Listening Actively

Listening actively is a personal quality that all participants in communal discernment should possess or endeavor to possess, especially when the results of that discernment will influence the apostolic future of the Society of Jesus on the East Coast. In the fall, the spiritual conversations in our Jesuit Communities and Regional Gatherings will invite us into the grace that we hear in the Second Note in the Contemplation to "Attain the Love of God in the Spiritual Exercises." There, Ignatius observes that “love consists in a mutual sharing of goods. ”The “good” that we will be sharing in the fall is the fruit of our prayer together. This will require “vulnerability” from all participants.

Damian Zynda from McQuaid Jesuit observed in a Zoom meeting last week that vulnerability does not have to do with speaking; it has to with “allowing ourselves to be influenced by the experience and perspective of another person.” The East Coast Jesuits and Lay Colleagues who will participate in communal discernment next fall will begin a “Summer Spiritual Journey” beginning on July 8. For an effective “mutual sharing of goods,” active listening is required. Read on about “What does it mean to truly listen to the other?”