Shake down the thunder.

Notre Dame beat BYU yesterday 49-23, with I and fellow novices John Petit and Mike Singhurse in attendance. Conditions were chilly and damp in Notre Dame Stadium, but the action on the field helped keep the crowd warm. I enjoyed being back on campus and also appreciated spending some time with the South Bend-area Jesuits at Henri de Lubac House in Granger (unfortunately sans Brian Daley, who was out of town). Special thanks are due yet again to Jerry Neyrey for providing us with his usual gracious hospitality, a fine meal and a comfortable place to stay Friday night.

Back in Michigan, my classmate Drew Marquard and my erstwhile secundus Eric Sundrup completed the Detroit Marathon this morning in three hours, forty minutes and three hours, twenty-five minutes respectively. I'm very proud of Drew and Eric, and their achievement makes me wonder how many other Jesuit marathoners are out there. The only one I can think of off the top of my head is Father Eric Knapp, though I'm sure there are others - with a little research, perhaps I could craft a post on the subject.

In other news, the Society of Jesus gained its newest canonized saint today in the person of Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga. A Chilean Jesuit who died in 1952, Father Hurtado was a scholar and teacher who also worked directly with the urban poor as a trade union activist and as founder of Hogar de Cristo, a social service network providing assistance to orphaned children, destitute senior citizens, homeless people and individuals with developmental disabilities. Beatified in 1994, Hurtado was canonized today in Rome by Pope Benedict XVI. To learn more about the newest Jesuit saint, check out the official Hurtado Canonization website or this page on the Maryland Province Jesuits' website. An eminently modern apostle, St. Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga provides an excellent example of how today's Catholics - laypeople as well as religious - can work to spread the message of the Gospel. AMDG.