George V. Coyne, S.J., president of the Vatican Observatory Foundation, recounts the history of this institution, and explains how the Vatican became involved in the study of the planets and stars. Father Coyne also weighs in on the contemporary debate about the compatibility of science and religion, and makes the case that Stephen Hawking is wrong about the origins of the universe.
Father General
Letter to the Provincial of Spain. On September 10 Father General sent in response to the Provincial of Spain a letter in which he confirms the process of the integration of the 5 Provinces into only one, as it was stated in the document that was given to him. This document communicates in several chapters the following issues: the revitalization of the life and the mission of the apostolic body of the Society, the structures of governance for the period of transition, the structures for the new Province, the Apostolic Project, etc. Father General approved as concrete decisions:
– That in September 2010 the transition begin the initial phase with the objective to activate the Apostolic Project, which has been implemented. From now on the various apostolic areas will begin to transfer little by little to the Provincial of Spain. The first area to be transferred this October will be formation.
– That the new Province will be established in 2016 with the name “Province of Spain”. In it the Provincial guarantees the unity in governing according to our law. At the same time the localand territorial apostolic ventures have the aim of harmonizing in union with the particularity of the current Provinces.
Father General underlines the importance of the chapter On revitalizing religious life and the mission of the apostolic body, as the cornerstone of the building that we want to construct. Only thus we can continue with hope on this journey already begun, to analyze peacefully the difficulties that present themselves, to pay attention to the various sensibilities and to the contributions that arise from Jesuits and their collaborators in order to better in its entirety and in its essential elements the course that has been already delineated, but that is susceptible to redoing so that is helped everyone to achieve the apostolic goal that is proposed. Finally, Father Adolfo Nicolás invites all to continue in the good practice of giving opportune information and asking the participation of fellow Jesuits and of communities, as also of our respective collaborators, so that no one feels extraneous to the future that is for all and in which all are involved in the response that encourages them to go beyond the particularities and increase the union of hearts and minds.
From the Curia
– Commission for Practica Quaedam. Practica Quaedam is the manual of instructions on the way to handle the correspondence with Father General. The last edition was in 1997. In conformity with what the last General Congregation indicated in number 15 in the Decree on Governance, some months ago the Secretary of the Society asked the Provincials and their Socii to send suggestions in order to update the manual. Father General has constituted an international working group in order to carry out this task. After e-mail exchanges, the commission gathers in Rome from October 11th to the 16th in order to prepare the final edition of this document. The plan is that the new manual will be ready in the first months of next year. This is one of the three commissions to implement some juridical aspects of the General Congregation. A report was given, in this Bulletin (cf. no. 16, of September 6, 2010), about the commission that worked on the structure of the provinces. When the commission meets in order to examine the “Formula of the General Congregation” we will give account about it.
– From 22 until 29 September, JRS International organized its Fifth Service Orientation Course for new staff in the organization. On the first day of the course, veteran staff from around the world helped the participants understand the refugee context, both in global terms and by looking at particular situations in Haiti, South Africa and Sri Lanka. On successive days, the course examined the mission, vision and values of JRS and how it relates to the work of the Society of Jesus at large. New staff were also briefed on human resource issues, such as team work, conflict, stress, and were introduced to the work of the communications, advocacy and programs departments in the International Office.
Appointments
Father General has appointed:
– Fr. Colin Tan Chin Hock, of the Malaysia-Singapore Region, new Superior of the same Region. Father Colin Tan, at present Master of Novices, vocation promoter and treasurer of the Malaysia-Singapore Region, was born in 1960, joined the Society of Jesus in 1988 and was ordained a priest in 1999.
– Fr. Joseph Pham Thanh Liem new Provincial of the Vietnam Province. P. Joseph was born in 1952, joined the Society of Jesus in 1972, and was ordained a priest in 1995. He has been Socius to the Provincial beside holding other Province responsibilities.
– Fr. Bogdan Lesniak, of the Province of Upper Poland, is from September 23 the new secretary for the Assistancy of Central-East Europe, east section. He substitutes Fr. Alexander Puss. Fr. Bogdan was born in 1973, he joined the Society of Jesus in 1993 and was ordained a priest in 2005.
From the Provinces
AMERICAS: The birth of “Magis Americas”
On September 23 in Rome, the President of the Conference of Latin American Provincials and the President of the USA Jesuit Conference, at the presence of Father General, signed the birth of Magis Americas which seek to increase and deepen collaboration on behalf of the mission of the Society of Jesus in the Americas, particularly through work on behalf of the Jesuit-sponsored ministries in Latin America. Magis Americas is a non-profit organization which engages in the following activities in the United States: raises funds for civil society projects sponsored by the Society of Jesus in Latin America (for example Fe y Alegria), and other apostolic activities that may be promoted with the support of both Conferences; facilitates contacts and mutual beneficial interaction between social agents from North and South and supports, through fundraising, possible joint projects approved by relevant authorities of both Conferences; promotes participation in public policy debates and forums in the United States on educational and social development in Latin America; develops contacts between individuals and institutions sponsored by the Society of Jesus in Latin America. Magis Americas operates on these criteria to guide the provision of such services according to its organizational capacity, subject to its Certificate of Incorporation and its Bylaws, consistent with the legal requirements of the State of Delaware and the United States.
AUSTRALIA: Adapting the Spiritual Exercises across Asia
In view of increasing collaboration across the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific (JCAP), some 23 participants among Jesuits and lay people working in Ignatian Spirituality ministries gathered at the end of August at Canisius Centre of Ignatian Spirituality in Sydney, with Father General’s Secretary for the Ministry of the Spiritual Exercises, Fr. Eddie Mercieca, as a special guest speaker, along with JCAP (Jesuit Conference of Asia-Pacific) President Fr. Mark Raper and Australian Provincial Fr. Steve Curtin. Both Fr. Mercieca and Fr. Raper made presentations at the conference exploring the need for greater formation and training for people in the ministry of the Spiritual Exercises, which should be a key element in the direction and style of all Society’s ministries. “I would add that it is imperative that each Province has two or three of its best men trained seriously in spiritual studies with special reference and research in Ignatian Spirituality,” said Fr. Mercieca, who in his last talk on the final day of the meeting, addressed the need for broader collaboration across the Asia-Pacific Assistancy. He outlined three themes for the collaboration between the various Provinces: Common apostolic discernment; Ignatian leadership formation; and the insertion of the Spiritual Exercises in local cultures and traditions. With Asia being such a vastly diverse region of cultures and communities, Fr. Mercieca said one of the biggest challenges facing the Society would be adapting the Exercises to local contexts.
BOLIVIA: Film on Luis Espinal
With the desire of inspiring reflection on the inheritance left by Luis Espinal on the thinking of Bolivian society, in the next days the film Lucho San Pueblo, by Fr. Eduardo Pérez, S.J. will be broadcasted all over Bolivia. The film tells the story of the Jesuit martyr Luis Espinal, victim in 1980 of the Bolivian military dictatorship. It shows the happenings of the night in which he was kidnapped and tortured , based on documents and historical sources, among which the audio of his voice when, in his capacity as director of a radio station connected with Radio Fides, he broadcasted the news about the military coup d’état by the then colonel Hugo Banzer Suárez. Fr. Espinal intervened defending politicians and labour organizers persecuted and imprisoned during the 1971 military coup d’état. In March 1980 he was kidnapped, put into a jeep and brought to a slaughterhouse where he was tortured for four hours and finally killed with 14 gunshots, after having engraved a cross on his chest.
BURKINA FASO: A challenge to the desert
The name of the project is “A challenge to the desert”, and is sponsored byMagis (Mouvement and Action of Italian Jesuits for Development). It is a big project of human, cultural, health, socio-economic and even athletic development and its goal is to launch growth and autonomy for an entire province around Kaya, in Burkina Faso, Subsaharian Africa, between desert and savana, with the participation of the local population. The challenges are water, agricultural high school, working cooperative, learning, health, solar kitchens. And even the building of a recreational and sporting center. Taking up the tradition of 500 years of experience, from St. Francis to Father Arrupe, Magis is a work of Italian Jesuits working for missions all over the world. It is recognized as a NGO (non governmental organization) by the Minister of Foreign Affairs), as a ONLUS (not for profit organization) and as a charitable entity. To learn more: [email protected].
COLOMBIA: Meeting of Ignatian Spirituality’s Reviews
The CIRE (Ignatian Center for Reflection and Exercises) of Bogota, Colombia, hosted, October 4-6, the third international encounter of Ignatian spirituality reviews. Participants came from France, Canada, Italy, Spain, England, Chile, Peru, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Argentina. The meeting was organized by Fr. Edward Mercieca, of the Secretariat for Ignatian Spirituality of the Society of Jesus at the General Curia in Rome. Apart from sharing of challenges, today’s orientation and problems the reviews have to face in their countries, the themes on the agenda were: how to profit by proper resources, how to increase the opportunity of exchange of articles and how to realize a common project for the years to come. Father General, in his message of congratulations for the encounter and the work done by spirituality reviews, pointed out three fields or areas of our life and our way of proceeding that could be deepened in the studies of ignatian spirituality: early, specialized and ongoing formation; ignatian spirituality there and put into practice in every apostolate of the Society, dialogue between faith and culture according to the custom of every country and region.
ROME: Celebration of the first approbation of the Society
On the evening of September 27th a solemn liturgical celebration to commemorate the 470th anniversary of the first approbation of the Society of Jesus, took place in the Church of the Gesù, Rome, with numerous Jesuits, friends, and people committed to Jesuit spirituality. Father Federico Lombardi, in absence of Father General, who was in Belgium, presided at the liturgy. In his homily Fr. Lombardi recalled the approval of the Society by Pope Paul III, on September 27, 1540 and said that “this date is a watershed. It marks the passage from the spiritual and apostolic involvement of a group of friends in the Lord to the birth of a new religious Order recognized by the Church, with all the consequences that this involves. Also Ignatius will no longer be the spiritual head of a group of itinerant apostles, but he will be soon a religious Superior” engaged in the tasks of governance and the drawing up of the Constitutions of the new Order, of which he will become the true Founder. Later he added: “In 470 years the Society of Jesus has accomplished extraordinary apostolic enterprises, but also it has had its weaknesses and been subject to some very hard tests and humiliations. It was suppressed by a Pope, and approximately 200 years ago it was restored to life by another Pope and began again its way with practically nothing. It has been expelled many times from many different countries (…). The tests to which in these times the Society must deal which concerns the credibility of the Church – radical tests of faith in a secularized world, tests of coherence and credibility in witness and holiness of life – are tests of life or death, that the Society lives internally, within its very body.”
USA: At work on the Border
The work of the Kino Border Initiative continues on U.S.-Mexico border. It is a a collaborative effort of the Jesuit provinces of California and Mexico, the Diocese of Tucson, the Archdiocese of Hermosillo (Mexico), Jesuit Refugee Service, and the Missionary Sisters of the Eucharist. The kitchen of the dining room ministering to deportees on the U.S.-Mexico border in Nogales, Mexico, with the help of some Jesuit students and other members and volunteers, served as many as 250 meals a day in winter. The average this summer has been about 150 meals per day, a reduction accounted for in part by the summer heat cutting down on cross-border traffic and partly by the Border Patrol flights that return people to their home states. Apart from some beds and other services for women and children, the services at the Kino Border Initiatives’s offices in Nogales includes public education about the border in light of Catholic social teaching, with workshops offered in parishes on both sides of the border and research and advocacy on behalf of fundamental human rights and comprehensive immigration reform. Talking about his experience Ricardo Avila, a young Jesuit in formation who spent five weeks with the Kino Border Initiative this summer said: “I’ve gotten an understanding of the migrant experience, of how genuinely dangerous the immigrant experience is.”
Jesuitica
Paraguay, the Guaraní played soccer. The Paraguayan team was vs. Italy at the first football match of the world champions league in South Africa and played very well brushing the semifinal, beaten by Spain which was the world winner. In those days Gianpaolo Romanato wrote in the Osservatore Romano that soccer in Paraguay is very old. Here is a testimony: “During feast days, after evening mass, men organize a fictitious struggle in the square, throwing arrows towards a target (…). They also used to play soccer, and, even if of full rubber, the ball was light and quick and once received the stroke, bounced back many times without stopping, pushed by its own weigh. They do not push the ball with their hands, as we do, but with the upper part of the naked feet, passing it over and receiving it with great ability and precision.” This is what wrote Spanish Father José Manuel Peramás. Born in 1732 he worked for some years among the Guaraní of the Paraguayan Reducciones, until the decree of expulsion forced him and his brethren to leave the Spanish colonies in America. He died in Faenza, Italy, in 1793. But this is not the only testimony. Another missionary of theReducciones, Fr. José Cardiel, who died in exile in Faenza in 1781, speaks about the same topic. Another jesuit historian of the Reducciones, peruvian creolo Father Antonio Ruiz de Montoya, wrote around 1639-1640 that soccer was practiced by guaraní even before the arrival of the Spanish missionaries.
New in SJWEB
– A slide show about the visit of Father General to the two Belgian Jesuit Provinces. Click on “sjweb Media”.
A Greek himself, he wrote the story of Jesus and the Christian community for Gentile readers. He also accompanied St. Paul on some of his journeys and shared in his sufferings. Probably a physician, Luke may have pioneered as an early member of the church at Antioch.
The saint’s books reveal something about his character. Luke wrote excellent popular prose with an artist’s skill at painting picture stories. Demonstrating an unusual commitment to accuracy, he appears to have fastidiously checked his facts. For example, archaeologists have confirmed many details that he reported in the Acts.
Some of Luke’s main themes – prayer, the Holy Spirit, and mercy – suggest that he was a compassionate, spiritual man. He aimed his books to persuade Gentiles that the Christian story was true. So he made it more accessible to them by filing his gospel with accounts of Christ’s openness and mercy.
Tradition says Luke lived a long life without marrying and that he died at age eighty-four.
This reflection is from Voices of the Saints by Bert Ghezzi.
by JIM MANNEY
Here is a wonderful virtual tour of the rooms of St. Ignatius in Rome. He lived and worked in these rooms for almost 20 years as the first Superior General of the Jesuits. Much of the sound track for the video is the lovely “Gabriel’s Oboe” from the movie “The Mission,” the best movie ever made about Jesuits. (If you can’t see the video, click here.)
On August 29, 2005, New Orleans experienced one of the worse natural disasters in U.S. history. While the city escaped a direct hit from Hurricane Katrina, the rising waters breached the levees that surround the city, leaving 80 percent of New Orleans under water. Five years later, New Orleans is a city rebuilding.
There has been a strong Jesuit presence in New Orleans from the days of the city’s founding over 300 years ago. The Jesuits have been in New Orleans in times of crisis like typhoid and yellow fever outbreaks at the turn of the 19th century and when the city flooded previously in the 1920s. Jesuit works like Good Shepherd Nativity School, which provides educational opportunities to disadvantaged children in the city, and Café Reconcile, a youth training program that provides on the job training in its restaurant, continue to help the city look toward a vibrant future. Schools like Loyola University and Jesuit High School continue to provide top notch education opportunities, while the Harry Thompson Center, a day shelter for the city’s homeless, reach out to the city’s most vulnerable. Today, the Jesuits continue to serve the spiritual needs of people of New Orleans and will continue be there for the city as it rebuilds and recovers.
National Jesuit News highlights the outreach and the dedication of the New Orleans Jesuits in the video piece below and provides a comprehensive overview of the Jesuit works in New Orleans five years after Katrina in the article following the video below.
Gumbo. Gumbo is perhaps a perfect symbol for New Orleans: a mysterious bowl, originating out of necessity, of multifarious ingredients and spices, time-tested and blessed by the “Holy Trinity,” beyond the onions, peppers and celery. The city’s positioning in the Mississippi River delta made it a natural port for early inhabitants-royalty, Native Americans, slaves, missionaries, pirates and prisoners, as diverse in their beliefs, traditions and experiences as one might imagine. The Jesuits were among these early residents, spreading the Gospel as missionaries here beginning in the 18th century, and today’s Jesuit ministries in New Orleans remain just as critical as they were then. When 80 percent of the city was submerged under stagnant water for two weeks, the Jesuits knew the need for assistance would be greater than ever. Together with province staff, they began assessing the severity of the situation and creating plans of action. “The immediate focus was getting current ministries back on their feet,” recalls Jesuit Father Fred Kammer, then provincial of the New Orleans Province. Temporary province offices opened in Grand Coteau, Louisiana, (about 140 miles west of New Orleans, where the old province offices laid submerged in filthy water) and the province initiated Katrina Relief Services to assess needs, allocate funds and organize volunteers to aid with rebuilding efforts. Rebuilding physical structures was only one part of the recovery effort. “We needed to bring people back to Tuition is no burden for the students of The Good Shepherd School either. Founded by the late Jesuit Father Harry Tompson. Based on the Nativity/Miguel model, the school educates children from families living at or below the federal poverty level. Its physical structure suffered only minor damage, but its students bore the brunt of the storm. With more than half of Good Shepherd’s students having deceased or incarcerated parents, support for returning students was critical. The Good Shepherd School reopened early in January 2006 with 38 students and a scaled back staff, but with its donor base in flux, and funding for the school at risk. Today, the school benefits in part from Louisiana’s Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence Program, which offers tuition vouchers to students living below the poverty level and in failing school districts. The school’s kindergarten through seventh grade enrollment for the 2010-2011 academic year meets pre-Katrina enrollment at 90 students. “More than half of last year’s students performed above grade level in both reading and math, and the school’s second graduating class of seventh graders have been accepted and enrolled in some of the region’s best high schools, including Jesuit High School,” reports Ronald Briggs, president and chairman of the school. However, funding continues to be a concern because the school operates year round to offer students stability and summer learning opportunities. In addition, the school operates a Graduate Support Program that assists alums with the high school and college admissions process, tutoring, mentoring and counseling. One ministry of Immaculate Conception that seeks to empower others is Café Reconcile, an outreach to the people of Central City New Orleans that began offering culinary training to young people from this at-risk corridor ten years ago. Café Reconcile is an anchor for this community, not only as a lunch house and employer, but in helping to spur revitalization of Central City, a once a thriving commercial district for minorities that has become one of the poorest and most violent areas of New Orleans. Reopening only five weeks after Katrina, it served meals to first responders and operated as a gathering place for residents in need of support. For thousands living without homes, due both in part to pre-Katrina hardships and because of the storm’s devastation, there is the Harry Tompson Center, a day center for the poor and homeless that cares for roughly 250 men and women daily. Its collaboration with the larger St. Joseph Rebuild Center, created by the Jesuits, the Presentation Sisters, the Vincentian Fathers and Catholic Charities’ Hispanic Outreach Program, is a testament to strength in numbers. “In collaborating, we can really increase the efficiency and comprehensiveness of our efforts,” says Executive Director Don Thompson, recalling the challenges of working alone and out of a tiny space near Immaculate Conception pre-Katrina. Since the center’s reopening in September 2007 through this past June, volunteers have served 126,598 guests with meals, medical and mental health aid, showers and hygiene kits, laundry service, phone service and legal assistance. Down the tree-lined streets of the Garden District sits Loyola University New Orleans, ranked as one of the top ten universities in the South for the past twenty years by U.S. News and World Report. Having graduated its “Katrina class” last year, the school boasts a record number of applications over the past two years. Many of its current students first visited New Orleans as volunteers and from that experience decided to apply to the school. This year’s newest students will join other students, faculty and staff in “Into the Streets,” a day of service to the community meant to encourage students to follow in the Jesuit model of service and to bond students to their new community and school. Serving a community well beyond the bounds of campus is its president, Jesuit Father Kevin Wildes. Wildes was appointed chair of the New Orleans Ethics Review Board, the board empowered to appoint the city’s inspector general who is tasked with investigating and preventing corruption, fraud and other illegal activities involving city government. An independent police monitor has also been appointed to aid the inspector general. These improvements, coupled with the aid of the federal government to local law enforcement, seek to transform a city with a history of well-documented violence and corruption. “We must transform the culture of death on the streets of New Orleans to a celebration of life and freedom, joy and possibility,” declared Mayor Mitch Landrieu, a Jesuit High School alumnus, at his inauguration. Barriers to education and housing, poverty and crime remain ongoing concerns, and local Jesuit ministries continue to provide support to and facilitate change in New Orleans. The ministries in the city do not stand alone, but rather “they are part of an Ignatian family,” says Mary Baudouin, provincial assistant for social ministries, recalling the past five years of hard work and companionship shared among the ministries. “Because we banded together post-Katrina, every one of our ministries survived and possibly served better as a result.” Jesuit Father Mark Lewis, provincial for the New Orleans province, wholeheartedly supports the coordination of ministry efforts. “We have to become more interactive with one another,” he says. “We have to look at what has worked and reapply it based on the endemic needs of the city.” This strength in numbers is a common theme among the people serving and being served by the city’s Jesuit ministries, and overwhelming gratitude is another common thread. The disaster has changed how people view their communities and how they can help one another heal. The recovery from total devastation is perhaps once of the best examples of self-help by a community ever attempted in our nation, due largely in part to neighbors’ generosity and support of one another, the optimism of a new mayor and the celebration of the Saints’ Super Bowl victory. If through people’s rebuilding, volunteering, donations and solidarity they continue to offer their thanks, they have heeded the call of St. Ignatius to “give and not count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not seek for rest, and to labor and not ask for reward” except that knowing they are doing God’s will.
The Rebirth of New Orleans – 5 Years After Katrina
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly one quarter of men, women and children in the city of New Orleans currently live below the federal poverty level. In August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina laid bare for all the world to see the intense neglect of this vulnerable population. Five years later, the recent announcement of a $79 million budget shortfall for the city weighs heavily on the minds of residents of all socio-economic circumstances. It presents an enormous challenge to a city, particularly in light of the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that continues to threaten livelihoods and cultures. But the Jesuits, having bounced back from the storm with the prayers and support of so many people, continue to serve the people of New Orleans as best as they can.
normal as quickly as possible,” says Jesuit Father Anthony McGinn, president of Jesuit High School in New Orleans. “Our urgency to reopen was to help parents return.” The school’s entire first floor would need gutting and complete renovations after four and a half feet of water destroyed the auditorium, cafeteria, gymnasium, spirit shop and classrooms. While the school worked to clean up debris and reorganize classes into unaffected classrooms, its brother school in Houston, Strake Jesuit Preparatory, and a temporary campus organized at St. Martin’s Episcopal in Metairie, Louisiana, just outside of New Orleans, welcomed approximately 1,000 of Jesuit High’s students. Another 300 students completed course work at other high schools outside of New Orleans. By January 2006, 89 percent of students were back on campus, and today, Jesuit High counts 1,349 students enrolled for the 2010-2011 year. Thanks to the generosity of its devoted alumni and benefactors, the school continues to offer students a Catholic, college preparatory experience at one of the lowest tuition costs in the Greater New Orleans area, where for 163 years, no academically qualified student has been denied admission due to financial hardship.
Just down the street from The Good Shepherd School is Immaculate Conception Jesuit Church, where the smell of diesel fuel still occasionally wafts about after the flooding of the church’s basement boiler room; it does not seem to deter parishioners, however. “Our focus has been to animate our congregation,” says its pastor, Jesuit Father Stephen Sauer, who has organized First Tuesdays, a new speaker series, and the Young Professionals and Graduate Society. The revitalized Racial Harmony Committee welcomes over 100 parishioners and friends to its annual Thanksgiving meal, and due to church closures post-Katrina, the parish’s St. Vincent de Paul Society works in coordination with the Archdiocese of New Orleans to help serve people in need beyond parish boundaries. Also popular is its concert series, originally started to aid local musicians suffering from lack of work immediately after the storm. At-will donations from concert goers help to support the musicians and to perpetuate New Orleans’ musical heritage, and as Sauer puts it, “Music becomes a healing prayer.” He adds, “There is a great sense of solidarity among our parishioners for having gotten through together, and we have turned a corner. We are building a parish for the 21st century that empowers parishioners more than ever before.”
In hopes to accommodate growing classes of culinary program applicants, expansion efforts are underway and include a banquet hall to complement catering services. “We are rebuilding from an innovative place,” says Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Sister Mary Lou Specha, executive director of the café. “We are no longer recovering. We are creating.” She admits that job placement for culinary program graduates has been considerably difficult with the economic downturn, gulf oil spill and the resulting reduction in tourism. “But,” says Specha, “we remind students that we walk together, and that this is a place they can call home.”
Now located near St. Joseph Church, just off the I-10 overpass, it consists of service trailers equipped with climate-controlled food storage, showers, laundry facilities and a few offices, all contained within a “framework” of trellises-decks and roofs that allow for breezes in the hot summer months and shelter from the elements. Lush green shrubbery and plants add a peaceful element to this respite center, and the homeless of New Orleans are free to find rest and support here Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
By Joseph A. Tetlow, SJ
Jesus contrasted his way to the way of the world quite emphatically: “He who is not with me is against me” (Luke 11:23). Master Ignatius helps us apply this to ourselves in a key meditation in the Spiritual Exercises called “A Meditation on the Two Standards”-a “standard” meaning a flag.
Stand with Jesus or with the Way of the World
…All disciples have to choose where we are going to stand-with Jesus or with the world. No matter what life the Spirit has drawn us to, once we are baptized and confirmed we are called to stand in Jesus’ company under his flag.
We begin to move under Jesus’ standard when we join him in the living conviction that everything we have and are is God’s gift. However much or little we have, we say gratefully, “Look at all God has given me.” Then the way opens through the smoke of self-satisfaction and approval of others. “How can I help?” becomes a daily preoccupation. And through a life of love and service, the Spirit leads us to live as meekly and humbly as the Lord lived-whether we are a famous ballerina or an anonymous computer programmer.
The way of the world differs entirely. The starting point is getting as much wealth as you can. You say, “Look at all this stuff I have.” When the world’s way opens before you, you shift your focus, saying, “Look at me with all this stuff.” As those around you grow more deferential, you start saying, “Look at me.” You become convinced that you are the center of your world. You may not have sinned yet, but it is only a matter of time.
Three Forms of Collusion with the World’s Standard
Even without subscribing to theories of the subconscious, we can see that the world’s standard is as inviting to Christ’s disciples as it is to anyone else. In a way, even after we have made a solemn, lifelong choice to follow Christ’s standard, we have to purify our daily life of collusion with the world’s standard. The collusion comes in three forms.
First, there is benign secularism. Certainly, there are people who do not know Jesus Christ who lead deeply good lives. But even the baptized can live in a benignly secular way. We join civic movements and help the needy because that’s what our neighbors do. We are good to our families and honest in the workplace. There is no immediate harm in this way, but neither is there anything more than a secular spirit, even though people today call it spirituality.
The second form of collusion, seen particularly in the affluent first world, is the search for pleasure. We are surrounded by people who live what St. Paul describes as the way of the flesh. Those who follow this way are the target of advertising; they need to have whatever everyone else has right now. Their less lovely side manifests self-indulgence, lust, envy-all seen as acceptable social mores. The flesh has its own laws, and those who follow this way will readily obey those laws into sin.
Finally, there is the collusion of succumbing to darkness. Think of the report of an adult who forced a twelve-year-old to kill another and then drink some of his blood. It is evil manifest. But most of the works of the dark are not manifest. Hatred, vengeance, violence, self-destructive habits-these flourish in the dark corners of the sinful human self.
In your heart of hearts, you may loathe the dark and leap to the light. But in everyday life, you will find yourself in the twilight of benign secularism or the flesh over and over again. You will find safety in Christ’s standard only if you resolutely begin everything with thanks to God and keep watching what you are doing and why you are doing it.
Excerpt from Making Choices in Christ by Joseph A. Tetlow, SJ.
Index of Shalom October 2010
26th Week in Ordinary Time
27th Week in Ordinary Time
28th Week in Ordinary Time
29th Week in Ordinary Time
30th Week in Ordinary Time
31st Week in Ordinary Time
By Francis Kuo, Taipei A Church foundation has published two books on the lives of elderly Taiwan Jesuit priests including their experiences with mainland China. The books, launched on Sept. 25 by the Cardinal Tien Cultural Foundation, narrate the experiences of Father Mark Fang Chih-jung, 84, and Father Peter Sun, 86. Father Fang, during the Taipei book launch, recalled that he was blacklisted by mainland Chinese authorities after his 1984 trip there because he had celebrated Sunday Mass. The mainland-born Jesuit was also interrogated by Taiwan security officers after the China government repatriated him to Hong Kong during his 1995 China trip. At that time, Taiwan did not allow its residents to travel to the mainland. As he was forbidden to enter mainland China, Father Fang, the first Chinese to obtain a biblical doctorate in Rome, decided to help in the formation of mainland clergy and nuns who were studying in Europe. Mainland-born Father Peter Sun recalled that his mother, his spiritual director, his bishop and even the apostolic nuncio had tried to dissuade him from becoming a Jesuit. After the Chinese communists took power in 1949, he fled to the Philippines and it was only three months before his ordination in 1957 that his wish was granted by the Holy See. The priest recalled an unhappy episode in which he was accused of using Taiwan Church money to fund his hometown diocese in Handan, northern China. He said that he had forgotten to tell his parishioners at that time that the money came from the Holy See and it was not him but laypeople who took charge of the parish finance. The two books are the latest in a series of books on Jesuits who have been in Taiwan for about half a century. The first two books were published last year. Project coordinator Chang Fan-ren says more than 10 Jesuits have agreed to be interviewed for the project, which aims to publish two books each year.
Fathers Mark Fang Chih-jung (left) and Peter Sun at the book launch
Father General Visit to Belgium. From September 24 to the 27 Father General will visit the two Provinces of Belgium, beginning with the Province of Southern Belgium and Luxembourg. On September 25 first there will be meetings with the Provincial consultors and the finance committee, then at the Collège Saint Michel there will be for the Province of Southern Belgium and Luxembourg an assembly, during which three topics will be examined and discussed. Theintellectual perspective, based on the theme: “In what way am I present to the Church and to the world in the way I consider my apostolic mission beginning with the intellectual perspective?” The social perspective, with the question: “In what way am I present to the Church and the world in the way I consider my apostolic mission beginning with the social perspective?” The spiritual perspective asks the question: “How am I present to the Church and to the world in the way I consider my engagements beginning with the spiritual perspective?” The method will be an initial presentation given by three Jesuits (in the case of the spiritual perspective by three lay people from CLC) and then discussion will follow. At the end of the day the theme of collaboration will be treated with the laity and then Father General will preside at a celebration of the Eucharist. September 26 will be dedicated to the Province of Northern Belgium, where in the morning is foreseen a meeting with the laity involved in the apostolic works of the Province. At the focus of the debate will be Decree no. 6 of the last General Congregation on the specific characteristics of a work of the Society of Jesus. In the afternoon the meeting with the Jesuits will be on: “The challenges in the Province of Northern Belgium in a Society that moves beyond the frontiers.” Discussion will follow and the day will conclude with a celebration of the Eucharist, again presided by Father General. In the last day of his visit, September 27, Fr. Nicolás will meet the Jesuits and their collaborators, who in Brussels labour in the European works entrusted to the Society, in the Chapel of the Resurrection. In the evening Fr. General will return to Rome. From the Curia – Tempo Forte. In the annual calendar of Father General, there are three special meetings known as Tempo Forte, or days of intense consultation, during the months of January, June and September. Thus, the past few days, 16 to 19 September, Father General met with his advisers to address issues of universal government. This time devoted significant time to ongoing training, accompanied by Father Hans Zollner, Province of Germany and Professor at the Gregorian, who presented some psychological aspects of the issue of sexual abuse and raised a number of considerations to take into account in our training. The monitoring of the Curia’s apostolic planning, government restructuring and the preparation of the next Congregation of Procurators completed the agenda items. On Saturday afternoon, a group of the Community of Sant’Egidio went to the Curia to discuss with the Council the presence and activity in China and Africa. The Community of the Curia, also participated in the training sessions listed, and the Council joined the Curia at Eucharistic on the first and last days of Tempo Forte. – The meeting of the Presidents of the Conferences of Provincials will take place at the Curia September 20 to 23. The purpose of this annual meeting is described in decree 21, n. 25 of GC 34: “To heighten the sense of the Presidents for the universal character of the Society; to give them a better understanding of the global priorities of the Society; to work with Father General in overseeing and encouraging the further development of regional and global cooperation.” The meeting will serve first of all as an examen of the work carried out by the Conferences in the past year and on the role of the President of the Conferences of Provincials. For Father General the meeting will be an opportunity for an updated overview of the circumstances and issues of the Society throughout the world, which will serve as a basis for further discussions and deeper understanding. A number of other topics will be also discussed: the issue of finances and mutual assistance among the Conferences, intercultural formation of young Jesuits, the topics to be taken up at the Congregation of Procurators in the coming year, etc. – From October 4 until the 14 at the General Curia Fr. Paul Oberholzer will conduct for 25 students from Tübigen a seminar on the historical documents of the Roman Archives of the Society of Jesus (ARSI) and on the history of Jesuits in Rome. Professor Franz Brendle and his assistant Fabian Fechner will accompany the students. The program will consist of lectures in the morning and visits in Rome to places associated with the history of the Society. Appointments Father General has appointed Fr Charles Lasrado of Karnataka Province (India) Assistant to the Treasurer General of the Society of Jesus. Fr. Lasrado has a Ph. D. in finance and presently is the treasurer of his Province. He was born in 1968, entered in the Society in 1986 and was ordained in 2000. From the Provinces AFRICA: A competition for youth To offer the young generation a chance to understand and express what the epidemic HIV/AIDS means for their own everyday lives and for their friends, families and communities. This is the objective of The Youth Movies for Life and for Love scriptwriting regional contest launched within all Jesuit educational institutions and other centres of learning affiliated to the Jesuits in sub-Saharan Africa. From 15 September to 15 December 2010 all youth aged between 10 and 25 years are invited to come up with an original idea or “scenario” for a short film of 5 to 8 minutes in length. The hope is to have good scripts that propose the best message on how the youth can respond to the challenge of HIV pandemic, adopting value-based lifestyle or making choices that are life-giving and that will help them avoid contracting sexually transmitted infections and HIV. The first 20 best ideas with correct information on AIDS will be adapted by professionals chosen by AJAN (the “African Jesuit AIDS Network”) to make educational DVDs in the context of HIV and AIDS prevention in sub-Saharan Africa. BOLIVIA: Ancient paintings recovered It all began in 1972 when the Swiss Jesuit Hans Roth started to take care of the rich and wide Jesuit patrimony in Bolivia. After 30 years of work done in different stages, thanks to a project financed by AECID (Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development), the Bolivian church and the local municipality, the more than 1.700 sq. m. of frescoes of the Jesuit Church San José de Chiquitos in the Santa Cruz region shine brightly again. The church, declared by UNESCO World Heritage in 1990, was built in 1748 when the Jesuits arrived in Bolivia to carry out their apostolic mission. The building, considered one of the best among the missionary buildings of the region, after the expulsion of the Jesuits was transformed into residence of the Spanish governors. Among the frescoes there are geometrical shapes, pictures of flora and fauna, religious and military paintings with historical value. The work done is part of a broader project aimed at improving the region as a destination for cultural, religious and natural tourism. INDIA: Radio Station seeks larger community Sarang Radio, a Jesuit radio station run by the Jesuits of St. Aloysius Collegeof Mangalore, in southern India, is looking to broaden its appeal by launching a host of new community-oriented programs. The introduction of the new services will also help mark its first anniversary on September 23, 2010 (see our Electronic News no. 17, 5 October 2009). “We plan to start more community-oriented programs in regional languages like Kannada, Tulu and Konkani along with Hindi and English,” said Father Richard Rego, who is in charge of the radio station and heads the Journalism Department at the College. There are also plans to launch several weekly phone-in programs, such as Kannoonu Kacheri, on legal issues, Arogya Sparsha, a live program on health concerns, and a special program for children. The station will also invite leaders, writers, social workers, farmers and local artists for interviews, narration and feature presentations in order to broaden its activity, which initially was to broadcast about four to six hours a day, but now it is on air for 14 hours. JESUIT COMMONS: A Virtual Meeting Place A new website has been created called Jesuit Commons. In describing its mission, it states: “A virtual meeting place where a million-strong, global network of individuals, schools and institutions collaborate to benefit poor communities… More than a thousand schools and universities count millions of students, graduates, or faculty; and countless others work and pray in Jesuit refugee agencies, justice institutes, parishes, development NGOs, and retreat houses. Imagine the power that would be unleashed if this million-strong network could jointly innovate projects, launch global advocacy or prayer campaigns, share teaching materials, or mount research efforts.” The website invited users to register and become part of community and support projects from Asia to South America. The message continues: “The Jesuit Commons enables such collaborations by putting online communications and networking tools at the service of all those committed to working for a more just world, in solidarity with the Jesuit mission.” For more information: http://www.jesuitcommons.org PERU: House named after Matteo Ricci Francisco Chamberlain, S.J., arrived in Peru in 1963 and since some time ago he works in Ayacucho. He explains his work this way: “There is a private company that took the people the land, their only mean of subsistence. We are studying some juridical ways to defend their rights and to obtain back the properties inherited from their ancestors. This is possible because we can speak, understand their problems and needs and then act consequently. People needs support and if left alone they cannot do much. In Cangallo we developed a pastoral presence that encouraged social and economic action by the parish, in order to allow people to develop self initiatives. We opened a house named after Matteo Ricci, to encourage dialogue and exchange ‘among others’ of the town and the region, on the present and future of Ayacucho; a dialogue meaning not only love and understanding, but also discussion carried on together. To meet “others” and to promote dialogue is a typical Jesuit work, and I think it can be of help to the town and to the region.” SPAIN: Fifth-centenary of St Francis Borgia During the summer many initiatives have taken place in Gandía, birthplace of St. Francis Borgia, on the occasion of the fifth-centenary of his birth. Many Jesuits arrived in town in order to visit the Ducal Palace and to celebrate the Eucharist in its chapel. There were numerous pilgrimages of religious groups and members of the Spanish dioceses and many eucharistic celebrations in honour of the saint. An exhibition presented to the public the restoration of the frescoes of the ancient chapter house of the Convent of the Clarisse, which in the past counted 32 religious women from the Borgia family. The “Cabalgata de los Clásicos”, a drama on the history of Gandía’s dukedom from 1399 to 1551 (the year when St. Francis Borgia renounced to the Dukedom and entered into the Society of Jesus) was performed twice in a new renovated version with great success. The “Visitatio Sepulchri”, a holy-lyric drama, attributed to St. Francis Borgia, on the death and resurrection of Christ, which is performed every year in the church of Gandía’s palace on Holy Friday and Easter day, was exceptionally performed during summer as a concert with participation of a large public. TURKEY: Signs of hopes for Christians The Turkish government’s decision to allow the Orthodox patriarch to celebrate a liturgy at the ancient Panagia Soumela Monastery near Trabzon was a sign of hope for Turkey’s Christian minority, said Fr. Thomas Michel, a Jesuit expert in interreligious matters. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople celebrated the Orthodox liturgy on August 15th, for the feast of the Dormition of Mary at the Panagia Soumela Monastery, which was founded in 386. The building, which is maintained by the government as a museum, was closed in 1923 after Greek monks’ community abandoned it under the terms of the Treaty of Lausanne. The present government has promised it really will pay attention to the needs of the Christian minority so this is a positive step in the right direction. Turkey is a country with a majority of Muslim and a population respectful of people’s different beliefs. “Turks are open-minded and they always emphasize the fact that Turkey is a place where you can find a mosque, a synagogue, and a church side by side,” Fr. Michel said. He expressed the hope that Christians will be able to use again the Catholic Church of St. Paul in Tarsus. The 4th centenary of Matteo Ricci’s death Hong Kong: Ignatian Symposium. Xavier House-Ignatian Spirituality Centre, Hong Kong is organizing an Ignatian Symposium, in memory of the 400th anniversary of the death of Matteo Ricci. It will be held in from December 2-5. It will focus on three aspects of Ricci’s legacy in related to Ignatian Spirituality, namely, Affectivity, Cultures mediating God, and Apostolic Creativity and Leadership. Ten speakers from around the world will come to lead this meaningful event. It is conducted in English. This symposium is open to any participants, especially Ignatian people, around the world. For more information and application: Email: [email protected], tel: (852) 2981-0342,http://xavier.ignatian.net/html/is2010/program_highlights.html Macau wants his place too. Even Macau wanted to participate to the celebrations for Matteo Ricci. From August 7 to October 31 the exhibition “Matteo Ricci, encounter of civilizations in Ming’s China”, which was already held in Bejing, Shanghai and Nankin is hosted at the Macao Museum of Art.But in Macau there is a something new for the first time the “mysterious map of the two shapes” was introduced in the exhibition. This is the biggest universal map traced by Ricci. For the occasion a bronze statue was inaugurated, remembering the passing through of Ricci in Macau. “We welcome Father Ricci in his second homeland,” Fr. Louis Gendron, Chinese Provincial said in this occasion. And Fr. Howard Lui Ching-hay, Jesuit superior for Macau, added: “This is an historical moment for the Church and an opportunity for evangelization.”
Here’s one with benefits that last a lifetime . . .
When you think of family fun activities, you likely think of activities in the truest sense of the word: swimming, biking, sledding, and the like-in other words, doing something that involves activity. While all those things are, in fact, fun family activities, there’s likely one key element missing from them: real conversation-the kind that helps you get to know the most important people in your life and helps them get to know you!
Consider trying a NEW kind of family fun activity-learning about the ones you love. To do it, you only need a few questions to spark fun conversation. That’s right-having conversations with your family can be downright fun. How?
Well, grab a bowl of popcorn, gather your family, and try the questions listed here for starters (excerpted from The Meal Box):
What has been the most exciting moment or event in your life to this point?
If you could change one thing about the way your favorite holiday is celebrated, what would you change?
Kids: What aspect of being an adult are you looking forward to the most? Adults: What aspect of being a kid do you miss the most?
If you had to describe your personality in terms of a farm animal, which one would it be?
When you consider our amazing earth, in what particular aspect of it do you find it easiest to “see” God?
