Jan 29, 2016
Dear Friends of the Precious Blood Community:
Thank you very much for your generous donation of $542 to purchase healthy snacks and toys and prizes for students in the Learning Club of KCK! Your support of our students has a big impact on their lives.
The toys and prizes serve as incentives for our students to work hard and stay on a good path. At the Learning Club, students earn points for arriving on time, for their academic achievement, and for good behavior. They also earn interest points for saving their points, teaching them the value of delayed gratification. Then, they can use their points to purchase items such as school supplies, or even a new bike, from our prize store. The items that you provide will be great incentives for our students to work hard and achieve success!
Healthy snacks are also an important component of our program. We know that students can’t learn if they are hungry. More than that, to have good mental and physical health, they need to eat nutritious food. We serve our students fresh fruit and healthy snacks every week at our sites. This is especially important to us because in two of our sites, the only place to buy food within walking distance is a convenience store. The only options in these stores are processed, fatty foods like chips and cookies. Your donation will help us keep a supply of fresh food in stock, so our students can grow in mind and body.
Most of our funding and support come from individual donors like you, who care about the needs of high-risk youth. Together we are unlocking the awesome potential of wonderful kids who have no other programs besides the Learning Club to help develop their interests and talents. Together we are breaking the cycle of poverty in which many of our students feel trapped. Together we are helping Learning Club students succeed, in school and in life! Your support makes our academic formation and life skills training possible for over 100 high-risk inner city youth. Thank you for being a valuable partner in our ministry!
Sincerely,
Brad Grabs
Executive Director
The Learning Club of KCK
Jan 29, 2016
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“8250 Church of Abbaye Notre-Dame de Saint-Remy Rochefort 2007 Luca Galuzzi” by I, Luca Galuzzi. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:8250_Church_of_Abbaye_Notre-Dame_de_Saint-Remy_Rochefort_2007_Luca_Galuzzi.jpg#/media/File:8250_Church_of_Abbaye_Notre-Dame_de_Saint-Remy_Rochefort_2007_Luca_Galuzzi.jpg
by Fr. Joe Nassal, C.PP.S., Provincial Director
As we seek to live more deeply the spirituality of reconciliation in this Holy Year of Mercy, the provincial council approved a plan to construct a labyrinth on the grounds of Precious Blood Center. This ancient symbol and spiritual exercise can help us and those who come to our center for prayer, reconciliation, and renewal find and expand that safe place inside our souls from which we can live as ministers of mercy.
One of the more famous labyrinths in the United States is etched on the floor in the foyer of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. When I lived in Berkeley and now when I visit the Bay Area, I often stop by Grace Cathedral because it is such a safe and prayerful space. Through the day pilgrims come to this church to sit in silence, to listen, to pray, and to walk the labyrinth.
Some who walk the labyrinth sometimes compare it to a maze. If a metaphor of modern life is a “rat race” where we scurry and hurry from one place to another in search of fulfillment—like mice caught in a maze—the labyrinth is the spiritual antidote to the poison of speed. A labyrinth slows one down in a maze of twists and turns until one reaches the center. There is no hurry. There is a beginning and an end. And in between, one walks in a circular design that seeks to take one deeper into the mystery of life, to that safe place within ourselves where we allow God to find us. And when God finds us, we can find each other.
As a spiritual exercise to deepen our commitment to be ministers of mercy, the labyrinth reminds us that the journey to reconciliation takes time. In a world where so many are looking for “cheap” grace, for an easy way out, for a quick fix, the process of reconciliation is often a maze of twists and turns, of obstacles and road blocks, stops and starts. The labyrinth models for us how reconciliation is journey toward the sacred center where we recognize ourselves and each person as a child of God. It is this reality of covenant relationship that shapes a spirituality of reconciliation. We all need a place to become our true self.
A unique feature of the labyrinth being designed for Precious Blood Center to commemorate the Year of Mercy is that it will be inspired by the “Reconciliation Labyrinth” developed by Clare Wilson of South Africa which was designed to help heal the wounds caused by apartheid in her country.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
Jan 29, 2016
[fusion_builder_container background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”0″ padding_right=”0″ hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_images picture_size=”fixed” hover_type=”none” autoplay=”yes” columns=”5″ column_spacing=”13″ scroll_items=”” show_nav=”yes” mouse_scroll=”no” border=”yes” lightbox=”yes” class=”” id=””][fusion_image link=”” linktarget=”_self” image=”https://preciousbloodkc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/TQV3016.jpg” alt=””/][fusion_image link=”” linktarget=”_self” image=”https://preciousbloodkc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/TQV3025.jpg” alt=””/][fusion_image link=”” linktarget=”_self” image=”https://preciousbloodkc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/TQV3062.jpg” alt=””/][fusion_image link=”” linktarget=”_self” image=”https://preciousbloodkc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/TQV3109.jpg” alt=””/][fusion_image link=”” linktarget=”_self” image=”https://preciousbloodkc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Sending02.jpg” alt=””/][/fusion_images][fusion_text]by Fr. Joe Nassal, C.PP.S., Provincial Director
As the missionaries from the Kansas City Province gathered on Monday afternoon, January 25, 2016 at Marillac Conference Center in Leavenworth to begin three days of dialogue, there was some apprehension. But our uneasiness gave way to appreciation and affirmation later that evening as we began to reflect on our hopes and dreams for our time together.
Dr. Kevin McClone of Catholic Theological Union in Chicago guided us in establishing a safe place through a process of Contemplative Conversation to speak to one another on a deeper level marked by openness and trust. Among the hopes and dreams brought to our awareness on that first evening was how we need to “clean out the stables of fear” as we focus our energies on our spirituality that stresses “mercy, acceptance, and ministry to the marginalized.” We held up for one another “our giftedness as individuals and as a community” while also challenging each other to “stretch our boundaries” and to see each other with new eyes. Though we wanted to be “realistic about issues of aging, diminishment, and vocations,” we also wanted to find ways “to connect with one another” on a deeper level as we seek to promote “our charism and spirituality.”
The tone of our gathering was set that first night as we sought to create an environment of trust, with space in our schedule for prayer and liturgy, individual conversations, table discussions, and socializing. Throughout our days together, we reflected on our ministries, community, and the challenges we face as a province. Members were open about their fears for the future but there was a strong consensus that fears waste energy and what is needed is hope as we sense the stirring of the Spirit and draw upon the inspiration of St. Gaspar to create something new.
As we gathered for our final session on Wednesday morning, the members committed themselves to a process of renewal and dialogue with one another, with companions, and with other provinces. Several members volunteered their time and gifts to be part of a Futures Task Force to be appointed by the Provincial Council to help move the process forward.
The Vision Statement from the XX CPPS General Assembly in July, 2013 challenged “every missionary to embrace the responsibility of shared leadership for the well-being of the community.” For these three days at Marillac, members brought this vision into reality. Now, the work of transformation continues with a renewed energy, enthusiasm, and hope for our future.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
Jan 28, 2016
Scripture Reading
1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13
Additional Reading
I love watching sports. I will watch a baseball game from beginning to end. I can’t pull myself away from a soccer match on TV. My wife avoids watching sports with me. My tension in these situations makes her feel uncomfortable. I’m a normally calm person whose tranquility dissolves during postseason baseball, almost any Sporting KC soccer match and a basketball game where I’m cheering for one of my teams or against the Kansas Jayhawks. As a side note I don’t normally enjoy other people’s misery, but I do relish the Jayhawks losing in basketball. The tension I have because of sports and my sheer joy at Kansas losing are not my strong suits!
She is impressed with how I will say something and the announcer says what I said almost verbatim when she does watch a game with me. Without fail she’ll give a small laugh and say, “You should have been a sports announcer.” I’m not sure if this is a compliment or making fun of me. It might be both. My dirty little secret is I know all the sports clichés and sports announcers are masters at using the cliché to make themselves sound smart. So I guess I must be effective!
We do, however, go to weddings together. We haven’t been to one in a while, mostly due to our friends being beyond the young marrying age and the ones who do have weddings are getting married in far off places that also happen to be far out of our budget. One of the most common readings used at weddings is 1 Corinthians 13. It is the one with “Love is patient, Love is kind…” My wife can predict what I‘m going to say if this is one of the chosen readings: “Don’t they know St. Paul wasn’t writing about romantic love?” “Why can’t they think of anything better?” and my uber-pompous “That’s so cliché!”
I’ll be the first to admit this is not fair of me. It’s a beautiful passage and describes a lot of what married couples do on a daily basis as expressions of love (my wife often has to be patient with me!). Patience, kindness, and truth are all building blocks of any good, healthy and loving relationship. Envy, arrogance and selfishness are stumbling blocks to a good, healthy and loving relationship.
However, St. Paul is talking about rooting yourself in God’s love. Without love our actions are noise. They mean nothing. Without love our life risks becoming a cliché. This all sounds great! Easy, right? It is until you have to drag yourself out of a warm bed when a cold and snowy bus stop awaits you. It’s not easy when a patient, coworker or supervisor is not kind or is rude.
Some of our most outwardly loving looking actions can be without love. There are common examples. A kind gesture you do for someone else can be without love if it is done to get something from that person later. Doing service work just as a resume’ builder can be another. If our work is done without love it is nothing. If our education is not done without love it is not worth the paper the diploma is written on.
Don’t let your life become a cliché. Be active, be faithful, be hopeful and most importantly be loving! Show love and affection to others. Have love at the center of everything you do.
Jan 25, 2016
by Fr. Alan Hartway, C.PP.S.
Vocation call and response are the focus on the readings in many ways. We respond to this call because of a historical experience of encounter with the divine, with Jesus, in our lives. We catch people by being “menders of nets,” in other words through strengthening the “vinculum caritatis” among peoples. This takes tenderness, mercy, and great care.
OT 5 C Lectionary Catechesis[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
