Holy Longing - In a Secular World

This past week has been full of meetings.  Not really meetings in the parish, or with parishioners, but rather meetings outside the parish, with both "Catholic" and non Catholic organizations.  Sometimes I feel like my brain is just mush after such a week.  I wonder if that is why I have not made a Blog update in a week!?



One of the life giving opportunities I had this week was to attend part of the Catholic School Chaplains of Ontario (CSCO) annual conference - being held at Queen of Apostles retreat centre in Mississauga.  The keynote speaker this year is Fr. Ronald Rolheiser - a Missionary Oblate of Mary Immaculate, and a well known author and speaker.  At this year's CSCO meeting Fr. Ron is speaking on "Holy Longing in a Secular world".  

Years ago Fr. Ron wrote a book: "The Holy Longing" where he talks about the deep longing within us that is both directed to God - and is part of the image of God in us. His plan at the Conference is to speak 3 times on this topic:     "The Holy Longing -

• Carrying the image of God within us;
• Our struggles to contain this great energy within ourselves;
• Its ultimate challenge - to Bless others.

I was only able to attend the first session on Wednesday afternoon, and was reminded why I have enjoyed listening to Fr. Ron in the past.  He speaks with both depth and clarity. An Example:

We have a restlessness in ourselves, much as St. Augustine said: You have made us for yourself O God, and our hearts  are restless until they rest in you.  So this "Holy Longing" in each of us is our default position. We are not people who are at rest and sometimes restless - we are restless people who are sometimes at rest.

Or insatiability is not going away, and it is not meant to go away, for that is the fire of God's image that is within us:  What would satisfy us - everything in its totality. So in a sense we have souls "programmed" for the infinite, and yet we have bodies that can only experience the finite.


From that - to a meeting about funding for homelessness Partnership Strategies in Peel Region! No wonder my brain feel like mush sometimes!


Peace