Aquarum

Welcome -- or welcome back --to Connecticut College

2011-09-03T14:27:00.000-04:00

"I feel the earth move under my feet; I feel the sky tumbling down..." Carole King's lyric has certainly been the theme song for recent events ... other than your arrival on campus, that is. An earthquake and a tropical storm both announced and impeded your arrival.

The campus has seen significant changes in paving and parking. The Science Center construction is underway and, although I haven't seen them myself, I heard the food lines in Harris have been reorganized. Through all of this the celebration about the college's Centennial continues as a leitmotif.

There are messages in all this, I'm sure. Flexibility, about which we have perhaps heard too much, is really indispensible as a habit and even desirable as a character trait. Change, while it is inevitable, may be both an advantage or a disadvantage ... or even both at the same time. And there is really nothing to get you back on your feet like a good celebration.

The schedule of weekly Masses for the fall semester has been somewhat revised to accommodate the changes wrought by the delayed opening of the college. This weekend there will be no Mass on Saturday evening (September 3rd) at 5 but there will be a Mass on Sunday morning, September 4th, at 10:30 a.m. in the Harkness Chapel. I hope you will plan to attend and meet new friends and renew old friendships. I've got a great story I can't wait to tell you about two students who met at this Mass in their first year at Conn.

Beginning next Saturday, September 10th, Mass will return to its usual time 5 p.m. every Saturday during the fall semester.

Despite meteorological appearances to the contrary, it was a "fair wind" that brought you to a great place to learn and seek. Please make the Catholic Community here at Conn a resource in that enterprise. Come and invite your friends to join you for the Vigil Masses on Saturdays at 5 and for community suppers. (The first is Saturday the 17th 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, www.conncatholics.com, for the latest on the Catholic Community's activities and events.

I look forward to getting 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 Centennial semester for us all.

Devotedly Yours in Christ,

Fr. Larry

Palm Sunday, Holy Week and Beyond!

2011-04-15T22:06:00.003-04:00

Here we are in the final days of the Spring semester and it really appears that the long Winter is over and gone. There are still a number of events in the Catholic Community's calendar for the semester. Some of them are corrections of the information I gave you in the letter at the beginning of the semester.

On April 16th at 5 pm in the Harkness Chapel we will observe Palm Sunday and begin Holy Week with Bishop Michael Cote, the local Bishop. A reception will follow Mass so you can meet him.

On Wednesdsay April 20th there will be a Penance Service in the Chapel at 5 pm.

A Good Friday Service will be held on April 22 at 5 pm in the Harkness Chapel.

There will be no Mass on Saturday, April 23 but on Sunday, April 24, at 5 pm we will celebrate the Mass of Easter in Harkness Chapel. A reception will follow Mass in the Chapel Library.

Our usual schedule of Vigil Masses on Saturday evenings at 5 pm will continue until the weekend before Commencement.

On May 8th at noon we will gather for Mass in Buck Lodge to celebrate our graduating seniors and to round out Floralia weekend. Brunch will follow Mass. Bring your friends.

On Commencement weekend teh Saturday night Mass will take place at 5:30 pm.

You can always stay in touch at http://www.conncatholics.com/

I hope to see you Saturday or on some of the services of Holy Week or some time in the remaining weeks of the semester.

Devotedly Yours,

Fr. Larry

Mardi Gras & Ash WednesdayA Message From Fr. Larry

2011-03-03T16:14:00.005-05:00

Tuesday is Mardi Gras! Bring in the clowns! Fat Tuesday (loose translation) will give way to Ash Wednesday (no translation needed). Lent, a very late Lent, will begin and will help us to prepare for the celebration of Easter and the renewal of our Baptismal Promises.

We are always in need of renewal and Lent is always about Baptism. Our Baptism into the Risen Christ is how it all starts for all Christians. The wild ride of our spiritual life begins in the waters of Baptism. No matter how long ago ours actually was, it is refreshed at Easter with the renewal of Baptismal promises and the sprinkling with Easter water.

Some students always ask about fast and abstaining from meat. These days Lent isn’t the grueling ordeal your grandparents knew. Here’s the short course on a Catholic observance of Lent.

Voluntary acts which take the focus off of ourselves and place it on the needs of others are a good way to enter into the spirit of the season.

Still, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fast and abstinence from meat. There is a limit of one full meal on these days for all between the ages of 18 and 59 inclusive. I doubt this will induce any of you to long for the age of 60. ‘Though, trust me, it’ll come soon enough. Why do you think they call it “Fast”?

So, after we’re 14 we abstain totally from meat on all the Fridays of Lent. Now you know where Carnivale gets its name. Bye-bye Meat! Until fairly recently that applied to the whole of Lent.

After we receive First Communion, we Catholics are bound by the obligation of receiving Holy Communion at least once a year. This is called the Easter Duty. The prescribed time for fulfilling the Easter duty extends: from the first Sunday of Lent to Trinity Sunday, in the United States. Catholics are also bound to confess serious (mortal) sins at least once a year, but this is not limited to the Lenten /Easter Season.

The rules are pretty minimalistic but they emphasize the most important qualities of our lives: other-centeredness, self-control, repentance for our sins and union with Christ in the Eucharist. If we were told we had to breathe every 3 minutes we would probably go for a more frequent pattern of breathing.

Before we go blithely into Lent, let’s celebrate Mardi Gras with Pizzas from Mr. G’s and a Piñata full of candy in the Chapel library after the 5 pm Mass this Saturday March 5th.

On Wednesday, March 9th, there will be Mass and the distribution of ashes at 5 pm in the Harkness Chapel.

Then we’re off to Spring Break! When you return we will celebrate Mass on the Wednesdays of Lent in addition to the usual Saturday Vigil Masses all at 5 pm.

On April 16th we will observe Palm Sunday and begin Holy Week with Bishop Michael Cote, the local Bishop. A reception will follow Mass so you can meet him.

On Wednesday April 20th there will be a Penance Service in the Chapel at 5 pm.

A Good Friday Service will be held on April 22nd at 3 pm in the Harkness Chapel.

And on Sunday, April 24, at 11 am we will celebrate the Mass of Easter in Harkness Chapel. A breakfast will follow Mass in the Chapel Library.

I’ll remind you again about all the events after Break but I just wanted to give you a “heads up” on all these events for your calendars. You can always stay in touch at http://www.conncatholics.com/

I hope to see you Saturday or on Ash Wednesday.

Devotedly Yours,

Fr. Larry

Anticipate Christmas with Us December 11

2010-12-10T14:40:00.001-05:00

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

Honoring John Henry Newman

2010-09-16T13:58:00.005-04:00

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

Holy Week

2010-03-30T18:39:00.001-04:00

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.

Holy Week 2010

2010-03-06T11:37:00.007-05:00

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.

Mardi Gras is Saturday; Lent starts next week

2010-02-11T15:40:00.005-05:00

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

Join us Dec. 12 to celebrate Christmas

2009-12-08T18:16:00.000-05:00

Advent is a time of joyful anticipation and preparation for the celebration of Christ’s birth at Christmas. Because of the winter break, though, we won’t be able to celebrate together.

So the Catholic Community is doing the next best thing: celebrating early.

I hope you can join us after 5 o’clock Mass this Saturday, Dec. 12 in the Chapel library for good cheer and good fun – and good food to whet your appetite for dinner at Harris.

I hope you can also be with us this afternoon, Tuesday, for Mass at 5 in the Chapel, celebrating the Holyday of the Immaculate Conception.

Advent and Christmas are about so much more than Jesus’ birth. Theologically, this season is a celebration of the incarnation – of God becoming flesh in Christ. That is the source of the hope we celebrate in the next few weeks. If you’re looking for more inspiration or more about the meaning of the season, visit our Web site at www.conncatholics.com. You might also find inspiration at Christmas Vespers: A Service of Lessons and Carols, Wednesday, Dec. 16 at 4:30 p.m. in the Chapel.

This can be a stressful time for many students. Our culture informs us at every turn that this is the season to be joyful, but often fails – intentionally – to remind us of the real reason for the joy. It can seem like a very hollow time. On top of that, papers are due, exams are coming up and we’ll all soon be separated from friends whose company we’ve come to truly enjoy.

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 year will be Dec. 19, on the second day of exams. You can also reach me by phone at 860-423-0856 or e-mail.

I hope to see you around campus, perhaps in the library, before you leave, but, if not, 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 2010.

Devotedly yours,

Father Larry

Lasagna this Saturday!

2009-09-16T21:29:00.002-04:00

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

Palms, Bagpipes, Supper

2009-03-31T17:29:00.002-04:00

This Saturday evening we begin the most important week of the Christian calendar, a week for immersion in the central mystery of our faith: through suffering and death, we experience transformation and renewal. It culminates, of course, in Easter – a celebration of new beginnings and new life.

For us, it all starts with the blessing of palms on the steps outside the Chapel this Saturday, April 4 at 5 p.m. The weather is supposed to be overcast but fair and warm – mid-50s – and there’s only a 30 percent chance of rain. So leave the umbrella in your room and enjoy some time outside feeding your soul, so to speak.

After the blessing we’ll follow the music of bagpipes inside for the Vigil of Passion (Palm) Sunday. Bishop Michael Cote of the Diocese of Norwich will celebrate mass with us. Stay around afterward for soup, bread and fresh-baked hot-cross buns in the Hood Dining Room – a tradition for the Catholic Community.

We continue our observance of Holy Week with four special services. The first is a Service of Penance and Reconciliation on Wednesday, April 8 at 5 p.m. in the Chapel. After a communal service, Monsignor Richard LaRocque, a long time friend of the Catholic Community at Connecticut College, and I will be available to hear individual confessions. Why confess your sins to someone else? In a word, it is cleansing. To experience God’s forgiveness in this tangible way can be a powerful experience. Not sure what to say or do? This video walks you through the steps of confession.

We will observe the Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday) with a series of services that explore the paschal mystery – the Passover of the Lord. Christ showed us how to live this mystery through his teachings and in his life and death. We experience it daily in virtually every aspect of our lives. God often asks us to give up our familiar ways, our old selves, in order to respond with grace and courage to a new reality. During Holy Week, we ask how we can more fully incorporate this lesson into our lives. At Easter we celebrate the new beginnings – new life – that emerge from suffering and death.

You can find a schedule for all the services of Holy Week and links to more information at our web site, http://www.conncatholics.com/. You can also pick up a schedule from the table at the back of the Chapel. Remember, there will be no 5 p.m. mass at the Chapel on Saturday, April 11. We will celebrate the Solemn Vigil of Easter at 8 p.m. with a joyous service that is rich in symbolism of life and hope. If you can’t be there, you are welcome to participate in the Easter liturgy at 9 a.m. Sunday in the Coast Guard Academy chapel.

If you find yourself struggling to comprehend the events these services commemorate, remember that there’s a reason it’s called the paschal mystery. As someone once said, “If I understand something, it’s no mystery.” Faith, so often, is more a matter of trust than belief.

Devotedly yours,

Father Larry

Lent 2009 -- A Letter from Fr. Larry

2009-02-16T14:16:00.001-05:00

February 2009

Last Thursday, oddly enough, was the 200th birthday of two people who’ve had immeasurable influence on 21st-century spirituality – both of them, I imagine, in ways that would have surprised them. One was Abraham Lincoln. The other Charles Darwin.

Darwin’s theory of evolution gave us a breathtaking new way to understand how God’s creative love is revealed to the world over time. (Unfortunately, some people concluded that evolution leaves no room for God. But that’s a topic for another day.)

And Lincoln, admirably, gave us a new way to infuse spirituality into public life. The result was an uplifting of the presidency and of America. His was a questioning, hard-won, pragmatic faith, summed up as “charity toward all and malice toward none.” If Lincoln truly is one of Barack Obama’s hero-models, there may well be reason for hope. Lincoln, it has been said, found peace – and the ability to take on the work that lay before him – by acknowledging his own powerlessness. He understood the need to act, and to base his actions on his faith as he understood it.

We are asked to do the same in our lives. Lent is just a few days away. Why not start it by contemplating how – not how well, but how – we live our own principles in our daily life on campus? Lent is a time for us to think again about how we can live our faith, to recommit to it and to be renewed. This is the Easter promise: that hope and new life are available to us perennially, and that we enter a renewed world through the revival of our own spirits. All we have to do is want it.

I hope you will join us for our annual Mardi Gras celebration after mass this Saturday, Feb. 21 (does that make it Samedi Gras?). Mass is at 5 in Harkness Chapel. Our celebration, with a world class lasagna, will be in the Hood Dining Room of Blaustein. Bring your friends, whatever their faith – or no faith.

After inaugurating Lent with the Mass and Distribution of Ashes at 5 pm on Wednesday, 25 February, in the Harkness Chapel we will continue to celebrate Mass each Wednesday and Saturday at 5 pm in the Chapel except during spring break. I hope you can join us.

Bishop Michael Cote will be with us April 4 for the Vigil of Passion (Palm) Sunday. We will observe Holy Week with a series of services that focus on the meaning of this extraordinary season. A full schedule is posted on our web site, www.conncatholics.com. You can also find links to some inspiring Lent sites there.

Spring semester is often stressful, especially for seniors. If you begin to feel pressured, remember what Lincoln once said: “the best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time.” I am on campus at least 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.

Devotedly yours,

Father Larry

Lent and Easter at Harkness Chapel

2009-01-19T13:51:00.007-05:00

Hope and new life are available to us perennially: that is the Easter promise. By reviving our own spirits, we create and enter a renewed world.

It is in that spirit that the Catholic Community at Connecticut College observes Lent and prepares for Easter. All are welcome to join us for services in Harkness Chapel through the spring. Our schedule for 2009:

Ash Wednesday, Feb. 25
A mass with the blessing and distribution of ashes begins at 5 p.m.

Lent
Father Larry says mass every Wednesday during Lent when classes are in session (March 4, March 25 and April 1 this year). Mass starts at 5 p.m.

Vigil of Passion (Palm) Sunday, Saturday April 4
We celebrate the vigil on Saturday, April 4, with palms, a procession and, after mass, traditional hot cross buns. Bishop Michael Cote of the Diocese of Norwich will join us. Mass starts at 5.

Holy Week
Service of Penance and Reconciliation. Wednesday, April 8, 5 p.m. After a communal penance service, Father Larry or a visiting priest can hear your confession.

Liturgy of the Lord's Supper. Holy Thursday, April 9, 5 p.m. We commemorate the Last Supper and remember how great a gift the Eucharist is.

Liturgy of the Lord's Passion and Death. Good Friday, April 10, 5 p.m. We "stand beneath the cross" with Christians around the world.

Vigil of Easter, Saturday, April 11
A joyous celebration begins at 8 p.m. We start with the blessing of the new fire at the Chapel pit and then process into the Chapel for mass. Mass will be followed by a reception in the Chapel library. There is no mass at 5 p.m.

Watch our web site, http://www.conncatholics.com/, for more details starting in mid-February.

A Letter from Father Larry -- December 2008

2008-12-03T11:58:00.000-05:00

Before there was Festivus there was Advent, that time of year when Christians, standing in a recurrently darkened world, turn their eyes to the East seeking the dawn of the Light of the world. Every year the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem grows more distant and the Second Coming at the end of time grows closer. But the focus of this wonderful season of waiting is not only about the beginning and the end, it’s about the birth of Jesus in us … the ongoing mystery of the Incarnation.

Meister Eckhart (c. 1260-1328), one of my favorite philosophers/theologians, said it nicely. "I believe in God, but do I believe in God-in-me? I believe in God in heaven, but do I believe in God-on-earth? I believe in God out there, but do I believe in God-with-us? Lord, be born in my heart. Come alive in me this Christmas."

Festivus, on the other hand, got its start on “Seinfeld” as a holiday for those fed up with the commercialism of Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. It satirizes the worst that these holidays represent: gifts given out of obligation, sentimentality that forgets compassion and gatherings that feign togetherness. In case you’re not familiar with the connection between Festivus and Seinfeld … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQFLqMyo0fo&NR=1.

Before you head off to Harris for the Festivus Dinner this Saturday, Dec. 6, I invite you to join other members of the Catholic Community and their guests for appetizers and punch to celebrate Advent after 5 o’clock Mass. We will be in the Ernst Common Room at Blaustein because Harkness Chapel will be set up for Make We Joy. The reception will be right outside Ernst. I promise you’ll have plenty of time to get to Harris. Bring your friends, Catholic or not – all are welcome.

As we approach the end of the semester, stress is all too common. If you’d like to talk, please stop by my office in the Chapel basement. I’m on campus Monday evenings as well as Wednesday and Saturday afternoons and evenings. You can also reach me by phone at ext. 2452 or by e-mail at lalap@conncoll.edu. You will be in my prayers and the prayers of other members of the Catholic Community.

If you’re looking beyond exams toward Christmas, you’ll find Advent inspiration at “Camels Seek the Star: a Festival of Lessons and Carols” at 4:30 on Wednesday, Dec. 10 in the Chapel. For online inspiration, go to the “Resources” section of the Catholic Community’s web site at www.conncatholics.com (if any of these links don’t work, copy and paste them into your browser).

We will celebrate a Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on Monday, Dec. 8 at 5 p.m. in the Chapel. Our last Mass together this semester will be Saturday, Dec. 13 at 5. We return for our first liturgy of the spring semester on Jan. 24. I wish you a joyous Christmas and all God’s blessings for 2009. Remember the true meaning of the season. Keep Christ in your heart.

Devotedly yours,

Father Larry

Advent & the Jesse Window at Harkness Chapel

2008-11-30T16:32:00.013-05:00

Jesse trees – like the one in the window high above the front doors of Harkness Chapel – are traditionally associated with Advent.

Why? Because they show Christ’s lineage from Jesse, King David’s father, in accordance with biblical prophecy: But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. Isaiah 11:1.

The Jesse window -- and all the others in the Chapel -- were fabricated by stained-glass craftsman G. Owen Bonawit in 1939. The Chapel was Bonawit's last commission before the Depression pushed him to give up his business and move West, where he became a successful technical photographer. More about the Harkness windows.

Above is an image of David (playing his harp, perhaps before slaying Goliath with a slingshot) from the Chapel's Jesse window. Below is Christ, with a flower blossoming from him. More about Jesse trees and their link to Advent:

Fish eaters
Wikipedia
Catholic Culture

Happy 80th Birthday, Marion!

2008-09-20T22:03:00.021-04:00

Marion is an emeritus professor of government and has been part of our community for … decades (?). She is fond of quoting Bette Davis: “Old age ain’t for sissies.”

Marion is no sissy. We can learn something from her every day about how to live life: never stop asking questions. Notice the small things. Appreciate what you have while you have it.

Marion went to grad school at Penn in the 1950s over the objections of her father. She was one of the first American women to do research in Africa and was a Fulbright scholar. She still follows politics in Africa (and the United States) with great passion. Most days you can find her at one of the computers at Shain library, reading The New York Times or checking out the latest scholarship on Kenya or Uganda.

Forty of us celebrated Marion’s birthday after mass tonight with supper and luscious cake from Motta's in Columbia – actually two cakes, one chocolate mousse and one vanilla with strawberry filling. You can see photos at the right. Or view a full-size slideshow.

Faith and Learning: It's in the process as much as it is the content

2008-09-06T19:02:00.002-04:00

I have been reflecting since my last post on how I have tried to forge the connection I described between cognition and embodiment of faith and cognition and embodiment of the ideas, concepts, and facts we encounter in our learning experiences at college; and I have added to that introspection what Barb mentioned in her most recent post, about framing work as a pathway towards a kind of existential fulfillment. Too often I (and maybe others) are guilty of seeing the current work/tasks/people with whom we must work as a means rather than as both a means and an end. Although the work that is done as a student is often times advertised as a stepping stone (and I believe much of it is), what we do in "the now" does define us--we don't become defined only after we have completed the preparatory work as a student awaiting the professional world or as an adult awaiting retirement. Thus, the process of connecting faith and cognition is, it seems to me, just as integral to having purpose in life as is the actual connections we make between the content of our work and the work we seek to do for God.

Maybe this emphasis on process will help in making the toughest, or the most aggravating, work more doable. Even still, it remains a task to apply this thinking in the midst of a hectic day; but I suppose it is important to remind one's self that it is the struggles that define and shape us most!...

Happy Labor Day

2008-09-01T13:33:00.000-04:00

It’s Labor Day, and I am thinking about work.

I’m thinking broadly: work is everything I do that gives me a sense of having accomplished something when I’m finished. That could be making a summer-veggie pasta dish, drafting text for a web site, folding laundry or serving cake at the 227th anniversary of the Battle of Groton Heights on Sunday. (Notice that two of the four have something to do with food? Hmmm….)

Work is a gift although I certainly don’t always see it that way. I was starting to feel like a servant at the cake table on Sunday, and when deadlines loom or work piles up, I get frantic. I need to do a better job of managing my commitments.

But when I think of what work does for me, I understand its value. To do something creative, to be productive, is fulfilling. It gives my life purpose. What I do during my life is my legacy, and so much of that is tied to how -- and how well -- I do my work.

Who was it that said something like, “Your work is to discover the world and then give yourself to it”?

Gotta go – the laundry is waiting.

Some Spiritual Reflections on the Start of Classes

2008-08-27T19:22:00.000-04:00

This is a post that was inspired by Barb's thoughts on faith as a will to believe and a challenge to act, congealing with my own reflections about the role of learning and knowledge, and the ways they could be enhanced by our faith--in light of the upcoming semester of classes at the College.

Perhaps one way to act on our faith is to make our pre-existing connection with God a part of the new and upcoming cognitive connections we make with the content, teachers and students we encounter in our courses. Bringing my spiritual life and religious disposition to bear on my identity as a student is by no means easy for me, for it is easy for many of us to compartmentalize our life the way the disciplines are in any school: We classify our being as the "school me" the "work me" the "play me" and the "religious/faithful me". Bringing faith to bear on the knowledge with which we come into contact is not to suggest applying a Christian frame of analysis to whatever we read or hear; it is instead a way to challenge the objective epistemological position that is so highly valued in an age driven by, and supportive of, scientific innovation. Parker J. Palmer, in his luminous yet crisp work, "The Courage to Teach", suggests that "[w]e are obsessed with manipulating externals because we believe that they will give us some power over reality... We turn every question we face into an objective problem to be solved" while the heart remains merely "an escape from harsh realities". Instead, maybe it is worth it for us to try on a lens that asks how the content and dialog we encounter in our classes connects us--or detaches us--from our "will to believe", or how it could shape our behavior in light of what God is asking of us. Since, if God resides in the heart as well as in what we see (or don't see!) everyday, shouldn't the heart be more than a romantic aside for the learner or teacher?

This could have implications for us all: We are all teachers, and we are all learners: "Teaching" and "learning" cannot exist without one another; their meanings coalesce and reinforce one another in an ongoing cycle--a dialog, between people, or between person and text. Maybe this semester we make it a point to more purposefully include God--our faith--in that dialogue to facilitate the new understandings we will acquire, and to help more holistically mold the beings we are becoming....

Here's to a great semester!

Being drawn to faith

2008-08-25T01:15:00.000-04:00

In today’s gospel, Jesus asks the apostles who they believe he is. Only Peter replies: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Peter believes. He is the first person in history to declare his faith in Christ.

Father Larry asked today, what drew Peter to faith? What draws us?

Is it what we see? What we read? What we do? What we think about? It’s an important question a college campus, where we tend to intellectualize so much of our experience.

However we arrive at faith (I don’t like the word “arrive” because I think the quest never ends), belief is not enough. We’re called to act on our faith. It's hard to figure out exactly how to do this.

Maybe it goes back to what I wrote last week. Ignatius saw God everywhere, in everything. A first step for us today is to discern God’s presence in our everyday lives and act on it. To affirm it when we see it -- and create it when we don’t.

How is faith like water?

2008-08-16T14:13:00.000-04:00

Thirsting. Quenching. Washing. Cleansing. Swept away. Drowning?!

This blog is a place to reflect about faith. I imagine we’ll most often be inspired by everyday life. Pay attention to what happens through the day, St. Ignatius would say, and you’ll see God everywhere – in all that makes you more alive, more caring, more loving.

Why water? Well, its presence here is pervasive: the Thames River, the Arbo Pond, the lush campus with flowering shrubs and towering trees that rely on water for life. Faith gives life too. By faith I don’t mean certainty. I mean a desire to believe. To believe what? That’s up to you.

In the week ahead I intend to pay more attention to what happens through each day, to experience the tides and eddies. Here’s hoping I don’t drown :-). Norman Maclean writes in A River Runs Through It:

“Eventually all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river ... runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters.”