Leadership meeting

My provincial superior, Fr Tim Ploch, wants me to go to Detroit during Easter Week for an important meeting of groups promoting the pastoral style and spirituality of Francis de Sales in the USA. It is a meeting of provincials and community leaders from the Oblates of St Francis de Sales, the Daughters of St Francis de Sales, the Oblate Sisters of St Francis de Sales, the Visitation Sisters of Holy Mary of the First Federation (cloistered) and the Second Federation (semi-cloistered). Invitations were advanced to the provincials of the Salesians of Don Bosco, the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and the Cooperator Salesians.

Tim Ploch at Don Bosco Hall

Ideas for this meeting surfaced last August after the National Conference on Salesian Spirituality. Fr John Graden and Fr Michael Murray of OSFS centers in the Western and Eastern Provinces were asking how the Salesians could better collaborate in projects to promote the spirit and teaching of Francis de Sales along with them. Eunan McDonnell and I were at that post-conference session and we both said that unless the Salesian provincials were involved at the organizing level, not much would happen for us. Indeed, Salesians are very centralized in terms of our governing structures and mentality. Based on that conversation, John Graden and Joanne Kinney began to plan for such a leadership summit.

John Graden, Joanne Kinney and Eunan McDonnell in Wilmington last August

As it turns out, our province has an important gathering of all the communities during Easter Week, continuing with pastors and directors. This means that Tim Ploch cannot attend the leadership summit proposed by the Oblates of St Francis de Sales. So he is sending me to the Detroit meeting.

In my mind, this defeats the purpose. I suggested to Tim that we ask DeSales Resources to schedule the meeting for another time, but he responded. "No. It doesn't make sense that they postpone the meeting just for me. You can represent me." Besides, he added, Tom Dunne, provincial of the New Rochelle Province, will be attending. Evidently he and Tom have been discussing all this.

This does not convince me really. I know how our centralized mentality will function. Yet, Tim knows that for the last 11 years I have been working on a national committee to promote Salesian studies with other congregations and orders. This is why he is sending me. 

Visiting Visitations at Vatican

This afternoon I headed down to the Vatican for the conference with the Visitation Sisters of the Mater Ecclesiae Cloister. It took an 75 minutes to get to the Vatican from the University, by bus and subway, and then 15 minutes to to get the necessary visitor passes through passport control… and another 15 minutes to walk up the hill to the monastery. When I got to the monastery, the sisters were at Vespers (I could hear them chanting as I walked up to the building), so I needed to wait 40 minutes before ringing the bell? After meeting with the superior in the parlor through the grate, i did the last preparations for the conference. Then we began.

Since today is the first day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, I presented some experiences of Francis as missionary in the Chablais, and of his dealings with the Calvinists of Savoy and Geneva. All of the sisters come from countries where Catholics are the majority (Spain, Colombia, Equitorial Guinea, Italy), so they have not had direct contact with people of other faiths. We had a good little give-and-take at the end along those lines.

On the right, the superior, Sor María Bogogna

Then I gave them greetings from the Visitandines in the USA, for some knew of my invitation to give this conference. I went on to tell the Vatican sisters more about the USA foundations, particularly about the community in North Minneapolis. They were both fascinated and very delighted by what they heard.

The monastery of cloistered nuns in the Vatican was the idea of Pope John Paul II. His idea was that the monastery would be entrusted to an order of nuns for five years, after which a different order with a different charism would take over. He had designated a period of five years, but Pope Benedict has shorted the term to three years, which is more a measurement used in religious communities. The first group of nuns were Poor Clares; the second group were Benedictines. The Visitandines are the third group and the first to be limited to a three-year term, and they are already in their third year. Their time in this community will come to an end in October 2012. The Good Mother told me that the time is passing too quickly, but that all the sisters who are participating are grateful for the experience for forming an ad-hoc community in the Vatican. They feel that they are a support to the Holy Father and the Church Universal in a very tangible way. I found them all very gracious, bright, down-to-earth, with a sense of humor that makes you feel at home among them.

Dawn at 7.05; Daybreak at 7.35

There was a giant full-moon this morning when I went to the university chapel at 6.30 for prayers. Usually I like to walk outside for the few steps that go from the ground-floor of the theology building to the entrance of the chapel, on the lower level. If nothing else, it reminds me not to stay indoors all day.

In any case, the moon shone round and bright — this is the night of the full moon. The sky was very black and the air very cold. I wanted to grab my camera, but I remembered the words of one of my instructors in the summer of 1965 when I took a course in photography at Bonny Dune. That instructor was Mike Perry, and he noted that the moon is always moving, but we only notice when we try to photograph it. If we use a shutter speed of less than 1/30th of a second, it will be blurry because of that movement. Of course, my camera is a simple little kodak digital, with no f-stops, no changeable lenses, and not much else. I really cannot take photos in low-light because my hands are not steady enough. Oh no, this is not a condition of aging. Its part of my story since I was at least 12 years old… but that’s for another time.

With this knowledge, I knew I could not photography the moon. All I could do was to gaze up at the moon and marvel at its incredible brightness this morning in the still-night sky.

It was still dark when we began the mass at 7.00, and still dark when we left the church at 7.30. I saw the sunrise while I sipped a caffè-latte for breakfast. I was thinking of all the deadlines that I have to meet this week, and how next week is the last week of instruction. No time for hesitation.

Roman sunrise at the UPS

On Sunday night I sent in my syllabi to DSPT for the Spring Term, which begins in Berkeley on 30 January. My departure from Rome is set for 28 January… I will have a day to regroup my strength, if there is any left. Meanwhile, I have 11 more class sessions here in Rome before the exams. I had better start packing soon. 

Epiphany and the proclamation of Easter

Today in the parish church of Our Lady of the Annunciation (L’Annunciata) in Acerra, Don Mimmì, the parish priest, read the announcement of Easter. I was concelebrating with him and the Bishop Emeritus of Acerra, Don Antonio Riboldi.

The Easter proclamation, quite traditional, goes like this:

Dearest brothers and sisters:
   The glory of the Lord  has shown and will always shine in your midst until He comes again. In the rhythm and events of time, we recall and we live the mysteries of salvation.
   Central to the entire liturgical year is the Triduum of the Lord, crucified, buried and risen, that will culminate with the Sunday of the Passover, Easter Sunday, on 8 April. 
   On every Sunday, the Paschal feast each week, the Holy Church commemorates this great event in which Christ has overcome sin and death. From Easter all the other holy days are determined: 
   Ash Wednesday, beginning of the Lenten Season, on 22 February.
   The Ascension of the Lord, 20 May.
   Pentecost, 27 May. 
   The first Sunday of Advent, 2 December.
   In the feasts of the Holy Mother of God, of the Apostles, of the saints and the commemoration of the faithful departed, the pilgrim Church on earth proclaims the Paschal Mystery of her Lord.
   To Christ who was, who is and who is to come, Lord of time and of history, be unending praise for ever and ever.
   Amen