Moving Mountains or Meeting People?
by Fr. Al Ebach, c.pp.s., Pastor, Church of the Annunciation, Kearney, Missouri
Occasionally I like to go for a long walk because
it opens my life to thoughts that I normally do not
entertain with the busyness that seems to take all my
attention. I usually observe most people walking with
earbuds and I wonder what they listen to and why
they allow these distractions to interfere with the op-
portunity to center on their personal lives.
During a recent walk, I thought about a word that
I have heard many times at community meetings
and in personal conversations with members and
Companions: “renewal.” Many people have shared
that this term reflects one of the charisms of St.
Gaspar—that he brought about renewal in the Church
in Rome, and wherever he preached. I understand
the term when we use it in reference to Gaspar’s time,
but I don’t have as good a connection when we use it
to describe who we are as followers of Gaspar. This
charism is certainly something we want to emulate,
and which seems to be needed in our community and
in the Church, but I wonder if we have a good under-
standing of the term as we try to live it today.
There have been many discussions about our
understanding of the word. In fact, this word is being
used as part of the name of our new undertaking at
Precious Blood Renewal Center. Even with all that
has been shared through the written and spoken
word over the years I still have a difficult time per-
sonalizing this charism, trying to figure out how the
community translates the term. People will probably
ask me if I have not listened to the news about our
political situation today or heard how conflicted the
Church can be with challenges we have received from
Pope Francis. Our country and our Church need
attention, but how do we translate into our time and
space the charism of renewal from Gaspar’s day?
Perhaps there needs to be further discussion re-
garding the charism of renewal. Or ma ybe this is just
something that is eluding me, while others have this
spiritual concept figured out for themselves? We are
invited to make this charism part of the heart of who
we are as Precious Blood people, but people are not
continued on page 12
February 2018 • The New Wine Press • 11