Fr, Maloney presented the following text at the recent meeting of the Aisian National Councils of the JMV”I offer you a few simple thoughts today.
“In order to grow continually, it is essential that we step back regularly and meditate on who we are and what the Lord is calling us to do. Who are you? You are leaders in JMV. What is the Lord calling you to do? The Lord is calling you as leaders to communicate your faith, your vision, and your love of JMV to the members of your National Associations.
” Let me proceed with these reflections in two steps. First, a very brief view of the environment in which we live; secondly, an exploration of the values and qualities necessary for effective leadership in JMV….
The full text is availalbe below and as a downloadable Word document. We hope to have the video of his presentation available in the next few days.
SPIRITUAL VALUES TO BE FOSTERED
IN THE LEADERS OF JMV IN THE THIRD MILLENNIUM
I am delighted to speak with you today for this first meeting of the Asian National Councils of JMV. I thank God, and you, for your deep faith, for your love of the Marian-Vincentian charism of JMV, and for your generous service.
I have been asked to talk about the spiritual values to be fostered in leaders within JMV as we advance into the third millennium. I offer you a few simple thoughts today. In order to grow continually, it is essential that we step back regularly and meditate on who we are and what the Lord is calling us to do. Who are you? You are leaders in JMV. What is the Lord calling you to do? The Lord is calling you as leaders to communicate your faith, your vision, and your love of JMV to the members of your National Associations.
Let me proceed with these reflections in two steps. First, a very brief view of the environment in which we live; secondly, an exploration of the values and qualities necessary for effective leadership in JMV.
I. A VIEW OF THE ENVIRONMENT
As we advance into the third millennium, I encourage you to have an acute awareness of the impact that broader social, economic and cultural factors have on the spiritual environment where you live. What elements influence your environment?
This era, which is sometimes called the “age of anxiety,” is characterized by: a widening gap between the rich and the poor, outbursts of violence worldwide, the massive movement of immigrants from one place to another, much governmental corruption, rampant materialism, environmental destruction, information overload, individualism and widespread religious indifference.
Yet at the same time, paradoxically, one of the signs of the times is a pervasive spiritual hunger, especially among young people. Many are restless, dissatisfied with the values that permeate society, and long to penetrate the transcendent.
In the Asian-Pacific World, the Church is involved in a triple dialogue — a dialogue with the varied Asian cultures, a dialogue with other long-lived religious traditions in Asia, and a dialogue with the poor. It is especially important that the young be a part of this dialogue. Asia is a continent of teeming millions. Two-thirds of the world’s population live here, and 60% of Asians are below 21 years of age.
In such an environment leaders must make critical choices; they must make a prophetic gospel-based response. Instead of being paralyzed by the crises and the rapid changes in their environment, effective leaders learn to befriend change and find the positive elements within their environment. They become lifelong learners and the groups they serve become learning organizations marked by a high level of participation.
II. EFFECTIVE SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP IN JMV: BEING ON FIRE
Most of all, I want to say to you today that a leader must have fire within. Fire brings light into the night. It warms us. It is the energizing center of homes. It prepares and gives taste to the food that we eat. In the chemical world, fire purifies and refines metals, like gold. It forges steel, making it strong. It molds pottery so that it becomes beautiful and lasting.
Let me describe three important dimensions of fire-filled spiritual leadership today.
1. The Meaning-Making Dimension.
The core of spiritual leadership is the ability to transmit meaning and hope, the capacity to connect the richness of the leader’s inner world with the challenges that everyday life presents.
Effective leaders grasp how important is the human quest for meaning in life. They bring to their outer world the strengths of a deep inner life. They bring hope and creative imagination to the service of others. Their sensitivity to the challenges of society today and to humanity’s deep spiritual longing enables them to express the relevance of their group’s charism and their commitment not only to action but also to contemplation.
Effective leaders in the future will be particularly attentive to the urgent needs of women and children and to learning from indigenous cultures. They will work at promoting ongoing education and at forming and mentoring other future leaders.
The meaning-making dimension of leadership is sensitive to the urgent human longing for wholeness, peace, transcendence, God.
JMV leaders who develop this meaning-making dimension of leadership can:
– articulate deep rootedness in God, the Gospel, and the Vincentian charism
– connect the soul of the Vincentian charism with the soul of a changing world
– promote the faith of JMV’s members and draw on it
– look difficult reality in the face and communicate hope to JMV’s members
– draw wisdom out of information and data and articulate its relevance for JMV’s mission
– recognize and draw upon the potential of individuals within JMV and of the group as a whole.
Meaning-making leaders have a capacity for both theological reflection and social action. They develop skills for their public role: speaking and writing in a credible way. They are able to achieve results because of deeply held convictions. They are men and women of courage with the ability to act in spite of obstacles.
2. The Relational Dimension
Spiritual leaders place a high priority on developing relational skills in themselves and in others.
They have an ability to deal with differences, to live with diversity, to create union rather than divide. They can distinguish life-promoting and life-denying attitudes. They have a capacity for cross-cultural consciousness and inclusiveness.
JMV leaders who develop the relational dimension of leadership have a capacity:
– to listen, inspire trust and affirm the members of JMV
– to grow with the members as a team
– to know and to be at home with themselves and to project a non-anxious presence to others
– to communicate that people matter and to express affection
– to draw members into dialogue about issues that matter: what membership in JMV means, what decisions should be made, what problems the group must overcome
– to facilitate ongoing formation in JMV.
In this information society, effective JMV leaders will view technology as a resource for building relationships, bridging gaps, and making information accessible at all levels of their organization. The spirituality of effective leaders will prompt them to view technology as a tool to be used for human promotion, for nourishing communication and friendship, rather than for domination.
3. The Organizational Dimension
Spiritual leaders have an ability to sense the climate of the group as a whole and to shape it into a harmoniously functioning organization.
JMV leaders who develop the organizational dimension of leadership have an ability:
– to enliven JMV’s agenda with new ideas
– to understand JMV’s organizational life, including its juridical and financial aspects
– and to formulate strategies for JMV’s growth
– to negotiate, mediate, delegate, facilitate, prioritize, make decisions and call the members to responsibility
– to find resources and allocate them effectively
– to work harmoniously within the broader Church (i.e. to understand JMV’s relationship with it, how to critique it healthily, and to live out their role within it)
– to mobilize the collective energies of JMV and direct them not only toward action but also toward contemplation.
Leadership within the Church today is a delicate, but also exciting, responsibility. Young people long for meaning in life. They are eager to give their lives to a worthwhile ideal. Even young people who say they do not believe really do want to believe in something. And so I suggest to you today that, as leaders, there is no more important service that you can offer to young people than the creation of a fire-filled, gospel-centered environment. Mary in the Magnificat sings of the beauty of a world in which God’s fire explodes, turning it upside-down, where:
– the last are first and the first last;
– the humble are exalted, the exalted humbled;
– those who save their life lose it, those who lose their life save it;
– those who mourn will rejoice, those who laugh will cry;
– the mighty are cast down from their thrones, the lowly are lifted up.
And so the challenge for us as leaders is this: Can we create fire-filled JMV associations throughout Asia:
– where evangelical charity reigns among us and then radiates out to the poor
– where we speak the truth among ourselves with simplicity, humility, and constancy, and then speak it with those outside in the same way
– where we pray faithfully with each other, and then share our prayer naturally with others too
– where we support one another and enjoy one another’s company as friends, and then share that friendship with the poor who surround us
– where we listen well to each other and discern the will of God together, and then are also able to listen well to the poor and discern the will of God with them
– where we renounce immediate gratification for the sake of life’s more important goals, and then manifest to those around us, by our lives, what life’s most important goals really are.
I want to encourage you today as JMV’s leaders here in Asia and the Pacific. The gospels tell us this about the first leaders whom Jesus chose, the apostles: He loved them. His love was an energizing fire in their lives. Be utterly sure that the Lord loves you deeply in calling you to leadership. Let him dwell in your heart. Let him set it on fire. Be grateful and joyful that he is with you and then communicate his presence, his joy, and his fire to others.
Robert P. Maloney, C.M.
JMV National Councils of Asia
April 2004
Manila, Philippines
