A Springtime of Hope in Liguori
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April 12, 2023After long months of nasty Winter weather that brought days of rain, hail and icy roads – causing a few accidents blocking our own driveway – the Feast Day of St. Joseph and the first day of Spring pulled us out of a depressive sense of hibernation. As we celebrated the Feast of St. Joseph, the atmosphere in Liguori changed to bright sunny days full of joy and hope.
The first blooms around the campus emerged on the Bradford Pear trees and daffodils popped up on the grounds. The bird feeders are crowded with birds enjoying the sunshine and new sunflower seeds provided by our charitable confreres! You cannot walk around the Liguori campus without hearing the joyful songs of different birds starting a new season of hope for better days to come. Even the deer came out of the woods to graze on the green grass around the house.
But the best signs of hope for us came from the provincial visitors: Fr. Anthony Nguyen, Fr. Stephen Benden and Fr. Binh Ta. The visitation started with the video Message of Hope from our new Provincial Superior, Fr. Kevin Zubel. His short presentation of the ‘State of the Province’ convinced us that the Denver Province is on a new trend of ministries, with the help of the young men from the millennial generation joining us and with the cooperation of other Provinces and Vice Provinces in North America.
New initiatives targeting the most abandoned, such as the asylum seekers at the borders and Youth ministries, such as Canada's Ignite Young Adult Group, and using electronic media are our first priorities. The future structure of the North American Redemptorists promised the cooperation of different Units to respond to the needs of the wounded world. This structure should provide the manpower and the resources to bring those initiatives to realization. These future projects should eliminate any pessimism that our Redemptorist ministry is at the end of the road.
To respond to the question: What signs of hope you see in your community? The first sign of hope for the St. Clement community is that the Denver Province is committed to supporting this community in Liguori. Various ideas of initiatives for this community include online ministry. Although some of us are limited by our physical conditions, we still keep in touch with people that seek our counsel and prayers. This house is called the powerhouse of prayers. Every day, prayer requests are received and placed in the basket in front of Our Mother of Perpetual Help.
Another initiative underway is the formation of a Circle of Redemptorist Associates, with the help of the people of St. Alphonsus “Rock” Church in St. Louis. Wendy Barnes, one of the leaders of the group and a member of the Liguori Publications staff, will be instrumental for the success of this apostolate.
At the final meeting of the Provincial Visitation, Fr. Anthony again confirmed that this community’s care of confreres is a priority of the leadership team. St. Clement’s is a missionary community of hope – not an abstract theological virtue of hope, but a courageous hope of missionaries who want to be beacons of hope to other people. This is a vibrant community of Redemptorists in the Denver Province.