Last weekend the
New York Encounter was "a success" for the second year in a row. Lots of people, friends and guests came together for a public meeting to hear presentations, to engage in discussion, to share friendly meals and to be caught up in beautiful music. Several significant speakers addressed the crowds. People like Cardinal Seán O'Malley, OFM Cap., Father Julián Carrón, Msgr. Lorenzo Albacete, John Garvey, Carla Hendra, Charles, Townes, Clara Gaymard and others.
The
Encounter is a faith and cultural festival in the heart of the New York City sponsored by Communion and Liberation and Crossroads Cultural Center and several other organizations.
Let me bring together several key events by providing essays in review:
Sharon Mollerus writes about the address given by the new President of the Catholic University of America John Garvey who spoke on freedom in the university context and what it means to be at a Catholic institution and the work of freedom. Nothing gets the "goat" of university professors, especially the pampered and self-appointed intellectuals, more than questions of freedom in university life. Mollerus' essay "
CUA President John Garvey Defends Freedom in the University."
Dino D'Agata writes "
Claudel's 'The Tidings Brought to Mary.'" Paul Claudel is estimated to the most significant poet of the 20th century and THE most quoted poet by Pope Benedict XVI. Dino D'Agata is a consecrated lay-member of Memores Domini teaching high school in Washignton, DC.
Fred Kaffenberger also reviews Claudel's play in an essay, "
A French House in New York City" where he reflects on what this play may say to a post-modern American audience.
The New York Encounter is about being with others to see how I can face life differently. If we want change in life, to have a different way of living in society we to engage our own human flourishing with points of compassion, facing the situations presented to us in life with hope, courage, compassion, What do I believe? Who do I rely on for companionship, intellectual wonder and cultural fun?
Follow the New Encounter on
Facebook where you can find photos and other useful info.
Father Julián Carrón, President of the ecclesial
movement Communion and Liberation indicated the Movement's plans to participate
in the beatification of Pope John Paul II on May 1. Father Carrón's remarks showed gratitude for the Pontiff's
legacy.
