Coordinating Board Awards were first given in 1973 and are presented to individuals and groups within the Archdiocese in recognition and appreciation for their outstanding contributions to the life of the Church of Chicago.
In addition to IPS, the following also received a Coordinating Board Award:
Purpose over Pain
Wellness Programs for Priests- Loyola University, Ramute Kemeza, BSN, RN
Relevant Radio – Chicago
Archdiocese of Chicago Office of Radio and Television
IPS is humbled to receive a Coordinating Board Award, especially given the ACP’s mission:
To cooperate with the Archbishop in the Pastoral Care of the Local Church.
To foster dialogue and support among priests and deacons locally, nationally and abroad.
To nourish collaboration of priests and deacons with others serving in ministry.
To promote locally, ecumenism among the Christian Churches, and to cooperate with and promote interfaith dialogue with other faiths.
To seek cooperative action that promotes peace and justice through the entire metropolitan community, particularly noticing and attending to the needs of the poor and the alienated.
To strive for equality of women and men of all races and cultures.
Late this past January, two induction ceremonies took place in Liverpool and Darlington in the U.K. to mark the official launch of the new “Certificate in Pastoral Ministry for Dioceses in the North of England”, a program designed jointly by IPS in collaboration with Dioceses in the North of England.
Veronica Murphy and Catherine Darby, both from the Archdiocese of Liverpool, serve as the primary liaisons for this program. They have shared the following photos from the two induction ceremonies, saying:
“We had a wonderful Induction Day with the students from this side of the Pennines on Saturday. There was almost full attendance despite poor weather and great enthusiasm and excitement were apparent. Both the Induction Days were very well received & appreciated. (The students) very much enjoyed meeting one another face-to-face…It was a privilege to be with both groups who are now ready to launch into their first module!”
IPS professors Peter Jones and Michael Canaris will teach the first module — “What is Pastoral Ministry?” — starting this week. Over 50 registered students are expected to explore what being called to pastoral ministry in the church means today.
The “Certificate in Pastoral Ministry” program will consist of 10 six-week modules delivered in an online format utilizing faculty from IPS and England. The certificate is a non-degree, non-credit program offered over two years that equips lay ministers, teachers, deacons, and parish leaders with up-to-date knowledge, skills, and education for contemporary pastoral ministry. Upon completion of the 10 modules, students will be awarded a Certificate in Pastoral Ministry by IPS.
Fr. Ted Stone, a key figure in the founding of IPS in 1964, passed away on January 4th at the age of 91.
According to long-time IPS professor and Aggiornamento Award recipient Peter Gilmour, Fr. Ted was a Chicago diocesan priest who worked full-time in the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) office of the archdiocese when he helped co-found IPS.
Gilmour continues: “(Fr. Ted) worked closely with Michael Gannon to shape (IPS’s) first curriculum and community character. He was one of the major teachers in the summer program in its early years. (Fr. Ted) was well known internationally, having attended many of the “International Study Weeks on Catechetics” held around the world back then. He left the priesthood, married, and after his wife’s death, returned to the priesthood.”
“Stone was an associate pastor at Mary, Seat of Wisdom for 20 years, until his retirement in 2002, but continued to serve the parish in the years that followed, the archdiocese said.”
“According to the Archdiocese of Chicago, Stone requested to leave the priesthood in 1969 in order to marry. He and his wife had two children, but after her death in 1981, he looked to return to the priesthood, the archdiocese said.
In 1996, following the death of Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, archbishop of Chicago, Stone shared with the Chicago Tribune of how he sought Bernardin’s help in resuming his vocation. According to Stone, it took seven years of interceding before the cardinal was able to get church officials in Rome to approve Stone’s reinstatement.
He kept going back and back, trying to get the authorities to allow it,” Stone was quoted as saying.”
Luca Badetti, Community Life Director at L’Arche Chicago, recently honored Fr. Ted with a L’Arche post, writing “Ted lived fatherhood in various ways: both as a priest and as a father of two…He left the active priesthood in 1969, after which he married. He fathered Tim, a beloved core member of our L’Arche community, and Bethanne, a precious friend of our community…”
In recalling the last year of Fr. Ted’s life, Badetti adds, “Even through the health effects of aging, Ted seemed to walk on earth as a “man on a mission” would. A soft-spoken and humble man, his posture, his walk, his glances and his attentiveness seemed to be directed to something – or better, Someone – much larger than himself. Ted seemed to be in this world, yet not of it.”
We – the students, faculty, staff and alumni of IPS – wish to relay our heartfelt gratitude for the life of Fr. Ted Stone and our sincerest condolences to Fr. Ted’s remaining loved ones, including daughter, Bethanne Stone; son, Timothy Stone; and sisters Mary Lippa and Dorothy Moore.
IPS is now home to the Chicago Catholic Scripture School, a program that provides in-depth knowledge of the Bible within a Roman Catholic framework to parish leaders, deacons, catechists, staff members, and anyone wishing to deepen their understanding of scripture. The IPS Chicago Catholic Scripture School (IPS CCSS) falls under the Continuing Education (CE) umbrella within IPS and is overseen by IPS alumnus, Mark Bersano.
With the help of CE administrative assistant Mirta Garcia, Mark also supervises the following CE programs:
Parish Leadership and Management Programs
IPS Continuing Education Courses
Parish Health and Pastoral Care Ministry Certificate
Restorative Justice Ministry Certificate
Certificate in Pastoral Ministry for North England and Wales
English Pronunciation and Parish Enculturation Course
Legacy Leaders Fellowship Program (Check out our recent blog “Loyola-IPS Receives Grant from Henry Luce Foundation for Legacy Leaders Fellows Program”.)
IPS Retreats for Catholic School Teachers
We recently sat down with Mark to learn more about him and his growing contribution to the life of IPS.
Let’s begin with CONGRATULATIONS on your recent promotion to Assistant Dean for Continuing Education, Mark! Any thoughts on this recognition?
It’s a great honor and I’m proud and very grateful to have the new title. It affirms the work Mirta and I are doing with Continuing Education and the importance of this work to the community. I’m both grateful and humbled. The title change should open more doors as I negotiate new Continuing Education programs and course offerings.
I understand you’re an IPS alumnus. Can you tell us a little bit about what you were doing prior to enrolling at IPS?
Before coming to Loyola in 2005, I was the Chief Deputy Recorder and Director of Technology for the Will County Recorder of Deeds Office in Joliet. I was a one-person computer department, overseeing and maintaining six servers, 75 user workstations, and a 20-million record database. I oversaw RFP’s for hardware and software; configured and maintained servers, databases, and networking equipment; trained users; improved process efficiency; and basically administered every piece of equipment in the office. When I came to IPS I often joked that I no longer wanted to deal with anything that had an electrical plug.
Why did you choose IPS? What did you study?
A colleague in the Management Information Systems Department in Will County was doing her MA in Pastoral Studies with IPS. She told me about a new MA in Social Justice degree that IPS was starting. I came in and spoke with Mary Elsbernd (who oversaw the Social Justice MA at that time), and was enrolled in the very first social justice course in the summer of 2005. I was impressed with the Jesuit ideals around social justice and the way IPS offered a transformational education experience. After the first course, I was hooked and ended up working with a major university grant project while I pursued my studies for the MASJ.
What was life like as an IPS student? Any particular memories of classes, characters, etc. that remain with you to this day?
Classes were wonderful—with so many interesting people as both instructors and classmates. Discussions were always rich and courses were challenging and thought provoking. The semester that stands out the most for me was Spring 2008—my final semester. I took Hearts on Fire to learn about Ignatian Spirituality at the same time as a Nonviolence class based in Franciscan teaching. The courses complemented each other and I felt quite steeped in the two traditions. When the Hearts on Fire course ended, no one wanted to leave the classroom. We stayed after the last session for a couple of hours just chatting. I’m still in touch with some of those classmates, nearly 10 years later.
How did you become the Coordinator of Continuing Education (CE) here at IPS?
While I was working on my MASJ degree, I worked for a Lilly Grant called INSPIRE. It was a partnership between LUC and the Archdiocese of Chicago that supported teambuilding on the staffs of Catholic parishes. When I graduated, I went to work for the grant full time. When the grant ended, my current role was created to extend the learning of INSPIRE into the future, and now I am in charge of all Continuing Education programs that IPS provides.
What is your mission as Assistant Dean for Continuing Education?
My mission is to provide engaging non-degree educational opportunities to people in parishes and congregations who wish to supplement their knowledge in service of the Church. This role developed out of the INSPIRE project, which ended in 2013. I have been working at IPS in this capacity since 2014.
How is your IPS degree allowing you to fulfill your goals as Assistant Dean for Continuing Education at IPS?
My social justice degree coupled with my work with INSPIRE provided me with a wonderfully supportive network of people in diocesan and congregational roles. I also got a great understanding of the educational needs of people in parishes. Armed with these tools, I’m able to effectively interface with a wide variety of people, assess needs, and create educational opportunities to address those needs. My office aspires to be flexible in order to address continuing education needs in real time as they surface.
You and Mirta continue to service an increasing number of constituencies. What are the highlights/challenges associated with such growth?
The highlight is certainly that we have the opportunity to do a lot of different things with a very diverse group of people. For example, we’re working on a new restorative justice ministry. New ideas and opportunities are always arising, and we’re able to act on them relatively quickly. The challenge is that with so many projects, it can be difficult for two of us to keep up! We’re creating projects based on innovative ideas at a much faster rate than we can make them reality.
Can you share a personal spiritual practice that a fellow IPS community member may find helpful?
At night before bed, I try to assess what’s going on with me—an examen of sorts. I try to move into an “observer” mode. I look at my emotions, knowing that they are not me. I look at my thoughts, knowing that they are not me. I look at my body and any pains or physical sensations—knowing that they are not me. I look at all of the things stimulating my emotions and thoughts, knowing that they are not me. I recall that I am consciousness—the observer of all these things. That’s me. It’s a very emotionally grounding and calming exercise.
Any words of wisdom for IPS students unsure about how their current studies will manifest concretely down the line?
Stay present. Learn. Absorb. Build relationships. You never know how what you learn or who you meet will manifest in your life later. It’s part of the great mystery.
Did you know that in the last three years, several IPS Faculty have published over fifty-plus scholarly works?
Congratulations to Michael Canaris, Jean-Pierre Fortin, Peter Jones, Therese Lysaught, Daniel Rhodes, Heidi Russell, William Schmidt, Brian Schmisek, and Deborah Watson for continuing to uphold IPS’s tradition of dynamic scholarship as an integral component to the formation of diverse and dynamic leaders for creative, compassionate, and courageous service to church and society.
These published works are broken down as follows:
Books: 10
Articles in Peer-Reviewed Journals: 18
Chapters in Books: 9
Encyclopedia articles and other academic publications: 3
Pastoral Resources: 7
Book Reviews: 7
For a full list of these published works, read on below.
Books (10)
Rhodes, Daniel. Can I Get a Witness? The Forgotten Tradition of Radical Christianity in America, edited by Charles Marsh, Shea Tuttle, and Daniel Rhodes. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2018. (In press)
Canaris, Michael M. Living Christian Joy Daily: Everyone’s Call – Essays from Rome. Co-edited with Donna Orsuto, STD. Foreword by Gianfranco Cardinal Ravasi. Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2017.
Rhodes, Daniel, and Tim Condor. Organizing Church: Grassroots Practices for Changing Your Congregation, Your Community, and Our World (Chalice Press, 2017).
Russell, Heidi. The Source of All Love: Catholicity and the Trinity. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2017.
Schmisek, Brian. The Rome of Peter and Paul: A Pilgrim’s Guide to New Testament Sites in the Eternal City. Pickwick Publications, 2017.
Canaris, Michael M. Francis A. Sullivan, S.J., and Ecclesiological Hermeneutics: An Exercise in Faithful Creativity. Leiden: Brill, 2016.
Fortin, Jean-Pierre. Grace in Auschwitz: A Holocaust Christology. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2016.
Schmisek, Brian. Ancient faith for the modern world: a brief guide to the Apostles Creed. Chicago, IL: ACTA Publications, 2016.
Schmisek, Brian. A Greek reader for Chase and Phillips selections from antiquity. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2016.
Russell, Heidi. Quantum Shift: Theological and Pastoral Implications of Contemporary Developments in Science. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2015.
Articles in Peer-Reviewed Journals (18)
Canaris, Michael M. “The Church as Migrant: A New Model of the Church for a ‘Cross-ing’ People,” The Ecumenist (in press).
Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “Prayerful Spirituality as Experiential Theology: Teresa of Avila’s Mystical Transposition of Augustine’s Confessions.” Studies in Spirituality (in press).
Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “Christ Risen, Wonder Arising: A Christian Theology of Miracles.” Toronto Journal of Theology 33, supplement 1 (2017): 25-38.
Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “Divine Kenosis: Building the Human Community Out of Mercy.” The Ecumenist: A Journal of Theology, Culture and Society 54, no. 2 (2017): 8-17.
Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “Symbolism in Weakness: Jesus Christ for the Postmodern Age.” Heythrop Journal 58, no. 1 (2017): 64-77.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Four Perspectives – Beyond the Abortion Wars: A Way Forward for a New Generation. By Charles C. Camosy.” Horizons 44, no. 1 (2017): 160-64. doi:10.1017/hor.2017.5.
Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “Confession as Spiritual Communion: Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Theology of Forgiveness and Reconciliation.” Touchstone 34, no. 3 (2016): 14-24.
Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “Spirituality as Lived Interpretation: A Transformative Encounter between Two Traditions.” Religious Studies and Theology 35, no. 1 (2016): 37-51.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Geographies and Accompaniment: Toward an Ecclesial Re-ordering of the Art of Dying.” Studies in Christian Ethics 29, no. 3 (2016): 286-293. doi:10.1177/0953946816642977.
Lysaught, M. Therese. Issue editor, Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 41, no. 6 (December 2016). Special issue on The Anticipatory Corpse, by Jeffrey P. Bishop.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “From The Anticipatory Corpse to the Participatory Body.” Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 41, no. 6 (December 2016).
Rhodes, Daniel. “Time Emptied And Time Renewed – The Dominion Of Capital And A Theo-Politics Of Contretemps.” Journal of Religious Theory (December 12, 2016).
Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “Spiritual Empowerment for Love: Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Ethics of Resistance.” The Bonhoeffer Legacy: Australasian Journal of Bonhoeffer Studies 3, no. 2 (2015): 19-40.
Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “Critical Theology, Committed Philosophy: Discovering Anew the Faith-Reason Dynamics with Origen of Alexandria and Augustine of Hippo.” Philosophy and Theology 27, no. 1 (2015): 25-54.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Clinically Integrated Networks: A Cooperation Analysis,” Health Care Ethics: USA 23, no. 4 (Fall 2015): 6-10.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Roman Catholic Teaching on International Debt: Toward a New Methodology for Catholic Social Ethics and Moral Theology,” Journal of Moral Theology. 4, no. 2 (June 2015): 1-17.
Schmidt, William. “Integral Theory: A Broadened Epistemology,” American International Journal of Humanities and Social Science 3, no. 1 (2017).
Schmisek, Brian. “The “Spiritual Body” as Oxymoron in 1 Corinthians 15:44.” Biblical Theology Bulletin: Journal of Bible and Culture 45, no. 4 (November 16, 2015): 230-38. doi:10.1177/0146107915608597.
Chapters in Books (9)
Canaris, Michael M. “Immigration and Ecclesial Receptivity: Congar and Rahner as Resources for An Ecumenical and Philoxenical Ecclesiology of Reception,” in The Meaning of My Neighbor’s Faith: Interreligious Reflections on Immigration. Edited by Alexander Hwang and Laura Alexander. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, (in press).
Lysaught, M. Therese. “A Midwife of Grace: Sr. Mary Stella Simpson,” in Can I Get a Witness: The Forgotten Tradition of Radical Christianity in America, edited by Charles Marsh, Shea Tuttle, and Daniel Rhodes. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2018. (In press).
Rhodes, Daniel. “A Sickness Unto Life: Cesar Chavez and the Quest for Farmworker Justice.” In Can I Get a Witness? The Forgotten Tradition of Radical Christianity in America, edited by Charles Marsh, Shea Tuttle, and Daniel Rhodes. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2018. (In press).
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Catholicism in the Neonatal Context: Belief, Practice, Challenge, Hope.” In Religion and the Newborn, edited by Ron Green and George Little. Oxford University Press (in press).
Canaris, Michael M. “Alma Mater, Mater Exulum: Jesuit Education and Immigration. A Moral Framework and its Historical Roots.” In Undocumented and in College: Students and Institutions in a Climate of National Hostility, edited by Terry-Ann Jones and Laura Nichols. New York: Fordham University Press, 2017.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Incarnating Caritas.” In Incarnate Grace: Perspectives on the Ministry of Catholic HealthCare, edited by Charles Bouchard. 11-26. (Catholic Health Association, 2017).
Canaris, Michael M. “A Rahnerian Reading of Sensus Fidei in the Life of the Church,” in Learning from All the Faithful: A Contemporary Theology of the Sensus Fidei, edited by Bradford E. Hinze and Peter C. Phan, 196-212. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2016.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Ritual – A Framework for Ritual at the Deathbed.” In Dying in the Twenty-First Century, edited by Lydia Dugdale. 67-86. MIT Press, 2015.
Watson, D. Sculpting narratives: Experiencing positive narratives in therapy. In The therapist’s notebook for children and adolescents: Homework, handouts, and activities for use in psychotherapy (2nd ed., pp.), Sori, C. F., Hecker, L. L., & Bachenberg, M. E. (Eds.). New York: Routledge, 2016.
Encyclopedia Articles and Other Academic Publications (3)
Rhodes, Daniel. “Brownson, Orestes Augustus”; “Christian Community Development Association”; “Garvey, Marcus”; “Morehouse, Henry Lymon”; “Open Doors”; “Stringfellow, Frank William”; “Word Gospel Mission”. Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States. Edited by George Thomas Kurian and Mark A. Lamport. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016.
Watson, D. Genograms. In J. Carlson & S. Dermer (Eds.) The SAGE Encyclopedia of Marriage, Family, and Couples Counseling. 733-737. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2016.
Rhodes, Daniel. “The Contradiction of Hope in an Estranged World: David Harvey’s Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism,” in Syndicate Theology (April 6, 2015).
Pastoral Resources (7)
Schmidt, William. Editor, Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health. Philadelphia, PA: Taylor & Francis.
Schmisek, Brian, Diana Macalintal, and Jay Cormier. Living Liturgy for Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion: Year B (2018). Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2017.
Schmisek, Brian, Diana Macalintal, and Jay Cormier. Living Liturgy for Music Ministers: Year B (2018). Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2017.
Schmisek, Brian, Diana Macalintal, and Jay Cormier. Living Liturgy: Spirituality, Celebration, and Catechesis for Sundays and Solemnities: Year B (2018). Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2017.
Schmisek, Brian, Diana Macalintal, and Jay Cormier. Living Liturgy Sunday Missal 2018. Liturgical Press. 2017.
Schmisek, Brian. Fundamentos del Nuevo Testamento: Jesús y sus discípulos. Paulist Press. 2017. (Translated from English Edition: Catholic Bible Study Program: New Testament Foundations Student Workbook Paulist Press. 2008).
Schmisek, Brian. El Programa de la Escuela Bíblica Católica: Fundamentos Del Antiguo Testamento: De Génesis a 2 Reyes. Paulist Press. 2016. (Translated from English edition: Old Testament Foundations Student Workbook. Paulist Press).
Book Reviews (7)
Jones, Peter L. “Review of Theology in the Flesh: How Embodiment and Culture Shape the Way We Think about Truth, Morality, and God,”International Journal of Public Theology [in press].
Canaris, Michael M. “Review of Will Pope Francis Pull It Off? by Rocco D’Ambrosio.” The Way, Oxford, October 2017.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Review of Joseph Selling, Reframing Catholic Theological Ethics.” Studies in Christian Ethics 30, no. 4 (2017): 509-513. doi:10.1177/0953946817720910j. https://doi.org/10.1177/0953946817720910j.
Jones, Peter L. “Review of Bulls, Bears, and Golden Calves: Applying Christian Ethics in Economics, by John E. Stapleford.” International Journal of Public Theology 10, no. 1 (2016), 125-127. doi:10.1163/15697320-12341431.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Review of Beyond the Abortion Wars: A Way Forward for a New Generation, by Charles Camosy,” Health Progress 97, no. 3 (May–June 2016): 67–68.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Book Review: Michael Banner, the Ethics of Everyday Life: Moral Theology, Social Anthropology, and the Imagination of the Human.” Studies in Christian Ethics 29, no. 3 (2016): 339-342. doi:10.1177/0953946816642960. https://doi.org/10.1177/0953946816642960.
Jones, Peter L. “Review of Ethics that Matters: African, Caribbean, and African-American Sources,” International Journal of Public Theology 9, no.1 (2015): 113-114.
The Legacy Leaders Fellows Program, to be coordinated under the IPS Continuing Education umbrella, will bring together retiring CEOs (Legacy Leaders) from diverse backgrounds in an intense, structured setting that privileges spirituality and common purpose. This program of leadership education and theological reflection will encourage these Legacy Leaders to examine their interior lives and reflect on their experiences, so they may enter this new stage of life in an integrated, purposeful way. They will encounter theologians, faculty members and students from various Jesuit universities including the Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola University Chicago, as well as spend time at the John Felice Rome Center in Italy. Faculty from various Jesuit institutions, together with the directors of various apostolic institutions, will help educate these senior leader retirees in the theology and practice of spirituality and leadership in the next phase of their lives. The CEO retirees, in turn, possess talents, skills and experiences they can share with the leaders of apostolic institutions. Stronger relationships of mutual understanding between these two groups will offer tangible benefits to both, and to the larger communities that include them.
The Legacy Leaders Fellows Program expects to recruit the first cohort of at least ten students and begin classes as early as fall 2018.
Meet Masters in Spirituality Student: Br. Lee ColombinoCan you tell us a bit about yourself?
By origin, I am a yooper donchaknow, eh?! But, most of my life has now been spent outside the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. A few years after undergraduate studies, I entered the Society of Jesus and I have been a brother for nearly twenty years. I have been greatly blessed in my life as a Jesuit. I have been in community with some fantastic men and I have met so many amazing people from the wide range of experiences I have had over the years. Despite my many resistances, it has been a fascinating journey in seeking to grow within God’s Love.
What were you involved in prior to studying at IPS? How did you discern IPS to be a next step?
Two years ago I was teaching in the Visual Arts Department at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, IL. Then starting in September 2016, I worked with Jesuit Refugee Service in Kampala, Uganda, for four months. In early January 2017, I went to Nairobi, Kenya for six months to participate in the East African Tertianship program (tertianship is the last stage of Jesuit formation). It was a phenomenal experience, but one that I am still ‘unpacking’. It was during this time in East Africa that I felt an expanding desire to grow in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, along with a desire to cultivate the skills in being able to give the Spiritual Exercises and to go into spiritual direction.
What are you currently studying at IPS?
Masters in Spirituality: Spiritual Direction concentration
What has your IPS journey been like so far?
In many ways, it has been the perfect continuation of my heart-based experiences in East Africa. I feel very grateful for my instructors and classmates this semester. I particularly enjoy our class conversations as they make the readings come to life. Due to the nature of the readings and conversations, I’ve been doing quite a bit of ‘soul-work’, which has been helpful in ‘unpacking’ my experiences of the last year. My experiences in IPS are providing me with substantially delicious ‘food’ for the journey.
What are some of your favorite Chicago-related pursuits?
Walking around in the city to simply take in the city life; the Chicago skyline and architecture (Architectural Foundation walking tours and river boat tours); Art Institute, Robie House, & other museums; I am looking forward to getting down to Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza after Thanksgiving, as well as getting glögg in Andersonville; finding new restaurants with friends; being by the lake; and walking through the Botanic Gardens.
If you could teach a class at IPS, what would it be called?
This is a fun question. Hmmm…something like: “The Contemplative Life and Art Appreciation / Art Making”
Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
At this point, I would offer to my provincial my desires of working in a retreat house as well as my openness to possibly work abroad.
Finally, can you share a personal spiritual practice that continues to restore and re-energize your mind, body, heart and spirit?
Meditational and repetitive mark-making that is like saying the rosary, but instead of speaking, I draw with pen and ink on paper, with the work developing as it does.
This past summer, The Association of Theological Schools(ATS) awarded the Institute of Pastoral Studies and Dr. Dan Rhodes with an Innovative Projects grant to aid in developing a new approach to Contextual Education (CE) in the model of Theological Action Research Teams (TART).
As part of the research associated with this ATS grant, Professors Therese Lysaught and Dan Rhodes recently traveled to The Centre for Theology & Community (CTC) in East London, UK. While in England, Professors Lysaught and Rhodes met with CTC Director, Rev. Angus Ritchie as well as persons in their lay community, community organizers connected with the Centre, and a priest and lay leader from a Catholic Parish in nearby Manor Park.
“The Centre is doing some amazingly creative work and reinventing what parish and lay ministry look like,” says Professor Rhodes, “and the trip was wonderfully informative for learning how to engage participants in Action Research projects as well as for glimpsing the future of lay ministry.”
CTC’s Rev. Angus Ritchie and IPS’s Dan Rhodes in East London
The CE program continues to research and take preliminary steps toward instituting the TART model, building infrastructure, strengthening community partnerships, and developing programmatic components aiming to launch the first IPS student cohort to engage the TART/CE model in Fall 2018.
The long-term goal is to implement a thoroughly re-imagined approach to CE based on a model of Theological Action Research Teams (TART). This expanded and more thoroughly integrated approach to CE engages students from their first semester forward. It shifts to a 30-week placement accompanied by coaching, learning communities, skill-focused workshops, and practical instruction. Working with community partners, students will engage in discerning community-identified issues and, subsequently, organize community-based, co-creative, and theologically informed initiatives for addressing these issues. Additionally, this approach aims to develop a program of theological education that attracts and retains under-served and underrepresented students, as well as engendering new faculty scholarship across theological/ministerial specialties rooted in community collaboration.
In adopting the TART model, IPS will form equipped leaders to serve the church and society in the twenty-first century and will pioneer a model of theological education based on the process of action research teams.
Each year, Loyola University Chicago honors its most outstanding students with the President’s Medallion. This award recognizes students who exemplify the three words etched on the medal: leadership, scholarship and service. Representing IPS in the roster of university-wide medallion recipients this year is Alessandra Menendez, a Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies (MAPS-Religious Education) degree student.
“Each of the recipients was recommended for this award by their academic dean because they exemplify a wonderful combination of achievement in scholarship, leadership, and service,” said Jane Neufeld, vice president for Student Development. “In short, they are students for which Loyola and its founders can take great pride.”
We reached out to Alessandra to find out what this award means to her, as well as to learn how IPS has impacted her life.
Congratulations, Alessandra, on receiving the President’s Medallion. What does this award mean to you?
It represents my time at IPS — the beginning of my spiritual transformation, my awakening (metanoia), the time I made special friendships with peers and professors, the discovery of my own tribe. It also means the humility and gratefulness to receive, and to accept God’s gifts.
I understand you’re currently pursuing a MAPS-Religious Education degree here at IPS. Can you tell us a little bit about what you were doing prior to enrolling at IPS? How did you discern IPS to be your next step?
I volunteered over a span of thirty years as a catechist, a religious education coordinator and a Eucharistic minister in every parish in the places we’ve lived in (Buenos Aires, Argentina, Miami, Florida, São Paulo, Brazil, Wilmington, Delaware, Madrid, Spain and for the past thirteen years in London, England). I knew I had a calling to a vocation as a Religious Lay person and I needed better formation which is what led me to IPS.
What has your IPS journey been like so far? Any particular courses that have left an indelible mark? Memorable events outside the classroom?
It’s been as if someone turned a light on and I could finally see parts of my faith that were in the shadows. My very first class with Peter Jones IPS 570: Intro to Theology and Ministry was an epiphany. I finally had language to explain what I had lived in thirty years of ministry but especially the last thirteen years in London.
Dr. Marian Diaz classes IPS 416 and 417 gave me the confidence to question the manipulation of scripture to push an agenda and taught me how to actually explore the true meaning and context of the Bible. Professor Canaris’ classes IPS 402 Church & Mission and IPS 599 Teaching & Learning Church were foundational classes in understanding my own Church family. I had never read and analyzed an encyclical or understood how the Church arrives at what we know as truth. It is disturbing, upon looking back, to think that I spent thirty years in ministry and none of this formation was available to any of us parish volunteers. As a Church, we need to do more worldwide to give access to lay ministers to proper formation.
I experienced a spiritual conversion studying and engaging in discussions over the theology of grace and theologian Karl Rahner in both Dr. Russell’s classes IPS 531 Christian Doctrine and its History & IPS 541 Liturgy & Christian Sacraments. It was during these classes that I realized God’s grace, His free gift, and His irrevocable offer of His unconditional love for us. I knew it intellectually, but it was here when I received the grace to actually grasp what it meant about how I was called to love even those who fall short in loving me.
One of the classes which turned out to be a surprise was IPS 553 Christian Moral Theology & Ethics with Professor Dan Rhodes. I walked into the class with a mindset of right or wrong, left or right. There is so much more to Christian ethics than what people assume.
Even IPS 400 Professional Writing with Paige Warren and sharing our NPR “I Believe” with fellow student and friend Karen Flavin has been enlightening.
Two classes which were personally challenging and extremely rewarding have been IPS 555 The Human Person & Psychological Development with Professor Dean Manternach and Fr. Bill Creed’s IPS 572 Hearts on Fire: Ignatian Spirituality. These classes demand a journey within that can be very painful and yet, we work in ministry to journey together and become present in Christ to each other, especially in suffering – an inevitable experience and part of being human.
IPS 564 Foundations of Pastoral Care with Professor David Lichter equipped me with the knowledge to fully engage in pastoral care and even supported me throughout my own journey with cancer. The timing of these classes have been providential for me.
Some of the most memorable events outside of class have been my friendships at IPS. Meeting my friend Maureen Kurcz in person the first summer at IPS, after sharing an online class together was heart-warming. Also meeting one of the most outstanding fellow students and an amazing human being, Rainey Lamey, my first summer at IPS. I just knew I was home. Meeting, sharing and being ministered by fellow student and friend Peggy Flynn has been a true gift from God. Other experiences like sharing a Sunday worshipping together with fellow student and friend Shingai Chigwedere, my daughter Isabella and Professor Canaris in Chicago; and also having the opportunity to spend quality time in person with Professors Russell and Diaz. In addition, getting together in London with fellow student and friend Kathy North-Wilhelm and watching Scorsese’s movie Silence together, plus jointly contributing with fellow student and friend Amy Altheimer in the IPS’s student panel. And finally the times we scheduled on our own to share new knowledge with fellow students Greg Merideth, Ian Mitchell were truly special. Truly so many great memories including fellow student and friend Kelly MacCarthy, Ana Victoria Guizado; and so many outstanding people who truly make me feel that this is not just a place, it’s a family.
Can you give us a sense of your learning experience so far, from an online/non-US based student lens?
The difference in time zones can be challenging. I am in the UK and thus, six hours later in the day. Because the learning takes place on-line, I think it truly helped engaging with all opportunities available (online office hours, one-on-ones with professors, making use of the technology available to get together with peers in smaller groups, zoom, voice-thread, etc). My experience from being online and non-US based is that if one is engaged, the quality of the experience is completely transformed into something exceptional. It is truly up to the student to engage with the professors, engage with the material (hint: read ahead of time, don’t fall behind) and engage with fellow students. Three E’s: Engage, Engage, Engage! The challenge is not so much whether one is US based or abroad, online or in person; but to engage in building relationships, being willing to open up and discuss what is challenging. Always be accepting of others and contribute to a safe environment where we can truly learn from our differences and practice ministry before we go out to our wider worlds.
How have you ensured balance in your holistic life, given your IPS commitments?
I walked into IPS like a child in a candy store. I wanted to take it all in. Part of me wishes I could have done this twenty years ago, but I am also grateful God gave me this opportunity now. He knows best! Before committing, I discussed with my husband that I was going to need more support. We have three children, so there was extensive planning to allow myself study time (summer means one might be reading a few books in a week). As I mentioned, I had a breast cancer (recurrence) this summer. I don’t take the cancer lightly and I know balance, both mental and physical, is important. We spend an insane amount of time sitting (reading, researching, writing) so moving is very important. Even if it means stretching, going out for a brisk walk and breathing. Keeping hydrated, eating properly, all impacts our brain and our mood. Healthy minds in healthy bodies, but I also think our being is not separated in silos but intertwined (body, mind and soul).
How do you envision your time at IPS unfolding in the near term?
I am finishing my contextual education experience which has been both challenging and enlightening. I work at a nursing home/hospice in London (which can be challenging) and thus greatly appreciate the support provided by a learning community led by Professor Dan Rhodes. Also friend and fellow student Peggy Flynn has been a huge source of support as her specialty is end-of-life care. And Fr. Bill Creed’s Ignatian Spirituality couldn’t have been better timed than simultaneously with this experience. Therefore, I see this term unfolding as one of discernment about what the next chapter of my ministry will unfold to be.
As far as longer-term goals, where do you see yourself five years after completing your IPS degree?
A dream of mine is to see IPS launch here in London. If I could have a dream come true, it would be this one: for our local Church in London to have the grace of this kind of formation for both Lay and religious, so that the communal reality we live with the IPS family from Chicago extends to this side of the pond. Personally, I also see myself continuing on my path to formation. I would like to explore more pastoral ministry in non-religious environments (corporations, non-denominational secondary schools and university campus ministries that support those who do not adhere to any religious’ beliefs). How do we provide pastoral care using language that is universal enough to be inclusive without compromising what we do? We are not here to proselytize but to journey together.
Finally, can you share a personal spiritual practice that continues to restore and re-energize your mind, body, heart and spirit?
It might sound strange, but I re-discovered something my grandmother and the nuns at school taught me as a child when praying: bowing with one’s whole body. This is much more common in Asian cultures. It can be quite a workout for the body when one repeats this motion over and over, but what it does for the spirit is invaluable when we become mindful before whom we bow. It is so counter to our western culture to grasp that an act of humility (bowing) makes us stronger, but it does. I bring to mind everyone who’s crossed paths with me, and I bow to the presence of God in them and in me. It centers me and reminds me what is true. Try it one hundred times and then tell me after a week, how you feel. 😉
Congratulations, Alessandra! We applaud you for your dynamic leadership and creative, compassionate, and courageous service to church and society.
In light of recent events, IPS Dean Brian Schmisek penned an opinion piece reflecting on the rising sentiments of racism and sexual assault we are seeing in the national discourse.
Add your thoughts to the discussion below.
By Brian Schmisek
60. That number is the percent of white Catholics who voted for President Trump, the candidate who admitted to the behavior of a sexual predator and appealed openly to racism. Even a leader of his own party said his words were the “textbook definition of a racist comment.” Now that the election is over and we are in the first year of the Trump administration, will the USCCB be calling for a ‘fortnight of freedom’ for women, immigrants, and minorities? Or will the focus remain on “religious liberty” and the contraceptive mandate? Those on the right claim the Supreme Court vacancy was the crucial factor in electing Trump. Does this grand prize, Gorsuch on the bench, excuse or at least rationalize the behavior of the chief executive? Though there are many things to critique about a Trump administration, this troubling number, 60, deserves attention from US Catholics for what it says about us.
Since the 1980s many quarters of Catholic leadership, including some US Bishops, reduced the pro-life issue to abortion, saying it was so beyond the pale that any candidate who openly supported a pro-choice position was thereby ineligible for consideration for elected office by Catholics. About ten years ago, some bishops claimed it was the defining moral issue of the last thirty-five years. Many bishops spoke about denying communion to such politicians, and the fervor increased with each election year. Even if this was never the official position of the USCCB, many thought leaders in conservative Catholic circles argued for that position and it took deep root in the hierarchy and among many of the faithful.
Now, while the US Catholic hierarchy and their conservative allies were focused on that issue, we have elected a President who denigrated entire classes of people based on race, and admitted to, even bragged about sexual assault. Apparently, as 60% of the white Catholic vote indicates, these were not disqualifying factors. In fact, According to the Pew Research Center, Trump received a greater percentage of the votes of white Catholics than any other candidate, Republican or Democrat, in at least 20 years. Indeed, from another more recent study by Pew, comes this startling line: “And among white Catholics – as with white evangelicals – those who attend religious services at least once or twice a month are more approving of Trump’s job performance than are white Catholics who attend Mass less often (61% vs. 44%).”
This overwhelming support from churchgoers seems to be a clarion call that something is wrong with our priorities. There is a problem with the way we are educating and catechizing our people when a blatant racist empowering alt-right groups, neo-Nazis, and other fringe elements receives 3 out of 5 votes from white Catholics, and stronger approval from Mass attending Catholics than not. Trump’s cultivation of support from these extreme groups was mocked in a spoof commercial of “Racists for Trump” on Saturday Night Live, but after a marked increase in hate crimes and violence from what he has unleashed, the stakes have been raised. We need to take a closer look at our role and ourselves as Catholics in this unique time.
Rather than seek to remove the splinter of the contraceptive mandate from the eye of the Affordable Care Act, the bishops would do better to remove the log from their own and that of their flock. Though it pains me and even shames me to say it, that log is latent, pernicious racism, and the minimization of sexual assault among the white Catholic faithful. That log is excusing behavior we would not accept in our children to achieve a seat on the Supreme Court with the hope of ending the contraceptive mandate.
Immediately I can hear the reply that elections are complicated affairs with a variety of issues at stake; white Catholics are not racists and do not minimize sexual assault. I would like to agree. But the election results and the racial divisions it exposed should cause us to reconsider. Where were the letters from US bishops that seem to have been so plentiful in previous presidential cycles? When a candidate is so openly racist and misogynistic, might he have been disqualified from consideration by followers of Jesus who claim to love their neighbor?
The fact that a majority of white Catholics thought such a vote acceptable means there is much work to do, more leadership needed from our bishops. For example, the USCCB might devote at least as much energy to eradicating racism and the trivialization of sexual assault as they do the contraceptive mandate. There is much in Scripture about hospitality, treatment of the other, the stranger, the alien, the immigrant, the widow, and the orphan. It says nothing about a contraceptive mandate. Some bishops have even been ahead of the curve and already spoken about these issues. For example, one of the few African American bishops, Bishop Braxton, published a Text and Study Guide on the topic. This is part of a solid foundation on which to build.
The election of Trump has seen fathers deported, families torn apart, mothers separated from their children, and policies called ‘inhumane’ and ‘contrary to the values of the country and its legal system,’ by at least one federal judge. Hate crimes are increasing; as is violence against minorities. Closeted racism, never locked away tightly, has emerged with a frightening boldness. The free press is threatened; truth itself is under assault with alternative facts and propaganda “news.” A ‘meanness’ and viciousness drives this administration that tears at the fabric of society, and the meaning of truth itself. It’s as though Trump is echoing the words of Pilate, “What is truth?” The contraceptive mandate and the creation of a permanent committee for religious freedom seems to be among the least of our concerns, akin to chasing windmills in the storm of racism and assault.
Was the election of a bigot and braggadocios predator worth a seat on the Supreme Court? Have we given the modern equivalent of 30 pieces of silver for that one vote? If so, there is nothing we can do now but run into the darkness and weep, hoping against hope that at some future resurrection we as a church will be forgiven by a Risen Christ who will embolden us with the command issued three times: feed my sheep. Then, the church will experience a rebirth with an outpouring of the Holy Spirit as at Pentecost. On that day, our priorities will reflect Jesus, his commands and his mission. We will welcome the stranger, protect the widow and the orphan, and love our neighbor as Christ loves us.