Missionaries Without Borders
by Fr. Barry Fischer, c.pp.s., Cincinnati Province
While living in Santiago, Chile I was invited
by some very good friends (my Chilean family) to
accompany them on a five-day trip to Mendoza,
Argentina. I was happy to accept their invitation. At
the time, I enjoyed “permanent residency” in Chile.
So, we embarked on our trip up north and then
traveled high into the Andes to cross the border into
Argentina. When we arrived at the border between
the two countries, we parked our car and made our
way into the customs area to have our documents
checked and stamped. My friends were ahead of me in
line and had no trouble getting their papers stamped
showing their identification cards. I was up next. The
policeman asked me, “Where is your passport?” I
gave him my “permanent residency visa” for Chile. It
didn´t work! “I am sorry, Father, but you are a North
American, and since your country demands a visa for
Argentinians, it is reciprocal.”
I was in a tight spot. I asked the gendarme, “Well,
what can I do?” He replied that I would have to go
back to Santiago, get a visa, and return the next day!
I wondered how I would do that since I was with
friends in their car? “Oh don´t worry," he said, “we
will put you on the border, and you can hitch a ride
with the next bus that comes through that will take
you back to Santiago. I was told to wait. I motioned
over to my friends who had already crossed into
Argentina to go on and hopefully I would catch up
with them somehow in the next day or so. After a wait
that seemed like an eternity, the gendarme called me
up to the counter and said, “Father, you are a mission-
ary, right?” I said yes. “Well,” he said, “they say that
missionaries don´t have a country. So, in this case, I
am authorized to grant you a visa for five days!” He
stamped the visa and said, “Enjoy your visit, but next
time don´t forget to get a visa!”
As a missionary who has lived outside the u.s. for
forty-eight years, I have become sort of a “Missionary
without Frontiers.” I truly feel “at home” wherever
I am. I no longer think in categories of “we” and
“them.” We are sisters and brothers sharing a common
charism, sustained and impelled by the spirituality of
the Blood of Christ. I believe my life experiences in
Perú, Chile, Guatemala, Italy, and Austria—as well as
visiting all of our missionaries around the world when
I was Moderator General—have stretched my mental-
ity and dismantled any walls I might have previously
built around my heart.
We are engaged in a dialogue about a “New
Creation” in the United States that would bring to-
gether the Provinces of Kansas City and Cincinnati to
serve our shared mission to be agents of reconciliation
and renewal in the Church and society. As I expressed
in my presentation at both Province Assemblies
recently, we laid the groundwork for this process at
least thirty years ago. This process began through our
collaboration in numerous areas, starting with forma-
tion and vocation ministry, with the Companion
movement, through preaching, workshops, and
retreats both on the national and international level,
and through our community newsletters and publica-
tions. A renewed sense of Precious Blood spirituality
inspired all this work.
As I reflect on my own life’s journey, one element
which was clearly influential in breaking down the
walls of thinking in the dualistic terms of “we” and
“they” was the interaction with members of other
provinces, vicariates, and missions. When I was able
to put faces on the other and dialogue with them,
previous prejudices and suspicions began to dis-
solve as I got to know the members, seminarians, and
Companions and lay associates. Surely, each unit has
its distinctive characteristics, but these should not be
a cause of conflict or competition, but rather viewed
as a possibility of enrichment to enhance our com-
mon mission for the service of the church and of the
people. We share a common desire to respond to the
cry of the blood in our particular contexts. The Blood
of Christ breaks down the walls that might separate us
and brings about “a new creation.”
Another aspect, which helped to stretch my
mentality, was the growing awareness in our congre-
gation that we (incorporated members and candi-
dates, lay associates/companions and volunteers)
are all Missionaries of the Precious Blood. We share
a common mission that becomes more important
continued on page 9
September 2018 • The New Wine Press • 7