The New Wine Press vol 25 no 3 November 2016 | Page 5

Leadership Intentional Living and Ministry by Fr. Ron Will, c.pp.s., Leadership Team Several months ago I was feeling unusual sensations in my chest. These led to a heart catheterization and an angioplasty of a blocked artery. Three months later I was feeling strange sensations again when I walked at an accelerated level. That led to another heart catheterization and the placement of a stent in a different artery that was 95% blocked. I still have a partial blockage at a place that cannot be stented. So I live with the reality of limited blood flow. That reality certainly puts me in touch with my mortality. It makes me think a little differently as I engage in activities and ponder what my long-term future is. But I certainly am not going to stop ministry because of this. In a parallel way our Precious Blood Community has limited resources—considering the age and number of our members. That certainly is not going to stop us from engaging in dynamic ministry in the present and in the future, or stop planning for the future. Just as I keep dreaming and planning about the future of St. Francis Xavier Parish, we are doing the same thing for the Kansas City Province. My health condition makes me live a little more intentionally. I want to make a positive impact. God also wants me to make a positive impact on people’s lives. In a similar way, our Community wants to make a positive impact on people’s lives. There is no use in hoarding our personnel or our financial personal resources. Why not invest them in people’s lives now? We are about to begin a new Liturgical Year with the First Sunday of Advent. We will begin preparing for the coming of the Kingdom of God in a new way. Jesus is coming. What can we do to cooperate, to welcome, to make his activity most effective in people’s lives? How can we prepare people to receive Jesus in a new way, on a new level, during this new Liturgical Year? How can the Kansas City Province prepare people to receive and encounter Jesus Christ on a new level now and during our next fifty years? During our Marillac ii Gathering in August 2016, we named the desire of our members to create something new. This is now a real possibility. In September, the Provincial Councils of the three North American Provinces met in Chicago. We also named a desire for a new creation—a new model—for our Precious Blood Community that will speak more effectively to the Church and the world today. This is more than writing a new chapter in our Community history. It will be more like changing from hand-written letters to computer technology. We keep creating new wine, but we also need new wineskins into which to put it. We can’t keep fine-tuning the engine of a car that has no wheels. We are not thriving as a Community. I believe that we need a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit on ourselves for that to happen. During Marillac ii we named the specific desire for more faith sharing among our Members. If we do that honestly and intentionally, continued on page 5 November 2016 • The New Wine Press • 3