CBS Students Living and Leading in God's Word

Exceptional gratitude is what I hear when I listen to Sr. Doretta D'Albero, ASCJ talk about her ministry. Hers is the kind of gratitude which recognizes that when we give of ourselves, Christ multiplies our gift beyond measure, so that we receive back far more than we could ever hope to give.

Sr. Doretta, a religious of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, will be graduating from the Catholic Biblical School on June 23, 2013 with a Certificate in Advanced Biblical Studies. She serves the community of New Haven as an accredited Board of Immigration Appeals representative at Apostle Immigrant Services (AIS), a non-profit immigration agency in Fair Haven, where they serve mostly low income immigrants. The agency is sponsored by the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and is operated by two nuns, one of whom is a lawyer.

In addition to immigrants who come to AIS for services such as obtaining Green Cards and citizenship, AIS also obtains deferred action and work authorization for many young people who dream to pursue higher education and use their talents in the work place. In the past year, they have seen a great number of refugees and persons seeking asylum.

Sr. Doretta talks openly about how she is moved by the stories of courage and hope that she hears in the course of her work. "How often," she points out, "While watching the news, have I wished to do something for suffering peoples halfway around the world. Now they walk into my office, asking for help with the intricacies of the legal and immigration system, and I gratefully oblige. It really brings home the biblical exhortation to welcome the stranger and care for their needs."

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.

 (MT 25:35-36, New American Bible Revised Edition)

A Weekly Bible Study

2nd  Sunday of Lent
Luke 9:28-36

“This is my chosen Son.  Listen to him.” 

Listen to him, for only in this moment of glory, this anticipation of the resurrection, will his passion and death begin to make any sense.

Peter, James and John are taken to the mountain with Jesus to experience a divine encounter. As Jesus communes deeply with his Father, his appearance radiates the glory of his divinity. It is more than just a reflection of sunlight, as was the radiant face of Moses on Mt. Sinai. But Jesus' radiance signifies even more than Moses' radiant. Jesus, one with the Father, is “light from light, true God from true God.” The Church Fathers tell us that the apostles were brought fully alert by the intensity of the light. Certainly this moment of divine revelation was also  an awakening of the heart.

Listen to him for he is the very revelation of God, God's Word made human.

Moses and Elijah appear.  They represent the ancient Law and the Prophets. Luke suggests that they speak with Jesus of the new exodus--a new moment of passing through chaos into freedom--to be accomplished by Jesus in Jerusalem. Peter is so filled with reverence that he wants to erect three tents to memorialize this important moment of revelation.

“Moses and Elijah were privileged to receive God’s Revelation and now they are conversing with the One who IS God’s Revelation."*

It is a Trinitarian manifestation of God (theophany), reminiscent of the Baptism of Jesus.  In the midst of the cloud (Spirit) the apostles fall silent upon hearing God’s voice. We, too, can only fall silent in humble adoration before this awesome mystery.  Only in deep communion with the Father can we begin to understand this moment of glory fully realized beyond the cross.

*Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth, Vol. I, © 2007

The author, Ms. Barbara Gawle, leads Bible studies at her parish, Incarnation Church of Wethersfield, CT. She is a CBS graduate and the 2012 recipient of the Biblical School's highest award, The Lawrence Boadt Memorial Medal. 

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CSS Deadline Reminder

March 1 is the last day to register for Fr. Frank Matera's talk, "The Sermon on the Mount: The Perfect Measure of the Christian Life" on Sunday afternoon, March 10.

Details and a registration form can be found online by clicking here.

Volunteers are needed to help us with registration at 12:45 and to sell books at the break. If you can assist in this way, please email Jill or BJ asap, or call us at (860) 243-9465.