Jesuit Collaborative

May 23, 2010

Last week I went scuba-diving for the first time. As I began my descent, I mildly panicked and held my breath as I struggled to rise to the surface of the ocean. As I gasped for air, I realized I had all the air I needed in the tube connected to the compressed oxygen tanks. I hesitatingly submerged again and marveled at the comfort I felt when I just breathed in deeply and out slowly. Being underwater was like praying because I just needed to focus on breathing rhythmically. I could then observe the vast beauty the engulfed me. Since it is part of our autonomic nervous system, we often overlook the life-sustaining reality of breathing. On this Pentecost Sunday, we are reminded of the life-giving breath of the Holy Spirit that we receive to renew us.

In our readings today we get images of Pentecost that greatly vary from one another. The Acts of the Apostles sets up our imagination to experience a sudden cosmic divine event replete with a strong driving wind and tongues as of fire that rest upon one another’s heads. John 20 brings us back to Easter night when Jesus appears to the frightful huddled disciples to wish them peace and to breathe the Holy Spirit upon them. In John 13, Jesus promises to send the Advocate who will provide comfort and counsel. We see different functions of the spirit. In Acts, the Spirit unifies all believers irrespective of their particular circumstances; in John 20, the Spirit brings peace through reconciliation with a mission to be sent further into the world; in John 14, the Spirit comforts, consoles and teaches. Paul’s description of the Spirit tells us that each person will have a manifestation of the Spirit for a particular benefit.

It is reassuring to think that Christ Jesus has breathed his life into our mortal bodies. It is the richly vivifying breath from a man who lived, died, rose to new life and can never die again. Because of the life he brings us, we are compelled to live in a way that is set apart so that we can live like Jesus and carry on the tasks he gave us. Pentecost for us is a renewal of our mission to be sent as he was sent. We can do great things for Christ if we invite him more deeply into the ordinariness of our day and realize that it is his Spirit working through us and urging us on to do the good he desires for us. My choice is to let Christ’s Spirit be the breath in my oxygen tank.

Quote for the Week

From The Sequence that precedes the proclamation of the Gospel on Pentecost:

Come, Holy Spirit, Come!
And from your celestial home
Shed a ray of light divine….
Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour your dew;
Wash the stains of guilt away.
Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.

Themes for this Week’s Masses

First Reading: Peter writes about the enduring benefit of believing in Christ, even for those who did not know him. He then reassures them that the prophets and so many other people worked for the Good News brought by Jesus and the Spirit. We are to hope completely in God’s grace and live in holiness. Peter teaches them to live in a now and not yet world with a pure heart and fraternal love. This new holiness is set apart from the world’s desires. The faithful ones are to live up to a new standard that is built upon the rejected cornerstone of Christ. Everyone is to share his or her unique gifts for the glory of God with an intense love and a wide hospitality. All that is essential is getting to know Christ Jesus; we are to build up one another in their journey of faith.

Gospel: Jesus illustrates the difficulties in following his example. A dutiful young man wishes to follow Jesus and can do all things well except for giving his heart wholeheartedly to the person of Jesus. This causes the disciples to wonder if they can make it into heaven. Jesus reassures them that they have responded well to his invitation, but they still get do not understand the radical nature of discipleship as the others find themselves in opposition to James and John who want to be the favored disciples of Jesus in the kingdom. The petitions of the blind Bartimaeus reveal the qualities of real faith: it is coming to see that Jesus is the Messiah. On his way to the Temple, Jesus curses the fig tree, the symbol of Israel, and overturns the tables of the tradesmen who denigrated the temple. All the people and the leaders intensely desired to know by what power Jesus taught, acted, healed, and preached.

Saints of the Week

Tuesday: Bede, the Venerable, priest and Doctor, is the only English Doctor of the church. As a Benedictine monk, he wrote many biblical commentaries and historical treatises. He provided the best and only source of data for early Anglo-Saxon history. He died in 735 CE. Gregory VII, pope, as a young Tuscan man, studied under the great canonist, Gratian. When Gratian became Gregory VI, he served as his secretary, chaplain, chancellor and counselor. Gregory VII reformed the church by asserting Papal authority over civil authorities, which caused much dissension.

Wednesday: Philip Neri, priest, studied theology in Rome in the early 16th century so he could re-evangelize Rome as the Protestant Reformation was coming about. He founded an organization to help pilgrims and a hospital. As he was renowned as a confessor and spiritual director, he set up the Oratorians in 1575 as was attracted many disciples of his wisdom.

Thursday: Augustine of Canterbury, bishop, was sent with 40 priests to evangelize Britain in 596. Augustine was well received and set up the church hierarchy in England and turned many of the pagan feasts into religious ones. Wales was the only holdout to conversion. Augustine set up the first Benedictine monastery at Canterbury.

This Week in Jesuit History

• May 23, 1873. The death of Peter de Smet, a famous missionary among Native Americans of the great plains and mountains of the United States. He served as a mediator and negotiator of several treaties.
• May 24, 1834. Don Pedro IV expelled the Society from Brazil.
• May 25, 1569. At Rome the Society was installed by Pope St Pius V in the College of Penitentiaries. Priests of various nationalities who were resident there were required to act as confessors in St Peter's.
• May 26, 1673. Ching Wei San (Emmanuel de Sigueira) died, the first Chinese Jesuit priest.
• May 27, 1555. The Viceroy of India sent an embassy to Claudius, Emperor of Ethiopia, hoping to win him and his subjects over to Catholic unity. Nothing came of this venture, but Fr. Goncalvo de Silveira, who would become the Society's first martyr on the Africa soil, remained in the country.
• May 28, 1962. The death of Bernard Hubbard famous Alaskan missionary. He was the author of the book Mush, You Malemutes! and wrote a number of articles on the Alaska mission.
• May 29, 1991. Pope John Paul II announces that Paulo Dezza, SJ is to become a Cardinal, as well as Jan Korec, in Slovakia.

Plans for the week

I am back in Pymble (Sydney) where I will begin a week of study of Jesuit social justice efforts that arise from a faith that does justice. Though I have enjoyed my time away, I’m glad to be back home with my brother tertians.

Out beyond ideas of right and wrong there’s a field. I’ll meet you there.

Look, beloved child, into my eyes, see there
Your self, mirrored in that living water
From whose deep pools all images or earth are born.
See, in the gaze that holds you dear
All that you were, are and shall be forever.

You, O Lord, are the God of those who repent,
and in me you will manifest your goodness;
for, unworthy as I am, you will save me according
to your great mercy, and I will praise you continually
all the days of my life.

For all the host of heaven sings your praise, and
yours is the glory forever. Amen.

We have visited the villages of the new converts who accepted the Christian religion a few years ago…. I have not stopped since the day I arrived. I conscientiously made the rounds of the villages. I bathed in the sacred waters all the children who had not yet been baptized…. The older children would not let me say my Office or eat or sleep until I taught them one prayer or another. Then I began to understand: “The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

I could not refuse so devout a request without failing in devotion myself. I taught them, first the confession of faith in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; then the Apostles’ Creed, the Our Father and the Hail Mary. I noticed among them persons of great intelligence. If only someone could educate them in the Christian way of life, I have no doubt that they would make excellent Christians.

Many people hereabouts are not becoming Christian for one reason only: there is nobody to make them Christians. Again and again I have thought of going round the universities of Europe, especially Paris, and everywhere crying out like a madman, riveting the attention of those with more learning than charity: “What a tragedy: how many souls are being shut out of heaven and falling into hell, thanks to you!”

I wish they would work as hard at this as they do at their books, and so settle their account with God for their learning and the talents entrusted to them. This thought would certainly stir most of them to meditate on spiritual realities, to listen actively to what God is saying to them. They would forget their own desires, their human affairs, and give themselves over entirely to God’s will and his choice. They would cry out with all their hear: Lord, I am here! What do you want me to do? Send me anywhere you like – even to India!

Fear of death is less of an annihilation than it is of absurdity. Death comes too soon – it will seal the emptiness of my life before I can make sense of it, before I can complete some last desperate attempt to give it meaning. The resources of spirit that are released in the integrity stage of mature life can give me the strength to affirm a meaning in my life that transcends my own death. This need not mean that I welcome death. It need not mean that my final years will not know doubts or regret or fear. But it means that these are not all. With the resources of personal integrity, the completed strength of mature development, I can affirm that, ultimately, death shall not prevail. It is in such “final consolidation” that death loses its sting. For the sting of death is not the loss of life, but the loss of meaning.

Evelyn Eaton Whitehead and James D. Whitehead

A trapped bird
A wrecked ship
An empty cup
A withered tree
Is he
Who scorns the will of the King above.

Pure gold
Bright sun
Filled wine-cup
Happy beautiful holy
Is he
Who does the will of the King of Love.

The song "You Raise Me Up" is a fitting song for the Easter/Ascension seasons. I have two selections listed below for your enjoyment

Westlife performs with a complementary video.
 
The Celtic Women perform live at Slane Castle in Ireland.

May 16, 2010

I love Luke’s question, “Why are you standing there looking at the sky?” It is reminiscent of his question during that Easter dawn when two men in white ask, “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” These questions are placed there to help us transform our thinking. So what if we lived as if we were a transformed people? In the intermittent time between these two questions, we see the apostles acting with confidence and absolute trust that they are assured entrance into salvation. The disciples get a second chance to say their goodbyes to Jesus, but this time, instead of cowering in fear, they return to their lives with great joy continually praising God.

Where is our joy? It makes me wonder whether our worship patterns help us to glorify God for all he has done for us. Our church is the very instrument that is designed to mediate this joy from God to us. The very same Jesus who rose from the dead and appeared to the apostles is the same Lord who is active in our lives. The Spirit that he promised and we received in our confirmation is the Spirit who brings us wisdom and revelation. The Spirit continues the ministry of Jesus by teaching us about God through the rich meaning of Scripture and consoling us in our times of need. The Ascension makes it possible for Jesus to be invisibly present to us so we can be brought closer into the heart of God. This is a tremendous reason to praise God and live in glory. The promise of salvation is ours; it is the measure by which all other events are measured.

Perhaps this Ascension and Pentecost, we can fully receive the Spirit that is promised to us. Jesus has greater power than any other power in the universe and he gives us a share of this power through the Spirit. Consider the ways our church and world could be transformed if we really truly accepted the authority Christ gave to us. It is not only given to our religious leaders but to each and every believer. Vatican II says that we are to exercise our authority as priest, prophet, and king in imitation of Christ. Our church is confusion because of the conflict it faces with culture and we need our faithful ones to actively learn about our tradition, study theology, reflect upon moral issues so we can form our conscience and seek what we need. Let’s boldly consider the ways we can possibly use our God-given authority. It is good to remember that Jesus is not up in the sky, but imminently present around us and within our culture. Let’s find a way of praying and of becoming more keenly aware so we can discern the power we have inherited. Imagine how Christ can transform our lives if we pray that we can receive the power he offers us. That can bring us great joy.

Quote for the Week

From The Acts of the Apostles for the Ascension of the Lord:

When they gathered together they asked Jesus, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.

Themes for this Week’s Masses

First Reading: Judaizers, the opponents of Paul’s theology, present great trouble for him and the new church, but it caused the community to come together to report what God has done with them and to show how God opened the door to the Gentiles. The church members head to Jerusalem to speak with the disciples and elders about the necessity of circumcision as a requirement for entrance to the faith, but the disciples decide no further burdens are to be placed on them. They are to be welcomed into the community as they respectfully observe the essential aspects of the worship life.

Gospel: John’s Supper Discourse continues as the Twelve wonder where Jesus is going after his death. Jesus wishes them the type of lasting peace that is rare in this world so that they can continue to be with him in faith. He describes the way that they will remain together as he is the true vine and they are the branches. Discipleship, for John’s Jesus, is to believe in him and by doing so to keep his commandments - the greatest one being love of each other in the way the Father loves Jesus. Beware, though, that many people will persecute them because of the name of Jesus. Hold steadfast as God is steadfast.

Saints of the Week

Tuesday: John I, pope and martyr, was caught in a political feud between Emperor Justin I in Constantinople who was persecuting the Arians and Theodoric the Goth, an Arian, who ruled Italy. John was sent by Theodoric to Justine to end the persecution. John negotiated the end of the persecution and Justin accepted all of Theodoric’s demands, but Theodoric was dissatisfied. He imprisoned John and starved him to death in prison.

Thursday: Bernardine of Siena, priest, became an orphan at age 7 but was taken in by his noble relatives. During an outbreak of the plague in 1400, he inspired many men to risk their lives in service to others. He entered the Franciscans two years later and was ordained a priest. His preaching attracted the attention of many in northern and central Italy. Having refused to become a bishop, he became vicar general of the Franciscans where he brought about several reforms.

Friday: Christopher Magallanes, priest and companion, martyrs, worked with the indigenous people of Mexico as a priest to found schools and centers for catechism. He also began farming cooperatives and tried to form seminaries during an administration that was anti-Catholic. In 1927 because of his seditious activities of promoting rebellion, he was executed with 21 diocesan priests and 3 laymen.

Saturday: Rita of Cascia, religious was married to an angry man who treated her cruelly. Her twin sons wanted revenge on the person who murdered their father, but they died before they could carry out their plan. This gave Rita, who was from Umbria, the opportunity to enter a convent. Denied three times because she was no longer a virgin and had married in life, the Augustinians accepted her where she prayed for the church and the poor.

This Week in Jesuit History

• May 16, 1988. In Paraguay, Pope John Paul II canonizes Roque Gonzalez, Alfonso Rodriguez, and Juan del Castillo.
• May 17, 1572. Pope Gregory XIII exempted the Society from choir and approved simple vows after two years of novitiate and ordination before solemn profession. In these matters he reversed a decree of St Pius V.
• May 18, 1769. The election of Cardinal Lorenzo Ganganelli as Pope Clement XIV. He was the pope who suppressed the Society.
• May 19, 1652. Birth of Paul Hoste mathematician and expert on construction of ships and history of naval warfare.
• May 20, 1521. Ignatius was seriously wounded at Pamplona, Spain, while defending its fortress against the French.
• May 21, 1925. Pius XI canonizes Peter Canisius, with Teresa of the Child Jesus, Mary Madeleine Postal, Madeleine Sophie Barat, John Vianney, and John Eudes. Canisius is declared a Doctor of the Church.
• May 22, 1965. Pedro Arrupe was elected the 28th general of the Society of Jesus.

Plans for the Week

Thanks for your prayers for the retreatants at Xavier Catholic School in Hervey Bay. I am now visiting the Jesuit community in Brisbane before I return to Sydney to resume our month-long period of study of the Constitutions and our history.

THE WORLD is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs—
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

It is frequently remarked that there is no particular form of prayer peculiar to the Society. I have never been able to understand this. It has always seemed to me that all Jesuit prayer, in all its modes, is prayer of the governance of God. What we do is respond to God’s grace and open ourselves to His action as He uses us to further His plan for His Kingdom. The consolation of the prayer is not in the prayer itself but in the way in which we are supported in the mission or the work that is given us.

What I am trying to communicate here is expressed in the formula found in Hevenesi’s Sparks from Ignatius. It is popularly known in its somewhat heretical form, “Pray as though everything depends on God, act as though everything depends on you.” Hevenesi’s formula avoids the heresy and expresses the Ignatian insight: “Trust in God, but with the awareness that, if the work is to be done, you will have to do it; give yourself to the work, but in the knowledge that, if it will be accomplished, it is God who will do it.”

Many will ask how a modern man can still remain or become a Jesuit. The reply to such a question can only be the very person one of each Jesuit. I would like to give my own reply to that question in all simplicity even though it may sound somewhat pious.

I still see around me living in many of my companions a readiness for disinterested service carried out in silence, a readiness for prayer, an abandonment to the incomprehensibility of God, for the calm acceptance of death in whatever form it may come, for total dedication to the following of Christ crucified.

And so for me, in the final analysis it is no great matter what credit in the history of culture or of the Church goes to a line of men with a spirit like that, nor does it matter to me if a similar spirit is found in other groups, named or nameless.

The fact is that the spirit exists here. I think of brothers that I myself have known – of my friend, Alfred Delp, who with hands chained signed his declaration of final membership in the Society; of one who in a village in India that is unknown to Indian intellectuals helps poor people to dig their wells; of another who for long hours in the confessional listens to the pain and torment of ordinary people who are far more complex than they appear on the surface. I think of one who in Barcelona is beaten by police along with his students without the satisfaction of actually being a revolutionary and savoring its glory; of one who assists daily in the hospital at the bedside of death until that unique event becomes for him a dull routine; of the one who in prison must proclaim over and over again the message of the Gospel with never a token of gratitude, who is more appreciated for the handout of cigarettes than for the words of the Good News he brings; of the one who with difficulty and without any clear evidence of success plods away at the task of awakening in just a few men and women a small spark of faith, of hope and of charity.

Never give a hollow greeting of peace or turn away when someone needs your love.

Gloria al Padre, al Hijo y al Espíritu Santo.
Como era en el principio, ahora y siempre,
por los siglos de los siglos.
Amén.

Loving God,

as a mother gives life and nourishment to her children, so you watch over us. Bless our mother. Let the example of her faith and love shine forth. Grant that we, her family, many honor her always with a spirit of profound respect. Grant this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

May 9, 2010

The church faced perhaps its greatest crisis in its teaching authority when it was confronted with the question of deciding whether Gentile Christians were to act like Jews, to be circumcised, and to follow Jewish dietary and religious laws. The church leaders, through the Holy Spirit, relaxed its membership regulations, which left Jewish questions wondering why they too would be bound by the law. Heated debates and dissension were resolved through the pastoral ways of skillful leadership. The content of debates of the past may differ from our present challenges, but the relational and interpersonal ways of dealing with conflict remain the same. As we face the many disheartening crises today in our church, we can learn from the style and manner of our early leaders in resolving disputes and discerning the will of God.

Notice the dynamics of the early church’s debates: differing cultural contexts and hermeneutics, uncertainty, deep dissension, harsh debates, digging into entrenched positions, those who wrongly usurp teaching authority and threaten exclusion from membership, appeal to a higher authority for resolution and clarity. Even in a community based on love, deep divisions can occur. Love is essential, but it is difficult to govern a community based solely on love, but a loving concern by the authorities can make all the difference in the world. Notice now how the leaders respond: they have compassion and sympathy for each group, they listen openly to the arguments, their love is outwardly manifested rather than defensively entrenched, they recognize the striving for the good and the deep faith of those struggling to live well, they spend abundant time in prayer and wrestle with their own cultural contexts, and they pay attention not to their own concerns about law, status or their own authority, but to the movement of the Spirit in the lives of others. Though their views are challenged, they make it possible for others to serve the Lord in freedom and joy. Surely the Spirit is able to be operative when leadership wrestles and strives in this manner. Good things surely come to those who believe in Christ Jesus.

In the Gospel we know that Jesus is nearing the end of his ministry and he has compassion of those he is leaving behind. Besides giving his very self to them through the washing of the feet and the last meal, he grants them a new type of peace that is both consoling and challenging. To live in peace and with love is not easy and we have to maneuver the complexities of human desires and intelligence. This type of peace begs that we serve each other in a loving way (whatever that looks like) and with a type of hospitality that tilts towards inclusion while maintaining the integrity of our beliefs. This is not easy to do, but this peace is a gift we learn to appreciate because when can act more and more like the one who gives it to us. What would happen if we and our religious leaders used this type of peace when striving to deal with our cultural contexts that threaten the unity of our community? I think we would rejoice.

Quote for the Week

From The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians, one of the second readings during the Liturgy of the Ascension of the Lord:

“May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him. May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belong to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe, in accord with the exercise of his great might, which he worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens, far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things beneath his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.”

Themes for this Week’s Masses

First Reading: Paul sets out on his journey and encounters Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, in Philippi who prevails upon him to stay at her home. Paul and Silas were imprisoned beat and imprisoned, but they were freed by an angel of the Lord. Seeing this, the jailer bathed their wounds and was baptized into the faith. Paul preached in Athens with modest success, but Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, and Damaris and others joined him. Paul left for Corinth and met Aquila and Priscilla, fellow tent-makers. After preaching, Titus Justus, Crispus, a synagogue official, and other Corinthians came to believe. Aquila and Priscilla heard Apollos preaching and gave him clearer details about the life and significance of Jesus.

Gospel: As we near the end of Easter, John’s Gospel tells us why Jesus had to physically leave us so that he could be invisibly present to us. He tells us that he has to go so that the consoling Advocate can come among us. This Advocate will be the Spirit who will guide us to all truth. With sensitivity, Jesus realizes that we will experience real grief and he reassures us that our grief will be transformed into joy when the Spirit comes. As Matthias is chosen to complete the Twelve Apostles, we are reminded that our faith is a gift because it is Jesus who chooses us, we did not choose him, and we are rewarded because the Father loves us because we have loved his son, Jesus, and believed in him as the Messiah.

Saints of the Week

Monday: Damien Joseph de Veuster, priest, is a recently canonized saint who contracted leprosy after years of service to a leper colony. He was a Picpus Father from Belgium who was sent to the Hawaiian Islands in the 1860’s to be a pastor and soon volunteers as a chaplain to the lepers on Moloka’i. He died in 1889 twenty-six years into his service in which he brought respect and dignity to the plight of the lepers.

Wednesday: Nereus and Achilleus, martyrs, were 1st century soldiers in the Roman army who became Christians and refused to sacrifice to idols in the early 2nd century. They left the army after their conversion and were martyred during the reign of Emperor Trajan. The Syrian, Pancras, martyr, converted to the faith with his uncle and was beheaded at age 14 during the Diocletian persecution. His remains were sent to the King of Northumbria in England where six churches were dedicated to his memory.

Thursday: Ascension of the Lord is celebrated in some U.S. dioceses today. The Ascension celebrates Jesus’ visible absence while recognizing his invisible presence to the world. It is the event in the life of Christ when his physical appearances came to an end so he could resume his place at the right hand of the Father in heaven. Otherwise, Our Lady of Fatima is remembered on this Thursday for Mary’s appearance to the three shepherd children in Portugal from May 13-October 13, 1917. Through the daily praying of the rosary, Mary preached the repentance and conversion of one’s heart to her son.

***Please note that the Ascension is celebrated in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Newark, Hartford, and Omaha on Thursday. Most of the world celebrates Ascension on Sunday.

Friday: Matthias, Apostle, is memorialized on each May 14th as he was chosen to replace Judas as the 12th Apostle. He was with Jesus from the beginning of his ministry, at his baptism, and was a witness to the Resurrection. In fulfillment of Scripture, two names were put forward so the Holy Spirit could choose the one who would complete the Twelve, and that lot fell to Matthias.

Saturday: Isidore is the patron of farmers and of the people of Madrid. As farmers, he and his wife became widely known for their piety and generosity in the early 12th century and served as inspiration for many miracles. King Philip III in 1615 is said to have recovered from an illness through the intercession of Isidore.

This Week in Jesuit History

• May 9, 1758. The 19th General Congregation opened, the last of the Old Society. It elected Lorenzo Ricci as general.
• May 10, 1773. Empress Maria Teresa of Austria changed her friendship for the Society into hatred, because she had been led to believe that a written confession of hers (found and printed by Protestants) had been divulged by the Jesuits.
• May 11, 1824. St Regis Seminary opens in Florissant, Missouri, by Fr. Van Quickenborne. It was the first Roman Catholic school in USA for the higher education of Native American Indians
• May 12, 1981. A letter of this date, from Secretary of State, Cardinal Casaroli, speaks positively of Teilhard de Chardin in celebration of the centenary of his birth (May 1, 1881).
• May 13, 1572. Election of Gregory XIII to succeed St Pius V. To him the Society owes the foundation of the Roman and German Colleges.
• May 14, 1978. Letter of Pedro Arrupe to the whole Society on Inculturation.
• May 15, 1815. Readmission of the Society into Spain by Ferdinand VII. The members of the Society were again exiled on July 31, 1820.

Plans for the Week

I am in my final week of directing the Retreat in Daily Life to the faculty and staff of Xavier Catholic College in Hervey Bay. The time has passed quickly and I am moved by the good prayer and reflection of the retreatants. I am impressed with their generosity and attentiveness to God’s movements in their lives. Deo Gratias.

My growing cultural sensitivity

I realize that when I write these updates I am operating out of a North American bias. It is difficult to write for a world-wide context. Help me out by telling me how I can better respond to your needs.

Happy Mother’s Day

May the Lord abundantly bless our Mothers and Others who do their best to care for us so well in life. We pray for our biological mothers, our foster mothers, for those who have wanted to become mothers, for our aunts and grandmothers, spouses, partners and friends who have nurtured our lives and have brought us to be who we are. We pray for all those who have been a mother to us in some way. May God bless your lives and give you a deeper friendship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

The following day we discussed the opposite, bringing before the group all the advantages and benefits of this obedience which each one had drawn from his prayer and meditation. Each one in turn proposed the results of his prayerful reflection, sometimes by deducing impossible conclusions, sometimes simply by direct affirmation.

For example, one reduced the case to the absurd and impossible: “If our Company attempted to take care of practical matters without the sweet yoke of obedience, no one would have a specific responsibility, since one would leave the burden of such responsibilities to another, as we have often experienced.”
Similarly: “If this Company exists without obedience, it cannot long remain in being and continue. Yet, this is in conflict with our primary intention of perpetually preserving our Company in being. Consequently, since nothing preserves a company more than obedience, it seems necessary – especially for us who have vowed perpetual poverty and who live our lives in arduous and continual labors both spiritual and temporal, in which a company is less likely to continue in being.”

Another spoke affirmatively thus: “Obedience brings about constant actions of heroic virtue. For a man who lives under obedience is most prompt to carry out whatever is demanded of him, even if this be extremely hard or even if it leads to his being embarrassed and laughed at and to being a spectacle to the world – for example, if it were commanded me that I should go through the public streets naked or dressed in eccentric clothes (granted that this might never be commanded.) When a man is perfectly ready to do this, denying his own will and judgment, he is constantly practicing heroic virtue and increasing his merit.”

Similarly: “Nothing so lays low all pride and arrogance as does obedience. For pride puffs up and follows one’s own judgment and will, giving way to no one, striving for grandiose and spectacular projects beyond one’s powers. Now, obedience directly counters this, for it always follows the judgments and will of another, gives way to everyone, and is identified as much as possible with humility, which is the enemy of pride.”

And: “Although we have given ourselves over to all obedience both universal and particular to the supreme pontiff and pastor, nevertheless, he would not be able to take care of our particular and occasional needs, which are innumerable – now would it be fitting for him to do so if he could.”

And so after many day of thinking though the many pros and cons of our problem and examining the more serious and weighty arguments, while carrying out our usual exercises of prayer, meditation, and reflection, at last, with the help of the Lord, we arrived at our conclusion, not just by a majority but without even one dissenting: that it would be more expedient and even necessary to vow obedience to one of our companions in order that we might better and more exactly fulfill our principal desires or accomplishing the divine will in all things, and in order that the Company might be more surely preserved in being, and finally, that all individual matters that might occur, both spiritual and temporal, might be provided for properly.

Retaining the same method of discussion and procedure in all remaining questions, always proposing both sides, we continued in these and other deliberations for nearly three months from the middle of Lent through the feast of John the Baptist. On this day everything was terminated and concluded joyfully and in complete concord of spirit – not without having previously engaged in many vigils and prayers and labors of mind and body before we had deliberated and made our decision.

The quality of mercy is not strained,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath:
it is twice blessed; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes….
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself,
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons justice….

After the formal prayer period is over I review what happened during that time and jot down my reflections, not simply what ideas I had, but more the movements and feelings I experienced. Questions like the following may help.

1. What went on during the period of prayer?
2. What actually happened? Be concrete. What images arose?
3. What struck me?
4. How did I feel about what went on?
5. Was there consolation or desolation? Fear or peace? Joy or anxiety? Boredom? And so on.
6. What about my distractions, especially if they were deep or disturbing?
7. What was my mood, changes in mood?
8. What did the Lord show me?
9. Where might I go in my next period of prayer?
10. Is there some point I should return to in my next period of prayer?
11. With whom and how did I relate or converse (God the Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Mary, one of the disciples, other persons)?
12. How did I feel as a result of what happened (positively or negatively)?
13. How did I respond? What desire did I notice? What decision did I make? (positive or negative)
14. Did I receive the grace I sought?

Jotting down my reflections during the review will also help me to discuss my prayer experience with the spiritual director. During this review I thank God for his favors and ask pardon for my own negligences.

This review is an instrument to help me reflect upon the experience of the prayer period. It helps me notice my interior experiences. Thus it enables me to be spontaneous during the actual prayer time and to with the flow of the experience. If I were to monitor myself during the period of prayer, I would be interfering with the Lord’s communication. I let happen what is happening during the prayer time; afterwards I take a look to see what the Lord is saying in all this.

It is also helpful at the end of a prayer period to signal the difference of this review from the prayer period by some change of place or posture: the activity of review is different from the actual prayer period.

The above suggestions to facilitate your prayer are not a mechanical technique. They are often helpful but do not guarantee an experience of God. God cannot be manipulated like some sort of celestial Coke machine whereas I put in money, push a button, and cans drop out of the machine. All prayer is God’s gift.

From Joseph Sobb, S.J. of the Australian province

A few summers ago when I was watching a baseball game at Boston’s Fenway Park, my friends, Paul and Karen, thought it necessary to buy me a new baseball cap. After my usual initial protests claiming reasons of my Jesuit vow of poverty, I yielded to their demand. We hustled over to a concession stand where I excitedly selected a classic cap – dark navy blue with a bold emblazoned red “B.” Karen boldly instructed the concessionaire to “put that back and give him the red one.” At this I protested even more loudly, “I can’t wear red. I have red hair,” but Karen would not budge. “Father John,” she said, “I’m going to give you a lesson in colors.”

After Karen bought me my vibrant new cap, she took my palm into her hands and examined it. “Father John,” she said, “you must wear warm colors. Go, buy a Boston subway map, which is designed with primary colors, and take it shopping with you to Filene’s Basements. You will know what to buy. It will jump out at you. And, Father John….never wear white and avoid black if you can.”

I was in a dilemma. How do I avoid wearing black as I am a priest? I appreciate its slimming qualities and I know that black clerics are an important symbol of the priesthood. Its solemn tone communicates a deeply ingrained respect for a life of wholehearted discipleship and radical service in the midst of countercultural movements of society, but is the color of these medieval black garments the only color that communicates something special about the priesthood or religious life?

My first challenge was when I ordered a new alb at St. Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts. The tailor-monk would not sell me a white alb; only a cream alb with a hood would do. He was right. I vanished when I tried on the white alb. This might be taking humility to an extreme. Fair-skinned people are at a disadvantage when purchasing garments as we are a small market share of the fashion industry. Earth-tones, winter burgundies, classic tans and pastels just do not energize a fair-skinned person.

While distrusting my own shopping choices, I looked at my drab wardrobe and decided to take Karen’s advice With subway map in hand I entered Filene’s Basement and immediately while my eyes landed upon a shirt that screamed out to me – a fresh lime green shirt with brilliant dark sky blue and thin calypso orange burst stripes. I felt paralyzed as I reasoned I ought to buy a classic blue shirt. I deliberated for a while because I never selected anything so bold before, but I offered it up and bought my first colorful shirt. I have not purchased a dull shirt since. St. Ignatius tells us that one must always seek confirmation for decisions in the spiritual life. I heeded his advice and wore my shirt on a train ride from Boston to New York the following week. A young woman plunked herself right next to me and said, “I just have to sit near a man who is confident enough to wear such a bold shirt,” to which I replied, “not bad for a Catholic priest, huh?” lest she think I was available.

Though I proudly clothe myself in black clerics each day, I find that I can accessorize by wearing a flashy Polo Ralph Lauren sunburst yellow baseball cap or bright carrot stick orange socks. It adds just enough pizzazz to keep my spirits high, especially in the land of the long winter to which I am missioned. Maine by rights ought to be following the Atlantic Time Zone. The winter darkness, for a man who comes alive in the sight of tropical color-bursts, is never-ending and can be a downer for a person’s mood. In order to remain buoyant in spirit, I have to make eye-catching adjustments. If bright color in clothing makes me feel alive, would it also work by painting my living space? The sunburst yellow walls with trim work of blood red and tangerine orange in my office brightens up the short winter days, while the triple shade of summer blues metaphysically transport me to the sun and fun of a Caribbean beach.

As I continue to discover new color patterns, I am pleasantly surprised that choosing the right color makes me feel so cheerful or sets a vibrant mood that helps me throughout the day. One might have thought I would have learned my lessons years ago when I worked full-time to pay for college. In those days, I dyed for a living – a useful skill when you are in the resurrection business. I have even learned how to see colors when I pray. Previously I would contemplate a scripture passage and everyone was dressed in drab grayscale shades. As you would expect, conversations with the characters were not all that thrilling, but when I inserted color into my composition of place, the intensity of conversation increased and I felt that I was fully present in the contemplation. Now, when I get stuck in prayer, I often tell Christ the color that I am feeling and I point to the hue of color at which I would like to arrive. On a recent retreat, one directee told me that her music instructor asks her to sing a certain color in order to reach the proper pitch. This works for me too!

I am reminded of Karen’s happy insight to me whenever I watch the Home and Garden network or slowly scan the many make-over shows that dot the television landscape. I marvel at the world Karen opened up for me. I see it as my “Wizard of Oz” experience when all my senses become awakened to a dazzling new reality. My soul conforms to that new world by making simple adjustments in my life. On that sunny day at Fenway Park, I officially became a man of color.