Category : IPS Events

Book Announcement: The Source of All Love: Catholicity and the Trinity by Dr. Heidi Russell

The Source of All Love: Catholicity and the Trinity is a recently released book by IPS faculty member Dr.Heidi Russell. This new book is a fresh approach to an age-old doctrine brings together theology and science to reveal an active, conscious, omnipresent power of Love that never began, never will end, and guides the universe and everything in it. The key to spiritual evolution is awareness and participation.

Dr. Heidi Russell inspires us to see that Trinity is not only the ground of our being but the goal of an evolving universe. She shows how the idea of catholicity – a sense of wholeness – orients us toward universality and motivates us to turn together as one. It is Trinity that empowers all of life to become whole and unified in love. This is, in truth, what we always are and what we will become.

Dr. Russell herself explains: “I wrote the book, because in my experience in pastoral ministry, many people tend toward a ditheistic, at the very least, if not a tritheistic image of God.  In other words, they tend to relate to the Father and Son (ditheism) or the Father, Son, and Spirit (tritheism) as separate, individual beings.  Using a primary metaphor of love rather than being helps people relate to the Trinity in a way that maintains our monotheistic belief, which is to say, our belief in one God, not two or three gods.”

Reviews

“A wonderful contribution to understanding the Trinity in an age of science.” —Ilia Delio

“Highly creative. . . Professor Heidi Russell has emerged as one of the finest theologians whose focus is on the integration of the best of the Christian tradition with relativity and quantum physics theory.”—Harvey D. Egan, SJ, Boston College

“If Rahner is right that the Trinity must be a personal experience before it can be a meaningful doctrine, Heidi Russell in this book offers an interpretation of doctrine that enables it to be experienced.”—Paul F. Knitter, author, Without the Buddha I Could Not Be a Christian

“Interpreting catholicity as wholeness, Russell finds instances of wholeness in quantum physics, the classical doctrine of the Trinity, the Scriptures, Church Fathers, the Trinitarian theology of Karl Rahner and still other contemporary Trinitarian philosopher/theologians. . . . for the typical undergraduate student and educated lay person, the vision of cosmic wholeness (the whole greater than the sum of its parts) is captivating.”—Joseph Bracken, Xavier University

**Content borrowed from Orbis Books publisher.

 

 


Events from the IPS Parish Leadership & Management Programs

As part of its mission as a world-class institution of applied pastoral education and spirituality, IPS offers coursework, consultation, and other unique training and networking events to support parishes and congregations. Our aim is to assess unmet areas of pastoral need and create innovative programming through the expertise and vision brought to the table by our extraordinary faculty and staff.

Specifically, IPS Parish Leadership and Management Programs are derived from on-the-ground experience and learning from Catholic parishes in the Archdiocese of Chicago as part of INSPIRE—Identify, Nurture, and Sustain Pastoral Imagination through Resources for Excellence.

During the 2016 Spring semester, IPS Parish Leadership and Management Programs held four events at Cuneo.

  • “Day of Lenten Spirituality” facilitated by Dr. Heidi Russell.
  • “Spirituality and the Mind” facilitated by Nancy Dolan
  • “Lectoring with Spirit” facilitated by Kevin E. O’Connor, CSP
  • “The Medicine of Mercy” facilitated by Bill Huebsch

View the gallery below to see some photos from those events.

Special thanks to Mark Bersano, Coordinator of Parish Leadership and Management Programs, for his continued dedication and hard work toward making these events a success.


***Join the conversation by following @BrianSchmisek on Twitter and @LoyolaIPS on Instagram! Also, network with the Loyola Chicago IPS community on LinkedIn.


Pastoral Counseling between Psychology and Religion

On March 15, IPS announced its new Master of Arts in Counseling for Ministry with the help of Dr. Robert Kugelmann. As the author of Psychology and Catholicism: Contested Boundaries, Dr. Kugelmann spoke about the new IPS degree and its relationship with Catholicism and Psychology.

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His talk that evening began…

“The title of this talk, ‘Pastoral Counseling between Psychology and Religion’ is a bit misleading, and if I can think of a better one in thirty minutes, I’ll let you know. It’s misleading because it can suggest that ‘psychology’ is one thing and that the word ‘religion’ always means the same thing. Psychology does not have unity, being a collective term for a great variety of disparate fields. As for religion, there is even more diversity than in psychology.

There is some merit with the title, however, because historically, pastoral counseling developed in the context of a complex intersection of a number of fields, including psychology (psychotherapy in particular) and the pastoral care that churches provide.

Let me introduce what I’ll say this evening. First, I’ll give an overview of the complex relationships between psychology and Catholicism since the beginnings of modern psychology. (as I haven’t studied much the relationships psychology has with other Christian religions, nor with other religions.) Then, I’ll present the rise of pastoral counseling in what has called a ‘trading zone.’ After that comes a brief history of the early work in pastoral counseling among Catholics. Finally, I will offer some reflections on recent developments.”

Continue reading

 

The Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola University Chicago has been offering degrees in ministry since 1964. Born in the spirit of Vatican II, and advancing the mission of Loyola University Chicago, IPS responds to “the signs of the times” in providing transformative education for ministry, spiritual leadership, and faith-based social engagement, delivering high-quality professional education characterized by innovation, excellence, leadership, ethics, and service.

Join the conversation by following @BrianSchmisek on Twitter and @LoyolaIPS on Instagram! Also, network with the Loyola Chicago IPS community on LinkedIn.


Senator Dick Durbin Spoke on Undocumented Students

This past December, Senator Dick Durbin came to Loyola to speak about undocumented students, the challenges and opportunities they face, and how his own work for comprehensive immigration reform has been informed by his Catholic faith and his experience as a first-generation American.

Senator Dick Durbin addressing the Loyola community
Senator Dick Durbin addressing the Loyola community

IPS Professor Dr. Michael Canaris was one of many IPS community members in attendance and he had this reflection to share about the event and the Senator’s speech:

“The Scriptures and Christian teaching are unambiguous in their call to stand in solidarity with the marginalized, the disadvantaged, and the exile, and to respect the dignity of every human person. Senator Durbin’s work on behalf of migrants and refugees throughout his career has echoed this mandate and, when traced through sponsorship of the DREAM Act for instance, helped in many ways to inspire a re-appreciation of Loyola’s commitment to this underserved population across disciplines. It’s an issue that reflects our values as a university rooted in Catholic and Jesuit traditions, and has historical antecedents going back to the school’s founding and in fact to the original Company of Ignatius.”

Senator Durbin’s talk hit home for many Loyola students who were in the audience who are immigrants and/or a part of the Senator’s DREAM (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act. These students, affectionately called Dreamers, continue to grow in number and attend colleges across the country, with the largest population right here at Loyola Chicago.

The event titled, “Undocumented Students: Perspectives from a US Senator informed by the tradition of Catholic Social Teaching and his own family’s story,” was live tweeted through the Loyola IPS Twitter account and spurred conversation using the hashtags: #SenDurbinSpeaks and #SenDurbinVisitsIPS. You can see some of the conversation below.

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Join the conversation by following @BrianSchmisek on Twitter and @LoyolaIPS on Instagram! Also, network with the Loyola Chicago IPS community on LinkedIn.


Parish Health & Wellness Ministry Certificate Week

IPS’s Parish Leadership and Management Programs, in conjunction with Catholic Extension, recently held the first of four “Parish Health and Wellness Ministry Certificate” weeks.

The program focuses on the under-resourced mission dioceses of Catholic Extension who can benefit the most from this intensive training week. Catholic Extension polled all their mission dioceses, asking what their needs were. The top response was the need to assist people who work in parishes where questions regarding mental and physical health are constantly occurring. This ranged from addictions, to pregnancies, to violence, to depression, to long term care for the elderly, and more.

In response to this need, Catholic Extension partnered with Loyola IPS to create a week-long training in parish heath and wellness ministry, grounded in the belief that parishes should be a place of health and wellness of the mind, body and spirit.

LUREC group photo

IPS’s Coordinator of Parish Leadership Management Programs Mark Bersano said the goal of this initiative is to reach out and serve parishes in innovative ways by providing the kinds of courses and trainings that are outside of the typical degree programs currently offered at IPS.

The week long event began on a Sunday evening with a mass and reception dinner. The following four days of programming consisted of prayer services, workshops, speakers, skills development and more. The week concluded on Friday morning with a sending ceremony where the participants received a certificate from IPS.
LUREC certificate

This is a 4 year program that began with the first cohort in October 2015. The following cohorts will consist of different people each year, occurring in October 2016, 2017 and 2018. By the time the program is finished, Mark said that they could have up to 200 participants, with 40-50 participants each year.

“The grant funding currently allows 4 years, but we are hoping that it will turn into something that is sort of a movement in the church. There’s hope that we will be able to work with the local Chicago parishes and partner with them to build this concept that the parish is a place of health and wellness of mind, body and spirit.”

Participants consisted of people from dioceses across the United States including: Rapid City, SD; Boise, ID; Helena, MT; Las Cruces, NV; Beaumont, TX; Charlotte, NC; Brownsville, TX; Gaylord, MI; Marquette, MI; Jefferson City, MO; Belleville, IL; and more.

Mark said, “The people who were there were all pastoral ministers in one capacity or another at either the parish or diocesan level. Many of them already had something to do with healthcare and some of them were thinking about starting new ministries or expanding ministries they already had.”

Some of the highlights from the week were Kevin O’Connor’s session “Active Listening and Issue Diagnosis,” Timone Davis’s “Theology of Baptismal Vocation & Missionary Discipleship,” Dan Rhodes’s “Theology of Service” and Anna Mayer’s “Walking with the Dear Neighbor: A Model of Accompaniment.”

LUREC class
Posted with permission from Catholic Extension. Copyright 2015 www.catholicextension.org

“Again, the real theme was the parish as a place of health and wellness of mind, body and spirit and also that by getting involved in these things, parishoners and people in parishes could raise up their own baptismal vocations and become missionary diciples helping others,” stressed Mark.

He gave the example of someone starting their own domestic violence ministry. Or on a very basic level, someone getting involved with elderly people in the parish who might not always remember to take their medication. Something as simple as making phone calls to remind them can make a difference.

IPS Administrative Assistant Mirta Garcia was also in attendance and helped organize and run the event. She said the week went extremely well.

“All the presenters and facilitators did a great job with their individual subjects, and with weaving each topic into the next for a seamless participant experience. It was fascinating to see how the participants became more engaged with each successive day.  Seeing them make new connections and bonding with people who have similar interest and ministries was truly amazing. It was an honor to be part of this week-long intensive certification program. My favorite part was making new friends and connections with people who are passionate about their faith and ministry. I am looking forward to hearing how the participants will take everything they learned and make it blossom in their communities.”

Mark agreed, saying “people had a really good experience. They bonded extremely well. At the end of the week, they were all saying they missed their families and wanted to get home, but at the same time they didn’t want to leave. One participant even suggested having a reunion. They were there for a week and already felt that.”

 

Join the conversation by following @BrianSchmisek on Twitter and @LoyolaIPS on Instagram! Also, network with the Loyola Chicago IPS community on LinkedIn.


Loyola’s First Martyrs Award Goes to an IPS Alumna’s Organization

Loyola’s new Martrys Award was created to honor the Salvadoran Martyrs. This year marks the 26th anniversary of their assassination.

In a recent letter to the Loyola community, Interim President John Pelissero wrote, “Loyola honors the Salvadoran martyrs each year because in their lives and deaths, they exemplify the Jesuit and Catholic ideals and values that we seek to emulate, such as solidarity with the poor, working for social justice, and courageously witnessing to the truth.”

Each year, the award will be presented to a faith-based organization or individual who, among other things, strives to fight social injustice, educates others, and creates awareness of issues affecting the oppressed. In addition, there is a $25,000 grant that comes with the award. This money is intended to promote the legacy of the Martyrs in El Salvador and support Loyola’s commitment to social justice.

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The first recipient of this annual award is The Interfaith Committee for Detained Immigrants (ICDI). ICDI’s Executive Director Sr. JoAnn Persch will be accepting the award on behalf of the organization. Persch gradated from IPS in 1971 with a degree in Religious Education.

Another IPS graduate, Chris Murphy, is Loyola’s current Director of Staff Mission Formation and Faculty Staff Chaplain. He said that the ICDI is “currently responding to migrants and refuges from El Salvador and Latin America. The suffering of these people is rooted in many of the same structural injustices to which the martyrs responded. The work of the Interfaith Committee reminds us of the way to which we are the direct heirs to, and responsible for, the ongoing mission of the martyrs. For the Interfaith Committee’s dedication to addressing injustice they will receive the Martyrs Award from Loyola University Chicago.”

When given the news of being the recipient of the Martyrs Award, Persch said, “As an alum of Loyola and as Director of ICDI it made me very proud. We are an ever growing program and this award will encourage our growth to be able to serve more people. To be selected as seeing our ministry in tune with the strong faith and courage of the martyrs is very touching.”

Sr. JoAnn Persch, RSM, a Loyola alumna, photographed at Sisters of Mercy in Chicago, on October 28, 2015. Sr. JoAnn is the recipient of the Martyr's Award for the Interfaith Committee for Detained Immigrants.  (photo by Natalie Battaglia)
Sr. JoAnn Persch, RSM, a Loyola alumna, photographed at Sisters of Mercy in Chicago, on October 28, 2015. Sr. JoAnn is the recipient of the Martyr’s Award for the Interfaith Committee for Detained Immigrants.
(photo by Natalie Battaglia)

 

Persch began her long and successful career at IPS where she said she was given the foundation needed to carry out programs ranging from child and adult education to parish ministry.

She recalls that at the time, the IPS Religious Education program was only offered during the summer.

“We had outstanding professors who would come from all over to teach in the program for the summer,” Persch said. “I really enjoyed the Scripture classes and also then Father John Gorman (now Bishop Gorman) who taught religious psychology. I have used what I learned many times.”

As the co-founder of ICDI, Persch has been able to see the growth of ICDI in the nine years of its existence.

“I see the hand of God working in every way. We have such a wonderful committed staff and amazing volunteers who really see our responsibility to our immigrant sisters and brothers. The fact that in nine years we are able to assist through all of our programs has to be the work of God.” Persch added, “We all receive so much more than we give through our relationships with our immigrant sisters and brothers.”

Though Persch is living in the present and fighting social injustice day by day, she is also preparing of the future.

“I want to share leadership so that when I can no longer serve in this capacity others are prepared and imbued with the vision and mission of ICDI… I would hope that we could continue raising funds that will not only keep us solvent, but keep having the ability to grow to meet the needs as they arise.”

This award is not only a great honor and opportunity for Persch and her organization, it is also somewhat of a homecoming for her.

“IPS has always held a very special place in my heart and I am so happy to be connecting again.”

 

**The award ceremony is taking place on November 16 at 3:30 pm in Damen Student Center Multipurpose Room South. There will also be a Memorial Mass at 5:15 pm in Madonna Della Strada, followed by a reception in McCormick Lounge.

 

Join the conversation by following @BrianSchmisek on Twitter and @LoyolaIPS on Instagram! Also, network with the Loyola Chicago IPS community on LinkedIn.


Revel in the Revolution with 8th Day

The 8th Day Center for Justice held its annual Revel in the Revolution event this past weekend. This year’s theme, “give light and people will find the way,” came from civil rights activist Ella Baker.

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The keynote speaker was Reverend Doctor Otis Moss III, the current Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ. He is also an accomplished author, speaker and activist. His speech for the event was truly enlightening and motivating. He told stories of those who came before us that helped pave the way for us, such as Vernon Johns and Martin Luther King, Jr. “There’s always somebody making a track to the river’s edge. We didn’t show up brand new like nobody’s ever done justice work before.” Among the other themes in his words, he said ministry needs to be about prophets and not profits. His powerful witness and engaging voice led to a standing ovation.

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Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III

During this annual event, 8th Day Center for Justice also honors worthy recipients with the Mary Elsbernd, OSF Award. The award recognizes those who embody passion for inclusive love and justice, build relationships of nonviolence and cooperation, and use imagination to create new ways to bring systemic change.

In connection with IPS, Mary Elsbernd, OSF was the visionary behind the Master of Arts in Social Justice that began at IPS nearly 10 years ago.

This year The People’s Law Office (PLO) was the recipient of the 5th Annual Mary Elsbernd, OSF Award. The PLO has been fighting for civil rights for over 40 years, representing groups like the Black panthers, political prisoners, LGBTQ activists, members of the Palestinian community and many more. Most recently, the PLO won a Reparations Ordinance in Chicago for victims of police torture. The PLO also brought the audience to its feet, applauding the great work it does.

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The People’s Law Office

One of the coordinators for the event, Scott Donovan, is an IPS alumnus. He received his MA in Social Justice and Community Development (SJCD) in 2013. Originally from New Jersey, he decided to stay in Chicago after graduation since he was able to find work that aligned with his knowledge, interests and passions. “It felt like a natural extension of my career arc, both professionally and personally to stay here,” said Scott.

Scott began his role as the Development Coordinator for 8th Day this past January. He leads fundraising, grant writing and resource initiatives at the center.

“I had known about 8th day since Chris Eagan (another IPS alumnus) did his Magis internship program at 8th day… Then when I saw they had posted the development position, I thought that those specific skills were something I wanted to develop within myself, so I went for it and here I am.”

Scott Donovan, 8th Day Development Coordinator
Scott Donovan, 8th Day Development Coordinator

It seems that Scott has found a job that is never boring and allows him fulfill his passions and career goals.

Each day is very different,” noted Scott. “I like the consensus model we operate on. Structurally we are a flat model, so we have no hierarchy, no supervisor or boss. We make decisions as a group which affords each of us a lot of independence and flexibility to pursue our passions and interests and see how those specific interests can support the center.”

The skills he learned at IPS have helped him succeed in his career by building a strong foundation to build upon.

“There were a few classes that I took at IPS that certainly guided me towards this specific development position. I took fundraising and grant writing, which I very much enjoyed and learned a lot there. The classes and professors that stood out most to me were the ones that got us on the street level,” Scott added. “[They] took the theory or the literature that we were reading and demonstrated to us those ideas in the real world.”

Scott went on to mention community organizing and development classes and former IPS professor Susan Rans “who was very instrumental in bringing forth the true mission of SJCD to [him], and from there [he] was able to find like values between 8th day and the values [students] learned at IPS.”

Looking back on his time at IPS, Scott recalls attending a research conference in San Diego where he and his classmates presented their research project that they had been working on all semester long.

“That was an incredible experience and a great opportunity to travel there,” commented Scott. “When I think of studying at IPS, I think of the times when I got out of the classroom and was able to visit different community centers and meet different folks out in the neighborhoods.”

Scott emphasized that he appreciated and took advantage of any and all opportunities to leave the classroom and learn from the city itself.

Scott definitely uses the various skills he learned at IPS at his new job, especially grant writing, but he also learned something else that is quite valuable:

“I think the overall mindset of open-mindedness, patience and trying to connect with another person as deeply as possible and glean from them what their true desires are for themselves, for their neighborhood, for their country… I try to keep that with me each day, both professionally and personally.”

Scott concluded with giving some advice for current and future IPS students:

“Just apply yourself. Make the most of your time there. Make the most of your colleagues and classmates,” said Scott. “Another high point of my time was being able to meet my classmates and hearing about the work they’re doing and be able to connect to that work through them. So I would say for folks at IPS now, just to call upon your classmates.”

 
From everyone at IPS, thank you 8th Day for all the work you do for social justice!

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Loyola IPS faculty, graduate assistant and students at 8th Days’s Revel in the Revolution


**Join the conversation by following @BrianSchmisek on Twitter and @LoyolaIPS on Instagram! Also, network with the Loyola Chicago IPS community on LinkedIn.


Lectoring with Spirit

IPS and the School of Continuing and Professional Studies recently co-sponsered the “Lectoring with Spirit” workshop.

This workshop was important because it served as a reminder that it is vital to be prepared and to think everything through in advance. When the sacred texts are read clearly and emphasized properly and passionately, those in the pews can fully understand the meanings of the messages.

The event was facilitated by Kevin E. O’Connor, Certified Speaking Professional. He led the 70 attendees in practical thinking and skills exercises that taught them ways to make the sacred scripture come to life for members in their parishes.

The Parish Leadership and Management Programs at IPS often holds workshops on various topics and we would love for you to join us at the next one! For more information, please visit our Parish Leadership and Management page or contact coordinator Mark Bersano at the IPS office.

Also keep an eye out on IPS social media…

**Join the conversation by following @BrianSchmisek on Twitter and @LoyolaIPS on Instagram! Also, network with the Loyola Chicago IPS community on LinkedIn.


IPS Commissioning Student Address

At the May 2015 IPS Commissioning and Graduation Party, Staycie Flint was our wonderful student speaker. The abundance of positive feedback in regards to her address prompted us to post her speech below for those who missed it and for those who wish to read and reflect upon it again.

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Institute of Pastoral Studies Commissioning

Please join me in a prayer I take from Ephesians. 1:18

“Open the eyes of our hearts, and let the light of Your truth flood in. Shine Your light on the hope You are calling us to embrace. Reveal to us the glorious riches You are preparing for Your beloved.”

When Father Steve invited me to speak today he put before me two goals: speak about the IPS student experience and inspire the graduates of 2015 forward into our future work.

At first I wanted to say no, and not JUST because I am terrified about public speaking.

I have been filled with sadness and great anger lately. Among those I love and within the work I do, I see the trajectory of this country and I am scared and mad and tired and not so sure I have it in me to be inspiring.

Then I thought, making myself talk would remind me of why we celebrate today and that we are in this world together. I could use some of that!

I came to IPS asking: “How do I belong to this world?” “Who am I to be in this world?”

I was fairly convinced that my enrollment in the spiritual direction track was the way to go for me. Until that one class with Anne Luther. The one where she states: “Our time together is about discerning as a spiritual community whether you are called to be a spiritual director.”

And the only question that rose up in me was, “If the unanimous community decision turns out to be that I am not called to spiritual direction will there be a tuition refund?”

Given that I am standing here today celebrating the receipt of my Masters of Divinity, and not a certificate in spiritual direction, I can tell you that an issue of a refund never became necessary. More importantly, I learned that the question of “How do I belong to this world?” is a question that has no final answer.

This is what I cherish and admire about IPS. In IPS, we find a place that strives to hear the world and respond out of who we’ve been created to be. IPS respects scholarship and acknowledges that theory is nothing without praxis. At IPS, what we think and believe is empty and without weight if it is not accompanied by action.

This union of theory and praxis necessitates that teachers and students be willing to walk in the light of truth – light that shines on truth and can be both harsh and beautiful, even at odds.

This is not so surprising to those of us who love this city of Chicago where on a Friday night we are cheering for hockey goals and weeping as another round of bullets perpetuates a slow motion massacre.

Philosophers, mystics, teachers, and prophets throughout the ages have taught us that the uniqueness of each individual is best seen in who they become, and that becoming is a continuous call and response process, not a sequence of events.

So. Today I share three brief reflections on this notion of becoming and answering how we belong to this world.

Reflection One: On Suffering and Becoming

“How do I belong to this world?” is a question deeply impacted by the suffering around us and within us.

And it is hard work.

The ongoing discovery of the answer to “How do I belong to this world?” is painful and often lonely.

For many of us, our hearts automatically snap shut at the sound of difficulties, hardships: suffering.

Drawing attention to the suffering around us and the suffering within us is risky and vulnerable business.

Some of us, particularly those who can, protect our hearts by withdrawing.

The closing of hearts is a practice familiar to people from all walks of life: the destitute; the secure; the invisible; the seen; the privileged; . . . often understandably so

Why else does suffering endure? Why else do the cries of the oppressed stir no action from all the world?

Sometimes withdrawing is all we know to do. Suffering often come to us as disruption.

Suffering tears us down
Suffering destroys us
Suffering never redeems
It devastates us.

When suffering disrupts our equanimity we can recoil.

We don’t want things to change. We want them to stay the same.

Or worse, we want things to change and things only stay the same.

We don’t want to feel such hardness of life: be it sadness or anger or fear.

We want to feel certain: full of hope, full of joy, full of peace.

One Friday night while I was working in the trauma center of the hospital that employees me, a 32 year old African-American woman was brought in after being shot in a drive by shooting.

As she was rushed into the trauma bay her heart stopped beating and the medical team began doing everything possible to bring her back from death. Her husband crumbled into my arms and wept until the medical team cleared the room and he could get to her side. Family joined us in the room and entered into a crying that Toni Morrison describes as “loud and long – with no bottom and no top, just circles and circles of sorrow.”

(If you have heard this sort of wailing, if you have sobbed this way, I am sad to remind you of it today and I ask that you stay with me as I continue to share.)

This family began to tell me about their beloved. She was an anti-violence activist. She was shot just outside her home after arriving home from an anti-gun-violence fundraiser she and her life long friend and colleague had planned for months. As this family raged and sorrowed into their long grief her friend began to weep and repeatedly say to her beloved’s family, “This is my fault. I shouldn’t have asked her to be part of this. This never would have happened had we just stayed out of it!” and the family responded with, “Don’t say that. It is not true. She needs you more than ever to keep doing this work. We need you more than ever. Please. Please. Please. Don’t. Stop.”

And I can tell you, this dear departed’s friend hasn’t stopped and the movement has grown stronger and is making a difference.

So. We have to be brave. We have to be vulnerable. Though we may need to pause, we can’t stop. We have to hear the cries of this world and how they mix with the cries of our own hearts and we have to continue to answer for ourselves “How do I belong in this world?”

There is a way IS A WAY of engaging suffering that opens us up and leads us to action.

Your work of becoming and answering “How do I belong this world?” will go forward as you find your own particular ways of embracing, RESPONDING, to the calls of suffering.

Reflection Two: On Relationships and Becoming

David Whyte writes:

“Human beings are creatures of belonging, though they may come to that sense of belonging only through long periods of exile and loneliness.”

“How do I belong to this world?” is the question we must keep finding answers to amidst the calls of relationships with our selves, each other, and our Maker.

In the face of the loneliness and exile of suffering we must attune ourselves to the Maker of Hearts whispering to us through relationships:

the hands of caregivers
the rhythm of the liturgy
the transparency of song
the largess of creation
the attentions of loved ones
and in ways that only we can hear

The Whisperer persists in saying our becoming… my becoming…. your becoming… does not happen in isolation.

In fact, we’ve been given boundless hearts fully capable of becoming. Your relationships will open you to your unfolding.

One born into an ultimate box that was terribly void of relationship to the world around her, Helen Keller was lifted into her own becoming through relationship with her Teacher Anne Sullivan. Over time she found her own way into an abundance of relationship with the whole world and it wasn’t always accepting.

In a letter to Senator Robert La Follette, Helen Keller wrote:

“So long as I confine my activities to social service and the blind, they compliment me extravagantly, calling me ‘arch priestess of the sightless,’

‘wonder woman,’ and a ‘modern miracle.’ But when it comes to a discussion of poverty…that is a different matter! It is laudable to give aid to the handicapped. Superficial charities make smooth the way of the prosperous; but to advocate that all human beings should have leisure and comfort, the decencies and refinements of life, is a Utopian dream, and one who seriously contemplates its realization indeed must be deaf, dumb, and blind.”

See, there is a risk in becoming and living the wholeness of ourselves. It will not always be received well by others.

Dr. Audre Lorde said:

“There’s always someone asking you to underline one piece of yourself— whether it’s black, woman, mother, dyke, teacher, etc.—because that’s the piece that they need to key in to. They want to dismiss everything else.”

I highlight this resistance because I want to acknowledge that we can’t be about our becoming without claiming our relationships to our social location and how it engages the social location of those around us.

Responding with a critical self-awareness to the call of relationships that resist us and seek to limit us is as important to shaping our becoming as the response to the call of the encouraging relationships.

Hellen Keller needed for her becoming the pretentiousness and devaluing of a senator as surely she needed the support of Anne Sullivan to live into her becoming.

Martin Luther King Jr. needed the ignorance and cowardice of Bull Connor as surely he needed the inspiration and guidance of Howard Thurman to stretch fully into his becoming.

Audre Lorde insists that we need all the relationships, not just a couple, with ourselves and others in order to live into becoming.

The holding and responding to ALL the relationships in our lives are simply different expressions of the central way we belong to this world.

In truth, the work of becoming puts the whole wide world in relationship with us and us to the world.

Reflection Three: On Becoming and Belonging to Our Maker

One of the most powerful things Christianity teaches the larger world is that a tomb of darkness can give way to life unmeasurable.

And this is the hope and assurance we have.

In our becoming we are connected to a source of life that goes way beyond our earthly days.

Dr. Howard Thurman, spiritualist and mentor to Martin Luther King, frames our becoming in this way. He states:

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

When you are answering “How do I belong to this world?” don’t forget that the answer best speaks to how your Creator has made you to come alive!

Also don’t forget that your source of this life is a boundless Divine who has become all things – not just a few things, all things. As Reverend Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou of Ferguson and Baltimore reminds us,

“We have seen the face of God, and God has got tattoos on God’s face, and God sags God’s pants, and God is angry and God is queer.”

One of the few promises in life that I am comfortable making is that the Maker and Keeper of hearts gives life and sustains our becoming with a boundless heart that knows no limit.

I close by wondering what awaits you? What awaits you as you go about the continual work of answering “How do I belong to this world?”

The world calls out to us through earthquakes, hungers, and broken spines. It whispers to us through a grieving co-worker, a beloved’s bad day, and our own weariness. What will be your response?

The more we trust and practice being open to the call and response of all that surrounds us― the good, the bad, the ugly―the clearer it becomes that it is not the events of our lives that define us but rather how we belong to this world―how we respond to the calls―that defines the events of our lives.

I learned through my time here at IPS that answering “How do I belong to this world?” is found in my ongoing responses to the calls of suffering, relationship and our Maker. When I realized that my calling wasn’t clear, the response to me from the likes of Fr. Krupa, Dr. Russell, Dan Lunney, Dr.s Evelyn and Jim Whitehead, and Dr. Lysaught was, “we will help you be who you are to be in this world and we won’t ask you to be who you are not.” I trust that most of you graduating with me know something of this gift. I hope you replicate it in the world.

I remind us of Dr. Lorde and paraphrase a conversation Krista Tippet shared with Courtney Martin and Parker Palmer when I point out that we are often asked to show up in life as only “slices of ourselves.” To feel like we’re showing up as our whole selves in all the settings of our lives is a rebellious act.

So. I invite you to go forth and rebel! I invite you to take in your whole self in the presence of your Maker, be vulnerable to this ongoing work of becoming, show up with the fullness of all you can grasp and rebel. Rebel against the powers that would ask of you and the Divine’s beloved community for less.

 

**You can view pictures from the event here

 

Join the conversation by following @BrianSchmisek on Twitter and @LoyolaIPS on Instagram! Also, network with the Loyola Chicago IPS community on LinkedIn.

 


RECongress Wrap-up

At IPS, it is about working hard and having meaningful conversation, all while enjoying the company you are with. During this year’s Religious Education Congress, a few of our team members showed exactly how that is done!

IPS was well represented this year by our Director Brian Schmisek, Enrollment Advisor Chrissy Sofranko, Coordinator of Parish Leadership and Management Programs Mark Bersano, and Coordinator of Student Services Koonal Patel.

For everyone, the main goal of the event was to get as many people as possible interested in IPS. The numerical goal was set at 80 new prospects, and by the end of the second day, they achieved that goal! Moreover, by the end of the third and final day, our IPS team had almost 100 new prospects!
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“We wanted to have really engaging interactions with people who came to our booth. We wanted them to leave remembering us more than any other university they interacted with,” commented Chrissy. “Being in the booth with Koonal, Mark and Brian is a lot of fun. We are all extraverted and energetic, so we created interactions that made us memorable to the participants.”

“Talking to the prospective students also gives us a chance to discern what they are looking for career wise and if IPS would be a good fit for them,” added Koonal.

Mark and Brian also made it a point to showcase the new programs at IPS and connect with alumni and friends who attended. It was also important for them to network with people that IPS could create potential partnerships with in the future.

The annual RECongress event is indeed very beneficial to IPS.

“It has been the most successful RECongress we have ever been to in terms of the number of people who stopped by our booth, the number of people who liked us on Facebook, the people who showed up at the alumni event, and the people interested in the new programs we have to offer,” noted Brian.

“We already have a lot of established relationships with speakers and constituents, so we want to foster those relationships,” added Chrissy. “We also want to reach out to students who are interested in our online programs. IPS offers three different Master degrees that can be pursued entirely online.”

Koonal made a good point when he said, “It is good to know what people want to do and what they are interested in, so at IPS, we can tailor our programs and classes to what is needed.”

With over 40,000 people at RECongress, the energy in the room is dynamic and palpable.

“Everybody is represented there. You can find Catholic publishers, rosary vendors, universities, seminaries, religious orders and more. This allows for great conversation for how to move things forward in the church with energy,” commented Mark.

“It was great just meeting so many people that have shared values and are interested in ministerial education,” added Brian.

This year was even more special because Brian was asked to lead two sessions during RECongress. During his talks, he discussed “Resurrection Faith” and “Pauline Spirituality for Lent.”

“It was a bonus to have those,” said Brian. “IPS attends each year and being asked to speak this year was an honor. It was great to connect with people who are interested in those topics.”

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Everyone agreed that the IPS alumni and friends reception was their favorite part of the trip.

“It was a wonderful chance to talk to people and hear about their experiences at IPS. We were also able to brainstorm how we could work together in the future,” said Mark. “We even rounded up people at our booth to come to the event.”

“It was a great way to connect with our online students, who we do not always get to meet in person,” noted Koonal. “The reception is also more laid back, so we can have longer conversations with people and hear what they have been doing or are interested in doing.”

At the end of the IPS reception, guests were treated to a nice view of the Disneyland fireworks show. In fact, the Disney fireworks were so nice, that a few of our staff members even found their way to the park for some fun after the busy weekend.

Overall, they said it was a successful and fun event, and they look forward to next year! Not to mention how nice it was to be in California in March.

With over 40,000 people in attendance, RECongress is the largest annual gathering of its kind in the world. It hosts a variety of workshops, exhibitors and more.

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The theme for this year was “See” or “Ver.” It was chosen from the blind man’s encounter in John 9: 1-41.

The Congress says, “Reflecting on this amazing scenario, our imaginations are stretched, we are drawn to see beneath the surface and discover the paradox: the blind man is the one who sees while the seeing ones are entombed in their own darkness… Spiritual blindness is at the center of the exchange and the challenge for all is to see at a deeper level… We are encouraged then to renew our vision, open up to the life-changing Light of Christ, and lead others to See anew.”

 

 

Join the conversation by following @BrianSchmisek on Twitter and @LoyolaIPS on Instagram! Also, network with the Loyola Chicago IPS community on LinkedIn.