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SSpS 13th General Chapter―"Arnoldus Family Day"

SVD Echoes of SSpS Concerns

Address to the SSpS 13th General Chapter
Steyl, 09 May 2008
Antonio M. Pernia, SVD
Superior General

Sister Agada,
Members of the Congregational Leadership Team,
Dear Sisters

I. A Personal Footnote

Six years ago, I began my address to the 12th General Chapter of your congregation with a word of thanks. I wish to do the same today. My sincere thanks to you all, especially to Sr. Agada and her leadership team, for the invitation to address your 13th General Chapter. Thank you for the opportunity to be part of this important event of your congregation.

As I mentioned in my address six years ago, I am someone personally indebted to you, dear Sisters. I belong to a family of nine children, five girls and four boys. All nine of us had our elementary education at your school in our little town in the Philippines. The girls went on for college at your Holy Ghost College in the big city of Manila. The boys went to the seminary, partly because of the influence of your sisters. Two of them eventually became priests.

In recognition of the excellent education we received at the Holy Spirit School, my sisters and brothers have set up a Scholarship Fund which offers a full four-year high school scholarship at the Holy Spirit School to poor but deserving boys and girls in our province. Every year someone graduates from high school out of that scholarship fund. The fund is named after our parents who, despite the fact that they were simple persons with meager means, saw to it that their children receive a good Catholic education at the Holy Spirit School. We have resisted asking for donations from the big donors. Instead the fund is maintained by little donations from my sisters and brothers and their children. The intention is to educate our own children in the value of solidarity and sharing with the poor and the less-privileged – a value which we ourselves had learned at the Holy Spirit School.

Last January, on the occasion of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of ordination of my brother priest, we had a meeting with those who had benefitted and are benefitting from the scholarship fund. We wanted to develop and improve the policies governing the use of the fund by listening to the experiences of the scholars. Part of the scholarship is a transportation allowance. On their own, the scholars began saying that he or she did not really need the transportation allowance because he or she lived only a few blocks away from the school; that another of the scholars, who lived two or three towns away, needed the allowance more. All of us were impressed by this. We thought that the value of solidarity and sharing, for which the Holy Spirit School is known in our province, had been learned well by these students.

Dear sisters, I hope you won’t mind this little personal footnote at the beginning of this address. I mention it because I think it is an illustration of how much I – and my sisters and brothers, as well as many others who had studied at your schools all over the world – feel indebted to you. In our Filipino language, Tagalog, we have a word for this: “utang na loob”, which is generally translated into English as “debt of gratitude”. Literally, however, it means “inner debt” or “debt of the heart”. It is a debt that can never be repaid, a debt that can only be acknowledged, a debt that binds one, not in a relationship of dependence, but in a relationship of love. It is with this sentiment that I speak before you today.

Today, however, I come not as a representative of my family or of the many people who have studied in your schools. I come to represent your brothers, the SVD, even if many of them have also studied in your schools. I come, in their name, to thank you sincerely for your care and concern, your prayers and support, your collaboration and partnership. We have been journeying together since the beginning of our congregations. It is a journeying together that is rooted in our response to the call to collaborate with God’s mission; a journeying together shaped by the charism and spirituality of Sts. Arnold and Joseph, Blessed Maria and Josepha, and the women and men of the founding generation. It is a journeying together which has allowed us to support each other, learn from each other, and challenge each other. This journeying together has grown and deepened especially over the last twenty years or so. It is no surprise then that your concerns find an echo in us, just as our concerns find an echo in you. It is in this light that, in the second part of this address, I wish to present some “SVD echoes of the SSpS concerns” in this general chapter.

II. SVD Echoes of SSpS Concerns

I understand that there are three main concerns that you wish to address at this general chapter – learnings, internationality/interculturality, and authenticity – in order to be renewed in your being learning witnesses, intercultural witnesses, and authentic witnesses. I would like to thank you for underlining these three concerns, for these concerns are our concerns too as SVDs. Allow me now to share with you how I see these concerns reflected in the SVD (thus, “SVD echoes of SSpS concerns”).

1. Learnings.

I believe this concern is reflected in our attempt to deepen our understanding of discipleship. This was a special concern at our general chapter of 1988, which produced the document on the spirituality of the threefold “passing-over”, namely, passing-over to the poor, passing-over to people of other cultures, and passing-over to followers of other religions. The complete title of that document, however, was “Following the Word-Passing Over”. But it seems that the notion of “following the Word” got buried in the then more novel idea of “passing over”. In any case, the annual generalate publication after that general chapter carried the title Following the Word (the predecessor of the present In Dialogue with the Word).

Since then we now often refer to ourselves as “followers of the Word” (followers of the Divine Word). Implicit in that description is the notion of discipleship that characterizes our religious missionary life. The primary realization here is that a disciple, by definition, is a learner; one who has not arrived yet, one who is still on the way. This entails a number of implications. To mention just a few:

(1) Focus: With the notion of discipleship, the focus is Jesus, the master – not the institution or tradition, or even the apostolate. One is a religious not so much because he or she belongs to an institution or follows a tradition, or because he or she feels called to a mission or an apostolate, but because he or she has heard a call from the Lord and has responded to it. Religious life is discipleship!

(2) Leadership: In this view of the religious life, superiors or leaders are not masters. There is only one master, Christ; everyone else is a disciple. In fact, to his disciples Jesus said: “Among the Gentiles, their leaders lord it over the people; but this shall not be so among you”. Leadership is not lordship, but humble service. And yet, at the same time, authority is preserved. For even in the original community of disciples, there was an inner circle – Peter, James and John. Peter acted as the spokesman of the group. And to him were finally given the keys of binding and loosing.

(3) Experience of sin: The disciple by definition is a learner – one who has not arrived yet, one who is still on the way to full conversion. Thus, the disciple may still stray from the way. Like Peter, he may still deny the Master; or like Judas, even betray the Lord. This understanding of religious life leaves room for the experience of sin. Thus, consecration in religious life is not a “once and for all” affair. One doesn’t pronounce vows once and then is forever a consecrated person. Rather, consecration is hearing a call and responding to it, and daily renewing one's response to the call. Because of sin, one needs to hear the call again and again, and to respond to it again and again. Discipleship is a lifetime task; it is being constantly on the road to full conversion.

(4) Formation: The notion of discipleship entails that formation does not just mean learning, but “learning to learn”. Or as some authors put it, not just “proto-learning”, but “deutero-learning” (i.e., not just “simple learning”, but “double learning”). Formation is not so much a question of teaching our formandi to learn every possible situation, as teaching them to learn from every situation. And this entails developing the capacity to learn how to learn.

(5) Contemplation and action: In the context of discipleship, religious life will be seen as alternating between two moments – between sitting at the feet of the master to be formed by his Word and transformed by his Spirit, and being sent out to proclaim the Gospel. Alternating, in other words, between being with the Lord and being sent out in his name; alternating between contemplation and action, between prayer and apostolic service, between being community and building communities, between being religious and being missionaries.

This idea of discipleship connects easily with the understanding of mission as “Missio Dei”, a theme underlined by our last two general chapters (2000 and 2006). Mission is God’s first and foremost. Our call to mission is only a call to collaborate with God’s mission. We are not the main protagonists in mission. We are only collaborators. Or, as words attributed to Archbishop Oscar Romero put it, “We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future that is not our own”.

2. Internationality/Interculturality.

Behind the search for internationality or interculturality is the longing for communion. Communion was the concern of our general chapter of 1994. Its theme was “Our mission at the service of communion”. The working paper for the chapter spoke about “a world that is deeply divided, but at the same time more and more interdependent”. “In this context”, it said, “mission at the service of communion entails a twofold task – on the one hand, the task of healing the sources of disharmony and division, and on the other hand, the task of cooperating with God’s Spirit in identifying and fostering the signs of unity and communion”.

It is in this light that, like you, we consider internationality as an essential dimension of our charism as a religious missionary congregation. Our internationality is part of our mission of giving witness to God’s kingdom, particularly to its universality and its openness to diversity. We believe this particular witness is urgent and necessary in today’s globalized world. For globalization tends, on the hand, to exclude and, on the other hand, to eliminate all differences. On the one hand, globalization is not nearly inclusive enough. There is an inbuilt process of exclusion that is at work on the economic, social and political levels. It leaves many to be excluded and abandoned along the way. On the other hand, globalization is not nearly open enough to the wide diversity of peoples. It produces in its wake a uniformity that tends to eliminate all differences, creating and promoting a “one-size-fits-all” mentality. In view of this, there is particular need today to witness that God’s Kingdom is a kingdom of love that includes absolutely everyone and, at the same time, is open to the particularity of every person and people.

For us, then, internationality is an ideal to be sought after. It is a value to be consciously promoted in our basic formation programs, in our ongoing formation programs, in our community life, in our missionary work, and in the administration and government of our Society. So every SVD is expected to learn how to live in international communities and work in multi-cultural teams. We wish, in other words, to be international by intention or choice, and not just by chance or by force.

Allow me to share a few considerations about internationality:

(1) True internationality is achieved not just by putting together under one roof members of different nationalities. An effort must be made toward a genuine integration of cultures, whereby different cultures truly complement each other and cultural differences do not hinder but enrich community life and apostolic service. Like any community, an international community does not come automatically. It needs to be consciously created, intentionally promoted, carefully cared for and attentively nurtured.

(2) Genuine internationality needs a “local base”, that is, members belonging to the culture of the place. Without a local base, a community of religious from various nationalities would remain a completely foreign presence in the country or mission area. A local base is a good reminder of the need for inculturation and links the religious missionary community to the complex realities of the local church and the local community.

(3) Internationality calls for a specific program of formation. Young members need to be trained in the attitudes and skills required for living in international communities and working in multi-cultural teams. But also the so-called “receiving” provinces or communities need to be prepared to accept confreres or sisters from another culture. Especially the older provinces or communities need to realize that they are not necessarily the only or even the best expression of the charism of the congregation.

(4) True internationality will have an impact on community structures, religious lifestyle, methods of work, systems of government. Indeed, if an international community is to survive, it will require a deepened spirituality. Internationality is not achieved by simply bringing, for instance, Asian members to staff European houses without any corresponding change in structures, lifestyles and methods of work. That would be like simply putting Asian rice in a European bread basket. If the basket is not changed or modified, eventually the grains of rice will fall out.

(5) It seems advisable to avoid a situation whereby a community is limited or reduced to having only very few (e.g., two or three) nationalities. Polarization can easily arise if a community is made up of only a few identifiable national or cultural groups. Controversial issues can divide the community according to national or cultural lines. Personal differences can be interpreted as cultural differences in such a way that a controversy between two individual members becomes an issue that divides the entire community.

After the recent round of general visitations in Africa, the general visitators were unanimous in reporting that one of the things that the bishops appreciate about the SVD is our internationality. This is obviously understandable, coming from the bishops of a continent that is often torn by cultural, ethnic and racial conflicts and violence. But not just Africa. Our world today seems to be experiencing a new xenophobia. As the world becomes more and more multi-cultural, it experiences at the same time continuing divisions and conflicts along ethnic and racial lines. It is in the context of such a world that our internationality can provide a witness to cultural dialogue, mutual understanding and integration as a sacrament of God’s kingdom.

3. Authenticity

The search for authenticity was, in a certain sense, the primary concern of our last general chapter of 2006. With its theme, “Living Prophetic Dialogue”, it wanted to be in continuity with the general chapter of 2000 which renewed the understanding of our mission as a call to “prophetic dialogue”. If the 2000 general chapter was about “doing prophetic dialogue”, the 2006 general chapter was about “living prophetic dialogue”. The concern, in other words, was achieving a harmony between our doing and our living, between our missionary activity and our consecrated life. For it is the split between these two aspects of our SVD vocation that threatens authenticity.

As religious-missionaries we always run the risk of separating the two aspects of our vocation – living our religious life without reference to our mission, and doing our missionary work without reference to our religious commitment. For us, what threatens authenticity is when what we do does not reflect who we are, and who we are is not shaped by what we do. Thus, we are threatened by both the danger of activism and the danger of pietism.

On the one hand, the danger of activism, when we begin to consider our mission simply as work – work well done, work professionally done, work done with great effectivity. But the fire is not there. The passion for mission is missing. When this happens, what we do is appreciated or even admired, but what or who we are doesn’t symbolize anything anymore. On the other hand, the danger of pietism, when we retreat into our convents or mission houses and remain unconcerned with and untouched by the events of the world. We remain faithful to our vows and our religious practices. But the prophetic restlessness is not there. The passion for the poor and marginalized is missing.

One of the factors which leads to a split between the two aspects of our vocation, and thus to inauthenticity, is the temptation to compromise with the surrounding secular and consumerist society. To quote from the chapter document:

It is becoming more difficult to resist the seductions of a comfortable and secular lifestyle; indeed, one wonders in what sense it can be said that our religious life is truly counter-cultural. Over-activity results in less time for personal prayer and daily meditation, superficiality in spiritual matters and debilitating fatigue in our religious missionary commitments. This has made it more difficult for many to cope with difficulties and to recognize the transforming power of the cross. While there is now more interest in the Bible, regular Bible reading and Bible sharing are still far from being a normal part of our lives.

Thus, the chapter proposes the fostering of a “spirituality of the cross”. To quote from the chapter document again:

The “spirituality of the cross” leads us to embrace failures and imperfections as part of our human and missionary journey. Jesus did not experience his ministry or his death as a success, but paradoxically his moment of greatest weakness best shows the loving power and wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:24). Our custom of giving a mission cross is a reminder that prophetic dialogue will be a success only through the cross, as we follow the Lord “who emptied himself taking the form of a slave” (Phil 2:7). The Cross is the source of our hope, giving us the inner strength to persevere in times of difficulty and to face the future with joy in our hearts.

Perhaps the one who best exemplifies the “spirituality of the cross” in the SVD is St. Joseph Freinademetz. The painting made for his canonization in Rome five years ago shows him clasping the cross with his hands and close to his breast. In 1888 he wrote to his parents from China: “As for us missionaries, there is no lack of crosses .... but with God’s grace we are now accustomed to carry the cross; the cross, indeed, is the daily bread of the missionary”. St. Joseph understood well that mission is a sharing of the cross of Jesus, a giving of oneself to the people, a pouring out of one’s life for the gospel of Christ. And not as a sacrifice, but as a privilege, an honor, a gift from God. As he wrote in 1878 after having been admitted by Arnold Janssen to Steyl: “I do not consider being a missionary as a sacrifice that I offer to God, but as the greatest gift that God is giving me”.

“Precious is the life given for mission” – this is the theme that we have chosen to celebrate the centenary of the death of Sts. Arnold and Joseph, two lives completely dedicated to mission. Mission is self-giving or it is not mission at all. It is life given for the gospel of Christ or it is not mission at all. Herein lies authenticity in mission.

III. Conclusion

It is time to conclude. And I do so simply by repeating my word of sincere thanks at the beginning of this address. Thank you for being our sisters. Thank you for being our partners in mission. Please know that we continue to accompany your general chapter with our interest and support it with our prayers. Through the intercession of the Founder and the co-Foundresses, and the holy men and women of the founding generation, may your general chapter be an experience of an encounter with the risen Lord, so that you may be “Afire with Christ and Committed to Life”. Thank you.