wounds—especially the article by Joe Nassal—adds to
a deeper understanding of the place of wounds in the
blood of the cross).
Third, the Kansas City Province brings some
concrete manifestations of living out our charism to
enhance the experience of the New Creation:
• The Member-Companion relationships that are
distinctive from incorporated member-lay asso-
ciate relationships anywhere else in the c.pp.s.
• A commitment to social justice marked by
corporate stances on a number of issues such as
the death penalty and gun violence.
• The Precious Blood Volunteers, engaging
young people in the ministry to the margins.
• The Precious Blood Renewal Center as a dis-
tinctive embodiment of Gaspar’s vision of the
mission house as a center for renewal.
• The Vietnam Mission, as inculturating the
charism of St. Gaspar in a place unlike any
other c.pp.s. ministry.
Signposts and Landmarks Along the Way
The biblical journeys that might illumine our way
into the New Creation were often marked by moments
that refocused a sense of direction. Four such mo-
ments or signposts are coming into view as we dis-
cussed the New Creation:
•
From “us” and “them” to an enhanced “we.”
“Who are ‘we’?” is a question long explored
in the Kansas City Province. To outsiders
14 • The New Wine Press • July 2018
it could at times as a bit excessive and self-
centered. In my time with you these days, I
as an outsider have come to understand the
outcome of those discussions a bit better.
The Kansas City Province has developed a
strong sense of a “we” that can help build
a new relationship with the Members and
Companions of the Cincinnati Province. The
conditions that make a “we” genuinely possi-
ble are (1) recognition—not making those we
do not know invisible; (2) belonging—a sense
of genuinely being part of the group; and (3)
welcoming or hospitality—not hospitality as
a one-time greeting, but as a commitment to
a relationship.
Creating an enhanced “we” in the New Creation can
be compared to blending families. When someone gets
married, they marry not only an individual, but the
individual’s family as well. Perhaps even more helpful
is the challenge of blending two grown families when a
couple marries in mid-life. These challenges may help
illuminate the New Creation we are envisioning.
• Are ways that a people carry and express their
identity. Being aware of our story, and how we
come to include new elements and events in the
story, is a sign of being able to move to some-
thing new.
• Sharing/Imagining New Spaces. What the New
Creation will look like in a nation-wide (conti-
nent-wide) situation will take some imagining.
Our first tendency is to think of the geographi-
cal spaces. But we need to consider the social
spaces as well that social media provide and
the New Creation Committee’s call to engage
those in the c.pp.s. whom we do not know. And