2021 HORIZON, Number 2, Spring

Spring 2021 www.nrvc.net | Volume 46, Number 2

Race, culture, and new members 2

Updates

3

Transforming religious communities to be intercultural and antiracist

By Sister Anita Baird, D.H.M.

7

Intercultural spirituality

By Sister Sophia Park, S.N.J.M.

12 Let’s welcome the gift

of African American vocations HORIZON interviews

Brother Patrick Winbush, O.S.B. & Sister Gayle Lwanga Crumbley, R.G.S. 17 Practicing forgiveness

in vocation ministry

By Sister Virginia Herbers, A.S.C.J.

21 Use your congregational gathering

to further vocation ministry

By Brother Paul Michalenko, S.T. 24 Youth safety deserves ongoing commitment

By Mike Riley 26 Feed Your Spirit

Christian hope is different

By Father Richard Rohr, O.F.M. 27 Book Notes

Distilled wisdom on living with diversity

By Sister Barbara Kraemer, O.S.F.

Spring 2019 | HORIZON | 1

MEXICAN AMERICAN CATHOLIC COLLEGE BA OR MA DEGREE IN PASTORAL MINISTRY MACC fosters a Christ-centered campus where students – clergy, seminarians, religious, and lay leaders – can further their education for ministry and begin higher education in their native language, while attaining bilingual proficiency.

Undergraduate students can concurrently enroll at the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) in the Collaborative Bachelor of Arts Program in Pastoral Ministry, accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and offered at MACC. Graduate students can concurrently enroll in the Collaborative Master of Arts Degree in Pastoral Ministry.

LAY ECCLESICAL MINISTRY

CONTINUING EDUCATION

The Institute for Lay Ecclesial Ministry and Service provides comprehensive pastoral formation for those who currently serve or seek to be involved in ministries and services in the Church.

MACC also offers a formation program for candidates for the permanent diaconate; language studies in Spanish and English; spiritual retreats: and workshops to teach leadership skills and intercultural competencies for ministry in Hispanic and other multicultural communities.

The institute seeks to ensure that parish ministers have foundational knowledge and understanding of the teachings of the Catholic Church. www.maccsa.org

For more information contact: Mexican American Catholic College, 3115 West Ashby Place, San Antonio, TX 78228 210.732.2156 Toll-free 1.866.893.6222 •Degree Program: ext. 7102 or alma.alvarado@maccsa.org •Lay Ecclesical pductram@maccsa.org •Continuing Education: ext. 7134 or lgraham@maccsa.org

Editor’s Note Editor Carol Schuck Scheiber Proofreaders Sister Mary Ann Hamer, O.S.F., Virginia Piecuch Design Consultant Patrice J. Tuohy © 2021, National Religious Vocation Conference.

Cover art, Blur 1, by Richard Thomas HORIZON is published quarterly by the National Religious Vocation Conference, 5416 South Cornell Avenue, Chicago, IL 60615-5664.

773-363-5454 | nrvc@nrvc.net | nrvc.net Facebook: Horizon vocation journal Twitter: @HORIZONvocation SUBSCRIPTIONS A complimentary subscription to HORIZON comes with NRVC annual membership. Additional subscriptions are $50 each for NRVC members; $125 each for non-members. Single copies are $25 each.

Subscribe online at nrvc.net/signup. Please direct subscription inquiries to Marge Argyelan at the NRVC office at 773-363-5454 or margyelan@nrvc.net.

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THE NATIONAL RELIGIOUS VOCATION CONFERENCE is a catalyst for vocation discernment and the full flourishing of religious life as sisters, brothers, and priests for the ongoing transformation of the world.

Now is the acceptable time I agreed to come here and talk about racism and religious life even though it takes something out of me. It’s draining; it opens up the wounds. But this is important. ­—Catholic sister at a panel discussion

T

HE SISTER’S WORDS ABOVE are paraphrased, but the gist of them is that people of color in American religious life are being asked more than ever to talk about racism, explain how it manifests itself, tell what they think of the latest outrage in the headlines, and suggest what might be done. It can be exhausting.

Several religious have been gracious enough to contribute in just this way to this edition of HORIZON. I thank them, knowing that all our writers give a little blood, sweat, and tears—because writing is hard—but discussing racism and intercultural relations can cut especially close to the bone.

I write this while the cauldron of racial injustice goes from a simmer to a boil over fresh deaths of Asian and Black citizens.

What does it mean to be a vocation minister in this context? How to be an agent of welcome to those not yet at your table? Those are questions I hope you ask, and I hope this edition helps you begin to answer them.

As Sister Anita Baird, D.H.M. points out in our first feature: “Now is the acceptable time.

Now is the day of salvation. Now is the time to create an inclusive table of welcome. Our congregations must speak and act boldly, honestly, and prophetically against systemic racism.” May we keep that vision before us.

—Carol Schuck Scheiber, editor HORIZON is an award-winning journal for vocation ministers and those who support a robust future for religious life. It is published quarterly by the National Religious Vocation Conference.

NATIONAL RELIGIOUS VOCATION CONFERENCE BOARD Sister Mindy Welding, I.H.M. Board chair Father Adam MacDonald, S.V.D. Vice chair Sister Belinda Monahan, O.S.B. Vice chair Sister Marichui Bringas, C.C.V.I. Sister Jean Marie Fernandez, R.G.S.

Sister Virginia Herbers, A.S.C.J. Father Charles Johnson, O.P. Sister Lisa Laguna, D.C. Sister Kristin Matthes, S.N.D.deN. Brother Brian Poulin, F.M.S. Mr. Len Uhal Sister Deborah Borneman, SS.C.M., Ex officio

Spring 2021 | HORIZON | 1

Updates

Workshop registration underway for online Summer Institute Registration is underway for NRVC’s Summer Institute workshops, to be held online July 12-28. These courses will emphasize interactive learning and conversation among participants. Following are the workshop titles and dates; full details and registration are at nrvc.net.

• Orientation Program for New Vocation Directors, by a team of five religious—July 12-16 • Behavioral Assessment I, by Father Raymond P. Carey, Ph.D.—July 19-21

Another CARA report released in February 2021 on the impact of cultural diversity among newer U.S. religious shows that while most newer Black, Asian, Latino or Latina religious (70 percent) find their communities “very open” to welcoming members of other cultures, experiences of at least occasional loneliness or a sense of not being understood are higher for them (25 percent) than for newer religious with European ancestry (10 percent). The study also examines the family and parish experiences of newer religious, breaking the data down by cultural background. Both reports are available on nrvc. net under “Studies/Links to Studies & Reports.”

• Ethical Issues in Vocation and Formation Ministry, by Father Raymond P. Carey, Ph.D. —July 23-24 • Is it Cultural, Generational, or Family of Origin? Issues in Candidate Assessment, by Dr. Ansel Augustine, Sister Maria Hong Nguyen, O.S.B., and Sister Bea Eichten, O.S.F. —July 26-28

Reports show entrances continue despite pandemic; diversity holds challenges Two recent reports from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) shed light on religious life trends. A report released in March 2021 showed that 309 men and women entered U.S. religious orders in 2020 in spite of the many restrictions brought on by COVID-19. This was one of the many findings in the annual “Entrance Class Report.” In addition, the report showed that characteristics of new entrants remain very similar to what has been seen in entrance class reports of the last several years. For instance, ethnic composition continues to be roughly one third people of color; the average age remains just below 30 (28 in the year 2020), and entrants continue to be highly educated, with 54 percent holding a bachelor’s degree and 23 percent holding a graduate degree in 2020.

2 | Spring 2021 | HORIZON

The new storymap website uses photos, graphs, maps, and more to bring to life data about U.S. religious life.

Storymap site enhances understanding of contemporary religious life NRVC’s new storymap website “Religious Life Today” provides an accurate picture of consecrated life in the U.S. by delivering the results of the 2020 Study on Recent Vocations to Religious Life in an attractive, visual form.

This new resources is available to the public at bit.ly/39EE9ZM thanks to a grant from the GHR Foundation.

Updates

“The Last Supper to be” mural at St. Sabina Parish in Chicago depicts a modern, multi-ethnic group with Jesus at the Last Supper. The image challenges viewers to consider whether Jesus can be fully present if those at the table are not fully welcomed.

Transforming religious communities to be intercultural and antiracist

I

N THE CHAPEL OF ST. SABINA CHURCH in Chicago is a large mural on the wall behind the altar. It is entitled “The Last Supper To Be.” Around the table are people from every nation and tongue, men, women, and children. At the center of the table is a faint image of Jesus breaking bread. When I asked my pastor why the image of Jesus was so faint; his response is one that will forever be etched on my heart. In fact, it is the reason that I continue to work for racial justice and equity. His answer was simply this: “Until everyone is equally welcomed at this table, Jesus cannot come into the fullness of his glory.”

Our religious institutions reflect that not everyone has been welcome at the table. Because racism is such an endemic and pervasive force, we are ensnared, entangled, and enmeshed in a web of racial subordination and dominance that is largely invisible and outside of the awareness of most, except those who suffer the effects of systemic disadvantage. This is true within the American Catholic Church, including our religious communities.

Father Bryan Massingale, professor of theology at Fordham University, suggests that certain shifts need to occur in the dominant approach to U.S. Baird | Intercultural, Antiracist

The Eucharist itself calls religious communities to look within and dismantle all forms of White privilege and racism.

By Sister Anita Baird, D.H.M. Sister Anita Baird, D.H.M. is a member of the Society of the Daughters of the Heart of Mary, having served as U.S. provincial from 201116. She has ministered in racial justice efforts for decades and has been widely recognized for her activism by organizations including the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and Catholic Theological Union.

She is a board member of the National Black Sisters’ Conference and resides in Oak Park, Illinois.

Spring 2021 | HORIZON | 3

Catholicism in order to achieve a more adequate ethic of racial justice, a shift from a stress on racism to White privilege; from passivity to personal responsibility. He writes in his book Racial Justice in the Catholic Church, “If dark or skin color means rejection and humiliation, then it follows that racism also connotes a social context in which white skin color means advantage and privilege, a sense of comfort and belonging that whites everywhere unconsciously or consciously assume.”

He goes on to say: “We need to adopt a more structural, and systemic approach to racism, one that views this evil primarily as a cultural phenomenon, a culture of white advantage, privilege and dominance that has personal, interpersonal, spatial and institutional manifestations.”

Let’s ask hard questions

Religious communities must always honor and celebrate their unique charisms, histories, and stories of faith; but we cannot become complacent, wedded to the past, and unwilling to create a new model of community where we reach out, invite, and welcome women and men of color not only to enter our congregations, but to transform them and re-create them while remaining faithful to our living charisms.

Too often we “talk the talk” but fail to “walk the walk” in our communities. We give lip service to diversity but do little to make it a reality. We must ask the hard but necessary questions.

Are we intentional and deliberate in our vocational mission to invite young The majority of people of different cultures to journey with religious communities Racism woven into the culture us? Are we willing to receive people of color in this country have with authentic, genuine hospitality?

Although as religious most of us believe practiced racism and Are our motherhouses bathed in that we are living relatively faultless lives, Whiteness in art, music, food, literature, segregation in their all of us are entangled in a form of evil etc.? Do we find it uncomfortable to acacceptance policies that is every bit as pernicious as the blacept cultural differences in the way others tant race crimes of long ago. Twenty-first and in the operation pray, celebrate life, eat, and recreate? century institutional racism is the immorof their sponsored Do we cover ourselves in green on al and independent child of institutionalinstitutions. the feast of St. Patrick but express discomized slavery. Racism and ethnocentrism fort when our members dress in Afroare diseases, which have not only affected centric garb during Black History Month our nation but our church and our relior when our Latino and Latina members gious communities since the beginnings desire to speak their native language? of their foundations in this country. As some religious Are we open to praying in different ways, and not congregations struggle to come to terms with their just on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe or Martin shameful history of owning and selling human beings Luther King day? during slavery, the majority of religious communities Are we willing to become more flexible in our comin this country, while not having owned slaves, have munity living, or do our members of color often find practiced racism and segregation in their acceptance themselves isolated and alone after professing vows? Are policies and in the operation of their sponsored instiwe willing to listen to their pain? tutions.

Are we willing to be vulnerable enough to admit Our congregations must own these truths, repent, we don’t have all the answers, that we need to be patient and be reconciled through our words and actions. If we, with ourselves?

Are we humble enough to ask others to who claim to be vowed to the Lord, cannot overcome the be patient with us, as we embark upon this journey of sin of racism through grace, then there is little hope that learning new ways of being a community? the larger church will ever be healed of the sin of racism.

Are we willing to admit to our stereotypes, our biSince the early beginnings of the church we have ases and prejudgments of those we consider different? struggled to be one in Christ, a community of believers, Are we willing to learn from our members of color, who where all are welcomed and valued and where diversity have so much to offer our communities? is embraced, where the community of believers is of one heart and one mind regardless of racial, ethnic, or cultural differences. We can only authentically claim to be catholic or universal when we begin to reflect this diversity in our lived experience.

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Embrace the gifts of members of color In the words of Sister Thea Bowman, F.S.P.A. when Baird | Intercultural, Antiracist

Redemptorist Renewal Center

“Celebrating over 50 years of Retreat Ministry ”

she spoke to the U.S. bishops’ conference in 1989, a few months before her death: What does it mean to be and Catholic? It means that I come to my church fully functioning. I bring myself, my self ... all that I am, all that I have, all that I hope to become. I bring my whole history, my traditions, my experience, my culture, my African American song and dance and gesture and movement and teaching and preaching and healing and responsibility as gift to the church.

Our members of color come with gifts that can enrich and strengthen our communities if only we are open to receiving them. Our prayer life will be deepened. The way we worship will be enriched. Our community celebrations will be enhanced.

Until we are willing to openly discuss our biases, fears, and apprehensions as we enter unknown territory, our congregations will continue to be impoverished by our own limitations and misgivings. In our predominately Eurocentric congregations, we need to ask ourselves what we are willing to do both individually and corporately to move beyond our limitations and fears in order to address the sin of racism, to acknowledge how White privilege and power has shaped us, and therefore has shaped our communities.

Are we open, honest, and accountable to our members of color? What concrete steps have we taken? In our discomfort how often do we try to deflect the conversation from racism to other “isms,” like sexism? Is the commitment to the work of anti-racism given major consideration in choosing congregational leadership?

Until we find the courage to acknowledge and accept that the majority of our congregations are “racist” in that they were founded by White Catholics to serve the needs of White Catholics—and while that is not the total summation of who we are—until we acknowledge that reality, we will never find the courage to begin to transform our institutions into antiracist, intercultural communities.

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What holds us back?

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If we are truly serious about becoming inclusive, we must understand what keeps us from wanting to be inclusive. We must understand the cultural indoctrinations that have shaped and defined who we are both individually and as a community. We need to be honest with one another in challenging our very identities.

We spend too much time waiting for people of color

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Baird | Intercultural, Antiracist

Spring 2021 | HORIZON | 5

to come while knowing that we have done little to transform our congregations to receive them if they are being called to embrace our charism. Our congregations are solidly White and middleclass in world view and values, and too often this shapes the way we see the poor and Our congregations people of color, not as equals must speak and act but as those who need us to boldly, honestly, and show them the way. prophetically against Most of our houses of systemic racism. formation are in largely White, suburban, or rural settings that may not be inviting to people of color. We cannot remove people from their support systems, from what is familiar and nurturing to their souls, replacing it with what is foreign and often hostile and expect them to stay and thrive.

When people of color leave, do we say that “they did not have a vocation”? Perhaps a better response would be to acknowledge that we have failed to honor the distinctiveness of their vocation. We have failed to be communities of transformative grace.

True discipleship does not come without cost, and working to create antiracist, intercultural communities will not happen without a cost. It will require a prophetic vision of the future that we want to create. It will demand that we die to the old ways of being and believing in order that we might be reborn for such a time as this to bear witness to our catholicity, our oneness in the body of Christ, becoming a visible sign of the transformative, Eucharistic power of God’s grace.

Eucharist unites us To become what we eat is to enter into communion with the Trinitarian Godhead, dwelling together in God’s indivisible unity. We are invited into a body of love where the weak are at the center and no longer is there a hierarchy of power where people of color are always at the bottom. In the beginning is communion, and in the end is communion. Eucharist makes us one race in Christ Jesus.

Eucharist enables us to work tirelessly for justice.

Eucharist allows us to celebrate our diversity while embracing our unity. Eucharist loves us from the point of tolerance to genuine acceptance.

Once we truly come to understand the mystery of the Eucharist, we cannot continue coming to the table if we do not desire from the depths of our hearts to stop 6 | Spring 2021 | HORIZON

treating the other as a stranger and begin to love the other as our sister and brother in Christ.

We can only hope to learn to dwell together in God’s love through the power of the Eucharist, which invites us to the one banquet table, where all are equal and all are welcome. This union with God in the Holy Eucharist makes us interdependent on one another.

The Eucharist compels us to live lives of truth, built on justice and animated by love, to build a new heaven and a new earth where all of God’s children can live with human dignity and respect regardless of the color of their skin. Through the power of the Eucharist we are one in him. The common denominator is no longer color, ethnic origin, common language, or common interests. As St. Paul wrote to the Galatians (3:26-28): For through faith you are all children of God in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

To become what we eat is to receive the power of the Holy Spirit and become disciples and witnesses, not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judea and Samaria and indeed throughout the world. Nothing is more powerful than the image of the table where we gather day after day, week after week, year after year, to celebrate the life, death and resurrection of Christ. We come to be fed and transformed.

With this Eucharistic vision in mind, it is my hope that religious congregations will seriously acknowledge that addressing White privilege and power is self-work and that they will commit to the long-term effort of redefining and restructuring their own institutions to address the legacy of racial superiority and systemic injustice. People of color have not been afforded equality and favorable circumstances, even in religious life.

Now is the acceptable time. Now is the day of salvation. Now is the time to create an inclusive table of welcome. Our congregations must speak and act boldly, honestly, and prophetically against systemic racism. The truth will set us free.

This is our appointed work as women and men of the gospel, to preach, not with words but deeds that will transform our church, religious communities, institutions, nation, and world. May the One who has begun this good work in us bring it to completion so the prayer of Jesus might truly be our own, that all may be one in the Eucharist, which is at the heart of racial justice. n Baird | Intercultural, Antiracist

Photo by Sister Deborah Borneman, SS.C.M.

To embrace an intercultural spirituality means letting go of many assumptions; even our expectations about language might need to shift. Pictured here are Sisters Kathleen Reynolds, C.C.V.I. (left) and Chioma Ahanihu, S.L.W. having a conversation.

Intercultural spirituality

I

Intercultural spirituality involves both learning and unlearnng. It challenges how we use language and even steps away from an emphasis on doing.

N TODAY’S GLOBALIZED WORLD, people often move from one place to another. In America’s landscape, we are very familiar with encountering people of different languages, ethnicities, races, and cultures. In the poem “Torn Map,” Palestinian-American poet Naomi Shihab Nye writes about tearing up and taping together a map, rearranging the landscape. The poem ends with: Wouldn’t that be nice if it were true?

I’d tear a map and be right next to you.

She imagines becoming close to her friend just by tearing up a map.

Maybe the reality is just the opposite: even if we are not ready, someone who does not exist on our soul map may be right next to us. What a surprise it can be to encounter someone from an unfamiliar culture. The global and U.S. landscapes have dramatically changed because of immigration, exile, and transnational business; it is as if the map has been torn.

Amid these new realities our religious communities are being invited to become intercultural.

As a starting point of intercultural living, both locally and globally, it is essential to ask what kind of emotions we experience in this encounter.

Park | Intercultural Spirituality

By Sister Sophia Park, S.N.J.M. Sister Sophia Park, S.N.J.M. belongs to the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary.

She is an associate professor in religious studies and philosophy at Holy Names University in Oakland, California. Her field is women’s spirituality from a global perspective.

Recently she published Conversation at the Well: Emerging Religious Life in the 21st-Century Global World—Collaboration, Networking, and Intercultural Living with Sister Teresa Maya, C.C.V.I.

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Are we excited, or scared, or both? No matter our response, we live in an intercultural world that invites us to embrace otherness. It is remarkable to recognize that the strangeness or oddity we note in others might be part of our unknown self, unwittingly residing in ourselves.

For a religious community situated in the 21st-century global world, the ability to welcome new members from other cultures indicates whether that community is standing with—and moving toward—the world, thereby becoming intercultural. Of course, intercultural living as a religious community does not just occur; rather, it must be intentional, meaning that we anticipate mutuHere is the essence al transformation from both of intercultural learning and un-learning. It spirituality: letting go of is also rooted in spirituality one’s language as the for us. operating apparatus We define spiritualand allowing others ity as an elaboration of the to hear in their native lived experience, transcending the individual and, as languages. a community, moving to a deeper level. It is crucial for intercultural spirituality to understand the dynamics of intercultural engagement, to reference the lived experience. No doubt, we religious intend to engage with those who come from other nations and cultures. However, without understanding the dynamics of intercultural engagement, our experiences will be superficial, merely a “passion for ignorance,” to borrow a term from Nicholas of Cusa. Thus, in this article I hope to explore an intercultural spirituality that challenges our notions of language and emphasizes being versus doing.

Intercultural living as a learning process People often ask how we reach a certain level of intercultural living, assuming specific methods exist. However, there is no one fixed way. Instead, it is an ongoing process of learning and unlearning. Learning means embracing newness and, as a consequence, enhancing our capacity to live interculturally. Unlearning indicates a process of noticing any self-centered or Euro-American way of speech, thought, and action. More importantly, it is not a matter of right or wrong, but rather a matter of learning and loving.

Let me delineate some elements of intercultural spirituality as a movement: from logo-centric to pneuma8 | Spring 2021 | HORIZON

centric, from being grounded to turning, and from doing to being—all of which involve learning and unlearning.

When we have a conversation with a person in vocation discernment, we encounter the enormity of people, history, and culture as a matter of truth. Out of ignorance, we assume that we see what the person before us sees. However, each one sees things from his or her own perspective. Psychoanalyst Jacque Lacan uses the word gaze, to indicate that our viewpoint is limited and slanted, although we may not fully acknowledge it. Humans are situated as a part of society, and language mainly controls subjectivity. Also, the gaze pre-exists as a specific prejudice or fantasy toward strangers. For example, when one has a particular image of Asians, one will tend to see the person according to that image, rather than seeing the person as a particular being. Similarly, we unconsciously assume the person that we encounter carries a life experience similar to ours.

From logo-centric to pneuma-centric life As institutions, religious communities tend to be “logoscentered,” which means they rely heavily on language and symbols in comprehension and communication.

The way of thinking, speaking, and acting stems from language, and very often, language as an operating system determines whether a particular person or group is accepted. We religious tend to seal our identity through a mission statement, constitution, or Chapter acts. Often, those words are distant from the lived experiences of the members of the community. The language functions as a controller within the system; we are situated by the grammar regarding thinking and acting.

In our intercultural engagement, the dominant language functions as a standard of judgment. Members who do not speak the primary language are expected to translate all communication into their different language systems. The more the primary language conveys a closed meaning and represents authority, the more people who reside outside of that language experience an emotional alienation and disconnection and a sense of inferiority. The person whose native language is not the primary language can feel distant from affection and from the decision-making process. However, we all know that communities need a primary language for communication. Then, how can we handle this dilemma?

It is no mystery why the first miracle of the early Christian community had to do with language. Chapter 2 of Acts begins with a story regarding diaspora Jews and foreign converts gathered in Jerusalem. When the Park | Intercultural Spirituality

Photo by Brother Chris Patiño, F.S.C.

Listening beyond the words that are spoken is an important aspect of intercultural spirituality.

Here Brothers Arturo Martinez, F.S.C. (left) and George VanGrieken, F.S.C. talk while staffing a vocation booth at a national conference.

Spirit came to them, the Apostles from Galilee spoke “in different tongues,” but listeners each heard in their own language. Verses 7-8 vividly depict the scene: “They were astounded, and in amazement they asked, ‘Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans? Then how does each of us hear them in his own native language?’”

Here is the essence of intercultural spirituality: letting go of one’s language as the operating apparatus and allowing others to hear in their native languages. In the West, we assume that new members from other cultures should speak in English. If we are vulnerable enough to communicate with new members using their respective native language, what would happen? Further, if we adopt the foreign-born member’s body language, what would happen? If we behaved like foreigners or guests, what would be the result?

Loosening our communication expectations In communication theory, we know that no signifier can indicate the ideal or intended meaning. Signification necessarily includes misunderstanding or misconception. We reach a level of communication by comprehending contexts and by filling the gap with imagination.

The people who remain in the language or symbol order tend to neglect to fill the void, asking the exact meaning. In intercultural living, it is essential to loosen up the communication from a strict order of language and to Park | Intercultural Spirituality

openly fill the gap with love and imagination.

As a Korean immigrant, I am embarrassed by the person who demands that every syllable be precisely correct to accomplish “perfect” communication because my Asian culture respects far more the context than the exact words and affect rather than facts. Often, to pursue good conversations with accuracy, we demand clear descriptions, and do not accept silence, misspelled or fragmented sentences, or mispronunciations.

Meaning-making through communication indicates an “approximation” because it never reaches the ideal signified in human language. If “approximation” is the natural process for meaning-making, it should be thoughtfully applied to intercultural encounters.

Some people complain that members from other cultures, often speaking a language not their own, tell stories differently from time to time. For members of religious communities, narratives such as family stories and humorous episodes in ministry are repeatedly shared over time. They already know the story, and the situation is familiar to them. In other words, the narratives do not allow space for interpretation or even new meaning; the stories are fossils or dead.

What about the stories of younger members from other cultures? Their narratives are often not fully polished and carry lots of holes, which provide space to speculate. Because their stories are told in translation, they need more time to be enunciated, often causing slowness and perhaps even changes in the details. For exSpring 2021 | HORIZON | 9

ample, a new member from Korea might say, “My hometo acknowledge discomfort. We need self-awareness to town is Seoul, and I grew up in a rich household.” She notice our tolerance level and emotions. In this new way means that Seoul represents success compared to other of intercultural living, each party brings context, dis/ areas in Korea. However, at another time, the same sister comfort, and sensitivity. might say, “Seoul is my hometown, and I grew up in a To turn also means moving endlessly, as culture is poor household,” because she may be comparing her livalways on the move. To turn is a term frequently used for ing situation to other affluent families in Seoul. Different dancing. When we embrace those from another culture, translations are not just about the replacement of words that is, from another ethnicity, race, or generation, we in a language. enter the endless dance. As mentioned above, interculThe first step of intercultural spirituality, then, is tural spirituality is more spirit-centered, which means to loosen up the language and language we do not have much control. In John structure to create a space for under3:8, Jesus says to Nicodemus, “The wind standing others with love. This step can blows where it wills, and you can hear help to change us from logo-centered livthe sound it makes, but you do not know Intercultural spirituality ing to spirit-centered living. where it comes from or where it goes; is far from a “doing” so it is with everyone who is born of the spirituality. It is more Spirit.” Not knowing whether the wind contemplative and From being grounded is coming or going, we continue to live perhaps less efficient. to turning and encounter others. If we do not hold a sense of freedom given by the Spirit, One of the most dominant descriptions we will be anxious and driven to control. of religious life is firmness and groundWhen we launch into intercultural living, edness. The whole life is ordered and balwe pay attention to the inner space we gain by continuanced. When we live interculturally, endlessly engaging ing the dance, turning overall order, and opening to the otherness, we may lose control in that ordered and balnew. anced life to become less grounded and less rigid. ConBut before that, we have to ask whether we are ready stant movement gives one a deep awareness of uncerto change how we have lived before. When I facilitate tainty, which is a part of human reality. Here uncertainty intercultural meetings, I often witness native English indicates the impossibility of understanding within any speakers jumping into discussions out of kindness. language. In the Taoist classic, Tao Te Ching 1, we read: Sometimes, non-native speakers need more time to The tao that can be told comprehend the questions, assumptions, and expectais not the eternal Tao, tions. Nevertheless, native English speakers do not need The name that can be named to speak first all the time. When we take notes or give is not the eternal Name. presentations, we do not have to have perfect or flawless English. A language is merely a tool for communication.

We exist in uncertain time and space, struggling to We should remember that all things “turn” to help intergrasp the Truth. cultural journey companions: not holding an absolute The uncertainty of the intercultural way can manirule, opening to new things coming into our lives, refest as a “turn,” and it demands flexibility. We all know maining in freedom. the remarkable story of Copernicus’ discovery that the Earth revolves around the sun. The discovery was revolutionary because, in this new way, there is no distincFrom doing to being tion between the dominant center and the periphery or While embracing fluidity and uncertainty, intercultural margins. At a particular moment, we can stand on the spirituality is far from a “doing” spirituality. It is more margin, and at another moment, we can stand in the contemplative and perhaps less efficient. When I gave center, and vice versa; we are turning around all the time. spiritual direction to a successful professional woman One culture cannot control or dominate all encounters. who was discerning God’s call, she said, “God does not In intercultural living we can unconsciously impose say anything to me regarding my vocation.” I asked her Western culture as the standard when setting up a schedwhether she had any moments of peace in daily life. She ule, facilitating a meeting, or organizing convent space. responded, “Oh, sometimes, for no reason, I feel relaxed We need constant conversation, which requires honesty, 10 | Spring 2021 | HORIZON

Park | Intercultural Spirituality

and happy when I think of God’s calling, but that is it.

But that is an almost useless moment. When I am ready to hear something, the moment disappears.” A useless moment, though, perhaps is the most valuable moment!

I wonder if intercultural spirituality is like grace, like a “useless” moment. It may not stand for mission effectiveness, but rather, it is an abundance, for surprise and joy.

Through encountering the other, we can see ourselves, or a hidden part of ourselves. Through embracing others, we can see new life or a new dimension of religious life.

In that sense, it can be joyful.

Thus, intercultural spirituality is not a “doing” spirituality, which involves setting up a goal, discerning a particular direction, and taking an action. Instead, it is a spirituality of enjoying the experience of unexpected mistakes and unknown parts of ourselves. For this approach, I suggest two significant elements: storytelling and listening.

When we tell a story, we and our listeners are invited to mutual transformation. Storytelling conveys one’s truth, including one’s vulnerability and history. There is no space for judgment in storytelling but plenty of room for questions, to probe deeper meaning. Also, in storytelling, groups create a shared understanding. In intercultural spirituality, storytelling creates new stories of the group.

Storytelling and listening are two sides of the same coin. A best practice for intercultural engagement is attentive listening, including a person’s facial expressions, body movement, and even silence. Before we enter into a dialogue with a person from another culture, we would research that person’s culture and its values. It is also imperative to notice how the person is related to U.S. culture and religious life.

The ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius wrote, “When you reach 60, you should tame your ears so that you always hear well.” It is a courtesy to not demand the same English as the native speaker’s American English.

Instead, we should tame native ears to understand English with varying accents. If we become sensitive listeners, we can discern non-native speakers’ grammatical mistakes, mispronunciations, and frequently used fillers.

For instance, for people whose pronouns do not have genders, there is a confusion between using “she” and “he.” This confusion does not indicate the person’s intelligence because language levels do not necessarily match one’s mental and spiritual maturity. Thus, listening is a most crucial element of intercultural being.

As religious communities develop an intercultural spirituality, it helps to emphasize the process of bePark | Intercultural Spirituality

GlobalSistersReport.org coming intercultural beings. Interculturality is more a process of and commitment to ongoing transformation. It is a spiritual stance. The more that communities consciously engage with intercultural spirituality and awareness, the better prepared they are for intercultural mission, ministry, and communal life. At heart, to be intercultural is a matter of loving and learning with joy and surprise. n

Related articles “All one body: Forming intercultural communities,” by Father Anthony J. Gittins, C.S.Sp. p. 23, Spring 2017.

“Making multiculturalism work: one community’s experience,” by Carol Schuck Scheiber, p. 6, Summer 2012.

Spring 2021 | HORIZON | 11

A conscious effort to reach out to Black parishes in vocation invitations is just one of many ways to welcome African Americans into religious communities. Photo courtesy of Catholic Extension.

Let’s welcome the gift of African American vocations HORIZON interviews Brother Patrick Winbush, O.S.B. and Sister Gayle Lwanga Crumbley, R.G.S. Brother Patrick Winbush, O.S.B., a member of the Benedictine Abbey of Newark, New Jersey, is an educator who currently serves as the sub-prior and vocation director for his community and chair of the vocation board for the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey.

Sister Gayle Lwanga Crumbley, R.G.S. is a sister of the Good Shepherd who currently lives in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is part of a support community for elder sisters and serves on two national boards and the board of a sponsored ministry in her province. She served for six years on the board of the National Religious Vocation Conference.

12 | Spring 2021 | HORIZON

Tell us a little about your own vocation story.

Brother Patrick: I ended up entering the monastery because a priest from the community was assigned to my parish, and I was an altar server.

I started talking to him, and he brought me over to the monastery. I fell in love with the place, and the rest is history. I do try to go back to my home parish (Blessed Sacrament St. Charles Borromeo Church in Newark) from time to time just to show my face because it’s a parish that has produced several religious life vocations, including some prominent Black religious.

Sister Gayle: My own vocation was fostered by a sister who was active in my parish. She organized tutoring for kids, and I’d volunteer for that, partly just to be around her! First of all she was fun to be around. However, more than that, she called me to a personal relationship with Jesus. I was only 14 or 15 at the time, but as I got older, I started going to prayer experiences with her at the convent. Those kinds of things helped my vocation along.

You both began your journey into religious life through connections made in your home parishes, which were Winbush, Lawanga Crumbley | African American Vocations

predominantly African American. What kind of vocation outreach is happening in parishes like these?

our ministry and in the monastery.

I thought about it when I came home. So I spoke with my superior and said I really need to get out into the Black Catholic community more. As a result I reached out to the head of Black Catholic Ministries in the Newark and New York Archdioceses to see if there are ways I could get involved. One of the directors told me that one of the best things I could do was to attend Mass at various African American parishes. That way people see you, they come and talk, you build a rapport, and that might lead to a vocation down the road. I will start to do that once the pandemic is at a point where I can start going into parishes again.

Sister Gayle: African American parishes are starting to have vocation committees to spread awareness of religious vocations and encourage people to consider this option. In addition many Black parishes have organizations that support religious life, such as the Knights and Ladies of Peter Claver, the largest historically African American lay organization. The Knights and Ladies have a youth division as well. At the same time, a lot of Black parishes do have youth ministers.

Service projects are another great way to connect.

Like many other Catholics, African Americans like serWhat about reaching Black Catholics who vice projects. From building houses to giving out food, worship in parishes that are not I hope religious orders will make sure that our kids are predominantly Black? included in their invitations to serve.

My message for all vocation directors is that when Sister Gayle: Well it’s important to make sure in all you’re having an activity in an area, that you’re doing that African Americans please make sure the African American can see themselves in religious life. Are lay organizations and parishes are inthey in the literature that you use? Are Think about how cluded. Make sure it gets into the bulletin they present when you give talks? If you African Americans in Black parishes. Make sure you connect have an African American priest or sister show up in your with the African American lay groups— or brother, bring them with you when vocation literature and volunteer to come and speak with them. you’re out speaking. It’s important for Afwebsites. Don’t just Along those lines, when I am at a rican Americans to see that they are part show Black people place where I really want to represent of this life.

Catholic sisters, I do put on a veil. Many Also think about how African Amerbeing helped by sisters in my province wear veils, and by icans show up in your vocation literature religious but show them wearing it I become available to people; and websites. Don’t just show Black peobeing the helpers.

I can talk to them about religious life. ple being helped by religious but show Without it, it can be hard for people to them being the helpers. pick me out unless I’m introduced as “Sister.” Like many other sisters, I don’t want to be treatBrother Patrick: I agree that visibility is important. ed special just because I am a sister.

Certainly communities have to work together to make a welcoming environment for African Americans and other ethnic and cultural groups. For instance communiDoes vocation outreach to African ties might look at the artwork around the motherhouse Americans vary by region? or monastery. If visitors only see paintings of white saints Brother Patrick: To be honest, I don’t really see a lot of or church figures and no images of people of color, then effort being made to go into the Black Catholic comthey’ll wonder if they fit in there. We’re very fortunate munity to promote vocations. One summer I attended here at the monastery and in our school to have a lot of the joint conference of the National Black Catholic African and African American art, such as Black cruciClergy Caucus and National Black Sisters Conference. fixes. We still have to get better at using images that repPeople there turned to me and asked what I was doing resent our Spanish-speaking brothers, such as Our Lady for religious vocations. I was a little bit embarrassed. of Guadalupe and Juan Diego.

I said I really don’t go out too much into the Black Most of the newer men in my community are from Catholic community because I’m a monk, and I’m Spanish speaking backgrounds, so we have been doing mostly dealing with the people we associate with in a lot of things bilingually. At the same time we also want Winbush, Lawanga Crumbley | African American Vocations

Spring 2021 | HORIZON | 13

Photo courtesy of Catholic Extension

When Black Catholics join religious orders, it can be helpful for them to connect with other African American Catholics outside the community.

to depict people who look like me. We’ve been talking about creating a joint video with me speaking and a newer Hispanic brother speaking in his native tongue. And this newer brother said to me, not trying to give offense, but just truthfully: the church has more Hispanics than African Americans. I wasn’t offended by that because I think he’s right. That’s what I’m seeing in my area.

Sister Gayle: It’s true that Latinx ministry has been a big push in the church. I’d venture to say, however, that ever since George Floyd was killed it seems Black Catholics have become visible again. After all, there are three million African American Catholics.

When vocation directors see Black youth, are they seeing them as prospective members of their communities? Is there an unconscious bias at play?

Brother Patrick: I think the vocation directors I work with would love to have African Americans in their communities, but most of their communities are almost entirely Caucasian. I believe that some of these religious communities might benefit from the guidance of African American religious on how to engage the Black Catholic community. Once they begin to do that, then they can begin inviting Black Catholics to visit their communities. If you look at the make up of religious communities, you’ll see one Black sister, one Black priest, one Black brother. But the overall church has changed. It’s more multicultural now. It’s kind of interesting to me that in the year 2020 that most of our congregations are not more diverse today.

14 | Spring 2021 | HORIZON

Sister Gayle: I’d point out that LCWR had a virtual meeting during the summer of 2020, and they were very straightforward about wanting to address what’s going on in the African American community. They want to understand white supremacy, their own privilege, and many issues that have come to the forefront since the killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and so many others. I hope we are at a tipping point where white Catholics really do want to make a difference; at the same time I fear that Black compassion fatigue will set in, and there will be a big backlash.

Are there larger issues in the church that affect the context for African American vocations?

Sister Gayle: I do want to call attention to one thing. It goes a long way for the church in the U.S. if we—Black Catholics—see ourselves in the upper echelon of the church. We finally have an African American cardinal in Cardinal Wilton Gregory. Including him we have six bishops that are still working, and six other African American bishops are retired now. Are there no qualified African Americans that can be bishops? I don’t think anyone would say that, but that’s how it appears to the Black community. We want to see recognition that African American men can be leaders in the highest positions in our church.

Brother Patrick: In terms of the overall church, I’m reminded of a diocesan gathering last year of Black clergy and religious, which, by the way, was mostly African. The Archdiocese of Newark only has two priests Winbush, Lawanga Crumbley | African American Vocations

and two men religious who are African American. We were at this dinner with the cardinal, and someone asked him, “How come people that look like us are not given high positions in the archdiocese?” I don’t recall what the cardinal said—I think he needed time to think about it.

But it’s true when you go to the chancery, you don’t see many people of color. You might see some folks who are support staff for some of the departments, but nobody is in high positions. And our archdiocese is very multicultural. I wonder what the thinking is behind that.

This lack of Black presence at high levels is not just a religious life problem but a church problem in general. It seems like we’re not seen as qualified to hold high positions in the church. But at national gatherings of Black Catholics I meet a lot of people who have extensive skills and backgrounds and Ph.Ds. For my part, one of the services I’m offering is to act as the chair of the Vocation Board for Religious Life in our diocese. It’s an honor for me to be the face of religious life for the archdiocese, to be able to address groups and so forth. So that’s a start.

Can you point to other examples of what is working when it comes to vocation ministry with African Americans?

Sister Gayle: About three years ago I was invited to come to a small religious community in rural Indiana that was doing some vocation education, the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ in Donaldson, Indiana. They wanted their community to see African American religious. So they invited not just me but three other people of color to come and participate. They invited Dr. Shannen Dee Williams (an African American academic who is writing a book on Black sisters); she was their keynote speaker. I was impressed that they thought this was important, and this was before George Floyd.

Brother Patrick: Just the other day, I received the book White Fragility in my mailbox. Everyone in the community got it, and I assume we’re going to have a community discussion about it at some point.

Sister Gayle: Here’s one more thing to know. The Diocese of Lafayette Louisiana gathers together 500 - 600 young people for the African American Youth Congress every year. They always have a vocation element to that gathering and they do a terrific job.

Thanks for those positive examples. Once Winbush, Lawanga Crumbley | African American Vocations

RESOURCES Vocation prayer cards With African American art: “Listening to the Call” and “Black Religious Vocation.” Published by the National Religious Vocation Conference: nrvc.net/store.

National Black Catholic Conference webinars and conferences related to vocations nbccongress.org/nbcc-webinar-series.html and nbccongress.org/video-archives.html “The Priesthood Call for Young Black Men” Video by Father Manuel Williams, C.R. youtube.com/watch?v=kuuERy_00Kk Black Catholic publications By the Society of Divine Word: inaword.com Independent: blackcatholicmessenger.com Knights of Peter Claver: catholicmagazines.org/claverite Resources from U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops List of African American Catholic organizations, bishops’ statements, and more: usccb.org/committees/africanamerican-affairs/ministry-resources-black-catholics Free e-newsletter on intercultural issues in the U.S. church: usccb.org/committees/cultural-diversitychurch#signup Catholic Theological Union webinars On racial justice and interculturality: learn.ctu.edu/category/interculturality/

an African American man or woman joins a religious community, what is helpful for the community to do and to know?

Sister Gayle: One of the most important things they can do is to make sure their African American members have the support they need. They can get those members in touch with the National Black Sisters Conference or the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus so new members can be partnered with someone who can be a sounding board for them. They can talk to a partner: “This happened to me. What does that mean?” Now I will say that a lot of younger religious don’t identify with the experiences of older Black religious. However there comes a time when everybody needs that kind of support, and it’s good to know that it’s out there.

Spring 2021 | HORIZON | 15

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Another form of support is to send African American religious to study at the Institute for Black Catholic Studies (at Xavier University in New Orleans). I got a lot of tools when I went there. I learned how to speak to a spiritual director, what is appropriate and inappropriate for someone to tell me or ask me, and more.

What about education on the part of the vocation director and the religious community?

Sister Gayle: I think it’s important for vocation ministers to really be sensitive, to study why people do what they do as a racial group—what is done and how it’s done. I hope they study African Americans and other groups that are entering church ministry to know what is important to them. What are their values? What are their religious values? Those are important things to know when you put yourself out there to be available to African Americans for church vocations.

Do you recommend any particular reading to help communities become more informed and aware?

Sister Gayle: Anything by Father Bryan Massingale. He has written a lot of articles, and he’s the author of Racial 16 | Spring 2021 | HORIZON

Justice and the Catholic Church. Another writer to check out is Shawn Copeland. She’s the author of Knowing Christ Crucified: The Witness of African American Religious Experience.

Brother Patrick: I was just thinking the same thing!

Also Father Cyprian Davis, O.S.B. wrote several books, including The History of Black Catholics in the United States.

What are the gifts Black Catholics bring to religious communities when they join them?

Sister Gayle: That question reminds me of a story about a woman who was brought into a leadership role in a car company. She was asked what the significance was of her taking that position. She said, “This means we’re not thinking with just one brain: white male.” The same thing can be said for the church, for religious communities. We African American Catholics bring different perspectives, and we are not a monolith. There is a difference between African American Catholics in New Jersey, in Maryland, in Louisiana. We bring all those different perspectives. As Sister Thea Bowman, F.S.P.A. said, we bring our whole self. That is lost if we’re not there, if we’re not at the table. n Winbush, Lawanga Crumbley | African American Vocations

Photo by Lina Trochez, Unsplash

Practicing forgiveness in vocation ministry

I

T IS NOT EASY TO TALK ABOUT FORGIVENESS unless we speak about it in either the abstract or the theological. Forgiveness as a concept is a lovely topic—we can tell stories of little children and playground spats, of spousal arguments over burnt pot roasts or dirty socks. Forgiveness as a theological reality is likewise beautiful. We read about the power of Jesus’ healings and the graces conferred in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. But I find that when I start to speak about forgiveness in terms of real, everyday life—the pain, the struggle, the broken relationship, the crossroads, the choice—when that conversation about forgiveness begins, folks start to squirm, myself first and foremost.

Squirm away—and read on As I write this, people around the world are on lockdown. We are in the grip of a global pandemic, fearful, uncertain, wary, and struggling mightily to be people of hope. There is worldwide suffering and there is worldwide assistance to those who are suffering. Each day’s news carries stories of death and frenzy, help and generosity. In the midst of it all, the Christian Church has twice celebrated the Paschal Mystery—the story of life from death, light in darkness, resurrected life disrupting every finality. As this Herbers | Forgiveness

Forgiveness is foundational to our faith and the starting line for hope. It belongs in vocation ministry in several important ways.

By Sister Virginia Herbers, A.S.C.J. Sister Virginia Herbers, A.S.C.J. is an Apostle of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She served in vocation and formation ministry for her community for eight years and is on the board of the National Religious Vocation Conference.

She now teaches at The Covering House, a residential therapeutic facility in the St. Louis area dedicated to the healing and restoration of child victims of sex trafficking. In addition, she is the author of Forgiveness: Choosing to Receive and to Give (Liturgical Press, 2019).

Spring 2021 | HORIZON | 17

mind but that more than likely require our attention and article is prepared for publishing, much about how the our forgiveness if we intend to build the future of our pandemic will affect us remains unknown. community on hope.

Amid the questions, there are some very solid answers. One, God is already in that future and God is 1. Forgiveness of self leading us not to a future of despair but into new and transformed living. Two, regardless of circumstance, Vocation ministers have been given a strong vote of concontext, or reality, we are an Easter peofidence from their communities. When ple, made for hope and called to endure religious are called to serve in this minsuffering as a community, even as we istry, their community has effectively work to relieve it. And three, the way to affirmed that they are a positive repreVocation ministers hope through crisis involves forgiveness. sentative of the community charism and need to practice People of hope choose to forgive others, mission, that they have the skills needed knowing that shortcomings do not comto discern well the movements of the the art of forgiving prise the totality of any person. People of Spirit and the signs of the times, and that themselves for their hope choose to forgive themselves, admittheir judgment is trustworthy. This is own limitations, for ting both to themselves and others that no small set of affirmations! When they not being the perfect they are imperfect. People of hope choose don’t meet those expectations—or when example of how to live to forgive God for not always acting in the they don’t think they do—it is very easy religious life, and for not ways we want or in the timeframe we deto get discouraged, disheartened, and having limitless energy, sire. And finally, people of hope choose to dismayed! Vocation ministers need to insight, and joy. forgive this broken world and its broken practice the art of forgiving themselves humanity for not yet being heaven. for their own limitations, for not being the perfect example of how to live religious life, and for not having limitless People of hope energy, insight, and joy.

choose to forgive

Certainly vocation ministers are called to be people of hope, so what specifically does forgiveness look like in the life of a vocation minister? I have come to believe that the art of forgiveness is a critical element in vocation ministry. Vocation ministers need to have a forgiving heart, and for most of us, this needs to be intentionally nurtured; we need to learn how to forgive and then choose to do it. In addition, vocation ministers need to be able to nurture the virtue of forgiveness in the discerning men and women with whom we journey. And finally, vocation ministers need to be willing companions on the journey of forgiveness that our own religious communities must undertake at this moment in the history of consecrated life.

Nurturing forgiveness in the vocation minister I imagine most readers have an expectation of what (or who) needs to be forgiven when it comes to working in vocation ministry. Whatever or whomever comes immediately to mind is likely the place you, the reader, need to begin. What follows from me is simply a set of realities or circumstances that might not immediately come to 18 | Spring 2021 | HORIZON

2. Forgiveness of the community Each vocation minister has been called to a particular community, with its own specific charism and mission.

Certainly these ministers love the people with whom they have given their life in consecration, but they also must be willing to forgive them for being something less than the Holy Family. Our brothers and sisters in community will not always be available for vocation initiatives; they might not always be interested in the demands of the ministry, and they might not always live the most exemplary religious lives. Vocation ministers must recognize that the idealism of discerners cannot be matched with an ideal religious community. They must nurture for themselves a heart that offers the forgiveness needed by a religious community that will undoubtedly fall short of perfection.

3. Forgiveness of God Sometimes our journey with a particular discerner does not take us to our anticipated destination. Sometimes the men and women with whom we have spent hours, days, even months, take a path that leads them away from religious life. The disappointment and doubt that inevitably follow open up an opportunity for us to engage God Herbers | Forgiveness

4. Forgiveness of leadership The discernment process, as we know, is a long and complex one. The twists and turns, the ambiguities and trust, the light and darkness are all part of the journey, requiring steadfast hope, unrelenting honesty, and authentic openness. Vocation ministers and their congregational leaders must navigate this territory together. Sometimes this will result in painful decisions for discerners or for vocation ministers. If our communities are more excited about “having someone enter” than about discerning a vocation with respect to charism and mission, or conversely, if the community cannot accept a candidate the vocation minister has recommended, great pain results.

In both situations the vocation minister must nurture a forgiving heart and find courage for the difficult conversations that must take place.

Photo by Josh Applegate, Unsplash

in dialogue about what the point of vocation ministry actually is. God forgives us for forgetting that it is not a “numbers game,” and for our sense that we have somehow wasted our time. Can we forgive God for having plans for the people we accompany that do not always bring them to our doorstep?

Nurturing forgiveness in the discerner Again, I imagine you have an expectation about why forgiveness is a worthy virtue for those discerning religious life. But how exactly might forgiveness be necessary in the journey of discernment itself? It seems to me at least four distinct persons (or groups of persons) require forgiveness during the course of the discernment process.

1. The discerner My experience in vocation ministry is mostly working with women discerning a call to my own congregation, although I have also accompanied men on the vocational journey and women who joined other communities.

Through it all, I have noticed that one of the most common experiences in the journey is the sense of guilt, regret, or embarrassment that invariably emerges at some point. Inevitably the men and women who are discerning religious life bring to that journey a life history that contains mistakes, misjudgments, and sin. (At least we hope they do—if a discerner claims to be sinless, I doubt we would consider that person healthy!) Sharing their life stories with us can often evoke feelings of unworthiness or shame as these men and women reflect on God’s call to them personally. Helping discerners forgive themselves for past mistakes is a vital role in vocation minisHerbers | Forgiveness

Jesus’ radical forgiveness, of even those who crucified him, makes the practice of forgiveness central to Christian faith and ministry.

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try, and we must take up that role with the recognition that we are standing on holy ground.

2. Significant others in the discerner’s life In an ideal world God’s call to religious life would reach not only the discerner, but that person’s family, friends, neighbors, work colleagues, and society at large, all of whom would rally in joyful support and celebration of the call. Since we do not live in such an ideal world, the discerner will likely encounter at least one significant person in his or her life who disapproves or actively discourages life as a sister, brother, or priest. When this happens, the vocation minister must help the discerner nurture an understanding and forgiving attitude, regardless of how hurt he or she might feel. Just as surely as God is companioning the individual in vocational discernment, God is also companioning those who might stand in opposition to the call. It might be helpful to remind the discerner that just as God’s journey with him or her is unique, so is God uniquely present and accompanying all the discerner’s loved ones through this journey.

3. The religious community Of course vocation ministers want to show discerners the best face of the community. More often than not, however, when a discerner shows up for a retreat, a service opportunity, a shared meal, or common prayer, something will occur that will expose a community quirk, blemish, or problem. Sister Mary Chat-a-lot spends hours regaling her own formation years, Father Cynic makes a critical comment about the bishop, Brother Brutus serves meat to a vegan visitor. Taking the time to debrief these experiences is extremely important in the discernment process. Allowing the discerner to be honest about impressions and possible disillusionments is important for validation, but equally important is owning the community’s quirkiness as “part of the package,” and providing for the discerner the truth of the community’s reality. Using forgiveness as the lens for this conversation can be just as healing for the vocation minister as it is growthful for the discerner!

4. God This one might be a little less obvious, or maybe it is less common, but I have found that sometimes a point in discernment comes (usually right before making a formal commitment to a community) when the list of things “to give up” starts to loom large, and the demands of the religious life start to seem overwhelming. The way I’ve heard it expressed goes something like this: “I don’t 20 | Spring 2021 | HORIZON

know if I can do it—not having a family of my own, giving up my independence, living with who-knows-who....”

When explored a little further, this is often a thinly veiled wish that life in general—regardless of vocation—weren’t so hard.

Sacrifice is part of every vocation, and when we get closer to saying yes to the vocation we have been given

by God, acknowledging the inherent sacrifices is an important part of the yes. Acknowledging the demands of a religious vocation can open up a rich and beautiful prayer wherein we have the opportunity to accompany the discerner into a deeper relationship with God, who asks much of those to whom God has given much (Luke 12:48). Being able to “forgive God” for not paving a smooth path in front of us when we are faithful and generous usually signals a maturing spirituality and a deepening relationship with God.

Nurturing forgiveness in religious life And finally, in addition to nurturing a forgiving heart for ourselves and those we accompany in discernment, it is vital to religious life today to nurture a sense of forgiveness in our communities and congregations. We must forgive our demographics for scaring us; we must forgive the church for both the sexual abuse scandals and the scandals of the abuse of power; we must forgive our society for misunderstanding, deifying, or caricaturing us; we must forgive our histories for being imperfect; we must forgive our futures for being uncertain; we must forgive our bodies and our minds for failing us; we must forgive our heroes when they fall off their pedestals; we must forgive death for its inevitability; we must forgive life for its unpredictability; we must forgive nature for its destruction; we must forgive beauty for its fickleness; we must forgive truth for its harshness.

And we must celebrate. We must celebrate our future with hope; we must celebrate our past with its wisdom; we must celebrate our present with its life; we must celebrate our church with its endurance; we must celebrate our society with its generosity; we must celebrate our bodies and our minds for the joy of being alive. We must celebrate our everyday unsung heroes who we know to be imperfect; we must celebrate death’s defeat and resurrection’s victory; we must celebrate nature’s mystery; we must celebrate beauty; and we must celebrate truth.

Forgiveness is not about turning a blind eye to fear or ugliness or sin. Forgiveness is about pushing through them on the winds of hope to reach the shore for which we have always been destined: life. n Herbers | Forgiveness

Photo by Brother Matt Hindelang, O.F.M. Cap.

It makes sense to use time during a large community gathering to encourage an internal culture of vocations. Pictured here are members of the Capuchin Friars, Province of St. Augustine taking part in an assembly.

Here’s how to use the next large gathering of your community for constructive conversations about new membership.

Use your congregational gathering to further vocation ministry

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ith COVID-19 showing signs of subsiding, religious communities may soon begin to plan gatherings again. As that happens, the topic of new membership is sure to come up. What province or congregation does not find it imperative to have a conversation about vocations at significant meetings? If the idea does not emerge from the vocation director, certainly it does from leadership, and if not, surely from someone in membership. The topic of new members is often the elephant in the room when a religious group convenes for a major meeting of members. While it may be the elephant, it is often dreaded, but that need not be the case. Conversations about new membership can be constructive, helping to build up an internal vocation culture.

What sometimes emerge are feelings of frustration that there are not more people in formation. Also there are feelings of guilt—a sense that I as a member have done little to foster a new vocation. Perhaps some even feel panic that as we all get older we will become less and less attractive to a new generation. Most often we are just too tired to have the same conversation about vocations every time we gather: “We are all responsible for vocations.” “What are we doing for vocations?” “Is there a vocation plan”?

“What is the vocation office doing?”

Some of us let ourselves off the hook by declaring we are not the only ones. No one is getting vocations. Our society is too secular. Young people Michalenko | Congregational Gathering

By Brother Paul Michalenko, S.T. Brother Paul Michalenko, S.T. belongs to the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity.

An organizational consultant, he has facilitated numerous congregational and provincial chapters and assemblies. He has been involved in formation ministry at a national level for many years, and has been the coordinator of formation and vocation ministries for his own congregation.

Spring 2021 | HORIZON | 21

TOOLS TO STRENGTHEN INTERNAL VOCATION CULTURE The NRVC has two separate resources for helping communities foster a positive internal culture of vocations: “Culture of Vocations Assessment Tool,” for men religious; “Vocation Culture: Reflection to Action” for women.

Available at nrvc.net/store or download at: bit.ly/3ttU5VW

are too self-absorbed to consider a life of service lived in community. I wear enough hats without being a vocation director as well. Or worse: how could I in good conscience invite someone into this group?

As a consultant who has facilitated many assemblies and chapters, both provincial and congregational, I am privy to these conversations and the emotions they arouse. What is a planning committee to do with these conflicting feelings and requests? How can communities have vocation discussions that are life-giving and constructive?

Put vocations on the agenda Certainly taking advantage of those rare and expensive moments in assemblies and chapters to inform and motivate members on a variety of issues is just common sense. Certainly the future membership of the community deserves some attention. An important conversation about vocations is one of building an internal culture of vocations. In his article in the Summer 2014 edition of HORIZON Brother John Mark Falkenhain, O.S.B. defines this as the set of beliefs, values, attitudes, and practices that support the cultivation and retention of vocations in a community.

The core questions that face any congregation are: How does our manner of living encourage or discourage young people in joining our community? How does our manner of living encourage or discourage young people in persevering in our community?

In the end, what keeps members fulfilled in their vocational call is what also attracts members. Perhaps this is the conversation we should be having. It is not always easy to have this conversation in a short time period or as an added agenda item at a chapter or assembly. You cannot legislate the beliefs, values, and practices that create a culture of vocations. Some groups have at least raised the awareness of members to the significance of this conversation at an assembly or chapter. This has resulted in bringing the conversation to regional gath22 | Spring 2021 | HORIZON

erings or local communities for reflection, discussion, planning, and action. Here is a possible scenario for having conversations about internal vocation culture.

Step 1 Use an assembly or chapter to raise the issue of vocations. There is much to learn and know about this topic. New membership is holding steady. New members from a variety of ethnic backgrounds is the norm. Lay volunteer programs and good campus ministries are rich sources of prospective members, along with Catholic high schools and colleges. Building a culture of vocations is essential for attracting and retaining vocations.

An assembly or chapter can create an impetus, a plan for further discussions.

Step 2 Create a planning team to engage the members in a process of conversations after the assembly or chapter. An outside facilitator or person who is involved in vocations on a regional or national level can be helpful here. Most congregations have a rhythm of periodic meetings either regionally or locally. Utilize this schedule for a conversation on vocations. This can be another opportunity to educate members about what is happening in vocation ministry. Certainly it is a time to begin unpacking the concept of creating a “culture of vocations.”

The planning team needs to not only plan the regional events but collect and summarize the ideas that emerge so that they can be reflected back to the congregation for further discussion and implementation.

Step 3 Start the conversation with an appreciative dialogue. “What attracts others to our way of life, our charism?” “When are we at our best?” “What do we uniquely offer to the church and the world?” It is too easy to fall into the trap of what is not attractive about us.

Dwelling on this will not create enthusiasm for attracting others. Another small group conversation could be about “What attracted me and what keeps me here?” Through reflection, sharing, and highlighting the commonalities a positive culture of vocations is developed.

Congregations need to talk about their attractiveness. In this age of focusing on aging and diminishment, at a time when we live in smaller communities where there is at least one strange member, we can lose sight of what attracted us to join and what keeps us persevering.

Certainly we have been bombarded by negative images of religious and clergy as a result of unspeakable scandals. However, that is not who the majority of us are.

We need to seriously encourage one another and reflect back to one another the gift we are, the “attractiveness” Michalenko | Congregational Gathering

we possess. In a conference with bishops, Pope Francis speaks of evangelization as “enticement.” We are to “attract the world, to enchant it by the beauty of love, to seduce it with the offer of freedom given in the Gospel” (Origins, March 20, 2014, 668). We can only do that if we see it in ourselves first and remember how we were seduced. This kind of conversation is an essential step toward creating a culture of vocations. It reminds us that we as religious have something important to offer, that we have an attractive way of life. The charism of our group is still relevant and exciting today.

Step 4 What attracted Some groups have invited those in formation to share at regional meetings what attracted them to the congregation. Their vocation stories can make the attractiveness more real through their experiences of members, ministry, and community. In some cases lay coworkers at sponsored ministries share what they experience with the congregation, what keeps them in relationship with members and the charism.

These outside voices can provide a unique perspective that members need to hear.

Step 5 How we communicate A challenge that can emerge from these conversations is to examine how we communicate our attractiveness to others. How can we be more intentional both within our communities and in our ministries in reflecting this attractiveness? Our friends and coworkers can help us adjust our perceptions to what others actually see in us. Gathering a group of friends, associates, or parishioners and asking them what they see as attractive in our community could be a way of reinforcing or correcting the image of who we are and what we offer, reinforcing an authentic culture of vocations.

Step 6 What we can do This process should end with a discussion of “what can I do?” and “what can we do?” to more concretely foster a culture of vocations. Ideas that emerge can be collated into a plan for the province or district. These suggestions can be given back to members for further local implementation. Ideas such as holding open houses for younger associates, inviting others to pray with us once a week, hosting college student reunions during Christmas break can generate a spirit of hospitality and soften the anxiety of vocation ministry.

Assemblies and chapters should be opportunities to create a conversation about vocations. It can be the beginning of a process that can unfold after the event.

However they should not be a time where we beat each other up for our lack of vocations or indifference or Michalenko | Congregational Gathering

failure. We should invest energy in creating a culture of vocations that both nurtures and retains members. Our meetings should be opportunities to reinforce what is best in us and remind us of our attractiveness. The conversations we have together will create our reality. How we frame those conversations is important.

A closing word of caution: at times we try to pack too much business into our meetings. For this process to be effective it should be the sole agenda and not just one of many items to be covered. The atmosphere should encourage the best of who we are with good camaraderie, food, and prayer. The setting should allow for comfort as well as room for small and large group gatherings. A scribe or secretary to capture the wisdom for the planning committee is helpful in the collation process.

A possible schedule (approximately five and a half hours) for a local gathering could include the following: 10:00 a.m. Prayer or Mass 10:30 a.m. Purpose of gathering (provincial or

general) 10:45 a.m. Reflection and sharing in small groups

on “our attractiveness” 11:15 a.m. Reports 11:30 a.m. Those in formation share their vocation

stories and interact with members. Or

co-workers or associates share what

attracts them to the community.

12:00 p.m. Lunch 1:00 p.m. Education on culture of vocations 1:30 p.m. Small group discussion on steps to

create a better culture of vocations 2:00 p.m. Small groups look at commonalities 2:30 p.m. Next steps in the process. Evaluation 3:30 p.m. Closing prayer Assemblies and chapters are important times for religious communities. They are graced opportunities to assess the quality of our lives and plan for the future. With creative planning and leadership they can be an experience of renewal through the power of the Holy Spirit. As a facilitator I have experienced new life emerge in hope filled and positive ways through healthy dialogue. Communities do well to remember the words of the prophet Isaiah: “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (Is. 43:18-19). n A version of this article appeared in 2016 HORIZON Spring, Number 2.

Spring 2021 | HORIZON | 23

Photo by George Martell, Archdiocese of Boston

Religious orders have made tremendous progress in safeguarding youth.

Sustaining those strides forward requires conscious, ongoing commitment.

By Mike Riley Mike Riley has worked in church sexual abuse prevention since 2007. He currently heads MHR Advising in Mansfield, Texas, and previously worked in sexual abuse investigations, training, and site visits for Praesidium. He holds master’s degrees in social work and business administration and is a licensed counselor and private investigator. This article was developed in partnership with Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities, FADICA.

24 | Spring 2021 | HORIZON

Young people take part in a Discipleship Week event in the Archdiocese of Boston.

Youth safety deserves ongoing commitment

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HE LAST 18 YEARS HAVE BEEN TRANSFORMATIVE in the American Catholic church, as tremendous resources have been invested in creating safe environments for youth and vulnerable adults. During this time, hundreds of religious institutes, dioceses, and Catholic organizations have worked at developing safe environments for children, youth, and vulnerable persons served in Catholic ministries. From increased screening and training expectations to more swift and compassionate responses to allegations, Catholic organizations have in many instances led the safeguarding efforts for other industries that serve vulnerable populations.

Within this context, vocation directors have an important role in abuse prevention by screening out those who may not be able to maintain boundaries in ministry. Although the pressure can be great to focus on numbers of candidates, experience has shown that focusing on quantity rather than quality candidates can have disastrous effects. It is important to acknowledge that the discernment process has two important functions related to safeguarding. The first is to identify screening issues that would indicate a candidate may not be suitable for religious life in community.

These issues might range from personality issues to potential difficulty livRiley | Youth Safety

ing a vowed life, to a history of difficulty in maintaining boundaries. The second function is to identify formation issues. These are things communities can reasonably expect to develop and change as candidates move through postulancy, the novitiate, and into vows. No candidate is perfect, and we all have areas where we need to develop and grow. The vocation director plays an important role in discerning which issues are screening items and which are formation items. In my experience, directors can be greatly aided in this process through consultation and discussion with an admissions or vocation committee.

These screening functions are complex and require a great deal of support, including opportunities to reflect on your objectivity. It can be tempting to be less vigilant, for example, when a candidate or his or her family is known by your community.

Those of us in the safeguarding field often discuss what we call the “three C journey,” in other words, how organizations move from attitudes of complacency to compliance to commitment. This offers a good framework to assess how well your community and its vocation ministry create and sustain safe environments.

Generally speaking, here are characteristics of each type of organization.

Complacent organizations: • deny an abuse incident could happen • hope past success will prevent future abuse • have few standardized procedures • tend to have punitive responses • treat incidents as individual failures (bad apple syndrome) Compliant organizations: • focus on reacting to abuse rather than preventing it • use diocesan rules as the standard of care • focus their training on identifying and reporting abuse • have “a policy” • minimize red-flag behaviors Committed organizations: • see creating safe environments as everyone’s responsibility • schedule training frequently and ensure that it is relevant, impactful, and offered “just in time” • continually update their best practices • have a continuous quality improvement process Not long ago, it was not unusual to hear statements like these: “Our men are good guys, we don’t need to Riley | Youth Safety

do all this extra stuff,” or, “We haven’t had an abuse case so we must be doing fine.” Thankfully these types of complacent statements are much rarer now for many reasons.

A compliance mindset is demonstrated when religious institutes do what is necessary or required but very little more. The thinking is, for example: “We do what is required by the dioceses we serve in.” This perspective shifts the responsibility for creating a safe environment away from the institute and onto an external entity, like a diocese or Praesidium.

Commitment happens when an institute fully owns the issues of safeguarding. Leadership is loud and clear that this issue is one of top priority, standards are clear, well promoted, and enforced, and there is continual growth and reflection regarding the issue.

There are many good examples of religious institutes adhering to industry best practices when working with candidates. Many vocation directors use behaviorally based questions in their interviews with candidates.

(These are taught in NRVC’s workshops Behavioral Assessment 1 and 2.) We know that behaviorally based questions offer directors the ability to see what is and has been, rather than what the candidates would like to project. Conducting multiple interviews with candidates has been another staple of the screening process. In addition, institutes can gain valuable insight from community members who interact with candidates on “Come and See” weekends or other opportunities for interaction with the community. By paying attention to feedback from these sessions, vocation directors and committees can collectively decide what are a candidate’s areas for growth and what might be disqualifying factors.

Vocation directors are often the first person to interact with candidates and as such have incredible influence on the endeavor of safeguarding. Ongoing training, learning from best practices elsewhere, and committing to an attitude of continual learning and improvement are critical to maintaining the integrity of an organization’s safe environment.

Religious orders have made great strides in ensuring youth safety, and with the continued commitment of vocation directors and their communities, these high standards will remain, allowing the gospel mission of religious institutes to flourish. n

Related article “Safe youth ministry is everyone’s job,” by Christy Schiller, Spring 2015.

Spring 2021 | HORIZON | 25

Feed your spirit

C

HRISTIAN HOPE is different from optimism. Optimism is a natural virtue and a wonderful gift of temperament when things are going well, when we think tomorrow is going to be better than today. Christian hope has nothing to do with the belief that tomorrow is necessarily going to be better than today. The bride is present and that is enough reason for a foundational happiness, even if all else is falling apart. Jesus seems to be saying that if even one mustard seed is sprouting, or one dime found, or one sheep recovered (see Luke 15)—that is enough reason for a big party! Even a small indicator of God is still an indicator of God—and therefore an indicator of reason, meaning, and final joy. A little bit of God goes a long way.

—Father Richard Rohr, O.F.M., in The Wisdom Pattern: Order, Disorder, Reorder (Franciscan Media, 2020)

26 | Spring 2021 | HORIZON

Rohr | Christian Hope

Book notes

Distilled wisdom on living with diversity

A

S A NATION WE ARE DIVERSE in cultures, races, nationalities and religions, a fact that brings both opportunity and challenge to religious women and men. By engaging that diversity, we can help create hope and unity in our nation and world. We can make Jesus’ desire our own, “that all may be one.” One resource to help religious communities along the way is Engaging Our Diversity: Interculturality and Consecrated Life Today (Orbis Books, 2020). The book is the outgrowth of a three-year program for religious institutes to learn together what interculturality means, what it requires of us, and to develop resources to help us grow in our embrace of diversity. Sponsored by the Center for the Study of Consecrated Life (CSCL) at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, the program gathered leaders, formators, and younger members from 21 religious communities, including my own, for a “train the trainer program, a call to conversion and practice,” as described by Sister Maria Cimperman, R.S.C.J., director of the CSCL and co-editor of the book (with Father Roger P. Schroeder, S.V.D.). In addition to the book, the initiative produced several related videos, available at learn.ctu.edu/category/interculturality/.

This book distills much of the wisdom that emerged from the project.

Essays from the presenters invite us to know and value our own cultural identity and the cultural identity of “the other.” They challenge us to be inclusive, to become aware of who is present and who is absent in our lives and at our tables and to welcome the stranger, the one who is different from us. The essays provide concepts, cultural frameworks, case studies, questions, images, and scriptural reflections—all aimed at opening readers to intercultural experiences in their communities and ministries.

A richness of the book is that the authors come from different cultural backgrounds, with diverse world views and spiritualities. Seeing life from Kraemer | Living With Diversity

By Sister Barbara Kraemer, O.S.F. Sister Barbara Kraemer, O.S.F. is on the International Leadership Team of the School Sisters of St. Francis, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She has taught in the School of Public Service, DePaul University, and was the founding director of the Center for the Study of Religious Life at Catholic Theological Union, Chicago. She formed leaders of small Catholic communities in Honduras and Nicaragua and has been a facilitator and a translator at international meetings.

Spring 2021 | HORIZON | 27

different perspectives broadens us and helps us to listen without judging. Each of us has a cultural and social background, our “social location,” that makes a difference in how we interpret life, live with others in community, and practice our faith. This was true even for Jesus, as Sister Adriana Milmanda, S.Sp.S. helps us understand when she identifies Jesus’ social location: Jesus of Nazareth was born and brought up in a specific culture. He was a Jew who spoke Palestinian Aramaic and was conditioned by a Semitic way of speaking and thinking.... Jesus dressed like a Jew, prayed like a Jew, and taught and argued like a Jewish rabbi. His life, mission, and teaching were totally rooted in the Jewish culture and identity.... The Word found human expression in a Jewish culture.

From our social location we come to know and value our own cultural identity and to learn about the cultural identity of others. One way to begin is by sharing our personal stories. Everyone has a story. When someone listens to me as I share my story, I feel valued as a person.

In vocation ministry, you listen to the stories of those attracted to your community. In doing so, you show your respect and interest in them, and you recognize how they are different from you.

Storytelling is also important for healing hurts our members may have experienced. Sister Teresa Maya, C.C.V.I. had conversations with Irish sisters who came to the United States and were sent to accent training school because of their Irish accent—a traumatic experience for many of them. She shares how surprised she was to learn that they had never shared the hurt of this experience with their own sisters. How difficult it is for a community to grow together if the members do not share one another’s joys and sorrows.

Coming to know someone who is different from me does not happen automatically. Essays by Sister Maria Hong Nguyen, O.S.F. and Father Roger Schroeder, S.V.D. offer a framework for talking about difference. They give reflection questions and case studies to help us apply theoretical knowledge to real situations. Moving from theory to practice is also moving from head to heart and to conversion. We are invited to accept others for who they are and not expect that they become like us.

As we welcome new members into our communities, do we accept them for who they are, or do we expect them to become like us? Father Tony Gittins, C.S.Sp. invites us to assess how we treat new members. We know there is a difference of power between the formator and the newcomer, which implies that we need to do “a 28 | Spring 2021 | HORIZON

careful power analysis” and assess “whether incoming members are treated as equals.” Insiders are in a position of power; outsiders are in a powerless position. In a community, if power differentials are not addressed, tensions arise, as do attitudes of superiority of one culture over another. Gittins’ chart, “From Invitation to Radical Welcome,” presents three models for community building: assimilation (the classical model), token inclusion, and radical welcome. The chart offers us a tool for becoming conscious of our practice, opening ourselves to the hard work of conversion toward greater inclusivity.

How do we become communities of radical welcome? Sister LaReine-Marie Mosely, S.N.D. understands what it means to be different, to be “the other” in her congregation. She identifies herself as “a middle-aged, African American woman religious, who belongs to a historically German, international congregation….one of only two African American women in our four United States provinces.” To become a community of radical welcome, she says, we need to create a space for all to tell their stories and speak their truth. She calls us to move out of our “self- or group-centeredness,” and, in the words of Johann Metz, make a “preferential option for others in their otherness.”

A community of radical welcome is a community that has no dominant culture. Most communities have a normative or dominant culture. We need to name it and negotiate it, so that together we can form a new culture and live interculturally as equals. The Maryknollers and other missionary communities have been living with members of various cultures for a long time. But to live “interculturally” requires being intentional about community living and creating a new culture together. Sister Sia Nyasari Temu, M.M., from Tanzania, who has lived in an intentional intercultural community in Kenya for 13 years, admits, “Things are not always cozy or rosy in our community.” By listening to one another’s stories and engaging in conversation, she said that they built community at the local level. They sought to understand from the other person’s view, going deeper in the conversation to check assumptions and withhold judgments, recognizing that each one carried her own perceptual filters. Temu encourages us to be patient and compassionate.

Engaging Our Diversity offers many resources to help vocation directors and religious communities begin understanding and practicing an intercultural way of life. It is an excellent tool for conversion, empowering us to become creators of hope and unity in our nation and world. n Kraemer | Living With Diversity

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Join us for virtual learning, networking, and inspiration Details at NRVC.net Orientation Program for New Vocation Directors July 12-16 Behavioral Assessment I July 19-21 Ethical Issues in Vocation and Formation Ministry July 23-24 Is it Cultural, Generational, or Family of Origin? Issues in Candidate Assessment July 26-28