Dear Catholic
Workers,
I've enjoyed the
lively and thoughtful emails that many of you have offered since our
first gathering at Adam's house a few weeks ago. They have
challenged me to look deeper into myself to discover what moves me to
believe that our project is worth undertaking. In so doing, I have
discovered a strong desire to have some sort of a framework against
which we can bounce our ideas.
In looking for a
model, I found myself returning to a useful method I learned and
practiced while doing mission and development work in Latin America
in the 1970s and again in the 1990s. I'll offer it for your
consideration. We called it : Ver, Juzgar, Actuar,
(See-Judge-Act)
While in Chile in
1993, our mission team used this method of implementing Catholic
social teaching to guide us. Our first task was to see clearly the
situation. In order to do this, we were encouraged to spend time
getting to know the people, culture, language, food, etc. Of the
three year service contract, the first year was considered a time of
learning, observing, building trust, often just hanging out with the
people we came to serve. The most frustrating part of this was that
when asked by others what it was we came to do, we had no clear plan
to offer them. Letters back to our friends and supporters in the
states were similarly vague on what we were accomplishing that first
year, as we strove to remain true to the method. Patience wore thin
at times. We attended endless parties, first communions, horse
races, fund raiser, soccer games, parish meetings, and funerals, We
established our presence and built trust.
Eventually, after
many months of what felt like idleness, we were able to begin to
ask the people we came to serve what it was that the community
wanted. Several expressed a desire to own a piece of land on which
they could build their own home. This became our project, our focus.
Progress was slow but the project was clearly a group effort, one
that began with the community’s expressed hopes and dreams.
After a year of
“seeing” we were able to judge or discern how to best use our
skills. After a time of discernment, we acted. It was only then
that the group moved forward on a project that resulted in the
construction of over 50 small single family houses. The action
phase came, just as we were completing our three year contract. In
truth, it was not until a return visit some 7 years later that were
able to share a meal with our friends in the completed houses. We
were not around for the brick and mortar phase of the project, but
I'm glad to have been involved in the planning and organizing. In
truth, I would have enjoyed helping with the construction phase.
I'm really not
sure how relevant this experience is to what we are undertaking with
MCW. I could argue that our first task might be to establish a
presence in the community, and that opening a worker house is the
best way to make our intentions known to the community we intend to
serve. Showing up, I've been told, is half the key to success.
Another approach
could be to challenge ourselves to spend significant time and energy
getting to know the community of persons we intend to serve.
Ideally, I'd really like to be invited in. Several of us have
suggested ways that we can get to know Madison community. Sharing
meals and prayers with them seems to be a very good starting point.
Spending a night or two at the shelters might also be helpful. I'd
be honored and thrilled if I were offered the chance to sleep out
with them on the streets. I wonder what a person who is homeless
considers to be his or her “home”. I'll need to learn how to
respect that space. My hope is that through some of these
conversations, we might be called to serve, and that this call to
service can be translated into what will become Madison Catholic
Worker.
Frankly, at times
I feel overwhelmed with what I need to learn in order to be
effective. I can't help remembering how utterly helpless and
ineffective I felt those first few months in Chile. I'll need the
support of our CW community to remain focused. May the Spirit guide
us as we move ahead. I believe we have the will and the skill to
create a Catholic Worker presence in Madison.
Finally, here is a
quote on the See- Judge- Act model:
Pope John XXIII
wrote in one of his encyclicals:
“First, one reviews the concrete situation; secondly, one forms a judgment on it in the light of these same principles; thirdly, one decides what in the circumstances can and should be done to implement these principles. These are the three stages that are usually expressed in the three terms: look, judge, act.”
“First, one reviews the concrete situation; secondly, one forms a judgment on it in the light of these same principles; thirdly, one decides what in the circumstances can and should be done to implement these principles. These are the three stages that are usually expressed in the three terms: look, judge, act.”
Here is a PDF that
elaborates on the See-Judge-Act model.
In Christ's Peace,
Dennis
