Constitutions

At the beginning of this week, we hosted Brian O’Leary SJ, an Irish Jesuit who has dedicated a good part of his life to the study of the Jesuit Constitutions.  Brian pointed out the centrality of Mission to Jesuit spirituality: although this is only the theme of Part VII of the Constitutions, it is really the fulcrum around which everything else revolves. Brian described this difficult text as a ‘spiritual classic’ and invited us to engage with it, not merely in an academic, but even a prayerful way. Brian’s intimate knowledge of this unique work, together with his evident love of its riches and sense of its underlying spirit, inspired us to work towards a better appreciation ourselves. Indeed, this will be our main focus until we begin our ‘experiments’ or pastoral placements in February.  In the meantime we are hoping to deepen our understanding of the Jesuit charism, and to attend to what the Lord may be communicating to us, in our own historical and cultural contexts in twenty-first century Europe and beyond, through this document that is so important to our way of life.