“Let us cross over to other side.” This is the tile of Communicanda 2, taken from the Gospel of Mark (Mark 4: 35). Without giving too much cultural and historical lesson, when Jesus says “Let us go to the other side”, he is talking about going into the other side of the Sea of Galilee, the land of the gentiles, where Jesus’ disciples later encounter demons, possessed man, and even pigs. For Jewish people, this “other side” is considered the “uncleaned land,” and its people are the “forsaken ones.” However, after the crossing, this strange and forsaken land becomes the place, where the disciples experience and witness Jesus delivers and liberates people from both demonic possession and social isolation.
With this biblical image in mind, before arriving in Houston, Texas, USA, as a guest-speaker, Fr. Joseph Ivel Mendanha, CSsR, General Consultor, had sent a reflection on Communicanda 2: “Let us cross over to the other side: Missionaries of Hope in Today’s World” as an inviting message for the confreres of the Vice Province of Extra Patriam to reflect upon as they gather for 2025 Convocation Week in Houston, TX (Oct 6-10, 2025) with the theme: Redemptorist spirituality and ministry in today’s world.
Throughout his sessions, Fr. Joseph Ivel Mendanha, CSsR has emphasized that Jesus’ invitation of “crossing to the other side” was accepted and carried out in the vocation and apostolic missions of our founder, St. Alphonsus de Liguori, CSsR and also his early companion, Blessed Gennaro Maria Sarnelli, CSsR
First, Fr. Ivel pointed out that as “the firstborn Alphonsus received a cultural formation equivalent to his noble rank. According to the plans of his father he should have become a great magistrate and should have married according to rank, so as to raise the status of the family.” That was the “comfortable life” that Alphonsus’ father, Guiseppe de Liguori, had planned for his eldest son. However, that was not the path that Alphonsus was called; he was called to “cross over to the other side,” from Naples to Scala, from comfortable and luxurious city life to a poor and abandon village. With his determination and love for the poor, as Fr. Ivel presented, at the conclusion of a long description on the elaboration of the Rule, Alphonsus describes the Institute in 1747 as:
“The purpose of the priests of the Most Holy Saviour is to follow the example of our common Saviour Jesus Christ by devoting itself, under obedience to the Ordinaries of the places, principally to helping areas of the countryside most destitute of spiritual help. They are to be like the congregations of the Fathers of the Mission, the Pious Workers, and the Oratorions, but with the absolute difference of being always obliged to situate their churches and houses outside populate areas and in the middle of the dioceses, so that they can move about with great ease in the surrounding areas with missions; and so that at the same time they can more easily, in this way, make it convenient for the poor people to come to hear the divine word and to receive the sacraments in their churches” (Spic.hist. 16 (1968) 385). (HOEGERL C., ed., Founding Texts, 230).
Second, if Alphonsus was the one that laid down the foundation of Redemptorist spirituality, Sarnelli would be a great example for Redemptorist missionaries to look upon in term of applying that spirituality into ministry, especially to the “strange lands” that are on the side of our comfort zone. Fr. Ivel shared with the confreres that Sarnelli Gennaro was the first to raise up the awareness on the problem of prostitutes in Naples. With his preaching and writings, Sarnelli helped the people of his time realize that the issue is not just a personal sin but also a social corruption. Fr. Ivel mentioned that Sarnelli was creative in his ministry – trying different ways to help these “vulnerable little ones” not just by giving them alsms but also providing them shelters, and most importantly by advocating laws to forbid prostitutes in the society of his time.
In addition, it is worth to mention that, Sarnelli always identifies his apostolic works with Redemptorist spirituality; he works in the name of the Congregation and with the permission of his superior, St. Alphonus. Fr. Ivel confirmed that St. Alphonsus always remined the confreres in his time the fact that “Sarnelli did not leave the Congregation.” Sarnelli mostly did his ministry in Naples with the permission of St. Alphonus; although Fr. Falcoia was not really in favor of this. However, as the matter of fact, Alphonsus had time to write a biography on Blessed Gennaro Maria Sarnelli, CSsR, but not on Falcoia!
To see how creative and zealous Sarnelli was in mission, Fr. Ivel provided the text that Alphonsus wrote on the generous concern Gennaro has for the “vulnerable little ones”:
“In Naples, his zeal on behalf of the prostitutes was well known; everyone spoke about how much he worked on their behalf. To free them from their shameful life, he collected alms and preached on this evil in order to lessen the number of prostitutes…; he relocated them and provided them a place to live and even bought furniture for them. Besides these, there were many others for whom he found places to live. It was for this work that he sought donations in many homes, not only in religious places, but also at some houses where he was so unwelcome that he once said he felt like he would die. In all this, he suffered insults, doors slammed in his face, and the typical risks that come with asking for alms. He also suffered a great deal of persecution and personal injury.”
At the end of the convocation week, the confreres of the Vice Province of Extra Patriam had a “sharing time” together. Many confreres expressed that their apostolic zeal and love for the Congregation and for the poor have been recharged and re-energized by listening to the reflections of Fr. Joseph Ivel Mendanha, CSsR on the two great figures – our founder, St. Alphonsus de Liguori, CSsR and Blessed Gennaro Maria Sarnelli, CSsR. These two indeed followed the footstep of Christ the Redeemer to “cross over to the other side” to reach to the “unclean land” and touch the heart of the “forsaken people.”
Thanks Fr. Joseph Ivel Mendanha, CSsR, General Consultor, for reminding us about the genuine heart of a Redemptorist Missionary and encouraging us to have a zealous spirit like our founder, St. Alphonsus and Blessed Sarnelli.
With him is plentiful redemption (Psalm 130: 7)
Fr. Paul Vu Nguyen, CSsR.
Dallas, Oct 12, 2025
