Yesterday, I found myself gazing out of my office window (so great to be working there after 51 weeks of "safer at home") at a pre-school tyke busily working in the mud kitchen. It didn't appear that there was a recipe, she was just using whatever was available. First, she poured an imaginary ingredient into a pan, picked up a spoon, and began stirring. Then came a few leaves and twigs from the ground, and more stirring. All of a sudden, the music started and this young Wolfgang Puck abandoned her culinary efforts to join her classmates. No worries about the pot boiling over... how I enjoyed her freedom, the freedom to use her imagination and creativity!

Despite the crosses we experience or hear about around the world, we can be confident that Jesus Christ wants us to be people of spiritual freedom. Because of his passion, death and resurrection, we can approach everything knowing that there are infinite resources of grace available to us, ours for the asking, ours for the using.

Just as imagination is the result of the mental networks between reality and possibility, we can embrace the graces of possibility that may trigger personal and social transformation, healing and peace. As we all grapple with the long-term effects of a pandemic, social unrest and violence, please be assured that the Sisters of Notre Dame are your spiritual partners. Our earnest prayer for you during this Holy Week and Easter season is that your hearts may be filled with spiritual freedom. May we all use whatever is available, follow the music of the Spirit, and join each other in hope.

With gratitude for your partnership with us,