Spirituality of the Heart – MSC Ongoing Formation

A PLACE OF WELCOME

‘If the structure is more important than the mission, we will never get anywhere,’ says priest who works on parish renewal. ¹

The Canadian priest, Father James Mallon, says that, “A healthy church is a missionary church”. He proposes a renewal that begins by welcoming people first and then allowing them to discover their faith from the inside. This is a reversal that should lead to an end of the “managing decline” approach in favor of evangelization borne of looking for signs of life in the Spirit. The ‘process’ or movements of Heart Spirituality are an embodiment of this proposal. Our hospitality wins hearts and this hospitality becomes a place where people encounter the God who loves them. Our hospitality is the cradle of faith commitment.

Father Chevalier was well known for his hospitality. Fr. Piperon who knew Fr. Chevalier longer than anyone else said of him,

“Still today after fifty years, we find him kind, compassionate, amiable towards all those who come to him. He has become all things to all men to gain them all to Jesus Christ. This is the great secret which draws so many souls to him from all countries …”
Jules Chevalier: Man with a Mission 1824-1907 E. J. Cuskelly, M.S.C.1975 ROMA Chapter XI. pp 285

And from the Memoire of Fr. X. Maillard, 1923 we read,

There was an obvious breadth to his works of charity, and to his vision. Just as his mind and heart were open to all,
his house was too, for hospitality is one of the expressions of charity: He exercised a generous hospitality, especially towards the clergy, regular or secular. His house was always open to his confreres in the priesthood and if his table was simple and frugal, his welcome was always very cordial.
Jules Chevalier: Man with a Mission 1824-1907 E. J. Cuskelly, M.S.C.1975 ROMA Chapter XI. pp 292

Ours is a spirit of family and a spirit of brotherhood, formed by kindness and understanding, by compassion and mutual forgiveness, by gentleness, humility and simplicity, by hospitality and a sense of humour.
…. the community will value highly the practice of hospitality, especially towards those in need, and towards friends and benefactors.
Hospitality towards our own members, a clear sign of our common spirit, should be a concern of all our members.
MSC Constitutions & Statutes 32, 123, 124.

Shifting from structures to a mission of hospitality can be challenging. Our spirituality however, shows us how to do it: gentleness, humility, simplicity and kindness. We have a map. The process of transformation that begins with opening our own hearts to the love of God fills us with a charitable joy that confirms our missionary energy.

On the 7th March 2013, just days before the conclave that elected him, Cardinal Bergoglio told the Cardinals,

Evangelizing presupposes a desire in the church to come out of herself. The church is called to come out of herself and to go to the peripheries, not only geographically, but also the existential peripheries: the mystery of sin, of pain, of injustice, of ignorance and indifference to religion, of intellectual currents and of all misery. When the Church does not come out of herself to evangelize, she becomes self-referential and then gets sick. The evils that, over time, happen in ecclesiastical institutions have their root in self-reference and a kind of theological narcissism. In Revelation, Jesus says that he is at the door and knocks. Obviously, the text refers to his knocking from the outside in order to enter but I think about the times in which Jesus knocks from within so that we will let him come out. The self-referential Church keeps Jesus Christ within herself and does not let him out. When the Church is self-referential, inadvertently, she believes she has her own light; she ceases to be the mysterium lunae and gives way to that very serious evil, spiritual worldliness. It lives to give glory only to one another. Put simply, there are two images of the Church: the Church which evangelizes and comes out of herself, the Dei Verbum religiose audiens et fidente proclamans; and the worldly Church, living within herself, of herself, for herself. This should shed light on the possible changes and reforms which must be done for the salvation of souls. Thinking of the next pope: He must be at man who, from the contemplation and adoration of Jesus Christ, helps the Church to go out to the existential peripheries, that helps her to be the fruitful mother, who gains life from the sweet and comforting joy of evangelising.
Francis: Pope of Good Promise: From Argentina’s Bergoglio to the World’s Francis. Jimmy Burns. Constable. UK. 2015.

Our being MSC doesn’t call us to come out of ourselves. Coming out of ourselves is why we are MSC. This is the ecstatic nature of religious vocation, to go out beyond ourselves, as did Jesus, following him. Yes, he is at the door and knocking, not in order to join us, but to call us out to join him. Otherwise it is on our terms. Being drawn beyond ourselves is the point of conversion.

As members of the Society we are called to the peripheries. We know the experience and how challenging it can be. There are times we know the frustration of encountering great indifference. Jules Chevalier recognised the egocentrism and religious indifference of his time; the mal moderne. Pope Francis points to the same reality. It is an example of the self-reference that can be found both in individuals and systems. It is present within our own Society – not in a deliberate way, but part of our human nature. At the individual level, I am the voice I am listening to. Systemically, the automatic patterns of thinking and acting are the voices we listen to, often without critical awareness.

At a meeting in Rome an confrère once spoke of a “stove-top” understanding of community. Four disconnected burners, all burning separately, not realising the gas burning in them is the same in all. His image calls for a new way of being msc in this time. A deep conversion/transformation is needed that connects us to our Source. Old wine splits new wine skins. There is a need for credible living of community witness not just individualistic witness. A New Paradigm – challenging the questions; Who are we? To whom are we answerable to? Who is sending us?

In Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, we read,

I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security. I do not want a Church concerned with being at the centre and which then ends by being caught up in a web of obsessions and procedures. If something should rightly disturb us and trouble our consciences, it is the fact that so many of our brothers and sisters are living without the strength, light and consolation born of friendship with Jesus Christ, without a community of faith to support them, without meaning and a goal in life. More than by fear of going astray, my hope is that we will be moved by the fear of remaining shut up within structures which give us a false sense of security, within rules which make us harsh judges, within habits which make us feel safe, while at our door people are starving and Jesus does not tire of saying to us: “Give them something to eat” (Mk 6:37).
Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis. November 24, 2013. §49

He says that mercy is the first thing the Catholic Church is called to bring to those peripheries.

The Church must be a place of mercy freely given, where everyone can feel welcomed, loved, forgiven and encouraged to live the good life of the Gospel. ²

Is there an approach to our mission specific to our own spirituality? How does our spirituality shape the way in which we lead within the Church and within the wider society in these times? How do we “come out of ourselves” to go to the peripheries? How might we fan the flames of our missionary energy in this era? How do we meet with ego-centrism and indifference?

It is important we grapple with the paradigm shift that is presented to us here. It asks us to be missionaries who finds the roots of their mission in deep contemplation of the love of God. That we discover the animating Spirit of God behind all things and not mechanically live out of the security of structures. This is a shift in world-view requiring of us a reimagining of the way in which we see ourselves and the world. Such a shift is already taking place today, within the Church and outside of it. Many of the complex realities of this technological era profoundly challenge the assumptions we have of our perceptions and judgements.

The following comparison comes from the methodology of Appreciative Discernment, an adaption by Fr. Bill Nordenbrock CPPS, of the scholarly work on Appreciative Inquiry pioneered by David Cooperrider and Suresh Srivastva.³ It highlights some of the important shifts taking place today.

The question for us, is how does a Spirituality of the Heart, a uniquely MSC way of approaching life, speak to this shift that is currently taking place? This reflection suggests that it not only speaks to the shift, but it invites us to be leading it. Let us say more as we explore the movements of our Spirituality.

HEART SPIRITUALITY

Our unique mission is seen through the prism of a ‘spirituality of the heart’. God’s love is embodied in a human heart. We believe that the coming of the Kingdom of God requires change, but we emphasize that this begins with the renewal of our own hearts. New structures and thinking can be introduced only when our hearts are in the process of renewal; otherwise they would have to be imposed by force, which we know usually results in superficial conformity rather than true interiorization of values. Furthermore, only hearts renewed by the compassion of Christ can envision a society in which justice dwells. Hence, MSC leadership and mission is about creating a new heart for a new world. If we want a new heart for a new world we have to listen to our own hearts, listen to the heart of the world, listen to the deep longings of our time, within the Heart of Christ.

Our former Superior General, Fr. Cuskelly, made important contributions to Spirituality of the Heart.⁴ In the first place, he defined the meaning of the word ‘spirituality’, as distinct from devotional practice. A person may have various devotions, but we speak of spirituality ‘when a person’s central intuition comes into a person’s life and under its special light transforms the whole of one’s spiritual life’. Cuskelly outlined how he saw that spirituality describing a religion that has become interiorised and habitual. It indicates that:

We have to go down to the depths of our own souls in a realisation of our profound personal needs of life, of love and of meaning.
We must find, through faith and reflection, the answer to our own questioning in the Heart of Christ, i.e. in the depths of his personality, where man’s yearning and God’s graciousness meet in redemptive incarnation.
Then, fashioned by these forces, our own heart will be an understanding heart, open to, feeling for, and giving to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
We will not be discouraged in the face of difficulties.
We follow Christ who ‘loved with a human heart’ as Vatican II reminds us; he shared our humanness that we might know that over us all is the everlasting love of the Father. In God’s good time the omnipotent love of God will have its way. It is this love in which we have learned to believe.

The former Assistant General and Australian Provincial, Fr. Dennis Murphy MSC later wrote,

When Jesus began to preach, he called for conversion, for a change of heart. He continues to do the same today. His call for a change of heart is based on God’s coming to us as a Father who loves us. This love is revealed not only in the words and actions of Jesus, but particularly in his own deepest attitudes and values, that is in his ‘heart’. These two movements of revelation and conversion take place in the heart of an individual, but of necessity they go beyond the individual too, for they change relationships between people and hence should create a new form of society. Thus, there is a third movement in the teaching of Jesus – mission into the heart of the world.
Cor Novum, no. 1, 1983, pp. 8-9. & Murphy, Dennis, The Heart of the Word Incarnate, Bangalore: Asian Trading, 2003.

The movements highlighted here, revelation, conversion and mission, do not take place in chronological order. Each implies the other and they continually interact. They sum up what Father Chevalier saw in the Heart of Christ and what we speak of today as a ‘Spirituality of the Heart.’⁵

In the movement of revelation, we see two movements. There are moments of encounter when the experience God’s love breaks through into consciousness, or moments when we ‘wake up’ to the need for change, or times of being touched by the sufferings and joys of others, or when the grandeur of creation stirs deep emotions in us.

It is one thing to encounter these realities, but another when these encounters take root and shape or influence how I live my life and the choices I make. This influence is the result of a growing intimacy between oneself and the experience that prods me. The deeper I relate with God, with creation, or even to myself, the more reality reveals to me and the more I come to know who I am, and in the process I glimpse more of the Mystery that is God. The Doctor of the Church, Catherine of Genoa once said, “My deepest me is God.”⁶

So, we might say that there are four movements⁷ in a spirituality of the heart, Encounter, Intimacy, Conversion and Mission. The movements form a framework for all our undertakings. They parallel the “emerging paradigm” that we already briefly considered in the Appreciative Discernment model. The movements of a Spirituality of the Heart offer a process that differs from existing current paradigms of operation. The current model by which we approach situations may be called a “problem solving” paradigm. Whereas heart spirituality and the emerging paradigms invite us into deepening connection to the mystery inherent in a person or a situation. ⁸This table illustrates the two paradigms.

Spirituality of the Heart is a “mystery to be embraced”. Let’s tease-out the four movements a little further.

ENCOUNTER

Through the chance encounters of each moment, opportunities are present to be aware of God’s unconditional love in the realities of one’s life: that is in what is. I encounter the unconditional love of God and I realise that God loves others in the same way. God’s love beckons even if I don’t apprehend its voice and respond. We filter this experience according to already pre-existing dispositions within us. As a result we don’t always hear what God is saying and when we do we don’t always interpret it in the way it is given. Our human blindspots stop us from seeing revelation truly, limiting our freedom to choose and respond. And yet love makes itself known to us unexpectedly again and again, in fleeting moments of allurement ⁹. I am left with an invitation, but am I free to follow, or do I just continue with “life as normal”.

INTIMACY

In the story of Moses and the burning bush, there is first of all an allurement, a seduction and attraction, a fascinating experience (the bush that is burning but not consumed). Moses is attracted to it. Then Yahweh says, “Take off your shoes. Come no nearer.” God is not calling Moses to enmeshment or loss of his own self. Yahweh is telling Moses, “I know who I am, and you are about to enter into a sacred experience with me. Come no nearer.” God honours the other as distinct. So, love is not absorption, love is not a martyr complex where you let other people use you. When you know your inherent divine identity, you are truly ready to participate in the sacred dance of intimacy. And in the dance of love there must be at least two. ¹⁰

To stand my ground in God, requires me to be at home with myself. This is at the heart of authentic conversion; a foundation on which healthy growth and transformation can happen. It is a process of self-awareness in which my real identity is confirmed and affirmed – that I am created in the image and likeness of God. God’s identity is love, so my true identity is love. “Between God and the soul there is no distance.” ¹¹ This love makes personal transformation, professional development and spiritual growth sustainable and safe. When we go into our depths, we will meet our vulnerability, we will meet our woundedness, but that is also where we meet God, for “God is more intimate to me than I am to myself”. ¹² Love demands that I be open in my vulnerabilities. Love enlarges my perception of myself, God, others and all creation.

The gaze of God receives me exactly as I am. The love grows in and between us, gaining strength, and empowering for mission. The God of surprises is in constant Self-revelation. The two essential elements of self-revelation are trust and faithfulness. Intimacy requires respect for the space that needs to exist within and between us. Mutual love is a participation in a greater love to which it points, allowing space to move, forming new patterns and seeing God, creation, other and my own self as always new. There is a call to be grounded in ourselves and in God’s unconditional love which enables the kind of personal conversion (reorientation of perspective) that serves mission.

CONVERSION (TRANSFORMATION OR EVOLUTION)

We all want resurrection in some form. ¹³ Jesus’ resurrection is a potent, focused, and compelling statement about what God is still and forever doing with the universe and with humanity. Science strongly confirms this statement today with different metaphors and symbols: condensation, evaporation, hibernation, sublimation, and the life cycles of everything from salmon to stars—constantly dying and being reborn in different forms. God appears to be resurrecting everything all the time and everywhere. It is not something to “believe in” as much as it is something to observe and be taught by. ¹⁴ When we are guided by the principles of spirituality of the heart this resurrection, or conversion, is what takes place in those who participate in sacred intimacy.

The mutuality of intimacy demands vulnerability. Vulnerability in intimacy invites us often to step into the unknown, into the mystery of the other, or even the mystery of oneself. The old small-self yields to a self now more capable of embracing the expanded mind, heart and will that the new understanding requires. Our model of this openness is the Sacred Heart, who draws us to imitate the extent of his charity for all. Imitating him, one’s life becomes more authentic and grows in moral and religious integrity.

MISSION (EMERGENCE)

When God wants something done, obstacles for him are means. He makes sport of human wisdom, upsets its expectations, calls to life what, in its view, should never see the light of day. He gives growth, strength and fruitfulness to what human wisdom had condemned to death. The foundation and growth of the little Society of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart is proof of this truth.
Jules Chevalier, c. 1870 ¹⁵

In conversion, we are expanded beyond self-interest by a love that extends us past the our own boundaries. The “returning to our first love” ¹⁶ releases the energy, passion, and joy that gives inertia needed to undertake God’s mission in the heart of the world. Anyone who has known this energy and seen it transforming their own life, cannot help but let go into the interior freedom it brings and want to share it by letting come¹⁷ what emerges on ahead of them. This is how our spirituality can enable us to willingly accept whatever is asked of us, even when we have feelings of fear. We become other-centred, as Christ himself was; growing in our capacity for service without condition and giving our lives for others.

In an interview the Martyr, St. Oscar Romero was

“asked if he was scared that he would be killed like his friends, Blessed Romero admitted that while he did have a “prudent concern” about threats to his life, he did not experience a “fear that inhibits me, that prevents me from working.” “I feel that while I walk along fulfilling my duty, while I go around freely being a shepherd to the communities, God is with me,” he said. “And if something happens to me, then I am prepared for everything.” ¹⁸

Conversion of the heart, frees us from our deepest fears and anxieties.

A PROCESS FRAMEWORK

The four movements, encounter, intimacy, conversion and mission, create a framework for a process of renewal – strengthening capacity for mission and for a life of integrity.

This diagram describes the continuous circle of encounter-appreciating what is, intimacy-envisioning what could be, transformation-building together what should be, mission-sustaining what will be.

However it does not just retrace its own steps, but rather, takes us down to newer dimensions of relationship and truth (as in the image of the descending stairs of the Vatican Museum).

THE HEART SPIRITUALITY OF POPE FRANCIS

Fr. Hans Kwakman, MSC¹⁹ has been working on the core elements of a Spirituality of the Heart as lived and promoted by Fr. Chevalier. He uses the titles ‘Awareness’. ‘Encounter’, ‘Formation’ and ‘Mission’ which he borrowed from a talk given by Sr. Merle Salazar FDNSC, who used them as a summary of the description of a Spirituality of the Heart, given by Fr. Cuskelly MSC in his book, Man with a Mission. He also notes how the writings and practical approach of Pope Francis are clearly a modern understanding of a Spirituality of the Heart. Hans has offered these points of view to add to the reflection.

AWARENESS – Encounter

By a Spirituality of the Heart, Fr. Chevalier, intended to provide an answer to the ills of the time; indifference and selfishness. Indifference to faith in God, the Gospel and the Church, as well as selfishness in relation to the needs of the underprivileged, the poor and refugees. Even today, Pope Francis speaks of the existence of “global indifference” and “collective selfishness” as two widespread social diseases that might ruin society.

Fr. Chevalier and Pope Francis point out that the ills of society, namely “indifference” and “selfishness”, find their source in people’s hearts. By saying so, they do not speak as sociologists or politicians looking for social causes, but as shepherds of people. The cure of the ills of society must begin in our own hearts and in the hearts of as many people as possible.

We believe in the presence of God’s Spirit in our hearts. That belief makes us aware of the fact that our hearts are enriched with the gifts of the Spirit enabling us to live together as good people and to build a better society. It is important to make ourselves aware of these gifts in our hearts Such an awareness gives us self-confidence and the courage to act

ENCOUNTER – Intimacy

However, these gifts of the Spirit are often buried in our hearts under the dust and stones of everyday life so that they do not give shape to our relationship with our fellow human beings and are limited in giving direction to our lives as a whole. Therefore, indifference and “selfishness” are still at work in our own hearts. Both Fr. Chevalier and Pope Francis point out that precisely the encounter with Jesus in the Gospel can heal us from these inner obstacles and can renew our hearts.

In the Gospel, we meet Jesus, who loves with a human heart and works with unconditional love. They reveal the deepest values of his heart, for which he was willing to give his life, in order to spread among all people, love without boundaries, justice for all without distinction of race or religion, fraternal and sisterly communion based on forgiveness, and above all trust in God’s love. Jesus reveals to us that God the Father himself cherishes these values in His Heart and has implanted the same values in our hearts through his Spirit.

FORMATION – Transformation or Conversion

According to Fr. Chevalier and Pope Francis, the formation of our hearts is an essential element in the practice of a Spirituality of the Heart. First of all, we need to become aware of the obstacles in our hearts which have come from our upbringing and formation. We must also learn to listen to the voice of our hearts, through which the Spirit of God leads us to make the best decisions in the circumstances in which we live.

MISSION – Mission or Emergence

Both Fr. Chevalier and Pope Francis emphasize that we are all sent to live and promote the values, revealed by Jesus – the values of his heart. As leaders we are sent to do so with our members, as much as in the wider society as well. In this way we contribute to the healing of the ills of society.

Mary, whom we venerate as Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, is our great example and inspiration in the field of awareness, encounter, formation and mission. For us, she is the outstanding Missionary of the Heart, while during her whole life being inspired by a Spirituality of the Heart.

APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY

The model of Appreciative Inquiry we have already referred to, offers perspectives and principles that are equally significant in the movements of the heart.²⁰ Each of these are consistent with the spirituality we have discussed. They are;

Choose what is positive as the focus of your process of inquiry in ongoing formation
Inquire into stories of the life-giving forces within a person or group
Locate recurring themes that appear in the stories
Select topics for further inquiry based on these recurring themes
Create shared images for a preferred emerging future
Find innovative ways to create that future.
Seek synodality in the ways in which you conduct inquiry and in creating the emerging future, (sometimes called collegiality or congregationality – to see the whole, not just the sum of its parts).

A MODEL OF ACCOMPANIMENT

One way to embody this process-approach to spirituality of the heart through the practice of accompaniment.²¹ Accompaniment into the complex reality of a person’s life is a journeying with; a companioning; a walking together; an engagement in allowing another to tell their story. Accompaniment is a non-judgemental listening and empathising, which one takes into the Heart of Christ. Good accompaniment enables us to sense we are fully accepted and that we have a sense of God’s love for us. This promotes an awareness of self, of other, and of God, and leads to acceptance and affirmation of the realities we have become aware of.

We see accompaniment in action in the Gospel of John in the narrative of the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Jesus comes along side of them and as he walks with them he does not tell them what is going on, but gently calls forth the story as they have known it. Though they have misunderstood the facts and the meaning of the life of Jesus he let’s them tell the story from their perspective. Jesus then leads them through the story again, but this time helping them to make the connections to the bigger picture. This ignites something in their hearts and they don’t want him to leave. Accompaniment has this capacity to takes us down into our deepest desires and connections with the God of our lives.

Accompaniment with brother MSC is a listening to and reflecting back of our individual hopes and desires, in the light of the common hopes and desires of the Congregation. It builds our relationships through our personal connection that leads to openness, trust and in living the culture of the Gospel.

“To say that a person feels listened to, means a lot more than just their ideas get heard. It’s a sign of respect. It makes people feel valued.”
Deborah Tannen Author and Professor of Linguistics Georgetown University.

FOUR DIMENSIONS OF LISTENING

“Listening is always at the source of all great leadership.”
Appendix 14 OGF Handbook – Cor Novum Team Training on Listening and Dialogue Skills.

Theory-U is a change management methodology developed by Otto Scharmer.²² Scharmer with colleagues at MIT conducted interviews with entrepreneurs and innovators in science, business, and society and then extended the basic principles into a theory of learning and management, which he calls Theory U. Central to his Theory U are four dimensions of listening. Each successive dimension allows for deeper levels of authenticity and integration in an organisation’s understanding of itself and how it lives out that understanding. The model parallels closely the four movements of our own spirituality, culminating in our communal life in the Heart of Christ.

The following diagram presents the schema of Theory U within the framework of heart spirituality. Let’s then consider the four dimensions of listening along side the four movements of the heart.

FIRST DIMENSION: ENCOUNTER – DOWNLOADING

This dimension of listening is what we recognise as the movement in a spirituality of the heart referred to as ENCOUNTER. Scharmer calls it DOWNLOADING. It is a process of listening from habits, reconfirming what I already know, and seeking out what confirms me in my prevailing belief systems. I listen to God, to the other, and to self, but through myself and my own habitual perceptions and judgements, so that my responses have more to do with what I expect to hear than with what is actually being said. I am the reference-point of my listening world – a self-referential leadership, a self-referential church. Nothing new penetrates the bubble.

The Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. The Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” Then the Lord said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do…. As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord.
1 Samuel 3

Sharing from Experience

We have found communities where there is a systemic disconnection. I have experienced that at some communities just by listening a few minutes to a confrère I have been able to discover some details about his life. Then when I am with another member of that same community and the subject comes up, the one who has been living for years with him, is surprised, he knew nothing. These are not things of stealth, they are ordinary but important things. I have found confrères who are not aware of anything about the congregation and not for lack of information. One asked me about a brother MSC, of whom he is a friend, but he did not know that two years ago he became a bishop.
Sharing of the Superior General, Fr. Abzalón Alvarado Tovar MSC, 2019 General Conference, Busan Korea

SECOND DIMENSION: ENCOUNTER TO INTIMACY – FACTUAL LISTENING

In this dimension we begin to engage in INTIMACY. We let the data talk to us and we notice disconfirming information. Instead of listening through my habitual judgments, I suspend them and keep an OPEN MIND to facts that may not align with my own thoughts and that may even challenge my prevailing beliefs. Imagine two people from different faith traditions listening to one another in an open and interested way. They hear doctrines that they do not personally believe in, but refrain from holding the other in judgement. The connection that happens through an open mind makes space within our thinking and opens our curiosity.

The factor that most disconnects us from having an open mind and limits our capacity to hear the facts another is presenting is the VOICE OF JUDGEMENT. This voice of judgement takes the listener back to the previous dimension of downloading in which he filters the facts through his own habitual judgements.

To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.
1 Peter 5:1-3

Sharing from Experience

In some accompaniments to our communities we have found confrères whose experience has been that leaders only call them when they need to ask for something, for things of work, but not to ask how they are, or how they are going personally, or about their ministry. When we have been with those confrères, we have discovered that by opening our hearts, they are very much in need of being listened to. Especially those who live in remote areas, far from leadership centers. It is difficult for us to conceive of a leadership that is only management. We are aware that we have a management responsibility, but that does not replace presence and listening. I have accompanied leaders who spend more than half of their time in office things or solving problems. We have to do it, but for that we have leadership teams. Encouraging, necessarily needs presence and openness of heart. To be with our confreres in their reality. At least open your mind to our confrère’s reality, as well as to our confrère’s lives.
Sharing of the Superior General, Fr. Abzalón Alvarado Tovar MSC, 2019 General Conference, Busan Korea

THIRD DIMENSION: DEEPENING INTIMACY INTO CONVERSION – EMPATHIC LISTENING

The third dimension of listening is EMPATHIC. This is the movement of the heart in which a moral and religious CONVERSION is enabled, because we see the situation through the eyes of another. This dimension connects the listener to the emotional communication of both herself and the other she is listening to. This is listening from within the depths of the human person to the story behind the facts, the body language, the tone, the unsaid statements that are intimated but verbally unexpressed. Doing this requires an OPEN HEART, using our feelings and our heart to tune into another person’s point of view. This open heart enables an emotional connection which draws one into a deeper respect, compassion and reverence. Here we are more available to the mystery of God’s love and the sacred space created in the relationship. We begin to change and allow God and other more space in our lives.

The disconnection at this level is the result of the VOICE OF CYNICISM, which reveals the filter of mistrust and hurt through which listening is taking place. ²³

Showing empathy is crucial for leadership success and personal well-being, says author Daniel Goleman. “Sharing something deeply personal… lets us share our emotions and connect with others on a deeper level. If you’re a leader and find it difficult to disclose your emotions to your team, try talking with a colleague first.”

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6

Sharing from Experience

Opening the heart. We have been able to experience that when we listen to some of those who we call difficult cases they start changing some of their attitudes. Sometimes we have been looking at them as individual problems, when in fact, they are signs of systemic failures, thereby we all share part of the responsibility. By the way, when we convert and open our hearts, and we consider them not as isolated problems, there is more chance of recovery. They are not the only toxic thing poisoning the system. I have heard confrères in such situations, and I have encouraged the leadership team to listen to them. Sometimes we are afraid to listen to them, and we should do it as teams. Open your heart as a team not to judge or condemn, but to seek together the ways of conversion. As leaders I think we need a lot of conversion. I personally feel invited to that when I open my heart to listening to the mission. I, myself, have had to review the way I have been doing my leadership service.
Sharing of the Superior General, Fr. Abzalón Alvarado Tovar MSC, 2019 General Conference, Busan Korea

FOURTH DIMENSION: CONVERSION IN THE HEART OF CHRIST – GENERATIVE LISTENING

Scharmer calls this dimension GENERATIVE listening. We listen for the highest future possibility to show up while holding a space for something new to be born. The generative outflow of listening enables a connection beyond the individual. For us this transcendence is our coming into the Heart of Christ and we recognise the outflowing as the heart-movement of Mission. It is a movement of transcendence resulting from mutually explored depth bringing us to a higher level. In the Heart of Christ, we connect to the emerging Whole of God’s unconditional love for the world and the direction that gives to our lives.

We recognise this direction as the Will of God, wanting for us a life lived completely in the embrace of his Heart. A shift in identity takes place in me, a shift towards a more authentic self. It is in the heart of Christ I discover my true nature and what is false is less able to stand in the light that shines here. This level of listening or connection requires of us an OPEN WILL. We grow into the willingness to trust that God is directing all our efforts towards goodness and completeness, despite not knowing where we are being taken. It is a surrender into the benevolence of the Heart of Christ; a LETTING GO.

The VOICE OF FEAR is the disconnecting force that prohibits this movement. It disconnects us from the trust needed to engage with the mysterious action of God’s Spirit. When we move past our fears, we begin the letting go that is needed for us to enter into the Heart of Christ. Scharmer calls this place ‘the source’. It is a space of wholeness, that is unitive, that connects us to the Mystery. This is a space in which we find in ourselves a WILLING VULNERABILITY.

At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So, give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
1 Kings 3:5-9

When you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.
John 21:18

Flowing from the FOURTH DIMENSION: MISSION – LETTING COME

We have spoken of the movement of Mission as the outflowing of ‘life’, of ‘energy’, purpose, commitment, activity, ministry, that comes from a deep connection to the source of all life we find in the Heart of Christ. This is enabled because we have become willing to move with where or how the Heart of Christ is leading us. John 16 describes this movement in Jesus himself as he is moved by the Spirit of the Father.

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason, I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
John 16:13-15

Mission can be seen as ‘LETTING COME’. We often associate Mission with our activity, what we do, what ministries we decide to undertake. If, however, the source of our mission is the Heart of Christ, then an authentic sense of mission requires that what we do finds its origins in obedience (ob audiens – to listen carefully).

‘Letting come’ is a process of CO-CREATION. Scharmer notes, “as we let come and crystallize vision and intention, the relationship between observer and observed starts to invert. Envisioning happens from the field of the future (rather than from our ego).²⁴

Envisioning leads us to Prototyping. As we enact prototypes, we explore the future by doing. The relationship between observer and observed continues its inversion. Enacting happens from “being in dialogue with the whole” (rather than from our ego).

Prototyping leads us to Performing. As we embody the new by evolving our practices and infrastructures, the relationship between observer and observed completes its inversion. The embodying happens from the context of the larger eco-system (rather than from the small “s” institutional self).

Moving beyond ‘I’, ‘you’, and even the institutional ‘us’ to the new inverted position “in the Heart of Christ’ brings a greater freedom, focus and energy to serve the mission. We move together from an EGO-SYSTEM to an ECO-SYSTEM in which my action comes from the sphere that surrounds my open boundaries, I in us, or I in now, rising from a future potential.

Sharing from Experience

I remember wonderful encounters when some provincial leaders have opened their will and they have let me go into their reality, even their personal reality. It has been wonderful to hear the life emerging from within leaders who are aware of their need for conversion. I remember times when some leaders have come down from their hearts to their deepest inner being, to their source of life. That listening is what gives us possibilities and opportunities to retake paths, to make decisions, to recognize weaknesses and strengths. And so, it leads us to live an authentic and marvellous humility (humanity).
There have been experiences in communities that when the possibility is opened to listen to the life which emerges from within each one, the community atmosphere begins to be different, it is a process. I remember a wonderful experience of a group of MSC who lived through a very big catastrophe, with thousands of victims. And when I was with them instead of speaking to them, I facilitated for each one to expose their pain, helplessness, anguish, uncertainty and strengths. It was a moment of openness to incredible life, that’s also what the mission of leadership is about – to make possible the flow of life. It doesn´t mean that we would care less about our organizational and managerial service, but it does require that we should balance it.
We have been able to hear and contemplate how blocked life is at times in the communities and in the Entities. For this we need a positive attitude; realistic but positive. We remember at the beginning of our service, we had to go to an entity from which we had received 80% of negative data, we prayed a lot that we might arrive and to be able to feel and listen to the life that emerged from within each confrère. We found challenges and systemic failures, but we tried to look at them based on the life which was emerging from their inner beings, as a result of it we found more positives than negatives. We could sense their life. We understood that by being positive and listening in this way, we could we initiate processes of solidarity with ourselves and with our confrères, processes of personal and community conversion.
Sharing of the Superior General, Fr. Abzalón Alvarado Tovar MSC, 2019 General Conference, Busan Korea

The Word, coming from the Heart of his Father, made the world emerge from nothing; and from the Heart of the incarnate Word, pierced on Calvary, I see a new world emerging, the world of those he has chosen. And this creation, so fertile, full of grandeur and inspired by love and mercy, is the Church, the mystical body of Christ, which makes this new creation present on earth until the end of time.
Jules Chevalier, 1900²⁵

CONCLUSION

Heart Spirituality speaks to this era, desperately in need of a listening heart – a discerning heart. In September 2017 Pope Francis spoke to the delegates of the 2017 General Chapter,

“I encourage you “to return to your first and only love”. Keep your gaze fixed on Jesus Christ and learn from Him how to love with a truly human heart, to care for the lost and hurting members of his flock, to work for justice and show solidarity with the weak and the poor.”²⁶

If we are to return to our first and only love, to the Source, we need good ongoing formation that can enable us to move from a focus on ourselves to a vision of a new world built in the heart of Christ. This process of transformation enables us to move beyond the structure, to the more important focus of the mission of the congregation. This is the meaning and purpose of renewal. Not the accumulation of knowledge, but rather the wisdom that is borne from finding new freedom to give oneself willingly to live out the life of Christ in one’s own being and actions.

When we MSC live from the Source we contribute to making the Church a healthy church because it becomes a missionary church.

1
Father James Mallon. Divine Renovation Guidebook: A step-by-step manual for transforming your parish. The parish is dead, long live the parish! La Croix International. August 29, 2019.
2
Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis. November 24, 2013.
3
SEDOS Appreciative Discernment Workshop, Fr. Bill Nordenbrock CPPS, Rome February 2019
4
Cuskelly EJ, A new heart and a new spirit: reflections on MSC spirituality. Roma: Missionari del Sacro Cuore, 1978. Chapter 3: From Contract to Covenant.
5
Cor Novum, no. 1, 1983, pp. 8-9. & Murphy, Dennis, The Heart of the Word Incarnate, Bangalore: Asian Trading, 2003.
6
Life and Doctrine of Saint Catherine of Genoa by Christian Press Association Publishing Co. (1907)
7
Cuskelly EJ, Jules Chevalier: Man with a Mission 1824-1907. Roma: Casa Generalizia Missionari del Sacro Cuore, 1975
8
SEDOS Appreciative Discernment Workshop, Fr. Bill Nordenbrock CPPS, Rome February 2019
9
The Jesuit scientist, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955), uses the word “love” to describe the cosmic allurement of everything toward everything, a structural, metaphysical shape to the universe, most visible in the basic laws of gravity, electro-magnetic fields, and reproduction, which is drawing the universe forward until a truly cosmic “Christ comes to full stature” (Ephesians 4:13). Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Divine Milieu (New York: Harper & Row, 1965), 107. (See also Ilia Delio, Franciscan sister and theologian.)
10
Richard Rohr OFM. Intimacy: The Divine Ambush.
11
Meister Eckhart, Sermon 92, “the soul receives God not as alien nor as being inferior to God, for what is inferior implies difference and distance. The masters declare that the soul receives as a light from the light, for in that there is neither difference nor distance.” The Complete Mystical Works of Meister Eckhart, Trans Maurice O’C. Walshe, Herder & Herder. Crossroad Publishing Co, NY. p.448
12
St Augustine, Confessions III, 6, 11.
13
St. Oscar Romero said that he had not undergone a conversion but an ‘evolution of faith’.
14
Richard Rohr, Immortal Diamond: The Search for Our True Self (Jossey-Bass: 2013), 86-88, 92-93.
15
Annales de la Petite Société des Missionaires du Sacré-Coeur: J. Bertolini MSC, Rome 1984 p.1
16
Address of the Holy Father, Pope Francis to the members of the 2017 General Chapter.
17
Both letting go and letting come are terms used in U-Theory discussed further in this article.
18
New documentary reveals rare interview of Blessed Oscar Romero. Junno Arocho Esteves. Catholic News Service 10^th December 2018.
19
Hans Kwakmann, MSC. Sessions on Spirituality of the Heart, Cor Vitae Tagaytay Philippines, 2-13 September 2019.
20
SEDOS Appreciative Discernment Workshop, Fr. Bill Nordenbrock CPPS, Rome February 2019
21
Formation of The Heart. APIA Formators Conference, Kensington, NSW, Australia. 15 Sept, 2018
22
The Essentials of U Theory. C. Otto Scharmer. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2018. P.27
23
Appendices 20, 21 OGF Hanbook – Why is Change so Difficult? Pygmalion Effect.
24
The Essentials of U Theory. C. Otto Scharmer. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2018. Pp.24-25.
25
Jules Chevalier, 1900. Le Sacré-Coeur de Jesus. 1857 Ms. Archives, Rome.
26
Address of the Holy Father, Pope Francis to the members of the 2017 General Chapter.