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Mission Spirituality: Framework for Growth and Grace

Explore Mission Spirituality in a risky yet enriching manner with a set of values, practices, and perspectives to cope, grow, and accomplish tasks within a missionary context. Reflect on Scripture, heroes, culture, theology, and experiences.

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Mission Spirituality: Framework for Growth and Grace

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  1. Missionaries of the Precious Blood Week of Reflection on Mission July 20-24, 2009

  2. Towards a Mission Spirituality

  3. Introduction

  4. Spirituality? A risky business! Many definitions! Motivate, keep on track, bolster commitment, avoid discouragement A kind of framework… A reservoir A set of values, symbols, doctrines, attitudes, practices… …cope…grow…accomplish a particular task

  5. In still other words… A way of tapping into the infinite, life-giving, refreshing and empowering presence of God’s Spirit So that people’s or a community’s life can be lived in grace, gratitude, and growth

  6. Everyone has a spirituality • Christian or not, believer or not, pious or not • Simply the way persons cope with life • Very personal, everyone develops his or her own • But there are some systems: lay spirituality, Precious Blood, SVD, Celtic, presbyteral • What we will develop here: Mission spirituality

  7. Having said this, however… • …I don’t think there is a one-size-fits-all mission spirituality • Like mission itself—a contextual spirituality! • Where (Chile, Tanzania) • When (newcomer, returned missionary, retired) • Experience (failure, betrayal, bonding) • Theology (Rahner, von Balthasar, Schillebeeckx) • Here: more a template or “check list”

  8. Six Sections, Six Questions Practices? Scripture? Experience? Assets and liabilities of one’s culture? Theological Perspective? Heroes/Heroines?

  9. Scriptural Foundations • Every spirituality rooted in Scripture • Passage, book, themes ground one’s missionary life • Missionaary motivation: Mt 28:18-20; 1Pet 3:15-16 • Certain times—certain passages (Is 6:1-8; Jer 1:4-10; Mt 4:18-22; Jn 15:16; 2Tim 4:7) • Guidance in crossing culture, struggling with language (1Cor 9:19-23; Jn 10:10; Jn 2) • Acts for being stretched; Jn 21:18 • No normative passages, whole Scripture is missionary book • What are your important passages?

  10. Missionary Heroes/Heroines • Ellsberg’s book • “great cloud of witnesses” who set standards, examples • St. Gaspar, Francis Xavier, Maria de Mattias, Oscar Romero, Matteo Ricci, Vietnamese / Ugandan martyrs • Great missionaries: Alopen, Charles de Foucauld, Mother Teresa • Great confreres: Bill Adams, Fritz Scharpf, Roger Arnold, • Who are your heroes or heroines?

  11. Cultural Assets/Liabilities • We are all unique individuals—need to work on our weaknesses, enhance our strengths and capacities • We are more than individuals • Generation, families, social class, education • Formed and deformed by culture • Never really get out of our culture • Need to know our culture, its strengths, weaknesses (individuality, communal, hierarchical, democratic) • E.g. as an American… • Need spirituality to enhance our strengths, blunt our shortcomings: real asceticism • What are our cultural strengths and liabilities?

  12. Theological Perspectives • Everyone is a theologian—denying it is a theology itself! • Our theology shapes our world, our pastoral approach, our spirituality • González: 3 types • Need to see what shapes us • God as verb, Jesus as face of the Spirit, church as missionary—new confidence; mission: grace, not burden • What is your understanding of God? Jesus? The church?

  13. Mission Experiences • If learning language, certain kind of prayer, asceticism, missionary heroes • If threatened, experiences failure, enjoying success • If returned, another way of praying, etc. • Time of desolation in Philippines / last January • What are the experiences that have shaped you, are shaping you?

  14. Practices • Spirituality cultivated by commitment to certain practices • Regular prayer: newspaper, cultural riches, people one is serving/served • Simplicity of life • 2 kinds of asceticism: • “asceticism of risk” (assignments, reading, food) • Learning to listen (3 year rule) • Regular mentoring • What are some practices you have found helpful?

  15. Conclusion A template! Not everything works for everyone But need to be rooted in both Scripture and Tradition for inspiration, anchoring, challenge

  16. Opening Prayer God, help us to change. To change ourselves and to change our world. You know we need it. To deal with the pain of it. To feel the joy of it. To undertake the journey without understanding the destination. The art of gentle revolution. Amen

  17. A different tack today… • Not full presentations as I’ve been doing • I’ll present one part, then we’ll have a few moments of reflection • Then opportunity for some sharing (very optional!) • Three sections this morning, three in the afternoon

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