Dear friends,
Last week, in the midst of semester exams, Chesterton students attended the Rhode Island Right to Life prayer and rally at the Rhode Island State House. Their presence movingly testified to the dignity of each human person, and to the goodness of all that God has made. These mysterious truths - that humans have dignity and being is good - shape the life of Chesterton’s community. Indeed, the mystery of personality is essential to the life-changing power of every Christian’s encounter with Christ, because “Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction” (Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est).
So much that affirms these truths has happened as we have transitioned from 2023 into 2024! Since our last newsletter, the Chesterton community welcomed more than 200 guests into St. Francis Chapel for a beautiful celebration of Lessons and Carols, followed by a joyful reception with dancing. On the last day of school before Christmas break, after classes had ended, students gathered with family and friends around the firepit they had newly constructed, and broke spontaneously into the recitation of poems by Robert Frost, William Wordsworth, John Donne, and Homer.
Next week, we will set aside a school day for the Chesterton Student Symposium, which will include seminars on Shakespeare’s great play The Tempest, panel presentations from teachers, a social reception with refreshments, the celebration of Mass, and a keynote address from a special invited guest. Amidst much hilarity, The Tempest is itself very much about the dignity of the human person. Miranda, a young woman raised by her banished father on a remote island, has never encountered anyone besides her father and the deformed son of a witch. When she finally encounters other human beings, she bursts out, “How beauteous mankind is! O, brave new world / that has such people in it!”
It is not always easy to experience Miranda's wonder when we encounter human beings. This is one of the reasons why it is so important to set aside time, like the Symposium, that breaks out of work-a-day rhythms to celebrate the dignity of the human person and the very goodness of all that God has made.
Gratefully yours in Christ,
Robert Duffy, Ph.D.
