by Paddy Gilger, SJ | Jan 24, 2012 | About TJP, Site News, Uncategorized ~ Approx. 2 mins
Kevin Garnett, Jesus, Bob Dylan and Descartes. Really? I squinted to get a better look at the young guy standing in front of me. It sure seemed like he was wearing a black shirt and a white plastic collar. And it sure seemed like he had just tied these four men...
by Matt Spotts, SJ | Jan 23, 2012 | Blogs ~ Approx. 1min
While spending some time with my parents over the holidays, I had the opportunity to attend Mass with at the parish in which I grew up. My family has been members since I was fairly young, and my siblings and I all went to the parish school there. In fact, we all...
by Joe Hoover, SJ | Jan 23, 2012 | Uncategorized ~ Approx. 11 mins
Mass in the side chapels of urban parishes tends to draw pretty much the same crowd. A thin somber college student wearing outdated clothing, and not ironically, walks into the nave and kneels perfectly before sliding into the pew. Later in the communion line he will...
by Jay Hooks | Jan 23, 2012 | Uncategorized ~ Approx. 1min
I heard this song by Hem a couple of weeks back, and it’s stuck with me. (Note: no, I did not first hear it on the Liberty Mutual ad. And as nice as it is to think that big insurance companies are into random acts of kindness and the ‘pay it forward’ attitude, I...
by Tim O'Brien, SJ | Jan 23, 2012 | Uncategorized ~ Approx. 1 min
If you read the words “I’ve always preached moderation” recently, they were probably not from Thomas Aquinas, who extolled the virtue of moderation by saying “virtus in medio stat” – virtue stands in the middle. No, if you read them at all, these words probably came...
by Joe Simmons, SJ | Jan 22, 2012 | Blogs ~ Approx. 4 mins
“I’d really like to pray, but… I’m just so busy that I don’t have the time.” I said these words, with utter sincerity, to the Jesuit priest with whom I was discussing joining the Society of Jesus. Well, it was partially sincere, since at the time I didn’t see how...
by Jake Martin, SJ | Jan 22, 2012 | Uncategorized ~ Approx. 1 min
Here’s a link to a speech by hipster icon (at least this aging hipster’s icon), and gosh-darn-pretty-good-gosh-darn writer David Foster Wallace. Those of us with an Ignatian bent may well see something in the speech that laterally addresses Ignatius’ Two Standards...
by Tim O'Brien, SJ | Jan 22, 2012 | Uncategorized ~ Approx. 1min
Own a cell phone? Ever had the experience of your phone going off at a somewhat opportune moment? Maybe you were in church, or in the middle of a quiet dinner – and all of a sudden you are frantically fumbling to make the ringing stop. Few of us, though, have...
by Tim O'Brien, SJ | Jan 22, 2012 | Uncategorized ~ Approx. 1 min
Confession: the hit British costume drama Downton Abbey was my guiltiest pleasure of 2011, a distinction poised to continue in 2012 as well. The show has been all over the news in the last few weeks, in the runup to and aftermath of its season two premier on PBS....
by Eric Sundrup, SJ | Jan 22, 2012 | Uncategorized ~ Approx. 1 min
St. Ignatius Loyola once had a mystical experience of the Trinity. In his characteristically spartan account he notes that his experience was like three notes making up one chord. Perhaps this was the first of many Ignatian audio-visual presentations? As odd as it...
