Mass and David Thorp Memorial Lecture

Holy Family Parish in Concord, Massachusetts is holding their annual David Thorp Memorial Lecture again this year. We are honored that they have so graciously offered to organize this event.

The event will take place on November 1st. There will be mass at 5pm at Holy Family followed by a reception and lecture at the Parish Center. The event will conclude at 7:30pm. Fr. Frank DeSiano, President of Paulist Evangelization Ministries in Washington, D.C. will say a few words along with my mother Barbara Thorp and myself.  

All are most welcome! 

Holy Family Parish 
55 Church St. 
Concord, MA 01742 


There will be copies of Dad's book available to purchase at the event.
Copies of the book are also available for purchase online by clicking on this link. 

In other news a beautiful article was written in The Pilot about Dad's book.
Click here to view the article.
 

Gift of Knowledge

You can get a glimpse of a person by the library they kept. Dad's library was a place of seeking, learning, delving into the heart of things you might say. From books back at Princeton Theological Seminary with copious notes in the margins to books on the Bible, books about Saints, and even a book about the Beatles in there too! This is the life of a man who was most certainly the smartest person I ever knew. And that is the funny thing about Dad. I honestly don't think I ever fully grasped how much he did "know." His unassuming, light-hearted demeanor and his infectious laugh, his caring and supportive hand always there to help me up -- that was my Dad. To others he was a Bible Scholar, Great Friend, Prayer Warrior, and don't forget rabid Hockey Fan who constantly reminded us of his Canadian roots! 

I wish I could just say, "Dad, tell me everything you know about Bonhoeffer, just because!" I can see him now with his big smile laughing at me for blurting out something so clearly out of character for me to ask. But Dad knew everything about all these philosophers. He knew more than I could ever imagine. And now what is left is his library. A great treasure for us. One that should be shared. 

Last week we went through box after box of Dad's books. One's from his office, personal library, etc. It took days to go through but we finally did it with the help of my Mom, brother Nick and sister in law Cate. Mom felt strongly that we should donate Dad's library. We each kept a few books that meant something to us and the rest were put back into boxes. We decided to give his books to theMAM Program. The Masters of Arts in Ministry is a degree one can receive from St. John's Seminary here in Boston. Over three hundred of Dad's books will now be available to not only St. John's Seminary students but to Boston College students (Dad's alma mater) as well. It's what Dad would have wanted. A great treasure should always be shared.

Updated Flyer for Book

Hi All,

Just a little housekeeping. We updated the flyer so that it was easier to access and to print out as a PDF.

Click here to view the new flyer.

The response to Dad's book thus far has been overwhelming. Thank you for all your enthusiasm, love and kind thoughts!

Finally a book by David Thorp!

 If you knew David Thorp than you know he was an amazing speaker and writer. His reflections, some of which I try to share on my blog, have finally been put into a book format.

I know many people would say to Dad, "David you really need to write a book." He would always politely laugh it off. Well Dad, the day has come... you have written a book!

After combing through the many, many files I came across an incredible find: Three years of reflections Dad did in anticipation for the Jubilee Year. So once a week, for three years Dad wrote reflections for the local Charismatic Renewal Newsletter focusing on the Holy Trinity.
"Wow," I said to myself, "This has got to be shared!" So, I asked Mom, "What about the Paulist's down in D.C. Do you think I could contact them?" "Mom, said, It couldn't hurt! Give it a try!"

Dad had on and off over the years done reflections during Advent and Easter for the Paulist's and Mom knew a couple of priests that I could contact. Without question I got a resounding yes from Fr. Frank DeSiano, President of Paulist Evangelization Ministries. He and his staff have painstakingly taken on the task of turning pages upon pages of Dad's writings into a beautifully concise book of reflections, allowing also space to journal.

We could not be more thrilled with the book. We know Dad is overjoyed and I can see him saying now, "For God's Glory!"

You can order a copy here from www.pemdc.org

Click here for a pdf flyer you can share with friends, family, your local parish, etc.

Unclog My Arteries, Oh Lord

I am going to skip over the fact that it has been too long since my last post. Instead of dwelling of my inability to keep up on this blog and because you all are graciously loving me through it I am going to get right to it... 


I was looking through the good ol' files today and came across this reflection Dad did back in 2000. I read it over several times and a big smile formed across my face because just this morning God was having a conversation with me about my heart. Only to read later in my Dad's reflection that he is thinking about it too.


I don't know about you but for me, I tend to get to mass with about two minutes to spare. Life takes over. Today I "by accident" got to the chapel early. At first I thought, oh great, maybe I can squeeze one last errand in before it begins. But no, I decided instead to go in and sit quietly (gasp) by myself with no one else in the chapel. While sitting there I got this image of my arteries and they looked pretty clogged. I am a thirty-something who likes to run and stay fit so was surprised by this image... my physical body might be in shape but my spiritual body is on the verge. Thank you Lord for calling me out. My prayer today was Lord, unclog these arteries that are keeping me from having you flow freely throughout ALL of me.  During this time of Lent know that I will be praying that same prayer for all of you too.


 Wednesday, March 8, 2000      Ash Wednesday

Joel 2:12-18 ~ Psalm 51:3-6, 12-14, 17 ~ 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2 ~ Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

“Return to me with your whole heart … Rend your hearts, not your garments.”  Joel 2:12,13

Think of all the ways that we use “heart” in our speech: brave-hearted, pure-hearted, heart of hearts, had my heart set on, half-hearted, cold-hearted, wear your heart on your sleeve…  My heart – it’s all of me!  “Heart” is found frequently in the Lenten readings.  The invitation, and challenge, of Lent is presented today.  God wants me to bring my entire self to him: my thoughts, my desires, my emotions, my body, my dreams, those things that I regret, things of which I am proud.  If there is any part of my life that I have kept from God – bring that back to God.  And, don’t just bring it.  God invites me to crack open all of my life so that God can enter so to change, repair, heal and strengthen.

God, show me what parts of my heart I am withholding from you, what parts I close to your grace.  Help me, during this holy season, to return to you with my whole heart.