Contemplations on Service & Spirituality
Self-Care in the Age of Chaos
The recent Presidential election has certainly been the most contentious in our lifetimes. Our nation endured a steady stream of vitriol, hate, and even an assassination attempt on one candidate. People on all sides, it seems fair to say, were angry and stressed.
IVC Philadelphia/South Jersey Member Profiles: Mary Noel Hall & Bob Fogarty, Divine Providence Village’s Day Program
Growing up in Bala Cynwyd, Mary Noel Hall and Bob Fogarty didn’t know one another. They were six years apart in age—a lifetime to a child. However,
last fall they each joined IVC and now serve together at Divine Providence Village’s Day Program. Located in the former school of Our Lady of Fatima parish in Secane, PA, the Day Program’s mission is to provide a safe, caring environment that allows individuals with intellectual disabilities to create meaningful and independent lives.
Meet IVC Albany member Judi England
Judi England lives in Albany and has been serving as an Ignatian Volunteer Corps member at Unity House in Troy since IVC Albany’s inception in 2019. Judi offers her reflection about her service with IVC.
Meet IVC Albany member Paula Hamilton
Paula Hamilton is an Ignatian Volunteer Corps member serving at the Ronald McDonald House in Albany. Paula and her husband David live in Delmar. Paula offers her reflection about her service for Ronald McDonald House at Albany Medical Center.
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam . . . arising from a couch?!
Frank McDonnell, the very first IVC NEPA service corps member, firmly grasps the Ignatian philosophy of Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam: For the Greater Glory of God. “Mickey’s” life-long desire to serve arises from an appreciation of how fortunate he has been in his own life, manifesting in acts of quiet kindness and moments of joy-filled smiles.
On Getting Old: A Reflection by Allene Grognet
Nothing should be more expected than old age, yet nothing is more unforeseen. It is a situation that exists outside of oneself – I am old to others. There is a disconnect between how I feel inside me, and the judgmental
IVC New Orleans Member Profile: Cathy Storm
Cathy became interested in IVC after seeing a feature story in the Clarion Herald (New Orleans’ Archdiocesan newspaper – see the article here). She was looking for a next step because she felt, although retired from work, she “did not retire from life.”
Can We Be More Like Doña Magdalena?
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?
Prayerful Lenten Resources 2024
“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.