The latest update from Fr. Barry serving for one year the Inuit Catholic parish in Igloolik (above the Arctic Circle)...

"There are times when I think I’m back in my hometown with our old Hungarian family.  When I see the Inuit sitting on the floor, gathered together for a feast of raw seal and caribou, I think of my family sitting on overturned bushel baskets in the cellar, spending a week separating grapes from their stems to make wine. That world has been devoured by modernity’s merciless bureaucracy.  The culture of death isn’t limited to abortion clinics...   It’s our automatic mindset, invisible to us.

You asked about vacations up here.  Flights out of Igloolik are prohibitively expensive.  Today I head to my other mission, Hall Beach.  A 15 minute flight.  I always go standby, because that takes something off the price of the ticket, but still, for two trips to Hall Beach I could do round trip from Boston to Ben Gurion. And I’m too old to go camping out on the ice.  So...no vacation!

Being stuck indoors has been an opportunity to write, however. I guess that’s my vacation.

"Last summer, she spent the summer in Buenos Aires teaching English and Spanish to students aged eight through 17 at two different Assumptionist schools, an internship program offered by the Modern and Classical Languages and Cultures Department at Assumption."

Assumption College senior Jessica Ferronetti, of Andover, has received a Fulbright award for the English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Program in Argentina. The grant will enable Ferronetti to teach English in local classrooms while serving as a cultural ambassador for the United States. She is one of a select number of Assumption students awarded this prestigious designation.

The theme for the last "Conversations..." at the Assumptionist Center for the semester was "Art and Faith." Our presenter, Bro. Blair Nuyda, A.A., is our artist in residence. Bro. Blair is completing his D.Min. in transformative leadership, with a focus on art and faith at Boston University School of Theology. He was also a former editor and creative director of Living with Christ in the Philippines and is an illustrator, graphic designer and campus minister.His presentation was his personal story illustrating how he first experienced the power of visual art reinforcing faith and vice versa. He explored the different possibilities of integrating art and faith that could help advance God's plans for us and the whole of creation.What followed his presentation was a lively discussion and exchange of ideas which, as usual, led to sharing over a delicious brunch.

 SALUBONG: An Easter Encounter by Bro. Blair Nuyda, A.A. - PDF file

NEEDLE AND THREAD

As a young child, I remember watching my mother sew. She never actually taught me how to sew, but it was something I embraced once I became a young mother. I made costumes for alloween and for school projects. I even was so bold as to reupholster a couch and chair that had been handed down. When I returned to teaching, the sewing machine and fabric were put away until recently. Now the projects involve creating beautiful liturgical settings for our chapel.

Terry Johnson, Lay Assumptionist

THE BOOK

About 10 years ago, at the end of summer, I decided to compile all our family recipes. Some were half torn, yellow with age, and some written on small pieces of paper.  The “authors” were grandmothers, aunts, mothers and daughters—all great cooks. I brought it to a publisher in Webster who printed it, bound it and by Christmas all our family households had a copy under their tree. To this day, our family refers to it as “The Book”

Sylvia Desautels, Lay Assumptionist