In this six-part series, Kevin Burns selects a book for each week of Lent. Each book speaks to one of the great traditions within Catholic culture. Each book also shows how its author integrates that tradition. Six different approaches to the same journey through the desert of Lent to the Easter promise of resurrection. This week Kevin looks at the writings of Edith Stein O.C.D. (St. Benedicta of the Cross)...
I am going to take the patch off while you keep your eye closed the doctor said to me "and I want you then to open your eye and tell me what you see". A simple request you might think but from my experience it was a wee bit more complicated. I had the day before had a tricky second operation on my eye. Many questions were in my mind in response to the doctor's simple request. What would I see if I opened my eye? Would I see anything at all? Would my sight be distorted? Would it be clear? Did I want to open my eye and find out? Would I need to remain in perpetual shadow peering out from dark sunglasses for months on end? Would it not be easier to remain with my eye closed so I did not have to face what might be endless dark or what might be more scary brilliant light?...
I don't like being sick. My friends and community members also do not like my little sicknesses, for I can be rather irritable on such occasions. I few times, when I have been more seriously ill, I have been hard to live with at first, but once I have accepted the diagnosis, and know that I am on the mend, I can relax, enjoying good books and rest. Why the change in attitude? I think I finally accepted my state and trusting doctors, medications, nursing care, and of course God, I was able to relax knowing that I would eventually be busy at work, prayer, and play again. That is hope, a virtue that helps us enjoy the present while looking forward to an even more blessed future....
In his Ignatius Knew, American Jesuit Ralph Metz proposes what he calls "an Ignatian pedagogical paradigm" at the core of which is the cycle experience/reflection/action. In my work with highschool students doing the Spiritual Exercises, I have found the hardest part for the retreatants is the "reflection" aspect. Both their own age and the age in which they live promote a "consumerist" attitude towards experience, a fast-food approach where life is gobbled down and one moves on to the next experience, not quite mindlessly but certainly not mindfully....
It's hard to think of two groups of people less likely to sit in a circle and share with one another their deepest feelings than teenage boys and homeless men suffering from addictions. Yet I was recently privileged to be a part of both such types of groups in one memorable weekend....
In this six-part series, Kevin Burns selects a book for each week of Lent. Each book speaks to one of the great traditions within Catholic culture. Each book also shows how its author integrates that tradition. Six different approaches to the same journey through the desert of Lent to the Easter promise of resurrection. This week's entry looks at the writings of Timothy Radcliffe O.P. and the challenges of the Dominican path....
Father James Kevin McKenna, SJ died peacefully on March 22nd 2014 at René Goupil House, Pickering, Ontario. He was in his 93rd year and in the Society of Jesus for 71 years. He was well appreciated in education and church circles particularly in Newfoundland. Among his Jesuit companions he was respected for his intelligence and pastoral care. In today's post, Fr. Michael Czerny, SJ, writes of his memories of Fr. McKenna....
To some the daffodil is just a flower. For many, it is a symbol of strength and courage. It says we will not give up. It says we will fight against cancer and we will win. Throughout April, compassionate volunteers across Canada work together to raise funds for the Canadian Cancer Society. Inspired by this Sami Helewa wrote today's poem.Read more: http://www.cancer.ca/en/get-involved/events-and-participation/find-an-event-near-you/daffodil-month/?region=on#ixzz2uvnHnoTw...
Writing from Ukraine, David Nazar SJ - a Canadian Jesuit who is the Superior of the Jesuits in Ukraine - gives a first-hand account of the recent events in the country. The media coverage has been littered with misunderstandings, he says, particularly in the reporting of the influence of the oligarchs and the role played by Russia. What is really going on in this 'apocalyptic' confrontation between the people and the government?...
Praying and the problem of distractions seem to go together. We begin to pray by raising the mind to God, but often our attention on God does not last very long. The other element, raising the heart, is more constant provided we do not deliberately turn to doing something else....
