Abide Together: Community Reflection
Stop. Take a moment to nourish your body, mind and spirit. Reflect on your relationship with God. And as you consider the role of God in your daily life, let Saint Louis University's Office of Mission and Identity help you discern the steps on your spiritual and personal journey through a guided retreat grounded in a new book by SLU's Joe Laramie, S.J.
As a means to come together, the SLU community can participate in a guided retreat through a selected community reflection, published regularly in Newslink and online. The reflections will be drawn from Laramie's new book, Abide in the Heart of Christ: A 10-Day Personal Retreat with St. Ignatius Loyola, Based on the Spiritual Exercises, from Ave Maria Press.
Retreat and reflection are hallmarks of Jesuit life and form a key pillar of the Office of Mission and Identity's work to nurture the SLU community in the spirit of cura personalis.
Want to Start the journey?
Passages for Reflection
“I am created as a likeness and image of his divine majesty” (The Spirtual Exercises, 235)
Ignatius points us to the opening chapter of Genesis. There we see the Father shaping, handcrafting Adam and Eve. The scriptures show us how the human race is the pinnacle of God’s creation. God made us, and God looks at you and sees that you are “very good” (Genesis 1:31).
Page 16
Since we are made in God’s image, we are like God. We have an ability to know, understand, speak, listen, and love. God has all knowledge, and God is love; still, we share in his gifts in our own, human way. Our hearts are made in the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. His heart beats with love for us, even at this very moment.
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Imagine God looking at you with joy and love. He is pleased. He did a good job, a "very good” job in fact. God looks upon your heart and smiles. What do you feel in your heart when you see God looking at you? Are you happy? Embarrassed? For many of us, seeing ourselves as ‘made in the image of God’ is not easy, even though we are made for communion with the Lord. Yet the truth is that God desires a loving relationship with us in this life and in eternal life.
Pages 16-17
Our culture often emphasizes the things that are wrong with us. Advertisements constantly tell us we’re not wealthy enough, not beautiful enough, not strong enough, not cool enough. Yet sometimes we do get a glimpse of our true identity as beloved sons and daughters of the Father.
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Watch Newslink for the next Community Reflection coming soon.
Saint Louis University’s Office of Mission and Identity ensures that the principles and traditions of Catholic, Jesuit higher education, and the mission and core values of SLU are integrated into operations, structures, programs and practices, and the formation of its students, faculty, staff, administration and board members.
To further its goals, the Office of Mission and Identity sponsors several programs, on and off campus, each dedicated to the intellectual and spiritual growth of the participants, and all in the Jesuit tradition. Faculty, staff and students have numerous options as well, with mission programs, opportunities to present their own experiences and reflections, retreats and conferences year round.