Today: Christ the King at Gallery Eleven One

When I stepped down from my work at St. Joseph's Prep in Philadelphia, I left a community supportive of the school's mission in so many ways, teachers, coaches, administrators, alumni, parents and others, too.   The sacrifices that parents make to send their sons to the Prep are considerable.   In addition, many of them reach out to share different facets of their own lives with faculty and staff.   

One couple, the Butlers, William and Ronja, parents of two students, Kaden and Carson, told me how the Spirit had led them to a ministry in Camden, New Jersey.  They opened an art studio and gallery, Gallery Eleven One, with the goal of sharing with the diverse and often under-served people of Camden the beauty of art.

The first time I met William and Ronja they came to the Prep with their sons in tow in the summer before their freshman year.   The boys were already, despite a summer morning, in full dress code. Surprised, I praised the careful way in which they had tied their ties, a skill that some boys fail to learn even through freshman year. Sheepishly they looked at me and told the truth: "Father, they're clip-ons."  Sometimes Father is clueless!

I visited  Gallery Eleven One on a June day to say goodbye to the family.   William's paintings fill the walls with every color and shape, pleasing to the eye and stirring to the spirit.    They gave me the gift pictured above, a print called "Sent."   The print is now hanging in my office and I use it to illustrate today's feast, Christ the King.   I thank all four of them for their kindness to me.  To be sure this piece of art is a reminder of  the promise that I experienced in their company.