News from Partners in Mission in Boston
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January 30, 2023On Sunday, December 4th, at the 9 a.m. Mass, here at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Boston, our Partners in Mission were formally introduced to the parish community.
At the time of the homily, I explained to the community present the concept of Partners in Mission, how we are to understand it, and who were its members in this community at present. I was humbled and honored to call each of them by name to come forward and to stand before the altar. They formed a line the stretched across the central section of the sanctuary. Here were the seventeen who at present had said “yes” to becoming a Partner in Mission.
My intention was to introduce them and to bless them in the presence of the community. My hope was to inspire others to consider becoming a Partner in Mission. It was a perfect opportunity to reestablish our Redemptorist identity here at the Basilica – for those who still might not know that we are a Redemptorist parish.
It was an opportunity to point out the images of our Redemptorist Saints so beautifully painted in the dome high above the main altar – the images of St. Alphonsus Liguori, St. Clement Mary Hofbauer, St. Gerard Majella, and St. John Neumann.
It was an opportunity to speak to the community present about the four pillars of Redemptorist spirituality: the crib, the cross, the Eucharist, and Mary. It was an opportunity to remind everyone of the need to pray for vocations to the Redemptorist Priesthood and Religious life.
Most important, it was an opportunity to remind everyone of the serious nature of our communal Baptismal commitment, that we are called as Disciples of Christ to make the Kingdom of God present in this world by the way we choose to love one another, that we are all called to be missionaries of hope in an often very sad and wounded world, that we are summoned to carry the “torch of faith” high and proud that we might – even in some small way – bring the radiant light of Christ Jesus into the darkness that so often surrounds us.In the end, it was an opportunity to give humble thanks to God for the gift of these seventeen disciples who have accepted their call to a deeper union with Christ and to His Church by becoming a Redemptorist Partner in Mission.
I asked the congregation that was present to join me in blessing them and we collectively raised our hands and asked that the grace of God might pour down upon them – to enlighten, to strengthen, and to lead us all forward in the holy work of humble discipleship.
There was a beautiful feeling of the presence of the Holy Spirit among us as the community offered a heartfelt and extended applause for our “circle of disciples.” After Mass, I was approached by a handful of parishioners who felt the call of the Spirit and asked if they too might become a Partner in Mission. We are indeed abundantly blessed in this, and we give grateful and humble thanks to God.
