Religious and lay DOWs come together for two-day sessions

On : 2023-12-21

Religious and lay directors of work (DOWs) of Karnataka Jesuit province met for a two-day deliberation at Fathima Retreat House, Mangalore on December 16-17. Twenty-two DOWs took part in the two-day sessions.

On the first day, Provincial Fr Dionysius Vaz SJ dealt on the theme, ‘Building mission driven teams’. He said that it was important to align our work with the ultimate purpose of Jesuit education, namely forming men and women for and with others.

On the second day, Socius Fr Joseph D’Mello spoke on De Statu report – the document by Fr General which is a fruit of Procurators’ Congregation held in October 2023. Fr D’Mello said that the document clearly stated that all, including Jesuits, were collaborators in God’s mission. There was also a session on conflict management by Fr Vaz.

The DOWs had time to meet in groups for spiritual conversations and discuss and deliberate on various issues pertaining to their work.

In his final address, Fr Vaz motivated the team to always keep Jesuit ideals in mind while performing their duty. “God calls us to collaborate in creating the world. Creation is not a one-time event, but creation is continually happening. God calls us to be co-creators, to labour with Him in building the world,” he said.

He also said that lay collaborators are equal partners. “Hence you must be motivated to do the task and you must be qualified and competent to do the task,” he added. He further called upon the DOWs to understand what Jesuit education is all about. “Education in Jesuit institutions should not be simply a matter of imparting information and skill. It has to take note of the dimension of developing potentialities inherent in each student, instilling value and principles which will create in them a sharp social consciousness, sense of social justice and above all a true outlook and culture of solidarity and service,” he said.

Earlier on the first day, the DOWs visited Jesuit institutions such as AIMIT Beeri, Aloysian Student Home, Nehru Nagar, and St Aloysius College. SAC community hosted them dinner where they had occasion to mingle with Jesuits.