A Prayer for Spiritual Freedom
Prayer for spiritual freedom
Palm Sunday: Can we make a return of love?
By Gretchen Crowder Twenty years later, I can still hear the crack as his knees struck the gym floor. In a high school gym in the spring of 2004, I was lying covertly behind some makeshift dividers with one hand lying close to the play button and the other hand clutching the volume dial of […]
Fifth Sunday of Lent: Are we comfortable engaging with our mortality?
By Gretchen Crowder I have to admit, I have spent most of my life uncomfortable with the topic of death. In particular, I have spent most of my life uncomfortable with discussing my own mortality. I don’t know why. After all, I have from a very young age believed in heaven and life after death. […]
Spirituality, Service, Fraternity: All in a Day’s Work for Senior Jesuits
By Therese Fink Meyerhoff A few months ago, I received an invitation to visit St. Ignatius Hall, the new community in St. Louis for senior Jesuits and those Jesuits who require nursing care. The men wanted to learn more about Jesuit Prayer, a spirituality platform offering each day’s readings, a reflection and a prayer. The […]
The First Sunday of Lent: Are we really free?
By Gretchen Crowder A couple weeks ago, I was introducing my senior students to Henri Nouwen by showing them a video of one of his sermons. I warned them before we began: “Just so you know, in the 90s, we really liked ferns. I think it’s what we called “creating an atmosphere” back then.” When […]
Litany of Thanksgiving
O gracious and generous God, I thank you for the many blessings you have given me: For the gift of life: I thank you, Lord. For your steadfast love: I thank you, Lord. For this astonishing, complex planet and all you have created: I thank you, Lord. For faith and the example of your saints: […]
Prayer for Generosity
Lord Jesus, teach me to be generous; teach me to serve you as you deserve, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to seek reward, except that of knowing that I do your will. […]
Seeing All Things New in Christ: Jesuits from Around the World Gather in Loyola
In May, more than 100 Jesuits from around the world will gather at the Sanctuary of Loyola in Spain for the 71st Congregation of Procurators. Announced in January 2021, this congregation is an outstanding example of collaboration and communication between Jesuits and their partners in mission, in keeping with Pope Francis’s call for a bottom-up […]
Graduation Prayer
Good and gracious God, This is the day, Lord! Let us rejoice and be glad in it! Today is the culmination of years of work, years filled with challenges and triumphs, losses and laughter, friendships and growth. We thank you, Lord, for getting us safely to this day. We thank you for the gift of […]
Saint Louis University Alive with Easter Joy
Bells rang joyfully across the campus of Saint Louis University (SLU) on Easter Monday, April 10, as SLU’s Catholic Studies Center hosted a Eucharistic Procession. The evening began with Mass, attended by more than 200 people. Catholic Studies Director Fr. Matthew Baugh, SJ, presided, with priests and seminarians from the Jesuits, the Dominicans and Kenrick-Glennon […]
Province Offers Colleagues of Color Retreat for Educators in Jesuit Schools
By Ignatius Plato Educators who are also people of color are often called upon to do extra work precisely because they are people of color. It is an expectation that is both challenging and stress inducing. “So often, our high school teachers of color are asked to ‘be on this diversity committee’ and ‘be on […]
Prayer During Hurricane Season
O almighty and eternal God, who sees us surrounded by so many dangers and challenges, grant in your infinite goodness your protection over us during this hurricane season. Give continued healing to those still suffering from past storms, wisdom to those who lead our communities, and a spirit of generosity toward neighbor where sacrifice is […]