In the Blood
by Fr. Joe Nassal, c.pp.s., Provincial Director
The following contains excerpts from Fr. Joe Nassal’s opening talk at the 2017 Provincial Assembly.
I read in the New York Times yesterday that tonight
on hbo there is the debut of a new documentary
called, “If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast.” The
documentary looks at the lives of famous entertainers
who are still working well into their 90 s . People like
Carl Reiner, Betty White, Mel Brooks, and Norman
Lear. For example, Carl Reiner, who some wisdom fig-
ures may remember from the 1950 s working with Sid
Caesar on “Your Show of Shows,” is 95 and his most re-
cent book is called, Too Busy to Die. His comedic com-
rade, Mel Brooks, is 90 and is working on a Broadway
version of his famous film, “Young Frankenstein” that
is opening this October in London. Brooks is quoted
in the New York Times’ piece saying the “thought of
him slowing down in older age is heresy.”
“The culture has an impression of aging that is
not realistic,” Norman Lear says in the Times’ article
about the hbo documentary. “To get the laughs, it
paints a picture of older people as infirm, as whiny,
and as incapacitated and foolish. I don’t think that’s
who we are.”
I know that is not who we are as Missionaries of the
Precious Blood—regardless of our chronological age.
Because as Mel Brooks said in the Times’ article, “If we
die, then we can’t do much. But as long as we’re alive,
we can still tap dance, we can still crack a joke, we can
still sing a song, we can still tell a story.”
That’s what we’ve been doing this past year and a half
as we have engaged in a series of conversation about
our community life. We can still tell our stories.
Recently, the Sacred Heart Missionary, Diarmuid
O’Murchu, published a new book called, Religious Life
in the 21st Century: The Prospect of Refounding. My first
thought when I saw the title was that’s so 1990 s and
Jubilarians during the 2017 Assembly
early 2000 s . That’s what
we called the process
we are presently en-
gaged in back then: re-
founding. But as Barry
Fischer wrote recently
in the Cup of the New
Covenant: “Refounding
was an attempt to live a
dynamic dialogue with
the Spirit constantly
calling us to new life in
creative fidelity to our congregational charism. Today
there is a new word being used although I think we are
basically talking about the same thing. How can we
continue to be a vital community at the service of mis-
sion inspired by the spirituality of the Blood of Christ
and our missionary charism?”
In his new book, O’Murchu believes the future of
religious life will be revived through communal soul-
searching. This is what we have been about this past
year and a half—and especially these past six months.
For some of us it has seemed redundant because didn’t
we do this in the 1990 s when we had a Committee
on Membership and we surveyed all members and
companions to come up with the book, People of the
Spirit? And didn’t we do this in the early 2000 s when
we gathered in Warrensville with members from the
Cincinnati, Atlantic, and Pacific Provinces to dialogue
about becoming a new creation community in the
blood of Christ?
But now we are asked to go even deeper into
this paschal mystery and the bond of charity that
unites us as a community dedicated to the blood of
Christ. And it is this reality, this truth—the blood
of Christ—that draws us near and takes us deeper
in our dialogue during these days. During these
days, we will be engaged in what we are now calling
Reimagining Community Life.
Finally, as we enter these days together, a song I’ve
been hearing a lot lately resonates with me and what
we will be about these days. It is by John Mayer and
is called, “In the Blood.” The lyrics of the song offer a
continued on page 7
July 2017 • The New Wine Press • 5