Desire and Denial: An Ignatian Reflection on Celibacy and Vocation St. Ignatius of Loyola begins his Spiritual Exercises with the Principle and Foundation: “Human beings are created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save their souls. The other things on the face of the earth are created for human beings to help them in attaining the end ...
I think that we are often freaked out by death, perhaps because it seems such a lonely affair. We haven’t been helped by Hollywood in this regard, because we have visions of the grim reaper, with his long scathe and hideous aspect come to collect on his dues and accompany us into the underworld. Perhaps it is such a terrifying ...
On the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time and the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, Rev. Deacon Maximus Chongo delivered a powerful homily at St. Basil’s Catholic Church in Toronto, focusing on Social Inclusion and Justice. He reminded us that migrants are not here to replace or displace us — they come to join us. To walk alongside us. To contribute to ...
I have been reflecting about “Who is St. Ignatius of Loyola?” The temptation is to narrate his life and highlight that he is the founder of the Society of Jesus – of course that’s true. Aside from his family background, let’s take a leap to where his life took some notable transformation. In 1521 Ignatius was gravely wounded at Pamplona ...
A young couple moved into a new neighborhood. The next morning while eating breakfast, the young woman saw her neighbor through the window hanging the washing outside. “That laundry is not clean,” she said. “She doesn’t know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap”. Her husband looked on, but remained silent. Every time the neighbour would hang ...
To ‘learn earn how to discern’. It rhymes, which may be a helpful metaphor. Discernment calls for a certain ear for the poetry of God in our life and in our world. We listen intently for the voice of God, for the ‘still, small voice of calm’ in the harsh and discordant din with which our world often contrives to ...
Recently, a group of our employees in one of our Jesuit works came into the crosshairs of a very well-connected and prominent Zimbabwean businessman. The next thing we knew, the team of four employees had all been arrested and imprisoned pending trial on charges that literally defied logic. The whole team of our employees had never been in prison in ...
Homily for the 4th Sunday of Easter – John 10:27–30 With the theme of leadership prominent in today’s Gospel, it is appropriate that we reflect on the great shifts in leadership that have taken place in our Church and in the world over the past few weeks. Most notable, of course, is the election of a new pope. As we ...
‘There is a dream dreaming us’, is a saying of the people of the Kalahari. I takeit to mean there is something far greater than we can imagine accompanying uson our journey. ‘I will plant a noble cedar on the high mountain of Israel’, saysEzekiel, ‘and it will sprout branches and bear fruit.’ We are hardly consciousmuch of the time ...
5th Sunday in Lent – Year B – Jn 12: 20-33 Two rather elderly Jesuits were recently having a conversation about dying. One of them asked the other “Are you afraid of dying?” Confident of being able to stare death in the face unflinchingly, his friend replied unhesitatingly “No not at all, I don’t mind death at all – let ...
English