by Loyola Press on June 8, 2009
Loyola Press author William A. Barry, SJ will speak at the Jesuit Collaborative Conference on Ignatian Spirituality at Fordham University in New York City, June 19-21, 2009. The conference, titled “The Principle and Foundation: Who We Are Before God”, will promote reflection, scholarship, learning and networking while coordinating the diverse ministries that derive from the Spiritual Exercises.
Fr. Barry’s workshop, entitled “The Principle and Foundation: Entering the Spiritual Exercises”, takes place Saturday, June 20 at 2 pm. More information about the conference can be found at the Jesuit Collaborative website. You can browse Fr. Barry’s books at Loyola Press’s online store.
by Loyola Press on May 13, 2009
by Loyola Press on April 15, 2009
This spring Loyola Press joined the Ignatian Peace Action 2009. This year’s theme is “Peace with Creation”, specifically, climate change and its impact on the poor. By participating in this year’s Peace Action, Loyola Press has joined a process that begins with prayer and moves to education, assessment, action, and advocacy. The Catholic Coalition’s website provides a resouce for advocacy and planning.
As part of the Ignatian Peace Action 2009, Loyola Press is implementing the following activities. First Loyola Press has designated April 22, Earth Day, as a day of prayer. This effort will be led by the Loyola Press Green Committee. This day of prayer includes the Ignatian Peace Action prayer and other reflection based activities. Secondly, the Loyola Press Green Committee and other Loyola Press team members will take the St. Francis Pledge. The Loyola Press Green Team also is sending weekly green tips to Loyola Press employees.
If you are impletmenting green habits into your work place, please share them at marketing@loyolapress.com.
by Loyola Press on April 2, 2009
James Martin, SJ, has been announced as the winner of the 2009 Writer’s Award in Spirituality. This award is given by the Loyola Institute for Spirituality at the Hearts on Fire Celebration. The Writer’s Award in Spirituality is awarded to a person who demonstrates excellence in furthering the spiritual teachings of St. Ignatius of Loyola through his or her writings. James Martin, SJ, is the author of several Loyola Press books including My Life with the Saints and A Jesuit Off-Broadway.
The Hearts of Fire Celebration is an annual dinner and fundraiser that offers the Loyola Institute for Spirituality a chance to celebrate their ministry and honor contributors. The dinner is April 25, 2009 at the Double Tree Guest Suites at the Anaheim Resort/Convention Center. Along with Fr. Martin’s award, Bishop Gordon Bennet, SJ, will be honored with the Hearts on Fire Award and Mr. and Mrs. Eleuterio and Linda Rodriguez will be honored with the Rosita Diaz Award. For more information about the 2009 Hearts on Fire Celebration, please visit the Loyola Institute for Spirituality’s website.
by Loyola Press on April 1, 2009
With the country mired in one of the worst economic crises ever and two-thirds of Americans believing their children will have it worse than they do, it’s clear we live in discouraging times. Against this gloomy backdrop, Chris Lowney offers a bracing invitation: you were born to change the world! His new book tells how: Heroic Living: Discover Your Purpose and Change the World outlines a life strategy combining age-old spiritual wisdom with the best modern management ideas.
Heroic Living offers a timeless perspective on the eternal question of how we are to live. A how-to book for the business of being human that rejects conventional self-help thinking, it eschews simple solutions for a whole-life strategy that requires life-long practice.
The key is a spiritual technology developed by Saint Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuits, that for nearly five centuries has proven a powerful instrument for confronting life’s fundamental questions and figuring out one’s path in response. His classic Spiritual Exercises are an intense reflection process that inventories personal strengths and weaknesses to create self-awareness.
Lowney links this spiritual wisdom with modern ideas about strategy to show how each person, regardless of calling, career, or current situation, can discover a “mighty purpose.” The result is a practical, livable plan for mastering three vital skills:
•Articulating a purpose worth the rest of your life;
•Making wise career and relationship choices in an uncertain world;
•Making every day matter by mindful attention to your thoughts, actions and results.
Developing these life skills will help us move away from fractured, compartmentalized lives and towards wholeness and fulfillment.
A onetime Jesuit seminarian and a former Managing Director for J.P. Morgan & Co, Lowney drew from his unusual background in crafting the book. “Successful people must adapt to relentless change, make difficult choices, and juggle multiple obligations—and modern organizational practices can help us master these skills,” he says. “But we also need to find peace and fulfillment. That requires looking within ourselves and to our deepest beliefs to find a purpose worth living for, a vision worth fighting for, and values worth standing for.”
Lowney wants to recover the true meaning of heroism as something anyone can aspire to. Qualities such as strength, courage, and nobility make a hero, not fame and fortune. He tells stories of ordinary people doing heroic things to transform their worlds—whether in their family home, a Caracas slum, a Manila garbage dump, or a corporate boardroom. These heroes plumbed their deepest beliefs about the human person to frame their mighty purpose.
Their stories illustrate Lowney’s theme: “The time for the civilization of self is over,” he says. “It’s time to start building the civilization of love.”
“We are here on earth to live for some mighty purpose that uplifts and stretches us,” Lowney writes. “We are here to become visionaries who look beyond our self interest and our own lifetimes, because our hearts and spirits are greater than any job or sum of money.”
Heroic Living:
Discover Your Purpose and Change the World
Chris Lowney
Hardcover $22.95
978-0-8294-2442-3
