International Bursars’ Session
24 September 2013
A few words from Margaret at the opening of the session will indicate to us the main aims of the Session as well as the profound content of this first day:
“From the point of view of God’s universe we live in a gift economy and not an ownership economy, everything is there for the common good of the whole and not just we humans. When we try to hold on to what we don’t need, when we have an attitude of possessing, when we consume more than we need, when we see earth and all life on it as objects for our own use and benefit we go against God’s way – and the consequences are destructive of life and sustainability. All that we have – including our gifts, time, energy and talents are at the service of mission – and are to be shared so that all of life can flourish. It is so easy to fall into the way of “ownership” “possessions” “having,” of seeking “more”, seeking wealth and power … trends which are so prevalent in society today and which create division, conflict, wars, more and more people living in poverty, earth being abused, limited resources being used for greed, exclusion, exploitation with little concern for social responsibility, transparency and accountability …
Through our vows we proclaim that an alternative world is possible; by our vow of poverty we show that we recognise that all is gift, and that all people are equal and all have a basic human right to what they need; that it is possible to have a circulation of goods for the well being of all, to live with an non-possessive attitude towards material goods, to contribute to the common good by sharing our talents, the fruit of our work, to live simply, to have compassion and to respect all life on earth and to protect and safeguard it. Earth too has rights. We are drawn into solidarity with the poor, the weak and the vulnerable… He calls humanity to move away from the “globalisation of indifference” to compassion for and solidarity with the struggles of people. A key value our way of life promotes is right relationships expressed in acceptance of diversity, uniqueness and inter-dependence/communion. “that all may have life and have it to the full” (Jn 10:10) Whether we focus on one vow or the three vows we are ultimately speaking of Love, of that Love that is in the heart of the universe, in all of life and within each one of us and invites us to be co-creators with our God of Love for a new way of being and living as members of Earth community.
