In the Present Tense

The Australian Jesuits recently published a 2018 poem of Caleb Ryan. Mr. Ryan is a religious education teacher; he “was part of a Jesuit Leadership Pilgrimage that saw him and a group of his peers walk in the footsteps of Ignatius through France, Spain and Italy.”

“A Basque Man Who Came to Know God” describes St. Ignatius of Loyola conversion story. It also considers the life-pilgrimage of Jesus as well as contemporary people with the goal of becoming “suitably free.”

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Image of O.L. of Montserrat at Manresa Jesuit Retreat House, Bloomifield Hills, MI by PDP

Hand in Glove

Humans are embodied spirits. Age-old wisdom—which includes wisdom of holy people in all spiritual traditions—contains truth for future ages. Containers of the wisdom may need to be exchanged to receive the wisdom; or, moderns may have to reconsider old containers and not trash them with wisdom they contain.

Sue Do’s contribution to America Magazine reaffirms that old and new are not opposed and offers much encouragement.

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How Ignatian spirituality enhanced my cognitive behavioral therapyhttps://t.co/uOuGjo76CD

— America Magazine (@americamag) August 2, 2021

To Navigate What 2021 Brings

"We’re entering another year, one that I hope is marked by less volatility, uncertainty and chaos. But if it’s not, we can navigate it soberly if we learn the way of St. Ignatius: Cultivate a bonded attachment with the Giver instead of the gifts.” The words close Seth Haines’ 01 January 21 article in America Magazine. That “bonded attachment” is not limited to a few. 

St. Ignatius helped me get sober as a Protestant—and stay sober in 2020 as a Catholic @sethhaines https://t.co/GqOCkszs9X

— America Magazine (@americamag) January 1, 2021

Behind the Encyclical

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ssistant producer of audio and video at AmericaMedia Colleen Dulle interviewed Austen Ivereigh about Pope Francis’ latest and very personal book. The book personalizes his most recent encyclical. As pope Francis may not have had time to bring to light his “personal Covids." A video excerpt of her "Inside the Vatican" podcast follows.

Keeping Balanced

Consequential means stressful. Degrees of feeling stress vary by person. The U.S. Election stresses many even beyond that nation’s borders. Ignatian spirituality can help us regain balance during and after the election.

Stressed? Despairing? Freaking out? Here are some Jesuit tools to help you get through the election and its aftermath. https://t.co/1QoZS6Iedq

— James Martin, SJ (@JamesMartinSJ) November 2, 2020

Once at the Margins

Today’s Feast of St. James recalls once more that Jesus chose fishermen as he began to form a network around him. Modern folk, unlike Jesus’ contemporaries, may not wonder that he did. Rachel Lu wonders and asked, Why? One of her phrases, “lives at the margins,” caused an additional wondering: Do not Christians discover their true identity “at the margins?”

Why did Christ choose a fisherman? https://t.co/3EAyY6MBiK

— America Magazine (@americamag) July 25, 2020

Turning at a River

The midpoint of the month-long celebration of St. Ignatius of Loyola has passed. Daily reflections up to now and all July are available at the link in the sidebar (“31 Days with Saint Ignatius’). Today focuses on the revelation Ignatius received near the Cardoner River in Manresa.

What exactly is the Cardoner Vision? In today's #31DayswithIgnatius blog post, we will explore what it is and what it means for all of us. https://t.co/7zLDNc0XAs

— Loyola Press (@loyolapress) July 19, 2020

Not Well Known

A line in Julian’s Showings is better known than the fact that “spent 15 years and more isolated in her cell, immersed in a deep, faithful struggle to comprehend the divine meaning of these words.” God’s promises are sure even though humans cannot reckon God’s timing of the promises.

Julian of Norwich believed ‘All will be well.’ Would she say so today? | America Magazine https://t.co/qevdvKi2ax

— John Mpuuga (@JohnMpuuga2) June 29, 2020

Sabbath Gift to Humans

" It is in Sabbath that we learn to rest and wrest ourselves from the anxieties of achievement, of making and doing, that clamor inside and out.”

So it is that the #Sabbath, if practiced well, is no refuge from our everyday lives, but a reorientation that should come to permeate them. https://t.co/VB1s7U0fV9

— Franciscan Media (@FranciscanMedia) July 12, 2020

Perfection or Fruitfulness?

From the Thinking Faith archives spiritual director Christopher Chapman offered a way into Sunday’s gospel selection. His conviction remains current: “Old or young, God will dare us once more to emerge into being. The Spirit will lead us beyond ourselves in fruitful generosity.”

In tomorrow's #gospel, the sower who scatters seed amidst rocks, birds and thorns is not being wasteful: this is how the field is. But the sower also knows there are pockets of good soil and so is liberal in the sowing. https://t.co/nb9u4BmL1I #gospel

— Thinking Faith (@ThinkingFaith) July 11, 2020

Finding God Now

Ignatian spirituality seeks God in everything. Everything includes pandemics. At America Magazine Jesuit Richard G. Malloy noted the new experience of pandemic means new ways to find God and to trust God. “To trust in God today, we need to think anew. Too many of us conceive of God with medieval notions of reality.”

God is at work in this coronavirus time. From these days of hunkering down, we can learn much about life and death, meaning and meaninglessness, courage and fear, hope and despair; community and isolated individualism, good and evil.https://t.co/XAGjEYiSCb

— America Magazine (@americamag) June 19, 2020

Sacred Heart: Entering the Solemnity

T hinking Faith just posted an archived item by Jesuit James Hanvey. In it he “explains why this devotion will always be central to the life of the Church and why it is the foundation of our intimacy with Christ.”

The devotion to the #SacredHeart is the foundation of our intimacy with Christ. ‘Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, has a heart… With him it is always personal.’ https://t.co/Jr4WlJPpn2

— Thinking Faith (@ThinkingFaith) June 19, 2020

Cosmos and the Body of Christ

Early in his tenure as pope Francis called attention to contemporary gnosticism, “a purely subjective faith whose only interest is a certain experience or a set of ideas and bits of information which are meant to console and enlighten, but which ultimately keep one imprisoned in his or her own thoughts and feelings” (Joy of the Gospel, 94). Early in its life the church faced gnosticism. St. Irenaeus of Lyons was confronted by it and responded to it.

Jesuit John Moffatt noted that the ancient bishop “a story affirming God’s relation to the cosmos that binds the Eucharist into the goodness of the created order and the practice of social justice and care of creation.” Most fitting as contemporary Catholics celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ.

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Wiki-image Procissão de Corpus Christi (Goiânia, Brasil) 2019 by “Eugenio Hansen, OFS | CC BY-SA 4.0"

Theology of Joy

The Yale Center of Faith and Culture explored the Theology of Joy and the Good Life according to a variety of topics. It recorded several video interviews with those who participated. Ellen Charry, emerita professor at Princeton Theological Seminary, conversed about the “Theology of Joy.” These days, especially, people of faith benefit from holding on to a virtue embedded in religious tradition.

Christian Hope Is Practical

Jesuit James Hanvey noted that witnesses of hope are open, and they are empowered by the Spirit to “realise new possibilities.” The gospel paves the way for new possibilities because it “opens up paths of encounter.” Fr. Hanvey offered a video-prayer to help us encounter Christ.

‘All of us who live from the gift of faith are witnesses of hope – a real, practical hope, which is not trapped in the old patterns but can realise new possibilities.’ https://t.co/t4S0PW4OQo

— Thinking Faith (@ThinkingFaith) June 9, 2020

Retreating with Art

Jesuit Christopher Alt tells the story of a retreat he designed using art. He recalled the retreat during our pandemic time; with the help of his Jesuit brothers anyone may retreat with it using the video and sketchbook linked in the tweet. One may spread the retreat over 7 days. Its second part is a “museum experience.”
Two versions: English; Spanish.

“Pentecost is an invitation to see that creation never was “finished,”  nor was it a one-time event that happened once-and-for-all 'in the beginning.'” A reflection on the process of creation that continues now. https://t.co/NhjL3gkU8q pic.twitter.com/FR8Wjfiags

— The Jesuit Post (@TheJesuitPost) May 28, 2020

Expanding Horizons of Concern

Assistant Director of the Office of Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation Kathleen Bonnette recalled in America Magazine that St. Augustine of Hippo experienced a military siege (today read pandemic siege). During it he had written letters containing spiritual advice. “Augustine declined to send [those] letters...because he was concerned about the physical risk to the letter bearer.” Ms. Bonnette noted more features of Augustine’s spirituality that help us negotiate our pandemic siege.

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Wiki-image  St. Augustine of Hippo by “Nheyob | CC BY-SA 4.0"

Learning from St. Ignatius of Loyola

When people freely isolate themselves, they fare better than when circumstances limit their freedom. Retreat—which one may not immediately classify as isolation—is freely chosen. Dealing with shifting moods on retreat happens. Knowing the end-date of retreat is one help.

Pandemic isolation is less easy to choose, yet people choose it to respect the lives of others and self.  Jesuit David Lonsdale recalled that St. Ignatius of Loyola experienced both “necessary” and “voluntary self-isolation”. His “reflections on his experience of isolation…can offer us valuable help in our present circumstances.”

In a time of pandemic, when many of us are struggling to find hope, or to live in charity with ourselves and others, the prayer of ‘Contemplation for love of God’ in the #SpiritualExercises can help as an effective response. https://t.co/sg0GUkpI9u #coronavirus #AMDG

— Thinking Faith (@ThinkingFaith) May 27, 2020

Kinship of Poetry and Religion

Poetry strings words in ways that pack more meaning. In turns poetry touches deeper parts of humans. Mid-20^th-Century poets included sisters and nuns. Nick Ripatrazone has written about some of them in America Magazine. He used their verses to illustrate. The contribution of Mr. Ripatrazone reminds that God may be found in every created thing.

All these sisters—Mary Madeleva, Mary Bernetta Quinn, Jessica Powers, Mary Gilbert, Maura Eichner and Mary Agnes—reveal a notable midcentury Catholic literary renaissance: women religious poets publishing widely.https://t.co/yXM2iyEoXw

— America Magazine (@americamag) May 18, 2020

Coping Assistance

Many regions observe May to deepen awareness of mental health. Does religion have its role to play in mental health? Jesuit Dr. Roger Dawson examined the process of coping and religion’s role. He concluded that “religion can meet important needs for intimacy, meaning, self-actualisation and spiritual fulfilment. Those are outcomes that every mental health professional can appreciate and will want to promote.”

Perhaps more people than ever will be thinking about this question during #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek (18-24 May) this year. @drrogerdawson asks: is religion good for your mental health? https://t.co/YoZ8AVAjer pic.twitter.com/ozy5dHCSLh

— Thinking Faith (@ThinkingFaith) May 18, 2020

Interested in more resources?

We are here for you: if you're struggling to find peace of mind and heart in this time of crisis, find prayerful support in resources for #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek from @ThinkingFaith, @prayasugo and @JesuitsBritain. https://t.co/VwVLl2RjeY pic.twitter.com/1W9KME6cVR

— Thinking Faith (@ThinkingFaith) May 18, 2020