MONDAY OCTOBER 28TH GATHERING AT ST NOEL
Gathering Topic:
In many ways the ecological disaster of the chinampas in Mexico City is very similar to the larger and more divese problem of the Amazon. The Archdiocese of Mexico City was until about a month ago the large diocese in Catholic population in the world. It has been subdivided creating suburban dioceses in order for the auxialary bishops to be "closer to the people." I suspect that means being better able to advocate for the people with the government on issues like the Chinampas.
We have spoken at length about joy and love, but the word of God also speaks about the fruit of peace Becoming a people demands something more. It is an ongoing process in which every new generation must take part: a slow and arduous effort calling for a desire for integration and a willingness to achieve this through the growth of a peaceful and multifaceted culture of encounter.
1. TIME IS GREATER THAN SPACE: Time governs spaces, illumines them, and makes them links in a constantly expanding chain, with no possibility of return.
One of the faults which we occasionally observe in sociopolitical activity is that spaces and power are preferred to time and processes. Giving priority to space means madly attempting to keep everything together in the present, trying to possess all the spaces of power and of self-assertion; it is to crystallize processes and presume to hold them back.
2. UNITY PREVAILS OVER CONFLICT: Conflict cannot be ignored or concealed.
But there is also a third way, and it is the best way to deal with conflict. It is the willingness to face conflict head on, to resolve it and to make it a link in the chain of a new process. “Blessed are the peacemakers!” (Mt 5:9)… but this can only be achieved by those great persons who are willing to go beyond the surface of the conflict and to see others in their deepest dignity.
3. REALITIES ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN IDEAS. There also exists a constant tension between ideas and realities.
Realities simply are, whereas ideas are worked out. There has to be continuous dialogue between the two, lest ideas become detached from realities. It is dangerous to dwell in the realm of words alone, of images and rhetoric.
4. THE WHOLE IS GREATER THAN THE PART. An innate tension also exists between globalization and localization.
We need to pay attention to the global so as to avoid narrowness and banality. Yet we also need to look to the local, which keeps our feet on the ground. Together, the two prevent us from falling into one of two extremes.
In the first, people get caught up in an abstract, globalized universe, falling into step behind everyone else, admiring the glitter of other people’s world, gaping and applauding at all the right times.
At the other extreme, they turn into a museum of local folklore, a world apart, doomed to doing the same things over and over, and incapable of being challenged by novelty or appreciating
CAN THE CHINAMPAS SURVIVE?
The Floating Gardens of Mexico City
Place and Time: the Small Meet Room at St Dominic, 7:00pm - 8:30pm.
GATHERING FORMAT
Opening
Conversation: Synod of the Amazon
Come prepared to share for about a half an hour what you know about the Synod of the Amazon which has been taking place in Rome during October. The following post gives some links to information about the Synod.
Primary
Conversation on the Featured Article:
In many ways the ecological disaster of the chinampas in Mexico City is very similar to the larger and more divese problem of the Amazon. The Archdiocese of Mexico City was until about a month ago the large diocese in Catholic population in the world. It has been subdivided creating suburban dioceses in order for the auxialary bishops to be "closer to the people." I suspect that means being better able to advocate for the people with the government on issues like the Chinampas.
An hour or more with adjournment around 8:30-8:45
FOUR PRINCIPLES FOR ORGANIZING
(from Pope Francis, the Joy of the Gospel)
We have spoken at length about joy and love, but the word of God also speaks about the fruit of peace Becoming a people demands something more. It is an ongoing process in which every new generation must take part: a slow and arduous effort calling for a desire for integration and a willingness to achieve this through the growth of a peaceful and multifaceted culture of encounter.
1. TIME IS GREATER THAN SPACE: Time governs spaces, illumines them, and makes them links in a constantly expanding chain, with no possibility of return.
One of the faults which we occasionally observe in sociopolitical activity is that spaces and power are preferred to time and processes. Giving priority to space means madly attempting to keep everything together in the present, trying to possess all the spaces of power and of self-assertion; it is to crystallize processes and presume to hold them back.
2. UNITY PREVAILS OVER CONFLICT: Conflict cannot be ignored or concealed.
But there is also a third way, and it is the best way to deal with conflict. It is the willingness to face conflict head on, to resolve it and to make it a link in the chain of a new process. “Blessed are the peacemakers!” (Mt 5:9)… but this can only be achieved by those great persons who are willing to go beyond the surface of the conflict and to see others in their deepest dignity.
3. REALITIES ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN IDEAS. There also exists a constant tension between ideas and realities.
Realities simply are, whereas ideas are worked out. There has to be continuous dialogue between the two, lest ideas become detached from realities. It is dangerous to dwell in the realm of words alone, of images and rhetoric.
4. THE WHOLE IS GREATER THAN THE PART. An innate tension also exists between globalization and localization.
We need to pay attention to the global so as to avoid narrowness and banality. Yet we also need to look to the local, which keeps our feet on the ground. Together, the two prevent us from falling into one of two extremes.
In the first, people get caught up in an abstract, globalized universe, falling into step behind everyone else, admiring the glitter of other people’s world, gaping and applauding at all the right times.
At the other extreme, they turn into a museum of local folklore, a world apart, doomed to doing the same things over and over, and incapable of being challenged by novelty or appreciating