Catholics have to “face the fact that today we live in a do-it-yourself church,” step forward to “take responsibility,” and “no longer wait for Father or Sister to do it anymore,” said Jesuit Fr. Thomas Reese, who addresses that theme in a new book, A Survival Guide for Thinking Catholics.

The well-known author, social scientist and commentator mentioned the book, which does not yet have a publisher, during a recent NCR interview.

In the book, Reese says he advocates facing issues head-on, such as the exodus of faithful from the church.

“The problem with most books like this is that the last chapter begins, ‘The bishops should’ or ‘The pope should do X, Y and Z.’ I think, frankly, that is a waste of time,” Reese said. “I am tired of reading those books. I think what we have to do is say, ‘OK, these are the problems that are facing the church. What do I need to do? What do we have to do?’ “

One of the advantages of fewer priests and religious sisters in today’s church “is that the laity have to grow up,” he said.

“The church needs to develop a new style of teaching and proclaiming the Gospel, one that is dialogical, one that listens as much as speaks,” he added. “At times we seem totally incapable of doing that.”

At the same time, Reese said, “Clericalism is two sides of the same coin. There is authoritarianism on one side. The other is laity wanting [clerics] to do everything for them.”

Currently a senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University in Washington, Reese was editor of the Jesuit weekly magazine America from 1998 to 2005. He resigned after prolonged tension with the Vatican over the magazine’s open treatment of sensitive church topics, from priestly celibacy and the ordination of women to stem-cell research and reception of Communion by pro-choice Catholic politicians.

Reese is the author of a half-dozen other books, most of which focus on church organizational and political structures and challenges. His 1989 book, Archbishop: Inside the Power Structure of the American Catholic Church, for example, was a nuts-and-bolts research volume based on more than 400 interviews and participation from 31 American archbishops, including all the cardinals.

by Jim Manney

The theme of Week 5 of our Lent-Easter Ignatian Prayer Adventure is “What Do I Really Want?” This is an excellent question; a good one to ask at the halfway point in Lent. Ignatius believed that once we rid ourselves of disordered attachments and discover what we really want, we’ll discover what God wants for us too.

Here’s a way to pray about desire. It’s by Anthony de Mello, SJ, in his book Sadhana: A Way to God:

Place before God the desires you have for yourself: expose him to all the great things you desire to do in his service. The fact that you will never actually do them, or that you feel incapable of doing them, is irrelevant. What is important is that you gladden the heart of God by showing him how immense your desires are even though your strength is very small. It is thus that lovers speak when they express their immensity of their desires which far outdistances their limited capacity.

by Jim Manney

It’s a problem we’ve all experienced: we deeply desire something; we think God has put the desire in our hearts; but it seems impossible that we’ll ever have it. Ignatius had a suggestion, Lisa Kelly says:

Ignatius told his companions that the solution to dealing with this tension . . . is to step back in prayer and recognize and name both poles, the current reality and the future desire of our heart. As a detached observer, to walk around them in our minds and see them from all angles—looking for God’s invitation within them as well as our own over-attachment.

Sometimes the current reality will be really hard to admit because it hints at our failures. Sometimes we are too focused on the future to see the goodness we have right here and now. Sometimes the now is so good we fear a different future and act out, trying to keep anything from changing. Christ sits next to us in all of these, trying desperately to get us to see He is right here and will be no matter what the future holds.

by Jim Manney

If someone you know is looking for direction in life, point them to “How to Discern the Elements of Your Personal Vocation” by Peter Ryan, SJ. It’s an excellent essay that sets forth “points to bear in mind,” the first of which is that “sincere discernment infallibly succeeds.”

Another point is that we “discern only what to try.”

After all, we do not know the future, and we could die at any moment. The real possibility that we could die before we carry something out or that other things could intervene and make something impossible should warn us not to conclude that we are definitely called to do something in the future, but only that we are called to try to do it. Often enough, all God wants is the effort; and if we make the effort, we produce the results he desires.

by Matt Spotts, SJ 

Late last fall, I gave my first public singing performance. I had picked up voice lessons for the first time in my life just previously, and was totally shocked by how much I enjoyed it.

I appreciated the music I was learning. I liked my teacher, and, while I am not what one might refer to as a “good singer”, I enjoyed hearing myself get better bit by bit. A dear Jesuit friend, someone I’ve lived with for almost four years, said one day, “You know, your voice has really improved… like, noticeably.” I suspect he might have been saying as much about the “before” as the “after,” but I choose to remember the moment as a compliment.

As much as I liked my lessons, I was far less excited about singing for a “voice jury” at the end of the semester. I felt well enough while warming up, but as I walked into the room to sing I could feel my stomach and chest tightening as my nerves fired up like little engines.

Predictably, my performance was mediocre. I was off pitch, off time, and my voice had little passion or power. The nerves had taken over, and it showed.

But the performance wasn’t a total loss, as one of the jurors made an interesting observation on his evaluation card as the last notes of my performance were still fading from our ears. It’s an observation that’s stuck with me. “Singing,” he wrote, “is an athletic activity, not an intellectual activity!” And he was absolutely right, at least in my case.

Put in a situation where I was uncomfortable, where I was in the midst of the unfamiliar, I started to think about all the things I was supposed to be doing, thinking about the words of the song, the musical score, my breathing and technique. The trouble was that I thought so much about these things that I choked off the emotion, the athleticism, that would have brought the songs to life.

***

Often, when I talk to people about their prayer, I notice in their stories the same sorts of preoccupations that I notice in my own prayer. Even after several years of formation as a Jesuit, I sometimes still get preoccupied by thinking about whether I’m praying the “right” way; I get to thinking about whether I need to “fix” something in my prayer, or even whether I should be praying about something else altogether.

Eventually, I’m thinking about prayer so much that I can’t pray.

Thinking is a good thing. Here at The Jesuit Post we encourage thinking (mostly). However, especially in prayer, it can be really important to clear the clutter of thought out of the way. When that happens, when I remember that prayer is as much an athletic activity of the soul as an intellectual activity of the soul, I find myself rediscovering prayer the same way I rediscover my voice in a song. I feel that familiar lifeblood of passion and energy, that excitement that helps me fall topsy-turvy, head over heels, in love with God all over again.

by Jim Manney

A while back, I felt deflated when I discovered that the wonderful Prayer of St. Francis (“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace”) wasn’t written by Francis at all. It was written in 1912 by a writer for a small French Catholic magazine. My disappointment wasn’t on the level of discovering the truth about Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy, but it stung a bit. I wish Francis had written it in the 13th century.

So imagine how I felt when I found out that something similar is likely true of St. Ignatius’s wonderful prayer for generosity. You know it, I’m sure:

Lord, teach me to be generous,

to serve you as you deserve,

to give and not to count the cost,

to fight and not to heed the wounds,

to toil and not to seek for rest,

to labor and not to look for any reward,

save that of knowing that I do your holy will.

Turns out that no one can find any reference to this prayer before 1897. The oldest publication of it dates from 1910, where it appeared as “The Scout’s Prayer” in a French Boy Scout manual. The author is unknown, but no one who has looked into the matter thinks that it was Ignatius.  British Jesuit Jack Mahoney has all the details on the website ThinkingFaith.org.

I’ve prayed the Prayer for Generosity many times, thinking that Ignatius wrote it. Does it matter that he didn’t?

I don’t think so. It’s a great prayer. It expresses wholehearted commitment, a desire to imitate Christ, a generous spirit, and a readiness to work hard–all sentiments associated with Ignatian spirituality and the Spiritual Exercises. They fit Ignatius perfectly. You feel like he could have written that prayer, just as St. Francis could have written the prayer attributed to him.

Maybe Ignatius didn’t write the Prayer for Generosity in the sixteenth century. But the spiritual movement he started was healthy enough in the twentieth century to produce a prayer that sounds just like him. That’s impressive.

by Christopher Chiu

The Examen (or the Examen of Consciousness to be specific) is an ancient prayer method practiced by many throughout the history of the Church. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, adopted this practice into his Spiritual Exercises.

Jesuits are supposed to pray this prayer twice a day. Ignatius thought the Examen was a gift that came directly from God and that God wanted it to be shared as widely as possible.

I have been practicing almost daily the Examen for over two years. This prayer, together with the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises, has literally changed my life. Through this practice, I have not only found my core calling in life but also discovered what Margaret Silf called an “inner compass” for navigating my journey with God. For the Examen helps me notice the inner movements within my soul: Am I moving towards God or away from God in my actions, thoughts and decisions? Through repeated practices over time one can discover patterns that are crucial to map out where one is growing and where one needs growth. For example, in my prayer I discovered a pattern of feeling inadequate and wanting to procrastinate when performing important tasks. This, I slowly discovered, indicated my lack of security in the love of Christ which limited my capacity to serve God and others. This “unfreedom” was keeping me from becoming fully the person that Christ has created me to be. I also discovered a pattern of feeling fully alive when I helped people to gain a better understanding of a concept or reality. This makes me want to further develop my gift of teaching and seek out opportunities to teach. I believe we become more godly when we are more fully human. And we are more fully human when we are fully alive.

We begin the Examen by being present to ourselves. We find a relaxed position (e.g. sitting, walking, standing). We notice our body, our breathing and our environment. When we are fully present, we remind ourselves that we are in God’s loving presence. He is here to meet us. He does not condemn us. Rather, his compassionate love embraces us.

We give thanks to God for one specific thing. We can thank him for the weather, for our families, friends, or jobs. Then we ask for God’s grace to help us notice and understand how he has been coming to us (through our experience of the events) during the day and how our soul has responded.

Now we begin to go through the period of time lived since our last Examen. If we practice the Examen daily, it will be the last 24 hours of our lived experience. It may be helpful to go through the events hour by hour. Pay special attention to the events that have stirred us emotionally. How did I react to those events? Did any events cause us to fear and anxiety, anger, to fall into sin or to move away from God. Ignatius calls all these negative inner movements desolation. Stay in those events. Ask Jesus to show you the significance behind each of these negative movements within the soul. Do they tell you something about who you are at the moment? If so prompted, repent and ask for God’s forgiveness and help.

Then, we pay close attention to the events that made us joyful, peaceful, feel fully alive, or drawn close to God. Ignatius calls these positive inner movements consolation. Stay in those events. Again, ask Jesus to show you the significance behind each of these movements. Do they tell you something about who you are? Do they tell you something about who God is? Give thanks to God for these movements of consolation.

One normally can go through the Examen in about 15 minutes. Do not worry if you do not right away receive any insight from God about the significance of these positive or negative movements. God may show you in due time as you continue to journey with him. Do not fall into the temptation of doing a self analysis. The insight gained from the Examen is a gift from God – not the result of a self-analysis.

Over time, patterns of desolation and consolation will emerge. They are the “inner compass” pointing you to the directions where you are still bound by “unfreedom” (or sin) – these are the places in which God, in his grace, wants to meet you – and where you can be most alive in God.

by Maureen McCann Waldron

Last weekend, my husband, Jim and I had dinner at a Chinese restaurant. At the end, we opened our fortune cookies. Mine was bland and offered lucky numbers. But Jim’s fortune was specific and intriguing: “Three months from this date, good things will happen.”

We laughed and calculated the date in mid-May when good things will happen. I went home and marked it on the calendar in the kitchen. Good things will happen to us!

The next day, I went for a long walk, taking advantage of our 40 degree winter and enjoying the sunshine, pondering the fortune of “good things” that will come this Spring. I strolled through the park, nodding and smiling at everyone else who was so happy to have this warm mid-winter day.

I noticed the canopy of huge old trees that hang over the road in the park. In February, they look like fabulous sculptures of brown against a blue sky. I thought of the many times our family has walked, biked, or driven along this road. I savored my memories of the beautiful green canopy of trees in the summer, when they bend down over the road. The weather is so warm right now that the birds are even chattering and singing, completely out of season.

“Well this could be a day when ‘good things happen,’” I thought to myself. Then I realized that this day was already exactly this way and I likely would not have noticed any of it — smiling joggers, birds singing, trees arching — if I hadn’t tucked the idea of “good things happening” into my consciousness.

There are more than 80 days between now and the “good things will happen” day on our kitchen calendar–days for me to remember that every day good things happen, just as a simple gift. I have decided to make a list for the next 80 days of the daily good things that happen in my everyday life. It’s an exercise in paying attention. I will let you know what I find.

Now that seems to be my good fortune!

 Index of Shalom  March 2012 

• The Road to Daybreak – A Spiritual Journey
• Intention of Praying With The Church

1st Week of Lent

• 1 Mar
• 2 Mar
• 3 Mar

2nd Week of Lent

• 4 Mar  Sunday
• 5 Mar
• 6 Mar
• 7 Mar
• 8 Mar
• 9 Mar
• 10 Mar

3rd Week of Lent

• 11 Mar  Sunday
• 12 Mar
• 13 Mar
• 14 Mar
• 15 Mar
• 16 Mar
• 17 Mar

4th Week of Lent

• 18 Mar  Sunday
• 19 Mar  Feast of St Joseph, Husband of BVM
• 20 Mar
• 21 Mar
• 22 Mar
• 23 Mar
• 24 Mar

5th Week of Lent

• 25 Mar  Sunday
• 26 Mar  Feast of the Annunciation of the Lord
• 27 Mar
• 28 Mar
• 29 Mar
• 30 Mar
• 31 Mar

Fr. Xavier Jeyaraj was born in Tamil Nadu, India in 1962 and joined Calcutta Province of the Soceity of Jesus in 1982. As a child, being moved by the great example of Fr. Leveil, S.J, inspired by the life of St. Francis Xavier, and with an overwhelming urge to work for the poor, he opted to work with and for the marginalized. He completed his Masters in Social Work and Bachelors in Civil Law and started a Social Centre called Udayani (rising sun) in Kolkata in 1998. From July 2007, he was the Coordinator for Social Apostolate of the South Asian Conference. He strongly believes that only by teaching the poor people to stand on their own feet and defend themselves, we can bring social changes. The motive for him to pick up legal studies was to defend the people who have nobody to speak for them. Xavier, now as the Assistant at the Social Justice and Ecology Secretariat (SJES)in the Jesuit Curia in Rome, will take care of the planning of the commitment of the Secretariat, especially building up of Global Ignatian Advocacy Networks (GIAN).