On November 3rd, the Jesuit novices of the Oregon and California Provinces entered the month long Spiritual Exercises which is the heart of the novitiate experience. These twelve men will be moving through the four weeks of meditations, prayer, and contemplations of their lives and the life of Christ, opening them to the life changing grace of God. The retreat comes to a close on the feast of St. Francis Xavier, December 3rd.

The Spiritual Exercises are pretty straight forward and profound at the same time. They are a way for the retreat to encounter Christ and this changes everything. Each day the novices meet with their spiritual directors who serve as a companion/guides as the Holy Spirit works deep within these generous men. After meeting with their director the other twenty three hours of the day are spent in preparing for prayer, prayer itself, liturgy of the Eucharist, and learning how to remain still enough for God to work deep in their hearts. Oh, and all of this done in silence. No cell phones, no television, no Facebook, no email, no texting, no reading of ACTS, just the man and God.

You see why we ask you to pray for them.

William Biegler, Timothy Breen, Gregory Celio, Justin Claravall, Bryce Deline, Stevanus Hendrianto, Anthony Jimenez, Martin Ngo, Kevin O’Brien, Marc Ortiz, David Romero, Derek Stevens