Boni and I were returning from Montreal to Ottawa one March evening. It had snowed the previous day and, as we drove past snow-laden fields, the sinking sun set the sky on fire with a beautiful auburn hue that filled me with such peace. Though I did not want to think about it at the time, I could not help wondering what made the scene so beautiful....
On 7 April 2014, Fr Frans van der Lugt, a Dutch Jesuit who had been living and working in Syria for nearly 50 years, was shot and killed in the city of Homs. He had refused to leave that city when it came under siege, choosing instead to remain and share the pain and suffering of its people. Writing for America magazine, Patrick Gilger SJ reflects on the life and death of a man who won the hearts of Syrians, using the words of one of Fr Frans's brother Jesuits in Syria....
I've been thinking a lot about saint in the past few weeks in light of the recent spectacle of two live popes sainting two dead popes. Getting "your person" through the system is the name of the game and the stakes are high. I stumbled on to one of the people in the running for sainting when touring Arizona recently....
A small child sees these pretty little yellow flowers and with great delight picks a bouquet as a love offering for "mommy" who receives the gift with great delight. The lowly dandelion is more than just a pretty face however. It labours constantly with the earth for our well being. Sending down its long tap root it loosens and aerates the soil and brings much needed nutrients more to the surface to feed other plant life with shallower root systems....
Pope Francis continues to keep us on our toes. We can never be certain what surprises he will spring upon us. There was the culmination of another illustration this past weekend with the canonizations of two of the most influential popes of the last half-century or so. The People of God can now officially call upon the intercession of Saints John XXIII and John Paul II. The canonization of two popes on the same day is an unprecedented moment in the life of the Church. But we've come to expect the unprecedented from the Jesuit Pope. He threw out the playbook on day #1 of his papacy....
Being on sabbatical at the Pontifical Biblical Institute this semester, I was invited to attend a special audience Pope Francis held on April 10th for all the Faculty, Students, Staff, Graduates and Families associated with the Gregorian Consortium in Rome. These educational institutions received their mission precisely from the Holy See in 1928 and they were entrusted to the Society of Jesus – the Jesuits. Some 5,000 were present in the Aula Paolo VI. This gathering was extra special because for the first time in their history the Pope addresses his special educational missions in Rome as a Jesuit himself. And so you could expect an interesting Jesuit twist on things said....
Dramatic productions have been a part of an ideal Jesuit education for over 450 years. Long before athletics were introduced, drama and theatre have been representations of what it means to be a student of a Jesuit school. As an actor who has been involved in drama at St. Paul's High School in Winnipeg, I have seen many aspects of myself grow and thrive due to this phenomenal program....
The strum of the guitars greeted me as I walked in Holy Name of Jesus Parish in Vancouver on July 31 2009. At the invitation of GG Francisco, whom I recently met, Jesuit-trained alumni gathered to celebrate the Feast of St. Ignatius. He and a number of his friends from Ateneo a Filipino Jesuit university, were rehearsing the hymns for the celebration....
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....
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....
