Lasagna this Saturday!

Classes started just a few days ago and all of us are adapting to new schedules, meeting new friends and sizing up new classes. I still feel a little unsettled, perhaps because of the threat of a flu pandemic. As a child I was taught never to sneeze into my sleeve. Now… Who knew? Times change.

Sneezing or not, we are, all of us, spiritual beings. As we establish new routines this fall, I hope we will all have the courage to allow our spirituality to determine our path each day – to influence our time in class, with friends, in sports, volunteering at local organizations. This becomes more difficult, but also more important, as the world presses us in other directions. If you believe that there is no room for God in the life of a rational thinker, read a little of the writings of Karl Rahner. “One cannot think enough,” he said “think intensively enough, courageously enough, and precisely enough.” Clearly being Catholic doesn’t mean leaving your brain at the gates of the college…or your heart…or your hands.

I’m writing to welcome you to campus and to let you know that the Catholic Community is here to help you settle in, make new friends, explore your faith and live by your convictions. You are always welcome to join us for Mass in Harkness Chapel on Saturdays at 5 p.m. Please check out our web site at www.conncatholics.com. You’ll find resources to deepen your faith life, biographies of the “heroes of faith” we hear about at Mass, the latest announcements, suggestions about how to get involved, photos, and information about where you can go to Mass if you can’t make it to Harkness Chapel.

I hope you can be with us this Saturday, September 19, for Mass and supper after Mass – lasagna, salad and bread. What a great way to meet other students and get the year off to a fresh start. Supper will be in the Hood Dining Room of the Blaustein Humanities Center. Bring your friends, whatever their faith. Our hero of faith this week, by the way, will be Professor Rahner – one of the 20th century’s most influential theologians.

You are receiving this e-mail because you indicated when you began at Conn that you have some connection with the Catholic faith. Maybe you do currently, maybe you did, maybe you’re not sure right now. The Catholic community welcomes you to join us, regardless of where you find yourself today in your faith journey. Whether you’re interested in liturgy, have questions or just want to talk, we’re here for you. If you’d like to talk with me, I am on campus most Wednesday and Saturday afternoons and evenings. Please feel free to drop by my office in the basement of the Chapel.

I look forward to seeing you in Chapel on Saturdays at 5 and around campus. Please let me know of any ideas you have for activities you’d like to see us work on this semester or next. For example, we are currently trying to get an a cappella group off the ground to sing Renaissance and Baroque Church music in a liturgical setting. Together we can make beautiful music. Together there’s little we can’t do.

Devotedly yours,
Father Larry