Dear Friends,
In John’s Gospel, Jesus tells the woman at the well that God is Spirit, and we must worship Him in spirit and truth. This reality was near and dear to St. Ignatius, who, on his pilgrimage to seek God’s call, wrote the Spiritual Exercises—a guide to do just that—commune with our Lord in spirit and truth. In doing so, we are renewed with a sense of love and gratitude that transforms lives.
This time of year, we feel especially renewed as the days get longer and a sense of hope fills our hearts—hope that only a risen Savior can bring. All of us need spiritual renewal, and to achieve that, we must seek and find Christ in our daily lives. I am so grateful for the ministries in our province that bring to life the first apostolic preference given to us by Pope Francis, namely to show people the way to Christ through the Spiritual Exercises and discernment. We accompany people in this faith journey in our higher education institutions, our schools and our parishes. In a focused way, we accomplish this mission in the four Jesuit retreat centers of the USA East Province (pictured here). These include Eastern Point Retreat House in Gloucester, MA, Loyola Jesuit Center in Morristown, NJ, Loyola on the Potomac in Faulkner, MD, and Ignatius House Retreat Center near Atlanta. In addition, we bring this ministry to many other venues through our Office of Ignatian Spirituality. I encourage you to find more information on our province website at JesuitsEast.org.
It is through your generosity that we can continue our mission of nurturing the Gospel within the hearts of others, as well as providing for our young men in formation and caring for our senior and infirm Jesuits.
Thank you for all that you do. I pray that the upcoming Easter season renews your spirit with the joy of our risen Lord.
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Joseph M. O’Keefe, S.J.
Provincial
