Philip Shano, SJ has many years of rich and varied experience working with Ignatian spirituality: teaching, writing and using it in his ministry. He resides in the Jesuit community in Pickering, Ontario.
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Novalis has just released two new volumes in what they refer to as the Jesuit History Series. The Executive Editor of the series is Fr. Jacques Monet, S.J., the director of the Canadian Institute of Jesuit Studies. Fr. Monet is a distinguished Canadian historian with a lengthy academic career and is the Archivist for the Archive of the Jesuits in Canada, based in Montreal....
April 22 is recognized as Earth Day. This special day had its origins in 1970 in the United States and has gradually spread to over 190 nations. Our first celebration of a Canadian day in honour of the Earth was in 1980, though the official Earth Day started in 1990. Today we celebrate the 25th anniversary of this special day. Events worldwide are held to demonstrate support for environmental protection....
When St. Ignatius invites us to pray with the Resurrection of the Lord, he invites us to consider the office of consoler that Christ our Lord exercises, and compare it with the way in which friends are wont to console each other." The office of consoler! I've always liked that phrase. It sums up so much about the ways in which we could be so present to one another, if we shared our own consolation with those around us."...
We are just nine months from Christmas! Yes, today the Church celebrates the Annunciation, the announcement of our salvation. We hear the Gospel story of the Angel Gabriel appearing to a perplexed Mary and asking her to bear a son, to be named Jesus. This fulfils the earlier prophecy of Isaiah: "The young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel, for God is with us."...
Which religion is the most persecuted around the world? According to the International Society for Human Rights, up to 80% of acts of persecution are directed at people of the Christian faith, even though just a third of the world's population is Christian. The Holy See reports that over 100,000 Christians are violently killed annually because of some relation to their faith. The World Evangelical Alliance estimates that over 200 million Christians are denied fundamental human rights, solely because of their faith....
On March 19, we take a pause from Lent to have a solemn celebration of Saint Joseph. The liturgy today includes the Glory to God, an additional reading, and the Profession of Faith. The presider wears white vestments. We are celebrating Joseph's faithfulness to his responsibilities as husband to Mary and foster father of Jesus. It's always good for us to hear stories of someone who is faithful....
The Gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Lent includes a verse that is arguably one of the most quoted lines from scripture: "For God so loved the world that he gave up his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life." Reminders of John 3:16 appear at hockey games, football games, ads on buses and on billboards. Usually it is just presented as the phrase John 3:16. It shows up in some inconspicuous places. A popular fast-food chain in the USA prints it on the bottom rim of their paper cups. A popular clothing chain prints it on the bottom of their shopping bags....
I'm the first to confess that I am not very disciplined about taking a Sabbath day each week. I doubt that there are many of us who are so disciplined. If anything, Sunday is a day for me to catch up with projects that I hoped to get to earlier in the week. Or, scary thought, a day to do shopping errands that need attention! Most people have to acknowledge the reality that life can get full and the Sabbath – Sunday, Friday, or any other day – is a day to catch up. But is that what we really want? Couldn't we just spend the day with family and friends – inserting ourselves more fully into parish life, having a leisurely cappuccino and Danish, going for a leisurely walk, browsing a bookstore (yes, they still exist) or reading a good book!...
If there is one phrase that sums up the spirituality of Ignatius of Loyola, it is "finding God in all things." A helpful image from the Saint's own story is his lifelong tendency to gaze up at the stars at night. One can guess that he pondered the words of Psalm 8 as he looked up at the heavens: "What are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?"In a desire to find God in everything, many Jesuits over the centuries have been committed to scientific pursuits....
Who or what in my life is closest to me, so close that I cannot imagine ever being free of that person, trait, possession, position or experience? That question is at play in the first reading from Genesis on this Second Sunday of Lent, the account of Abraham and Isaac in the land of Moriah. Isaac was the only son of Abraham, born to his wife Sarah in her old age. God is asking Abraham to give up his son, his only son. Abraham is ready to say yes to God, not because Isaac is unimportant to him, but because his commitment to God is so great. If God is offering a test, Abraham has passed it and received his son back. Abraham had experienced existential and spiritual freedom....
