It was a ‘Drawing Competition’ for the Primary School children of one of our Convent schools.
The topic: My teacher. A child had drawn a Nun standing in front of a class: serious, and with a ruler (scale) in her hand.
Unfortunately, this is what many of the laity might see in us, religious and priests: administrators, disciplinarians, in-charge! They have to meet us in our ‘office,’ and our meetings with them are on ‘official stuff.’
Or as ‘disciplinarians’! We may appear rigid and cold even with our own staff. I know I am generalizing. But at times we do come out as stiff and unapproachable, with no time for patient, compassionate listening or accompaniment. As our numbers dwindle, there will be fewer and fewer of us in our Institutions, and even these will be pinned down to such starchy posts!
How would it feel like for our students, teachers, patients, nurses, workers, the laity at large, if they could just casually ‘bump into us,’ find us relaxed, with time to spare, and willing to share with them some ‘niceties,’ which could pave the way gradually for what they want to share with us in confidence, of their everyday joys and sorrows?
How beautiful it would be if they could see in us a friend, interested and willing to converse with them. A person of God who would enlighten and guide them, someone they could turn to for guidance, and understanding! Someone who is familiar enough to visit them in their homes, to spend a moment of prayer with them and to enquire how they are getting on! God’s protecting shadow, to whom they can spontaneously turn in times of need or perplexity!
Tired and Business-like Supervisors
Instead, most of us seem so tense, overworked, time-conscious, tired and business-minded.
Somehow, we tend to give the impression of not trusting others in our workplace. We want to see, do or supervise everything ourselves. The others feel watched. We unconsciously take on a ‘superiority’ stand, a know-all attitude that only creates a distance between us and others. We seldom seem to involve them in our decision-making. They just have to take orders from us and ‘report’ to us. These attitudes keep them at a distance. Can we call this ‘shepherding’?
Honestly speaking, was this what we were dreaming of when we first felt drawn to the priestly or religious life? Were these the type of religious or priests whom we held as models and whom we wanted to emulate? Persons whom we could trust, confide in, consult. Persons who would neither use nor abuse us! Reliable, spiritually minded, other-centred persons who would guide our steps to God! Persons who showed that they had time for us; who loved, cared for and were available to us.
Sr Esme da Cunha FDCC
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