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IPS Coordinator of Formation on Spiritual Direction and Pastoral Counseling

Submitted by Carol Taliaferro, IPS Coordinator of Formation

Which is right for me? Spiritual Direction and/or Pastoral Counseling?

This is a really good question and one that comes up often. So let’s start by defining terms. First, spiritual direction, as the name implies, is primarily about the spiritual life: our relationship with God and the movement of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It is also involved in fostering personal growth in and deeper intimacy with God (as experienced in prayer and lived out in discipleship).

Counseling and psychotherapy are different. These terms are often used interchangeably so I’d like to make a distinction here as well. Counseling helps us to work through and resolve problems in our lives and relationships. Psychotherapy, on the other hand, goes deeper and is primarily focused on the emotional life and helps us to heal past hurts and to look at and resolve unhealthy patterns in our lives.

When should you pursue counseling/therapy vs. spiritual direction?

If you are struggling with emotional pain and negative patterns of behavior in your life, dealing with depression or mood disorders, anxiety, addictions or other diagnosable conditions, psychotherapy is your best option. Do you need guidance and support sorting out your life and your relationships? Counseling would be the way to go.

Are you trying to grow in your relationship with God and discern the movement of the Holy Spirit in your life? Then, spiritual direction is what you should pursue.

Keep in mind that each discipline is not mutually exclusive and you can participate in spiritual direction along with therapy and counseling.

(Adapted excerpt from: Spiritualdirection.com – Catholic Spiritual Direction – What is the Difference between Counseling and Spiritual Direction?)

“Pastoral counselors hold a unique position in the field of counseling. With their combination of theological training and advanced education in the behavioral sciences, they are poised to provide effective mental health counseling that is capable of respectfully integrating religious and spiritual components.”

(The Misunderstood Pastoral Counselor: Knowledge and Religiosity as Factors Affecting a Client’s Choice, Walker, et. al., Paper based on a program presented at the 2012 American Counseling Association Annual Conference and Exposition, San Francisco, CA, March 23-25,)

Reflection Corner

As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards to God’s varied grace. 1 Peter 4:10

Spiritual formation requires taking not only the inward journey to the heart, but also the outward journey from the heart to the community and ministry. Christian spirituality is essentially communal. Spiritual formation is formation in community. In community, we learn what it means to confess our weakness and to forgive each other. In community, we discover our own woundedness but also a place of healing. In community, we learn true humility. Without community, we become individualistic and egocentric. Therefore, spiritual formation always includes formation to life in community.

(Henri Nouwen, Following the Movements of the Spirit, Spiritual Formation with Christensen, M. J. & Laird, R. J.)

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You can reach Carol Taliaferro at ctaliaferro1@luc.edu.

To learn more about IPS, go to https://www.luc.edu/ips/. For those interested in applying to IPS, go to https://gpem.luc.edu/apply/.

3-14-2019 | Comments Off

Henry Luce Foundation Supports Ignatian Legacy Fellows Retirement Initiative

Supporting leadership conversations and theological engagement with the Jesuit mission

The Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola University Chicago is proud to announce the second installment of a $250,000 planning grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. This grant will launch in September 2019 the Ignatian Legacy Fellows Program, a unique national program for retiring and retired, executives, professionals, and organizational leaders.

Retirement is a new vocational moment; it is an invitation to a wisdom transition to engage proactively the leadership challenges of aging, meaningfully. This program has a trident strategy of attending to the personal journey, examining the past to turn experience into wisdom for legacy planning. The program integrates the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius as a tool for discerning vocational choices and decision making. The second prong of the trident strategy embraces a twenty-five-person cohort that will accompany each other on this year-long journey and engage in leadership dialogues about their new or evolving roles while becoming an encore learning community for the long term. The last prong of this trident process is engagement with significant mission driven institutions and ministries of the Society of Jesus.

Through the year, these fellows will involve the institutional leaders in real leadership conversations, listening to the challenges of running mission-driven, nonprofit, values-based organizations within the largest global educational network of universities and high schools. Thus one discovers that this is not a residential university program, but a spirited, Jesuit collaborative program on the move.

This Ignatian Fellows’ three continent journey will begin with a four-day residency hosted by the Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola in September, 2019, then continue in November, 2019 with a four day residency hosted by the Jesuit School of Theology and Ministry at Santa Clara University. In January, 2020, the cohort will experience a four day social immersion in Lima, Peru, followed by a March, 2020 four day residency hosted by the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. The cohort will then meet for a four-day residency hosted by the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University and finally a ten day excursion to Spain and concluding in Rome with a leadership conversation with the Jesuit Global Higher Education leadership team and the sharing of insights and observations from their year together. Between sessions there will be assigned reading and opportunities to dialogue using the Ignatian Colleagues Program and platform. Ultimately, this inaugural group of Ignatian Legacy Fellows will become Founders of the Ignatian Society of Fellows, an alumni community that will continue to convene around leadership conversations to foster the work of the Society of Jesus.

Contacts: John Fontana, Co-Director, 847-703-5836, jfontana@luc.edu or Mariann M. Salisbury, Co-Director, 301-807-5369, Msalisbury1@luc.edu

For more information: https://luc.edu/ilf

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To learn more about IPS, go to https://www.luc.edu/ips/.

For those interested in applying to IPS, go to https://gpem.luc.edu/apply/.

1-29-2019 | Comments Off

IPS students and Sr. Ann Credidio, recipient of the 2018 Martyrs Award

By Emily Kane

On November 16, 1989, members of the Salvadoran military brutally murdered six Jesuit priests and two of their friends at the University of Central America in El Salvador. They were targeted because they spoke out against government crime and corruption and were vigorous advocates for the poor. To honor the eight Salvadoran martyrs, Loyola built a memorial on campus in 2010. The structure includes the “Wounded Angel” statue and a wall curving along the sidewalk on the west side of Madonna della Strada Chapel, displaying the names of each of the victims.

November is Ignatian Heritage Month and Loyola University Chicago celebrates its Jesuit heritage with a range of events, including the presentation of the Martyrs Award. The award is presented annually to a faith-based individual or organization that embodies the values of the Salvadoran martyrs, being champions of social justice and serving marginalized communities.

The 2018 Martyrs Award was presented on Nov. 15, 2018 to Sr. Ann Credidio, BVM (the religious order of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the very same community of Loyola’s own Sister Jean!).

Sr. Ann is from Brooklyn, NY and attended Mundelein College (a women’s university founded by the BVMs in 1929 and integrated in Loyola University Chicago in 1991). She took a few courses at IPS to complete her degree; a connection we treasure. In the late 1980s she was teaching preschool in Guayaquil, Ecuador when she began to develop relationships with people suffering from Hansen’s disease and living in terrible conditions at a nearby run-down hospital. She eventually focused all her energy there and founded Damien House. She took over the Hansen’s wing of the infectious disease center, raised funds, and over time built it into a safe place where those suffering with Hansen’s disease can receive the care that they need and the love that all God’s creatures deserve: Damien House. That wing of the hospital is now deeded to the Damien House Foundation and flourishes under the care of Sr. Annie.

On the day of the award presentation, four IPS students joined Sr. Annie for lunch and a conversation about her work. Not originally planned as a part of her stay in Chicago, she asked specifically to meet students so that she might learn about the work that they are doing and also to discuss challenges, share joys and frustrations, and foster new personal connections. IPS students, Toni Daniels, Julie Lipford, Lee Colombino, and I shared in this meal and conversation with Sr Annie, finding inspiration in her experience, joy, and wisdom.

I provided the introduction for Sr. Annie at the Martyrs Award Presentation, which took place at the Mundelein Center on the Lake Shore Campus at 4pm. I lived in Ecuador for 13 months as a volunteer at Damien House and have come to know Sr. Annie very well. I am happy to share with you the text of my introduction.

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“Hello everyone- My name is Emily Kane and I am a graduate student pursuing my master’s in social justice through the Institute of Pastoral Studies. I am also the graduate assistant for retreats in Campus Ministry right here on the Lake Shore Campus.

I’m here speaking to you today because in July of 2014, a brand new graduate from Loyola University Maryland, I traveled to Guayaquil, Ecuador to begin my year of service with a program called Rostro de Cristo, having absolutely no idea what to expect. One of our first tasks as newly arrived volunteers was to visit potential work sites, and one of our first stops was to Damien House, a long-standing partner of Rostro de Cristo volunteers.

If you don’t know already, Damien House is a care facility for people suffering from Hansen’s disease (formerly known as leprosy). While feeling a bit jarred at first when I encountered people who had lost fingers, limbs, or the cartilage in their ears and nose from the disease, I couldn’t help but be completely overwhelmed by the contagious love and joy exuding from all the patients I met. We were introduced to Sister Ann Credidio, BVM, a wild and crazy nun from New York who spoke Spanish with a Brooklyn accent (which I didn’t know was possible until I met her), and I was hooked- I knew I had to spend my year of service at Damien.

At that point, Annie as we affectionately call Sr Ann, had been in Ecuador for over 20 years. She first went down to Ecuador to be a teacher, but she began spending time at the infectious disease hospital, in the ward for patients with Hansen’s. At that time, the ward was in serious disrepair. The roof leaked, food was awful, rats bit patients on their toes during the middle of the night- it was a disaster. Annie realized that her presence was needed there, and she switched her ministry to be full-time at the hospital. Eventually, Damien House became its own entity, and Annie has been with them ever since.

While it may not have seemed like much at the time, Sister Annie and the patients of Damien House taught me the true meaning of a ministry of presence. They helped me understand the power of just sitting and being with someone- just offering your presence to them, sharing a cup of coffee with them, and asking about how they are doing. As a cradle Catholic, I spent my entire life hearing readings on Sundays about Jesus and “the lepers.” My time at Damien House gave this an entirely new meaning for me. Now “the lepers” were not this abstract concept- they were people I had come to know and love. They had names and feelings and flaws and stories that were just as real to me as my own. I carry them with me in everything I do: Esther, Blanca, Sonia, Manuel, Leon, Alceides….these are just a few of the people who will benefit from this gift Loyola is giving Damien House today.

All of this I have shared with you is possible because of the unbelievable force that is Sister Annie. Her determination and her tenacity to fight for the patients of Damien is unparalleled. She is the ultimate witness to selfless love. I feel honored to have been just a tiny part of Damien’s history, and I am honored to be standing up here welcoming Sister Annie to Loyola today.”

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Emily Kane is pursuing the MA Social Justice. You can reach her at ekane5@luc.edu.

To learn more about IPS, go to https://www.luc.edu/ips/.

For those interested in applying to IPS, go to https://gpem.luc.edu/apply/.

11-29-2018 | Comments Off

IPS Student Patrice Nerone Awarded 2018 President’s Medallion

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 Patrice Nerone, a dual degree M.Div.-MAPC (Master of Divinity-Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling) 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 Patrice to find out what this award means to her, as well as to learn how IPS has impacted her life.

What does the President’s Medallion award mean to you, Patrice?

I feel very humbled to receive this award and what means most to me about it is that I feel seen and appreciated as a valued member of the IPS community. To know that everyone here is supporting me and wants me to succeed has had a profound effect on my sense of belonging and my desire and ability to risk putting myself out there more. I’m learning that succeeding doesn’t mean I’m expected to do everything perfectly, but that my humanly often imperfect self is sufficient.

I understand you’re currently on a dual M.Div.-MAPC track 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 was a holistic nurse at Cleveland Clinic working with a team of chaplains to provide complementary therapies and spiritual and emotional support for patients, their families, and the employees. I deeply connected with the chaplains and decided to study spiritual direction with their encouragement. At the same time, I was learning hypnotherapy and between the two programs of study I felt called to something more. Through the process of Ignatian discernment my spiritual director suggested I consider chaplaincy and recommended Loyola. I was very drawn to the dual degree at IPS because it encompassed all of my interests and that the focus was on pastoral presence rather than an intellectual approach to counseling was a key factor in my decision making.

What has your IPS journey been like so far?

My favorite experience with IPS was the Rome study. It was as much a spiritual experience as it was educational and I am eager to return to Rome with IPS for a pilgrimage experience. I can’t imagine a better group to make a pilgrimage journey with and highly recommend including this opportunity in your studies, if possible.

I am so appreciative of my time at Loyola and realize how much Ignatian Spirituality and the IPS learning environment has helped me grow in awareness, acceptance, and empathy for myself and others. The administration, faculty, and students have all demonstrated a level of compassionate care and unconditional positive regard that makes Loyola stand out amongst all the other schools I’ve attended. I will hold in my heart many fond memories of all those who shared this particular journey with me.

How do you envision life unfolding after IPS?

This is still a work in progress. I will most likely be looking for either a post-graduate fellowship or a chaplain residency program that enables me to continue developing experience and skill in both chaplaincy and counseling. I believe I still have much to learn and yet I also have much to offer so, I feel it’s time now to put my experience to work in a meaningful way while continuing to build on the foundation Loyola provided.

How have you ensured balance in your holistic life, given your IPS commitments? Can you share a personal spiritual practice that continues to restore and re-energize your mind, body, heart and spirit?

My life journey thus far has helped me learn to accept my limitations without shame or guilt and that it’s ok, and moreover it’s necessary, to make my own wellbeing a priority. This means taking time to pay attention to what I am thinking and feeling, and not just intellectually or emotionally but physically and spiritually, too. The more I’m able to acknowledge what I’m experiencing the sooner I can do something to prevent a potential meltdown. The modality I employ to restore my equilibrium depends on what my particular need is at the time. For example, if I’m feeling stressed and anxious I will probably meditate more frequently, and if I’m feeling spiritually bereft I find Lectio Divina a particularly helpful practice for bringing me back into closer communion with God. Overall, being in nature gives me a profound sense of being grounded and connected to the Fullness of Life so I’m mindful of seeking opportunities to immerse myself in the beauty of creation as much as possible. Somehow, I never feel alone when contemplating nature.

For the university’s profile on Patrice as President’s Medallion recipient, go here.

Congratulations, Patrice, on this special honor. Thank you for embodying the IPS spirit of creative, compassionate, and courageous service to church and society.

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If you want to reach out to Patrice, you can email her at pnerone@luc.edu.
To learn more about IPS, go to https://www.luc.edu/ips/.
For those interested in applying to IPS, go to https://gpem.luc.edu/apply/.

11-20-2018 | Comments Off

Experience Education at Loyola IPS in Rome

Registrations for the Rome 2019 program are now open. Space is limited. 1st deposit deadline: Dec-15.

*** ALUMNI: Please contact Dr. Mike Canaris (mcanaris@luc.edu) before registering. ***

The IPS 2019 Study in Rome summer program provides a unique opportunity to experience firsthand the historical, cultural, and spiritual benefits of the Eternal City and the Vatican. Led by faculty members with longstanding personal relationships with local academic and ecclesial leaders there, the program is a unique opportunity for students of IPS. Participants are able to draw upon the invaluable resources of Loyola’s half-century presence running a campus for students of various ages and degree programs who choose to study in the Eternal City.

Upcoming Summer June 18–28, 2019 Courses:

IPS 402: Church and Mission, taught by Dr. Michael Canaris

IPS 599: Spirituality of Pilgrimage and the Contexts of Faith, taught by Dr. Bill Schmidt

To view Course Descriptions click here.

Shingai Chigwedere and Doreen Kelly are two IPS students who participated in last summer’s Rome program. They have been kind enough to share their thoughts on their Eternal City experience.

From Shingai: The IPS Rome Summer Program is a unique opportunity to engage in faith, fellowship and delicious food. Rome is special because it is a trifecta of rich religious, political and cultural history. Two classes were offered, I took the Theology of Pope Francis class with Dr. Mike Canaris. I was impressed with the way our church tours and tourist location visits connected with our class content on encounter, service, collegiality and ecumenism to name a few. Dr. Canaris and Dr. Jones did a fantastic job preparing semi-lectures and discussion material for our in-situ experience. My class spent 1.5 days in Assisi learning more about the Franciscan influence in Pope Francis’ life. We did volunteer work at Sant’ Egidio community, had an insightful visit to the Jewish Ghetto Museum and Synagogue, and learned more about ecumenical dialogue at Centro Pro Unione.

My favorite part was celebrating Mass and having private prayer and reflection time in churches like St. Peter’s Basilica and Santa Maria Maggiore. Having participated in Loyola’s Ignatian Spiritual Exercises retreat, it was profoundly heartwarming to celebrate Mass in St. Ignatius’ room, with a Jesuit celebrant, with classmates from a Jesuit University, in Rome, during the pontificate of a Jesuit Pope. Wow, what a unique moment in time! It was enriching to walk with (figuratively and literally, we walked a lot!), learn with and from committed and passionate IPS classmates. The time we spent getting to know each other (encountering each other) as we broke bread and enjoyed great food and gelato was priceless. Don’t miss out on this educational and spiritually enhancing opportunity!

From Doreen: What I expected: To visit and learn about places important to the history of the early Church, to celebrate Eucharist in some unique and special locations, to eat great food, to walk a lot.

What I found: All of the above and so much more!! Rich stories about artwork and architecture shared by extraordinarily knowledgeable classmates and our professor; an unexpected and simple call from God to be with God in amazing places which commemorated both sinners and saints; walking that became a pilgrimage on which I met God in others; meals that became celebrations of friendship; the best gelato in the world; deep conversations which expressed faith seeking understanding; intense times of silence in the presence of places that had been inhabited by or items once belonging to saints; an opportunity to serve and pray with a community making a difference in the daily lives of immigrants; deeply spiritual sacramental moments.

How it has changed me: IPS Rome 2018 awakened the pilgrim in me, that belief that whether the road is ordinary or extraordinary, God waits there to be found in both subtle and majestic ways. I am ever grateful!

Click on the link to access the REGISTRATION site and view the housing options.

Registrations for the Rome 2019 program are now open. Space is limited. 1st deposit deadline: Dec-15.

*** ALUMNI: Please contact Dr. Mike Canaris (mcanaris@luc.edu) before registering. ***

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If you want to reach out to Dr. Canaris, you can email him at mcanaris@luc.edu.
To learn more about IPS, go to https://www.luc.edu/ips/.
For those interested in applying to IPS, go to https://gpem.luc.edu/apply/.

11-08-2018 | Comments Off

IPS Launches Spiritual Formation Webpage

IPS is proud to announce the launch of the IPS Spiritual Formation webpage.

This webpage offers IPS students opportunities for growth in personal faith, emotional maturity, moral integrity and public witness. It also provides opportunities to interact with and reflect on their experiences with fellow students.

When asked about the importance of formation for IPS students, Coordinator of Formation Carol Taliaferro says, “formation is a lifelong process that addresses our personal relationship with God and helps us to discern with others our mission as disciples of Christ.”

The webpage will be updated to include information on small reflection groups, retreats, service opportunities, spiritual directors, pastoral counselors, special events, worship sites, etc.

Click on the below for upcoming LUC events relevant for Spiritual Formation:

Ignatian Silent Retreat
C.C.C.
MSA Sister’s Retreat 2018-19
MSA Brother’s Retreat 2018-19
Women’s Retreat
The Busy Student Retreat
Alternative Break Immersion
Ignatian Family Teach-in for Justice

Click here for Off-Campus Worship Sites

For more information, go to the formation webpage. Consult with Carol Taliaferro at ctaliaferro1@luc.edu to see if funding may be available to cover full or partial costs of activities and services.

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To learn more about IPS, go to https://www.luc.edu/ips/.
For those interested in applying to IPS, go to https://gpem.luc.edu/apply/.

10-04-2018 | Comments Off

Luca Badetti, PhD joins IPS as Adjunct Assistant Professor

April 18, 2018

Dr. Luca Badetti has just joined the IPS community as an Adjunct Assistant Professor. He will be part of the Pastoral Counseling program and will teach two Fall 2018 classes: “Research Methods” and “Foundations of Pastoral Care”.

Dr. Badetti was born in Rome, did middle school in Milan, and then moved to the United States. He obtained a master’s in Clinical Psychology from the Institute for the Psychological Sciences at Divine Mercy University and a doctorate in Disability Studies from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), writing his dissertation on “Self-Determination and Community Life in Persons with Intellectual Disabilities”.

VoyageChicago recently published a detailed profile on Dr. Badetti, highlighting among other things his current work as the Community Life Director at L’Arche Chicago, “a multi-cultural faith community on the west side comprised of three homes in which people with and without intellectual disabilities live together ordinary life (sharing meals, going on outings, praying together, etc.).” In this role, Luca supports community life across its different layers: hiring and training assistants/staff, leading team meetings, events and retreats, accompanying, listening and walking with people as they grow through their community journey.”

We would like to share below Dr. Badetti’s responses to a few questions we recently posed to him:

Why IPS? What drew you to this program?

I have come to believe that life reveals itself to us as we journey along – it can surprise us and lead us, sometimes in very unexpected ways. This is true across its different domains, even the academic and professional one.

I didn’t plan to find Loyola University’s Institute for Pastoral Studies but I found it, and it found me.

To give a bit of background, during my undergraduate studies I wanted to study the human person in a holistic way, and one discipline was not enough to do so! I therefore double majored and double minored, seeking to bring together theology, philosophy and psychology.

I obtained a master’s in clinical psychology from a graduate institute of the psychological sciences (its abbreviated name was IPS too!), which sought to combine psychology with theology.

I then continued my own reflection on integration, which continues to this day. This reflection also informs and has been informed by my community leadership and pastoral experience in L’Arche, a movement of faith communities in which people with and without intellectual disabilities share life together in a spirit of belonging. I currently am the Director of Community Life in our Chicago community, which I became a part of once I moved to the city about eight years ago for my doctorate in Disability Studies.

I was already interested in IPS when I found out about it years ago, having known some of its students but also one of its founders. Considering my background, here it was…an institute that sought to combine psychological and theological insights for the accompaniment of people! How could I not be interested?

IPS then found me, inviting me to teach as one of its adjunct professors.

How do you feel about joining IPS?

I am honored and pleased.

I just mentioned a bit about my academic/community background…I find so many connections between it and the focus of IPS. I am glad to now be part of the IPS team.

Coming originally from Rome and currently living in Chicago, I also find quite exciting that IPS has a presence in both Chicago and Rome. Yet another connection!

What are your expectations about being part of the IPS family?

I am ready to be surprised!

Expectations, on the other hand, can be tricky, precisely because of what I was mentioning before about life revealing itself. Expectations can be like little boxes in our heads, while life is so much bigger than them. But, yes, I am open to being surprised.

Finally, can you share a personal spiritual practice that continues to restore and re-energize your mind, body, heart and spirit?

I believe there is a deep core to spirituality, beyond words, that is very intimate, mysterious and profound. Like other intimate realities, it should be protected and not exposed.

There is also a level in spirituality that is personal while also being communal and social, from which one can share with others using words and from which I am drawing my reply to your question.

Instead of using the concept of a practice I do, I’d like to speak of a reality I like to enter into – and also nurture: leisure.

What in Italy is called the “dolce far niente” (the sweet doing nothing) is a beautiful being present. Whether sharing coffee with a friend, listening to music, enjoying good food, sitting quietly, strolling around and so forth, leisure can be a delightfully human, and therefore profoundly spiritual, experience. That primacy of being over doing.

For more on Dr. Luca Badetti, go to https://www.lucabadetti.com/.

(Image credits: Sally O’Donnell Photography, Roberta Dupuis- Devlin)

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To learn more about IPS, go to https://www.luc.edu/ips/.
For those interested in applying to IPS, go to https://gpem.luc.edu/apply/.

4-18-2018 | Comments Off

Photos from April 5th IPS Alumni-Students Networking Event

On April 5th, IPS and Loyola Alumni Relations co-sponsored a networking event that featured the following speakers who presented on the topic “Ministry in a Dynamic World: Finding Focus, Activating Energy, & Nurturing Gifts”.

Deirdre Long, IPS Alumna 2015, Marketing Coordinator, Loyola Press
Fr. Jason Malave, Cardinal’s Liaison for Renew My Church, Archdiocese of Chicago
Ann Ridge, IPS Alumna 2002, IPS Adjunct Instructor, and PhD candidate at The Chicago Theological Seminary
Keyalo Gray, MS Ed., Career Advisor, Loyola University Chicago

Close to 40 people participated in the event, including several who viewed our livestream via the IPS Facebook page. Many thanks to Associate Dean and Assistant Clinical Professor Peter Jones for managing the livestream, undertaken to enhance the overall IPS experience of our online/distance students. Finally, over 20 people supported the IPS Student Scholarship Fund.

We’d like to thank Deirdre, Fr. Jason, Ann, and Keyalo for sharing their time, talent and treasure with us that evening.

For photos of the retreat, click here.

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To learn more about IPS, go to https://www.luc.edu/ips/. For those interested in applying to IPS, go to https://gpem.luc.edu/apply/.

4-11-2018 | Comments Off

A Lenten Reflection: “Consider a fast from technology for Lent”

A Lenten reflection from IPS Assistant Professor, Michael Canaris:

Theologian Daniel Groody, CSC has reflected on strengthening our spiritual disciplines in various demonstrations of solidarity and renewal, some of which are particularly appropriate for Lent: focusing on prayer, simplicity and recollection in regular moments like the Sabbath. One of the most eye-opening of these practices he suggests is considering a “fast from technology.”

The average American checks their phone every 12 minutes or over 80 times per day. More than two-thirds of us get at least substantial portions of our news from social media sources, which are intentionally designed to offer stories based on previous inclinations and interests. Self-sorting “traditional” media outlets on television and radio provide much of the same. All of this results in an increase in tribalism and the silos of echo-chambers that characterize so much of our public discourse. Dialogue with one another becomes strained. And if we claim to love God who we cannot see while refusing to hear the cries of our neighbor who we do, then we are liars according to the Word of God.

We often have recourse to fall back somewhat easily on the (admirable) directives of the church when it comes to questions of what our fasts should look like during Lent. These regular calls to penitence help us raise our hearts and minds to God, to focus on our radical dependence and constant need for God’s presence, forgiveness and revitalization in our lives.

But it’s also important to remember that God does not somehow intrinsically prefer one half of our surf and turf predilections over the other on certain days of the week. Choosing lobster over filet on Friday merely out of a rigorist interpretation of the law offers negligible impact on one’s spiritual life, and even less on the nature of God’s unbegotten and eternal beatitude and beneficence. (That said, I have eaten meatballs after midnight on early Saturday morning raids to the refrigerator more times in my life than I would like to confess in public.)

But to recalibrate the grounding of our self-mortifications consistently, it is essential to return often to the words of the prophet Isaiah, among my favorite in all of Scripture:

“Why do we fast, but You do not see?

Why humble ourselves, but You do not notice?”

“Look,” says the Lord, “you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers.

You fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist.

Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high.

Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself?

Is it to bow down your head like a reed, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?

And you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?

Is not this rather the fast that I desire: to loosen the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and to bring the foreigner into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wounds shall be healed quickly.”

Our use of technology, which has given us countless blessings, is also increasingly enabling us to practice all too habitually the last of these divine condemnations. When our phones and computers hinder real connections and instead allow us sufficient cover “to hide our humanity from our own kin,” we know that we have not only a cultural but a theological problem.

Fasting from food is not the same thing as forced starvation. So too, a willingness to examine our practices regarding technological communication is not a compulsory abandonment of those realities that are necessary for the betterment of our professional and personal lives. But an honest scrutiny will likely reveal addictive or detestable practices for which a day of fasting may now be appropriate or necessary.

This may be the year when assessing and addressing these tendencies could help us grow closer both to our human neighbor and to God.

This reflection first appeared in Catholic Star Herald. Michael Canaris, PhD is an Assistant Professor at IPS. You can reach him at mcanaris@luc.edu.

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Join the Loyola community in prayer and celebration at HOLY WEEK services and events across the Chicagoland campuses. Click here.

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To learn more about IPS, go to https://www.luc.edu/ips/. For those interested in applying to IPS, go to https://gpem.luc.edu/apply/.

3-22-2018 | Comments Off

Photos from Lenten Retreat: “Living Your Life’s Transitions”

On March 10th, IPS and Loyola Alumni Relations co-sponsored a Lenten retreat facilitated by Joanne Cimbalo, Ph.D. and Sheila Morrow, M.A.

Close to 50 people attended the retreat, allowing for time to reflect on expectations of self during times of transition.

Change is constant, continuous, and often challenging. The dynamics of change can affect our lives, our families, and our work in positive and negative ways. Transition is the process we go through as we struggle to adapt to interior and exterior change. All transitions begin with an ending and end in a new beginning. Therefore, in times of transition, we may find ourselves reliving the Paschal Mystery of death and rebirth. In this workshop we will discuss the beginning, middle, and ending phases of transitions and how living out that process affects our daily lives. These are times that offer us an opportunity to reflect on our expectations of self and our own personal journeys.

For photos of the retreat, click here.

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To learn more about IPS, go to https://www.luc.edu/ips/. For those interested in applying to IPS, go to https://gpem.luc.edu/apply/.

3-15-2018 | Comments Off

Category : Chaplaincy

IPS Coordinator of Formation on Spiritual Direction and Pastoral Counseling

Submitted by Carol Taliaferro, IPS Coordinator of Formation

Which is right for me? Spiritual Direction and/or Pastoral Counseling?

When should you pursue counseling/therapy vs. spiritual direction?

(Adapted excerpt from: Spiritualdirection.com – Catholic Spiritual Direction – What is the Difference between Counseling and Spiritual Direction?)

(The Misunderstood Pastoral Counselor: Knowledge and Religiosity as Factors Affecting a Client’s Choice, Walker, et. al., Paper based on a program presented at the 2012 American Counseling Association Annual Conference and Exposition, San Francisco, CA, March 23-25,)

Reflection Corner

As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards to God’s varied grace. 1 Peter 4:10

(Henri Nouwen, Following the Movements of the Spirit, Spiritual Formation with Christensen, M. J. & Laird, R. J.)

You can reach Carol Taliaferro at ctaliaferro1@luc.edu.

To learn more about IPS, go to https://www.luc.edu/ips/. For those interested in applying to IPS, go to https://gpem.luc.edu/apply/.

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Category : Chaplaincy

Submitted by Carol Taliaferro, IPS Coordinator of Formation

Which is right for me? Spiritual Direction and/or Pastoral Counseling?

When should you pursue counseling/therapy vs. spiritual direction?

(Adapted excerpt from: Spiritualdirection.com – Catholic Spiritual Direction – What is the Difference between Counseling and Spiritual Direction?)

(The Misunderstood Pastoral Counselor: Knowledge and Religiosity as Factors Affecting a Client’s Choice, Walker, et. al., Paper based on a program presented at the 2012 American Counseling Association Annual Conference and Exposition, San Francisco, CA, March 23-25,)

Reflection Corner

As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards to God’s varied grace. 1 Peter 4:10

(Henri Nouwen, Following the Movements of the Spirit, Spiritual Formation with Christensen, M. J. & Laird, R. J.)

You can reach Carol Taliaferro at ctaliaferro1@luc.edu.

To learn more about IPS, go to https://www.luc.edu/ips/. For those interested in applying to IPS, go to https://gpem.luc.edu/apply/.

Contacts: John Fontana, Co-Director, 847-703-5836, jfontana@luc.edu or Mariann M. Salisbury, Co-Director, 301-807-5369, Msalisbury1@luc.edu

For more information: https://luc.edu/ilf

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To learn more about IPS, go to https://www.luc.edu/ips/.

For those interested in applying to IPS, go to https://gpem.luc.edu/apply/.

By Emily Kane

Emily Kane is pursuing the MA Social Justice. You can reach her at ekane5@luc.edu.

To learn more about IPS, go to https://www.luc.edu/ips/.

For those interested in applying to IPS, go to https://gpem.luc.edu/apply/.

If you want to reach out to Patrice, you can email her at pnerone@luc.edu. To learn more about IPS, go to https://www.luc.edu/ips/. For those interested in applying to IPS, go to https://gpem.luc.edu/apply/.

From Doreen: What I expected: To visit and learn about places important to the history of the early Church, to celebrate Eucharist in some unique and special locations, to eat great food, to walk a lot.

How it has changed me: IPS Rome 2018 awakened the pilgrim in me, that belief that whether the road is ordinary or extraordinary, God waits there to be found in both subtle and majestic ways. I am ever grateful!

If you want to reach out to Dr. Canaris, you can email him at mcanaris@luc.edu. To learn more about IPS, go to https://www.luc.edu/ips/. For those interested in applying to IPS, go to https://gpem.luc.edu/apply/.

To learn more about IPS, go to https://www.luc.edu/ips/. For those interested in applying to IPS, go to https://gpem.luc.edu/apply/.

To learn more about IPS, go to https://www.luc.edu/ips/. For those interested in applying to IPS, go to https://gpem.luc.edu/apply/.

Join the Loyola community in prayer and celebration at HOLY WEEK services and events across the Chicagoland campuses. Click here.

To learn more about IPS, go to https://www.luc.edu/ips/. For those interested in applying to IPS, go to https://gpem.luc.edu/apply/.

To learn more about IPS, go to https://www.luc.edu/ips/. For those interested in applying to IPS, go to https://gpem.luc.edu/apply/.

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If you want to reach out to Patrice, you can email her at pnerone@luc.edu.
To learn more about IPS, go to https://www.luc.edu/ips/.
For those interested in applying to IPS, go to https://gpem.luc.edu/apply/.

If you want to reach out to Dr. Canaris, you can email him at mcanaris@luc.edu.
To learn more about IPS, go to https://www.luc.edu/ips/.
For those interested in applying to IPS, go to https://gpem.luc.edu/apply/.

To learn more about IPS, go to https://www.luc.edu/ips/.
For those interested in applying to IPS, go to https://gpem.luc.edu/apply/.