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| Fr.
Bill Creed, SJ, leades a prayer group during an Ignatian Spirituality
Project for homeless men. |
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The
Ignatian Spirituality Project has been bringing faith and hope to
the lives of homeless men since 1998, when Provincial Richard J.
Baumann, SJ, asked Province Jesuits to think about ways of sharing
the Spiritual Exercises with the materially poor. Fr. Bill Creed,
SJ, created the Ignatian Spirituality Project (ISP) in response
to this request.
ISP retreats are designed to help homeless and addicted men make
the first step toward rejoining society. ISP uses the Spiritual
Exercises of St. Ignatius to help the men encounter God, who loves
them, believes in them, and offers them hope for recovery. Other
formerly homeless men give witness during the retreat to the reality
of recovery. The retreat fosters in men a desire to put their life
and their will into the care of God one day at a time. Many of the
homeless men who have attended a retreat are battling an addiction
to drugs or a mental illness. The time spent off the streets and
in a spiritual setting helps them look at themselves honestly and
see what kinds of positive changes they can make to better their
lives. Each retreatant is referred by the director of a shelter
which ensures that each participant is ready for the experience.
The retreats are kept small, with a maximum of twelve men. This
size is deliberate to foster community building and trust among
one another.
Since its inception, ISP has offered more than 50 retreats; most
in Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Milwaukee. Boston and San
Francisco have also welcomed ISP retreats. Plans are currently underway
to expand ISP to other major U.S. cities.
Related
links
To learn more about ISP's work, you may find the following links
useful:
::
"Even
those who have nothing still need God" - A Chicago Catholic
New World story documenting the work of Fr. Creed and the Ignatian
Spirituality Project more
::
"A Culture of Peace the Includes the Homeless" from
spring 2004 issue of In All Things: A Jesuit Journal of the Social
Apostolate more
:: Autobiographical
essay from ISP retreatant and retreat leader Wayne Richard more
:: "Q&A
with Fr. Bill Creed, SJ," from Partners magazine
spring 2001 issue more
:: "Homecoming"
from December 2, 2000, America magazine more
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