Sunday, July 13, 2008

Holy Cross OLM: program overview and orientation at Notre Dame

When planning this blog, my first, before leaving home I thought I would begin after having arrived in Chile, since that's when I figured the excitement would begin. Strangely, though, or at least unexpectedly, after being away from home exactly one week it seems as though I have been gone for months. Before I begin recounting the events of the past week, though, I think a few details about the program on which I am about to embark would be appropriate so we all are on the same page.

For the next eighteen months, until late January of 2010, I will be a participant in the Congregation of Holy Cross Overseas Lay Ministry (OLM) program in Chile. If you are reading this, you probably know that I just graduated from the University of Notre Dame on May 18, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Romance Languages and Literatures, for which I studied Spanish and French. The Congregation of Holy Cross (Congregatio a Sancta Croce in Latin, or CSC for short) is the religious order that founded and administrates Notre Dame. The Congregation of Holy Cross consists of priests and brothers, and was founded in 1837 by Fr. Basil Moreau, who was beatified this past September. Historically, Holy Cross religious have had a particular interest in service in the area of education for the underprivileged and mission overseas to areas of particular need. Their ministry began as educators to rural communities in France, but quickly spread to the uncharted wilderness of northern Indiana, French Canada, and Bagladesh within the first few decades of the Congregation's existence. One result of this expansion was Notre Dame. Then, beginning near the middle of the twentieth century, Holy Cross expanded to create missions in Chile, Peru, and various countries in eastern Africa. They entered Chile at the invitation of the Archdiocese of Santiago, who asked that they assume the administration of an English school for boys called Saint George's College in Santiago. College in the Chilean education system does not mean a four year institution of higer education as it does in the United States, but can be any school that includes secondary education, either the four year school equivalent to high school in the U.S., or a school with grades from kindergarten through high school, such as Saint George's College nowadays, as well as the school where I will be. The second school, Colegio Nuestra SeƱora de Andacollo (Our Lady of Andacollo College), Holy Cross began to direct in in 1976, once again at the request of the Archdiocese of Santiago. Saint George's has been and to this day is a school of the most elite families of Chile, whereas Colegio Andacollo is located in a working poor neighborhood, closer to downtown Santiago. In the decades that Holy Cross has been directing Colegio Andacollo it has improved the services the school can offer, as well as significantly expanded and modernized its facilities.

The Holy Cross OLM program is in its first year, and my hosuemate John and I are its first participants, but it is the product of a long history of Holy Cross lay ministry in Chile. The Holy Cross Associates program had existed for years (at least since the early 1980s) before being disbanded last year as the Congregation decided to re-evaluate the incorporation of their Constitutions and mission. The result of of the reformulations, additions, and changes is the new OLM program, which has as its three pillars Prayer, Mission, and Community. Relating to the pillar of Prayer, John and I will both have a spiritual advisor once we are in Chile, either a priest or another person approved by Holy Cross. We will also be incoporating community prayer into our daily routine in Santiago, as well as time for conversation and reflection on our service work. Since there are only two of us, instead of the original three the directors had planned on, finding the time where "all the lay ministers" can be together should not be too difficult. Relating to Mission, I am very glad that the directors have decided to have us work at Colegio Andacollo instead of Saint George's because it seems to me that of the two schools, John and I could have a more significant positive impact at Colegio Andacollo. In the area of Community, besides the community of lay ministers which I already mentioned, we will be closely involved in the local community of Andacollo, both school, parish, and neighborhood. We will live one block from the school and ideally will be active presences in the parish outside of just hours when class in in session. Hopefully this description suffices as an overview of the program. Of course, more details are forthcoming upon arrival to Chile and commencement of actual service work.

The orientation at Notre Dame lasted from Sunday, July 6th, through the morning of Thursday, July 10th. Sunday John and I arrived and shared dinner with Steve Holte, the lay coordinator of our program, and Fathers Tom Smith and Don McNeill, director of Holy Cross Overseas Lay Ministry and former director and founder of Notre Dame's Center for Social Concerns, respectively. Over the course of the next few days, Steve, Fr. Tom, Fr. Don, and various other Holy Cross priests with experience in Chile and former Holy Cross Associates in Chile, educated John and me in the Holy Cross history, traditions, and missions. They also helped to prepare us and encourage us in our new endeavor. Their stories were all fascinating and inspiring. The final night we gathered for a grilled dinner at Steve's House with Fr. Tom, Fr. Don, and three former Associates, after which they had a short prayer service before our departure. For being only three full days plus a bit, they managed to fill it to the brim.

In the process of all this orientation, John and I have gotten to know each other a bit. While from the beginning it has been apparent we have very distinctive personailities, we each see how we compliment each other in some ways, and anticipate bringing out perhaps untapped or underpracticed virtues in each other and keeping the other in check.

Since Thursday, July 10th, we have been at the headquarters of Maryknoll Lay Missioners for a more extended program and general orientation for those departing for international service. The program lasts until Friday, July 25th, and will be the subject of my next entry, God willing.