Ignatian Day, the annual
opportunity for members of the JCU community to deepen their understanding
of the university's Catholic and Jesuit mission and  identity,
took place on Friday, January 12.
’'The Heart's Personal Calling and Social Justice' was the theme of guest speaker John Neafsey PsyD, practicing
clinical psychologist, adjunct faculty member of the Theology Department at Loyola
University Chicago and volunteer therapist at the Marjorie Kovler Center for
the Treatment of Survivors of Torture. (More on
Neafsay.)
"It's a particular blessing to study or work in a Jesuit university like
John Carroll," Neafsay
said, "where there's not only permission but encouragement to think about
and talk about these kinds of concerns."
In a message to faculty, staff and administration President Robert L.
Neihoff SJ observed, "John's reflections may be of value to all
of us who deal with students on a daily basis and even with regard to the choices
we face as a university community." | 
In smaller groups FSA participants discussed (1) how one can fulfill oneself
& contribute to the common good, (2) how we as a community can contributed
locally & globally and (3) how we can help our students make the best choices
for themselves & for others. |
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John
Neafsey is a practicing clinical psychologist and a senior
lecturer in the Department of Theology at Loyola University
Chicago. He also is a volunteer therapist at the Marjorie
Kovler Center for the Treatment of Survivors of Torture in
Chicago. John lives with his wife and two children in
Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood. |
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A
Sacred Voice is Calling:
Personal Vocation and Social Conscience |
His new book, A
Sacred Voice is Calling: Personal Vocation and Social
Conscience (Orbis Books, April 2006), is an
ecumenical, interdisciplinary exploration of the psychology,
spirituality, and ethics of vocational discernment
and social responsibility. Drawing widely on insights
from modern psychology, scripture, liberation theology
and the mystical traditions of the world, Neafsey examines
the relationship between personal calling and social
conscience, exploring the criteria for distinguishing
between the authentic voice of our true calling and
all of the other distracting, competing, counterfeit
voices in ourselves and in our culture that tend to
get us on the wrong track. Socially responsible discernment
seeks a balance between contemplative inward listening
for the inner voice and socially-engaged listening
to the ways that the needs and sufferings of our world
are calling for intelligent, compassionate attention. |
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| Reviews |
“It is uncommon
to see now down in print the same kindness of mind and
heart that I have known from my dealings with the author.
Equally rare is to find in eloquent prose the same acute
social conscience John Neafsey displays in his daily
life. A book about calling could be so predictable. This
one isn't!"
--John Haughey SJ, Woodstock Theological Center
"An excellent book: a perceptive combination of spiritual
wisdom, psychological insight, and biblical passion."
--Marcus Borg, author, The Heart of Christianity
“John Neafsey has written a gentle, winsome reflection
on the call of God, holding a double focus of mystical
intimacy and bold social justice. We now live in a world
of autonomy that variously breeds pride or despair. Either
way, our society most prizes an un-called life. This
book lines out the good news that there is an alternative.
The call that redefines us is from beyond; but it sends
us back to demanding life, changed, new, and with power.
This book will serve well those who hope for and engage
an alternative way in the world.”
-- Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary
“In a world of systemic distraction, exhausting
consumerism, and insideous injustice, both younger and
older adults will find in John Neafsey's thoughtful, often
moving, and inspiring excavation of vocation, social
conscience, and the prophetic tradition a compelling
tug to the Center--an awakening to the cry of those
who bear most of the social cost and to the sacred
within, among, and beyond us. This book offers a
pathway to our authentic homeplace within the ecology
of Life.”
--Sharon Daloz Parks, Big Questions, Worthy Dreams |
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