Spring 2008 Newsletter

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“the Word is within us...”

Dear Friends,

Spirituality, like all good theology, needs to claim its social and historical location. There is no paucity of evidence that life spins faster and farther. We celebrate recent breakthroughs in stem cell research. We know the disappointment and division that erupts in the face of immigration debates and the wounds of war. We are confronted by the dire reports about environmental decline.

And still, the psalmist’s words beg to be remembered: “You, O God, have made us little less than a god” (Psalm 8). How do we respond to such a mission?

We cannot miss the core of Christian faith: that God became human so that we could become like God. How will we respond? Will we embrace the invitation, the call, to “be God’s Heart on earth?” Indeed, will we allow ourselves to be God’s eyes, hands, and feet on earth as we share the work of reconciliation and transformation?

Mary Oliver, the acclaimed poet, captures the profundity of this mandate with its great mystery and joy in her poem, “The Veil”:

There are moments when the veil seems
almost to lift, and we understand what
the earth is meant to mean to us – the
trees in their docility, the hills in
their patience, the flowers and the
vines in their wild, sweet vitality.
Then the Word is within us, and the
Book is put away.

I look forward to seeing you at our various events this semester and to joining you in this marvelous work that God has entrusted to us.

Sincerely,

Barbara Quinn, RSCJ

Director