The New Wine Press vol 25 no 4 December 2016 | Page 5

Leadership

A Passion for the Possible
by Fr. Joe Nassal, c.pp.s., Provincial Director

Brother David Steindl-Rast in his book, Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer, writes,
“Hope looks at all things the way a mother looks at her child, with a passion for
the possible.” As we approach this Christmas season, we hear how our ancestors
in faith looked at hope this way. It is the way Elizabeth looked at John, calling him
by that name over the objections of family and neighbors. When her husband
Zechariah, muted because of his lack of trust that God makes all things possible confirmed the name, he burst into a song that would become our morning
canticle. And all those neighbors and friends who were so confined by tradition
asked, “What will this child be?” as John’s ancient parents found themselves dwelling in possibility.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, pondered all these events surrounding his birth in
her heart. Imagine her holding her newborn son, cradling him in her arms as he
slept, the smell of damp straw clinging to her threadbare shawl, gently brushing
away a stray piece from his head, dwelling in possibility: What will this child be?
Brother David calls this kind of hope a “way of looking that is creative. It creates
the space which perfection can unfold. More than that,” he writes, “the eyes of
hope look through all imperfections to the heart of all things and find it perfect.” God and our covenant of love with God and one another is at the heart of
the new creation and at the heart of all things. With God, all things are possible.
Impossible dreams become a reality because God dwells in possibility. Where
God is, everything is possible.
As we look forward to the celebration of Christmas and the beginning of a new
year, it offers us an opportunity to ask, “What will this child be?” This child of
God dwelling within me. What will this congregation committed to the spirituality of the Precious Blood be? What will the Kansas City Province be? How will we
incarnate the love of God dwelling in possibility in community, in our neighborhoods, in our faith communities, in our workplaces and schools?
You see, the spirituality of the Precious Blood calls us to a new creation. This is
at the heart of the incarnation: we are called to live in a new way. During the past
year, even as the political campaign deteriorated into harsh and divisive attacks,
members of the Kansas City Province have sought to dialogue about our community life and how we move forward into the future. Our conversations have been
rich, deep, and wide expressions of what our founder St. Gaspar called “the bond
of charity.”
We have attempted to be incarnational in our conversation. That is, our words
count—they mean something. This is important, or else our desire to become a
new creation—to create something new as Missionaries of the Precious Blood
living and serving in the United States—is more of a curiosity than a commitment. If we are just curious about a new creation and not committed to becoming
a new creation, then we will die. We will cease being relevant in the church and
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December 2016 • The New Wine Press • 3