Background

In Australia-New Zealand, JPIC comes under the mandate of the Charism and Mission Committee. This consists of two RSCJ (Mary Shanahan and Esmey Herscovitch) and two laywomen (Christine Hannan and Bev Neill.) Christine is Chair of the committee and also Province Director of Mission. A member of the provincial team (Diana Hayes rscj) is the JPIC link for the committee. The group took up the challenge of the TCoP#1 Washing One Another’s Feet and chose this focus described.

Objectives/Issues

The objectives of the group was to expand and integrate their understanding of and commitment to the principles of JPIC “into our daily lives”;

  • to develop an awareness of the power each one holds and how that can “determine our influence on and attitudes to others”;
  • to develop an understanding of how we can harness our power and put it at the service of mission and lastly, to learn how to use power positively in order to enable dignity and respect for others.

Activities

Implementation of these objectives is through the Spiritual Nourishment reflections that are circulated at 6-weekly intervals between December 2020 and November 2021. Social justice issues are covered such as indigenous peoples, trafficking, environment, migrants and refugees, homelessness. The reflections are circulated to RSCJ, Board members, and will eventually be widened to include the schools and alumnae.

Comment

The committee met with Anne Corry RSCJ, International JPIC Coordinator, twice about their Transformative Community of Practice. They are very keen to integrate spirituality and justice. They discussed how to expand their calendar to include key social justice dates and provide information and reflection on the issues. Their immediate ‘audience’ is mostly RSCJ who are no longer in active ministry but have a lively interest in justice issues. This model is seen to have potential for adaptation for different groups but always with the core aim of reflection on the use of power.

People being served

People being served : Agents of transformation (Educators)

Age group : Seniors 61-99

Number of participants : mai-50

Schedule

Project status : Completed

Staring date : 01/12/2020

Images

Overview

Society presence : Australia/New Zealand

Focus of the project : Peace

JPIC Imperative : Washing One Another’s Feet

UN Sustainable Development Goals :