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Dear SALT Readers, You may remember from your school days
Against the backdrop of these few lines we are happy to introduce this issue of SALT with its focus on moral values. We celebrate the power of love with its capacity to outwit us, to move us beyond labels and to create an environment where all persons are honored. This understanding lies at the heart of the stories you are about to read. Anne Carr, BVM sets the theme for this issue in her piece entitled, “Moral Values in the Catholic Tradition.” She describes the context out of which a Catholic understanding of moral values has arisen, paying particular attention to the movement since Vatican II to situate moral decision making within the realm of relationship. The articles that follow show how this awareness of moral values affects the authors' daily lives and ministries. Different as their life situations may be, their actions flow from a deep sense of being in relationship with God, self, others and the universe. It is no wonder that for BVMs and Associates relationship building and moral values go hand in hand. While Mary Frances Clarke knew nothing of Vatican II and lived prior to the formulation of Catholic Social Teaching, there is much in her life that prepares her followers to readily embrace the element of relationship as integral to moral decision making. Throughout her lifetime Mary Frances Clarke grounded her actions in her deep desire to be in tune with the will of God. The God whose will she sought was not harsh or vengeful, but rather a loving God whose providence was vast and inclusive. Mary Frances' desire to serve the will of this loving God resulted in moral choices that enhanced the common good in the challenging situations she encountered in her 19th century world. Often the common good was achieved by saying yes: all school children will be treated the same whether they pay or don't pay; Sisters will be allowed to eat normally during Lent since fasting weakens their ability to teach long hours; BVMs, though situated in the Dubuque Diocese, will respond to the call to open schools in Chicago. Sometimes the common good was achieved by saying no: withdrawing Sisters from schools, refusing to allow the Sisters to take care of the parish sacristy, declining to permit a pastor to review the convent financial accounts. Sometimes the common good required a great deal of patience. While Mary Frances accepted the refusal of the Bishop of Dubuque to write to Rome in support of the new BVM rule, she went back time after time until finally he acquiesced. Her ability to find creative ways to interact with bishops, pastors, sisters, townspeople, allowed her, in the image of “Outwitted,” to join with the power of love in creating circles that drew people in. We who share the legacy of Mary Frances Clarke in a special way continue to look to her example in widening the circle of relationship as we face the challenging moral situations of our own day. Aware of a loving God in our midst and of the dignity of each human being, we assume the responsibility we have as followers of Jesus to do what we can to promote the common good of the entire planet. The articles in this issue of SALT demonstrate that the circle of relationship is wide enough to include multinational conglomerates, developmentally delayed adults, death row inmates, disruptive children, questioning young adults, persons of non Christian faiths, challenging characters in classical and contemporary theatre, occupants of straw bale houses, and all humans in their efforts to integrate their own moral choices before they die. We are happy to invite you to join us within the circle of these SALT stories. Together may we celebrate the power of Love and of each other to draw even the most unlikely among us into God's circle of belonging.
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