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Seasoning |
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 BVM Leadership Team (l. to r.) Mary Ann Zollmann, Joellen McCarthy and Peggy Nolan. |
Dear SALT Readers, I have no fears as long as you are working unitedly. This saying found in the letters of Mary Frances Clarke is a favorite among BVMs and is used as a refrain in the proclamation announcing the beginning of the 175th anniversary year of our founding. The logo for this jubilee year celebrates 175 years of presence and partnership. The interplay of the refrain and the logo suggests that working unitedly happens concretely and experientially through partnerships. What is it that characterizes a partnership? Partnerships say that we don't go it alone, that we need one another. In a partnership we recognize the unique gifts of the other; we affirm that being different is a value and that all differences are equally important in the realization of a common goal. Partnerships challenge competition; they call us to the asceticism of ego-stripping since, in a partnership, no one individual is singled out to receive credit for the good realized. Partnerships require vulnerability as we open the space necessary for others to use their gifts. They require humility as we learn that acknowledging the gifts of another does not detract from our own gifts. In a partnership, each partner becomes someone better and so does the whole that is served. Partnerships pull us out of ourselves and into the joyful freedom of living a common mission. This kind of partnership essential to unity grounds and carries our history as a BVM congregation. From the beginning, Mary Frances Clarke, Margaret Mann, Rose O'Toole, Eliza Kelly and Catherine Byrne relied on one another's unique gifts and distinctive personalities. We were founded in partnership. This spirit of partnership is evident in Mary Frances' directives for the guidance of BVM teachers. In order to meet the needs of their students, BVM teachers were to “carefully study the characters of those we teach, that we may deal with them in the way best suited to each individual.” And, in the teacher-student relationship, teachers would receive from their students the fulfillment that comes in being true to their vocation. Through the years, we BVMs and you who have been our students have experienced the joy of this reciprocal relationship. In more recent years, the partnership that you, our readers, and we BVMs share has gone beyond the classroom. We have ministered side by side in parishes and social service agencies; we have stood with one another as we witnessed for justice and peace in a variety of public demonstrations; we have partnered with one another in outreach to those most needy through sharing our financial resources; we have welcomed one another into our homes. In the following pages, you will hear the stories of a variety of contemporary partnerships:
We hope that this issue of SALT will invite you to become aware of all the ways you partner with others in your families, places of work, and in the activities that make up the unique texture of your lives. As we treasure the partnerships among us, may we also celebrate the truth that our partnerships, however they happen in the particular circumstances of our lives, are contributing to justice, peace and freedom in a world all-too-often characterized by individualism and competition. Thanks to you and the multiple partnerships we as BVMs share with you, we rejoice in 175 years of presence and partnership and we trust that, as we move into the future, there is no need to fear because, indeed, we are working together unitedly. Return to Table of Contents. |
