December 1, 2021

 

Dear Friends,

 

We have a lot to be thankful for as we approach the end of 2021, despite the challenging times for our country and the world.  We are thankful for the many graces that come our way daily to be able to work, take care of our families, live our faith, and spread the message of Christ to many people.

 

Chestnut Hill Center continues to have an eventful year.  We have over fifty boys enrolled in The Edge, our high school seminar program that prepares young men to be good fathers, friends, citizens and professionals.  Many of these young men attend the spiritual activities (classes, meditations retreats, etc.) we offer to help deepen their faith.  Boys come from as far as New York, Connecticut and Maine to attend The Edge.

 

Over forty fathers and their sons come to Horizons and Frontiers, our two father and son clubs.  They work together on projects such as building rockets, circuits, playing sports, and hearing talks on various ways to be a more mature boy and a wiser dad.  After hearing a talk on living obedience by a senior in high school, one seventh grader told his dad, “I want to be like him.”  The winter weekends at Wynnview in Vermont for dads and sons featuring sledding, indoor sports, swimming and great meals comes up soon.

 

Nine years ago, some parents in touch with the Center initiated a project to start a school for boys.  Sparhawk Academy, in Millis, opened up in September of 2018. This year the school enrolled eighty-three boys and will finish constructing a new classroom building early next year.  Many new families are in touch with the Center and the activities of Opus Dei as a result of Sparhawk.  Students from three graduating classes have gone on to area high schools.  Last week, the boys in the lower school captured the State Cross Country title for their age group.  Many of the boys attend Mass, which is offered daily at Sparhawk.  Come and visit the school.

 

Arnold Hall Conference Center, in Pembroke, launched a campaign to raise an endowment of $3 million to properly maintain the property and prepare for the future.  Largely through the efforts of Paul Swope, we are half way to the endowment goal.  If you have not seen the video on the experience of attending an event at Arnold Hall, I invite you to do so. And to attend a retreat in 2022.

 

I ask you to consider making a year-end gift to Chestnut Hill Center, Sparhawk Academy or Arnold Hall Conference Center.  And I end with some words of Msgr. Fernando Ocáriz, Prelate of Opus Dei, written in October, but appropriate for the seasons of Advent and Christmas:  By contemplating Jesus we will gradually be transformed into Him, until we come to have his very own sentiments (cf. Phil 2:5). With God’s grace, Our Lord’s deeds and words will come to our memory and our heart, and we will strive to follow in his footsteps under his loving gaze.

 

          Thank you for your prayers and support.

Merry Christmas,

Joe Billmeier