Easter greetings

April 11, 2020
Dear CSS Faculty, Staff, Students and Alumni,

Blessed Easter! The Sisters greet you and hope that you are doing well and that this great feast of Easter and the promise of a lovely spring are lifting your spirits. I must admit, that even the thought of singing the Alleluia once again, as we will do this evening, brings tears to my eyes and a flutter in my heart. Part of the essence of the Easter vigil is telling stories and remembering our saving history. This Easter we will remember the stories of your compassion for one another and sing our Alleluias with gratitude. “We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song” (St. Augustine).

In these days of COVID-19 time, I want to say… corona virus… you will be defeated. We are an Easter people… we are a people who like our Savior, Jesus the Christ will rise again. It is not an accident that the motto carried by the College is #Saints Rise Up. This time, given to us as a gift… yes, a gift, allows us to realize we are not here forever, and that what we do matters, in the short time we have to make a difference on this lovely blue planet earth. We can stay with the lamentations… woe is me… isolated… but we are free to do more good now, with hearts racing with the joy like Peter and John running to the tomb, that, although we have been sequestered in our offices and rooms and homes, we are connected more than ever with a common experience that brings us closer together in will and heart. We will and we do rise again.

For those of us who are Catholic and Christian, the sacrifice of not being able to share in the Eucharist, especially this Easter Sunday, is difficult, but Christ is present to us in more ways than one. Christ is present in the Body and Blood, but also in the Word shared, in the people gathered in ones and twos in person or in crowds by electronic means. And Christ is present every day in the hands of those who serve to make sure we stay connected, healthy and well… in Dr. Barbara McDonald through her leadership, the professors, administrative staff, IT staff, the security team, the health service, food service and environmental services staff, and the mail delivery personnel. And I’m not forgetting the Alumni who are out there serving every day, living witness to our values, conquering fear and putting their lives on the line to care for the sick, managing essential services and by their example showing what it means to be the hands of Christ caring for those most in need.

For those marking Passover this week and those who will mark Ramadan later this month peaceful and holy days. Blessings to you all.

Thank you to all of you, who together are showing what is means to be an Easter people with Alleluia as our song.
Sister Beverly Raway, OSB (’67, ’83)
Prioress
St. Scholastica Monastery