As the academic year winds down, my early wishes for a relaxing and restful summer. Summer for JSEA is usually a busy time and this summer is certainly no exception. Five hundred plus Ignatian educators will gather for the JSEA Colloquium on Ignatian Education, “Jesuit Mission: Sent to the Frontiers,” at Santa Clara the third [...]

Joseph Carver, S.J. Seattle Prep Zzzzst, da-da-dading, beep, a flash, vvvvbirate, a blinking light. iPhones, Blackberries, Mp3 players, we are all plugged in. We carry two or three chargers when we travel, we have phones that are cameras, and cameras that play music. Txt msgs are abbrvted, greetings short and responses instant and often un-reflected. It [...]

Three of the current members of the JSEA Board of Directors will complete their terms this academic year. JSEA thanks Meg Florentine, PASE for the New England Province, Dave Laughlin, St. Louis University High School and Vice Chair, and Adria Renke, Brophy College Preparatory for the dedicated service during their six years as members of [...]

Moving right along.  Where was I?  The 5:30 PM liturgy on Friday. I had finally settled down in a back pew when an usher’s tap on my shoulder launched me into full-bodied Uh-oh Mode. What did I do? What didn’t I do? I’m convinced this reaction is the result of having watched “The Trouble With [...]

Some readers entering our book contest wrote about how St. Ignatius has inspired them.  Here are some excerpts from these comments.  (Go here to enter the contest if you haven’t already.) As a woman and a Presbyterian, I think of him as an affectionate and helpful older brother. I think his story is a fascinating [...]

Matthew Spotts, SJ, didn’t particularly “like” his four-month stint working on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, yet he thought it was what God wanted him to do. He writes, “discernment, is far, far more complicated than figuring out what makes us happy on a superficial level, figuring what we ‘like.’” Liking or [...]

Saturday is a big day in the Ignatian calendar–it’s the Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola.  To mark the day, we’re giving away five copies of the book Compass Points by Margaret Silf.  To have a chance to win, just leave a comment here on this post before midnight on Saturday, July 31.  We’ll pick five [...]

Just when I’m almost certain that church-the-building is one of the last places I’ll encounter God’s grace, I receive evidence to the contrary. Being a mystic* type, I’m okay with having my assumptions about church and faith challenged empirically. This is what happened when I got into gear for the 5:30 PM liturgy on Friday. [...]