~ by Fr. Jack Bentz, SJ
I figure if the sign says 70 miles per hour I can set my cruise control at 79. 79 is the exact spot where I can break the law and still not be pulled over by the police. 81? Too fast. 70? Way too slow. But not any more. I have become a new man, a law abiding man, and I have found God in the slow lane, all the way over to the right. This indeed is the frontier for me and I have …

~ by Hendri, nSJ
Read the first part of the essay here
Having spent some years in the U.S., I decided to join the Oregon Jesuits and here I am the only Indonesian among a small number of Asians. The dominant culture in this province is still Euro-Caucasian culture, which is totally different from my culture and the issue before me is how I can identify myself as a Chinese Indonesian while at the same time be a Jesuit of the Northwest United States. …

St. Augustine was born in the city of Tagaste, in Roman North Africa. Today it is known as Souk Ahras and it’s a three hour car drive from the Tunis airport. But back when Augustine was a child, Tagaste was still a Roman town and had been for the five centuries, ever since the days when Carthage was smashed and rebuilt by the occupying Latins. All those years later, Latin was still the dominant language of provincial Africa and generations of wealthy …

The year is 1335 and Magnus Eriksson, King of the Swedes and Norway, summons Bridget to be principle lady-in-waiting to his new queen, Blanche of Namur. Bridget was the daughter of the wealthiest family in Uppland and she was expected to produce many children. She gave birth to four sons and four daughters and thus fulfilled her parents’ wishes. By now Bridget was already having the revelations that would soon make her famous throughout Europe. She asked the queen-consort for permission and was given …

~by Fr. Jack Bentz, SJ
Parents are not the problem; they are just parents. And so, often enough, men discerning a call to the Jesuits find themselves at odds with the desires of their families. This is natural enough. Parents want their children to be happy and successful; a condition often defined by choices the parents themselves made in order to be happy and successful. And since very few parents found happiness and success as Jesuits . . . well, you get the picture. Fully evolved …

~by Hendri, nSJ
Bethel is one of the largest cities in southwestern Alaska. Originally it was a Yupik Eskimo village called Mamterillermiut, meaning “Smokehouse People.” The Moravian Church established a mission area in 1885 and changed the village name into Bethel. I stayed in the Jesuit parish of the Immaculate Conception as part of my novitiate poverty experiment. The church itself is located next to the so-called Honey Bucket Lake (you can guess how the lake gets its name). However, the lodgings in the church …