A Message From Our Director

Dear Agrupados,

The Society of Jesus has the longest formation program in the Church. While every other religious order invites its members to full profession or membership before ordination, the Jesuit order has always enjoyed an exception to the rule and continues the formation of Jesuits well after ordination. Only until Jesuits complete the last period of formation known as tertianship (tercera probación) are they considered for profession of solemn vows and definitive incorporation in the Order. The essential part of this final stage of formation is the 30-day Spiritual Exercises. Jesuits do the month-long retreat twice in their lives. The first time was at the start of the religious vocation in the novitiate and then a second time at the conclusion of formation. While the retreat is the same, it is done under completely different circumstances and with different ends. When the retreat is done by novices, it is meant to discern a vocation to enter the Society of Jesus. The end of the retreat back then was to make an election, under the guidance of Ignatian spirituality, to either enter or not enter the Jesuits.

The Jesuit that does this retreat a second time during tertianship is not discerning a vocation—the election has already been made—but rather orients the retreat to identify even more closely with Christ in the context of a vocation that is already well underway. As the Society of Jesus intends to fully incorporate the Jesuit into the institute, so does the Jesuit seek to incorporate himself more fully into the will of the Father, the Revelation of the Son, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Today I begin the month-long retreat, and as in any Spiritual Exercises, I will be held to silence and solitude, so that I can tune into the Lord’s voice. I will not be reachable until the conclusion of the retreat on the Vespers of the Feast of St. Ignatius. While I will be disconnected from everyone, know that you all will be very connected in my prayer during this time. What we present to the Lord during this time is the work that we do for Him now, and the ACU is that work. Please remember me in your prayers over the next four weeks, so that this may be a time of renewal and reinvigoration in the mission.

En Cristo y hasta la fiesta de S. Ignacio,

Fr. Christian A. Sáenz, SJ

Ecclesiastical Director