From time to time, over the next few months, as part of the "Our Culture" section, , igNation will post poetry written by Jesuits. Poems from Gerard Manley Hopkins and St. Robert Southwell will appear as well as poems by contemporary Jesuits. Today's poem is by Greg Kennedy, SJ...
One of the things I learned in the arcane world of Catholic publishing is that RCIA also stands for Ranting Censorious Intimidating Attacks. These are the letters that arrive when a published work meets with, let's call it, disfavour of a particular kind. Always intense, and invariably layered with threats and accusations. For eight years I drafted the replies. Here is the story of one of them....
My sense of justice and my sensitivity to trash came from the same place. These two qualities were not the typical product extracted from that source. The norm was limestone. Behind my childhood home yawned the giant cavity of Steetley quarry, one of the largest aggregate operations in Ontario at the time. Every day Steetley's activities sent shudders up and down the wooden frame of our house....
A pastoral issue that has come up again here at Holy Family Parish in Caldwell, a suburb of Monrovia, is witchcraft. Yesterday a person told me that she was depressed and felt rejected because several members of her immediate family have told people she is a witch....
From time to time, over the next few months, as part of the "Our Culture" section, igNation will post poetry written by Jesuits. Poems from Gerard Manley Hopkins and St. Robert Southwell will appear as well as poems by contemporary Jesuits. Today's poem is by Eric Jensen, SJ, who works in the Spiritual Exercises ministry at Loyola House, Guelph....
Hello! Our names are Justice, Nathan and Daniel. We are from St Patrick's Elementary School in Maple Ridge, B.C. Grade 5. We are learning about religious brothers, Sisters and monks in our Religion class. Here are some questions we want to ask about you.:...
The first time I met Bill Clarke was back in 1998 when I was preparing a documentary for Tapestry on CBC Radio One. I spent a week at the Ignatian Farm in Guelph, Ontario. Tapestry's then host, Marguerite MacDonald explained the focus of the piece in her introduction: ''Just outside Guelph, about an hour west of Toronto, there is an experiment in community life where everyone is made to feel welcome. Founded over 20 years ago by a Jesuit priest, the Ignatian Farm Community continues to open its doors to needy people. Needy because of their mental, or physical and other challenges."...
Since 1980 I have been living here on the land of the Ignatius Jesuit Centre of Guelph, where as it happens this year we Jesuit are celebrating the 100th anniversary of coming to this property. Over my 33 yrs here the many wonderful trees have befriended me in a way that is totally surprising to me. It was a tree that took the initiative in one of the early years during the month of May while I was making my annual 8 day retreat out at the Old Orchard Hermitage....
Maybe that is why I like hiking in the mountains north of Vancouver - it lets my cares drop like autumn leaves. This past week, a hiking buddy and I managed to ascend (and descend) the mountains for a 10 hour hike. It took us up an old logging road, in behind the Lions, where snow from last winter still lingers in the cold, drafty, north-facing slopes, along the meandering Howe Sound Crest Trail, around this and that mountain, and back down again to our starting point....
From time to time, over the next few months, as part of the "Our Culture" section, , igNation will post poetry written by Jesuits. Poems from Gerard Manley Hopkins and St. Robert Southwell will appear as well as poems by contemporary Jesuits....
