Wine Tasting
Going Fishing
by Tim Deveney, Precious Blood Volunteers Director
One of the many blessings of work-
ing with the Kansas City Province
of the Missionaries of the Precious
Blood is that I get to go fishing often
at the lake at Precious Blood Center.
I like to think I am following in
St. Peter’s footsteps when he says,
“I am going fishing” (John 21:3).
There are many mornings during the
spring, summer and fall when I wake
up, put on an old pair of jeans, a ratty
t-shirt and my boots, then head to
work to fish before I sequester myself
in my office at 8:00 a.m. If the fishing
is good I might report in at 8:15!
The lake is full of largemouth bass
Richard Bayuk, c.pp.s., Al Ebach, c.pp.s., Sean Fitzgerald (former Precious Blood Volunteer,
and bluegill. I enjoy the quiet and
and recepient of a 2017 Precious Blood Scholarship, and Precious Blood Volunteers Director
solitude I have when fishing and I
Tim Deveney during the 2017 Provincial Assembly
have the blessing of seeing the wild-
life that enjoy the dwindling area of
spite of much progress, our lgbt brothers and sisters
green space in this part of Liberty. I do catch a good
continue to be treated as second-class human beings in
number of fish if I am fishing in the spots where the
our churches.
fish actually are. I end up walking a bit also, since there
are some mornings when one part of the lake is not
St. Gaspar founded the Missionaries of the Precious
yielding any bites and I move on and throw my line
Blood amid great turmoil and brokenness in southern
into the water in a different part of the lake. Sr. Mary
Italy and in the Catholic Church following Napoleon’s
Waskowiak, r.s.m. invited us at the 2017 Assembly
devastating conquest of much of Europe. His was a
to do just this in living out our call as a community.
founding that called us to share the Word of God, eat
Citing John 21, she challenged us to “cast our nets out
together, pray together, and study together. He stood
of the other side and try something different.”
in the ruins of a world turned upside down calling for
renewal and reconciliation.
As I ponder over this challenge I couldn’t help but
wonder if the charism and call handed down from
St. Gaspar, St. Maria de Mattias, and the rest of our an-
cestors in the Precious Blood community still applies
to today. Additionally, do we have the strength to pull
the “catch” in? In pondering this suggestion several
questions arose: Are our nets needed in our world?
Are our nets actually worth casting out? Do we need to
mend our nets before we send them to the other side?
There is a lot of brokenness in our homes, commu-
nities, countries, and world. There are people fleeing
from poverty, war, and violence who are yearning to
breathe free in our land. We have many young people
who are alienated from their church communities
because of their experiences of feeling unwelcome. In
16 • The New Wine Press • July 2017
Our world needs this vision, but we need to do it in
a way that connects with others, is invitational, and
allows the younger generations to become the ances-
tors for future generations—as described by Maureen
Lahiff during her reflection at the Assembly. This
means we have to give space for the Holy Spirit to
guide us on where in the water we put out our nets.
We have to do things differently! As Sr. Mary said, “we
are all being asked to change.”
We have many nets out in the water, including our
parishes, lgbt ministry, Justice & Peace, volunteers,
Companions, and more. As individuals and as a com-
munity we need to see how we can cast these nets into
other waters. W