Leigh graduated from High School!

 

She actually made it. It seemed impossible. Wanting to learn German in addition to Italian while on our "short jaunt" to Italy, middle-schooler Leigh asked to transfer to a German-speaking high school so she could eventually "read Ratzinger in the original." 

We found the Swiss School of Rome, and weirdly and wildly, she was admitted. 

She arrived knowing how to say "Guten morgen." 

Spending 5 years with about 20 Italian teenagers whose families had some reason or another for them to be fluent in German (a Swiss or German parent; dad is a Swiss guard, etc.), Leigh was the only American and the only one there "for fun" and "to read Ratzinger." 

All the lessons were in German (physics, chemistry, biology, math, history, German language and literature, economics and law, etc.), except Italian literature (in Italian), French (in French) and English literature (in English). She passed the C2 German exam, an international language test, C2 being the highest. She out-performed many of her classmates, even those who speak German at home or who had been enrolled in the SSR since kindergarten) both in the C2 and in her courses in general. 

Leigh Kelly Anne, I do not know how you did it. Your stamina, your worth ethic, your discipline, your sheer force of the will, your passion, your love, your resolution, your goodness, your kindness, your faith and love for God--may you blessed always with these extraordinary gifts. 

After the last day of school, all the girls in your class came to our campus to celebrate. You had sought "class unity" your whole 5 years, and you finally got it in one evening. You hosted a sleepover and wore your t-shirt that says "Jesus" across the front. You are a missionary. a minister, and a shining light. 

After graduation, Leigh BOLTED! She was off to Spain to celebrate with friends; then she'll be off to Greece, then back to Rome, then to the U.S., then to Rome for 4 days, then to Calcutta!

Aunt Swanee and Good Friday

Having just had hip surgery, I simply cannot believe that she and David made the trip all the way from D.C. to Italy! The MAIN FOCUS for me was to experience Good Friday together. Aunt Swanee and Dave arrived a couple days before Good Friday and we had a very solemn celebration throughout the day and evening, culminating in the liturgy. 

Aunt Swanee describes herself as a "Good Friday Christian" and, as a talented musician, composed a profound orchestral piece called the Witness Cantata that is a musical reflection on Good Friday. She examines the 7 Last Words of Christ and experiments with moving musical expression on the Passion of Christ. We experienced a private performance of it here in Rome (with the recording--one day I hope to arrange a live performance here).  William Blake, Elie Wiesel, A. Akhmatova, T. Roethke, and others are featured in a powerful look at the Holocaust, human degradation, and how and whether God is in its midst. 

Our family had a time of questions and answers with her, reflecting and sharing our experience of having listened to it. I wept and expressed my experience, which is that it reflects a high Christology. If the man who died on Calvary is not God, then it is not worth recounting with such emphasis and attention (unless each person's death warrants such a reflection, and in a certain sense that is true too). 

Furthermore, there is a poignant line taken from E. Wiesel in which people in a concentration camp watch a boy being hung to death. The vocals go like this: 

"Behind me, I heard the same man asking, 'Where is God now?' And I heard a voice within me answer him: 'Here he is--handing here on this gallows."

In my view, it would be meaningless to see God in a boy hanging in the gallows if Christ did not enter into our death. The cross is how God entered into human death. God is Life, Eternal Life. By definition God is immortal-all religions agree. Only by a radical act of mercy and loving choice would Life Itself enter into death. And that, in my view, is precisely what the cross is. All human beings are touched by this possibility only if God did assume death--which is almost incomprehensible but is the living touchstone of Christian faith. If God appropriated death, then death will forever be changed. Some would call it "redemption"--but why use technical terms? Let's just call it "transformation," such that God takes it up and makes it something different, something better than it was, something of value (hence the word "redemption" if we want a glimpse into that term after all)--even a way to encounter God. If God is hanging on the gallows, then, to my mind, God must have entered death in some remarkable fashion. Elie Wiesel was, in my opinion, making a faint but real expression of faith, and a Christian would unpack it by saying that Christ's death on Good Friday is an indication that Christ was God. 

Did Aunt Swanee and I discuss this theme? Boy, did we. We averaged 4 hours a day in deep conversation about God, the cross, Good Friday and practically everything that stems from this sacred theme. Aunt Swanee is a capable philosopher, theologian, artist, musician, humanitarian and ethicist. What a delight to see all that come out in one visit. 

I marvel at the joy of my life

 How blessed I am--God, thank you for the riches of the inheritance you have given me--my family!

Thank you, Lord, for each one here whom I love with my whole heart. Great news: we have another little one on the way! Gabrielle is expecting a baby in November! 

A lovely day in Rome!