John Predmore, S.J., is a USA East Province Jesuit and was the pastor of Jordan's English language parish. He teaches art and directs BC High's adult spiritual formation programs. Formerly a retreat director in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Ignatian Spirituality is given through guided meditations, weekend-, 8-day, and 30-day Retreats based on The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Ignatian Spirituality serves the contemporary world as people strive to develop a friendship with God.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Spirituality: "A Testament to Freedom" by Deitrich Bonhoeffer
Only when we have felt the terror of the matter, can we recognize the incomparable kindness. God comes into the very midst of evil and death, and judges the evil in us and in the world. And by judging us, God cleanses and sanctifies us, comes to us with grace and love ... God wants to always be with us, wherever we may be - in our sins, suffering, and death. We are no longer alone; God is with us.
Apropos of God being with us in our misery, I am glad to see that the controversial statue of Jesus as a homeless which had been offered to St. Patrick's in NYC and rejected, has found a home and a copy may eventually be displayed in Rome:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.npr.org/2014/04/13/302019921/statue-of-a-homeless-jesus-startles-a-wealthy-community
It is quite a story. I'm glad that others are interested in obtaining a similar sculpture for their spaces. It is provocative.
DeleteAt Regis College in Toronto we have had that same statue for a while. It is situated outside the front door of the college which is in downtown Toronto on the campus of the University of Toronto. I often see people come to be present to the statue sleeping on the park bench - a symbol of one of the places where Jesus is in our present-day affluent culture which often turns a blind eye to the marginalized. It is a very powerful image.
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