“Watch your language!” That’s not just good advice in general, but even when it comes to making reference to Legion work! We are used to speaking about the active work done for two hours each week as “my assignment.” But is that “my” really accurate? According to the Handbook, it is not. The reason? It is not because the Legion views every assignment as done in pairs, but because it views every assignment as done by the praesidium.
Indication that this is in fact the perspective is manifest in the Legion system which, firstly, does not allow legionaries just to do whatever spiritual work they please for the requisite time each week, but demands instead that this spiritual work be selected and imparted by the president in the name of the praesidium. It is also conveyed indirectly by the Legion reality of auxiliary membership which inserts into each and every deed undertaken by active members the helping, praying influence of dozens of others. Legion assignments are therefore never a matter of individual effort alone, but involve the fullest spiritual support through the praesidium.
I raise this point today asking us to keep this truth in mind when performing our assignments and especially when reporting on those assignments. According to the Handbook, those reports have as one of their main purposes “[connecting] the work with the praesidium” (H, 111). They become the way “we” hear about the work “we” are doing together as a group – and NOT what “I” have done with the help of another legionary. They enable “us” as a group the opportunity to “pay a spiritual visit to every person or place recounted as having been the subject of the work” (H, 123). They allow “us” as a group the chance to supervise and become involved in the efforts being undertaken by a few. Like a sport’s team which gathers as a unit (and not just those who “played”) at half-time and after a game to assess strategy, correct errors, and arrive at a refined approach which assures victory, so we as a praesidium gather in our praesidia after every assignment to assess the approach, make necessary adjustments, and decide upon the next course of action – all in the name of reaching our apostolic goals.
This mutual involvement in the works of the praesidium certainly begs that reports be prepared in high quality and with sufficient detail by those who undertook the assignment. It also challenges the others of us present to receive these reports in a two-fold manner. The first is that of attentive listening to every report as if it were our own – because it is. The second is that of a willingness to offer helpful comments – that is, for someone in the group to say something after each report other than “nice job.” According to the Handbook, members should also be offering remarks on one or all of the following five areas:
the success of the work;
the nature of the effort, including insights into the approach adopted;
what can be learned from what was done – positively or negatively;
any challenges for taking the work to the next level; and,
accountability for any neglect in any form.
All this should be done by us in a spirit of charity and even more in a spirit of justice since “we” – and not just “they” – are responsible for the work and its achievement.
Michael Jordan, the NBA Hall of Fame star player, once said, “Talent wins games, but teamwork wins championships.” Such wisdom should inform our approach to Legionary spiritual combat. We must remember that more is asked than individual piety and skill, but the work of a team where all members of the praesidium show interest and do their part such that all the works undertaken will be victorious for the good of souls.
March 18, 2018/Allocutio to the Philadelphia Senatus/Rev. Frank Giuffre Reading: Handbook: Chapter 19, Number 19 (“Work of each one is a concern of all.”): p. 123