Something to think about | Discernment presupposes an ability to reflect on the ordinary events of one’s life, a habit of personal prayer, self-knowledge, knowledge of one’s deepest desires and openness to God’s direction and guidance. Discernment is a prayerful “pondering” or “mulling over” the choices a person wishes to consider. In his discernment, the person’s focus should be on a quiet attentiveness to God and sensing rather than thinking. His goal is to understand the choices in his heart: to see them, as it were, as God might see them. In one sense, there is no limit to how long he might wish to continue in this. Discernment is a repetitive process, yet as the person continues, some choices should of their own accord fall by the wayside while others should gain clarity and focus. It is a process that should move inexorably toward a decision.
William Barry, SJ, in his book, A Friendship Like No Other, invites us to be aware of our “thin places,” those moments where we easily find God. Barry’s challenge to name for ourselves our “thin places” was a challenge I took to heart, and I have come to two conclusions.
First, there are “thin places” that occur in my life that are unique, special places that I do not get to visit very often, but when I do the felt presence of God is almost overwhelming. Many of mine are places in nature, such as the beach, my grandparents’ farm, and being in the North Georgia Mountains, and they invite me to understand the vastness and creative power of our creator. As I stand and soak in the beauty of nature these places offer, I also find that I understand that my mere presence in life is but one piece of God’s magnificent, ongoing creative work.
Second, as Barry’s question of “thin places” remained on my heart, I found myself pondering it often during my Examen. Over time, I began to realize that there are some very basic rhythms and routines of my life that allowed me to readily and easily find God: snuggling my daughter, Abby, while sipping my morning coffee; sitting down to lunch with my kids after preschool to hear about their day; reading to my kids and our night time ritual of prayer; and savoring the few quieter moments with my hubby after the last door of my kids’ room was closed. I was surprised to find that the rhythms of my life are spotted with moments that easily allow me to find God. Without realizing it, these moments are checkpoints to see how the ones I love are doing and even more importantly “still points” that allow me to savor the gifts in my life and to deepen my awareness of God in all things.
I am sure as I continue to ponder my “thin places,” I will be surprised, yet again, as to where God routinely pops up in my day.
A bunch of young Jesuits launched a new website yesterday called The Jesuit Post. Content will range very widely indeed. The first batch of articles include pieces on David Foster Wallace, parish masses, Tim Tebow, yoga, Paula Deen, the folk-rock band Hem, and health care reform. Editor Paddy Gilger, SJ says “this site is about Jesus, politics, and pop-culture, it’s about the Catholic Church, sports, and Socrates. It’s about making the case for God (better: letting God make the case for Himself) in our secular age.”
The Ignatian Pro-Life Network was among the many groups that took part in the annual March for Life in Washington yesterday, the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v Wade decision. It’s an occasion to remember the fine document Standing for the Unborn issued by the Jesuit Conference.
It says, “Jesuits ought to find their place among those who demonstrate the obvious confluence of women’s rights and respect for life in all its forms.”
To be pro-life is to be pro-woman. Because we support women, we oppose abortion. We realize that the prevalence of abortion on demand is a clear indication that women are not receiving the types of societal and personal support necessary to bring their pregnancies to term.
A volunteer searching through the archives of the New Orleans Province of the Jesuits recently discovered a rare photo of Blessed Miguel Pro, SJ, along with an American Jesuit’s remembrances of time spent with the Jesuit martyr in a Belgian hospital. John Druhan, SJ, wrote that Pro spoke American slang with a Mexican accent and liked to sing popular songs. The photo (above) appeared on the cover of the province magazine, along with an article about Pro.
The actor Mark Wahlberg plays tough guys in movies like The Departed, The Fighter, and Contraband. He’s a tough guy in real life too. In his teens, he was a cocaine user and spent time in prison for assault. But he’s also a devout Catholic who goes to church every day. In this interview he tells Piers Morgan that “I pray to be a good servant to God, a father, a husband, a son, a friend, a brother and uncle, a good neighbor, a good leader to those who look up to me and a good follower to those that are serving God and doing the right thing.” (Click here to watch it on YouTube.)
There have been rumblings about director Martin Scorsese making a film of Shusaku Endo’s magnificent historical novel Silence, about Japanese martyrs of the 17th century. Now it seems that the rumor may become a reality, according to Spero Forum.
In a preface to Endo’s book, Scorsese writes perceptively about faith:
How do you tell the story of Christian faith? The difficulty, the crisis, of believing? How do you describe the struggle? … Shusaku Endo understood the conflict of faith, the necessity of belief fighting the voice of experience. The voice that always urges the faithful – the questioning faithful – to adapt their beliefs to the world they inhabit, their culture…That’s a paradox, and it can be an extremely painful one: on the face of it, believing and questioning are antithetical. Yet I believe that they go hand in hand. One nourishes the other. Questioning may lead to great loneliness, but if it co-exists with faith – true faith, abiding faith – it can end in the most joyful sense of communion. It’s this painful, paradoxical passage – from certainty to doubt to loneliness to communion – that Endo understands so well, and renders so clearly, carefully and beautifully in Silence.
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 going on inside. Ignatius taught his companion to just name what was going on inside and let it be what it is rather than trying to stomp it out or avoid it. He suggested seeing situations from multiple points of view—others in the scene, open to what insights may come from any vantage point, knowing God is in all of them. We are seeking what we don’t know or can’t see rather than reaffirming what we already think.
Loyola Productions in Los Angeles has launched a YouTube channel called Ignatian News Network that will feature videos about Jesuit work and mission. Some of the early videos look at a lobbying in Los Angeles, retreats for homeless people, and sustainable gardening. You can subscribe to INN here.
One INN video is about Loyola Press’s award-winning Voyages in English curriculum. (Click here to watch it on YouTube.)
First, there are “thin places” that occur in my life that are unique, special places that I do not get to visit very often, but when I do the felt presence of God is almost overwhelming. Many of mine are places in nature, such as the beach, my grandparents’ farm, and being in the North Georgia Mountains, and they invite me to understand the vastness and creative power of our creator. As I stand and soak in the beauty of nature these places offer, I also find that I understand that my mere presence in life is but one piece of God’s magnificent, ongoing creative work.
There have been rumblings about director Martin Scorsese making a film of Shusaku Endo’s magnificent historical novel Silence, about Japanese martyrs of the 17th century. Now it seems that the rumor may become a reality, 
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