IJC Voice
March 2022
Volume 12, Issue 6
Greetings!

Traditionally the three Lenten practices are prayer, penance and alms giving.

The Lenten journey in 2022 is particularly poignant as humanity globally continues to grapple with the experience of isolation and withdrawal from the comforts of daily social interaction in an effort to contain the contagion. Our experience since Spring 2020 is not unlike Jesus’ withdrawal into the desert for 40 days. We have been drawn into our inner selves and many of us have searched for a deeper comprehension of our life’s purpose. Some have resisted the daily constraints and been tempted to engage in blame, angry rants, and bitter resentment of their circumstances.

Let us come together in our Lenten practice to learn the deeper messages hidden in this pandemic. Many of us have responded to this challenging time by reading and learning, and applying ourselves to new skills. Deprived of our usual social distractions, we have tuned into the natural world with renewed amazement. We have engaged in a time for stillness and quiet listening by finding special places to walk or pray. We have renewed our compassion for each other’s sorrows and found ways to uplift each other’s joys. We have prayed to remind ourselves of God’s protection and promise of eternal life.
Our Centre has been blessed by your friendship and generosity these past two years. Your astonishing response to our appeal for $500,000 to fund the installation of Loyola House ensuite washrooms has met this goal and donations continue to come in! We are deeply grateful.

We look forward to once again providing you with programs, events and the opportunity to stay with us where nature gives strength to mind, body and soul. We appreciate your ongoing support as we continue with additional preparations to open in April.

May your Lenten practice bless you with a renewed capacity for contemplation and learning, for engaging in both the sorrows and joys of life, and for knowing God’s all-encompassing love.

Lenten Blessings,

Roger Yaworski, SJ
Executive Director
Loyola House - Retreats & Ignatian Training
It's exciting to share that the opening of Loyola House to on-site retreats and programs is just around the corner!
 
  • Holy Week Retreat - April 9-17
  • Easter Triduum - April 14-17
  • Trees: Earth Day Weekend Retreat - April 22-24
  • Listening to Indigenous Voice 8-Day Retreat - May 18-26
  • Birds: Earth Day Weekend Retreat - May 27-29


When we sow a seed,
we plant a narrative of future possibility.

~ Sue Stuart-Smith
Ignatius Farm - Preparing for 2022's growing season!
2022 Get the Water Flowing!
We have a big goal for 2022: a reliable water supply for Ignatius Farm. We are not in the city where watering your garden just means turning on a nearby faucet. Even as a peri-urban farm, we don’t have that benefit.
 
The newly drilled farm well needs electrical connections, a pump and plumbing, a water storage system, and distribution lines to the fields.
 
Ignatius Farm launched the well project through securing initial grants and your donations. Now, we need your help to raise $60,000 to complete this project this year.

Make your contribution today! No donation or contribution idea is too small…
  • Share our appeal and your farm connection story with your friends and social media followers
  • Direct donations for a birthday celebration to Ignatius Farm in lieu of gifts
  • Round up your CSA share purchase to the next $100

Sponsor the well campaign through a corporate donation. Our team can offer your team some great on-farm experiences and other perks to honour your corporate sponsorship. farmmanager@ignatiusguelph.ca
 
Read all about it in the Farm’s E-News here!
Have you registered for CSA?
The seeds have arrived and the Farm team is busy seeding for the upcoming growing season. Lock in your food prices today for the year to avoid food cost increases. Enjoy weekly farm produce directly from the Farm or through a neighbourhood pick up site.
 
Your solidarity today means the farm is growing for YOU all year! 

Let's do this - sign up today for weekly farm fresh veggies!
New Farmer Training Program
Are you scaling up your garden or dreaming of starting your own farm business? Maybe you want to start a homestead or increase your farming knowledge? This is the year to join our Ignatius Farm New Farmer Training Program! 
 
Registration opens soon! 
Through 4 terms participants gain foundational farming knowledge, learn about specialized aspects of farming, and end with a focus on establishing farm businesses.  
 
Sign up for one term or the whole program!
The program is online with some optional in-person programming. Events are recorded for later viewing.
Register at efao.ca/events or go to
FARM OPPORTUNITIES -

Is your root cellar almost empty?
We are having one last root sale. Order by March 17 and pick up at the Farm on March 23, 11am-4pm. Order your root veggies here!

Join us! Orchard Planning & Pruning Event
The beloved orchard at Ignatius is transitioning into a collectively-run community orchard. Join the Orchard team for the 2022 season starting March 26!

Go to this link to find out more and sign up...you are welcome for the whole event or just the planning or pruning session.
Poetry
Ending Nationalist, Imperialist Aggression - by Greg Kennedy, SJ
walk the land
(stop the war)
watch the creek
(stop the war)
hug the oak
(stop the war)
heed the thrush
(stop the war)
feel the bark
(stop the war)
smell the pine
(stop the war)
slow the race
(stop the war)
stop your wars
(stop the war)
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A Way to Support People Displaced by War in Ukraine
Canadian Jesuits International is receiving donations for the work of Jesuits and their lay partners in Ukraine and in neighbouring countries as they accompany people forcibly displaced by the war.
To make a donation or to share with your network, please click here
Anquished Prayer - by James Clarke
First the long loneliness of COVID and now
the dark shadow of Ukraine and the fear
of nuclear extinction hanging over our heads
like the blade of a guillotine. As we flail &
stumble toward You Lord along a path strewn
with the debris of human perversity how
much longer can You remain mute to the cries
of our wounded world?
 
There are no metaphors to disguise our
nakedness and the numbness we feel beneath
our skins. Having dismantled Your heavenly
throne and removed Your crown of thorns
will we ever find the strength to hold our palms
together in prayer, breathe again the sweet
clear air of day? We need Your help Lord,
bestow your great Mercy upon us, breach
this black night of the soul with Your light.  
  
Sharing some other opportunities with you...
Grit, Grief, Gratitude: New Psalms Playlist for a Modern Easter Road Trip
Webinar - April 7 @ 2pm ET
The Christian story takes seriously both destruction and resurrection. To live that story is to experience both deeply, passionately and paradoxically.

In this near-end-of-Lent event, Greg Kennedy, SJ (poet) and Lorraine Roy (textile artist) will roll out their latest two volumes of Reupholstered Psalms, books that try to stay true to the beauty, hurt and hard humour alive in the destruction and resurrection all around us today.

Lorraine and Greg plan to offer participants an artistic, reflective, hopeful lift on the road to Easter 2022.
Webinar - April 7 @ 2pm ET
Ignatian Spirituality Conference
500 years of spiritual richness to use in our lives today

The Jesuits of Canada are hosting their first-ever online Ignatian Spirituality Conference this spring! Register to take part in this free event from April 2-3, 2022, and experience time-tested methods to delve deeper in the spiritual life, recognizing our call to collaborate in Jesus’ project of hope, reconciliation and justice.

Why Attend?
·        Make meaningful connections
·        Benefit from 500 years of spiritual richness to use in your life today
·        Eight sessions with speakers including James Martin, SJ, Laurence Loubières, XMCJ, and Greg Kennedy, SJ

Learn more and register today: https://bit.ly/3oD1J0m