The following reflection is part of our “Jesuit 101” series, celebrating the Ignatian Year. This piece helps us to dive deeper into the Contemplation on the Incarnation from the Spiritual Exercises. To learn more about this contemplation, check out our explainer...
My first experience of Jesus as “Emmanuel” had nothing to do with Advent or Christmas. At least that is what it seemed like. On one of my annual eight-day silent retreats, I was following Jesus in His public ministry: healing, preaching, teaching. On our retreats,...
Nativity scenes are everywhere this time of year. There’s a porcelain one on the mantel, one made of small clay figures on the dinner table, a large one adorns the altar of the parish. I’ve even seen a nativity scene with living animals. Be careful, the donkey bites. ...
I My dad wears the same red t-shirt every Christmas Eve. Above a silhouette of Santa’s jolly face it reads, in large script, “I BELIEVE.” Year after year, he passes out gifts, wrangles the dogs, and throws balls of used wrapping paper at the ceiling fan, launching...
The feelings and sentiments that accompany this time of year are an entanglement of joy and emptiness. I love the seasonal movies, music, and décor, as it brings up wondrous nostalgia from when I was a child. The times spent with family next to a fire with hot...
Elizabeth couldn’t contain her joy when Mary greeted her. Neither should we when we recognize God at work in others. Tucker Redding, SJ, reflects on the Visitation in this week’s One-Minute Homily. Based on the readings for Sunday, December 19, 2021. Share...
The following reflection is part of our “Jesuit 101” series, celebrating the Ignatian Year. This piece helps us to dive deeper into the Contemplation on the Incarnation from the Spiritual Exercises. To learn more about this contemplation, check out our explainer...
“Look at him, he is such a loser…” I wonder if that was what Íñigo López de Loyola, who would later be known as St. Ignatius of Loyola, was imagining others saying after he was struck down during the battle of Pamplona. Although his forces were outnumbered, Íñigo, who...
I love Thanksgiving; a day of celebrating our gratitude to God for the gifts of life, love, and good times. It also opens the longer holiday season—filling me with excitement for Christmas. This Thanksgiving, however, as I watched my Jesuit brothers carve the turkey,...
This is the fifth installment of A Deacon’s Diary. In the fourth installment, Steve tried to answer a perennial question. I. For the past few weeks, I’ve had a repetitive dream. The only part of it I remember is the sound of someone knocking on my door, which always...
