is for you to hear, we will continue to pray that you have the strength to believe that our refusal is a part of God’s preferred will for your life. We will pray that you will believe deeply that the words of Jesus (John 10:10) apply to you when Jesus said, ‘I came that you may have life, and have it to the full.’ We will continue to pray daily that your vocational journey leads you to the heart of God’s love for you, and that you will experience peace as you walk forward.”

••• A call to religious life has to be good for the discerner and for the community. As vocation personnel we are agents of our communities, not advocates for the discerner. (That role belongs to the discerner’s spiritual director.) Vocation directors have a heavy responsibility because our vows are a public witness. Each member of our community represents the community and the Catholic Church. Mental illness, addictive or anti-social behaviors, and irresponsible actions on the part of a new member can jeopardize the community and even lead to scandal.

Economic, social, physical, emotional, spiritual, and psychological well-being are each essential ingredients in the formula for a healthy applicant. I think of them as a formula: 2(ESP) Minus 1 = NO. ESP is Economic, Social, Physical, Emotional, Spiritual, and Psychological.

(And yes, the implication of extra-sensory perception is intentional.)

Sometimes when a key ingredient is missing, it can be acquired. The time to acquire missing ingredients is not during initial formation, or worse, after final vows.

These six aspects of health are pre-requisites for entering our Benedictine community. The extra-sensory perception most needed for discerning appropriate candidates for religious life is the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This is the gift we need to go beyond the evidence gleaned by our senses and reach a place of discerned decisionmaking.

God holds us in the palm of God’s hand as we hold each discerner carefully in the palm of our hand. We beg God for understanding hearts to see each person through God’s eyes and speak the truth in love. n

Related resource in HORIZON “When a vocation director needs to say no,” interview with Sister Helen Cahill, O.P. HORIZON 2005 No. 3.

Kaufmann | Saying “No”

Selecting a psychologist to assess candidates Photo: John, MTSOfan

Professional Qualifications • Doctoral degree in psychology from an accredited college or university • Program of study approved by the American Psychological Association (see apa.org/ed/accreditation/doctoral) • Courses in psychological assessment with supervised experience leading to independent expertise • If considering other mental health professionals: are they trained and experienced in conducting assessments?

Licensure • Licensed for practice as a psychologist • If not licensed, is the professional under the supervision of a licensed psychologist? If so, that supervisor is responsible for the work and will need to be evaluated for suitability by the community.

Choosing a qualified professional to do a psychological assessment can seem daunting, but by checking referrals and credentials, a vocation director can find a suitable person.

Liability Insurance • Current professional liability insurance Experience • Routinely conducts psychological assessments as part of his or her practice • Maintains competency with new assessment tools and techniques and uses the most current versions or editions of the tests • Has conducted evaluations of applicants for seminary formation or religious life formation • Has knowledge of Catholic anthropology and values priesthood and religious life • It is acceptable practice to ask for references regarding seminary and religious life formation evaluations.

Documentation • Curriculum vitae reflecting education, training and professional expertise • Copy of current license • Copy of current liability insurance (face sheet is acceptable) Knowledge of Catholicism and Religious Life • Does the psychologist understand the charism and lifestyle of the community or institute?

• Does she or he understand the nature and permanency of commitment to religious life?

Karney | Psychologist

• Does she or he understand living a celibate lifestyle?

• Does she or he view religious life as a healthy lifestyle?

Does she or he have any reservations regarding an individual living a life of celibate chastity?

• Does she or he understand formation and how it is not synonymous with educational preparation and job training?

• Is she or he willing to understand and discuss your specific needs regarding religious formation, including the type of candidate desired?

• Are you willing and able to work with the psychologist to help educate him or her about these important issues if needed?

Practical Concerns • Is the psychologist able to meet your deadline for the assessment and report?

• How will the results be communicated?

• Will there be a feedback session with the applicant?

With the vocation director? With both?

• How long will the report and test data be kept?

• What is included in the fees?

• It is acceptable practice to ask for a written proposal.

By Ronald Karney, Ph.D., director of Outpatient Services at St. John Vianney Center, Downingtown, Pennsylvania

Summer 2016 | HORIZON | 25

Photo by Kelly Dahman

Service to others is a gateway to God for those in religious life. How can we share this with young people who serve with us?

Volunteer tutor Melissa Dahman plays with a student during a study break. She volunteers weekly at an outreach program run by the Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown, Pennsylvania.

Uncover the meaning in service

By Father Thomas McKenna, C.M. Father Thomas McKenna, C.M. has been a member of the Congregation of the Mission since 1963.

Ordained in 1970, he has worked in formation ministry, university teaching at St. John’s University, N.Y., and provincial administration. He has published numerous articles, focusing particularly on the spirituality of Saint Vincent de Paul. He has given retreats nationally and internationally, especially within the Vincentian Family. Presently, he collaborates with the St. Louise Province of the Daughters of Charity at their headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri.

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O

NE MORNING when one of his Daughters of Charity came to him in guilt over leaving chapel to help a needy person, Saint Vincent de Paul said this to her: “Don’t get upset or feel guilty because you interrupted your prayer to serve the poor. God is not neglected if you leave Him (sic) for such service. One of the works of God is merely interrupted so that another can be carried out.”

For Vincent himself, this leaving-God-for-God was a reflex response.

Over a lifetime, he had developed what might be called a “bi-spectacled” spirituality, an outlook that recognized the presence of God through the two lenses of quiet prayer and active service, both at much the same time.

He could see the face of Christ in his time in the chapel and at work, in his contemplation and in his interactions with poor people who walked up to him on the street.

For many this dual vision does not come naturally. Many people do get annoyed at the knock at the door, feeling it as an interruption of their communing with the Holy when in more quiet recollected settings. There are also those whose spiritual life is more nourished in interaction with McKenna | Apostolic Reflection

oriented spiritualities of the apostolic ones. The issue here is not about which place along the contemplationaction continuum is better, but rather what more a vocation program could do to consciously tap into the spiritual depth of ministry. How might a discerner become more attentive to the presence of the sacred in the midst of an apostolic encounter?

Exploring the sacred by various means A recent resource has been the process and method This difference in sensibilities speaks to current vocation of apostolic (or theological) reflection. It aims directly at promotion programs. Data from NRVC’s 2009 study of sharpening a person’s ability to both notice and respond new members indicates that although applicants have to the sacred as it shows itself in evangelical service—or typically been involved in church related service or minin Vincent de Paul’s phrase, in the servant’s ability to see istry, their more intense moments of discernment tend and serve the face of God right in the face of the one to happen in contemplative settings more than active who is being served. ones. (Discernment here taken in its wider sense of “the Sister Kathleen McAlpin, R.S.M. in her book search for where God is in life.”) In the words of Sister Ministry That Transforms, A Contemplative Process of Mary Johnson, S.N.D., “So many religious institutes are Theological Reflection (Liturgical Press, 2009), gives a spending time on issues of contemplative particularly useful account of how that listening and contemplation .... For the method unfolds. Writing from a base of younger people, these rituals are when adult learning theory and also her own Apostolic reflection some find time and space for contemplainvolvement with a community of young is about two things: tion.” She continues, “This is not going volunteers, McAlpin lays out a series building habits for backward, this is carving out time and of insights and steps that put flesh on a searching out the space in a really frantic world, which process that in other presentations has faith-meaning in an does not provide many structures to suptended to be heady and even mechaniinteraction, and then port and sustain contemplation.” (From cal. attempting to live more “Interview with Sister Mary Johnson, Apostolic reflection (AR) is about S.N.D, Sister Patricia Wittberg, S.C. and two things: building habits for searching integrally out of that Mary Gautier, Ph.D.” in Human Developout the faith-meaning in an interacsearch. ment, Fall 2014.) tion, and then attempting to live more Using Sister Johnson’s language, it integrally out of that search. The first would seem that the “structures of supskill moves against the tendency to live port” for discernment are provided more often in a on the surface, “having the experience but missing the contemplative setting than a ministerial one. At least one meaning.” The second moves towards the person’s being vocation director I’ve spoken to has noted this desire for a participant in the graced exchanges of ministry rather silent prayer. She told me: “What seems to make the bigthan just an observer of them. gest impression these days is the sight of the sisters gathHer brand of apostolic reflection invites would-be ered in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.” apostles to get involved in an ongoing conversation Of the two emphases, contemplative and ministerial, between what’s going on in their Gospel service (experimuch energy is being given to the first, likely in the recence), the faith tradition, and the social environment. ognition that for Millennials at least this is the preferred In this three-way exchange, the reflection cultivates the arena for spiritual searching. So while vocation promoskills of attending, asserting, and deciding. The reflector tion programs do include apostolic components, the must pay attention to the religious dimension of the exactivities more immediately connected with decisionperience, confronting that experience with the scriptures making tend to be contemplative. To put it another way: and the wider tradition, and then acting on the new the quiet of the chapel is more conducive to uncovering awareness. the sense of the holy than ministry on the noisy street.

Though scripture and tradition have primacy as This would seem to give an edge to contemplative “sources of revelation,” service and the social environcommunities in attracting members—or at least provide ment are also powerful fonts of divine disclosure. Leavless “discernment support” for mining the more serviceing out any one of these elements distorts the picture. the needy neighbor, the “street apostles” who in contrast have trouble sensing God’s closeness in the silence of the chapel. While in a given era one of these approaches to God might be more favored than the other, both leanings appear in the tradition and in the lives of the saints.

McKenna | Apostolic Reflection

Summer 2016 | HORIZON | 27

If no experience, then little personal involvement; if no tradition, then less chance for triggering the religious content of the interchange; if no awareness of societal forces, then greater opening to bias and ideology (not to mention woolly abstraction).

McAlpin calls attention to the changes going on within the ministers themselves, the shifts of perspective and RESOURCES attitude that occur while ministering.

Ministry That Transforms, A ContemAnd so the sessions plative Process of Theological Reflecfocus especially on tion, by Sister Kathleen McAlpin, “conversions,” underR.S.M., Liturgical Press, 2009 stood in the wider Theological Reflection: Connecting sense of the personal Faith and Life, by Joye Gros and transformations that Thomas Walters, Loyola University happen within the Press, 2001 individual while he or she is in service.

Theological Reflection: Methods, by The participants Elaine Graham, Heather Walton and bring social analyFrances Ward, SCM Press, 2005 sis, the eyes of the “Encouraging theological reflection tradition, and their among young adults,” by Eileen P. own life experience Doherty, HORIZON 2009, No. 4 (personal spirituality) to the event so as to “Theological reflection: a success story,” comb out its deeper

by Sister Donna Del Santo, S.S.J. HORIsignificance. AposZON 2013, No. 3 tolic reflection is an after-the-fact exercise directed at digging out the sacred that’s buried within the mostly mundane interactions of ministry. In classical terms it aims to “contemplate in action.”

insights. The focus during the apostolic reflection often will be on the different pushes and pulls going on within the person performing service.

McAlpin cites a description of contemplation by Brian McDermott that fits her purposes well. “By ‘contemplative’ I am not referring to a deep mystical experience, but rather to the kind of relationship with God in which you are able to notice what God is like and what God is doing, be affected by it, notice how one is affected, and respond to God out of that awareness.” Such an understanding of contemplation lays out the essentials of the apostolic reflection process: noticing both God and the changes in oneself while ministering, and responding to the calls that come from that new awareness.

In the overall a vocation director needs this perspective, but her or his more immediate need is to introduce apostolic reflection to discerners who are likely coming upon it for the first time. And so here is a possible approach, informed by McAlpin’s book, that might assist with a discerner’s initial exposure. This process has two steps, one before and the other after the planned ministerial experience.

Before going out Reaction to a time-tested story The purpose is to familiarize participants with this method of “digging out the sacred” before actually going out on an apostolic experience. Instead of contemplating some event that happened in ministry, it reflectively listens to some evocative fable or parable and asks the apostolic reflection questions of it. This allows discerners to get a feel for the exercise before what might well be a bewildering first-time ministerial encounter.

Opening Prayer, a story

Make it a habit

The Pearl, by Father Anthony De Mello, S.J.

And because it’s meant to carve out a habit, apostolic reflection has to be repeated. Doing it regularly and systematically, the servers get better at noticing the Holy in the serving. They lower their thresholds for sensing God’s nearness in the apostolate.

Of special help here is the veteran minister. This is the long-term practitioner who, both on the ministry scene and during the discussion, feeds back observations about how the person handled the interchange. Such friendly input, including respectful disagreements, together with the challenges that social science and scripture provide, can jolt old knowledge and shake out new

“The holy one had reached the outskirts of the village and settled down under a tree for the night when a villager came running up to him and said, ‘The stone! The stone! Give me the precious stone!’ “‘What stone?’ asked the holy one. ‘Last night the Lord Shiva appeared to me in a dream,’ said the villager, ‘and told me that if I went to the outskirts of the village at dusk I should find a holy one who would give me a precious stone that would make me rich forever.’

“The holy one rummaged in his bag and pulled out a stone. ‘He probably meant this,’ he said, as he handed the stone over to the villager. ‘I found it on a forest path

28 | HORIZON | Summer 2016

McKenna | Apostolic Reflection

some days ago. You can certainly have it.’

“The man looked at the stone in wonder. It was a diamond. Probably the largest diamond in the whole world, for it was as large as a man’s head. He took the diamond and walked away.

“All night he tossed about in bed, unable to sleep.

Next day at the crack of dawn he woke the holy one and said, ‘Give me the wealth that makes it possible for you to give this diamond away so easily.’”

—From The Song of the Bird (Loyola University Press, 1984) Questions for group discussion following a short silence • What in this story moved (stirred, disturbed, enlightened, inspired, warmed, repelled, awed) you? What is your gut feeling “take-away?”

• Is there anything from your background, especially your reading of the Bible or spiritual literature, that connects with whatever it was that moved you?

• What are ways, supportive or oppositional, the present culture might view your take-away?

• Can you think of any response you might give in light of your appreciation of the story?

Quiet time, prayer of thanks for God’s presence in the events of life

After going out Follow the same format, this time using the service experience in place of the story. The aim is to bring out the capacity that ministerial events and interchanges have for disclosing the holy and sacred in life. Tie in the service experience with the charism of the institute.

••• In the end apostolic reflection is as much an art as a series of steps. But isn’t that the case for all discernment?

The lesson for apostolic communities is that the right use of apostolic reflection in vocation programs can be a fruitful way to help inquirers see what the communities themselves see—that is, the presence of the Holy when encountering it in service to the least of our sisters and brothers. Used effectively apostolic reflection can readily open up the spiritual riches that showed themselves to a Saint Vincent de Paul and to so many other active ministers, both inside and outside the chapel. n McKenna | Apostolic Reflection

Visit our booth at the NRVC Convocation in Overland Park, KS this October!

Summer 2016 | HORIZON | 29

CONVOCATION 2016

God continues to call faithful disciples to religious life

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Celebrate our exciting future! Attend the 2016 Convocation of the National Religious Vocation Conference, where you will enjoy: • Superb workshops & keynotes • Abundant networking opportunities • Enriching liturgies & prayer Register online at NRVC.net.

Father Kevin O’Brien, S.J., dean, Jesuit School of Theology, Santa Clara University

Join us!

NRVC 2016 Convocation Sheraton Hotel Overland Park, Kansas Oct. 27-31, 2016

30 | HORIZON | Summer 2016

Sherry Weddell, co-founder Catherine of Siena Institute

Feed your spirit Photo by Beth Huffaker

Love your weakness He said to me, You are my servant, in you, Israel, I show my glory.

Though I thought I had toiled in vain, for nothing and for naught spent my strength, Yet my right is with the Lord, my recompense is with my God.—Isaiah 49, 3-4

W

E ALL FEEL DISCOURAGED AT TIMES in our faith journey through life. There may be long periods, even years, when we feel all we can do is to go on going on, with only a desperate cry for help as our prayer: Lord I believe, help my unbelief. Well-meaning friends, who do not and cannot understand what we are about, may even be telling us to quit, or at least to try and change our circumstances; perhaps by applying for a transfer to another house within the order, so that we can draw a line under the past and start afresh.

This may well be tempting if ministry has not produced obvious results. In our society we measure ourselves by results: if I haven’t anything Martin | Love Your Weakness

By Sister Penelope Martin, O.C.D. Sister Penelope Martin, O.C.D. is a member of the community at the Carmelite Monastery at Quidenham, Norfolk, England.

Summer 2016 | HORIZON | 31

to show for my efforts, then I have failed. If we are honest, we know that this attitude also pertains to our spiritual life, for do we not feel depressed when, after years in religious life, we realize with terrible clarity that we are still as distracted in prayer as we were on day one, though now devoid of enthusiasm and with the certain truth that we shall never be anything other.

We tend to see success “I have toiled in vain,” we purely in terms of what cry with the prophet. I am we can achieve by our a failure. own efforts. God has Saint Therese of Lia very different idea of sieux knew this state of success. mind only too well. Here she is speaking to one of her novices, who wanted “more energy and strength with which to practice virtue.” In other words, like all of us, she wanted to feel better about herself; to feel that she was getting somewhere. Therese saw straight through this. “Suppose God wishes to have you as feeble and powerless as a child,” she countered. “Do you think that would be less worthy in His eyes? Consent to stumble, even to fall at every step, to bear your cross feebly: love your weakness. Your soul will draw more profit from that than if sustained by grace you vigorously performed heroic deeds which would fill your soul with self-satisfaction and pride.”

With wisdom beyond her years, Therese gets straight to the heart of the matter. We tend to see success purely in terms of what we can achieve by our own efforts. God has a very different idea of success, and it is so hard, impossible without his grace, to see things God’s way. Only Jesus could truly do this; and it led slowly but inexorably one way—to the cross. “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains but a single grain: but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest.”

This does not mean that we have to literally die for our faith, although many in our world face just that reality today; but we do have to die to our ego-centered approach to life. This can be painfully hard, involving as it does a growing awareness of just how blindly selfish we actually are. Yet we know, as she did, that this is the only way to authentic living. Therese again: Let us take our place humbly among the imperfect ones; let us consider ourselves little souls whom God must support from moment to moment. As soon as he sees us thoroughly convinced of our littleness, He ex32 | HORIZON | Summer 2016

tends his hand to us; but as long as we wish to perform great deeds on our own account, even though our pretext is zeal, He lets us alone.

We can be so concerned with our ministry to imperfect ones; yet do we unconsciously set ourselves above them? It is, after all, our mission to them. Therese realizes that “us” and “them” won’t do; only a genuine solidarity is effective. She tells us that she would be happy “to eat at the table of sinners for the rest of my life, if by so doing I could save one of them.”

In other words, she accepted to feel all the interior darkness and anguish of spirit that she realized sinners felt, for the rest of her life, if by so doing just one soul would benefit. Most of us can’t bear this kind of inner torment; we feel it must mean that something is amiss with our spiritual life and run for help and reassurance.

Therese’s contentment amid this frightening torment could only come about through her unshakable faith in God’s loving goodness. She knew and believed this: most of the time she never felt it. She taught it, could write beautiful poems about it, but, especially towards the end of her life, could only cry in the dark, clinging to what she knew to be true, even though she felt abandoned.

This young woman was canonized in 1925—a mere seven and a half years after her death at the age of 25; by which time her writings, published as The Story of a Soul, had been translated into 35 languages and reached millions of people. In 1927 she was declared patroness of the missionary church. What was her appeal? Therese, an enclosed nun from the age of 15, lived a life so hidden that even her Carmelite sisters wondered what they would find to write about her in her obituary. Why was she able to touch so many hearts? Why is she still one of the most popular of saints?

Surely it is because her “little way of love” is understandable and accessible to everyone. Nobody is excluded because nobody is too poor or uneducated to follow it. It is so simple, yet so challenging. All we have to do is “to take God by the heart,”­—something we recognize deep within ourselves to be our destiny.

“Unless you become like little children,” says our Lord, “you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Therese shows us how this works in the ins and outs of a life as unspectacular as most people’s lives are.

We may feel “as weak and helpless as a child,” but we must never forget that that child is precious to God and carried on God’s shoulder. “We are not the sum of our weaknesses. We are the sum of the Father’s love for us.”

Saint John Paul II. n Martin | Love Your Weakness

Book notes Photo by G. Mazur, Catholic Church of England and Wales

Reminder of God’s tenderness

T

HE NAME OF GOD IS MERCY (Random House, 2016) offers a beautiful in-depth glance into Pope Francis’ expansive heart. In his own words, with Andrea Tornielli, veteran Vatican reporter, he describes the intensifying significance of mercy throughout his life and his multitude of reasons for declaring a Year of Mercy. He does so in the authentic, transparent, and modest way that characterizes this pontiff.

This book is a profound read for those longing to know God’s tender love and mercy, for those who have experienced God in this way and celebrate that reality, and for those desiring to share love and mercy more fully with others.

This book offers a great reality check to readers: we are human; we know right from wrong, yet we make mistakes. We are flawed. We make choices that are less than perfect; therefore, we stand in need of God’s Lesher | God’s Tenderness

By Sister Michelle Lesher, S.S.J. Sister Michelle Lesher, S.S.J. is a member of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Philadelphia serving in vocation and formation ministry. She has also been a campus minister and a high school theology teacher.

Summer 2016 | HORIZON | 33

responding always to ever-present needs. Why? Because mercy. Our sometimes self-centered culture encourthis is who God is. Mercy, says Pope Francis, is God’s ages a passing of blame, not demanding an acceptance identity card. We, too, are called to this kind of love. of the consequences of actions. What a countercultural As vocation ministers these qualities outlined by response for a person to admit being flawed, capable of Francis are those we hope that candidates for religious sinning, and in need of God’s mercy. life will espouse. We want candidates who pray that they Yet Pope Francis asserts that it is precisely the recwill have a heart that is merciful like God’s heart. We ognition and claiming of our brokenness and sinfulness need women and men who stand with arms open, ready that enable us to be amazed by God. Francis believes to welcome back in, to offer tender loving compassion. that this reception of God’s mercy and love in our own We need people willing to risk contamination, not afraid lives enables us to extend similar kindness to others. to go out to the margins to find those hurting and care Throughout the long interview that makes up this book, for them. We need imperfect human bePope Francis calls to mind the multitude ings who recognize their own capacity of people in his life who, by offering nufor sin and are therefore able to give witmerous concrete examples of God’s unness to a God who is love. After all, this conditional mercy, revealed to him this What better gift is what the church is called to offer. Pope face of God. Through their witness, he could we offer those Francis presents an image of the church encountered the God of Mercy and was discerning the call that makes it relevant for generations thus able to share that love with others. to religious life than struggling to find a place. an opportunity to This leads to another gift of this Discerners need mercy reflect upon the book, Pope Francis’ delicate and enimmensity of God’s couraging treatment of the sacrament of As vocation ministers, we sometimes love, compassion, Reconciliation. He calls it an encounter encounter discerners who believe that with mercy, being with one who acts in they are not good enough, holy enough, forgiveness, and persona Christi to welcome, embrace, worthy of answering the call to disciplemercy? and offer forgiveness. While he openly ship through religious life. Pope Francis admits that this sacrament is sometimes offers reminders in this book that every not celebrated pastorally and that this one of us is flawed, capable of sinful has hurt many people, he still believes this sacrament is acts, and always in need of recognizing this reality. He gift. He reminds us that we are social beings, saying that says, “Even the Pope is a man who needs the mercy of if we can’t talk with our sisters and brothers about our God.” Once we appreciate that we are in need of God’s mistakes, then we also can’t genuinely share them with mercy, we can make the first move toward receiving the God. Rather, we merely confess to “the mirror.” He calls abundance of love God has to offer. What better gift upon priests to take seriously their role as confessors to could we offer those discerning the call to religious life listen but not to interrogate, to offer advice but not cast than an opportunity to reflect upon the immensity of stones of judgment. He reminds confessors to ask for God’s love, compassion, forgiveness, and mercy? Remerciful hearts like God’s. As a confessor, he tries to religious life is certainly not a place for the perfect, but member his own sins and his need of God’s mercy. This, rather a place for the real—those who know they are in he says, helps him offer a great deal of forgiveness. need of God’s mercy—those who will in turn share it As vocation ministers in this Year of Mercy, Pope with others.

Francis’ wisdom for how to live well can serve us as we Francis boldly declares now as a time for mercy, a work with discerners. We can encourage those contime when the church is called to act like a “field hospisidering religious life to be open to God’s amazing gift tal,” going out to the margins to those most in need. The of mercy in their own lives, so that they will be able to church, he reminds readers, is not meant to wait for the extend mercy to others. Our world is in great need of wounded to walk in. The church must go out, gather all compassionate treatment for those in distress. As reliin, and offer a loving embrace, just as God does. Pope gious congregations we must remember our humanity Francis asserts that we are immersed in a globalization and offer others the loving embrace of God—cultivating of indifference. There is a blatant disregard for the needs that same spirit in those who are discerning will serve all of others that must be remedied. Jesus, deeply moved by of us well! n the reality he encountered, becomes our model of mercy, 34 | HORIZON | Summer 2016

Lesher | God’s Tenderness

Film notes

Innocence robbed and redeemed

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HE INNOCENTS (Les Innocentes, 2016, French/Polish with English subtitles, also released as Agnus Dei) is a complex, brooding story that takes place in an austere Benedictine convent shortly after the close of World War II. Set against the backdrop of a wintry Polish countryside ravaged by the war, the movie brings into sharp relief questions we all navigate in our lives, but the stakes are much higher here—life and death literally hang in the balance. Questions of faith and doubt, courage and risk, silence and shame—ultimately, of salvation and damnation—are in play. There may seem to The story line of The Innocents involves a doctor (left) who is called in to be little room for joy or hope in the bleak landscape, but assist with the deliveries of several nuns who have been raped. Sister the movie does lead to a redemptive conclusion even if, Maria (right) leads the community through what may be its greatest in the words of one of the beleaguered nuns, “behind all challenge. joy lies the cross.”

The film is based on the little-publicized true story of a French Red Cross doctor, Madeleine Pauliac

By Daniel Grippo (Mathilde in the movie, played by Lou de Laâge), who is approached by a novice who begs, then insists—to the point of kneeling in prayer in the Daniel Grippo is a snow for hours—that Mathilde attend to a medical emergency at a nearby spirituality author and convent of Polish nuns. Mathilde finds herself delivering a child to a pregeditor and co-founder of TrueQuest Comnant nun as a closely held secret slowly comes to light: the convent, which munications, which survived great privations during the wartime German occupation of Popublishes HORIZON land, was overrun by advancing Russian troops at the end of the war and and VISION Vocation many of the sisters were brutally, repeatedly raped.

Guide for the National Religious Vocation Conference, as Seven of the sisters are now pregnant, and with their condition well as Prepare the Word and Take Five for shrouded in a shame and secrecy insisted upon by their stern Reverend Faith. He can be reached at writingdan@ Mother (Agata Kulesza), Sister Maria (Agata Buzek) has the courage to yahoo.com. allow the doctor to help. Now that Mathilde knows their secret and sees Grippo | Innocence Robbed and Redeemed

Summer 2016 | HORIZON | 35

their dire need for maternal care, she defies the orders of her medical superiors and secretly cares for the pregnant nuns, seeing them through labor and delivery of their babies.

Reverend Mother has promised her sisters that the newborns will be discreetly given up for adoption, but when what she has done with one of the newborns comes to light, the shocking news shakes the convent to its core. The ensuing fallout serves as a testament to the damage caused by secrecy and sexual shame—a timely theme for a church still struggling with these concerns.

Portraits of courage Young Sister Maria provides a refreshing counterpoint to the shame-based Reverend Mother. Compassionate and worldly wise despite her youth, Sister Maria offers a model for a modern vocation—someone who lived in the world before she entered religious life and has integrated the two in The Innocents is a a healthy, life affirming respectful meditation way. on the faith of the nuns Her vocation is and also on the bravery strong because she is of those who do not not running away from share their faith but the world but rather also act courageously freely serving the world from shared values. through religious life.

The strength of her faith and her willingness to stand up for her sisters offers an inspiring portrait of religious courage in a time of danger and persecution.

Mathilde displays remarkable courage as well, putting her life and her career on the line to attend to the nuns. The fact that she was raised a Communist and is sleeping with a coworker who helps her in her work with the nuns—a French doctor of Jewish heritage, now an atheist after losing his family to the Holocaust—creates a context in which heroism and holiness can no longer be narrowly defined by orthodoxy.

The Innocents is a respectful meditation on the faith of the nuns and also on the bravery of those who do not share their faith but also act courageously from shared values. As such, the movie offers a helpful point of departure for a discussion about vocation and ministry in a diverse world of widely divergent values and lifestyles.

The message is subtle but unmistakable: beware a righteous attitude of moral superiority, it can be used to justify the most horrendous of crimes.

36 | HORIZON | Summer 2016

Reverend Mother ends up destroying herself by giving far too much weight to secrecy in her bid to save the convent. But have her actions really contributed to anyone’s salvation? In raising the question, the movie serves as a launching pad to discuss important questions with those in vocation formation: how do you understand redemption and damnation, and how does your understanding motivate your life choices?

One of the nuns who has given birth decides, after much personal reflection and struggle, that she will take her newborn and leave the convent to join the world as a single mother. “I will live out my vocation in a different way but I will never forget what you have done for us” she says to Sister Maria. This story line provides a good starting point for a discussion of the many ways we can live out our vocation and serve God and one another.

For her part, Mathilde is forever changed by her encounter with the nuns, learning to admire their courage and fortitude and the strength of their faith. Her own vocation to serve the world as a doctor is thereby also fulfilled. The film demonstrates that God does indeed work through all of us, regardless of background or lifestyle. Our task is to search deeply for that point where, as Frederick Buechner said: “your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”

The nuns who have survived these tribulations forge a special bond born of the trials they have shared, and this bond brings redemption to the convent as the film ends on a warm and joyful note. Thomas Merton once said, “In the end, relationships save everything.” This insight may be yet another valuable point of departure for reflection on the surpassing importance to a healthy religious vocation of close personal bonds with community members and friends. None of us serves alone, all of us need each other.

Hope and horror coexist at every turn in The Innocents—as they do in the world we live in everyday. For that reason, The Innocents is anything but innocent—it offers a mature, clear-eyed perspective on the great harm we are capable of doing to one another, but also on the great good that is possible when we act with courage and faith in the most difficult of circumstances.

“Faith is 24 hours of doubt and one minute of hope” says one particularly wise nun at a dark moment in the story. As young men and women consider a religious vocation today they likely will find that these words speak to the questions and doubts in their own hearts. To realize that there is no faith without doubt is perhaps the greatest lesson we can learn in life. This film delivers that lesson in vivid and dramatic fashion. n Grippo | Innocence Robbed and Redeemed

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