Sunday is the anniversary of the death of Pedro Arrupe, SJ, superior general of the Jesuits from 1965-83.  He was a charismatic man who led the Jesuits through a difficult time of transition.  After he suffered a debilitating stroke he wrote this wonderful prayer:

More than ever I find myself in the hands of God. This is what I have wanted all my life from my youth. But now there is a difference; the initiative is entirely with God. It is indeed a profound spiritual experience to know and feel myself so totally in God’s hands.

You can read about Arrupe here.  This video is the first in a series produced by Georgetown University.  The first couple of minutes show his very poignant farewell in 1983. (Click here to watch it on YouTube.)

Something to think about | Prayer is time taken out of the linear journey of our days, and it is also our most profound reality. When we pray, we move inward to our God center. Then we move out again. . . to our situation in the world. This movement into the center and out again brings about an act of transformation. This is not to say that we will come out of prayer transfigured, like Jesus on the mountain (though our prayer experience may sometimes be dramatic). Nothing so spectacular! Usually there is a subtle, gentle, almost indiscernible change in our way of being that will carry its healing, changing power out through the layers of our lived experience and infuse the Where of our lives with its Kingdom values. This happens every time we pray, whether we are aware of it or not.

Margaret Silf
Inner Compass

Late last year, Xavier University in Cincinnati unveiled a new statue of its patron, St. Francis Xavier.  The sculptor, Tom Tsuchiya, worked on it for a year.  In this video he talks about how he worked and where he got inspiration from.   To watch the video on YouTube, click here.

Some years ago I saw a manuscript in the British Library that is thought to have been written by Shakespeare himself in his own hand.  I was amazed and moved.  His art is unfathomable, yet here it was in ordinary ink on ordinary paper.  The experience was akin to viewing the relic of a saint.

I thought of that when I read an essay by America magazine’s Kerry Weber about literary pilgrimages.  She visits the homes of four Catholic authors, including two of my favorites, Flannery O’Connor and Graham Greene, and asks what happens when people visit these places.  Here’s one anecdote told by the curator of the Flannery O’Connor home in Milledgeville, Georga.

“At least once a year,” said Mr. Amason, “we watch people weep while standing at the corner of Flannery O’Connor’s bedroom.” A particularly burly man once stood over the guestbook with tears streaming down his face. “He said, ‘I’m crying like a baby; this is embarrassing, but it’s so meaningful,’” Mr. Amason recalled. “I told him it happens all the time.”

Read the whole thing.

An exhibition of paintings by James Hasse, SJ opened last weekend at the St. Louis University Museum of Art. Fr. Hasse’s work reflects biblical themes and the African-American experience. Some of his work can be viewed in a slideshow from the exhibition and also online here at the University of Dayton.

Fr. Hasse says, “I believe that we are all God’s Work of Art, the Body of Christ, living Gospel, walking, singing, dancing Sacraments. My paintings are an attempt to give visual expression to these realities. Scripture furnishes my subject matter; the people furnish the soul and beauty, I furnish the craftsmanship.”

The exhibition will also feature paintings by Judge Nathan B. Young, the first African-American municipal judge in St. Louis.  It runs through March 4.

“In Spite of Darkness” is an award-winning documentary about an interfaith retreat at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps in Poland, where more than 1 million people, nearly all of them European Jews, were exterminated by the Nazis.  It was produced by Loyola Productions Munich and directed by Christof Wolf, SJ.  You can watch it at this link on the film’s site.  This is the trailer.  (Click here to watch it on YouTube.)

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.

Charles Jackson, SJ

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.”

Go take a look.

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.