Quarterly Newsletter of the Clerics of St. Viator • Volume 10, Number 1
From the Provincial... Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Tsunami, 9/11, sexual abuse and vocation crisis, violence, human addictions, corrupt politicians, volcanoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, snow and ice, cold winds, gray skies, bare trees and fields, and the Chicago Cubs. The newspapers and media newscasters continually bombard us with the latest scandal and disaster of the day. Signs of Fr. Charles G. Bolser, human corruption even invade sanctuaries of purity CSV, Provincial and holiness that were formerly sacrosanct such as professional baseball and Notre Dame football. Many hear in their own minds the echo of the words of Macbeth; “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” As we experience Winter, we bring dead trees into our homes and fill them with artificial lights and colorful decorations to distract us from the darkness, and to remind us that the darkness is only temporary and will give way to the promise of spring. While signs of death abound, we awaken each day, hoping for signs of life and celebrate the birth of the infant who gives life to our world as we begin a new year and life cycle. Winter gives way only grudgingly, but it does in time give way. Our human experience and the seasons of the year teach us that life always renews itself. Our faith however calls us to look for signs of life that abound each and every day. I remember when I first drove out to Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas during the month of July, and as I drove down from the mountains of Colorado into the desert of Utah and Nevada I was convinced that nothing could live in that barren land. It was only by actually taking the time to walk around and look carefully that I began to see abundant signs of life everywhere – only different from what I
was used to seeing. Small cactus flowers, tarantulas, scorpions, wild horses and donkeys, rattlesnakes, and life in abundant diversity thrived. The artificial lights of Las Vegas lit up the sky and a city bloomed in the desert. Life and death seemed intertwined and intimately connected. Great compassion and charity openly existed side by side with greed and corruption. Even today, as we experience human tragedy, we look for God to intervene and make all things well. But we often seem to find God to be absent from our vision. We condemn the proverbial “them” and curse the absent God for not making things better. We become bitter and self absorbed, filled with self-pity and at times a sense of guilt because we are unable to change the world around us. We immerse ourselves in the emptiness of the signs of death that overwhelm our vision. In order to truly see, we need first of all to understand that we are blind. We need to be able to say honestly, “Lord, I am blind; that I may see.” To see is to be able to see beyond the surface and the end of our own nose – to see the human condition as it is. The human condition is certainly filled with great suffering and evil. But it is just as certainly filled with great compassion and life giving. To see the massive destruction of the recent Tsunami and at the same time, the great outpouring of compassion and assistance from people all over the world is to see the hand of God reach out in human flesh to ease the suffering experienced by so many. On the other hand, to view the Tsunami as God’s punishment is to be blind to the reality of the creative process of our planet and our universe that is ongoing. The message of the Gospel is that God is present in celebrations of life as well as in suffering and death. At times, we look for God to be present only in the orderly, but are unable to find God in that which is chaos and destruction. We forget that creation involves the loss of what was in order that the new might come to be. We remain fundamentally unaware that continued on page 2
Renovations are Complete at Province Center Chapel Renovations are complete in the Province Center Chapel – A Special thanks to Bro. Don Houde, C.S.V. for all his help concerning design and implementation. In front of the tabernacle under the crucifix in the renovated chapel at the Province Center is a book entitled “Deliver Those in Need” Inscribed in the book are names of all those who ask the Viatorians to remember their intentions in daily prayers. Inserted in each issue of this Quarterly Newsletter there is an envelope that one can use to list prayer intentions.