World and Ministry
Fr. Jose Ramon T. Villarin, S.J.
President, Ateneo de Manila University
First of all, I congratulate you on this wonderful occasion of your graduation here at LST. I am hopeful that your theological formation here has brought you closer to Christ and made you better disciples of our Lord. That can only happen if knowledge has deepened your love of Christ, and your love has fortified your will to follow him more closely.
As you commence your lives of ministry in the Church, I wish to stimulate some reflection on the kind of world which we are called to serve, and the qualities that must shape our ministry or service in this world. World and Ministry. I make no pretense to be all encompassing or exhaustive. All I offer are stimulants to carry with you as you go “down from the hill,” “down to the world” from the heights of Loyola.
Volatility
If there is one word to describe our world nowadays, it is “change.” The first striking feature of this 21st century world is the newness not of change itself but of the speed of change. The changes we see these days are not merely incremental or linear. They happen with geometric speed, the way falling bodies pick up velocity. That is why we sometimes speak of disruptive change, of things going viral, and financial bubbles forming and bursting. We may hope that some of these changes are cyclic (that they will return to some previous state, the way a pendulum swings back and forth) but some are irreversible, the way things eventually break, the way cancer spreads without mercy.
One reason for this has something to do with the way we are connecting to one another. Even in the inanimate and physical world, the progression of change becomes non-linear or geometric when things get connected. For instance, in a linear system, input is usually independent of or not affected by output. Recall in grade school arithmetic the function machine. You put in something (say, a number) into a machine (which processes the input according to a function) and out comes the output. The output does not affect whatever it is you put into the machine. In a more complex non-linear system, such as biology or your karaoke microphone, input and output are not so independent of each other. What you put into the machine is also determined or conditioned by the outcome.
The consequences of such a configuration are twofold: small disturbances can lead to big things; or big things can crash with alarming speed. What we therefore have is a more complex, more uncertain and volatile world. Our response in ministry to such volatility must be guided by systems thinking, which means understanding the way systems work, the way these are networked and organized to bring about complexity. An example of such a system is the coupled climate-energy ecosystem. In the past, we never really connected one to the other. Global finance is another such system. Even theological systems are inextricably coupled with ethical and cultural systems.
In a world that is continually in flux, our ministry must be marked not by rigidity but by lightness and versatility and adaptability. The Ignatian principle of the tantum quantum (“insofar as”) inspires this lightness and freedom. The tantum quantum demands discerning attention and attachment to those things in the world that lead us to our goal (which is to be with God forever) and liberating detachment from those things in this life which lead us away from our very selves and from our God. In other words, the tantum quantum cultivates an inner freedom and openness to change or conversion.
Pastorally, for example, this might mean adopting ever-evolving, modular, cartridge-type (plug and unplug) strategies in our ministry of evangelization. In a world characterized by technological variability and social fluidity, moving targets demand portability and agility (just a walking stick perhaps for the journey).
In the face of all this uprooting, this is not to say that we should never grow roots. The indifference of the tantum quantum is not just about detachment; it is also about ordinate or Godward attachment. One is only free insofar as one is grounded in the principle and foundation of our lives, which is to live with God forever. For our ministry therefore to be responsive to the increasing volatility of the world, we must endeavor to recover the sacred tradition of silence and prayer. We must continually renovate and rebuild our institutions on the bedrock of our faith and communion with Jesus Christ. With effective administration and smart management, we have to learn to lead these institutions with others, reconfigure them for enough lightness and adaptability to withstand the waves of our time. In the turbulent crossings we need to make in this new world, we cannot afford to set sail without compass or anchor.
Multiplicity of voices
The second feature of this 21st century world is the unprecedented buildup of information and knowledge brought about by the internet revolution. Think EdX or Coursera and the millions who are now enrolling in these online courses being offered massively and free by the big universities in the US. (I wonder how this will change theological education here at LST.) Think how disruptive these technologies and pedagogies are and how they are affecting even bookstores like Borders or music/video stores like Blockbuster. We now speak of Big Data and how giant servers are all gathering and processing all this information in the “cloud.”
This democratization of information and knowledge has given rise to a greater variety of voices out there. An outcome of this phenomenon is the reinforcement and reassertion of the autonomous claims of all sorts of authorities vying for our assent and allegiance. Such multiplicity of channels can be a recipe for confusion and inaction.
Our response in ministry cannot simply be reduced to asserting authority and increasing the volume of our paternal (and sometimes patronizing) voice in the world. Because we now need to earn authority, because we need to compete with the other compelling voices out there, our stance must be to listen.
We need to listen first to our own voice. We need to identify the vulnerabilities and weaknesses of our voice in the world. The world no longer listens to us the way it used to in the past. If it listens at all, it listens to our lives. We need to listen in on the many channels people are tuning into these days for their fulfillment or learning or even entertainment. We have to understand the different claims being made in the many autonomous spheres of secular society and in the agnostic world of post-modernity. We need to listen to what secular society is telling us.
And we can listen only if we begin to learn the syntax and appreciate the power of the languages that are being broadcast on multiple wavelengths in the world today. You learn language not merely by rote recital but also by being immersed in the milieu of those you are trying to understand and love. This incarnational stance demands openness in our ministry to learn the basic grammar of economics and finance, the natural and social sciences, politics and law, the arts, and other such fields. This stance demands enough humility in us to learn from others and to engage the other authoritative voices in civil society, government, and the private sector.
If we are to be truth-tellers in ministry to the Church and to the world, we will also need to listen to and listen for God’s voice (God’s action and presence) speaking somewhere, somehow in the multiplicity of voices in the world today.
Only thus by listening to ourselves, to one another, and to our God are we able to proclaim the truth of the Gospel. Only by listening with our lives are we able to give voice to the Gospel with authority and power.
Exclusion
A third feature of our contemporary world is the persistent and painful reality of exclusion amid the gains of development. Admittedly this is not entirely new. We speak nowadays of the goal of inclusive development to confess that development (despite globalization) continues to be uneven and skewed exclusively toward specific sectors in society such as the oligarchy. In other words, exclusion today refers to the burden of poverty together with the many systemic and structural drivers that perpetuate it. The only added realization today is that development gains are being made not only at the expense of those who live at the base of the pyramid but also at the expense of culture and nature.
You see all this typified for example in the contentious issue of the economic zone being developed in Casiguran, Aurora where our indigenous brothers and sisters are struggling for development that is true and which includes them, development that is not dismissive of their heritage and values and natural environment.
In our ministry therefore, our response to development that is thus divided is pastoral leadership. That means serving the common good, while ministering to those who live at the margins and who are most affected by the exclusion of culture and nature in development. Our response to exclusion is to lead in a way that engages and empowers people (especially the poor) to participate in shaping the future of the community. Our response to exclusion is to lead in a way that brings people, culture and nature into the mainstream of development.
This ministry of inclusive leadership entails the formation of persons and the building of institutions. It will mean reshaping minds and hearts to be open to others and respectful of diversity. It will require educating people to appreciate and realize their own identity and value and power. It will involve careful stewardship of the wellsprings of their identity and power. Some of these wellsprings are found in community, in our cultural heritage and most notably in our faith and spirituality.
If we are to take on this ministry of inclusive leadership, we will need to initiate and participate in the building and rebuilding of institutions. We will have to restore trust in our institutions, both in the Church and in secular society. Inclusive leadership is also about building institutions that effectively dismantle the destructive feudal ways we relate to one another and the dangerous utilitarian ways we relate to nature. This can happen with structures and systems that are organized to ensure greater transparency, clearer lines of accountability, and stronger stewardship of resources and lifelines for our people.
In a world that is more capable than ever of creating new wealth, our response therefore to the burden of exclusion in development is to engage ourselves in the ministry of inclusive leadership.
Summary
In summary therefore, the kind of world we are sent to serve today is characterized by higher volatility (change), greater multiplicity of voices (authoritative and otherwise), and the continuing burden of exclusion in development. Volatility, multiplicity, and exclusion.
To respond to volatility, our ministry (or ministries) ought to be marked by greater freedom anchored in our faith. To the multiplicity of voices out there, our response is to listen first and to engage these voices so to proclaim the Gospel with authority and power. And to exclusion, our response is to lead in a way that empowers persons and institutions to serve the common and greater good. To be responsive to this new world, our ministries therefore have to be reconfigured for greater freedom, better listening, and more inclusive leadership.
Seen another way, this triple reconfiguration is a recast of our shared roles as priest, prophet, and king (or shepherd) in the likeness of Christ.
To serve as priest is to mediate the steady and foundational presence of the Sacred in the midst of all the volatility we see in the world. It is this faithful and sanctifying presence that allows us to be open to conversion and to be free.
To serve as prophet is to tell the truth amid the diversity of voices in the world today. Only when we learn to listen first to these autonomous voices and engage them in humility are we able to assume the prophetic stance of discerning and giving voice to the truth with authority and power.
To serve as king or shepherd is to lead the way that confronts the injustice of exclusion in development today. Pastoral leadership is decidedly inclusive when it returns power back to the people (especially the poor) so they can grow their lives in communion with one another, with creation, and with our God.
Priest, prophet, king: three classical roles that have always marked our ministry in the Church and for the world; roles we are ordained with, in the image and likeness of Jesus Christ; roles we now recast so that our ministry can be more responsive to the contemporary challenges of heightened volatility, the multiplicity of voices, and wounded exclusion in the world today.
As you go “down from the hill”, “down to the world” from the heights of Loyola, may the Lord bless you and keep you strong in love. May he teach you the way to be light and versatile and free, to listen to others and engage them in humility, and to lead God’s people with courage and power and magnanimity.
Again, congratulations to all of you. Good morning.
