Articles

This article is the Keynote Address given by Sr. Barbara E. Reid, O.P., at the 2010 Precious Blood Convocation on July 27, 2010.  The convocation was a gathering of approximately 300 members and lay associates of the Precious Blood Religious Congregations serving throughout North America.  The theme of the convocation was "Who will speak a word that will rouse them?  I can, I must, I will. Will you?" In her talk, Barbara Reid reflects upon the call to prophetic leadership in response to the needs of the church and the world today.

It is assuredly a moment of grace that the first academic chair to be inaugurated under the auspices of the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Center be dedicated to the study of the Second Vatican Council.

One of the social realities which globalization has heightened has been the increasing presence of many cultures together. Cultures have, of course, always rubbed up against one another throughout history. But what we see today is that more people than ever are affected by what has come to be know as multiculturalism, that is, the situation in which people must learn to live with more multiple cultures simultaneously.

Fr. Loipfinger writes: I wish to develope the following thoughts: The Precious Blood spirituality is truly a way of life, a way through life, a way of life, because therein we discover what is truly a fundamental spirituality which is an integral aspect of the Church, which makes us into apostles, and which leads us to the praise and glory of God.

Excerpts from Pope John Paul II's Evanelium Vitae concerning the sprinkled blood from the Old Testament and the Blood of Christ. Don Michele Colagiovanni Evangelium Snguinis on the Gospel of Blood.

The mystery of Christ's Blood is very rich in meaning and it is important to discover its contribution to each area of the Church's pastoral activity. This Seminar provides us with the opportunity to deepen the theme of the spirituality of the Precious Blood in the specific field of catholic education.

This presentation will explore four basic symbols of Precious Blood spirituality. They are: covenant, cross, cup and the Lamb. All of these are rooted in the Scriptures, and evoke a wide range of meanings and memories. Each symbol will be presented as to its basic meanings as presented in the Scriptures, and then some of the meanings it haas for us today, both in our personal and communal lives in community, and also these connect with the work we do for the sake of the Church and the Reign of God.

Dearest Brothers and Sisters!

1. The month of July begins today, which popular tradition dedicates to the contemplation of the most precious Blood of Christ, unfathomable mystery of love and mercy.

Introduction

I am grateful for the invitation to participate in the USCMA’s annual conference, especially so because of the theme that has been chosen. The gathering of people at this conference provides a wonderful opportunity to explore the many sides of the question about the term of mission—not only in matters of effectiveness achieved by varying amounts of time in mission, but also what are the theological and missiological implications of different lengths of service in mission.

Introduction

With great joy we gather today to celebrate the presence of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood in Vietnam. Here with us in spirit and prayer is the entire Congregation now exercing our ministry in twenty countries around the globe. As Moderator General responsible for the international community, I convey to you the love and support of all our Missionaries. Present in a special way are the members of the Kansas City Province through the presence of its Provincial, Fr. James Urbanic.

SEDOS Seminar

Ariccia, 14-18 May 2002

Trying to peer more than two decades into the future is a very risky undertaking. If we were to place ourselves backward for the same length of time, would we have predicted the collapse of the Soviet Union, the end of the Cold War, and the rise of globalization? The best which we can do in all of this is make some extrapolations from the present. In the previous presentation I tried to do some of that by looking at how the lens through which the leaders of our institutes in 2025 is being formed.

Introduction

This first of two presentations will look at the results of the 2001 Seminar, where participants reflected together on the past, present, and future of the missionary Church. Such periods of reflection are good, first of all, for gathering what is emerging as common wisdom about the past. It helps build a kind of resource of what has been done well, and what perhaps should not be repeated.

Introduction

It is not given to us to be able to peer deeply into the future. As a result, we have only a dim perception of the what the consequences of events and documents will be. We may set our sights on the future with a particular agenda, but things actually unfold in a complex interaction between various factors, some of which are familiar, while others are surprising and beyond our control.

The forward thrust of this assignment is the infinitely powerful cause and prompt effect of a sincere devotion to the Precious Blood of Jesus. I hope to accomplish this by employing the simple method of the greatest storyteller of all time, namely, Jesus, the simple carpenter from Nazareth.

Because I was woefully lacking in points, the army offered to send me to the states immediately after V.J. Day for 45 days, provided that I would agree to return to Japan for further occupational duty. I agreed in writing to this arrangement.

Blood of Christ, Courage of Martyrs, Save Us

On November 1, the feast of All Saints, we heard John's familiar vision from the book of Revelation. "Who do you think these are, all dressed in white? And where have they come from?" Our answer that day included these names: Sr. Barbara Ann Muttra, Sr. Mary Joel Kolmer, Sr. Shirley Kolmer, Sr. Kathleen McGuire, Sr. Agnes Mueller.

We are called to be faithful to our charism and to the spirit of our founders, while responding to the signs and needs of the times in which we live. Put another way, we are called to BE where GOD wants us to be. Our challenge is to follow Jesus and to be obedient to his call in changing historical and cultural contexts. As people who bear the name of the Precious Blood we are being called by the Blood of Jesus. Can we let ourselves be led by the poor, by the hungry and the outcasts of society? We are called to make visible God's presence among them.

Enduring the catechumenate process in jail is a real lesson in what "spirituality" means. Often that word misleads us. Jesus guides us into a spirituality that does not take us away to ethereal mysteries in some outer space. It is not concerned primarily with sacred rites held in sacred times and places. Nor does it evolve around special prayers and formulas.

The history and the reality of the indigenous people who inhabit the Guatemalan State is a history of suffering, of pain, and of death. It is a history marked by agonic signs of life. They are signs which can be revitalized or extinguished. The reflections which Fr. Robert Schreiter presented in his book In Water and in Blood gives us a blueprint and necessary orientations for responding with a spirituality of solidarity in a world torn apart by conflict, divisions, and violence.

I want to share with you the ways in which St. Mary's Parish works in the context of a Precious Blood ecclesiology. It begins with the vision of lay leadership. Several phrases of the pastoral council vision statement always stand out to me as examples of a Precious Blood spirit of thinking: "becoming a community of service," "developing each person's ministry," "in our eucharistic gatherings," "bringing us deeper union," "providing comfort in sorrow," and "confirming our hope."

My topic is rather an unwieldy one for a short presentation. How does one present a picture of the CPPS today in a relatively brief presentation?

A spirituality of the Precious Blood is able to interpret and give direction to individual lives. It seems as if our call as members of the Society of the Precious Blood is to aid people in our ministry to come to the awareness that in the light of the Precious Blood, the price of our redemption, we can find meaning, purpose and direction in our lives.

When we reflect on arriving at a proper perspective of what community life means for us, it is important to clarify the nature of our community life together. Community life will mean one thing for the trappists or for cloistered religious, while it will mean something quite different for our congregations engaged in the active apostolate. We need to recognize the apostolic nature of our community.

When we reflect on how to live out our charism in the future, we must begin with the world in which we live and then see how our charism speaks to that world, rather than the other way around. Thus, we do not seek to fit the world into Precious Blood spirituality, but rather we ask what faithful and prophetic word a Precious Blood spirituality can speak to the world as we understand it. This, it seems to me, has to be an ongoing task of our discernment. It will mean that how our charism is enacted will differ from time to time and place to place.

Introduction

This course was deemed necessary by our Major Superiors in order to study and reflect on the life of our founder, on our charism, our history and on our Normative Texts. Hopefully, the many reflections shared during our weeks together have helped to deepen our understanding of our CPPS patrimony leading to a clearer vision of our own identity, around which it is easier to build communion.

Being Witnesses of the Blood of Christ

I wish to develop the following thoughts: The Precious Blood spirituality is truly a way of life, a way through life, a way to life, because therein we discover what is truly a fundamental spirituality, which is an integral aspect of the Church, which makes us into apostles, and which leads us to the praise and glory of God.

Introduction

It is a great joy for me to participate with you in this Second Seminar, since we will be going more deeply in our understanding of two themes which are of great interest to me: Catholic education and the spirituality of the Blood of Christ. The mystery of Christ’s Blood is very rich in meaning and it is important to discover its contribution to each area of the Church’s pastoral activity. This Seminar provides us with the opportunity to deepen the theme of the spirituality of the Precious Blood in the specific field of catholic education.

Introduction

Three commemorations being held this year make the theme of this symposium, “Roads to Reconciliation,” especially timely. In November, we will mark twenty years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, an event emblematic of the collapse of Communism in Europe. It was perhaps this event more than anything else that set off a renewed and intense interest in reconciliation.

As we look to the role of the Church in the process of national reconciliation after two decades of armed conflict, it is important to identify what things we, as the Church, can contribute to the process.

In this presentation I would like to focus on a central element that is both distinctive to the Christian tradition and at the same time one of the most difficult areas in which to work. I am speaking of forgiveness.

Communicating the Gospel in a New Context

Throughout history, Christian missionaries have configured their work according to different understandings of how best to communicate the Gospel If reconciliation and peacemaking constitute a significant paradigm for mission today, how must missionaries be prepared in order to carry out their responsibilities?