Building Integrity for Mission
This is the seventh section in this series of reflections on self-understanding for the sake of mission. We now proceed to explore the dynamics of needs that are consistent and those that are inconsistent, and why. This will shed light on why our behaviour some times puzzles us, when we know what we should do but we fail to do so.
This is the sixth section in this series of reflections on self-understanding for the sake of mission. In this section we discuss in more detail the differing dimensions of human needs, in order to gain some understanding of how we, as MSC, are influenced by our own needs.
Religious vocation is a complex reality. As we try to live our vocation with ever deepening integrity we discover that not all our motivations are always what they seem. Even as we believe ourselves to be acting out of the highest religious and spiritual values possible to us when we make our vocational choices, we are not always aware of the ways in which those choices are influenced by social factors that require adherence to certain norms and come with a personal cost. Social psychologists have found people are highly susceptible to social influences as demonstrated by classic experiments in obedience and conformity. Why do people conform?
In Section 3 we looked at each of the motivational forces; Values and Needs. Now we will consider the various values, that mould and shape our whole life of faith as MSC, what Jules Chevalier calls the sentiments of the Heart of Christ. Our starting place is to understand the nature of values and the different kinds of values that influence human behaviour.
Understanding ourselves is an important part of giving our best to the Mission. In the interplay between our felt needs and the values we aspire to live, we discover the extent to which we have interior freedom and the motivation to live the life of the Gospel. As MSC we are called to live the sentiments of the Heart of Jesus. Knowing the boundaries around our needs and how to maintain them in a healthy way is vital to living from the heart of Jesus.
This is the second section of a series on deepening self-understanding in service of the Mission. In order to live our lives with a degree of ‘normal’ emotional integrity it is necessary to develop the capacity to ‘step-back’ from the self stuck in reactive emotional states.
This is the first section of a series on deepening self-understanding in service of the mission. They are offered for your own self-reflection and personal, spiritual and professional growth.
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