Serving the Province and the Migrant Communities

Hello, I am Fr. Tomas Eduardo Ruiz Miranda, and since 1 May 2024, I have been serving as the Provincial Bursar of the St. Francis Xavier Cabrini Province. During my first six months in this role, I continued serving as Parish Priest of Mater Christi Parish in Seaton, South Australia, as well as Chaplain to the Spanish-speaking community in the Archdiocese of Adelaide. After that, I was transferred to the Provincial House in Mosman, New South Wales, where I continue my present assignment.

At present, I do not have a formal pastoral assignment. Instead, I serve the St. Francis Xavier Cabrini Province and the Congregation through my responsibilities as Provincial Bursar. My work includes preparing and maintaining financial updates and reports for the Religious Congregation, as well as providing the necessary information and documentation to the Accountant's Office for the preparation and payment of Australian taxes and other financial obligations.

I also assist in preparing budgets for the Formation Houses in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam and in sending the quarterly remittances, among other responsibilities related to the finances of the Province.

Another part of my responsibilities is conducting the canonical or official visitation of all the Scalabrinian communities in the Province at least once during my term. Through these visitations, I have the opportunity to meet our confreres, visit our communities, and gain a deeper understanding of their ministries and the situations they face.

Although my primary responsibility is administrative, I continue to be involved in pastoral ministry. On Sundays, I celebrate two Masses with Italian communities that have been accompanied by our Scalabrinian missionaries for many years. They are small communities, but they remain very supportive of our missions.

I also visit people in hospitals and nursing homes, most of whom are elderly. From time to time, I preside at or concelebrate weekend Masses with other migrant groups or in our parishes.

The main community I serve is the Italian migrant community. At both Masses, however, I also meet people from different cultural and national backgrounds. My main pastoral activities include celebrating Sunday Masses and visiting members of the community in hospitals and nursing homes.

I also participate in social activities organized by the communities, such as Mother's Day, Ferragosto, Father's Day, and other celebrations. These occasions give me the opportunity to spend time with the people, share in their celebrations, and strengthen our relationship with them.

There are many joys that I experience in my mission. On the administrative side, it is fulfilling to see that responsibilities, payments, and reports are completed on time. I am also happy when I am able to make sound financial transactions or generate interest that can contribute to our budgets.

At the same time, this ministry also presents challenges. One of these is gathering the necessary financial information from the different communities in a timely manner. During the past two years, the preparation of the annual report, together with the necessary suggestions and recommendations, had to be completed within a short period of time.

On the pastoral side, it is a great joy to see how grateful the migrant communities are that we continue to celebrate Masses with them, even though I am not Italian and still have some difficulties with the language. Celebrating Mass in Italian is a challenge for me, especially after having had only a few hours of language classes. Nevertheless, the people have been very welcoming, patient, and encouraging.

Another challenge is the declining number of people attending the Masses. The communities are becoming smaller, and many of the people are getting older. This reality makes our presence, ministry, and accompaniment even more important.

Community Life

I share community life with our Provincial Superior and, since last year, with another priest who is assigned to accompany another Italian community. He usually leaves on Fridays and returns on Sunday evenings.

Our community life is simple. We celebrate Mass and pray together, and we share our meals. At least once a month, we also make time to be together outside the house, either through an outing or a shared meal.

The three of us have specific and important responsibilities in the Province and the Congregation. Because of this, it can sometimes be difficult to coordinate our administrative tasks. However, during the weekend Masses, we share responsibilities and support one another, especially when one of us is away.

Living the Scalabrinian Charism

My ministry among migrants is also a way of living the Scalabrinian charism. I serve our migrant brothers and sisters by studying and improving my language skills and by making myself available, as much as possible, to visit them and administer the sacraments in their own language.

Our Provincial House is also open to our confreres, relatives, and friends who want to spend some time away from their missionary duties or who are visiting the city for different reasons. In this way, we try to make our house a welcoming place for those who come to visit or need a place to stay.

In the migrant communities, I also try to practice welcome and accompaniment by inviting priests, especially Italian priests, to celebrate Masses with the communities. Their presence is greatly appreciated by the people and is another way of strengthening our connection with them.

The spirit and life of St. John Baptist Scalabrini have been shared for many years through the service and witness of our confreres. His life and vision have been transmitted through different means and resources and, above all, through the witness of those who have dedicated their lives to the service of migrants.

I see this same spirit continuing today through the simple things we do: celebrating Mass, visiting those who are sick or elderly, listening to migrants, accompanying communities, and making ourselves available to their needs. Even when my ministry takes an administrative form, it remains connected to the mission of the Congregation and to our service of people on the move.

Looking Ahead

As I continue serving as Provincial Bursar, I hope to do my best with the skills and abilities I have, keeping my duties and responsibilities well organized and up to date. I also hope to continue improving my Italian language skills so that I can communicate better and serve the communities more effectively.

I would like to encourage our young brothers to prepare themselves by learning other languages and developing skills in different areas that can be useful in their future mission. These skills can be valuable both in administrative responsibilities and in direct ministry with our migrant brothers and sisters.

Finally, I would like to ask everyone to pray for one another, especially for our elderly migrant communities who have done so much for our Province and Congregation. They have supported our mission for many years, and they continue to need our ministry, presence, and accompaniment.

May we continue to walk with them and remain grateful for all that they have done for our Province and Congregation.

By Fr. Tomas Eduardo Ruiz Miranda, CS