Peacemaking is needed at all levels of human life, not only between states, but between persons and within families too. Today I will try to open the eyes of my heart to such situations, and will do my best to deserve the name of peacemaker.
Blessedness through virtue – An introduction to our new series of reflections for Lent, inspired by the Beatitudes
Nothing can ever replace a person of integrity, and perhaps never was this need felt more than today.
Read more Cracking the Beatitudes – “Be such as you appear and appear such as you be.”
The first beatitude is perhaps the most enigmatic of them all. How can the poor be called blessed? Is not poverty to be combated as unworthy of human dignity? And what is poverty of spirit?
Sometimes our faith feels so weak we start suspecting it is not even there. Yet Jesus tells us otherwise: it is enough for our faith to be as small as a mustard seed, it can move mountains.
Read more Cracking the Beatitudes – Poor in spirit: the virtue of Faith
‘Who cried for the people who lost their lives on a boat? For the young mothers who travelled with their children? For those fathers who were seeking a better future for their families? ‘ This was the ringing challenge to the world’s conscience sounded by Pope Francis from the island of Lampedusa in July 2013.
Read more Cracking the Beatitudes – Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
…It goes beyond empathy or pity, for the compassionate person not only feels the pain, but lives it as something his or her own and tries to do something about it…
Read more Cracking the Beatitudes – To be able to mourn we need compassion
It looks like the earth is being conquered by the angry, and that those politicians who know how to tap into this anger will be successful, whether it is the anger at factories and jobs moving elsewhere, or at seeing too many migrants around, or at the total disrespect for the environment by those with power.
Read more Cracking the Beatitudes – Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth
Although it seems that meek and weak are synonyms, in fact meekness requires inner strength: as the Italian proverb goes, Patience is the virtue of the strong.
Read more Cracking the Beatitudes – On Meekness and Patience
Hunger and thirst are needs we cannot stop ourselves from feeling, and the only way to get rid of them is to do something about it. By speaking of the hunger and thirst for righteousness, Jesus is once again setting a high standard indeed.
One of the tragedies of our times of unparalleled material well-being is the near absence of causes or ideals that are capable of inspiring our passion. We seem to hunger and thirst for very little, except perhaps for material things and comforts.
Throughout his life Jesus was accused of being too friendly with sinners. Yet he never defended himself from this accusation.
Read more Cracking the Beatitudes – Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy
Jesus tells us very clearly that ultimately we will be judged on the concreteness of our mercy, on how we reacted to those suffering hunger and thirst, to refugees, the sick and those in prison.
Read more Cracking the Beatitudes – Mercy of the heart and mercy of the hands
… That is why Jesus is blessing those whose heart is pure, transparent, not muddied by hidden agendas or motivations. The heart’s first commandment, the only one, is love.
Read more Cracking the Beatitudes – Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God
There are so many concrete ways to protect creation, from being less wasteful to supporting policies that are more sustainable. Most come at a price, but it is a price worth paying.
Read more Cracking the Beatitudes – “If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation”
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven I am writing this blog from Albania, a country which was ruled by one of the harshest Communist regimes anywhere, the country which prided itself to be the first to define itself as an atheist state in its constitution.…
On April 7th, 2014 Fr Frans was shot dead. He was one of the blessed praised by Jesus, those who are ready to suffer for the sake of righteousness, for what they believe to be true and just, to build a world as close as can be to what God wants of it.
Read more Cracking the Beatitudes – Fr Frans van de Lugt (1938-2014)
When we read and reflect on the Beatitudes there is always a lingering ‘too good to be true’ feeling, if only they can be lived out, if only we can put them into practice. Somewhere there is always a big BUT.
‘Behold the man!’ As so often in his Gospel, John uses a touch of irony in reporting Pilates words: while Pilate is speaking to the crowd in front of him, we know the invitation is really directed to us, the Gospel’s readers. On the day of the Passion, we are called to behold Jesus.
Christ our Passover is risen. Alleluia! Let us rejoice and be glad. Alleluia! This is the liturgy’s insistent call today: let us rejoice with Jesus, the blessed by the Father, who has been raised to life after three days in the tomb. He endured humiliation and suffered grievously for our sakes, but his faithfulness has…
Read more Christ our Passover is risen. Alleluia! Let us rejoice and be glad. Alleluia!
In a few days we will be celebrating the feast of St Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits and the man who tried to put his spiritual experience at the service of others through his writings and through the foundation of the Jesuit order. Though he lived in the 16th century (1491-1556), his…
Read more 23.07.2017 Forever relevant: Putting order in one’s life
Putting order in one’s life implies looking for what the Lord wants from me now, in the context of my present duties, my present struggles and my hopes. This is a continuing quest, an ongoing discernment rather than a single decision that sets my life on a certain course.
Read more Life as a pilgrimage: Discerning God’s will for me now
Through knowing and following Jesus, whom I desire to love always more Who more than Jesus had an ordered life? He was always attuned to the Father’s will, which he fulfilled to the very end on the wood of the Cross. Therefore for Ignatius it was natural to seek order in life through the lived…
Read more 29.07.2017 – Through knowing and following Jesus, whom I desire to love always more
Within this Ignatian vision, it is clear that my life will not achieve order unless it includes service to others in their real needs.
Read more Feast of St Ignatius – Helping souls: at the service of God and of others
As the 36th General Congregation of the Jesuits gets under way in Rome today, Sunday 2nd October, we will try to reflect on what is happening from our Ignatian perspective.
At their General Congregation (gc36.org), some 200 Jesuits from all over the world are gathered to seek what God wants of the Jesuits at present, and to decide how best to achieve this in practice.
Just before Fr Arturo Sosa, the new Jesuit General, starts the celebration of his thanksgiving mass at the church of the Gesu’ in Rome, he will visit the room where the first Jesuit General, St Ignatius, lived for nearly 18 years. There he will listen to the portrait Ignatius himself composed in the Jesuit Constitutions…
When he founded the Jesuit order, Ignatius gave it a clearly universal mission: he placed himself and the Jesuits at the total disposal of the Pope, the one who has the responsibility for the universal Church.
Last Monday (24th October) Pope Francis, the first Jesuit Pope, addressed the 36th Jesuit General Congregation meeting in Rome. In the next blogs we will reflect on the three ways he suggested the Jesuits can choose to carry out their mission nowadays. The original speech, in Spanish can be found on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqrK938BBPg with the English…
Read more GC36 – (5) “One cannot give good news with a sad face…ask insistently for consolation”
‘the more he failed the Lord, the more the Lord reached out in giving him his grace’…
Read more Gc36 – (6) Let ourselves be moved by our Lord placed on the cross
“We neither walk alone nor comfortably, but we walk with a heart that does not rest, that does not close in on itself but beats to the rhythm of a journey undertaken together with all the people faithful to God”.
Read more GC36 – (7) Doing good led by the good spirit, thinking with the Church
Ignatius prompts me to ask myself to what extent my Christian faith is really centred around the person of Jesus…
Ignatius was born in very exciting times. When he was a few months old, Columbus arrived in America, and his conversion in Loyola in 1521 coincided with the first circumnavigation of the globe by Magellan. It was also the time of the Reformation in the Church, set in motion by Martin Luther in 1517. At…
The Church is our family, the family of those who believe in Jesus, where we received our faith, and where we are still called to share it.
From time to time we find ourselves struggling with difficult decisions, at a loss how to decide…
In the film Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye, the protagonist prays: ‘May God bless and keep the Tsar…far away from us!’…
Read more 2. Finding God’s will: does it bring me peace or dread? (19.05.16)
What is my image of God? One of the most crucial features of any discernment process is the image I have of God: is it one that inspires trust and love, or fear and suspicion? I may see him as my loving and merciful father, or maybe I prefer to keep my distance. Perhaps I feel angry…
There were once three groups of persons, who had a considerable sum of money, but they were not sure whether they could keep it. All realised they needed to take a decision, but each group went about it in a different way. The first group were really determined to decide, but somehow never got down…
The discernment of our spirits is so important in discerning God’s will for us. We need to be able to understand the language of our heart.
Ignatius learnt from experience that times of desolation can be extremely important as long as they are discerned. The basic question must be, Why am I in desolation? Where is it coming from?..
Ignatius asks us to insist in prayer to know Jesus more intimately, to love him more intensely, and to follow him more closely. Discernment is much more than a technique or a method, it is rather following Jesus as we seek to find and live the Father’s will for us.
When Solomon inherited the great kingdom of his father David, God asked him what he wanted. Instead of asking for more power or greater wealth, Solomon asked for a listening heart, so that he could be able to take good decisions. As we come to the end of this short series of reflections on discernment,…
