Three New Redemptorist Associates Join Tucson Circle
-
February 8, 2022With great joy, the Redemptorist Associates of Tucson formally enrolled three new members on January 20: Bonnie Alberts, Marlene Spencer and Pamela Spencer.
Associate and cantor Jane Duquette-Cummings, assisted by Lidia Allen, planned a beautiful liturgy that began with a warm welcome and emphasized the diverse gifts a partnership between the professed and laity bring to the Redemptorist mission, and ended with a call to “go out and make a difference.”
Lay director Jenny Martin welcomed guests who were present and those participating via ZOOM. Fr. Brian Johnson, pastor of Our Lady of the Desert Church (OLDC) and the Our Lady of the Desert Circle of Associates, presided at the enrollment celebration Mass with concelebrants Fr. Jim Shea, Fr. Peter Connolly, Fr. Pat Grile and Fr. Anthony Nguyen, local superior and director of the Redemptorist Renewal Center.
Fr. Brian gave a beautiful homily centered on the historical cooperation between Redemptorists and lay partners. ZOOM guests included Anne Walsh, Lay Missionary of the Most Holy Redeemer and director of the North American Conference of Redemptorist Partners in Mission (PIM), Fr. Greg May, who leads PIM for the Denver Province, and Lucy McNamara, an Associate for the Baltimore Province who serves as their North American Conference representative for PIM.
As local superior, Fr. Anthony received and signed the commitment letters of our three new associates. Each enrollee was presented with an official Certificate of Enrollment and pin. After the ceremony, everyone enjoyed light refreshments in the Renewal Center dining room.
Our three new Associates completed their formation with Fr. Greg’s Redemptorist Spirituality Workshop on YouTube. The Workshop consists of viewing a series of eight presentations on various elements of the Redemptorist charism and history as preparation for in-depth discussions among the group of participants on Monday evenings.
Six monthly discernment discussion meetings after the Workshop help the participants determine whether they wish to commit to a more formal partnership with the Redemptorists as Redemptorist Associates.
The OLDC Associates wish to extend very special thanks to the Denver Province PIM and the OLDC Chapter of the Knights of Columbus for providing both with equipment – as well as the indefatigable support in the person of Knight Steve Spain, who was instrumental in creating the simultaneous ZOOM and YouTube livestream of the event. Thanks to their work, the enrollment celebration may be viewed at: https://youtu.be/QBxqZAoWQeE
(Courtesy of DenverLink.)
