‘See Judge Act’ as a Framework and Process of Theological Reflection Doing Theology ‘See Judge Act’ as a Framework and Process of Theological Reflection

“See, Judge, Act” has a long pedigree in Catholic Social Teaching

Mater et Magistra

See, Judge, Act An Aussie approach What exactly is happening? What is this doing to people? (the consequences) Why is this happening? (the causes) JUDGE What do you think about all this? What do you think should be happening? What does your faith say? ACT What exactly is it that you want to change? (long-term goal) What action are you going to take now? (short-term goal) Who can you involve in your action? (Fr Hugh Sullivan YCW Chaplain)

Doing theology seeks to integrate faith and culture in making sense of life Applying faith to life is good as far as it goes, but if one ignores culture there are problems, because the process will ignore the cultural biases (good and bad) we bring to the process.

Culture is a Source of Wisdom Culture has its limits as it is a human construct The culture of a secular society is a default frame of reference for those of us who live in it. Our faith tradition also has certain limits because it is carried in communities which share the cultural limits of their people The Holy Spirit is at work directly shaping faith traditions and, indirectly, shaping cultural traditions

Both Faith and Culture shape meaning Faith can grow, and culture can be evangelised, as the faith community addresses human problems This is where theological reflection comes in

Consolidated Method of Theological Reflection (D’Orsa & D’Orsa) Draws on Richard Osmer (the idea of ‘moments’) Patricia O’Connell Killen and John de Beer (‘the heart of the matter’) Has See Judge Act (Cardijn) as its overall framework Is true to the James and Evelyn Whiteheads’ original model in bringing human experience (life), faith and culture together.

Richard Osmer & Patricia O’Connell Killen

‘Moments’ in Doing Theology Step 1 The Descriptive Moment Guiding question: What is going on here? Step 2 The Interpretive Moment Guiding Question: Why is it going on? Step 3 The Evaluative Moment Guiding Questions: What should be going on? What is the preferred future we want to achieve?

Moments in Doing Theology (cont) Step 4 The Focusing Moment Guiding Question: What is the heart of the matter? Step 5 The Response Moment What actions/steps do we now need to take? Step 6 The Review Moment Guiding Question: How effective has our response been?

A Composite Model See Judge Act What is the heart of the matter? What is going on here? Why is it going on? Judge What should be going on? What is the heart of the matter? What is the preferred future we want to achieve? Act What actions/steps do we now need to take? How effective has our response been?

Some Caveats The Process can be used iteratively over several cycles No guarantees that it will deliver for the group on the first round Eventually, a negotiated outcome, or preferred future, can be achieved