Fire

It is hard to know where to start with this reflection. First I felt very privileged to be invited to the course.The second thought was that it really was a formation exercise, with lots of reflection and communal prayer. Damian Price particularly was brilliant at this. The use of symbols, and the sacred space was so creative! I enjoyed the pilgrimage as well. All of this made for a very inspiring experience, and helped us to re-live and re-connect with the heart of the Brothers’ mission.I really enjoyed Regis Hickey’s talks naturally enough, as I have had him before, once in the scholasticate(1962), and once at the tertianship (1992). His portrayal of Ambrose Treacy was so moving. If we could only capture some of Regis’ spirit and bottle it, we would then have our mission statement! I suppose my question all the time, was how can each session help us to write what we mean by mission?I knew you needed something to come out of it. So I have used three sources that seemed to me to give that focus.The first was yours and John-Henry Thornber’s paper on “Towards a Missiology Framework” I liked this summary. I was a little disappointed that you used Schroeder’s ‘six mission expressions’ rather than his four ‘constants in context’ from the Bevans and Schroeder book. I really think we can link things with the four constants in context: Participation in the mission of the triune God, Liberating service of the reign of God; proclamation of Jesus Christ as universal saviour; and prophetic dialogue. I feel there is a natural connection between three of these ‘constants’ with our tri-header of ‘compassion, liberation, presence’. As I detailed in the paper, the fourth one of ‘Participation in the mission of thetriune God’ does not get linked into that tri-header. There were quite a few occasions when people mentioned the need for entering into God’s mystery through prayer and contemplation. You provided this aspect superbly throughout the fire-stic experience. Now we need to build it into our expression of mission.I guess where I am heading, is trying to find some relevance for the brothers in mission. No longer can most participate in the active mission, but all can feel very much part of the work of the mission (EREA,ERN, O/S missions etc) by their prayer and sufferings, as outlined in the Bevans and Schroeder book. This is where writing the Mission for the Network in general, cannot capture the need of the Brothers (old) who also need to feel they are on mission. So the general expression of Mission could evolve into the specifics for ERN, EREA etc. For example EREA expresses its mission very much through education, but most of the brothers are now out of that. I felt that the Noel Connolly paper supported this fourth dimension superbly, and I really enjoyed his session, and they way he delivered it in the form of questions, and by listening to the wisdom of the group. I think you certainly could use him again. I want to read a bit more now from his writings. I thinkhis final summary or definition could be the general expression you need, and then allow the ministries to take their lead from that. All of this could be put in the context of your ‘Framework’ paper. I really liked Maryanne Confoy’s paper “Towards an evocative Encounter’. There was challenge here, and a lot of inspiration bordering on excitement as she outlined the importance of a communal and contemplative approach to our mission. John-Henry’s paper was a result of the findings of his consultation, and perhaps could, have been used insome of our sessions. You tried hard to get a synthesis towards the end of the fire-stic conference, but wisely you didn’t push too hard when you saw there was quite some diversity within the group. The final session of reflection and unity within a lovely liturgy really did the trick for you. It was a fitting climax to the whole experience. Where to from here?
Firstly, I think you can shape up your ‘Framework’ paper to include some of the emerging elements, and then give it to the ministries to construct their particular application of that mission. Secondly I think it is worth exploring getting a semester unit prepared on Edmund Rice Spirituality and Mission. Perhaps we could develop our unit so that it can be taken for credit in all of the Catholic universities across the States and Territories. It could include some components such as fire-stic. If such a unit was developed, it could serve as compulsory component in the formation of all leaders in EdmundRice ministries.

Pat Cronin