Fr. Greg’s leadership, the Province of the Pacific
Formation House in South Berkeley became Sonnino
Mission House. Fr. Jeff Keyes, ordained for the
Missionaries of the Precious Blood in fall 1990, and Fr.
Greg lived at Sonnino.
Fr. Greg invited women in ministry, including Gerry
and me, to help the Sonnino team plan activities and
develop Sonnino’s ministries to people on the mar-
gins of church and society. By spring of 1994, Gerry
and I were members of the Sonnino team, which also
included Fr. Jim Franck and Fr. Gary Luiz.
The vision of Sonnino as a place of outreach and
welcome was short-lived, but the experiences of be-
ing invited and encouraged to develop ministries
had long-lasting effects for Gerry and for me. Gerry
went on to complete a doctorate of ministry with the
Graduate Theological Foundation, and with Fr. Greg
Comella’s support to preach for Isaiah Ministries and
then for Precious Blood Missions with Father Dennis
Chriszt. And Gerry is the ancestor of the Sonoma-
Marin Companions Group.
Why all this talk about ancestors? Because I want
to invite each of you and all of us together to consider
several related questions: Who were our ancestors?
What did our ancestors envision for us? And, most
importantly: What sort of ancestors do we want to be?
I believe the question from Native American elders
and activists, "What sort of ancestor do you want to
be?" invites us to take a larger and longer perspective
in our discussions on community life. We are ances-
tors, we have tremendous power and tremendous
responsibilities to invite, encourage, and support
others. We need to choose what to hand on from what
we’ve been given, and what we want to adapt and add.
We also need to decide what we do not want to hand
on, because it no longer enriches and supports us and
those we invite to join us.
There is much at stake here, and to succeed we need
to look beyond ourselves, to those who come after us.
What sort of ancestors do we want to be? What sort of
ancestors do we need to be? W
In the Blood, continued from page 5
poetic prayer as we seek to live in a deeper commu-
nion in the blood of Christ.
How much of my mother has my mother left in me?
How much of my love will be insane to some degree?
And what about this feeling that I’m never good enough?
Will it wash out in the water, or is it always in the blood?
How much of my father am I destined to become?
Will I dim the lights inside me just to satisfy someone?
Will I let this woman kill me, or do away with jealous love?
Will it wash out in the water, or is it always in the blood?
I can feel the love I want, I can feel the love I need,
But it’s never gonna come the way I am.
Could I change it if I wanted, can I rise above the flood?
Will it wash out in the water, or is it always in the blood?
How much like my brothers, do my brothers wanna be?
Does a broken home become another broken family?
Or will we be there for each other, like nobody ever could?
Will it wash out in the water or is it always in the blood?
My friends, I believe we can “rise above the flood” of
all those forces in our world today that seek to silence,
that threaten to expel and exclude our neighbors, that
deny human rights and take human lives through ter-
ror. I believe we can be people who are passionately
engaged and involved in what Pope Francis has called
“the revolution of tenderness” as we live our charism
as missionaries of the blood of Christ. We can do this
because our mission of inclusiveness, of reconciliation,
of transformation will not be “washed out in the wa-
ter” because it’s always in the blood. I pray as we take
our dialogue deeper this week, we will know the love
we want and need in the bond of charity; and even if
we can’t change certain things about ourselves even
if we wanted to, we will show once again that we are
brothers and sisters who are there for each other “like
nobody ever could.”
And we will be there for each other because “it is
always in the blood.” W
July 2017 • The New Wine Press • 7