December 01, 2004
the college of preachers and the jesuits
One of the pastors from North Shore is away this week at the College of Preachers. Continuing Education is always a good idea, and for a man who likes preachin' as much as Doug seems to, this makes perfect sense.
I have been reading a series of essays by Georgetown University folk, Jesuits all, and it has me drooling after further academic work. I say this knowing that there is an incomplete thesis on my hard drive. Never said I was consistant, just easy like Sunday morning. I have always had a deep facination with the Jesuits. Some day I will dig into their current structure to see if non-Catholics can join the order in some way. Many orders have tiers of "membership" so that married and even non-Catholics may live avowed lives. This is a great encouragement to me.
I also know that there are some people who have thought of starting a protestant Jesuit order. That too would be interesting. Ideas? Anyone?
Leo J. O'Donovan, SJ, has an interesting essay on the history and focus of Georgetown University and how it reflects Jesuit values in education. I have to confess that I know next to nothing about Georgetown. They used to have a great basketball program. Did they get in some trouble with the NCAA? I do not recall. I know it is supposed to be a good school, but other than that, I did not even know until I read this essay that it has its root is the Jesuit tradition. Color me blind.
O'Donovan has nothing but good things to say about Jesuit education. This is fitting as he was/is the president of Georgetown and a Jesuit. Heh. Still, even with an obvious bias, it is interesting to read how he builds upon the idea of "spiritual humanism." Quoting Ron Modras, he says:
"Jesuits have been about spirituality, which is to say, about experience and awareness" (And a quest for "experience and awareness" is a rather apt definition of education) In the Jesuit way of thinking, he added, "holiness and humanism require each other." Put another way, "insight without action was barren, and action without insight was barbaric."This is a generous reflection on humanism (which I am in agreement), and I might quibble with his definition of spirituality, but I like everything he says. It is a rhetorical attempt to bridge the imagined gap between spiritual and human. It has always been a struggle here in the west. That's an aside. What do you guys think?
I have a good day ahead of me today. There is a dusting of snow on the ground. I have some new books on music and ministry to explore. The Reconciler staff meets tonight. Larry will be preaching this weekend as Jane has several assignments due and I am (an idiot) on call three extra shifts between Friday and Monday. I am grateful for Larry on a regular basis. I am particularly aware of it today. So, I will be writing our "weekly" reflection. I really do not know how weekly this will be, but we would like to take advantage of email and send out little updates every week about life at Reconciler. If you would like to be on the mailing list, email us at christreconciler at hot mail dot com. These are supposed to be brief missives. Be not afraid.
Finally, I may try to make it to the Greek tutoring session up at Seabury this evening. I miss Greek and have not gotten into the habit of using my languages in sermon preparation. I need to get into that habit. I am simply lazy, prefering to rely upon the work of other, more intelligent, people than doing the translation myself.
You with the Jesuits and me with the Franciscans.
I know there is an ecumincal order of Franciscans...not sure about Jesuits.
http://franciscans.com/
Posted by: jusitn at December 1, 2004 08:45 AMA quick cruise through www.jesuit.org did not reveal a way that a married non-Catholic could join. There are the Jesuit priests and the Jesuit brothers, which make up the Society of Jesus (SJ); all of them take the classic vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.
Posted by: Megan at December 1, 2004 09:00 AMI am grateful for Larry on a regular basis TOO!
Posted by: kate at December 1, 2004 11:23 AMBut, you rampant extrovert, why would you need to JOIN? Why not just pick up what you appreciate about the Jesuit example and incorporate it into your life?
Posted by: Megan at December 1, 2004 11:50 AMI appreciate the Jesuits, but somehow I don't think an order created more or less as a vanguard of the Concil of Trent would be in the practice of taking on Protestants. I may be wrong but that would be very ironic in deed.
As far as a Protestant order, um, are you overlooking something just up the street from you: there's this Lutheran Pietist iconographer and his fashion designer wife who just made him a cassock, lives in a (very) small community under a rule. Its more Benedictine and heavily influenced by the Capedocians. You should come visit some time.
;-}
Revelations...that's what we got here.
Justin: there are tiers to the Franciscans. They do allow Prots like us, I believe.
Megan: I have taken a lot of vows of late. Maybe a break would do me some good? Heh. As far as incorporation goes, I am on my way. But thanks for the reminder. By the way, I test introvert on all those personality tests. Who knew?!
Kate: We agree.
Larry: What?! There is a community in town? Wow. I never knew. Wow. What are they called and who are the Capedocians? Are the some anabaptist splinter group living in upstate Illinois? It sounds very interesting. Maybe we should talk.
Posted by: AngloBaptist at December 1, 2004 12:08 PMWho knew indeed?
So why do you crave contact with other people so much, then? Any theories?
Posted by: Megan at December 1, 2004 12:44 PMWow.
I seldom do any more, really. It is not that I dislike people. I love 'em. And I seem to be pretty good with people, but I would not say that I crave them.
The bottom line in many of these tests is "preference" and where one draws one's energy. I have many extroverted skills and I like people, but my energy is derrived from being alone...and caffeine, though that less frequently than it once was. ;-) Once I discovered that, I found my mania less frequent and my attention to the immediate much improved.
Again, who knew?!
Posted by: AngloBaptist at December 1, 2004 12:48 PMIn that context, I have even more trouble understanding your absolute insistence on having a church.
I used to understand it by applying the introvert/extrovert distinction.
As this change has come about in your life, have you found it more possible to countenance the idea of individual Christianity?
Posted by: Megan at December 1, 2004 01:07 PMTripp,
Yes, a very small community in town. There's a larger one but probabaly not what your looking for. ;-)
Capedocian, sorry don't know them, Oops, mispeled Cappadocian (I really should proof comments before posting).
The Cappadocians are those three pesky Bishops St. Basil his brother St. Gregory and their friend St. Gregory, all who were monks as well. ("Hi I'm Basil and this is my brother Gregory and my other Brother Gregory"). Though I was also refering to Basil's and Gregory's Mother Emmelia and Sister Macrina (both also saints) who after the death of Basil's father's (also named Basil, one could be lead to think that perhaps there was not much creativity when it came to naming boys back then) turned all the family resources into creating a monastery. Many scholars believe that Basil's ideas concerning monasticism come from his mother and sister, who appearently did not write anything. Gregories eulogy for his sister indicates that she was a teacher and taught Basil and Gergory much of what they knew about the faith and spiritual living. Our community's rule is based on St. Basils Rule and St Benedicts.
Megan: My introversion is what makes community possible. Introversion is different from having an independent streak or being a lone wolf or however else one might describe it. I have active fantasies about living as a solitary, but even then I cannot imagine it without some engagement with the Church, the community of the faithful.
I believe very firmly that the relationship we have with God is found between God and the individual and is ballanced by God manifested in community.
Larry: Cappadocians, I think I am pretty familiar with them, and your description is way off. They were a Philadelphia based do-wop group in the later half of the 1950's. I like do-wop.
Posted by: AngloBaptist at December 1, 2004 03:53 PMTripp,
I must take issue with you here, though I know little about 1950's do-wop, my description is right on the money. Also, our community has nothing, I repeat, nothing to do with do-wop. Though Bauhaus has been known to emanate from the apartment from time to time.
Of course there may be a strange nominal coincidence here seeing that the Cappadocians I speak of lived 16 centuries before the 1950's
You certain? I seem to recall a singer named "Sweet Basil." Maybe not. I could be thinking of the Del Vikings or the Del Shannons or the Lettermen.
Posted by: AngloBaptist at December 1, 2004 04:18 PM