Reflecting on the stories that formed Ignatius, I found myself wondering how there could only have been two books in all of Loyola castle. The availability of nothing to read but The Life of Christ and The Lives of the Saints is the core of the conversion story we tell, yet it seems so improbable. Ignatius was recuperating in the wealthy home where he had learned to read; hadn’t he also cultivated his fondness for chivalric tales and courtly romances there?
“Through the desert God leads us to freedom” is the theme of Pope Francis’s 2024 Lenten Message. Beginning in the Book of Exodus, Pope Francis said that when God reveals God’s self, the message is one of freedom: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Ex 20:2). Pope Francis asks us to consider those things that we cling to that perhaps need to be left behind so we can grow in the freedom of God’s love.
Ignatian Volunteer Corps President and CEO Mary McGinnity was featured on the new episode of the AMDG Podcast presented by the Jesuits of Canada and the United States.
The IVC Vision and Planning process has been active since its launch in early October 2023. With one of the goals of the process being to “gain meaningful insights on experiences and views”, three of four initiatives have either been completed or are underway as 2024 begins.
Eileen Shirey serves the IVC Albany community as a Spiritual Reflector. Eileen was part of the team that provided the firm foundation that led to the approval of IVC Albany as a region in 2019. Since then, Eileen serves as a Spiritual Reflector to plan the monthly spiritual program for the IVC Albany community. Eileen and her husband Dick live in Watervliet and are parishioners at St. Vincent de Paul Church in Albany.
One of the most important facets of the Imagine IVC process is creating a space for our community members to share their honest opinions with each other. To do so, we made sure that our Visioning Process facilitators were experts in not only fostering dialogue and leading discussions but also well versed in Ignatian Spirituality as well.
