Today is the Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits and the writer of one of the most profound documents in Christian Spirituality, the Spiritual Exercises.  Coming to know Ignatius through reading, retreats and incorporating his prayer methods into my daily life has greatly strengthened my relationship with God and the people around me. I've become aware that we...

A few weeks ago, I happened to stop by the retreat center where I lead my retreats.  I had wanted to quickly run in to pick up one of their brochures, and when I got into the building, standing there was a person who I made several retreats with.  I hadn't seen her in about five years, which, sadly, was the last time I made my own eight day silent retreat.  She asked me if I was...

I don't know about you, but I'm very grateful to be a citizen of the United States of America. Without a doubt, we as a country face many, many problems. One only has to think about the upcoming election to realize the shape we are in. That being said, we've faced a multitude of issues over our 240 years, but we have always made it through. And, please God, we will continue to do so.  As...

When Pope Francis was in Philadelphia last fall, he told a story from the life of St. Katherine Drexel (1858-1955), a native of that city.   in 1887, Katherine and her sisters, who had recently inherited a nearly $16 million estate, traveled to Europe and had a private audience with Pope Leo XIII.  Katherine asked the Holy Father to send missionaries to the United States to care...

OK, I have to admit it.  Up to this morning, I didn't know we had an National Trails Day.  Well, on my early morning sweep of the on-line news, I found that the first Saturday in June is, you guessed it, National Trails Day.  You can learn more by visiting the American Hiking Society's website.  So, now I'm sure you are wondering if I knew about the American Hiking...

Last night, I finished my task of leading a group through the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.  The six of us spent 30+ weeks together, sometimes in person, sometimes online, and all of it a very rich and rewarding experience for everyone.  It is a great blessing for me to have seen the transformation of each pilgrim, and, as typical at the end of the Exercises, we gathered for a...

Happy Memorial Day.  I'm just getting back from one of our most successful and meaningful Making All Things New retreats.  I met so many great people, all trying to improve themselves: body, mind, and spirit.  St. Ignatius called that approach cura personalis (care for the whole person).  Sometimes we think that such thoughts/concepts are new, but Ignatius was writing about...

"Sing praise to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name.  For his anger is but for a moment, and is favor is for a lifetime.  Weeping may last for the night, but joy comes with the morning." (Psalm 30:4-5)).Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a morning person.  With a little help from a cup or two of coffee, I try to approach the new day with some level of...

So, I know I'm a bit late with this post, but if you haven't gotten your veggie plants/seeds yet, it's not too late!  In my area of the country, Mother's Day is the usual weekend when it's safe to start planting things outside.  Wouldn't you know that two days after I got my plants into the ground and several containers, we had a frost warning.  In mid May!If you want to get...

St. Ignatius  still seemed a bit unreal to me when we left Montserrat and headed down the mountain to Manresa, where he would live for nearly a year, living as a hermit, having mystical experiences, writing in his notebook, and, in a moment of despair, even contemplated suicide.  God revealed himself to Ignatius in this little town, and even though he planned to stay there just a few...