| S C A L A |
Giving our lives for plentiful redemption
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| Redemptorist Newsletter | Number 23 |
Rome, Italy
January 16, 2007
NEWS FROM THE PROVINCES
Clonard
NEWS FROM THE SECRETARIATS
Letter from the Secretariat for Youth and Vocation Ministry
BOOK REVIEW
Father Sean Wales reviews Father Tony Kelly's new book on eschatology
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Redemptorist Youth Congress to be held in Limerick, Ireland in August, 2007
PHOTO GALLERY (on-line only)
Photos from around the Redemptorist World
FEATURED WEBSITE
A new blog from the Center for Redemptorist Spirituality by Felix
Catala, C.Ss.R
TRANSITIONS
Professions, Ordinations, Anniversaries, Deaths.
A blessed New Year to everyone. The period between December 16 and January 16 is a holiday period for many in our Redemptorist world and so the news this month is light. This gives us an opportunity to emphasize that there are many Redemptorist websites and webpages to explore from around the Redemptorist world. Each month we feature one or two. So, over the past two years, we have featured about fifty websites and webpages on Redemptorist activity. You can go to the Scala Archives and the Featured Website sections of Scala to find them again.
The Featured Website this month is a new venture by the director of the Center for Redemptorist Spirituality, Father Felix Catala, C.Ss.R. It is a blog meant to stir reflection on Redemptorist Spirituality and on the Communicanda on Redemption.
This month we have an important letter from the General Secretariat for Youth and Vocation Ministry. This letter is also available on the Secretariat's webpage on the www.cssr.com website.
Also, in collaboration with the Spirituality Center, we are creating some slideshows of "virtual tours"of our Alphonsian sites. We hope to have the first ones available in multiple languages within the next month or two on our website. We are also beginning to plan for greater use of video in the months ahead.. If all goes well, sometime in the future we will have our own version of "Redemptorist Youtube"where you can upload video clips of your regional activities.
This would be a good time to remind you to explore in depth and familiarize yourself also with our current www.cssr.com website. It is a large website, in seven languages. There are many helpful menu items and tools to help you find everything Redemptorist. With a Congregation as large and worldwide as ours, and our commitment to provide our website in seven languages, we realize that it may take you a bit of clicking to find everything. But with a little perserverence you will fiind that it is an excellent resource for almost anything Redemptorist . We are also open to your suggestions to make it a more useful site.
Grace and Redemption for all!
Gary Ziuraitis, C.Ss.R.
Northern Ireland
Clonard
(Zenit)
Earlier this year Clonard Monastery, located in Belfast, Northern Ireland, offered online a novena of Masses. The "Novena of Grace Masses," offered simultaneously at five locations around Ireland, normally attract thousands of participants.
At Clonard Monastery alone, 12,000 to 15,000 people attend one of the daily Masses during the novena. After the event, on June 23, it is reported that around 300 people had tuned in on the Internet to each of the Novena Masses. In all, there were 37,000 views and almost 9,000 hours of viewing time downloaded.
The monastery, run by the Redemptorists, announced that it will be permanently online, and that people will be able to continue to follow its daily Masses and other events. Media technologies, while carrying a lot of undesirable content, also offers a chance to bring us closer to God.
Letter from Schönenberg
General Secretariat RYVM
Schönenberg, Ellwangen, Germany
24 November 2006: To all who take to heart the Redemptorist vocation
We are writing to you from the heart of old Europe, in the shadow of the very beautiful Redemptorist church at Schönenberg (Ellwangen, Germany), where we recently held the annual meeting of the General Secretariat for Redemptorist Youth and Vocation Ministry (RYVM). WE are joyfully grateful for the magnificent welcome given us by the local Redemptorist community at Schönenberg. We greet everyone in our great Redemptorist family, including religious men and women and laity who share closely in our Redemptorist spirituality and mission, especially those involved in Redemptorist Youth and Vocation Ministry (RYVM).
During this week we have examined all of the wonderful initiatives being carried out in the various Regions of the Congregation regarding youth and vocation ministry. The road that RYVM travels is illuminated with so many lights: the wide-spread desire to work in this field and the many initiatives being carried out, even though there persist, here and there, numerous shadows that render the road uncertain and the task abandoned.
Today, twenty years since the General Chapter of 1985, which inspired in the Congregation a prophetic movement toward a greater involvement with and commitment to young people and vocations, we want to confirm the validity of that inspiration and share with you this certainty we feel strongly: to speak of RYVM is to speak about the future of the Congregation. If we close ourselves to dialogue with young people, if our vocation does not challenge new generations, then we must ask ourselves if our mission itself has any meaning today, and above all, if it has any future.
Among the shadows that obscure the road in the journey of RYVM in many Units is the lack of clarity in the relationship between youth ministry and vocation ministry. Youth ministers are often criticized for only producing youth 'events' rather than seeking vocations. Very often there is ambiguity in the structures. Some Units engage in vocation ministry without any attention to youth ministry. Other Units do good work with youth but don't bother with vocations. Others have separate structures for youth and for vocations without any communication between them.
We want to reaffirm one of the cardinal points of the document: Guidelines for RYVM (Rome 2000. It stated:: "disregarding consideration of structures already in place, every Unit should do its utmost to open up to young people. Youth Ministry, in its turn, should have as its principal objective, education for life as a vocation in the broadest sense, concentrating on Baptism, the source of all ministries that enrich the Church."Along with this proposal for ministry with young people, we must also program the announcement of the specific Redemptorist vocation, the call to those we see as apt and the accompaniment of those who respond positively. And if they are numerous, our joy will be great.
To understand RYVM in this way might seem scandalous, because it motivates us to be free from self-interest in serving young people, overcoming the ever-present temptation to just recruit, which prevents us from truly fostering a real culture of vocations. This breaks the mentality and routine that often marks our mission. This way of understanding youth and vocation ministry requires the conversion of the entire community and does not delegate the task of all to a single confrere, making each one of us a promoter of vocations (Const. 79). It demands that each community make a conscious option in favor of RYVM. It calls for teamwork (Guidelines 20), and therefore close cooperation between youth ministry and vocation ministry, where these structures are separate.
As Redemptorists, then, in the name of our characteristic missionary dynamism (Const. 14) we have no right to limit ourselves to only those young people who "naturally"gravitate to our communities. On the contrary, we must also search further afield for those who are marginalized and abandoned, those for whom the Gospel is no longer 'Good News' (Const. 3). And if we consider how things have gone since the General Chapter of 1985, we must admit that these have become more numerous and more in need of the proclamation of redemption.
It will be wonderful if this letter succeeds in communicating to you some of the urgency and enthusiasm with which we regard RYVM. We would like everyone to be challenged by this task, including those young adults who have already participated in and benefited from RYVM and who might now assume the responsibility and task of leadership in this ministry, helping to develop new leaders.
No matter what, we hope this letter does not leave you indifferent or with that apathy that is a sign of surrender, if not of death. We would like to know if you agree with our way of understanding RYVM. If you don't or if you would like to share with us your doubts and anxieties, we will be most interested in any reactions or challenges you may want to raise. You will find our e-mail addresses on the web site of the Congregation (http://www.cssr.com) or you may write directly to the General Secretariat RYVM - C.P.2458 - 00100 Rome, Italy.
May our Mother of Perpetual Help, our founder Saint Alphonsus, and all Redemptorist Saints and Blessed, particularly Blessed Gaspar Stanggassinger, intercede for us and help us reaffirm the beautiful vocation we have received (2 Pt. 1.10).
Eschatology and Hope
Anthony Kelly, C.Ss.R.
Orbis Books, 2006
Sean Wales, C.Ss.R.
When did you last hear a Redemptorist (or anyone else for that matter) preach a sermon on hell? For a Congregation once famous for its "hell-fire"preachers, we have gone strangely silent on the Last Things.
There is no avoiding preaching about death. Ordinary pastoral ministry sees to that. But purgatory, hell, heaven, the End Times? Even in our Mission presentations we rarely address these questions of profound significance.
Despite the general nervousness about the Last Things, theologians have been working away at a renewed eschatology. Rahner's On the Theology of Death was one of the most frequently read of the famous Quaestiones Disputatae series. More popular was Boros' The moment of Truth. Both these books came out in 1962. Then there was Kung's Eternal Life? Life after Death as a Medical, Philosophical and Theological Problem (1984) Ratzinger's Eschatology: Death and Eternal Life in 1988. Tony Kelly's new book Eschatology and Hope is one of the best contemporary texts in the Catholic tradition written in English.
Currently a member of the Vatican's International Theological Commission, Kelly brings to this work a life time of reflection and writing on Christian hope. In an earlier work Touching on the Infinite: Explorations in Christian hope (1991) Kelly visited the world of hope into which he set the central questions of Christian eschatology.
In this new work Kelly devotes his first four chapters to aspects of hope (The World of Hope, From Hope to Eschatology, The Intelligence of Hope, The Parable of Hope). The second set of four chapters deals with the classical topics in Christian eschatology : Death (Threat or Gift?), Purgatory (The Realism of Hope), Hell (The Defeat of Hope) and Heaven (The Homing of Hope). The two final chapters relate eschatological hope to the Eucharist (chapter 9) and to Conversion (chapter 10).
A feature of the text is that Kelly tries throughout the book to connect with urgent topical questions arising from other world religions and from the world of modern science. He looks at issues like 'reincarnation' in Eastern religions and at how Christian doctrines relate to contemporary scientific position.
He also connects the whole area of eschatology to our sacramental view of the world and to our spirituality. A feature of the books is that it works both as a theological text of the highest order and at the same time spiritual reading of a depth rarely to be found in this genre. That Kelly is also a poet and a sensitive conductor of a symphony of images and ideas makes for a pleasant and rounded experience in reading this book.
If we are to rediscover our voice as preachers of Good News in the face of death and of the fear of the future which haunts so many of our contemporaries (and ourselves) we would be doing ourselves a singular favour by reading this book.
Some quotes to whet our appetites:
On Death: "Our dying demands a final letting go of all that we have and are in this life. In this, it is the last, and perhaps the only truly genuine act of adoration of the God whose life is self-giving love"(p.113).
On Purgatory: "Purgatory...is the moment when the fundamental love of one's lifetime finally comes to terms with itself"(p.127).
On Hell: "The surest way of going to hell is to arrogate to oneself God's final judgement on the personal worth of others"(p141).
On Heaven: "It is not a matter of looking at God 'from the outside' but a knowledge born of an immersion in the boundless ocean of Trinitarian life. It is to live from, with, and in God"(p.173).
Ireland
Redemptorist European Youth Congress
Crazy for Love
The Dublin Province invites you to the 8th European Redemptorist Youth Congress, to be held in Limerick, Ireland in August 2007. Every three years young people who are connected to the Redemptorists across Europe meet to celebrate their life and faith with other young people. Limerick will be the 20th anniversary of the congress. It started in Pagani (Italy) in 1987, followed by meetings in El Espino (Spain, 1988), Eggenburg (Austria, 1991), Durham (England, 1994), Belgium (Essen. 1998), Torun (Poland, 2001) and finally in Bonn (Germany, 2004).
We are currently in the planning stages of the meeting, but will have more news soon regarding the theme and how you can get involved in the planning.
We will be meeting in the University of Limerick, with some of the finest Sporting Facilities in Ireland.
For more information check back frequently to our website: http://www.limerick2007.info/
1. The international novitiate at Glenview, Illinois, U.S.A. celebrated the investiture of two novices on December 8. They are Brian Fitzpatrick of the Baltimore Province and Kevin Bellot from Dominica in the Region of the Carribean .
2. Principal celebrant for the investiture ceremony was Father Patrick Woods, provincial of the Baltimore Province. The Mass for investiture was concelebrated by the leadership and formation personnel of several North American provinces.
3. The Redemptorist Church in Schönenberg, Ellwangen, Germany, where the Secretariat for Youth Ministry and Vocation Recruitment (RYVM) met and has written a letter to the Congregation and all interested people on a vision of youth ministry and vocation recruitment.
4. Father Gerard Pettipas, C.Ss.R. will be ordained and installed as Archbishop of Archbishop of Grouard-McLennan, on January 25 in Grand Praire, Alberta, Canada.
Director of the Center for Redemptorist Spirituality, Félix Catalá, has begun a blog in English and Spanish on topics related to Redemptorist Spirituality and on the Communicanda on Redemption.
English -- ourspirituality.wordpress.com
Spanish- nuestraespiritualidad.wordpress.com
Recent noteworthy events in the Redemptorist Family. For a complete record of transitions visit the Officialia site
Perpetual Profession:
José Aldo Viana de Oliveira, Vice Province of Recife, September 10, 2006
Jean-Robert Diyabanza Luyindula, Vice Province of Matadi, September 15, 2006
Jean Mpongoso Basinsa, Vice Province of Matadi, September 15, 2006
Hubert Mvibudulu Ngoma, Vice Province of Matadi, September 15, 2006
Pedro Magalhães Gomes, Province of Rio de Janeiro, December 2, 2006
Deaths:
Rev. Ricardo Alonso Yárritu, 93, Province of Madrid, December 7, 2006
Rev. Robert Gerard McGoran, 70, Province of Dublin, December 12, 2006
Rev. Hilario Fuertes Fuertes, 75, Province of Madrid, December 24, 2006
Ordinations:
Waldir Pérez Salinas, Vice Province of Perú-South, August 30, 2006
Dieudonné Roger Mbiyavanga-Masamba, Vice Province of Matadi, September 17, 2006.
Benedito Moreira da Silva, Province of Goiás, October 7, 2006
Nelson Salvador Heredia Vera, Vice Province of Perú-South, November 11, 2006
Philip Aekgaphon Chaiyara, Vice Province of Bangkok, November 23, 2006
John Pongsak Narinrak, Vice Province of Bangkok, November 23, 2006
Lawrence Chackrit Seathao, Vice Province of Bangkok, November 23, 2006
Andrij Rak, Province of Lviv, November 25, 2006
Renunciations and Confirmations:
Rev. Gerard Pettipas' resignation from the office of Vicar Provincial of the Edmonton-Torono Provnce was accepted on December 1, 2006 upon his election to the episcopacy.
Rev. David Richard Louch was confirmed Vicar Provincial of the Edmonton-Toronto Province on December 1, 2006.
Father Edward Nocun of the Province of Warsaw was appointed to the General Archives on December 18, 2006 for the triennium effective July 1, 2007.
House Erection:
The house, "St. Francis of Assisi"was canonically erected in the city of Kaduna, Nigeria on December 19, 2006.