communitas et caritas

I've been asked to reflect a bit about commitment, and so I share some of my thoughts here. The following quotation from Pedro Arrupe, S.J. has been finding me lately: "Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way . What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything . It will decide what will get you out of bed in the mornings, what you will do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart,  and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything. " How does that relate to commitment?  Well, I've fallen in love, and my world changed.  I get out of bed in the morning to pray and go to mass before work.  I spend my evenings and weekends with community (though I also spend time with friends).  My Sister introduced me to my new favorite novelist (P.D. James!).  I know so many

This is, admittedly, a very random post, but one of my students did a presentation on Dorothy Day today, and she cited this quotation: Knitting is very conducive to thought. It is nice to knit a while, put down the needles, write a while, then take up the sock again. Amen to that!  She was an amazing woman -- I didn't know she knitted too!

Ford Madox Brown. Jesus Washing Peter's Feet. 1852-56. "What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later." Poor Peter--always lacking in understanding.  Who can blame him?  His teacher has just said he wants to wash his feet, which is not such a pleasant task in a world of dust and sandals. The sentence above is what sticks with me today.  I feel surrounded by mystery lately--the mystery of living in community, the mystery of Jesus' great love for me, and the mystery of God's calling me to a new way of living.  I don't know how to find the words to express the depth to which I feel that mystery in my life on a daily basis.  (That's part of the reason for silence on this blog.) What I do know is that it's okay that I don't understand.  Theology is like that--studying God because you can always know more.  You can never fully understand God because God is so much bigger / greater / more than our human minds can compr