Newsletter 

No.10                                                                                                                     April 2004

Faith and Trust

Many claim that they have a very strong faith in God believing firmly in him, but they don't show it in practice because they lack trust. Very few realize that in daily life, faith is shown by how much they trust in God. It is easy, for example, to recite at Sunday Mass, I believe in God the Father almighty." It is fairly easy, with God's own grace to believe that God the Father through his Son Jesus Christ, has also become our Father. In many circumstances of life, however, we fail to translate this faith into trust. Let's remember what Jesus has told us:

That is why I am telling you not to worry about your life and what you are to eat,
nor about your body and how you are to clothe it. 
For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 
Think of the ravens. 
They do not sow or reap; they have no storehouses and no barns; yet God feeds them. And how much more are you than birds! 
Can any of you, however much you worry, add a single cubit to your span of life? 
… But you must not set your hearts on things to eat and things to drink; 
nor must you worry. It is gentiles of this world who set their hearts on these things. 
Your Father well knows you need them. 
No; set your hearts on his kingdom, 
and these other things will be given you as well. 

(Luke 12, 22-32).

What we should worry about is the large number of people who, because of others' greed and mismanagement, have neither food nor clothing, and nothing much of anything else for that matter. Yes, those we should worry about or rather we should join those who are doing their utmost that such inequalities shouldn't continue any longer. It has been said, Food for myself is a material matter, but food for others is a spiritual one." Quite often it is the other way round: we worry about our food and clothing and all the luxuries, and forget about those millions who don't enjoy them.

In those matters which we can manage ourselves, we should do our best. Having done all that we are supposed to do, we should then place our trust in our heavenly Father. We shouldn't be too disappointed if, in spite of all our efforts, things do not turn out so well, because the best laid schemes of mice and men gang aft agley (often go wrong) as Robert Burns put it. If we remember that God assures us through St. Paul that… God works with those who love him, those who are called in accordance with his purpose, and turns everything to their good (Rom 8,28) we wouldn't be too much put out. Nor would we come near to despair if we suffer contrarieties, ill health, failure and the other adversities of life.

Another way of showing our trust in God is by prayer. Placing in his care what we tend to worry about. We should turn our worry into care as Mary did at the Cana wedding when the wine ran dry. We could become intercessors for those who are far off and those who are near. Above all we should pray that God's kingdom comes. Then all things will be well; all manner of things will be well."

Fr Mario Jaccarini SJ 

Ignatian Maxims

42. As I look for God in all things and try to please Him in everything I do, I consider it a mistake to place my trust in any means or plans, and in them alone. On the other hand, I do not think it is a safe practice to let my trust in God our Lord preclude me from availing myself of being helped by the means He himself has already given me.
(Letter to Fr Francis Borgia, 17th September, 1555, MI, Epp., IX, p.662)

43. When the understanding of the student is solely occupied with pursuits in literature and science, a certain interior dryness is usually experienced; however, when this same study is directed purely to God's service very much devotion ensues.
(Letter to Fr Bartholomew Hernandez, 21st July, 1554, M.I. Epp. VII, pp.268-270).

44. Contemplate always the Passion of Jesus Christ, for in so doing you will never lose sight of it, and as a result you will experience true consolation.
(Hadrianus Lyraeus,sj, Sti. Ignatii de Loyola Societatis Jesu fundatoris apophthegmata sacra, 1, I, 17, p.169)

45. If you want to reform the world relying on the authoritative office you hold, you had better start with yourself, then pass on to your family and lastly to the capital city of your country; in this way you may achieve something, otherwise all will be of no use and you should not even try.
(Lancicius, S. Ignatii Sententiae, M.I., Font. Narr. III)

46. Above all, remember that God wishes to find solid virtues in us, such as, patience, humility, obedience, abnegation of our own will, and charity, that is, the good will to serve Him and our neighbour for Him.
(Letter to Fr Philip Leerno, 30th December, 1553, M.I. Epp. VI, pp.109 -110.

Fr Arthur Vella SJ
 

Good Friday People, Sheila Cassidy

This book is written by Sheila Cassidy who in 1975 whilst practicing her medical profession in Chile was abducted and accused by the Military of aiding a revolutionary. She was subsequently brutally tortured and faced the prospect of death. This experience which she recounts in detail in her autobiographical classic Audacity to Believe marked her for life. 

In Good Friday People Sheila explores the mystery of suffering… and human suffering as a participation in the suffering of the crucified Christ. The book offers a deep meditation on the experience of some people who like her were victims of violence and those who become burdened with physical pain.

Sheila herself describes this book as not a book for the faint hearted…. It is a book for Lent, and as such it demands that the reader, like Thomas put his or her hand into the side of the crucified Christ. 
Sheila turns her attention to the victims at Auschwitz, personalities like Archbishop Oscar Romero and Fr Rutilio Grande. She studies the lives of people she has known and who suffered while doing God's work… Ita Ford a Maryknoll sister killed in El Salvador. Sheila finds it a constant source of inner strength to search the meaning of the lives of her friends and who gave up their lives while doing God's work. Sheila is close also to people suffering from incurable diseases believers or sceptics alike.

These people are living symbols and can be identified with countless others who have their story to recount on their way to Calvary.

Fr. Vince Magri SJ

Who am I?

(A poem written by and expressing Dietrich Bonhoeffer's inner struggle when captive in a Nazi prison in Berlin-Tegel)

Who am I? They often tell me
I step from my cell's confinement
calmly, cheerfully, firmly,
like a squire from his country-house.

Who am I? They often tell me
I talk to my warders
freely and friendly and clearly,
as though it were mine to command

Who am I? They also tell me
I bear the days of misfortune
equably, smiling, proudly,
like one accustomed to win

Am I then really all that which other men tell of?
Or am I only what I know of myself,
restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,
struggling for breath,
as though hands were compressing my throat,
yearning for colours, for flowers, for the voices of birds,
thirsting for words of kindness, for neighbourliness, 
trembling for rage because of arbitrariness and petty insults,
tossing in expectation of great events,
powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance, 
weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making,
faint, and ready to say farewell to it all?

Who am I? This or the other?
Am I one person today, and tomorrow another?
Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,
and before myself a contemptibly anguished weakling?
Or is something with me still like a beaten army,
fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?

Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, you know, O God, I am yours.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

We would like to extend 

Easter Blessings to all our Readers

May the Risen Lord warm

your hearts and minds and

inspire all your endeavours

We would like to remind you that the Centre for Ignatian Spirituality offers personal spiritual direction to all those who would like to have any kind of spiritual experience like Ignatian retreats in every day life. Retreats can be tailored according to the needs and circumstances of the retreatant. CIS can call on experienced Jesuits, other religious and trained lay people to accompany retreatants through these experiences. 

Anyone interested can contact the Director on 21827323 or 99864561 or email vince@maltajesuitretreats.com.