Search This Blog

Friday, July 31, 2015

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

No comments:

Post a Comment