These past few days, we have been walking (it seems like climbing) the streets of Rome with the SOPHIA program students of Assumption College. We have visited various cultural and religious monuments and had a day at the beach as well. Despite these exhausting walks under the sun, there seems to be a good spirit of community in the group. There is so much to discover and Dr. Francesco Cesareo and his team of professors and guides  were very helpful in facilitating that among our students. Our group had the rare opportunity to visit the Secretariat of State near the Apostolic Palace. We also celebrated the Eucharist at the tomb of Saint Peter. We will have a few more activities in the coming days as the program winds up. On Wednesday, we are looking forward to see Pope Francis during the weekly Papal Audience.

June 11, 2018  Arusha, Tanzania

Letter from the Plenary General Council to all Assumptionist religious and lay members  of the Alliance

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The Plenary General Council, gathered in Arusha (Tanzania), was pleased to validate the statutes of the future vice-province of East Africa. Three countries — Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania— will benefit from this new structure 30 years after the first community was established in Nairobi (Kenya), spearheaded by the Provinces of England and North America. The Assumption is developing in this part of the world and is assuming its part of the mission to hasten the coming of the Kingdom.

During this meeting, we also reflected on our older foundations, especially our fragile presence in the Near East (‘Mission d ‘Orient’) and, in particular, in Istanbul, Turkey. Will the long history of the Assumption on Turkish soil have a future? After departing from Ankara in 2000— with the transfer of our house to the Jesuits— the community of Istanbul is the last witness of our presence in Turkey. But the community is very fragile and beginning this coming autumn it risks being reduced to one active religious.

BY FATHER RICHARD E. LAMOUREUX, A.A., ’64 VICE PRESIDENT FOR MISSION

When they graduate, Assumption students have a number of possibilities open to them. Frank Bruno ’17, an English and mass communications major from Wethersfield, CT, has spent much of his time since graduation engaged in a year of service helping those in need in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

“I remember that week, I couldn’t help but admire the volunteers for their bravery in addition to the way in which they live, valuing simplicity, community, relationship, and faith,” reflected Bruno. “I will always give thanks to God for putting me on that trip to Ecuador junior year.”

There is no typical day for Bruno; each one is challenging and fulfilling in a different way. Bruno spends much of his time in the poverty-stricken neighborhood of Monte Sinai. As a volunteer at an afterschool program, he tutors neighborhood children in English and helps them with their homework. Bruno also spends time in the homes of the families of Monte Sinai, listening to their life challenges but also learning from them.

Introduction

Carlos Antonio and Raúl Eduardo were two Assumptionists who disappeared on June 4, 1976 in La Manuelita (San Miguel, Buenos Aires), victims of the violence that devastated Argentina under the dictatorship of the National Reorganization Process (Roberto FAVRE, En memoria de ellos In Memory of Them, 5).

They knew that their vocation as religious was asking them for the riskiest of testimonies, and for that reason they also saw martyrdom coming:  “The glory of the Christian was never a success,” wrote Raul, “but for the Cross.” And he continued: “The Church bears fruit when it has martyrs. There are still martyrs today, not only by the shedding of blood, but in many different ways. And I believe that the Lord wants us so in love with Him that we do not care about the how or when of our Cross, but [want to give instead] an unconditional submission to his will "(02/26/76). And Carlos Antonio: "I am in constant fear, but at the same time, the Lord has provided me a blind hope and a faith that overtakes that fear. It is strange, because there is fear deep inside of me but I am not afraid. He (The Lord) is watching over me "(05/24/76). Eleven days later he would be kidnapped, along with Raúl, and never seen again.

Homily on the occasion of the ordination anniversaries (60+) of Assumptionists Oliver Blanchette, Theodore Fortier, Aidan Furlong, Roland Guilmain, Eugene LaPlante, Norman Meiklejohn, Gerard Messier and Camillus Thibault.

The Gospel for today’s feast of the Holy Trinity contains within it the Great Commission at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, the Risen Lord sending the apostles out to all the world.

When you consider the places where these men have exercised their priesthood - In Mexico City, London, Moscow, Athens, New York City, Peru, the Congo, Quebec City, Boston, Worcester, and even Fiskdale ( I’m sure this is not an exhaustive list) -  I’d say they have responded pretty well to that commission.

It’s clear to me that people love their priests.  Maybe it’s better to say they love the priesthood, but priesthood does not exist in the abstract. It’s always embodied in flesh and blood, this treasure carried in earthen vessels.  So, maybe we can say, people love these particular men who have been faithful, over many years (count, all together, 512 years) to the high and humbling calling they have received. They are the ones who have given us Christ, not as functionaries but in their very persons. The priesthood has taken its lumps in recent years as a result of grievous and self-inflicted wounds, but, if I may say so, we still love our priests.

It is a peculiar calling, especially in the present context. It is not a vehicle for self-expression, but consists entirely in doing the bidding of another.  Its clearest meaning is right here in today’s Gospel: Jesus gives his power to the apostles in such a way as to make their ministry a continuation of his own. That’s the amazing thing.  “All power is given to me by my Father, go, therefore…”  We are bidden to take responsibility for carrying on Christ’s mission in the world.

By Bro. Daniele Caglioni, A.A.

A vocation is not a single moment in our lives. It is a word from God for us which unfolds day by day. God calls… that’s what vocation means. Who is there to listen? Vocation, especially today, asks us to listen attentively to God in His Word, His sacraments, and in our brothers and sisters in the Lord. This act of listening is so crucial because of our vocation’s unfolding. God is never done revealing Himself to us, never done calling us to share in His life. Since returning from Novitiate in the Philippines and embarking on theology studies at St. John’s Seminary, I’ve had to remind myself each day to listen to the Lord above all. In a society that bombards constantly us with images, sounds, and rhetoric, it can be hard to keep His voice at the center of our hearts, to preserve the peace of our “upper room” into which God alone can enter.

I started feeling attracted to poetry in high school and it never went away. I started writing poetry while at the Montmartre Canadien in Quebec City. Each religious had to write for the Sunday bulletin, and my first piece was a prayer for vocations in poetic form. It was like a push to continue. So I did. Whenever I wrote a poem in French or in English, I’d make a version in the other language.

When I was stationed in Brighton, I was working at Babson College as the Catholic chaplain. It was only a part-time job. I had a lot of free time, so I decided to try prose and perhaps begin an autobiography. But then I thought of doing a novel. I sat at my word processor and typed a title—Cold Morning—and continued typing until the novel was complete. I immediately started a second one, Frozen Days, until I’d finished twelve of them. There were three series of four following the seasons and ending with Summer Squalls or the Carousel Caper. Another, October Surprise, is on the way, but that one will have to wait.

Father Ron Sibugan,A.A.
Homily for Baccalaureate Mass 2018
May 12^th, 2018
Unity - Goodness - Sanctity

Bishop McManus, Bishop Barron, President Cesareo, members of the Class of 2018, honored guests, one and all, Good evening to all of you!

Students, I have had the great privilege of being able to share a meal with many of you. For, as most of you know, I live in one of the dorms here at Assumption, in Plough, and part of my responsibilities as a minister in the residence halls is to deepen my relationships with students and serve in the dorms as a minister. By way of doing that, I have been inviting students, many of you here tonight, to a cooked meal!  It’s truly a great ministry. I joke with Father John that one of my responsibilities at Assumption is not only that of a priest and campus minister, but also that of a cook ----- but your mothers and grandmothers here today need not worry.  I usually cook rice with chicken adobo, or pasta with chicken parm or chicken picatta.  I guess many of you who had a meal with me liked it well enough that you asked me to deliver the homily on this very special occasion of your Baccalaureate Mass tonight.  Actually what I’d like to share with you today is the significance of having a meal together.

By Margaret M. Russell 
The Catholic Free Press
May 4, 2018

The Assumptionists are rededicating themselves to St. Anne and St. Patrick Parish in Sturbridge by establishing a new local community of men there. 
Assumptionist Father Dennis M. Gallagher, provincial superior of the North American Province, made the announcement after Masses this past weekend. He said the number of priests serving the parish has been dwindling. Currently there are two Assumptionist priests assigned to cover the parish and St. Anne Shrine – Father Peter R. Precourt, pastor, and Father Peter Omwoyo, associate. The parish of 1,300 registered families is not staffed by diocesan priests. 
“Two people do not make a community,” Father Gallagher said. “We are at a crossroads and we can’t continue to be a presence at St. Anne’s with only two people.” 
Father Gallagher said Bishop McManus was pleased when he informed him that the Assumptionists will be making personnel changes to ensure that a community of three men would live at the parish and shrine. 
Constituting a local community of at least three assures that “we have a community carrying out the essential elements of religious life,” living together and praying together, Father Gallagher said. 
For the past year the pastor has gotten help with  sacramental ministry on the weekends from the Emmanuel House Assumptionist community in Worcester. 
Effective Aug. 1, Father Alex Castro, 46, will be the new pastor, Father Gallagher announced. Father Castro, a native of the Philippines, is also serving as the provincial treasurer, responsible for the United States, Mexico and Quebec. He spent his novitiate at St. Anne and St. Patrick, followed by his first profession of vows in 2004, according to an interview published on the Assumptionists’ website.