Skip to main content

BUILDING A CARING COMMUNITY

Growing up, I always knew to respect my great aunt Sr. Deotilla who was a Franciscan Sister from Dubuque, Iowa.  My young thoughts of her were of how athletic she was and how she liked to pray the rosary.  I have been blessed with some of her prayer books and reflections of her commitment to God and the Franciscan way of life.  My older self sees her vision through her writings and her dedication to the Holy Trinity.  Sr. Deotilla was a devoted individual who put others before herself and believed in the power of prayer.

As I work at Briar Cliff University, I reflect on the Franciscan Value of “Building a Caring Community”.  This Value has been dear to my heart from the very beginning of my social work career at Briar Cliff.  A sign of a caring community is when each person feels valued and respected.

Because of this Value, I try to be someone who values all life, and provides dignified care and leadership.  I was told by a wise person to pray for the people who challenge you.  This is what we ask every time we pray the Our Father.  This aspect of building a caring community is believed to offer calmness and helps us to be forgiving as Christ taught.



Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy name;
Thy kingdom come;
Thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom,
and the power,

and the glory are Yours;
now and forever. Amen.

Melanie Berte-Hickey LMSW, CSW, MPS

Associate Professor of Social Work & Director of Mission and Catholic Integration

Briar Cliff University




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

THE MANGER & THE MONSTRANCE: WHAT ST. FRANCIS’ MANGER SCENE CAN TEACH US ABOUT THE BREAD OF LIFE IN THE YEAR OF EUCHARISTIC REVIVAL

The manger scene evokes our memories of Christmas: sharing delicious holiday dishes with family members, sitting around a Christmas tree with hot cocoa, or roasting chestnuts on an open fire. However, on this night, St. Francis did not partake in the feasting typical at Christmastime in the Middle Ages. Instead, he desired to “…enact the memory of that babe who was born in Bethlehem: to see as much as is possible with [his] own bodily eyes the discomfort of [Christ’s] infant needs, how he lay in a manger, and how, with an ox and ass standing by, he rested on hay”. Thus, the manger scene was born. On Christmas Eve in 1223, St. Francis of Assisi had the first live manger scene created in the town of Greccio. He gathered the townspeople from near and far to celebrate Mass and recall the origins of Christ’s humble birth.   Francis saw Our Lord’s birth as fundamental. His Birth is intimately tied to His Death. The two bookends of Christ’s Life on earth form the basis of Francis’ spiritu...

SELF-AWARENESS, SELF-ACTUALIZATION

On his deathbed, St. Francis freed his Brothers by saying, “I have done what was mine to do, may Christ now teach you what you are to do.”  Why did he say this? So that his Brothers would not try to become him.  God created each of Francis’ Brothers to be who they were, not who St. Francis was.  The key for them finding out what was theirs to do was discovering whom God intended them to be.  Now, 800 years later, self-awareness for our students is just - if not - more important.   A Franciscan view of career suggests each of our students needs to know who they are so that they can see the Good inside themselves, and share that Good to maximize their contribution to transform a world desperately in need of their Good. Sadly, for most college students, self-awareness is in short supply.   On my radio show Thank God For Monday, guests advise that today’s college graduates are not self-aware.   Sure, they know accounting and biology and information tec...

The Beauty of Storytelling in Revealing God’s Presence in Humanity: A Franciscan Reflection

“What Francis wanted to recapture and live was what the earliest companions of Christ had experienced: the presence of God coming alive in the human community. He wanted that to be the universal way.” Ahlgren, Gillian. The Tenderness of God: Reclaiming Our Humanity . Fortress Press, 2017, 57. One of the great joys I have in working with graduate students and serving as a certified spiritual director is to hear the stories of students and directees. Oftentimes, these stories continue to be told more than once but not always in the same exact way. For me, one’s sharing of their experiences, acquired wisdom, yearnings and struggles gathered along life’s journey, reveals the presence of God. Like what is stated in the quote above, Francis discovered God to be fully present in our relationships with others and creation. His sending out of his followers two by two or in groups, traveling to various parts of the countryside and then coming back together to community must have led to the...