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Director's Message / Celebrating 50 Years / Staff / Mission Statement / Mandate / Board of Directors
About Us
Acting Directors Message
Dear Friends,
Our programming theme for this year invites us to consider both a poetic and a practical perspective of our lives, our faith and our community. Fr Ron Rolheiser, omi describes the effects of the perspective in the following quote from his weekly writings:
"The Beloved Disciple offers one image of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. John presents this figure in various guises, but all have this in common: The Beloved Disciple has a unique intimacy with Jesus. Perhaps the single most powerful picture of this is that of the Beloved Disciple reclining at the Last Supper with his head on Jesus' breast. This is a mystical image, of intimacy and of listening. Simply put, the image is this: If you place your ear on someone's chest, you can hear that person's heartbeat. The Beloved Disciple, then, is the person who is so intimate with Jesus that he or she hears his heartbeat and, from that perspective, looks out at the world. To be a disciple of Jesus is to have your ear attuned to his heartbeat as you gaze out into the world. For John, if you do this, you will always be at the right places, will always have the right perspective, and will always have the courage to do the right thing. You will also be driven by love."
In John's gospel, the beloved apostle is depicted as reclining with his head on the breast of Jesus, listening to the heartbeat of Jesus, and being able to “see” the world from this perspective. It is indeed a powerful poetic image, but it is also a powerful practical architecture for each of us, for our families and for our communities. This perspective helps us to imagine our way in the world, and offers us a practical reminder that invites us to consider this pose as our model. What better way to tune ourselves and make our way each day listening to the heartbeat of Christ. What better vantage point could we seek to view our world with all of its challenges and blessings. What better way to strengthen ourselves for the challenge of being present and open to a world that so needs us to be present and open.
On behalf of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, we invite you to Queen’s House, a place of peace and sanctuary, for some precious space and time to place your head on the breast of Jesus so that you can view your world while you listen to the beat of the divine heart. We encourage you to participate in our programming, to spend time in this sanctuary, to enter the stillness and to allow yourself time to listen to the heartbeat. What better way to be and what better way to be both for and in the world. God bless you! See you soon!
Sincerely,
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Brendan Bitz
Director |
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