Br. Charles Marie Rooney, O.P., on the Bell's Ring Being Heard

"To this day, I remain struck by the ending of Chris Van Allsburg's children's classic, The Polar Express, when Sarah, the narrator's sister, finds one last gift under the tree and - lo and behold - it is the lost bell from Santa's sleigh! It is not so much the finding of the bell but the reaction it elicits that is moving: when the children shake the bell, their parents shrug, 'that's too bad.' 'It's broken,' they say, for they hear not its ring, which makes 'the most beautiful sound my sister and I had ever heard.'

"At some level, every Christian knows the unease that underlies the concluding reflection of Van Allsburg's narrator, and particularly at Easter. We exult in the glory of Christ's Resurrection - in the unfathomable love that his saving work manifests to mankind - and yet, looking out at the world, we see so many who seem to offer but a deaf shrug to the Good News heralded by the bells at the Easter Vigil Gloria.'"

In a recent commentary, Brother Charles Marie Rooney, O.P., reflected on the process of addressing these concerns and proclaiming the Good News of Christ's Resurrection..

To access Br. Charles Marie's complete post, please visit:

Dominicana: May the Bell's Ring Be Heard (29 APR 19)