From the Abbot’s Desk: “Whatever Makes For a Stronger Visiting a young Norbertine Community Life Is a Higher Priority”:
Community in India A Conversation with Fr. Nick Nirschl, O.Praem.
e share life at Santa Maria de la Vid Abbey with three By Brother Stephen A. Gaertner, O. Praem. W Norbertines from our community of Mananthavady in t 86, Fr. Nick Nirschl the South of India. Fr. George is pastor at St. Augustine Par- A is the senior member ish at the Native American Pueblo of Isleta. Fr. Bijoy is pres- of the Norbertine Commu- ently participating in a Clinical Pastoral Education Program nity at Santa María de la (CPE) at Presbyterian Hospital, and Fr. Thomas is Catholic Vid Abbey. Originally a Chaplain at Lovelace Medical Center and the Heart Hospital. canon of St. Norbert Abbey They are all important contributors to our life and ministry in in De Pere, Wisconsin (he New Mexico. entered the Order in 1951 after a stint in the U. S. Army and was ordained in 1956), Fr. Nick has served in a variety of capacities, from being a mathematics professor at St. Norbert Col- lege to being assigned as a missionary to Peru, where he ulti- mately assumed duties as the pastor of San Marcos parish from 1985 until 1995 in Lima. In 1995, after leaving Peru, Fr. Nick became a member of the then - Priory of Santa Maria de la Vid in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He served as pastor of St. Augustine Parish at Isleta Pueblo until his retirement in 2002. Since retiring though, Fr. Nick keeps a faithful presence at all Fr. George, Abbot General Thomas, Abbot Joel, Fr. Thomas community liturgies, meals and functions. And this is no acci- dent or merely due to the belief that he now has “nothing bet- Last October I visited their community of Mananthavady in ter to do.” Quite the contrary! Fr. Nick’s consistent and en- the state of Kerala for the blessing of their first Priory church during vision of Norbertine community life is a perspective which was dedicated to St. Norbert, as well as to witness the which he has held since his first days in the Order. election of a new Prior. This is a young Norbertine Commu- nity, only 35 years old, serving in many places around the “Community life more than ministry is about doing things world. For the first time, almost all of the solemnly professed together, as opposed to functioning as individuals; everything and priests (65 of 71) were able to gather for the blessing and is done in common,” Fr. Nick insists. “And the locus of that their community chapter. Fr. George and Fr. Thomas were life is in the Abbey itself. Community life should be more among them. A Cardinal, several Bishops and a number of important than ministry.” Norbertine Abbots, including our Abbot General from Rome Fr. Nick explains: “Many people can do ministry, parish and myself, were able to share in this historic occasion. priests and laypersons. Ministry is a manner of serving. We India is a land of great beauty, great poverty, and generous serve not as performers of that ministry, but as religious. Our people. The country has 1.2 billion people, second only to religious dedication ought to be greater than our dedication to China, and it is estimated to be the home of a third of the our particular ministry. The individuals have to recognize that world’s poor. community life is more important than ministry. If they don’t,
Yet it is also a country of great natural beauty. Kerala is one community life won’t be an actual realization for them. It’ll of the twenty-eight states that makes up this immense country. be a word, and nothing more; one has to be convinced.” (Continued on page 2) (Continued on page 3) www.NorbertineCommunity.org www.facebook.com/NorbertineCommunity
Holy Rosary has an App! India… (Continued from Page 1)
ur Lady of the Most Holy Ro- It is a state with a tropical climate and rolling green sary Parish, served by the Nor- hills with small farms as well as estates of tea, spices, O rubber, rice, coconuts and a whole host of fruit trees. bertine Community since 1985, is on the crest of twenty-first century tech- Only 2.3% of the population in India is Christian. nology. Under the direction of our Fr. Catholics are the largest Christian church, numbering Robert Campbell, pastor, the parish almost 20 million or 1.6% of the population. However, has created its very own custom “app.” the building of numerous Catholic schools, hospitals, This application provides smart phone and social work centers has had a significant impact on and tablet users with up-to-date access the development of this nation, far beyond the numbers to Holy Rosary’s mass and confession indicated. schedules. Current and upcoming events are also posted, along with pic- tures and videos reflecting the parish family’s life. At this time it is the most used app in Albuquerque! The app complements Holy Rosary Parish’s upgraded website and new bulletin-in-the-making, offering parishioners one more way to stay close to Christ.
OUR NEW COAT OF ARMS! fter many months of dis- Indian Norbertines celebrate in their new Priory Church A cussion and deliberation, the Norbertine Community of New Mexico has chosen the That spirit of generosity is now being felt around the coat of arms for our Abbey of world as priests and religious from India are being mis- Santa Maria de la Vid. You’ll sioned to other countries to serve in Christ’s name. see the coat of arms at the top The young Norbertine community I visited serves in of our newsletters from now Australia, Austria, Germany, Holland, South Africa and New Mexico. on. Following is a synopsis of the coat of arms’ symbols and To leave one’s country and culture to serve elsewhere their significance. calls our brothers to make many sacrifices. Among the At the center of our coat of arms is a Celtic or resurrection cross memorable moments I had during my stay with my which, in heraldry, represents the unity of heaven and Earth; it is Norbertine brothers in India was the opportunity to also similar to the cross in the Abbey cemetery. The crescent moon visit with some of their families and to thank them for in the upper left of the shield symbolizes the Blessed Virgin Mary the sacrifices they have made as well. The Norbertines as well as referencing our founding from St. Norbert Abbey in De of New Mexico feel blessed by their generosity. Pere, WI. The vine points to the patron of our Abbey, Santa Maria de la Vid, and is rooted in the cross from which it goes forth and to which it returns. The grapes reference the original 13 members of the Norbertine or Premonstratensian Order/community which was founded at Prémontré, France, in 2011, by Norbert of Xanten. The fleur de lis is an ancient symbol of the Norbertine Order, the Virgin Mary, and the Trinity. The colors chosen for the coat of arms are also significant. Gold and red are the state colors of New Mexico and also represent the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in which we serve. Blue is found in the Prémontré coat of arms and in that of St. Norbert Abbey, and repre- sents truth and loyalty in heraldry. The color white—which stands for peace and sincerity—as represented in the empty quadrant of the shield—points to the hoped-for future growth of the Norbertine The new Priory Church in Mananthavady Community in New Mexico. Page 2 Norbertine Community News
Fr. Nick (Continued from page 1) “The community has an obligation to its members to make demands reasonable (that’s why you have a personnel com- mittee!). If our ministries take us away from community, then the ministry is questionable.” And according to Fr. Nick, this crucial communio-centric orientation must begin early in a Norbertine’s spiritual journey. “During the formation years, the objective is to help us [embrace] commu- nity life rather than individual ministerial life within the com- munity. Many have to leave the community because they cannot give up their own de- Fr. Gene Gries and Abbot Joel Garner were colleagues of sires about ministry. Fr. Nick’s while on the faculty and staff at ‘Careerism’ is counter St. Norbert College many years ago. -community. Ultimately, it is a matter of vocation, and not mere function- “Common prayer, ality. For Norbertines, community life is the primary calling, table, Eucharist not a particular form of service, no matter how important or [and] recreation are crucial it may seem. This is a difficult concept to grasp, even the constitutive parts for many within the Church, in an age when personal career of community life. If ambitions, efficiency, data, and productivity control much of one claims to love our thinking, and a shortage of priests and religious would community life but appear to dictate that religious communities take a turn more doesn’t want to par- towards the active than the contemplative and communio- ticipate in these centric. But Fr. Nick takes a very different view. things, there’s a contradiction.” “Our ministry is exactly what the diocesan priest does. But the rectory is a place of work, not our home. Our home life is Of course, this is not different. The fact that there is such a shortage of priests does always easy, espe- make our ministry more important,” he avers. Nevertheless, cially when one is “We meet the church’s challenges by getting laypersons more tired, preoccupied, or involved. The work is there; it doesn’t change, but takes on just having a bad day. Community life, like active ministry, its own different nature. It would be foolhardy to abandon requires an outlay of significant effort. What’s the key? For ministry, or to try and do it all ourselves; it would drive you Fr. Nick it is simply “mental discipline. Sometimes I found it crazy. Running a parish now is different than even twenty difficult to participate fully in community activities. But years ago, more challenging. But that doesn’t mean you give there’s where self-discipline is important. Through the years, up. There were more sisters and priests then. [Yet today] it becomes more likeable, desirable. Everyone’s going to have there are more lay ecclesial ministers.” a bad day now and then.” The bottom line for Fr. Nick? “A vocation shortage is not So, where does Fr. Nick find the “mental discipline” to stay an excuse to short-change community. As a young man, I active and engaged in community life after over 60 years as a thought my vocation was to a particular ministry, teaching Norbertine, and now dealing with the increasing “aches and mathematics. Once I became a Norbertine, I recognized that pains” and other physical health issues that come with the ag- that isn’t a vocation. The vocation is religious life; mathe- ing process? “‘Checking out’ would be duller, and more diffi- matics was a ministry, sponsored by the community. As the cult, than dealing with a handicap or illness. We need some- needs of the church changed, with more demand for mission- thing to occupy us.” And even in his mid-eighties, Fr. Nick aries in South America, our community [accepted the call to stays involved with property maintenance at the Abbey. He serve there] at the prompting of [Pope] John XXIII. This was also serves as a lector for community prayer and gives homi- a community decision. Ministry should always be a commu- lies at Abbey Eucharists, hears confessions, and offers spiri- nity decision. The ministries of a community will change as tual direction to retreatants. In all this, Fr. Nick’s ultimate the church’s needs change.” message remains clear: “Whatever makes for a stronger com- munity life is the higher priority.”
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Comings & Goings Three Days, One Journey: In early November, 2013, our sister abbey of Our Lady of Daylesford in Paoli, Pennsylvania, celebrated their 50th Anniver- A Triduum Retreat sary as an abbey. Like Santa Maria de la Vid, it was founded from Santa Maria de la Vid Abbey St. Norbert Abbey in De Pere, Wisconsin. Abbot Joel represented our abbey at the Mass of Thanksgiving. April 17-20, 2014
Our seminarians spent the Christmas holidays with us. In early You are invited to join the Norbertine Community of New January they returned to Holy Spirit House of Studies in Chicago. Mexico in prayerful celebration of the Sacred Triduum beginning on Holy Thursday evening through Easter Sun- day morning. The prayer, ritual, reflection and silence of
these three days gradually draw/invite us more deeply into the experience of the Risen Christ among us as we renew our commitment to be the Body of Christ today.
A limited number of rooms are available so early registra- tion is encouraged. The cost for the retreat is $195.00 which includes accommodations for three nights, four meals and refreshments, and the retreat presentations. (If you wish to spend additional nights at the retreat cen- ter, please check with us for availability at a cost of Br. Graham Golden (left) will receive his degree in Social Services $45.00 per night per person.) Administration from Univ. of Chicago in June; Br. Jaime Avila- Borunda is working on his MA at Catholic Theological Union To register: with an emphasis on liturgy and sacred scripture, and Stephen Email: [email protected] Gaertner is writing his dissertation for a Ph.D. in English from Phone: 505-873-4399 Michigan State, before finishing his Master of Divinity degree.
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