Jesuit Journeys
Spring 2007

The Jesuit Partnership:
Councils help greatly in carrying out the work of Wisconsin Province.

Fr. Dick McGarrity, SJ
President,The Jesuit Partnership

Jesus said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile,”(Mark 6:31.)
This is the atmosphere that is intended for the retreats.

One of the main purposes of the Jesuit Partnership is to raise sufficient funds to support our seminarians, (which includes our novices and men in their future formation,) our elder and infirm Jesuits, who deserve proper care in their declining years, and for our foreign mission activities which are focused in Eastern Africa and Northeast India. These needs are continuous and I thank all of you who so generously support them with your financial contributions.

In this article I want to single out many others, who while they support us financially, also help us in many different ways. I want to mention specifically our Jesuit Partnership Councils which we have set up in the three major metropolitan areas within the Wisconsin Province. We have Councils in Milwaukee, with Tim Hanley (Marquette University) as Chair, Minneapolis/St. Paul, chaired by Steve Lucke (Holy Cross College), and Omaha, with Mike Dahir (Creighton University) as chair. In each of these centers our Councils consist of anywhere from 14 to 20 members, men and women, who advise us and help us in our fund raising and by identifying other needs they see calling out for greater Jesuit presence.

A good illustration of Jesuit Partnership Council advice which leads to action occurred in the Twin Cities at one of our meetings in 2003. It was observed that there is a real need in the area for a silent Ignatian retreat for women. For many years the Jesuits in the area have offered silent weekend retreats for men only at Demontreville Retreat House in Lake Elmo, Minn. These have been extremely well attended.

It was anticipated that a large number of the wives of the Demontreville retreatants and other women in the area would be anxious to have a similar spiritual experience. After some discussion Meg Mannix, David Graff and Meg Connolly were designated as a sub-committee of the Council to look into the matter and as they say, the rest is history. The women’s retreats have been held at Christ the King Retreat House in Buffalo, Minn. Within the first year, the retreats, which have a capacity of 68, were way over-subscribed and a large number of women were left disappointed by not finding a place. The solution was to add a second retreat, which is now in place.

You might wonder what benefits are foreseen in a silent Ignatian retreat. The promotional material which is used for the women’s retreats define what the retreat is meant to be. First of all it states that it recalls the time when the Apostles, who had been sent out to teach, preach repentance and cure the sick, were reporting back to Jesus as we read in Mark’s Gospel.

Jesus said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile,”(Mark 6:31.) This is the atmosphere that is intended for the retreats. As the promotional piece states, “The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius help us to focus on how much God loves us and our need to accept that love. By looking at the life of Christ, we gain insight into how to live our lives. Christ not only died but also rose that we might have life to a fuller extent. By reflecting on this in silence, we can see more clearly who we are and how we need to grow in order to really live in the modem world.”

So the Jesuit Partnership, through its Councils in Milwaukee, Omaha and Minneapolis/St. Paul is engaged in more than fund raising for the Wisconsin Province Jesuits, as important as that is. The Councils, each in its own way and with distinctive activities suitable to their respective cities, provide advice and work to promote Jesuit spirituality. This is accomplished largely by the efforts of many committed lay men and women who freely give of their time and energy to help us and we are grateful to them.

So, the Jesuits and their benefactors do form a true partnership in which we all join together in praising and thanking God.