This photo always gets me. This boy’s father has presumably died in combat serving in the Marine Corps. Another Marine, likely one of the fallen’s comrades, presents a flag to the boy in memory of his father’s ultimate sacrifice of giving his life. The message of the presentation is extraordinarily bitter-sweet: “Remember the greatness of your father and his sacrifice while mourning his loss.”

Mercy, while not always comfortable, can be the balm for our suffering; the redemptive actions of our Lord alleviate us of our sins and shortcomings. And we cannot accept mercy and move forward if we don’t first look the past in the eye (in the boy’s case, the death of his father; in our case, the severity of our sins).

On November 3-4 the steering committee for the international Assumptionist education congress met at the provincial house in Paris to fine-tune the details of this first-of-its-kind Assumptionist/Oblate of the Assumption meeting of personnel from its secondary and post-secondary institutions. The congress will be held at Assumption College, an Assumptionist-sponsored university in Worcester, Massachusetts (USA), a short distance from Boston, from July 17-27, 2016.

Some 70 representatives from over 20 institutions on four continents will gather to compare notes, discuss common issues, and attempt to articulate a "charter of principles" to guide any academic institution inspired by the educational vision of their founder, Venerable Emmanuel d'Alzon. 

At the invitation of his friend Fr. Joseph Zhang, A.A., who is presently living in the Pavel House community in Brighton, Bishop Ignatius Wang visited the Assumptionist Center and celebrated a recent Sunday Liturgy.

Bishop Wang is an Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of San Francisco where he was appointed an auxiliary by Pope Saint John Paul II in 2002. He was the first Catholic Bishop of Chinese Ancestry and of Asian background to be appointed to the U.S.

Bishop Wang came to this country in 1974 and was a parochial vicar in several parishes in the Archdiocese. In 1982 he was appointed pastor of St. Francis of Assisi parish in San Francisco where he was the first Chinese pastor. In 1989 he was made a Monsignor and served in the Archdiocesan Tribunal and as Coordinator of the Chinese Apostolate.

Dinner concert for a cause

February 6, 2016

Dear Friends,

Greetings of Peace and Joy this Christmas season! We, the Augustinians of the Assumption (Assumptionists) are happy to invite you to a Dinner-Concert for a Cause on February 6, 2016.

To make this event possible, may we invite you to be one of our sponsors by buying a ticket for the dinner-concert and/or by contributing to one of our projects for 2016 (see attached flyer).

We are so blessed to have you as our friend. May your generosity to bring abundant blessings to you and to your family/organization.

Have a blessed Christmas and a happy New Year!

Thank you so much.

Fr. Bernard Holzer, A.A.
Superior of the Philippine Delegation

As the Church has concluded the Year of Consecrated Life, awards were recently presented to noteworthy retired religious by Bishop McManus in Worcester's St. Paul's Cathedral. Among those honored was our own Fr. Donat from Assumption College, where he is still teaching.

As an outstanding recipient of the Retired Religious Award, Fr. Donat has given his life and generously shared his gifts, talents and skills to the Assumption family and beyond for over fifty years. His contributions have been as teacher of philosophy, theology and music, composer of Mass settings and Psalmody for the Divine Office, director of a glee club and choirs having performed at home and abroad, and designer of the college chapel's windows. He is also an accomplished iconographer and lecturer on this ancient form of prayer.

Though retired, Fr. Donat continues to be a treasured and vital presence and resource to the local and extended members of the Assumption family.  Congratulations Fr. Donat!

clockwise from bottom left: Christopher Jeong, Dường Phan Van, Florentin Halandut, Shui Li Lin, Milad Yacob

This past November 21, five young Assumptionists from five different countries made their final vows, three in France and one each in Korea and Vietnam ---- a striking reflection of the ongoing internationalization of the congregation.  Chris from Korea,  Dường from Vietnam, Florentin from Romania, Shui from China, and Milad from Egypt all felt drawn by the vision of Emmanuel d'Alzon to give their lives to Christ in the Augustinians of the Assumption.

Interviewer – Basil, would you share with us a bit about your roots, your family and early education?

Basil – My parents are from Kerala, in south India. They came to the Unites States and settled in New Jersey in 1987, where I was born and lived until I was three years old. Then, we moved to India and lived in Kerala for a few years before returning to the United States. After living in New York for five years, we moved to Georgia where we have been since 2004.

My father, Rev. Mathai Puthukkunnathu, is a Syrian Orthodox priest under the Malankara Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church in North America and works for the United Behavioral Health Department of United Healthcare. My mother, Julie, is a pharmacy technician at Northside Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. My sister, Ashley, is currently settled in New York with her husband Rev. Dn. Belson Kuriakose.

I started school when I was living in India, but only completed one year there since we moved back to the United States the next year. I attended public schools in New York and Georgia and attended the Gwinnett School of Math, Science and Technology for high School, from which I graduated in 2011.

At Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, near Paris, a floating parish run by the Assumptionists responds to the need of offering hospitality to hundreds of homeless Tibetan refugees.

Two Tibetan women walk on-board calmly, each wearing the same easily recognizable back-pack. In the chapel of the barge community known as Je sers ("I serve"), they were told that here they would not be turned away. From the foothills of the Himalayas of Nepal across the beaten roads of India, the name of this stopover circulates among the diaspora. Here, on the banks of the Seine, at Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, north of Paris, the door stays open.

All the places are taken

It is Hugues Fresneau, director of this floating establishment, who receives them in his office. In his cramped quarters where files are piled on top of each other, a photo of Pope Francis hangs next to one of the Dalai Lama. Embarrassed, he says, "We aren't the solution; nevertheless, we can't stand by twiddling our thumbs".

Father all-powerful, your gifts of love are countless and your goodness infinite. We come before you this Thanksgiving with gratitude for your kindness, open our hearts to have concern for every man, woman and child, so that we may share your gifts in loving service. 
(Collect -Thanksgiving Day Liturgy)

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!