The Second Gathering of Partners in Mission of the Baltimore Province was held from April 24–26, 2026 at St. Alfonso Retreat House in a spirit of profound joy, communion, and shared missionary commitment. What unfolded over those days was far more than simply a program. It was a living witness to what Partnership in Mission continue to become within the life of our Province: a true experience of belonging within the Redemptorist family.
There was something immediately noticeable as participants began arriving this year. Alongside the warm greetings and embraces was a visible sense of comfort, anticipation, and familiarity. What awaited them was not simply another event, but a return to community, a reunion with their Redemptorist family. This spirit became especially tangible during the opening evening’s icebreaker activity. Participants were intentionally placed into mixed-language groups, moving beyond familiar circles and stepping toward one another across cultures and languages. The room quickly filled with laughter, storytelling, patience, gestures, translation, and joy. It was impossible not to be moved by the simplicity and beauty of what was taking place. The human experience of belonging, so central to our Redemptorist charism, seemed to overwhelm the room. In many ways, the grace of the Encounter was already unfolding before the first formal presentation even began.
Building upon the spirit of the first Encounter, this year’s gathering welcomed an even broader participation from across the Province region, bringing together representatives from eleven foundations and ten Partners in Mission groups — from Boston, Massachusetts, in the north, to Newton Grove, North Carolina, in the south, and as far west as Lima, Ohio. Many participants traveled nearly ten hours by car simply to be present. Their willingness to journey such distances stands as a testimony to the spirit of communion and shared mission that continues to draw people together.
Hosted by the Province Partnership in Mission Commission, the encounter welcomed both returning participants and many attending for the first time. Throughout the weekend, the reflections, rituals, conversations, and communal experiences continually returned us to four central dimensions of the Redemptorist charism: Mission, Formation, Charism, and Community. Drawn from the spirit and vision of the Redemptorist Constitutions and Statutes, these themes served as guiding pillars for the Encounter. While the Constitutions formally guide the lives of professed Redemptorists, participants reflected on how these same foundational themes continue to shape and inspire the shared vocation of laity who walk alongside the Congregation in mission.
Reflecting on formation, participants were reminded that it gives both roots and wings to mission — roots that ground us deeply in the Gospel and the Redemptorist tradition, and wings that allow us to move outward with clarity, confidence, and purpose. Without formation, one may accomplish many things, yet remain uncertain of direction or identity. Ongoing formation allows us not simply to “do ministry,” but to live consciously and intentionally from the heart of the Redemptorist charism.
Participants also reflected deeply on the meaning of charism itself. The Redemptorist charism is not something possessed or controlled by any one group, nor is it a privilege extended only by professed Redemptorists. Rather, it is a gift of the Holy Spirit, entrusted by God to all those who are called to share in this mission. At its heart, the Redemptorist charism calls us to proclaim the Good News to the poor, the abandoned, and those most in need of hope and accompaniment.
Again and again throughout the weekend, participants returned to the understanding that this vocation is never lived alone. Community is not secondary to mission; it is essential to it. Through shared prayer, meals, dialogue, laughter, ritual, and accompaniment, participants experienced the reality that the Redemptorist mission is sustained through relationships of communion. In a world often marked by division and isolation, the simple act of gathering across cultures, languages, and experiences became itself a witness to the Gospel.
Reflections on mission continually reminded participants that mission begins not with our own plans or initiatives, but with the movement of God already at work in the world. The Redemptorist call is not confined to ministries or institutions alone, but must be lived concretely within daily life, relationships, workplaces, parishes, and local communities. We are invited not simply to “do mission,” but to participate in God’s mission of abundant redemption already unfolding among His people.
One of the most significant aspects of the gathering was the Province’s continued commitment to building an intentionally intercultural and bilingual experience. To foster a more unified bilingual experience, simultaneous translation was used throughout the principal presentations, allowing participants to remain together rather than separating by language. Two of the major presentations were offered in English and two in Spanish, with all participants sharing in the rhythm of listening, translating, waiting, and accompanying one another through the process.
The encounter featured presentations and reflections offered by numerous Redemptorists and Lay Missionaries of the Most Holy Redeemer, including our Provincial, John Collins, Fr. Fabio Marin, CSsR, Fr. Anthony Michalik, CSsR, Fr. John Olenick, CSsR, Provincial Vicar, Fr. Kevin O’Neil, CSsR, Provincial Consultor, Fr. Manuel Rodríguez Delgado, CSsR, Fr. Joseph Tizio, CSsR, Fr. Jim Wallace, CSsR, Anne Walsh, and Lucy Burich McNamara. Together, their reflections offered a rich tapestry of pastoral experience, spiritual insight, and missionary witness, reflecting a shared conviction in the transformative power of the Redemptorist charism lived collaboratively among professed Redemptorists and lay partners.
The weekend’s program integrated presentations, large and small group dialogue, bilingual sharing, creative ritual, Eucharistic celebrations, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, and moments of quiet personal reflection. The liturgies and rituals in particular created spaces where the themes being discussed became experiential realities.
Symbols, music, silence, fire, movement, and prayer engaged not only the intellect but also the heart. Evening prayer and the Rosary also entrusted the Encounter in a particular way to Our Mother of Perpetual Help, whose presence remains inseparable from the spiritual life and missionary identity of the Redemptorist family.
Friday evening’s fire ritual became one of the more memorable moments of the Encounter. Gathered outdoors in the cold evening air with music, prayer, and reflection, participants surrounded the fire before carrying candlelight forward in quiet procession toward the giant cross of Jesus positioned along the shoreline. As hands stretched toward the warmth of the flame during the journey forward, individual intentions were carried silently within each heart while also being held collectively by the community. The ritual became a powerful symbol of the light of Christ carried together into the world. The warmth of the fire seemed to prepare both hearts and spirits for the work the Holy Spirit would continue throughout the weekend.
Heavy rains throughout much of the weekend prevented access to the beach, yet even this became part of the retreat experience. Morning prayer and sunrise reflections unfolded instead before the retreat house’s towering wall of glass overlooking the ocean, where the natural beauty surrounding the retreat house became its own quiet participant in the weekend’s prayer and reflection.
The generous support of the Baltimore Province leadership once again made the encounter possible, including financial assistance that allowed broader participation from across the Province. Such support reflects the Province’s continuing commitment to the growth and development of Partnership in Mission as an essential dimension of Redemptorist life and ministry.
Held during the final months preceding the Province’s unification in January 2027, the Encounter carried a profound sense of both gratitude and hope — gratitude for the history and relationships that have shaped us, and hope for the new missionary future toward which the Holy Spirit continues to lead us. As structures continue to change and the Province moves toward unification, participants were reminded throughout the weekend that the mission itself remains unchanged because it is ultimately God’s mission before it is ours. We are simply invited to participate in the work of abundant redemption already unfolding in the world around us.
In prayer, dialogue, laughter, ritual, and accompaniment, participants encountered not only one another, but also the living spirit of the Redeemer still drawing people together across differences. These encounters continue to remind us that we are, indeed, “One Missionary Body.”
Lucy Burich-McNamara
Commission for Partnership in Mission/Misión Compartida of the Baltimore Province
