Good To See You Again!

Ignatian Volunteer Fe C. Varquez had a surprising encounter with a client at the food pantry where she serves in Los Angeles. “I’ve been at the Juan Diego Center for four years. I had just come back from my summer break. I saw Miguel, a…

WHY POPE FRANCIS LEADS HIS WAY

Pope Francis: Why He Leads the Way He Leads, by Chris Lowney, was just published. According to Amazon, this books is the first to include anecdotes from Jesuits who lived with the Pope, the first to explore his leadership style, and the first to draw…

Quaecumque sunt vera

At least according to the academic calendar, summer is now over. Once again, there is a ‘back-to-school’ edge in the morning air and rush hour traffic seems less rushed as bright yellow behemoths carrying their young scholars stop and start the flow of cars with…

... strong spiritual conviction ...

The City of Philadelphia has much about which it can legitimately boast not the least of which, of course, is the gathering of that first United States Congress over two centuries ago. Another development for which the City of Friends can be rightly proud is…

... transforming service into mission

It started in the mid 1990s with 11 volunteers and two Jesuit priests, Fathers Conroy and Costello, and now comprises a National Board, Regional Directors and 380 volunteers serving in 16 metropolitan areas in the United States. Though as a founding group the original 11…

… new wine in old skins …

According to the Gospel of St. Mark (2:22), Jesus admonishes his disciples about the folly of pouring new wine into old wine skins. Some interpret this advice to mean that as new ways are embraced old ways must be abandoned.

Groping for God

Among the liturgical readings last week we came across St. Paul’s visit to Athens. Imagine: Here is an educated Pharisee, so devout that not long before he was attempting to silence the evangelizers of the very same good news he himself was now promulgating.

The liberating power of liberal arts

Franciscans are much on our minds these days. Our recently elected pontiff, the first to do so, has taken the name of the founder of that Order renowned for its charity. With a Jesuit pope assuming a Franciscan name will the world witness our minds…