Happy New Year/Mission News

Well, it's upon us. I finished my work for today (touching up a translation--only 104 pages to go for this first go-through!), and need to prepare something for our community prayer this evening. A big intention will be one that was just announced to us today: Sr. Patricia Lane, the sister of my superior here (Sr. Helen), will be missioned to Moscow in the new year. She is a native of Alaska, so I guess the weather won't be too drastic a change for her. But the language! That is where you really need the grace of the missionary vocation. Sr. Patricia celebrated her Silver Jubilee last year, and made the 30-day Ignatian retreat, so no doubt she is truly ready for the whole new life that awaits her. There is already another American sister in Moscow, Sr. Leonora. She was first sent to Germany, about twenty years ago, and then maybe five years ago she was asked to go to Russia. (It is easier to get visas for Americans than for sisters of other nationalities, so I suppose that is a consideration in having two Americans there--it is a rather unusual situation for us; our missionary communities are usually a smattering of nationalities.) Anyway, prayers for the sisters and the mission in Moscow, where there are so many challenges every day. And big prayers for Sr. Patricia as she prepares for her departure.

Stem Cell Sell-out

Well, today's Chicago Tribune reveal that the South Korean "breakthroughs" in human cloning were a scam. And there is a human-interest story aligned with it about a local alderman who had even tried to arrange an appointment with the head doctor in the sad attempt to seek a cure for his wife. I think that just underlines the tragedy: all the hype about embryonic stem cells as "the" potential cure-all keeps attention and funding away from the adult stem cell research that has an actual track record of cures.

Book Pick

When a Daughter of St. Paul recommends a book...

And I got this book on Sr. Julia Mary's recommendation, so this recommendation counts double. (I have to admit, Sr. Julia is terrific when it comes to keeping up with books and recognizing the really good ones.) It is for Robert Barron's "The Strangest Way: Walking the Christian Path" (Orbis Press, 2002). After our conversation yesterday on books and bookstores, I realized that this book is a combination of the classic "Catholic" book (spiritual reading and doctrine) and the classic "Evangelical" book (Christian living). Which makes it a catholic book in the widest sense, of course, blending faith, prayer and practical life. Barron does a great job of presenting Christian living in a spiritual context; the book is almost a summary of spirituality, but not an esoteric type of spirituality which would be quite suspect anyway. And he doesn't just draw from classical "spiritual" sources, but, as is his wont, brings in literature: the kind of literature that itself sums up spiritual sources (Brideshead Revisited, Dante, Flannery O'Connor). The only problem I had with this book was that Barron likes to use really big words sometimes. I have a fairly decent vocabulary myself, but there were a few pages in which I really had to ask what on earth he was talking about, or why he had to say it in Latin or Greek or French... But a bit of stretching is always good. So run, don't walk, to your favorite bookstore (even Borders!) and look for this book, and if you don't find it, ask them to order it!

New Year's/World Day of Peace

January 1 is the World Day of Peace (a Church observance that ought to be adopted by every nation!). To help you prepare for this, here is the Pope's message

Signis, the Vatican-recognized World Catholic Association for Communication, also put out a valuable document entitled "Media for a Culture of Peace." It is worth reading.

Our own community tradition, rooted in our Founder's experience on New Year's Eve 1900, is to make a day of retreat and close it in a Eucharistic Adoration that ideally ushers in the New Year. Our Founder's prayer from 1900 was that the "new century would be born of the Eucharistic Christ," and we can pray in the same vein as every new year of now another new century dawns. Our community will be making the Adoration earlier than midnight; I can't function at that hour, and Sr. Helena (who is at her most alive around midnight) promised an African-American friend that she would go with her to her church's "Watching Hour."

God bless all his faithful who join together to seek his blessings on the New Year.

What are your plans?

by the numbers

Found an interesting tidbit in an article in "The Church Bookstore" (a kind of trade journal, mostly directed to evangelicals). It indicated that 36% of sales in the average Christian bookstore are in the "Christian Living" category. It didn't mention what the other percentages would be, but clearly they would be divided among things like Scripture, Children, music... I think our highest selling category is "Spirituality." And we have categories that the average Christian store wouldn't have: Mariology, Liturgy, Lives of Saints... I don't know what our percentages are (maybe when we get our new computer system--in February, God willing--I will be able to figure out how to get information like that), but it seems to me accurate that Catholics, in general, are really into reading books on prayer and spirituality, but the Christian Living stuff...a bit less so. And in a way, there is something "correct" about this. Despite the stereotypical images of Catholics as fixated on works, our sales history indicates that prayer is a priority, and that we expect prayer to bring forth the fruits of "Christian living." In other words, Christian living isn't something we can just bring about by force of will!

What is your favorite category of books in the Christian/Catholic bookstores you frequent?

Four Calling Birds

Well, the fourth day of Christmas brings us "four calling birds"--the evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And what a wonderful thing it is to connect the idea of "calling birds"  (whatever they are!) with the root word (in Greek and Latin, at any rate!) for "Church," which is, in fact, "call."

War and Peace

There is a short TV item from Maryland about Sgt. Myla's death. The page includes her photo and a picture of the humvee. Please keep praying for her family, especially her poor mother.

12 Days of Christmas

I read an interesting tidbit about the "Partridge in a Pear Tree." I already knew that the partridge meant Jesus, and that the partridge was considered in medieval and renaissance times to represent something cherished for its excellence. (St. Ignatius said that the Imitation of Christ was his partridge.) But the tidbit concerns the pear tree. Turns out there was a legend or tradition that if a girl would walk three times around a pear tree, she would see her husband-to-be. So the Christmas partridge in a pear tree is Jesus, the Bridegroom of the Church! Isn't that delightful? It links perfectly with the liturgical connection (highly developed in the Eastern churches, but also present in the western liturgy, if you know where to look) of the Nativity, Epiphany and Baptism of the Lord with the Wedding at Cana. (In fact, the Gospel for the Second Sunday of Christmas, which in the U.S. is supplanted by Epiphany, is the wedding at Cana.)

Eternal Rest

We learned yesterday that one of the young women who had been in discernment with us (but could not enter while she was bound by her contract with the military) was killed in northern Iraq on Christmas Eve. If you scroll down through my archives to Dec. 3, you will find a comment from her, posted from Iraq. for the feast of the Immaculate Conception, she sent two dozen roses to our motherhouse for Our Lady. She had only been in Iraq a short time, and kept in contact with our sisters by phone. She told one of the sisters recently that if anything happened to her, she would pray in heaven for vocations to the Daughters of St. Paul. So please pray for the repose of her good soul, and for her grieving family. (She was an only child.)

 

I couldn't find any mention of her death in the Tribune, but here is what I found online:

Sgt. Myla L. Maravillosa, 24, of Wahiawa, Hawaii, died in Kirkuk, also on Christmas Eve (Saturday), of injuries sustained earlier that day in Al Hawijah, when her HMMWV was attacked by enemy forces using rocket-propelled grenades. Maravillosa was assigned to the Army Reserve's 203rd Military Intelligence Battalion, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.

Wanted: Peace on Earth

I caught a little notice in yesterday's New York Times about the Sri Lankan member of Parliament who was assassinated while attending midnight Mass. The killers shot him from the pews, and injured eight others, but managed to escape. Remember all the problems with the Tamil and that about five years ago? It seems the pot is beginning to boil again.

Katrina Christmas

If I were an artist, I'd do a "real" kind of "Gulf Coast Nativity," but you get the idea. The background photos were taken by my sister Mary (the nurse) in St. Bernard Parish. The nativity figurines are Fontanini.

I'll be quite busy with community, apostolate and liturgical duties for the next several days, and I am sure you will have very full days, too.

Best wishes and prayers for a Christmas full of Jesus!

Jesus, full-sized

From Cardinal George's Christmas column.

Christmas is the occasion for many people to weigh in on who Jesus is. Usually, Jesus ends up looking suspiciously like the person telling the story or making the argument. If the author is involved in political life, Jesus ends up looking like a social reformer or even a revolutionary. If the writer is Thomas Jefferson, Jesus ends up a moral philosopher with a life devoid of miracles or anything which might leave one thinking He is divine. If the speaker is a multi-culturalist, Jesus is the all-inclusive acceptor of anyone or anything, certainly never a judge. Each nation likes to portray Jesus as a countryman in dress and manner; and that is true, because Jesus is the Savior of the entire world. He is always one of us, no matter who we are. But He is always more, which is why He can call the entire world to conversion.

Read the whole column.

Katrina Christmas

Here's a nice look at how people of faith in the Gulf Coast are facing Christmas.

random thoughts

I think I fixed whatever was weird with the concert video clip. Please try just clicking on the link and see if it works. Let me know if it doesn't. It works for me! (My computer is afraid of me, so it tends to behave in my presence.) (Most of the time.)

Here's a random reflection. I was wondering just why our culture pays attention to the political opinions of celebrities who are known for their looks or acting or singing, but have no background at all on economics or whatever. And I am thinking that perhaps it is a form of projection. I mean, we don't know these people at all, really, but we see them in roles, and probably project onto them whatever qualities we associate with their looks or persona.

Like I said, a random thought.

And a random memory. I was in first grade, and it was the first day of "big school." The teacher was calling role, and she mispronounced the last name of one of my little friends, who, of course, did not respond. Eventually, the teacher figured out who the child was, and rather insisted with her about her last name, judging from the spelling. (No, it was not one of our region's marvelous French names--that would have been easy! It was German.) And my friend began to cry. I was sitting there, peeved at the teacher, thinking "It's her last name, you should accept her way of pronouncing it!"

And a random meditation. Today's Gospel is the Magnificat. (Magnificent!) "The Almighty has done great things for me!" We may not know exactly what those things are, but it is always appropriate for us to pray these words of Mary.

Advent questions

Yesterday's Annunciation to Mary and the earlier story of the Annunciation to Zechariah have some parallels, but also contrasts. Sometimes people get tripped up on how harshly Zechariah seems to have been treated for raising a question, while Mary raised a question, too, and received assurances. But their questions were very, very different. Mary asked, "How can this come about?" while Zechariah asked, "How I am I to know this?" In other words, Zechariah seems to have made his own judgment the central issue. I think that is a very common temptation for our day. Isn't that the whole meaning of relativism? I reserve to myself all judgment about the truth or validity or worth of a matter--at least insofar as it affects me. There is almost an unwillingness to let anything "be done" in "my" world unless I am totally in charge.

So Mary is not just an example of a "handmaid of the Lord," but of a woman who is open to the "other" in life, even if it did not originate with her, even if it comes unbidden.

Katrina update

Here is something I received in an e-mail. The writer is a Jesuit from California, Ron Schmidt.

I just spent 10 days along the Mississippi coast where towns were wiped out...the devastation is unbelievable and the recovery efforts will take  years. I spent a day in New Orleans, where things are just as bad..perhaps worse...since the devastation is so widespread too.
I promised people in Mississippi that I would make others aware of their plight---that the Federal govt. is ignoring or dragging their political feet in getting legislation going to provide money for the recovery effort. No one seems to recognize the scale of this national catastrophe.
Everyone I talked with praised private charities and groups who came to help...FEMA gets no good marks, the Red Cross mixed reviews. Lots of donations were continuing to come in while I was there--from small dollar contributions, to clothing and medical supplies.
Everyone I talked with encouraged us to put out the word to get Congress to act and just within the past two days some action on repair of the levees of  New Orleans was taken. But much more needs to be done before Congress adjourns for the Christmas break.
I am also forwarding a document on the pending Immigration Reform Bill,  which the Jesuit Conference, a national board, does not support. Interesting note: many of the construction workers now coming into Gulf  Coast region are of Hispanic background, from Mexico or Central America, and may be undocumented. But they are needed to help with the
reconstruction efforts.
Christmas challenges for us all.

The author's web addresses are www.onthelinefilm.com and www.sandamianofoundation.org.

Thoughts from Narnia

Loved it!

Thought the land of Narnia was very believable, despite the critics' sneering that it looked phony. And loved Aslan (of course!). I especially liked the "Gethsemane" scene, with Aslan going off alone, and how he was grateful for the company of the two girls who had followed him into the dark wood.

Girls come off pretty good in Narnia.

And while I really liked Mr. Tumnus, the faun, no one can beat those beavers!

Does anyone else have some favorite scene or character?

Concert Clips--Just for Fun!

I made a tiny two-minute video (windows media format) that works in my computer and I hope will work for you. It may take me a while to get this link correctly...

The video "footage" was taken with a cell-phone, so the quality is abominable. St. Nicholas hasn't made any promises for more suitable equipment, so this will have to suffice! But you will get the idea, at any rate.

Lion of Judah

Today Advent takes a special turn toward intensity. From now through the Christmas season, every day will have its own carefully tuned liturgical readings. I have to admit, though, that I have never been all that crazy about the readings for Dec. 17, prophetic though they be. The first reading is from Genesis: Jacob's prophecy over his son Judah. And the Gospel is Matthew's geneology of Jesus (with all the "begots"). This year, with the Chronicles of Narnia and the strong "Lion of Judah" imagery (no matter how the critics try to get around it), we have a representation of the Genesis prophecy: "Judah, like a lion's whelp, you have grown up on prey, my son... The scepter shall never depart from Judah." Only, as I meditated on this today, the image that came to me was God's inside-out way of fulfilling such prophecies: the Lion of Judah at the feet of his servants.
Tomorrow the community and staff will go to see the Chronicles of Narnia together. (That has become our Christmas party: to go as a staff to see a movie that we can then share reflections on.) I'm looking forward to seeing the majestic Aslan, of course, and above all his humble self-giving in sacrifice. It really sheds a wonderful light on Christmas.

Stem-cell deception

Today's news also exposed something of the underside of embryonic stem cell research. I thought it was bad enough when Korean scientists had stormed ahead and announced actually cloning human beings. Now, according to the Korean news site Digital Chosunibo, "a researcher on Hwang's team who took part in the somatic cloning of stem cells claimed the results published by Science in 2004 were a collection of falsehoods. The researcher maintains that Hwang's team fabricated data because in reality it failed to clone a somatic cell and instead used a frozen embryo from the hospital to make stem cells. The researcher says the team also lied about cloning a cow."

Well, in one way, that's good news for the uncloned humans. Except that they probably did destroy hundreds and hundreds of potentially viable embryos in their pursuit of the scientific grail of the day.

You gotta hope that these lies will lead to someone's awakening: why are we racing to do this (and lying about it) when real cures can be done with adult stem cells? Why insist on pursuing the elusive (at the price of one's own soul) and ignoring the available?

The latest in the fight against AIDS

Well, a half-page story in today's Tribune about efforts in South Africa, where something like 30% of the adults are HIV-positive. It seems that (who'd have thought it?) when action groups target men's attitudes towards women, and promote things like monogamy and fidelity, there are amazingly good results! Yes, that's right: these grass-roots endeavors are finding that nothing money can buy can protect you and your loved ones from this deadly virus the way virtue can!

Not that the Church gets any credit for saying this all along. Hey, it doesn't matter who it is that is telling the truth, as long as the truth gets told.

Katrina update

Well, after speaking with my mom the other day and hearing her frustration over the levee boards and the drive-by inspections that preceded the disaster, it was good to learn that the White House has finally approved enough money to get something going. A first-page report in today's Tribune covered the matter of the levees, and indicated that the full-blown project will include the destruction of some of the man-made waterways that were part of the problem. From what I understood, flood plains will be allowed to form again so that the shoreline can build itself back. Now I'm praying that a unified board will be put in charge of the project, with scientists and engineers rather than politicians making it up.... Is that too much to ask in Louisiana? I mean, we have corruption in Chicago, too, but things get done for the benefit of the city! Back home, the corruption doesn't yield any public benefit!

My book cover

Sr. Mary Joseph has been working hard and here is the final version of the book cover for my soon-to-be-released kids' book: Sr. Patricia, our children's editor, told me that the book has had a lot of problems as it went through the publishing process. For us, that's always the sign of a book that's destined to do a great deal of good. It should be out in time for Lent! (Of course, I'll let you know!)

Back-Alley Shooting

No! It's not what it sounds like. Actually, we learned at our staff meeting this morning that our alley will be used tonight and tomorrow for some scenes for the TV show "Prison Break." That's one of the interesting things about our location. A few years ago, the sisters met Mel Gibson in that back alley. And last year it was Nicholas Cage, working on "The Weatherman." (We didn't really see him, just a row of cars topped with artificial snow. And we had to ask the crew to move some of the cars, because they were blocking us in our garage!)

Santa Lucia

Well, today is the feast of the "Virgin of Syracuse," as little St. Lucy is called in Italy. I have twice visited her shrine in Venice and venerated her mummified relics. Poor little thing, she is a tiny brown form, her skin and flesh more like finely layered pastry than human remains. And I don't recall noticing that her orbital region was sunken (given her martyrdom). That didn't stop me from praying for my relatives who suffer things like macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma... (you know who you are, and I prayed for you today, too). I also prayed today for people whose "inner" vision is obscured. There are so many obstacles to our seeing clearly through the smudgy lens of our consumer culture! I find myself thinking a lot lately about people at the heads of huge corporations (and also in positions of power in government). Self-interest, greed, and the will to power can blind anyone. Sometimes decisions are made that clearly devalue real, live human beings, and the only "benefit" that is discernible is some limited but immediate and very large financial gain. We need eyes that "see the grace of God," like those of St. Barnabas, or like today's St. Lucy.

travelogue

I wrote this on Monday, but we were having DSL troubles...

Spent most of my day getting from Boston to Chicago. My flight ended up delayed a little over an hour, but the flight before mine was cancelled, so a one-hour delay was hardly worth noticing. More time to just sit and read my New Testament. Philippians. After landing at O'Hare, I made my way to the Blue Line and got on the train with two and a half minutes to spare before it started for downtown. There is a lot of construction beginning right in the blocks behind us, and that has affected (as I wrote earlier) our trusty underground sidewalk system, including the lovely passageway from the Blue Line to our very corner. So I got off at Clark and Lake instead and got lost in the maze of the Thompson center. Finally had to ask a janitor how to get out of the building. Turns out I was still one level below the street. It was refreshing to get outside at what was, by then, 5:00 p.m. for me (still running on Boston time). As I walked down Lake street, each block seemed filled with a different yummy fragrance, depending on which of the many restaurants was there. The dominant scent was Mexican. And a few blocks into my walk home, there were some people handing out free samples "Airborne," which I had just purchased last week, hoping to be armed against a nasty sore throat that was making its way through the Boston community. That stuff is so expensive, I think I may go scouting around tomorrow to see if I can find some more free samples!

Once home, I found a letter (number 2) from the airline that had messed up my original flight, causing me to buy a last-minute ticket to Boston. This letter claimed that they had not only refunded my original purchase price, but I still had a valid reservation in their system, and they wanted me to call an 800 number to make payment arrangements. I tried the number (and not for payment options, believe me) and found that their office was closed. So they got a five-page follow-up fax.

I have a lot lot lot of catching up to do, but it is good to be back home. And I got an idea of how I am becoming climatized to Chicago. When the pilot described the local weather conditions and said it was "sunny and about 28 degrees," I found myself thinking, "hey, not bad!"

And you know? It wasn't!

Get me right

Regarding my post on activism, I am a bit apprehensive that I may not be understood. (This happens a lot.) Activism of the kind I mentioned, whether it is in the service of a more "conservative" stand or a more "progressive" one, runs a huge risk of being a power play in disguise. Nothing pleases Satan more than convincing people that they are serving the truth while they blithely ignore the bigger picture (and a vaster, encompassing truth). We are called to make a daily examination of conscience for just this purpose: to uncover the hidden agendas behind our own choices.

Gaudete and other matters

Lovely readings for Gaudete Sunday. Here in Boston, I proclaimed the second reading at Mass, with Paul telling us that "the will of God for you" is to rejoice, to pray always, and to give thanks in all circumstances. In the light of this, how well do we do the will of God these days?
I ask this with a particular edge, almost, after reading about a local controversy. It seems that there are some Catholic activists who are making an effort to "bring down" Boston Catholic Charities by sabotaging its annual fundraiser. I couldn't fathom it, because first the protest focused on the fact that both the Archbishop and the local Mayor (who has declared himself pro-abortion in some way) were to be present together at the fundraiser. Mayors' stands on abortion really have no impact, unless those mayors have their sites set on higher office (which can often be the case). But then it turns out the real problem was that until a recent Vatican statement forbidding Catholic agencies from being involved in adoptions by same-sex couples, Catholic Charities in Boston had complied with state law mandating that they not deny these couples the possibility of adopting. (Catholic Charities receives some funding from the state.) My understanding is that Catholic Charities is now in conformity with the Vatican directive. But this seems to be the issue which got the protest going.
I am in full agreement with the Vatican observation that there is a subtle violence in raising children in a same-sex household (and from what I understand, a lot of the evidence of how this situation affects children psychologically is being re-interpreted so that any difficulties are seen as the child's own neurosis and not the lifestyle issue), but it seems to me that until a real directive came from the Holy See, the director of Catholic Charity did not do wrong in attempting to navigate this very sticky wicket in the light of the immediate good of the children, as best discerned case by case. Children in abusive situations, children in serial foster care, also suffer profound psychological disruption, and at times it really may have seemed in the children's best interest to place them in a stable, if irregular, situation, rather than leave them in foster care. How many of the activists who protested the charity are hosting multiple foster children with psychological disorders or learning disabilities? I do not impune their orthodoxy or their good will, but I wonder if there may be a leisurely sort of judgment at work: an armchair exercise conducted strictly on the basis of ideals in which the best can be the enemy of the good. How much of this is really about the good of those children (or the needy pregnant mothers whom Catholic Charity also helps so vastly), and how much is a kind of political game played with Catholic vocabulary? (Boy, is that dangerous.) I find it appalling that because of a difference of judgment (in a case which has since been resolved in conformity with the Vatican statement), people would attempt to compromise the fundraising of an organization which is currently preventing a lot of abortions by providing necessary care to the poor--unless those persons can assume the burden of care themselves. Outside of that, I really wonder if this is a kind of power game.
Key words in Advent are "Keep watch!"

Snow-el

Well, they had been predicting a pretty bad storm and we got it. Complete with thunder and lightning. And bad enough roads that our evening Christmas concert in Billerica was just cancelled. On the plus side, this gives me a chance to make some real headway on that final paper for my Theology of Prayer course...

O the weather outside is...

St. Juan Diego

Such a charming feast day today! Our morning prayers were led by a Mexican-American sister, and included a narration of Mary's words in the original Aztec language. We followed along, of course, with a translation! Among Juan Diego's protests of inadequacy for his mission was something I had never heard before. To emphasize what a "nothing" he was, Juan called himself "a tail, a weed, a harness." Powerful images. And I got to thinking: if Our Lady were to appear today, she would choose (just as Paul said of God's choices) "those who were lowly, who count for nothing." She would choose someone like Juan Diego, who had to go to the Bishop and (think of it) stammer out a message in a language (Spanish) that he could barely speak. That first announcment of Our Lady's appearance and desire was conveyed in halting baby talk, full of mispronounced words and mangled grammar. What if someone were to come to me, here and now, with a message from heaven delivered in severely broken English? I am afraid that my tendency would be to assume that the messenger was some poor, deluded soul jabbering away. I'm not sure I would listen very attentively. Maybe I would try to pay attention out of courtesy, but not in genuine receptivity to a message. (Since I have a lot of experience living with persons who barely speek English, I know what I am talking about! And I've also been on the other side of the picture: living in another country and being treated like a child because I could only express myself primatively in the local language.)
Anyway, this coalesces with the message of Advent. God comes to us in easy-to-dismiss smallness.

Happy Birthday, Sr. Lorraine!

Be sure to pay Sr. Lorraine a visit and wish her blessings on this very special birthday!

Immaculate Conception

Today's huge feast day has me reflecting on an aspect of Our Lady's Immaculate Conception that had never occurred to me before. The course on the theology of prayer that I have been taking at CTU included some texts by Thomas Merton in which he speaks of the "false self" that is our artificial persona, characterized by (in effect) sin--not personal sins, but the foundational sins of pride, vanity, greed (which I think is our age's dominant sin) and so on. This false self is like a mask that even blocks our relationship with God. "I" am not whom the Father created me to be, but some other self that I want to be, wish I could be, want others to see me being.... I think the major problem of the "false self" is that God's immense truth threatens to unveil the falsity of the self we claim to be. So it is better (for the survival of the false self we think we are) to keep God at a safe distance.

Mary had no false self, ever. She was purely the one the Father had created her to be, and so was fully able to respond to her vocation. There was no secret agenda she wanted to achieve, no ulterior motive in her, nothing to obstruct her awareness and openness to the utter goodness of God's call. She was always true. 

katrina update: Tulane and Loyola

An article in yesterday's Globe here in Boston highlighted the anxiety of New Orleans colleges and universities to get their students back for the second semester. Many of those students are here in Boston, and area universities have a kind of ethical/courtesy requirement of not allowing visiting students to transfer over. It is critical for the New Orleans schools to get back about 85% of their student body, and so far Tulane is quite close to that goal, but Loyola and Xavier have only 75% and 74% of committed returns so far. Most of my family members graduated from Loyola for undergrad and either Loyola (Dad, Harold: law) or Tulane (Thomas, law; Nell, social work) for grad school, and my sister Mary had been pursuing her Master's in nursing at Loyola (I believe). I went to Loyola for a year before entering the convent (communications and music!).
I had thought that the two schools escaped major damage, and I suppose that compared to other parts of New Orleans that is true. (Xavier I knew sustained serious damage, and with inadequate insurance.) But evidently they had first-floor flooding, because the Tulane rep who came to speak here in Boston was minimizing the problems, saying that all the lower-level floors already had their walls and so on stripped out. My godmother is blocks from the two campuses and she had three feet of water.
One thing that struck me about the re-recruitment efforts is that they are failing to appeal to young people's idealism. I would think that the invitation to come and be a part of the rebuilding would be very attractive. To help people in particular need, to collaborate in designing and building houses, etc. There are so many possibilities for creatively doing good, major good, and also gaining life experience, too.
Do you think I should write to those people and suggest the obvious?

Advent liturgy

This year I am noticing a bit more what the Liturgy is doing during this first part of Advent. (There is a shift on Dec. 17.) The readings, especially the Gospel, are presenting the Savior to us in a way that ought to awaken in us a recognition that we need a Savior like that. So that we long for the Lord to come and save us in that way, not in a generic way, or by a generic coming, but in the way depicted in the Gospel. I want to be a bit more attentive to this, in order to conform my prayer to this spirit: to recognizing my need for this Savior, here and now, and earnestly invoking him. Not that he isn't already present among us precisely in that way, but that I may be receptive to him, and so receive him.

Ambrose, Bishop

Ambrose falls into my "one greater than I is coming after me" category. Great in himself, he is still eclipsed by his convert, Augustine. I suspect we may find a similar phenomenon with the pontificate of Benedict XVI. As great as John Paul II was (and I believe he was one of the greatest saints not only of our time or our century, but in the history of the Church), it could very well be that he was "preparing the way" for Benedict's ministry. There are any number of reports that Benedict's audiences are drawing greater crowds than JP2's, and that the people are somehow understanding his talks in a way that they seem not to have grasped JP2's message. I wonder if that is simply how it is in the Church. Even Jesus said that "the things I do, you will do and greater far than these." Those who give themselves to Jesus and the mission of the Church can expect to be surpassed by those who come after them, and--like John the Baptist--they rejoice in that.

Prayer partner

Prayer partner

Prayer Partner

Prayer Partner

Sr. Gabriella's special assignment ir to pray for our Chicao community--and all the people we serve.

Ho, Ho, Ho

Happy Feast of St. Nicholas! I remember in grade school, two of the moms would dress up, one as St. Nick, the other as his servant Peter, to distribute candy canes in the classroom. And more recently, I enjoyed the depiction of St. Nicholas in the movie "Millions," where he  helps little Damian stuff currency into the mail slot of the local Mormon community, to help them because they seemed poor. Nicholas wasn't so much concerned with the receivers as with the act of giving. And he only spoke Latin, though you'd wonder if Nicholas of Myra spoke anything besides Greek. I  mean, I'd wonder that, but I don't know the linguistic state of the Roman Empire by his time.
Does anyone else have St. Nicholas day memories?
And Happy Name Day to little Nicholas Stiegler, my cousin's firstborn!

on the road

Well, we're heading back to Boston this morning. We have until Thursday and then our concerts start up again. I hope to write my first draft of the final paper for my Theology or Prayer course before we have our next practice...
Fellow blogger Lisa attended our Princeton concert yesterday afternoon, so you'll have to look to her for a review. We couldn't hear a thing! (But I understand there were some problems with static involving our wireless mikes...) In all, the concerts really did bring something of Jesus to those who came. In some respects, what we do is a little silly. We're up there singing our hearts out, and the sisters in the front row (the more coordinated members of the group) are even doing dance steps! It would be ridiculous, if it weren't in some way an expression of being fully alive, and letting the story of Christmas involve our whole being--thus giving permission to our audience to also be "fools for Christ", even "dancing before the Ark of the Covenant" like David. Some of our sisters have great voices, but are too uncomfortable with the "performance" aspect of the concerts. If I thought too much about it, I might be too, but that is putting the emphasis in the wrong place.
Anyway, off we go!

Prepare the way

Prepare the way

Sr. Lorraine clears away snow to give the choir safe passage as we head off to Princeton for a concert.

Here we are!

No pictures yet from our two concerts (so far), but they were lots of fun and we managed to get most of our notes and words together in the proper place and time. The first evening was for about 600 guests and last night's at a Manhattan church brought in 82 guests. (That's our "start" in NYC.) We have a little bit of practice NOW (they are in the next room...) and our Princeton concert tomorrow. Prayers are still needed! I will try to write more later, but internet access is hard here: thirty people sharing two dial-up connections...

Practice.

Practice.

Concert tonight

Well, tonight is the first of our concerts, and the most elaborate of them all. It's a dinner concert, our annual fund raiser, and it draws close to 600 people. We were praying for the people today. For many of them, this Christmas concert will be the most religious thing they do all year. It is their only direct encounter with the Gospel. (The rest is up to you and me living the Gospel in every day choices that will make Jesus present as alive.) So pray for us tonight: for our notes, our choreography, our message. May the voice of the Christmas angels really reach every heart, tonight and in our other five concerts.
And thank you, Mom, for offering up Splenda instead of honey in your coffee for this intention!

Practice.

Practice.