What if that shadowy mystery beyond the span of our years turns out to be the real country to which our earthly days are just the fragmented signposts? What if the unconscious realms in which our conscious minds are floating turn out to be the embryonic sac that is beckoning us toward a reality far [...]
{ 3 comments }
When one of his students said she was spiritual but not religious, Jason Brauninger, SJ, decided to explain why was both. His essay was published on the lively JesuitPost.com site. His main reason? It’s this: without religion, without a living community of spiritual friends, I simply have no one to hold me up to any [...]
{ 0 comments }
The Ignatian man ought to be a saint and he ought to live in complete activity. Previous spirituality opposed these two aspects. Activity seemed to be an obstacle to holiness which was conceived as contemplation. The revolution accomplished by St. Ignatius showed that that which appeared to be an obstacle could become a means. To [...]
{ 0 comments }
Andy Otto has a fine piece in America about his experiences as a hospital chaplain. He quotes the Jesuit spiritual writer Daniel Lord, SJ, on suffering: “Perhaps sorrow is not the horrible evil that men have thought it. Perhaps it has some beautiful and deep significance that can be read only by eyes that have [...]
{ 4 comments }
Lisa Kelly looks at the transcendent moments of enlightenment experienced by Ignatius, Mother Teresa, Einstein, and a few others. These visions can’t really be described, but these mystics speak of similar insights, which she calls “habits of the heart.” Here’s one: Get outside yourself—Stop judging and start observing, observing, observing. Be aware of what is [...]
{ 2 comments }
Many people want to know, and it’s not an easy question to answer. Here are some things that help. The late David Fleming, SJ, wrote an excellent small book by that title. We have a whole section of this website devoted to it. I like this “top ten” list by Paul Campbell, SJ. Jim Martin, [...]
{ 2 comments }
As I enter into an annual silent retreat with students, I am mindful of how great is the gift of silence. We think too much; we speak too much. We argue about concepts of God, we use limiting words for God. To slightly modify a famous phrase from Meister Eckhart: I pray that God would [...]
{ 4 comments }
Michael Leach, author of Why Stay Catholic, offers five ways to remember the truth “that we all wear the face of Christ in a unique way and that what we do unto anyone else we literally do unto ourselves.” Here’s the first one: When standing in line at the checkout I remind myself that the [...]
{ 2 comments }
“What makes us human is precisely our experience of the infinite, the fact that we are never satisfied. We are the subjects of unlimited longing, finding infinity not outside ourselves but within. We ask questions about totality and ultimate meaning, and by so doing find that we are asking the question about God. God and [...]
{ 0 comments }
Sign up for dotMagis updates in an RSS reader
Sign up for dotMagis updates by e-mail