On Friday January 14, 201  at Assumption College, Dr. Glen Arbery, the sixth occupant of the d'Alzon Chair in Liberal Studies led the fourth annual Assumption Day reflection, focusing on St. Augustine and Beauty. The talk itself was, appropriately, such a beautiful thing that the medium became the message.

We were in a traveling rhythm by today. No sooner had we unpacked our bags than we were packing them again and on the move.

It was gong to be very hard to leave my grandmother, my uncle and his family in just a few hours. It had been so long that we hadn’t seen each other and there wasn't enough time to visit and catch up. We just enjoyed each other's and that was enough for us. When I opened my eyes this morning that was the first thing that came to my mind.

(the following is a letter sent by Fr. Michel Kubler, AA, superior of the new community, to his friends)

Dear Friends,

Thank you for the many wonderful responses I received from the first letter I sent out four months ago. The new year presents a perfect opportunity to bring you up to date  on what has been happening.

Although I was supposed to arrive in Bucharest on September 14, 2010,  I decided to come a day early because of the death of Fr. Bernard Stef. This Assumptionist was an esteemed figure in the Greco-Catholic Church (Oriental rite) to which he remained faithful in spite of some of the worst persecutions. I wanted to try my best to be present at his funeral, and it was a powerful symbol that my new community was united for the first time to bid farewell to this older brother of ours who left us at the very moment our house in Bucharest was being reborn. If you believe in signs, well, the day of my arrival in Romania was the feast of the Triumph of the Cross, which filled me with the conviction that it was the right time to be turning the page on my former life, my 20 years at a newspaper (La Croix) of the same name. The following day - therefore, my first full day in our new house - the Catholic Church celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, under whose patronage the Assumptionist mission in Eastern Europe, to which I am now committed to serve, has been placed.

As we come to the close of our celebrations of the bicentennial of the birth of our founder, Venerable Emmanuel d'Alzon, Cardinal Jean-Louis TAURAN, President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue honored us with a visit to the general house in Rome on December 18th. This close collaborator of Pope Benedict XVI presided at the Eucharist that day.

During his homily, he reminded us of this thought from Blaise Pascal:·“Apart from Jesus-Christ we know nothing about life, nor about death, nor who God is or who we are for that matter.”

The retreats at Assumption have become an integral part of Campus Ministry at Assumption and a meaningful experience for the students who choose to participate in them. The mission of the retreat program is to provide student-centered opportunities for faith development that take place in a communal environment. The retreats are intended to encourage reflection on one’s self and one’s relationship with God, while helping to nurture new relationships among retreatants.  In my ten years at Assumption, I have seen these retreats fulfill their mission time and time again.

On Sunday, January 2, 2011, in the late afternoon, in the Assumptionist parish of Santa Ana in Rengo (Chile), two   young men made their first vows, Fabián Guzmán Neves (Colombian) and Juan José Antunes (Brazilian). Very Rev. Juan Carlos Cisterna, the provincial of Chile-Argentina accompanied by Very Rev. Luiz Carlos de Oliveira, provincial of Brazil, presided at the Mass.

On the occasion of the centenary of Assumptionist presence in Chile (1990), there arose some thought about founding a community in a Latin American country where weren't yet located. The General Chapter of 1993 "gave its approval and encouraged the idea of an interprovincial Latin American foundation as a concrete expression of the missionary spirit of the Congregation." Three countries were considered and visited: Bolivia, Paraguay and Ecuador. In the end we chose Ecuador and the diocese of Riobamba since the bishop's proposal seemed most in line with our apostolic project.

CROSSWINDS
…and ROUGH DRAFTS

- by Fr. Barry Bercier, A.A.

Occasional Thoughts on Christianity, Education and Our Times

Once, long before he became an exile on Patmos stormed by apocalyptical visions, John sat in a storm-tossed boat on the Sea of Galilee. That boat, represented here by a 17^th century painting (Ludolf Bakhuysen), will serve as the masthead of this blog. According to the story, Jesus is sleeping on a cushion in the stern when a terrific storm blows up over the lake, threatening to sink the boat and drown those aboard. The disciples, overwhelmed by what looks to be impending doom, cry out to Jesus who seems disturbed only by the fact that he’s been unnecessarily roused from his slumbers. From his perspective, there’s nothing to be afraid of; he gives the command and the storm ends.

This blog is not written from Jesus’ perspective, however, but from that of the others there with him. Jesus was a good teacher and did not pressure his disciples into stifling what they had to say; with the waves crashing in and the boat sinking as they shook Jesus awake, my guess is that their speech at that moment was pretty much uncensored. The rough drafts that will appear here from time to time will also be uncensored, sometimes not entirely prudent or perhaps even regrettable. Maybe the writer here shouldn’t write…and maybe you shouldn’t read…

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