Category: Spiritual Life

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A Seasonal Invitation into Wonder

This week’s post is a seasonal invitation into wonder based on the annual SCS faculty and student party. 

Tis the season for festive gatherings of all kinds. Convenings across Georgetown in December have brought the university community together to celebrate the beginning of Hanukkah and the coming of Christmas and usher in a time of holiday rest and enjoyment after a long semester.

A few weeks ago, Mission in Motion reflected on the spiritual meaning of gratitude, noting that such a disposition is hard to come by especially when gratitude seems to be in short supply. The same caution about gratitude can be applied to the sense of celebration that these many holiday gatherings are meant to cultivate. In light of the ongoing reality of war and suffering around the world and in our homes and communities, it would be wise to put any holiday celebration into a proper context. We can still come together and celebrate, however, in spite of significant challenges and adversity in ourselves, our communities, and the world, and seek out and receive the gifts of being in community. 

This week, SCS came together for the annual student and faculty holiday party. I had on my mind the wisdom of Cole Arthur Riley, a spiritual writer and liturgist, as I experienced the glow of the SCS atrium on a dark and cold December evening. Riley writes movingly about wonder and how wonder relates to growing one’s capacity for greater love of self, others, and world: 

“Wonder includes the capacity to be in awe of humanity, even your own. It allows us to jettison the dangerous belief that things worthy of wonder can only be located on nature hikes and scenic overlooks. This can distract us from the beauty flowing through us daily. For every second that our organs and bones sustain us is a miracle. When those bones heal, when our wounds scab over, this is our call to marvel at our bodies – their regeneration, their stability or frailty. This grows our sense of dignity. To be able to marvel at the face of our neighbor with the same awe we have for the mountaintop, the sunlight refracting – this manner of vision is what will keep us from destroying each other. … Wonder requires a person not to forget themselves but to feel themselves so acutely that their connectedness to every created thing comes into focus. In sacred awe, we are part of the story.” 

My own sense of sacred wonder wandered from various details and scenes at the festive gathering. I noticed students chatting with faculty members and faculty members meeting other faculty from different programs. I saw the line of guests waiting on a delicious spread of food and drink expressing their gladness with looks of excitement and contentment. I wondered at the meticulous details of festive lights and colors and sounds. I experienced wonder in the way that the shared experience of being at Georgetown could bring so many people together for this occasion. I marveled at the joys of spontaneous sparks of laughter and conversation and merriment. There was a lot to wonder about in the particular details of the party. To Riley’s invitation, I was filled with the beauty flowing through this brief occasion and hoped that others felt this way, too. 

As you look around in these days and weeks of holiday rest, how can you cultivate a sense of awe and wonder about humanity? 

As the semester wraps up and we prepare ourselves for the coming weeks, I invite you to practice a sense of wonder about the world around you. A stance of wonder does not need “scenic overlooks” but the details of the everyday. Habits of awe and wonder, especially in times of stress and challenge, can help us all feel the sacred connections that make us a community.  

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A Thanksgiving Reflection on the Spirituality of Gratitude

A view from Georgetown’s Calcagnini Contemplative Center during last month’s Graduate, Professional, and Law Student Retreat. This week’s post invites pre-Thanksgiving reflection on the meaning of gratitude. 

The last month has been a time of profound challenge for so many. The war in Israel and Palestine, along with so many other conflict situations throughout the world, has surfaced deep divisions within our spaces and the visible and invisible suffering that many are carrying with them. For years, Mission in Motion has attempted to communicate the myriad ways that Georgetown, through an abiding commitment to its mission and values, seeks to accompany everyone on their journeys of life, especially during times of adversity and challenge. This offer of “care for the whole person” was especially evident during the COVID-19 pandemic and in response to the increasing awareness of the need for greater racial justice and urgent social change that leads to greater diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

In many ways, then, next week’s celebration of Thanksgiving might not have its usual glow. It is incredibly difficult to force a spirit of thanks and gratitude at a time when such dispositions seem so far away and unnatural to our lived experience. In this post, I would like to affirm that it is ok to feel less than enthusiastic about the coming holiday. I would also like to offer a reflection about how a spirituality of gratitude, which is at the root of Ignatian spirituality, has to be appreciated in a larger context. Gratitude alone is not sufficient to making our way through difficult times. We have to find ways, individually and collectively, to become more aware of the challenges that divide us as human beings and then work together, aided by the knowledge, skills, and values cultivated during our time at Georgetown, to repair harms and restore healing in the world. 

The Ignatian practice of the Examen, featured many times on the blog and practiced each Friday during the SCS digital meditations, revolves around gratitude. The cornerstone of the practice is becoming aware of our gratitude. We might ask ourselves during a regular practice of Examen: For what am I grateful as I look back at the last day/week/month? When I let myself be washed over with gratitude looking back at a period of time, what comes to the surface? The idea here is that locating a gratitude becomes an opportunity to self-reflect on my own giftedness and how I might be invited to share that thanksgiving through generous actions in the world. Gratitude is the soul of generosity and loving kindness in the world. It is difficult to express gratitude for others when we are not finding it within ourselves and our experience.  

There are so many possibilities to living life in a spirit of gratitude. But there are also some cautionary lessons about this way of proceeding spiritually. In their article, “Ignatian Spirituality and Positive Psychology,” Phyllis Zagano and C. Kevin Gillespie pick up on the work of Jesuit psychologist Charles Shelton, who is concerned about the potential to over-idealize gratitude. For Shelton, the gratitude disposition can lend itself to “optimistic exuberance” that covers up personal challenges that need to be addressed or more realistic engagement with a complex world that needs to be reappraised. Zagano and Gillespie maintain that gratitude has to be balanced, recognizing that the goal of life is not always the “simple pursuit of happiness” and “personal self-development.” Instead, spiritually mature people qualify happiness when situations of injustice and moral complication arise. 

So how does this connection to Ignatian spirituality relate to your Thanksgiving holiday? My hope is that you can take some time to recognize that while you might desire to feel gratitude, this feeling might not arrive. Instead of forcing it, I invite you to consider what you need in this moment of life to address the challenges you’re experiencing personally and professionally. We do not journey alone and this little Thanksgiving respite from work and study might be a good time to reach out for more support on your path ahead. 


Resources at the University are available to help you navigate the path ahead. In addition to professional counseling services (for faculty and staff, please consult the Faculty & Staff Assistance Program; for students, please consult Counseling and Psychiatric Services) and pastoral care resources (please consult Campus Ministry chaplains and staff), we are here to listen.

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Jesuit Heritage Month Presents Opportunities to Pause and Ponder Georgetown’s Mission

Mission in Motion recently posted about the ongoing Mission Priority Examen that Georgetown is undertaking this academic year. This reflective, university-wide process of more deeply considering how effective Georgetown is at living out its Catholic and Jesuit mission will provide insights that shape the future of this work at the University. One of the themes that typically emerges in this collaborative process of reflective self-assessment is how to make explicit what it is often implicit in terms of Georgetown’s Jesuit mission and values. 

 The bell at the top of Dahlgren Chapel on Georgetown’s Hilltop Campus is a visible sign of Georgetown’s Jesuit identity. This week, Mission in Motion explores the reflective possibilities of November’s Jesuit Heritage Month.

Every November, the University makes this movement toward the explicit with Jesuit Heritage Month, a series of events and programs intended to invite deeper connection with the Jesuit values and the Spirit of Georgetown. Fr. Mark Bosco, S.J., Vice President for Mission and Ministry, describes this annual occasion as an opportunity to reflect on not only the Jesuit and Catholic dimensions of Georgetown’s unique identity but also the ways that the Jesuit values affirm a commitment to interreligious understanding: 

“This month is also a time to reflect on, and reaffirm, the core aspects of our university mission. Since its founding in 1789, Georgetown has been a home for all faiths. Our commitment to interreligious understanding – especially over the last 25 years – is rooted in our Catholic and Jesuit identity, informed by the documents of Vatican Council II on interfaith dialogue, and shaped anew by the call of Pope Francis to deepen our fraternal love for one another. These values shape the best of who we are as a university.”

As a mission integrator for the SCS campus, I am aware that many in the community feel like Georgetown is a very active place, sometimes too active. Every day at the University there are public events and other gatherings promoted through regular emails broadcasted to the entire Georgetown community. Each week, a list of events communicates the depth and breadth of conversations happening across the campuses. Students, faculty, and staff, who are busily engaged in the work of academic excellence in classrooms, have to make decisions about what extra-curricular experiences enhance their academic pursuits. The amount of potential activity to choose from can feel overwhelming. Especially for our adult learning population at SCS engaged in professional education, there are significant opportunity costs in choosing how to expend limited resources of time given other demands of work, family, and civic obligations. 

My invitation is to spend this Jesuit Heritage Month as an opportunity to pause and slow down. There are some good events to spur deeper engagement with the materials of Jesuit mission and values. You can check out the list here. But I also invite you to take a pause, especially in the context of the coming Thanksgiving holiday, and reflect on what Georgetown’s mission means to you. Is this mission at the center or the margins of your conscious awareness? Do you desire a shift or a transformation of your understanding of Georgetown’s mission and how it might be relevant to your work and study at the University? 

At SCS, we work to bring the Jesuit values to life in ways that meet the contextual needs of our unique community of learners. One of the ways you can directly engage with the spirit-mindfulness tradition of Jesuit practices is by signing up for the SCS Daily Digital Meditation. The meditations take place each day of the workweek at 12 p.m. ET. The sessions all occur on Zoom (registrants receive the link and instructions for joining via email) and last around 15 minutes. From Monday through Thursday, the session is organized as a mindfulness meditation that consists of a short body scan, intentional breathing, and then a period of silent, centering meditation with a melodic piano track playing in the background. The Friday meditation is reserved for an inclusively presented Examen meditation, modeled on the reflective practice arising from the Ignatian tradition of spirituality. The Examen consists of five reflective prompts that invite participants to notice with sacred awareness the significant events of their past week, exploring in more reflective detail times of gratitude, consolation, desolation, and hope for the week ahead. 

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SCS Campus Ministry Open House with English Language Center Shines Light on Global Diversity

This week, SCS Campus Ministry hosted an open house for students of the English Language Center (ELC). The discussion among the students reflected the global diversity of the ELC and the many ways it serves Georgetown’s mission and values. 

The English Language Center (ELC), an English language and teacher training center that has been at Georgetown for nearly 60 years, animates the University’s mission and values in many ways. Mission in Motion has reflected over the years on some of the unique values-oriented aspects of the ELC: 

Most recently, the blog highlighted the ongoing collaboration between ELC and the Jesuit Refugee Service in Amman, Jordan, to provide excellent English language training programs for the refugee population.  One of the through lines of the ELC is the Center’s commitment to global engagement. The world comes to the ELC and the ELC goes out to the world. This bi-directional orientation tracks with the five centuries of Jesuit history and the way that the religious order of the Jesuits has always been international in its composition and vision. The late Fr. John O’Malley, pre-eminent Jesuit historian and long-time Georgetown faculty member who passed away last year, described how novel it was for the first Jesuit companions to be from different countries, including nations at war with one another. 

I was reminded of the powerful testament of this early Jesuit history during an open house this week that I hosted on behalf of Campus Ministry with students in the ELC. The inspiring global diversity of the students was evident within the first 10 minutes of introductions and I began to map the countries of origin represented in the space (Turkey, Colombia, Mexico, Japan, Senegal, etc.). Students identified as Catholic, Buddhist, Muslim, and other. During the course of the presentation and conversations, students surfaced their questions and curiosities about Georgetown and how it maintains its heritage as a religious institution. Diversity was respected as was the particular needs and interests of individual students seeking deeper engagement with Georgetown and its multi-faith resources. 

The discussion turned to how different religious communities, which have homes at Georgetown, can find themselves belonging to an institution with a Catholic and Jesuit identity. Students were heartened to learn of the many opportunities available across the campuses for spiritual support and religious community. I found myself growing more and more aware of the extraordinary honor of being part of a university with such a global reach. The greater understanding and care for one another across lines of difference (whether they be national, religious, etc.) that Georgetown’s mission calls us to is not an abstract exercise. It involves listening to one another for understanding and growing in openness to the perspectives of those around us. 

At the open house, I witnessed firsthand the transformation that is possible when students from around the world feel free to express themselves and grow together through a Georgetown educational experience. My hope is that Georgetown community members seek out the Spirit of Georgetown as an anchoring resource for the hard work of global cooperation, dialogue, peace, and justice. 

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SCS Hosts Event Focused on Young Professionals: How Can We Live Faithfully in Our Personal, Professional, and Political Lives?

The post this week is a reflection on a recent panel event hosted at SCS by the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public life about the public contribution of faith. You can watch a recording.

One of the many blessings of the SCS campus is that University offices and initiatives on the Hilltop like to host events in the 640 Massachusetts Avenue space. Proximate to Capitol Hill and centrally located in the Downtown, the SCS building is situated in the heart of this capital city.

One consistent University partner organizing dynamic panel conversations at SCS on wide-ranging topics is the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life and particularly its Salt and Light Gatherings for young professionals. This week, a Salt and Light Gathering brought together an interesting mix of young leaders, ranging from a former political journalist on a new journey of self-discovery, an active duty U.S. Army major, a Congressional staff member, and a recent Georgetown graduate working in journalism.

The question that animated the hour-long conversation and community-building reception that followed was: What do the resources of faith offer individuals in their professional and political lives at a time of increasing polarization and loneliness?

The beauty of this convening was that the conversation did not pretend to have an easy answer to this difficult question. Each commentator expressed a humility about not having the answers but drew insights from their reflections on life experience and observations of the world. A theme of the discussion (you can watch a recording) was an affirmation of discernment, a core practice of Ignatian spirituality, which can be cultivated through regular prayer, meditation, and other self-awareness exercises.

The panel also challenged social and cultural assumptions about what it means to have “faith” and to be a “person of faith.” One of the panelists described faith in a way that I had not heard before: “Faith is showing up for others in their suffering.” I found this to be a far more effective and imaginative definition than most explanations found in expert writings or in textbooks. 

But why does such an event matter to the lives of the members of our SCS community?

First, I think it is helpful to raise awareness about how SCS leverages its space and strategic location in D.C. to make connections with mission-oriented programs based on the Hilltop. Second, I believe that the SCS mission of contributing to the building of a “civic-minded, well-informed, and globally aware society” comes alive when spaces are intentionally created to reflectively consider a diversity of viewpoints and life experiences.

The question of how personal and communal structures of faith should influence participation in the public square is a pressing question that unfortunately receives too little attention in the media and the wider culture. Georgetown, given its spiritual tradition and its commitments to religious pluralism, dialogue, and the common good, is uniquely positioned to host critical conversations like this.

I hope you check out the recording and ponder a bit more about what “faith” means to you and what it has to positively offer our current political reality.

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An Invitation into Your Imagination: Spiritual Exercises for a New Semester

This week’s post relies on the spiritual wisdom of Jesuit founder St. Ignatius of Loyola and invites us to use our imaginations as we begin this semester.  Photo credit: Jesuit and Ignatian Spirituality Australia

One of the core purposes of the SCS Mission in Motion blog is to help make connections between the teaching, learning, and service happening across the School and the living spiritual tradition of the Jesuits and their founder St. Ignatius of Loyola. The source for this spiritual wisdom is the Spiritual Exercises, a structured retreat designed by St. Ignatius that invites retreatants into greater and greater interior depth and growing union with God through contemplation and meditation. What remains such an enduring insight of the Exercises is that one of the surest paths to spiritual transformation comes through the imagination. St. Ignatius encourages retreatants to imagine themselves as active characters in the Gospel scenes that they are contemplating in prayer. But instead of potentially getting lost in the imaginative depths, Ignatius puts up some conditions about how to enter the imagination and ensures that the inner work of imaginative prayer should be discussed with a spiritual director or guide. 

This Labor Day weekend, as the new semester is now underway, I invite us to turn our attention to our imaginations. Do you desire deeper reflection about how to imagine yourself journeying the next few months at Georgetown in ways that bring you closer to your personal and professional purpose? This feels like an opportune time for such reflection before the work of the semester begins to accumulate. St. Ignatius offered some still very relevant suggestions for how to enter into the imagination that I would like to share with you. 

  • Take a moment to pause and grow quiet. Settle into your breathing and notice your body relaxing. When you feel grounded in quiet, I invite you to picture yourself from someone else’s perspective (perhaps a dear friend, family member, or even God). What does this other see about you when they look at you? How does it feel to be seen from another’s perspective? What do you notice about their gazing at you? How does this feel? 
  • In your imagination, relive in the present moment all the significant events of your life to this point. In these moments of quiet, I invite you to linger on the most important events that come up. Is there a single moment from your story of life that rises to the surface? What is the importance to you of this moment? Does it bring you peace? Or does it challenge you in some ways? Try this exercise over multiple days. Is there a pattern to the life events that show up in your imagination? 
  • St. Ignatius suggests that one technique of making discerned choices in the present is to imagine how you might interpret a present choice from a place in the future. Is there a choice that you are considering in your life right now? It might be a choice that concerns how you spend your time on a daily basis. Or it might be a bigger choice about your vocation (job, family, community involvement, etc.). As you contemplate this choice, how might your much older self in the future look back and assess your approach to this decision? 

One of my motivations for sharing these reflective suggestions is to encourage all of us to imagine more deeply the possibilities of making the most of our experience at Georgetown. As a student, faculty, or staff member, are there invitations and opportunities at the University that you want to pursue? Are there programs, events, communities, and spaces at Georgetown that you want to engage and learn about? You might take a few moments and scan the list of incredible events happening at the University. You might review the spiritual accompaniment resources offered at SCS and across Georgetown. Wherever your journey into the imagination leads you, I wish you peace and rest as you make your way.

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2023 Mass of the Holy Spirit Invokes the Struggle for Truth and Justice, Blesses the Academic Year

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In this year’s Mass of the Holy Spirit, Fr. Matthew Carnes, S.J., challenged the university community to meet the demands of truth, justice, and reconciliation in light of the attacks on higher education in Nicaragua and here at home.

The Mass of the Holy Spirit is a hallowed tradition for Jesuit universities around the world. Since the Jesuits began operating schools five centuries ago, every academic year in a Jesuit institution of learning begins with this Mass. The Catholic liturgy for this occasion implores the Holy Spirit to bless and accompany the university community of students, faculty, and staff as they go about their work in the coming academic year. This year’s Mass followed this same pattern and featured the same timeless rituals and observances of prior years. These practices include concluding remarks by President John J. DeGioia, a faculty procession, attendance by the religiously diverse chaplains and staff of the Office of Campus Ministry, and a packed Gaston Hall filled to the rafters. 

But in some ways, this year’s Mass of the Holy Spirit felt different because the stakes for higher education seem greater. Fr. Matt Carnes, S.J., Associate Professor in the Department of Government and School of Foreign Service, gave a homily that challenged the status quo and invited the community to renew their commitment to leading lives of service and justice in a world threatened by violence and division. Knowing Fr. Carnes, who has supported the SCS community-based learning course “Jesuit Values in Professional Practice,” I was not surprised by his prophetic and timely words (you can read the full copy of his homily here). Steeped as he is in the Latin American experience and the ongoing quest for liberation and peace among powerless residents of these countries, Fr. Carnes turned our attention to the tragic situation in Nicaragua. An oppressive regime in that country, in pursuit of its totalitarian aims, is suppressing dissent and seeking to silence all who question and challenge its power. The Jesuit university there, Universidad Centroamerican de Managua, was recently shut down by the authoritarian regime, who confiscated the property, seized the university’s assets, and dismissed faculty and staff. Police then threw out the Jesuits who lived nearby. 

This shameful event, offered Fr. Carnes, should open our eyes at Georgetown to the reality that Jesuit education is not a riskless endeavor. In fact, being true to the deepest purpose of Jesuit education means risking the comforts of safety and security in pursuit of the transcendent aims of truth, justice, and peace. Linking the Gospel passage for the Mass with our situation today, Fr. Carnes invited all of us into the difficult work of healing and repairing a broken world: “And he sends them out – to be agents of truth and of reconciliation. To see clearly the sin that exists in the world – in unjust structures and social relations, in oppressive regimes and in the grinding inequities that keep individuals and groups down – and to seek to free humanity from its own worst actions.” We can cower from this task of truth and justice or we can be set on fire for the mission of healing divisions and making sure that all are included. Fr. Carnes reminded us that the attacks on higher education are not far away from home – the “many battles over education and inquiry – over truth and justice” are also happening in this country. 

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The Mass of the Holy Spirit took place this week in a crowded Gaston Hall and featured remarks by Georgetown President DeGioia. 

The message of the homily by Fr. Carnes reinforces all of the values in the Spirit of Georgetown, especially a “Faith that Does Justice.” To be about the work of peace and justice, reconciliation and truth, is to be ready, willing, and able to sacrifice on behalf of the greater good. This is a welcome perspective at the beginning of a new academic year. Perhaps we can return to this view whenever we find ourselves stuck in the coming months and in need of a reframing about why we’re here at Georgetown and how we all have a part to play in the continuing struggle for justice. 

You can learn more about the situation in Nicaragua and how the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities is responding by checking out: “AJCU Statement on the University of Central America in Nicaragua.” 

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Renew, Review, Recharge: Three Reflective Suggestions as You Prepare for the Coming Fall Semester

This week’s post invites a reflective pause between the summer and fall semesters. As we prepare for the coming term, how would you like to renew, review, and recharge? 

As the summer semester comes to a conclusion, the attentions at Georgetown turn toward the fall. SCS operates year-round and welcomes students throughout the calendar year, but the fall semester still carries a special significance. In a few short weeks, Georgetown’s new-student-welcome infrastructure will go into high gear and the summer will fade into memory. 

But before this happens, I would like to invite a reflective pause. Whether you’re a new SCS student beginning your first semester, a continuing student, or a member of our faculty or staff, this opportunity to slow down, catch your breath, and prepare your mind, body, and spirit for the coming semester might be a welcome invitation. Here are three ideas for how to meaningfully enter into quiet before a new semester begins. 

Renew. As you prepare for a new Georgetown semester, take some time to get in touch with your motivation for being here. What drew you to Georgetown? What inspired you to take on your particular program? What are your desires for your experience at this University? As you begin to reflect on these questions of your “why,” it might help for you to familiarize yourself with the deeper purpose of Georgetown as an educational community. You can spend this time with this Mission in Motion post: New to SCS? An Introduction to Georgetown’s Mission and Values in Four Points. 

Review. Spending time renewing your commitment to your Georgetown education might lead you to consider your future and where you are heading. But it is also important to take stock of where you have been and how you arrived at this current moment. Reviewing your past for the sake of reflecting on how your prior lived experience might inform your present and future is at the heart of the Jesuit spirituality that animates the mission of Georgetown. One of the core practices arising from the Jesuit tradition that helps in this review process is the examen of consciousness. You might consider signing up for the SCS Daily Digital Meditation sessions, which include a weekly examen that occurs every Friday. In whatever ways you construct a practice of review, I invite you to explore how your present self reflects the authentic fullness of your entire journey of life. 

Recharge. Taking up “rest” as a meaningful practice of spiritual wellness is a challenge in a culture that values constant activity and valuing one’s life choices on the basis of utility or value maximization. Rabbi Rachel Gartner, SCS Senior Advisor for Pastoral Care, reminds us that the Jewish tradition of “Shabbat” requires that we “leave behind the regular flow of time and the productivity we imbed in it. We do this not in order to escape life, but in order to enter into it more deeply.” My hope is that you can find some intentional ways to truly rest in the time before the fall semester. Take lots of walks. Take time for silence. Truly enjoy the company of others. Give yourself some space to unplug from the daily distractions. Your soul will thank you! 

One of the great joys of working at Georgetown is welcoming new members into our community multiple times in the year. There is so much anticipation before a new semester. My hope is that you can savor this time and arrive in a few more weeks a little more rested, a little more reflective, and a lot more reinvigorated.

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You’re Invited! Renew Your Mindfulness Habits at SCS Daily Digital Meditations

It is hard to believe that we have been continuously offering the SCS Daily Digital Meditation for over three years! What began as an immediate spiritual care response to the stress and anxiety experienced at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic has persisted and become a stable and durable virtual community of meditators from across the SCS community. In this post, I would like to remind all members of SCS about this daily resource (sign up here!) and offer some encouragement about the benefits of participating. 

This week’s post is a promotion of the SCS Daily Digital Meditation, which is a virtual sit offered on Zoom every day of the workweek at 12 pm ET (sign up here). Established at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the mindfulness meditations feature a Zac Theo piano track. 

As a reminder, the SCS Daily Digital Meditation takes place each day of the workweek at 12 pm ET. The sessions all occur on Zoom (registrants receive the link and instructions for joining via email) and last around 15 minutes. From Monday through Thursday, the session is organized as a mindfulness meditation that consists of a short body scan, intentional breathing, and then a period of silent, centering meditation with a melodic piano track playing in the background. The Friday meditation is reserved for an inclusively presented Examen meditation, modeled on the reflective practice arising from the Ignatian tradition of spirituality. The Examen consists of five reflective prompts that invite participants to notice with sacred awareness the significant events of their past week, exploring in more reflective detail times of gratitude, consolation, desolation, and hope for the week ahead. I lead these daily sessions and am typically joined by a handful of SCS students, staff, and faculty members. Some participants are regular, daily attendees while others come more sporadically. How often you come is entirely up to you! 

Over the last few years, Mission in Motion has reflected on the importance of such a mindfulness habit by making connections with the Spirit of Georgetown value Contemplation in Action. Here are some helpful posts that might give you more insight about the considerable benefits of joining this meditative practice: 

Just this week, a member of the SCS meditation community reached out and expressed gratitude for the offering, saying this ongoing experience “has made a big difference in my life.” I have heard similar input over the years from a range of participants and the Georgetown Faculty & Staff Assistance Program has recommended the SCS meditations to their clients. Others have noted how the meditations provide “deeper inner strength,” “help center and relieve frustrations,” and give the sense that “none of us are alone.” There are many other spiritual, physical, and emotional supports I could name about developing a regular habit of mindfulness meditation and reflection. But I hope you will come check it out for yourself! 

If you have any questions about the SCS Digital Daily Meditation, please reach out to me, Jamie Kralovec, SCS Associate Director for Mission Integration, at pjk34@georgetown.edu. 

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The Feast Day of St. Ignatius: An Opportunity on July 31 to Reflect on the Saint’s Enduring Meaning for Professional Education

This week’s Mission in Motion is a reflection on what St. Ignatius, founder of the Jesuits, whose feast day is July 31, means for professional and continuing education.

On Monday, July 31, Georgetown will honor the feast day of its patron saint, St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, with a mass and a reception to follow in Dahlgren Quad on the Hilltop. You can find more event details at this University site.

Over the years, Mission in Motion has narrated the significance of the story of St. Ignatius in many ways, including coverage of the Ignatian Year, a more than year-long celebration of the 500th anniversary of the saint’s transformative conversion after suffering from cannonball-induced wounds. The unique events and testimonials to the meaning of Ignatius’ life presented a welcome point of departure for greater reflection across Georgetown about the relevance of the Jesuit founder in our present age. 

At SCS, the life and example of St. Ignatius uniquely address the life experience, hopes, and dreams of our student population. There are four elements of Ignatius’ biography that I would like to call attention to in light of the characteristics of adult learners engaged in professional and continuing education. 

First, St. Ignatius was himself an adult learner. After his conversion to a deeply purpose-driven life anchored in prayer and love of God and others, Ignatius decided that realizing his earthly mission and that of the Jesuit order required educational credentials. This insight speaks to the motivations that bring so many early-, mid-, and late-career students into programs at SCS. Acquiring the skills and knowledge recognized by professional bodies and academic communities makes it possible to accomplish great deeds in the world. Ignatius was humble in this recognition of the need for formal study, electing in his adult years to return to school with much younger students. The Jesuits themselves inherited this commitment to adult education, innovating the Church’s style of preaching and teaching by hosting sacred lectures (like the ones that Georgetown still sponsors) intended for adults with busy lives. 

Second, St. Ignatius was a military-connected student. To put an even finer point on this, Ignatius was actually a wounded warrior, having suffered the physical and emotional wounds of combat. SCS is ever proud to be a welcoming community for veterans and counts many military-connected students amongst its students, faculty, and staff. According to the 2021-2022 SCS Dean’s Report, 250 degree-seeking students are military students. More than coursework, these students have access to a comprehensive set of resources provided by Georgetown’s Military and Veterans’ Resource Center. It is fair to say that Ignatius understood the challenges of military life and many of the insights that he brought into his leadership and administration of the Jesuits reflect these lessons. 

Third, St. Ignatius used technological innovation as part of his leadership strategy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, SCS utilized a motif from early Jesuit history, “A Community in Dispersion,” to describe the possibility of using technology to maintain the unity of a globally dispersed community. There is analogy in the use of online education to foster common bonds despite the physical distance of students and the way that St. Ignatius pioneered the hand-written letter, a technology of his time period, as a way of keeping Jesuits unified throughout the world. SCS has made great strides in recent years in the development of high-quality online education programs. With the help of creative instructional designers, subject matter experts, and a coordinated strategy to incorporate the Spirit of Georgetown into online courses, SCS online programs are renewing a 500-year-old tradition in ways that address contemporary education needs. 

And finally, St. Ignatius proved that busy adults can still lead contemplative lives. In this way, Ignatius was an exemplar for Contemplation in Action, a cherished value at SCS because of the reality that so many of our students are juggling competing personal and professional obligations in pursuit of their Georgetown educations. The style of spirituality that St. Ignatius encouraged has made it possible to simultaneously reflect on the meaning of daily experience (through tools like the examen of consciousness) and generously and vigorously act in the world in the service of the common good. In so many ways, I recognize the spirit of the Ignatian biography when I observe committed, ambitious, and dedicated students descending on SCS classrooms at the end of a long workday. These same students also find time to contemplate, attending retreats and committing to other spiritual practices. 

St. Ignatius is a universally beloved figure in Jesuit education. And while all parts of this global enterprise can make claim to St. Ignatius and his unique contributions, there is a special way that this man resonates with the adult learners who comprise Georgetown’s School of Continuing Studies. Happy feast day!