Father Monan, president of Boston College
from 1972-1996, dedicated his life to the service
of God, university and community.
With a life so dedicated to learning,
he never saw faith as wanting in proof.
Both, like links of love, could easily rest
and thrive under a strict Scholastic roof.
Love, spoken once and for all, can so rest,
but deepened by all that creates an “I”
in a lifetime, is forced to grow. Accept
that and mobility is love’s true cry.
Learning, the steps taken on a campus hill,
the chase of disciplines and merriment,
was his longtime goal. Nothing could escape
that chase. He led all to where the light went.
Faith, a different flame, found its repose
in him and its insights engaged his voice.
That he forged a link—between God and his
public trust— leads us to both mourn and rejoice.
When all obsequies end, what’s in a life?
The triumphs of truth and love may not stand
and destiny’s found amidst darkest strife.
The best of us, even now, is written in sand.
