All You Need Is Love

During the month of February (Feb 3 to March 5) myself and five other Jesuits will be engaged with the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola ... the 30-day silent retreat. This retreat will be held at the Colombiere Center, a Jesuit retreat house just north of Detroit. This is also the location of our Jesuit infirmary, where all of us (Chicago and Detroit provinces) end up when we can no longer slurp our soup! Here is a shot of the building itself. See more at the "see my photos" link to the left.

Please pray for us during February, and feel free to convey to me any intentions you might have as we pray. Use the email link at the top left of this page (before Friday Feb 3). To see more of what this tertianship experience is about, click: http://www.jesuits-chi.org/publications/Partners/Partners_fall_2005/FA05_Formation.pdf

Much of this retreat will be spent reflecting upon the many magnificent gifts I have received from God ... many of which have come from knowing the people I love and care for. If you are reading this, that most likely includes YOU! So, thanks for showing me a little bit more of what God means by "LOVE."

Thanks very much for your love and prayers. Peace to all.

Long, Long, Long

Greetings from Detroit.

This is a view from my bedroom window here at the Jesuit novitiate in Berkley, Michigan. While the novices are away, five others and I are here until May as we complete our "tertianship" experiement. The final stage of formation before final vows. Thus far we have been reading closely the autobiography of Ignatius and now we are studying the history of the Jesuits.

Next up is the LONG retreat. Remember that we will be in seclusion up at our retreat house in Clarkston, Michigan for the "long retreat" ... the full 30-day Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola. Please keep us in prayer.

Plus, if you have any intentions or prayer requests for me, please send them before Feb 1 to my email address: pafbanks@yahoo.com

If you would like more info about the tertianship stage, please click this link to read about us ...

http://www.jesuits-chi.org/publications/Partners/Partners_fall_2005/FA05_Formation.pdf

Peace to all.

Magical Mystery Tour

Bonjour from France. Here I am in front of Le Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris. But the mystery is to look closely to actually find me. Then look closely for the rising moon.

The pilgrimage to Paris was superb and relaxing. January is not the best time for tourism, so the city was mine for the asking. However, some chilly and cloudy mornings made it impossible to see much of this beautiful city. In this photo to the right, don't worry about not seeing the upper portion of the Eiffel Tower; it is covered in fog. And it was not a good idea to sip a cold drink at an outdoor cafe on the Champs-Elysses. But inside worked fine. And the museums!

See more photos on my Flickr site, the link is here just to the left on my blog page. Au revoir.