Provincial’s letter, September 2015

By Father Paul Borowski, C.Ss.R. |

September 2, 2015 |

Dear Brothers:

“Beware the barrenness of a busy life.”
—Socrates

Every month seems to have its own rhythm, its own business. We start September with a move from the lazy dog days of August to the hustle and bustle as things pick up around the start of the academic year.

Parish meetings that perhaps took some time off will resume. Religious-education classes will begin, and RCIA preparation picks up steam. Retreat houses that offered times of rest and relaxation for the summer months will resume their “normal” programming. As we turn the calendar to September 1, many of us will once again lace up our sneakers to begin a mad, crazy dash.

As a Church and as a Province, our busy life will be quite evident. This Saturday we will celebrate the profession of first vows of Guy Mier, Tony Moreno, and Ken Stigner at St. Peter’s Church in Philadelphia.

Prayer services and Masses of remembrance will occur on September 11. During the week of September 21 the North American Conference will have its annual Assembly at San Alfonso in West End. During that same week the city of Philadelphia will host the World Meeting of Families, and the cities of Washington, New York, and Philadelphia will be blessed with a visit from Pope Francis.

Hopefully all of us were able to catch a breath during some vacation this summer; hopefully we will not be overwhelmed by the business of September.

It is important to be active and to be part of some of the events I just listed above. But in the midst of all these activities, hopefully we still find time for ourselves . . . to rest, to pray, to take care of our body and soul.

As we move into the routine of September activities, hopefully we are still finding time to strengthen our community living. Speaking for myself, I know the temptation to get caught up with the busy-ness of work and forget to pray or do spiritual reading or just spend time watch TV and talking to my confreres.

It is good to be active, but it is also good to stop and let God into our lives.

As you can see, this issue of The Chronicle might seem to be “light” compared to other issues. I once again encourage each confrere to perhaps share some “news” with us so we can put it into digital form.

Often we claim to be too humble to draw attention to some good work we are involved in—or perhaps we’re too busy to get the news in . . . But there is much good going on in the Province, and hopefully we can begin to share it with one another.

When you read this issue of The Chronicle, you’ll see a section near the top that says “Log in | protected content.”

There’s nothing to be seen there yet, but in the future we’ll use that section of the site for sensitive information that needs strong password protection. Redemptorist documents like “Policies of the Baltimore Province for Maintaining Ethical Ministry With Minors” and an “Unofficial Province Catalog” will soon make their appearance there.

So as we move into September’s busy-ness, remember to pray for Guy Mier, Tony Moreno, and Ken Stigner as they profess their first vows.

Continue to pray for all our men in formation as they begin another academic year. Continue to pray for vocations and for our sick confreres at Timonium, Boston, Brooklyn, Ephrata, and New Smyrna Beach. May Our Mother of Perpetual Help continue to watch over each and every one of us.

In the Spirit of the Redeemer,

Paul Borowski, C.Ss.R.

The Congregation strives earnestly to carry out its mission with bold initiative and wholehearted dedication. Since it is called to perform faithfully the missionary work entrusted to it by God from one age to another, the Congregation develops and adapts the form of its missionary work. (Constitution 13)