The Mystery of Transformative Times and Space

My contribution to this research project has been to reflect on the process, findings and discussions from a theological point of view. When I first received the phone call from Tom Bamat about participating with the Maryknoll initiative, I thought he had made a mistake.

“You know I am sociologist and a practice-oriented conciliator?” I enquired at the other end of his first phone call. “I am not a theologian. In fact, even though I find it annoying, you should know that many of my theological colleagues critique my work by saying it has no theology.” “We know you are not a theologian,” he responded. “What we want is simple. Just talk about what you see theologically from the standpoint of your experience and insights.”

So it was that a Mennonite sociologist-mediator type agreed to provide theological reflections for a Catholic research endeavor on responses of Christian grassroots communities to violence. And herein lie the introductory caveats…