What did Jesus of Mazareth look like? We have neither contemporary pictorial representations of him, nor even a description in words by any of those who knew him. Yet you can probably conjure up an image in your mind’s eye: of a long-haired, bearded man, looking rather older than someone in his early thirties might be expected to, somewhat unkempt, and stern or smiling according to your taste. Eastern icons, Renaissance artists and twentieth-century film-makers have all contributed to and reinforced this impression. Even when you know it has little basis in fact, it can be hard to shake off. Of course, Christian faith does not require a believer to hold any particular view about the appearance of Jesus. It seems, though, that the process of arriving at an image of one’s own can itself help us to deepen this faith.
Stephen McCarthy, ‘Climate Change and the Spiritual Exercises’, 7–18
There is much scientific evidence today to suggest that human activity, especially in industrialised countries, is having large-scale effects on global climate. It remains difficult, though, to get people to act together to mitigate these effects. Stephen McCarthy believes that the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius, properly understood and applied, can be a tool to enable people to act effectively in this way.
Ruth Agnes Evans, ‘Who Are You, Immaculata? The Sinlessness of the Virgin and Human Dignity in the Thought and Life of Maximilian Kolbe’, 19–34
The Franciscan priest Maximilian Kolbe, imprisoned in Auschwitz, volunteered in 1941 to take the place of a married man condemned to a lingering death by starvation by the concentration camp guards. The man whose life he saved was present at Kolbe’s canonisation four decades later. Ruth Agnes Evans traces The Way in which Kolbe’s devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and especially to her sinlessness, strengthened him for the sacrifice that he made.
Earl McKenzie, ‘Painting Jesus: An Essay on Philosophy, Art and Religion’, 35–48
Earl McKenzie is a Jamaican novelist and poet, philosopher and painter. Starting from the intriguing question of whether the act of painting can itself be a form of philosophizing, he goes on to consider here what significance the attempt to paint Jesus,
Ignatius Jesudasan, ‘Who Were the Resurrection-Announcing Angels?’, 59–66
Each of the four Gospels tells of disciples of Jesus who go to his tomb once the Sabbath following the crucifixion is over, and are greeted by heavenly messengers who announce the news of his resurrection. But who were the angelic creatures bearing this i
Richard Boileau, ‘Dealing with Loss: Balthasar’s Three Forms of Abandonment’, 67–82
The concept of abandonment is one that is common in the works of the Roman Catholic theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar. In his Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius Loyola uses the idea of indifference in a comparable way. Richard Boileau draws on his own clinical experience of dealing with clients suffering from bereavement to suggest that these two notions can be of great help to those who are coming to terms with loss in their lives.
James Menkhaus, ‘An Ignatian Retreat amid the Poverty of Ecuador’, 83–93
In Ecuador a programme known as Rostro de Cristo (‘Face of Christ’) offers young Christians a chance to volunteer to live out their faith for a year in practical service of those suffering the effects of poverty. The programme includes regular periods of
Toufic Makhoul, ‘On Jesus Crucified and Forsaken’, 95–103
Toufic Makhoul has already written for The Way expounding the spirituality of Chiara Lubich, founder of the lay Focolare movement. Here he considers the relationship between the suffering that Christ endured in his earthly life, and that which that his followers have continued to experience ever since. Makhoul has a particular concern with what this understanding might have to offer those living in ‘rich, spiritually exhausted Western societies’.