Loyola Institute for Spirituality

2011-12-22T23:36:00.000-08:00

LIS Associate Highlight (December, 2011)

JOAN C. TRIVETT

Laguna Beach, California

ISFP Graduate 2004

I was reading an Advent reflection the other day, about when Jesus turns to Andrew, who was then a disciple of John the Baptist, and asks, "What are you looking for?" (Jn 1:38). The author of the reflection goes on to say that these words were not a casual question, but rather one directed at the soul. When I came to LIS I was looking to answer that question for my own life. Finding my children grown and married, I retired early from a career in aerospace and began to consider what was next. Through a women's Bible study group, I was introduced to the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. That ignited a fire in my heart to learn more about Ignatian spirituality, which, of course, led me to LIS. Joining the first Ignatian Spiritual Formation Program in 2001, I knew I had found the answer to what I really wanted in life. I had discovered my life's purpose and passion, which is to share the deep joy and wonder of God's abundant and compassionate love with others through the gift of Ignatian spirituality.

The formation was profoundly transformative, deepening my relationship with God and challenging me to step into a world of ministry that required me to learn more about my faith and to be willing to live it out in new ways. In the years since, I have companioned people through the Nineteenth Annotation of the Spiritual Exercises, traveled to Colorado for weekend missions on Ignatian spirituality; taught about various aspects of Ignatian spirituality, especially, discernment; and given retreats and days of prayer with other members of the LIS team working with Deacon candidates and their wives, lay ministers from various parishes, individual parishes, public groups, and individuals. My life is full of purpose and deep joy. The staff and Associates at LIS are a source of wisdom, encouragement and fellowship. As is always true of the Lord, the more I try to give of myself in gratitude for God's grace, the more I am blessed and in debt to the One who cannot be out given. As Ignatius says, our lives are ones of grace upon grace. And that is enough for me.

A Christmas Reflection

Many years ago when I was a young Jesuit, I spent a year in a Jesuit brothers' juniorate program in Milford, Ohio, a small town about ten miles east of Cincinnati. My purpose in attending this program was to be trained to be a kitchen manager. things that year - about myself and about the Society of Jesus - but I also learned that I didn't want to be a kitchen manager. My training took place at Good Samaritan Hospital, a large Catholic hospital in Cincinnati. Each week on Sunday night, I made the trip from Milford to the hospital, where I would live and work until Friday afternoon, when I would return to Milford. I was not able to return to Milford to celebrate Thanksgiving that year, but I was able to do so for Christmas. I have many happy memories of Christmases I enjoyed as a boy, and I would enjoy many Christmases as a Jesuit in the years ahead. But I can point to Christmas 1964 as the most wonderful Christmas of my life. From one perspective, there was nothing that should have made that Christmas stand out above any other I experienced. But to be so suddenly transported out of a situation at the hospital that had lost all meaning for me and which I was simply enduring and to be dropped into the midst of a celebration with Jesuits whom I had grown to love seemed beyond my wildest dreams. I had never questioned my Jesuit vocation - it seemed like a wonderful fit from the very first day - but I look back to the winter of 1964-65 as the time when I had fallen head over heels in love with what it meant to be a Jesuit.

In his book, The Restless Heart, Ronald Rolheiser makes an observation very pertinent to this: "In our day-to-day lives, when all is well, and health, friends, inner peace, and good cheer are in abundance, we tend to lose our awareness of reality as it really is. ... Put crassly, when times are good, and we are not lonely, we tend to worry more about our boat and our next vacation to Hawaii than about the wounds that bleed unattended and uncared for in our unfinished world. But when we are lonely, when we come face-to-face with emptiness and lack of meaning, we are given a great opportunity to understand life and ourselves." Long ago, an experience of loneliness and a struggle to find meaning in my life afforded me a graced opportunity to sort out my desires and to discover what I most deeply desired. We all yearn for security and comfort in our lives, and we look forward to happy events with family and friends. Yet if we are truly honest with ourselves as we look back over our lives, we invariably find that we grew most as persons when security and comfort were so terribly absent. It is no small thing to be able to say that "everything works together for good for those who love God" (Rom. 8:28; emphasis added), yet this is truly a part of the good news we celebrate this Christmas. Have a blessed Christmas!

Written by: Br. Charles Jackson, S.J.

LIS Associates of the Month (November, 2011)

JACK GONSALVES and DOLORES MARTINEZ

Jack R. Gonsalves

Cerritos, California

ISFP Graduate 2004

You may have heard that the Lord writes straight with crooked lines. It was an experience of desolation and a significant trial in my life beginning the summer of 2000 that led me to LIS. In desolation, I sought solace at El Retiro San Inigo, the Jesuit Retreat Center in Los Altos, California. After spending a week there in quiet and prayer I found peace and consolation. I discovered personally, and in a profound way, that God loves us even when we are broken and desolate, and accepts us right where we are at. During my retreat my spiritual director, the late Fr. Dare Morgan, S.J., encouraged me to continue spiritual direction upon my return home, which I did through the Loyola Institute for Spirituality. My spiritual director for the next 8 years was Sr. Jean Schultz, S.P., who invited me to take classes at the Institute. For me the three years of formation at the Institute were life changing and transformative. The Institute gave me a way of life that has led me closer and closer to God.

Since completion of formation in June 2004, I have been involved in a variety of ministerial activities including guiding others through the 19th Annotation of the Spiritual Exercises, teaching the Ignatian style of prayer, and giving retreats and days of prayer. I have found that ministering to others and being a companion to them on their journey to God has been the most enriching and grace-filled experience of my life. I feel as though the Lord has been drawing me nearer and nearer to His sacred heart as I witness His gracious love at work in others. It is a wonderful gift Jesus shares with us in ministry, when we are open to His grace, because He enables us to see what He sees, to hear what He hears, to feel in our hearts what He feels, and then respond as He would respond, with love and compassion. What a gracious and wonderful gift it is to witness God's constant labor of love in our lives, and what a profoundly humble and trusting God who would invite us to pabrticipate in this labor of Love. I am very, very grateful for all that the Lord has done, is doing and continues to do in us. God is indeed, very, very good! Alleluia!!

Dolores Martinez '

Santa Ana, California

ELI Graduate 2003

I came to LIS by the Lord's grace. I was working with someone at the Diocese of Orange and they kept insisting that I go to L.A. to take some spiritual direction courses. At the time I didn't want to go alone so I invited a good friend to join me but after talking it over with her we felt that L.A. was too far a drive for us to go to take these courses, so we never ended up going.

Several days after this program ended the same person at the Diocese of Orange asked me, “When are you going to take the spiritual direction courses,” and I said, "when they're offered in Spanish and five minutes away from my house." Little did I know that by saying this my course in life would forever be changed. A few months later I received a call from Fr. Tacho Rivera, S.J., who was working at the Loyola Institute for Spirituality, and he asked me if I would be interested in taking some spiritual direction courses in Spanish that he would be directing. Well of course I couldn't say no, and so my path led me to LIS and to a group of people who have shared great moments with me during the course of ELI, which is the Latino Ignatian Team.

LIS is very enriching, especially for people who are not able to leave their parish because many cannot drive; others have to take care of their families; and it's difficult to attend retreat centers. What LIS does for people is bring the retreat to them, in their environment, near their home. They truly do bring spirituality to life in that sense.

Silence

"Be still and know that I am God."(Psalm 46:10)

One of the first things of which we become aware when we embark on our spiritual journey is that we live in a world pervaded by noise. We may find the noise pleasant, or annoying, or simply neutral but, regardless of its form, it is still noise. More importantly, we can become addicted to noise and find ourselves unsettled and restless if we are without the familiar background noise of a television, radio, CD player or whatever. God's action in our lives can be very subtle and is often recognized only by our being quietly attentive to him. If we are truly desirous of developing our relationship with God, we need to foster a comfort with and a desire for quiet in our lives. There are many means toward this end, yet a simple but very effective one is to create small pockets of quiet in our lives - by taking a quiet walk in a nearby park or around the neighborhood, or by sitting quietly at our desk for a moment or two, or by doing nothing more than driving home with the radio turned off - not to be quiet with our thoughts, but simply to be quiet.

Not all the noise in our lives, however, stems from the world outside us. There is also the noise that arises in our inner world: the voice within us that incessantly comments, speculates, judges, compares and complains; or our mind that incessantly revisits the past or rehearses a possible future through our imagination. When we become consciously attentive to a thought, we become aware not only of the thought itself but also of ourselves aware of the thought. We thus sense a conscious presence - our deeper self - beneath the thought. Surprisingly, the result of this is that the thought loses its power over us and quickly subsides. The thought has no meaning for us and quickly vanishes. We thus experience a discontinuity in the mental stream - a gap of what Buddhists call 'no mind.' At first, the gaps will be short, a few seconds perhaps, but gradually they will become longer. When these gaps occur, we will experience an inner stillness and peace. With practice, this sense of stillness and peace will deepen. It is the pervasive quiet we yearn for.

Written by: Br. Charles Jackson, S.J., Associate Director

A Harvest of Wholeness

As we wend our way through the waning days of summer, it may seem that we have our gaze focused in two directions at once—one longing look back at the days of warmth, celebration, and seemingly all-too-brief relaxation that remind us of the fruitfulness of life and the earth; and another anticipatory look that guides our thoughts to the upcoming season of harvest, when the quiet march to winter is brightened by the gathering of the riches of our work and that of our communities. Yet we know our life is not lived in the past or the future, but only in the power of the present moment. What is it that we hold in this ‘space between?’

In the tradition of the Old Testament, the Sabbath was a time of rest each week, a day in which the preoccupations of work and society were set aside to acknowledge the gifts of God and to rest in the knowledge of life’s ultimate abundance. After a ‘week of years’ (6), the land was to be left fallow for the 7^th year, as a Sabbath rest for the earth. After a ‘week of Sabbath years’ (7), the 50^th year was a time in which everyone and everything rested—indebted lands were returned to their ancestral owners, indentured servants were freed, and the equality of all within the society was reaffirmed. This cycle of cycles acknowledged the deep-seated human need for periods of rest, but also for a sense of restitution or equilibrium in life and society.

Perhaps as we move into the concluding months of 2011, we might adopt a bit of the Jubilee spirit, recognizing the need we have to enter into days of diminishing light and lowering temperatures with an inner awareness of the personal and social rhythms that can encourage us to balance the fecundity of summer energy and the limiting interlude of winter. We need not simply “load our harvest into barns” and batten down the hatches for storms or long, chilly nights. We can affirm this ‘space between’ as an invitation to welcome equanimity, to search for those aspects of our communal life which promote generosity, mutuality, and bonds that nurture our common future—rather than merely ‘waiting-out’ the time between visions of beaches, mountains, or family excursions, and the first, tentative nudging of spring growth and a welcoming breath of warming air. Our Jubilee will not be a comprehensive religious, legal, and political redistribution of resources and relationships, but it can offer us an opportunity to realize that the cycles of life, like the cycles of nature, thrive when we allow the ‘space between’ to blossom with its own vitality and promise.

Written by: Fr. David C. Robinson S.J., LIS Associate Director

I Was a Stranger

We are all familiar with the famous lines of Jesus from Matthew's Gospel: "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me..." (Mt. 25:35). Of course, Jesus is not speaking of direct ministry to himself. Rather, he states that "just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me." (Mt. 25:40) Perhaps we have occasionally felt a twinge of regret that we have not responded often enough to God's family with the simple gestures of care which are highlighted in this gospel passage. However, as Jesus emphasizes repeatedly to the disciples, the call of God is not to look backward, but to be awake to what is inviting us in the immediacy of the present moment.

Contemporary culture praises the months of summer as a time to kick-back, grab-the-gusto, and indulge ourselves. Certainly, relaxation and family fun are values we need to cultivate in a world all-too-given to the excesses of schedules and exploding calendars. Nevertheless, during the times of enjoyment, we can keep both eyes and hearts open to the sudden strangers in our midst. A casual invitation or unexpected occasion can provide us with a miraculous opportunity to offer a moment of nourishment or belonging to someone we might readily pass by without even a glance.

Last month, I was invited by a friend to accompany a group of middle-school students on a class outing to HomeBoy Industries and the MOCA exhibit of Art in the Streets in Los Angeles. The majority of these students come from complex and difficult family and social environments, not unlike the gang-family at Homeboy, or the artists whose works are on display at MOCA. Dealing with cognitive and behavioral challenges, these students are not the ones invited to participate in field trips or school outings. They are the 'strangers' in their own schools. There were certainly enough complications and nay-sayers to torpedo the whole project, but a handful of volunteers were inspired to take the risk, and to accompany these students on what was for most their first off-campus school activity.

As might be expected, there were delays, glitches, and occasional misunderstandings. Yet, it could not be denied that something transformative had taken place. One boy embarked on a photo-shoot throughout the day, capturing people and geography in colorful and creative ways. Another student, semi-autistic, began the excursion sitting by himself at the back of the bus, and not interacting with his classmates. By mid-day, he was immersed in the group, and creating his own photo-narrative of his experiences. This was a collective of strangers, on the way to discovering the meaning of community. They are now putting together a video/DVD of their adventures, gathering their insights and inspirations, to be shared with families and the wider school community.

Were there projects and unfinished work, or the call of summer relaxation, that beckoned the faculty, staff counselors, and volunteers who journeyed with this hopeful band of strangers? Yes. Were there some who only saw the difficulties and breaches of schedule that inevitably occurred? Yes. Was there, nonetheless, a breakthrough experience that pointed to the truth Jesus taught so many generations ago--What we do for the strangers among us, we do for him and all the people of God? Most emphatically, yes!

We, each and all, are met on our ordinary paths by the faces of the ones who need just a bit of nourishment, something to lessen their inner thirst, or a welcome home to a world that no longer labels them strangers. What a miraculous way to share a portion of our summer days.

Written by: Fr. David C. Robinson S.J., LIS Associate Director

Lent: A Season for Yearning

2011-05-10T22:29:00.000-07:00

Lent is indeed a spiritual season for all Christians, and carries a unique meaning for each member of the community. For many, the focus of our Lenten observance is found on Ash Wednesday-the recognition of our mortality, our human foibles and weaknesses, our essential need for the presence of God. For others, Lent is a time of abstinence and fasting, a season to 'give up things' for God as a sign of our total dependence upon divine generosity for sustenance and nourishment. For others, the 40 days are an essential period of inner searching and reflection, a quest for attentiveness to the wonder of our spiritual life as companions of Jesus. For all, each of these realities plays a part in shaping community prayer and ritual, our identity as people of both the Passion and the Resurrection.

As we journey through the days and weeks of Lent, we can feel a certain tugging of the soul, that underlies our meatless meals, our times of reconciliation, our masses, stations of the cross, and Rice-Bowl offerings. Our prayers and practices are a rich resource for nurturing our attention to God and our fellow-travelers along the Lenten path. However, there is a deeper hunger than that brought on by our refraining from hamburgers or chocolate. There is an abiding current of longing that is constant, even if unexpressed. This yearning is a fruitful well for self-discovery in our approach to Easter. Learning that we are more than the sum of our forgiven sins, more than the sum of our unrealized spiritual ambitions, more than the sum of our images of God-we feel urged to immerse ourselves in a mystery we cannot name. We come to recognize that Lent is not a daunting march through death to hoped-for new life. Rather, it is a miraculous walk to the still-point, the center, of our search for God and for the godly in us. If we are attentive, we begin to sense our growing connection to the divine gift that filled the life and ministry of Jesus, and that calls to us in the midst of our preoccupations, distractions, and premonitions of failure.

Lent points to the victory of life, our life, and our life in the endless divine promise we can so often overlook. This is why we feel the yearning for more prayer, for times of spiritual retreat, for a surrendering of heart that says to God what God says to us in this season-I am yours; live in me.

Written by: Fr. David C. Robinson S.J., LIS Associate Director

Reflections on Fifty Years as a Jesuit

2011-05-10T22:25:00.001-07:00

Fifty years ago, when I entered the Society of Jesus, I knew that I would pray. It came with the territory. I had heard about Jesuits spending an hour each day "in prayer," but I had no idea what it meant. Unlike most Jesuits, I didn't begin my Jesuit life as a novice. Until about thirty years ago, all brothers began their Jesuit lives as postulants. A postulant was simply a candidate to the Society of Jesus. He wasn't technically a Jesuit nor did he wear the distinctive garb of that time, the black cassock. During the six months that I was a postulant, I read the New Testament and lives of the saints, but I wasn't introduced to prayer. But I remember listening to novices talking about what they did as novices and, among other things, they talked about prayer. Although they used a lot of words I didn't understand, I understood enough to realize that prayer was something I wanted to be a part of. If they did it, I said to myself, well, so too would I. And so I discovered - somewhat on my own - prayer.

I can't speak about other Jesuits. Perhaps for them prayer has always been an effort, a struggle they daily contend with. For me, however, prayer was something I took to like a fish takes to water, something I have loved from the very first day. Yet prayer was never anything that I did or any skill that I had. Rather it was what God did in me. It is awkward to speak about falling in love with God, yet that is what happened. No, it didn't happen overnight. It unfolded over time, but it happened. And in my Jesuit life, that has made all the difference.

There's a beautiful scene toward the end of Robert Bolt's play, A Man for All Seasons. Thomas More has been imprisoned in the Tower of London by King Henry VIII, and events seem to be turning against him. His beloved daughter, Margaret, has come to visit him. She's trying to find some way for him to swear to the Act of Succession, but he refuses all her entreaties. Finally, she just explodes in frustration, "But in reason! Haven't you done as much as God can reasonably want?" More pauses for a moment, as if looking for words: "Well ... finally it isn't a matter of reason; finally it's a matter of love."

On a wonderful October afternoon in 1957, God surprised a high school sophomore with the desire to be a Jesuit. And over the years he has continued to surprise and delight and invite that boy-become-a-man as he has grown in his Jesuit life. The God who had once grasped him has never let go. As Thomas More said "finally it's a matter of love."

Written by: Br. Charles Jackson, S.J., LIS Associate Director

Jesus' Baptism: Some Thoughts

2011-05-10T22:22:00.000-07:00

"Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. And as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit, like a dove, descending on him. And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my Son, my Beloved; my favor rests on you' " (Mark 1:9-11).

We are not told how Jesus came to hear about John. We are, however, told that Jesus came to John, listened to him and was baptized by him in the Jordan. But why? Why was it that Jesus, the Sinless One, chose to identify himself with sinners and be baptized? Was it that he desired to express solidarity with all those who had come to John, solidarity with those who recognized their sinfulness and sought forgiveness in a baptism of repentance? In effect, this is what he had done, but was this really what had motivated him? Could it have been out of a sense of his own humanness, his own need for God? Later tradition held that Jesus was without sin, butthis is not to deny that he was subject to all the moods, feelings, emotions and inner struggles that are part of being human. When all is said and done, we have to wonder if Jesus at this time of his life really knew who he was. Did he know that he was God's Son, and did he understand all that that implied? To the people of Nazareth, with whom he had lived for almost thirty years, he was ordinary in every way. When he later returned there and preached in the synagogue, the people were astonished. "Where did he get all this?" they asked. "What is this wisdom he has, and these wonders that are worked through him? ... Isn't this the carpenter, the son of Mary?" (Mk. 6:1-3). It is not unreasonable to imagine that Jesus thought of himself in these same terms - as an ordinary citizen of Nazareth.

Mark tells us only that Jesus "was baptized by John in the Jordan." It is difficult, however, to piece together exactly what happened. The imagery of the heavens being torn apart, a dove descending, and a voice being heard projects a profound experience of God, yet it leaves much unsaid. At first glance, it seems to describe what was nothing more than a dramatic statement of God's affirming love for Jesus. Yet it is important to recognize that within weeks of his baptism at the Jordan the unassuming carpenter from Nazareth was speaking with authority and acting with great power - and we must ask ourselves: What truly happened at the Jordan? What was at the root of Jesus' experience that so transformed his life?

It is not impossible to imagine that in choosing to be baptized by John, Jesus had made a dramatic self-offering to God and, in response, God 'embraced' him as a father would a son. For Jesus, the result was a profound experience of being loved by God and what may have been a new awareness of himself: as God's 'Beloved' and of God as his Father. His experience of this love was of "the heavens being torn apart and the Spirit, like a dove, descending on him." The Holy Spirit, God's abiding presence, entered into him, empowering him. For Jesus, his experience at the Jordan was more than simply a call; it was an overwhelming sense of being grasped by God for his service. He had been brought to understand that God had chosen to make his decisive intervention in history at this very moment and that he, Jesus, was to be the means of bringing this about. It would not be unreasonable to say that Jesus was overwhelmed. Mark's words only hint at what must have been his confusion and inner turmoil - "and at once the Spirit drove him into the desert."

Written by Br. Charles Jackson, S.J., LIS Associate Director

The Faces and Places of Advent

The month of December can seem like a battle of attrition between the invitation of Advent to a time of reflective stillness and anticipation, and the speed of an ever-accelerating race to Christmas, that is marked by purchasing, preparations, and pressure-packed celebrations (if such can truly be called celebratory!). In a world of seemingly endless tweets, texts, voicemails, and emails, we are submerged amid tsunamis of ads and invitations. Where is the space for inner silence, the quiet place of rest as we look for the coming of the nativity promise?

In the past few weeks, helping to facilitate retreats in English and Spanish, focused on the growth of personal and communal spirituality, I have been made more aware than ever of the deep longing people of faith have for inner connection to the God who calls them beyond the mundane and trivial to a rich encounter with an endless horizon of divine presence and surprise. Life in and as Church can become enmeshed in yet another round of activities, of movement, focused on external results before inner or shared awakening to God. To make such an observation is not to promote individual or communal passivity, a ‘me-first’ sort of preoccupation with how I/we can be enriched as part of a religious family. Rather, it is an invitation to be more attentive to the working of the Spirit before, during, and after our active engagement with duties and projects that grow out of our faith commitments.

The human brain is an intriguing and complex organ, but it has certain redundant processes that track our way through life. An act of shopping bears many cognitive parallels to an act of feeding the poor or decorating the church sanctuary for Christmas. If all that we do gets reduced to unreflective ’action,’ we do not ‘learn’ or ‘grow’ in the spiritual dimensions of our being-in-the-world. Time for reflective prayer or contemplative focus on the mystery of divine love in the most elemental aspects of our daily walk helps us to ground or locate what we are and do in something more profound than the completion of a to-do list! The result is that activity is held differently in our perceptions and in our memories. The God-stuff of our lives becomes clearer and more integral to our sense of purpose and meaning. We are not believers-who-do, but students of spiritual wisdom who grow to understand the richness and inner gift of all life, not just the select moments that our schedules set aside to ‘pay attention.’

Advent reflection is not a sudden turn to monasticism, or a wholesale separation from our engagement with the day-to-day. Rather, it is an inner choice, a decision for spiritual self-care, that allows us to nurture our capacity for divine connection, whatever the place or circumstance. This is not necessarily a matter of radical change that separates us from our current life (though some modification would probably prove quite useful!). It is a willingness to pay attention on a more consistent basis (once today, twice tomorrow—the discipline can become infectious) to the way in which our interior focus on the God who is present can help us to redirect our energies from the completion of tasks to the re-visioning of why we are tasked in the first place. Advent is a common space in which we are called to cherish our own daily experience as part of our inheritance among those who can discover the ever-new miracle of the Messiah, the birth of Jesus as our companion and guide to life with God.

Written by Fr. David C. Robinson, S.J., LIS Associate Director

Burdened with Much Serving

2011-05-10T22:17:00.000-07:00

"He entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, 'Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.' The Lord said to her in reply, 'Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.'"(Luke 10:38-42)

In the mid-1960s I was assigned to our novitiate in Santa Barbara, which had opened just a few years earlier. At that time, our community - 4 priests, 3 brothers, and 23 novices - lived in a sprawling ranch-style house, while a larger novitiate complex was being constructed on another part of the property. The house in which we lived was large, but our community of 30 stretched it beyond all imagining: we were packed in like sardines, but we were a wonderfully happy community. I was there only three months, however, when our lay cook was incapacitated by a serious stroke. So for the next year and a half another brother and I did all the cooking - three-meals-a day, seven days-a week - for the community. It was demanding and tiring work, but I loved it, mostly because I loved doing it for people I loved.

During that time we often spoke with happy anticipation of the new and larger novitiate that was being built, commenting about how much more comfortable - and happier - we would be. In January 1968 the new novitiate was completed and we moved. It was indeed larger and more comfortable, but it was also, unlike the house we had just vacated, terribly institutional. It seemed that the magic was gone. On occasion I still did some cooking, but it was no longer with the same joy that I had experienced in the old house. For me, cooking had become a burden.

Something similar seems to have happened in the story of Martha and Mary. Martha and Mary seem to have been close friends with Jesus and probably entertained him on more than a few occasions - though this is the only occasion that is described in the gospels. On this occasion, we are told that after Martha welcomed Jesus, her sister Mary plopped down at Jesus' feet to listen to him, while she busied herself in the kitchen. Both sisters were expressing their love, though the manner in which they did so differed. I suspect that both initially delighted in their self-appointed tasks: Mary listening to Jesus and Martha preparing a meal for Jesus - but then something happened. Gradually Martha became caught up in all her work, and the delight that she had initially felt in it began to wane. Her focus was no longer on Jesus, but rather on her busyness "with much serving." Her labor of love had become for her a burden.

I suspect that our everyday lives are spent doing tasks that can often seem small and insignificant in the eyes of those who don't know what we are about. But it is important that we never forget the enormous value of the often inconspicuous things we do for others. Mother Teresa seems to capture the sense of all this when she reminds us that it is not what we do that ultimately matters, but rather the love we put into doing it.

Written by Br. Charlie Jackson, S.J., LIS Associate Director

Culture and Community: The Spirit of Aloha

2011-05-10T22:14:00.000-07:00

During the month of September, I was blessed with an opportunity to spend some time visiting and working at the Newman Center on the University of Hawaii Manoa Campus, in Honolulu. Needless to say, there were no complaints about workplace location! The community manifests so much of the grace that is part of the Hawaiian understanding of ohana-a family that is based on more than bloodlines, and includes all who are friends and members of an intentional group. Indeed, one is immediately immersed in the Spirit of Aloha, which is the hallmark of the Islands. Aloha is commonly known to most as a warm and familiar sign of greeting and parting. However, in Hawaiian culture, the word encompasses as well a sense of living in the sacredness of the present moment, of being united in a loving spirit of kindness and humility. This is not a matter of belief or civility, but of a deep connectedness of all people to one another and to creation.

The Newman Center family is in the midst of significant transition, discerning its future staffing, mission, and programming. Often, these moments are ones of anxiety, uncertainty, and even anger, that can lead to community division or paralysis. Certainly there are feelings of sadness and frustration that change has come to the doorway of the community. Nonetheless, my abiding sense of these days is one of true aloha, a time in which the sacred connections of faith and family provide a stable, hopeful climate for addressing the future with vision and creativity. This is an ohana, not a happenstance collection of individuals who gather for mass or projects. Their familial spirit is a glowing example of the ways in which the influences of indigenous cultures can help us to shape a healthier model for life and work, individually and communally.

I was also graced with the opportunity to spend nearly four days on the Big Island (Hawaii). There, in the midst of the Hilo Coast botanical marvels, the smoldering caldera of Kilauea (a currently active volcano), and the underwater magic of multi-colored fish and sea turtles, I was reminded of (and inspirited by) the reality of the aloha that links everyone here to the land, the water, the spellbinding variety of living creatures, and to their human companions. So often on the mainland, we have too much space and too much speed for our own good balance of mind and soul. There is much we can learn from the reality of ohana in the Newman Center community, the union of heart in a family of faith, as we live out together the possibilities of our own spirit of aloha.

Aloha nui loa!

Written by Fr. David C. Robinson, S.J., LIS Associate Director

From Glory to Glory--Charles Jackson, S.J.

2011-05-10T18:34:00.000-07:00

When I was growing up during the 1950s, it wasn't unusual for a young man pondering his future to imagine himself taking a job, and continuing to work in that job, until he retired many years later. Life in those years was perceived - at least by me - as stable, secure and very predictable. When I entered the Society of Jesus fifty years ago, I imagined my own life in essentially those same terms - stable, secure and very predictable. Well, I suspect that it goes without saying that the lived experience of my life has been quite different from my expectations - and I also suspect that this has been true for you as well. Our lives may have begun with hopes and dreams, but they have invariably included more than a few twists and turns, false starts and dead-ends, surprises and even disappointments. Yet throughout it all, God has been very much with us. Ignatius Loyola loved to say that God is actively "at work" in us.

One of the great graces in the life of Ignatius Loyola was in his being brought to understand that God's creative action did not end in the distant past. Rather, God is actively engaged in the world and in the life of each and every person, laboring in all things to bring all people into the fullness of life for which he created them. God is actively engaged in your life and in mine so that we achieve the fullness of life for which God created us.

Several weeks ago, I spoke with a happily married woman in her mid-40s. For some years now, she and her husband have been actively involved in the faith formation of their parish. She told me that during her high school years she became involved in youth ministry and was introduced to a particular youth retreat model that captivated her. This retreat model seemed to embody both the 'what' and the 'how' of everything she hoped to do. She said that she imagined herself eventually getting married and having a family, but continuing to work with this retreat model for the rest of her life. She said that as events unfolded, however, she worked with this retreat for just two or three more years before God moved her in a new direction. She then paused for a moment, apparently savoring all this, before she added with a smile, "and so God brings us from glory to glory." She didn't explain what she meant by her concluding words, yet she seemed to be speaking not only of something that was true for her, but of something that was also wonderful and of something that truly animated her life. It seemed that she understood God's continued action in her life as truly a labor of love: bringing her from something that was wonderful to something that was even more wonderful - bringing her, as it were, "from glory to glory."

But all of this is true for each of us as well. God's continued action in our lives is truly a labor of love. It is important, however, that we not only understand this, but also that we reflect on it, savor it, relish it and appreciate it. As the woman with whom I spoke discovered, God's action in our lives, if we have the eyes to see it, brings us from something that is wonderful to something that is even more wonderful. It brings us, as it were, "from glory to glory."

Written by Br. Charles Jackson, S.J., LIS Associate Director

Martha Schwertner, CSJ: Art as Spirituality--September, 2010

2010-09-09T09:13:00.000-07:00

Martha Schwertner, CSJ, a member of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Orange community, is our featured artist in the Art as Spirituality forum. She works extensively in watercolors and with wood, to manifest what she calls "God's creative art." The link to our website forum is posted below.

https://sites.google.com/site/ignatianart/

Art as Spirituality

2010-08-30T15:53:00.000-07:00

Through the centuries, art has frequently expressed the deep inner movements, the yearnings of soul, that are central to the spiritual life. We can be facile in our ways of talking about the "spirituality of art"--the ways in which our aesthetic creations represent or symbolize the nature of our spiritual pilgrimage. However, art is more than a representation of spirituality. It is, in itself, a form of spiritual praxis, a lived means of incarnating our inner quest.

Our blog is establishing an Art as Spirituality forum. We invite readers to join a community conversation regarding the role/nature of art (painting, poetry, theater, photography, music, dance, etc.) as a spiritual practice. This is not a dialog regarding the spiritual implications of art, but rather a celebration of art and artistry as spiritual practice in the lives of millions around the world. A sub-section of this forum will include contributions from artists (mp3 files, video/YouTube elements, photos, literary pieces, etc.).

Please send any questions or items for inclusion to loyolablog@gmail.com.

The 19th Annotation Retreat at LIS

2010-08-30T15:52:00.000-07:00

In September, 2010, a new 19th Annotation Retreat Group will commence at the Loyola Institute. This nine-month spiritual journey is a unique and transformative process that allows individuals to persevere in their day-to-day responsibilities, while guiding them along the path of spiritual growth and insight. Further information is available at the Loyola Institute website

A brief description is added below:

The Spiritual Exercises in Daily Life
(19th Annotation Retreat
“Extend your arms into the future. The best is yet to be.” -- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.

The 19th Annotation of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola is a profound, transformative retreat experience that can be made over a period of nine months in daily life. This is a very practical way to make the full Spiritual Exercises without going away to a retreat center for thirty days in silence.

The retreat process begins with a period of preparation where the potential retreatant will be paired up with a spiritual guide for ongoing, monthly spiritual companioning sessions. This should begin several months prior to entering into the 19th Annotation retreat. The 19th Annotation of the Spiritual Exercises will begin in September and last until June with weekly individual spiritual companioning sessions and monthly group conferences. The monthly group conferences are held at the Loyola Institute for Spirituality in Orange, CA.

Requirements for participation:

A desire to deepen one's prayer life and relationship with God
Individual weekly meetings with the spiritual guide when the Exercises start in September
One hour commitment of personal daily prayer with review and journaling
Attendance at all monthly group sessions

Loyola Institute's Ignatian Spiritual Formation Program

2010-08-30T15:51:00.000-07:00

As the days and weeks of summer go spinning by, the intentions we may have formed in the depths of winter or the emergence of spring can be lost in the haste of our days and activities. The Loyola Institute's Ignatian
Spiritual Formation Program, a three-year process for the development of a community formed in Ignatian practice and discernment, will be forming a new cohort for the fall. The first class begins on September 14th, a date that seemed so far in the future when the new group was first announced.

If you are interested, please check out the more extensive information available on the LIS website http://www.loyolainstitute.org/cats.php.

Below is a brief explanation of the program:

PROGRAM OVERVIEW:

The Loyola Institute for Spirituality (LIS) recognizes the spiritual hunger of people in search of a deeper and more meaningful faith experience in contemporary times. This felt need creates a demand for spiritual development, especially for lay leaders within the church and society. LIS strives to address this challenging reality through a spiritual formation program. The Ignatian Spiritual Formation Program (ISFP) provides an opportunity to form lay leaders and LIS Associates, who will be lay collaborators working with LIS and/or local faith communities in spiritual ministry. ISFP is not a training program for certifying spiritual directors. Rather, it strives to make spiritual experiences and formation opportunities as practical and accessible as possible for people involved in spiritual ministries.

The formation program consists of three phases:

Phase I: Studies in Ignatian Spirituality that provides a basic understanding of Ignatian spirituality through classes.

Phase II: An experience of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius based on the 19th Annotation format that fosters a transformative personal relationship with Christ and a deep desire to serve others.

Phase III: A Practicum component that provides advanced spirituality courses and hands-on experiences with supervision to prepare Associates for spiritual ministry as graduates of LIS.

The New Loyola Institute Blog

2010-08-17T16:04:00.000-07:00

We invite your input into the evolution of this Blog. It is a common vehicle for our future conversations, a place to share and to benefit from the riches of others’ spiritual journeys.

A Spirituality that Transforms the World

2010-01-28T09:03:00.000-08:00

On the afternoons of January 23rd and 24th, Loyola Institute for Spirituality and the Ignatian Volunteer Corps (IVC) co-sponsored the presentation of two transformative talks by Fr. Howard Gray, S.J.. Focused on the topic of “Lay and Jesuit Colleagues: A Spirituality that Transforms the World”, the events drew approximately 135 attendees in Orange on Saturday, and over 110 in San Diego the following day.

Fr. David Robinson, S.J. offers this reflection on Fr. Grey's presentation in Orange:

On a radiant Saturday afternoon, Howard Gray, S.J., joined a community of spiritual seekers at the Saint Joseph Center in Orange to reflect on the nature, qualities, and ministry of spiritual discernment. Through the prism of the Triple Colloquy found in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, Fr. Gray invited his audience to contemplate a spiritual relationship with Mary, as one who embodied the passion and joy of the call of God, while surrendering her life to the possibilities of an unknown future; to Jesus as the embodiment of human experience that manifested the total self-giving of divine love; and to God the Father as the one who is profligate in loving, like the father of the prodigal son who runs to meet the returning child, filled with joy and without judgment.

Out of this Ignatian model, he further reflected on the practice of spiritual discernment, both as a personal process aimed at seeing life and the world with visio divina, through the eyes of God, and as a ministry to others in the form of companionship on the path to fuller freedom and the capacity to help those in need for the enrichment of their daily lives.

St. Columban Parish Mission - Everyone is Welcome!

2010-01-11T10:14:00.000-08:00

Fr. Steve Corder, SJ, will present a Parish Mission for the St. Columban Parish in Garden Grove that will also be open to the general public. Mass will be held each evening at 7:30, with an informative and uplifting Mission talk to follow:

Monday, January 25 – Hope, Healing, and the Year of the Priest
Tuesday, January 26 – Imagining the Gospel and the Life of Jesus
Wednesday, January 27 – Finding God in Our Daily Lives

Location:
Saint Columban Catholic Church
10801 Stanford Ave., Garden Grove, CA 92840
(714) 534-1174

PLEASE JOIN US! All are welcome!

Sometimes our hearts desire more than a job...

2010-01-07T09:37:00.000-08:00

...sometimes our hearts desire companions on the spiritual journey. Have you ever
thought about entering religious life? Are you a single Catholic man, between the ages of 18 and 45? If so, we invite you to come explore the Society of Jesus at our upcoming “Come and See Day”.
DATE: Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010
TIME: 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
(lunch and Mass included)
PLACE: Manresa Jesuit Residence in Anaheim

To RSVP or for more info, contact Br. Charlie Jackson SJ:
cjackson@calprov.org
or call 714-997-9587, ext. 24

The Advent of Advent

2009-12-14T09:41:00.000-08:00

By Fr. David Robinson, S.J.

Once the turkey and trimmings of the Thanksgiving feast have vanished from the dining-room table, the rush and furor of Christmas planning begin in earnest. We find ourselves bombarded by an endless assortment of newpaper, radio, and television ads that promise the most rewarding venues for shoppers' bargains, and the 'best' ways to prepare for the great holiday of giving. The pace seems to accelerate daily, with an ever-growing perception that if we miss out on some opportunities for purchasing or partying, we have diminished our participation in the magic of the season. Of course, at heart we know this reckless rush to December 25th is a seduction and an illusion, a fabrication of marketing and publicity that holds no real substance in what we most treasure in life. How is it that we are so readily drawn in year after year, while knowing that what we truly want resides elsewhere?

Even the season of Advent, with its wonderfully poetic vision of the fulfillment of God's promise(s) becomes enmeshed in the mystery of the manger. We cannot wait to begin decorating house and church. We yearn for Christmas music to fill our homes and our airwaves. It is as if we have no use for the learning process of anticipation, no willingness to savor what is to come. Could it be that we have succumbed to the lure of instant gratification, even in the spiritual recesses of our own preparation for the miracle of the nativity? It is certainly no accident that Christians throughout the centuries have recognized the need for a deeply reflective period prior to the celebration of the two great bookends of the life of Christ--Christmas and Easter. We receive an invitation to slow down, if only for a little while, on our headlong rush to who-knows-where. When Jesus faced a compelling moment in life, it seems that he always made a point of 'stepping aside' for prayer and connection with the God who had sent and guided him. We can learn a lesson from his practice as we count down the days to the great feast that is the savior's birthday.

It is probably beyond the resources or capacity of most to suddenly put the brakes to so much planning and festivity this Advent season. Nonetheless, it may benefit each and all of us to take a few moments aside--in the early hours of waking to a winter day; at an opportune occasion when the day's preoccupations can be interrupted by a minute's reflection on the silent mystery that these days enfold; before surrendering to our time (often all too brief!) of sleep, when we can glance at the vision of future hope that these days symbolize. This is a season of receptivity and insight, a series of little gifts of wisdom that the Spirit provides to remind us we are more than our plans and strategies for a successful life.

Advent is a time of God 'coming to' us. It is not a timed race on our part toward the joys and activities of Christmas. We know that, like the sun which rises and sets every day, the miraculous vista of Christmas will arrive. As Christ has come, the celebration of his birth will also come to remind us of the giftedness of life. As Israel waited for the messiah, and as Mary waited for her time of giving birth, so we can temper our feverish movement forward. We can savor the gift of reflection and quiet, the enrichment of anticipating what is to come. It is not always a burden or an obstacle to wait.

The Season for Giving!

2009-12-09T14:08:00.000-08:00

Please Consider Making a Tax-Deductible Year End Gift to the
Loyola Institute for Spirituality!

“Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”- Luke 6:38

This year, we have been blessed to have served over 10,000 individuals! The demand for our programs has never been higher. Several of our classes have doubled or even tripled in attendance this year. However, our donations have been less that what we hoped for, a decrease from previous years. We pray that we will be able to continue to meet the growing demand for our services. Our program fees tend to be lower than other spirituality centers, because we are committed to remaining affordable and accessible for everyone, especially in this time of economic difficulty. Your contribution will help us to continue to provide life-changing classes, retreats, and events for ALL who are seeking a closer relationship with God. Please know that your gift in any amount is deeply appreciated!

To make a donation by credit or debit card, please call us:
714-997-9587

Thank you for your faithful partnership!

A Spirituality that Transforms the World

2009-11-10T11:50:00.000-08:00

Rev. Howard Gray, S.J., a nationally recognized expert on Ignatian
spirituality and currently Special Assistant to the President of Georgetown University, will be presenting in Southern California the weekend of January 23 and 24, 2010. These events are co-sponsored by LIS and the Ignatian Volunteer Corps. Please join us for one of these inspiring and transformative afternoons on the topic of “Lay and Jesuit Colleagues: A Spirituality that Transforms the World.” Fr. Gray’s presentation will address the questions: How can I work together with others to bring about God’s dream of love and service for our world? How can I find spiritual direction in my life and discern the path God has for me? How can I find God in all things?

January 23, 2010
Orange

2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Presentation:
“Spiritual Direction and Discernment"
Followed by reception

St. Joseph Center Auditorium Lounge
480 S. Batavia Street
Orange, CA 92868

January 23, 2010
San Diego

2:00 p.m.
Eucharist, Founders Chapel
Howard Gray, S.J., Presider
3:00 p.m.
Presentation: “Lay and Jesuit Colleagues:
A Spirituality that Transforms the World”

University of San Diego
5998 Alcalá Park
San Diego, CA 92110

Help LIS While Shopping on Amazon!

2009-11-06T10:22:00.000-08:00

We are please to announce the grand opening of LIS's new "Amazon Store”! Just in time for your Holiday shopping, this is an amazing way to support LIS at absolutely no additional cost to you.

The store can be accessed directly, or though our web site. Any purchase you make through the Amazon store will provide LIS with a rebate of between 4% and 8% of the purchase price. You can use the LIS Amazon store to purchase anything available on Amazon, not just the books we recommend.

We think you will also enjoy browsing the excellent selection of recommended reading materials, selected by the LIS staff for you convenience. Please watch for updates…books on Ignatian Spirituality and other topics of interest will be added on an ongoing basis.

http://astore.amazon.com/ignatian-20

Pausing to Celebrate Advent: Weekend Ignatian Retreat

2009-10-20T11:11:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to enlarge! Loyola Institute for Spirituality invites you to step aside from the bustle of the season and enjoy time with the One who is Reason for the Season at hand: Jesus, Emmanuel, God-WITH-us! This silent retreat will include guiding conferences as springboards to prayer, Eucharistic liturgy, and opportunity for personal accompani-ment with a director.

For information and/or registration:
Contact Sr. Barbra Ostheimer at 714-997-9587 ext. 26

Ignatian Morning: Basking in the Loving Gaze of God

2009-10-14T13:59:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to see details! Our Ignatian Morning is here. Loyola Institute for Spirituality invites you today to come and join others explore the gift of daily life in the light of God's love and Ignatian Spirituality.. More information to come. For further information on this event please contact Sr. Barbra at (714) 997-9587 ext. 26

“I’m Charlie Jackson, and I’m getting old!”

2009-10-01T11:24:00.000-07:00

by Charles J. Jackson, S.J.

During the spring of 1994 I was surprised to receive from my provincial superior an invitation to “A Moment for the Middle-Aged: A Retreat for Jesuits 45-55 Years of Age.” To say that I was surprised to receive the invitation would be an understatement; I was incensed. I was fifty-one years of age, teaching in one of our high schools, coaching cross-country and track, and could still run ten miles in under an hour. Middle-aged! I wasn’t middle-aged!

I remember the retreat as a wonderful and grace-filled experience. Unlike most retreats that Jesuits make, there was a great deal of talking, as the participants shared with one another their experience of being Jesuits. Among its many graces, the retreat brought each of us to the realization that we were not as young as we used to be and that we were, in fact, getting old. For me, the experience of that retreat was not unlike what I suspect an alcoholic experiences when he or she is finally able to state before everyone that “I’m John Doe…” or “I’m Jane Doe, and I’m an alcoholic.” Well, by the time the retreat ended, I believe that each of the participants could have said something similar: “I’m Charlie Jackson, and I’m getting old.”

Well, more than fifteen years have passed since that retreat, and what was true for me then is even more true today: I’m getting old. I think each of us struggles mightily against our human frailty and eventual diminishment, but these define who we are as persons. Interior freedom is many things, but at its most profound level, it is the ability to thank God for making us exactly the way we are – not simply the way we were in the vigor of our youth, but the way we are today. It is not only putting aside our agenda so as to put ourselves into God’s hands; it is thanking God for the wonder of creating us. It is to this that God invites us when we ponder our frailty and diminishment, “For it was you who formed my inmost parts, who knit me in my mother’s womb. I praise you, Lord, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works” (Ps. 139:13-14).

“The Spiritual Exercises” of St. Ignatius

2009-09-24T14:55:00.000-07:00

“The Spiritual Exercises” of St. Ignatius, presented in the form of the 19th Annotation Retreat for Daily Life, has begun for the new 2009/10 year. LIS has been blessed with a record number of retreatants who have committed to the 9-month program of daily scriptural prayer, weekly individual spiritual direction, and monthly group faith-sharing.

This year, 88 individuals have begun this life changing process, more than doubling the number of retreatants from last year! Of this number, 36 English speaking individuals will be a part of the Wednesday night group (27 are new to LIS and 9 are enrolled in the ISFP Program) and 8 Korean speaking retreatants will be meeting on Mondays. The Korean participation has been made possible by Associate Dr. Regina Hur, who painstakingly translated LIS’s 19th Annotation curriculum into her native language. Additionally, 44 retreatants are undertaking the Spiritual Exercises as part of the Los Angeles Archdiocese Diaconate Training Program. These participants (18 English speaking and 26 Spanish speaking) will attend groups located in Los Angeles.

All classes are directed by Sr. Barbra Ostheimer, S.N.D., Brother Charles Jackson, S.J., Fr. Stephen Corder, S.J., and a team of dedicated LIS Lay Associates.

Final Vows

2009-09-24T10:52:00.001-07:00

On September 9, 2009, Rev. Stephen Corder, S.J. and Rev. Felix Just, S.J. celebrated their Final Vows in the Sacred Heart Chapel, located on the Motherhouse campus of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange. This beautiful event was attended by approximately 230 friends and family members, and was followed by a lovely dessert reception. Congratulations and blessings to Fr. Steve and Fr. Felix!

Regional Summer Seminar on Formation for Hispanic Ministry

2009-09-24T09:56:00.001-07:00

From September 13-16, David Robinson, S.J., of the Loyola Institute was a participant in the second Regional Summer Seminar on Formation for Hispanic Ministry, held at Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside. The group represented a number of dioceses and programs from Southern California and Nevada, and undertook a wide-ranging discussion of the critical issues facing those who minister to the Hispanic community in the areas of catechesis, spiritual formation, and parish/pastoral leadership, among others. The Seminar displayed the broad spirit of collaboration and collective creativity that infuses the plans and aspirations of so many who serve in Hispanic contexts. Initial plans were formulated for next-step projects and future conversations, in order to enhance cooperation across diocesan lines, and among geographically separated programs with similar goals. The spirit throughout was animated and optimistic, looking beyond the restrictions imposed by current budget and program limitations in order to nurture a rich future for Hispanic ministry and the evolution of diverse communities.

Seeking Holy Ground by Penny Hansen, LIS Associate

2009-07-31T10:47:00.000-07:00

St. Ignatius teaches us that all of life is sacred and that we can meet God in all of life. Whether young or old, at work or at rest, at home or abroad, in sickness or in health, in plenty or in want, in joy or in despair—in any and all circumstances we are not alone but held within God’s loving embrace.

It is one thing to acknowledge this truth intellectually or even to embrace it spiritually, but it is quite another to live this truth out practically day by day. In the midst of our often busy and over-scheduled lives we wonder, “How can I meet God and find holy ground in my life today?” One answer to this cry of our hearts is to become more aware and to seek to be more sensitive to God’s presence in the details of our lives.

Traditionally, we may find holy ground as we prayerfully contemplate Scripture, as we participate in Eucharistic liturgies, as we interact open-heartedly with family and friends, and as we open our eyes to the beauty of God’s creation. However, holy ground can also be found in the messiness, pain, and difficulties of life—as we sit by the bedside of a loved one who is dying or as we open up our wounded heart to God’s loving and grace-filled touch.

The Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote, “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.” Why not take some time today to ponder your past experiences of meeting God on holy ground and then to open your heart to where God may be calling you to encounter him in the midst of your life today?

Ignatian Spiritual Formation Program (ISFP)

2009-06-22T10:37:00.000-07:00

We want to invite everyone to consider joining the Ignatian Spiritual Formation Program (ISFP). This is a great time to consider becoming a part of this wonderful program...new classes will begin this Fall. The ISFP program is offered to those who desire to begin or have already begun to exercise some form of spiritual ministry and are looking for further growth and expertise. The ISFP is composed of three parts, each taking approximately one year. The first-year courses, however, are open to all, even if they may not be interested in the full three-year program. Upon graduation from the ISFP program, lay “Associates” are equipped to work side-by-side with the LIS staff during retreats, conferences, and workshops.

ISFP 1st Year
Tuesday evenings 7:00-9:30 p.m., Instructors TBA
Cost: $130 per course

SP-01 Biblical Foundation in Spirituality
Sept. 15, 22, 29, Oct. 6, 13, 20, 2009
SP-02 Ignatian Prayer
Nov. 3, 10, 17, 24, Dec. 1, 8, 2009
SP-03 Spirituality
Jan. 5, 12, 19, 26, Feb. 2, 9, 2010
SP-04 Human Development & Spiritual Maturing
Feb. 23, Mar. 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, 2010
SP-05 Ignatian Discernment
Apr. 6, 13, 20, 27, May 4, 11

ISFP 2nd Year
ISFP participatants will go through “The Spiritual Exercises” of St. Ignatius, presented in the form of the 19th Annotation Retreat for Daily Life. This 9-month program offers daily scriptural prayer, weekly individual spiritual direction, and monthly group faith-sharing. One Wednesday evening per month, from 7:00-9:00 p.m., dates TBA next month. Cost is $700 - $900.

ISFP 3rd Year
Thursday evenings from 7:00-9:00 p.m., Instructors TBA
Cost: $130 per course

SP3-01 Spiritual Companioning
Sept. 17, 24, Oct. 1, 8, 15, 22
SP3-02 Discernment of Spirits
Jan. 7, 14, 21, 28, Feb. 4, 11
SP3-03 Structure & Dynamics of the Spiritual Exercises
Apr. 8, 15, 22, 29, May 6, 13
SP3-04 Practicum in Spiritual Ministry

For more information, call Sr. Barbara Ostheimer, 714-997-9587 ext. 26.

Join Fr. Steve on Pilgrimage!

2009-06-08T15:48:00.000-07:00

An Amazing Journey to Portugal, Spain & France

Holy Year in Santiago de Compostela plus St. Ignatius of Loyola

15-Days: May 28 to June 11, 2010

Estimated Special Cash Discount Price:

$3799 from Los Angeles
(Plus taxes, security fees, fuel surcharges & tips)

Visit Lisbon, Fatima, Santiago de Compostela, Loyola, Xavier, Lourdes, Montserrat, Barcelona & More!

To be placed on the priority mailing list to receive your free color brochure and registration form, available after August 15, 2009, please contact:

Fr. Stephen J. Corder, S.J.
Tel: (714) 655-1922 / E-mail: scorder@calprov.org

Please Join Us This Sunday!

2009-05-28T09:58:00.000-07:00

What is Spiritual Direction?

2009-04-14T11:58:00.000-07:00

Spiritual direction is the process of accompanying people on their spiritual journey, with an emphasis on growing closer to God and exploring a deeper relationship with the spiritual aspect of being human. Also referred to as “Spiritual Companioning”, this ancient practice is currently being rediscovered by people of various faith traditions. Throughout the Hebrew and the Christian Scriptures we find people seeking spiritual counsel. In the early church people went to desert hermits for spiritual counsel, and later to Irish monks and Benedictine nuns.

Many people are helped by meeting with a Spiritual Director on a regular basis, usually monthly. The practice is equally beneficial for people of various faith traditions . It is sometimes requested by people with no religious backgrounds, who are hoping to find a companion as they enter a "seeking" phase of their faith journey.

For more details please call Sr. Barbara Ostheimer, 714-997-9587 ext. 26.

“One very important way to befriend our sorrow is to take it out of its isolation, and share it with someone who can receive it.” (Henri Nouwen, Here and Now, page 45)

Still Time to Sponsor!

2009-04-14T11:51:00.000-07:00

The Loyola Institute for Spirituality is honored by your support of the
7th Annual “Hearts on Fire Award Celebration”

Please consider a sponsorship at one of the following levels:

Ignatian Circle - $10,000 (tax deductible amount = $9,100)

Two tables in a premium location, seating for 20
Remembrance in the Perpetual Masses of the Manresa Jesuit Community of Anaheim
Full-page Hearts on Fire Award Celebration Souvenir Program ad
Donors’ names published in the Hearts on Fire Award Celebration Souvenir Program
Tuition for one, donor’s choice of any Formation Program class during 2009-2010
Recognition during the event
Special thank you in the Loyola Institute for Spirituality Spring newsletter
Personally-autographed copy of My Life with the Saints by Fr. James Martin, S.J.
Commemorative Hearts on Fire gift

St. Francis Xavier Circle - $5,000 (tax deductible amount = $4,550)

One table in a premium location, seating for 10
Remembrance in the Perpetual Masses of the Manresa Jesuit Community of Anaheim
Full-page Hearts on Fire Award Celebration Souvenir Program ad
Donors’ names will be published in the Hearts on Fire Award Celebration Souvenir Program
Recognition during the event
Special thank you in the Loyola Institute for Spirituality Spring newsletter
Personally-autographed copy of My Life with the Saints by Fr. James Martin, S.J.
Commemorative Hearts on Fire gift

Blessed Peter Faber Circle - $1,000 (tax deductible amount = $820)

Four dinner tickets
One-half page Hearts on Fire Award Celebration Souvenir Program ad
Donors’ names will be published in the Hearts on Fire Award Celebration Souvenir Program
Special thank you in the Loyola Institute for Spirituality Spring newsletter
Personally-autographed copy of My Life with the Saints by Fr. James Martin, S.J.
Commemorative Hearts on Fire gift

Manresa Circle - $500 (tax deductible amount = $410)

Two dinner tickets
One-quarter page Hearts on Fire Award Celebration Souvenir Program ad
Donors’ names will be published in the Hearts on Fire Award Souvenir Celebration Program
Special thank you in the Loyola Institute for Spirituality Spring newsletter
Commemorative Hearts on Fire gift

In order to receive full recognition and benefits, gifts must be received by April 15, 2009. For more information please contact Fr. Steve Corder, S.J., at 714-997-9587, ext. 22 or Elisa Leon at 714-997-9587, ext. 23.

A Lenten Reflection by Brother Charlie Jackson, SJ

2009-03-23T16:54:00.000-07:00

LENT

“After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee
proclaiming the gospel of God: ‘This is the time of fulfillment.
The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the
gospel.’” (Mark 1:12-15)

Jesus began his public ministry by calling the people of Galilee to repentance. The repentance to which Jesus was calling them was a change of mind and heart. It would be the work not of the moment but of a lifetime. Jesus was not calling the people of Galilee to temporarily give up something. He was calling them both to turn away from whatever impeded their relationship with God and to open themselves to the love that God wished to share with them. The kingdom of God, Jesus told them, was at hand.

Lent calls us to something similar. We might often think of Lent as a time when we give up things
that we like, such as candy or movies, but ultimately Lent is meant to be a time when we seriously reflect on our lives, and turn away from whatever hinders us in our relationship with God, and open ourselves to the love that God wishes so ardently to share with us.

Allow me to suggest something to help in this: the examination of consciousness. The examination of consciousness is a prayer of simple attentiveness to God to perceive where God has been active in our lives and to discern what within us may be resisting God’s action and to what God is calling us. As with any prayer, it is important to find a suitable time and place for it. It is often done at the end of the day. The more often it is done, however, the more natural it becomes. It thus becomes a way of being, a way of growing into an ever-closer relationship with God.

In his Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius described the examination of consciousness and suggested five steps:

(1) to recall the gifts that God has given you, (2) to ask God to open you to what he wishes to reveal to you, (3) to review your day with God, (4) to ask for God’s healing grace and (5) to plan how you will live tomorrow in accord with God’s loving desire for you.

Hearts On Fire Annual Award Dinner

2009-03-23T16:45:00.000-07:00

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Double Tree Guest SuitesAnaheim Resort and Convention Center

The Loyola Institute for Spirituality's Hearts on Fire Celebration is an annual dinner and fundraiser. It provides an opportunity each spring to celebrate the work of the Institute and those who have contributed to it in many different ways, and an opportunity to increase financial support for the organization. If you or anyone you know is interested in attending this celebration,please contact the office and request an invitation. (714-997-9587)

Hearts on Fire Award: Bishop Gordon Bennett, S.J.
Writer's Award in Spirituality: Rev. James Martin, S.J.
Rosita Diaz Award: Mr. & Mrs. Eleuterio and Linda Rodriguez

Give the Gift of You!

2008-12-05T13:39:00.000-08:00

Dear Friend of LIS:

On Saturday, April 25, 2009, friends of the Loyola Institute for Spirituality will gather at the DoubleTree Hotel and Resort in Anaheim for the seventh annual Hearts on Fire Dinner and Award Ceremony, a joyous celebration at which we honor three outstanding Christian leaders formed in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

We need your help. It takes many hearts and hands to make the Hearts on Fire dinner a success. This year we are inviting all the friends of LIS to join us in planning and preparing the event. We need people who have time and talent to share in the following areas:

Sponsorship solicitation
Underwriting appeals
Media relations (pitching)
Public relations
Advertising sales
Internet marketing/web design
Event advertising and promotion
Hospitality
Live-auction gift getting
Decorations and set design
Flower arranging
Photo direction
Printing and calligraphy
Video production
Graphic arts and design
PowerPoint and Excel
Database management
Telephoning
Transportation and logistics

A Volunteer Organizing Meeting will be held at 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM in the Rosita Diaz Room at the LIS office at 480 S. Batavia in Orange on Thursday, December 18, 2009. You'll hear about Hearts on Fire Dinner and Award Ceremony, and have the opportunity to volunteer for any size task you wish to embrace. Most importantly, you'll meet other friends of the Institute who are devoted to bringing spirituality to life! The meeting will be held in English and Spanish.

Please RSVP to Cindy Galvez at 714-997-9587 or cgalvez@loyolainstitute.org by noon Wednesday, December 17 to let her know you will be joining us.

Thank you for your prayers and support,

In Christ,

Fr. Stephen Corder, S.J., Executive Director
Robert Wittenburg, Development Committee Chair
Shirely Espique, Hearts on Fire Coordinator

Welcoming Jesus, An Advent Retreat

2008-11-10T10:06:00.000-08:00

Join us on Sunday, December 7, 2008 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. for an Advent Retreat. This afternoon will be a contemplative time of Advent waiting and preparation. The time will include reflective prayer, story, music, quiet space for personal meditation, and faith sharing.

Please join us for this prayerful time of focusing on our Lord and clearing space for Him in our hearts.

Ignatian Morning

2008-10-23T13:36:00.001-07:00

You are invited! Loyola Institute for Spirituality welcomes you to our first Ignatian Morning, a time of prayerful reflection and exploration of Ignatian Spirituality. The morning will include a presentation entitled "Ordinary People and Great Desires" about the ways in which God inspires us and enables us to love and serve in our daily lives. An explanation of Ignatian imaginative prayer, a guided contemplation, small group faith sharing, and a personal testimony from one of our LIS Associates will follow. The morning will conclude with an overview of LIS offerings and an invitation to participate for spiritual growth. Please consider joining us and know that you are welcome!

Grace Upon Grace

2008-09-17T08:54:00.000-07:00

Mid-September has come and gone, and the Loyola Institute for Spirituality is once again abuzz as the year’s activities get under way. Within this past week, the classes in the Ignatian Spiritual Formation Program and the Equipo Latino Americano (Hispanic Spiritual Leadership Program) have begun, and a total of sixty-eight people have begun 19th Annotation retreats that will run until mid-June. And the staff members of the Loyola Institute continue to meet with men and women seeking spiritual direction. August was surprisingly busy for all of us. I helped direct three retreats: an 8-day retreat in Encino and 6-day and 4-day retreats in Rancho Palos Verdes. Sometimes when I begin to direct others in a retreat or begin to teach a class I have a brief sense that I am giving something to others or imparting some knowledge or doing something that will enrich their lives. That sense quickly dissipates, however, as I listen to others speak of what God is doing in their lives or when I see it in their faces – and I realize, once again, that I am in the presence of God at work in the world, and I am taking away far more than I have given. One of the great graces of working at the Loyola Institute is the daily encounter with God in the lives of those to whom we minister.

Welcome!

2008-09-09T13:11:00.001-07:00

Dear LIS Friends,

Welcome to our new blog! At the heart of Ignatian spirituality is the invitation "to encounter God in all things." And so here we are, discovering God and one another's wisdom in cyberspace. Our blog will offer ongoing reflections on Ignatian Spirituality and the Spiritual Exercises from our Staff and LIS Associates. Br. Charles Jackson, S.J., Associate Director, is the blog editor and Cindy Galvez, Office Manager, is the blog designer. There will also be an opportunity for anyone to comment and we welcome your reflections. To maintain the spirit of our blog, comments will be checked first by our blog editor before being posted. We hope and pray that this will be a fruitful resource for all of us which will lead to some interesting conversations and will further LIS' mission to foster Ignatian spirituality, to support multicultural lay leaders, and to encourage people in deepening their discipleship with Jesus Christ. Please let us know if you have any feedback or creative ideas for our new blog. May God bless each of you as we serve Christ's mission of healing and reconciliation for our world.

Gratefully in Christ,
Fr. Stephen J. Corder, S.J.
Executive Director