Our Call to Conversion
By Barry Fischer, C.PP.S.

Introduction
The previous issue of The Cup concentrated on the Ministry of the Word, the specific apostolic objective of our Congregation. Paul VI, in his memorable Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelium Nuntiandi, reminds us that "For the Church, evangelizing means bringing the Good News into all the strata of humanity, and through its influence transforming humanity from within and making it new…The Church evangelizes when she seeks to convert…both the personal and collective consciences of people, the activities in which they engage, and the lives and concrete milieux which are theirs." (#18) . Then the Holy Father continues in #19, "For the Church it is a question…also of affecting and as it were upsetting, through the power of the Gospel, mankind's criteria of judgment, determining values, points of interest, lines of thought, sources of inspiration and models of life, which are in contrast with the Word of God and the plan of salvation." In the Preamble to our Constitutions it states that "living together in mission houses they (the missionaries) were a source of continual renewal for the priests and the people" (C1).
In September, 2000 the Major Superiors, meeting in Kufstein, Austria, formally approved the Profile of the Missionary of the Precious Blood as an official Document of our General Formation Program. They saw fit to add to the introduction a phrase which called all members of the Congregation to use this profile for ongoing growth and renewal. St. Gaspar liked to remind his Missionaries that when we preach the Word of God to others, we must, at the same time, preach it to ourselves! In other words, we are constantly called to conversion as well.

Instruments of Renewal
I would like to suggest some particular aspects of our call to renewal as a Congregation. In order for us to become agents of renewal and conversion in the Church and in society, we must first of all immerse ourselves in the process of renewal. What are some of those areas of renewal, transformation, and growth? I will reflect on our call in these areas using the familiar three pillars of our identity, namely, mission, community, and spirituality.

Mission. The call of the blood invites us to probe more deeply the resources of the Precious Blood. We are called to let go of our securities, our known worlds, our proven apostolates, in order to venture into the worlds of the "other". We are called to risk. As members of a Congregation we put our gifts and talents at the service of our corporate mission, instead of clinging to our own personal projects. Our commitment as missionaries to mobility and flexibility urges us to shake off the shackles which bind us to one place, so as to be able to respond better to the cry of the blood today. St. Gaspar reminds us: "We are not statues!" We are at the service of the local Church and should contribute to the pastoral plans of the diocese from the richness of our charism instead of seeing it as a merely internal aspect of our life and ministry. Since the Second Vatican Council, the Church recognizes the mission of all the baptized. Consequently, we are called to shed the vestiges of clericalism so as to minister in greater collaboration with the laity, with men and women, and with other religious for the building of God's Reign. We are called to be less individualistic and more collaborative in our approach to ministry. And cognizant of the mission of the Church in the world, we need to leave the sacristies and not be concerned only about the internal management of the Church, but moreso about the growth of God's Reign in the world. We are invited to let go of a model of priesthood centered on power and prestige, and to enter into a model of the priesthood centered on Christ: of humble service, of compassion, and of solidarity. We are called to rediscover being missionary by moving from maintaining our institutions, to greater flexibility and mobility, retrieving the prophetic aspect of our life and mission. Instead of accommodating ourselves to the cultures in which we serve, we learn to read the signs of the times and live counterculturally.

Community. As a Congregation we are clearly experiencing a growth in our sense of internationality. We begin to acquire a broader perspective and become less near-sighted. We shed our provincial mentalities to grow in our sense of responsibility for the global C.PP.S. family! In a multicultural society and church, we die to our prejudices and veiled racisms, in order to live the spirit of kenosis or self-emptying (cf. Phil 2:7). We thus let go of our sense of cultural superiority, so as to enter into a respectful relationship with people who are culturally different, in which we are opened to be mutually enriched. We are called to move from a monocultural point of view to a multicultural one as a Congregation. As witnesses to the Blood of the Covenant, community life is more than just living under the same roof; it is a true communion of relationships, based on dialogue and communication. In today's world, we are called to see authority as more than an exercise of control and imposition. It must also be based on service, dialogue and mutual discernment. In community today, our members expect to be respected as individuals and not merely as part of an anonymous mass of people. In our initial and ongoing formation, the member is recognized as a subject of his formation and not as an object to be formed by another. And as we share our spirituality and mission with the laity, we are called to live more "open communities" rather than communities closed in on ourselves.

Spirituality. Over the past thirty to forty years we have experienced a significant growth in our understanding of the spirituality of the Precious Blood. We need to continue to grow, from an understanding of the Precious Blood as a mere devotional practice to the living of an incarnated spirituality which informs and sustains both our mission and our community life. We are called to share the rich treasure of the spirituality of the Precious Blood with the local Church and to discover its implications for the way we live our mission. Above all, in order that the spirituality of the Precious Blood become the motor and driving force of our lives, we need to make the connections and to discover its implications for our everyday lives, discovering in it the power which unites all aspects of our lives. We need to discover new expressions and a new language to communicate its richness and its viability to people in today's world.

In this Issue
I have tried to point to different aspects of our lives and ministries which are called to conversion and to reform, if we are to be relevant in today's world, and if the Ministry of the Word in which we are engaged is to call others to conversion and reform by the witness of our own lives. In this issue you will find several articles touching the experiences of various missionaries, both laity and incorporated members, who reflect on their own experiences of "conversion" in the light of our Precious Blood identity.

Fr. Bob Schreiter leads us off with a reflection on the biblical concept of conversion, from the prophets to Jesus, and also examines the call of the Blood and its implications for conversion in our lives. Jean and Mark Giesege share with us how becoming Companions in the Cincinnati Province has meant the growth of new relationships and enrichment both for them as lay persons as well as for the incorporated members of the Province. Fr. Giuseppe Montenegro, a veteran missionary in both Tanzania and in India, reflects upon how living in diverse cultures has called him to growth as a person and to a new understanding of his being missionary. Fr. Luis Briones, a Chilean missionary, opens up for us the social aspect of conversion and transformation as a consequence of evangelization. He reflects upon how the Gospel is a summons not only to personal and spiritual conversion, but also how it impacts the transformation of social and ecclesial structures. And, finally, Fr. Jerry Stack, chaplain in a mental institution in California, shares his conversion from an understanding of the Precious Blood as a devotional practice to a spirituality which has enriched him and his ministry.

Call to Growth
In the first Precious Blood Study Weeks in the American Province years ago, a recurrent theme was that of the Paschal Mystery. The ASC Sisters state very clearly in their Constitutions that the Paschal Mystery is at the heart of Precious Blood Spirituality and we make reference to it as well (Normative Texts, C4). The Paschal Mystery isn't some kind of intellectual concept we cite as central, but then don't want to experience. For Jesus, the Paschal Mystery wasn't just an idea. It's about dying to rise to new life! It is at the heart of our following of Jesus, in fidelity to the Call of the Blood! It is the very stuff of conversion and renewal!
Our communities were born in order to respond to the ever-changing challenges of the Church and they will continue to exist only in the measure in which they are able to respond to those needs today, and when the charism of the Founder or Foundress takes on new forms in these times and cultures. That means dying to old forms and structures, and being born to new ones. Again, isn't that living the paschal mystery? Isn't this what a missionary spirituality is all about? Isn't the Blood of Christ calling out to us today, beaconing and luring us to respond with creativity, as Gaspar did in his times? For only when we are ourselves are open to conversion and renewal can we preach with credibility the transforming Word of God to others.

Conversion and the Call of the Blood
by Robert Schreiter, C.PP.S.

A Basic Christian Concept
The call to conversion is one of the most fundamental concepts to be found in the Bible. The prophets in the Old Testament exhorted the people time and again to turn away from idols and from immorality, and to turn back to God and seek mercy and salvation. These two fundamental dynamics of turning away and turning toward hold a rich range of meanings. In turning away, we are suddenly confronted with an awareness that what had occupied our minds and hearts is not what makes us happy or just. What promised us happiness and fullness turns out to be lifeless and without a future. We close the door on that kind of past: we repent of the way in which we had been living.
In turning away from such things, we find ourselves drawn to God, and to God's gifts of mercy and love. It is these gifts which give us life and hope. The experience of conversion is one of being drawn away from a kind of half-life and being opened up to new and exciting possibilities. Conversion, then, involves two moments: a moment of turning away or repenting; and then a turning toward someone or something else which brings with it a sense of a new commitment.
The call to conversion stands at the center of Jesus' ministry in the New Testament. In Mark's Gospel, it opens the story of Jesus' work on earth: "Turn your lives around
for the Reign of God is near!" (Mark 1:15) Here the turning away allows us to see what is coming to us--the Reign of God. We find that our hearts and minds have been facing in the wrong direction, and therefore have not allowed us to see what is coming over us.
In the New Testament, the great story of conversion is the story of Saul, who turns from persecuting the Church of Christ into its most zealous apostle. In the subsequent history of the Church we have other dramatic stories of conversion, such as that of Augustine or Ignatius of Loyola. In all of these, those who experience conversion are overwhelmed with sorrow for their past and with gratitude how God watched over them and led them to a very different place in their lives.
St. Gaspar did not experience such a dramatic conversion in his own life, but experienced something of this conversion in his prison experiences as a young priest. It was not a matter of repenting of the past (he certainly did not repent of his fidelity to the Pope), but of having the adversity of his imprisonment refine ever more deeply his turning toward God. It helped him see more clearly in his subsequent preaching and missionary work where repentance and conversion were needed, and call more compelling to sinners to accept the mercy and love of God.

The Call of the Blood
The C.PP.S. ministry of the renewal of the Church through the ministry of the Word is intimately bound up with our accepting the call to conversion in our own lives and offering that call to others. Here I would like to focus upon the resources of our spirituality of the Blood of Christ as a means to conversion, how that spirituality both calls us to conversion and sustains and strengthens us in that turn to God.
Fr. Barry Fischer has often spoken of the two dimensions of our spirituality: the cry of the Blood and the call of the Blood. The cry of the Blood is found in those situations in which injustice, sin, and death are present. Those situations cry out, just as the blood of Abel cried out and was heard by God. Those who live a spirituality of the Blood of Christ listen for the cry of the Blood in their own situations, for there is where we must go and act.
Along with the cry of the Blood, there is the call of the Blood, namely, the lure of what Jesus Christ has done for us in the shedding of his Blood. As we enter that great mystery, we are drawn forward ever more deeply into it, so as to participate more completely in the salvation and the reconciliation offered us in the shedding of Christ's blood.
The call of the Blood, then, is the invitation to enter into that great field of grace which transforms and reconciles the world. It is the moment of "turning toward" in conversion, the positive moment where the shortcomings, the sins, the injustice of the past are overcome and the great transformation takes place.
At the heart of the spirituality of the Blood of Christ is the realization that the call of the Blood always manifests the two sides of life and death. Blood, in the sense of the Old Testament writings, was the line of demarcation between life and death. Death is fully in evidence, but life is already making its mark. This is operative in all the great symbols which mark our spirituality: covenant, cross, cup, the Lamb, and reconciliation.
The covenant, the call to a new and full life with God, only can be understood against the background of what life is like outside covenant. For the Israelites, they were a no-people, wandering in the wilderness, until God forged them into a people with the convenant at Sinai. Before the convenant, they were alone. Now they belonged in a special way to God. Indeed, it is only within the circle of the convenant that the Israelites could realize how desolate their situation before actually was.
The cross is surely the most paradoxical of signs. On the one hand, it was the supreme instrument of shame, reserved as a means of execution for the worst enemies of the state. But it also becomes the throne of God, the dwelling place God chooses "outside the gates" (cf. Heb 13) to reveal the reconciliation of the world. Indeed, it is the Blood of the cross which brings peace to the world (Col 1:20).
The cup, the new convenant in Christ's blood, is at once the cup of bitterness which Christ in his passion and death must drink, the cup which he prays might pass from him; and it is the cup of celebration which he will drink with his disciples once again in the Kingdom of God.
The Lamb of the Book of Revelation is at once the lamb who has been slain, and the lamb now on the throne, surrounded by all those who have come through the great tribulation, and now praise God forever.
Reconciliation, as expressed in Eph 2:13-16, is expressed in how Christ's blood has brought those once far off and divided into a peaceful unity, invited into the household of God as a single family.
In all of these great symbols at the heart of our spirituality, the message is the same. The experience of conversion is the dual experience of turning away from a past and an embracing of a far better future. What makes that turning possible is the Blood of Christ, which helps us see why we cannot continue in the past, and which then calls us to communion with God.
The call of the blood comes to us in many ways in our lives, often in ways we could not have anticipated. But its continuing lure is a sign of God's commitment to us to offer us the forgiveness, mercy, and love which are signs of God's presence among us.

Born Again As Companions
By Mark and Jean Giesege

Born Again?

My husband, Mark, had just completed a transaction at a flea market when the vendor handed him a small card proclaiming his love of Jesus Christ.

"Have you been born again?" asked the vendor, at that most unlikely time and place for evangelization.

"Yes, I have," Mark said. It is a quick and easy defense against aggressive Christians of all kinds: claim fellowship, and maybe they will let you alone.

But as he spoke the words, Mark realized their essential truth: yes, he had been born again. It hadn't been the lightning-bolt, knee-dropping conversion experienced by some, but he had been converted all the same, inch by inch. God had seeped through him like water through sand, eroding some parts of him and saturating others, until the new Mark would be almost unrecognizable to the old Mark. There, in the noise and dust and earthbound junk of the flea market, he acknowledged that he had been changed. And when he came home and told me the story, I realized that I too had experienced the same kind of quiet conversion.

Called to Be Companions
Mark and I have been married since 1987. Both raised Catholic, we set up housekeeping in a small house in the shadow of our church. We had jobs that we enjoyed, a house, a car, and a baby on the way, but something was missing. That missing piece arrived in a letter one day from our pastor, Fr. James McCabe, C.PP.S. He invited us to a meeting about a new group that was to be formed called Companions. Its members would form a closer association with the Missionaries of the Precious Blood.

That was in 1990. Perhaps not many people who experience a 10-year conversion can pinpoint the exact moment when it began, but for us it was at that meeting. We decided to continue with the Companions, even though sometimes we felt like miners in a darkened cave, following a small flickering light to new air. There had never been Companions before, and no one knew what a Companion looked like, or what a Companion was supposed to do. There were many times of frustration and rejection, when we wondered if this new relationship was worth the effort. Surely our old relationship with each other could have sustained us, with God standing by quietly to help us through the occasional crisis.

But I think God grows restless when he is asked to stand by. He is the Great Nudger of the Universe, the Master of the Insistent Whisper, the Force Who Knocks Quietly. Through the tutelage of Bro. Gabriel Bridges, Fr. Denny Kinderman, Bro. Jerry Hall, Fr. Ray Cera and other C.PP.S. members, Mark and I grew in our studies of St. Gaspar, the society, and the spirituality of the Precious Blood and gradually it became second nature to us, to look at life from a Precious Blood perspective, to respond to the storms and sunshine of our life with a Precious Blood sensibility.

Companions and Members Growing in Conversion
We are not great theologians. I can't pretend that it was our prayerful study that led us to this new life. Rather, it was our association with Precious Blood people, with the priests and brothers and other Companions, that brought us to our quiet conversion. We saw in so many of them the light that we had been searching for at the end of our tunnel. We wanted that light to glow in our own lives, so we drew closer to them to learn how it could be kindled.

We drew so close that the Missionaries of the Precious Blood and their ministries have become a part of our lives, figuratively and literally. St. Gaspar, his teachings and the example of his life have been an inspiration and challenge to us. We continue to maintain our personal and spiritual relationships with the members and Companions in the society, and we also work for the C.PP.S., in addition to our jobs in the secular world. Mark is the assistant director for Companions in the Cincinnati Province, in addition to his secular work, and I work on C.PP.S. publications.

We see signs that this association with lay people has also converted the community, which has had to broaden and stretch. Companions are invited to community celebrations. They sit on committees within the society, and are involved in discussions about its future.

Conversion and Challenge
I wish I could say that our conversion has made our life easy, painless. It hasn't. I think that throughout all of history, we see examples of how conversion almost invariably makes life more difficult. Certainly there are many saints who died because of it. Those of us who have had the good fortune not to be killed on the rack for our faith face other problems because of our new Precious Blood perspective. We can no longer enjoy a good grudge, for instance. We are to advance the cause of reconciliation, and sometimes even to the point of forgiving an in-law. It is very demanding. It demands that we not avert our eyes from the causes of injustice, not block our ears to the cry of the poor. How inconvenient! It was easier when we could shop for bigger appliances without that vague feeling of unease, of inequality. God, the Great Nudger, does not stop nudging just because one nudge was successful.

I wish I could say that it has brought us lasting peace, but that doesn't exist in this world, not for born-again Christians or for anybody else. I still long for a refillable prescription to Paxil. The conversion continues. What we have found, though, is that the challenge of a Precious Blood way of life can be met with a Precious Blood way of thinking. Once the work of reconciliation is done, the reward is great peace.

We rejoice in this great gift that has been given to us, this new life that has so gradually overtaken the old life. We have four children now, all of them lovingly embraced by the Precious Blood community. They are growing up among Precious Blood people. In our opinion, with our new eyes, there is no better place to raise children, or adults.

Living in Other Cultures
by Giuseppe Montenegro, C.PP.S.

The Challenge of Living in Other Cultures
I thank God continually for the opportunity to have shared my life with people in African and
Asian cultures. It has been a special grace, an adventure, and a challenge. How many things have I learned from my brothers and sisters in these very different cultures? If I had to put it in a few words, it would be this: a deep love and respect for all of them. I love them-their way of life, their many hues, their way of doing things. I will try to share some of this in this article.

The Humility to Learn
When we come into contact with other cultures, we are challenged to learn and not to judge according to our own standards. In new situations, I try to enter a silent contemplation, amidst the people to whom I have been sent, in order to learn the deep meaning of every gesture.
I had to do this the first time in Tanzania, in East Africa, in 1966. I realized that I had to place myself in an attitude of listening. I had to learn from the people. I had to learn to appreciate the simple things, just like a baby has to do, starting from point zero. Our tendency is to compare our new experiences of a people with the culture to which we are accustomed. This can create all kinds of misunderstandings. The best thing to do is to look with humility into what is good in the other culture, and seek the deep meaning inside it.
On my first day in Tanzania, as I was walking along the streets of Dar es Salaam, I encountered a man who had leprosy. It was the first time in my life I had seen anyone with this disease. As I looked at him in his filthy clothing and saw his hands without fingers, I felt a sense of revulsion welling up within me. I had to work hard against this feeling in order to see him otherwise: This leper is one of my family, he is my brother… After a little while I felt love for him and wanted to embrace him. I touched those hands of his which had no fingers and gave him a little offering. This experience transformed the way I thought about the people among whom I was. It filled me with love and respect. I started to realize that the differences which exist among people make up the beauty of the world.

Adapting to Traditions
One time I was asked to drink an alcoholic drink together with a family, out of the same cup. It is a very important thing to do during family celebrations of moments of life or death. The drink was made from fermented maize bark or millet grain, flavoured with sugar or honey. Everyone drinks from the same cup, and to do that is a sign of friendship or of belonging to the same family. It was hard for me to put my lips to the rim of the same cup where other lips had already been. In my own culture, everybody drinks out of their own cup. But I lifted that same cup to my own lips, just as everyone else had did.
In Tanzania, the elders sit in judgment as the first tribunal of reconciliation. I remember a case where a young man had stolen a goat. People of the village had followed the tracks of the goat to the young man's house. He denied that he had stolen the goat, and so the people brought him to the elders' tribunal. He claimed that the goat had gone on its own to his house! This did not dissuade the elders, but in great patience, from morning until that evening, they tried to get him to confess. At sunset, when all his alibis had failed, he admitted what he had done.
The punishment they gave him was a fine of two goats: one to be returned to the owner, and one to be killed and eaten together with the elders and representatives of the village. The judgment of honesty and respect taught something to the whole village. Not only was the thief rehabilitated, but he was chosen chairman of the village two years later! In the humanity of their judgment, the elders achieved something that a prison sentence could never do.

Overcoming Prejudice and Racism
One night in Tanzania, sitting around a fire, people were asking questions about life and religion. A young boy asked, "Why did God create some people white and some people black? Is it true that blacks came from a curse which Noah placed on his son?" I tried to give them an easy answer. I explained that we are equal in our different colors, just as the flowers are. They were not convinced.
When we want to explain purity in Africa, we don't say "as pure as snow," since nobody knows what snow is. We say "as pure as milk." As luck would have it, there were some cows near by. I asked: "Did white cows give white milk and black cows black milk?" Everyone laughed and shouted, "No, no-all milk is white." So I said that all cows are equal, because they give the same kind of milk. And they and I were equal because our souls give the same good things. God made different colors for the beauty of creation. The cows that day helped me more than all kinds of theological disquisitions, and the story spread all around to other villages.

The Practice of Faith
The fear of God is in the heart of every human being. In India, in every house, in the very middle of the building, there is an important place dedicated to divinity. It is a small sanctuary, where morning and evening all members worship God, doing "puja." They intercede and pray to God. All the members of the family-young and old, even the children-off incense, fire, and flowers, coconuts and sweets. After prayer they take some of the offerings away with them as an act of sharing with divinity.
You will see the owners or drivers of cars and taxis performing their morning prayers. They offer incense and flowers (normally a small jasmine garland), which they put on the dashboard of their car. Only after this "puja" will the driver start the journey.
Important events of life are celebrated in the family with rituals performed by a priest or an elder of the family. The birth of a child, its first tooth, its first haircut; puberty, marriage, death-all are surrounded by offerings of prayers, incense, flowers and food.
I am full of admiration for all the cultures with which I have come into contact. I have learned a lot from every culture. Every person in the world is a wonderful image of God, in their own beauty, color, language and tradition; in how they relate to God, and love and share and care. As we say in Psalm 8, human beings are a little less than gods. This we discover in respect and dialogue.

Changing Mentalities, Behaviors, Structures
It is clear that great advances have been made in recent times in the technical and scientific fields of communications and information technology. Nor can there be any doubt that with these advances, at least from a material point of view, the quality of life has improved. However, in spite of this, the phenomenon of poverty and dehumanization persists and can even be said to be growing: time and again, there are the poor who are becoming more poor, more and more men and women are becoming less human, are becoming more objects than subjects in their lives, are becoming more instruments than persons. Individualism, consumerism, hedonism, an unbridled spirit of competition are, among others, the dominant values in the lives of many and, to some extent, in the lives of everyone. The Pope denounced this situation in very strong words in his opening address at the Fourth General Conference of Latin American Episcopal Conferences in Santo Domingo when he said:
"The world cannot feel serene and satisfied in the face of the chaotic and disturbing scene we see before us: nations, segments of the population, families, and individuals growing ever richer and more privileged opposite peoples, families, and a vast number of individuals mired in poverty, victims of hunger and illness who lack decent housing, sanitation, and access to culture. All of that eloquently testifies to a real disorder and an institutionalized injustice. Sometimes it is augmented by delays in taking the required measures, inertia and imprudence, over even the violation of ethical principles in administration, as in the case of corruption. All of this requires changes of mentality, behavior and structures so as to bridge the chasm between the rich and poor countries (cf. Laborem exercens, 16; Centesimus annus, 14), as well as the profound differences among citizens of the same country. In short, the new ideal of solidarity must come to prevail over the obsolescent will to dominate." (no. 15)
But, faced with this real chaos and this institutionalized injustice, how is one to produce a change in mentality, behavior, and structures? Saint Paul, who saw and lived with a humanity profoundly divided in his own time, inspired, animated, and strengthened the Christian communities of that time, saying: "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups [Jews and Gentiles] into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross." (Eph 2:13-16).
The Pope today, like Paul in his time, also inspires, motivates, and strengthens Christian communities when, referring to the situation of human promotion, says that it is our task "...to make the truth about Christ and the truth about the human being penetrate ever more profoundly into all levels of society and transform it." (no. 5) Further on he affirms that "concern for the social dimension 'is part of the Church's evangelizing mission' (Solicitudo rei socialis, 41) and is also 'an essential part of the Christian message, since this doctrine points out the direct consequences of that message in the life of society and situates daily work and struggles for justice in the context of bearing witness to Christ the savior' (Centesimus annus, 5)." (no. 13) The problem of human promotion cannot be considered to be at the margin of the relation of the human being with God (cf. nos. 43, 45). Actually, to pit an authentically human promotion against God's plan for humanity is a grave distortion which arises from a certain mentality inspired by secularism. Genuine human promotion always has to respect the truth about God and truth about the human being, the rights of God and the rights of the human being.
Just as Paul asked in his day, so the Pope asks today, and also asks us, men and women of faith: How to eradicate that evil which keeps the human being subject to servitude? The Church was asked the same question at the time of St. Gaspar when it was confronted with the brigands, and the answer cannot be other than this: "The only one who can free us from this evil is Christ. ... we turn our gaze with feeling toward that moment of grace when Christ was given to us once and for all. The painful situation of so many of our Latin American brothers and sisters does not lead us to despair. On the contrary, it makes more urgent the task confronting the Church: 'For this reason I remind you,' Saint Paul wrote to Timothy, "to rekindle the gift of God which you have through the imposition of my hands.'" (2 Tim 1:6) (no. 19)

The Possibility of Conversion
From the proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Living Word of God, and from the power of his blood shed for us, how and/or where have we experienced structural change as a consequence of the conversion of those who have been constitutive parts of them? I feel that it is not very easy to answer this, especially for those who live in places and historical moments which are confused and painful, in which it would seem that the forces of evil have established their rule. However, in spite of that, I have no doubt that each individual has his or her own experience and response to this according to the manner in which the Lord has entrusted to them his mission.
From the experience and sensitivity which the Lord in His goodness has given to me, slowly and imperceptibly, as it is expressed in many of Jesus' parables about the hiddenness and the presence of the Reign of God in our midst (Matt 13:31-33; Luke 13:18-21; Matt 13:24-30), there has been a reality in the making in different places: small Christian communities in the city and in rural areas; formation workshops, especially for studying the Bible; summer camps for children and youth; in Saint Gaspar College; etc. In these places where my ministry has developed, the words Jesus used one day to respond to the the disciples John had sent to him come back to me: "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me." (Matt 11:4-6) These changes are an eloquent sign of an interior liberation which, in its time, is translated into concrete acts of service, solidarity, and a constant quest for the common good.
Most recently, as a result of the graces received in the Jubilee Year, the Church as a social structure has been able to look at its own history and has realized the need to purify its own memory by asking for forgiveness. This courageous and humble act is rather, in any moment, deeply moving, and is testimony to a profound desire, as Saint Paul put it so well, to see a new humanity arise. It is a sign, to my mind, that we are on our way to conversion, and we hope, aided by God's grace, that this desire might arrive as soon as possible at its goal and that moreover it might be deeply inspiring for many other social structures.

"Far Off" and "Outside the Camp"
by Jerry Stack, C.PP.S.

As I begin writing this article in September 2000, I have been reflecting on the gospel reading for the coming Sunday. After the disciples argue about who is greatest, Mark records that Jesus "… took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me." (Mark 9: 36-37)
This verse gets to the core of what the spirituality of the Blood of Christ means for me today. To welcome a child in Jesus' day was to receive someone who was weak, vulnerable, powerless, one who occupied one of the lowest rungs on the ladder of status.
Jesus identified with the weak and powerless of the world. Clearly the shedding of his blood in his passion and death remain a stark and graphic image of his love for those on the fringes, those pushed aside, those whom society would have us forget. His embracing the vulnerable and powerless child is in a sense a foreshadowing of his embracing weak and wounded humankind on the cross.

A Conversion in Spirituality
In another September forty years ago I began studies with the Society as a high school freshman. I was introduced to a different spirituality of the Blood. We said special prayers, sang rousing Precious Blood hymns, and even had a chaplet of the Precious Blood (which we sometimes recited during Mass!). I felt as though I had been inducted into a very elite society indeed. This was a spirituality that was rather focused on the individual and his relationship with Christ. It seemed focused on a particular aspect of the mystery of the Blood, namely repentance for and forgiveness of personal sin. Common themes of this spirituality were of judgment, cleansing of sin, healing wounds, of lifeblood.
As I completed my studies more than a decade later this spirituality seemed incomplete to me. Part of this was simply due to an unwillingness to go beyond time- and culture-bound words and images for a fresh look at the mystery of the Blood. I began to see redemption and salvation not just in personal, individual terms, but also in terms of its implications for society and for ministry.
Sin is more than individual and personal. It can be part of the very fabric of society. Sin abounds where people were not treated with dignity, where their needs are ignored and unmet, where they are in effect exiled to the margins of society. When people find themselves "far off" (Ephesians 2:13) and "outside the camp" (Hebrews 13:13) there is sin.
It is not the sin of these marginal ones but that of others-family, clan, community, culture, political order-who have failed to see them as God's children and brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ.

A Ministry of Powerlessness
Over the years I have come to recognize the power of the sign of the Blood of Christ as a kind of model for ministry, a vision of what ministry can and should be. Jesus began to pour out his Blood not just in Gethsemane, but much earlier when he began to stand with those who were rejected, powerless, deemed sinners and undesirables by the powers of the day. To risk standing with those who were weak and vulnerable, shunned and rejected, is to risk a figurative and in some cases a literal blood shedding.
In my ministry as chaplain in a psychiatric hospital for the past eighteen years this spirituality of the Blood of Christ has become more and more important for me.
In the culture of the United States, persons with mental illness are "far off." They have been pushed "outside the camp" by misunderstanding, stigma. Our society often does not care for some of their basic needs. They are vulnerable, powerless and low on the ladder of status. Over the years they have taught me, they have "evangelized" me about what it means to be on the margins.
The mentally ill, of course, are but one group of those who are "far off." The poor, sick, the aged, immigrants, racial and cultural minorities are all among those who may find themselves "outside the camp."

The Need for Reconciliation
Working with those who are "far off" involves reconciliation, one of the great themes of Precious Blood spirituality as Fr. Robert Schreiter, CPPS, has reminded in his two books on the subject. To stand with those who are marginal is also to be called to be agents of reconciliation.
For persons with mental illness, for example, there is a need for them to be reconciled with an illness that, in effect, has made them victims. They have experienced a kind of violence since the illness has created a situation that can cause great pain and sometimes attacks the very core of personal identity.
There is often a need for reconciliation with friends and family from whom they have become estranged. There is need for reconciliation with a society that has neglected them. There may also be a need for a reconciliation of the individual with God since sometimes the person with mental illness believes that God is punishing her or him. Sometimes a person with mental illness may be angry with a God who is viewed as having caused the illness.
The spirituality of the Blood of Christ reminds us of the mystery of human suffering and of the various kinds of violence and marginalization which contribute to that suffering. The blood shedding of Christ, his death on the cross, stands for us as an astounding and mysterious act by God. In an unfathomable manner Jesus embraces and immerses himself in human suffering and marginalization.

A Spirituality of Inclusion and Reconciliation
Over the years, then, I have seen the spirituality of the Blood of Christ come to encompass a spirituality of inclusion and reconciliation. Jesus shed his Blood not only to bring comfort to individual sinners but to offer us the challenge and strength to stand with those who, like the little child in the gospel story, are weak and vulnerable, powerless and pushed to the fringes.
"But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." These words from Ephesians remind us of what Christ has done and what he continues to do through the ministry of those who respond to the call of his Blood in the world today.