Lectures at St. Ignatius, Park Avenue: “Seeing All Things New in Christ” | January – May 2022
Through the holiness and wisdom of its saints and martyrs, the culture of its doctors and thinkers, and the art that knows how to carve the sign of the cross like a tree of life, the Society of Jesus reaches out to all persons of goodwill, led by the strong and gentle word of the Gospel, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the Ignatian Way of Proceeding. This year we celebrate with joy and gratitude the 500th anniversary of the conversion of Saint Ignatius Loyola and the 400th anniversary of his canonization. The Church of St. Ignatius Loyola presents a series of lectures by prominent Jesuit theologians, scientists, artists, and writers.
Please join us. SAVE THE DATES!
Monday, January 31: Rev. James F. Keenan, S.J., Moral Theologian, Professor, and Director of the Jesuit Center at Boston College
“PREPARING FOR THE MORAL LIFE: VULNERABILITY, RECOGNITION, AND CONSCIENCE”
This talk suggests that longstanding “conscience formation programs” are not all that successful unless they help us first to cultivate the capacities to be vulnerable to one another and to recognize the other, often overlooked. Fr. Keenan’s thesis is until there is vulnerability and the willingness to recognize, there isn’t much capacity to be a person of conscience.
Monday, February 28: Rev. Roger Haight, S.J., Visiting Professor of Systematic Theology, Union Theological Seminary in New York City
“THE BIRTH OF AMERICAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGY”
The talk will set the background of pre-Vatican II Catholic theology and then describe how this theology developed in the United States after the Council and characterize its present-day character.
Monday, March 28 LAETARE LECTURE: Rev. James Martin, S.J., Editor-at-Large at America Magazine, Assisting Priest at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola
“WALKING WITH THE EXCLUDED: ONE JESUIT’S JOURNEY”
Father Martin looks at his experiences of ministering to those who have been marginalized, excluded, and rejected.
Monday, April 25: Rev. Thomas Lucas, S.J., Pastor of the Church of Saint Ignatius Loyola in Sacramento, CA, Emeritus University Professor at the University of San Francisco
“Recognizing Holiness: Ignatius, Xavier, and Rutilio Grande, Saints of Their Times”
In every period of history, God calls men and women to holiness. The Church’s process of recognizing them is arcane, mysterious, and sometimes fraught. Nevertheless, the saints stand as exemplars, and as companions in adoration with us. In an illustrated presentation, Fr. Lucas will reflect with us on the processes of the canonization of Sts. Ignatius and Francis Xavier (March 12, 1622) and the recent beatification of Salvadoran Martyr Blessed Rutilio Grande (January 22, 2022).
Monday, May 23: Br. Guy Consolmagno, S.J., Director of the Vatican Observatory, President of the Vatican Observatory Foundation
“From Peru to Mars: New Worlds and Jesuit Science”
Is there a particularly “Jesuit” form of science? From Acosta’s work in the New World to modern research at the Vatican Observatory, we’ll look at the work of a number of Jesuit scientists through history and see how what they did, and why they did it, was colored and influenced by Ignatian Spirituality as seen in the Spiritual Exercises.
– Fr. Michael Hilbert, S.J., Associate Pastor