Gaudeamus!
We brought our Easter Octave to a close last Sunday with our annual Easter Gaudeamus, (let us rejoice) that is our talking supper. Normally our meals are taken in silence but on two occasions, Easter and Christmas, we gather for a supper during which we have conversation with one another. And rejoice we did! A joyous occasion to be sure.
New Arrival
This past Tuesday we were happy to receive a vocational aspirant, Samuel Luis, who comes to us all the way from India. Samuel, 27 years of age, is a seminarian for the archdiocese of Mumbai and feels called to monastic life in our community. He will be with us for about six months of further discernment.
Here we see him with his ‘guardian angel’ Br. Joseph (on the left). Each newcomer has a ‘guardian angel’ to help him find his way about the place and to see to it that he is in the right place at the right time. Join us in supporting him with prayer during these days of testing and discernment.
Rededication of Renovated Church
Then, on this past Friday we celebrated the rededication of our newly renovated church. Bishop Matano was principal celebrant at Mass during which he blessed the church. We kept the day as a special feast, grateful to be back celebrating the liturgy in church once again.
Here we see Bishop Matano and his secretary, Fr. White, blessing the altar. There was no need to reconsecrate the altar and church since renovation is not considered an act of desecration. It is only when a church is desecrated that it has to be reconsecrated.
Heading Southward
Monday through Friday of the coming week I will be joining the OCSO Vocational Directors and Superiors of the American Region for a meeting at our monastery of Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia.
Br. John Cassian, Regional Secretary of Formation, outlines the agenda: Br. Paul Bednarczyk, CSC, of the NRVC will give us two-days of presentations, with discussion, on these topics: clarification of roles, models of collaboration, media savvy for social networking, data on vocations, practical questions on candidate issues, discernment process. We will have a great opportunity to look at these issues together as a Region. We will have Thursday to ourselves in order to establish some goals for ourselves. Meet Br. Paul on YOUTUBE.
Lectio Notebook
It is especially in our hope in God’s forgiving us all our sins and making us justified or divinized children of God through his Spirit that we see the greatest reason for trusting in God’s mercy toward us in our sinfulness.
The basic reason for the absolute and certain trust we can have that God loves us lies in the hope the Holy Spirit of the risen Jesus infuses into our hearts. Hope is the confidence that we have that God will give us all the help necessary to attain our eternal destiny. He will take care of all our needs and will never abandon us for a moment.
Because of this hope, we can confidently surrender our lives and our future and that of the entire universe to God, who will forgive us our sins and turn all misfortunes and evils to our eternal happiness.
In Jesus We Trust
George Maloney, SJ
Comments are closed.