Page 12 - Priorities #26 2004-April

It’s spring, a time to appreciate new life and renewal—and hopefully a flowering of goodness in the human heart.
Today is one of those great days! It is a perfect California Spring day with a cloudless sky, a warm sun that seems to reach deeply into the body, and air that seems particularly fresh. I keep looking out of my office window this morning, wondering why we spend so much time indoors and why I shouldn’t heed the plea of one of the Seniors, “Hey, Father, let’s go to the beach!”
Somehow the winter seemed a bit longer and harsherthisyear,atleastbyCaliforniastandards. The rainwasn’tdramatic,justwet! Toomuchdampness andthekindofchillthatinvadesthebones! Daysfelt shorterandthenightsdarkerthiswinter. Buttoday, that’s another story, because we know that there will be many more days to follow which will mirror this one. Winterisover! Newlifespringsup! Thevictory of spring!
Haven’t seen The Passion of the Christ yet, but I’ve heardalotaboutit,proandcon. IthinkI’llwaitto see it when it is no longer the major film topic covered justabouteverywhereonelooks. Itisreportedlya very violent presentation—Mel Gibson’s particular vision of the suffering of Jesus Christ as he was led to his death. Perhaps this very fact can be a reminder to eachofusthatwelive inaworldwhichisstillfilled with a violence that drains the human spirit and takes away all hope for a future. For Christians, this is the season of Lent and Easter—a time of new life, hope and joy.
It is my hope and my prayer that the Priory
will always be a place which stands for peace over violence, and that we will always be able to teach our students that in the love of God, love of others and love of ourselves we will be strong voices for good in a world which desperately needs to hear those voices.
And perhaps, as spring breezes push away the tired winter weather, so too will new life appear in the goodnessofthehumanheart. Welcometospring.
Martin Mager, OSB
Superior of the Benedictine Community
Benedictine Letter
The beginning of the Lenten season, which many Christians observe with a symbolic spot of ashes on the forehead, is usually celebrated outdoors by Priory monks, amidst the wonderful backdrop of flowers and trees.
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