Celebrating the Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola ~ IVC Morning of Reflection

Saint Ignatius

On Thursday, July 30th, the Ignatian Volunteer Corp of Chicago hosted a Morning of Reflection to celebrate the Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola led by Bill Creed, SJ at St. Ignatius College Prep in Tully Hall.  

The theme: "Reflecting on our Images of God" drew 110 participants from all over Chicago and as far away as Naperville.  As we gathered in Tully Hall we began our morning with coffee and light refreshments.  This time gave us all an opportunity to meet and greet veteran and new volunteers, IVC alums, reflectors and friends of IVC.  A few representatives from Loyola Press were on hand too with a number of books and resources on Ignatian spirituality available for sale. 

Many thanks to Christine Curran, Chicago Regional Director of IVC and Jackie Fitzgerald, Program Associate who did an outstanding job getting this first (hopefully annual) retreat organized.  

The venue was very meaningful to me for a couple of reasons.  First, most every Sacred Heart alum knows that Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat's brother Louis was a member of the Society of Jesus. Many of those same alums with ties to Chicago have ancestors that attended the Academy of the Sacred Heart (now Woodlands) founded in 1858 which was located in Holy Family parish for over forty years. Today, many of our current alums from Sacred Heart Schools Chicago are students at St. Ignatius College Prep.

In small groups we gathered at our assigned tables to begin our morning with an opening prayer "Teach Me to Listen" (adapted by John Veltri, SJ) and then it seemed that the next few hours we spent with one another listening to Fr. Bill Creed and sharing in small and large groups went by all too quickly.  We concluded our day by celebrating the Eucharist followed by a tasty lunch.  The participants at my table all agreed that we enjoyed the time reflecting and in prayer with each other. We also look forward to IVC Chicago making this an annual event.

Micah 6:8: This is what God requires: Act justly, love tenderly, walk humbly with your God

A few photos of the beautiful St. Ignatius College Prep campus...
Note: The statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is located in Holy Family Church

One Year Later We Remember Victims of Flight MH17

"MH17 The Sunflowers: Sister Philomene Tiernan a loved, 'charmingly persistent' force of nature"

A loving, compassionate and spiritually engaging RSCJ that I had met in England last year was one of the many victims in the Malaysian airline crash. So today as the world recalls this senseless tragedy, I remember with gratitude that I had the opportunity to meet Sister Philomene Tiernan in England before her fateful journey to her homeland in Australia.  And, while there are many stories in the newspapers marking this one year anniversary, one story and video in particular caught my attention  - "MH17 The Sunflowers: Sister Philomene Tiernan a loved, 'charmingly persistent' force of nature" printed on July 14, 2015 in The Sydney Morning Herald.

PRAYER OF ST. FRANCIS

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair; hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be 

consoled as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love;

for it is in giving that we receive, 

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal

Life.

Amen.