From Procrastination to Gratitude

By Santiago Rodriguez, S.J.

“The early bird may get the worm, but it is the second mouse the gets the cheese.” This attitude has always been a comfort to me, as I am a procrastinator through and through. It is not a genetic condition, but a malady which has plagued me since my college days.

Over the last couple of years, my Jesuit formation has taught me to plan in advance, and that I do not employ my delaying tactics as often. Yet, I still find myself dragging my feet when it comes to calling a friend, writing a letter, or replying to emails. On the contrary, when I stop postponing these things, I find these activities to be very life-giving. I usually tell myself that I can find God in all things if I stop procrastinating and start seeking Him in my neglected and unfinished tasks. I will illustrate this through a personal example.

Praying v. Planning

By Eric Hanna, S. J.

You know, if I spent ten years trying to fabricate the perfect offering to God, it wouldn't work. I could analyze the needs of the world, the instructions of scriptures, and my own intellectual powers. I could plan a huge material work meant to express all I know of faith and spend the years fine-tuning it, cajoling myself by will-power into carrying out my plan. Such a way of proceeding implies that I know what is best for God and it is my responsibility to give it to Him. At the end it of it all … it might or might not be any good. And I myself might or might not be a complete wreck for having taken everything upon myself.

An Outing to Stratford Ontario

By Artur Suski, S.J.

Recently, I had the opportunity to go see a play at the “Festival Theatre” in Stratford, Ontario; the play that I saw was Thornton Wilder’s The Matchmaker, a very entertaining comedy. After seeing the play, some interesting points for reflection emerged, but I will limit myself to only one of these with the limited space.

This point might have been very obvious in the 1930s – when the play was written – but it is not so obvious today: when couples dated, they went into the relationship with the hope of finding a companion for life; that is, with the hope of finding a good husband or wife. When people dated, the partner that they dated was closely “scrutinized” because the goal was marriage. Good habits were sought after: whether the person loved family life, or whether he or she came from a good family, what are his or her religious views, etc. All these were because they had the long-term goal in mind. In short, a relationship was formed with another for the sake of a possible marriage.

Not Just Another Summer Camp: A Brief Reflection on Camp Ekon

By Edmund Lo, S.J.

Summer camps for the young come in different shapes and forms; some involve more outdoor activities, whereas others are what one would call “Bible camps”. Since the last week of June, I have found myself in a summer camp that is quite different from the generic labels that I just mentioned. It is a Jesuit-run camp near the Muskoka area in Ontario, Canada, named Camp Ekon.

The idea behind Camp Ekon is to train young people in Christian leadership, so that they are able to both organize and operate the camp that is filled with outdoor activities. To top it off, there are daily masses at the camp. One can rightly ask, how is this different from any other “leadership camp”? I would say that Camp Ekon’s way of teaching leadership skills is not theoretical but rather practical. It is not going through a binder full of materials with the young people and voilà, out comes a youth leader whose understanding of leadership is all in the head. It is also not merely technical: one could learn to give instructions for outdoor activities or plan camp programs as if it were just a job, without realizing how one could grow as a person through the process.

The New 7 Sins

By Brother Daniel Leckman, S. J.

One of the least pleasant aspects of our faith is thinking about our sinfulness. More specifically, those acts that we do in our everyday life that go against God’s will for us and break our covenant with Him. These are very same acts we should be confessing on a regular basis to a priest. However, in many Catholic communities around the world, the act of confession has declined significantly over the years, as people seem too preoccupied with life to think about their sins!

Despite this, the 7 Deadly Sins continue to fascinate our modern culture. Many movies, books, plays, and TV episodes continue to address this topic. There is very pragmatic element to them: Although many people in the secular world would have us believe that the concept of sin has no place in the modern world, there is still a need in our society to identify what makes a person commit evil, and to respond to this evil as Christ calls us to.

Jesus in the Streets of San Antonio

By John O'Brien, S. J.

Two miles west of San Antonio's downtown is Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church. Serving a largely Latino population, the parish is a haven in the sun-baked streets of this lower-income neighborhood. Its air-conditioned church sanctuary and parish office are open all day, and local people drop in to pray or have their holy objects blessed by the resident pastors.

In adjacent buildings, an adoration chapel is open until midnight and teams of women spend hours making rosaries in a pleasant room – well-stocked with coffee and tasty delights – which are sent all over the country. Recently, a Hearts on Fire retreat took place with more than eighty young adults attending. Not long ago, this Jesuit parish had become somewhat derelict, but today it is evident that its devotional life is alive and well.

Impressions from Venezuela III

By Adam Hincks, S.J.

We are now past our half-way mark here in Venezuela, and I feel, to some degree, ‘settled in’. So instead of chronicling our doings over the past fortnight, I shall begin with a theme that I hinted at before but did not elaborate: Venezuelan politics.

‘They Will be Divided’

Most of us could probably only name a handful of the heads-of-state around the world, but Hugo Chavéz would almost certainly be among them. Naturally, before coming to Venezuela, I was curious to visit the country he leads (or rules?). And, as fate would have it, he landed in Caracas at almost the same time we did back in May, returning from medical treatment in Cuba. As we drove through the night streets of the city, we could hear the live reports of his arrival on the radio.