Archive for 2010

The Jesuits are probably best known for their work in education yet, the Society of Jesus is also the largest missionary order in the Roman Catholic Church. This vibrant apostolate dates back to St. Francis Xavier, the patron saint of foreign missions, and his work in South and East Asia.

The Wisconsin Province Jesuits recently renewed a bond with the Kohima region of northeast India. This area, known as the “seven sisters” (for seven states), spans a rugged triangular region of lower Himalayan terrain that borders Tibet, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan. Th Wisconsin twinning relationship was created in a spirit of mutual sharing. It identifies particular areas of cooperation and a commitment to accompany indigenous people. Jesuit Father Tom Krettek, provincial of the Wisconsin province, and his international assistant John Sealey visited Kohima this year to help deepen this bond.

While there, Fr. Krettek and Sealey visited Jesuit schools, health clinics, the Jesuit novitiate in Kohima along with other Jesuit ministries in the area. The video below highlights their visit to Kohima.

Jesuit Father John Halligan, founder of the Working Boys’ Center (WBC) in Quito, Ecuador, was co-recipient of this year’s Opus Prize, one of the largest humanitarian awards that is designed to provide a single infusion of resources to advance humanitarians’ work and bring greater visibility to their causes.

Fr. Halligan will split the $1.1 million award with Sr. Beatrice Chipeta, director of the Lusubilo Orphan Care Project in Malawi, Africa. They were named co-recipients of the million-dollar annual prize on November 11 in a ceremony at Fordham University.

Fr. Halligan, 80, began the WBC in 1964 in the attic of the centuries-old La Compania Church in the center of Quito, Ecuador. His aim was to provide lunch and spiritual inspiration to a few dozen “shoeshine boys” who worked in the streets to support their families.

Forty-six years later, the WBC operates out of three buildings spread throughout Quito and serves more than 2,000 members annually, including whole families. The center offers daycare, primary education, vocational training, special needs services and adult literacy programs to help families be self-sustaining.

WBC is run by a team of directors, some of whom are former shoeshine boys, and enlists approximately 200 employees and 1,000 volunteers annually. It has twice been named the best technical school in the nation for its classes in carpentry, metal crafts and other trades.

At the ceremony, Fr. Halligan thanked the Jesuits for always keeping the “door open for the lower classes” and said that helped shape the path of his own life. He also encouraged students to become volunteers.

“The young volunteers make all the difference in our work, and they return from a life-changing experience in the process,” he said.

In the video below, Halligan discusses the purpose of the Working Boys’ Center and how it has help shape the lives of the poor in Quito.

Today is the feast of All Saints and Blessed of the Society of Jesus, and also when National Vocation Promotion Day is observed by Jesuits and their partners.

Jesuits are blessed to continue to have prayerful men with generous hearts who desire to labor in and for the Kingdom. Today, Jesuits recognize the ongoing need to engage men who might be called to religious life.

The Society of Jesus is a community of priests and brothers dedicated to the service of God and the Church for the betterment of the world around us. No matter what the work, from university to infirmary to barrio, it is for the glory of God and the help and salvation of souls. Even within the Society of Jesus, there is a great variety of voices, an array of talents, but all are at the service of the call and the mission. Some are gifted at social analysis, others at immediate and effective working with people at the margins of life or society. Many are scholars, many are missionaries. Whether teaching, preaching, giving the sacraments or praying for the society, the voices are as varied as the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, but there must be one message: to love God with all our hearts and to love our neighbors as ourselves. If you or someone you know is discerning a vocation calling to join the Jesuits in service, we encourage you to visit jesuit.org for more information on the Society of Jesus.

Today, on National Vocations Promotion day, National Jesuit News offers a prayer for vocations to the Society of Jesus.

Father,
in the name of Jesus,
through the power of Your Holy Spirit,
we pray that You inflame the hearts of men
with courage and trust
and the desire to labor for Your Kingdom
as Jesuits.

We ask You
through the intercession of Mary, our Mother,
St. Ignatius, and all Your saints,
to bless the Society of Jesus
with bountiful vocations
that it may continue to serve Your church
with passion and zeal.

May Your will be done.
Amen

Below, Jesuit Father Robert Ballecer, national director of vocation promotion for the Society of Jesus urges us to reflect on this day of the feast of All Saints and Blessed of the Society of Jesus and asks that you help us to continue the mission.

The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University announced this week that Jesuit Father Thomas P. Gaunt has been named its new executive director.

“Father Gaunt brings to CARA a wealth of experience in administration and marketing and public relations as well as research experience, which will further CARA’s mission in service to the Church,” said Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas, Chair of the CARA Board of Directors.

Father Gaunt most recently served as Socius/Executive Secretary for the Jesuit Conference in Washington, DC from 2001 to 2010. He has also served previously as a pastor, Director of Planning and Research for the Diocese of Charlotte, and as the Assistant Provincial for Formation and Studies for the Maryland Jesuit Province.

“I am excited at this opportunity to join CARA and be part of its long service to the Church. In particular,  I look forward to CARA’s responding to the need for practical social science research on current issues,” said Father Gaunt.

Father Gaunt has conducted research for the Jesuit Conference; the Jesuit Volunteer Corps; the Daughters of Charity; the Immaculate Conception Province, O.F.M. Conventual; the Society of the Divine Word, Chicago Province; the Archdiocese of Atlanta; and the dioceses of Charleston, Charlotte, Palm Beach, and Raleigh.

On Tuesday, Jesuit Father Michael Evans, executive director of Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, announced a special online retreat coinciding with the 30th anniversary of  Jesuit Refugee Service’s founding on November 14th.  In a press release highlighting the upcoming anniversary, JRS/USA is featuring the online retreat to reinforce the connection of Ignatian Spirituality with the plight of refugees and forced migrants.

“Each day of this online retreat will offer the opportunity to reflect prayerfully on the situation of refugees via the lens of The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. By linking the Spiritual Exercises to the plight of refugees and vulnerable migrants, we believe that the retreat will provide an easy way for people to fuse spirituality and social justice into their daily life. During the next four weeks we invite you — day by day — into an experience of “prayerful storytelling” as we share with you the grace-filled stories of God’s powerful love for all of us.

As you progress through this retreat, God will direct you and touch your soul with love and challenge in a truly personal way. We trust that the graces of this retreat will renew us and transform us into the heart of Jesus, deepening our commitment to accompany, serve and defend the rights of refugees and forcibly displaced people.”

For more information about the retreat, or for a direct link so you may participate in the online retreat, please visit: http://www.jrsusa.org/Retreat