By Mary Frances McCarthy
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 3/10/05)

Live life gently, have hope and do small deeds with great love.

These were the topics explored by nearly 400 Catholics from more than 30 parishes in Northern Virginia and Washington who gathered at St. John Neumann Church in Reston last weekend.

They gathered to show their support for the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales while at the same time learning more about Salesian spirituality. This turnout was double that of last year’s event.

In her welcoming address, Carol Swiger, chairperson of "Live Jesus 2005," said that it is not enough to say thanks for the gifts God has given, but people must do something with those gifts.

When she first thought of thanking the Oblates and raising money to help them, she considered a black-tie dinner or golf tournament, but neither of these ideas seemed right.

"What a better way to say thanks (to the Oblates) than to celebrate their spirituality," she said.

At the second annual Live Jesus day of Lenten reflection, Oblate Fathers Angelo Maraldo, director of development for the Wilmington-Philadelphia Province; Kevin Nadolski, vocation director at De Sales Hall in Washington and former principal of Bishop Ireton in Alexandria; and Richard DeLillo, executive director of Nativity Preparatory School in Wilmington, Del.; presented talks on gentleness, hope and love. Noon Mass was celebrated by Oblate Father James Greenfield, assistant provincial for the Wilmington-Philadelphia Province.

After a morning prayer service, Father Maraldo’s talk focused on "Living Life Gently." In the spirit of St. Francis de Sales, he explored the virtues of gentleness, humility and simplicity. However, he explained, being gentle is not the same as being meek.

"Jesus does not call us to be spineless, but to have a certain strength to treat others the way you want to be treated," he said. "Nothing is so strong as gentleness. Nothing is so gentle as real strength."

While it is fairly easy to be gentle to each other, Father Maraldo urged people to be gentle to themselves as well, to have a deep reverence and respect for the gifts God has given to them.

"Sometimes the person with which we are most angry and impatient is ourself," he said. "Very often we run away from confronting ourselves. Only when we accept the burdens of life does life cease to be burdensome."

Father Nadolski began and ended his talk on hope by quoting an e-mail from a friend whose son was deployed to Iraq. While she was deep with worry and unsure of a solution for her despair, the woman found out her daughter was expecting her first child.

"How can you clap one hand while wringing the other?" she said in her e-mail. "Thank God for finding a way for me to deal with (my son’s) deployment."

"Hope is one way to change hand-wringing into clapping," Father Nadolski said.

But hope is a sign, not a solution. It is a sign meant to show that pain will not last forever.

The last talk sought to put the ideas of gentleness and hope into practice. Father DeLillo talked about doing small deeds with love, and applying Salesian spirituality to everyday, ordinary events.

Joan Ashdown attended the spirituality day because she feels that "during Lent it’s important to take a day to put God first." She was particularly touched by Father Nadolski’s talk. "I’m still crying about the hope," she said afterward.

The Oblates of St. Francis de Sales staff Bishop Ireton School in Alexandria and the parishes of St. John Neumann in Reston and Our Lady of Good Counsel in Vienna.

Donations were collected for the Oblates and because Saturday’s program was fully funded by donors, 100 percent of the donations collected on Saturday were given to Oblate ministries.