Communio Calling
Communio Calling
BENet23 & Manquehue Visit
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In our final episode of Communio Calling for 2023, GSE delegates discuss their whirlwind South American adventure to this year’s BENet Conference and visit to Chile's lay Benedictine Manquehue Community.
Hosted in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in October, about 180 representatives from 16 countries gathered to share their insights as educators in the Benedictine tradition
On route to Rio, the GSE group spent time with the Manquehue community in Santiago, Chile, forming deep connections while exploring another expression of Benedictine education and community.
Welcome to Good Samaritan Education's podcast, Caminio Calling. My name's Gabrielle Sinclair, and I'll be your host. In our final episode for 2023, I'm in conversation with the members of the Good Samaritan Education community that recently took part in the International Benedictine Conference in Rio de Janeiro. Bennett 23. There were six of us that travelled, myself included, and we had the unique opportunity to visit Man Kwe community in Santiago, Chile for a week prior to the conference in Rio. It was quite an amazing opportunity to see how this lay community expressed Benedictine education, particularly being renowned for the way that they integrate Lexio Divina, and to see how this lay community live out their Benedictine values in everyday life. It is my pleasure to share with you today the reflections of our journey in Man Kway and our experience at Bennett 23, and to share some of our insights and stories. So we have today five of the six in conversation: two governing council members, Eileen O'Leary and John Browning, and two senior staff members from our schools, Katie Foster from Rosemont College Five Doc, and Joel DeVal from St. Patrick's College, Campbelltown. So let's jump in. Well, welcome to Communio Calling. It is wonderful to have with us Eileen, Katie, Joel, and John. And we're going to talk about the experience that we've had recently going to the Bennett 2023 conference in Rhea and our visit along the way to the Man Kwe community. But before we get into all of the details, we're going to have a bit of a chat about our own stories. And as you know, communion calling is really grounded in story and honoring each other's story and where we come from and how we connect and really that incarnational reality of where we are in our lives and the diversity of who we are. So we're going to share a bit of each other's story. And because we have a large group today, it'll kind of be your elevator speech. And we got a pattern of telling our stories over and over and over again on our visits because we had lots of different meetings. So it's not that version, it's kind of the personal touch as well, a bit about where your own personal story and influences, your family growing up, and then your first encounter with the good Sam. So, Eileen, I'm going to ask you to go first to share us a bit of your story.
SPEAKER_00All right, thank you. Well, I grew up in Melbourne as the eldest of four children. My father was a primary school teacher. My mother was very much shaped by the fact that she had to leave school at 13 and wanted education for her children and particularly for her daughters. And one of her aims was to make sure they were taught by nuns who would provide a sound academic background. And certainly the good Sam's were on her list even before we got there. My father was a primary school teacher, and one of the things I realize now is how much we were grounded both in our Catholic community, of which we were very strong members, but also in the local community. And my father drilled into us that all people are good people and Catholics, well, they're not the arbiters of everything good and to look for the good in everyone. And when the four of us talk about it, that was such a strong message. In primary school, I went to uh Josephite School for the first five years, and then we moved to Reservoir, where I went to St. Gabriel's, and in 1959 I met my first good Sam nun. I have to say that my primary school wasn't brilliant in some ways, except for the grade seven teacher who was fantastic. But I went on to Santa Maria eventually, spending four years there from 67 to 70. And especially the nuns there, and particularly the ones who taught us in the final two years, were amazing, both academically and as people. And they left a mark on myself and the girls I went to school with. I grew up in the northern suburbs of Melbourne were not rich, but we all went on to university. We all worked very hard. We all achieved academically, and I think in lots of other ways as well. I went back to Santa Maria as a board member for 10 years, serving as finance chair and then chair of the board. And then lately I've been involved in Good Samaritan education.
SPEAKER_02Thanks, Eileen. I love the sound of your dad. I think we would have got on really well. Do you remember the first time Faith for you was something that was yours?
SPEAKER_00I do. I remember where I was sitting, and it was when I was a mother of three young children. At that stage, I was teaching in secondary schools. Faith to me up until then was reasonably academic. And I was sitting in the Siena staff room in Campbellwell, and something came over me. It hit me. If I wanted to say I was a Catholic, I had to understand the Gospels and follow the Gospels. And I still remember that day.
SPEAKER_02Wow, that's a powerful experience, Eileen. Thank you for sharing that. Joel, can you tell us a bit about your own story?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, so I grew up in Sydney, which is where I still currently reside. And I went to a Good Samaritan primary school. So I had another sister Beverly, who was my principal at the time. And then there was also another sister who was a teacher as well. And that was kind of my first encounter with the Good Samaritan sisters. And then I actually went back and taught at the primary school that I went to. And at that time, there were no more sisters working at the school. And I was employed as the RAC. And so it was my job to bring in the Benedictine values and help everyone realize that we were a Good Samaritan Benedictine school. So I had the great privilege with working with some of the sisters and also the staff to try to bring our Benedictine values to life in our school. Since then, I've been employed at St. Patrick's College in Campbelltown, which is obviously one of our Good Samaritan Benedictine schools in the Macarthur area. I've been there for the last year as mission coordinator. And it's just so beautiful just to kind of be welcomed back home into this beautiful community.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, thanks, Joel. Well, what about you too? Do you remember a time when faith was your own rather than something that had been passed on to you?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, so it probably wasn't until I was in my late 20s I went to a World Youth Day. And much like Eileen, I just grew up in a traditional Catholic household and faith was kind of passed on to me, and I'm very grateful to my parents for that. But it wasn't until I went to a World Youth Day where I had my first real encounter with Jesus and it made faith real for me. And so I then kind of took ownership of my faith and did a lot of the exploring of the beautiful teachings of our church and looking at encyclicals and reading the Bible and understanding more about this faith so that I could really articulate what it was that I believe in and what I follow.
SPEAKER_02And now you've got to find out how to pass it on to your young children as they start.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, so we're doing that, doing that very slowly.
SPEAKER_02It's a long journey, that's all good. John, can you share us a bit of your story?
SPEAKER_05Currently I live in Brisbane and I'm married with three children and six grandchildren. I was brought up in the north of England and emigrated to Australia nearly 50 years ago now. For my family background, three of my grandparents were not brought up Catholic, although they came from religious families. But the fourth grandparent came from a very long line of Catholics in the north of England whose story was very much about discrimination and a disadvantage because of their faith, right back to the Reformation times. And in fact, one of my ancestors' brothers was a priest who was executed in Reformation times. So an interesting background. I went to a Catholic primary school. It was entirely staffed by lay people. Secondary school, I went to a boys' secondary school that was run by the Mahist fathers. I went to university and studied history. I became a teacher. I taught in England and got married, and together with my wife, we came out to Australia. Since that time, we taught in Victoria, Brisbane. We moved to Mackay. In Mackay, I was a deputy principal and a principal and teacher of history and IRE. And after that, I then went and worked in the Catholic education offices in Rockhampton and in Brisbane, working with principals, latterly working in professional standards and student protection. I retired about 10 years ago now. My link to Good Samaritan Education came from the fact that when I was working in Mackay, I worked very closely with both Kay Hersey and with Terry Cray, who are among the, if you like, the founding group of Good Samaritan Education. And my contact with the Benedictine charism came not from the sisters at all, but because in Queensland we worked on a model of advisory school boards using a Benedictine model of discernment, which I really, really liked and really related to. And I think that's been a big factor in my connection to the Benedictine charism, and of course, through that, Assistance of the Good Samaritan.
SPEAKER_02Wonderful. Thanks, John. Thanks for sharing a bit of your story. Now, you, Katie, tell us a bit about your journey. How did you arrive to this point?
SPEAKER_03I grew up in Perth. So I only moved to Sydney, Puria. I'm thinking about it now. It's probably only about 10, 11 years ago, I think. But I grew up in Perth. My father passed away, and I was a single mum with four girls. So she raised us. And she always called us submarine Catholics. So we were we basically came up for special occasions and then went down for the rest of the time and were fairly low level. And as a result of mum being a nurse and not having much money, we went to the public system. So I was actually not familiar with private schools. We basically knew of Catholicism or at least our faith at Easter and Christmas and friends' weddings. So it more so became a choice for us. Mama was extremely independent, and she taught us to be extremely independent. And although she was extremely open with regards to faith and teaching us about the Bible, the scripture, I think she always allowed us to lean into it when we were ready for it. So it was probably more so when I moved to Sydney. I left Perth. It was a bit, if anyone's been to Perth, it's beautiful. However, I found it wasn't very busy for me and I like busyness. So I moved to Sydney. But when I moved here, I moved from teaching in a Lausalian school, which was beautiful and amazing. But I've actually been at Rosebank the entire time that I've lived in Sydney. So as soon as I arrived at the school, this was the first time I came across with Samaritans and their mission and especially Benedictine values and learning about St. Benedict's story. So when I came here, I was a teacher. I moved into pastoral leadership. So I worked really closely with all the pastoral leaders here. And then that now I'm assistant dean of administration. So I work with administration of senior school, but I'm a religion teacher. So I've always had an opportunity and a really valued and valuable opportunity to share my faith. But it was probably more so very similar to Joel, more so my early 30s that I think I really came to it on my own. And to be honest, that was actually probably more so as a result of my involvement in Catholic schools. So having access to going to the chapels and regular masses and reconciliation, it was more so having regular access to that, that I was able to lean into a lot more, also having more open conversations with the people in the religion department and people of Catholic faith that I was actually able to come to Jesus a lot more through that, those avenues. And that's how I'm here today.
SPEAKER_02Thank you. Before we move on to talking about Bennett and Kowei and the journey we've been on together, I'm just curious to ask this wonderful group gathered here, just maybe in a sentence or two, what is the values or what attracts you to Good Samaritan Benedict and charism, either while you're still here hanging in or what you came to in the first place?
SPEAKER_03For me, it was the hospitality. For me, it was as soon as I arrived. Maybe it's different. I came not knowing anyone in Sydney. So the school, or at least where I was, that was everything for me. I didn't come with any friends or any family here. And so the fact that I was welcomed with open arms and could automatically involve myself in every facet of the college. And it was a point that no matter what happened, wherever I was, I was always welcome and always looked after. And it was the community that existed here and how solidified we were as a unit and how much we looked after each other, and then how every time someone new came in that was exactly that, they became part of this family. So for me, that was the biggest thing. That was the reason why I stayed.
SPEAKER_02Thank you. What about the others?
SPEAKER_04Mine was a sense of joy. So being welcomed into the community and just feeling that warmth and just the joy in the community. That's what has really attracted me and kind of kept me there.
SPEAKER_00Mine, in some ways, a little bit selfish, in that at my age, looking for a way to use my talents and interests in a productive way and something I really believe in. And being on, first of all, the board, moving into Good Samaritan Education, the Assembly, and onto the governing council allows me to give and exercise my mind and other talents. I think that's more selfless, I think. Thank you. If you're going to be in the community, community is such a strong value with me for all sorts of reasons. I'd much rather be doing what I'm doing than some other forms of community service. Fair enough. What about you, John?
SPEAKER_05So for me, I think there's probably three things. Number one, the rule of Benedict, it really attracts me because to me it's very pragmatic, very holistic, very flexible. Second thing probably is my admiration for the lives of the sisters and the way they live their religious vocation. And thirdly, to be part of a developing lay educational mission, which has all the qualities that have been mentioned of hospitality and communio across our schools. And it's great to be part of something which is so new and which I think is paving the way for a future church.
SPEAKER_02Well, that's a great segue into talking about Man Kwe. For me, selfishly, I guess, when I put together a program of possibility for going to Bennett and visiting Man Kwe community along the way, because it was literally en route to Rio. As John was saying, it was this lay community of Benedictins that are doing education in some ways similar to us that I thought it was opportunity too good to miss to go and check out and share a bit of the journey that we're on, but also to see where they were. So there was various amounts of knowledge among the group before arriving in Santiago, Chile about the experience or about the community of Man Kwe. And some of our group were entering with the experience with complete blind faith. But Eileen, what were your expectations or hope in terms of our time with Man Kway, the community in Santiago?
SPEAKER_00Well, I did know a tiny bit about it, but it was minuscule. But I was looking forward to seeing how a group of committed people expressed their commitments through schools. But that was about as far as my expectations went. Sure.
SPEAKER_02What about you, Katie and Joel? Did you have any initial thoughts or expectations or hopes?
SPEAKER_03I, to be honest, the first thing I really knew about Man K was the fact that we have a building that's named after Man K waste. So when I found out I was going there, I sort of pieced it together. And then I was always been lucky enough to be part of exchange programs and everything when I was younger. So then be able to, as a teacher, go to another school and see how other teachers are teaching in other schools and how they are also in terms of engaging students in faith, but also teaching and how they're run as well. That was more so that's why I was going. I know I spoke about this quite a lot when I was away with you all, but I was just really surprised about just how large the community was. So it was quite mind-blowing for me. It was especially beautiful when we were at San Benito and our main Kay was right behind it. And I was like, oh yeah, that really is. That's how tall this building at Rosebank is our main Kway building. So it was quite sort of cool to see the peace and connection. But for me, it was all a bit um open and open arms, and I was ready to go.
SPEAKER_04So mine was I knew about the three schools. I did a little bit of googling about the three schools, and so I had an understanding that they were Benedictine schools, and I was just very excited to talk to them and learn from them and hear about the way that they kind of infused the Benedictine values into their kind of school and their context. But I was very overwhelmed when I actually got there because, like Katie said, the community was much larger than what I anticipated. And it was really, really awesome to be able to stay with the family that was a part of the Man Kwe apostolic like movement as well. That was really cool because it kind of then gave me a real insight to be out to the community.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Well, John, many of our listeners won't be familiar at all with who we're talking about, the Man Kwe community. Can you tell us and our listeners a bit of what you learned about the community itself and how they live out their ministry?
SPEAKER_05Okay, that's just a challenging one. I think that we need to understand that the Man Kwe community arose from the experience of one man as part of his own life journey, came in contact with a Benedictine monk and over quite a period of time found his everyday encounters with that monk to be ones which developed him and wakened in him faith through, I suppose you'd say, companioning. And that then moved into him taking on teaching a confirmation class from which half a dozen young men took up his ideas and decided to form a lay community. The community now is very large in terms of his influence and the number of students in its schools, but the actual core group is still quite small. Only about 40 people are actually fully the group of people that we call oblates. And what they have done is developed a particular model, which I describe as quasi-monastic, because it is very heavily influenced by monastic practice and prayer, even though they are lay people, and only about half of them are celibates living in community, the other half are married people living in their own homes. But coming together to say that at the office of the monastic life and forming core groups in each of these three schools, which they are now responsible for. So I found it very challenging in terms of thinking about how, as lay people, should we express our commitment to faith and to mission. And also I reflected a lot on how much they had been influenced by their particular Chilean context and culture, influenced actually quite heavily by Benedictine monks from the UK, but also how what we do and how we're shaped is also a product of our particular culture and religious history. So I don't know whether I've said enough about the nature of the community, except to say it is very committed, it is very hospitable. I also had a wonderful homestay, and it's taken on this mission of running at the moment three schools, quite large ones, two of them reasonably well-off schools, but another one very much in a poor suburb and relying very heavily on government funding.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so the ministry of the Man Kway community is essentially education, which is how they align so beautifully with what we do at Good Samaritan Education. And so we had the opportunity to spend a day at each of their three schools, and each day was themed by one of their three pillars of education, which is tutoria, community, and lexio. And of course, we experienced all of these themes across each of the schools, but our interactions at each school were particularly focused on one of these areas. So, Joel, do you want to tell us a bit about what we learned at San Lorenzo when they talked to us about tutoria and how you would describe it as part of their fundamental experience of education?
SPEAKER_04Yep, so when we're at San Lorenzo, we got to learn about and actually deed in action to Terea. And the other two schools actually do to Torea as well, but they kind of run a little bit differently. But the basis is basically they have students in older grades that basically are like mentors for the kids in the younger grades. At San Lorenzo, kids from I'm pretty sure from grade nine upwards had the opportunity to be a leader. And so if they were a leader, they had their own separate formation and kind of they were fed and nourished in a leader's sort of setting. And then their job was to go into one of the primary school classes and lead a kind of hour session. So part of it was the older kids passing on the faith to young kids and actually teaching them things around Lecio and reading the gospel and praying and engaging your faith. And the other half of the hour was them just building relationships with these kids in the younger grades so that the whole school has this really strong sense of community. And so when we were at um Sailor Renzo, from a teaching point of view, it was a little bit chaotic. Um but for their context, it actually worked. It worked really well for them. When we got to hear about it at the other schools, it was structured just a little bit differently. But it was really beautiful to see these older kids kind of passing on the faith to the younger kids, going out and then playing volleyball with them or just hanging out with them. I then was thinking, okay, how do I bring that back to my school context? And what a great way to be able to get the older students to pass on the faith to the younger students because that whole notion of peer ministry, like kids will sometimes learn better from their peers than they will from teachers. So yeah, it was really, really beautiful. And then we got to got to actually sit with some of the leaders, and there's also some ex students or some alumni that have actually come back and helped kind of run the program as well. And the leaders really spoke about how being a leader, they may not have really appreciated tutoria as a student, but being on the other end, they actually really appreciated the whole tuteria because they were then the ones that were kind of driving it. So it was really kind of great to see both sides of it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And do you remember the I think she was a year nine student talking about being the abbot for the upcoming holiday program? They kind of set it up as like running a mini monastery and they and it's completely student run. So this year nine girl was saying that her role is the abbot for the upcoming program. And they literally they go to a lower socioeconomic community on the outskirts of Chile. They set up, they camp for the week, they run all of their own stuff, they do their own food and everything, and they build houses.
SPEAKER_04That's right. And they were saying that if you aren't actually skilled in building a house, then there is still a job for you. Because then I know that we're asking questions, obviously being Australian going, so what are the standards that you have to build to? Is there an inspection?
SPEAKER_02Where's the risk assessment?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, they're like, no, we just build a house. And it was for people who had lost houses, whether it was due to floods or from other kind of environmental factors. And so it was really, really cool to kind of hear that over this time period they actually just build this house for these people and it's livable and they actually learn the skills. So if you're a younger person that's kind of come on the scene, then an older person will kind of mentor you and tutor you to kind of show you how to build a house, which I don't know if many of my units could actually build a house.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Eileen, do you want to tell us a bit about our second day? So our second day was at San Benito, which sits behind the mountain for which Man Kayway Community is named. And can you give us a bit of an overview of our day at San Benito and how they showcased community? Community was the theme for the day.
SPEAKER_00First of all, as with all the schools, we were there by 7 a.m., I think, and we said the office with them and we in their chapels, and each of them had a chapel, and they, as a community, they meet in the chapel at morning and then a bit before lunch and in the evening before they go back to wherever they are. And as John said, some of them are married people. Sometimes both of the couples is in the Apostolic community, sometimes only one. So that was one aspect of community. We met relatively early in the morning, we had Lexio Divina with them, and that was an interesting experience. That permeated the school. The first thing we did after that was that we went to classrooms to see how the schools ran. And they were doing Lexio Divina. And Moira and myself went to, I think they're about boys because their schools are set up, even though the schools and boys on campus, they have separate classes, at least just past kinda through till nearly at the end of the school life. So we were with boys, about 10. They had a Lectio Divina session of the gospel of the day run by a 10-year-old boy with another couple doing other things, and it was fascinating to watch. The teacher was there, but really had no place in it. During the day, we met with various people. One was the group of the principal of the school and also the academic leaders. And that was a really good opportunity to talk about how the academic side of school runs. Now, what it is important to note is that the school is large, but it goes from three-year-olds through to 18-year-olds. And in general, children come in and are put in a group of about 30 kids, 32, and they stay with that group till they're 18. And that really blew my mind. And I think we did discuss that a fair bit and what is the benefit of that. And when we talked to the people teaching, they made the point that this is an expression of the Benedictine value of stability. And as an aside, Maura and myself were staying at a home stay where all children had been through one of the schools. And we asked the youngest who was about 21, you know, was this the case? Yes. He'd been through a school, stayed with the ones all the time, and he's still friendly with those kids. And how it was a very, very firm group that they live together. So, in many ways, the classroom is like the monastery. There's an expectation that the academic side of it will be strong. These are schools, especially the two that are private. Parents are high achieving and want high academic performance from their children. But at the same time, community is very much valued. And I've already mentioned the prayer. We had lunch with the apostolic community. They have lunch together every day. And that was very moving too, that they are really friends. And that really was just the community as I remember. But in terms of running the school, not all the teachers are part of the community. And there would be some there who were not Catholic, I think, from what I understood. But there is a very strong philosophical and theological basis for what they do. There's probably other things, that's about as much as I can think of to say coherently at the moment. That's all right, Arlene.
SPEAKER_02That's right. And just like our schools, they have teachers from all sorts of different backgrounds, but their core of who they are is their Catholic identity and their Benedictine identity. One of the things that in terms of the community itself, to be a full member of the community, to be in a full oblate means that you actually work in one of the schools. That's actually part of the commitment that you make. And so when we start talking about the community gathering, it's because community are based in each of the schools. And so they have a second level of people that make promises to the community that aren't full commitment as well. Katie, would you like to tell us a bit about our third school, our visit to San Anselmo? The theme of the day was Lexio Divino, even though we experienced it a bit in some of the other schools. Maybe share us a bit about the different types of experience that we saw and how they expressed Lexiodovina in their school.
SPEAKER_03I found that prior to going on this trip, the only lecture I've ever experienced, which is at Rosebank. And in that capacity, it's been the Leccio Divino, it's been a you know conversation, it's been echoes, and it's been fairly short in its nature with staff. So albeit beautiful, that's has been my only sort of experience. And so going to Chile and experiencing it in all the schools, San Lorenzo, San Benito and San Anselmo, it was, I felt completely different, and I thought it was quite loving and moving and quite beautiful for all. So specifically with San Anselmo, we did um Lecture Scrubatio, which for me, first ever experience coming across that. I know we did it San Benito and San Anselmo, but I remember when it was introduced and it was it still has stuck with me because I know I've come back to Rosebank and I I've been to the Dean and Mission going, we need to do this. And I just remember it being delivered that Lecture Scriptatio is meant to be mechanical in its sense and repetitive. And through the mechanical nature of it, then we can come to know and understand certain words or phrases that stand out to us. So Lecture Scriptatio starts with the reading of the day, using the New Jerusalem Bibles. From that reading, there's other scripture that you're then directed to, and you can choose which scripture that you would select to go to. And I likened it to when I was explaining it to kids when I came back to a choose your own adventure with regards to scripture. And you can then select different options. Like, for example, it could take you to Psalms, it could take you to another reading in the Gospels, it could take you even to Genesis in one of the areas. And then once you then read that, so you have um a book, you write down the word of the day, you write a phrase from the gospel reading, you go to the next reading, you can either write it down the whole thing. I used to write the whole thing down because I found it quite meditative to write the whole scripture down, or you can write a phrase, then you select a different scripture, which is provided in the New Jerusalem Bible. And it's sort of like it's the picture that we were given, it was it's like a tree, root of a tree, and you choose the branches of scripture that you go off on. For about 15 minutes, you are doing that. So it's usually a set time frame. And then within PET, you share, once you've read through yours, you share an echo or a scripture that stood out to you and how it you can relate it to yourself and your life and what its meaning for you. So from lecture dividends that I've experienced, it's been a reading. We've we've sat, there's an opportunity to share in a group. There's been some discussions fairly short. Lecture Supertartio is, as was said, quite mechanical, involves a lot of writing, it's repetition, quite meditative, it's personal, but then it's shared with usually one other person, not usually said so much in large groups. It usually is longer, but especially what was beautiful about San Anselmo is that they dedicate a time in the day where staff can get together in the mornings to do Leccio Scrutatio. And so those that are free can get together with others, and those that aren't can do it either early or afterwards, and there's a room for them to do it as well, which I thought was beautiful that they had this opportunity to get together. And they have been doing it for quite some time. So I asked one of the teachers that was at our table how long they've been in Lecture Scrutatio in comparison to when they're just doing like the echoes with Lecture Divina. And they agreed that Lecture Secretatio is a um they found it to be a lot great. Well, they had a lot, they had a larger connection with the scripture than Lecture Divina. So well then the echoes themselves. So maybe that's the teachers in us. That's why maybe we respond to that style a little bit better. I've done it with my year 12s here and they loved it. They thought it was really great. And I especially found that some of those students I didn't find connect very well, connect a little bit more. But in regards to lecture divinous all, what I found is that it brought the communities together, it brought the staff together. They made specific times throughout their days to have lecture in whatever capacity it was. It was either lecture with the students, and depending on their e-group, what they could manage, and then it was lecture with the staff, but they made it a main inspiration of their days and a main inspiration of their schools was the lectures that they conducted.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, one of the things I found really interesting, you know, it's it's easy, you know, when we go to meetings, often, you know, someone's in charge of doing a prayer, but their prayer every meeting, no matter what it was. And I imagine that like principals are going to many meetings during the day, and so they start the meeting with the gospel of the day. It might just be read through and a bit of silence that that's at the beginning of every meeting. So you're exposed to to the lectionary and the gospel at multiple times, particularly if you're a leader throughout the day, and I think that was really foundational. No matter not even necessarily doing the screw up to all that was part of their day as well, but the gospel of the day just reoccurred and was a bedrock of just their everyday. John, do you want to share with us a bit about your reflections that um from the visits to the different schools?
SPEAKER_05I just think that the experience of being in schools is always a joyful one. I'd say that the students were very happy and keen to communicate. The levels of English that they had were inspiring when you think about the rich learning in Australia. And I thought that because we're used to organizing schools in a particular way, because they didn't necessarily follow that, that gave a fair bit of room for reflection on what we do and maybe why we do it, but also is that the only way of doing it? So I think all that is really valuable.
SPEAKER_02So the overflowing amount of hospitality that we received both at the schools and in our host families, what would be the lasting memories or the moments might shape your ongoing journey and your your role back at your school or in Good Samaritan Education?
SPEAKER_00I think the Friday evening at Mario's home really will stick with me forever. That was most of the host families hosted by Mario, who was a host family, but also our key organizer and his wife, and their genuine care and love of each other and their ability to have a good time together.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we were definitely treaters to in a cultural event that evening.
SPEAKER_03I think it was just also how we were just welcomed into the families. So, Gab, you and I stayed with Mario's family. They have a lot of children. It was a large amount. Six, six, and but it's how we were welcomed, and it was how all the family knew us. They're all a fairly tight-knit community. Like one of the daughters lives next door, and we had a big barbecue at one of the night. All the family, so all this like all of them came over there. One of the sons was over from Mexico, obviously not to see us, but was there for the weekend and they organized a big barbecue. But how everyone knew who we were, welcoming of us, and I felt like that was the exact same spirit that we were welcomed when we attended all the schools. We're welcomed in the exact same way that the families that we were staying with were welcoming us. I just thought that hospitality was just fantastic, and it just felt like home.
SPEAKER_05I also was very touched by the experience of the home stay. The parents of my house were very gracious and very considerate, but their English wasn't the strongest. However, they had four children who were living at home, one still at school and the other three studying at university. And the thing that really impressed me, apart from their good English, was the fact that they were able to converse about their school experiences and how that school experience had influenced their lives and their faith and their sense of purpose for the future in a way that was extremely impressive. And that gave me a fair bit of thought for reflection on to what extent uh our students coming out of good Samaritan Education schools might be able to articulate those types of thoughts in their first language, by the way.
SPEAKER_04For me, it was very much the like what Katie said, the hospitality of the host family that I stayed with. It was very beautiful to be welcomed into their home, but just to be treated like part of their family. And then I also was very lucky to attend one of the youth nights there, and that was quite overwhelming in terms of their ability to gather a large amount of young people for an evening of the adoration and scripture. And so I was just asking questions and learning so I could try to bring that back and like what Katie already shared before, the Lexio Divina has very much changed how I've kind of then approached Lexia Davina with my staff since I've returned.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, for me, I was struck by the family's experience and their expression of the Benedictine values that extended beyond the schools into the just the family groupings and the hospitality, but the prayer life. Like that Friday night that both John and Eileen were talking about, they invited a guitarist to play for us. And that he was getting towards the end of the kind of performance he was doing, and he was talking about this song that he'd written, a Marian song that was done for when the Pope was out for the beatification of a local saint. And they just went, Oh, hang on, hang on, no, we'll don't we won't do that now. How about we all do Compline together? And instead of the Salve Regina, we'll do that. You can you can play that. And it was just this magical thing of just then we all just prayed together, and it was just a beautiful way to end the evening, and it was just so natural. It wasn't this big thing. It was like, oh yeah, let's just do that. And yeah, it was quite a beautiful experience. So heading then to Bennett, which so we're coming from this very curated personal experience of being looked after in the Mancai community, and then headed down to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil for the International Benedictine Conference. And as um some of our listeners might remember, that in 2019, Good Samaritan Education were the last hosts of this event in Sydney. And so in Brazil, we had 16 different countries represented and delegates from all the ICB regions from across the globe. And ICB is the hosting body, which is the International Commission for Benedictine Education. Eileen, what do you remember? Or what were the challenges that you heard from different delegates and your exchanges with different people about their different contexts about Benedictine education from where they came from?
SPEAKER_00Well, there were so many different ones, but I'll just talk uh briefly about the German one that there were, as you might expect, small groups you could choose to go to. I wish there were more of them, but I got to one, and that was a monk from, I think I'm saying it right, Saint Ottilian in Bavaria. And he was so honest and straightforward in a lovely way, talked about a school that had been a Benedictine monastery school till about 1975, and then for various reasons taken over by the Diocese of Osburg, and it was funded 80% from government and 20% from the diocese, but the particular difficulties of teaching in a school that is based on Benedictine values and traditions to a group of students who come from mostly non-faith families in a very, very secular society. Quite an academic school with an emphasis on modern languages. And as a result of that, given the German education system, more girls than boys, but a mixed school. And it was so it was a really good discussion we had afterwards because we had people there from around the world, and the honesty and straightforwardness of the discussion matched, I suppose, the experience we have in Australia, and it was just really good to hear that put so well.
SPEAKER_02What about you, Joel? What are the different contexts you were hearing about from on the different expressions of Benedictan education that you kind of experienced at Bennett?
SPEAKER_04So I got chatting with some of the educators and leaders from some of the British schools, and they seem to have some similar challenges to what we were experiencing in Australia, but then they're also doing some things that I thought, oh, maybe that's something that we could kind of take on board. I also had a chat with the Americans, and I think they're, I don't know if they're new to the whole scene of Bennett and Benedictine values, but it was great in kind of sharing what we were doing in our schools and them really affirming, going, oh, that's great, we need to take that on board. And so writing things down and sharing things with them. It was just a really great opportunity to be able to meet people from other Benedictine schools. I mean, I know that there's 10 of us here in Australia, but sometimes you forget that we're beyond this continent and that there's a large plethora of schools and communities out there that are living out these values in different ways. And one of my other favorite things that I really enjoyed was hearing the testimonies from the alumni from the different Benedictine schools from the different continents around the world, and how the values in the school community really was a family for them, and how it had a big impact on how they were formed and shaped as a young person.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. What about you, John? What were your particular highlights or the challenges you heard or the different expressions of Benedictine education?
SPEAKER_05Well, I think one thing that came to me was it was very clear that there's no one way of being a Benedictine school. And again, that comes from the different contexts and the flexibility of the rule. One thing to mention would be the experience of the educators in India who have some quite large schools. But in those schools, the vast majority of students are not Catholic or not even Christian. I think there was one example where I think only 2% of the students were Christian. And furthermore, because of the government policy in India against proselytization or actively trying to convert people, uh in these schools, there can be no overt religious education taking place, even though there are teachers who are uh sisters or or monks, and therefore the kind of Catholic education the students are getting is one that is born completely out of service and expressed completely an example. I found that very inspiring.
SPEAKER_02What about you, Katie?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I was listening to what everyone was saying, and I had written some notes, some of the questions before, and I was like, yep, yep, everything that Joel and John and Eileen have said, I've like, yep, yep, I agree with all these things. I thought it was just it was a wonderful experience to meet so many people from the world. And as I said to you all on the day, I was like, I'm still completely mind blown as just to how wide you know the Benedictine mission is and all the schools around the world. And also there's, I think, a little bit of strength in knowing that some of Australia's challenges with um growing secularism in Australia is also experienced by other countries as well. And it was good to know that we're still, you know, unified and our goals are still there as well. But I think particularly it was we'd all have lunch together in the big group, big cafeteria style rooms. And it was wonderful because most days we'd be sitting with all different people. And most times I'd be tapped on the shoulder or introduced, or Eileen or John would come over and see me that, oh, this person wants to speak to you. And they had heard a lot about Rosebank, particularly. So I had this wonderful opportunity to meet Mr. Maureen from the Philippines and a couple of other nuns and then some priests that had all had a connection with Rosebank College because our school and the houses in the school does a lot of fundraising for the different ministries that are around the world and particularly in Tanzania and the Philippines. They came up and Sister Maureen came up. She goes, Oh, when I was working in Tanzania, we received money from Rosebank, and this is how we did it. And she was telling me the story about how when she received money, and then that funded two girls to go to school in Tanzania, which I just thought was brilliant. Even as a teacher, I didn't really know where it went. I knew it went somewhere, but you never really see the fruition of the work and what the kids do. And then when we were meeting some of the priests from India, I met two who, well, the funding from Rosebank had been sent to India and that funded their way through the seminary. I was just, I was just amazed. And they all wanted to have photos. And I was like, I'm not famous. This is a bit insane. But and then they did, and then they've sent them to me, and they were all really excited because they wanted to meet someone from Rosebank and they're the and to be able to see like the fruit of what we started here, and you know, knowing that love and that mission in terms of stewardship and caring for others, listening to the year of your heart, how it actually reached other people around the world. And then I got to meet these amazing people that received that and were doing, were continuing on with the same mission. I was I thought it was a fantastic experience. And I've told the principal about it. I thought it was wonderful.
SPEAKER_02There were many questions asked about where all of our good Samaritan Education principals were. Lots of people wanted to make connections with our principals and continue conversations that had happened over years and years and continue those connections. So the principals hear the word, you have to come next time because. Because they they want to see you and they want to make connections with you. Anything else that uh anyone would like to share about the Bennett experience? I mean, there was so rich, we and um we could talk for a long time about it, but anything else you'd like to sum up to share that other people might be interested in to hear different kernels of things of the experience?
SPEAKER_05There's two things I'd like to mention. The first one is how fortunate we are to have had the Good Samaritan Sisters sponsor Good Samaritan education and to take the hard decisions they took when they had to take them. It was very clear talking to some of our colleagues from other countries how as educators they can see that the religious congregation is no longer in a position to continue to sponsor the schools, and yet it's very difficult for uh the change to occur. We are so fortunate that that change was recognized and was acted upon in good time by our wonderful Sisters of the Good Samaritan. And the second thing, quite unrelated to that, relates to Lexio Divina. In my General Group, which was a small group, international group that met every day, our leader was a Filipina sister who was very experienced and obviously had spent many years forming novices around the world, actually. And when we did Lexio Divina with her, she made it very, very clear that when you pick out the word or phrase which echoes with you and you're asked to share it, you must speak about the way that particular word or phrase relates to your life and to your personal experience. So that made it very personal, and I believe that is one of the keys to making Lexio Divina truly a formative experience for those who engage in it.
SPEAKER_03I'll just say one thing, only because it's just outside of the conference, but involved everyone in the conference. So I think it just highlights how we all came together and the relationships that we developed in such a short period of time. It was one of the excursions. So Bennett organizes excursions and a few of us all chose to go to Sugarloaf, which happened to be probably the worst weather day in Rio, like just during just torrential downpour. So we all got up to Sugarloaf and to see the view, and it was just white, pure white, you were basically in the clouds. But what was hilarious is that everyone who went, all different countries were all up there just laughing about this entire situation and just sitting down, have really good chat, all laugh with each other, walking around, getting absolutely drenched. And it was just beautiful that outside the conference, after only a short time together, we could all go out, do an experience, have a really good laugh, and hopefully, you know, make these really wonderful connections. I thought that was a really big highlight for me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's amazing how quickly community can form.
SPEAKER_00I'd like to add something in that we as a group were very well received. We had a session and we had a good turn up, and Maura and John in particular went through some of the way we have developed material about governance and our way of working. And it became very obvious, as John said, that in many ways we were down the track a lot more and people were very receptive to what we had to say. It was really good to have that feedback from them. And the other thing I'd like to mention is as with the other schools, but also the kids, the students. And of course, we're at a boys' school with uh about a thousand boys, a very privileged school in Rio de Janeiro. But we had I don't know how many boys around. Their language skills were amazing. They were just so lovely, and it was just a joy to meet them.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, and then much like Katie's, I very much enjoyed the final dinner that we'd had put on. I know that everyone was a bit disappointed because we didn't actually get to celebrate our final mass of Christ or Redeemer, but the dinner was beautiful of sitting at a table with people from all different countries, but we're all part of this one community. And then my other, I guess, big highlight was celebrating masses in the monastery. It was not only just visually stunning, and there were parts when mass I celebrated mass in Spanish in Portuguese. It was so beautiful that our faith is a universal language, so it didn't matter what language that it was celebrated in, you knew exactly what was going on, and you could definitely feel like the Holy Spirit present there. So I very much enjoyed that.
SPEAKER_02So in three years' time, the next minute is taking place in Melk, which is in Austria. So stay tuned for those that want to be a part of the the next journey, and uh hopefully we can have a larger contingent every good to marine education next time when hopefully the calendars align in schools that we can make that happen. But before I let you go, traditionally at the end of our podcast, I invite our guests to share their favourite quote from the rule of Benedict. It might be your favorite quote that just pops into your head right now, or it might be your favorite quote of all time. So I'd like you to share your the quote and why. What why that popped into your head today?
SPEAKER_00Well, I'll go first. I know lots of people say it, but it's still always listen with the ear of your heart. I mean it's the essence of being with your neighbour, being in the world.
SPEAKER_05I like the quotation, which I can't quote verbatim, but basically says that the abbot needs to pay particular attention when consulting to the views of the youngest in the monastery. I think that's a very good lesson.
SPEAKER_03It is maybe a little bit rusty. It's like that let all the guests arrived and be treated as Jesus or be welcomed as Christ. That one because for me, that was a standout that isn't tied in Chile and in uh Bennett, it's just how we welcome and greeted is wonderful.
SPEAKER_04Mine is the good zeal and about the posturing with that fervent love. So that good zeal of just I wish this wasn't a podcast because I can explain it with actions, Gam. I can't explain the good zeal in words. I'm doing Italian hands right now if that helps. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Reflecting that on our conversation, on our journey together, what kind of comes to me today from the rule of energies is it's kind of similar to Katie's quote running along the path of the gospels with the inexpressible delight of love. And I think we really experience that inexpressible delight that is so based in the love of Christ. And it was just amazing to be part of this extended community and to share that journey with you all. Thanks for joining me today, and thanks for sharing your reflections on our time together.
SPEAKER_05Thank you. Thanks for all your work.
SPEAKER_02Well, I hope you enjoyed that conversation. And of course, it's only just a snapshot of our experience of both Bennett and Mankaywe. All six of us can talk at length about the experience and the wonders of our time in the community in Santiago. We've made lasting connections through Bennett and come away with a deeper understanding of the breadth of Benedictine education across the globe. Many facing similar struggles or reconciling new forms of governance with a lay-led rather than, in some cases, centuries old monastic presence. So I hope today's conversation has sparked some interest and reflection for you so that today the transforming table of hospitality is wide, inspiring you with mercy and compassion to go and do likewise. We'll be back in the new year to explore our new theme for the year: holy audacity through the lens of hospitality and peace. In the meantime, over the summer, may you be blessed with quiet times to rest and savour all that has been graced in 2023 and ready your soul for all the possibilities to embrace in 2024. May the retelling of the story of the coming of the Christ child expand your heart anew that you may praise that in all things God be glorified. So as we finish out the year for communio calling, we're going to hear our theme song played in full in all things by Genevieve Bryant. God bless.
SPEAKER_01Enrich our heart to be people of God's grace. All we together as one.
