Jesuit Terms

A Jesuit in training who has taken First Vows (see term above) and declared his intention to seek ordination as a priest.

Traditionally, Jesuit apostolic ministries are grouped into one of three sectors: higher education, secondary and pre-secondary, and social-pastoral.

The executive assistant or “second-in-command” to the provincial at each province’s administrative center, commonly known as the curia.

The spiritual is often defined as that which is “nonmaterial,” but this definition runs into problems when applied to human beings, who are traditionally considered “bodyspirits,” both bodily and spiritual. In some modern philosophies and psychologies, however, the spiritual dimension of the human is denied or disregarded. And many aspects of our contemporary American culture (e.g., the hurried sense of time and need to produce, produce) make it difficult to pay attention to this dimension. Fundamentally, the spiritual dimension of human beings can be recognized in the orientation of our minds and hearts toward ever more than we have already reached (the never-satisfied human mind and the never-satisfied human heart). We are drawn inevitably toward the “Absolute” or the “Fullness of Being” [see “God”]. Consequently, there are depths to our being which we can only just begin to fathom. If every human being has this spiritual dimension and hunger, then even in a culture like ours, everyone will have-at least at times-some awareness of it, even if that awareness is not explicit and not put into words. When people talk of a “spirituality,” however, they usually mean, not the spirituality that human beings have by nature, but rather a set of attitudes and practices (spiritual exercises*) that are designed to foster a greater consciousness of this spiritual dimension and (in the case of those who can affirm belief in God) a more explicit seeking of its object- the Divine or God. Ignatian* spirituality with its Spiritual Exercises* is one such path among many within Christianity, to say nothing of the spiritualities within other religious traditions, or those more or less outside a religious tradition. (“Peoples’ spiritual lives [today] have not died; they are simply taking place outside the church,” (Jesuit General Congregation 34, “Our Mission and Culture”)].)

The term refers both to the program of prayer and reflection that St. Ignatius Loyola developed and to the book, which has information to help the person who is directing someone who is going through the retreat. The full form of the Spiritual Exercises lasts approximately 30 days, but there are many variations in length.

People are often helped to integrate their faith and their life by talking on a regular basis (e.g., monthly) with someone they can trust. This person acts as a guide (sometimes also called a spiritual friend, companion, or director) for the journey, helping them to find the presence and call of God in the people and circumstances of their everyday lives. The assumption is that God is already present there, and that another person, a guide, can help them to notice God’s presence and also to find words for talking about that presence, because they are not used to doing so. The guide is often a specially trained listener skilled in discernment* and therefore able to help them sort out the various voices within and around them. While he/she may suggest various kinds of spiritual exercises*/ways of praying, the focus is much broader than that; it is upon the whole of a person’s life experience as the place to meet God.