Pope Francis has spoken to the Church and the world about “The Joy of Loving.” This is his rather long reflection on family. Typical of Pope Francis’ style, the document is intriguing, easy to read and practical. Only a man who rode the bus to work every day as a Cardinal could grasp the stress of everyday life on ordinary people. Only a man who rode the bus to work every day could appreciate the joy of life.
The ability to live an ordinary life in an extraordinary way is the fruit of the Incarnation. Because God became one of us in Jesus Christ, we all have the opportunity to endure suffering and to embrace joy in the daily encounters and experiences of our lives. The great challenge of life, actually the stuff of a meaningful life, is to realize while we are living an ordinary day just how extraordinary it can be.
We are living in the graced movement of our August General Chapter and the gift of new Congregation Orientations for the next five years. These Orientations are given to us for the fuller life of the world we love. As a delegate at this Chapter, I experienced in an embodied way that our faces and hearts were painted with the color of hope. May that hope be contagious!
What seemed truly gift to me was that associates and sisters from around the world entered into the preparatory process so fully, thus the Chapter body heard clearly the hopes, challenges and deep desires for "Where God is calling the Congregation of Notre Dame into the Future?" We don't know what our orientations will look like as they grow and flower within and around us wherever we live and minister, but flower they will. We know that is possible! Thank you sisters and associates for the strength and courage of your "common voice" expressed so profoundly and hopefully. The color of HOPE is needed NOW in the unfinished journey of conversion and implementation. Transformation is underway!
Last Friday evening, the Saint Dunstan's University Institute for Christianity and Culture sponsored a banquet as a fundraiser in the new School of Sustainable Design Engineering at UPEI. Funds raised go to the Canadian Catholic Student Association which is hosting the national conference here this month.
The occasion was the second annual Blessed Cardinal Newman Dinner. The guest speaker was Fr. Tom Rosica, who spoke on Cardinal Newman and Pope Francis. Catholic Studies students reported on their "Catholics in New York" experiential learning trip last February.