Fr. Jean-François Petit, "Devenir plus humain avec Saint Augustin," Paris, Salvator, 2015, 183 p.

The author, an Assumptionist priest, is a specialist in the thought of St. Augustine. In this tome, he tries to show the meaning of the essential values of earthly existence by plumbing the depths of Augustine's voluminous writings. Although he is a citizen of an other age, Petit considers Augustine's thought ever relevant. In essence he argues that to be complete and authentic a human being necessarily includes a spiritual dimension, one that reveals a being moving toward the Absolute. Petit's audience is as much lay-people as it is members of the clergy and religious communities.

Jean-François Petit offers a movement with 12 points describing attitudes to be developed if one is to become truly human. I will not try to describe each of the 12 point but will try rather to get to the essentials of what is required. First, one must nourish a desire to be enlightened and to admit that it is in the Word  of God that the truth that one is looking for is to be found. The goal is to make choices that will allow one to know oneself better and to recognize in what divine happiness consists. For Augustine, inspired by Isaiah, one must understand in order to believe and believe in order to understand; therefore it is faith that leads us to understand the Word.

The Bayard group is considered to be one of the jewels of the Catholic publishing world. Founded in France in the 19^th century, where it is the number one Catholic publisher, it now features an international presence, with over 150 magazines, journals, and reviews in more than 15 languages. In France its two flagship publications, the daily newspaper, La Croix, and the weekly, Le Pèlerin, have been in print for more than 125 years. Its publications span the chronological spectrum from early childhood to senior editions. In North America, Bayard publishes in English and French, with titles such as Catholic Digest, Living with Christ, Catechist, Living Faith, Chirp, Owl, and others. Over the years it has acquired such respected and well-known companies as Twenty-Third Publications, Catholic Digest, Novalis, Peter Li, and Christian Communications.

For the last several years, the children and youth in our Faith Formation programs have undertaken an Assumptionist project to support through their Lenten almsgiving.  They were asked to set aside some allowance or money they might use for a movie, snacks, new game, new clothes, etc. to help with the Beni School Project in the Congo. It was an opportunity for children to reach out to children.

A poster displaying some pictures sent to us by Fr. John Franck, A.A. was hung in each classroom. This gave us the opportunity to talk to students about the civil war waging in the Congo with villagers being forced to flee and take refuge in Beni. They were saddened to learn that many of the refugees were children who were orphans of war. They also could see progress being made on a new school for 240 children. Each week they remembered them in prayer.

Gilbert & Sullivan’s Classic Operetta to Showcase the Best of Assumption’s Artistic Talent

WORCESTER, MA (March 17, 2016)— Assumption College’s Department of Art, Music and Theatre will present the Tony Award-winning musical Pirates of Penzance, the College’s 8th annual spring production, at The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts on April 22-24 featuring Assumption students, alumni, and members of the community.

Pirates of Penzance is W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan's most popular comic opera. Set during the reign Queen Victoria, Pirates of Penzance tells the story of Frederic, who is mistakenly indentured as an apprentice to a pirate rather than a pilot as a child. Having completed his 21st year, and thus his apprenticeship, Frederic announces that he loathes piracy and will be leaving, in hopes of finding a suitable wife. He meets Mabel, the daughter of Major-General Stanley, and the two fall instantly in love. However, Frederic soon learns of a mistake that forces him to return to the pirates, holding on to Mabel’s promise that she will wait for him until he officially comes of age.