It’s natural to want to feel important, but St. Paul encourages us to regard others as more important. William Manaker, SJ, reflects on St. Paul’s words and Christ’s actions in showing love to others.
Grief, Relationality, and Animals: A Call to Bother to Love
Grief at the death of animals reveals a moral obligation we too often ignore. Daniel Mascarenhas, SJ argues that if we dare to feel this grief, it becomes a call to love them as fellow creatures of God.
Unstoppable Grace: Sacraments and Sinful Ministers
Reflecting on his current studies in theology, Josh reflects on how a hundreds-year-old debate on the sacraments touched his own life and brought him healing.
Atomic Pilgrim: A Book Review
In his forthcoming memoir Atomic Pilgrim, James Patrick Thomas recounts his cross-continental pilgrimage from Washington State to the Holy Land and his later activism back home. Writing for The Jesuit Post, Luke Lapean, SJ reflects on how the memoir provocatively asks whether true success in the struggle for change lies in measurable outcomes or in the quiet, interior transformation of the one who walks the road.
Transcendence: A Poem About Becoming More Fully and Authentically Human
When I take a more honest look at life, with its’ beauty, and also its’ darkness and suffering, I’m drawn to see the meaning of seeking something that transcends worldly pleasures or pursuits, even the willingness to sacrifice those things. And I want to affirm this desire to “transcend” is not an escape from reality, nor is it inhuman. It is rather a call to become even more fully and authentically human concretely in the world. Chris Williams, SJ, invites us to see this transcendence in his newest poem perfect for prayer and reflection.
We Are Not Alone | Know Justice, Know Peace: A Jesuit Antiracism Retreat
Where is the Risen Lord in the racism we’ve been confronting for so long? Jesus conquered sin and death as He rose from the dead. But his wounds were still there when He showed up to his disciples. In the beginning of the fourth week, Eric Couto reminds us that our hope and joy as Christians comes not from naivete, but from our faith that Jesus walks with us, as we transform the painful realities of our world.
Antiracism is Not a Game
If it’s US vs THEM and we are intent on scoring points, we are not making antiracist progress.
White Apathy and the Crucifixion | Know Justice, Know Peace: A Jesuit Antiracism Retreat
Grieving with others is not the only way we commit to solidarity. Becoming aware of one’s participation in the oppression of others, is another way of opening the eyes of the heart and deciding to be responsible. Brian Engelhart, SJ, describes the apathy White people often exercise when dealing with the realities of racism that affect Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), and finishes the third week of our “Know Justice, Know Peace: A Jesuit Antiracism Retreat” with one contemporary example, as well as with an invitation to get rid of indifference.
Lament Must Precede Solidarity | Know Justice, Know Peace: A Jesuit Antiracism Retreat
Some realities in life can only be known through tears. The participation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) members in antiracism is not a hobby or an optional venture: it’s a matter of survival.They do not have the luxury that White people have to retire from the conversation of racism and flee from its painful realities. Matt Briand, SJ, invites us to put aside our fear to weep with those who weep because of racism, for true Christian love suffers along the beloved, and commits to justice.
Sometimes I Wonder, What If the Bread Changes but We Don’t?
It happened when I served as a Eucharistic minister at a large suburban hospital over five years ago. When I walked into his room, he looked like anybody’s grandpa. I can still see him lying there: a 90-some-year-old man with smallish frame nestled into the middle of the recliner bed, a tuft of white hair atop a wrinkled but happy-go-lucky face, the flimsy-knit, standard issue hospital blanket pulled up just under his chin. Read as Christopher Alt, S.J. reflects on the Eucharist and our everyday life.