March 23, 2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Brenda Lange
Associate Director of Communication
215-248-7110
langeb@chc.edu
CHC to Sponsor Events for Forgiveness Day, April 4
PHILADELPHIA — Chestnut Hill College’s Institute for Forgiveness & Reconciliation (IFR) will present a “Forgiveness Forum” on Wednesday, April 4 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. in the East Parlor.
This annual event, held on the Wednesday after Easter, is a way to recognize that everyone has the chance to begin again, to start a new life, and to realize that the success of one’s future depends on the ability to let go. This year’s theme is Undoing the Knots that Keep Us Bound.
For two weeks prior to Easter Sunday, CHC students, faculty and staff have written about the knots they would like to see unbound on white ribbons. The ribbons have then been tied in various spots around campus.
The Forgiveness Forum will offer activities, anecdotes, discussion and a consideration of the knots you would like to have undone in your personal life.
“There is a gift we’re given that helps us undo the knot,” says Cathy Nerney, SSJ, Ph.D., director of The Institute for Forgiveness & Reconciliation. “For people of faith, the nudge is called grace, God’s gift/invitation to be free, to be unbound. We don’t do it on our own, but God needs our cooperation.
“There is an inner urge to be free of the hurt or bitterness that happens to us. We can’t just give it to ourselves. We need to pay attention, and when the gift is offered, we do the work of letting it go. There is a power at work greater than we are.”
That evening, Monsignor Jack Harris will share his lifetime of work undoing the knots on Death Row in his presentation, Undoing the Knots in our Criminal Justice System.
Msgr. Harris has spent the last 14 years ministering to death row prisoners in Arkansas. A feature article about him and his work was published in National Catholic Reporter in October 2017.
Read about the Institute here, https://www.chc.edu/institute-forgiveness-and-reconciliation/institute-forgiveness-reconciliation-0
The program is free and open to the public. Registration is requested by contacting Cathy Nerney, SSJ, Ph.D., director of The Institute for Forgiveness & Reconciliation, at nerney@chc.edu or 215-248-7099.
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About Chestnut Hill College
Chestnut Hill College offers a rigorous four-year undergraduate curriculum that provides students with a broad background in the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. Today, we have added programming such as cybersecurity, exercise science and forensic sciences designed to help our students find successful careers.
CHC also offers accelerated undergraduate degrees, master’s degrees and a doctoral program. Visit www.chc.edu.
