A number of years ago I came to believe in an absolute kind of way that God Is and that all things exist through Him. Prior to this time, I had believed in a God, sort of.  I was somewhat conscientious and observant of my own selective moral code.  That is, while I sometimes did the things that I considered morally relevant in the Church’s teaching, I usually did what I thought I could get away with. I went to Church and I said the words. I knew the prayers …

I was given the opportunity recently to write a letter to my Provincial asking to be sent on to Theology, the final phase of formation before ordination.  When I decided to write “the letter” it was not because I felt certain that I am called to be a priest.  What led to my decision was not a sense of clarity with regard to my vocation or a sure and unwavering desire burning within me.  Rather, the reasons I felt called to continue on in formation were much more simple.
First, when …

For progress in living out my life in Christ will be in proportion to the surrender of my own self-love and of my own will and interests. [189] St. Ignatius, from the second week of the Exercises.
As an Ignatian Associate, I have made a promise of ‘Apostolic Availability’ (one of three promises an Associate makes.) Discerning how to live out this promise has been challenging for me at times. I am not really part of an order with a superior to whom I could make myself readily ‘available’ to go …