Preparation for Session 3
Participants will be expected to read Deep Reflecting Part 1 in the Self-Study Guide found here.
For Mercy Groups: If your group is made up of participants affiliated with the Sisters of Mercy, they should read, reflect and journal on the Mercy theological lens material. They should also watch the video “Social Analysis and the Mercy Lens,” with Sister Terri Bednarz and engage with at least one other lens.
If your group is not affiliated with the Sisters of Mercy, they should read, reflect and journal on at least one of the theological lenses. You are also invited to offer them another reading or video that connects to your group’s charism, scriptures or teachings.
Choose one of the two options for opening prayer. There is a short prayer in the text of the Self-Study Guide for Session 3. There is also a longer prayer resource available here.
If you wish to extend the session, choose one of the additional resources listed at the end of the guide for this session to explore as a group.
Outline for Session 3
Welcome and Prayer
After a welcome and any initial business, lead the group in the opening prayer you have selected. Invite participants to share anything that came to them during this time of prayer.
Discussion
Discuss the reading material for Session 3. Give special attention to this excerpt from the reading, which will help to set the tone for this session:
We are compelled to reflect deeply on what we have heard from those people and communities who have been most impacted by the violent intrusions of extractivism. We have heard the call to decenter ourselves. Now we turn to engage with the theological perspectives rising from the lands in which extractivism is inflicting incredible wounds. Theological lenses help us to see differently. They aim to decenter us so we might listen more deeply to voices that may be unfamiliar to our way of seeing and understanding.
Invite participants to quietly reflect for a couple of minutes on one of the lenses they read about on their own. If your group decided to focus on one of the lenses together, whether it is the Mercy lens, a reading or video chosen to resonate with your group, we suggest you start with that one.
Then pose the following questions and invite each participant to share:
- Which element or description from this theological lens stays with you?
- In what way does this lens call us to respond to extractivism?
- Is there a concept or insight that challenges you?
After everyone has shared and you finish any group discussion, invite participants into another couple of minutes of silent reflection on what they have just heard from each other and on a second theological lens they chose from the self-study.
Then offer these questions for this round of sharing:
- Which element or description from this theological lens stays with you?
- What, if any, is the biggest difference between framing things with this lens and the lens with which you have been most comfortable?
- In what way does this lens call you to respond to extractivism?
- Is there a concept or insight that challenges you?
- How does this lens call you to consider a systemic response to extractivism beyond your individual response?
- What exploitative and oppressive systems were identified as you reflected on the lens?
Ask participants to summarize what they have heard in this session and what seems to be emerging at this point in your participation in this process.
Preparation for Session 4
Ask participants to read, reflect and journal on the Deep Reflecting Part 2 Self-Study found here. This includes two video interviews with Mercy Associate Nelly del Cid of Honduras and the identification of systems that have made the extractive development model thrive.
The Self-Study Guide also names systems that have helped the extractive development model thrive. They are economic, political, environmental, media/public information and social. Each system, or perspective, is followed by a series of questions to foster deep reflection and analysis.
Rather than expect each participant to explore all these perspectives, ask each participant to select one system they would like to engage with on their own and then share with the group next time. They can explore that perspective generally, through an example of extractivism from this process or from an example of extractivism in or near the community where they live or once lived.
Make sure that all the perspectives are covered by the group; it is fine if there is more than one participant assigned to a perspective.
Additional resources to go deeper:
Mercy Associate Virginia Fifield reflects on extractivism through a Native lens.
Mercy Sister Mary Pendergast shares her experience of extractivism in Alberta, Canada, in a 13-minute video..
Pope Francis’ address to representatives of the mining industry and those harmed by extractivism.
More suggestions of videos and readings