pbmr, continued from page 11
go often with me to give talks. He had an outgoing
personality that allowed people to come to know
what we see in so many of youth: a deep respect and
a desire for a better life.
When you receive a collect call from jail or
prison, you have to wait for a long and repetitive re-
cording to tell you that it is a collect call from an “in-
mate.” The recording is even more annoying because
it takes away from the short amount of time allowed
for the phone call from the “inmate.”
As soon as the recording ended, Joe blurted,
“Fr. Kelly, are you ok?” I responded that I was fine,
tired, but fine. He went on to say he had been try-
ing to reach me, and because there were so many
failed attempts at connecting via phone, he thought
something happened to me. While I appreciated his
concern, I knew that much of his concern was that
pbmr is his only connection to the outside world.
Phone calls are expensive and most family members
cannot afford to “keep money on their phone.”
After talking a bit, he asked about everybody at
the Center: Fr. Denny, Sr. Donna, Jonathan, Pamela,
Sr. Carolyn, etc. He asked about everyone at pbmr,
as though he had a list and was checking off the
names. Since I was at the Center, I asked him if he
wanted to talk to some of them. One by one, people
got on the phone and spoke with Joe. You could hear
laughter, words of encouragement, and expressions
of love.
As the time drew near for the phone call to be
terminated, I got back on the phone. Joe’s voice was
so full of life; you could hear the joy of being recon-
nected. “Man, Fr. Kelly”, he said, “I feel so much bet-
ter. I was wondering if people were thinking of me
or if everybody had forgotten me.” I assured him that
we thought of him regularly, and that he was still
very much a part of the Precious Blood Center.
The phone call abruptly terminated.
In many ways, that phone call was a ritual of
remembrance. We didn’t create an altar, but we
celebrated Joe’s connection to his community, and
in that connection, he came alive. Moreover, it was
not just Joe who came alive; each of us at the Center
came alive as well.
12 • The New Wine Press • December 2017
Loss is a familiar feeling here; we lose so many to
death, jail, mental illness, and the streets. It can take
its toll. These simple rituals are important moments
to celebrate.
"But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were
far off have become near by the blood of Christ”
(Ephesians 2: 13).
Radical Listening, continued from page 10
fact I’m planning on it and looking for those places
where I see opportunities for him to grow. In fact, if
the possibility for growth wasn’t there, there would
be no reason to enter formation. Because of that I
strive to listen with openness to an inquirer’s whole
story, not allowing myself to be distracted by any
particular detail. I try not to apply labels, and when
I do it’s only tentatively, hoping that I will discover
the complexity of the man before me that render that
label insufficient.
To be a Missionary of the Precious Blood is to
listen with an open heart, and that comes in handy as
a vocations director. It helps me to pay attention to the
man before me, and not a series of categories. It allows
me to hear his whole story. It invites me to look not
only for men who can stand in the center of our com-
munity, but on our fringes as well.
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