As I See It

by Fr. Vin

I wrote a few weeks ago about my invitation to St. John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, MN, to help some of the leaders there understand Gallup’s work on using our strengths.   I said I’d tell you how things went, and that’s what this column is for.

Benedictine monks founded the Abbey just over 150 years ago, with the intention of bringing higher education to the area.  Today the monastery provides not only faculty for the university, but for a high school as well.  St. John’s has a famous graduate program in liturgy which draws students from all over the world.  It also helps to staff a few neighboring parishes, and helps to support itself through offering custom woodworking services.

My initial flight was cancelled because of the threatened Nor’easter that weekend (which turned into a non-event), but I was able to get a flight out later the same day.  (That one was delayed by equipment problems for a few hours, so I arrived at the monastery around midnight.  But a monastic associate was waiting for me at the airport when my plane came in, and the guest master at the monastery guest house when we got there.)   Weather was clear most of the time, with daily high temperatures around 15^o.  I missed the coldest weather – it dropped to a daily high of –5^o the day after I left.  The university and monastery share a campus; it was a short walk from the guesthouse.  (There was an underground tunnel connecting some buildings but I didn’t use it, preferring to be in the company of the wonderful architecture rather than the steam pipes.)

The group I met with was a mix of monastery leaders, faculty from the prep school and from the university, and young men living at the monastery – some in preparation for professing vows as monks, others simply for a time as part of their spiritual journey.  (There are about 150 members of the monastic community.  Like many religious orders in the church today, there are numerous older monks, a relative scarcity of men in middle age, and – interestingly – quite a few younger men, both professed and in formation.)

As I wrote a few weeks ago, I had been invited out because some of the leaders had been at a “Catholic Leaders’ Summit” before Christmas at which they had learned a bit about Gallup’s research into helping people to work more effectively and live more joyfully by focusing on their strengths.  So each of the participants in the seminar had taken the online StrengthsFinder survey before I arrived, and my time with them was given to helping them to understand and to apply the results.  I also offered a presentation to others who, although not part of the group, were interested.  (The size of the main group was limited to the number of people I could work with.  But as with any group, there was the risk of curiosity shading into gossip, and I wanted to head that off.)

To judge by participants’ evaluations, their experience was quite positive.  Some of the leaders are interested in opening the experience out to more members of the community there.  And, to return to Our Lady of Grace, right now there are twelve more people taking part in a strengths-discovery group.  I’ll be announcing the opening of another group after Easter.  Learning about your strengths can be a great way to experience the new life that we celebrate at Lent and Easter.  Give yourself the gift.  Until next week, peace

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