As we continued our fourth year of “Conversations…” at the Assumptionist Center in Brighton, MA, the community, residents and guests were asked to reflect on “The Gospel in Your Life” ahead of time. Using a different format by not inviting a guest presenter who would address a particular theme or topic, participants came prepared to share their thoughts and reflections on the fundamental question: “What gospel message inspires me in my life choices?”

Assumption College’s Campus Ministry staff welcomed the campus community to an open house on Feb. 15 to showcase our newest building. After 20 years of planning and discussions, the Tinsley Family Campus Ministry Center has opened its doors. In October, the Board of Trustees unanimously approved the naming of the center in recognition of the $1 million leadership gift provided to the College from the Tinsley family. This leadership gift was the anchor to a successful fundraising effort that raised over $4.2 million for this beautiful addition to our campus.

Title    Marie-Claire Blais: A Vision of Our Tortured Times            
Location    La Maison Française Auditorium             
Start Time    3/20/2012 2:30 PM            
End Time    3/20/2012 3:30 PM            
Description    Marie-Claire Blais presents “A Vision of Our Tortured Times.”
Reading by award-winning Quebec novelist Marie-Claire Blais
Tuesday March 20, 2012  from 2:30 PM-3:30 PM in La Maison Française Auditorium.

- Fr. Jean Daniel, you have been in Jerusalem for several months. Could you tell us how you see our presence there within the framework of the Assumptionist « Mission d’Orient” (Near Eastern Mission)?

- Let me underline what you say: I have only lived in Jerusalem several months. Since 1973 I have taken about 60 groups of pilgrims there. But it’s one thing to bring a group of pilgrims and another thing altogether to live there.

To answer your question, I would say that Jerusalem holds a unique place within the « Mission d’Orient », because it is at the very source of this mission. Ah, yes! The creation in Jerusalem of a Maronite seminary to train young seminarians whom Fr. d’Alzon received at his collège in Nîmes after the massacres of Christians in the Lebanese hills in 1860 was supposed to be our first foundation in the Near East. Fr. d’Alzon had been informed of the possibility of buying the Cenacle and had obtained the agreement of the Patriarch of Jerusalem and of Cardinal Barnabo, Prefect of the Propaganda Fidei in Rome. Filled with enthusiasm, Fr. d’Alzon even thought of buying the Tomb of the Virgin as a foundation site for the Religious of the Assumption!