Day 1: Seeing with open eyes

HAPPY 100TH ANNIVERSARY TO THE NOVENA OF GRACE AT ST. IGNATIUS PARISH!

Our pastor, Fr. Craig Boly, S.J. welcomed all, far and wide, who gather together virtually and in our church to begin these nine days of Beauty and Brokenness in the company of one another and also Francis Xavier, S.J., whose life remains with us.

Fr. Billy Bigler, S.J. our Presider for this retreat, embraced us as one who knows and loves this Jesuit tradition but is also cognizant of the overwhelming sense of need at this time. When Jesus chose his disciples, it seems he selected people who had heart and spirit, possibly even some command with a little thunder like James and John. Joseph and Grace, our parish’s pastoral administrator and faith formation associate, share a “tandem reflection” on the gospel of Dives and Lazarus with the lens of Ignatian charism: seeing with open eyes. 

They are steeped in Christian and Eastern spiritualities and have this dual harmony of engagement that puts word into dance, that tends any brokenness into repair mode, that fosters healing by seeing deeply and holding the ambiguities and sometimes the questions. Please view the livestream while letting your own reality come into God’s light. Their gift is there for your benefit. May our nine days together be graced and blessing. May we be sacrament to one another and to our world.