This blog is so often driven by "special events" that it's easy to forget that what really makes this place a holy house is the infinite number of ordinary things made extraordinary by the devotion and love with which they are done.
In the hallway just now I overheard a brother exclaim, "I think I'll do a walking rosary and then study some moral theology." A little earlier I spoke with one of those to be ordained deacon in a few days. He was beaming with a joy welling up from someplace deep inside. And there are the three guys kneeling in the dark in the main chapel, each quietly listening to God speak to them and one sitting on my favorite bench outside (it's finally warm enough at night!) staring up at the crucifix.
These are heroic men, who like Saint Therese only want to show God's love in their lowliness. And they work so hard these days, from exams to pastoral assignments to required talks, all with a sense of the gloaming of the semester, with just two weeks and a couple days until the closing Mass. From which they go forth to parish, or Institute, or a well deserved rest, or whatever God holds in store.
Pray for these good men: for good rest tonight, for peace and for that full measure of joy the world cannot give.
