Expanding our vocation efforts
One of the steps toward implementation of our strategic plan for the U.S. Province is the hiring of two associate vocation directors to increase our outreach in promoting vocations. We are happy to report to you on the hiring of Patricia Malinowski and Anthony Franchina. Patricia comes to us with a strong catechetical background and Anthony joins us with a strong background in campus ministry. They began their new mission in the province on Dec. 4.
In gratitude, Patricia notes that the path to the Missionaries of the Precious Blood began this summer with a brief encounter at the Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis. There she visited the Precious Blood booth and received the booklet of Precious Blood prayers, a copy of Missionary Pulse, and a St. Gaspar keychain. Remarkably, Patricia realized a new call was set before her. Personally, she is passionate about the life-giving spirituality of the Precious Blood that gives identity to our congregation. Patricia is hopeful about new formation discoveries wrapped in the love of God. The influence of St. Gaspar upon Patricia is evident within her inner spiritual growth, and externally, she will keep with her the keychain of St. Gaspar.
Patricia and her husband, John, reside in Crown Point, Indiana, and serve as Extraordinary Ministers at St. Michael the Archangel Church in Schererville, Indiana. She worked many years in the Archdiocese of Chicago. While Patricia is thankful for her academic studies, she values the treasures of heaven revealed in ministry among those in need of reconciliation and healing.
In many ways, Anthony sees the invitation to join the vocation ministry team as a significant development in fulfilling the purpose for which God created him; an opportunity to harvest the abundant fruit that has been cultivated through relationships within the Precious Blood family over decades.
Anthony was nurtured from infancy in the charism of the Blood of Christ through the Holy Spirit by receiving the sacraments of Initiation at Saint Joseph Church in Dayton, which has long been pastored by the C.PP.S. missionaries. He has many fond memories of serving Mass there in his younger years together with the gift of participating as an adult in the 2002 International Precious Blood Symposium held at the University of Dayton.
Anthony notes that it is both humbling and affirming to be entrusted with the mission of spiritually accompanying others as they listen deeply for the voice of God who calls them to fulfill a unique vocation in life. As Jesus said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few; so, ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest” (Mt 9:37-38). This is a propitious time for us to set out as “pilgrims of hope” during this Jubilee Year 2025, offering our charism-animated spiritual journey of the Precious Blood as a gift of hope for the world.
Both Anthony and Patricia welcome your invitation to visit your place of ministry and to offer presentations on religious life and vocational discernment. Working together, we can encourage young people to consider a vocation of service within the Church, and hopefully, as a member of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood.