What’s on the final exam of our lives? Conan Rainwater, SJ, reflects on how Christ the King calls us to remain close to the world’s poor and suffering as our ultimate test of love for him. Based on the readings for the The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.
Embracing the Spirituality of Sport
As Pope Leo asks the Church to pray that sports promote peace and personal growth, Jackson Graham, SJ, reflects on the spirituality of lacrosse and how the sport has deepened his own relationship with God and broadened his understanding of Ignatian spirituality.
Inside a Jesuit Regency: Reflection from the Lord’s Vineyard
As a period dedicated fully to active ministry, Regency is perhaps the most straightforward yet unique stage of Jesuit formation. River Simpson, SJ offers glimpses from his time as a regent teaching at St. Louis University High School and reflects on how the labor and graces of Jesuit formation come to fruition for and through the people of God.
Real Presence: The Ministry of a Sports Chaplain
As he concludes his regency mission at Loyola High School of Detroit, Eddie Wesonga, SJ, reflects on his ministry as a sports chaplain and the ways it invited him into authentic encounter and a deeper relationship with his students.
Freestyle Rapping in the Image and Likeness of God
What would St. Augustine have to say about freestyle rapping? It’s a remarkable talent that reveals more than just a rapper’s skills, like those showcased by the great Harry Mack. It can reveal how we are created in the image and likeness of God. And Augustine shows us how.
Centering the Lives of People Enslaved to the Jesuits: Black History, Memory, and Reconciliation
Most existing histories of Jesuit slaveholding prioritize the actions and voices of Jesuit slaveholders, and not the people they held in bondage. Ayan Ali tells about her research with the Jesuits’ Slavery, History, Memory, and Reconciliation Project which seeks to address this historical bias by conducting extensive historical research with an intentional focus on the lives of enslaved people.
The Potter and the Bowl: In Whose Hands Do We Find Ourselves?
I’ve been throwing pottery for over a year now. For a while, I had the technique down, or at least down enough to center the clay and build from there. But lately, I have had the worst time centering the clay. As I sit with my struggles to center the clay, my mind wanders to the world around me: does anything feel centered these days?
Catholic 101: How are we saved?
“Have you been saved?” It is a question we might not like to be asked by a stranger, but it is a question worth pondering over. Have we been saved? What does it mean to be saved? And what does the Church teach about salvation? This addition to the Catholic 101 series provides some helpful insights on the Church’s teaching about salvation.
For a Church That is Unafraid to Welcome Black People
A certain memory of Peter Claver is often used by Catholics to distance themselves from actually engaging in ministry or relationships with Black Americans. Yet this false image of Claver, rather than absolving Catholics of their responsibilities towards Black people, is rather an even more scathing indictment of our indifference. Our image of Claver is a call to all of us Catholics to be who he was not.
First Day Out of Prison: A Modern-Day Parable on Coming Out of the Pandemic and Into Lent
“This whole year has felt like a Lenten penance in the desert, so I’m not thinking about what to give up. Instead, I enter this season replaying images of that day with Javier.” Christopher Alt, SJ, recounts the story of his friend’s first day out of prison and considers what lessons it has for us as we see promises of the end of the pandemic and move into Lent.