30 Years of Jesuit Refugee Service

Mid-November marks the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Jesuit Refugee Service [JRS]. As General Superior of the Society of Jesus, Jesuit Father Pedro Arrupe was instrumental in the beginnings of JRS. Its leadership recalled how Fr. Arrupe advised

to "pray, pray much" as he encouraged the struggling first generation of JRS team members in Southeast Asia to bring the overwhelming challenges of their new apostolic work to the Lord in prayer.

Three decades later, we once again invite our JRS family — current and former staff members, Jesuits, friends and colleagues—to reflect prayerfully on the ways in which we discover the presence of God in our ministry with refugees and displaced persons.

JRS offers a 30-day adaptation of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius to guide ongoing prayer for JRS and its worldwide ministries. The retreat will open the inner eyes of participants to notice more clearly God's faithful presence in their lives.

The method of its retreat is described on its website

as an experience of "prayerful storytelling" as we share with you the grace-filled stories of God’s powerful love for all of us in JRS. Each day of this online "Thirty Day Retreat" will offer us the opportunity to reflect prayerfully on the situation of refugees through the lens of The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits.

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Image from the JRS Online Retreat Website depicts a chapel window in Nairobi, Kenya.