By Fr. James Spillane, SJ
Greetings from Boston where we continue to experience pleasant summer weather. We have only had an occasional afternoon shower. It is very conducive for social gatherings.
We continue to enjoy the excellent facilities of the Boston College library. We were able to get a private tutoring session with one of the library professionals. We are now able to enjoy many features of the electronic sources of information including videos and films. Many items can be downloaded onto flash disks. One of the most interesting books on the Spirituality of Hospitality is entitled Just Hospitality. [2009]. It emphasizes the high priority given to hospitality by early Christians. It is basically hospitality to the stranger or the “other”. Unfortunately, modern society has become very exclusive because of fears about people different from us. We need to work harder to overcome this hesitancy and become more inclusive. The Bible has been misused to justify racism, sexism, heterosexism, ableism and colonialism. We need to emphasize the rainbow diversity of God’s creation.
Our social schedule continues to be full. Many friends have been invited to lunch with the Jesuit Community. This included a member of my commuter carpool when I studied at BC in 1960-1964. My niece Kimmy hosted a great family gathering at her home. Her second son celebrated his 30th birthday and her daughter graduated from the famous New England School of Pharmacy. All of her sisters and brother live nearby in Dedham. We managed to say Mass for a large group of retired Religious Sisters in Wellesley.
The Independence Day Festival on the Fourth of July was celebrated with a family in the East Cambridge Sacred Heart Parish. That is where we served as a parish priest in 1976 before leaving for Indonesia. Every year there is a concert of the Boston Pops Orchestra on the shores of the Charles River. It was followed by an elaborate fireworks display. We also managed to visit Annmarie and John Gray as he celebrated his 85th birthday. They retired in Exeter, New Hampshire where there is a famous international elite board school, Exeter Academy. They are active in the Catholic parish there. Their dynamic pastor has organized 32 different activities for a variety of ages. They also enjoyed the pictures of the five Tanzanian graduates of the MMIT program. They are one of our main benefactors.
Be assured of my thoughts and prayers. Hope you have a leisurely summer.
