December 31, 2015
Dear Friends,
Greetings and peace in the New Year! Tomorrow, we welcome 2015 and the 200th Anniversary of the Missionaries of the Most Precious Blood and the 50th Anniversary of the Kansas City Province!
Many events are on the calendar for 2015 to celebrate our Bicentennial. Please check the Weekly Wine Press and our website for updates. We ask your prayers especially for two events coming up in the next couple of weeks. Next Tuesday, January 6, we will have the second of our Days of Gratitude and Prayer for priests and religious in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. Bishop Joe Charron will be with us to offer a reflection. Sacred Heart Parish in Warrensburg and the Central Missouri Companions are hosting the celebration. Following the Day of Gratitude, the Leadership Team will meet with the members in the district. The council will conclude our meeting at noon on January 7.
Also, the first of the Peace and Justice Lecture Series will be held on January 17 at Sacred Heart Church in Sedalia, MO. Elena Segura, director of the Office for Immigrant Affairs & Immigrant Education for the Archdiocese of Chicago, will be the presenter. Her topic is, “Undocumented Immigrants: Journey, Family, and Evangelization. Please plan to join us in Sedalia.
As we begin our Bicentennial Year, I offer the following Prayer to St. Gaspar that I composed for the 2015 Kansas City Province calendar. On behalf of the Leadership Team, a Healthy, Happy and Holy New Year!
With peace,
Joe Nassal, C.PP.S.
Provincial Director
Prayer to St. Gaspar for the Bicentennial
St. Gaspar,
as we celebrate the 200th anniversary
of the divine inspiration that ignited your heart to start
a new adventure in renewal and reconciliation
for the Church and for the world,
we seek your intercession
to stir into flame the same fire of desire
in our minds, our hearts, our souls.
St. Gaspar,
you believed in the power of the blood of Christ
to flood the world with forgiving love.
Help us to be ministers of mercy,
ambassadors of reconciliation,
missionaries of God’s redeeming grace
that seeks to draw all peoples near
to that place where all are one.
St. Gaspar,
through the bond of charity,
you gifted us with a compassionate presence
to recognize the dignity and dreams
of each and every human being.
Open our eyes and our hearts
to respect and reverence
all persons as brothers and sisters
in the blood of Christ.
St. Gaspar,
give us good courage to stand in solidarity
with all who are on the margins,
all who are displaced or deemed replaceable,
all who are left out or put aside,
all who long for connection and communion.
Trusting in your spirit stirring in our souls,
may your dream of “a thousand tongues”
to proclaim the Precious Blood of Jesus
come true in all who boldly follow
the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
+ Amen.