Loyola Jesuit Center, Morristown, NJ
Loyola Weekly Newsletter
February 10, 2022 | Issue #6
Memorial of St. Scholastica, Virgin
On Feb. 10, the Catholic Church remembers St. Scholastica, a nun who was the twin sister of St. Benedict, the "father of monasticism" in Western Europe. The siblings were born around 480 to a Roman noble family in Nursia, Italy. Scholastica seems to have devoted herself to God from her earliest youth, as the account of Benedict's life by Pope Gregory the Great mentions that his sister was "dedicated from her infancy to Our Lord."

On one occasion they had passed the time as usual in prayer and pious conversation and in the evening they sat down to take their reflection. St. Scholastica begged her brother to remain until the next day. St. Benedict refused to spend the night outside his monastery. She had recourse to prayer and a furious thunderstorm burst so that neither St. Benedict nor any of his companions could return home. Three days later St. Scholastica died, Benedict laid his sister's body in the tomb he had prepared for himself. She died about the year 543, and St. Benedict died soon after. (www.catholic.org)
Our new website has debuted and has garnered praise from all who have commented upon it. If you haven’t visited Loyola online yet [www.loyola.org], I urge you to do so. The aim was to make navigation on the site much easier than before. An added bonus is that we are now able to modify the contents without having to contact [and pay] a web hosting company. Scott Ardinger, our Director of Stewardship, gets major kudos for his efforts as do Madeline Simon, Majella Lobello, Linda Baratte and all the Mission & Identity committee members.


         We’ve had a fairly quiet few weeks here. The biggest change has been the installation of a new flagpole on our front lawn. We now proudly fly the Stars and Stripes along with the Vatican flag. This addition was requested by the generous donor who provided funds for our upgraded entrance way.

         Covid has brought about many changes and LJC is not exempt from them. Our numbers have not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels. We have needed to change the format of some of our retreats in hopes of attracting more people to come and pray with us. Some traditional men’s and women’s retreats continue, but we have made others coed. Further, we are experimenting with allowing conversation at meals and other forms of sharing during some coed retreats. I understand that these changes will be disconcerting to some of you, but I ask for your patience and understanding as we try to best utilize our resources.

-- Paul Brian Campbell, S.J., director
Here are some sample pages for you to check out:
Loyola Jesuit Center has been working with eCatholic for months to redesign it's www.loyola.org website. Tuesday the new website went live. Please go to Loyola's website and check it out. There are many new features and registering for retreats and days of prayer have never been easier.
Dr. Cristina Pamaar, a faithful Loyola retreatant and benefactor, shares her love for Loyola and her vibrant faith in this wonderful fireside chat. I pray her words inspire all of you as much as they inspired all of us. Please visit Loyola's website here: www.loyola.org.

"Come (to Loyola) with open minds & open hearts. Let the Spirit work."

- Dr. Cristina Pamaar
Please Watch
Dr. Cristina Pamaar's Video Testimonial
"When I came here, I felt like... God lives here. So my relationship with Him was very much enhanced by what this facility could afford me. ... I make it a point to be part of this community."

- Dr. Cristina Pamaar

(7:00pm – 8:30pm)  
8 consecutive Wednesday evenings

NOTE: (This 8-Week retreat starts during the first full week of Lent & runs through Easter and beyond)
The SE 8-Week Format (meets once a week for 1.5 hours): This version contains all the topics that are part of the Original (all 4 IGNATIAN WEEKS) without compromising its integrity. The consolidation and new structure is achieved by the selection of each topic without the “repetition” that is part of the Original Version. It includes scripture as well as commentary by various Jesuit sources, giving it a fresh, updated view and richer in its diversity of thought.

The suggested Free Will Offering for The Virtual 8-Week Spiritual Exercises Series is $160.00 for all 8 Wednesday nights. If you wish to pay for the first session only & pay as you go, then the suggested Free Will Offering is $20.00.

Monday, March 7th – Monday, April 18th

Loyola Evening of Prayer – Spiritual Book Club Series – In Search of Belief (Revised Edition) by Joan Chittister

Facilitated by Karen Florance and Thomas Marciniak, SJ

Monday, March 7th
Monday, March 21st
Monday, April 4th
Monday, April 18th 

(7:00pm -8:30pm)
Meets every two weeks on Mondays
The suggested Free Will Offering for Loyola's Spiritual Book Club Series is $80.00 for all 4 Monday nights. If you wish to pay per evening, then the suggested Free Will Offering is $20.00 per evening.
(All Days of Prayer begin with registration at 9:00am-9:30am & end by 3:00pm)
Retreat Leader: Mrs. Anna Graziano
9:00am - Registration; 9:30am - 3:00pm
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways
submit to him, and he will make your paths straight”
Proverbs 3:5-6

The Scriptures do not offer us certitude but rather a different way of knowing: an intimate relationship where we must discover that grace, love, mercy and forgiveness necessary for survival-in an always uncertain world. Live this way and you will not be easily defeated.
Isaiah 42:3

This Day of Prayer is being offered on-site and virtually.
(9:30am – 3:00pm) Includes Lunch, Reconciliation and Mass
Anna is a certified spiritual director, retreat director, supervisor of spiritual directors, director of the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius and a bereavement facilitator. She helps men and women in their efforts to listen for the voice of God in Scripture, prayer, dreams, and in the ordinary events of life. Anna has served for over 40 years in the Newark Archdiocese, Paterson Diocese and Trenton Diocese offering adult spirituality in parishes and retreat centers.

Anna and Tom are married with 4 married children, eight grandchildren and a new great grandson. Their parish is St Thomas the Apostle in Bloomfield, NJ. where she has been offering adult spirituality for 40 yrs.

All Weekend Retreats are being offered in-person & virtually
Masks are now required to be worn inside Loyola by all.



Traditionally Sponsored by Garibaldi & OLM

Retreat directors: Tom Marciniak, S.J. & Karen Florance
Please join us on this exciting adventure of faith and discovery. On this weekend, instead of the traditional silent retreat format, we will use a format that encourages engagement and community building by integrating conversation at meals and in various group settings, but also allows for plenty of time for silent reflection and personal prayer.



Newly sponsored by
Christ the King Parish, New Vernon, NJ

Retreat director:
Thomas R. Marciniak, S.J.
Our weekend retreat will help us understand this new landscape in mind and heart with a particular emphasis on accompanying men in the joys and struggles they face to understand the Word of God in our contemporary circumstances and to deepen our call to be co-laborers with Christ for the salvation of this world during our unique time in history. 
For those who wish, there will be time for shared conversation after our presentations and at meals.

"I Call You Friend"
A weekend retreat for men and women inspired by the friendship between Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier as we celebrate the 400th anniversary of their canonization on March 12.

Retreat Leaders: Linda Baratte, PhD & Paul Brian Campbell, S.J.
What is a friend? — a friend in the Lord? – a friend with the Lord?

As part of his tender farewell recorded for us in the Gospel of John, Jesus offered his disciples a vision of friendship as a deeply holy practice, a living out of a life of love that mirrors the very heart of the Trinity. Both Ignatius and Francis Xavier embodied this understanding in their commitment to the Spiritual Exercises — a way of encountering God as a God of affection and companionship, our friend — and in their own personal friendship, where that divine love for us was made more credible.

What might this invitation to holy friendship mean in the age of social media, where the answer to “Will you friend me?” is only a click away, and where we are free to be anyone we pretend to be? During our retreat, we will explore models of friendship from Scripture and our Catholic and Jesuit heritage, plus witnesses of holy friendships in contemporary times. We will leave with a deeper gratitude for the God-given, holy friendships in our lives — a love in the particular.

For those who wish, there will be time for shared conversation after our presentations and at meal times. Although we won’t follow the traditional weekend retreat format this weekend, there will be ample opportunity for personal time spent in meditation and prayer, walking in our beautiful gardens, participating in the sacrament of Reconciliation and a healing Mass, and sharing in the Sunday Mass together.

Bring a friend or make a new one!
REIGNITE: Loyola Young Adult Ministry

NEXT GATHERING: Sunday, March 6, 2022 - Reignite Praise & Worship, Prayer, Meeting (Starts 4:00PM)
Loyola Jesuit Center's "Reignite" young adult ministry is meeting regularly throughout the year. Join Fr. Tom Marciniak, S.J. & young adults from New Jersey and New York for evenings of prayer, social events, and service opportunities. Any young adult from 18 to 39 is welcome to attend any or all events.

Jesus tells us that He is the meaning of life and that encountering His Sacred Heart – full of love for us – will fill our lives with abundant joy, happiness and peace. An encounter with God reignites our hearts and inspires us to love and serve God with our entire lives.

Sunday, March 6, 2022 - Reignite Praise & Worship, Prayer, Meeting (Starts 4:00PM)

Sunday, April 3, 2022 - Reignite Praise & Worship, Prayer, Meeting (Starts 4:00PM)

Sunday, May 15, 2022 - Reignite Praise & Worship, Prayer, Meeting (Starts 4:00PM)

Click on any of the preferences below to read more.

Show the way to God through the Spiritual Exercises and discernment

Walk with the poor, the outcasts of the world, those whose dignity has been violated, in a mission of reconciliation and justice


Accompany young people in the creation of a hope-filled future

"Defending fundamental human rights demands courage and determination."
POPE FRANCIS

GENERAL AUDIENCE

Wednesday, 9 February 2022
"A century ago, Pope Benedict XV wrote 'through Joseph we go directly to Mary, and through Mary to the origin of all holiness, who is Jesus. Both Joseph and Mary help us to go to Jesus. And encouraging pious practices in honour of Saint Joseph, he recommended one in particular, saying: 'Since he is deservedly considered to be the most effective protector of the dying, having expired in the presence of Jesus and Mary, it will be the concern of the sacred Pastors to inculcate and encourage [...] those pious associations that have been established to implore Joseph on behalf of the dying, such as those ‘of the Good Death’, of the ‘Transit of Saint Joseph’ and ‘for the Dying'. (Motu proprio Bonum sane, 25 July 1920): they were the associations of the time.

Dear brothers and sisters, perhaps some people think that this language and this theme are only a legacy of the past, but in reality, our relationship with death is never about the past – it always present."

"Do we really know what religious sisters and consecrated lay women do in the Church? As Francis says, “the Church is unintelligible without them.” Not only are they catechists, theologians, and spiritual guides, but they also 'have an impact with the poor, with the marginalized, with all those who are enslaved by traffickers.' ... This month, we will pray in a special way for religious sisters and consecrated women. What would the Church be without religious sisters and consecrated laywomen? The Church cannot be understood without them.”