Ep 15: Practices of encounter with Dr. Marcus Mescher
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How do we practice encounter? What does it look like, and what specific practices help create it in our daily work in the nonprofit sector? We begin this episode talking about how to integrate courage, mercy, generosity, humility, and fidelity into our everyday nonprofit practices. We also invite Dr. Marcus Mescher, author of The Ethics of Encounter: Christian Neighbor Love as a Practice of Solidarity, to deepen our understanding of encounter and to share an ethical framework for advancing the Common Good through solidarity. Dr. Mescher shares how nonprofits play a critical role in bringing people together across sectors to solve challenging social problems. We conclude by taking a moment to remember the 539 thousand people who have passed away due to Covid-19 over the past year, especially Norma Suclupe, Roger’s mother, for whom this episode is dedicated.
Key Takeaways
Dr. Mescher recommends five virtues or practices that can help us build a culture of encounter and solidarity: courage, mercy, generosity, humility, and fidelity.
Culture is something we make through our own actions and in turn is shaped by our social norms and institutions. We, then, have the power to make change and bring about a culture of encounter through our daily habits and practices across micro, meso, and macro levels.
We are what we repeatedly do, together. How can we make solidarity and a preferential option for the poor part of our regular habits and interactions? What rituals and shared practices are needed to bring about a new culture of encounter rooted in a shared responsibility for the wellbeing of our neighbors and our communities?
Solidarity requires that we see everyone as our neighbor, that we take authentic concern and care for, not just “tolerate”, those who may be different from where we are.
Everyone is a stakeholder in building the Common Good. Among institutions like nonprofits, we have to be careful not to stay in silos or allow specialization prevent us from recognizing our shared responsibility and stake in creating a better world.
Resources and Links
Our Guest
Marcus Mescher is associate professor of Christian ethics at Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH. He earned his PhD from Boston College, specializing in Catholic social teaching and moral formation. His research and writing focus largely on the common good, the moral impact of digital technology, and the primacy of mercy. His current research explores moral injury caused by clergy sexual abuse and its cover-up. Dr. Mescher is the author of a dozen academic articles and book chapters, addressing topics that range from justice in intimate relationships, marriage, and family to environmental ethics. His writing also appears in America magazine, National Catholic Reporter, Daily Theology, and Millennial Journal. His first book, The Ethics of Encounter: Christian Neighbor Love as a Practice of Solidarity, was published last year with Orbis Books.
