ON JESUIT HIGHER EDUCATION Spring 2015 • Number 47

The Spiritual Exercises as Foundation for Jesuit Higher Education SPRING 2015 NUMBER 47

Members of the National Seminar on Jesuit Higher Education ON JESUIT HIGHER EDUCATION Mark G. Bosco, S.J. Loyola University Chicago Laurie Ann Britt-Smith The Spiritual Exercises University of Detroit Mercy Kristin Heyer Santa Clara University as Foundation for Jesuit Higher Education Patrick J. Howell, S.J. Seattle University 2 The Spiritual Exercises as a Foundation for Jesuit Education, Timothy P. Kesicki, S.J. President Jesuit Conference Kevin O’Brien, S.J. ex officio 5 Spiritual Foundations for Jesuit Commitment to Science, James McCartin Fordham University George Coyne, S.J., and Agustin Udías, S.J. Diana Owen 8 The Spiritual Exercises and Art, Thomas Lucas, S.J. Georgetown University Stephen C. Rowntree, S.J. Loyola University New Orleans Exercises in action Edward W. Schmidt, S.J. America Magazine 11 Discernment in St. Ignatius Loyola, Brian McDermott, S.J. Michael Serazio 15 The Grace of Directing the Exercises, Scott Coble, S.J. Fairfield University 16 Say WHAT?! David Nantais Michael Sheeran, S.J. President, AJCU 17 What Do Jesuits Mean by Cura Personalis? Anthony McGinn, S.J. ex officio 18 Spirituality in a Local World, Paul Waldau Sherilyn G.F. Smith Le Moyne College 19 Grace Becomes Us, Paul W. Humphreys Jessica Wrobleski Wheeling Jesuit University Personal Experiences of the Exercises Patrick J. Howell, S.J., chair 20 Available and Willing, Holly Schapker Stephen C. Rowntree, S.J., sec. Edward W. Schmidt, S.J., editor 24 Leaning In, Julia Dowd Conversations is published by the 25 On Becoming a Jesuit, Thomas Curran National Seminar on Jesuit Higher Education, which is jointly spon- sored by the Jesuit Conference Exercises in education Board and the Board of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and 26 After the Exercises: Translation and Transformation, Diana Owen Universities. The opinions stated 28 The Online Retreat, Maureen McCann Waldron herein are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the 32 Encounters with Spirited Exercise, Cinthia Gannett JC or the AJCU. 34 Ignatian Spirituality & Spiritual Exercises, Francis X. McAloon, S.J. Comments and inquiries may be addressed to the editor of 35 Is Retreat Directing a Model for Teaching? Stephen Rowntree, S.J. Conversations Edward W. Schmidt, S.J. America Magazine 36 The Rise of Consumer Culture and Cura Personalis, David J. Burns 106 W. 56th Street New York, NY 10019 phone: 212-515-0122 Talking Back e-mail: [email protected] 38 Ignatian Colleagues, Joseph DeFeo For information about subscriptions to Conversations: Stephen C. Rowntree, S.J. Book Reviews Secretary to the National Seminar on Jesuit Higher Education 41 Mission, Identity, Local Relationships, Jeff Dorr, S.J. Loyola University New Orleans 1575 Calhoun Street 43 La Verdad Y La Justicia, Theresa Ladrigan-Whelpley New Orleans, LA 70118 Phone: 504-865-2781 e-mail: [email protected] Student pieces Conversations back issues are 23 Finding God and Being Surprised, Maggie MacKenzie available online at http://epublications.marquette. 31 Open Minds, Open Arms, Open Hearts, Giulia Pink edu/conversations/ 37 A Spiritual Stretch, Philip Nahlik Design and layout by Pauline Heaney. Printed by Peacock Front Cover: The Spiritual Journey of St. Ignatius Loyola: Image 2 of 5: “Ignatius composing Spiritual Communications, Lincoln Park, N.J. Exercises at Manresa, overlooking River Cardoner.” Dora Niklov Bittau. Copyright Seattle University. From the Editor

Spiritual Exercises Bring Special Spirit to Campus

n Conversations 44, Fall 2013, I wrote my first page 1 intro- not strictly fit my definition, I visited 10 of the 11 Jesuit U.S. col- duction as the new editor. I had moved from America mag- leges and universities named for Jesuits. (The one I missed I had azine in New York to a new mission as a translator and edi- already visited recently.) I also passed by Xavier U. in New Itor at the Institute of Jesuit Sources in St. Louis, right across Orleans and Bellarmine U. in Louisville but missed St. Xavier Lindell Blvd. from St. Louis U. I wrote that it was great to be near Chicago; these three are not Jesuit schools, of course. back at a campus, to sense the energy and excitement of a new These campus visits impressed on me once again the vari- school year, to feel the campus rhythms, to see the hope on ety of the schools. Some are in the central city, others in outly- many faces. ing areas or suburbs. Some are spread out over many acres, oth- I have left that behind again. The Institute of Jesuit Sources, ers are more concentrated. But in all of their variety they pur- which translates and publishes basic Jesuit texts, has begun a sue a common mission, and that mission finds its historic roots new life at Boston College. And although I very much appreci- and its present heart in the spiritual heritage of St. Ignatius, par- ated being part of it, I felt that I had done what I could for the ticularly in his Spiritual Exercises. project I was working on. So, with blessing from Jesuit superi- And all of these schools make an impact on the local commu- ors, I returned to New York and America, where great new nity beyond the campus. Sometimes this means simply street things are happening. names – Loyola Avenue, Rockhurst Road. Sometimes it is a bit This issue of Conversations features the Spiritual Exercises wider – Loyola Park and Loyola Beach or strip malls, pizza shops, of St. Ignatius Loyola, the foundation of Jesuit spirituality and and gas stations that bear the name of their nearby Jesuit school. thus of the spirit that animates much of our mission in educa- But schools often have major impact on their communities in tion. It is clear that these Exercises exert a growing influence church life, neighborhood identity, and the local economy. over a lot of the college and university communities in explicit I saw the value of an engaged campus when I returned retreats based on them and in programs that seek to bring their from my road trip and began packing up for my move. St. Louis dynamics to events and attitudes on campus and beyond. The had been making national news over the shooting death of Exercises make an impact on the teaching and the campus life Michael Brown and was awaiting the grand jury decision on of the Jesuits schools in many ways. indicting the police officer involved. The SLU campus was wit- Some articles here take up specific aspects of the Exercises nessing an occupy movement that took over the central clock such as discernment; some show the impact on more defined tower and its surroundings. President Fred Pestello entered into areas like science of the arts; and some describe the long-term conversations and resolved this crisis, urging the community to impact of the Exercises on individuals. We note too how the dig deeper into the causes of the “mire of chronic, systemic Exercises have something to offer a Buddhist or an atheist. Not injustice” that many experience and saw here an opportunity to every individual on every campus has experienced the Spiritual move forward. In the larger community, SLU professor of crim- Exercises, but I think it is safe to say that every campus has felt inology and criminal justice Dr. Norman White was an articulate their power. They provide a vocabulary, as many of the articles voice for justice and reason, and other faculty worked to help that appear here will show. And if that vocabulary can get the situation. So too did students, including young Jesuits study- stretched beyond strict definition, still it demonstrates a desire ing philosophy at SLU who joined efforts to address the anger to enter into the spiritual core of who we are alone and togeth- and frustrations; among them Louie Hotop and Matt Wooters, er and provides a basis for understanding and – could we want who host a regular radio broadcast, “In Other News,” were at more? – for conversation. the clock tower and at Ferguson. Before I moved from St. Louis to New York, I received per- Our schools are about education, and that goes beyond mission to take a long drive and visit the places in the U.S. that classes and papers. Our schools are about spirit, and that goes are named after Jesuits. This project derived from my lifelong beyond cheering for basketball or praying to pass a tough fascination with geography and maps. I limited my quest to course. Our schools are about exercises of many kinds – aca- cities and counties (Marquette, Wis. and Mich., and De Smet, S. demic exercises, physical exercises and, as our authors demon- Dk., for example) and geographic features (Pere Marquette strate here, Spiritual Exercises in a host of helpful ways. ■ River, Lake Charlevoix, Mount Roothan, among many others). To include parks, streets, and schools would have kept me Edward W. Schmidt, S.J., editor behind the wheel for a decade or more. And though they did

Conversations 1 The Spiritual Exercises as a Foundation for Jesuit Education

By Kevin O’Brien, S.J.

he Spiritual Exercises began not as a book, but even enjoying several mystical visions. His soul, in short, was as an experience...... being exercised. The story is familiar. In 1521, at about the age All the while, Iñigo took notes, recording insights and of 30, Iñigo López de Loyola got hurt in a subtle movements of his soul. He shared these experiences meaningless battle at Pamplona defending the with spiritual counselors, refining his notes along the way. honor of the Spanish crown. He spent six Iñigo began this spiritual record because he thought his months convalescing at his family castle. For insights and experiences could help him to help others. This one of the few interludes in his life, the pas- journal was the beginning of the manual of prayer we now Tsionate, active Iñigo settled down and listened. He noticed know as the Spiritual Exercises. movements of his soul that he was previously too distracted While main parts of the Exercises were composed before to notice: feelings, attractions, passions, ambitions, and Iñigo left Manresa, they remained a work in progress as he dreams. Like any Basque, Iñigo was a religious man, but not gave the Exercises to various people on his travels and dur- very spiritual. But during this time, he explored the depths ing his formal studies. Other directors too relied on his of his soul. Reading Ludolph of Saxony’s Life of Christ and a recordings as they gave the Exercises. For the most part, the version of the lives of the saints, the young knight started to text was completed by 1541, when Ignatius (the Latinized imagine a life different than one serving at court. Like the form of his name) had settled in Rome and the Society of saints he was reading about, he too could serve Christ, as an Jesus had been instituted. Ignatius wrote the original version itinerant teacher and servant of the poor. of the Exercises in Spanish and executed a Latin translation Wisely, Iñigo decided to test these newly discovered while studying in Paris about 1534. With papal approval in desires. Once recuperated, he hit the road, intending to 1548, the Exercises were published in Latin, the version most make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. After an all-night vigil at the widely used in the decades to follow. Benedictine mountaintop shrine at Montserrat, Iñigo, ever Ignatius gave the Church the Spiritual Exercises as a tes- the romantic, laid his sword before the altar of Our Lady and tament to God’s gentle, persistent laboring in his life. Over his donned the sackcloth of a beggar, signaling his change in lifetime, Ignatius became convinced that the Exercises could life. Next, he stopped in the nearby town of Manresa. help other people draw closer to God and discern God’s call Intending to stay only a few days, he remained there for in their lives, much as they had helped him. The Exercises about ten months. He fell into a routine of prayer, fasting, have never been for Jesuits alone. Ignatius crafted the spiritual conversation, and service to the sick and poor. Exercises mostly as a layman, without any formal theological Iñigo’s conversion was deepening. training, and he intended them to benefit the entire Church. These were intense months for Iñigo. He experienced Unlike the spiritual classics of John of the Cross, Thérèse heights of consolation in intimacy with God and depths of de Lisieux, Thomas Merton, or Dorothy Day, the Exercises desolation, even despair. He reckoned with profound regrets make for very dry reading. They read more like a cookbook from his former life in pursuit of riches, honors, and world- ly glory, yet he came to know a God who was deeply and personally invested in him, in his words, like a school Kevin O’Brien, S.J., is the vice president for Mission and teacher instructing a pupil. He battled temptations of various Ministry at Georgetown University. sorts, and savored moments of profound interior freedom,

2 Conversations or instruction manual because Ignatius intended the book as sinfulness in our lives and our need for greater interior free- a manual for those directing others through the Exercises. In dom. Having experienced God’s merciful love, we are one sense, there is nothing new in the Exercises: Ignatius moved to respond with greater generosity and to love and relied on prayer forms and spiritual traditions deeply rooted serve God and others more. As we pray through the life of in the Church. What is distinctive is how Ignatius artfully Jesus Christ presented in the Gospels, we ask to know him wove them together and how much he emphasized the more intimately so that we can love him more dearly and fol- experiential in the life of prayer. low him more closely. We come to appreciate Jesus’ values Thus, the purpose of the Exercises is very practical: to and his vision of the world. grow in union with God, who frees us to “help souls,” as Such deeper intimacy leads us to want to accompany Ignatius often wrote, and to make good decisions about our Jesus in his passion, the consummate expression of God’s lives. Ignatius invites us into an intimate encounter with God, faithfulness and love for us. Similarly, we walk with the revealed in Jesus Christ, so that we can learn to think and act Risen Lord in the joy of the resurrected life. We continue to more like Jesus. The Exercises help us grow in interior free- learn from him as he consoles others. Finally, after savoring dom from disordered attachments so that we can respond God’s love for us and our world throughout the Exercises, more generously to God’s call in our life. The Exercises we pray to find God in all things, to love and serve God and demand much of us, engaging our intellect and emotions, others in concrete ways and with great generosity. our memory and will. The first Jesuits rightly called the The discernment of spirits underlies the expanse of the Exercises a school of prayer, essential to the reform of the Exercises. The one who discerns is like one who checks a Church. The Exercises engage both head and heart and compass to make sure one is heading in the right direction. ground praying in the concrete realities of both the Scripture In discernment of spirits, we, like Ignatius recovering from and one’s life. Making the Spiritual Exercises can be both his battle wounds, notice the interior movements of our exhilarating and exhausting, which explains why Ignatius hearts, which include our thoughts, feelings, desires, attrac- compared making the Exercises to doing physical exercise. tions, and resistances. We determine where they are coming The Exercises have a natural rhythm. Ignatius divided from and where they are leading us, and then we propose them into four “weeks.” These are not calendar weeks but to act in a way that leads to greater faith, hope, and love. phases or movements felt within a person who is praying This journey through the “weeks” of the Exercises is not through the Exercises. The Exercises begin slowly and gen- necessarily linear. The director and one making the Exercises tly as we consider the gift of God’s ongoing creation in the follow the lead of the Spirit, which can take them through world and in us. Having recognized God’s boundless gen- different graces at different times. Ignatius’s own conversion erosity and unconditional love for us, we naturally face our taught him that God works with each person uniquely, so he own limited response. We let God reveal to us patterns of insisted that the Exercises be adapted to meet the particular

Conversations 3 needs of the one making them. The goal is drawing clos- adaptation is the 19th annotation retreat for faculty and er to God, not mechanically running through all of the staff, offered over the course of an academic year. When exercises in order or in unison with others. individually directed, such retreats are usually accompa- In keeping with this spirit of accommodation, the nied by regular group meetings with others making the Exercises are given in a variety of forms. Some people retreat. Given the challenge of finding enough qualified can make the Exercises over 30 or more consecutive spiritual directors, some Jesuit works have moved to days, usually removed from regular life in a retreat offering the Exercises to groups, facilitated by one spiri- house setting. Ignatius realized, however, that many do tual director. not have the luxury of time or resources to make a 30- These various experiences of the Exercises have a pro- day retreat. Thus, in what is called the 19th annotation found impact not only on the person but on campus cul- retreat (because the adaptation is found in the 19th pre- ture. Those who have experienced the spiritual tradition of liminary note that opens the Exercises), Ignatius the Jesuits in this very intentional and personal way under- described how a person may be directed through the stand the mission more deeply and feel connected to a entirety of the Exercises over an extended period of cohort of others similarly committed to mission. time, while continuing his or her daily affairs. Others, There is great demand for the Exercises by our part- because of age, experience, life circumstance, or time ners in ministry. They reflect the “great spirit and gen- constraints, cannot cover the full breadth of the erosity” that Ignatius determined was essential for one Exercises. Instead, they pray through particular parts of making the Exercises. Such holy desires are expressed the Exercises, such as during a weekend or weeklong not only by Catholic colleagues and students but more retreat or a day of prayer. and more by those who come from the Protestant, As important as the role of the director is in navigat- Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu traditions, as well ing and adapting the retreat, Ignatius reminds us in the as secular humanists. Offering the Exercises to non- introductory notations that the chief spiritual director is Christians and humanists is the next frontier in the min- God, who communicates with each person directly. istry of the Exercises, to which Jesuit Superior General Accordingly, the director should make every effort not to Adolfo Nicolás has called us. In the pages that follow, get in the way, respecting the autonomy of the person’s we explore the opportunities and challenges of offering unique relationship with God. the Exercises to new audiences. Inspired by the Second Vatican Council’s call for reli- Finally, if the Exercises are to animate the work of gious orders to reclaim the sources of their original the university, they cannot be confined to campus min- charism, the Society of Jesus has offered the Exercises in istry: they must inform academic and student life. In this varied and creative ways to ever-increasing numbers of issue, we explore these connections. The Exercises, a people. Making the Spiritual Exercises available to more school of prayer, offer a certain pedagogy that can trans- people in different forms is especially important as late to higher education settings. They teach habits of laypersons assume more active roles in Jesuit colleges reflection that help students and others integrate experi- and universities. Such spiritual formation conveys the ence, understanding, and moral decision-making, Jesuit mission and Ignatian character to faculty and other whether in classrooms, laboratories, residence halls, ath- institutional leaders. letic fields, or community service sites. The Exercises daptation is critical to the Exercises, and provide a time-tested and flexible method to form char- this issue of Conversations describes some acter and conviction, which is the concern of educators. of these innovations. It is becoming At the time of his conversion and even when found- increasingly challenging to persuade stu- ing the Society, Ignatius did not imagine opening dents and time-pressed faculty and staff to schools. Yet, because more formal education was need- disconnect and spend a weekend, for ed in the Church, Ignatius adapted and responded to the example, at a retreat center. Thus, “Prayer need as early as 1548. As we imagine how best to serve in Daily Life” experiences on campus have the needs of the world and the Church today, we can Agrown in popularity. Here, retreatants integrate private rely on Ignatius’s legacy of the Exercises to meet the prayer and spiritual conversation into their daily routine. holy desires of our colleagues on campus and more Moreover, along with innovations in traditional class- deeply ingrain the Ignatian tradition in the rapidly room learning, some schools have applied new tech- changing landscape of Jesuit higher education. ■ nologies to create online retreat and prayer experiences to reach even more students, faculty, staff, and alumni in their communities. The most time-and-resource intensive

4 Conversations Spiritual Foundations for Jesuit Commitment to Science

By George Coyne, S.J., and Agustín Udías, S.J.

rom its foundation in the 16th century, the where astronomical observatories were installed. The Society of Jesus has shown a continuous extraordinary adventure of the Jesuit astronomers in institutional commitment to the natural sci- China started, for instance, from one of those early col- ences, a new educational phenomenon in the leges, the Roman College founded in 1551. Matteo Ricci Catholic Church. After a brief historical studied there in the famous school of mathematics under overview, we will attempt to find an under- Christopher Clavius, and from the time of his arrival to standing of this Jesuit dedication to science in Beijing in 1601 science provided his entrance into the tradition of Ignatian spirituality. Chinese culture. For 150 years thereafter, Jesuits were FThe presence of Jesuits in different fields of the nat- the directors of the Imperial Astronomical Observatory ural sciences has played a significant role both in the his- and held the dignity of mandarins. tory of the Society of Jesus and in the history of science. Clavius, from his influential position at the Roman In fact, the work of Jesuits in science must be seen in the College, made a great effort to introduce the teaching of context of the overall history of science. From its earliest mathematical science in Jesuit colleges, and this was final- days the Society began to undertake education as the ly accepted among the norms established for all Jesuit key instrument of its apostolic work. Thus, the history of schools. The first official mention about teaching mathe- Jesuit involvement in the sciences begins with the first matics in Jesuit schools is found in the Constitutions, Part Jesuit schools. A few years after its founding in 1540 by IV, written by St. Ignatius, where when treating about the St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), the Society began to subjects to be taught in the Jesuit universities he says: “there get involved in education, starting with the training of its must be taught logic, physics, metaphysics and moral the- own members. In 1544 there were seven colleges or res- ology and also mathematics, with the due moderation for idences for Jesuit students near the universities of Paris, the end that is intended.” Louvain, Cologne, Padua, Alcalá de Henares, Valencia, This first century of the Society’s history coincided and Coimbra. A few years later Jesuits began to establish with the origins of modern science, and Jesuit professors their own institutions, where they themselves also took were in contact with many of the key scientists of those charge of teaching non-Jesuit students. times, such as Francis Bacon (1561-1626), Tycho Brahe This establishment of colleges and universities was (1546-1601), Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), Johann Kepler for St. Ignatius a new and somewhat unplanned orienta- (1571-1630), and Christian Huygens (1629-1695). (It is of tion of the recently created religious order. Colleges some interest to note that later on among noted scien- became, even during St. Ignatius’s lifetime, the most tists who were students in Jesuit schools one finds important instrument of the order’s apostolic work. At his death in 1556 the Society of Jesus already had 35 col- leges in different countries of Europe and one in India. George Coyne, S.J., is the former director of the Vatican The network of Jesuit schools and universities spread Observatory, 1978- 2006. He is currently McDevitt rapidly so that in the 18th century there were about 625 chair of religious philosophy at Le Moyne College. of them. Jesuits also established colleges and universities Agustin Udías, S.J., is a professor emeritus of geophysics in America, India, and the Philippines. Scientific work at Universidad Complutense in Madrid and a member progressed at almost all of these colleges in Europe, of Academia Europaea; he does research in seismology.

Conversations 5 Torricelli, Descartes, Laplace, Volta, Buffon, and Lalande). complex organisms, including ourselves, has occurred by Jesuit missionaries introduced European mathematics and natural processes intrinsic to a universe which is about 14 astronomy to China and India. Jesuits explored the new billion years old and contains about 1022 stars. Evolution in lands of America from Canada to Patagonia, and they were an expanding universe is still occurring in marvelous ways. the first Europeans to navigate the great rivers: the The universe is not all predetermined (see Conversations, Mississippi, the Amazon, and the Orinoco. Their interest in No. 40, Protestant. 40-42). This scientific view of the evolu- geography led to an impressive work of cartography, prepar- tionary universe and of our place in it opens one to spiritu- ing the first maps of many regions of America, China, India, al reflections which are at the core of Ignatian spirituality. Tibet, and Ethiopia. Such reflections bring us to rec- This work was interrupted by ognize our role as co-creators in the suppression of the order by God’s continuous creation of the Pope Clement XIV in 1773. After universe. We, in a special way, their restoration in 1814, the share in the creativity which Jesuits found that the situation God desired the universe to with respect to science had have. The apostolic work of a changed. Science had made great Jesuit derives from the very progress and was firmly estab- nature of the universe, and this lished with branches in physics, has a particular significance for chemistry, geology, and biology. Jesuit scientists. Scientific The situation was thus very differ- research cannot be separated ent from what it had been before from faith, our relationship of the suppression of the Society. In love to God, the source of all this period Jesuit scientific work creativity in the universe. Jesuit changed with respect to the earli- identity is much more than what er periods and had a somewhat Jesuits do. It is bound intimately apologetic character aimed to the very nature of the uni- against those who, especially dur- verse. From this foundational ing the Enlightenment, attacked connection of Ignatian spiritual- the Church as an enemy of sci- ity to the very nature of the uni- ence. Science was considered by verse which science explores many to be a field that was alien, we reflect upon the following if not hostile, to religion. Jesuits characteristics of that spirituality. felt the need to show by their sci- In the early Society begin- entific work that there is no ning with St. Ignatius there is the incompatibility between science – constant refrain: “finding God in and faith. Beginning in 1825, Fr. James B. Macelwane great seismologist at Saint all things.” This is particularly Jesuits established a new network Louis University. evident in the last meditation of of about 70 observatories the Spiritual Exercises, the throughout the world. Those installed in Africa, Asia, and “Contemplation to Attain Love.” Here one is asked: “to look Central and South America were, in many instances, the first how God dwells in creatures, in the elements, in the plants, such scientific institutions in those countries. in the animals, in men [in me, myself]… and to consider how After this overview of the five centuries of Jesuit scientif- God works and labors for me in all things created on the face ic tradition, unique in the Catholic Church, one may wonder of the earth.” Thus, all things, people, and circumstances are how this constant involvement of Jesuits in science is to be occasions for finding God. explained. Obviously other religious orders have also had Jerónimo Nadal, a companion of St. Ignatius, refers to important scientists. For example, the Augustinian Gregor what has been called the “Jesuit way” with the expression Mendel was a pioneer in the understanding of genetics. But “contemplatives in action.” This implies a union between among Jesuits there has been a continuous, almost institu- prayer and action. There is no activity, no matter how pro- tional, presence from the very founding of the Society up to fane it may look, that cannot be transformed into prayer. the present day. We suggest that Ignatian spirituality is an Teaching mathematics or physics in a university, observing important factor in an attempt to understand this phenome- the light from a distant galaxy, or drawing a map of an non and that all aspects of that spirituality derive from the unknown region are activities that a Jesuit finds perfectly very nature of the universe that Jesuit scientists explore. compatible with his vocation. Through them he seeks to find Science has shown that the evolution in the universe of God in his life.

6 Conversations Ignatian spirituality also places an emphasis on Christian service, which channels religious dedica- tion outward into profane activities not usually associ- ated with religious life. It embraces an active engage- ment with the world, which leads, in the spirit of science, to a respect for experience, testing, and proof by trial and error. For many, this may become a personal attitude, but for Jesuits it stems from the core of their spirituality. In this spirit Jesuits endeavor in their apostolic work to enter the field of scientific research as a mission territory. Thus patient work in observatories and laboratories is for Jesuits as proper as preaching or pas- toral work in parish churches. For them science as knowl- edge and as an instrument for the good of humankind is also a means for the propagation of the Christian faith. In 1976 the Superior General Pedro Arrupe (1907-1991) put for- Frs. Algué and Saderra at Manila Observatory. ward the same argument in a letter on the intellectual apostolate: astronomers of the West, adopting the dress and manners of Chinese scholars. How can we make the Church present, and keep the neces- To summarize, we have shown how from their founda- sary personal contacts in a social context of so vital impor- tion in the 16th century Jesuits have shown a continuous and tance as the scientific and technological, without giving to institutional commitment to the natural sciences. Carried out science the importance it deserves? How can we make a the- for the most part in conjunction with their educational com- ological reflection that is intelligible without a profound mitments in a network of schools, colleges, and universities, knowledge of the scientific roots of this mentality? it was marked by different characteristics in the two periods Allied to this missionary character of Ignatian spirituality of Jesuit history, the first between the 16th and 18th centuries is a preference for situations and activities that may be called and the second from the 19th century until today. But the “frontier work.” Pope Benedict XVI recognized this when he presence of Jesuits in science has continued throughout their said to the Jesuits: “As my Predecessors have said to you on long history. The basic motivation for such work is to be various occasions, the Church needs you, relies on you, and found in Ignatian spirituality, which is itself derived from continues to turn to you with trust, particularly to reach spiritual reflections on the very nature of the universe. The those physical and spiritual places which others do not core of this spirituality lies in the emphasis on finding God reach or have difficulty in reaching.” This explains how a in all things, the union of prayer and work, a missionary spir- Jesuit may be praying in a Buddhist monastery or carrying it which seeks the greater glory of God, and the preference out research in a particle accelerator. Jesuits are always for work "on the frontiers." This has often involved Jesuits in searching for frontiers, for places and situations where the unconventional activities and situations, including scientific Christian message is not yet known. For example, this spir- research. The Jesuit scientific tradition has a long history and it drove Matteo Ricci and his companions in the 17th centu- is still alive. It serves as a special apostolate in the Catholic ry to present themselves in the Imperial Court of China as Church, characteristic of Ignatian spirituality. ■

Conversations 7 The Spiritual Exercises and Art By Thomas Lucas, S.J.

“Dateline: Paris, 1686. In the Jesuit college on the rue St. Jacques, rehearsals for the August ballet and play are in full swing. Onstage, Hercules slays monsters. Offstage, a killer is on the loose. And the Siamese ambassadors, on their way to see Louis XIV, are coming to the college show. Charles, the young Jesuit rhetoric teacher – and ballet producer – trying to do his job, keep his vows, and stop the murders, falls into the net of the first Paris police chief.”

o begins the teaser for institutions a sensibility, an apprecia- derive some profit from this” (SpEx Judith Rock’s 2010 tion for the revelatory power of the 122-126). Ignatius thus connects the novel The Rhetoric of imagination that was a breakthrough in spiritual realm to the concrete world of Death. In this delight- the Western spiritual tradition. Unlike the retreatant’s own sensory experience ful historical who- so many earlier spiritual writers who with all its symbolic and metaphorical dunit and the three warned against fantasy or the use of furnishings. In short, those making the brisk page-turners images, Ignatius in his Spiritual exercises are taught to trust their imag- that follow it, Rock, a Exercises encourages retreatants active- inative experience. No stranger himself dance historian by ly to use their imaginations as well as to the uncharted and sometimes con- training, evokes the their intellects. While a few of the exer- fusing places to which such trust can rich tradition of theater, dance, the arts, cises are analytic or content-driven, the lead the untrained, Ignatius moreover Sand intrigue at the Jesuit Collège Louis-le- most important are exercises of the laid out a simple yet effective check- Grand in 17th-century Paris. Young imagination: “contemplations” of the Charles du Luc introduces the modern life of Jesus wherein the retreatants reader to the long line of Jesuit artists and enter into the scene with eyes and ears Thomas Lucas, S.J., is university their colleagues – composers, dance and heart open. They begin with a professor of art and curator of the masters, scene painters, and artist-archi- visual composition “made by imagining university art collection at Seattle tects – who used to and continue to use the place.” And each day ends with an University, where he also serves as and teach the arts in our educational application of the senses: “to see the rector of the Arrupe Jesuit Community. institutions. persons with the imaginative sense of He has lectured and published widely Although Ignatius Loyola didn’t sight…to hear what they say or could on Jesuits and the arts and has an have an artistic bone in his body, he say, to smell and to taste...to touch with international portfolio as a liturgical bequeathed to the Jesuit order and its the sense of touch…always seeking to artist and designer.

8 Conversations valve mechanism for the overactive imagination in his rules tions. Fireworks imported from the missions in China, flying for discernment. students hoisted aloft on ropes and pulleys, and pet dogs Less than a decade after the opening of the first Jesuit pulling chariots filled with allegorical virtues and vices por- college for lay students at Messina in 1548, Fabulae trayed by little Benoit or Juan Pablo added visual interest. Eruditiae (learned, if somewhat fractured fairytales) were Important court composers like Marc Antoine Charpentier and being performed there. Even before Ignatius’s death in 1556, Jean Baptiste Lully provided the scores; royal ballet masters full-scale plays were being performed with his blessing at like Pierre Beauchamps and Jesuit Fr. Joseph Jouvancy provid- Rome’s flagship Collegio Romano and at the Jesuit college at ed the choreography. Indeed, Jesuit theorists and historians Ingolstadt, Bavaria. produced five of the most important early treatises on ballet at The 1586 version of the Ratio Studiorum, the Jesuits’ uni- the Collège Louis-le-Grand. form educational code, recognized the dual value of perform- This tradition – 150,000 plays performed across the world ance for the young as training in poise and memory: “Our stu- over the first two centuries of Jesuit education, and countless dents and their parents more since the nine- become wonderfully teenth-century restora- enthusiastic, and at the tion of the order after its same time very attached suppression – was about to our Society when we more than entertain- train the boys to show ment, fun, and games. the result of their study, Theater, dance, and visu- their acting ability and al spectacle were not their ready memory on considered as ends in the stage.” From these themselves but were beginnings, a rich and seen as useful education- complex tradition of al tools that formed plays grew up in Jesuit morally astute citizens colleges around the and socially competent world: twice each year, persons who could com- and sometimes more fre- port themselves in public quently, from Vilnius to in a convincing way. Cuzco, from Goa to They learned to sing and Manila, the work of the play instruments in colleges gave way to vast church and on the stage. spectacles that filled the They were given the courtyards and theaters social tools to become of the colleges. presentable gentlemen, Youngsters declaimed and, in the case of bowdlerized Latin and many, the opportunity Greek reworkings of to rise from their lower ancient classics and middle class origins into Christian stories com- higher status. Although posed in doggerel verse what we now call studio by overworked scholas- arts were not formally tics like Charles du Luc. taught, applied arts Intermedes, dramatic were part of the pro- intervals between the gram: students learned recitations, were filled to sketch, construct, and with spirited dance num- paint trompe l’oeil bers that inspired mod- scenery and were given ern ballet practice, and practical lessons in rudi- their son e lumière mentary engineering so extravaganzas were the that their confreres fly- 17th- and 18th-century ing above the stage on equivalents of Industrial “The New Moses” by Thomas Lucas, S.J. A fragmented view of an ancient painted clouds would Light and Magic produc- Sinai icon. not crash.

Conversations 9 The ribbon surrounding the MGM lion reading Ars Gratia ers the arts as charming if irrelevant and unprofitable rem- Artis, “art for the sake of art,” would have been incomprehen- nants of bygone times. sible to Charles du Luc and his fellow professors. That 19th- Toward the end of his life and in the midst of much doubt century formulation, variously attributed to Théophile Gautier, and depression, Hopkins grappled with this same question in Benjamin Constant, and Edgar Alan Poe, is profoundly at odds his sonnet “To what serves mortal beauty.” His answer could with what might be characterized as the “instrumental” view of be the beginning of a discussion for us as educators in the the function of the arts in the early Jesuit tradition. Jesuit humanistic tradition: From the very beginning, the Jesuits used the arts for per- suasion. They built grand and beautiful churches and imposing TO what serves mortal beauty ' – dangerous; does set danc- college buildings, recruited artists to join the order, and ing blood – the O-seal-that-so ' feature, flung prouder form employed a stable of some of the best lay musicians, architects, Than Purcell tune lets tread to? ' See: it does this: keeps warm and artists of the early modern and baroque periods. Gian Men’s wits to the things that are; ' what good means – where a glance Lorenzo Bernini was a close friend of Jesuit General Gian Master more may than gaze, ' gaze out of countenance. 5 Paolo Oliva, and Carlo Maderno designed the basilica of St. Those lovely lads once, wet-fresh ' windfalls of war’s storm, Ignatius at Loyola in Spain. Rubens was a devout member of How then should Gregory, a father, ' have gleanèd else from swarm- Jesuit sodalities. Yet it would be a serious mistake to consider ed Rome? But God to a nation ' dealt that day’s dear chance. the Society’s interest in the arts as a mere aesthetic oddity or To man, that needs would worship ' block or barren stone, concern for making the bella figura. The arts were seen as Our law says: Love what are ' love’s worthiest, were all known; 10 means to an end, never an end in themselves: concrete, visi- World’s loveliest – men’s selves. Self ' flashes off frame and face. ble, audible ways to come into contact with the invisible and What do then? how meet beauty? ' Merely meet it; own, inaudible realm of spirit. Home at heart, heaven’s sweet gift; ' then leave, let that alone. The 1814 restoration of the Society of Jesus and its schools Yea, wish that though, wish all, ' God’s better beauty, grace. after the trauma of the suppression (1773-1814) saw the Jesuits return shell-shocked survivors of PTSS. In the half-century “See: it does this: keeps warm/men’s wits to the things that leading up to the suppression, the order’s schools had become are, what good means…” Hopkins reminds us that beauty, as locked into traditions and habits of mind that made it difficult expressed in art or in the elegance of a quadratic equation if not impossible for them to adapt to the times with the same or a DNA helix or the sunrise, opens the heart to the deep- agility that marked the early years of Jesuit education. With the est levels of our human experience: to ask the profound restoration, old customs were revived, old styles of pedagogy questions about meaning, value, goodness, dignity, and, ulti- were resurrected, old artistic styles that looked backwards and mately, hope. not to the present were embraced anew. Novelty was The multicultural milieu of the 21st century is, of course, eschewed at all costs, and with it a kind of benign philistinism radically different from that of baroque Europe or 19th-centu- came to rule in the Jesuits’ approach to the arts. Nothing too ry England’s “Commonwealth of Christendom.” Our formerly beautiful, nothing too lavish, nothing too daring was allowed. all-male, mostly Catholic institutions now serve diverse and Following the fortress mentality of the institutional Church in transcultural populations. As art historian Hans Belting charac- the aftermath of the French Revolution and throughout the terizes it, in former times art served religion; in these modern 19th and into the mid 20th centuries, caution was the watch- days, at least in major capitals, the “religion of art” – ars gratia word. For all practical purposes, no great art was inspired by artis – erects museums that overshadow and strive to displace or came out of Jesuit institutions, with the exception of the bril- the cathedrals of old. liant and tortured verse of English Jesuit Gerard Manley While our culture and our institutions have moved beyond Hopkins. His work was unappreciated and unpublished dur- the understanding that art must ever and always be instrumen- ing his short and painful life. Summarizing the attitudes of the tal, art continues to remind us that ultimate questions need to age he wrote sadly, “Brilliancy does not suit us.” be asked. University arts programs have the advantage of being So where does that leave us, in the second decade of the able to present those questions in a bewildering variety of non- 21st century? Our institutions, both universities and colleges, linear, postdidactic, pebble-in-the-shoe ways. have adopted modern curricula and have forgone the For those who are believers, beyond that reminder is the antique classical rigors of the Ratio Studiorum. While theater hope of “God’s better beauty, grace;” for all, art challenges us and music survived the suppression, the visual arts are a fair- with questions that can serve as antidotes to the paralyzing ly recent addition to the offerings in many of our schools. cynicism of “whatever.” As Hopkins insists, this is dangerous Clearly, the notion that art is and must be instrumental is not business, countercultural in the extreme. “Merely meet it; generally accepted in the culture at large and in our art own/Home at heart, heaven’s sweet gift; then leave, let that departments. The arts, visual and performing, are often the alone.” The answers, art teaches us, are not what matters. The first target when budget cuts loom on the horizon. The less questions do. ■ benign philistinism of our present age often enough consid-

10 Conversations Discernment in St. Ignatius Loyola

Guidelines for Individual Discernment

By Brian McDermott, S.J.

gnatius wrote his guidelines for I like to think of God as the master discern only how God wants them to Christians who are desirous of jazz musician who creatively makes use use their own freedom. Ordinarily, I growing in their relationship of whatever good choices we make so cannot discern how God wants with God through friendship that those choices contribute to the someone else to use their freedom. with Jesus and with the guid- realization of God’s project in the For example, I can discern that God ance of the Holy Spirit. The world, the bringing about of that reign. wants me to propose marriage to process of discernment helps The two basic conditions for another person, but I cannot discern the individual pay close atten- authentic discernment are (1) the deep that God wants me to marry that per- tion to the evidence God is desire to seek God’s will because it is son. Another freedom is most defi- giving the person who has God’s will and (2) Ignatian “indiffer- nitely in play here! actively sought help from God in their ence,” or freedom from bias regarding 2. I am always discerning how God Idecision-making. the alternatives being considered, so wants me to use my freedom in the Seeking God’s will in a particular that we are open to learning what here and now. situation is not a question of trying to God’s will is. 3. Given #2, future events neither con- determine what one thing God wants We are always seeking which one firm nor deny the rightness of a dis- me to do, what one thing fits into a pre- among several morally good alterna- cerned decision. I may get sick established plan of God. God’s relation- tives will contribute to the “greater tomorrow and not be able to con- ship with us is a mystery, but it helps us glory of God,” that is, will contribute tinue to implement the decision to choose a way of thinking about more to the whole-making of creation made today. That just means that I God’s will that allows room for both (myself included) in union with God. God’s freedom and our freedom. After There are some limits to this whole all, that’s how God creates us, to be process of Christian decision-making. Brian McDermott, S.J., is a special free partners in collaborating with the (Here I am drawing on the great work assistant to the president and adjunct Divine as God strives to bring about the of Fr. Jules Toner, S.J.) professor of Catholic studies at fullness of God’s reign. (God’s reign is Georgetown University. the world as God desires it to be.) 1. Persons discerning God’s will may

Conversations 11 need to do some more discerning in quence of this choice might be that she desires for the person. The process is the new “here and now.” will be alone the rest of her life. Still, completed when the person senses that 4. Another corollary of the above is over time, she makes the choice to end the questions that needed answering that there is not an ounce of predic- the relationship, trusting in God. were indeed answered by the Spirit- tion in discernment. I don’t learn The second situation involves the guided reasoning process. about the shape of the future, even discerner making use of feelings of spir- Jane, a young professor of social of the immediate future, from a well itual consolation and spiritual desola- ethics at a Jesuit college, needs to make executed discernment process. tion. Spiritual consolation is a light or a decision about how to spend her sab- 5. I can discern only about something joyful feeling that is simultaneously batical semester. Over time it becomes that I have a right to discern. For experienced as encouraging deeper clear to her that she could spend the example, I may not discern to do trust in God; spiritual desolation is a whole time writing several articles and something sinful (to state the obvi- heavy or depressive feeling that is trying to get them published. But she ous) nor may I discern something simultaneously experienced as discour- also recognizes that she might prof- that does not fit my state of life. aging one from trusting God or encour- itably spend a few weeks volunteering aging one to believe that God doesn’t at a nearby L’Arche, a faith community Ignatius offers three situations of really care. Ignatius further wants the whose core members are people with Christian decision-making, each charac- discerner to determine whether the intellectual disabilities. terized by a different kind of evidence spiritual consolation is deceptive or She prays earnestly for the Holy from God. I believe that these are three authentic, that is, over time does it lead Spirit’s guidance while carefully weigh- “pure” cases, which are very helpful for to God and the things of God or in the ing the pros and cons of the alterna- our learning. But in real life, many peo- opposite direction. tives. She asks for Ignatian “indiffer- ple make decisions, even very good As another example, for a couple of ence” as well, so as to be open to God’s ones, in a more complex, zigzag fashion. weeks David finds himself drawn a desire about the alternatives. Over time In the first situation there is actual- number of times to make a weekend the most convincing reason for the sec- ly no need for discernment, at least at silent retreat. He notices that each time ond alternative is that it would provide the very moment when the person is in the spontaneous impulse emerges out an opportunity for her to be exposed to this situation. There are three elements of authentic spiritual consolation. The people on the margins, the kind of to the situation. First, the person finds impulse and the feeling are connected, folks she teaches about all the time. She him- or herself spontaneously drawn to with the latter acting like a root or concludes her discernment process a particular course of action. Second, at matrix whence the impulse arises. This with the tentative decision to combine the same time the person has the cog- connection gives David reason to think time at L’Arche with time devoted to nitive sense that choosing this course that the impulse is of God. But then for writing. She offers her decision to God action is of God. And third, the person a stretch of time he experiences himself and asks for confirmation, if God is finds that at the moment he or she is a couple of times as drawn to spend the willing to give it. After some days she not able to doubt either the first or sec- weekend with his aging father. Once hears within herself the words: ond aspects of the process. This emi- again the spontaneous impulse is “Become friends with poor people!” nently clear situation happens more accompanied by authentic spiritual con- She accepts this as confirmation often than we tend to think. (That does- solation. Because this situation confus- because of the deep place within her n’t mean that the following day some es him, he brings the two experiences from which the interior words emerged. questions might not arise: for example, to someone experienced in spiritual All three times are valid, each in its what exactly was given me yesterday? guidance. It becomes clear that the spir- own right. Ignatius says that if time Does the course of action fit what itual consolation accompanying the allows, we, like Jane, can ask God for Christian faith tells me? Does the course impulse to visit his father is consider- confirmation, either by God’s giving us a of action fit my vocation and who I am ably stronger than the earlier consola- different kind of evidence or a repetition as a person?) tion. His guide suggests that this can be of the evidence that helped us earlier. Let me give a brief example. Anne is evidence that visiting his father would Ignatian discernment of God’s will in a relationship that is bothering her be more to God’s glory. is a process of partnering with God in greatly. She feels that something is terri- In the third situation, the person is one of the most important dimensions bly askew; she is in danger of losing con- relatively calm and, as in the other situ- of human living: decision-making. By nection with her true self. The sponta- ations, deeply desirous of doing God’s participating in this process we are neous impulse arises in her to break off will. Not having intuitive certitude or seeking to discover how we can best the relationship. Deep down she senses spiritual feelings, the individual uses his contribute to God’s project in the that this is in attunement with her true or her reason, weighing pros and cons world, the transformation of all things self (a way of saying that it is “of God”). and considering possible consequences into the new creation God is laboring to She senses a deep conviction about the of the various courses of action. The bring about. ■ rightness of this move while at the same person asks the Holy Spirit to guide the time she is very afraid that the conse- reasoning process to lead to what God

12 Conversations Discernment in St. Ignatius Loyola Group Discernment: Caring for the Common Good

By Brian McDermott, S.J.

roup discernment thinking about seeking the Spirit’s tribute to the implementation stage offers an opportu- assistance to do God’s will. or only certain designated members. nity for teams of The second major difference The seat of final decision-mak- people at a col- from ordinary decision-making is ing must also be clear from the start. lege or university that in group discernment all of the It can be a person, a subgroup, a to engage in deci- participating members seek to offer majority vote of the discerning sion-making with the very best input they can regard- group, or a person or agency outside a more unbiased ing all of the proposed alternatives. the group. The decision-maker is spirit than might In ordinary group decision-making, responsible for gathering all the otherwise be individuals often have their own input from the members, determin- present in the process. The spiritual convictions about the correct way to ing the course of action to take, and freedomG at the heart of such a dis- proceed and seek to convince others explaining the principal reasons for cernment offers hope that the deci- of the rightness of their position. In this course of action. If the decision- sion arrived at will be more richly group discernment, however, they maker is a member of the discerning framed than otherwise and will bet- desire to arrive at the richest possible group, he or she has to be one voice ter serve the common good. In addi- framing of the issue(s) facing the among the many during the tion, discernment allows the partici- group and the most robust expres- evaluation and recommendation. pants to partner with God in the sion of the cons and pros. Subsequent to the group discern- process, thus deepening the The overall decision-making ment, the decision-maker will need resources for their decision. process involves four stages: (1) to do his or her own individual dis- A major feature that distinguish- evaluation (“what is the present state cernment with regard to the actual es group discernment from ordinary of affairs, dimension of the problem, decision (“given the discerned input decision-making is that each mem- seriousness of the crisis, etc.?”); (2) of the group, what decision does ber engages in individual discern- recommendation (“what are alterna- God want me to make here and ment at every step of the process. tives we might choose to address the now?”). The discerned recommenda- This means that each member is situation?”); (3) decision (“what will tion of the group informs but does always asking for the Holy Spirit’s be done?”); and (4) implementation not determine the final decision. assistance for openness, for freedom (“by whom and how will the agreed- At each step of the process from bias, and for the grace to find upon decision be carried out?”). members must not seek to answer what God wants the individual to Evaluation and recommendation the question, “What does God want bring to the table at each stage of the should be distinct from implementa- the group to do?” Rather, the ques- decision-making. Each member is tion of the decision. The roles of the tion is always, “What is it that God praying and striving for a good individual members need to be clear wants me to say to the group to con- measure of Ignatian “indifference,” at each stages. All members need to tribute to its corporate discernment?” volitional freedom, so as to be able do their own individual discernment Discernment can involve healthy to hear and do God’s will. In ordi- about what God wants them to bring conflict, since God may be asking dif- nary decision-making, the individu- to the table during the evaluation ferent individuals to bring forward dif- als may seek to become free of bias- and recommendation stages. At the ferent perspectives. The contributions es, but they usually advocate for a outset they need to be clear whether of genuine individual discernment will particular position without even all members will be asked to con- never be contradictory, however,

Conversations 13 because individual discernment All the members of the team have sons in favor at the following meeting. always bears on how God wants the taken workshops at this Jesuit univer- During the process they are all individual discerner to act freely in the sity on Ignatian values and discern- struck by the changed atmosphere of here and now. In other words, in the ment. They agree that they want to be the decision-making. Three new context of group discernment, the discerning in their deciding. Not all experiences they name were: (1) there individuals involved are always ask- members of the team are believers, seems to be a marked decrease of ing: “What insights, reasons, consider- but all are willing to relate to Spirit – personal stress; (2) everyone feels ations does God want me to bring to that is, God or their true self – for united in seeking what is best for the the group at this juncture in the assistance in their process. department and the university; and (3) process?” There must be time for The first thing they do is to meet all are energized by the common task individual prayer and reflection and pray for the Spirit’s guidance dur- of bringing their best thinking to bear before each group session; after that, ing the whole process. They ask the on both sides of each alternative. As a individuals bring the fruit of their Spirit’s guidance at each step, individ- result of this process, many perspec- individual discernment to the group. ually and as a group. Then they indi- tives are “put on the table” and this In considering alternatives the vidually reflect on the best way to makes the discussions very rich. negative should be considered first frame the alternatives. Returning to At the end they come to a com- and then, often in a second session, the full group, they share what they mon decision to select alternative “c”: the positive. All must contribute to have come to individually, listening to they will reduce the programs offered the session(s). In the course of the each other very carefully. Then they to both constituencies each year by group deliberation it may well hap- go back to reflect and pray over the 15%. The principal reason that pen that a contribution from one or input from the whole group, and then emerged was that it is important each more of the discerners may call for a they return again to the whole group year to expose at least some members reframing of the question, issue, or to share what they sense is the best of both constituencies to the perspec- alternatives. The point is to develop framing of the alternatives. tives on leadership for mission. But as rich a framing of the issues and another conclusion they come to, as alternatives as possible. an offshoot of the process, is to advo- The discerning group needs to cate to the higher authorities on agree ahead of time about how to behalf of restoring full funding of the come to a conclusion about the rec- programs, making the strongest possi- ommendation(s) to be made to the ble arguments about how these pro- final decision-maker. And it must grams foster the greater good for the agree at the start of the process to university, because they contribute to accept the decision-maker’s decision. a shared understanding and advance- The first two stages are consultative ment of the Jesuit identity and mis- in nature. The decision-maker’s dis- sion. The head of the human cernment, on the other hand, is the resources department agrees to executive decision. At the end of the engage in this advocacy, and the process the individual members department begins the practice – need to pray for an open and coop- which it hopes will be short-lived – of erative spirit, particularly if the deci- fter lis- reducing the number of programs sion went contrary to their desires. tening to each other they are delight- offered to the two constituencies. Let me offer a brief example of ed to notice that they are in agree- Group discernment is a remark- the process. A small team of admin- ment that the alternatives are the fol- able process that shifts a group’s istrators in university human A decision-making from being a lowing: (a) to reduce by 25% the resources is facing a challenge. number of leadership for mission pro- process it carries on its own collec- Higher-ups have seriously reduced grams for administrative staff at the tive shoulders to a process that it is their budget for the new fiscal year, university; or (b) to reduce by 25% the shared with Spirit, whose resources and they have to make some tough number of leadership for mission and commitment to the common decisions about how to allocate workshops for full-time faculty; or (c) good far exceeds the human their reduced funds. They can’t con- to reduce by about 15% programs for resources of the group. Dependence tinue to fund all the projects they both constituencies. They reflect and on God, dependence on the deepest previously underwrote. What proj- pray about each alternative by bring- ground of our humanity, makes the ects should be dropped or reduced ing forward reasons against the alter- yoke and burden of making tough in size? native at one meeting and then rea- decisions easier and lighter. ■

14 Conversations The Grace of Directing the Exercises

By Scott Coble, S.J.

o direct the Spiritual Exercises is to be a Mary to Elizabeth. This off-handed suggestion on my part led privileged witness to the deepening of to an extremely fruitful and consoling prayer for the the love relationship between God and retreatant and gave her some important insight into her life the retreatant. I have had the opportuni- outside the retreat. Many times, a little bump from the Spirit ty to direct the full 30-day Exercises for has prompted a prayer suggestion which ends up being about 30 men and women. I have also valuable to the retreatant. T directed several people through the Retreatants move through the major stages of the retreat Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life as the Holy Spirit directs, not according to some imposed (SEEL), a program that spreads the Exercises throughout a schedule. Often they worry that they are behind or ahead of period of several months at a less intense level. Finally, I where they should be. My role as director is to keep have directed several people through an eight-day abbrevi- retreatants focused on their own personal relationship with ated version of the Exercises. God. They may finish in 30 days, but with different amounts To direct the Exercises is to enter into the relationship of time in each stage. One retreatant completed the 30-day between God and the retreatant in such a way that the true retreat well after the official 30 days. director of the retreat, the Holy Spirit, has as clear and free Inspiration does not stop at the end of the last day of the a hand with the retreatant as possible. In one sense, this retreat. The Holy Spirit in the Spiritual Exercises helps means that I, as director, will do as much as I can to stay out enlighten the retreatant about the future and gives the of the way of the Spirit. In a more active sense, this means retreatant the spiritual tools he or she needs to discern the that I will try to positively nurture the relationship between continuing call. And this means my role as director phases God and the retreatant. out, leaving the retreatant better able to hear and to follow One aspect of this nurturing is to provide retreatants the Spirit in real life. with a way to talk about their experiences in prayer. Some Besides the deepening of the relationship between God are unaccustomed to paying attention to the emotions and and the retreatant, I also find that my own relationship to spiritual movements that arise during prayer. I can help them God is enhanced by the process of directing the exercises. find the words to describe these and help sort them out. My own prayer life deepens. As I assist the retreatant, I Others after several days of very easy and consoling prayer am looking more explicitly for how the Spirit is moving. In hit the wall with what seems to be a miserable, wasted day. giving instruction to the retreatant, I also am giving instruc- This gives me an opening to discuss consolation and desola- tion to myself. As I ask the retreatant to describe his or her tion in prayer, to validate their experience, and to tell them emotional events during prayer, I become more aware of that this does not mean that their prayer is bad in some way. those movements that are happening in me as I converse A second aspect of this nurturing is to suggest the next with the retreatant. Finally, the retreatants’ perspectives help step, based upon the retreatant’s experience so far. This is me to refine and refresh my own. not telling the retreatant that, since this is day 14, the con- I also find that my trust in the working of the Holy Spirit templation must be a particular Gospel passage. Rather, the steadily increases as I gain more experiences in direction. At the Holy Spirit is the true director, and the retreatant and I are beginning of a retreat, I often wonder just how and if every- trying to discern the Spirit’s direction. As I listen to the thing will come together. And by the end I once again stand retreatants’ experiences from day to day, and as the amazed at the wonderful and often completely unexpected retreatants hear themselves, clarity of direction arises on ways in which the Holy Spirit accomplishes her mission. ■ many levels, from suggesting the particular day’s prayer to progressing through the main stages of the retreat, to dis- cerning God’s call beyond the retreat. Scott Coble, S.J., assistant professor of mathematics at In day-to-day steps, the Spirit might simply lead a Gonzaga University, has during the last 25 years directed the retreatant through one of the Gospels. But often the Spirit 30-day Spiritual Exercises, the Spiritual Exercises in Everyday may move in an unexpected way. For one retreatant, I sug- Life, and several eight-day retreats both in Spokane and at gested that, if so moved, she might look at the visitation of the Jesuit Retreat Center in Los Altos, California.

Conversations 15 Say WHAT?! The Ambiguity of Ignatian Terminology

By David Nantais

anguage can be confusing, but spiritual need to translate our antiquated terminology so they can language can be particularly confounding understand it. “Indifference” is a particularly trouble- because its specialized terminology can some word, as Ignatius’s intended meaning is so radical- take on several different meanings for the ly different from its use in the contemporary vernacular. casual listener. Ignatian spirituality is not The word indifference appears in the Principle and immune to this problem. Those who read Foundation at the beginning of the Exercises right after Conversations are likely familiar with sev- the annotations. According to Ivens, “indifference” need eral Ignatian terms, such as “Magis,” not possess a negative meaning. “The indifference of the “AMDG,” and “Examen,” that are parlayed Exercises is a stance before God, and what makes it possi- about at meetings, on retreats, and in casu- ble – and also something quite other than either apathy or al conversation on the job. Those of us who use these stoicism – is a positive desire for God and his will.” Lterms may assume that those to whom we are speaking Indifference is a grace that ultimately opens our hearts to understand loud and clear what we are communicating. God so that we choose that which is the most good. This may not be the case. The late Dean Brackley, in his exquisite book The One valuable resource for all students of the Call to Discernment in Troubled Times, also attempts to Exercises is the excellent book by Michael Ivens, S.J., clarify the meaning of indifference. “Indifference means Understanding the Spiritual Exercises (Gracewing Press, inner freedom. It is the capacity to sense and then 1998). Ivens goes step-by-step through the Exercises and embrace what is best, even when that goes against our explains in detail what Ignatius was attempting to com- inclinations.” The most significant misunderstanding municate to retreat directors (and indirectly to about indifference is that it means lack of passion or retreatants) through his language. Ivens is particularly apathy. Not so, writes Brackley, “It means being so pas- helpful in explaining the terms indifference, consolation, sionately and single-mindedly committed, so completely and desolation. in love, that we are willing to sacrifice anything, includ- Ten years ago I wrote a piece for the journal Studies ing our lives, for the ultimate goal.” (Brackley, 12) in the Spirituality of Jesuits titled, “‘Whatever!’ Is NOT Consolation and desolation are also frustratingly Ignatian Indifference: Jesuits and the Ministry to Young ambiguous terms. When someone loses a loved one, we Adults.” I recall at the time hearing young adults use the try to console them, meaning ease their pain and provide term “Whatever!” often to imply a lack of concern or a comfort. In common parlance, desolation implies despair “blowing off” of something they had no time or patience or depression. Ignatius’s use of the terms consolation and to confront. I formed an image in my mind of an elder- desolation means something different entirely. These are ly Jesuit walking through a college campus, hearing stu- spiritual terms, not derived from textbook psychology. dents utter this term, and reflecting, “How wonderful that our young people today are so open to ‘whatever’ the Lord desires of them!” This was my tongue-in-cheek David Nantais is director of university ministry and attempt to illustrate that not only do ministers need to adjunct professor of philosophy and religious studies at understand young people’s language, but that we also University of Detroit Mercy.

16 Conversations Ivens sheds light on the intended meaning in the and unites us to others – for example, when we are Exercises: “In the last analysis, consolation ‘consoles’ mourning the death of a friend and wish to be nowhere because whatever its form, whether unambiguous or else but there, sharing that family’s loss.” (Brackley, 49) implicit and discreet, it is a felt experience of God’s love On the other hand, “Desolation drains us of energy. We building up the Christ-life in us. And what characterizes are attracted to the gospel of self-satisfaction. We feel every form of spiritual desolation is a felt sense of disso- drawn backward into ourselves. Life feels burdensome, nance which is the echo in consciousness of an influ- the thought of generous service repugnant, devotional ence tending of its nature to undermine the Christ-life, practices boring and distasteful. God seems absent, and hence in the case of a person who remains funda- God’s love unreal.” (Brackley, 49-50) mentally Christ-oriented to contradict their most deep- Language is fluid, which makes it both fascinating seated inclinations.” (Ivens, 206) and frustrating. This is especially true of spiritual lan- Brackley also fleshes out the meaning of consola- guage, which needs to adapt to changing times while tion and desolation. “Though pleasant, consolation is dif- simultaneously maintaining aspects of the original inten- ferent from pleasure. Whereas pleasure passes with its tion of the author. In The Book Thief author Markus stimulus, consolation produces abiding peace and joy.” Zusak writes, “I have hated words and I have loved (Brackley, 48) Consolation can feel like an intense high them, and I hope I have made them right.” I share this or it can be a subtle warmth. Brackley writes that conso- sentiment, and I think Ignatius would concur. If not, lation is definitely not equated with happiness, as it can then, “Whatever!”. ■ also come in the form of “redemptive sorrow that heals

dents as persons. They are certainly the exception. The Mission Matters: Jesuits have no monopoly on cura personalis, a quality one expects every teacher to have. What Do Jesuits Mean By The first documented use of the term cura personalis in a Jesuit context appeared in a 1951 letter to provincial Cura Personalis? superiors by Jean-Baptiste Janssens, S.J., Superior General of the Jesuits. He urged the provincials to balance their By Anthony McGinn, S.J. concern for the welfare of Jesuit schools and other institu- tions with a care for individual Jesuits. Assignments of hen the Jesuits try to explain the background of Jesuits should not be made solely for the benefit of the their mission in education, they frequently point works; the provincial must also exercise cura personalis W to the experience of their founder, Ignatius of and consider the personal needs of the Jesuits. Loyola, and his early companions. Their spiritual experi- Misunderstandings develop when one removes the ences provided the ground work for the educational sys- Ignatian term from its original context. The term cura per- tem that quickly developed after the founding of the sonalis was not widely used in Jesuit educational circles Society of Jesus in 1540. until about 30 years ago. For centuries, the Jesuits certainly Today the term Ignatian is used to describe all sorts practiced personal care for their students, but they did not of praiseworthy educational and formational develop- write about it as if it were a constitutive part of the Society's ments; some, however, are only tangentially related to charism. Perhaps the contemporary concern for cura per- the experience of Ignatius and his companions. sonalis reflects our own historically conditioned context Sometimes the use of Ignatian terms devolves into rather than a value deeply rooted in the spiritual experi- jargon. One of the most commonly misapplied Ignatian ence of Ignatius and the other the early Jesuits. ■ term is the Latin cura personalis, which means care for the individual person. Anthony McGinn, S.J., former special assistant to the The personal care for students is hardly a unique Missouri-New Orleans Province, is currently president of Jesuit value. Claiming that cura personalis is distinctively Jesuit High School, New Orleans. This article appeared Jesuit is tantamount to trying to copyright the alphabet. under “Mission Matters” at the St. Louis University web- Perhaps there have been some cultures and schools site, Oct. 29, 2013. where teachers were not expected to care about the stu-

Conversations 17 Spirituality in a Local World Beyond the Divide of Theism/Atheism

By Paul Waldau

am what some people refer to as an “atheist” meaning. For me, what is at stake in pursuing a wisdom tra- since I have never had experiences that would dition is something immediate about human life - this is our lead me to theism. This absence of theistic expe- inevitable encounter with what drove Fr. Thomas Berry’s riences has prevailed despite the fact that, for observation that “[i]ndeed we cannot be truly ourselves in more than five decades, I have immersed myself any adequate manner without all our companion beings in the study of religious traditions and commu- throughout the earth. The larger community constitutes our Inities, obtained three degrees in the study of greater self. religion, talked with countless others interested ”I think that both theists and atheists encounter this in this vital topic, and written a number of books that aspect of our lives but sometimes fail to notice it or, if they address religious traditions squarely. As I study religion, I use do, to take it seriously. Berry’s insight is embodied in an a perspective on the admittedly popular issue of “theism ver- equally important observation made by Viktor Frankl in his sus atheism” that may seem unusual to both theists and athe- Man’s Search for Meaning: “self-actualization is possible only ists alike. In summary, I prefer to get beyond the as a side-effect of self-transcendence.” atheism/theism division. The Exercises, in my experience, repeatedly open one This desire to get beyond the theism/atheism divide led up to self-transcendence and the more-than-human world me to pursue various aspects of the Spiritual Exercises with because, borrowing a phrase from Walter Burghardt, S.J., Tom Colgan, S.J., at Canisius College. Over time, Tom and I they immerse one in “a long, loving look at the real.” It takes became good friends through sharing freely. On my side, I Ignatian patience and humility, I think, as well as both gen- felt free to share my experiences of love found in family, a erosity and a willingness to respect, to see other beings for committed marriage, and friendships with people around the who and what each really is. With this approach, one can world. I was also able to share what I have learned from discern the actualities of both humans and nonhumans only involvement in social causes that affirm the dignity of human if one is willing to set aside one’s preexisting expectations lives and through writing and lecturing publicly about ethics and beliefs about the profound realities that surround us and the importance of caring about the natural world and every day of our lives. our nonhuman neighbors. Although I sometimes fail in my efforts to live out these As I embarked upon my exploration of the Ignatian tra- insights, I am deeply thankful for those features of the dition with Fr. Tom, I recognized that what is at stake for Ignatian spirituality tradition that prompt me to recognize many others who embark on this journey is not what was at that there are more foundational questions for me to ask stake for me. I respect that it is normal that theists seek in than whether someone I encounter is an advocate of theism these Exercises an affirmation of their belief in God. I sus- or atheism. Foremost among the questions I ask each day as pect, too, that what is at stake for non-theists who pursue I try to negotiate our extraordinarily complicated and fric- this or any other wisdom tradition is something parallel – tiony human societies are “Does this person care about and namely, an affirmation of their existing view. help others?” and “If so, who are those others?” ■ But as I worked with Fr. Tom, I sensed that something else can be achieved through the Exercises and that this alternative achievement is separate and apart from an affir- Paul Waldau teaches courses on anthrozoology, animal mation of one side or another of the stark dualism inherent law, and the ethics of human/animal relationships at in a “theism versus atheism” framing of our human search for Canisius College and Harvard University.

18 Conversations Grace Becomes Us Reflections on the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises from a Buddhist Perspective

By Paul W. Humphreys

ot long after the 2005 premiere of an interfaith “ My experience of Buddhism encompasses study work that I had composed as a response to the events of September 11, 2001, a colleague- with four teachers over a period of forty years as friend and I sought out Randy Roche, S.J., co- a lay practitioner of Soto and Rinzai Zen; this director of LMU’s Center for Ignatian Spirituality, as a mentor for the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises. includes a regimen of daily practice as well as During the course of study and contemplation that followed, I was never shy (as my co-exerci- two or more silent retreats (sesshin) each year.” Ntant and mentor can readily attest) to point out coherences between texts of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises and texts that I have come to know through Buddhist study and practice. The Daodejing (49): “The wise have no minds of their own.” Both “Principle and Foundation” (annotation 23), together with the passages call for ever deeper examination of the unquestion- insightful exegesis of Joseph A. Tetlow, S.J., comes to mind as ing assumption of a fixed self that claims, and thereby limits an early example. (some Buddhist texts say “imprisons”), identity. Father Tetlow’s exegesis reads: “When we are under no In an essay entitled ”Finding God in All Things,” Michael obligation of conscience, we ought to keep ourselves free of any Himes has suggested that agape – which he translates from fixed preference.” I could not help but be reminded of the the Greek as “self-gift” – is the “least wrong” metaphor for Xinxin Ming (Faith-mind inscription) of the Third Zen Ancestor, God. Fr. Himes goes on to say that grace is the activity of Sengcan (d. ca 600 C.E.): “If you wish to know the truth, then God calling all things into being. In this respect, grace aligns hold to no opinions for or against anything. … To set up what in a very nearly exact way with the activity that Buddhism you like against what you dislike is the disease of the mind.” calls “conditioned co-origination” (Sanskrit: pratîtyasamut- (See: Harada, Shodo. Sansokanchi Zenji on believing in mind pâdha; Japanese: engi). My principal teacher, Kyozan Joshu www.onedropzen.org/uploads/Shinjinnomei_first_part). Sasaki, often referred to this as “dharma activity” and was Before long, passages of Scripture also had begun to sug- equally content to call it “the embrace of God’s love.” That gest resonance with Buddhist teachings. Compare Hebrews metaphor again! 2:9, in which Christ’s vow to “taste death for every man” aligns If, as Fr. Teilhard de Chardin has written, “the problem with the vow of a Bodhisatva to liberate all beings, “however to which all of this leads is love,” then we are obliged to ask numberless.” At a point several months into the Exercises, the what precisely is the problem. In my experience of both prayer attributed to St. Teresa of Ávila came to my attention: Ignatian and Buddhist spiritual practices, it is the conundrum “Christ has no body but yours.” As a meditation that seemed of using myself to give myself away, of using will to attain to consonant with Ignatius’s “Contemplation of the Incarnation” will-lessness, of “catching on and letting go” to the one [102–104], I adapted the text as, “Christ has no body now but moment at hand. And to a faith that in that moment Grace mine.” The resonance here is with the Sixth Zen Ancestor, Hui- becomes me. ■ neng (638–713 C.E.): “Apart from your own Buddha nature, there is no other Buddha.” In January, our consideration of “Matters about which an Election Should be Made” (Sp. Ex. 170–188) pointed to an Paul W. Humphreys serves as an associate dean, professor earlier teaching within the Exercises “to have no desire of music, and director of world music in the college of com- for…benefice or anything else unless Divine Majesty has put munication and fine arts at Loyola Marymount University proper order into those desires” (Sp. Ex. 16). Compare with the in Los Angeles.

Conversations 19 Ignatius: oil and maps on canvas by Holly Schapker. Available and Willing

By Holly Schapker

even years ago I completed the As I got to know St. Ignatius, I was surprised Spiritual Exercises under the by how much I related to this man who lived at the guidance of Darrell Burns, S.J. turn of the 16th century. I was inspired to create a One can do the Exercises with- series of paintings based on his life and spirituali- out departing for an extended ty. I named these works Adsum because that is the retreat and instead make them Latin word for Mary’s response when Gabriel while going on in one’s every- asked her to have the son of God. It means, “I am day normal course of life. That is here and completely available and willing to serve Swhat I did. I practiced them daily and met with my God.” The Spiritual Exercises moved me closer to director once a week. This changed my whole per- that point. spective on life and, most particularly, on my art- The third week of the Spiritual Exercises deals work. Before my experience of the Exercises, I with the crucifixion and then resurrection of Christ. was a traditional landscape painter, concentrating I realized that a God who can make something as on developing my skills and hoping that my art ugly and horrible as what happened in the passion would be successful by looking the way I wanted at Calvary into something beautiful can make any- it to look. Being so focused on the outcome thing I offer him into something beautiful as well. brought a lot of strife because I was trying to con- I discovered that my insecurities regarding my tal- trol the end result. The Spiritual Exercises helped ents were blocking my creativity. Comparing my me understand that I am not the sole creator of my skills to other artists’ is a futile, masochistic habit. work, but a co-creator with God. I now listen to I relinquished these character defects to the Black my work and allow it to give me the answers. I Madonna just as St. Ignatius did with his sword as stay open in the creative process with a trust that a statement that he would thereafter become a pil- all has a purpose, even the mistakes, twists, and grim for God. This is one of the best things I ever turns, and that the end result is exactly as it is did for myself and my creative process, as it intended by God to be. knocked those self-defeating thoughts out of the

Conversations 21 Above: In September 2014 Holly Schapker spoke at Rockhurst University about how she draws her inspiration from the mission of St. Ignatius Loyola. Seen here with her painting Shoes: oil and maps on canvas.

Left: Angel 2: oil on canvas.

studio. This surrender allowed me like a practical holy experience. to let go of others’ expectations of There is an intersection in the me as an artist, and rather than creative process where my heart compare myself to other talented is guiding my hands and I expe- artists I now express art in my own rience timelessness as I am in the unique way. present moment, filled with love. Ignatius Loyola’s Spiritual Although there was a great deal Exercises continue to be alive in of pain and frustration before this my life today. All of those old was experienced, I bow to all of paintings, which I considered a my struggles and the Spiritual failure because I could not Exercises to get me to the point resolve them, now have new life. of knowing this. ■ I see answers and beauty in those old paintings, and it's a joy to Holly Schapker graduated from paint on them. Each painting ses- Xavier University in 1992. sion begins with an acknowledg- Adsum, which summarizes her ment of God’s grandeur and an interpretation of St. Ignatius’s offering up of my work for God’s mission and her own journey is purpose. I am now more interest- prominently displayed in the ed in the process than concerned mission and identity offices at with the results Xavier University. Please visit Because of the Spiritual her website at Exercises, I experience more www.hollyschapker.com moments in my studio that seem

22 Conversations Finding God and Being Surprised

By Maggie MacKenzie

aving gone to Catholic My spiritual advisor’s name and this was completely my school my entire life I was Patricia Brennan, and she choice. Patricia just guided me. often took my faith and truly changed my life. She was Two years later I am grateful religion for granted. I kind, patient, and generous, that my 19-year-old self decided always knew it was a among many other wonderful to take “Finding God in All Hpart of me, as I was continually things. She simply cannot be Things” and that Patricia Brennan taught, but I did not always under- properly described--that is how was placed in my life. That year stand it and rarely placed much amazing I think she is. was a year of lots of events that trust in my God. This, thankfully, I was hesitant and timid to tested my strength. The lessons changed as I matured and went open up to her at first, but she and wisdom that Patricia gave through certain circumstances that never pushed nor pried informa- me changed my life. She gave me made me actually want to turn to tion out of me. She simply let me the tools to understand, practice, my faith for answers and guidance. decide when that time would be. and appreciate my faith. I credit much of this change to my We first talked only about the reli- I wish that everyone were able religion class during my sopho- gious passages that were to have a “Spiritual Exercise” more year at Fairfield University. assigned because I was still get- assignment. In a way it was amaz- I originally took this class to ting used to the idea of having a ing to have one hour a week ded- fulfill my core requirement and spiritual advisor. icated to my religion and to for the three credits it promised, But as the weeks went on, I strengthening my faith in God. I nothing more. It was titled found myself looking forward to have never had an assignment “Finding God in All Things.” After our meetings and actually, for the leave as big of an impact as this receiving the syllabus, I noticed a first time, excited to talk about one. Even two years later I am still certain assignment that was quite the religion I have been practic- grateful for it. It taught me that it is different from anything I had ing and learning about my entire okay to question, study, practice, ever been assigned before and, life. I read the biblical passages and lean on my faith. As a senior to be honest, I was less than she assigned me and found ready to graduate and transition thrilled with the time it required myself fully understanding what into the next stage of my life, I will from my busy schedule. This they meant. I found comfort in not only cherish my meetings with assignment was titled “Spiritual the readings and relied on them Patricia, but I will put to practice all Exercises” and required each stu- when things were tough. It was that she taught me about myself dent to meet with a spiritual also wonderful because I took and my religion. For that I will for- counselor once a week to discuss these religious teachings to heart ever be in debt to her. I look for- certain faith-filled readings and and was able to create a bridge ward to repaying her. ■ to write a 10-page reflection between my faith and the rest of paper about our experience with my life; my relationship with God Maggie McKenzie is a senior at these meetings. Although I was was slowly becoming more and Fairfield University. at first skeptical and weary of this more important too. It was, for task, I dutifully met with my the first time, becoming a vital counselor every week. part of my day-to-day activities

Conversations 23 Personal Experiences ......

o, where do I live? In Exercises ask me to consider whom or what do I where I have lived and where I abide? Since beginning On Becoming make my home today, in both a the process of entering literal and metaphorical sense. the Society of Jesus a few a Jesuit The answers provide predictable yearsS ago and subsequently follow- indicators of how I have respond- ing the Spiritual Exercises, I have ed in the past and how I will act encountered these questions as cen- By Thomas Curran in the future. tral to my spiritual life. Initially, I Jerome Nadal, an early Jesuit, thought I was being asked about my is credited the expression that association or membership. I dis- “the world is our home.” For me, covered, however, that I am being the Exercises transform Nadal’s asked how I proceed, live my life, phrase into questions: In what and lead others. world do I live? Where do I abide? When I consider the Where do I make my home, my Contemplation on the Love of dwelling place? On a daily basis, God, I am reminded that love is my colleagues and companions in shown in deeds and in the mutual the Jesuit enterprise of higher sharing of goods. In short, the education should be able to know Exercises invite me to live in love, and understand “where I am com- to proceed in love, and to lead ing from.” always in love, never in fear, If I live, abide, and move in resentment, anger, or regret. God’s love, the tasks, both signifi- Where I live impacts how I cant and quotidian, don’t become proceed. If I live in fear, I will act easier, but my way of proceeding and respond in fear. However, will be consistent and clear. when I live and abide in love, I act Clarity, after all, is not such a bad accordingly. During my experience thing. That’s what happened to of the Exercises, I spent a signifi- Ignatius at Manresa. After almost a cant amount of time with the year in reflection and composing Gospel according to John in which the Exercises, while overlooking one’s abode and dwelling is a the Cardoner River, he received recurring theme. Here I revisited the recline as a child does in the arms of a clarity. God wanted him to live, dwell, Greek words, mone and meno. Mone parent. Additionally, the call challenges and abide…in his love and grace. I join (νομισμα-) is a noun meaning room, me to release the past, future, and even him in prayer and with the belief that it dwelling, or abode. Meno (παραμένω my professional and self-development. will be enough. ■ - μὲνω) is a verb meaning to remain, Where I live, abide, and dwell stay, and abide. Throughout the directs or animates how I will proceed Fr. Thomas Curran, president of Gospel, the Greek words are used to and lead. As the president of a Jesuit Rockhurst University, entered religious describe the call to discipleship which university, awareness of where I dwell life as an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales is modeled upon the relationship and and in whom I abide is essential. Such and is currently in a transitional peri- community of the Trinitarian God: “In awareness is essential for everyone. od as part of a process to become a my father’s house, there are many The fact is that we all lead through the Jesuit. Previously, he served as associ- dwellings” (14: 2); “I abide in the examples we provide and share with ate vice president for university rela- Father and the Father abides in me (14: others. Where I live, in whom and what tions and assistant to the president at 11); “Abide in me as I abide in you” I abide, provide predictable indicators Regis University. (15: 4). This recurrence of “abide,” of how I will proceed in life and lead “dwelling,” “abide in,” and “live in” others. I recall the phrase “where one brings forth an intense call to rest in is coming from.” It can be used literal- God, to make my home in God, to ly and metaphorically. For me, the

24 Conversations ...... of the Exercises

ean In fever swept versity hierarchies and clerical privi- through the University of lege coincide. Women are indeed San Francisco last year. socialized to be silent, to comply, to Sheryl Sandberg’s book Leaning In be Superwomen. Yet is it possible to seduced me. I bought it imagine that God’s desires and our Lon impulse at the airport and deepest desires as women are one could not put it down. I stared at By Julia Dowd and the same? Can the Exercises be the cover in awe of her beauty, her a tool for all of us – women and brilliance, her smile (not to men- men – to uncover passageways to tion the hair, makeup, outfit – the partnership beyond our imagina- picture of effortless perfection). I tions and current realities? wanted to be her. Not necessarily At a few key moments in my the COO of Facebook, but suc- life, prayer has felt like jumping cessful, fearless, relentless, clear, off a cliff into an abyss. It takes all strong. And, yes, I wanted her hair. the courage I have to imagine The book not only seduced myself free falling into God’s me; it affected my mood. What hands, to trust fully in God’s pres- would I do if I were not afraid, I ence. In that brief moment, I get a asked myself. Alarmingly, my glimpse of the interior freedom answers were a bit extreme. How that complete trust and faith offer. am I a victim of the “confidence Richard Rohr, O.F.M., describes gap,” I asked myself. Am I leaning this as “letting go and falling into into my career sufficiently? Am I the part of you that is Love.” It is ambitious enough? Successful what Ignatius describes in the enough? Is my husband an equal Suscipe prayer. partner? What should I do as a Paradoxically, it has been in Catholic woman to be a stronger those moments of radical trust and leader, to bring more women to surrender in God when I have the table? I was stirred up. found strength I never knew I had. At the same time, I was read- I figure out how to solve a compli- ing The Ignatian Adventure by cated problem at work, I find the Kevin O’Brien, S.J., in which he courage to have a difficult conver- writes that rather than asking, Exercises are a training program for sation or I complete a project that “What should I do? What do I want?” leaning into God completely and fully. I never thought I could. Through the we might ask, “What is God’s desire for For many, the Exercises are a yearlong Exercises, I have gradually learned me and our world? How is God inviting test in doing less. How impossible it how to live, work, and speak with me to a more meaningful, more joyful can seem for the overextended faculty greater honesty, integrity, and occa- life?” He suggests that God’s desires for or staff member to take time every day sionally fearlessness. us and our deepest desires are one and for prayer when there is pressure to Sheryl Sandberg described her moti- the same. These words stirred me in a publish, 24/7 email, high stakes deci- vation for writing her book: “I tried to be different, deeper way. sions to make daily, plus complex par- authentic and shared my truth.” I am My spiritual director describes prayer enting and household responsibilities. I grateful that she did. And I am grateful as “leaning in to God.” So borrowing learned with my directee how difficult the Spiritual Exercises offer women Sheryl Sandberg’s title and my spiritual it is for successful women to do less, to another invitation to lean in, share our director’s advice, I began to explore how say no, and still feel worthy. truth, and know our worth. ■ Ignatian spirituality offers an additional The tensions that Sheryl Sandberg pathway for women to lean in. brings to light are real, particularly for Julia Dowd is the director of university Accompanying a faculty colleague women in Jesuit Catholic universities. ministry at the University of San through the 19th-annotation program Sharing our experiences as women can Francisco. this past year, I was struck by how the be particularly intimidating when uni-

Conversations 25 After the Exercises: Translation and Transformation

By Diana Owen

growing number of faculty, staff, and stu- arship, and service. I felt empowered to “come out” as a dents on Jesuit campuses have undertaken Catholic on campus and to reinvigorate my faith commit- the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, often ment; at the same time I became more attuned to the through a retreat in daily life offered over splendor of other faith traditions. Still, the translation of the course of an academic year. For many, the lessons of the Exercises into action did not happen the experience is profound, even life- quickly for me, and it remains a work in progress. changing. People who have gone through When I was making the Exercises, I initially placed the Exercises develop habits rooted in pressure on myself to discern my calling and then Aprayer, meditation, and contemplation of Scripture. They respond by the end of the retreat. My spiritual director practice the Examen, a prayerful review of their day’s wisely pointed out that the Exercises offer a structure thoughts and activities. They discern where the interior and foundation for making choices and that there is no movements of the heart are leading. They are set on a expiration date on the call to serve alongside Christ. Kevin path of awakening, discovery, and renewal. The O’Brien, S.J., reinforces the notion that we hear and answer Exercises provide a mechanism for responding to God’s the call on our own terms, in our own time. He states in invitation to make reasoned decisions, to move from An Ignatian Prayer Adventure, “we don’t have to make contemplation to action, and to serve others. any offering or commitment if we’re not ready. For now, The transformative power of the Exercises is unique- we just want to be open enough to hear the call and to get ly manifested for each individual, yet deeply seated in excited about Christ’s engaging vision for us and the the importance of community. The Exercises radically world.” Similarly, Dean Brackley, S.J., who labored among reshaped my relationship to Georgetown as I became acutely aware of the Jesuit values that underpinned the institution. I was filled with gratitude for being at a Diana Owen is associate professor of political science in school where “women and men for others” is not a slo- Georgetown University’s graduate program in commu- gan but a call to action. I sought to discern how I might nication, culture, and technology. She is co-convener embrace the university’s mission in my teaching, schol- of Georgetown’s Living the Ignatian Charism Seminar.

26 Conversations the poor and oppressed in El Salvador, observed in inars where people meet regularly to pray and dig The Call to Discernment in Troubled Times that recog- more deeply into the meaning and practice of the nizing and answering the call is something that may Exercises is one way to create community. The sem- take time and patience. It can come to us in a “still inar may be focused around a book, videos, or other small voice” – a whisper, a nudge, a barely percepti- materials that provide a starting point for discussion. ble thought. In addition to the O’Brien and Brackley works cited Jesuit institutions offer a variety of opportunities above, God’s Voice Within by Mark E. Thibodeaux, for keeping people’s encounter with the Exercises S.J., and Jesus: A Pilgrimage by James Martin, S.J., are alive as they continue their journey and listen for the examples of texts that work well in this context. The call of that “still small voice.” Some schools provide primary purpose of these seminars, though, is not to spiritual directors who guide people as they delve cover the material but to bring people together for further into the revelations of the Exercises. In fact, fellowship and conversation. Small, less formal after making the Exercises some people are called to groups that take place over breakfast or lunch may become spiritual directors themselves. There is an be inviting to people who are more comfortable in increasing need for trained spiritual directors on our a relaxed setting. Groups can provide a safe haven campuses to accompany faculty, staff, and students for those who wish to engage in deep faith sharing. as they embark on the Exercises as well as to guide A strong sense of trust and camaraderie can build in people as they engage their faith and prayer life these communities that ultimately can translate to more generally. Programs in spiritual direction that greater harmony and cooperation in the workplace. range from noncredit seminars to certificate and The Exercises provide a foundation for people degree programs are offered through many of our in diverse roles to work on behalf of a common mis- Jesuit schools. sion and to put into practice the spiritual values that Other resources on our campuses also encour- animate Jesuit universities. For people who are used age a sustained commitment to the Exercises. to individual endeavors, which is common among Speakers who present perspectives on Ignatian spir- faculty and staff, this collaborative work can be chal- ituality and the Jesuit mission can invigorate discern- lenging. As part of the community doing God’s ment. All of our schools have rich retreat programs work, illuminated by the Exercises, we can follow that allow participants to reconnect with the our hearts as we listen, learn, and act in concert. ■ Exercises and to have time for peaceful reflection and renewal. Online retreats also are available, like the one offered by Creighton University (see follow- ing story). Faculty and staff members can participate Resources in programs and retreats that allow them to relate what they have gained through the Exercises to their Quality online resources are available to acquaint people work life, such as the Ignatian Colleagues Program, with the Spiritual Exercises and to help people continue the AJCU Seminar for Leadership in Higher on their journey after making the Exercises. Education, the MAGIS program of the Jesuit Creighton University Online retreats Collaborative, and the Ignatian Leadership for http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/Collaborative Mission Retreat. Some universities offer pilgrimages Ministry/online.html where participants walk in the footsteps of St. Ignatius in Spain and Rome. Schools also sponsor The Spiritual Exercises, Loyola Press domestic and international immersion experiences http://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the- where participants encounter poverty and injustice spiritual-exercises/ firsthand and can engage in service activities. Travel to places like Kenya, El Salvador, the Dominican The Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius Loyola: Renewal and Republic, Appalachia, and the U.S./Mexico border Dynamics, Institute of Jesuit Sources (video series) can be transformative as people consider their life http://www.georgetown.edu/content/1242663501852.html choices in light of the Exercises. Introduction to the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, The support of a community of people who Sylvester Tan, S.J., at Loyola University, New Orleans share the gift of the Exercises can be instrumental in (video lecture) helping individuals maintain their connection to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeysvzF8EJg Ignatian spirituality over the long haul. Holding sem-

Conversations 27 The Online Retreat Ignatius Could Not Have Imagined, nor Did We

By Maureen McCann Waldron

n 1998, when the World Wide Web was only nine years old, Creighton University’s Online Ministries was born. The ministry was started at a time when many people still considered the internet a toy and few understood how it would change our reading, travel, shopping, learning, our prayer – and Iour lives. We certainly could not have predict- ed that our adaptation of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola would become a worldwide ministry available in nine lan- guages, audio files, and a book. The 450-year-old series of prayer experi- ences in the Spiritual Exercises came from Ignatius’s own life struggles and his deep desire to find out what God wanted for his life. His keen understanding of human nature and his experience of having a personal rela- tionship with God – and discovering how to “speak to the Lord as you would a friend” – have changed the lives of countless people. But St. Ignatius could not have imagined his much-adapted Exercises on the internet, and neither did we. In the spring of 1998 we used the internet as an easy way to distribute scripture readings to our colleagues making the annual six-week Lent retreat. We recruited people on campus to help us write a few paragraphs of reflection each day. We saw it as Creighton colleagues ministering to other colleagues on campus, and we thought it was a nice Lent project. When we heard from a Maryland woman who had heard about our website from a priest she met in Hong Kong, we began to suspect the power of the internet was beyond

Maureen McCann has worked with Fr. Andy Alexander, S.J., in Creighton’s collaborative ministry office since 1997. In 1998, they founded the Online Ministries website. The Online Retreat is now available in nine languages.

28 Conversations Lwena, Angola. Women often lose limbs to unexploded land mines when attempting to plant their gardens. Although the civil war ended years ago, danger still exists because of the millions of landmines left behind.

Left: Omaha, Nebraska. Mother and child – 1983

Photo credit: Don Doll, S.J. The photography of Creighton’s Father Doll also helped stir retreatants’ imagination. Creighton’s campus and our imagining. We sensed that peo- We wrote the retreat imagining someone making the ple wanted something more in their relationship with God. retreat alone, without access to a spiritual director. How to We knew from our own very busy lives that daily prayer deal with the sin of the first week without all of the person- times were important, but not everyone was able to find the al cues a director watches for? We wrote it carefully, with time for it. It was Ignatius himself who first began adapting cautions about guilt and depression and tried to keep the his Exercises from the full 30-day immersion in prayer. We focus not on our sin but on God’s love for us; yet clearly we wondered whether we could possibly create a new adapta- could not delve as deeply into sin as if we were accompany- tion of the Exercises. ing someone in person. As spiritual directors, my colleague Fr. Andy Alexander, We were surprised how many people took the retreat to S.J., and I both knew that this long tradition had been hand- their own spiritual director or were led to it by a director. ed down generation after generation, person to person in the Parishes, small faith communities, spouses, groups gathering director/retreatant relationship, and we both understood the in coffee shops, or brothers sharing a phone call made the power of that. Yet we heard from people who lacked access retreat together. to a director or retreat house. We spent the summer of 1998 The Online Retreat is not for everyone. We found that in prayer and discernment and decided humbly, if boldly, many times people began the retreat but drifted away. For that Ignatius would approve of what we envisioned. some, it did not feel like a “real” retreat if they were not Ignatius recommended 90 minutes of prayer each day for asked to pray an hour a day. Others did not want to pray those doing the Exercises in daily life, but we knew this would alone and needed an organized group. There was early discourage some people. Our idea was to offer five to ten min- resistance to “praying at a computer.” Some objected to our utes of retreat material each week but not give the retreatant a adaptation of the Exercises saying it was not authentic, did set time to pray. Ignatius tells us to ask for the grace we want not use the proper language, did not require enough prayer, to receive when we begin to pray. We suggested asking for that and did not continue the traditional relationship with a spir- grace continually during each day: at the moment we awaken, itual director. while brushing teeth or showering, while walking across cam- In the ending weeks of the retreat, we asked retreatants pus to a meeting, while doing laundry or going to work. about their experiences and were overwhelmed at the Guided by the Exercises, we outlined the retreat for 34 responses. We heard from many who could not have made weeks. We launched the retreat website in mid September, the retreat any other way: a rancher 70 miles from town; a 1998. We created a guide or overview of each week, along dying woman in Scotland; a woman whose husband’s work with a “Getting Started” page with points for prayer and a lit- had taken them to Saudi Arabia, where Christian faith is pro- tle more explanation for those who wanted that. We used hibited; and a quadriplegic man who made the retreat at his simple language because the reader would not have anyone computer, using a pencil in his mouth. to ask for clarification. Retreatants rejoiced in their new relationship with God and Our colleague, Larry Gillick, S.J., added an encourage- in their ability to talk to Jesus heart-to-heart in the shower or ment column for each week of the retreat. grocery store. One wrote movingly, “I returned to the Church nother Creighton colleague, renowned pho- and joined the little prayer group there – tears of joy!!” tographer, Don Doll, S.J., generously offered An RCIA director used some of the material in her work 34 photos from his vast archives to use for saying, “It enriched my reflections and let me be more spon- each week of the retreat. We added a line of taneous in prayer experiences.” scripture to each photo so people could pray From a minister: “I was given the support of a loving with those. We realized that we could add Christ to look at some difficult areas of life – and then with another dimension to the retreat by teaching the help of a wise confessor identify the resistances, the sin people to set that photo as the background on – and find reconciliation, forgiveness and freedom that I Atheir desktops each week – an ever-changing reminder of have not experienced before.” the grace to pray for that week. Another wrote: “The background for the week was The early retreatants asked for printable versions and always in my mind, and I thought of it often. I am growing then audio versions, which we added. They asked for and with each week. One of my biggest graces is the warmth I we added guidelines for using the retreat in a group and sug- feel toward my relationship with God.” gestions if they were alone. (In 2009, Loyola Press published The Online Ministries website has grown to 9,000 pages the Online Retreat in a book, Retreat in the Real World.) which received nearly 25 million hits last year from 143 We added a sharing link, where people could send in countries. But beyond our deep love and belief in the power their anonymous reflections on a particular retreat week. of Ignatius’s Spiritual Exercises, we did not understand the Over the years tens of thousands of sharings have been impact of our small website when we launched it in 1998. added. Those in the retreat often read the sharing week by Our experience of a pastoral and loving God is one we have week and have the sense of a worldwide community all been humbled to share with others. ■ praying this experience together.

30 Conversations Open Minds, Open Arms, Open Hearts

By Giulia Pink

went away to college grudgingly. I had grad- never have forged otherwise. I still keep in contact uated from a small high school in a town with the two young women I was paired with in with one stoplight, and I had plans to attend Conversation Partners, a volunteer program that the community college before transferring (if connected foreign exchange students with American II had to). students. Those women are now working at law I cried through all of my application letters and firms in China. I’ve done things I didn’t think possi- trudged to the back of the line at each college cam- ble. I helped to tear down the foundation of an pus visit. My mother signed me up for visit day at abandoned house for Blight Busters in Detroit with University of Detroit Mercy’s (UDM), the university I a group of freshmen and faculty. I moved cinder was adamant I would not attend simply because she blocks and lumber last summer for Habitat for had gone there. That all changed when I stepped Humanity with fellow Greek life members. These foot on campus. experiences would not have been possible without Though fenced off from the outside, everyone I the Jesuit belief that the entire world is our home. met embraced the school’s close location to Detroit. Despite the constancy of the belief in the prestige I was engrossed with the clock tower that housed a of math and science, I have found liberal arts to be family of falcons and broke from the tour group for challenging and rewarding in ways that connect to the a bit to explore the nearly hidden staircases in the Detroit community around me, letting me apply my library. After three years studying English at the uni- learning to my new home. To incoming freshmen versity, I have left behind the child who loved a unsure of what to study, I tell them: Major in liberal small town and have become an involved campus arts, but only if you are curious and want to discover leader with a passion for the city of Detroit. incredible things about yourself and those around My decision to major in the liberal arts has you. Major in liberal arts, but only if you want your allowed for my intellectual and ethical growth. opinions to be heard and for class discussions to res- Unlike science and math, where there is only one onate long after you leave the room. Major in liberal right answer, the liberal arts are just that: liberal. arts, but only if you have passion. There is no one right way to look at or approach UDM’s mission envelops Jesuit thinking and something. My mind has opened so much through encompasses the liberal arts’ sense of understanding UDM’s classes, particularly how I view the world by integrating students with the urban setting around through a minority perspective. Studying literature them. It holds high standards for its students and aims would be impossible without entering into someone to encourage them to gain deeper intellectual, spiritu- else’s worldview for a period of time – I think that’s al, ethical, and social development. This development why liberal arts majors are often so involved in will allow us to acknowledge that our privilege on social justice. campus can extend outside of the gate if we take it The Jesuit influence on education at UDM pro- with us with open minds, arms, and hearts. ■ vides students with opportunities to immerse them- selves in social justice activities – something I’ve Giulia Pink is a senior English major at the University been able to continue through my participation in of Detroit Mercy where she works as resident advisor campus organizations such as residence life, Greek and a consultant in the Writing Center. She also life, and the honors program. Through my service volunteers as a student editor of their creative arts experiences at UDM, I’ve built relationships I’d publication and does outreach to the community.

Conversations 31 Encounters with Spirited Exercise The Eloquent Education of the Mind and Heart

By Cinthia Gannett

Day 1. As I sit with a fine-tipped blue pen and coffee at the Day 5. My life and work is words. I teach courses in rhetoric local cafe, feeling the quiet solidity of the table and the simple and composition, grammar and rhetorical pedagogy. Like the pleasure of soft leaf-patterned bench, I begin my exercise. It is early Jesuits and, before them, the classical rhetoricians and a time of circling in to find focus and philosophers, I am interested in meaning, to suit myself to the writ- the nature of the human being as ing/thinking task at hand – a time In method, reflection is dialectical, putting homo symbolicus, as a species that invites me to the fullness of multiple perspectives into play with each other uniquely endowed with the ability ideas not yet present. It requires in order to produce insight. to create identities, knowledge, patience; it requires sorting through and social relationships though the natural vivid cacophony of the Kathleen Blake Yancey, language and to take action (to mind. I must discover how to Reflection in the Writing Classroom inquire, to make decisions, to address the topic of my relation to resolve disputes, to hurt or heal) Ignatian pedagogy, which derives through language. So it is natural from the Spiritual Exercises. In the spirit of those Exercises, I shut- that my way toward the educative work of Spiritual Exercises is tle recursively from reflection, to experience, to action and back through their action as communication, through the work of again, letting those various encounters shape and reshape the form speaking and listening, through the complex dialogic experi- of this essay. ence of meaning-making itself, which ties us to ourselves, to others, and to the universe of named and not-yet-named ideas Day 2. I write from innocence as much as experience, as Blake and understandings. The Spiritual Exercises as I have experi- might put it. But that experience matters, I think. Experience and enced them are a form of attunement of the world and the exercise. Because, as I understand them, the Spiritual Exercises of word/Word – the inner and outer conversations that connect Loyola and the Jesuits do not constitute a closed or static type of learning, knowing, being on the continuum of rhetorica experience but rather a host of flexible exercises or activities humana and rhetorica divina. intended to open the whole person to the grace of the world and I am not alone. Many who work most closely with the one’s own agency in living an informed, mindful, and compas- Spiritual Exercises use these metaphors of “communication,” sionate life. For non-Jesuits and non-Catholics, it is this expansive, “conversation,” “colloquy” and “dialogue” to explain what they educational process that can be fostered in what is termed are and how they work. They observe how these complex com- “Ignatian pedagogy.” municative processes work to instruct, delight, and inspire. Day 3. My educational encounters with the Spiritual Exercises These are, not coincidentally, the primary aims of rhetoric. are several, though like most faculty and staff I have not under- Some Jesuit scholars place rhetoric – all the “ministries of the taken a full retreat. I encounter them regularly, albeit tacitly, in word” and the actions they entail – as centering the Jesuit enter- the kinds of Ignatian pedagogical practices sponsored at my prise collectively. university. I have read about the role and place of the Exercises Day 6. Manresa and Montserrat. Years ago, when I was teach- often in histories of Jesuit education. They have become an ing at Loyola University in Baltimore, I was able to do the ongoing locus of scholarly interest as part of the multiyear Ignatian pilgrimage with colleagues from several Jesuit colleges. research on our forthcoming collection, Traditions of We read the Spiritual Exercises and O’Malley’s The First Jesuits Eloquence: The Jesuits and Modern Rhetorical Studies. (Gannett in preparation for the trip. But it was only when we arrived at and Brereton, Fordham University Press, 2015.) Montserrat and Manresa that they began to have meaning for Day 4. To get a deeper feel for how the Spiritual Exercises me. Not Catholic and only vaguely attached to formal work spiritually in a single eloquent instance, I recently read Christianity, being in these extraordinary places, even for just a Paul Mariani’s memoir, Thirty Days: On Retreat with the Exercises of St. Ignatius. Indeed, I have committed to doing them at Fairfield this fall – to engage in deeper discernment as Cinthia Gannett is an associate professor of English at Fairfield a teacher, scholar, and whole person. University, where she directs the core writing program.

32 Conversations few days, took me into the moment of the Exercises in a pro- found and embodied way. The remote, high, austere rocky paths of Montserrat and the dark cool sacred space of the abbey, perched at the edge of the precipice, touched some deep dim chord in all of us. The crisp clear air, the tiny mountain flowers that line the ancient trails, the magnifi- cent valleys below, by their very composition of place, encourage reflection on the place of humans in a much larger cosmos. It is easy to imagine Loyola looking out from that high holy place and imagining what God must see, even as he could see himself also as simple pilgrim, tiny in the scale of things. At Manresa, chapels and The view from the mountains at Montserrat. Photo by Cinthia Gannett buildings now stand in his honor, but the cavern is still a primitive discernment process and revised his notes on the Exercises holy place, where one is transported into the scene of the war- many times, so he clearly saw the value of this kind of writing. rior turned seeker, and the murmur of prayer, petition, and med- Journals offer a special discursive space to move into the itation surrounds all. A faint echo of the original Exercises lives moment of stillness (not necessarily silence) to name, weigh, and in that stone cell where Loyola was being educated by this spe- work through the deep task of listening to some wiser inner/other cial inner dialogue with God and writing notes on these lessons voices and of coming to know one’s self through this kind of reg- – what would become the Spiritual Exercises. ular, recorded dialogue. Many journals treat daily and important life choices, writing to learn, healing from great sorrow, caring for the Day 7. The Spiritual Exercises, Ignatian Pedagogy, and conscience, and cultivating joy and appreciation for life’s gifts. The Eloquentia Perfecta spiritual journal tradition charts the quandaries and courses of indi- For several years, I have been studying the history of Jesuit vidual spiritual journeys. The acts of mind, heart, and spirit are education, focusing on one of its cornerstones, the aim of eloquen- joined through regular reflection in what Virginia Woolf calls the tia perfecta, and exploring ways to reanimate that aim for the cur- journal – “a capacious hold-all.” The regular reflective writing I rent highly rhetorical age. The rich rhetorical education in the invite my students to engage in enacts a powerful form of learning humanities and the liberal arts, which included “erudition,” knowl- in keeping with Ignatian pedagogy. edge domains we now see as disciplines, has prepared students of every social status to participate in informed civil and productive Day 9. The practice of joining rhetoric and reflection centers ways in the scholarly, social, and public conversations for cen- my teaching philosophy and practice. In first year writing and turies. This Jesuit commitment to “the Ministries of the Word” reading courses, for example, students read and write about (O’Malley 91) resulted in a distinctive and dynamic set of traditions Ignatian pedagogy and eloquentia perfecta in order to engage that integrated the spiritual, intellectual, and civic uses of language. with the Jesuit educational mission directly. They undertake fre- For me, what distinguishes Jesuit education with its aim of elo- quent reflective activities to consider their own intellectual and quentia perfecta from other enduring similar educational projects is personal paths, and they formally examine the nature of the rich the potential for this integration of mind and heart through spirit- and extensive Jesuit core curriculum to actively synthesize their ed exercise. It uses the classical notion of “the good person speak- learning across classes and disciplines. They learn to rely on ing well for the common good,” the intellectual rigor of argumen- each other and collaborate, seeing knowledge as a kind of tation, and the inner-directed dialogic activities of the Spiritual social good, not just a personal good. They undertake research Exercises reframed as Ignatian pedagogy. This rich integrative projects to foster their intellectual curiosities and also explicitly process of reflection, educative experience, and civic action is also contribute to “the common good.” vitally aligned with current educational theory. As composition- Students present in a variety of media and public fora, hosting rhetoric scholar Kathleen Blake Yancey explains, “When we reflect, the national day on writing, generating public blogs, creating multi- we call upon the cognitive, the affective, the intuitive, putting these artifactual portfolios, participating in university colloquia – in sum, into play with each other …” (6). exercising their developing voices to speak up and speak out into the larger communities they will inhabit. As a rhetorician and writ- Day 8. Since well before I came into contact with Jesuit edu- ing program director, I enact an Ignatian pedagogy as I foster elo- cation, I have studied journaling traditions, the kind of reflective quentia perfecta – studying language and rhetoric in all its forms is practices which share a kinship with Loyola’s Exercises and a means of coming to know one’s self, others, the world, and the Ignatian pedagogy. Loyola kept a journal during his extended Word and to be able to take action accordingly. ■

Conversations 33 Ignatian Spirituality & Spiritual Exercises Annotated Bibliography

By Francis X. McAloon, S.J.

iven the vast array of available texts on Ignatian spir- ment, and theology. This book’s contributors are a who’s ituality and the limited space available for this anno- who of recent Ignatian spirituality scholars. tated bibliography, I narrowly focus upon books I For a feminist engagement with Ignatian spirituality, see have used in my graduate and undergraduate cours- Katherine Dyckman, Mary Garvin, and Elizabeth Liebert, The es at Fordham University, the Jesuit School of Spiritual Exercises Reclaimed: Uncovering Liberating TheologyG (Berkeley), and the Graduate Theological Union. Possibilities for Women (NY: Paulist Press, 2001). For those beginning a journey of exploration into Two books focus upon contemporary engagements with Ignatian prayer in general and Ignatius’s rules for the dis- Ignatian topics. Dean Brackley’s The Call to Discernment in cernment of spirits, I recommend Timothy M. Gallagher, Troubled Times: New Perspectives on the Transformative O.M.V., who has published a number of introductory books Wisdom of Ignatius of Loyola (NY: Crossroad, 2004) offers a (published by Crossroad), including The Examen Prayer: global and social justice perspective to the appropriation of Ignatian Wisdom for Our Lives Today (2006), An Ignatian spirituality. Roger Haight’s Christian Spirituality for Introduction to Prayer: Scriptural Reflections According to Seekers: Reflections on the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius the Spiritual Exercises (2008), Meditation and Loyola (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2012) addresses an Contemplation: An Ignatian Guide to Praying with Scripture intended audience of secular, alienated, and post-Christian (2008). Especially helpful for those interested in Ignatius’s seekers, challenging its readers to reread Ignatius’ Spiritual Rules for the Discernment of Spirits and the Election are Exercises within a postmodern, secular, and scientific con- Gallagher’s The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide text. Haight’s approach is such that classroom discussions on for Everyday Living (2005), Spiritual Consolation: An his material have been lively. Ignatian Guide for Greater Discernment of Spirits (2007), Especially with undergraduates, I find that offering addi- and Discerning the Will of God: An Ignatian Guide to tional primary materials enhances the classroom engagement Christian Decision Making (2009). Students appreciate with Ignatian spirituality. For example, the edited collection Gallagher’s combination of scholarship and case studies in by the brother and sister team of Kevin Burke, S.J., and his detailed explanations. I often supplement Gallagher’s Eileen Burke-Sullivan, entitled The Ignatian Tradition books with two casebooks by Jules J. Toner, S.J., which are (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2009), a volume in the replete with narrative case studies (including the author’s Spirituality in History Series, edited by Phyllis Zagano, offers commentary): Spirit of Light or Darkness: A Casebook for 20 excerpts from the writings of mostly Jesuit and a few lay Studying Discernment of Spirits (St. Louis: Institute of Jesuit authors whose writings variously express an Ignatian vision. Sources, 1995) and What is Your Will, O God?: A Casebook Running chronologically from Ignatius Loyola to George for Studying Discernment of God’s Will (1995). Ganss, the collection includes Jesuit saints, martyrs, scholars, David Lonsdale’s Eyes to See, Ears to Hear: An and social activists, as well as laywomen such as Mary Ward, Introduction to Ignatian Spirituality (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis the 17th-century founder of a Jesuit-inspired congregation of Books, 2000) offers a broad overview of Ignatian topics. I English Ladies, and Josée Gsell, a leader in the Ignatian recommend this book for those with little or no background inspired Christian Life Community movement during the sec- in the topic. ond half of the 20th century. ■ George W. Traub, S.J., An Ignatian Spirituality Reader: Contemporary Writings on St. Ignatius of Loyola, The Spiritual Exercises, Discernment, and More (Chicago: Loyola Francis X. McAloon, S.J., is a professor of Christian spiritu- Press, 2008) offers a more advanced introduction to the ality and Ignatian studies in the graduate school of religion topic, organized around the headings of Ignatius’s life, find- and religious education at Fordham University ing God in all things, prayer, the Spiritual Exercises, discern-

34 Conversations or Ignatius, the vital dynamic of the Spiritual which they need to learn these subjects, moving from sim- Exercises is the individual person’s encounter with pler content to more difficult. As historians have noted, Jesuit the Spirit of Truth. It is not surprising, therefore, that schools, as well as other schools founded in the 16th centu- we find in his principles and directions for guiding ry, introduced into humanities curricula order and sequence F others in the process of the Spiritual Exercises, a per- (which characterized the arts curriculum at the University of fect description of the pedagogical role of the teacher as one Paris where Ignatius and his early companions studied). whose job is not merely to By now, the order and inform but to help the student sequence for achieving a mas- progress in the truth” (From tery of basic academic sub- Ignatian Pedagogy: A Practical jects have been well estab- Approach 1993, #26, in The Is Retreat lished. Teacher education is Jesuit Ratio Studiorum: 400th based on this knowledge. Anniversary Perspectives, ed. Directing a Model Aspiring teachers choose to by Vincent J. Duminuco, S.J. major in early childhood edu- (New York: Fordham for Teaching? cation, or kindergarten edu- University Press, 2000), p. 46.) cation, or elementary educa- At first glance directing tion, or secondary education, retreatants and teaching stu- Questioning the Ignatian to mention only the broadest dents seem quite different of categories. And subject activities with quite different Pedagogical Paradigm matters are similarly age spe- purposes. However, Ignatius’s cific, for example elementary own remark that at Manresa science education, is differ- “God was dealing with him in By Stephen Rowntree, S.J. ent from high school physics the same way a school or chemistry. teacher deals with a child The director/retreatant while instructing him” dynamic can be more closely (Autobiography no. 27, Tylenda trans.) suggested that direct- realized in senior theses, capstone projects, and collaborative ing the Exercises and teaching might have important similar- research, which involve students working one on one with fac- ities: the retreat director sets the matter for prayer just as the ulty. Such activities are typically reserved for advanced third- teacher assigns the matter for study. And as a retreatant’s year and fourth-year students since they presume significant own prayer activities (meditations, contemplations, repeti- prior learning. tions, petitions, and colloquies) are essential to “making the Applying the model of director/retreatant means that it is Exercises,” so too the student’s own activities (reading, reflect- teachers who must meet the particular personal and educa- ing, writing, and reviewing) are essential to learning. And just tional needs of students. Today, however, many such student as retreatants meet with the director to report the thoughts, needs are met by specialists in counseling, writing, and other emotions, intentions that have been elicited in the prayer peri- such centers (e.g. tutorial and other extra help for students ods, so too students must make known to the teacher their doing poorly or students with special education needs). The understanding and appreciation of the matter studied. individual faculty member should be alert for signs that a While we can find such similarities between retreat particular student might need or benefit from a particular director/retreatant and teacher/student relations, there are service. The faculty member’s role typically is to refer stu- major differences: A director of the full thirty-day Exercises dents to those trained to give the particular assistance need- can direct relatively few retreatants at a time. An experienced ed. Thus in schools and colleges, many typical individual and energetic director with as few as six or seven directees needs of students are met not by teachers but by trained pro- has most likely reached the maximum number that she can fessionals working together in counseling and other such effectively direct. On the other hand, college teachers who centers. Attention to individual student needs is typically may be teaching three courses per semester often have a realized by many divisions, offices, and centers, each staffed total of sixty to ninety (or more) students. Learning students’ by experts at meeting particular needs. Many have the names can be a challenge, never mind learning their individ- opportunity to make significant contributions to students’ ual personal, family, and educational histories. The lack of intellectual and spiritual development, teachers for sure but such knowledge precludes teachers from designing learning also many others. Indeed, “It takes a village.” ■ exercises tailored to individuals’ particular needs and capac- ities. Furthermore, the sheer number of students renders utterly impossible a daily hour-long conversation with each student such as the director has with each retreatant. Stephen Rowntree, S.J., is an associate pastor at the Church of Mass education is based on broad generalizations about the Holy Name of Jesus in New Orleans; he is a former professor students at different ages, and about the subject-matters they of philosophy at Loyola University and is currently secretary of need to master (reading, writing, arithmetic) and the order in the National Seminar on Jesuit Higher Education.

Conversations 35 The Rise of Consumer Culture and Cura Personalis By David J. Burns

he rise of consumer culture has provided ture, analyzing its effects on individuals and society, conveniences and entertainment that ear- and exploring appropriate and effective individual lier populations could only dream of. and group responses. Indeed, most today live with luxuries like As a consequence of the seminar, each participant air-conditioning and virtually unlimited is preparing to integrate discussions on consumer cul- assortments of foods unimaginable by ture into at least one if not all of the courses that they royalty in times past. teach. Furthermore, several are planning to offer TConsumer culture is arguably one of the most entire courses focusing on aspects of consumer cul- pervasive and most difficult issues of our time. ture, bringing the discussion to their students. Although it has brought many beneficial advances, Each participant is also developing a research negative effects of consumer culture on society and paper exploring various aspects of consumer culture individuals are far-reaching. Several of the most sig- from the viewpoints of their particular disciplines. nificant societal and interpersonal problems today, The papers will likely form the basis of a book of be it human trafficking or the commoditization of readings to serve as a pedagogical resource and to individuals, arise from and/or are energized by con- spur additional research on this subject. sumer culture. Given its ubiquitous nature, consumer culture More specifically, consumer culture is reframing affects and infiltrates all areas of life, raising impor- individuals’ lives and their relationships with others tant philosophical, ethical, and religious questions. – issues at the forefront of the focus of Jesuit educa- Jesuit colleges and universities are uniquely posi- tion and Jesuit concern. A recent document from tioned to take a lead in examining and addressing Xavier University, “Seeking Integration and Wisdom: the effects of consumer culture on individuals and The Xavier Way,” states that the university is rooted societies. By doing so, Jesuit colleges and universi- in the Catholic ideals of: ties can best help students to be whole persons – • the sacred character of all creation, understanding that they were created for relation- • the dignity of every human person ships with God, with others, and with oneself and • the mutually informing relationship between how these relationships can be best manifest. faith and reason, and Consumer culture interferes with these relationships • our moral responsibility to care for creation and and attempts to offer relationships of different for those suffering in the world. natures as inferior substitutes. Giving students a To integrate these ideals within today’s culture, clear understanding of the effects of consumer cul- it is necessary to address the consumer culture and ture provides them with the tools needed to lead its manifestations. truly productive and meaningful lives for them- To further attention onto consumer culture, I selves, but more importantly for society. ■ had the opportunity to lead a Lilly Summer Seminar for College Teachers on “What Does it Mean to be Human in Consumer Culture? Implications for the David J. Burns is professor of marketing at Xavier Church and Christian Scholars.” Twelve scholars and University and has previously served as director I spent three weeks last summer at Xavier University of faculty programs in the division of mission examining the social significance of consumer cul- and identity.

36 Conversations A Spiritual Stretch

By Philip Nahlik

he crowning athletic Annunciation, I thought about what achievements of my life Mary would have been doing before are two silver medals from and after talking with Gabriel. I can my only season on the imagine her working on household freshman wrestling team chores inside, as she is often depicted. at St. Louis University Then after her life-changing conversa- High School. Despite my tion, she may have had a moment of long dry spell in the ath- thinking about whether she could or Tletic world, I have recently begun to should go back to doing the same mun- appreciate the value of taking five min- dane chores. This imagining brought utes to stretch my muscles to prepare out two points for me. Firstly, that God myself for any physical activity in my can enter our lives even in everyday in a while because I was in a hurry, day. I prioritize this time every day to moments to change us permanently. even though I like to congratulate ensure that my muscles will be ready to Secondly, when life-changing events myself on keeping up with old friends? function when I need them for anything occur in my life, I have the choice of In imaginative conversation with Christ, more intensive than my ten minute responding lovingly and openly as I realized I had failed to live up to my walk across campus. Mary did or of continuing to live my life own standards and promises as Peter Similarly, I have found value in my as if it had not changed at all. This seg- did. I imagined Jesus bluntly telling me, daily Examen to stretch my awareness ment of the Spiritual Exercises especial- “Yeah, you messed up.” Then he might and expression of gratitude in my life. I ly prompts me be receptive to these sig- say, “But you can always come back make time in my crammed schedule for nificant moments in my life where I and make it right again.” Just as Peter this spiritual stretch, because I know have a chance to say “Yes” and to grow made a threefold profession of love for that it prepares me for more demanding for the better. Christ, this reflection helped me to seek exercises in the future. The Spiritual The invitation of the Spiritual amends after making mistakes both Exercises require a more intensive use Exercises to imagine conversations with with friends and in my relationship with of my reflective muscles, just as a Jesus has helped my understanding of Jesus. The use of imagination and wrestling tournament requires the my personal relationship with him. Ignatian contemplation has helped me intensive use of other muscles. Both of Often, it is easy for me to appreciate to envision more readily the personal these strenuous activities require differ- Christ as an idea or as a historical fig- relationship of Jesus with myself and ent types of training and commitment. ure, but it is much more difficult for me with others. My experiences with the Exercises to think about my relationship with These experiences have helped me would not have been the same without Jesus as a someone with a personality, carve out both short and long periods first straining to say my Examen every who has conversations, who makes to prepare for living each new day for day or struggling to enter imaginatively jokes, and who cares intimately for me the greater glory of God. It is one thing into Scripture. I have experienced the as an individual. In reflecting on Peter's to pray that I may “toil and not seek for Spiritual Exercises mostly in an academ- threefold denial of Jesus, I imagined rest,” but my experiences of the ic setting, either in a classroom or what I would say as Peter in talking Spiritual Exercises have shown me that through a school-sponsored retreat. with Jesus after this denial. As a result the most abundant toiling in my life will Although short, certain moments of of my daily Examens, I was able to con- require me to stretch a little first. ■ studying the Exercises have allowed me nect moments when I had a high opin- to deepen my understanding of my ion of my own morality, compared to Philip Nahlik attended St. Louis relationship with God through Scripture which I fell vastly short in my actions. University High School and is now a and through my imagination. For exam- How could I justify that moment when junior at Loyola University Chicago. ple, one time in reflecting on the I ignored a friend whom I had not seen

Conversations 37 Ignatian Colleagues Advancing Partners in Mission for the Future of Jesuit Higher Education

By Joseph DeFeo

s Jesuit colleges and tered project, and a capstone experience. Key companions to Ignatian universities seek to Ignatian colleagues keep a journal of Colleagues are their campus coordina- integrate mission into their experiences and post online sum- tors. Coordinators meet monthly with the life of their cam- maries of their reflection essays. Sharing current members to help them reflect puses, many are an Ignatian reverence for human, spiritu- on and integrate their experience. They ramping up their uni- al freedom, ICP avoids anything like also act as a sounding board as partici- versity leaders’ indoctrination and welcomes diverse pants plan their final projects. knowledge of mission participants. Now under the Association Additionally, coordinators bring togeth- Arelated areas including their personal of Jesuit Colleges and Universities er current and former ICP members to encounter with Ignatian spirituality. The (AJCU), ICP is currently housed on the connect with one another and to dis- Ignatian Colleagues Program (ICP) was campus of Fairfield University. cuss how they can further the Jesuit and designed to offer time, space, and a The high quality of the program Catholic mission on their own campus supportive community for participants since its inception six years ago owes and beyond. to delve deeper into Jesuit and Catholic much to the leadership of executive history, spirituality, and pedagogy in director Edward Peck, Ph.D. (John order to advance the future of Jesuit Carroll University). Additionally, collab- higher education. orative efforts and significant dedication Joseph DeFeo is the new executive Conceived through a collaborative to fostering mission between Peck and director of the Ignatian Colleagues effort among presidents, provincials, mis- other senior leaders across many Jesuit Program. Special thanks to Thomas sion officers, and rectors from the campuses have made ICP a great suc- Kelly, professor of theology at Heartland Delta region, the 18-month cess. Mission and identity officers, cam- Creighton University and ICP immer- program engages senior administrators pus presidents, theologians, spiritual sion coordinator, for contributing to and faculty from Jesuit colleges through- directors, senior administrators and this article. For more information on out the United States in a curriculum of other experts have served as workshop the Ignatian Colleagues Program and online workshops, a silent retreat, an presenters and leadership team mem- to view mission project outlines see immersion experience, a mission-cen- bers for the program. www.ignatiancolleagues.org.

38 Conversations Talking Back

Online Learning step back and enter deeply into • What does this have to do with us A series of six online workshops pro- silence and prayer to remember as administrators and faculty at vides a foundation for learning about and renew my commitment to Jesuit universities and colleges? and reflecting on key Jesuit and the work that I do [at SU]. There • What does this encounter demand Catholic concepts. Developed by the- was something about being on from me as an administrator or fac- ologians, Jesuits, and staff, each work- retreat with those who share ulty member at my institution? shop contains approximately 10-12 the commitment to Jesuit • How far do we extend our respon- hours of material including articles, Higher Education and who sibility to others outside of our videos, and reflection essay prompts. come with such openness to comfort zone? Some workshops topics include the experience that made the What many often realize is that all Ignatius as a spiritual administrator, retreat especially meaningful. It are in solidarity with someone or some Ignatian humanism and pedagogy, faith was a grace-filled week of rest group. As one participant wrote: and justice, secularity, Jesuit education, and re-centering punctuated by Our immersion trip to El Catholicity, and discernment. surprises, like a tornado siren in Salvador has had a profound Teleconference conversations guid- the middle of Mass and a doe impact on my faith and under- ed by a facilitator invite colleagues to and her fawn in the morning standing of the Ignatian mis- dig deeply into the material, listen to fog. (Catherine Punsalan- sion to serve “wherever the experts, and engage in conversation in Manlimos, Seattle University) need is greatest.” What stands light of current issues facing campuses. If colleagues are unable to attend the out for me now is how we, as Topics have included how Jesuit and/or Magis retreat they attend other retreats leaders committed to a faith Catholic our schools are or “should be” such as the Ignatian Leadership for that does justice, will answer and a case study about the Mass of the Mission coordinated through the Jesuit the call of those who asked us Holy Spirit with the goal of remaining Collaborative or other retreats available to share their stories. (Jeremy welcoming to persons of other or of no on their campus. Colleagues of all faith Langford, Chicago-Detroit faith perspectives. Conversations like and spiritual backgrounds are invited to Province office) these help participants consider alterna- participate in one of these retreat Thus a “well-educated” solidarity tives and integrate mission in ways that opportunities. becomes a possibility when participants fit their campus culture. choose to learn about a place, encounter Immersion the people there, and recognize a call to Silent Retreat One of the goals of this program is to walk with them on their journey through An in depth experience of Ignatian spir- help foster a well-educated solidarity how they walk their own. ituality is foundational for helping col- and an appreciation of the Jesuit com- leagues better understand the spirituali- mitment to a faith that does justice. Final Project and ty that animates the Jesuit educational Ignatian Colleagues travel to countries Capstone system for which they (and all) are such as Nicaragua, El Salvador, and the responsible. The Magis retreat is an Dominican Republic and to our own One of the outcomes of the ICP is for eight-day silent retreat based on the border to encounter the marginalized, participants to design, implement, and Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of to listen and learn from those who live evaluate a strategically significant work- Loyola. Each day, talks are given on a there. The ICP immersion is not intend- related project that advances the mis- particular Ignatian theme and partici- ed to “save,” “help” or “fix” anything sion of their institution in light of what pants are accompanied by a spiritual but rather to encounter and to learn, to they appropriate through the program. companion to discuss their ongoing hold a posture of being learners who Mission projects have engaged under- experience. While initially some col- know very little about where they are graduate and graduate students, faculty, leagues have concerns about remaining or about the reality faced by the people staff, and administrators and are as silent for an entire week, attendees are who live there. diverse as the participants. often pleasantly surprised at the many After direct contact with and listen- ICP projects integrate mission in gifts received through this experience. ing to the poor and to experts on the areas such as faculty, staff, board of One retreatant has commented: social, economic, and political history trustees, student development, student of a given context, time is set aside for conduct, employee orientation, strate- The Magis retreat was a wel- gic planning, marketing, and course comed gift that allowed me to processing and ultimately reflecting on questions such as: redesigns to include Ignatian pedagogy,

Conversations 39 Talking Back

social analysis, catholic social teaching, myself vulnerable to the experi- engage decision making and strategic diversity, and/or reflection. Additionally, ence, my colleagues and the planning in ways that authentically several projects have integrated mission Nicaraguan people. From that reflect our Jesuit and Catholic sensibili- into our graduate and professional vulnerability came strength – ties. As Jesuit schools respond to Jesuit schools. strength in character, strength Superior General Fr. Adolfo Nicolás’s call The capstone experience brings the in conviction, strength to use to better utilize our Jesuit network, per- cohort together one final time where my voice for justice and haps one of the best contributions of they share their projects and explore strength to be a woman in serv- ICP is the many long-lasting profession- how to foster the Ignatian heritage on ice with and for others. (Tanya al and personal relationships formed their own campuses. A missioning cer- Winegard, Creighton University) among participants. These relationships emony signifies the successful comple- In addition to assessing the pro- cross titles, roles, responsibilities, and tion of the program. gram to learn which experiences are campuses. The more these multicampus most powerful for participants, the pro- relationships are formed, the more col- Outcomes & Looking gram seeks to understand more about leagues at each school are aware of, Ahead the long-lasting and sustaining influ- think, and act in ways that go beyond ence of participants and their mission any one campus and foster in all a The outcomes for ICP are both person- projects related to integrating mission deeper identity as an association of Jesuit al and institutional. For some, their across our universities. colleges and universities. experience have been transformative, Six years of the Ignatian Colleagues Moving forward, ICP hopes to as noted by one participant: Program have produced over 300 partici- assist campuses, individually and col- I came to the experience ready pants throughout most of our campuses. lectively, in taking advantage of this to engage on an intellectual Each year, participating universities find a rich resource of Ignatian Colleague level, but it wasn’t until I growing number of senior administrators, Program alumni/ae and leveraging one opened my heart that I became faculty, and staff who are well grounded of Jesuit higher education’s strongest a learner. In doing so I made in our Ignatian heritage and are ready to value propositions. ■

Alpha Sigma Nu

Alpha Sigma Nu is the honor society of the Jesuit col- For literature/fine arts: The Children of 1965: On leges and universities in the United States, Canada, and Writing, and Not Writing, as an Asian American by Korea. For 35 years, Alpha Sigma Nu has designated Min Hyoung Song, Boston College. (Duke University awards for outstanding books published by members of Press, 2013) the Jesuit higher education community. The awards in 2014 were for works in the category “the humanities.” For history: The Maroons of Prospect Bluff and Their This year’s winners were announced in October. Quest for Freedom in the Atlantic World by Nathaniel Millett, Saint Louis University (University Press of For theology: Icons of Hope: The “Last Things” in Florida, 2013) Catholic Imagination by John E. Thiel, Fairfield University. (University of Notre Dame Press, 2013). The category for the 2015 awards will be “the sciences.” The honor society is celebrating its centennial through- For philosophy/ethics: The Ethics of Interrogation: out 2015. Information on the awards and on other top- Professional Responsibility in an Age of Terror by Paul ics is available on their website: www.alphasigmanu.org. Lauritzen, John Carroll University (Georgetown University Press, 2013)

40 Conversations Book Review

Mission, Identity, Local Relationships How Schools Have Survived Sacrifice and Survival: Identity, Mission, and Jesuit Higher Education in the American South, by R. Eric Platt

Tuscaloosa, AL: University Press of Alabama, 2014. 240 pages

Reviewed by Jeff Dorr, S.J.

he Association of Jesuit Identity, Mission, and Jesuit Higher Colleges and Universities Education in the American South. (AJCU) consists of 28 R. Eric Platt, a professor of higher member schools today. education at University of Southern What would the difference Mississippi, by not being affiliated with a T be if the AJCU had 33 Jesuit institution, brings a new perspec- member institutions instead? From the tive to the study of Jesuit education. perspective of the Jesuits’ former New Platt’s emphasis on institutional surviv- Orleans Province, the difference might ability and willingness to consider all col- simply have been the inclusion of St. leges of a given province, even those Charles College of Grand Coteau, La., the which have been closed, make his book College of the Immaculate Conception of a markedly new contribution. New Orleans, St. Mary’s University of Furthermore, Jesuit schools currently ous roads each of these seven Jesuit col- Galveston, Tex., the College of the place tremendous emphasis on mission leges had to navigate trying to make it in Sacred Heart of Augusta, Ga., and Loyola and identity, but Platt’s guiding question the American South. One of the schools, College of New Orleans. All of these – how do mission, identity, and local rela- St. Charles College, faced fires, a flood, schools had been part of the educational tionships, which he refers to as “town yellow fever, isolation, and changing landscape in the American South but and gown,” help explain whether a curricular expectations. Though this col- closed their doors between 1912 and school remained open or closed its door? lege in Grand Coteau, La., may have 1922. After 1922, the Jesuits of the South – is a new one. faced the most extreme challenges (a operated only Loyola University of New Despite not being connected to a claim those who lived through the hurri- Orleans and Spring Hill College of Jesuit institution, Platt’s research both in cane of 1900 at St. Mary’s College in Mobile, Ala. What had occurred that five secondary sources concerning the of seven Jesuit colleges would close their Jesuits, Jesuit education and the doors during a single decade? What dis- American South and, more importantly, Jeff Dorr, S.J., received his undergrad- tinguished Loyola and Spring Hill from in numerous archival collections of the uate degree from Xavier University the other five schools? These questions New Orleans Province gives him a and a master’s from Creighton; he is and many more are the focus of R. Eric strong basis from which to work. This now pursuing graduate studies in Platt’s new book Sacrifice and Survival: research allows him to narrate the ardu- history at St. Louis University.

Conversations 41 Book Review

Other Book News Galveston, Tex., would surely ing Catholic colleges in the 19th- Fr Agustin Udías (see have disputed) each and every and early 20th-century American story, page 5) has just school had to deal with an South. This book provides a published an English environment that in one way or more unified and significant translation of his book another was hostile. treatment of these colleges than about the contributions The book’s five chapters is perhaps available in any other of the Jesuits to sci- provide space for Platt to single source. ence, Jesuit acknowledge contextual and Though the research and Contribution to unifying dynamics and to give narration of the book come Science: A History. In specific attention to each of the through extremely strong, the this new English edi- colleges. The first two chapters, conclusions Platt seeks to draw tion, he has limited the which study the Society of are weaker. His assumption that mention of Spanish Jesus, the Jesuit tradition of identity, mission, and local rela- authors of lesser education, and the 19th-century tionships influenced a school’s importance and has context of the American South, ability to stay open is undoubted- added more about what motivated the dedica- are well suited for readers gen- ly true. However, the contention tion of Jesuits to science. In the epilogue he erally unfamiliar with the could have been strengthened by relates dedication to science with Ignatian spiri- Jesuits. The remaining three a more thorough and explicit tuality. This book is the first to join the earlier chapters group the seven col- comparative analysis of how Jesuit scientists with the modern ones, high- leges and tell their stories. The those three factors differed from lighting the continuity between the two periods third chapter, titled “Failure to college to college and, perhaps and the difference between them. Survive,” examines the stories even more importantly, how of St. Charles College (1837- these compared to other signifi- 1922), St. Mary’s University A Jesuit’s Reading List cant factors. Furthermore, while (1854-1922), and the College of survival of colleges is empha- the Sacred Heart (1900-1917). sized over measurements of their Ray Schroth, S.J., literary The fourth chapter, “Closure success, the use of the term fail- editor at America maga- and Amalgamation,” looks at ure, particularly in reference to zine and former editor the two New Orleans colleges, St. Charles College and St. Mary’s of Conversations, recent- Loyola (1904-1912) and University, seems misleading. ly published the America Immaculate Conception (1849- Might it be more precise to say Reading List online, 1912), which blended into that the Jesuits sacrificed those which includes book Loyola University. Finally, chap- two colleges for the sake of lists he put together at ter five, “Institutional Survival,” Loyola University? four different Jesuit uni- looks at the only two which The value of Sacrifice and versities over two continued in operation, Loyola Survival is immediately seen in decades resulting in 150 University (1912-present) and its presentation of the generally short essays with 270 Spring Hill (1837-present). forgotten stories of five late 19th- book suggestions. Fr. The greatest contribution of and early 20th-century Jesuit col- Schroth came up with Sacrifice and Survival is found in leges. However, the book’s even the idea for these essays while teaching at the carefully constructed greater enduring impact might Fordham University in the 1970s. “I’ve always accounts of each of the seven come from the way it inherently felt the main role of the teacher is to introduce New Orleans Province colleges. challenges those involved in the student to other people, and by other peo- Platt’s careful archival work Jesuit colleges and universities in ple I mean people throughout world history – allows him to draw out the the present to consider how the great artists and the great writers. I made a Jesuits, local community mem- institutions relate to one another big point of assigning a lot of books.” bers, and students as they and how concepts of sacrifice (http://americamagazine.org/america-reading-list) responded to the trials of estab- and survival might still be impor- lishing, maintaining, and attend- tant today. ■

42 Conversations Book Review

La Verdad Y La Justicia Witnessing Truth in the Service of Justice La Verdad: A Witness to the Salvadoran Martyrs, by Lucía Cerna and Mary Jo Ignoffo

New York: Orbis Books, 2014, co-published with Santa Clara University. Paperback, 186 pages, $20.00 Reviewed by Theresa Ladrigan-Whelpley

hat are you living that town would say my family was the for? What would most poor of all. I will tell you why. I you die for? Few picked up garbage nobody wanted, but I of us would needed it. We had hunger” (p. 3). After say “the truth.” her grandmother died, Cerna began to W Lucía Cerna, a work as a housekeeper in San Salvador Salvadoran woman who worked as a and met and married her first husband. housekeeper in the Jesuit Community He worked as a gardener for another one at the Universidad Centroamericano of the fourteen land-owning families, but (UCA) in San Salvador, chose to risk after his employer was kidnapped and her life by speaking truth to power. As killed by the guerrilla resistance, he primary witness to the massacre at the became desperate for money, and Cerna UCA on November 16, 1989, Cerna tes- notes: “he changed, first in the mind and tified to the reality that it was the then the face. Maybe he was depressed; Salvadoran military who carried out the I don’t know. But when his face changed killings. “My life changed in one to hate, I felt scared” (p. 22). Cerna moment.... I never thought my life recalls stories of her husband’s abuse and would change. I just thought to tell the ultimate death and how he kept their two truth” (p. 90). children from her. Cerna’s accounts of In La Verdad: A Witness to the her own life, including the oppression left her village without power and water Salvadoran Martyrs, a book jointly pub- and struggles of her family, echo the for several days in 1989, it was Cerna’s lished by Santa Clara University and realidad of hundreds of thousands in El confidence in the Jesuits’ care that com- Orbis Press in commemoration of the Salvador’s landscape. pelled her to seek refuge and support 25th anniversary of the UCA martyrs, In 1980, through the recommenda- for her family at the UCA. The Cernas Cerna shares her harrowing life story in tion of her aunt, Cerna came to work as arrived the afternoon of November 15, dialogue with her friend, co-author, and a housekeeper at Loyola Center, a 1989, and Padre Nacho [Ignacio Martín- historian, Mary Jo Ignoffo. Cerna begins retreat house near the UCA, and later at Baró, S.J.] offered them space in an by recounting her childhood in a town the UCA offices as well. Cerna notes empty guest house on the campus. outside of San Savador, where she and how respected she felt by the Jesuits, her brothers lived with their mentally-ill how much they regarded the signifi- grandmother and abusive grandfather, cance of her work and her humanity. Theresa Ladrigan-Whelpley serves as subsisting on the edge of the agricultural “The priests appreciated my work.… director of Institutes and Spirituality estate of one of the fourteen ruling fami- They offered respect. Never before did I in the Ignation Center for Jesuit lies of El Salvador. “I think the people of have that” (p. xxiv). When the civil war Education at Santa Clara University.

Conversations 43 Book Review

Lucía Cerna (second from the left) engages in a campus dialogue with La Verdad Ignacio Ellacuría, S.J., co-author Mary Jo Ignoffo (far right), Professor Luis Calero, S.J., and director of cam- pus ministry, Maria de la Luz (Lulu) Santana, at a November 2014 panel discussion urged in a commencement at Santa Clara University. Photo credit: Max Westerman, Santa Clara University. address he delivered That night Lucía Cerna awoke to funded, trained, and weaponized seven years before his a tremendous uproar and loud by the United States government in death: “What then does a shooting. She reflects: “My blood the name of anti-communism was went cold, like ice…. Then Padre not a welcome truth. university do, immersed Nacho yelled…‘this is an injustice!’ The Jesuits at the UCA were in this reality? Transform Now I wonder if he was seeking to use the resources at their yelling…because he knew I was in disposal to stand with those who it? Yes. Do everything that room and he knows me. He were being oppressed and dehu- knew I would hear and I would tell. manized by the ruling oligarchy in possible so that liberty is I would not let anything stop me El Salvador. As we continue to dis- victorious over oppression, from telling” (p. 83). Indeed, Cerna cern how we are called to realize did tell what she saw from her open our mission as Jesuit, Catholic uni- justice over injustice, love window that early morning under versities in the 21st century, the over hate? Yes. Without the full moon. However, after being story of La Verdad: A Witness to the whisked out of the country for her Salvadoran Martyrs reminds us that this overall commitment, own protection, Cerna was interro- our work is urgent and the stakes gated for seven days in Miami by are high. Seeking and living truth in we would not be a the FBI and a Salvadoran colonel, the service of justice is risky busi- university, and even less who withheld food from her and ness. But if the transformation of her family in an effort to press her our world is the end for which we so would we be a Catholic into changing her story. The fact have been created, we will find university.” that the murders were strategically strength and company in the wit- planned and carried out by a ness of La Verdad. ■ Salvadoran military which had been

44 Conversations The National Seminar on Jesuit Higher Education

The goal of the National Seminar on Jesuit Higher reviews, reports, and Talking Back – we want to Education and its publication Conversations is to keep the conversation going to build on the strengthen the Jesuit identity of our 28 colleges progress we have made. Our members, represent- and universities. First, each issue is written to stim- ing various institutions and disciplines, visit three ulate the campus dialogue – through departmental colleges and universities a year and listen to discussions or faculty symposiums – on the pursuit groups of faculty and students in order to decide of various ideals. Second, through our various the themes for each issue. departments – feature articles, forums, book

Members of the Seminar

Mark G. Bosco, S.J., is the director of the Hank Stephen C. Rowntree, S.J., an associate pastor at Center for Catholic Intellectual Heritage and joint the Holy Name of Jesus Church in New Orleans, is professor of English and theology at Loyola the secretary of the National Seminar for Jesuit University Chicago. Higher Education. Laurie Ann Britt-Smith is an associate professor Edward W. Schmidt, S.J., editor, works at in the English department at University of Detroit America Magazine. Mercy, Detroit, Michigan. Michael Serazio is an assistant professor in the Kristin Heyer is the Bernard J. Hanley Professor communications department at Fairfield University, of Religious Studies at Santa Clara University, with interests in popular culture, advertising, Santa Clara, California. journalism, and new media. Patrick J. Howell, S.J., chair of the Seminar, is Sherilyn G.F. Smith is an associate professor in Distinguished Professor in the Institute for Catholic the biology department at Le Moyne College. Thought and Culture at Seattle University, Seattle, Washington. Jessica Wroblesk is an assistant professor of theology and religious studies at Wheeling Jesuit James McCartin is an associate professor of University, and her interests include social and theology at Fordham University and director of political ethics and the place of spiritual the Fordham Center on Religion and Culture. disciplines in the moral life. Diana Owen is associate professor in the depart- ment of communications, culture, and technology at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.

Writing for Conversations

Most of the articles are commissioned • Do not include footnotes. Permission is granted to reprint according to a certain theme for each Incorporate any needed articles from Conversations for issue, but we welcome unsolicited references into the text. any educational purpose, provided manuscripts. Ideally they should • The Conversations style sheet credit is given. explore an idea that will generate is available on request. All previous issues of discussion. Try to avoid articles that Conversations are available at simply describe a worthy local project. • We welcome photographs, http://epublications.marquette. fully captioned, preferable of edu/conversations/ Guidelines. action rather than posed shots. • Please keep unsolicited • Send the manuscript as a COMING UP Issue #48 (Fall 2015) submissions to 1000-1200 Microsoft Word attachment to Jesuit Higher Education – words. We may ask for reduc- [email protected] Confronting Challenges. tions depending on the topic. Tensleep, Wyoming. During his annual retreat Fr. Doll, s.J., celebrated mass with a fellow priest. They then shared the insights of the day at 9,000 feet in the little Bighorn mountains. photo credit: Don Doll, s.J.

Georgetown University Santa Clara University University of Detroit Mercy Seattle University Washington, DC, 1789 Santa Clara, 1851 Detroit, 1877 Seattle, 1891 Saint Louis University Loyola University Maryland Regis University Rockhurst University Saint Louis, 1818 Baltimore, 1852 Denver, 1877 Kansas City, 1910 Spring Hill College University of San Francisco Creighton University Loyola Marymount University Mobile, 1830 San Francisco, 1855 Omaha, 1878 Los Angeles, 1911 Xavier University Boston College Marquette University Loyola University New Orleans Cincinnati, 1831 Boston, 1863 Milwaukee, 1881 New Orleans, 1912 Fordham University Canisius College John Carroll University Fairfield University New York, 1841 Buffalo, 1870 Cleveland, 1886 Fairfield, 1942 College of the Holy Cross Loyola University Chicago Gonzaga University Le Moyne College Worcester, 1843 Chicago, 1870 Spokane, 1887 Syracuse, 1946 Saint Joseph’s University Saint Peter’s University University of Scranton Wheeling Jesuit University Philadelphia, 1851 Jersey City, 1872 Scranton, 1888 Wheeling, 1954

Coming in Fall 2015: #48 Jesuit Higher Education – Confronting Challenges