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one of us reads with his own eyes, his own vision of the world.
And interprets everything from his point of view.
Every point of view is a view from a point.
Every reading is always a re-reading.
Our thoughts spring from the soil on which we stand. The Portuguese poet, Fernando Pessoa, put it in other words:
“I am the size of what I see, and not the size of my height.”
Therefore, it’s essential to know the world of the one who does the seeing, the telling, and the reading. The manner in which one lives, with whom he lives, what experiences he has, with who he works, his dreams, how he accepts the drama of life and death, and the hopes that enliven him… Understanding is always an interpretation. Hence, each reader is also a co-author. Because each one reads and re-reads from his own point of view. One comprehends according to the world he inhabits. The written word has a destiny of its own because it is tied to the destiny of its readers.
As I again assume the responsibility of the Xaverian Mission Newsletter – I had it once before in the first half of the 70’s – I do so aware of holding these presuppositions. In 1975, when I first went to Brazil’s Amazon and then to Sao Paulo close to 15 years, I stepped onto a different soil where I would acquire a different vision of life, of people and the world. As a matter of fact, returning to this, my home-country, I have found it far more difficult to readjust to here than to adjust to the place, people and their ways of the Amazon. And I am not now a “stuck-up” in my views as I was my first time around as editor of this Newsletter.
I take on this job again with difficulty and solely out of obedience. Religious life can be a strange thing, and I confess I oftentimes struggle to perceive of the Spirit when mere obedience holds sway! So it is that, after three years as Fatima Shrine director in Holliston, MA, I am reassigned to this new “old” job. With the help of God I’ll try to bring to the readers and friends of the Xaverian missions stories of faith experiences culled from the telling of our missionaries. From different points of the Lord’s world-vineyard, they will tell us what they see and how they see it. As God’s ambassadors, and ours, as it was, they view things from a perspective which differs from, and may often be at odds with, that of other interests and other information sources.
The missionaries are open to values which frequently go beyond those of traditions of cultures. They are open to values which concern all human beings, such as the preservation of our common home, this beautiful yet fragile planet of ours, values of respect for the dignity of each individual, and of the body itself, for the protection of life in all its stages and forms, for love of truth, for compassion for the suffering, the defenseless and the dispossessed of the earth. Values that make us all sensitive to the new that is emerging, with responsibility, seriousness and a sense of the present… because in each and in all, in the singular and the collective, the missionary seeks to find “the image and likeness of God,” Creator, Redeemer, Father, and Spirit of Life. We will be often enriched, I believe, and encouraged, though not always edified or comforted, I hope.
Fr. Dominic Calarco has done just that as editor of this Xaverian Mission Newsletter for the past 16 years. He has done it with dedication and competence. Now, recalled to Italy for a new assignment, he will reside in Rome. There, in connection with the Gregorian University, where he obtained a doctorate degree in missiology, he will continue to research on the life and message of Fr. Eusebio Kino (1711), Jesuit missionary to the Pima Indians of New Spain, in the region of today’s Arizona and New Mexico. He has already authored two volumes on Fr. Kino – his life and his letters.
As we express our sincerest Thanks! to Fr. Dominic, we wish him the best in his new pursuits, and good health. We hope to hear from him often. God Bless.
(From Xaverian Mission Newsletter)