The Scroll

What is the greatest musical instrument? The human voice, of course. When you put dozens of those voices together under a gifted director, you have a near heavenly experience. Nothing could better describe just such an experience than last weekend.

The 2009 Minnesota Collegiate Choral Festival was held, and choirs were invited to submit blind CDs of their work. From the many entries, the following five choral groups were selected: Minnesota State University-Mankato, Northwestern College, St. John’s University, the University of Minnesota-Duluth and the Chamber Singers from the University of St. Thomas.

»Read more of "They came to sing!"

Posted by Fr. John Malone at 08:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The story is told about a man who was stranded in a desert. He was lost and dehydrated. As he crested another dune, he feared the old shack he saw was merely a mirage, but with his last energy, he stumbled to it. He looked around and saw a rusty, dirty water pump. He started pumping but was dismayed when there was no result. Then he saw an equally old and filthy jug of water with a cap on it. Wiping away the dirt on the jug, he read the inscription: “Pour out all the water in this jug to prime the pump! P.S. Fill the jug before you leave.” The water gushed out and saved the man’s life.

The St. Thomas community this spring has had two public events that have been both tragic and community building – the accidental death of student Josh Gunderson and the disappearance of student Dan Zamlen. In both cases, the St. Thomas community has reached out to give support to their families and friends.

»Read more of "A community that knows how to prime the pump"

Posted by Father John Malone at 09:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While listening to the radio, a frantic housewife called her elderly husband’s cell phone. She knew his regular route. When he answered from his car, the wife, with fear in her voice, told him that one person was driving the wrong way down Interstate 94. “Oh, Herman, be careful.” He responded, “One! There are hundreds of them.”

Sometimes you have trouble determining who is out of step and who isn’t. At this point in our St. Thomas community, there is a sports team that stands out for doing things the right way: the men’s varsity basketball team.

»Read more of "Tommie Basketball=Teamwork"

Posted by Fr. John Malone at 02:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Any beginning student of the Italian language would have difficulty with the name Cardinal Pio Laghi. It is, after all, a singular Christian name, Pio (Pius), appearing to describe a plural noun, Laghi (lakes). No such confusion lay in the mind and heart of the man Pio Laghi, however. He was a man with a singular vision of service.

»Read more of "A final journey with Cardinal Laghi"

Posted by Fr. John Malone at 03:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Rich Rexeisen, my comrade in the London Business Semester, led me on a variant path to the London Underground on our last day in London this month. He pointed out a plaque on a home indicating that Sir Henry Cole, the founding curator of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, had lived there.

Sir Henry is not famous, however, for the museum. It seems he was overwhelmed by the number of Christmas letters he had to write, but he refused to limit the list of those friends and family members to whom he would send these greetings of the season.

»Read more of "Of Christmas cards, the Word of God and the importance of others"

Posted by Fr. John Malone at 03:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

At the beginning of the fall term at Oxford University in England, new students gather in groups of about 500 and are marched into the Radcliffe Camera where they will pledge an oath as has been carried on for centuries. The oath is not a pledge to sovereign nor country, nor loyalty to the University, nor to one's college.

»Read more of "When the library is first"

Posted by Fr. John Malone at 06:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Over the past several years, a number of trustees and friends of the university have taken foreign trips together. They generally focus on a specific educational purpose. They also foster a bond of friendship and deepen ties to our common purpose: the well-being of the University of St. Thomas.

»Read more of "The Nature of Leadership"

Posted by Fr. John Malone at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Confession is good for the soul. So I have heard and also experienced. Thus I proceed.

»Read more of "Our Colleagues, Considered"

Posted by Fr. John Malone at 06:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Jeremiah Program promises single mothers in poverty a chance to succeed. This residential program, with on-site child care and parenting classes, requires a mother to sign a contract that she will enroll in post-high school education while working a job and living by the rules of the house. There is a Jeremiah house in Minneapolis and one in St. Paul.

It is an extraordinarily successful program because these young mothers are extraordinary people. They don't, however, develop without the help of others.

»Read more of "Our Students and Our Impact"

Posted by Fr. John Malone at 08:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)