Madonna’s fourth Franciscan Value

Madonna’s fourth Franciscan Value is:  Education for Truth and Service. What does being educated for truth and service mean to you?

The course materials provide food for thought about the meaning and importantce of service and about what the call to service, in the context of the Franciscan values, does – and does not – imply. In Module 14, we discussed implications of authentic service and identified possible distortions of service. We do not see such distortions in Jesus’ example: while going to the extent of death in service for the human beings so loved by God, he nevertheless is strong in standing up against those who would exploit and oppress. And note how MLK says that it is not seeking to EXCEL that is problematic: it is what we seek to excel IN.

Identify and discuss a point from the materials in these modules that you found especially significant. Then, reflect upon your own “call to service.” Have you thought of your personal life path as a call to service? How do you envision the connections between your life choices/professional choices and service? Note that you do not have to have a “career” or be in a “service profession” in order to be of service. Sometimes quite ordinary things can make a difference in the lives of others. In light of what you have explored in this course, reflect upon how your convictions about your chosen profession or course in life have changed, deepened, been enlarged, etc. What do you identify as your own distinctive gift to give others? What will you carry with you from this course into your own service of others?