Boston, Mass., Jan 29, 2009 / 23:23 pm
Fr. Robert Imbelli SJ, a professor at Boston College, has written a reflection on the spiritual themes invoked in the Inaugural Address of President Barack Obama. While noting that the president’s words call for a “renewed covenant” and a “spiritual maturation,” Fr. Imbelli prayed that children “conceived but not born” would be included in this covenant between Americans.
Theology professor Fr. Imbelli, a priest of the Archdiocese of New York, began his essay for L'Osservatore Romano by noting the “powerful images” of the Inaugural, such as the image of President Obama fulfilling the “prophetic dream” of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Re-reading the president’s Inaugural Address, Fr. Imbelli said his remarks seem to call for “a renewed covenant of citizenship within the rich patchwork quilt that is the United States.”
In Fr. Imbelli’s view, Obama appealed to the example of generosity given by America’s forebearers and called on present-day Americans to embrace their example.