The Balancing Game

By Artur Suski, S.J.

Credit: http://www.lasallenonprofitcenter.org

I am very grateful to have been given the opportunity to direct Ignatian retreats at the Jesuit retreat house in Guelph, Loyola House. I’ve learned a tonne about Ignatian retreats as well as about the complexity of the human experience. This includes the “characters” whom I’ve encountered. After I’ve given enough of these Ignatian retreats, I begin to see certain patterns in peoples’ lives. I’d like to share with you a significant pattern that I’ve been noticing in a large part of my retreatants: it is the challenge to live a balanced life.

How to Do a Self-Directed Retreat

By John D. O’Brien, S.J. 

Photo credit: John D. O'Brien

There are many who never get the chance to make an Ignatian retreat. Many, however, have heard of them, desire to do one, and can often carve out a weekend of free time in a relatively solitary place. So in the interest of promoting spiritual growth, here are some basic principles for a self-directed, home-made retreat.

Shake and Bake: on the Relationship Between Clergy and Laity

By Edmund Lo, S.J.

Throughout my past year at Campion College in Regina, there were a few instances where urgent lay services (with a Gospel reflection and the distribution of already-consecrated hosts) needed to happen on short notice. On these occasions, I had worked with a daily mass-attending graduate student, with each of us doing our respective parts. I jokingly named this type of collaboration between clergy and laity the “Shake and Bake”, in reference to a sophisticated manoeuvre between two race cars from the film Talladega Nights.

The important dynamics between clergy and laity was again highlighted for me as I reflected on the latest Hearts on Fire retreat (HoF) in Canada, which took place this past weekend in the beautiful St. John's, Newfoundland. Three Jesuits – including myself and two other Ibo contributors – flew into St. John's to give the retreat. One of the main goals of HoF is to provide tools for our retreatants to tangibly develop their relationship with the Lord; it is not the type of retreat where one comes out of it feeling good about learning a few inspiring intellectual concepts. It is the responsibility of the retreatants to incorporate Ignatian contemplation and the examination of consciousness into their spiritual regimen, along with living a more intentional sacramental life. There is precious little that we Jesuits can do if our retreatants do not use the tools with which they have been provided.