Xaverian Missionaries

At the basis of the establishment of the Xaverian presence in Coatbridge in the early 60s was the continuation of the founder, Blessed Guido Maria Conforti's dream to make of the world a single family. Conforti's urgency and action grew from a deep contemplation of the spirituality of the Cross and his passion to change the world and bring its peoples together through dialogue and solidarity. Ever since the early years of our presence in the West of Scotland we have been inviting people to become part of this dream, through the work of the Junior Seminary and our wider Mission Awareness work. When the Junior Seminary closed in 1985 we again recommitted ourselves to sharing our mission spirituality through retreat work with young people.

As we now stand at the cross-roads of the future of our presence here in the West of Scotland we are particularly conscious that the future of the Global Education Centre must still be rooted in this Confortian spirituality; Our Spirituality finds its expression in the spirit of living faith which enables us to see, love and seek God in all and sharpens our eagerness to make God's Reign known everywhere. (Xaverian Constitutions #1, 3b). The context in which the Global Education Centre now stands is a very different one from the one the Xaverians found themselves in more than forty years ago and it is exactly now that we begin to realise that Conforti and his dream are as relevant as ever. The world that Conforti operated in may not have been as advanced or diverse nevertheless he was particularly sensitive to the need of bringing peoples together to create communication between cultures and faiths.

In the new context in which we live and work our sense of space and time has changed radically. New technology has invited us to become globally connected - to increase our sense of space from local communities to nations across the world. As our space has increased we discover clashing values and different worldviews threatening to divide the world into the elite and the impoverished. We are being asked to open our hearts and minds to the 'possible'. Are we capable of moving beyond our own self-interest to a care and concern for the 'common good'? On the outside the process of globalization is happening even now, creating the need for change and new ways of thinking about complexity and diversity. Instead on the inside we see alienation from ourselves, each other, nature and God. This has created a need for new skills, capacities and understandings to reconnect us to the source of our being. These times are calling each person to a deeper meaning and truth, to compassion, love, courage and enough reverence of the human spirit and in our ability to co-create a better world.
In our times another kind of spirituality awakens us - one both 'new' and 'old'. It is old in that we seek to follow the same spirit of God ever present in our history. It is new insofar as we seek to respond to our current historical moment - circumstances which our world has never seen.

This what Yahweh asks of you, only this:
that you act justly,
that you love tenderly,
that you walk humbly with your God
(Micah 6: 8)

Donal Dorr, a Kiltegan Missionary, in his writings on action for justice and spirituality suggests that anyone working for change in the world of today should read the above passage from the prophet Micah and develop a more 'balanced spirituality' as the foundation of our action. Some elements in both traditional and modern spiritualities seem to encourage passiveness in the face of evil and escape into non-worldly values. On the other hand, those who are deeply involved in working for justice are often unable to cope with such basic emotions as frustration and anger; sometimes they become spiritually and emotionally 'burned out'. (Spirituality and Justice, Donal Dorr). Stressing the need for a transformation of society by 'Kingdom values', he advocates and discusses an alternative approach to politics, economics and theology itself as well as alternative models of church rooted in a 'down-to-earth spirituality' which enables us to be rooted or grounded in our work for change.

'To act justly' the public aspect of our spirituality to do with structural justice, human rights, sustainable development and citizenship, all integral parts in the programmes here at the Global Education Centre. 'To love tenderly', challenging us on how we interact with others and how we cope with diversity and 'walk humbly' the personal aspect of our spirituality.
As we read in the Mission Statement of the Global Education Centre the basic tenets of what we are about are:

(1) Inter-cultural values and skills
(2) Inter-religious sharing and dialogue
(3) Acceptance of diversity
(4) Responsible Global Citizenship
5) Exploration of spirituality which helps sustain us in the above and all social action.

We believe at the very foundation of what we do is the 5th of the above tenets, drawing inspiration from who we are as Xaverians and the charism we have been called to within the Church;

A strong faith and profound spirituality are indispensable if we are to translate these words into a real life experience that flows from the heart of every Xaverian. The Good News which Conforti embodied in our congregation's life project cannot be proclaimed unless we recognize that we, first and foremost, need to be continually evangelized and
sustained by the Spirit, the principal author of the Mission". (Letter from the Delegates of XIV General Chapter, July 2001).

The Global Education Project was born out of a search of how to make ourselves relevant to the world in which we operate. It was also born out of a spiritual search of how best to communicate to the world what we hold precious to us, witnesses for the Kingdom and eagerness to share it with the whole human family. Without this rooted- ness in the dream of Conforti and without a continued exploration and evaluation of what it is that pushes us to do what we do then our action and projects become a chore and devoid of passion.