Here’s a quick question: what are we celebrating at Christmas?
Jesus’ birth? Peace and love? Family and friendships? Our shared sense of community, both locally and globally? Christmas is all of that, and so much more. It is a celebration of Christ’s arrival.
The “arrival” is less about Jesus’ birth and more about Christ’s presence among us and within us – the Incarnation. That presence gives dimension and meaning to the peace and love, family and friendships, and shared sense of community. It is the source of the hope we celebrate. It is the reason why the symbols of Christmas are light (Christ’s presence brings light to the world) and evergreens (the Incarnation is a perennial reality now, today and forever).
So there is plenty to celebrate. With all the preparations – and the stress of finishing papers and exams – it can be a struggle to keep the meaning of the season in mind. But Christmas will be so much more meaningful if you can. We are here to help. You can get into the Christmas spirit with our annual celebration of Christmas after 5 p.m. mass this Saturday, Dec. 11. Please join us in the Chapel library for a festive reception with good food, good cheer and good fellowship before you rush off to dinner and studies.
December has a whole host of celebrations honoring Mary. In this season of preparing for Christ, it seems natural to turn to her. After all, she awaited Christ’s arrival with greater anticipation than anyone else. For more about Christmas, the Marian celebrations this month and other news about the Catholic Community, visit our website at www.conncatholics.com. You might also find inspiration at Christmas Vespers: A Service of Lessons and Carols, Wednesday, Dec. 15 at 5 p.m. in the Chapel.
This can be a stressful time. If you would like to talk, please stop by my office in the Chapel basement or stop me if you see me in Harris, the library or walking across campus. I’m here Wednesday and Saturday afternoons and evenings; I’m always available after 5 o’clock Mass on Saturday. Our last liturgy of the semester will be Dec. 18. You can also reach me by phone at 860-423-0856 or by e-mail.
You will be in my prayers and in the prayers of the Catholic Community during the next few weeks. I wish you a joyful Christmas and all of God’s blessings for 2011.
Devotedly yours,
Father Larry
Friday, December 10, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Honoring John Henry Newman
A Message from Father Larry:
Strange, isn’t it, how hyphenated dates pop up in our reading? References to past historic figures, terms of office, academic terms and careers, all have dates separated by a hyphen. I remember hearing it said that the hyphen represents more than the dates because it’s what happens between the dates that’s really important.
Here we stand at the beginning of the 2010-2011 academic year. The hyphen here doesn’t stand for midnight between the 31st of December 2010 and the 1st of January 2011 but to the period between Convocation 2010 and Commencement 2011. This modest little hyphen represents all the potential in that space and time for growth of learning, deepening of friendships, new insights, hard-won wisdom, laughter, tears, sweat and goose bumps. A whole magnificent academic year of choices and challenges!
Wherever you’re coming from in your own journey of discovery, it is my hope as we begin this new academic year that you will continue some of the spiritual practices that were yours before you came here, or that you will seek to imbue abandoned practice with some new meaning. You will likely question the value of your familiar habits, beliefs and practices as you explore your convictions. That is, after all, the purpose of your education. But it is difficult to study or critique the absent subject. Ask all the questions, but hold yourself to the same high standard you have for the Church. Forge bravely the foundation of your own heroic sacrifices and please remember that many great women and men have found inspiration and encouragement in their faith and many in the very faith you may be inclined to let slip for a while. As John Henry Newman (1801-1890) (another hyphenated date!) said, “Follow the truth, wherever it leads.”
Newman, priest, scholar and theologian, will be proclaimed “Blessed” by Pope Benedict this Sunday, September19th. This is the penultimate stage in the lengthy process of being proclaimed a saint. And October 17th will see the canonization of Andre Bessette (1845-1937), the Holy Cross brother who, as a young man, worked among the mill workers of eastern Connecticut and was the uncle of a Conn alum.
As the Catholic Community at Connecticut College we have an interest in both of these gentlemen but particularly Cardinal Newman. He is the inspiration for catholic campus ministries at secular colleges and universities all over the world and beginning in the United States at the University of Pennsylvania in 1893.
Newman had a lot to say about higher education. His struggle with truth led him by various paths to Jesus as if guided by what he called a “kindly light”. He professed his love of truth in word and deed. It brought him both condemnation and a cardinal’s red hat, each in their turn. Neither distracted him from his quest. He was neither destroyed by the criticism nor too impressed by the hat. It is difficult while we are young (or, honestly, at any age) to have that kind of focus and perseverance. But in Newman, as in all the saints, we have a virtual image of what the finished product might look like.
Good fortune has brought you to a great place to learn and to seek. Please make the Catholic Community here at Conn a resource in that enterprise. Come and invite your friends to join you for Vigil Masses on Saturdays at 5 pm in the Harkness Chapel and for community suppers. (The first is this Saturday the 18th in the Hood Dining Room in Blaustein after Mass.) Join the choir. Become a Eucharistic Minister or Lector. Catch up on the sacraments by preparing for First Communion or Confirmation. Stop by to visit me for a chat at the chapel or invite me to dinner chez Harris. It won’t cost you anything but the time. Visit our website, http://www.conncatholics.com/, for the latest on the Catholic Community’s activities and events.
I look forward to the opportunity to get to know you better. I hope to offer you an opportunity to get to know more about the Church and your faith as a resource to the many important choices you make every week. And I hope this will be a spectacular “hyphen” for us all.
Devotedly yours,
Fr. Larry
Strange, isn’t it, how hyphenated dates pop up in our reading? References to past historic figures, terms of office, academic terms and careers, all have dates separated by a hyphen. I remember hearing it said that the hyphen represents more than the dates because it’s what happens between the dates that’s really important.
Here we stand at the beginning of the 2010-2011 academic year. The hyphen here doesn’t stand for midnight between the 31st of December 2010 and the 1st of January 2011 but to the period between Convocation 2010 and Commencement 2011. This modest little hyphen represents all the potential in that space and time for growth of learning, deepening of friendships, new insights, hard-won wisdom, laughter, tears, sweat and goose bumps. A whole magnificent academic year of choices and challenges!
Wherever you’re coming from in your own journey of discovery, it is my hope as we begin this new academic year that you will continue some of the spiritual practices that were yours before you came here, or that you will seek to imbue abandoned practice with some new meaning. You will likely question the value of your familiar habits, beliefs and practices as you explore your convictions. That is, after all, the purpose of your education. But it is difficult to study or critique the absent subject. Ask all the questions, but hold yourself to the same high standard you have for the Church. Forge bravely the foundation of your own heroic sacrifices and please remember that many great women and men have found inspiration and encouragement in their faith and many in the very faith you may be inclined to let slip for a while. As John Henry Newman (1801-1890) (another hyphenated date!) said, “Follow the truth, wherever it leads.”
Newman, priest, scholar and theologian, will be proclaimed “Blessed” by Pope Benedict this Sunday, September19th. This is the penultimate stage in the lengthy process of being proclaimed a saint. And October 17th will see the canonization of Andre Bessette (1845-1937), the Holy Cross brother who, as a young man, worked among the mill workers of eastern Connecticut and was the uncle of a Conn alum.
As the Catholic Community at Connecticut College we have an interest in both of these gentlemen but particularly Cardinal Newman. He is the inspiration for catholic campus ministries at secular colleges and universities all over the world and beginning in the United States at the University of Pennsylvania in 1893.Newman had a lot to say about higher education. His struggle with truth led him by various paths to Jesus as if guided by what he called a “kindly light”. He professed his love of truth in word and deed. It brought him both condemnation and a cardinal’s red hat, each in their turn. Neither distracted him from his quest. He was neither destroyed by the criticism nor too impressed by the hat. It is difficult while we are young (or, honestly, at any age) to have that kind of focus and perseverance. But in Newman, as in all the saints, we have a virtual image of what the finished product might look like.
Good fortune has brought you to a great place to learn and to seek. Please make the Catholic Community here at Conn a resource in that enterprise. Come and invite your friends to join you for Vigil Masses on Saturdays at 5 pm in the Harkness Chapel and for community suppers. (The first is this Saturday the 18th in the Hood Dining Room in Blaustein after Mass.) Join the choir. Become a Eucharistic Minister or Lector. Catch up on the sacraments by preparing for First Communion or Confirmation. Stop by to visit me for a chat at the chapel or invite me to dinner chez Harris. It won’t cost you anything but the time. Visit our website, http://www.conncatholics.com/, for the latest on the Catholic Community’s activities and events.
I look forward to the opportunity to get to know you better. I hope to offer you an opportunity to get to know more about the Church and your faith as a resource to the many important choices you make every week. And I hope this will be a spectacular “hyphen” for us all.
Devotedly yours,
Fr. Larry
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Holy Week
Welcome back! There is some misguided belief that the Chinese came up with the threefold curse: May you live in interesting times. May you come to the attention of those in authority and may you find what you seek.
These last few weeks have been filled with “interest”. The Health Care Act and its lead up and response, child abuse mismanagement charges leveled at the Pope and the Boy Scouts of America, a surprise Presidential visit to the Afghani war zone, and that doesn’t even include weird weather, earthquakes and tsunamis. So much for interesting times! The 2010 census will take care of curse #2 and that only leaves number three… finding what you seek!
I hope that among the things you seek are inner peace and serenity. It’s true, the next two months are the most hectic of the year, and I’m sure we will all become very busy very quickly.
But I hope you will take time this week to do something important for yourself. Easter is this coming weekend. Take a few minutes to celebrate community, life, hope, renewal. Find some quiet time. Take a walk. Sit on the Green and enjoy the sun. Read a favorite poem. You can find inspiration with the Irish Jesuits at http://sacredspace.ie/ or if you want to focus on your Lenten observance, try Busted Halo’s “Five Ways to Make a Strong Finish.”
I hope you can join the Catholic Community to celebrate Easter at 8 p.m. Saturday with a vigil mass in Harkness Chapel. A reception with breads, chocolate, other snacks – and of course Easter eggs and Peeps – will follow in the Chapel library. Bring your friends, whatever their faith tradition. The weather looks good, so plan to gather at the Chapel pit near Williams Street a little before 8 pm on Saturday.
But before that you might also want to observe Holy Week. There are three special services, all in Harkness Chapel:
A Service of Penance and Reconciliation (Wednesday, March 31, 5 p.m.)
After a communal service, Monsignor Richard LaRocque, a long time friend of the Catholic Community, and I will be available to hear individual confessions. If you’re not sure how to make a good confession, you can find some pointers here: http://www.thelightisonforyou.org/.
Holy Thursday: Liturgy of the Lord’s Supper (Thursday, April 1, 5 p.m.)
We commemorate the Last Supper and remember how great a gift the Eucharist is. The roots of this core Christian celebration are in the rituals of the Passover Seder. This year Holy Thursday coincides with the fourth night of Passover.
Good Friday: Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion and Death (Friday, April 2, 5 p.m.)
We “stand beneath the Cross” with Christians around the world.
You can find details and links to more information at our web site, http://www.conncatholics.com/.
As we rush through these final weeks of the semester, please remember that the comfort and encouragement to be found in community. Join your brothers and sisters for weekly Mass – the schedule is on our web site – and don’t hesitate to stop by and see me. I am on campus Wednesday and Saturday afternoons, or you can reach me at 860-423-0856.
Devotedly yours,
Father Larry
P.S. – There will be no 5 p.m. mass on April 3. If you can’t get to the vigil at 8, you are welcome to participate in the Easter liturgy at the Coast Guard Academy chapel on Sunday morning at 9.
These last few weeks have been filled with “interest”. The Health Care Act and its lead up and response, child abuse mismanagement charges leveled at the Pope and the Boy Scouts of America, a surprise Presidential visit to the Afghani war zone, and that doesn’t even include weird weather, earthquakes and tsunamis. So much for interesting times! The 2010 census will take care of curse #2 and that only leaves number three… finding what you seek!
I hope that among the things you seek are inner peace and serenity. It’s true, the next two months are the most hectic of the year, and I’m sure we will all become very busy very quickly.
But I hope you will take time this week to do something important for yourself. Easter is this coming weekend. Take a few minutes to celebrate community, life, hope, renewal. Find some quiet time. Take a walk. Sit on the Green and enjoy the sun. Read a favorite poem. You can find inspiration with the Irish Jesuits at http://sacredspace.ie/ or if you want to focus on your Lenten observance, try Busted Halo’s “Five Ways to Make a Strong Finish.”
I hope you can join the Catholic Community to celebrate Easter at 8 p.m. Saturday with a vigil mass in Harkness Chapel. A reception with breads, chocolate, other snacks – and of course Easter eggs and Peeps – will follow in the Chapel library. Bring your friends, whatever their faith tradition. The weather looks good, so plan to gather at the Chapel pit near Williams Street a little before 8 pm on Saturday.
But before that you might also want to observe Holy Week. There are three special services, all in Harkness Chapel:
A Service of Penance and Reconciliation (Wednesday, March 31, 5 p.m.)
After a communal service, Monsignor Richard LaRocque, a long time friend of the Catholic Community, and I will be available to hear individual confessions. If you’re not sure how to make a good confession, you can find some pointers here: http://www.thelightisonforyou.org/.
Holy Thursday: Liturgy of the Lord’s Supper (Thursday, April 1, 5 p.m.)
We commemorate the Last Supper and remember how great a gift the Eucharist is. The roots of this core Christian celebration are in the rituals of the Passover Seder. This year Holy Thursday coincides with the fourth night of Passover.
Good Friday: Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion and Death (Friday, April 2, 5 p.m.)
We “stand beneath the Cross” with Christians around the world.
You can find details and links to more information at our web site, http://www.conncatholics.com/.
As we rush through these final weeks of the semester, please remember that the comfort and encouragement to be found in community. Join your brothers and sisters for weekly Mass – the schedule is on our web site – and don’t hesitate to stop by and see me. I am on campus Wednesday and Saturday afternoons, or you can reach me at 860-423-0856.
Devotedly yours,
Father Larry
P.S. – There will be no 5 p.m. mass on April 3. If you can’t get to the vigil at 8, you are welcome to participate in the Easter liturgy at the Coast Guard Academy chapel on Sunday morning at 9.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Holy Week 2010
The Catholic Community will observe Holy Week (the week of March 29) with a series of special services that explore the central mystery of our faith: the nature and meaning of life -- life here on earth and eternal life.
These services include some of the Church's most ancient and meaningful traditions and rituals. Washing of the feet. Veneration of the cross. Renewal of baptismal promises. More about Holy Week rituals.
All services are in Harkness Chapel. Note that because of Spring Break, there will be no Palm/Passion Sunday mass at the College this year. The schedule is:
Service of Penance and Reconciliation. Wednesday, March 31, 5 p.m.
After a communal penance service, Father Larry or a visiting priest can hear your confession. Not sure how to make a good confession? The Archdiocese of Boston has some advice.
Liturgy of the Lord's Supper. Holy Thursday, April 1, 5 p.m.
We commemorate the Last Supper and remember how great a gift the Eucharist is. The roots of this core Christian celebration are in the rituals of the Passover Seder. This year Holy Thursday coincides with the fourth night of Passover.
Liturgy of the Lord's Passion and Death. Good Friday, April 2, 5 p.m.
We "stand beneath the cross" with Christians around the world. What's the meaning of Christ's passion?
Vigil of Easter. Saturday, April 3, 8 p.m.
A joyous celebration begins symbolically in darkness as we wait for Christ to bring light to our lives and the world. We start with the blessing of the new fire at the Chapel pit and then process into the Chapel for readings, music, prayers and a celebration that is the central liturgy of the Church year. Mass will be followed by a reception in the Chapel library. There is no mass at 5 p.m. If you can't attend, you are welcome to participate in the Easter liturgy at 9 a.m. Sunday at the Coast Guard Academy chapel.
These services include some of the Church's most ancient and meaningful traditions and rituals. Washing of the feet. Veneration of the cross. Renewal of baptismal promises. More about Holy Week rituals.
All services are in Harkness Chapel. Note that because of Spring Break, there will be no Palm/Passion Sunday mass at the College this year. The schedule is:
Service of Penance and Reconciliation. Wednesday, March 31, 5 p.m.
After a communal penance service, Father Larry or a visiting priest can hear your confession. Not sure how to make a good confession? The Archdiocese of Boston has some advice.
Liturgy of the Lord's Supper. Holy Thursday, April 1, 5 p.m.
We commemorate the Last Supper and remember how great a gift the Eucharist is. The roots of this core Christian celebration are in the rituals of the Passover Seder. This year Holy Thursday coincides with the fourth night of Passover.
Liturgy of the Lord's Passion and Death. Good Friday, April 2, 5 p.m.
We "stand beneath the cross" with Christians around the world. What's the meaning of Christ's passion?
Vigil of Easter. Saturday, April 3, 8 p.m.
A joyous celebration begins symbolically in darkness as we wait for Christ to bring light to our lives and the world. We start with the blessing of the new fire at the Chapel pit and then process into the Chapel for readings, music, prayers and a celebration that is the central liturgy of the Church year. Mass will be followed by a reception in the Chapel library. There is no mass at 5 p.m. If you can't attend, you are welcome to participate in the Easter liturgy at 9 a.m. Sunday at the Coast Guard Academy chapel.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Mardi Gras is Saturday; Lent starts next week
Why would God let bad things happen to good people?
We want to make sense of the earthquake in Haiti, and that question seems like a good place to start. The answer depends on two things: who or what you believe God to be, and how you believe God interacts with the world.
If you are wondering where God is in all of this, remember that God breathes in each of us – in the Haitians who are homeless and hungry, in the rescue workers offering aid and comfort, and in the students on our campus in New London. We must, then, inevitably ask about our own responsibility for doing God’s work.
We might be tempted to turn away from Haiti. The problems there are enormous. We are so far away. And what can we possibly do to help? We are looking at that question in many ways this semester. Most fundamentally, our weekly collection is going to Catholic Relief Services for their work in Haiti. But charity is not enough. We must see with compassionate eyes, and we must recognize our own hand in the suffering of the poor.
We are called to live our faith, and the challenge of this life is to discern how to do that. We need to act. In doing so, we often find that we are not as powerless as we thought.
Lent starts next week. It is a time to think hard about how we live our faith and to renew our commitment to it. At Easter we enter a renewed world through the gateway of the empty tomb. The risen Jesus calls us out of the tomb and into the garden through the revival of our own spirits. All we have to do is want it.
A note about Mardi Gras, Lent & Holy Week
I hope you will join us for our annual Mardi Gras festivities this Saturday, Feb. 13. Mass is at 5 in Harkness Chapel. Our celebration, with a world-class lasagna, will follow in the Hood Dining Room of Blaustein. Bring your friends, whatever their faith – or no faith.We will inaugurate Lent with Mass and Distribution of Ashes at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 17 in the Chapel. We will continue to celebrate Mass throughout Lent each Wednesday and Saturday at 5 p.m. in the Chapel while classes are in session.
Bishop Michael Cote will be with us for Mass on Feb. 20. We’ll welcome him with a reception afterward in the Chapel library.
We will observe Holy Week – our first week back after Spring break – with a series of services that focus on the meaning of this extraordinary season. A full schedule is posted on our web site, http://www.conncatholics.com/. You can also find links to some inspiring and thought provoking Lent sites there.
I am on campus every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon and evening. Please don’t hesitate to stop by my office in the basement of the Chapel or call me at extension 2452 if you’d like to talk. Other times I can be reached at 860-423-0856.
Devotedly yours,
Father Larry
We want to make sense of the earthquake in Haiti, and that question seems like a good place to start. The answer depends on two things: who or what you believe God to be, and how you believe God interacts with the world.
If you are wondering where God is in all of this, remember that God breathes in each of us – in the Haitians who are homeless and hungry, in the rescue workers offering aid and comfort, and in the students on our campus in New London. We must, then, inevitably ask about our own responsibility for doing God’s work.
We might be tempted to turn away from Haiti. The problems there are enormous. We are so far away. And what can we possibly do to help? We are looking at that question in many ways this semester. Most fundamentally, our weekly collection is going to Catholic Relief Services for their work in Haiti. But charity is not enough. We must see with compassionate eyes, and we must recognize our own hand in the suffering of the poor.
We are called to live our faith, and the challenge of this life is to discern how to do that. We need to act. In doing so, we often find that we are not as powerless as we thought.
Lent starts next week. It is a time to think hard about how we live our faith and to renew our commitment to it. At Easter we enter a renewed world through the gateway of the empty tomb. The risen Jesus calls us out of the tomb and into the garden through the revival of our own spirits. All we have to do is want it.
A note about Mardi Gras, Lent & Holy Week
I hope you will join us for our annual Mardi Gras festivities this Saturday, Feb. 13. Mass is at 5 in Harkness Chapel. Our celebration, with a world-class lasagna, will follow in the Hood Dining Room of Blaustein. Bring your friends, whatever their faith – or no faith.We will inaugurate Lent with Mass and Distribution of Ashes at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 17 in the Chapel. We will continue to celebrate Mass throughout Lent each Wednesday and Saturday at 5 p.m. in the Chapel while classes are in session.
Bishop Michael Cote will be with us for Mass on Feb. 20. We’ll welcome him with a reception afterward in the Chapel library.
We will observe Holy Week – our first week back after Spring break – with a series of services that focus on the meaning of this extraordinary season. A full schedule is posted on our web site, http://www.conncatholics.com/. You can also find links to some inspiring and thought provoking Lent sites there.
I am on campus every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon and evening. Please don’t hesitate to stop by my office in the basement of the Chapel or call me at extension 2452 if you’d like to talk. Other times I can be reached at 860-423-0856.
Devotedly yours,
Father Larry
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