The “problem of evil” in the world is a question that has plagued people of all faiths (and none) for centuries. What do St. Augustine and St. Teresa of Avila have to teach us about this problem?
All posts by Brett Helbling, SJ
Brett met the Jesuits at Gonzaga Prep in Spokane, Washington and attended the University of Portland earning a BA in accounting. Hoping there was more to life than financial statements and unqualified audit reports, Brett became a professional volunteer in the Peace Corps and the Jesuit Volunteer Corps where he served in Costa Rica and at Dolores Mission Parish in Boyle Height, Los Angeles. Brett has been missioned to study Mexican cuisine (and philosophy) at the Jesuit University in Guadalajara and enjoys eating (always), running (sometimes) and sharks (never).
Joined in 2021 9 posts bhelblingsj@thejesuitpost.org
Lessons from a Canine Spiritual Master
Canela, a four-legged spiritual master, has been helping me grow in religious life. Here are some of the lessons she’s teaching me.
Get Him Lord: A Vocation Narrative
Like a fish getting caught, this Jesuit’s path to religious life didn’t go as planned.
Jesus’ Birth Today: Imagining the Nativity
Nativity sets are everywhere, but that shouldn’t make us forget the reality of the circumstances of Christ’s birth. Hope is being born where we least expect it.
Among the Tombs with Addiction
Jesuit Brett Helbling learned an important lesson working at a homeless shelter soup kitchen: Don’t wait to tell someone they are important to you. They may disappear before you get the chance.
Consider the Sunflower: The Parable We Need in Dark Times
This pandemic can feel like a darkness that won’t ever end. That’s why the sunflower is such a great teacher of what we must do in such times: turn to the light.
And The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round: On Death and Resurrection
The velorio, a gathering in the home of the deceased, is a Mexican tradition that allows loved ones to gather to share meals, memories and to mourn. And, even still, life around us is a reminder that not even death can conquer our hope.
Flores and The Bugatti: On Finding Time for Friends
It took me some time to learn what God was trying to teach me through Sinesio, the man who, for over 25 years, kept the novitiate grounds a paradise, more heaven than Hollywood, with his care and hard work. But, God eventually got through as God has a way of doing. God will offer life lessons where we least expect them, and sometimes, when we least want them.
Rend My Heart, O’God, the Opportunity of an Open Door
The prophet Joel extolls the people of God to rend their hearts and not their garments to be touched and broken and changed at a deeper level than what is visible, a profound, inner conversion, one of the heart. And God will find us in the most beautiful ways. All we have to do is open the door. Find out what happens when I open a door and start seeing Christ on the other side.