My provincial superior, Fr Tim Ploch, wants me to go to Detroit during Easter Week for an important meeting of groups promoting the pastoral style and spirituality of Francis de Sales in the USA. It is a meeting of provincials and community leaders from the Oblates of St Francis de Sales, the Daughters of St Francis de Sales, the Oblate Sisters of St Francis de Sales, the Visitation Sisters of Holy Mary of the First Federation (cloistered) and the Second Federation (semi-cloistered). Invitations were advanced to the provincials of the Salesians of Don Bosco, the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and the Cooperator Salesians.
Ideas for this meeting surfaced last August after the National Conference on Salesian Spirituality. Fr John Graden and Fr Michael Murray of OSFS centers in the Western and Eastern Provinces were asking how the Salesians could better collaborate in projects to promote the spirit and teaching of Francis de Sales along with them. Eunan McDonnell and I were at that post-conference session and we both said that unless the Salesian provincials were involved at the organizing level, not much would happen for us. Indeed, Salesians are very centralized in terms of our governing structures and mentality. Based on that conversation, John Graden and Joanne Kinney began to plan for such a leadership summit.
As it turns out, our province has an important gathering of all the communities during Easter Week, continuing with pastors and directors. This means that Tim Ploch cannot attend the leadership summit proposed by the Oblates of St Francis de Sales. So he is sending me to the Detroit meeting.
In my mind, this defeats the purpose. I suggested to Tim that we ask DeSales Resources to schedule the meeting for another time, but he responded. "No. It doesn't make sense that they postpone the meeting just for me. You can represent me." Besides, he added, Tom Dunne, provincial of the New Rochelle Province, will be attending. Evidently he and Tom have been discussing all this.
This does not convince me really. I know how our centralized mentality will function. Yet, Tim knows that for the last 11 years I have been working on a national committee to promote Salesian studies with other congregations and orders. This is why he is sending me.
 |
| Tim Ploch at Don Bosco Hall |
Ideas for this meeting surfaced last August after the National Conference on Salesian Spirituality. Fr John Graden and Fr Michael Murray of OSFS centers in the Western and Eastern Provinces were asking how the Salesians could better collaborate in projects to promote the spirit and teaching of Francis de Sales along with them. Eunan McDonnell and I were at that post-conference session and we both said that unless the Salesian provincials were involved at the organizing level, not much would happen for us. Indeed, Salesians are very centralized in terms of our governing structures and mentality. Based on that conversation, John Graden and Joanne Kinney began to plan for such a leadership summit.
 |
| John Graden, Joanne Kinney and Eunan McDonnell in Wilmington last August |
As it turns out, our province has an important gathering of all the communities during Easter Week, continuing with pastors and directors. This means that Tim Ploch cannot attend the leadership summit proposed by the Oblates of St Francis de Sales. So he is sending me to the Detroit meeting.
In my mind, this defeats the purpose. I suggested to Tim that we ask DeSales Resources to schedule the meeting for another time, but he responded. "No. It doesn't make sense that they postpone the meeting just for me. You can represent me." Besides, he added, Tom Dunne, provincial of the New Rochelle Province, will be attending. Evidently he and Tom have been discussing all this.
This does not convince me really. I know how our centralized mentality will function. Yet, Tim knows that for the last 11 years I have been working on a national committee to promote Salesian studies with other congregations and orders. This is why he is sending me.
No comments:
Post a Comment