My Preaching

"On the feet of the Ngong Hills I had a farm...", the first line from Karen Blixen's Out Of Africa. I am here in Karen, Kenya, named after her, here at the foot of those hills. Her farm is gone, it is now estates for rich people and squatters' villages for the poor. One can see in the photo squatter's huts and paths to get them amidst the trees.

A young adult, singing to herself and God in a field of wildflowers. There were a thousand young adults here this week, from all over Europe and the world. Next week, for Holy Week there will be 6000, most between 18 and 25 years old.

Sunday Afternoon in the countryside in France. Françoise and Daniel are dear friends of one of my friends, Jean-Jacques Pérennès OP. They live in Lyon, France where Françiose teaches high school physics and chemistry. Daniel teaches contemporary history of the Arabic world in Paris at the Sorbonne, so has a one room flat there. But on the weekends they escape to their once abandoned 19th century farmhouse in Courzieu near Lyon. They invited us over for a leisurely Sunday dinner, classically French, with different wines before, during and after dinner and food that is simply indescribable, served in the kitchen next to the wood stove and fireplace. Afterwards, we took a stroll around the country side to see how spring was creeping up the valley, coming first to the cherry trees and the wildflowers but not yet to the pines and oak.

Today I visited a beautiful, old church in Tournus, France. The church was built in the Roman style in the 11th and 12 centuries. There are many similar churches in the area, but none comparable. It has two towers, one of pink stone, one of gray.

On Monday nights, the Dominican students lead a contemplative prayer service for students at the university. There is singing, scripture reading, and meditation in front of an icon...

On Sunday, April 2, we had a huge celebration for the youth of the entire region, "Jubilatio," a part of the celebration of the Holy Year and the World Youth Day in Rome in August.

One of the main events of the Jubilatio Day was a Café of Interreligious Dialogue. The event was planned jointly by Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, and Jews.

The evening of the Jubilatio was filled with Le Spectacle: Le Livre des Justes (the Book of the Just), a play in the style of a medieval mystery, meant to be performed in a Cathedral to educate the faithful. Making use of scenes from the Book of Revelation and the Book of the Prophet Daniel, the play presents the universal struggle between good and evil.

Alsace is defined by the Vosages, the mountain range on the western side of the province. Champ du Feu is on the ridge, hovering over Alsace.

Strasbourg is a lovely town in an incredible region of France.