everyday holiness, who has not done much spiritual
reading. The only thing that is not easy is living by
these precepts.
I think the best parts (if you read no other part)
are the third and fourth chapters. Chapter three
(paragraphs 67-109) gives a four-paragraph overview
of each of Matthew's Beatitudes. The next 47 para-
graphs (chapter four) unpack the virtues for living
the Beatitudes: perseverance, patience, meekness, joy,
a sense of humor, boldness, passion, living in com-
munity, and living in constant prayer. The reflections
here would be an excellent source for a personal day of
reflection or a retreat.
The other parts are quite useful as well. Pope Francis
provides a detailed critique of two revived heresies—
Gnosticism and Pelagianism—that threaten our spiri-
tual welfare. Gnosticism is a tendency to reduce faith to
pure ideas. Pelagianism holds up practice—doing the
right things—as the main means of salvation, rather
than God's mercy through Christ. Both have a tendency
to diminish the role of the real presence of Christ and
dependence on His love and mercy.
The last section gives the best description of spiritual
combat I have seen, with a firm warning about com-
placency. Pope Francis says: “Spiritual corruption is
worse than the fall of a sinner, for it is a comfortable and
self-satisfied form of blindness. Everything then appears
acceptable: deception, slander, egotism, and other subtle
forms of self-centeredness....”
As Precious Blood people, this gift from the Holy
Father will lead us to uncover some of the roots of com-
munity life Gaspar sought to instill from the beginning.
It is also a practical guide—useful for any spiritual
seeker—which proclaims the dignity and equality of ev-
ery vocation, every occupation, every journey we make:
“Are you called to the consecrated life? Be holy by
living out your commitment with joy. Are you married?
Be holy by loving and caring for your husband or wife,
as Christ does for the Church. Do you work for a living?
Be holy by laboring with integrity and skill in the service
of your brothers and sisters. Are you a parent or grand-
parent? Be holy by patiently teaching the little ones how
to follow Jesus. Are you in a position of authority? Be
holy by working for the common good and renouncing
personal gain” (paragraph 14).
Leadership, continued from page 3
has sent me, so I send you.” Then he breathed on
them and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive
others’ sins they are forgiven them; if you hold them
bound, they are held bound” (20:31-33).
This commission given by Jesus did not stop
with his immediate followers. The call to engage
in the ministry of healing broken spirits continues
throughout the generations of followers of Jesus. It
was a call St. Gaspar heard; it was a call St. Maria
heard. It was a call to engage in bringing healing to
many in their time and place. It was a call to con-
tinue Jesus’ work of reconciliation.
It is a call that we also must heed and follow. How
to answer this call effectively can challenge us. It is
a question we are presently wrestling with in the
Cincinnati and Kansas City Provinces. What has
worked in the past may not necessarily work today.
What new creation will enable us to do so? The Holy
Spirit is not just a Spirit of Wholeness, it is also a
Spirit of Wisdom. It is a Spirit that is freely given to
us. The question for us is: Is it a Spirit we are willing
to embrace fully as we wrestle with coming up with a
new creation?
Pope Francis has been setting an example for us.
In his most recent Apostolic Exhortation, Gaudete
et Exsultate, he encourages the followers of Jesus
to continue his work by reaching out to those who
are broken in spirit. This brokenness can take many
forms. As he writes, “Our defense of the innocent
unborn, for example, needs to be clear, firm and
passionate, for at stake is the dignity of human life,
which is always sacred and demands love for each
person regardless of his or her stage of development.
Equally sacred, however, are the lives of the poor,
those already born, the destitute, the abandoned
and the underprivileged, the vulnerable infirm and
elderly exposed to covert euthanasia, the victims of
human trafficking, new forms of slavery and every
form of rejection.”
The woman who was sitting in front of me in
the jail is only one of the many in our world with a
broken spirit. It was to such people that Jesus reached
out to bring healing. It is a call that is extended to us,
“As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” May we
faithfully follow this call.
June 2018 • The New Wine Press • 5