Two Days Reflecting on Collaboration

As we're preparing for departure, we spent the past couple of days reflecting on a very key issue for many of us working in church related organizations and Jesuit ministries: the nature of collaboration between Jesuits and our various lay and religious partners. Collaboration and teamwork of any kind always has its challenges and rewards, and the same is true in this case. Our conversation was enriched by the participation of two laymen and one woman religious, all of them in roles of leadership within Jesuit organizations. Their stories and perspectives heightened awareness of a sense in which even long time partners in ministry still feel like guests and in-laws, and that Jesuits tend to take most of their privilege and social capital for granted. They also helped to raise our consciousness around the challenges of collaboration with people who pick up and move after a few years, who don't understand the challenges of making a living in today's economy and the costs that come with commitment to a vocation within Jesuit schools or ministries. While these issues weren't so new to most of us, the conversation was enriching and valuable for all of us. And there were plenty of stories and examples of the way in which collaboration and partnership in the service of our mission has created great opportunities for friendship and growth.

Just a week left for me here in Oz...