The New Wine Press vol 25 no 10 June 2017 | Page 7

Precious Blood Companions
Precious Blood community, I think it is sometimes
easier to relax and stay in the comfort of the familiar.
Gather, Send, our vision statement, challenges us to
create something that will stretch us out of our com-
fort zones. It states, “We bring the cup of spirituality
to ever-widening circles, to people of all generations,
races and cultures.” One knows though that the simple
act of stretching can be dangerous and scary. I imag-
ine that the first disciples at Pentecost were terrified.
Fr. Ben Berinti in his book Firestarters, appropriately
described this tension: “For some, the presence of
the Holy Spirit, the beauty and power and grace that
cascades from the heart of God, and is now the liv-
ing presence of the Christ in our midst, is best left at a
distance—to be looked upon, or observed, or timidly
recited as the words in a half-spent prayer or hymn….
And yet, the Holy Spirit is given to all God’s creation as
the power by which the world is gradually transformed
into the fullness of God’s of God’s reign. The Holy
Spirit is given not for show, or for looks, or for decora-
tion—but rather to be used, to be encountered, and to
be both grabbed hold of and to be grabbed by!”
Over the next year, we will begin to discus s what this
stretching means for Companions as well as for the
larger Precious Blood community. Each of us will be
challenged to step out of our corner of safety so we can
encounter our own Pentecost moment.
What propels us out of that corner of safety is the
fire of the Holy Spirit. When we allow ourselves to
be enflamed with the Spirit, the anxiety and dread of
trying something new gets burnt and tossed away. The
warmth of the Spirit keeps us safe during those scary
and challenging times and the flame of the Spirit keeps
us moving and going forward in faith. During my visit
to St. Agnes, that is what the youth and young adults
reminded me as we listened and shared our stories.
They reminded me that what separates us is irrelevant
when we take that first leap forward into the unknown
guided by the Spirit. And when we take the second
leap forward we truly then can be those messengers of
reconciliation and renewal that St. Gaspar longed for.
Unless the eye catch fire, God will not be seen.
Unless the ear catch fire, God will not be heard.
Unless the tongue catch fire, God will not be tamed.
Unless the heart catch fire, God will not be loved.
Unless the mind catch fire, God will not be known.
May we be willing to catch fire and bring forth
and share God’s love with everyone. Come, Holy
Spirit, Come! W
Leadership, continued from page 3
mission” is asking from us a new approach in the
renewal of the Church by acknowledging that the
people we are called to serve are “out there” rather
than “in here.” Or, to use the image of Gaspar, how
are we being called to minister to those who are liv-
ing in “caves” because they don’t feel welcomed in the
city square?
This “reading the signs of the times in faith” seems
to call us to a new place. Tradition is a wonderful
aspect of life until it gets in the way of deeper, fur-
ther growth. We study Tradition to understand how
people made decisions based on the knowledge that
was available at the time. But as more knowledge
comes to light, a new expression will be demanded.
This new response does not deny the past but builds
on it with deep respect and reverence. Our Tradition
says that we are to preach the Word for the renewal
of the Church. We are to read the signs of the times
in light of our faith. Our response will be inadequate
if we simply answer in the same way our ancestors
answered 100 or even 50 years ago. They were faithful
in how they answered then, we are called to be faith-
ful in how we answer for today.
There are different ways to express our faithfulness
today, but one thing is clear: faithfulness is never
expressed if motivated by fear of change or fear of the
unknown. The dreams that motivated our ancestors
in faith to expand their lives to new frontiers offers a
model of how we are to allow our dreams to enlarge
our tents and embrace the ongoing mission of the re-
newal of the Church and world. What are the dreams
that inform your life for the future? May all of our
dreams be guided by faith as we respond to the signs
of our times. W
Fr. Ben Berinti concluded his story of Pentecost by
sharing a poem by William Blake. Blake wrote:
June 2017 • The New Wine Press • 5