The Honduran Confederation
of Women and Men Religious has a certificate program for those forming those entering
and considering entering their communities. They meet for four days every month
for almost a year. About 2 men and 23 women from six countries are
participating.
On November 1, I got an
e-mail asking me to lead the study on reality and the stages of formation. I
had to think about this carefully – first of all, I’m not a member of a
religious community; secondly, I’m not an expert on the reality of Central
America. I talked it over with two friends, Sisters Nancy and Pat, who are Dubuque
Franciscan sisters here in Honduras and who gave the first week of presentations
a few months ago. Finally, I decided to do it.
I talked a bit about
the week over the phone with Sister Pat Farrell. She reminded me that the
religious life today must be both prophetical and mystical.
Immediately I thought
of Walter Brueggemann’s The Prophetic Imagination, which I first read in
1983 as I began working in campus ministry in Ames, Iowa. As I read it again I
realized that this is an important book for ministry with its emphasis on an
alternative vision of life in the face of the forces that seek to control and
dominate. As he writes:
“The
task of prophetic ministry is to nurture, nourish, and evoke a consciousness
and perception alternative to the consciousness and perception of the dominant
culture around us.”
I found a copy in
Spanish and was able to extract the most important passages to help the participants understand the
contrast he makes between the imperial/monarchical consciousness and the
prophetic imagination.
Brueggemann suggests
that lamentation in the face of the empire, the dominating monarchy, is one of
the most important ways the Bible encourages us to respond and resist that
consciousness.
“Bringing hurt to public expression is an important first step in the dismantling criticism that permits a new reality, theological and social, to emerge.”
The first day of our
week of study we looked at the reality of Central America. I had them work in
groups and then share what they saw around them.
The second morning we
treated Brueggemann, after having opened up the reality the day before.
After treating
Brueggemann’s explanation of the monarchical consciousness and the importance
of lament, we had a short liturgy of lamentation. I asked them to think of
situations which caused them to grieve and write them on a piece of paper. After
sharing a reading from Isaiah, they placed their laments around a cross on the
wall, while singing the hymn, Into your hands, I commend my spirit, O Lord.
I found it extremely
moving – and it was for me one of the highlights of the week, it enabled us to
name what causes us grief in our lives and in our world, opening up a place for
a new vision.
As I was preparing this
session, I came across a passage from Pope Francis in his exhortation on youth,
Christus Vivit. Paragraph 75
begins, “As a Church, may we never fail to weep before these tragedies of our
young.” In the next paragraph he pointedly writes, “Some realities in life are
only seen with eyes cleansed by tears.”
After the prayer of
lament, we returned to Brueggemann and considered his call for the prophetic
imagination which is critical of the dominant way of living and thinking but
which offers hope, with an alternative way of thinking.
What I didn’t realize
until my final preparation for the session was that Brueggemann notes that
importance of the alternative community.
“The
formation of an alternative community with an alternative consciousness is so
that the dominant community may be criticized and finally dismantled. But more
than dismantling, the purpose of the alternative community is to enable a new
human beginning to be made.”
As we explored this, I
realized that the religious life is – or, at least, should be – the living out
of an alternative community. This resonated among many of the participants.
But, for Brueggemann,
this alternative brings hope, cutting through the hopelessness and despair of
the dominant culture which makes people feel worthless and helpless. To respond
we are called to the language of amazement, of wonder.
“The
hope-filled language of prophecy, in cutting through the royal despair and
hopelessness, is the language of amazement. It is a language that engages the community
in new discernments and celebrations just when it had nearly given up and had
nothing to celebrate. The language of amazement is against the despair just as
the language of grief is against the numbness.”
On November 22, Pope
Francis spoke about wonder to religious, priests, seminarians in Thailand,
taking up almost the same point.
“Let
us be alert to beauty, alert to a sense of wonder capable of opening up new
horizons and raising new questions. A consecrated life incapable of openness to
surprises is only half a life. I want to say this again. A consecrated life
incapable of openness to surprises each day – open to joy and to sadness, but
open to surprises – is only half a life.”
For me, this morning session
was one of the highlights of our time together. During other sessions we
treated the reality of youth, using Pope Francis’s Christus Vivit as our
guide. We also treated poverty, conflict and violence, and the Church,
including the problem of clericalism.
I learned a lot both in
the preparation for the sessions and in the interactions we had during and
outside the sessions.
One great joy though
was our Thursday morning prayer. Several sisters who work in Nicaragua led us
in a joyful and noisy celebration as part of the novena before the feast of the
Immaculate Conception of Mary on December 8. With whistles and matracas (wooden
noise makers) we sang to Mary. In the midst of all the troubles of our world,
especially in Central America, it was a prophetic sign to be able to sing and
praise God – what joy.
It was also a joy to stay with some of the sisters for three nights.
The first night, though, I spent in the CONFEREH office since I had a lot of
preparation to do. There I came across
this banner promoting a campaign against human trafficking. Below the name of
the organization was a phrase that could have been written by Brueggemann: Lamentos
que siembran esperanza – Laments that sow hope.
What an important message for us – as we celebrate Advent,
preparing for the Light coming to us in the midst of darkness.
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