Week Three Begins (Day 11)

Understanding and Living Lasallian Association Today

Br. Ray Blixt, fsc

We begin today the final week with our Lasallian partners as we continue our discussion and deliberations regarding Lasallian Association.  Our Lasallian Colleagues depart this weekend and the final two weeks of our sessions will involve the continued presence of the 35 FSC members of our CiL community.

We began with a prayerful reflection prepared by our USA participants.  Our theme was “I Give Myself Away” (giving our full commitment to our Lasallian Mission and the God who calls us to this ministry).

We were privileged and blessed to have Br. Alvaro, Superior as our presenter for the entire morning.  He definitely is an inspirational leader and he described his role this morning as the Animator of the International Lasallian Mission. 

Br. Alvaro reflected on his recent visit with the ministries of the PARC Region where there is great multicultural and multi-religious diversity in the Lasallian Family.  Brother called on us to a conversion of the future and a conversion toward those most in need.  He believes we were born for the poor and must respond today to the new faces of poverty.  His message continuously recalled that Association only has meaning as FOR the Mission and that Mission is one where we give our attention to the Least, The Last, The Lost.

In Association we need to be manufacturers and ambassadors of hope. We need to be agents of a new reality.  He reminded us that we are called not to exclude, not to put out but the embrace all into our inclusive Lasallian family. 

The participants engaged in conversational dialogue with Br. Alvaro.  His entire presentation was then given to each participant for further reflection as we gather in small groups for discussion.

His presence and his beautiful reflection was most inspiring for all.

Called to Serve

Part of my private reflection time is re-reading materials that may inspire me again. As I looked through prayer services, I was once again struck with one used in our small language group the other day.

The Gospel reading from John which tells the story of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet was the inspiration for the title, “The Call to Serve.” We all know the story well as it is part of the Christian Lenten week services. Jesus explains to the disciples who are not clear about this action of his to help them see what the action of washing their feet symbolizes for them, by saying, “For if I have set you an example, it is that you should also do as I have done to you.”

A Reading was part of the service and was written by Andy Alexander of Creighton University Online Ministries. I attempted to use my own words, but realized I could not respond better to the Gospel reading than he. Here are his words . . .

“The washing of feet teaches several things. It is not easy to have our feet washed. They smell. They are not very attractive. It is a part of our bodies that we rarely let others touch or caress. And, it is not easy to wash the feet of another. This is all a powerful drama representing the power of love. It is not easy for me to let me love you. . . When you put me off or when you are not at your best, I don’t do so well at loving.

Jesus loves us unconditionally, that is without condition. He loves us, not because we deserve it. He loves us because he knows we need loving. He tells us to love the same way. In the washing of the feet, we are given his…self-sacrificing example of how to love each other. ‘This much,’ he says, ‘Love one another this completely, this freely, loving the most unattractive parts of each other, where love is needed most’.”

One reflection question was, “Whose feet is God calling me to wash?”Immediately my thoughts went to the boys entrusted to our care in St. Gabriel’s System and personally to the boys I encounter daily at De La Salle In Towne. They are the unloved. They are the ones who must see us as role models for loving unconditionally regardless of how “smelly” we may become or not at our best. Sometimes it is easier to see the “unattractive parts” of our boys-the verbal aggression and hurtful words, the anger expressed when we are required to correct their behaviors, than see in them the face of God. Loving them needs to emanate from us, because this is where love is needed most!

from Pam Walker

A Preposition Proposition.

A nun in elementary school made us memorize prepositions…”above, about, around,..before, behind, between…”  Eventually I came to understand why they are so important.  They describe relationships – in significant ways.

There was one phrase that Donna Orsuto used on Friday near the end of her presentation that got me to thinking again about prepositions.  She gave us several exciting signs of vitality in the Church today – communities with deep personal faith in Jesus, who have a global imagination, who foster dialogue and communion among other animating qualities. 

Among her remarks, she mentioned work “for the poor,” and thus my preposition proposition: to work with the poor, rather than for them.  After the presentations and conversations of the past two weeks, I think “with” denotes a Lasallian relationship more genuinely than “for.”   It also seems more in keeping with the principle of subsidiarity mentioned in Circular 461 (I.15.1).

It's a minor point – which preposition to use.  But it helps clarify relationships, so it’s a helpful one for me.

Lois