Marcos Palacios Enters Formation

Marcos Palacios has been admitted into the initial formation program of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood. He moved into the house of formation in Chicago in August and is attending classes at St. Xavier University this fall.

At the house, he joins Greg Evers, C.PP.S., and Matt Perez; and C.PP.S. members Fr. Dennis Chriszt, Fr. Lac Pham, Br. Juan Acuna, and Br. Antonio Sison.

Palacios, 48, was born in Venezuela and grew up in Tampa, where he lived until his recent move to Chicago. The youngest of three brothers, he speaks Spanish and Portuguese in addition to English. He previously worked in a library and in customer service at a hotel reservation center.

Palacios found the Missionaries online. He was exploring a call to the priesthood, and was looking for a religious community whose message spoke to him.

Born a Catholic, he’d joined an evangelical Christian church as a young adult. “I had a born-again experience, and went through a lot of changes in my faith life,” he said. “But the one aspect that stuck with me was our salvation. When you’re an evangelical, one of the things you’re are supposed to do is share your faith, to get people saved like you. In Precious Blood spirituality, I see the same focus on salvation. It’s a common bond that unites all Christians.”

Palacios returned to the Catholic faith gradually, he said, and has been fully active in the Catholic Church since 2003.

He will study philosophy and theology at St. Xavier. He has taken such classes before, he said, and he looks forward to his studies this fall.

Saint of September 11, 2001

September 11, 2018
Dear Members, Companions, Volunteers, and Friends,
Seventeen years ago, the world watched in horror as planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, into the Pentagon in Washington, and into a field in Pennsylvania. But as the world watched, many people responded with great courage and compassion. Franciscan Friar Mychal Judge, a chaplain with the New York City Fire Department, was one of the first responders and later identified as one of the first victims of the terrorist attack.
Books have been written about his life, and a film, Saint of 9/11, documented his story. It is a story many of you have heard and one that I have told on numerous retreats. But given the 17th anniversary of his death and where we are today as a community of faith once again dwelling in shame and scandal, Fr. Mychal’s story bears remembering.
In his biography of Fr. Judge, Michael Ford paints a portrait of a priest who knew who he was as a Franciscan, a recovering alcoholic, and a gay priest. Though he never shunned the spotlight and enjoyed rubbing shoulders with the high and mighty, Mychal Judge spent most of his life serving the down and out. In addition to his work with the poor, hungry, and homeless in the city, he was one of the first priests in New York City to open his heart to people living and dying with AIDS in the early 1980s.
The former Jesuit, John McNeill, who served as Mychal’s spiritual director for a time, describes when many in the church slammed their doors early in the AIDS epidemic to those afflicted with the disease, Fr. Judge “would go into the room of AIDS patients wearing his Franciscan robes [and] he would run into real hostility from those who had been badly burned by the church—and that would be most. He tried to figure out how to bring them God’s message without preaching because he knew that was unacceptable to them. He came up with what he thought was a brilliant idea. He would go into their rooms and, despite the state of the patients’ bodies, would pull back the blankets and massage their feet. That was his approach. People were afraid to be in the room with them or even talk with them. But here was this very gentle and wonderful person coming in and massaging their feet. That would break down all their resistance! It did take courage because there was a real fear.”
The key to Fr. Mychal Judge’s charismatic and compassionate presence in the lives of others was his own experience of the cross. According to Ford, “His sense of leadership emerged through his living the Franciscan charism of joy and sense of purpose, with an emphasis on the reality of Jesus being the Light of the Word, the Bread of Life, and the Good Shepherd. There was a moral leadership of persuasion there rather than a leadership of office.”
This is the kind of leadership we need in the church today: servant leaders who know their weakness but who also have an inner resolve to know and trust the providence and promise of God through the blood of the cross. As Michael Ford writes of Fr. Mychal Judge, “For him the cross represented the place of God’s most intimate engagement with the world.” Indeed, if we keep looking through the door of the cross, we will be humble in our approach to one another.
Father Mychal was killed on September 11, 2001 when he was hit by falling debris at the World Trade Center as he prayed with a dying firefighter. The picture of firefighters carrying his lifeless body out of the carnage and debris was on the cover of newspapers and magazines around the world. The firefighters placed his body on the altar at St. Peter’s Church near ground zero.
Each morning, Mychal Judge began his day with this prayer. It captures well the servant leadership he lived until the day he died seventeen years ago and the quality of humble service each of us are called to today:
“Lord, take me where you want me to go;
let me meet who you want me to meet;
tell me what you want me to say,
And keep me out of Your way.”
With peace in the blood of Christ,
Joe Nassal, C.PP.S.
Provincial Director
 
 
 
 
 

Spirituality Committee: One Precious Blood person reflects on the sexual abuse scandal

by Fr. Ron Will, C.PP.S., Precious Blood Renewal Center
As I write this reflection, it has been about two weeks since the news broke about the Grand Jury report revealing the sexual abuses in Pennsylvania by clergy. Since I first heard about this revelation, I think I have gone in and out of the five stages of death and dying: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
My initial reaction was like hearing about my first cousin being arrested for drunk driving; which was bad enough; but while he was drunk he hit another car head-on and killed a mother and child. This is my first cousin! It’s terrible, it’s embarrassing. I feel ashamed for him and for myself. I feel terrible for the mother. I feel terrible for the family who lost a mother and child.
This is my first cousin! We share the same uncle. I don’t see him every day, but we get together for family reunions. We used to play softball together. Now he’s arrested and put into jail; a murderer! I didn’t even know he was an alcoholic. He didn’t ever abuse alcohol when I was around.
These are my cousins in Pennsylvania. I identify with my fellow priests and my heart goes out to them. All the newspapers are against my cousin for the awful crime that he committed. But they are against me, too, because I’m a member of the same family.
Jesus and I suffer together. He bears the pain with me. I have often stayed with him in his pain during his passion. Now he stays with me in my pain. When he is with me like this I can do anything. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross writes that the one thing that usually persists through all the stages of death and dying is hope.
I still feel numb with disbelief, with disappointment, with shame. There is so much good that the Catholic Church has done and is doing, but that is all being forgotten because of the sins of a few. Those sins seem to be driving many away from the Church. And I don’t honestly know what to say.
This negative judgment by so many people is a cross that I must bear; it throws a dark cloud or a heavy, wet blanket over any good ministry that I am trying to do. I bring my cross to the cross of Jesus. And he somehow blends his cross with mine. I share a little portion of his rejection, his being called negative names, his being cursed. Jesus accepted his Passion without raising his voice, without cursing his oppressors. Can I do the same? Can I pray “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing”?
How do I as a Precious Blood person bring myself to Jesus and allow his healing blood to flow over my brokenness and over the brokenness of our Church? I bring my anger, disappointment, embarrassment, etc. to Jesus during the Eucharist.
At one point during the Mass the priest pours water, symbolizing our humanity, into the wine, symbolizing the divinity of Christ. The two quickly become blended as one. The prayer that accompanies this action asks that the divinity of Christ permeate our broken humanity. Jesus not only accepts my brokenness, but transforms the experience with his divine presence.
A few days ago, I was praying on the porch outside my house, listening to the drip of the rain coming from the downspout – drip, drip, drip, drip. As I listened, I reflected on how a constant drip of water can bore a hole even into a rock.
In a parallel way, the Holy Spirit constantly dripping onto my mind and heart can soften my heart from stony, rock-like ground into soft, fertile soil that can grow wonderful, life-giving fruit and vegetables. And my mind can be softened from hard, judgmental attitudes and pharisaical thoughts into a mind of love that sees and looks for goodness in other people.
I am inviting the outpouring of that Holy Spirit these days. Jesus says “I can bring beauty out of the ashes of lost dreams.”
We are redeemed in the blood of Christ. We are washed in love. Sent by the blood, stained by the blood, we are servants of the blood of Christ.
 
 

Center Update-September 2018

by Lucia Ferrara, Hospitality Director
Looks like Fall is finding its way in with all this rain lately, but the rain does not keep us from not having a busy schedule here at the Center! We hosted a 3- Day Directed Retreat in late July. Several participants spent their time with Spiritual Directors and set aside time from their busy schedule to spend quality time in reflection on their personal spiritual journey.
Circle of Understanding always has great number of folks who come together to share their stories about faith, culture and ideologies. This is another pathway to peace and harmony in our world today. Please join us for our next experience on November 1st. A day of Reflection for Veterans was offered here at the Center presented by a team that included Fr. Ron Will, C.P.P.S., Fr. Garry Richmeier, C.P.P.S., and Kathy Keary. Guest were inspired to speak on several topics about how they are called to serve then and now, and personally reflect on their own experiences.
St. James School faculty in Liberty spent the day on retreat before heading back to school in August. This retreat was facilitated by Fr. Tim Armbruster, C.P.P.S. and Fr. Mike Roach. Sacred Heart Guadalupe Church held their confirmation retreat here at the Center as well. The class spent the day discussing what it means to become a solider of Christ and fellowship with other peers. The retreat concluded with Mass in the Chapel.
Bridges to Contemplative Living with Thomas Merton series continues every other Thursday evenings. This class is exploring how to live your deepest desires through prayer, short readings and faith sharing. This journey is facilitated by Fr. Garry Richmeier, C.P.P.S., and Kathy Keary. Biago Mazza presented Growing in Awareness of Women in the Gospel in August. Guests explored the Gospels of Luke and John about stories of women and the significant roles they played in the life of Jesus and comparing them to the views today.
“The Labyrinth: What’s it All About?” facilitated by Carol Anne Hopkins was an opportunity to learn how contemplative prayer can be achieved by walking the labyrinth. Many guests enjoyed walking our beautiful grounds and enjoying the warm, sunny weather.
Please come join us and check out our different programs. Our programs offer participants personal renewal that foster hope, healing and reconciliation. Please call or email Lucia Ferrara, Director of Hospitality with any questions.