Our prayer …

[T]he time has come to take up the challenge of promoting and encouraging models of development, progress, and sustainability in which people, especially the excluded (including our sister earth), will no longer be – at most – a merely nominal, technical, or functional presence. Instead, they will become protagonists in their own lives and the entire fabric of society. […] Let us not think for them, but with them. ~ Pope Francis, Economy of Francesco event in Assisi in November 2020

As part of our service to the Catholic Theological Union community, the Tri Cosain team, represented at CTU by Gerald Doyle, offers the CTU student and alumni community — as well as friends of CTU and those who seek to walk with us — a Tri Cosain pathway toward careers of service and ministry, guided by the Holy Spirit.

We make this offering in the spirit of Tri Cosain: that is, we intend to appreciatively weave together journeys of personal inspiration, learning, and career framed within the theology, pedagogy, and practice at CTU — and the Gospel.

The path we offer is freely offered to all and is documented in our publications, including our

• Careers Roadmap
• Nine Questions for Leadership in Life Work
• Reflections on Careers: a workbook and an invitation to explore
• Conversations of Inquiry

This pathway is intended to support each individual on a complete – but not restrictive – journey from discernment and discovering personal inspiration to establishing a career vision to finding themselves established in an inspired, Spirit-filled career situation.

The path we offer has ten principal modules:

• Discovering a sense of personal inspiration for life and work
• Crystallizing a personal career vision
• Planning for career and learning exploration in a generative, emergent way
• Linking career exploration to personal learning journeys
• Entering into a relationship with a “market” for one’s skills and talents
• Creating networks and engaging in creative dialogue with network partners
• Inviting and exploring mentorship relationships
• Presenting oneself creatively and generatively
• Discovering and pursuing concrete opportunities
• Reaching an agreement to take on roles of value, creativity, and service

Within the ten modules, we define several smaller, “bite-sized” elements that we hope are worthy of reflection and action on the part of the faithful career explorer. We propose to offer these to the CTU community in 52 installments, one for each week of the following year.

As Christians, we believe that careers can be profound manifestations of ministry: lifelong pathways of service, faithfulness, and worship. We can all be, as St. Paul was, “tent-makers” in service of the Lord.

We use the ten modules and their component elements in our coaching and advisory work with other clients from a wide range of spiritual and intellectual traditions. And … we find sharing them with the Catholic Theological Union faith-based community members incredibly inspiring and rewarding.

Our perspective is, by intention, deeply ecumenical: welcoming, honoring, and supporting the life journeys of our brothers and sisters of all faiths and spiritual, philosophical, and wisdom traditions. Our language will seek to be welcoming and inclusive to all perspectives while we embrace Christian and Catholic forms of expression.

Please be invited to the first of our year-long series of installments, introducing our framework perspective Tri Cosain, Irish Gaelic for three pathways: inspiration, learning, and career.

We are pleased to accompany you on this journey.

Monday, 27 November 2023

Gerald Doyle, Career Services for Ministry, CTU

An accompanying resource:

Three pathways for learning and growth – Tri Cosain