“Jesuits Offer Spiritual Retreats for the Homeless”

from Jesuits.org:

It all began in Chicago in 1998 when Jesuit Father Bill Creed was asked by his provincial to find a way to make the Spiritual Exercises available to the economically disadvantaged. Along with Ed Shurna, executive director of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Fr. Creed developed a format for providing Ignatian retreats to men and women who are homeless and in recovery from addiction.

Today the Ignatian Spirituality Project (ISP) is a national network with overnight retreat programs in 26 cities across the United States and Canada. With ongoing training and support from ISP’s Chicago-based office, dedicated volunteers in each city deliver the retreats.

Jesuit Ted Penton is one of them. A Jesuit in formation from English Canada, Penton is now in his second year as a program officer with ISP. “When a fellow Canadian Jesuit told me about ISP, something clicked for me,” he explained. “I’ve always had a passion for working with men and women on the margins and since entering the Society had developed a strong desire to work in spiritual direction as well. In doing training in spiritual direction I felt that a lot of these resources could benefit people who lack the means to attend typical Jesuit retreats.”

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