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“Hearts on Fire – Living Faith in Daily Life with the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola”

a retreat event for young adults

Upcoming Dates

	Washington D.C. June 17-18, 2011 St. Aloysius Gonzaga Church Click here to register
	Philadelphia, PA June 24-25, 2011 Old St. Joseph’s Church *Special Guest Presenter – Fr. James Martin, S.J. Click here to register
	Charlotte, NC July 1-2, 2011 Saint Matthew Catholic Church Click here to register
	Baltimore, MD July 8-9, 2011 Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church Click here to register
	Richmond, VA July 15-16, 2011 Sacred Heart Catholic Church A Bilingual Retreat: Spanish/English! Retiro Bilingüe: Español/Inglés Click here to register

Other dates coming soon!

Featuring members of the Jesuit Mission Band

A TEAM OF YOUNG JESUITS
A GROUP OF YOUNG ADULTS
A THOUSAND GRACES
ONE HEART

Welcoming all young adults! (18-39, single or married)

If you’d enjoy an introduction to some practical ways of connecting your faith and your everyday life, come join us.  Whether you’re new to prayer or are just looking for new ways to pray and live a more meaningful life, this event is for you!

An Event Offering:

• A day and a half of spiritual renewal for young adults
• Dynamic presentations from young Jesuit priests and scholastics (seminarians)
• An introduction to the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola and the spirituality of the Apostleship of Prayer
• Insights on how the deepest desires of our hearts lead us to the Heart of Jesus Christ
• Practical ways to connect faith and daily life

WHAT PARTICIPANTS ARE SAYING:

“The presenters were obviously in love with the Lord. They were joyful, peaceful, and attractive in the way I see Jesus attracting people in the Gospels.”

“What did you like best about the weekend? Hearing from Jesuits close to my own age; everything was very relevant and explained in a way I could relate to. The music was great, too.”

“What are a few things you learned?  1) The practice of Ignatian contemplation – I never knew about “imagining” myself in the Gospels before, 2) The idea of spiritual consolation and desolation and how to respond to each.”

“I can’t remember the last time… I spent a good hour in prayer. Having that time set aside was very much needed, and even more fruitful. Praying by means of Ignatian contemplation is definitely something I’ll continue to do.”

Sample Schedule Outline
(may vary in different locations)

Friday Evening

• 6:00pm start (light snacks available)
• Two presentations with music interludes
• Candlelit Eucharistic adoration service with music and intercessions
• Evening closes with coffeehouse social and live music (begins around 9:30, stay as long as you are able
• Participants return home overnight

Saturday Morning

• Coffee and light breakfast food available in morning
• First presentation begins at 9:00am
• Two presentations with music interludes
• Opportunity for quiet prayer, discussion groups
• Lunch (at host parish or in local establishments)
• Presentations and interactive session in the afternoon
• Finish weekend with Saturday Vigil Mass (yes, this “counts” as Sunday Mass!)

There is no registration fee, but a suggested donation of $15 would help us continue this ministry.  Registration is available at the door, but pre-registration helps our planning.  Thanks!

Mission Band on

Past Hearts on Fire Events

New York City, NY
Fordham University, Rose Hill Campus
November 20, 2010
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Mount Pleasant, MI
Central Michigan University, 
St. Mary’s University Parish
November 6, 2010
Download Flyer

Des Moines, IA
Holy Trinity Church
July 23-24, 2010
Download Flyer

Chicago, IL
St. Clement Church, Lincoln Park
July 16-17, 2010
Download Flyer

Columbus, OH
St. Catharine Church
July 9-10, 2010
Download Flyer

Iowa City, IA
Newman Center, University of Iowa
June 25-26, 2010
Download Flyer

Milwaukee, WI
St. Monica Church, Whitefish Bay
June 18-19, 2010
Download Flyer

Sponsors:
Apostleship of Prayer, U.S. National Office
Society of Jesus (Jesuits)

Director:
Fr. Phil Hurley, S.J.
Youth and Young Adult Director
Apostleship of Prayer, National Office
3211 S. Lake Dr., Ste. 216
Milwaukee, WI 53235
414-486-1152
phurleysj@apostleshipofprayer.org

by Jim Manney

Ignatius Loyola, writing to a Jesuit who hesitated to work in the king’s court, fearing for the safety of his soul:

My own opinion is that even the argument based on your personal safety is not relevant. Obviously if our religious profession has no other purpose but to ensure our security, and if we were supposed to subordinate the good we do to keeping clear of danger, then we would not have to live among people and have contact with them. But according to our vocation we have contact with everyone . . . If we go about with our intention upright and pure . . . then Christ himself will look after us in his infinite goodness.

Chris Lowney on the Ignatian passion for lofty goals:

Heroic Leadership Best Practices from a 450-Year-Old Company that Changed the World Chris Lowney ISBN 0-8294-1816-4 336 Pages

When Loyola informed Portuguese Jesuits that “no commonplace achievement will satisfy the great obligations you have of excelling,” he created heroic expectations that could be met only through change and innovation on a dramatic scale.

 

By way of illustration, imagine any modern corporate setting. The manager who sets an expense reduction target of 10 percent gets his team wondering where to buy cheaper pencils: 10 percent means safe, mainstream thinking. An expense reduction target of 40 percent, however, is “no commonplace achievement” but a heroically ambitious target that requires outside-the-box thinking. With this goal, no one is thinking about cheaper pencils anymore; it’s time to conceive radically new ways of doing things.

The heroism that gripped Jesuits led to the same radical thought patterns. So it wasn’t enough for Jesuit teams in Paraguay to advocate marginally better treatment of indigenous people within the encomienda system; they rejected the whole system to establish the radically new reduction model. The tradition of thinking outside the box began when Loyola himself jettisoned the centuries-old model of religious life to invent a completely new kind of religious company.

From Heroic Leadership

by Rev Dr Richard Leonard SJ 

Starring Jennifer Garner, Joel Edgerton, C.J. Adams, Diane Weist. Directed by Peter Hedges. 104 mins. Rated G.

‘Odd’ is an odd word for the title of this film. Yes, Timothy Green is odd, that is, he is not your usual young boy. But, he is sweetness and light rather than odd. This is a nice piece of Americana, magic realism and sentiment with a sad/happy ending.

Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton (fitting easily into the American scene) are a couple who have tried every means available for having a child but without success. We see them at the opening of the film being interviewed by officials of an Adoption Agency. In fact, the whole film is their telling their rather (very) unbelievable tale, punctuated by the flashbacks of their life and what they call their ‘miracle’, the arrival of Timothy Green during a mysterious storm in their drought-stricken town of Stanleyville.

Timothy (C.J. Adams) is a delightful young lad, what Americans would call ‘cute’. And he fits into the family life beautifully bringing enormous joy to the couple who are plunged into instant parenthood. He is nice to everyone, even to the boys who bully him at school. The magic does not immediately help him at soccer practice, tripping over himself, but he gets there. And he improvises, as do his parents, when his aunt (Rosemarie de Witt) has one of her musical afternoons to showcase her own children. He charms an elderly uncle and aunt. He even mellows his grandfather who had not been at all affirming to his own son.

There are some social questions in the background, the economy of the town and its museum, but especially the factory which is about to close down. It makes (and we are shown the detail): pencils.

This review has avoided giving away anything much about Timothy’s previous life and his particular gifts. Just a hint: leaves.

Quite a lot of character actors, including Diane Weist and David Morse, build a strong supporting cast.

It is a nice film, about generally nice people. But, for those who use ‘twee’ as a derogative word, it will be far too sweet.

Rev Dr Richard Leonard SJ is the Director of the Australian Catholic Office for Film and Broadcasting (ACOFB).Peter W. Sheehan is associate of the Australian Catholic Office of Film and Broadcasting. 

by Becky Eldredge

The first contemplation in the Fourth Week of the Spiritual Exercises involves Jesus appearing to his mother. Can you imagine being Mary, sitting in her house, overcome with grief and despair at losing her son? Can you imagine Mary, fully immersed in a “Holy Saturday” moment, pondering what happened, absorbed in her grief? Grief that we can relate to because of loss in our own lives.

Ignatius invites us to contemplate the interaction between Mary and her beloved son, who she watched die on the cross. What would the dialogue sound like?

“Woman, why are you crying?”

“I thought I had lost you.”

“I am here. I am here. I am risen, Mom. I am risen.”

“You are here, Son.”

Being a mom, I cannot even imagine the depth of joy Mary felt at seeing her son again. I have no doubt that her heart burst with joy and that she was radiant with love and hope. Can you imagine the depth of her consolation in that moment?

But what does Mary’s experience have to do with our lives? EVERYTHING!

In this Easter season we celebrate Mary’s joy that her son is here. We celebrate that Jesus is alive in each of us, in our world, creating us moment by moment. We celebrate that we can experience the joy Mary felt at seeing her son because Jesus lives within us. Easter reminds us of the reason to hope in the first place—because of the Resurrection of Mary’s son!

by Michelle Francl-Donnay

I have a favorite mirror, which thankfully is not in my house. In it, I see myself as I do in my mind’s eye: five inches taller, and maybe even 10 pounds lighter. Alas, the mirror is slightly warped, stretching reflections like taffy. The reality is that I’m five foot tall and my bad knee would be happier if I, and not just my reflection, lost those 10 pounds.

The work of this last week was to seek out mirrors that didn’t skew my image, that let me see myself as I truly am-a loved sinner-and then look into them. And look again, more deeply.

There are many mirrors to choose from, and Ignatius suggests holding them up one at a time. What does sin look like in history, in the larger world? How am I entangled in it? Can I see how my sin spirals out, injuring my students and colleagues, my family and friends?

And hardest of all, how can I look into a mirror that shows every flaw with clarity and manage to see how beautifully I am created, how wonderfully loved? Ignatius asks us to imagine looking into Jesus’ eyes as he dies on the cross and talking to him. The conversation Ignatius suggests we have is not one in which Jesus takes us to task for every sin we have ever committed in some sort of divine scolding. Instead, the emphasis is on seeing the immensity of the love with which I am created, and by which I am redeemed-a love that will give everything away, even while it sees every chip in my soul, every hard spot in my heart.

Ignatius keeps the focus turned away from ourselves-what have I done wrong?-and firmly on God: What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What ought I to do for Christ? Lutheran pastor Walter Wangerin calls this contemplation a “mirror of dangerous grace.” It is a mirror that does not just reflect back what is, or even what has been, but like my favorite mirror, invites me to see my best self. This mirror of grace is not passive, but active. It challenges me to become my best self.

What I found most difficult about these contemplations was not so much the looking into the mirrors, but the looking again. I want to say, yes, yes, I see it; I’m changed. I finally realized that I was still wincing at my flaws, still not quite ready to risk facing a love so deep that even as Jesus hangs on the cross for what I have done, I am drenched in grace.

What I see, with grace I could yet be.