"Heroism! How else could so many people find the energy to get to church on those cold nights?" That's how Elaine Mazzitello explains the hundreds of people who filled Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) Church in St. Paul, Minn., on four evenings last winter.
"Minnesota sometimes really lives up to its reputation," she adds, keenly implying, "So do Minnesotans."
Fr. James Hug, SJ (left), was one of the presenters at the Ignatian Forum in St. Paul, a series of talks on prayer.
Elaine was talking about the "Ignatian Forum: Praying for Your Desires," offered for the first time by Jesuits in the Twin Cities area. Its purpose was to gather members of the Ignatian family, including alumni, donors, retreatants, and parishioners, to hear presentations on some of the various models of praying in Ignatius's Spiritual Exercises.
"We live in one of the largest metropolitan areas of the country without a major Jesuit institution," observes Fr. Chuck Burns, SJ, IHM's pastor. "Nevertheless, the Society has a high profile and a strong following: two parishes, a retreat house, many benefactors, grads of Jesuit schools, a novitiate, and a variety of ministries engage about 25 Jesuits in the area."
"People are hungry and expressed a need," says Fr. Gerry Goetz, SJ, director of Demontreville Retreat House. "They want to pray better, live a more mature faith, and deal responsibly with the challenges they face." The forum was a Jesuit response to these hungers. "After all, Ignatian spirituality isn't just for Jesuits. It's for everyone who values this world as much as God values this creation and who feels that faith needs to make a difference."
That's what attracted nearly 400 people to IHM in early December for the first talk, at which St. Louis University's Fr. John Kavanaugh, SJ, gave his reflections on Ignatius's Incarnation and Nativity meditations from the Exercises.
"I really appreciated the format as much as the content," comments Ixia Velez. "Setting the talks within the context of song and prayer, Scripture, even a brief period of silence, all were refreshing. It was more than just prayerful or informative--it was nourishing."
The second session presented a challenge: winter weather. Fr. Bob Hotz, SJ, president of Omaha's Creighton Prep, began by announcing, "You've all flunked 'Discernment 101.' " He was to speak about Ignatius's "Rules for the Discernment of Spirits" as a help for making choices among the many good desires that present themselves daily, but his opening remark suggested that the 250 people who showed up that blizzardy January night may have made a wiser choice by staying home. The Forum obviously tapped a responsive chord for so many to go to the effort they did.
"The thing we enjoyed most about the sessions was just getting away, if only briefly, to hear things maybe we've heard before, but in a new way," remarks Larry Mazzitello.
In the third talk, Wisconsin Province's novice director Fr. Pat McCorkell, SJ, reflected upon Ignatius's approach to the examination of the conscience. Coming at the beginning of Lent, his words on the Examen were proposed as a potentially transforming daily exercise when focused less on us and more on God's action in our lives. One participant, who drove 80 miles to attend, particularly appreciated the you-can-do-this tone that Fr. McCorkell gave to the exercise.
Fr. Jim Hug, SJ, director of the Center of Concern in Washington, D.C., poignantly set the stage for the fourth talk given during Holy Week. "Examining how Ignatius's Meditation before the Cross moves us to take the Body of Christ off the cross today really helped me integrate a faith that does justice," says Sr. Karen Mohan, VHM. "Creativity doesn't happen as a result of finding a solution to a problem but from asking the right questions," notes Larry Mazzitello, "and that resulted in the graced 'Aha!' experiences at the Forum."
"We were overwhelmed by the response to the Forum," recalls Fr. Burns. "We didn't know whether anyone would come. We knew that our ministries here could not afford publicity or travel costs and stipends for presenters, but we took a chance."
That chance paid off. Someone rounded up the services of a graphic artist for the brochure design. A freewill offering generated funds to cover printing and postage and travel costs and a stipend for presenters. Some people volunteered to serve as ushers, and one man offered to tape the presentations. And people did attend.
Will there be another Ignatian Forum next year? Fr. David Haschka, SJ, pastor of St. Luke Parish, admitted, "We can't not have it! When a couple hundred people show up at church on winter evenings--even in Minnesota--we'd be crazy not to continue. Our theme was 'praying your desires'--an explicit directive integral to Ignatian prayer. And people stated their desire pretty unequivocally."
Fr. Richard Burbach, SJ, vocation director for the Jesuits' Wisconsin Province, lives at the novitiate in St. Paul.
Page maintained by Richard VandeVelde, S.J., vande@math.luc.edu. Copyright(c) Created: Thursday, September 12, 1996