Jesuit Center of Ignatian Spirituality, Malta



CIS Newsletter N.33 May 2006 Why celebrate the Jesuit Jubilees? 500 years have passed from St Francis Xavier's and Pierre Favre's "birth on earth" in 1506 (April 7 and 13 respectively), and 450 years from Ignatius Loyola's "birth in heaven" in 1556. Only history books - or general knowledge quizzes - consider as significant these two distant dates. Fr P.-H. Kolvenbach though invites the Society of Jesus and the wider Ignatian family "to examine and intensify our fidelity to the call of the Lord", a call these three holy men first discerned and followed "in a creative fashion". We first learn to celebrate jubilees in our families as they grow older. Just as jubilees constitute a milestone after many years of married, selfless love, so too do Jesuit jubilees constitute a marker. They invite us to take stock of how the Ignatian family has been growing in our little country and within the universal Church. Loyola, Xavier and Favre together form the 'stem-cell' or life-giving nucleus from which the Ignatian family was born: that is already a first, important motive to give thanks to God. But the jubilees demand another act of thanksgiving: on behalf of all those men and women that link us directly to the three saints we commemorate. (from: http://www.jesuites.org/Chantier2006/DansunechambreIntro.htm) We are born of a living story ... thanks to all of them. We have a story to tell ... as we are the grateful 'heirs' of their 'closeness' to God. We are a story ... now that God has chosen us to be the 2006 marker, we are celebrating. It is a story that is not ours; and yet God has entrusted it into our hands. It is a story that is larger than life; but we drink of that same fountain as they did. It is a story that will continue beyond us ... for as long as God wills. Fr Kolvenbach mentions two different types of birth: we are now straddled between both. Like Xavier and Favre we can already celebrate our own birthdays; but, unlike Loyola, we are still waiting for our birth in heaven ... and full communion with God. Celebrating these jubilees points the way from one birth to the next, as we treasure life on earth and yearn for full union with God. Fr General calls for creativity in discerning and following God's call. Ignatius, Francis and Pierre were born in a world that changed fast: theirs was no longer one bound by the Atlantic, the Ganges and the Indian Sea. They got going and identified 'new shores': for Ignatius it was Rome, for Favre Germany, and for Xavier South India, Japan and China. Our world too is changing ... maybe faster than theirs. Is God calling us to discover new lands ... in the deeper recesses of our hearts? Is He pointing us toward unknown and unheard-of hearts ... that migrate over the land we dwell? Grown up in a traditional faith, Ignatius discovered a God who addressed him personally. Coming from an aristocratic background, Francis became the poorest among the poor to help them be rich in God. Pierre abandoned the calm, green pastures of Savoy to shepherd dispirited individuals in the turbulent times of the Reformation and empower them within the Church. Like them, we were raised up in a serenely Catholic Malta that may be no more. It is nice to contemplate a God who continues to call. It is ennobling to choose wealth that destroys not joy and love. It is admirable, if we do rise up to challenging waves and, with God's help, ride the seas. "I fear that many who study in universities study more to obtain honours and benefices", wrote Xavier from Cochin (India) to his companions in Rome on January 15, 1544. "How many millions ... would become Christians if there were labourers ... who seek not what is their own but what is of Jesus Christ" (Phil 2:21)? Mario Farrugia SJ

Book Review: Sleeping with Bread: Holding What Gives You Life By Dennis Linn Sheila Fabricant Linn Matthew Linn ISBN: 0-8091-3579-5 This little book invites and helps the reader ask a couple of very simple questions at the end of each day: "For what moment today am I most grateful? For what moment today am I least grateful? When did I give and receive the most love today? When did I give and receive the least love today? When did I feel most alive today? When did I most feel life draining out of me?" The authors believe that by asking these questions and by observing the way one answers these questions, one is able to get more in touch with how God speaks to the individual on a daily basis through the simple everyday things and situations in life. The rationale behind this 'argument' is that, according to the authors, God's will is for us to give and receive more love and life. The book presents ways in which the answers to these 'simple' questions can be shared in communities, families, etc. It also includes a section with 'Frequently Asked Questions' with answers to questions that readers might have about this proposed prayer method. One such question, for example, deals with the 'dilemma': But am I really listening to God or to myself? What if what seems to give me 'life' is not healthy at all? Although the book offers deep wisdom, it offers easy reading, and its format is very pleasantly presented with pictures and cartoons all along. The book is written by 3 siblings - 2 brothers who both happen to be Jesuits and their sister. The Linns have vast experience in Spiritual Direction. In fact they have given retreats in over 40 countries. Ronald Balzan
Our Daily Communion The frequent sharing in Christ should renew in us our very being, our life and activity, with the result that my way of being with him and with others would be new, new also my way of living, new my behaviour and all my actions. And thus he changes me for the better every day. If Christ communicates himself to me in my daily celebration, if he is ready to give himself in every way, in my prayer and in the works done for him, I also should give myself and abandon myself to him in every way possible, and not only to him, but for him to everyone, good and bad alike, in conversion in preaching and in doing good, in working and toiling for them, in opening myself completely to them so as to comfort them to the fullest extent that I may help them, and in sharing with them all that I am and possess. Blessed Pierre Favre SJ From the CIS Programme Il-Ħniena ta’ Alla dehret f’Marija Nikkontemplaw flimkien l-imħabba ta’ Alla għalina permezz ta’ l-ikoni. Fr. Gerard Buhagiar, saċerdot u għalliem fis-Seminarju ta’ Għawdex, li studja ħafna fuq il-madonna, jaqsam magħna l-ġmiel ta’ l-ikoni li jkellmuna fuq Ommna tas-sema. Esperjenza rikka ħafna li ġġibna f’kuntatt ma’ l-arti u t-teoloġija f’atmosfera ta’ talb. Venue: Dar Manresa – Għawdex Dates: Mill-Ġimgha 5 ta’ Mejju 2006 fis-7.00 pm sal-Ħadd 7 wara l-pranzu. Directors: Fr Gerard Buhagiar Irtir ta’ Weekend għall-persuni sseparati Is-separzzjoni fiż-żwieġ qatt mhi ġrajja feliċi. It-tbatija u t-trawma jġibu magħhom krizi profonda u tolqot ir-relazzjoni ma’ Alla wkoll. Dan il-Weekend joffri spazju u ambjent lill-persuni sseparati biex jaqsmu l-weġgħat tagħhom. Il-parteċipanti jkollhom eżerċizzji spiritwali bi kreattivita. Ikun hemm ħin għat-talb personali u flimkien u ta’ sharing fil-grupp. Il-Weekend miftuħ għall-ewwel 15-il persuna li jibbukkjaw. Post: Mount St. Joseph Retreat House - Mosta Dati: Mill-Ġimgħa 5 ta’ Mejju fis-6.00 pm sal-Ħadd 7, fil-5.00 pm Jiggwidaw: Fr. Vince Magri S.J., Ms Mary Cassar u Ms Polly Schembri 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 21344349 or 99864561 or email vince@maltajesuitretreats.com.