Dear Friends,
It has been awhile since I have posted anything here. I have been so busy and then had a little sickness in the last two days but am feeling much better since this afternoon.
What do I tell you about? First, I really enjoy the course I am leading at the Jesuit seminary every Wednesday AM. I have 11 seminarians for it, four who are from India and 7 from nations in Africa (Ghana, Zambia and Uganda--no Kenyans!) They are all about 30 years old. I got accustomed at Manresa to a much wider experience in the students who came to the reading courses I led there, so I have had to shift. Still, I enjoy them a lot and their interest. They have a lot of questions and their questions reflect less life experience than what I had at Manresa. We are reading through St Teresa of Avila's "The Interior Castle", a masterpiece in presenting some of the most exciting things God can and will do in people who really want God to be God in their lives, who learn to surrender and let God lead in their life, and are faithful to daily contemplative prayer. If only more people knew about this and would commit themselves to this being part of their daily living!! The joy in it is deeper than any other joy or happiness that can be known in this life. Sometimes it is rather difficult getting to that place, the cross in it all.
Then the batch of four retreatants I am guiding now. There is one who is astounding in her experience of God, just so moving. It is all I can do not to burst out in tears during our sessions, (I do so after she leaves!) part of it because this person is touching on some of my own very deep longings for God. I even recognize in her experience some of what I have been reading in some of the more advanced stages of the spiritual journey described in the "The Interior Castle". It is like I know just what needs to be said to her since I just finished reading Teresa's advice for such situations. There are times when I leave these conversations and sense that I have been blessed to touch on the Source of all reality, the deepest and most beautiful part of life, and that we all are living most times at a rather superficial level, oblivious to what is truly in our depths, of what we are being prepared for, of how stupid are many of our values or what a waste there is in how we spend our time so often. It precipitates the question: "what is really the Real?" There is so much that is really, really empty! And it sells well, economies depend a lot on its being well marketed.
I came here almost 13 months ago. In that time I have guided 88 people in retreats, the vast majority of them for 8 days, a few for 5 or 6. Then I led a retreat in July when I gave talks, two talks a day over 8 days, to 17 others. I am amazed that I have done this much: 105 people!
Oh, yes, my roses. They give me balance from all of this listening to so many people on retreats! You should see them, the roses that is, not the people! I am now getting wonderful results from the bone meal and composted cow manure I feed them. Generous amounts of water too! The leaves are so healthy and now that the temperatures are getting warmer, the blossoms are coming. I have three bushes whose blossoms are pink but not pink-pink There is a touch of orange in the the blossoms, almost like a peach tone that gives an off-tone of pink. Just out of this world! Then I have put up two poles on opposite ends of the rose garden, about 11-12 feet tall, and planted vines from seedlings at the bottom of each pole. This plant gives off clusters of small blossoms of orange and yellow. Right now the vines are beginning to wrap themselves around the poles and climb. Someday, in 3-4 weeks, I hope the poles will be loaded with clusters of these blossoms and make them like a torch on fire.
Two-three weeks ago I made a major decision on a proposed pilgrimage to Italy I had hoped to lead. I cancelled the effort because I thought the price was just too high and many who would want to come would decide not to come because of the cost. I think the problem was the time of the year (June) when airfare and hotels are the most expensive. Right now I am exploring the possibility of a pilgrimage to Italy during late October or early November of 2015. I want to make it rather Franciscan in spirit, and also have some good times in Venice, Padua, Florence, and Rome. I should know in the next month at most whether this attempt will go or not.
I need to go. God bless. As you move into autumn, we are moving into warmer temps after some really cold days in July and August. Thank God those days and temps are over for a good long time.
Bernie Owens
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Saturday, September 6, 2014
Dear Friends,
It is Saturday evening, September 6. The last two days have been rainy, drizzling and really cold. Ugh. Since our rooms are not heated, it has really been tough. I got out my extra blanket to add to the heavy one I already have on the bed. This afternoon we saw the sun briefly and the temps went up to a comfortable high 60s or so. The almost full moon is visible tonite since the clouds cleared. I can't wait for spring to begin (September 22) and summer to come to us (December 21!)
Second week of classes. Two more students joined my Wednesday class. We now make twelve in all, four Indians and the rest are Africans, half are Jesuits and the other half a smattering of various congregations. All seminarians, the first group of all males I have had for any kind of academic study since 1969!
I have been feeling unusually tired lately. I slept two hours late this morning (11AM--1 PM) and feel a little more normal this evening. Still, I don't feel fully restored. One guides retreats week after week and they go right through a weekend so that you lose a sense of the rhythm of a 7-day week. After awhile it can feel like a heavy grind! Listening well is a lot of work. I am not sure many people appreciate that! On top of this I am teaching, and Monday AM I begin an 8-week prep for teachers at St. Al's High School for AIDS orphans to prepare for making the Spiritual Exercises starting next January. I hope I have not bitten off too much.
This afternoon I listened to two retreatants and one directee, all who spoke so movingly of God's indescribable, deep love. The retreatants are presently praying on the washing of the feet, on the Last Supper, and Jesus' horrible experience in the Garden of Gethsemani. I was very moved! I leave such conversations wishing I could bring each of you into the room to hear what I hear. It would very likely give us all a very different take on the world and on what is important and what to be truly concerned about. Truly, this love is unprecedented and is worth everything. It changes everything. It is "the pearl of great price." And it is what will claim us all in the end.
Well, I am really tired and I am saying "goodnite". Blessings on you and whatever you are engaged in. May it all be worthy of Him and His love for you and me.
Bernie Owens
It is Saturday evening, September 6. The last two days have been rainy, drizzling and really cold. Ugh. Since our rooms are not heated, it has really been tough. I got out my extra blanket to add to the heavy one I already have on the bed. This afternoon we saw the sun briefly and the temps went up to a comfortable high 60s or so. The almost full moon is visible tonite since the clouds cleared. I can't wait for spring to begin (September 22) and summer to come to us (December 21!)
Second week of classes. Two more students joined my Wednesday class. We now make twelve in all, four Indians and the rest are Africans, half are Jesuits and the other half a smattering of various congregations. All seminarians, the first group of all males I have had for any kind of academic study since 1969!
I have been feeling unusually tired lately. I slept two hours late this morning (11AM--1 PM) and feel a little more normal this evening. Still, I don't feel fully restored. One guides retreats week after week and they go right through a weekend so that you lose a sense of the rhythm of a 7-day week. After awhile it can feel like a heavy grind! Listening well is a lot of work. I am not sure many people appreciate that! On top of this I am teaching, and Monday AM I begin an 8-week prep for teachers at St. Al's High School for AIDS orphans to prepare for making the Spiritual Exercises starting next January. I hope I have not bitten off too much.
This afternoon I listened to two retreatants and one directee, all who spoke so movingly of God's indescribable, deep love. The retreatants are presently praying on the washing of the feet, on the Last Supper, and Jesus' horrible experience in the Garden of Gethsemani. I was very moved! I leave such conversations wishing I could bring each of you into the room to hear what I hear. It would very likely give us all a very different take on the world and on what is important and what to be truly concerned about. Truly, this love is unprecedented and is worth everything. It changes everything. It is "the pearl of great price." And it is what will claim us all in the end.
Well, I am really tired and I am saying "goodnite". Blessings on you and whatever you are engaged in. May it all be worthy of Him and His love for you and me.
Bernie Owens
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Dear Friends,
Good afternoon on this Saturday, August 30. It is 4 PM here, a time for a little slower pace and hazy, rain-threatening weather yet no rain! In two hours we Jesuits here have our weekly social. I enjoy the upbeat spirit we have among ourselves during that time. We have a spread with some wine, fruit juice or scotch to choose from; Also some great cheese, including my favorite (Bre), and some thin ham with tasty multi-grain bread, chips, also roasted peanuts (which I have "overdosed" on at times and discovered I am allergic to--very itchy, big pimples break out here and there on me!). I am feeling sleepy today, but some of this is probably because of the usual low metabolic period late in the afternoon. Once I get food I pick up in my energy.
Last Wednesday morning I met for the first time with the students I will have for the course I am leading on Teresa of Avila's classic, The Interior Castle. There are ten of them; all are seminarians in their late 20s or about 30 years old. They will be ordained priests in the next year or two years or three years. Four are from India, (all of them are Carmelites), five Jesuits, and one Pallotine. The Jesuits are from Uganda, Ghana, and Zambia. The Pallotine is from Uganda. We sit in a circle at tables of good size with plenty of room to spread out our books and notes. The class consists of two 50 minute periods, with a 20 minute break between the two sessions: 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM. Already I sense a high interest. We had some excellent 'back and forth' at the first class; also students recruited one additional student who will be joining us for the rest of the classes. the course is an elective, not a required course, so everyone who is there is there by choice. That is a great attitude to have with a class of students. There are 7 or 8 other electives students could have chosen. Only one has more students than my section has, which is a class on Teilhard de Chardin's writings and through them a sketching out of a Global Spirituality. So . . . I am delighted to finally, finally be teaching again. It will be quite different than what I have been accustomed to. At Manresa I would have 30-40 people come biweekly for a reading circle/seminar to discuss great books on spiritual themes, but there was no exam, no accountability about whether people read and studied or not. This time grades are given; and an exam comes at the end of the program, plus I am requiring them to keep a journal of their thoughts and feelings on the readings and our discussions during the course.
During afternoon before this class, I met with faculty members of Hekima college, the seminary, about the Ignatian spirituality that underlies their teaching. We are to have monthly meetings. I experienced great variations in interest. Some Jesuits were not interested in being there, but the president of the school and dean definitely wanted to be there. Four of the participants are not Jesuits, so I am right now not clear on how I am going to lead this disparate gathering. The president of the college is supposed to drive out here to talk with me this afternoon before our social and together we hopefully will find some resolution, some clearer focus.
Last Thursday, the 28th, was the feast of St. Augustine, arguably the greatest theologian in the history of the Christian church. Some Dominicans may claim St. Thomas Aquinas is the greatest. Anyway, both are great and I think more would say Augustine is #1. Anyway, I had the 5:15 PM liturgy for the retreatants that day and chose to focus during the homily on one of the great themes in Augustine's writings about what happens when teaching goes on. His contention is that in each of us is the inner teacher, this God-given light that illuminates our mind and shows all of us what is the truth in that moment, what is right. It is more than conscience but an active, dynamic Presence which as time goes on and if we pay attention, we discover it is a Person, it is Christ within guiding, enlightening, leading us in the moment and for the whole journey of our life. But we have to take the time to be quiet and look within, to seek and want to be open to being guided, to be shown what is true and good, what is beautiful if we are going to be taught and notice what is true and good and beautiful. It is a truly exciting theme and says something about how to listen and how lead others, especially in a time of teaching. What means so much to me is that there inner reality is more than just an instinct about what is right and wrong but is a Person, the inner Friend who is Truth and Goodness and will show us what is in harmony with Truth and Goodness and what is not. The more we make time and a place in our life for this Presence, the better we get at noticing and understanding this Light's guidance of us. Life becomes truly a dialogue with this inner Light and a sense that I am not alone, that I am most myself when I live in communion and seek the guidance of this inner Divine Friend. I am not an isolated individual; rather, I am part of a "we" and am my best self when listening to and making choices after consulting within with this Light.
Right now I am guiding each day five retreatants. Two are making the full 30-day retreat, three are making 8-day retreats. (One of those making an 8-day is a repeat from last year!) All are nuns in their 30s; all are African. I sometimes come away from our daily conversations (I see each one separately for usually 40-45 minutes each) just amazed at how real God is, how active God is and so I am deeply touched by how God gives to each exactly what she needs at a certain point in her walk in life. I feel immensely blessed to witness such initiatives of God and sometimes want to say to all those I know: Do you realize how close and real God is! God's presence at times is so "thick", so strong! One of those on retreat four days ago experienced a major flashback of a terribly painful, humiliating experience of some years ago, an experience she had repressed for many years. Then, bang, the memory came in a flash and she trembled but was able to regain her balance and bring it to God in prayer. She has felt since then an immense freedom and healing from what happened to her all those years ago. I feel so privileged to be allowed to witness to what is clearly God's work and how God does this in people. It seems all of us suffer to some degree with a low opinion of ourselves and doubt our lovableness. A major part of these retreats, then, is providing people with the right Scripture passages and lots of time while in silence for them to process these Scripture passages that proclaim God's personal, profound love for them, and thus to be healed of the lie they often live by, that they have been "infected" by, for so many years of their life. This may sound rather rudimentary, but I have found that all of us suffer from this to some degree or other . . . some in major ways while we "go lookin' for love in all the wrong places!" Lord, have mercy!!
I need to go. God bless each of you who reads this. I wish you whatever blessing God wants you to have at this time in your journey.
Bernie Owens
Good afternoon on this Saturday, August 30. It is 4 PM here, a time for a little slower pace and hazy, rain-threatening weather yet no rain! In two hours we Jesuits here have our weekly social. I enjoy the upbeat spirit we have among ourselves during that time. We have a spread with some wine, fruit juice or scotch to choose from; Also some great cheese, including my favorite (Bre), and some thin ham with tasty multi-grain bread, chips, also roasted peanuts (which I have "overdosed" on at times and discovered I am allergic to--very itchy, big pimples break out here and there on me!). I am feeling sleepy today, but some of this is probably because of the usual low metabolic period late in the afternoon. Once I get food I pick up in my energy.
Last Wednesday morning I met for the first time with the students I will have for the course I am leading on Teresa of Avila's classic, The Interior Castle. There are ten of them; all are seminarians in their late 20s or about 30 years old. They will be ordained priests in the next year or two years or three years. Four are from India, (all of them are Carmelites), five Jesuits, and one Pallotine. The Jesuits are from Uganda, Ghana, and Zambia. The Pallotine is from Uganda. We sit in a circle at tables of good size with plenty of room to spread out our books and notes. The class consists of two 50 minute periods, with a 20 minute break between the two sessions: 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM. Already I sense a high interest. We had some excellent 'back and forth' at the first class; also students recruited one additional student who will be joining us for the rest of the classes. the course is an elective, not a required course, so everyone who is there is there by choice. That is a great attitude to have with a class of students. There are 7 or 8 other electives students could have chosen. Only one has more students than my section has, which is a class on Teilhard de Chardin's writings and through them a sketching out of a Global Spirituality. So . . . I am delighted to finally, finally be teaching again. It will be quite different than what I have been accustomed to. At Manresa I would have 30-40 people come biweekly for a reading circle/seminar to discuss great books on spiritual themes, but there was no exam, no accountability about whether people read and studied or not. This time grades are given; and an exam comes at the end of the program, plus I am requiring them to keep a journal of their thoughts and feelings on the readings and our discussions during the course.
During afternoon before this class, I met with faculty members of Hekima college, the seminary, about the Ignatian spirituality that underlies their teaching. We are to have monthly meetings. I experienced great variations in interest. Some Jesuits were not interested in being there, but the president of the school and dean definitely wanted to be there. Four of the participants are not Jesuits, so I am right now not clear on how I am going to lead this disparate gathering. The president of the college is supposed to drive out here to talk with me this afternoon before our social and together we hopefully will find some resolution, some clearer focus.
Last Thursday, the 28th, was the feast of St. Augustine, arguably the greatest theologian in the history of the Christian church. Some Dominicans may claim St. Thomas Aquinas is the greatest. Anyway, both are great and I think more would say Augustine is #1. Anyway, I had the 5:15 PM liturgy for the retreatants that day and chose to focus during the homily on one of the great themes in Augustine's writings about what happens when teaching goes on. His contention is that in each of us is the inner teacher, this God-given light that illuminates our mind and shows all of us what is the truth in that moment, what is right. It is more than conscience but an active, dynamic Presence which as time goes on and if we pay attention, we discover it is a Person, it is Christ within guiding, enlightening, leading us in the moment and for the whole journey of our life. But we have to take the time to be quiet and look within, to seek and want to be open to being guided, to be shown what is true and good, what is beautiful if we are going to be taught and notice what is true and good and beautiful. It is a truly exciting theme and says something about how to listen and how lead others, especially in a time of teaching. What means so much to me is that there inner reality is more than just an instinct about what is right and wrong but is a Person, the inner Friend who is Truth and Goodness and will show us what is in harmony with Truth and Goodness and what is not. The more we make time and a place in our life for this Presence, the better we get at noticing and understanding this Light's guidance of us. Life becomes truly a dialogue with this inner Light and a sense that I am not alone, that I am most myself when I live in communion and seek the guidance of this inner Divine Friend. I am not an isolated individual; rather, I am part of a "we" and am my best self when listening to and making choices after consulting within with this Light.
Right now I am guiding each day five retreatants. Two are making the full 30-day retreat, three are making 8-day retreats. (One of those making an 8-day is a repeat from last year!) All are nuns in their 30s; all are African. I sometimes come away from our daily conversations (I see each one separately for usually 40-45 minutes each) just amazed at how real God is, how active God is and so I am deeply touched by how God gives to each exactly what she needs at a certain point in her walk in life. I feel immensely blessed to witness such initiatives of God and sometimes want to say to all those I know: Do you realize how close and real God is! God's presence at times is so "thick", so strong! One of those on retreat four days ago experienced a major flashback of a terribly painful, humiliating experience of some years ago, an experience she had repressed for many years. Then, bang, the memory came in a flash and she trembled but was able to regain her balance and bring it to God in prayer. She has felt since then an immense freedom and healing from what happened to her all those years ago. I feel so privileged to be allowed to witness to what is clearly God's work and how God does this in people. It seems all of us suffer to some degree with a low opinion of ourselves and doubt our lovableness. A major part of these retreats, then, is providing people with the right Scripture passages and lots of time while in silence for them to process these Scripture passages that proclaim God's personal, profound love for them, and thus to be healed of the lie they often live by, that they have been "infected" by, for so many years of their life. This may sound rather rudimentary, but I have found that all of us suffer from this to some degree or other . . . some in major ways while we "go lookin' for love in all the wrong places!" Lord, have mercy!!
I need to go. God bless each of you who reads this. I wish you whatever blessing God wants you to have at this time in your journey.
Bernie Owens
Saturday, August 23, 2014
My dear friends,
As I write this to you, I look at my watch and notice it is 8:20 PM on Saturday, August 23, almost one year to the minute when I arrived here from the airport in Nairobi and began my new life at this special place. I am just amazed. I still pinch myself at times to impress upon myself that I am not in the USA anymore but am far away, on the other side of the world and south of the equator. The birds and flowers, the view are rather different, but I must say when I listen to the souls of people who come here for retreats, I see the same issues, the same challenges and hungers. It reminds me that we are all the same when it comes to this journey called life and that we are all, every one of us, on the same essential journey to God. The color of our skin, the way we pronounce words, the customs we inherited may be different, yet the needs of our souls and the longings for God are all the same. I am profoundly moved at times by all of this. And I am more and more impressed by houw our life with God, with ourself and with others is so influenced by our bodies, by their functions and trials, by our sexuality and health needs. We are not just souls!!
I feel I am at such a special time in my life. I am now 75 years old--God, that sounds old!! But it is a terrific time to see life from this many years and have a perspective I didn't have when I was 40 or 50 years old. I love this time of my life, I love what I am being permitted to be involved in. I am feeling so creative and alive with the varied opportunities I am being asked to lead, to guide, to teach, to mentor in one-on-one situations, and then, yes, to tend to large numbers of roses, which before I had always thought were too complicated and delicate for me to give my time, too difficult to raise successfully.
Next week is one of the biggest weeks yet to come along for me. On Tuesday afternoon I meet with all of the teachersof the theology school, the Jesuit seminary (these are my new colleagues where I will be teaching) and I have been asked by the presidentof the school to lead a two and a half hour gathering to reflect on a holistic teaching method applied to their teaching situations, and then what are the values of St. Ignatius' Spiritual Exercises that inform theirteaching style and choice of content. I am honored, just amazed that I have been asked to lead such a thing, with such highly educated Jesuit teachers. I guess I have arrived!!
Then the next day I teach for the first time in 15 months, this time a weekly course for two hours on Wednesday mornings for seminarians, future Jesuitpriests,and possibly Carmelite seminarians and a few lay students. What I will be teaching is the spiritual classic by the Carmelite saint, Teresa of Avila who lived in thelate 1500s. She wrote a book that is considered one of the greatest on prayer and stages of spiritual growth. It is called The Interior Castle. The castle is her image of the human soul; in it are many rooms, seven sets of rooms that represent various stages of spiritual development and growthfor the human person. With it we will read and discuss a commentaryon Teresa's great book: It is entitled, Distractions In Prayer,Blessing or Curse?? It is such a greatbook, so insightful. Its fundamentalthesis is: when you have recurrent distractions, receive them as a gift of God if you are serious about wanting to give everythingto God and cooperate with God's healing you of the various attachments and blind spots in your life, the ways in which you resist God. Letting these come up is God's way of saying to you, "So you want to give everything to me??, Then look at this, give it to me, let go of your attachment and undue worry, your anxiety, your shame, etc and let me be your Friend and Lord even of this situation of your worry, of your attachment. Let me Lord of even this part of your soul." These conversations should be exciting. I look forward to them.
I need to go now. Our internet connection was off for three days, so I have a number of emails I still need to respond to. I wish you well and God's peace. I must say, in being here God is becoming so real to me, I guessbecause I am seeing God more and more in the people and nation round me. I am more and more convincedwe usually walk around with our eyes veiled, even blinded to the divine reality that is just the other side of this veil thatseparates us from it for now. If only more could see! It is all a gift.
Bernie Owens
(there is something aboutmy omputer that is acting up; I cannot makes spaces between some words I haveto correct, so tha is why you are seeing some words being run together!)
Friday, August 15, 2014
Dear Friends,
It is now the last hour of my birthday before I go to bed and call it a day. I want to thank anyone and everyone of you who sent me a birthday greeting. I truly appreciate it, and so many of you mentioned saying a prayer for me, which I greatly appreciate. The times of celebrations have been truly good, so enjoyable. the big gathering was last evening's dinner, preceded by a social with camembert (spelling?) cheese and Chivas Regal to sip on, even some sliced ham and multi-grain bread. I loved it. Today a friend cooked me a chocolate cake, my first one in a year, my first one since arriving in Kenya last year. It tasted really great (no icing on it however!).
I have been working diligently on preparing my classes for a weekly course at Hekima college, the Jesuit seminary in Nairobi, starting on august 27. The course focuses on Teresa of Avila's classic writing: The Interior Castle, her image for the soul of a human being. she talks about the progressive growth of the human person through rooms that go deeper and deeper, closer and closer to the center of the soul, where Christ waits to receive us. This book so fascinates me. And I have found a commentary on it that is just outstanding--in fact two commentaries, one the students must read along with Teresa's book, the other for me to digest and incorporate into the classes as we go along. I have't done any sustained teaching in over 14 months and really look forward to being back in the classroom with these future priests, all Africans. I don't know yet how many I will get. It is an elective, that is, not a required course. So I might get five people, I might get 20 people. We shall soon know.
A stunning statistic I heard on a TV news program a few days ago: In 20 years from now 4 out of every ten babies born in this world will be born in Africa of African mothers. This continent is going to be more and more prominent in the world's future. I feel honored to be here at this time to do my little part, to plant seeds of God's workings and leave behind some people trained and ready to take this great work of God to its next level of development. What stories we will tell in the next life when we look back on what God did with our lives, what God accomplished with our cooperation in the hearts and minds of the people of our times.
I need to go to bed. Please pray for the many unemployed of this nation. Work is so hard to find for many; they scrape by for their families. In some parts of this country where there has been long-term drought, people are dying from starvation. It is so tough. And South Sudan, just to the north and west of us, is so ripped up because of that endless war, so too Syria and now the peoples of Iraq, especially the Christians of Iraq. The world is really cruel in some places. It has no mercy at all for the weak, for those who are different from those who have power and want to force others to live in their way and for their privileges.
Have a blessed weekend!
Bernie Owens
It is now the last hour of my birthday before I go to bed and call it a day. I want to thank anyone and everyone of you who sent me a birthday greeting. I truly appreciate it, and so many of you mentioned saying a prayer for me, which I greatly appreciate. The times of celebrations have been truly good, so enjoyable. the big gathering was last evening's dinner, preceded by a social with camembert (spelling?) cheese and Chivas Regal to sip on, even some sliced ham and multi-grain bread. I loved it. Today a friend cooked me a chocolate cake, my first one in a year, my first one since arriving in Kenya last year. It tasted really great (no icing on it however!).
I have been working diligently on preparing my classes for a weekly course at Hekima college, the Jesuit seminary in Nairobi, starting on august 27. The course focuses on Teresa of Avila's classic writing: The Interior Castle, her image for the soul of a human being. she talks about the progressive growth of the human person through rooms that go deeper and deeper, closer and closer to the center of the soul, where Christ waits to receive us. This book so fascinates me. And I have found a commentary on it that is just outstanding--in fact two commentaries, one the students must read along with Teresa's book, the other for me to digest and incorporate into the classes as we go along. I have't done any sustained teaching in over 14 months and really look forward to being back in the classroom with these future priests, all Africans. I don't know yet how many I will get. It is an elective, that is, not a required course. So I might get five people, I might get 20 people. We shall soon know.
A stunning statistic I heard on a TV news program a few days ago: In 20 years from now 4 out of every ten babies born in this world will be born in Africa of African mothers. This continent is going to be more and more prominent in the world's future. I feel honored to be here at this time to do my little part, to plant seeds of God's workings and leave behind some people trained and ready to take this great work of God to its next level of development. What stories we will tell in the next life when we look back on what God did with our lives, what God accomplished with our cooperation in the hearts and minds of the people of our times.
I need to go to bed. Please pray for the many unemployed of this nation. Work is so hard to find for many; they scrape by for their families. In some parts of this country where there has been long-term drought, people are dying from starvation. It is so tough. And South Sudan, just to the north and west of us, is so ripped up because of that endless war, so too Syria and now the peoples of Iraq, especially the Christians of Iraq. The world is really cruel in some places. It has no mercy at all for the weak, for those who are different from those who have power and want to force others to live in their way and for their privileges.
Have a blessed weekend!
Bernie Owens
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Dear Friends,
It is Sunday evening, 8 PM here, 1 PM in Michigan. I am back into giving retreats. My vacation has come to an end. Lots of the time was spent at my computer, yes, at my computer doing some creative work for projects I am responsible for during the coming months. We had two days of sun and mild temps and then today a noticeably chilly day with a wind that made you want to duck out of the way or wear a thick jacket. The days are getting longer--wonderful, and spring cannot be too far ahead. I have been working outside on two rose beds. I am determined to make the rose bushes in those two areas a grand success. They are like my little kids. Spading, lots of bone meal, pruning, more attentive watering. Soon I wish to bring in some hay for mulch, for making the soil more loose, and then the magic: some cow manure that has aged some. Not too much lest everything turns too green and leafy but with few blossoms. Anyway, I am learning and enjoying this for my present hobby. Working in the dirt and creating something beautiful from the earth always refreshes me.
The retreatants I now am guiding are from the Congo, Kenya, Uganda, and two from Tanzania. Two men, three women. The stories I am hearing are something else. We have 48 here during this week while each of them makes an 8-day individually guided retreat.
This coming Thursday is a day of huge, huge importance for all Jesuits in the world, plus those impacted significantly by Ignatian spirituality in their lives and Christian service. Thursday will mark 200 years to the day when the Jesuits were restored as a religious order in the Catholic church. We had been legislated out of existence in 1773, three years before the Declaration of Independence of the American colonies and remained out of existence for 41 years, except in Russia. Thanks to Catherine of Russia, we were not totally wiped out. This is because the decree of abolition by the Vatican was not valid until the political authority of the nation (e.g. Catherine in Russia) co-signed and made the decree effective in their territory. Catherine had schools in Moscow and St. Petersburg which these Polish Jesuits staffed. She liked very much what they were doing, so she refused to implement this decree and wanted the Jesuits to stay and the schools be kept running.
The Polish Jesuits then served as a "beachhead" for the new Society of Jesus and our resurrection in 1814. Please join me and many others in saying 'thank you' to the Lord for His mercy and sustaining power. Otherwise, there would have been no Manresa, no internship, no revival of the Spiritual Exercises as we knew it in the 1960s and more recently. I shudder to think what my life would have become if there had no Society of Jesus. So, again, PLEASE PRAY, PLEASE SAY 'THANK YOU' TO GOD WITH ALL 18,000 JESUITS IN THE WORLD FOR THIS VERY GREAT FAVOR IN JESUIT LIFE. Thank you.
What I am working on right now is a lecture for the opening class of a weekly course I am offering starting on August 27 at the local Jesuit seminary, called Hekima College. The course is on the last and greatest book St. Teresa of Avila wrote, called "The Interior Castle." It is one of the finest presentation on stages of spiritual growth and stages of prayer in the Christian repertoire of spiritual writings. So I want in the lecture to introduce the student to something of what was going on in Spain in the 16th century when Teresa lived, something about the Inquisition that the Dominicans conducted at the request of the Spanish monarchy ( to get rid of all heresy and religious crackpots in Spain!) and the efforts of the king and queen of Spain to mine the Americas for the riches of Spain, to "purify" Spain of all foreigners, Muslims and Jews, and prevent in Spain the religious disintegration that was going on at the time with the Protestant revolt in Germany, France, Bohemia, England and Switzerland. In short, I want the student to have a beginner's feel for the times and political, ecclesial, social and religious climate of her times. Besides Teresa's book, I will have the students read a small paperback that comments on the kind of prayer and distractions a person experiences in each of the seven stages Teresa talks about. These two books, this topic should lend themselves to great discussions and should be a big eye-opener regarding the interior life for those who are committed to daily meditation/contemplation and a strong, conscious relationship with God. I have waited a year to be in a position to teach again. Now that I have myself rather well established here at the retreat center, I can venture out further with a one-course, once a week teaching commitment.
We bought a cow last week. It bleated/groaned loudly so much for its first two days here, lonely I suppose for its former environs. It is producing 15 liters of milk a day (almost 4 gallons). We are pleased.
That is all for now that I can think of. God bless. Enjoy your summer while it lasts.
Bernie Owens
It is Sunday evening, 8 PM here, 1 PM in Michigan. I am back into giving retreats. My vacation has come to an end. Lots of the time was spent at my computer, yes, at my computer doing some creative work for projects I am responsible for during the coming months. We had two days of sun and mild temps and then today a noticeably chilly day with a wind that made you want to duck out of the way or wear a thick jacket. The days are getting longer--wonderful, and spring cannot be too far ahead. I have been working outside on two rose beds. I am determined to make the rose bushes in those two areas a grand success. They are like my little kids. Spading, lots of bone meal, pruning, more attentive watering. Soon I wish to bring in some hay for mulch, for making the soil more loose, and then the magic: some cow manure that has aged some. Not too much lest everything turns too green and leafy but with few blossoms. Anyway, I am learning and enjoying this for my present hobby. Working in the dirt and creating something beautiful from the earth always refreshes me.
The retreatants I now am guiding are from the Congo, Kenya, Uganda, and two from Tanzania. Two men, three women. The stories I am hearing are something else. We have 48 here during this week while each of them makes an 8-day individually guided retreat.
This coming Thursday is a day of huge, huge importance for all Jesuits in the world, plus those impacted significantly by Ignatian spirituality in their lives and Christian service. Thursday will mark 200 years to the day when the Jesuits were restored as a religious order in the Catholic church. We had been legislated out of existence in 1773, three years before the Declaration of Independence of the American colonies and remained out of existence for 41 years, except in Russia. Thanks to Catherine of Russia, we were not totally wiped out. This is because the decree of abolition by the Vatican was not valid until the political authority of the nation (e.g. Catherine in Russia) co-signed and made the decree effective in their territory. Catherine had schools in Moscow and St. Petersburg which these Polish Jesuits staffed. She liked very much what they were doing, so she refused to implement this decree and wanted the Jesuits to stay and the schools be kept running.
The Polish Jesuits then served as a "beachhead" for the new Society of Jesus and our resurrection in 1814. Please join me and many others in saying 'thank you' to the Lord for His mercy and sustaining power. Otherwise, there would have been no Manresa, no internship, no revival of the Spiritual Exercises as we knew it in the 1960s and more recently. I shudder to think what my life would have become if there had no Society of Jesus. So, again, PLEASE PRAY, PLEASE SAY 'THANK YOU' TO GOD WITH ALL 18,000 JESUITS IN THE WORLD FOR THIS VERY GREAT FAVOR IN JESUIT LIFE. Thank you.
What I am working on right now is a lecture for the opening class of a weekly course I am offering starting on August 27 at the local Jesuit seminary, called Hekima College. The course is on the last and greatest book St. Teresa of Avila wrote, called "The Interior Castle." It is one of the finest presentation on stages of spiritual growth and stages of prayer in the Christian repertoire of spiritual writings. So I want in the lecture to introduce the student to something of what was going on in Spain in the 16th century when Teresa lived, something about the Inquisition that the Dominicans conducted at the request of the Spanish monarchy ( to get rid of all heresy and religious crackpots in Spain!) and the efforts of the king and queen of Spain to mine the Americas for the riches of Spain, to "purify" Spain of all foreigners, Muslims and Jews, and prevent in Spain the religious disintegration that was going on at the time with the Protestant revolt in Germany, France, Bohemia, England and Switzerland. In short, I want the student to have a beginner's feel for the times and political, ecclesial, social and religious climate of her times. Besides Teresa's book, I will have the students read a small paperback that comments on the kind of prayer and distractions a person experiences in each of the seven stages Teresa talks about. These two books, this topic should lend themselves to great discussions and should be a big eye-opener regarding the interior life for those who are committed to daily meditation/contemplation and a strong, conscious relationship with God. I have waited a year to be in a position to teach again. Now that I have myself rather well established here at the retreat center, I can venture out further with a one-course, once a week teaching commitment.
We bought a cow last week. It bleated/groaned loudly so much for its first two days here, lonely I suppose for its former environs. It is producing 15 liters of milk a day (almost 4 gallons). We are pleased.
That is all for now that I can think of. God bless. Enjoy your summer while it lasts.
Bernie Owens
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Hello, Everybody,
It is Sunday evening here, July 27. I have had a memorable week. Let me tell you about it.
I have enjoyed some time off from the routine of leading others through retreats. I requested such, saying I did not want to work 12 months out of the year. With the extra time I talked two other Jesuits into going with me last Thursday, the 24th, on a hike to an extinct volcano about 60 miles west of here. I took us one hour and 40 minutes to drive that distance, some of it through mountainous roads, others through towns and villages that make one go so slow, then too some road construction etc. The last three to four miles were through a sandy, dusty road. Two sections were so loose that we nearly got stuck in sand. The site where we were going to climb is called Mount Longonut and has been quiet since 1867. It is a national park as well, and there were a number of other hikers and campers present on the grounds or climbing ahead or behind us that day.
The climb was rather challenging, some of it steep, like a 45 degree grade as we approached the top, and then the trail was not that well kept. Much of the footing was on trails with volcanic ash everywhere, very fine, dusty stuff, light grey in color. Thankfully it was overcast during the whole day; otherwise we would have baked in the sun. As it was we still worked up a good sweat. Halfway up we rested and looked back in the direction from where we had come. What a treat for what we saw: two herds of zebras, two herds of water buffalo, one lone giraffe munching leaves from the tops of the trees, and then one herd of white antelope. They were all grazing, so there had to be a water source somewhere in their chosen area. I did not anticipate seeing all of this. For me it was such a bonus to see all these animals. I wish we had had binoculars. Unfortunately, we did not.
We drank our water and ate our chocolate during the climb. When we got to the top we had a grand view--7600-7700 feet above sea level--in the famous Rift Valley, with a range of impressive mountains across the valley. In the valley is much farming and grazing. When we left I saw two typical scenes of rural Kenya: a father and daughter walking on opposite sides of a wooden flatbed drawn by two donkeys. It look as though they had a load of maze stalks or maybe sugar cane and were taking it to store or be processed. The other scene was that of a woman with a babushka and her head and then strapped to her back, resting laterally across her shoulders, was a bundle of long sticks, maybe kindling for all her cooking needs.
Anyway, when we got to the top of the volcano, we saw an impressive scene, a rim that is 5 miles around and a crater that dropped down maybe 1500-2000 feet below. At the bottom is a forest of trees wo thick that people cannot walk in there. Halfway up on one side of the volcano's inner wall there was a small flow of steam constantly moving upward, geothermal steam from the belly of the volcano. We met numerous hikers up there while many of us huddled under a gazebo for a midday lunch of sandwiches, water, and more chocolate. They were from Holland, Austria, Mexico and about 25 spirited school children from Kenya. So typical of many German-speaking people, one father of an Austrian family had a garage bag with him and was picking up debris and empty plastic water bottles in an effort to clean up the site. Later, we took lots of photos with each other's cameras and chatted some. It was a nice addition to the awesome view and a time to congratulate each other in making it to the top. We spent maybe 45 minutes up there and then began the descent, what turned out to be much more difficult than the climb up.
It took me as much time to go down as I spent going up: one hour and 45 minutes! I had to stop often and rest my legs, which were working very hard to brake the momentum downward and not give out and leave me hurt. As I said, the trail was quite poorly kept in numerous places, with dropoffs and ankle twisting surfaces in some parts. Numerous times I simply sat down and slid along on all fours, moving myself by my hands planted behind me. Of course, the dust I was collecting and dirt on my skin, in my backpack, and in my shoes was something else! (I ended up looking as though I had been in a dirt-throwing fight with a number of others in a big free-for-all! Pictures were taken of me in this mess! Lots of laughter!) My main concern was to guard against my thighs and the muscles on the outer sides of my upper legs collapsing out of fatigue. Should that happen I anticipated a broken shoulder or arm or worse. That is why I rested often and made sure I did not do something foolish or hasty. This made for more than one hour of the most difficult hiking I have ever done. Eventually I made it to the bottom and was so glad to see our car. I got in so thankfully and said to myself that I was glad I did the climb but I am sure it will remain a once-only-in-a-lifetime experience. Never again that climb!! One of the Jesuits made the whole trek as well up and down while the other one, an 80 year old man, cancelled out about a third of the way up. He had had carotid artery surgery once in his life and should not have said 'yes' to this adventure. He was gasping for air at one point and lay out on the ground for 20 minutes before wisely going back to the camping grounds and waiting there for the two of us to finish. Our car-driver stayed with him just in case he needed immediate help.
On our way home, while still in the mountains we stopped briefly at a little church/chapel beautifully constructed by Italian POWs during World War II. They had also done much of the work in carving out from the sides of the mountain what ended up being the main road through the mountains. I am also told that during that time there were wild animals in the forests, including lions, and some of these POWs while working on this road died from attacks by these animals. How awful! Such animals have been hunted out by now.
W came home, I ate a great dinner, and with it drank an ice cold beer that tasted SO good, then showered and collapsed in bed for 10.5 hours. My thighs and legs on the outer sides were so very sore and have been so up to this afternoon, 72 hours later. For the first two days I did not want to walk up to my office since to return I would have to walk down and that would be difficult on my thighs and muscles at the knees. No problem now. There is minor soreness now but nothing like on Friday and Saturday. Still, this morning, after a sleep last night for about 7.5 hours, I slept two more hours. It helped to have it drizzling outside and overcast with temps around the mid to low 50s. Good sleeping weather, and a good way to spend some of my Sunday!!
The newspapers here in Nairobi are always reporting front page news on the local fighting between the two major political parties. It could be compared to Mitt Romney still being very prominently in the public eye and forming a big rally of Republicans near the Washington Monument to challenge Barack Obama and his present policies and then setting forth an agenda of 13 points on what needs to be done to turn around the USA. It would all be very public, not in the Congress, but in public. This is what has happened here in the last three weeks with the head of the party that lost the national election last year. Unfortunately, the parties are identified largely with the two largest tribes in the nation. Tribalism so influences where people stand politically. At the same time both parties admit that probably the #1 challenge to this nation is the internal corruption of bribery as a way of procedure. There is so much of this and it is compromising the security of Kenya's citizens. There seems to be little national loyalty on the part of the police and even the military; when people can be given a bribe, they will look the other way at the expense of the safety of its citizens. If this issue is not faced squarely and sanctions effectively brought against violaters, this nation is going to get isolated and largely ignored by the international community. No one is going to want to visit here or do business. It is sad in light of the potential this part of the world has!
Last Tuesday was the feast day of St. Mary Magdalene. I was asked about an hour before mass time to lead the mass for someone who gotten caught in traffic and was supposed to lead the 5:15 PM mass for the retreatants. So, prepare quickly I did! I did get into the theme, that of the gospel reading (John 20:11-18) in which the risen Jesus meets a distraught Mary Magdalene next to the tomb on Easter morning. She thinks he is the gardener and wants him to tell him where the body of Jesus is, but once she hears Him call her by her name, she recognizes Him and knows Him to be alive and risen. It is then that her most important moment comes. He gives her the focus of the rest of her life. It will define her forever. She has seen Him and so He tells her, missions her, to go forth and tell His brothers (the world) that she has seen the Lord. She has seen Him alive and no longer dead. And the gospel writer implies, of course, that this is what she did for the rest of her life as the early church began to form. And, as I emphasized in the homily, we are a resurrection people, meant to recognize in our daily experience where the risen Christ has shown up, to recognize His presence and realize we too have seen Him, and we are supposed to make it a point to do what she did: to tell others in whatever way we can the ways in which we have SEEN Him in and around us, in our lives and in the lives of others. We are to gain our spiritual eye-sight and spread the good news as she did that we have seen the Lord. The problem is: we are so often suffering from spiritual near-sightedness, focused on our fears and concerns, on trivia, idle curiosities, and future goals that we are largely blind and out of touch with the way God's gifts are right there in front of us. We are blinded by so much instead of seeing the risen Savior right there in our daily experience. For many of us we don't know how to see nor are we free enough, spiritually alert enough to see this reality "behind the veil" of our daily routine. But when we are blessed in the Spirit with a growing awareness of our name as called by Him, we, like Mary Magdalene, awaken to the meaning of our day, of our life, and so in the midst of our jobs and caring for our families, we see the meaning of it all and make sure that we witness, that we share with others th ways He came to us during our day and gave us His peace, "broke bread with us", and consoled and encouraged us to live well our day and the life the Father is giving us.
Three days ago the publisher of my book sent me three possible front cover designs. All three had merit but one was especially fitting. I like my choice! Then too, another employee of the company asked me to help her finalize the short statement that goes on the book jacket and gives the reader a very quick sense of what the book is about. Also, I had to write an updated short bio that tells the reader who I, the author, am. This too will be printed on the back cover. Lastly, I am preparing five names and addresses of published authors who might be willing to read the final version of the text and give a formal recommendation that can be quoted on the back cover. Details, details! See how involved it is to publish a book! I am still on schedule to have it available for sale come next January.
God bless. I am off to bed. Have a great week. Enjoy your summer. Happy St. Ignatius feast day next Thursday (the 31st) to all you who consider yourselves sons and daughters of St. Ignatius and his spiritual vision!
By the way, last Wednesday, the 23rd, I marked 11 months since I came to Kenya. Wow, almost a full year!
Bernie
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