7 April 2009
Capitular Memo
We
Want Your Face and Biography
We are preparing an online “facebook” of capitulars and
other participants in the 2009 General Chapter. Chapter members
will receive a separate mailing about this but please begin to
prepare the following:
- A short biography
- A response to these questions: What issues or topics from the State of the Order Report are the most critical for the Order today and need to be addressed by the General Chapter? What do I see as my role and responsibility at the General Chapter?
- A digital photo of yourself.
Capitulars: Don’t forget to send Travel Arrangements:
- Please send your travel arrangements immediately to this email address or to the email address of confrere Heri Kartono, O.S.C. For those arriving at Jakarta airport (CGK) or at the airport in Bandung, we will arrange for a pick-up and transportation to Bandung and Pratista if we receive your travel arrangements.
Weather at the General Chapter
It is always difficult to predict the weather in these days with climate change but if history is any indication we should have pleasant weather during the General Chapter. The location of the General Chapter, at Pratista in the hills above Bandung, should provide mild temperatures during our time in Indonesia. Checking a historical climate guide to weather in Bandung, it indicates that the average high temperature in August is 29 C (84 F) and the average low temperature has been 17 C (63 F). Those are temperatures for Bandung - Pratista tends to be milder. You might want to bring along at least one heavier sweater or pull-over for the early morning hour temperature during our time at Pratista.
Video Interview: Hopeful Outcomes
Confrere Julio César Evangelista Resende, O.S.C., from the Province of Senhor Bom Jesus (Brazil), discusses in a video interview hopeful outcomes to the 2009 Crosier General Chapter. He explains his hopes for the Order and for himself personally. [Editor’s Note: “Hopeful Outcomes to the General Chapter” Do you have a response to this? Contact us or send your video.
Another confrere from the Province of Senhor Bom Jesus (Brazil), José Cláudio Nilton, O.S.C., has written an article for the current issue of the Vinculum related to this theme of Hope and the General Chapter. His article, The Threshold of Hope and Change: What do I hope for from the General Chapter regarding religious life in the Crosier Order, can be found various languages in the Vinculum here.
More Background Reading Material
“Cultures subtly condition how we feel, think, and act. Every organization has a culture of its own, but its structures and guiding philosophy will mirror in significant ways the wider national, even global, cultural trends – both the dysfunctional and the positive. This article aims to explain this statement by illustrating how it applies to general chapters of religious congregations, although the analysis is applicable to any kind of ecclesial or congregational gathering.
“General Chapters, having supreme authority in accordance with their constitutions, are crucial events in the life of a congregation. Their task is to assess the weaknesses and strengths of the congregation, set policies for future development, and choose leaders with the qualities needed to implement what has been decided. They are to be signs of unity in charity, and moments of grace and of action of the Holy Spirit. They should be joyful, paschal, and ecclesial experiences, giving and example to the whole institute of collaborative faith discernment in decision-making.
“Some chapters successfully fulfill this task. Others do not. When a chapter fails at this task, participants may leave confused, angry, frustrated, and cynical about any further involvement in the congregation at this level. A chapter commonly fails because the group refuses to keep asking the difficult question. What is sinful and unredeemed in the chapter’s culture? But communal cultural discernment is impossible unless individual participants are themselves prepared to take up their role as delegates an confront in faith their own inner personal and cultural barriers to the Spirit. If they lack the skills for this, they need to prepare themselves prior to the chapter – with, if necessary professional assistance.”
The full article by Gerald Arbuckle is found here.
Bulletin suggestions are welcome.