“It is said that man deifies the heavens. Let it be granted. But where, exactly, did he find the idea of the divine that he applies to the heavens? Why do we discover the same spontaneous movement wherever we look at our kind? Why that impulse to deify?” (Henri de Lubac, The Discovery of God)

I am not aware of a single atheist argument that can answer any one of these questions. Are you? So why is it that, despite all the voices sounding the drumbeat of a world without God, there yet remains this intractable tendency to deify the heavens? Why is it that even the best and the brightest, with all their huffing and puffing on behalf of unbelief, cannot kill the desire for God? “Against the wild prayer of longing,” as the poet W.H. Auden reminds us, “legislation remains helpless.” How maddening and perverse it must all seem to the wise and the clever.

And yet, until we ask such questions, we’ve no business asking anything else. How can this be?

This month, 63 students spent their spring breaks positively contributing to several communities along the East Coast. During the week of March 6-10, students traveled to Baltimore, MD; Georgetown, DE; Immokalee, FL; Norristown, PA; Trenton, NJ; and Washington, D.C. as part of the College’s Campus Ministry Office’s SEND Service Immersion Program.

SEND, which was established in 1986, provides students—who are accompanied by faculty, staff and alumni—the opportunity to directly impact communities through volunteer work. SEND participants bond with fellow peers, faculty, staff, and alumni while working side-by-side to rebuild neighborhoods, gain new cultural perspective, and engage in prayer activities that reflect on ideals rooted in the Assumptionist tradition. This spring, SEND partnered with organizations like Catholic Charities, Habitat for Humanity, and Ministry of Presence sites.

“Our hope for the students participating in SEND is that they begin to view service as an opportunity to build relationships with others in ways that recognize our shared human dignity and call us to a life of faith in action,” said Vincent Sullivan-Jacques, assistant director of Campus Ministry and director of volunteer outreach and community engagement.

CONVERSATIONS AT THE CENTER: Social Media - An Opportunity for or Threat to Christian Witness? -  PDF file

From 1963 to 1967 I attended Our Lady of Lourdes Seminary in Cassadaga, New York, an Assumptionist enclave. During that period, I received an excellent education, strengthened the foundations of my faith, learned to think and question, built true friendships and received valuable lessons in living as a member of a community. To this day, I've never hesitated in telling anyone that my seminary experience was positive and much appreciated.

I send this contribution with heartfelt gratitude for the experience the Assumptionists gave me so many years ago.

Sincerely,

Charles "Charlie" Garon