Ignatian Solidarity Network

Ignatian Family:

Pope Francis

What a special day for the Catholic Church and for Jesuit institutions throughout the world.  The announcement of Pope Francis (formerly known to us as Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio) brings about many new pages in history, including the Church’s first Pope from outside of Europe and the first Jesuit Pope.

During his time as a Cardinal in Argentina he became known as a bold voice for social justice in the Church.  It has been reported by many sources that as Cardinal he chose to use public transportation in an effort to live simply and also brought attention to many injustices in Argentina over the years.

Clearly, as time moves forward there will be much to learn about Pope Francis, but for the time being we thought we would share a few quotes that represent the importance the social mission of the Church has played in his ministry:

Speaking of contrast between the economically rich and poor, “Poor people who are persecuted for demanding work, and rich people who are applauded for fleeing from justice”.  -August 2001 Speaking at the church dedicated to San Cayetano, the patron saint of work and bread (SOURCE: BBC News)

“We live in the most unequal part of the world, which has grown the most yet reduced misery the least…The unjust distribution of goods persists, creating a situation of social sin that cries out to Heaven and limits the possibilities of a fuller life for so many of our brothers.” -2007 Gathering of Latin American Bishops (SOURCE: National Catholic Reporter)

Preaching on the Gospel story of the good Samaritan, the cardinal said: “Every economic, political, social or religious project involves the inclusion or exclusion of the wounded lying on the side of the road. Each day, each of us faces the choice of being a good Samaritan or an indifferent bystander.” -2003 homily, location unknown (SOURCE: AmericanCatholic.org)

“The Gospel promises of God’s love, of salvation in Jesus Christ and of unchanging moral values still have the power to guide and to give life…the church must lead the way in reaching out to the elderly, to suffering children, to the poor and others excluded from the mainstream of modern society.” April 2005 Interview (SOURCE: Catholic News Service)

Our prayers are with Pope Francis and the Church in this time of transition, as we respond to the Gospel call of justice & solidarity.

Peace,
Ignatian Solidarity Network

Written by Mary Mietlicki - Canisius College ’12

22 years ago, on November 16, 1989, six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper, and her daughter were martyred at the University of Central America, the Jesuit university in San Salvador, during the Salvadoran civil war.  These Jesuit priests were killed for practicing “a faith that does justice.”  They were answering God’s call to serve the most marginalized members of society, the most oppressed during the civil war, and were killed for doing so.

After these men were murdered, another Jesuit answered God’s call to “feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and care for the sick” of El Salvador.  Fr. Dean Brackley volunteered to move from the United States to El Salvador to serve at the University of Central America as a professor and to minister to poor communities of El Salvador.  Just as Jesus speaks of in the Gospel today, Dean Brackley saw the face of God in the Salvadorian people.  Just last month, Dean Brackley passed away in El Salvador after battling pancreatic cancer.  He died living out this call from God.

I would like to share with you a short excerpt of a passage written by Dean Brackley:

“I invite you to discover your vocation in downward mobility.  It’s a scary request…But let us teach solidarity, walking with the victims, serving and loving.  I offer this for you to consider…And I would say in this enterprise there is a great deal of hope.  Have the courage to lose control.  Have the courage to feel useless.  Have the courage to listen.  Have the courage to receive.  Have the courage to let your heart be broken.  Have the courage to feel.  Have the courage to fall in love.  Have the courage to get ruined for life.  Have the courage to make a friend.”

I am certainly no expert, but I like to think that this courage that Dean Brackley is talking about can be found by trusting in God, and by following his call.

The six Jesuit martyrs of El Salvador were killed for having this courage, for following God’s call.  They had the courage to see the face of God by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and caring for the sick.  Have you found this courage to listen to God’s call?

My mom is a big fan of scratch-off lottery tickets.  They are a staple in birthday cards and Christmas stockings in my family.  My mom also likes to use this as a measuring device to determine if we are doing things with our lives that we actually want to do.  Sometimes she asks us what we would do if we won the jackpot.  My brother, Robert, always says, “even if Mary won the lottery she would still go to school to be a teacher.”  I like to think of this as my “jackpot vocation.”

Think about it.  I challenge you to have the courage to find something that you would do even if you won the jackpot.  Have the courage to see the face of God in the people you work with.  I would be willing to bet that this thing is what God is calling you to do.  Canisius offers us so many opportunities to learn about the world and find our calling from God.  Have the courage to learn, experience, live.  Have the courage to find your “jackpot vocation.”

I was blessed with the opportunity to spend three days last week at the California and Oregon Province Social Ministry Gathering at the Jesuit Retreat Center in Los Altos, California.  The program convened staff at Jesuit parishes, universities, high schools, social ministries, and related projects together for a collective discussion on the theme “Crossing the River: Spirituality and Healing in Social Ministries”.   The group was not only diverse in the ways they minister but the people they work with, including those ministering to Native Americans, people in prison, individuals trying to escape gang life, and immigrants, to name a few.

The term “West of the Rockies” was emphasized by Mike Weiler, S.J., provincial of the California Province of the Jesuits, who shared a reflection on the continued integration of the work of the California and Oregon Provinces that will eventually be defined generally as the Jesuit works “west of the Rockies.”   This vast geographical territory seems large, and it is, but for a few days the distances were minimized by the powerful reflections and opportunities for prayer and fellowship.

While there were many themes that developed over the course of the gathering, a phrase that resonated for many was a citation of the late Dean Brackley, S.J.:

“I invite you to discover your vocation in downward mobility.  It’s a scary request…The world is obsessed with wealth and security and upward mobility and prestige.  But let us teach solidarity, walking with the victims, serving and loving.  I offer this for you to consider – downward mobility.  And I would say in this enterprise there is a great deal of hope.

Have the courage to lose control.
Have the courage to feel useless.
Have the courage to listen.
Have the courage to receive.
Have the courage to let your heart be broken.
Have the courage to feel.
Have the courage to fall in love.
Have the courage to get ruined for life.
Have the courage to make a friend.”

Brackley’s words, challenging us to seek a deeper meaning in life that leads us beyond the materially-oriented societal vision of “success” caused many of us to consider how this is integrated into our own ministry and more broadly our lives.   A couple examples from those who shared reflections during the gathering included:

• Mike Kennedy, S.J., Arturo Lopez & Mary Ellen Burton from the Jesuit Restorative Justice Initiative shared reflections on the struggles that youth, imprisoned at young ages, face as they consider years in prison.  Even the approach that our country takes toward sentencing and prison terms, could be challenged by Brackley’s words, with a stronger emphasis on restorative justice that allows young people hope for a life with greater meaning as they grow and transform in prison.
• Pat Twohy, S.J., Jeanne Raymond, Beverly Peters, Darlene Peters, and Ray Williams, shared a glimpse of the realities faced by Native American communities in the northwest U.S. and British Colombia, Canada; but also the powerful role of faith and spirituality grounded in Native American and Catholic tradition that exists at Jesuit apostolates in this region.  Brackley’s call to “listen” is especially poignant in considering the injustice and challenges that these communities have faced throughout their history.

You can learn more about Social Ministry and Native American partnerships in the California and Oregon Provinces at:

California Province Social Ministry – http://www.jesuitscalifornia.org/Page.aspx?pid=878

Oregon Province Native American Partnerships – http://www.nwjesuits.org/HowWeServe/Native.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 20, 2011
www.ignatiansolidarity.net
Contact: Christopher Kerr, Executive Director
O – 216-397-2088
C – 216-410-7351
ckerr@ignatiansolidarity.net

“Jesuit Institutions Across U.S. join together

in Washington DC to Learn, Pray, & Advocate for Justice”

WASHINGTON, DC – Over 1,000 students, teachers, parish members, and others passionate about faith-inspired social justice will gather in Washington, DC, from November 12-14, 2011, for the 14^th annual Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice (IFTJ) sponsored by the Ignatian Solidarity Network.

The Teach-In is an opportunity for members of Jesuit institutions and partners to gather for learning, prayer, networking and legislative advocacy on Capitol Hill.  Teach-In attendees represent twenty-eight Jesuit universities, over twenty-five Jesuit high schools, Jesuit parishes, Jesuit volunteer communities, and many other Catholic institutions and organizations. 

Started in 1997, in Columbus, Georgia, the IFTJ takes place in mid-November to remember the Jesuit martyrs of El Salvador. The six Jesuit priests and their companions were murdered on November 16, 1989, in El Salvador for their work advocating on behalf of the economically poor of El Salvador.  The IFTJ moved from Georgia to Washington, DC, in 2010, to respond to the growing interest in integrating legislative advocacy into the teach-in experience.

Keynote speakers include Rev. Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator, S.J., Provincial of the East African Province of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits); Jim Keady, activist and executive director of a labor rights advocacy organization focused on Nike factory workers in southeast Asia; Colman McCarthy, former Washington Post journalist, author, and college professor; Br. Mickey O’Neill Mcgrath, OSFS, artist and director of Bee Still Studios; and Jennfier Smyers, an immigration and refugee policy advocate at Church World Service.  On Sunday (11/13) evening at 6:30 PM a Eucharistic liturgy will be celebrated, the principal celebrant will be Rev. Don MacMillan, S.J., a campus minister at Boston College and long-time peace and justice advocate.

The theme of IFTJ 2011 is “The Gritty Reality: Feel It, Think It, Engage It,” derived from a speech given by former Jesuit Superior General, Rev. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., in 2000 entitled, “The Service of Faith and the Promotion of Justice in American Jesuit Higher Education.” Kolvenbach said, “Students, in the course of their formation, must let the gritty reality of this world into their lives, so they can learn to feel it, think about it critically, respond to its suffering and engage it constructively.” 

Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice SCHEDULE - more details available at: http://tinyurl.com/IFTJ-schedule

Saturday, November 12, 2011
Georgetown Hotel and Conference Center (3800 Reservoir Road, NW, Washington, DC 20057)
4 PM – 10 PM

Sunday, November 13, 2011
Georgetown Hotel and Conference Center (3800 Reservoir Road, NW, Washington, DC 20057)
9 AM – 9 PM (includes liturgy at 6:30 PM)

Monday, November 14, 2011
Capitol Hill Advocacy Day (various locations – more information available upon media request)
9 AM – 3 PM

MEDIA NOTE: Teach-In, Liturgy, and Advocacy includes photo, video, and interview opportunities

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The Ignatian Solidarity Network (ISN) promotes leadership and advocacy among students, alumni, and other emerging leaders from Jesuit schools, parishes, and ministries by educating its members on social justice issues; by mobilizing a national network to address those issues; and by encouraging a life-long commitment to the “service of faith and the promotion of justice.”  ISN is an independent 501c3 non-profit organization.  Additional information can be found at: www.ignatiansolidarity.net

11-03

10/16/11 – The University of Central America (UCA) in San Salvador, El Salvador, announced earlier today that Fr. Dean Brackley, S.J., passed away this weekend after a brave struggle against cancer.  Brackley was  sixty-five years old and had been living, teaching, and ministering in El Salvador for the majority of the past eleven years.

After the 1989 murder of six Jesuit priests at the UCA in El Salvador, Brackley volunteered to leave the U.S. for the war-torn country and begin ministering as a professor, academic administrator, and pastoral minister to poor communities in El Salvador.  He became known as a passionate theologian, writer, and advocate for the poor of Central America and throughout the world.  He spoke at many Jesuit universities across the U.S. about solidarity and social justice and at various times taught at a number of them as well.  In 2003, Brackley spoke at the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice, in Columbus, Georgia.   In 2004, he released well known book “The Call to Discernment in Troubled Times”.

Brackley entered the Society of Jesus in 1964, became a priest in 1976, and earned a doctorate in Religious Social Ethics from the University of Chicago’s Divinity School in 1980.

Read the statement from the UCA at: https://www.facebook.com/UCA.ElSalvador/posts/10150363510022722

Articles, Audio, and Video Excerpts from Dean Brackley, S.J.:

Higher Standards for Higher Education: The Christian University and Solidarity
Speech at Creighton University – November 4, 1999

Enemies of War: Yanquis Return to El Salvador
PBS – 2001

The Jesuit University in a Broken Wolrd
Loyola Marymount University – January 25, 2005

“Justice in Higher Education” Keynote Address
John Carroll University – October 16, 2005

Audio Interview with Dean Brackley
Commonweal Magazine – February 21, 2008

Brackley Receives Pedro Arrupe Award at University of Scranton
University of Scranton – May 3, 2010

Migrants: Illegals or God’s Ambassdors
National Catholic Reporter – March 14, 2010

Obama’s visit to the land of Romero leaves behind questions
National Catholic Reporter – March 24, 2011

Jesuit who replaced slain Salvadoran priests dies
National Catholic Reporter – October 17, 2011

Meeting the Victim, Loving the Poor (introduction by James Martin, S.J.)
America Magazine – October 19, 2011

Video Reflection created by former students and friends of Fr. Brackley
YouTube – October 20, 2011

Rev. Dean Brackley, 65, Dies; Served in El Salvador
New York Times – October 29, 2011

Books written by Dean Brackley, S.J.:
The Call to Discernment in Troubled Times: New Perspectives on the Transformative Wisdom of Ignatius of Loyola Divine Revolution: Salvation and Liberation in Catholic Thought

Did you participate in an immersion experience this past spring or summer?  Would you be willing to share a reflection and image of your experience with the broader Ignatian family?  ”Solidarity Stories” is a nationwide web reflection for students, faculty, and staff, at Jesuit universities, high schools, and parishes.  It is intended to be an opportunity to share and learn about the impact of domestic and international immersion experiences from Ignatian family members near and far.

RECENT REFLECTIONS:

• “Being in solidarity with another suggests two or more people on equal ground” – Jacqueline, John Carroll University ’12
• “Even if it is as simple as a dirt-covered marble” – Sandy, Canisius College ’12