We invited you to this program and to “Tend to God’s Whisper”. In these turbulent times, film artists remind us of the choices and realizations in life that can draw us closer to God. To wake up, to become aware of who you are and whom God is whispering to during these days. When Fr. Larry was visiting a high school, one of the sophomores mentioned to him how the internet use influences the brains’ blood chemistry. Another student said she was born into the technological world of social media, a constant bombardment of information and endless diversion – all within her personal control. She went on to share that when she realized she had a choice to turn it off, only then did she realized how numb she was! What this numbness evoked is all the feelings of real life ~ anger, hope, boredom, fear, peace… A Carmelite Sister Ruth Burrows wrote, “It is, I believe, in the constant, almost hourly choices that these self-revealing experiences afford us, that true holiness and union with God is brought about.” Numbness anesthetizes while the mess of life around us, animates us.

Resource Person: Larry Lewis, MM, PhD, was ordained in 1975 and missioned to Taipei, Taiwan where he served as a pastoral counselor. He was then invited to Wuhan, China University of Technology, teaching courses in family psychology. He started using film as a media of teaching to enliven the discussion of the topics. He then became coordinator of the China Educators & Formators Project sponsored by Maryknoll, which enables priests and sisters from China to study at Universities in the USA for higher education. Fr Larry has served at the Cenacle Retreat Center and in the Maryknoll Office of Society Personnel. Presently he is in full time ministry at Coramaria Retreat Center in Sag Harbor, NY. He is the author of The Misfit: Haunting the Human-Unveiling the Divine (Orbis Books, 1997). He is a film artist. He will share with us, through the viewing and discussing of films, how we hear the whisper of God’s presence among us.