Tom's communication blog
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Posted: October 14

Don't put the suitcase away

The quiet days of summer seem far away. I just unpacked my suitcase after a quick trip to Dublin and London, but have not put it away because next week I leave for Los Angeles. It certainly feels like we are back on the fast track. There were three weeks of quiet which enabled me to finish editing the material on Jesuit saints and blesseds and finally get it up on sjweb. The project has taken a long time (altogether the brief biographies run to 53,000 words), and it feels like a major piece of work.

Right after we uploaded the images and synchronized the databases that hold the stories, I spent a week at a retreat house near La Storta (famous for Ignatius’ vision) guiding diocesan seminarians from the United States in their first directed retreat. It was wonderful to just talk about the Lord for awhile and to listen to people discussing their prayer experiences. It makes me remember why I joined the Society. I certainly never dreamed I would become expert in foreign airports and arcane bits of internet programming. We enjoyed a full week of spectacular fall weather which made it all that much easier for the retreatants to pray. The weather continued even during the next week which I spent holed up in my office taking care of business. I did get out one afternoon to paint in the garden, which felt like playing hookey from school. I am trying to master the “alla prima” method of painting on location; it is not easy to do because you try to get the colors, edges and forms down on the canvas right the first time. It is the visual equivalent of hitting a hit note right on rather than roaming around and trying to get the note right after some false starts.

Last week I flew to Dublin for a meeting between the communication personnel of the Irish and British provinces: Garry O’Sullivan from Dublin, Ged Clapham and Peter Scally SJ from London. We had a brief but very productive meeting and generated lots of ideas. It was fun to be with people whose imaginations run as fast as my own, and who are not afraid to throw out new ideas. I will write up a separate report on the meeting. Of course, fall weather that far north is not as pleasant as Rome, but the chance to be with colleagues was more important. Now I am back in the office for a week before heading to Los Angeles to visit Loyola Productions and the campus of Loyola Marymount, which has both a communication department and a school of filmmaking.

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