Leadership
Where Is Your Treasure ? by Fr . Tom Welk , c . pp . s ., Leadership Team
In your heart or in your wallet ?
The headline for the Catholic News Service ( cns ) article caught my eye : “ Grace , not money , must guide financial choices of religious , pope says .”
The article ( November 26 , 2016 ) then goes on to explain that when Pope Francis uses the word “ grace ” he is referring to the charism of a religious order . “ This founding charism cannot be static or rigid . Members of a religious order must continually look at the world and the church and discern how God wants that original charism to be lived in the world today with the human and material resources the order has .”
Pope Francis sent this written message to the participants of a symposium on economics and religious life , held in Rome the last week of November 2016 .
In this same article , the pope is quoted as stating , “ As the majority of members of many religious orders age and as building maintenance costs increase , orders have to be serious about discerning whether or not a particular work or project is an authentic response both to the order ’ s charism and to the needs of people today .”
As I read this , I asked myself , “ Has the pope been listening in on some of our recent discussions ?” This statement especially struck me , “ Sometimes discernment will lead an order to keep open a work that will never be financially self-supporting .”
One final quote before I apply some of the pope ’ s comments to the ongoing discussions we are having about our charism and our future . The cns article paraphrases the pope ’ s comment that what one does with money is never morally neutral and then quotes him directly , “ Either it contributes to building relationships of justice and solidarity or it generates situations of exclusion and rejection .”
Within the course of both my first and now my second term on the Provincial Council we have had some serious discussions about how to carry out the charism of our Community . St . Gaspar was all about renewal and reconciliation . The General Assembly focused on this as needing to be the efforts of our Community in our time and place .
As a leadership team we have proposed various ways in which this charism / mandate is to be pursued . Putting up a new building at Precious Blood Center has been suggested as a facility whereby these goals can be accommodated . It has become obvious to us that the Center in its present structure does not lend itself well to facilitate groups , especially larger ones , wishing to meet there .
Should we put up a new building ? The sentiment of the present members appears to be that this is not a reasonable option to pursue . Members have clearly communicated that message to us on the leadership team . How about continued on page 11
February 2017 • The New Wine Press • 3