Dear Friends,

Grace and peace to you, today and always. I am delighted to introduce a new (albeit temporary) member of our parish staff to you: Rev. James Keenan SJ, who will be with us for the month of August.

Fr. Keenan holds the Canisius Chair at Boston College, is the Director of the Jesuit Institute, and Director of the Presidential Scholars Program. A Jesuit priest since 1982, he received a licentiate (1984) and a doctorate (1988) from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He has edited or written sixteen books and more than three hundred and fifty articles, essays and reviews. Among his recent books are: A History of Catholic Moral Theology in the Twentieth Century: From Confessing Sins to Liberating Consciences; Paul and Virtue Ethics (with Dan Harrington, SJ) and Ethics of the Word: Voices in the Catholic Church Today. He is presently working on two manuscripts, on ethics and the university as well as a history of moral theology.

Fr. Keenan is the founder of Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church and he co-chairs its “Planning Committee for the Future.” The Planning Committee is preparing for Continental Conferences in Europe (Krakow, 2014), Asia (Bangalore, 2015) and Latin America (Bogota, 2016). He edited the papers from the International Conference of Theological Ethicists that was held in Trento, Italy in 2010, Catholic Theological Ethics, Past, Present, and Future: The Trento Conference.

You will see a great deal of Fr. Keenan at our weekend and daily liturgies during August and I know you will enjoy getting to know him and vice versa.

On a different note, I will be on retreat/vacation from July 23-August 3. Please know that you will be in my thoughts and prayers while I’m away. And, in case of emergencies, Jacqui knows where to find me!

Your servant,

Fr. Marina