Pope Francis and the "Apostolate of the Ear"

"Mostly, people are looking for someone to listen to them. Someone willing to grant them time, to listen to their dramas and difficulties. This is what I call the 'apostolate of the ear,'" 

“It is very important…”


“Very important.”

-- Pope Francis, "The Name of God is Mercy"

Collection of Inspirational Quotes and Images

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How Does a Person "Awaken" to Reality? Ignatian Spirituality and Loyola on the Potomac

Photo Credit: C. Matthew Hawkins

I spent five days last week on retreat, with 11 other Seminarians from St. Mary's, at Loyola on the Potomac near the Chesapeake Bay, a Jesuit retreat center.

The idea of a religious retreat is to prayerfully withdraw from all of the noise, busyness and obsessions of everyday life and to be silent and attentive to the voice of God.

The part of the Potomac that we were located on was a huge expanse of water. I could faintly make out the Virginian landscape on the other side, in a distance. We were on the Maryland side of the river.

Among the experiences that made this retreat one of renewal was the opportunity for Lectio Divina far from shore, alone in a canoe on the Potomac, and praying the Holy Rosary on the 235 acres of woods surrounding the retreat center.

Of course there were recurring questions during the retreat such as these: Where does God want me to be right now? What does God want me to do? What signs do I see of how God is moving in my life?

I have developed a fondness for Ignatian spirituality, for the examen prayer and for St. Ignatius of Loyola (a.k.a. “St. Iggy”) during this trip.

As the retreat began we thought that we were withdrawing from “the real world” into a world of reflection. By the end of the retreat it was clear that we had withdrawn from a world that is all-too-often characterized by madness and delusion and entered into a moment of reality, stillness and clarity, which will fortify us for the journey ahead.

Celebrating Thanksgiving Without Family or Familiar Surroundings

"RoastTurkey" by Photo by M. Rehemtulla

Last November was my first Thanksgiving away from Pittsburgh in a long while. I grew up with large Thanksgiving dinners, with extended family of aunts, uncles, cousins, friends of the family and, in the later years, my parents' international students and my own friends from other countries. As people started either moving to other parts of the country or passing away I was afraid that this feeling of "home" would disappear.

I was wrong.

I wasn't sure what to expect, being in Baltimore and far away from longtime friends. I was prepared to hunker down and try to get a lot of work done and pretty much ignore the holiday. What happened instead were two Thanksgiving celebrations I'll never forget.

The first was at the Seminary on Thanksgiving day, where two priests from the Philippines, with amazing culinary skills, prepared a multi-course meal that included goat, cantaloupe wrapped in thinly sliced lean meat, cheese from around the world and Filipino dishes. One gourmet dish followed another so that by the time the whole thing was over my stomach was painfully, but deliciously full. In addition to the food, the thing that made this meal memorable was the company and conversation with three priests from Zambia, a Jesuit from the United States, another seminarian from Pittsburgh in addition to the two priests from the Philippines.

The second meal was a traditional African American Thanksgiving dinner and party on Saturday night with a family in the city of Baltimore, which began in the early evening and ended in the wee hours of the morning. The food was a combination of mainstream American dishes, such as turkey, African American Soul Food, such as greens and black-eyed peas, and Maryland dishes, such as raw oysters, clams and crab dip.

There were extended family members of all ages, which reminded me of holiday dinners I grew up with. As usual, the kids, initially very shy, came alive when it was time to show off their dance moves.

As many of you know I haven't watched television in decades unless it happens to be on when I am visiting someone, so I am nearly clueless when it comes to the shows people are watching. Saturday evening "Empire" was on, just as the dinner party was getting started. I said that I had never seen the show and, not missing an opening, the host said, "See, that's because you from Pittsburgh."

Without missing a beat I said, "I know, right? Because in Pittsburgh we don't have to watch Empire 'cause we are Empire." After that I couldn't get anymore crab dip -- J/K.

The bottom line is this: hospitality is everywhere, even when you are far away from home.