Forming a community of learning and practice for Holy Cross educators

Transcription

1 i FORMATION The Holy Cross Istitute AT S T. E D WA R D S U N I V E R S I T Y S P R I N G Formig a commuity of learig ad practice for Holy Cross educators IN MEMORIAM Dear Frieds, We were all saddeed at our loss of Brother Stephe Walsh, who was called Home i Jauary. I had the hoor of workig closely with Brother Stephe Walsh o various projects of the Istitute over the past two years, ad the privilege of meetig may of you either whe Brother Stephe ad I visited various schools or whe I offered retreats ad days of reflectio for faculty ad staff. O Feb. 1, the Holy Cross Istitute board of goverors ivited me to accept the positio of iterim executive director of the HCI. Our hope is to cotiue the strog legacy that Brother Stephe established i the priorities ad works of the istitute. Because this ewsletter was plaed by him before his death, we decided to publish it as he evisioed. Thak you for your cotiuig support ad ivolvemet i the Holy Cross Istitute. Brother Joel Giallaza, CSC YOU MUST TAKE UP THIS WORK: A Meetig with Sister Graziella Lalade, CSC By Brother Joel Giallaza, CSC While i Motréal, attedig the celebratio for Brother Adré s recet caoizatio, Brother Stephe Walsh, CSC, ad I had the privilege of spedig several hours ad sharig a meal with Sister Graziella Lalade, CSC. Graziella, a Sister of Holy Cross, recetly celebrated her 98th birthday; she is sharp, eergetic ad witty. Sister Graziella etered Holy Cross i For may years she was a professor of Frech Literature at Collège Basile Moreau i Motréal, which had bee sposored ad admiistered by the Sisters. Her miistries i Holy Cross have also icluded may years i formatio ad admiistratio. Eve with her professioal accomplishmets, whe Graziella s ame is metioed i Holy Cross, it is most associated with her study of ad writigs o Basil Moreau. She is the premier Moreau scholar i Holy Cross today. Distictive i her scholarship is that she is the first to explore Moreau s spirituality ad teachig through the les of educatio. As a professioal educator herself, she recogized the sigificace of what Father Moreau had to say about the type of pedagogy ecessary for Holy Cross to have a impact o the complexities of providig a quality educatio i 19th-cetury Frace. She has authored may booklets o various Moreau themes. Her book, Like a Mighty Tree, is well kow; her ewest work (curretly i Frech oly), Who Are You, Basile Moreau?, was recetly published, expadig ad brigig together revised editios of some earlier works. (Cotiued o page 10) ABOVE: A image of Sori Oak was preseted to Sister Graziella as gift of ackowledgmet from the St. Edward s commuity.

2 The Holy Cross Istitute AT S T. E D W A R D S U N I V E R S I T Y EXCERPTS FROM AN ADDRESS TO ST. EDWARD S UNIVERSITY FACULTY BY Brother Stephe Walsh, CSC August 17, 2010 Last summer, I left for Rome where I was oe of 55 delegates elected to the Cogregatio s Geeral Chapter, a three-week policy meetig that defies the directio of Holy Cross for the comig six years. At the Geeral Chapter, there was a cocer for specific issues such as the eeds of the Haitia provice whose resideces, houses of study ad schools (the source of their icome) were lost i the 2010 earthquake. As a result, there emerged a profoud commitmet to restructurig the Cogregatio worldwide for more effective distributio of resources, to better realize our cogregatioal missio to reew the Christia faith, to regeerate society, ad, as Moreau said, to prepare the world for better times tha ours by a costat respose to the most pressig eeds of the Church ad society. We kow the story of Basil Moreau, the zealous priest of post-revolutioary Frace who fouded a religious cogregatio of educators to restore faith ad educatioal opportuities i rural Frace. Withi the first decade he set his best-qualified to the wilds of orther Idiaa ad withi aother 10 years to the Begal district of Idia, ow Bagladesh. Though halfway roud the world, the Begal missio ca serve as a distat mirror i whose reflectio we might see ourselves more clearly ad fid isight ito the global perspective of Holy Cross. The early missioaries wet to Begal more tha 150 years ago, i the words of Moreau, to make God kow, loved ad served by sharig the gospel of Jesus, a challegig missio i a multicultural society characterized by complex religious plurality. Today Begal is 89 percet Muslim ad 9 percet Hidu, with less tha three-teths of oe percet of the populatio Catholic. BELOW: Fishig boats i Shibsha River, Bagladesh. Whe asked to whom preferece should be show, Moreau specifically icluded those who are ot Catholic or Christia seeig i all oly the image of God imprited withi them like a sacred seal From the begiig, the Holy Cross sese of evagelizatio was oe of dialogue ad proclamatio. Dialogue approached with a opeess to this ew culture, a willigess to adapt ad to allow oeself to be trasformed by mutual uderstadig to adapt but evertheless to proclaim the values of the gospel of Jesus through thought, word ad deed. I the early years, so may Holy Cross religious died either i trasit or withi their first years that the Begal missio was kow as the Cemetery of Holy Cross. Cosistet with the Cogregatio s motto crux spes uica (the cross our hope), Moreau believed that because it was a place of great sufferig, Begal would be a place of great blessig. Today i Bagladesh, there are 20 Holy Cross schools ad colleges erollig over 30,000 studets 98 percet of whom are Muslim. Amog these studets are several thousad Muslim wome receivig a formal educatio, thereby becomig aware of their rights ad empowered to fight discrimiatio ad ijustice. Every year 300 studets are erolled i Holy Cross trade schools, learig skills that make them employable. There are a umber of free literacy schools for the poor ad margialized. Holy Cross actively participates i the bishop s Iter-Religious Dialogue Commissio. Holy Cross i Bagladesh is syoymous with the highest educatioal stadards. I fact, aother religious commuity chaged the ame of its school to iclude ABOVE (clockwise): Dhakeswari Temple i Dhaka, Bagladesh. Muslim woma prayig i a mosque. Begali mosque. Holy Cross i a effort to ehace its erollmet. Brother Prodip Rodriguez, i a paper delivered at a Holy Cross Istitute Covocatio, remarked that while the upper class Hidu ad Muslim appreciate the advatages of the high stadards i educatio imparted by [Holy Cross] they object to allowig studets of all social strata, especially the poor ad lower caste, studyig i the same school as their childre because it supposedly hampers disciplie ad lowers stadards ot to metio icreasig their ow discomfort. He cocluded that by educatig the poor ad the margialized ad affirmig their digity, the real fear is that Holy Cross is empowerig these persos. The Begal/Bagladesh missio would seem the most ulikely settig for a successful missio. Wherever we work we assist others ot oly i recogizig ad developig their ow gifts but also i discoverig the deepest logig i their lives. Yet as i every work of our missio, we fid that we stad to lear much from those whom we are called to teach. 2 A cocer shared widely amog Holy Cross educators aroud the world is the rise of fudametalism be it Christia, Islamic or Hidu ad its blatat refusal to come to terms with the reality of the moder world. Fudametalism challeges pluralism, religious tolerace ad sciece educatio. I would suggest that ow more tha ever, if we are to be true to the Holy Cross perspective, studet avigators must be skilled i the art of dialogue with other cultures, with other religios ad, most importatly, with the poor. The Holy Cross missio seds us across borders of every sort. Ofte we must make ourselves at home amog more tha oe people or culture, remidig us that the farther we go i givig the more we stad to receive. Our broader experiece allows the appreciatio ad the critique of every culture ad the disclosure that o culture of this world ca be our abidig home. 3

3 The Holy Cross Istitute AT S T. E D W A R D S U N I V E R S I T Y BROTHER JARLATH D SOUZA, CSC: Nostra Aetate Lecture Series Last fall, Brother Jarlath D Souza, CSC, addressed attedees at the Nostra Aetate Lecture sposored by the Holy Cross Istitute ad St. Edward s Uiversity. The Nostra Aetate Lecture Series explores the iterreligious values reflected i the groudbreakig Vatica II documet of the same ame, which expressed a commitmet to dialogue ad uderstadig amog diverse faith traditios. As secretary of the Bagladesh Iter-Religious Coucil for Peace ad Justice (BICPAJ), Brother Jarlath writes ad lectures o peace ad huma rights ad is active i iterfaith dialogue. Brother Jarlath D Souza, CSC, with Ed Shirley, PhD, Religious Studies professor at St. Edward s Uiversity. Brother Jarlath s talk, Toward a Theology of the Idigeous Peoples i Bagladesh, was based o his book, Marag Baru, The Great God: A Exploratory Study of the Theology ad Spirituality of the Ethic Tribals of Bagladesh. He gave his audiece isight ito the ethic tribes of Bagladesh, their ideas of God ad their moral code. his school i Padrishibpur. He joied the Brothers i 1947 ad spet 35 years as a teacher ad headmaster i places like Pradrishibpur, Chittagog ad Dhaka. Forty years ago, he helped foud the orgaizatio ow kow as CARITAS Bagladesh. I his curret work for BICPAJ, Brother Jarlath orgaizes traiig ad outreach to bridge religious differeces, ad is a strog advocate for adult literacy ad helpig the poor. We iitiated a practice of egagig people of differet religios i discussios across the table so that they ca commuicate with each other o various sesitive issues, he says. We did this, say, followig the attack o the Twi Towers i the Uited States, the destructio of Babri mosque, etc. We discussed the challeges such icidets create for people ad how those challeges ca be overcome. Brother Jarlath was ivited to visit several classes at St. Edward s icludig the Catholic Social Teachig course taught by Brother Richard Daly, CSC, where he touched o a variety of issues his work with street kids, the iterreligious dialogues i which he is ivolved, his work with the Tribals i his coutry, ad his relatioship to Buddhism. Durig our brief tour of Austi, he marveled at our sese of history, somethig missig i his coutry, said Brother Daly. Professor Kelly Noree Cobletz-Bautch ecouraged her studets to atted the lecture ad welcomed Brother Jarlath to her class o archaeology ad the early Church. While there, he recouted his observatios o the catacombs i Rome ad shared a poem ispired by the visit. Brother Jarlath s reflectios o the catacombs were powerful ad trasformative ad eriched our thikig o Christiaity past ad preset, said Professor Cobletz-Bautch. He was similarly ispired to write a poem about his time i Austi (see sidebar). A POEM BY BROTHER JARLATH: Austi at Night o oise ot eve the smothered buzz of the ight isects ad the birds of the dark silece so jarrig to my ear accustomed to the oises of the speedig dhaka ights oises or silece what does it matter you are preset always i both the themes of my ear wasted days!! Though Christias oly comprise aroud.025 percet of the populatio i Bagladesh, they make up 10 percet of ethic tribes. Aimists, Buddhists ad Hidus accout for the majority. Tribal rituals ad moral codes are varied: the Murugs live i the ude ad maitai that everyoe is equally male ad female; the Khasis may marry two sisters at a time; ad the Satals istitute pre-marriage dormitories. There is a widespread belief i evil spirits that prompts sacrificial offerigs to ward off those iflueces. To may tribes, death is but a temporary departure. The lecture resouded with studets, faculty ad religious. Says Dr. Steve Rodebor, assistat professor at St. Edward s, Brother Jarlath s presetatio revealed ot oly a profoud respect for the religious traditios of the idigeous peoples i Bagladesh but a profoud respect for the wisdom ad experieces of his studets i Bagladesh ad our studets at St. Edward s. Bor i Bagladesh, Brother Jarlath kew his vocatio at a early age, visitig ofte with Holy Cross Brothers at 4 Brother Jarlath speaks with studets after his Nostra Aetate Lecture i November. Brother Jarlath strikes me as oe of those uique people who, though so dedicated ad so busy helpig others, still has both the eergy for ad the urge to sig about his life, says Professor Ala Altimot. That s what the lyric impulse, the choice to write poetry, is essetially all about. 5

4 The Holy Cross Istitute AT ST. EDWARD S UNIVERSITY LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Brother Stephe Walsh, CSC CONVOCATION Years of Holy Cross Educatio: The ad Now Best Practices The year 2010 was a importat oe for Holy Cross. It bega i tragedy for those affected by the earthquakes i Haiti ad Chile, areas where Holy Cross mobilized efforts to provide relief to so may. Yet 2010 eded with a marvelous evet the caoizatio of our beloved St. Brother Adré, the Cogregatio s first sait. It was also a Geeral Chapter year, with elected delegates meetig i Rome to defie policy for the ext six years. At the Geeral Chapter, Father Richard Warer, who has served as campus miister of the Uiversity of Notre Dame for more tha 20 years, was elected Superior Geeral. The outgoig Superior Geeral, Father Hugh Cleary, i his report to the Chapter, gave this strog edorsemet of the Holy Cross Istitute: I terms of secodary educatio, I urge this Chapter to commed the Holy Cross Istitute for its commitmet to stregtheig Blessed [Basil] Moreau s philosophy of educatio ad for its atioal success i the Uited States promotig a commo Holy Cross idetity for schools which are autoomous yet iterdepedet The Holy Cross Istitute is a great gift to the Cogregatio ad a good workig model for iitiatig a similar formal etwork appropriate to the colleges ad uiversities sposored by Holy Cross ot oly i the Uited States but throughout the world. Father Cleary urged the Holy Cross Istitute to cotiue expadig its miistry to iteratioal Holy Cross, to create a uified educatioal etwork with oe educatioal philosophy is the 175th aiversary of the foudig of the first Holy Cross school. What are the implicatios of a broader cogregatioal ad iteratioal idetity? Durig a coferece call about creatig a more iteractive website for HCI, it was decided that we must egage a wider audiece ad, to this ed, there will be a sessio at the Covocatio i April devoted to a more dyamic redesig of the website. This year also marks the first atioal Holy Cross Coferece for Studet Leaders, a opportuity for studets to live together for a week i service ad commuity, learig to carry o the missio. With edeavors like these ad with such aual evets as Covocatio ad Missio Semiar, the Holy Cross Istitute will cotiue to lay dow a educatioal path to offer the iteratioal commuity. Holy Cross educators, admiistrators ad board members will exchage best practices, etwork ad share persoal Holy Cross joureys durig the sixth aual HCI Covocatio April 3 5, 2011, at St. Edward s Uiversity i Austi, Texas. Brother Joel Giallaza, CSC, author ad popular retreat leader, will be the keyote speaker, sharig 175 Years of Holy Cross Educatio: The Story of a Home ad a Heritage. Curretly scheduled sessios: Fudraisig for Scholarships ad Fiacial Aid Marketig ad Bradig for Studet Recruitmet ad Admissios Best Practices i Faculty Recruitmet ad Developmet Character Developmet ad Holy Cross Values i Disciplie Developig a Catholic Idetity Statemet Studet Formatio: The BRIC Programs Other opportuities: The Colégio Dom Amado (Brazil) team will share their Amazo Rai Forest Immersio Program. The chace to etwork with departmet peers from across the U.S. ad beyod i formal affiity groups ad iformally betwee sessios. A chace to share your skills, creativity ad suggestios as you joi i redesigig the HCI website, For more iformatio, go to Sicerely, Brother Stephe Walsh, CSC What is the Holy Cross Istitute? The Holy Cross Istitute is charged with creatig a commuity amog secodary schools, colleges ad uiversities fouded ad sposored by the Cogregatio of Holy Cross. It provides resources, programs ad evets that educate admiistrators, faculty, board members ad studets o the uique Holy Cross educatioal legacy. Lear more at 6 7

5 The Holy Cross Istitute AT S T. E D W A R D S U N I V E R S I T Y HOLY CROSS SCHOOLS CELEBRATE THE Caoizatio of Sait Brother Adré The evet that Holy Cross had awaited for so may years fially occurred. O Oct. 17, 2010, Brother Adré Bessette, CSC, was caoized i a Vatica ceremoy. Now lovigly kow as St. Brother Adré, he is the Cogregatio s first recogized sait. From his birthplace of Québec, approximately 1,500 religious ad pilgrims traveled to Rome for oe of their ow. I Motréal, where St. Brother Adré devoted most of his life as a Holy Cross Brother, evets icluded a Eucharistic celebratio atteded by thousads at Olympic Stadium. Festivities were ot limited to Rome ad Motréal, however, as may Holy Cross schools celebrated with a special Mass, each addig its ow flair to the occasio. O Oct. 14, the Academy of Holy Cross i Kesigto, Marylad, marked the occasio with a prayer service, video tribute ad reflectio from studets who atteded the Holy Cross Coferece for Studet Leaders last summer, while the madrigal choir performed sogs i Eglish ad Frech. St. Fracis High School i Moutai View, Califoria, held a schoolwide liturgy i hoor of St. Brother Adré o Oct. 18. He is a edurig role model for our studets, faculty ad families ad we are ispired to see him joi the commuio of saits, said Sal Chavez, director of Campus Miistry. Also o Oct. 18, Bishop McNamara High School i Forestville, Marylad, bega the day after the caoizatio with Studet Coucil, Peer Miister ad Missio Team members liig the school s driveway holdig sigs ad baers proclaimig, He is a Sait! before a commemorative Mass. They celebrated with Lati style o Oct. 21 at Holy Cross High School i Sa Atoio, Texas, with a mariachi service. Studets were asked to share their thoughts o St. Brother Adré s caoizatio. I thought it was differet cosiderig that St. Adré was from Caada, ad that ours was a mariachi Mass. Two very coflictig cultures, but yet a beautiful celebratio, said Felicia Alvarado 12. The caoizatio of Brother Adré was a dream come true for the Holy Cross family. From the perspective of a Holy Cross studet, it was a challege which called us to be the studet we are supposed to be, remarked Thomas Ledesma 11, studet body presidet. St. Edward s Uiversity i Austi, Texas, icluded a outdoor Mass for the caoizatio as part of its 125th aiversary weeked, a week after the Vatica ceremoy. Much farther south, Colégio Sata Maria i São Paolo, Brazil, held a vesper Mass o the eve of St. Brother Adré s caoizatio. Over 850 parets ad studets of the Colégio said Mass alogside Sisters ad Brothers of Holy Cross. The Artesaato Costa modelig team was commissioed to create a commemorative sculpture, which was displayed to studets, faculty ad guests amid much emotio. Across the coutry i Satarem, Colégio Dom Amado welcomed the caoizatio with daily sessios at the begiig of classes ad with a service held at St. Sebastia Church the week after Rome s. 8 OPPOSITE PAGE: St. Edward s Uiversity celebrates its 125th aiversary ad the caoizatio with a outdoor Mass. THIS PAGE (clockwise): Studets at St. Fracis High School displayed celebratory baers the day after St. Brother Adré s caoizatio. Colégio Dom Amado s Mass at St. Sebastia Church icluded staff ad studets with their families, may of whom wore commemorative shirts. At Colégio Sata Maria i São Paolo artists created a statue of Brother Adré that was preseted o the eve of the caoizatio. St. Fracis High School ad Brother McNamara High School celebrated with special Masses the day after St. Brother Adré s caoizatio. 9

6 (Cover story cotiued... ) Graziella speaks about Moreau ad the missio of Holy Cross with passio ad eergy. I her presece, oe quickly forgets she is 98 years old; so it was with the discussio of Moreau ad Holy Cross that Brother Stephe ad I had with her. Very quickly, she focused our attetio o what she sees at the heart of all that Father Moreau was doig ad all that he wated Holy Cross to be; amely a work of resurrectio. The phrase is take from ear the ed of his book, Christia Pedagogy, as he is summarizig the ifluece that educators must have o the studets. Sister Graziella emphasizes that the work of resurrectio is, first of all, a way of beig, ivolvig a persoal trasformatio. Oly the is it a way of cotiuig the missio. Father Moreau wated the family of Holy Cross to be ivolved i regeeratig society; he was a pioeer i promotig this perspective eve as he was a pioeer i educatio. Graziella otes that, ufortuately, ot log after Moreau s time, we lost his emphasis o resurrectio ad the paschal mystery. For may years, util relatively recetly, we teded to stop at the cross whe speakig about Moreau s spirituality. Ad yet, he called us to live the whole of the mystery of redemptio. Fortuately, we are begiig to recapture this priority for our life ad miistry. Holy Cross has much to brig to the Church ad society today. Ad the cotiuig presece ad activity of the family of Holy Cross are importat for the future of the church ad the world. 10 From Graziella s perspective, the work of resurrectio is a small seed, ad we have to see where this seed will lead us. For ow, our resposibility is to live ad work i light of the resurrectio. A affirmatio of this is the history of Basil Moreau himself i terms of the family of Holy Cross. The period from his death i 1873 to his beatificatio i 2007 is truly a work of resurrectio. Sister Graziella speaks with special ethusiasm as she highlights that we are ow reclaimig this part of our heritage, ad this is especially true i the miistry of educatio. This is evidet i Graziella s ow life of scholarship. She relates that whe she first bega studyig ad speakig about Father Moreau ad his perspective o the resurrectio, it was ot very well received. Moreau teded to be associated more with sufferig ad acceptace of the cross. Oly withi the last twety years or so have we recogized the priority that the resurrectio has i our spiritual heritage. Sister Graziella isisted this eeds to be explored yet more. What is it to do a work of resurrectio? How do we make that work a costitutive part of our educatioal miistries? How do we commuicate this to others? Whe asked about her ow hope for the future, Graziella is clear. Holy Cross has much to brig to the Church ad society today. Ad the cotiuig presece ad activity of the family of Holy Cross are importat for the future of the church ad the world. For her part, she cotiues to do research ad writig as her eergy permits. As our coversatio drew to a close, Sister Graziella gave a madate. Regardig the eed for cotiued study ad research o the meaig ad implicatios of a work of resurrectio, she challeged us: Take up this work; you must take up this work. Clearly, our whole coversatio with her was a resoudig echo of Father Moreau s ow commissio to the family of Holy Cross: Hurry, the, take up this work of resurrectio it is i this way that you will cotribute to preparig the world for better times tha ours. At 98 years old, Sister Graziella is defiitely cotiuig to make her cotributio ad challegig others to make theirs. CALENDAR UPCOMING EVENTS Mark your caledars for the followig HCI evets: CONVOCATION 2011 April 3 5, 2011 Theme: 175 Years of Holy Cross Educators: The ad Now Best Practices Keyote speaker: Brother Joel Giallaza, CSC (Details o page 7) HOLY CROSS CONFERENCE FOR STUDENT LEADERS Jue 29 July 3, 2011 (Details o back page) The future is etirely i the geeratio begiig today. Father Basil Moreau MISSION SEMINAR 2011 July 6 July 9, 2011 All evets will take place at St. Edward s Uiversity i Austi, Texas. For more iformatio, cotact Laura Saders at laurads@stedwards.edu. iformation is published by the Holy Cross Istitute ad distributed to Holy Cross educators. EDITORS: Kate Hah Laure Liebowitz Laura Rivas DESIGNER: Joaie Cahill CONTRIBUTORS: Brother Joel Giallaza, CSC Terry McGaha Laura Rivas Laura D. Saders Brother Stephe Walsh, CSC story ideas to: laurads@stedwards.edu 11

7 i FORMATION The Holy Cross Istitute AT ST. EDWARD S UNIVERSITY 3001 South Cogress Aveue Austi, TX Noprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Austi, Texas Permit No Holy Cross Coferece for Studet Leaders The Holy Cross Coferece for Studet Leaders will take o a ew look ad much larger scope this summer at its first atioal coferece Jue 29 July 3 at St. Edward s Uiversity. Studet leaders from Holy Cross high schools across the Uited States will have the opportuity to explore the meaig ad values of the Holy Cross missio, lear ways to reiforce the missio withi their ow schools, ad live the missio i various service activities. New this year will be the St. Adré Bessette Service Baquet ad the first Holy Cross Leadership Games (aka Holy Cross Olympics ). As they lear, work, pray ad live i commuity, idividual studet leaders will form strog bods with each other ad will also have the opportuity to coect with may members of the Cogregatio of Holy Cross, deepeig their coectio with Holy Cross history worldwide. Sposored by the Holy Cross Istitute, the HCC4SL is beig plaed by the same faculty leaders from various schools who have facilitated the regioal cofereces for the last several years. Coordiatig the plaig effort is Mr. Terry Lee, Presidet of Moreau Catholic High School. For more iformatio, cotact the HCI, Terry Lee or Terry McGaha.