austraLasia
1466
Studying the Rector
Major's thinking: a new resource for you to
try
ROME: 27th February 2006 --
When Fr Chávez wrote "With the courage of Don Bosco...." in AGC
390, he packed so much into it that most readers would have found it
difficult to take everything in at once. Like good wine, reflection on it
matures over time. The letter, one of his best to date, contains a detailed
history of the development of social communications in the Congregation,
especially over the last 40 years, in which he aligns ecclesial documents,
congregational statements and gradually developing structures. He then
provides an analysis of developments in communications technology, their
cultural import and the challenges they offer Salesians at an educational and
institutional level. This analysis is profound and enlightening and is the
real heart of the letter. He concludes by offering a change of strategy
and a considerable list of practical directions for individuals, communities and
provinces to take.
To help you absorb this letter in a way
which is attractive, instructive and faithful to the analytical mind of its
author, concept maps of the letter have been constructed and are available to
you at the click
of a mouse. www.bosconet.aust.com/bnet06sc.htm
Here you will find the three concept maps in the useful
Salesian communications materials section of that
page.
Let me explain what is in these web page
versions. It makes sense to begin with the first of the three concept
maps, the 'history' or first part of the AGC 390 letter. You will find a
clickable 'network' icon in that map under 'new challenges' which takes you to
the map on challenges - a second icon above it would jump that and go straight
to the 'response' map. In the 'challenges' map there is likewise a
clickable network icon in the centre, under 'response' which takes you to the
third map.
In the first map, under the 'magna
carta' reference at the top, the complete letter is available, minus the first
few paragraphs which referred to Pope John Paul and are not relevant here.
The pencil icons contain annotations, relevant sections of the text, and should
open the full text but with the top line always at the appropriate bookmarked
spot. You have to right-click the pencil icon; depending on your browser (I have
checked them with IE and Firefox) a single or double right-click on the icon to
open the 'click this link' indicator, which you obviously then click.
Firefox requires a double right-click. The maps are made with software called
cmap tools but I needed to convert them to html to work inside Bosconet
and did a workaround to make the icons clickable.
The cmap software is free. You might consider getting that for your own
use - it has many possibilities. Once you have it installed on your
computer you can make your own concept maps! Indeed, if you were looking at the
AGC390 maps in this software, then the pencil icons open up immediately into
little stickit-type notes which are scrollable.
The
resource offered here, even without the annotations, has potential for private
understanding of a magnificent letter that should not be easily forgotten, or
for presentation to a group such as the community. If the idea of dealing
with the Rector Major's letters this way is appealing, I would be happy to treat
others similarly.
JBF
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