Jesuit playwright Bill Cain (New York Province Society of Jesus) has been having a big theatrical year. His play, Equivocation, premiered at Oregon Shakespeare Festival in March to an enthusiastic reception that continued through the entire season playing to capacity crowds. One festival patron saw it 21 times over the months it ran before the entire production with cast and director moved to Seattle Repertory Theater to another set of sold out crowds.
At almost the same time another production opened at Los Angeles’ Geffen Playhouse with a …

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 …

~ a new production from Grassroots Films
Most of us have now seen Fishers of Men and God in the Streets of New York – but there’s a new production from Grassroots Films that offers an intense and dramatic look at what it means to be human and what exactly human life is all about.
The Human Experience is a vivid and beautifully shot film that takes audiences around the world and tries to connect with some of the suffering and hopes of our current age. Its creators promise a head-on …

A new edition of the Roman Missal is expected to be promulgated in the coming year. The USCCB site reports the following:
The texts of the revised translation of the Roman Missal are marked by a heightened style of English speech and a grammatical structure that closely follows the Latin text. In addition, many biblical and poetic images, such as “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof…” (Communion Rite) and “…from the rising of the sun to its setting” (Eucharistic Prayer III) have been …

~ Fr. Kevin Connell, SJ and Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew (this weekend)
an excerpt from a story in the Spokesman Review
When the Rev. Kevin Connell decided to take a position as principal at Gonzaga Preparatory School in 2006, he was excited about the job. He also knew that returning to Spokane would give him a chance to pursue another project he had in mind for some time.
During the 10 years Connell had spent working at Jesuit schools in Portland, he performed in outdoor Shakespearean productions there, and at …

Sports Illustrated has named Jesuit High in Portland, with 7 state championships last year, the #2 powerhouse sports school in the US.
(repost from SI.com)
2. Jesuit (Portland, Ore.)
Enrollment:1,145
State titles in 2008-09: Tennis (boys and girls), volleyball (girls), basketball (boys), swimming (girls) and cross country (boys and girls)
The multi-sport athlete is alive and well in the Pacific Northwest. Rising senior Keanon Lowe doubled as an all-state wide receiver and one of the top sprinters in Oregon with a 10.77 in the 100 meters. When he matriculates to the University of Washington next …