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A Jesuit Viewpoint of the First Toltec Agreement, Be Impeccable with Your Word When Don Miguel Ruiz published The Four Agreements , he drew on ancient Toltec wisdom , a tradition that sees words as magic, capable of casting spells of freedom or harm. His first and most foundational agreement, Be Impeccable with Your Word , asks us to speak with integrity, avoid gossip, and use language to create truth and love. I can’t help but hear an Ignatian echo in this teaching. Jesuit spirituality treats words as sacred tools, to be used with discernment, humility, and purpose. Both traditions remind us that every word we speak shapes the world. Truth + Discernment Jesuit teaching goes further than Ruiz’s invitation to personal integrity. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, encouraged discernment: asking not just Is this true? but Should I say it? How should I say it? When? Being impeccable isn’t just blurting out truth; it’s aligning our speech with love, humility, and timing...
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The Strength of Gentleness One of my favorite saints, though one who isn’t as renowned as others, is St. Francis de Sales. Where our world equates strength with dominance and aggression, St. Francis de Sales offers a radically countercultural truth: "Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength." — St. Francis de Sales This single sentence captures the heart of his spiritual vision: that genuine strength is not loud, domineering, or forceful—but patient, compassionate, and grounded in love. A Life Shaped by Mercy and Wisdom Born in 1567 in the Duchy of Savoy, St. Francis de Sales was destined for a career in law before he felt called to the priesthood. He eventually became Bishop of Geneva during a time of great religious conflict, yet his pastoral approach was marked by calm and humility, not confrontation. In a time of theological polemics and political unrest, he chose gentleness over argument, persuasion over coercion. “There was n...
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  Jesus Wept. So Did Tony Stark. Why the Jesuits Love a Good Redemption Arc We love watching people change. Maybe because deep down, we’re all hoping we can too. Whether it’s Darth Vader removing his mask, Zuko switching sides in Avatar: The Last Airbender , or even Saul Goodman realizing he can’t outrun the wreckage of his own choices—redemption arcs hit us where we live. They remind us that people are complicated, capable of surprising growth, and rarely just one thing. Which is why Jesuits would probably feel right at home in a writers’ room. Ignatian spirituality is obsessed with transformation—but not the tidy, three-act kind. Instead, the Jesuit tradition understands the human story as messy, recursive, and marked by the slow, often painful work of discernment . You don’t “level up” and become a saint. You learn to notice, over time, where the spirit is moving—and where ego, fear, and false desire are leading you astray. St. Ignatius himself was a vain, wounded sold...
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The Bible as Library: Exploring Its Diverse Collection The word "Bible" comes from the Greek word "biblia," meaning "books" or "scrolls," suggesting not a single monolithic text, but rather a collection; essentially a library bound between two covers. This perspective invites us to reconsider our understanding of this ancient and influential text. When we view the Bible as a library, we recognize it contains a remarkable diversity of literary genres spanning hundreds of years of composition: Historical Narratives : From Genesis's creation accounts to the chronicles of kings and kingdoms, these texts attempt to record significant events and genealogies of the Hebrew people and early Christian church. Poetry and Wisdom Literature : The Psalms offer lyrical expressions of praise, lament, and human experience, while Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job explore profound philosophical questions about suffering, meaning, and the good life. Prop...
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Saint Cecilia and the Music of Resistance Every year on November 22 , the Church honors Saint Cecilia , the patron saint of music. Her name resounds through centuries of sacred song, but like many early martyrs, the historical record around her is thin, more legend than biography. What we have is a story—perhaps shaped by devotion more than documentation—of a Roman noblewoman who “sang in her heart to the Lord” even during her wedding, even as the empire closed in around her faith. That line "sang in her heart to the Lord" stayed with me. As someone who has spent decades living through music, touring and recording, I’ve come to understand that music is more than melody. It’s how we hold space for what words alone can’t carry. Saint Cecilia didn’t leave us a songbook. Unlike Hildegard of Bingen , we have no notated compositions, no preserved hymns. So why music? Because music, like faith, is a form of interior resistance. Cecilia’s heart-song during her wedding wasn’...
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Counting Without Care: The Dangers of a National Autism Registry Imagine a parent hesitating before agreeing to an autism diagnosis for their child.   Not because they doubt the truth of it, but because they fear what being on the list might mean. Now imagine that fear becoming widespread, shifting clinical practices and reshaping statistics; not because autism is disappearing, but because honesty is becoming dangerous. This is the ethical and epistemological tangle we face if a national autism registry becomes reality. The Promise of a Registry Let’s begin in good faith. On paper, a centralized autism registry could offer immense benefits: Accurate data could support better resource allocation in schools, clinics, and workplaces. Researchers could access large-scale data sets, leading to deeper understanding and improved therapies. Policy-makers might craft smarter laws rooted in real demographic data. In short, the hope is that if we c...
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Ethics 101 (With a Scottish Accent) One of my favorite teachers in high school was a wiry Scotsman named Mr. Ballantyne. He wasn’t a Jesuit, but he might as well have been. His demeanor was no-nonsense, his standards were high, and his wit as sharp as the thorns on a sprig of thistle. He taught Ethics—a required course at my Catholic high school. Mr. Ballantyne didn’t just teach Ethics as a subject; he lived it like a calling. His classroom was where we learned to think about what was right and wrong in a deeper way—not just in terms of rules or punishments, but in terms of what kind of people we were becoming. He taught us that ethics isn’t about having the right answers, it’s about asking better questions. That’s a very Jesuit idea, even if he never said cura personalis out loud. So what is ethics, really? At its core, ethics is a framework of moral principles that guide our actions and decisions. It’s how we navigate the question: What kind of life should I live, and how s...
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