A dream still coming true

By: Rev. Ronald E. Bonneau, C.Ss.R.

I feel like one of the luckiest men in the world! When I was a boy in Bradford, VT, I used to listen to the Redemptorist missionaries in my parish reminisce about the work they had done in Puerto Rico or Brazil or Paraguay or the Virgin Islands or the Dominican Republic.

I kept those stories in my heart and they became the stuff of my dreams. I pictured myself in a Redemptorist habit, riding into a settlement in the jungles of South America to bring the people the Mass and the sacraments. In my Tom Sawyer-ish way it was a dream of adventure, a dream filled with dangers and all kinds of impossible obstacles that I managed to overcome to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the most abandoned.

When I became a Redemptorist, this dream stayed with me, and as I matured so did the dream. It was less full of the spectacular and became more realistic, but it never became less compelling or less attractive.

When I finished my seminary studies in 1972, Father Joe Kerins, the provincial, suggested that I go for more studies to teach either at the philosophy house in Suffield, CT, or at the minor seminary in North East, PA. I very respectfully told him that I really did not feel called to higher studies nor to be a teacher, but that what I wanted with all my heart was to be stationed in Paraguay as a foreign missionary.

You cannot imagine the joy I felt several weeks later when I received word that I had been assigned to the Region of Asuncion, Paraguay.

I arrived in September 1972 and remained until January 1996. During those years my dreams came true. What person has the chance to actually live his dream? I had wonderful (if sometimes a little difficult) experiences and I can honestly say that I never regretted any of my work or any of my assignments in Paraguay.

After returning to the Baltimore Province in 1996, I was stationed at Most Holy Redeemer Church on East 3rd Street in Manhattan. I arrived in August and began working with the Spanish-speakers there. I was very happy with this assignment, and in March 1997 the provincial asked me to take over as local superior and pastor. I accepted and again was happy in this position until 2002 when the time for changes came up again.

I was asked to go to Immaculate Conception Parish in the Bronx as local superior and pastor. Again, during my years there I was very happy and I was supported by one of the best communities in which I have lived as a Redemptorist.

Now, it is time for another change. For some time Father Jim Gilmour and I have dreamed of forming a missionary team for a diocese that has a serious need for Spanish-speaking priests. The provincial gave us permission to look for a bishop who would take us on for this work. We received several offers, but the most enticing came from Bishop Bootkoski of Metuchen, NJ. He was looking for co-directors for his diocese’s Department of Hispanic Affairs.

We presented the different possibilities to the provincial council, making them aware of our preference for the Metuchen diocese, and we received notice that our preference had been accepted.

And so, I feel like the luckiest man in the world! Here I am at 65 and I’m seeing a new dream become reality. I feel as full of energy and promise as I did on Sept. 8, 1972, when I stepped off the plane in Asuncion, Paraguay. The dreams of my childhood are still coming true! It truly is wonderful to be a Redemptorist! It is a dream that is still coming true in my life.