ORDINATION IN MILWAUKEE

On Saturday, May 17, José Mario Nieto Restrepo of the Community of Saint Paul was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee by Archbishop Jerome Listecki.  José Mario was ordained with five others: three who studied with him at Saint Francis de Sales Seminary in Milwaukee, and two who are finishing their studies at the North American College in Rome.

José has been a member of the Community of Saint Paul for almost ten years.  The first five were spent in the Dominican Republic, where the Community has a formation house and runs La Sagrada Familia, the Sister Parish of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.  He now completes another five years in formation and studies at Saint Francis de Sales, graduating with both a Master of Divinity, and a Master of Arts in Theology from Sacred Heart School of Theology, where the Archdiocese sends its seminarians for academic studies. 

After his ordination, José Mario celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving at Saint Richard Parish in Racine, Wisconsin, which was his Teaching Parish during his formation in the seminary.  The priests from the Community and others from Milwaukee concelebrated with him, and many friends attended the Mass.  Also, some of his family was able to travel to Milwaukee to be present at both the ordination and the Mass of Thanksgiving and the other celebrations.  The following week he traveled home to celebrate another Mass of Thanksgiving in his home parish of San Antonio de Padua in Cereté, Colombia. He was joined by friends and family in Colombia, as well as some members of the Community of Saint Paul, and other priests and friends from Milwaukee who travelled there for the occasion.

Congratulations, José Mario! 

IN DEPTH

THE CHURCH WE BELIEVE IN

In recognition of the 50 anniversary of the beginning of the Second Vatican Council, last year the Community of Saint Paul sponsored a series of talks on this important event together with Sacred Heart Parish in Racine. We offer here the last talk, given by Pere Cané, president of the Community of Saint Paul. 

Any attempt to talk nowadays about the Second Vatican Council presents several problems. The first one is that we should never assume that the documents have been read; the actual texts produced by the Council are little known.

The second problem would be that even in the case that the documents have been read, there is often a variety of ways that they are interpreted. Not just because of people’s own ideological stances, but also because the texts are not helpful in this regard, being some of them the result of a compromise between the two main tendencies present at the assembly, known as “the majority” and the “minority.”

REFLECTION

HAPPY LENTEN SEASON!

On March 5 we celebrated Ash Wednesday, and with it, we started the season of Lent.  The word Lent in Spanish (Cuaresma) and other languages comes from the word for forty (cuarenta) and indicates the days that are between Ash Wednesday until Easter.  It’s a time of preparation, just as in Advent when we prepare ourselves for Christmas. Lent is a time of reflection, analysis and of valuing honestly our attitudes, our decisions, our commitment. It is time of entering into dialogue with ourselves and with God the Father in prayer, in a sincere, honest way without fooling ourselves with excuses or justifying our actions.  It’s a time of admitting who we are without being afraid of facing ourselves in the mirror even though we may not like what we see.

We know that God doesn’t punish, but rather is compassionate with us. Let us not be afraid of recognizing what kind of person we are, remembering that we are all in the same boat. Here, there are no “good” or “bad,” pure and impure, first or second class citizens. We all share the same human condition, and by it we are able to do acts of generosity that make the world a little better. But we also have our miseries and our selfishness. Each one of us has to discover these two dimensions. If I only see the negative things, I’ll have to look deeper in my heart. And if I only see my positive side but find it difficult to identify my own struggles, I’m also fooling myself, and I’m not examining myself honestly.  Sometimes we need other people, especially those persons that live with us and know us best, who with love, understanding and respect can tell us that which we should better in our lives.

From these lines then, we extend an invitation to live out Lent as that time of reflection not geared to break us down, or to depress us or to lose hope with regard to our struggles or those of others. The season of Lent is meant to be ready to celebrate Easter, celebrate that Life has defeated death through the Resurrection of Jesus, and we can celebrate it in a healthy way, accepting our virtues so that we can strengthen them, but also our weaknesses so as to be able to change them.

The season of Lent is a time of reflection for each one of us to know our interior, to look at ourselves in the mirror. It doesn’t have to be a sad or bitter time. Instead, may it be a time of joy and acceptance, because we celebrate that the more we know ourselves and accept ourselves, the easier it will be for us to change.

Happy Lent!

Esteve Redolad

REFLECTION

Simeon and Anna, a generation of hope

“Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation.” (LK 2:29-30)

We all know that history – all history – moves towards its destination with ups and downs along the road, like when driving along a country road we are sometimes able to see the horizon widening in front of us from on top of the hills, and while when down in the valleys – some of them deep and long – we may lose perspective all together. It is precisely when we find ourselves driving in the valleys that we need to stay on track and be careful not to lose sight of our goals when our destination is no longer visible and has become a mere promise, even though we know that sooner or later the horizon will become visible once more in all its splendor and show us the way.

Only Luke features in his Gospel the story of rather pretty unknown characters, two elderly persons, Simeon and Anna, who were living in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus’ birth. Their lives had been devoted entirely to the fulfillment of God’s promises for his people, promises of consolation, nearness and salvation. Both are filled with great joy when meeting with this child, born just about 40 days earlier in a little town in Judea, and they are able to see in him the light that illuminates the wide horizon that they for so long had been yearning to see once more …

Retreat for Members of the CSP Lead by Bishop Sklba

Twenty five members and friends of the Community of Saint Paul gathered from January 13 through 21 at the Siena Center in Racine, Wisconsin for our annual week of retreat. It was facilitated by Bishop Richard Sklba, retired auxiliary bishop of Milwaukee.  Focusing on the theme “The Prophetic Call,” he guided us through Scripture so that we could mirror our own lives, both as individuals and as a community, in the lives of the biblical prophets.  We were invited to ask ourselves the questions that the prophets asked themselves: Who am I/are we in this day and age?; Where do I/we find God today?; What are the signs of the times around us?; How can I/we witness to God’s love in our present day world?

Above all, we learned that our prophetic call invites us to find God every single day, including in situations not always of our liking and when carrying out tasks not always of our choosing.

It was a privilege to enjoy the hospitality of the Racine Dominicans who run the center, to be nourished by Bishop Sklba’s wisdom, and to share for a few days as a community while some of our members experienced the cold Wisconsin winter for their first time!

The following link will take you to an article of Bishop Sklba in which he mentions the days we shared together, published shortly after our retreat in the “Catholic Herald,” Milwaukee’s Archdiocesan paper.  http://www.chnonline.org/herald-of-hope/bishop-richard-j-sklba

Thank you Bishop Sklba!

IV WRITING CONTEST IN SABANA YEGUA (DOMINICAN REPUBLIC)

To continue the on-going tradition, a month ago the IV Literary Contest was held in Sabana Yegua. The theme of this contest was “Take care of the Earth”, with the idea of promoting environmental awareness and the love of nature, while promoting the love of writing and reading. Eighteen prizes were giving in the age categories of children, youth and adults. Many of the participants are members of the Sabana Yegua Parish Library, who attended the event a bit nervous expecting their work to be the winner. The photo below is of the prize winners. Once again, the contest was something simple but important in that it brings out the interest for writing of many children and youth within our communities. 

DOCUMENTARY ON THE WORK OF THE COMMUNITY OF SAINT PAUL IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

A 26-minute documentary has been produced to share the work of the Community of Saint Paul and La Sagrada Familia Parish in the Dominican Republic. It contains the activities and projects that we are carrying out in the area of Sabana Yegua (Azua) as well as the challanges that the people their face.  The documentary was generously produced free of charge by the company CREARSA (www.crearsa.com), to whom we are grateful.  Click the link here to see the documentary.

CSP DR Documentary - YOUTUBE