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Labours of Love A Spirituality of Encounter: St Ignatius, Pope Francis and Lessons from the School of the Poor Thomas Kelly identifies the leitmotif of St Ignatius understanding of poverty as an encounter with the poor, a desire to experience actual poverty and a spiritual dependence upon God. He argues that Pope Francis extends the harmonics by emphasizing that the poor are collaborators in the project of evangelization because they teach us something about God. Download this article in PDF format by clicking here God's Tricksters The Book of Esther recounts a story from the Jewish diaspora in the Persian Court. Queen Esther and Mordecai resist idolatry and and their trickery reveals how human action is entwined with the hidden action of God. The narrative will help all those troubled by internal conflicts and religious politics. Robert Southwell: The Lyrics of the Jesuit Baroque In his continuing reflection on the Jesuit Baroque, Ian Coleman turns to the poetry and mission of Robert Southwell. In the work Mary Magdalens Funeral Tears he discerns a new style that opened a door to contemporary European art but was animated by Southwells zeal to labour in the dangerous mission back home in England. A Prayer of Lamentation: The History and Uncertain Future of the Jesuits in Tomsk, Russia The Jesuit School in Tomsk was the only Roman Catholic secondary school in Russia, founded after Jesuits returned there in 1992 after an absence of 200 years. Eric A. Clayton traces the history of the Jesuit mission and the labour of Jesuits who worked there today in a spiritual landscape marred by decades of dehumanisation. Authentic Selfhood from Silence: Francis de Sales Dextrous Invitation into Contemplation The writings of St Francis de Sales orientate the reader in the direction of contemplative silence. It is there where authentic selfhood is formed in the presence of God. It bears fruit in the numerous acts of devout love with which his writings are permeated. The Spiritual Exercises and Psychological Capital Psychological capital is a term used to describe the positive sum total of what someone is. Mukti Clarence explains how hope, efficacy, resilience and optimism offer a thematic paradigm for the developing awareness of oneself as an active agent of God. Laudato Si and the Spiritual Exercises Revisited The dynamic of the Spiritual Exercises is a powerful tool to bring about ecological conversion. Iain Radian recounts how he immersed the participants in nature at the International Ignatian Ecospiritual Conference in 2022. The method broght about a change of heart and a passionate determination to work for the care of Gods creation. Synodality at Work As the desire for a more synodal church begins to deepen, Gerry ONeil draws parallels with the secular terms collaboration or synergy. He presents a straightforward framework to help workplaces and communities develop a more synodal approach and invites us to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit rather than getting stuck. Ignatius of Loyola: Theology as a Way of Living St Ignatius gives us an everyday theology of lived experience that comes to shape the course of our whole lives. Although expressed in a sparse language, it enables us to appropriate a theology of our own experience rooted in the radical freedom to labour for Christ. Bulletin: Bishop Orlando lvarez The Mexican human rights activist and theologian Luis Orlando Prez SJ gives a clear account of false imprisonment of Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando lvarez. He reminds us that the Church in Latin America is still on the side of the poor. From the Foreword Whether as individuals or communities we are invited to collaborate with God in our everyday lives. This issue of The Way explores the dynamics of that collaboration through labour undertaken, not for reward, but out of love. While motivations from outside can sustain us, only those from within can us give us a lasting sense of accomplishment. Many who have devoted their lives to quiet labours of love have gone unnoticed. However the role they have played in the fulfilment of Gods will has often been decisive. While the articles in this issue touch upon varied spheres of human life, they coincide in affirming that love is reward enough.In his account of the writings of St Francis de Sales, Brett McLaughlin notes that, despite their contemplative character, they are permeated with numerous acts of love. These compose the devout life in which contemplation spurs the reader to action. St Francis de Sales envisions collaboration with God through the image of a beekeeper attending to the work of bees. Such collaboration can only be brought about through silent prayer in which human authenticity emerges and a disposition of spiritual freedom, akin to the Ignatian ideal of indifference, begins to grow. If the source of Gods collaboration with human beings is born in silence, then perhaps this is why it passes unmentioned in the Book of Esther. There, God is waiting to be discovered only as a hidden but active presence entwined with human action. Paul Dominic comments that Gods discreet action, and even Gods apparent failure, are both relevant to our contemporary experience in which the personhood of God is minimised by secular culture. There is an invitation to rediscover this personhood in our everyday lives. The war in Ukraine has reminded us that even in the darkest moments of history, God is present. The violent political ideology of the Russian elite has been met by astonishing acts of compassion and resilience on the part of ordinary Ukrainians. In his article, Eric Clayton gives an intriguing insight into the history of the only Roman Catholic secondary school in Russia, where Jesuits have laboured in a spiritual landscape marred by decades of dehumanisation. Such accounts reveal that collaboration with God is a form of resistance. A similar commitment is demonstrated in Robert Southwells zeal for the English mission during the reign of Elizabeth I which Ian Coleman argues strengthened his poetic voice. Our bulletin on the false imprisonment of Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando Álvarez is reminder that in Latin America the Church is still on the side of the oppressed. The concept of psychological capital helps Mukti Clarence to describe how collaboration with God can lead to human resilience. He draws upon it to understand the dynamic of the Spiritual Exercises, but is critical of the naïve use of psychological theories when they fail to appreciate the gratuitous action of Gods grace on the human person. And Gerry ONeill looks at how Pope Franciss emphasis on synodality in the Church can be reflected in other organizations in order to collaborate with the God by attending to the movements of the Holy Spirit. As we learn to labour out of love we discover more and more that love is its own reward. This insight is implicit in Thomas Kellys article, available for free download, that shows how Pope Franciss social commitment developed from that of St Ignatius. He argues that the poor can teach us something through their involuntary dependence upon God. Those who minister to the poor discover that their reward is a mutual encounter of love. One of the principle causes of poverty is the degradation of the human environment. Responding to Peter Saunders (The Way, October 2015), Iain Radvan describes how immersing the participants of a conference in ecology prepared them to collaborate with God in nature. Taking a step back, James Hanvey, in an article reprinted from our sister journal Thinking Faith, rebuts the oft repeated notion that St Ignatius was not a theologian by sketching his theology of human experience. He concludes that for St Ignatius theology was not a speculative endeavour of the intellect but a life that lives in Christ; a love that comes to be—in deeds and not words—for the life of the world. Each of the authors writing in this issue remind us that our collaboration with God does not rest upon speculation or ideology but upon the responding to the promptings of the Spirit in everyday life. Our labours of love remain forever an affair of the heart. Finally, I am especially pleased to be reviewing a new Way Books publication in this issue, a set of essays by Rob Marsh entitled Imagination, Discernment and Spiritual Direction. The book will be of interest to anyone involved in spiritual ministry and is available from The Ways online bookshop and the editorial office, along with a deep reading guide for individuals or groups. An online formation day is being held on 12 May 2023 at the London Jesuit Centre, details of which can be found on their website (www.londonjesuitcentre.org). Although little known outside the United Kingdom, Rob Marshs longstanding work in retreat-giving and the formation of spiritual directors has truly been a quiet labour of love. Philip Harrison SJ Please click here to subscribe to The Way, | ||
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