Community of St. Egidio

On our last day in Rome, we talked about modern Catholicism and its successes in failures in integrating itself in the world. Changes in thought mirroring the protestant reformation came around 400 years later than Luther, and did manage to "throw open the doors of the church". The mass in native language, the priest facing the congregation, and a new understanding of indulgences all contributed to a more accessible church. Other doctrines worked on areas of inter-religious and ecumenical dialogue. Many lay people, however, did not feel like they had much say in their church and church community. A few organizations popped up, one of the most influential of which was the Community of St. Egidio. It started as 14 students gathering for a quick reflection on a bible passage and has grown to an international movement advocating for the poor, asking Catholics to be conscious of prayer, increasing ecumenical dialogue and abolishing the death penalty. Their official website provides links to their various causes and more information on their international (and inter-faith) day of prayer.
Ever since second semester Amcon I've been thinking about the role that religion plays as a social organization. The Catholic church saw an increased success when it opened itself to the global context, attempting to address issues that effected members beyond theology. In a similar way, the Community of St. Egidio took the movement one step further. They created that social capital within their small group, and then expanded it to the rest of the world. I would argue that if the Catholic Church wants to remain relevant they must make similar moves to the community.

Photo From Manzanar

Caption 1: Yonehisa  Yamagami strikes this pose, modeling himself after FDR's famous cigarette-holder portraits. Yamagami is fully aware of the look he gives, and with tongue and cheek he defies his situation. The glee on his face and the air he emanates model FDR's optimism for the new deal and the war ahead, but for some reason I doubt Yamagami uses this look to express a similar positivity. Yet the fact that he jokes proves his spirit is not crushed. He is stuck, but not despondent.

Caption 2: I have this cigarette, it's like I'm the president! Well, he wouldn't be spending his time here. He's occupied with the war, no doubt. Bringing peace I suppose. At least I'll give Adams a laugh!  

The Happiness Project

At the beginning of this course, I mentioned that I had read a book that pertained all too closely to our topic for this semester. The title was The Happiness Project, and it was written by Gretchen Ruben, a mother of two, lawyer-turned-writer who decided she was not valuing the joy in her life well enough. On a bus one day she asked herself if she was happy. Her response was yes, but was followed by another question-- "Could I be happier?" Thus began her journey of happiness, covering all her bases from Plato to St. Therèse in order to discover what makes people happy, what happy people do and what comes from happiness. She had multiple strategies to go about this. In the end, she said, the one that aided her the most in her journey to happiness was her virtues chart. Modeled after Benjamin Franklin's, her chart was divided by month. Each had a theme, and a set of virtues that followed it. If I had my book with me I would give you a more precise example... I remember January was something along the lines of "Tidy Up!", and her virtues had to do with ridding of clutter, not taking on more tasks, etc. Every month she would tack on another set of virtues, all the while keeping track of the ones from months before. This would all occur on a large chart she would keep in her office. After months of trying to build a collection, doing random acts of love and going to sleep on time she said she wasn't sure if she was happier. But she did know that she was spreading positivity more, and that the people she knew were more thrilled to be around her. In the end, isn't that what happiness is?