The Art of Listening

By Brother Daniel Leckman, S.J.

thebridgemaker.com

A few weeks ago, as I was praying with the city, I contemplated one of the recurring themes in my Jesuit vocation: I've known for years that I can be a good listener to people’s stories and spiritual journeys. This does not mean that I remember everything they tell me. It just means that I have a natural ability to silence my own voice and listen to the experience of the other so attentively that I almost feel like I’m partaking in it. I believe this is one of the greatest assets I bring to the Society of Jesus but I also know that there are limitations to my ability. I know, for example, that a crowded room can distract me from focusing solely on one person. I also know that, for whatever reason, there are times when I lose interest in a person’s account. I feel bad whenever that does happen but it’s just part of life I guess. Finally, I’m fully aware of the fact that when I work as a spiritual director there is a certain danger of being too emotionally engaged in listening to my directee. Until this particular prayer, I had always thought that my ability to connect with people by emotionally sharing their experience would be one of my great assets to the society. That night, I began having second thoughts about it.

St. Petersburg and Montréal: A Tale of Finding God in Two Cities

By Br. Daniel Leckman, S.J.

St. Petersburg

In 2004, I spent a month in St. Petersburg, Russia. It’s a trip that affected me on many levels and created many incredible memories: like standing at the graves of Dostoyevsky, of Pushin, and of Tchaikovsky. It was also one of the first times in my life where I can remember having a deeply spiritual experiences in a city. Of course, St. Pete was like no other city I had ever seen. Her history, her architecture, her incredible colours, amazing metros, her culture … each one of her stories seemed to call to me. There are too many moments in this trip to recount in a short blog; but there is one that stood out.

Setting my Missionary Heart Before the Open Road Ahead

By Br. Daniel Leckman, S.J.

Every year, around the time of Pentecost, I’m invited to reflect upon the work of the Spirit in my own life and how I respond to that work. It’s that second part that always troubles me. I know the spirit has done wonders in my life. The problem is I don’t always see the fruits of her work in my own response. Of course, me not seeing my response to the Spirit does not mean it’s not there. It just means I’m too impatient or restless to really see it.

This year, I feel I was able not only to see the fruits of the Spirit in my life: I could even taste them. In fact, it feels like all of my senses were involved in developing a greater consciousness and appreciation of both the gifts and my response to them. Two things helped me get to that point of awareness.

Because I'm Happy

By Brother Daniel Leckman, S.J.

Last week I met up with an old friend. I had not seen him since the early 2000s so I was really looking forward to chatting with him again. When he and I were two young, idealistic McGill students we used to have rather intense conversations together about life, God, the arts, spirituality, love and anything else under the sun. We realized last weekend that not much had changed between us since those days. Although not a religious person, he is more aware of the need for spirituality in our world than most of my non-believing friends and family. Consequently, it was a pleasure for me to field questions from him during the evening because I could tell he was genuinely interested in my experiences of the past few years. After a certain point, he asked me a question that caught me off guard:

“What makes you happy?”

A Spiritual Quest for Identity Courtesy of Hollywood and Benedict

By Brother Dan Leckman

About a month ago I had a movie-watching experience which inspired extensive philosophical reflections that lasted for days!  The movie was Divergent. I kind of stumbled upon it on a night when I was not planning to go to the movies, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I had seen the previews and it sort of reminded of The Hunger Games, so I was intrigued enough to invest time and money for what I thought would be some frivolous entertainment. Little did I know that within a few hours, this movie would help ignite some rather intense reflections around the concept of identity.

Finding the Path to Freedom and Joy

By Daniel Leckman, S.J.

Credit: http://www.fmcmissions.com/

About a year ago this week, this man began his humble request for our prayers.

For the past year or so, when people around me start talking about Pope Francis, they often address their words to me! It's not because I'm the number one authority on Papal matters. Nor is it even because I'm the one who follows him the most; these days when I limit my intake of what the Pope is doing to daily two-minute sound bites from the Vatican. This is contrasted with the early months of his papacy when I would scrutinize every Angelus prayer, every address to foreign dignitaries, every moment in the man's day. I think people share with me their thoughts and comments about the pope because they know it makes me happy to talk about him. They also know that whatever they say, I'll probably have "some input".

Our Lady of Ville-Marie, Pray for Us

By Brother Daniel Leckman, S.J.

The cross on Mont-Royal soon after Pope John Paul II's death.

I don't have many good memories of my childhood, especially those associated with school. Most of the memories I have of those years point to how imperfect, and even inferior, I felt compared to my more athletic and "intelligent" peers.  And yet I'm surprised that to this day there are still some good memories that manage to emerge from that period of my life.  One of them is really nothing spectacular but stays with me.

Jim Profit: Environmentalist, Community Activist, and my Spiritual Father

By Daniel Leckman, S.J.

Credit: http://jesuits.ca

Five and a half years ago, I did something that I had never done in my life up to that point: I packed up everything I felt I needed to survive, left my family and friends behind, and opened up a new chapter to my life.  I moved in with a community of Jesuits in Guelph, Ontario to begin a year of candidacy with the Society of Jesus.

It was a year that would change my life by giving me spiritual renewal, deepening my capacity for prayer and my intimacy with God.  I also developed a little more self-confidence; though I’m the first one to admit that I still have a lot of work to do in that department!  Jim Profit was a man who had something to do with all of these things.  This is why, when I learned about his passing last week, I had three reactions:

Transitions

By Brother Daniel Leckman

Many things have taken place in my life during the past month that I wanted to blog about:

• The call I received one night after my Vatican II class (in the midst of all my business during the last few weeks of class no less) to begin a new blog on Pope Francis’ exhortation Evangelii Gaudium: Praying with Papal Documents. Almost two weeks later, I’ve slowly made my way through the introduction of the exhortation, taking two paragraphs every second day or so, and giving my own analysis of what I think the Pope is inviting us to with this document!

Veni Sancte Spiritus

By Brother Dan Leckman, S.J.

http://site.adw.org/

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love. —Roman Missal, Pentecost Sequence

As the first draft of my thesis paper is wrapping up this week, a big part of me is relieved that this will leave more room for my faith life. It’s funny how, as a student, I struggle to keep my faith vibrant. There have been some weeks when I was burning with zeal for God and others where I practically told God, “I’ll talk to you later, man: I got twelve pages to write this weekend about the New Evangelization!”

The irony is not lost on me that I sometimes compromise my prayer life in order to write about how to evangelize faith and justice in our world. I also understand that this compromise is almost inevitable – something I believe even Ignatius recognized. Amazingly enough I have still found consolation even in those moments of compromise. Perhaps that’s because, sometimes, the more distant we are from God the more God draws near to us.

Some Hate It, I Love It: The "Francis Effect"

http://www.metro.us

By Brother Daniel Leckman, S.J.

Many of us who write on this blog (myself included) have spoken about Pope Francis and the challenges that he poses for us in our 21st century church. So I'm guessing some of our readers are getting tired of “the Francis effect” at this point.  Some readers may argue, “You have collectively said all there was to say about the man. Nothing else needs to be said.”  That may be right, but it won’t stop this brother from continuing to share his reflections!

My inspiration for this entry is that I continue to be in awe of how many people from all walk of life respond to Pope Francis. More specifically, the inspiration for this particular entry lies in three separate events I witnessed in the past few weeks which made me realize just how varied people’s reaction to Francis really was.

Answering the Call: St. Matthew, Pope Francis, and Me

By Brother Daniel Leckman, S.J.

Caravaggio's “The Calling of St. Matthew”

Who are we called to be as Jesuits? This is a pretty big question. As individuals, each one of us can talk about who we are and what defines us. For example, I love the Beatles, Arcade Fire, the Philadelphia Flyers and Pope Francis.  Anyone who meets me will end up hearing a lot about those things.  But some aspects of identity are more difficult to talk about.

My particular vocation as a Jesuit is deeply a part of me … yet not easily communicated. When people ask about it, I usually offer something like, “I am who God is making me,” or, “I’m work in progress.” But such simple replies cannot convey the whole story.

Listening to Hope

By Brother Dan Leckman, S.J.

Statue of St. Ignatius at the Jesuit Centre, Guelph.
(Source: http://ignatiancamino.com)

This past summer has been one of the most challenging and intense I've ever had. Quite the bold statement, I know. I’m not quite sure how else to qualify the last two months of formation in spiritual direction that I’ve received at the Ignatius Jesuit Centre in Guelph. The five of us doing the program have each had very different experiences: moments that took us out of our comfort zones. But these experiences always lead us back to God’s great love.

A large part of the challenge came from the process of spiritual direction itself, which was enriching but intense. And yes, I know that part of the intensity of that experience occurred because, hey, I’m an intense person! I often didn’t just “direct” people. I shared the experience of prayer with them. Many experienced great joy in their prayer and I experienced it with them. The danger with this approach was that when there was desolation, I shared it as well. Thankfully, this summer saw more of the joy than the desolation. In fact, my experience of that joy was so strong that, last week on my facebook status, I stated that after only two weeks of directing I'll find it hard ever to doubt the real presence of God in human life ever again. Even if at times I struggle with speaking or listening to God, I will never again be able to ignore the way the Lord's glory unfolds in people’s prayer. I can't un-see the way I’ve seen God lead people by the hand into healing, strength and hope.

I AM who I AM: The Quality of Being

By Brother Daniel Leckman, S.J.

http://breathecast.christianpost.com/

A few weeks ago, in our Mass readings, we encountered the story of God telling Moses ‘I am who I am’ (Exodus 3:13-20). The passage left me rather pensive, with not very much not say about it. It’s only when I connected it with an experience I had as part of my summer program that I gained new understanding into God's encounter with Moses, and my encounter with this passage.

My Eight-Day Retreat: Finding new language for an old experience

By Brother Daniel Leckman, S.J.

artfire.com

A bit over a week ago, I completed my eight-day Ignatian retreat at Loyola House in Guelph, Ontario. During the retreat, God opened some doors and I was given new language to help me reflect on the mystery that is our relationship with God. One of my more powerful prayer experiences began with a “simple” contemplation on love: What kind of love does God give me? How does it sustain me, shape me, affect my actions?

I spent most of the week discovering what it means to stand before God as “a beloved”, and that alone was an incredibly uplifting. While sitting before a picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary one night, the whole reflection took on a whole new meaning. As I engaged in prayerful conversation with Mary, she invited me to imagine what it felt to be loved by my parents. So, I sat with that for a few minutes and contemplated that love. It was a wonderful experience that brought me deep joy. After a few minutes Mary said to me, “Do you understand now? If you think your parents’ love for you is such an incredible gift, imagine how much more God loves you.”

Drenched in an Incomprehensible Love

By Brother Daniel Leckman, S.J.

In the past few weeks, we’ve been graced with wonderful material for meditation with the celebrations in our liturgical calendar. Two weeks ago, we had Corpus Christi, reminding us of the importance of the Eucharist in our journey as Christians, and the impact it can have on our lives. This past week, we celebrated the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. These celebrations helped us reflect not just on God’s profound love for us, but also on the rich interior life that we are called to in our journey with God.

As a person who came to the Church only later on in life, celebrations like the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart used to leave me rather confused and indifferent. It's only when I was in Guelph for to do the Spiritual Exercises (in 2009) that I made my peace with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is only then that I truly came to understand what this devotion stood for in my life. This happened because in the early days of the Exercises, we were asked to illustrate our faith journey with something concrete that we could make with pottery. Not having any artistic talents, I was not comfortable with this idea at all!

Evangelizing Justice in the 21st Century: A Foundation

By Brother Daniel Leckman, S.J.

patheos.com

Last Fall, the Catholic Church had the important Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization. Bishops, lay people and other leaders – both within and outside the Church – gathered to explore an important question: How do we communicate Jesus to 21st-century-people, to a world full of complexities? We need to revisit this question on a regular basis. This is not a question that will be answered by a single synod. Nonetheless, this Synod was an important moment that explored the language we use to proclaim Jesus Christ Crucified and Risen, and tried to deepen the impact of that language on our world.

Upon the completion of the Synod, there was great enthusiasm about what it accomplished, but there was also some frustration. One of the most pronounced criticisms was that very little was said about the Church’s commitment to social justice. A possible response to that criticism may be that there’s no need to learn how to evangelize justice. If we learn to communicate our faith more effectively, people will learn a faith that also teaches and does justice, and they will practice that justice.

A Theobud’s Journey to Meet the Doctor: The Enthusiastic Discovery of the Time Lord

By Brother Daniel Leckman, S.J.

nuevaprensa.net

It’s been a busy academic year. The fall term was quite intense with 5 courses. This term felt like “all Aquinas, all the time”, but it had a much more enjoyable pace – at least, until the last few weeks! One of the greatest joys in my life this past semester (besides our Risen Lord of course!) were my friends at Regis, Sarah, Lauren, Abbey, Amy and Erica. They are part of a group of students at Regis that played their respective part in making my semester far more enjoyable than it should have been!

This group, which is affectionately known as the Theobuds (and is far bigger than just us), really has been one of the great highlights of my year at Regis. This group has been instrumental in helping me understand what my own future ministry in the Society could be.

Facing our Sinfulness: Thoughts on Lenten renewal

By Brother Daniel Leckman, S.J.

ncallan.edublogs.org

During the Lenten season, we receive all sort of invitations to renew ourselves – to return to God with great purity. This wonderful invitation is marked by be difficult themes in our Lenten readings. Reflecting on some of these themes has increased my admiration for our Old Testament professor at Regis College, Fr. Michael Kolarcik, S.J. He is someone who year after year has to deal with some very troubling themes in the Bible or, more specifically, with his students’ responses to those themes. One of those themes is: “Does God intend evil to happen to us?”

The key word in that question is “intend”. The question is not, “Does God want us to suffer?”, or even worse, “Does he get a kick out of seeing us suffer?” The question is has he intentionally and willingly included suffering as part of his greater plan for us. I think it’s safe to say that God doesn’t enjoy making us suffer, in the same way he didn’t enjoy making his own son suffer on the cross. But he let it happen, because he knew of the good that would come of it. On the one hand, suffering is allowed in the Old Testament, because the people have transgressed. On the other, it’s allowed with Jesus because this is part of God’s greater hope and desire for humanity.

Positive and Frustrating Experiences around Evangelization on the Internet

By Brother Daniel Leckman, S.J.

tele.communication.net

For this entry, I'd like to muse about the Catholic Church and communications. More specifically, how do we communicate faith to a secular world that is slowly losing the art of elaborate and refined communication of complex ideas (which are needed to communicate the faith!), and that instead is more interested in “sound bites” and the 20 second summary of a complex issue?

Those of us who who have come to believe that Christ’s salvific love for us brings all people to new life and restores us to God’s light seem to be almost boxed out in this world and, as many agnostics and atheists would claim, have become irrelevant.