Banners of some of the fraternities represented at the Jubilee Celebration
This is the Part II of the article begun in the October 2000
bulletin.
Click here for Part I, Part
III or Part IV
Weekend Themes:
Friday night
Rebuild My Church
Saturday Morning
Intimacy: Building a Healthy Society
Early Saturday Afternoon
Ecology: Building a Healthy Cosmos
Later Saturday Afternoon
Youth: Building a Future Church
Elements of intimacy include:
Self-esteem � leads us to prayer as the psalmist, "I give you thanks that I am wonderfully made." (Psalm 139)
Banners of some of the fraternities represented at the Jubilee Celebration
Family and/or Small Christian Communities � In all cases, authentic small Christian communities are characterized by obedience to the word of God, common prayer, a commitment of time to one another for building personal relationships, meaningful participation in the life of their local parish, some form of apostolic mission to the wider society, an adherence to the Catholic faith, and an explicit relationship of communion with the Church. (Called and Gifted For the Third Millennium)
Sister Ramona addresses the gathering on Saturday morning
Work, an opportunity for Servant Leadership � This new model for leadership simultaneously cares to enhance the personal growth of workers and improve the quality and caring of our many institutions through 1) a combination of teamwork and community, 2) personal involvement in decision making, and 3) ethical and caring behavior.
Systemic change for a new world order � brought about through a leap of faith that the principles of the gospel really apply to the world. What it takes to be successful is to apply the gospel to all things. This is true whether we are planning a church gathering or building and marketing a better mousetrap.
It is interesting that the concept of Servant Leadership comes to us through the business world. It was designed to make businesses more successful, as well as being more responsive to the needs of our society. Secular Franciscans, recognizing the validity of the principles, have even come up with a study guide called, Handbook for Secular Franciscan Servant Leaders. Jesus promoted the principle saying, "If anyone is to be first, he must be the servant of all." And, "If I, whom am servant and Lord, have washed your feet, you must wash each other�s feet." But to articulate how servant leadership works in the world, the world of business had to implement it and show us that it applies to everything.
Servant leaders are servants first. Likely they do not aspire to leadership. Their leadership may be official, with a title, or it may be informal. We all know people with no official status to whom everyone looks for advice and example. These are true servant leaders. Do not worry about being a leader. Strive to be a servant and fill the needs you see in the community.
I have a personal experience of servant leadership. As most of you know, I work at the Minnesota Senior Federation Metropolitan Region. The function of this office is a model of servant leadership. Every person�s ideas are respected, listened to, and given consideration for action. My boss� boss, the executive director, is available to everyone, staff and members. He is incredibly busy, but will always stop to see if someone needs his help to do their jobs better. My first observation of the attitude that exemplifies his leadership was to note that, despite being too busy, he takes a turn like everyone else cleaning the kitchen.
I was reminded of this leadership quality one day at St. Bridget�s. I had arrived early for the fraternity gathering so that I could copy the newsletter. The door was locked, so I waited. Shortly Fr. Pat Quinn comes across the street taking out the garbage from the friary. What a tremendously impressive sign of a Franciscan leader!