Christ Crucified Today: The Latinx Community: This Holy Week, let us continue to hold those who are the crucified Christ among us today. In the wake of the murders in Georgia, a story broke about Mario González.
The Agonies of Racism: Today, as we reflect on the agony of Jesus, we call to mind the agonies experienced each day by people of color who are feared, despised, and threatened just for being themselves.
Christ Crucified Today: The Asian American/ Pacific Islander Community: As we journey closer to the cross of Christ, we do so mindful of those crucified in our country and world today – suffering as Christ suffered. Given the increased violence against Asian American / Pacific Islanders (AAPI)
Jesus Enters Jerusalem and Cleans the Temple: On Monday, we reflected on ways our Catholic Church has fallen short in being prophetic with regards to racism. As we deepen our engagement with the Third Week of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius – looking at the suffering of racial minorities in the Church, we begin with the story of Jesus cleansing the Temple from Luke’s Gospel.
The Church and Racism: After journeying with Jesus in the Second Weeks of the Exercises, St. Ignatius invites the retreatant to enter more deeply into the life of Christ in the Third Week: The Passion. In the Third Week, we “pray for the gift of being able to sorrow with Jesus in sorrow, to be anguished with Jesus’ anguish” (SE #203).
Committing Myself to Antiracism: On Monday, we focused on the term antiracism and the ways we can see it through our Ignatian Examen. With the examen, we can look back and see how we intentionally or unintentionally acted in ways that perpetuate or dismantle racism.
Becoming an Antiracist: Is it enough to be not racist? Ibram X. Kendi, the author of another New York Times bestseller How to Be An Antiracist, invites us to consider adopting new terminology.
Good vs Evil: The Two Standards: We are now nearing the halfway point in our journey together in this discernment series. We’ve wrestled with the reality that evil exists, but through it all, we are sinners loved by God. We’ve sat in the discomfort of learning how racism operates culturally and structurally. On Monday, we gained insight into how the narrative of white supremacy shaped our nation’s institutions.
Defining White Supremacy: The term “white supremacy” has resurfaced in our national conversations over the past few years. For many, what comes to mind when they hear the term are black and white images of Klu Kux Klan members in the Jim Crow era South
The Good Samaritan Among Us Today: In the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel, we see a collection of people following Jesus after he has multiplied loaves of bread and fish so they all had enough to eat. Jesus teaches them the truth about himself – that he is the bread of life.
Confronting White Privilege: As we enter into Lent, we continue to journey with Jesus in our Spiritual Exercises and grapple with topics around racial justice and antiracism.
The Good Samaritan Among Us Today: Last week, we journeyed with Jesus to Samaria, where he met the Woman at the Well and exchanged conversations with her. Perhaps that Samaritan Woman changed his taken-for-granted assumptions about his own cultural superiority.
Learning Our History Helps Us Walk with the Excluded: Our Church calls us to take a preferential option for the poor – that is, to prioritize aiding those who are marginalized – because it is what Jesus proclaimed was his mission in the Gospel of Luke.
Even Jesus Had Cultural Blinders: Encountering the Samaritan Woman at the Well: As Jesus becomes an adult and enters into his public ministry to proclaim the Kingdom of God, he is baptized, chooses his disciples, and begins preaching the Good News.
Racism Operates through All Our Social Institutions: Last week, both our Monday and Wednesday reflections invited us to consider how racism operates not just individually but culturally in our lives.
Racism is Our American Cultural Ethos: The second week of the Spiritual Exercises invites us to see how God looks down on our world with compassion and sees the diversities of people. God longs for those peoples to become one in their diversity, and so enters the world as Jesus.
Pain and Surrender: The whole of the Spiritual Exercises is about personal transformation to freely love God who loves us deeply. In essence, it is about conversion, a turning of our hearts outward toward all of God’s creation.
Trying to Get it Right: Contemplating the sins of the world and our individual acts is difficult. Sometimes it can lead us to the brink of despair. Ignatius understood this. He faced his own demons and deeply contemplated sin all around him. But he also felt the deep, abiding love of God.
A Long, Loving Look at the Real: Race and Perceptions: Each week of the Spiritual Exercises asks us to pray for a particular grace. This week, we pray, in the words of Kevin O’Brien, SJ.
