So, I would like you to keep in mind these three
concepts for the rest of my presentation: RGB sys-
tem, pixel, and resolution.
I was asked to organize my presentation
around the three pillars of the c.pp.s.—Spirituality,
Community, and Mission—and how I see myself in
each one of these three pillars in the future. I found
it very hard, because I don’t see these three dimen-
sions of our community as pillars, but rather as
beams of light that work together; they are intercon-
nected and they are inseparable.
Going to the analogy of the rgb system, suppose
Spirituality is the color Red, Community is the color
Green, Mission is the color Blue, and I am a pixel. I
took my rgb app and I moved the sliders to where I
think I am in these three dimen-
sions and I found out that I am
projecting a light green color. I
asked myself, “What kind of light
would I like to project in the
future?” A pure white is prob-
ably the ideal—where spiritual-
ity, community, and mission
are shining at their maximum
levels—but I know I am not
there yet.
I thought also about the c.pp.s.
community as a whole, and I did the same experi-
ment. I think as community we tend to emphasize
the mission most, then spirituality, and then com-
munity life—and that results in a purple color. I
would like to see us move to a brighter light.
In respect to resolution, when I think about
where we are and what we do in the U.S., I think
we are a bit scattered and we are not representing a
well-defined picture of what we say we are as c.pp.s.
community in the United States.
Something I particularly like about my current
ministry at the Precious Blood Center in Chicago
is that we have five Precious Blood people working
together: two priests, two sisters, and one brother—
along with several lay people who have been inspired
by our mission and spirituality and are also working
with us. In that way, we can project a higher resolu-
tion picture of who we are as Precious Blood people
instead of working separately, by ourselves.
I like pixels and I like high resolution images. In the
Cincinnati Province, we have 98 pixels—some brighter
than others—in the Kansas City province you have 42
pixels. So together we can be 150 pixels. We also have
our many Companions. Together, we could project a
better picture of who we are. In the future, I would like
to see us working closer together, either becoming one
province or collaborating more closely.
I would also like to see us being more intentional,
strategic, and focused in the apostolate we have in
the future. As I said, if we have more pixels working
together we can have a clearer image of who we are.
If we focus in ministries where we can live our com-
munity life, our mission, and spirituality more fully
we will be able to keep members energized, happy,
and also attract new members in the future.
We usually talk about minis-
tering in the margins, at the edge,
hearing the call of the blood,
working for reconciliation. So
why not make commitments with
fewer apostolates that more deep-
ly embrace our mission , spiritual-
ity, and community life and try to
make an impact in those places or
those situations.
In summary, I would like to
see more Precious Blood people working together in
fewer and more focused apostolates that foster and
respond to our mission, spirituality, and community
life. That way I think we will have a brighter future as
c.pp.s. in the United States.
Editor, continued from page 2
More than 33,000 people die from gun violence
in this country each year. This will continue. As will
the hand-wringing and the unwillingness to address
the problem. People with a history of domestic vio-
lence should not have guns. Every gun sale should
be subject to a background check. Nobody needs
assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines.
There should be a federal database to track gun
sales and a waiting period to buy guns legally. But I
don’t expect anything to happen soon, if ever. Until
it does, we will witness more of the same carnage.
And tweets about “thoughts and prayers” and the
“price of freedom.”
December 2017 • The New Wine Press • 7