Back to School

Students returned to the Nativity School of Worcester yesterday, and classes begin today at the College of the Holy Cross, where the first-year students have been thoroughly welcomed, and returning students have finally moved in after delays caused by Hurricane Irene. Along with a vaguely autumnal clarity, there's a feeling of freshness and excitement in the air as a new semester gets underway.

In my strolls around the campus this week, meeting students and professors once again on my way to and from work, I've been reminded of a short Jesuit prayer that I've encountered many times– in the novitiate, in various schools and churches where I've worked, in community meetings. It seems fitting for this time of year, and I hope that it can help us to pay attention to God's presence in the various tasks, both new and ongoing, that we all undertake.

"A Prayer for Spiritual Freedom"

O Spirit of God, we ask you to help orient

all our actions by your inspirations,

carry them on by your gracious assistance,

that every prayer and work of ours

may always begin from you

and through you be happily ended.

[From "Hearts on Fire: Praying with Jesuits" edited by Michael Harter SJ]