2017 HORIZON, Number 2, Spring

Spring 2017 www.nrvc.net | Volume 42, Number 2

Forward in faith 3

Updates

5

Poverty: new thoughts on an old vow

By Sister Elise GarcĂ?a, O.P.

Father Daniel Horan, O.F.M. Sister Tracy Kemme, S.C. 14 Vocation wisdom from the heart of the church Adapted by Carol Schuck Scheiber 17 A quick guide to Catholic teaching on vocation

By Cardinal Vincent Nichols

23 All one body: Forming intercultural communities

By Father Anthony J. Gittins, C.S.Sp. 29 Six tips for using Snapchat in your ministry

By Josh and Aimee Shank 32 Feed your spirit

Why I value religious life

By Jennifer Tomshack 35 Book notes How 21st-century parishes

can nurture vocations

By Sister Katarina Schuth, O.S.F.

2017 NRVC Vocation Ministry Workshops SPECIAL PROGRAM Vocation Ambassadors Program Father Larry Rice, C.S.P. et al.

June 9-12, 2017 Holy Cross College, South Bend, IN

SUMMER INSTITUTE 2017

Learn and connect.

Behavioral Assessment 1 Father Raymond P. Carey, Ph.D. July 10-12, 2017 De Paul University Loop Campus, Chicago Ethics in Vocation and Formation Ministry Father Raymond P. Carey, Ph.D. July 14-15, 2017, De Paul University Loop Campus, Chicago Psycho-sexual Integration Sister Lynn Levo, C.S.J. July 17-20, 2017 De Paul University Loop Campus, Chicago Orientation Program for New Vocation Directors Sister Deborah Borneman, SS.C.M. et al.

July 21-25, 2017 De Paul University Loop Campus, Chicago

FALL INSTITUTE 2017 Orientation Program for New Vocation Directors Sister Deborah Borneman, SS.C.M.

et al.

October 11-15, 2017 Marillac Center, Leavenworth, KS Behavioral Assessment 1 Father Raymond P. Carey, Ph.D. October 16-18, 2017 Marillac Center, Leavenworth, KS

Refresh and retool.

Behavioral Assessment 2 Father Raymond P. Carey, Ph.D. October 20-21, 2017 Marillac Center, Leavenworth, KS

Go to NRVC.net to sign up.

Editor’s note

Goodbye nest, hello world

M

Y BABY IS LEAVING THE NEST. And why does that matter for a vocation journal? It matters in the way that every young person you meet as a vocation minister matters. He is stepping into those fields of gold that you see on this cover, onto a path with unseen twists and turns. Like each young man and woman you counsel, he steps forward in hope, ready to share his gifts with the world. Well … not always ready. Certainly not always fields of gold.

And some days, not even too sure about “sharing gifts.”

Nevertheless Ben and his 2017 high school classmates are bursting with life and itching to get on with it. Pope Francis recognizes this yearning in young people as a universal trait. He wrote this when introducing the intriguing topic of the next bishop’s synod in 2018, “Youth, Faith, and Vocational Discernment”: “Dear young people, have you noticed this look [from Jesus] towards you? Have you heard this voice? Have you felt this urge to undertake this journey? I am sure that, despite the noise and confusion seemingly prevalent in the world, this call continues to resonate in the depths of your heart.…”

Precisely because the pulse of the world is for children to grow up and march forward we must share the treasure that is religious life. Young adults cannot choose what they do not know. Share your lives with our sons and daughters! They need your witness. They appreciate your vision of a life lived in community with purpose and integrity. You are a daily reminder that God and God alone supplies the pulse of the world.

May this edition of HORIZON help advance your ministry toward Ben, his classmates, and young people everywhere.

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

Carol Schuck Scheiber, editor

Spring 2017 | HORIZON | 1

Visit NRVC.net for details on subscriptions, advertising, archives and more.

HORIZON Journal of the National Religious Vocation Conference HORIZON Editor Carol Schuck Scheiber Proofreaders Sister Mary Ann Hamer, O.S.F.; Virginia Piecuch Editorial Advisory Board Margaret Cartwright; Father Thomas McCarthy, O.S.A.; Brother Paul Michalenko, S.T.; Sister Elaine Penrice, F.S.P.; Sister Elyse Ramirez, O.P.; Sister Mary Rowell, C.S.J.; Jennifer Tomshack; Brother Tom Wendorf, S.M. Page Designer Patrice J. Tuohy © 2017, National Religious Vocation Conference.

HORIZON is published quarterly by TrueQuest Communications on behalf of the National Religious Vocation Conference, 5401 South Cornell Avenue, Suite 207, Chicago, IL 60615-5664.

773-363-5454 | 773-363-5530 fax | nrvc@nrvc.net | nrvc.net Facebook Horizon vocation journal Twitter @HORIZONvocation

SUBSCRIPTIONS Additional subscriptions are $40 each for NRVC members; $95 each for non-members. Single copies are $25 each.

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

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REPRINTS, ARCHIVES, ELECTRONIC EDITIONS Permission is granted to distribute no more than 50 copies of HORIZON articles for noncommercial use. Please use the following credit line: Reprinted with permission from HORIZON, www.nrvc.net. For other types of reprints, please contact the editor at cscheiber@nrvc.net.

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

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

National Religious Vocation Conference Board for 2017-2018 Father Toby Collins, C.R. Sister Gayle Lwanga Crumbley, R.G.S. Sister Anna Marie Espinosa, I.W.B.S. Sister Michele Vincent Fisher, C.S.F.N. Brother Ronald Hingle, S.C. Board chair Sister Maria Iannuccillo, S.S.N.D.

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Sister Kristin Matthes, S.N.D.deN. Father Don Miller, O.F.M. Sister Priscilla Moreno, R.S.M. Sister Anita Quigley, S.H.C.J. Brother Tom Wendorf, S.M. Father Vince Wirtner, C.PP.S.

Updates

NRVC welcomes new executive director The National Religious Vocation Conference will have a new executive director beginning June 1: Sister Sharon Dillon, S.S.J.-T.O.S.F. Dillon is a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis. She brings a wide array of experience to the position. She was vocation director for her community for 10 years and served as executive director for the Franciscan Federation for six years. In the past 25 years she also co-founded, directed, worked at, and served on the board of several nonprofits that provide hospitality and support for people with intellectual and medical/physical challenges.

Sister Sharon Dillon, S.S.J.Dillon has a master’s T.O.S.F. in education, is certified in special education and physical education, and is a Franciscan spiritual director. Dillon succeeds Brother Paul Bednarczyk, C.S.C., who became vicar general of his community in September 2016 after serving at NRVC for 14 years.

“The board was impressed by the depth and breadth of Sister Sharon’s experience,” says board chair Brother Ronald Hingle, S.C. “We are confident that she will carry on the vision and legacy of inclusion and professional excellence passed on by our prior executive directors and effectively advance the mission of NRVC during her tenure.”

Summer and Fall Institute offer courses NRVC will offer a variety of workshops for new and experienced vocation directors starting with the July 10-12 Summer Institute in Chicago and then continuing with the Fall Institute at the Marillac Center in Leavenworth, Kansas. Summer courses cover topics including assessment, ethics, sexuality, and orientation. Fall courses covUpdates

er orientation and two levels of assessment preparation.

Details are on the inside front cover and at nrvc.net.

Study reveals sisters are online but could engage better in social media

Previous research has shown that the Internet is one of the most common ways people today first learn about religious institutes that they enter.

In April A Nun’s Life Ministry released the findings from a study showing that Catholic sisters are aware of the need to engage online with prospective discerners but typically do not have the capacity to do so in a planned, systematic way.

“The new research study highlights both the need for and desire of religious institutes to receive increased training and resources to enhance vocation outreach, especially on the most promising platforms,” said Sister Maxine Kollasch, I.H.M., co-founder of A Nun’s Life.

The study found that 92 percent of women’s institutes have a website; 70 percent are on Facebook. However, they tend not to be involved in the social media sites that younger women use, namely Snapchat (4 percent of institutes use it), chatrooms (4 percent), Pinterest (14 percent), and Instagram (11 percent). Only 24 percent of institutes have a plan that identifies strategies and desired outcomes for vocation outreach on the Internet.

Spring 2017 | HORIZON | 3

Vocation synod sparks activity Religious communities and dioceses around the world are beginning to prepare for the October 2018 bishops synod that will focus on “Youth, Faith, and Vocational Discernment.” Pope Francis initiated the synod to help pastoral workers and families better understand and respond to the needs of young people as they begin pondering their path in life, whether single, married, vowed, or ordained.

Many religious communities have begun to study and discuss the preparatory document. Download the document at nrvc.net on the “Resources” tab.

Panelists speak during the March Brothers Symposium.

concerned about the vitality of brotherhood attended the symposium. Alongside the NRVC, the symposium sponsors were the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, the Religious Brothers Conference, the Religious Formation Conference, and the University of Notre Dame, where the event took place.

Study of international sisters released The Watertown (South Dakota) Benedictines have initiated regular Facebook posts based on messages from the Preparatory Document for the 2018 vocation synod.

“This document is very helpful,” says Brother Ronald Hingle, S.C., board chair for the National Religious Vocation Conference. “It helps those of us in vocation ministry tap into the rich teaching of the church on all types of vocations, and it helps us consider the broader themes of pastoral care for young people. The forthcoming synod is very exciting for all of us who work with young people.”

A recent study of sisters from abroad who minister in the United States shows, among other things, that these religious: 1) tend to be much younger upon arrival (age 30) than the average U.S. sister; 2) are highly educated; 3) come from more than 80 countries.

The study was conducted by Trinity University and the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate.

Download the study at nrvc.net on the “Resources” tab.

Brothers Symposium energizes 200+ More than 200 people gathered March 25 in South Bend, Indiana for the first-ever national Brothers Symposium, co-sponsored by NRVC and several other organizations.

Participants represented 32 religious institutes. Their discussion centered on the singularity of the vocation, focusing on the Vatican document “Identity and Mission of the Religious Brother in the Church,” published in 2015.

NRVC member and former vocation director Brother John Mark Falkenhain, O.S.B. delivered the keynote address. In addition to brothers, others in the church 4 | HORIZON | Spring 2017

Sisters of Congregation of Mary, Queen minister in Springfield, Missouri. In the 1970s, the sisters began arriving in the U.S. Today their institute is well established in the Springfield-Cape Girardeau diocese.

Updates

Evangelical poverty is at the heart of religious life. It always deserves fresh re-examination.

Poverty: new thoughts on an old vow Discerners don’t get far in considering religious life without thinking hard about poverty, chastity, and obedience. With that in mind, HORIZON begins a series of reflections on the evangelical counsels. We invite readers to give their feedback to keep the conversation going. Write us at nrvc@nrvc. net, or respond on HORIZON’s Facebook or Twitter page.

A Witness to Preserving God’s Creation

By Sister Elise García, O.P.

I

MUST SHARE AT THE OUTSET THAT I never took a vow of poverty. Dominicans such as myself take only one vow: that of obedience. Voluntary poverty and chastity are implied, lived as part of our common life, but they are not explicit in the traditional vow that we in the Order of Preachers have taken over the centuries. Nonetheless, voluntary poverty in the form of mendicancy was actually one of the distinguishing characteristics of the new form of religious life that St. García, Horan, Kemme | Poverty

Sister Elise García, O.P., is on the General Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters. She cofounded and codirected Santuario Sisterfarm, an ecology center in Texas.

The center was dedicated to cultivating diversity—biodiversity and cultural diversity—as a way of promoting peace among diverse people and between people and Earth.

Father Daniel Horan, O.F.M. is a Franciscan friar of Holy Name Province and Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. He is the author of several books, including God is Not Fair and Other Reasons for Gratitude (2016).

Sister Tracy Kemme, S.C. a Sister of Charity of Cincinnati and regular columnist for the Global Sisters Report, lives at Visitation House, a community of discernment and hospitality, and ministers at a largely Hispanic Cincinnati parish and at the Archdiocesan Catholic Social Office.

Spring 2017 | HORIZON | 5

Photo: United Nations, Evan Schneider

Two girls stand in front of debris in Tacloban City left by a 2013 Super Typhoon in the Philippines. Worldwide , poor people are harder than others hit by natural disasters and environmental damage.

Their homes are less structurally sound, they have fewer resources for rebuilding their lives, and they tend to live in areas damaged by pollution.

Dominic and his contemporary, St. Francis, created at the start of the 13th century.

Relying as it did on the uncertainty of almsgiving, mendicant poverty signified abandonment to God’s providence. For Dominic, the humble act of begging daily for food Religious have an also meant entering opportunity today to turn into a relationship of the vow of poverty into mutuality with those a powerful witness for to whom he preached. social transformation by As his biographer M.H. publicly rejecting ways of Vicaire, O.P. wrote, mendicancy replaced living that ravage God’s a “vertical scheme” of Earth and dehumanize preaching with a “horiGod’s people. zontal scheme.” Sharing the Word of God in evangelical humility with those who shared their daily bread was a means of creating “a loving union with his brethren, with all other men and women, and with God.” Although in time the practice of mendicancy gave way to other forms of living voluntary poverty, the basic tenet underlying it—that we preach with our lives as much as with our words—remains key today. So, too, does the idea of preaching from a “horizontal scheme”— or from within a “discipleship of equals,” to draw on the feminist insights of theologian Elizabeth Schüssler Fiorenza.

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Seen in this context, voluntary poverty calls on religious to impose limits on consumption and to renounce privilege, which expresses itself in oppressive ways across lines of race, class, gender, income, sexual orientation, and geography. Lived to its fullest, Dominicans and other religious have an opportunity today to turn this vow into a powerful witness for social transformation by publicly rejecting ways of living that ravage God’s Earth and dehumanize God’s people.

The ever-accelerating consumption that undergirds our global economic system relies on the exploitation of people and planet—and is fast outpacing our planet’s natural capacity to replenish itself. The Global Footprint Network in 2016 calculated that we reached “Earth Overshoot Day” on August 8, 2016. That was the date when humanity’s demand on nature for the year exceeded “nature’s budget”—what Earth could generate in a year. Each year the date of our overshoot moves up, with devastating impact: “collapsing fisheries, diminishing forest cover, depletion of fresh water systems, and the build up of carbon dioxide emissions,” according to Global Footprint Network.

“Overshoot also contributes to resource conflicts and wars, mass migrations, famine, disease, and other human tragedies—and tends to have a disproportionate impact on the poor, who cannot buy their way out of the problem by getting resources from somewhere else.”

If consumption is the driver of this global economic system, fossil fuels power it. The massive amount of carbon released into the atmosphere through this process García, Horan, Kemme | Poverty

Redemptorist Renewal Center

is changing its chemistry and threatening to alter our global climate catastrophically. Recognizing the existential threat that climate change poses to life on Earth, in December 2015, 195 nations signed the historic COP21 Paris Climate Agreement. The agreement imposes curbs on fossil fuel use to cap global warming at no more than 2 degrees Celsius, with a goal of limiting the increase to 1.5 degrees—a safer target. It also provides for funding from wealthier nations to assist poorer ones in making this massive economic transition.

As of today, the plans to implement the agreement do not match those urgent goals. The signatory nations must make much greater commitments to reduce their fossil fuel use if they are to reach that target—and to provide the promised investments.

Vow of poverty invites action, witness Time is fast running out. It takes 100 years for carbon dioxide (CO2) to dissipate from the atmosphere. That means the effects of climate change we are experiencing today are the result of accumulated CO2 spewed during the industrial growth of the last century. The impact of any action we take now to curb carbon emissions—or to continue business as usual—will be felt decades from now. It will be a shameful legacy of unimaginable global hardship and anguish if we don’t quit our carbon habit and shift to sustainable ways of living—swiftly.

According to Carbon Brief, we have five years remaining at current emission rates for the world to use up the “carbon budget” that would keep future temperature increases to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. That’s the level most scientists now believe we should not cross if we are to avoid the risk of runaway global warming.

In short, we have between now and 2021 to step off the catastrophic trajectory we are on and begin to walk on a new path towards a clean renewable-energy future.

This small window of time puts a laser-like focus today on our ancient vow of poverty: How might we give it public witness to help the world make this critical economic shift?

In the U.S., with avowed climate deniers in power, and renewed oil and gas exploration getting the green light, it is difficult to press for change at the national level. But the global economic and energy transition that needs to take place will be realized in villages, towns, and cities across the world—and that kind of local focus could be a very fruitful way to move forward.

Here in the United States where we bear an historic responsibility as the world’s top carbon polluter, comGarcía, Horan, Kemme | Poverty

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munities of women and men religious could make the individual and communal sacrifices necessary to help lead these local efforts. Our motherhouses, convents and monasteries could set bold targets for reducing our carbon footprints within the next five years—by 2021. We could make The vow of poverty, the means for achieving with its call to limit those reductions—such consumption and as solar panels or wind renounce privilege, is turbines—highly visible a powerful religious and reach out to work commitment that can help with our neighbors and us give witness to the public and civic leaders global economic shift our to help leverage similar world must undertake. changes in our local areas, with a focus on addressing the needs of people in low-income neighborhoods and in areas suffering the deleterious effects of environmental injustice.

Photo courtesy of Adrian Dominican Sisters

We could go a step further, joining hands with those of other faith traditions around the world who are similarly concerned about the integrity of God’s creation and the impact of ecological degradation on the poor, and are playing leadership roles in driving change. In the face of melting glaciers and other environmental challenges, for example, Buddhist monks and nuns in the Khoryug network of monasteries and centers in the Himalayas have installed solar panels, rain catchment systems, and taken other steps “in order to save the Himalayas and Tibet from the threats of deforestation, climate change, and pollution.” The effort to lead environmental change in their region flows from a belief “that this positive change in our societies must begin with ourselves first.”

The vow of poverty, with its call to limit consumption and renounce privilege, is a powerful religious commitment that can help us give witness to the global economic shift our world must undertake with urgency. In Laudato Si: On Care for our Common Home, Pope Francis observed: “We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental. Strategies for a solution demand an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature.” (139).

At its root, this complex crisis is a spiritual crisis. We blaspheme against the Creator when we desecrate God’s creation and act in ways that dehumanize our brothers and sisters.

Beginning with ourselves, we can be the change we wish to see in the world, living the vow of poverty The author’s community, the Adrian Dominicans, have a 10-acre permaculture site (sustainable and self-suffitoday—as if all life decient agriculture) as part of their ecological commitment. At the site transplanting rhubarb are permaculture specialist Elaine Johnson (right) and a student volunteer. pends on it.

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García, Horan, Kemme | Poverty

Photo from Die Grosse Stille / Into Great Silence

The vow of poverty encourages a focus on focus on relationships, free of possessions and the many forms of possessiveness to which humans cling. Above, the monks of the Grande Chartreuse of France practice a famously simple lifestyle.

religious order: St. Francis of Assisi.

Among many caricatures, including love of animals and the establishment of the first Christmas crèche, Francis of Assisi (d. 1226) is often remembered for his

By Father Daniel P. Horan, O.F.M. singular love of poverty. This is undoubtedly true, but not for the reasons most people might at first think.

OST PEOPLE THINK that, among the three Francis did not love poverty as an end in itself. He apevangelical counsels, the vow of obedience is preciated the scriptural witness that confirms material or about power and the need to surrender it in abject poverty is always an evil, something to be avoided response to a religious vocation. Likewise, many believe and protested. The God who “hears the cry of the poor” that the vow of chastity is primarily about relationship (Psalm 34) or is concerned about the poor enslaved in and, again, the need to surrender the possibility of Egypt (Exodus 3:15-17) would not demarriage for the sake of giving oneself mand a voluntary embrace of abjection. for the Kingdom.

Francis’ embrace That kind of poverty—what we usually To some degree, both assumptions mean when we use the term—should of evangelical poverty are grounded in truth. Obedience is never be confused with evangelical about a letting go of the need to be in was a means to a greater poverty, which is what women and men complete control in order to listen to the end: relationship. in religious communities are called to Holy Spirit at work in and through one’s embrace. religious community. Chastity is about Francis’s embrace of evangelical the embrace of another kind of relationpoverty was overtly modeled after the example of Jesus ship, one that allows for attention to the many over the Christ whose self-emptying (kenosis) in the Incarnation individual.

(Philippians 2:5-11) and example of itinerancy throughBut what then are we to make of the vow of poverty? out his earthly ministry provides us with a pattern of What is that about? life that does not allow possessions to get in the way of Simply put, whereas obedience and chastity appear relationship with others. Both material possessions and a at first to be about power and relationship, respectively, sense of possessiveness (such as our ego, our need to be I believe the vow of poverty is in fact about both power right, our judgmentalism, and so on) can easily get in the and relationship. This is not some clever notion that I inway of authentic encounters with others. Francis came to vented or an insight for which I can take credit. Instead, see this in his own 13th-century time by the way society the meaning of evangelical poverty can be discovered in was increasingly stratified with ever-growing divisions the life and tradition of one of its best-known adherents between the “haves” (maiores) and the “have-nots” (miand the one who also happens to be the founder of my

The Vow about Power and Relationship

M

García, Horan, Kemme | Poverty

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nores); the latter were often overlooked and treated as disposable.

His embrace of evangelical poverty was a means to a greater end: relationship. He desired to walk in the footprints of Christ and realized that maintaining the status quo lead to complicity with the social—and, at times, ecclesial—power structures of the day. These structures often perpetuated systemic injustices and discrimination that marginalized the materially poor, the lepers, those of other religious traditions, and anybody else who did not “fit in.” By voluntarily divesting himself of material possessions and a sense of intellectual and egotistical possessiveness, he freed himself to be open to encountering anyone he met.

As the historian Jacques Dalarun observed in his book, Francis of AsIt is especially difficult sisi and Power, Francis to embrace evangelical “chose to establish in a poverty in a world in rule of religious life the which so many of us— condition shared by the myself included—find most powerless classes in ourselves privileged by so the society of his time.... many factors.

With Francis there is less of a merely visible break with the world; at the heart of his life there is instead more intransigence toward any compromise with the world and its powers.”

What began with Francis more than 800 years ago lives on today in the women and men inspired by his and St. Clare’s examples of evangelical poverty. I have found this outlook on poverty both liberating and challenging, life-giving and difficult. What has been liberating and life-giving is the notion that the vows we profess as consecrated religious are not ends in themselves or anachronisms that serve no purpose other than to perpetuate an outdated way of being in the world. Instead, they are powerful means toward a much greater end. Evangelical poverty understood as following in the footprints of Jesus Christ according to the example of Francis and Clare of Assisi puts relationship with all our sisters and brothers first and relegates to a place of disdain the social norms that otherwise govern so much of how we act toward one another.

The challenge of poverty Whereas many of our cultures push the materially poor to the margins of our societies—physically in terms of 10 | HORIZON | Spring 2017

homelessness, and conceptually in terms of how little most people think about them—evangelical poverty calls us to seek those overlooked and forgotten, the voiceless and abandoned. If we do not cling to our possessions, we have little reason to fear them being taken away from us.

If we aren’t concerned about our pride, ego, or our appearance before others, then we are free to associate with all kinds of people in the manner of Jesus and Francis.

This simple yet challenging shift in outlook is just one of the many freeing aspects of the vow of poverty.

But it is especially difficult to embrace evangelical poverty in a world in which so many of us—myself included—find ourselves privileged by so many factors. In my case, I am a white, male, cleric, who holds the highest academic degrees, and experiences financially stability as a religious. This means that my socio-cultural context is one that is inevitably shaped by numerous unearned privileges. Working to become and then remain aware of these realities—particularly how many of the same cultural factors simultaneously benefit me and disadvantage others—is an ongoing challenge. While there are many things my fellow religious sisters and brothers and I can divest ourselves of (such as ownership of property, attachment to material possessions, and the like), there are also immaterial things, like judgments, prejudices, and preconceptions that highlight the need for consistent conversion. Oftentimes the material possessions are the easiest things for us to dispose of and the immaterial things onto which we cling can take a lifetime of growing into evangelical poverty for us to let go.

Not an end in itself This last point is especially important for those accompanying women and men considering religious life. At times the attraction to apostolic ministry or monastic enclosure is partnered with an understandable desire for an increased simplicity of lifestyle that follows from a candidate’s presumption about the meaning of poverty.

Many viewing poverty as simply an end in itself will miss the opportunity for spiritual growth and conversion, which is the primary aim of evangelical poverty, particularly when it frees us to be in authentic relationship with all we meet. Likewise, approaching religious life with a black-and-white or singular vision of poverty does not reflect a wholistic Gospel life. Instead it reiterates many of the same assumptions and either-or thinking of worldly logic and power.

Francis of Assisi is remembered for having referred to himself as God’s new fool in the world (novellus pazGarcía, Horan, Kemme | Poverty

Photo courtesy of Sister Tracy Kemme

The sisters who live in Visitation House, a community of discernment and hospitality in Cincinnati, bless their front door. Author and community member, Sister Tracy Kemme, S.C. says “We are asking God to make a place of welcome and to bless all who enter.”

zus in mundo). While this seems like a deprecating statement, it is actually a statement of affirming Gospel living, including the embrace of evangelical poverty. St. Paul writes in the first chapter of his First Letter to the Corinthians about how there are two kinds of logic or wisdom: that of God and that of the world. The wisdom of God appears like foolishness and is a stumbling block or scandal to those who operate with the wisdom of the world.

In this spirit, Francis embraced the Christian call to seem foolish in a world whose logic discriminates against, rejects, and despises the poor, the ill, and the stranger.

The vow of poverty is for me an invitation for women and men religious to risk appearing foolish in the world, to become “fools for Christ.” It is about operating according to a different logic and wisdom, which prioritizes relationship over and against the temptation of earthly power. It is a rejection of a materialistic culture in which everything and everyone has a price. The vow of poverty says that relationship is the ultimate value and the greatest treasure we should seek.

García, Horan, Kemme | Poverty

A Poverty of Communion

By Sister Tracy Kemme, S.C.

B

EFORE I BECAME A SISTER, my time as an international volunteer with Rostro de Cristo exposed me short-term to what life could be like living a vow of poverty. During my two years of service, I lived with other young adults in an impoverished neighborhood on the coast of Ecuador. We spent hours getting to know our neighbors, people the world might denote as “the poor.” We sat in their small cane houses and talked with them for hours, sweating under the heat of the day but refreshed by the wisdom they exude. They taught us how to make seco de pollo, and their kids beat us at soccer in the dusty streets. We worshipped each Sunday together in a simple chapel, where stray dogs wandered down the aisles and true faith was palpable.

Along with our time visiting neighbors and our ministries at various non-profits, a focus of our year was cultivating intentional community in our home. We Spring 2017 | HORIZON | 11

prayed and ate together each day. We shared a roof, a refrigerator, a washing machine, a bathroom, and a meager house budget as well as all house responsibilities. The transition from an individualistic, success-driven college career to a simple, communal lifestyle in South America was jolting. I felt a total loss of control and a new kind of vulnerability. The first year was the most challenging of my life to date.

And yet, the experience was powerful and transformative, and it left Living in intentional me wanting more. Living community, under one in community with each other and in close relationroof, enhances the ship with our neighbors experience of the vow of propelled me into a depth poverty and unleashes of living I had never its prophetic tension. known. I discovered that my life was not my own; it belonged in a quite final way to God and God’s people. And although it was demanding, it was freeing. The possibility of living a similarly radical and meaningful life drew me to the Sisters of Charity. I made first vows in June of 2015.

Of the three vows I professed, the vow of poverty remains the most elusive to me. Although forced to in the exercise of writing this article, I struggle to put words around it or know if I am living it well. However, during my period of vow preparation, many sisters reminded me that the vows are lifelong journeys. As I wrestle with the vow of poverty today, the word that surfaces in my heart is “relationship.” The vow of poverty has everything to do with community. We read in 2 Corinthians that Jesus “became poor” so that “through his poverty [we] might become rich.” When Jesus “became poor,” he became human, which placed him in intimate relationship with us. He surrendered to vulnerability, and he bound himself inextricably to the vulnerable. In order for the vow of poverty to be powerful and prophetic in a world of need, we must live it in community—within our congregations and with all who suffer.

The vows are evangelical counsels, and as such they have always allowed women religious to say something important to the world. It’s awesome how God calls the “right” people for each generation of religious life and imprints in their DNA a desire for what is most needed in their time and place. When I gather with other newer members, we recognize that perhaps what is needed most from us right now is our witness to interdependence. People coming to religious life now have often 12 | HORIZON | Spring 2017

had the experience of financial independence, a career, and life on their own. There are a myriad of ministry opportunities for single and married people. We don’t come to religious life for an only slightly altered experience of a life we could have lived otherwise. I sense that new generations of religious are and will be called to live the vow of poverty, in community, with even more intensity.

For the great majority of us, that means, nonnegotiably, living in intentional community under one roof.

A different way to be in the world Living in intentional community, under one roof, enhances the experience of the vow of poverty and unleashes its prophetic tension. Sandra Schneiders has written that the vow of poverty urges us to create a gift economy in which the goal is not accumulation of goods but rather the common good. As a young sister, I love the concept that we try to create a whole different way of being in the world based on completely different values.

How countercultural that we hold everything in common and use our resources to work for a better world!

People coming to religious life long for this alternative “economy” as a stance of resistance to the status quo.

And we want to live this way not only in a congregational sense, but in our homes. On a strictly practical level, living together under one roof means holding everything

HORIZON ON POVERTY “Reflections from a new member on the vow of poverty,” by Brother Jesús Alonso, C.S.C., 2003 No. 4.

“Vowed poverty: Gospel stewardship in a consumerist society,” by Richard Woods, O.P., 2003 No. 4.

“The vow of consecrated poverty and other scary words,” by Sister Mary Pat Garvin, R.S.M., 2003 No. 4.

“Religious poverty: witness to the risen Christ,” Michael D. Guinan, O.F.M., 2003 No. 4.

“Surprised by splendor: new members and the vow of poverty,” by Sister Janet Mock, C.S.J., 2003 No. 4.

“To live in poverty is a call to love,” by Sister Melania Strehl, S.N.D., 2003 No. 4.

García, Horan, Kemme | Poverty

in common even through the ins and outs of daily life.

It means one refrigerator and one washing machine. It means a combined food budget and a shared gas and electric bill. It is an important proclamation to a world that, as we all know, is increasingly selfish and divided.

Choosing to do life together says no to that and yes to simplicity and communion.

Living in community also reduces our carbon footprint. At this moment, perhaps the most urgent cry of our vow of poverty is to be prophetically responsible to Earth and all of creation. The environmental crisis is the test of our era. As Pope Francis says in Laudato Si, “What kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are now growing up?” (160).

Women religious are poised to play a role in a comprehensive response to the critical issues facing us. If our vow of poverty binds us to those most hurting in society, we owe everything to our bruised Earth and to the vulnerable populations most affected by Creation’s destruction. In many ways, religious communities are being left behind by other organizations in the fight to save the planet. Together, if we choose it as central to our vow, we could and should be leaders in it.

Living in community also creates depth and challenge on the spiritual level of the vow of poverty. Intentional community means a surrender of power. Even in little things, like what’s for dinner or what kind of Christmas tree we’re going to get, we are reminded daily that “it’s not all about me.” We learn to compromise, to collaborate, to take others into consideration. We die to ourselves. Living in intentional community pries open the space of vulnerability elicited from our vow. We find ourselves having to take off our masks and reveal both our dark and light to our community mates. We come to morning prayer or dinner whether we feel like it or not that particular day. We come face to face with our wounds. Different ways of thinking and being stretch us to be better than we could be on our own. It is sometimes uncomfortable and unsettling. Newer members of religious communities hunger to live out this challenging yet freeing facet of the vow of poverty.

The vow of poverty calls us as well to radical hospitality. If we believe that nothing is truly ours, everything we have is for sharing, especially our homes. The vow of poverty seems to be calling newer members to create local communities ready to welcome collaborators, discerners, volunteers, neighbors, and those in need of shelter. In one sense, the gift of hospitality allows us to share the richness of our vows in intimate ways and grow our networks and future. In another sense, our hospitalGarcía, Horan, Kemme | Poverty

ity will keep us in touch with the poverty of the world.

We vow to be ready to let the chaos and brokenness of our neighborhoods enter our places of living and disrupt us, knowing that Jesus, too, dwells with us. We vow to repurpose property, if it makes sense, to house the disenfranchised. We vow to put ourselves in places that will keep us in relationship with those who suffer. And that will inform our life work of service and justice.

The vow of poverty we need now is one of communion. Community with one another in the context of community with “the poor” and all of creation will form us more fully into the religious God needs for this time. It has been said so often before: we know we will never truly be economically poor, and that is never our aim to begin with. But I also must be careful to not use that as an excuse to get too comfortable. We vow poverty because we don’t want anyone to be poor. We must risk our whole lives to move together toward that dream, and the vow of poverty can help us. Perhaps it is precisely the ambiguity of the vow of poverty that keeps us seeking, striving and growing. When lived in community, the creative tension of the vow of poverty brings unique prophetic possibility and an urgent transformative message to a world in longing. n Spring 2017 | HORIZON | 13

Photo by Long Thiên

The latest teaching about vocation enriches our understanding of what it means to be called.

Vatican document on vocational discernment adapted

by Carol Schuck Scheiber Carol Schuck Scheiber is editor of HORIZON and content editor of VISION Vocation Guide. This article is based on the preparatory document for the October 2018 synod of bishops on “Youth, faith, and vocational discernment.”

Vocation wisdom from the heart of the church

I

n October 2018 an international synod of bishops will discuss “Youth, faith, and vocational discernment.” It will be the first time a bishops’ synod has gathered with this theme.

In preparation the Vatican released a preparatory document, which adds further depth to Catholic thought on vocation. To help vocation directors put the document to practical use, we present here some of the document’s practical applications for discerners. Find the full text at press. vatican.va or by searching “Preparatory Document for the 15th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.”

1. What is a vocation, and why do we need one?

The church teaches that everyone has a vocation: a call to love. This basic call that applies to every person takes a distinctive form as people make choices in life. These choices involve “states of life”: single, married, conse14 | HORIZON | Spring 2017

Scheiber | Vocation Wisdom

crated (sister, brother or religious community priest), or ordained (deacon or diocesan priest).

People also make choices—or accept choices made for them—regarding work, commitments, and use of time and money. These can have a vocational aspect too, regardless of how a person earns a living: the writer or musician who is called to his or her art form, the social worker who is called to help the poor, the activist who is called to social justice action, etc. The synod document states: For each person, the vocation to love takes concrete form in everyday life through a series of choices, which find expression in the states of life (marriage, ordained ministry, consecrated life, etc.), professions, forms of social and civil commitment, lifestyle, the management of time and money, etc. Whether these choices are willfully made or simply accepted, either consciously or unconsciously, no one is excluded from making these choices. The purpose of vocational discernment is to find out how to transform them, in the light of faith, into steps towards the fullness of joy to which everyone is called.

2. Is it necessary to make choices? Or is it better to leave vocation options open?

Today young people often postpone decisive vocational choices. Still, those in church ministry encourage concrete decisions, including those that by their nature rule out other choices. The synod document says: ... the transition to adult life and the building of a personal identity increasingly require a “reflective course of action.” People are forced to reorient their life’s journeys and continually take possession of their choices. Moreover, together with the spread of Western culture, a conception of freedom as the possibility of having access to ever-new opportunities is emerging. Young people refuse to continue on a personal journey of life, if it means giving up taking different paths in the future: “Today I choose this, tomorrow we’ll see.” In affective relationships as in the world of work, the horizon consists of options which can always be reversed rather than definitive choices.

3. But what if I make a bad decision?

Risk is involved in many major life choices, and that is to be expected; often risk is necessary. The document Scheiber | Vocation Wisdom

quotes Pope Francis from his “Discourse at Villa Nazareth”: “The phrase I use very often is: take a risk! Take a risk. Whoever does not risk does not walk. ‘But what if I make a mistake?’ Blessed be the Lord! You will make more mistakes if you remain still.”

4. What if my family’s low income or my culture push me away from some life choices?

The church recognizes that globally many young people lack ideal vocational freedom because of economic and cultural constraints. Again, turning to the synod document: Young people’s ability to choose is hampered by difficulties related to precarious conditions, namely, their struggle to find work or the dramatic absence of opportunities to work; obstacles in their achieving economic independence; and their inability to continue in one career.... If society or the Christian community want to make something new happen again, they have to leave room for new people to take action.

5. So how do I make important vocational decisions? What steps can I take?

The church encourages three actions: recognize, interpret, choose. These concepts are explained at length in the synod preparatory document: Recognizing Above all, “recognizing” concerns how life’s happenings, the people one meets, and the words one hears or reads affect the interior life, namely, the various “desires, feelings and emotions” (Amoris laetitia, 143) and their diverse expressions: sadness, gloom, fulfillment, fear, joy, peace, a feeling of emptiness, tenderness, anger, hope, apathy, etc. A person feels attracted or pushed in a variety of directions, without enough clarity to take action, a time of ups and downs and, in some cases, a real internal struggle. “Recognizing” requires making this emotional richness emerge and ascertaining these feelings without making a judgment.

It also requires capturing the “flavor” that remains, that is, the consonance or dissonance between what is experienced and what is in the depths of the heart.

At this stage the Word of God is of great importance. Meditating on it, in fact, mobilizes the passions Spring 2017 | HORIZON | 15

as in all experiences which touch one’s inner self.....

The stage of “recognizing” focuses on the ability to listen and on one’s feelings and emotions, without avoiding the arduous effort of silence, a critical

step in personal growth....

Interpreting “Recognizing” what has been tried is not enough.

The next step is “interpreting”, in other words, to understand what the Spirit is calling the person to do through what the Spirit stirs up in each one. Oftentimes, a person stops to recount an experience, noting that the experience made a “deep impression.”

Greater difficulty is encountered in understanding the origin and meaning of the desires and emotions one experiences and verifying whether they lead in a constructive A choice is called to be direction or whether they lead to withdrawtranslated into action, ing into oneself. to take flesh, to embark This interpretative on a path, accepting the stage is very sensitive, risk of a confrontation requiring patience, with the reality. vigilance and even a certain knowledge. A person needs to be capable of taking into consideration the effects of social and psychological conditioning, which even requires the involvement of one’s intellectual faculties, without falling into the trap of constructing abstract theories about what would be good or nice to do. Even in discernment, “realities are greater than ideas”....

“Interpreting” desires and inner movements requires an honest confrontation, in light of God’s Word, with the moral demands of the Christian life, always seeking to apply them in the concrete situation that is being experienced. This effort leads the one who does it, not to settle for the legalistic logic of the bare minimum, but instead to seek a way to make the most of one’s gifts and possibilities....

The work of interpretation is carried out in an internal dialogue with the Lord, fully engaging a person’s abilities. The assistance of an experienced person in listening to the Spirit, however, is a valuable support....

Choosing Once all the desires and emotions are recognized and interpreted, the next step in making a decision is an 16 | HORIZON | Spring 2017

exercise of authentic human freedom and personal responsibility, which, of course, is always connected to a concrete situation and therefore limited....

For a long time throughout history, basic decisions in life have not been made by the individuals concerned, a situation which still endures in some parts of the world. Promoting truly free and responsible choices, fully removed from practices of the past, remains the goal of every serious pastoral vocational program. Discernment is the main tool which permits safeguarding the inviolable place of conscience....

A decision needs to be proven by facts to see whether it is a right decision. A choice cannot remain imprisoned in an interiority which is likely to remain virtual or unrealistic — a real danger accentuated in contemporary culture — but is called to be translated into action, to take flesh, to embark on a path, accepting the risk of a confrontation with the reality which caused the desires and emotions. Other desires and emotions will arise in this stage; “recognizing” and “interpreting” them will allow the possibility of seeing whether the decision is good or whether it is advisable to re- evaluate it.

6. Am I on my own in this?

No one should be isolated in these important decisions.

Many people in the church want to help. Seek counsel from those in the church you know are wise: a pastor, a lay minister, a sister, brother, or priest. Most vocation directors undergo special training to help accompany people. Of course God, Mary, and the saints are also walking with you day by day. The synod document is optimistic about the spiritual support available to those considering vocations of every type: “In the task of accompanying the younger generation, the Church accepts her call to collaborate in the joy of young people ....Such service is ultimately founded in prayer and in asking for the gift of the Spirit, Who guides and enlightens each and every one.” n

Related HORIZON articles “What do the popes say about vocation?” by Father Brendan Leahy, 2012 No. 1.

“Theology of vocation through the centuries” by Paul D. Holland, S.J., 2006 No. 3.

Scheiber | Vocation Wisdom

Carravaggio’s paintings of St. Matthew’s life (“The Calling, Inspiration, and Martyrdom”) are an ideal starting point for reflecting on the Catholic understanding of vocation.

A quick guide to Catholic teaching on vocation This article is drawn from a longer presentation given at the International Congress on the Pastoral Care of Vocation held in Rome in October, 2016.

The full text is available at rcdow.org.uk/cardinal/addresses/overview-ofChurchs-teaching-regarding-vocations.

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N THE CHURCH OF SAN LUIGI DEI FRANCESI are three paintings by Caravaggio telling the story of St. Matthew. The first is entitled “The Calling of St. Matthew,” (above left) and it is an excellent starting point for these reflections on the doctrine of the Church on vocations.

As with all of Caravaggio’s paintings, light plays an important part in its composition. In “The Calling of St. Matthew” we see the light of eternity coming from behind the figure of Jesus, flooding into the scene of the tax man Matthew at his table. Jesus is summoning him in a call which comes in heavenly light, for it comes from the Father. Jesus’ hand of summons is unmistakably the same hand as that of Adam, in Michelangelo’s masterpiece in the Sistine Chapel. Jesus is the Second Adam and is calling Matthew to the fulfillment that he alone can give.

This makes so plain the first aspect of the Church’s doctrine of vocation: God is the source of every vocation.

Nichols | Catholic Teaching

By Cardinal Vincent Nichols Cardinal Vincent Nichols is Archbishop of Westminster in England. Born in Crosby, Liverpool, he was ordained bishop in 1992, became Archbishop of Birmingham in 2000 and was appointed Archbishop of Westminster in 2009. He was elected President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales in 2009, and was made a Cardinal

by Pope Francis in 2014.

Spring 2017 | HORIZON | 17

The hand of Adam (left side of left image) is imitated in the hand Caravaggio painted for Jesus in “The Calling of St. Matthew” (right). Jesus, then, is the “new Adam.” Every vocation comes from God and leads to God. Left image of Michelangelo’s “Creation”: photo by Jörg Bittner Unna. Right image, Caravaggio, via Wikimedia Commons.

Then, in the picture, we see that Jesus is accompanied by Peter. The summons given to Matthew is to become one of the companions of Jesus. The call and its fulfillment take place in the context of the Church.

Thirdly, Matthew is called in the reality of his everyday life and work. You may recall that the group around the taxman’s table are dressed in the clothes of the sixteenth century whereas Jesus and Peter are clothed in the timeless robes of New Testament iconography. The call of God comes to us as we are, flawed and compromised, in the daily realities of our lives.

These three aspects will provide the structure for this reflection.

Divine source of every vocation A) Every life has purpose In this Year of Mercy, we remember that the first expression of God’s mercy is the gift of life with a purpose.

Every life has a God-given purpose. This is indeed good news, the foundation of the Gospel message. To open up this truth to people today is a spiritual work of mercy.

St. John Paul II describes the nature of this common human purpose when he says, “Love is the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being” (Familiaris Consortio 11). What a mercy in life to know that our basic purpose is to love at all costs rather than to succeed at all costs! This urge to love causes a restlessness in the human heart which finds fulfillment in the love of God. This restless search for God is an absolutely fundamental truth of our human condition (Vultum Dei Quaerere 1).

Yet, out of respect for his gift of free will, God remains hidden. Pastores Dabo Vobis says this: “The history of every priestly vocation, as indeed of every Christian 18 | HORIZON | Spring 2017

vocation, is the history of an inexpressible dialogue between God and human beings, between the love of God who calls and the freedom of individuals who respond lovingly to him” (PDV 36.1).

B) No one is self-sufficient “In seeking God, we quickly realize that no one is selfsufficient. Rather, we are called, in the light of faith, to move beyond self-centeredness, drawn by God’s holy face and by the ‘sacred ground of the other,’ to an ever more profound experience of communion.” This affirmation of Vultum Dei Quaerere (Seek God’s Face) reminds us that this experience of communion arises in the call to discipleship, and is a communion both with other people and with God in Christ (VDQ 1).

Hence our Trinitarian understanding of vocation: the call has its origin in the will of the Father; it is given expression in and through the Incarnate Word; its dynamism, within this communion, is the work of the Holy Spirit.

Furthermore, every vocation has within itself, as we shall see, the dual movement of the Trinity: its inner communion and its outward mission. It is this that makes all of the baptized missionary disciples, knowing that discipleship is incomplete without mission and mission is impossible without discipleship.

This Trinitarian root of vocation, as both discipleship and mission, shows how the Church’s doctrine of vocation is rooted in the mystery of both God and man.

“Either vocations ministry is mystagogic, and therefore sets out again and again from the Mystery (of God) in order to lead back to the mystery (of mankind), or it is nothing” (New Vocations for a New Europe, In Verbo Tuo 8).

Nichols | Catholic Teaching

C) Call to love leads to missionary discipleship God’s merciful call to love finds expression in the vocation to be a missionary disciple of Christ. But this discipleship must now take on a specific shape in the unfolding life of every individual. In a famous passage, Blessed John Henry Newman summarizes the meaning of an individual’s vocation: God has created me to do him some definite service: he has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another. I have my mission—I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. Somehow I am necessary for his purposes: as necessary in my place as an Archangel is in his. I have a part in this great work; I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for nothing. I shall do good, I shall do his work; I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place (Meditations and Devotion: Hope in God-Creator).

The Church understands the elements of this “definite service” to be expressed, typically, in one of the states of life commended by the Church and in work.

Vocation as state of life, as work Firstly, states of life. A Christian expresses his discipleship through living as a consecrated person, an ordained minister, or as a lay person, in either the single or married state. The growth in understanding marriage as a vocation is a striking feature of the development of the Church’s doctrine in the last 50 years, culminating in the title of the recent Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.

In the midst of much debate and controversy, there was perhaps too little on the first element of the synod’s title: “The Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and in the Contemporary World.” In parallel with this developing doctrine of marriage and family life as a vocation, we see a growing number of lay faithful, single and celibate, who are vital contributors to the life of the local Church. The place of this state of life within the Church’s doctrine requires further consideration (IVT 13a).

The other key element in a person’s definite service is their work. The doctrine of the connection between work and vocation goes back many centuries, but the most recent full expression of this doctrine is St. John Paul’s Encyclical Laborem Exercens where he states, “Work constitutes one of the fundamental dimensions Nichols | Catholic Teaching

of a person’s earthly existence and of their vocation” (LE 11). Work, as defined by this encyclical, is not only paid employment but also the work of caring for family members, voluntary work, and artistic work. The Church values all work as a service to others, whether paid or not.

Yet work is only one dimension of a person’s vocation. The recent tendency to identify completely a person’s Yet work is only one vocation with their dimension of a person’s work is not part of the Catholic Church’s docvocation. The recent trine. Historically, the tendency to identify idea of work as defincompletely a person’s ing a whole vocation vocation with their work finds its origins in the is not part of the Catholic teaching of the ProtesChurch’s doctrine. tant reformers. (“The Reformation and Vocation” by David Hoyle in The Disciples’ Call, Christopher Jamison ed., 2013).

In contrast, the Catholic doctrine of vocation sees God calling every individual to love through being a disciple of Christ in a particular state of life and working at the service of others. That is each person’s unique and definite service.

Communitarian dimension of vocation While each definite service is lived out by an individual, no vocation is found or developed without a community.

In a very individualistic culture such as ours, in Europe, some people can unconsciously slide into a narcissistic understanding of vocation: that it is only about “God and me.” Consider for a moment a concert pianist giving a solo concert: she is on stage performing apparently all alone, and she alone receives the applause. She could be forgiven for thinking this is all about her and nobody else. Yet her artistry is the fruit of the dedication of her parents and teachers, of piano makers and composers.

The truly great performers have the humility to recognize this. By contrast, some enthusiastic Christians can think their real purpose is to be ambitious not for St. Paul’s higher gifts but for religious stardom. As somebody once said of the English, an Englishman is a selfmade man who worships his creator.

By contrast, every vocation has a mother, and the mother of our vocations is the Church (Optatam Totius 2). This is strong affirmation in the doctrine of the Church. In reflecting upon it, I would suggest that this Spring 2017 | HORIZON | 19

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maternal quality of the Church with regard to vocations is made up of some key qualities.

The first is the praise of God. In fostering an orientation of praise, the Church creates the context in which the ear of the soul is opened to the call of God. Without this, there is no soil, or humus, in which a vocation can be planted. “The Church is the house of mercy, and its ‘soil’ is where vocations take root, mature, and bear fruit” (“Message of Pope Francis for the 53rd World Day of Prayer for Vocations”).

A further quality which nurtures vocation is that of service. Vocation is a call to selflessness and finds its expression in the service of others. It is therefore nurtured in a community that esteems service, especially the service of those in need.

Thirdly, and here I speak from my own experience, when there is joy in the Church, when priests and religious are full of laughter and fun, then the ground for the seeds of vocation is especially fertile. The motherhood of the Church, in fostering vocations, then, has these three characteristics: praise, service, and joy.

This interactive nature of vocation is seen at its every stage. For example, the family is the first seed bed of vocations because the family is itself an unfolding of the life of the Trinity—that sharing in life and love which is continuously creative. Family prayer and the celebration of the sacraments of Christian initiation, the acts of mutual service that characterize family life, the sharing of meals, the conversations across age groups, the role of grandparents, all of these and much more are the interactions that constitute the soil of praise, service, and joy in which the Spirit plants the seeds of many diverse vocations.

Once a vocation begins to develop in the life of a disciple, its unfolding comes through a discernment which takes place in a context of love. “The vocational journey is undertaken together with the brothers and sisters whom the Lord has given to us,” says Pope Francis, “it is a con-vocation.”

The whole community of the Church is invited to “assume their responsibility for the care and discernment of vocations.” This means that “pastoral work for vocations is related to ongoing formation of the person”(IVT 26e). In Verbo Tuo expresses well the community dimension when it states: “vocational discernment happens in the course of precise communitarian journeys: liturgy and prayer, ecclesial communion, the service of charity, the experience of receiving the love of God and offering it in witness” (IVT 27).

This means that all pastoral work has a vocational dimension. Yet pastors can become discouraged nowadays Nichols | Catholic Teaching

Image: Caravaggio, via Wikimedia Commons

as they see too few signs of priestly or religious vocations (IVT 6). But it is important that every parish and school, every school and ecclesial movement, every local church, all must have an ear open to the call of Christ in the life of the members of their community. Without putting pressure on people, we need to find new ways to propose vocations to them. This can mean at times suggesting that a man might consider the priesthood. Again it may mean putting to a couple that it is about time they got married. Just a few weeks ago, I was told by a man who had been living with his partner for over 30 years that he was to get married, simply because his granddaughter asked him, bluntly, why he and Grandma were not married! Do children have more courage than we should have?

Of course we are aware of many pressures on people not to make life-long commitments.

Yet other testimonies and role models are at “The Martyrdom of St. Matthew” serves as a meditation on vocation. hand, and we should use them.

Most us will have followed the Rio Olympics. You may have noticed that Great Britain they want to take those steps. In the documents of the did rather well! In particular, the British cycling team did Church there are many other practical indications about outstandingly well. Two of the most successful cyclists the structures, expectations, roles, etc., needed for the were Jason Kenny and Laura Trott, winning 10 Olympromotion of vocations. But these are not truly part of pic medals between them. One month ago, after their the doctrine of the Church, although they are certainly triumphal return to England, they got married in their part of her wisdom. local Catholic Church. Laura issued an ecstatic statement saying that her wedding day was by far the best and happiest day of her life, even better than all the gold medals.

Giving our best to the Lord She wrote, “Surrounded by my loving family I have just In conclusion, come back with me to the chapel in San married my best friend and now I can call him ‘My husLuigi dei Francesi and the paintings of Caravaggio. The band.’” The day after the wedding, Jason posted a photo second of the three paintings is “The Inspiration of St. of Laura, still in bed, with the simple caption, “Good Matthew.” Here we see Matthew the Evangelist writing Morning Mrs. Kenny!” All vocations should share in that the Gospel, simply clothed and possessing only a pen. In kind of community joy, a joy shared with others, a joy responding to the call of Jesus, he left behind all the gains that reflects the joy of the Church, the bride of Christ. and profit of being a tax-collector and brought with him, The Church’s documents on vocation, and espeinto the service of the Lord, only his best gift: his pen. cially on priestly vocation, contain so much more than We are surely to do the same: give our best abilities to the this quick overview of her doctrine has been able to Lord, in our ministry to his people. convey. Many attempts are made to express this core The third picture is the “Martyrdom of St. Matthew.” doctrine in more accessible terms and to link it to pracFollowing an ancient tradition, it depicts Matthew, now tice. The National Vocations Framework for England dressed in vestments and celebrating Mass, being slain and Wales is one example. It takes the Church’s fundabefore the altar. His blood runs into the dark foreground mental doctrine on vocation, as I outlined, and generof the painting, interpreted by some as flowing into a ates an agreed, simple definition of vocation. With that baptismal pool constructed at the foot of an altar accorddefinition as the foundation, it outlines some steps that ing to the detailed requirements laid down by Charles a diocese or a parish can choose to take in promoting a Borromeo in the Milan of Caravaggio’s youth. Matthew’s culture of vocation, knowing that support is available if Nichols | Catholic Teaching

Spring 2017 | HORIZON | 21

Photo courtesy of Rouen Diocese

serve in the Church long after the age at which he could have stepped down. His love of the priesthood and the love in which he was held by the people, shown so clearly at his Requiem Mass, moved him deeply to continue his ministry, even unto death.

The witness of his daily life as a priest, I suggest, is summed up in the manner of his death: on his knees, before the altar, in the very position he had taken when he was ordained.

Our struggles are different, but we too have to fight, each day, to keep fresh the Father Jacques Hamel of Normandy, France, was murdered in 2016 shortly after celebrating Mass. In life and in death, he was a witness to Christ. original call and inspiration which brought us to our blood mingles, as it were, with the blood of Christ and knees at the moment of our ordination. We too want to becomes the source of our rebirth in baptism. bring that dedication to the moment of our death, for Today it is impossible to see, or imagine, this paintdeath is the final call of our pilgrimage, the final vocaing without thinking of Father Jacques Hamel, killed on tion, to which we want to respond with humble integrity July 26, 2016 at the foot of the altar where he had just and loving trust in the Lord. It is he who calls us to life, celebrated Mass. to our ministry and through death into his presence forHere is an image of the fulfillment of the priestly ever. That is our enduring hope, and it is indeed the joy vocation. Father Jacques, at the age of 85, continued to of the Gospel we proclaim. n

RESOURCES ON CATHOLIC VOCATION TEACHING Bishops’ Conference website This multi-layered site looks at Catholic vocation from many angles, all of which reflect a Catholic theology of vocation.

Published by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/vocations Vatican documents While vatican.va, the official church website, has a great deal of material related to vocations, the Institute on Religious Life and the National Religious Vocation Conference each have gathered many of those documents for easy access. religiouslife.com/resources/church-documents nrvc.net/320/publication/1419/article/ 10217-additional-vocation-related-church-documents

22 | HORIZON | Spring 2017

VISION Vocation Guide and Network In print and online, VISION has articles, videos, and interactive features about all aspects of religious life, vocations, the discernment process, and the many facets of Catholic teaching on vocations. Published by the National Religious Vocation Conference, which is also HORIZON’s publisher. vocationnetwork.org Catholics on Call This program and website for young adults considering church ministry is based at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. catholicsoncall.org

Nichols | Catholic Teaching

Photo by Kamil Janowicz

World Youth Day has always gathered people from around the globe. However, because people naturally associate with others like themselves—creating homogeneity—religious communities must expend time and effort to become truly intercultural.

All one body: Forming intercultural communities

P

OPE FRANCIS HAS IMPRESSED PEOPLE of many religions all over the world by a simple, biblical, yet apparently revolutionary way of living the Gospel of Jesus that still challenges humanity. Not surprisingly, there are resisters, even from within the church, since his example can be a stumbling block to some. James D. G. Dunn, a contemporary New Testament scholar, puts the matter this way: “There is a disturbing quality about the urgency of Jesus’ call—a shaking of the foundations—such that those who want a quiet life are bound to resent and resist.” Because we all seek, at least sometimes, a quiet life, we are likely to resist, if not resent, reiterated calls to conversion.

The topic of this article concerns one such call.

By Father Anthony J. Gittins, C.S.Sp. Father Anthony J. Gittins, C.S.Sp. is a professional social-cultural anthropologist.

Presently emeritus professor of theology and culture at Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, he travels nationally and internationally, offering retreats and one- or two-day workshops on intercultural living.

What is meant by intercultural?

Intercultural living is a phrase that has gradually moved center stage in conversations about the future of religious life and other forms of faithbased communal living, including U.S.-based, non-international comGittins | Intercultural

Spring 2017 | HORIZON | 23

munities that include and seek members from a variety of cultural backgrounds. But intercultural living is often misunderstood, and its implications are not infrequently resisted and resented. So perhaps it is appropriate here to explain, justify, and champion it, not only as critically important to the future of international faith communities, but as a gift of the Holy Spirit that the church is gradually understanding in our time. Such a gift must not be resisted, as Stephen warned so dramatically in his final testimony (Acts 7:51-2).

For half a century or more, international conglomerates—banks, oil companies, Intercultural living automobile manufacturers, and the rest—have become is a gift of the Holy increasingly aware of the Spirit that the urgent need for greater colchurch is gradually laboration among their understanding in culturally diverse partners our time. by treating them as equals.

This insight has been driven not so much by the recognition of the intrinsic value of each person, as by the bankruptcy of an “assimilationist” model of recruitment and extension. This model assumes the absolute dominance of the parent company in terms of policy, election to office, strategy, and selection of personnel. But it has become increasingly clear that if an international company is to be successful in a globalized world, everyone must rethink some cherished assumptions and practices, and new ideas must be actively sought from as wide a constituency as possible. Future efficiency and creativity can be maintained by internal collaboration rather than potentially undermined by unhealthy competition.

During the past half century then, executives have been drawing on and indeed funding the accumulating wisdom of the social sciences. These disciplines—particularly sociology, social-cultural anthropology, and psychology—have identified the corrosive effects of ethnocentrism, imperialism, monolithic structures, and change-resistant policies. All this, of course, is happening in a strongly secular culture driven by pragmatic considerations and the expectations of shareholders.

Meanwhile, in (but not limited to) the Catholic Church, international religious orders, congregations, and institutes of various kinds have become more and more conscious of a gradual, but increasingly palpable and irreversible change in their own demographics. The major provinces of the past (overwhelmingly compris24 | HORIZON | Spring 2017

ing homogeneous ethnic membership, and primarily European stock) experienced a rapid decline in native membership, due to a dramatic decrease in new vocations, and the simultaneous dying out of the aging membership. But many communities, most notably those originally founded for an overseas missionary apostolate or those that responded to the challenges of Vatican II to engage in a more global apostolate, were attracting potential recruits from the countries in which they were ministering. Initially, and before the trickle became a stream and then a flood, the well-tried methods of formation—typically characterized as “assimilation”— seemed appropriate.

But many things changed in two generations. From a pattern of recruitment and formation of European candidates into predominantly European foundations with a 19th-century ethos, a new challenge emerged. Now, candidates coming from Africa, Asia, and elsewhere in a global church are seeking admission into long-established institutions with a strong European or American ethos, whose members have, at best, only a superficial understanding of the contexts and mentalities of the aspiring candidates.

Three critically important characteristics distinguished the “old” from the “new” cohort of candidates.

First the vast majority of the former—European—candidates shared a common culture with the existing members of the communities they sought to join. Second, these candidates were typically young, naïve, and still in need of professional education. And third, they did have a common base of religious socialization: they had been steeped in the Catholic faith.

By contrast, the “new” candidates neither share a common culture with the dominant membership of the community they sought to join, nor a common culture with many of their peers. It’s common for novices to come from different ethnic groups or sub-groups, while the formation directors represent the religious culture, history, tradition, and ethos of the founding community in the U.S. or Europe. Second, the ages, experience and proficiency of the various new candidates tend to vary widely (and increasingly so in recent years). And third, many of the candidates are first generation Christians, recent converts, or members of localized ecclesial communities. Consequently, their common foundation in a common faith tradition cannot be assumed. Against this background, we consider the importance of intercultural living today.

I’ve shown here what the dynamics are like in international communities, but similar dynamics affect reliGittins | Intercultural

Anthony J. Gittins Living Mission Interculturally Faith, Culture, and the Renewal of Praxis

“ “

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If you wish to know why and how intercultural living is an act of faith, this is the book you should start with.

A gracious invitation to grapple with the fundamental theological significance of culture and intercultural living. I heartily recommend it to students, pastors, and scholars alike.”

Abraham M. Antony, SDB, Mission Today Gittins’s mission-driven exploration of intercultural living is immensely practical, challenging, and solidly based on scholarship, lived commitment, wide dialogue, and prayerful reflection. I am eager to share this gift with my whole international community and all of our partners in mission.”

Mary Ann Buckley, SHCJ, American Province Leader Society of the Holy Child Jesus

LITURGICAL PRESS litpress.org • 1-800-858-5450

gious communities that are not international. Thanks to dramatic changes in the U.S. church, non-international communities are receiving new members who are culturally distinct from older members, and an assimilation model is not a helpful way to incorporate them.

From pragmatic social science to faith-driven theology Given that the changed circumstances of religious communities today constitute a real challenge to the future of religious life, a double conversion would seem to be called for. Most obviously members of religious communities need to adapt and adopt their own cherished and traditional way of imagining religious life, shaped by historical and religious forces in the northern hemisphere and overwhelmingly by Western theology. But it is increasingly evident that good will is insufficient to effect the kind of conversion required, and that the acquisition of new skills and virtues—a quite new habitus, a entire shift of attitude and mentality—is called for. Today’s generation has the advantage that the past half century or so has generated an immense amount of sociological wisdom that can directly assist the quest for Gittins | Intercultural

Paperback, 264 pp., $24.95 eBook $19.99

a new way of living religious life in an international, globalized context. The primary obstacles therefore, would be our own obstinacy, resistance to change, and perhaps prejudice against what the social sciences might have to offer. But if we are willing to undertake this second conversion, metaphorically gird our loins, and undertake to learn new skills and develop a new habitus together with members of our broader, international communities, we will be prepared, at least attitudinally, to work toward the creation and maintenance of intercultural religious communities. But to facilitate this, we need a vision of the way ahead, and this requires clarification and standardization of the sometimes confusing, ambiguous, and novel terminology involved.

From international or multicultural to intercultural living The world’s most successful international companies and conglomerates have learned how to live with and profit from diversity in the workforce, the boardroom, and the strategic planning departments. But the church is not an international consortium or company operating in a capitalistic or rational economic context; it is a koinonia, Spring 2017 | HORIZON | 25

a communion-of-communities operating across the entire globe as a faith-driven enterprise. The church aspires to be a community whose members hold in common “one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism”—yet also a community comprising people of diverse cultures, striving to live together as one, united in (rather than torn apart or polarized by) their diversity. This is indeed a tall order, a utopian ideal, and far from being an existential reality.

But it is the aspiration that distinguishes the church from international or multi-national corporations, and likewise distinguishes authentic intercultural living from basic international collaboration. The latter is not intrinsically connected to, and may be explicitly separated from or antagonistic toward faith-based living; but intercultural living is intentionally and explicitly faithbased and faith-dependent. The word intercultural, and the concept behind it, is not only a recent coinage but is used theologically to carry a specific meaning. To grasp the theological implications it is necessary to clarify some associated terms, from which it must be clearly distinguished.

Monocultural living In this graphic “A” represents a group of people who share a common culture that is distinguishable from the culture of the people designated B. At this point we need not define culture specifically, on the assumption that people have a general sense of what it entails: belief, thought, practice, symbols, meaning, language, and so on.

Cross-cultural living In this graphic the arrow represents the intentional movement of someone of culture A into the locality occupied by people of culture B. Person A remains a person of his or her own culture (a critically important point), but is now “out of place,” living among people of culture B. This re-location identifies a cross-cultural encounter.

All the people of culture B remain “at home,” of course, in their natural culture with its conventions, language, and common understandings. But the cross-cultural person A needs to learn a new culture in order to communicate effectively and to live alongside, among, and with people of culture B. 26 | HORIZON | Spring 2017

Multicultural living This graphic represents a situation in which people of many diverse cultures share an area, be it a street, a neighborhood, or a whole country. But in the case of simple multicultural living, the interaction between people of the different cultures may vary widely, from mutual avoidance to the minimal civility, from active hostility to selective collaboration. This is sometimes characterized as “people living together (but) separately.” One characteristic of such a multicultural context is that the people living in close proximity do not strive to learn each other’s language or understand the nuances of their differing cultures. By contrast, as the next diagram tries to indicate, an intercultural community includes people who intentionally strive to be both cross-cultural individuals and committed to the tedious process of learning an alien language and culture.

Intercultural living In this final graphic, we see something different. Instead of lines of separation, we can now see the possibility of integration. The lines are not barriers that exclude, but they allow for interaction, encounter, and community-building. The individuals A, B, C, and D and the various cultures each of them represent do not lose their identity but gain a degree of mutual interaction and communication. If the avowed aim of the undertaking is to create a new community that shares a common faith and a diversity of cultural and individual expressions, such a community can be called intercultural, and such a modus vivendi can be called intercultural living.

But for this to happen, everyone must first undertake the cross-cultural process of relocating from a previous comfort-zone to an encounter with unfamiliar people and cultures. Furthermore every member of the intercultural community must work to create, in effect, a fifth culture. This would mean that each individual retains his or her own culture, and yet, in becoming cross-cultural, Gittins | Intercultural

finds him or herself in another culture: a culture-in-themaking (E). Without such commitment, intercultural living will degenerate into a struggle between community members of different cultures, and the emergence of a (single) dominant culture. But even allowing for a unity of purpose and good will on the part of all, an intercultural community can only be built gradually, organically, by trial and error, mutual understanding, and forgiveness. A visualization of an integrated, intercultural community would simply entail superimposing the letter E on the diagram, to indicate the culture-in-the-making whose constituents are the people of cultures A, B, C and D.

Implications and applications of intercultural living It is now possible to do two things: first, to note some of the challenges of intercultural living; then to schematize a hoped-for and worked-for outcome as the only viable way for the survival and prospering of culturally diverse, international religious communities. The alternative to appropriate mutuality, interdependence, or cohesion (fusion), will be destructive competitiveness, lack of mutual trust, and rupture (fission): those who cannot live as cor unum et anima una, one heart and spirit, will fragment into tribal groups becoming counter-witnesses to the Gospel.

These remarks leave a great deal to be further explored and applied. But let me attempt to summarize and synthesize the substance of the case presented here.

Intercultural living is qualitatively different from living in an international milieu, because it is based on participants’ common faith commitment. But since faith is not theoretical but lived, intercultural living requires an ongoing conversion. Faith can only be expressed existentially and culturally; so legitimate cultural differences must be acknowledged, understood, and respected as constitutive of each person. God created difference, and differences can be mutually enriching.

Intercultural living should be approached as a grace and opportunity rather than a problem or inconvenience: attitude is very important. It is neither easy nor “natural” for culturally diverse people to live together.

But, as grace, it is “supernaturally” possible.

In a community of communion rather than domination, no single culture must be allowed to dominate.

Therefore everyone is called to a triple conversion: to (new ideas about) God, to culture, and to each other.

True conversion in a community requires compromise, Gittins | Intercultural

FURTHER READING For a fuller treatment of the case for intercultural living, and a more systematic treatment of how it might be approached, see the author’s book Living Mission Interculturally: Faith, Culture and the Renewal of Praxis (Liturgical Press, 2015).

To learn about the process of transforming your community into one that is intercultural, see From Invitation to Radical Welcome: Embracing God, the Other, and the Spirit of Transformation, by Stephanie Spellers (Church Publishing, 2006).

honest dialogue, reconciliation, and common vision.

Although unequivocally faith-based, intercultural living also requires the acquisition of new techniques and habits that can be learned, at some personal cost.

Good will alone is not enough.

Intercultural living is something new for most people. But if international faith communities fail to commit themselves to this new way of living, international religious life will not survive. Not everyone has the flexibility or mental or physical acuity to be at the forefront of the shift to intercultural living. But every member’s commitment, zeal, and mutual encouragement is critical, and can be inspiring and formative. Older members in particular have a vital role: like the others, they can endorse and inspire, or oppose and destroy; but their seniority and faithfulness can make a huge difference.

This is not easy, but Jesus did not promise an easy life. Yet if dedicated people of faith cannot learn to live together in a divided, polarized world, what hope is there for others? We are called (and we aspire) to be examples in a world in need of such signs of hope.

Practical concerns What is the effect of the imperative of intercultural living on vocation ministry? Clearly this is a question of utmost importance. First the current membership and its leadership must be apprised of the call and the challenge, and must embrace it at the widest community level. In principle this means at the general and provincial council levels. Next, the community—especially the formation personnel—needs to undertake some formal training in intercultural living. Then a policy of “quality control” of candidates would need to be formulated, consistent with the charism and ministry of the community. All of this Spring 2017 | HORIZON | 27

represents a revolution in international religious living.

How might a community welcome new members from various cultures? Again, for such a profoundly important question, simple answers are inadequate. The assumption is of course, that communities do really welcome new members, which is much easier said than done. It is not simply a question of welcoming (assimilating) “the other” but of both learning (about) other cultures (the anthropological component), and being willing to change, not only personally but mutually (the theological component). The outcome will be to change the present culture of religious life; this requires a change from a dominant (Western) cultural model to an evolving (non-dominant-Western) model of religious living.

This is true, too, for communities that are not international in outreach, but are multicultural in composition.

The specific results cannot be known in advance: this is a work of the Holy Spirit.

Are there practical tips for interested individuals

and communities? Yes, many, but “practical” should not be understood to mean rapidly or painlessly absorbed.

In Living Mission Interculturally, several chapters are devoted to the learning of cultural competence, the call to marginal living, acquisition of skills and virtues, and psychological responses to cultural living, among other equally serious topics.

“The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there,” said L.P. Hartley. Most of today’s religious communities were founded in a time and place vastly different from today. We used to refer to the “world church,” but today we speak of a “global church.” The difference is one of scale: the speed of social change, a revolution in communication, and the accessibility of travel. In a global world, people are connected in ways very different from before. In a global church we need to learn new ways of living and communicating with others and witnessing the Gospel, “ever old, ever new” (Rev. 21:5). n

FROM INVITATION TO RADICAL INCLUSION Adapted from Invitation to Radical Welcome: Embracing God, the Other, and the Spirit of Transformation, by Stephanie Spellers. Used by permission.

INVITATION

INCLUSION

RADICAL WELCOME

Message

“Come and join us, and share the riches of our cultural and religious tradition.”

“Come and join our community and help us to diversify internally and internationally.”

“Bring your cultural and religious values, your voice and yourself: help us to become an intercultural community.”

Purpose

ASSIMILATION We invite new people to become one of us as part of our community.

INCORPORATION Marginal “others” are welcome but the community’s style and practices remain.

INCARNATION The community will be transformed by each person’s talents and faith commitment.

Cost

Little cost to the community: structures are set and newcomers incorporated into them. Resisters are marginalized or removed.

Some cost to the community: it preaches inclusivity but does not practice power-analysis or selfanalysis. Individuals sink or swim.

Significant cost to the community: it seeks new ways of faith-filled living, including modification of prayer styles, liturgical adaptation, power sharing and mature compromise.

Outcome

Encouraging numbers, but the community is very monocultural. Those who are different are marginalized or overlooked.

High turnover of members. Whoever is not mainstream is muted or made to leave. Community remains largely monocultural, with few exceptions.

The community evolves organically.

Difference is dignified and valued.

Authority does not dominate but respects all. There is a common spirit and missionary commitment.

28 | HORIZON | Spring 2017

Gittins | Inculturation

Young people use Snapchat to communicate.

Why not meet them where they are?

Six tips for using Snapchat in your ministry

F

IRST OF ALL, what is Snapchat, and how popular is it now?

Snapchat is a social messaging app used to send videos and photos to a controlled list of friends and followers. In addition, users can now add content to their “Story,” which shows a visual narrative of a person’s day.

According to Business Insider in February 2017: “158 million people are using Snapchat every day, and on average, open the app 18 times a day, according to Snap Inc.’s initial public offering prospectus. That means, on average, Snapchat users are spending between 25 to 30 minutes in the app every day.” Snapchat was the fastest-growing social network in its first four years. Its users tend to be younger than those on Facebook.

Is your community or organization paying attention to this digital phenomenon yet? If not, we don’t blame you. It’s hard enough to keep up with the other technology demands of today: • • • • •

By Josh and Aimee Shank Josh and Aimee Shank are the founders of Youngstown Metro Church in Youngstown, Ohio. They run rocketrepublic.com, a creative studio specializing in logo development, website design and development, and photography and design for print.

This article has been adapted for HORIZON. Find the original article at rocketrepublic.com. Creative commons license.

an attractive website that displays well on phones and tablets a Facebook page with frequent updates Twitter accounts for key leaders digital bulletins podcasts and service live streaming

Shank and Shank | Snapchat

Spring 2017 | HORIZON | 29

And then add Snapchat to that list? It can get overwhelming pretty quickly, which is why we decided to put together this best practices list.

Tip #1 Gain consensus from your leadership team that technology is not evil While this tip is not specific to Snapchat, your decision to pursue Snapchat for your church organization may unearth some of these feelings. Best to address them from the beginning. In a great interview of Jefferson Bethke, a church-oriented social media user, Jonathan Merritt of Religious News Service asks Jefferson, “Let’s talk Snapchat, a social media platform you’ve started utilizing. How can short video clips drive spiritual conversations or even ministry?” (See box on page 31.) Jefferson’s response is essentially that Snapchat’s ability to tell stories is what makes it useful to churches. His final line can be your go-to as you wrestle with any internal conflicts over the relationship between technology and faith: “Technology is neutral. Churches should use it, but not abuse it.”

Tip #2 Get a high-level understanding of the features before you start For those who are not currently active Snapchat users, try searching in YouTube for a video demonstration of Snapchat for beginners. Be sure to view recent videos

SPARK SPIRITUAL CONVERSATION Let’s talk Snapchat, a social media platform you’ve started utilizing. How can short video clips drive spiritual conversations or even ministry?

Snapchat is one of my favorite mediums right now because of the built-in feature that allows you to tell a story in 24-hour increments. Again, story is what’s connecting and resonating, and Snapchat enables that better than the rest. I like to see it as little kindling. Little bursts of clips, tweets, and snaps can’t really hold a fire big enough to give warmth—community, joy, fullness—but they are the best tool to get a fire started these days.

Source: Religious News Service. Jonathan Merritt of Religious News Service interviews Jefferson Bethke.

30 | HORIZON | Spring 2017

because the technology keeps changing. Some YouTube channels that have posted introductory videos are “MamaYom,” “Snapchat for Grownups,” and “BreaktheInternet.”

In addition to seeing a general overview, you may want to pay particular attention to the topic of creating “My Story.” (You’ll see this feature mentioned multiple times. It’s the one you should be paying the most attention to.)

As you’ll learn, Snapchat isn’t the most intuitive tool, so do yourself a favor and spend a few minutes on YouTube.

Tip #3 Before you post, observe and learn During our research, three churches consistently came up as leaders in the Snapchat for Churches space.

When you set up your account, search for these three usernames and then follow them. This will allow you to watch their stories and just generally get a feel for how they do things: BrentwoodBC, crosspoint_tv, centralonline.

Tip #4 Don’t follow anyone but your staff As you begin setting up your account and crafting your strategy, follow this pro-tip from Katie Allred, the web content manager for Brentwood Baptist Church, “We don’t follow anyone besides our staff; we have no friends.” This may sound a bit strange at first—we’ve always been taught that friends are a good thing—but following this principle solves two problems: • removes the potential for hurt feelings • eliminates the receiving of any questionable snaps Read more of Katie’s expert advice in her “Ultimate Church Snapchat Guide” on ChurchM.ag.

Tip #5 Document your learnings Your first few weeks with any new program or platform will offer incredible learnings. Don’t throw these observations away; instead document them to refer to later as you craft and perfect your strategy. Darrel Girardier, digital strategy director for Brentwood Baptist, has a great Shank and Shank | Snapchat

post on his blog documenting his own learnings during their first week on Snapchat. Three key takeaways: • You can’t have multiple people logged in at once.

• Success metrics are not intuitive.

• Since Snapchat is so in-the-moment, you need to plan ahead.

But your church will have its own learnings. Make sure the person managing your account is keeping a record of these.

Tip #6 When in doubt, listen to Emily Emily Cummins, a national strategic advisor to churches and nonprofit leaders, was kind enough to allow us to ask her a few questions regarding her experience with Snapchat for churches. As a previous Communications and Branding Director for Central Christian Church, she’s got some serious, real-world wisdom.

What are the best practices when using Snapchat for churches?

Consistency, frequency, and a game plan. I discovered with my team that having a consistent plan on Snapchat was a huge win. If we went into a weekend not knowing what we were planning to do with Snapchat, it would quickly become [overlooked] and not as creative or fun as it could be. When we went into a weekend or event knowing how we wanted to utilize Snapchat on those particular dates, we could leave that weekend or event with a win! We also discovered that utilizing Snapchat consistently and with a regular frequency in the beginning was important to gain a follower base as well as communicate to our followers what they could expect.

Once we set an established tone, it was easier to have fun and be creative. Thinking outside the box on Snapchat is key.

Is it worth the time for churches? Or is it only for churches that meet a certain demographic?

I’ve grown up as a pastor’s daughter, and something my Dad instilled in me as a little girl was to “take Jesus as he is to people as they are.” If the demographic in your church’s area is on Snapchat, not being on Snapchat is a huge miss in introducing people in your area to Jesus. If people in your geographic area are not on Snapchat, find social media channels they are on and be the best you can be on those channels.

Shank and Shank | Snapchat

INSIGHTS FROM “A NUN’S LIFE” Are discerners on Snapchat? Is the pope Catholic? Snapchat is a great social platform to explore as a part of your social engagement strategy. The younger generations enjoy, and in many cases prefer, the ability to connect almost instantly using Snapchat features of chat, photos, videos, stories. It is a way to sustain relationships, especially when it is not possible to be face-to-face 24/7. Users of Snapchat value the ability to show where they are right now and to show life as it is—and that’s what they want to see from you!

As vocation directors you could use Snapchat to give followers a down-to-earth or behind-the-scenes experience of women and men religious. While it is helpful to think out what you want to snap ahead of time, it need not be polished —in fact it shouldn’t be! That’s what makes you more real, more accessible to people. Snap after snap, relationships can grow and open the door to young people trusting vocation directors with their questions, hopes, and dreams.

Young people notice when people and organizations that they are interested in are not present on the social platforms they frequent. Meeting them where they are is a big first step in the relationship. Sometimes just knowing that you are there speaks volumes about your willingness to be with them in a place that is meaningful to them.

—Sister Julie Vieira, I.H.M. Co-founder of A Nun’s Life Ministry Find its social media channels at anunslife.org

What results are realistic to expect?

Emily: I think the best results to start with those you can track and manage for yourself and your team. What do I mean by that?

• Do we have a game plan?

• Are we utilizing Snapchat consistently and frequently?

• Are we thinking outside the box?

• Are we communicating to our church that we have a Snapchat?

Once you can track and manage those items, watching your followers increase will be icing on the cake! n

Spring 2017 | HORIZON | 31

Feed your spirit

Jennifer Tomshack says men and women religious have shaped her life, and her family’s life, profoundly.

Why I value religious life

By Jennifer Tomshack Jennifer Tomshack is editorial director of TrueQuest Communications, managing editor of VISION Vocation Guide, and sits on the editorial board for HORIZON.

32 | HORIZON | Spring 2017

F

ATHER PAUL DOESN’T KNOW IT, but he changed my life. I doubt he even remembers me—we only had a few encounters nearly three decades ago. But I am reminded of him every day—his signature is on the diploma that hangs above my desk where I have enjoyed a 25-year career in media and publishing.

I suspect Father Paul is like many religious priests, sisters, and brothers who do not know the magnitude of the impact they have on countless people by simply going about the day-to-day of religious life. Father Paul, a Vincentian who served for many years as a top administrator at DePaul University in Chicago, didn’t do anything remarkable for me, but his small, Tomshack | Religious life

ordinary acts of welcome and generosity made my family and me think he was God-sent.

We met by chance when I was wandering around DePaul’s Lincoln Park campus in the spring of 1989, during my junior year of high school, with my parents and four-year-old brother. We didn’t know anything about the school, or even Chicago for that matter. I wanted to go to college there very much, mostly because I wanted to move to the big exciting city—which was what my parents were hesitant about. We’re small-town people from Michigan—not far from Chicago, but it might as well have been another universe. As the oldest child, it was always my role to break new ground with my parents and overcome their concerns. Father Paul helped me do that.

My dad spotted him walking down the sidewalk and asked him for directions. We told him about my interest in DePaul and that we were checking it out. He offered to give us a tour. He spent the whole afternoon with us, took me inside the dorm where I would later live, showed me the offices of the school newspaper I would later run, and brought me to the church where I would later become an active parishioner long after graduation.

I’m sure he had something else he had to do that day, but enthusiastically sharing his love of DePaul and helping a bunch of strangers trumped other obligations. I knew at the end of the tour when he handed my parents his business card, revealing for the first time just who he was at the school and saying “call any time,” that my parents finally felt comfortable with what I wanted to do. His Vincentian spirit of humble, grateful service and caring clinched it for me.

Of course, a layperson could have done the same thing for us that Father Paul did. But what he exhibited was a commitment that many religious have to a “ministry of presence.” The way they live their lives—not just approach their official jobs—is ministry. Someone on an airplane needs to talk; they listen. They run to the grocery store to buy food for the community dinner; they also pick up milk for a nearby shut-in. To them, moving through the world is all about ministry, and therefore, every brush with another person is an opportunity for ministry. It’s a whole lifestyle—one that matters a great deal to all those to whom they minister in even the smallest ways. Religious garb can be part of a ministry of presence: it makes identity clear. The way Father Paul was dressed was an invitation to reach out to him. My dad might not have stopped him on the sidewalk otherwise. His collar signaled he was someone perhaps more likely than others to help.

Tomshack | Religious life

Father Paul wasn’t the first or last religious to impact my life. Like many Gen-Xers, I’ve known fewer women and men religious than those of previous generations, but I have had different religious orders in my life from the very beginning to the present. I value religious life because it has intersected with my journey in many key moments and enriched me to an extent I myself may not even be fully aware.

My encounters with religious life started when I was baptized—by a Holy Cross priest at the magnificent Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the campus of the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. My dad was attending Notre Dame at the time. He likes to lovingly joke that the reason I was always a good student is because I went to college first—with him. Since my mom worked days and my dad nights, he took care of me during the day—which meant I went to class with him when necessary. Apparently, I was a good-natured baby who rarely fussed, but still, it would have been entirely understandable for a professor to not permit children in class. But none of my dad’s profs—many, if not most, of them Holy Cross priests and brothers—minded. None even commented on my presence and so lent their silent support to a young guy trying to juggle a lot of demands at once. Their understanding enabled him to finish his education and take care of his new family. Again, there are plenty of lay professors who would have and have done the same, but with a charism of “educating in the faith,” these men of Holy Cross exemplified their charge to develop the mind, cultivate the heart, and unite with others as family, and taught by example—certainly to me and my dad and anyone who shared the same classrooms with us.

Role models and leadership coaches The first religious order I remember is the Sisters of St. Joseph, who taught me in elementary school. The sister who was the principal was the first woman I saw in a professional leadership role. I’ve been blessed with many women mentors in my career, but to see at such a young age a woman running an important organization—and keeping so many unruly underlings under control!— made a big early impression on me. This role model showed me that if I wanted to, I could do the same. Unfortunately, there still aren’t as many opportunities for girls to see women in leadership roles as there should be—and every single one counts! For me, another was the sister who was my gym teacher and sports coach, who taught me how to actually be a leader myself. (Later Spring 2017 | HORIZON | 33

in high school, I was captain of the varsity basketball am grateful for that gift. While the zeal for social justice team). I saw firsthand that sisters are uniquely qualified is shared and also led by laity in today’s church, it is truly to be “leadership coaches” because their spirituality and part-and-parcel of religious life. Find a Catholic commitlifestyle have always been women-led. It’s natural that ted to social justice and I’ll bet a sister, priest, or brother sisters by virtue of being sisters bring out leadership in was a major influence in that regard. Most apostolic young women. And not just tough compete-and-succeed charisms have a social justice dimension, which makes leadership—although I learned that in healthy measure it part of the DNA of religious life. Social justice is, and from them as well (you should see me take down a rehas been for centuries, what many entire religious orders bound!)—but also and more important, leadership that are all about. It’s in their prayer, it’s in their ministries, is collaborative and focused on the comit’s part of the vision put forth by their mon good. founders.

In high school I was taught by MariThe virtues of religious life permeate anist brothers: for freshman religion—a the organizations that religious women The virtues of religious year of Old Testament—and sophomore and men have created, even now that life permeate the religion—a year of New Testament. there are fewer religious in them. Lay organizations that Boy, do I know my Bible! They were people predominantly ran and led the religious women and effective in their teaching because so schools and workplaces where I have much of their life is poured into Scripencountered religious, creating commen have created. ture—studying it and praying with it. munities that include both but that are Of course, there’s tremendous lay cominformed by religious life—communities mitment to Scripture study as well, and that have greatly enhanced my life. there are many excellent lay teachers of it, but religious life by its tradition and nature allows for The ripple effect a singular passion and dedication to the Bible.

Then came DePaul, four of the best years of my life. I And here I am now, an editor for the National Religious only had a few Vincentians teach me there, but the VinVocation Conference’s VISION Vocation Guide, which centian charism of concern for the whole person—body, helps those discerning a call to religious life. In this posimind, and spirit—imbues the university, in my experition, I’ve learned so much about so many more commuence. Perhaps that’s why DePaul students have often been nities and the wonderful diversity of charisms—a beautiranked “happiest” by the Princeton Review. It was where ful, multifaceted prism that has informed my faith.

I learned my writing craft and where, despite a lot of Father Paul and I only crossed paths a handful of youthful questioning about religion, my faith deepened, times during my tenure at DePaul: when my parents as a result of simply being in a very positive, nurturcame to visit and stopped by his office to thank him and ing, supportive environment. If this was Catholicism, I when I interviewed him for articles I was writing for the thought, I wanted more of it—there’s something about DePaulia newspaper. I’m certain there are plenty more attracting bees with honey. That’s not to say DePaul like me whose lives he affected for the better, without didn’t challenge me—it opened my eyes to a world much him fully knowing it. more diverse in every way than the one I came from, and Small acts add up, and then they ripple out. With that taught me a lot about empathy and compassion. the exception of a two-year stint working at a newspaper My first job after college was for another religious in St. Louis, I’ve lived my entire adult life in Chicago. order—the Claretians—for whom I was an editor on U.S. My brother, who was with me that day I met Father Catholic magazine. I honed my editorial skills and also Paul, also went to DePaul. My sister moved to Chicago, took my understanding of Catholicism to another level, launched a career improving city government, and startparticularly learning about Catholic social teaching, ed her family here. My parents eventually got a home in an area in which the Claretians, with their missionary Chicago, too, to be near all their kids. So, Father Paul, charism, have set quite an example. Social justice electriby encouraging me to go to DePaul, shaped the lives of fied me, as it does many young people, and it instilled everyone in my family in a big way by coalescing us in in me a commitment to avid, life-long volunteerism for an amazing place that’s become a part of us, and I hope, a variety of causes. As anyone in ministry knows, those we of it. After all, none of us know exactly the purpose of who serve gain as much as those who are served, and I what we do, only that it serves God’s purpose. n 34 | HORIZON | Spring 2017

Tomshack | Religious life

Book notes

How 21st-century parishes can nurture vocations

Catholic Parishes of the 21st

Century

P

ARISH LIFE IS A TOPIC of fundamental importance to the Catholic Church in the United States and its 70 million-plus members. Catholic Parishes of the 21st Century: The Challenges of Mobility, Diversity, and Reconfiguration (Oxford University Press, 2017) provides a treasure-trove of data about every key aspect of life in these institutions. Of particular value to those who lead parishes, the book may well transform their approaches to ministry. At the same time vocation directors, too, will find vital information that leads them to new considerations in the way they work.

The authors (Charles E. Zech, Mary L. Gautier, Mark M. Gray, Jonathon L. Wiggins, and Thomas P. Gaunt) compare current parish data with earlier studies, including virtually all major parish research—from the 1980s Notre Dame Study and the Emerging Models of Pastoral Leadership Project begun in 2003, to the numerous CARA surveys that have so significantly enhanced perceptions about parishes.

The research focuses on three main themes: 1) the range of parish organizational structures, administrative leadership, and finances; 2) diversity among members who identify as Catholics and those who actually practice their faith; and 3) ministry priorities chosen by parish leaders and parishioners, such as liturgy and sacraments, faith formation, and volunteer activities. The underlying goal is to understand the implications of change and how to meet the challenges of the past quarter-century.

Vocations to the priesthood and religious life, in a form parallel to parish changes, have been profoundly affected by the changes in U.S. Catholic practice. Although the book does not explicitly treat the causes of vocation declines, its data on the vitality and decline of parishes provides considerable material for analysis and insight for vocation directors. After all, almost every type of vocation is first nurtured in a parish.

Schuth | Parishes

CHARLES E. ZECH • MARY L. GAUTIER MARK M. GRAY • JONATHON L. WIGGINS THOMAS P. GAUNT, S.J.

By Sister Katarina Schuth, O.S.F. Sister Katarina Schuth, O.S.F. is the Endowed Chair for the Social Scientific Study of Religion at St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Spring 2017 | HORIZON | 35

What are some organizational changes involving parish life? The authors highlight many pertinent and striking statistics. While the number of Catholics has increased by 25 million since the 1960s, the number of parishes has declined by more than 2,000 in the past quarter-century, to the current number of 17,650, the same as in the 1960s. The first several chapters of the book describe consequences of these fluctuations for parishioners. On average, parishes are much larger now, with many enrolling several thousand members; meanwhile numerous smaller parishes have been closed, especially in rural areas that once produced more than their share of vocations. In large By nurturing quality parishes, often staffed by parish life for younger one priest and many lay Catholics, the potential ministers, direct contact for religious vocations between the individual can grow. parishioner and priest is limited. Moreover most small parishes now share a pastor with one or more other parishes. Of necessity, pastoring a large parish or several smaller ones reduces time available for ordinary pastoral encounters and significant spiritual relationships between priests and parishioners. It is well documented that vocational encouragement often comes from priests who are personally know young people.

At the same time, the study reports that the average age of priests has increased from the mid-30s in the 1970s to the mid-60s in the 2000s. Young men who might be interested in pursuing ordination or vows seldom have the opportunity to know and be inspired by younger priests whose numbers are fewer and whose time for interaction has diminished. Besides age differences, potential seminarians may be dissuaded by the constant demands they notice being made of pastors.

Both young women and young men are even less likely to encounter sisters who teach them or serve in other parish ministries. In years past they, too, were a major source of vocational support.

The chapters on parish organization and leadership point out that the decline in religious vocations has been accompanied by an increase in the number of professional lay ministers working in parishes, amounting to an estimated 40,000 people. Their ministry has blessed the church with numerous services that would not exist without them. Young people who might consider professional church ministry now have another avenue to serve 36 | HORIZON | Spring 2017

the church—the same young people who might have chosen a religious vocation four or five decades earlier.

The second theme is the growing diversity among Catholics. Chapter 7, “Who’s in the Pews,” examines generational, ethnic, racial, and cultural changes that have had a remarkable impact on parish life. These forms of diversity show that older members are far more likely to be white, better educated, and regular attendees than younger Catholics who have a weaker attachment to parishes. Chapter 8 focuses on how that diversity affects parish priorities, participation in activities, and the preferred language of members. Those who are recent immigrants or children of immigrants have need of special services that are not always well-provided. Although the Catholic population is nearly equally divided between non-Hispanic whites and all other members, parish priests are 81 percent white and, except for newer religious congregations, so are most women religious.

Few religious mentors of other cultures are available to attract younger Hispanics and those of other cultural backgrounds to actively participate in or even join a parish. When religious, educational, and social needs are not met in these circumstances, some may drift to other denominations.

Nonetheless the authors have reasons for hope. One important factor is that as second- and third-generation immigrants acquire both English skills and education, they may be more likely to connect with a parish. Also the study finds that all Catholics have much in common in their expectations of parish life: a welcoming spirit, a sense of belonging, and a desire for quality liturgies, preaching, and sacramental life. The significant efforts by current ministers to meet these common needs are to be applauded. Even as so much has changed about organizations, leadership, and membership, the flexibility and resiliency shown by parishioners in adjusting to new circumstances is encouraging.

By nurturing quality parish life for younger Catholics, the potential for religious vocations can grow. As vocation directors read and discuss this book’s research, they will find new pathways to fulfill their mission.

Thoughtful reflection will yield more creative ideas. For example, they may discover effective ways to relate to lay ministers about the nature and value of religious vocations, and they may be able to reach out to the margins where they will find the growing edges of the Catholic population in more diverse ethnic groups. Engaging new collaborators and exploring uncharted territory may stimulate growth in the number of brothers, priests, and sisters in the future. n Schuth | Parishes

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