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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