66.2 2007 Review for Religious

 

INTERACTIVE ARTICLES

Some of the articles in this issue of Review for Religious are interactive, having prayers, psalms, and points for personal prayer and reflection. You can find the full text of these articles and material for reflection and prayer by clicking on the GO icon next to the interactive articles. Readers are invited and encouraged to share their reflections and comments through letters or e-mails.

Topics

| Prisms | Challenges | Ignatian Insights | Experiencing Prayer | Religious Life Perspectives | Scripture Scope | Canonical Counsel | Poetry | Book Reviews | Navigational Tools |

Prisms

 

Prisms: The editor of Review for Religious reflects on where we find our contact with the risen Christ.

Articles

INTERACTIVE ARTICLE
Go to this article to find questions for reflection and discussion


Challenges

Between the Culture of the Satisfied and the Culture of Death

John Lydon OSA looks at the challenge religious life faces in the developed world in light of declining numbers of members. Calling for an ethic of solidarity, the article proposes not losing sight of our mission to the poor in these difficult financial times. He is a professor in the Seminary of the Archdiocese of Trujillo, Peru.

Excerpts: "Solidarity is an attitude based not simply on charity but also on justice. ... The very word preferential rejects any kind of exclusivity. "

The Spiritual Blahs -- Rejection or Invitation?

George Aschenbrenner SJ interprets the painful, empty, dull experience in prayer and finds an invitation to greater intimacy with God. He is rector of the Jesuit Community at the University of Scranton.

Excerpts: "We must carefully turn to God in faith for appreciation and interpretation of this malaise. ... This is a time for 'acting as if.'

Ignatian Insights

 

The Finesse at the Finish of the Exercises

A. Paul Dominic SJ studies the Ignatian Three Methods of Praying in the Spiritual Exercises and finds that they serve to carry the fervor and glow of the retreat into the prosaic chores of daily living. He writes from Warangal, India.

Excerpts: " The three methods lend themselves to different levels of exercising and experiencing them. ... The third method is a repetition of the second, in the spirit of what Ignatius consistently advocates for every meditation or contemplation. ... There can be no intense Christian living without constant prayer."

INTERACTIVE ARTICLE
Go to this article to find questions for reflection and discussion.

"Here I Am": Ignatian Ways of Serving

David L. Fleming SJ explores the notion of "to serve" in the spirituality of St. Ignatius Loyola through Ignatius's life experience and through the Spiritual Exercises. He delivered this presentation as a keynote address for the first Ignatian Spirituality Conference for Asia, held in Hong Kong in November 2006.

Excerpts: "Ignatian spirituality, always identified as an active spirituality, finds expression in the phrase 'to serve.' ... Ignatian was initially self-determining his way of serving Christ. ... We often forget that service of God demands a loving relationship with God. "

INTERACTIVE ARTICLE
Go to this article to find questions for reflection and discussion.

Experiencing Prayer

Prayer Is a Risk

Rick Malloy SJ reviews the practical benefits of a daily personal prayer life. He is professor of anthropology at St. Joseph's University."

Excerpts: "Much of our reluctance and resistance to pray is in our fear that God might really respond to us. ... Prayer is the effort to consciously experience God ."

Beginning Contemplation According John of the Cross

James W. Kinn carefully explains the beginning of contemplation according to the writings of St. John of the Cross and his practical advice for praying this way.He is a retired priest of the Chicago Archdiocese.

Excerpts: "We no longer meditate by means of ideas, images, or affections. ... We have not control over the rainwater that comes from God's infused contemplation."

Religious Life Perspectives

Living Religious Life with Chronic Illness

Mary Therese Johnson OP shares her experience of how chronic health problems affected her person, her ministry, and her life in the community. She is on the staff of the National Coalition for Church Vocations.

Excerpts: "Now, after copying with these health concerns for five years, I am able to engage in community life and ministry with new wisdom. ... I have developed coping skills over the years. Yet, even with all the love, support, and understanding, my spirit was devastated. ... I was frustrated sometimes when others would do things for me that I could do for myself. I tried to show my appreciation despite my frustration. ... I try not to take things and people for granted. Most importantly, I have learned to live a more balanced life that is both active and contemplative."

Revisiting My Revisit of Religious Life

Lucy Fuchs recounts a reunion, after fifty plus five years, of former novices, those remaining in their religious congregation and those who have left it. A deep sharing and friendship is now all the more evident.She writes again from Brandon, Florida.

Excerpts: "Being more malleable, we young sisters were easily convinced that the best way to holiness was to follow the rule. ... How often even then I knew that some sisters were hurting at the directives they were given, but I also recall their smiles and acquiescence. ... The whole of religious life particularly for women is bound about by sociological realities. As the world changes, so does this sort of life change."

Departments

The Bible for Meaning and Nourishment
Eugene Hensell OSB continues his Scripture essays, a regular feature of each issue of Review for Religious.

Canonical Counsel: Conscience Matters

Elizabeth McDonough OP continues her on-going series of canonical information and reflection. She is canonical advisor for numerous religious communities as well as for the Archdiocese of Washington and several other dioceses.

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Poetry

Couldn't You Return? by Bonnie Thurston
In Impressione Ss. Stigmatum S. Francisci by Sean Kinsella
The Christ of Psalm 19 by Kate Martin OSC
Encounter in Ben-Gurion by Walter Bado
Nightfall by Mary Alban Bouchard CSJ
Harbingers by Patricia L. Schnapp RSM
Ubi est mors victoria tua? Agnes Cunningham SSCM

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Book Reviews

Seeds Scattered and Grown: A History of the Adrian Dominican Sisters 1924-1933 by Nadine Foley OP
Reviewed by Eileen Jaramillo

Book Shelf Life
Mini reviews by Philip Fischer SJ

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