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Earthen Vessels What is a Spiritual Education? The spirit at work within each one of us encourages us to realise our humanity in all its fullness. By attending to its movements in the depths of our being we can learn to articulate our uniqueness and thereby become fuller members of the body of Christ. Download this article in PDF format by clicking here What I Call Spirituality’: Secondary School Students’ Perceptions of Spiritual Development in Hong Kong A study undertaken to discover perceptions of spirituality in a Hong Kong secondary school offers a model for sensitive educational research. The results reveal a timely invitation for educators to broaden their understanding of spirituality to accommodate the the needs of the current generation of students. Spiritual Direction and Formation These practical guidelines delineate the role of spiritual direction in formation for the priesthood and religious life. They locate it as the beating heart of a formation system whose goal is to bring candidates to the point where they can offer themselves freely to God. Threads of Transformation: The Spiritual Exercises and the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) is the programme for the reception of adults into the Roman Catholic Church. The dynamic of the Spiritual Exercises offers a rich counterpoint to this process, showing how they can be successfully woven together. Spirituality in Endless Formation: Human Formation and Jesuit Formation One of the legacies of Pope Francis has been the demythologization of the role of the clergy in the Church and the advocation of a more human religious formation. The approach of the Jesuits in the Philippines has long encouraged psychological and spiritual integration in order to realise this aim. Saying Their Names: Prayers Prayed by the Elderly The everyday prayer of the elderly gives an insight into the spirituality of those who are beginning to look back on their lives, encompassed by gratitude for everything that has been, and full to the brim with quiet faith in whatever is to come. Liturgical Spirituality and Ethical Formation: The Formulary of St John de Matha A liturgical prayer on the feast of St John de Matha (1160-1213) is the occasion to rediscover how liturgy can facilitate spiritual formation. The ministry of this French medieval saint, who cared for captives during the crusades, can inform our own response to modern slavery in the world today. Jesuit Higher Education: Fostering Solidarity The commitment to solidarity in Jesuit higher education has deep roots in the tradition of the Church. It was realised even from the earliest days of the Society of Jesus through an intellectual presence that promotes justice. And that is needed more than ever in our fractured world. The Trouble with Catechesis The practice of teaching the Roman Catholic faith through catechesis has had a long and complex history. Thomas Flowers uses the sixteenth-century Jesuit catechism of Peter Canisius to explore how catechesis, then and now, remains focused on ‘intimate union with Christ’. From the Foreword WRITING ABOUT THE LIGHT of the gospel revealed in Christ Jesus, Paul says: ‘we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us’ (2 Corinthians 4:7; KJV). Despite the afflictions they experience, Paul and his co-workers persist in their efforts to let this light shine. It transpires that their fragility as ‘earthen vessels’ is not an obstacle to fulfilling that purpose, but the very means by which it is to be accomplished. We can see our human fragility as a developmental stage through which we must pass, but it is also a necessary condition of our spiritual lives. This issue of The Way draws upon the wisdom of teachers, catechists, spiritual directors and other formators involved in promoting spirituality among those they serve. They show us how to let that light of the gospel shine forth in our fragility from the beginning of life right the way through to its end.Philip Harrison SJ Please click here to subscribe to The Way, | ||
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