Making the Inner Journey

Reflection Questions

1. As you look back into the stories of your life, are there times you have stubbornly pushed your will onto others without first holding it in prayer?  Who was affected?   Were you aware of the goodness and mercy of God?

2.  Think about some of those experiences in life that you resisted going through.  Having come out on the other side, can you see that without going through that experience you wouldn’t have grown in some unique and special ways?  The experience, as difficult as it was, made you a better person.

3.  Spiritually, what is your source of sustenance? What feeds you? How does this align itself in seeking God’s will?  Do you find the peace of Christ in living in God’s will?

Love: The Heart of it All

View outline for today's session [PDF]

Reflection questions:

1.     Why is becoming good at loving and being loved the heart of becoming good at being human?
 
2.     Why does Catholic theology claim that human love not only participates in God’s love, but also furthers it and even perfects it?
 
3.     Did the section on the “order of love” make sense to you? Why or why not?
 
4.     How might you practice “ecological love of neighbor”?  

Paul Wadell is Professor Emeritus of Theology and Religious Studies at St. Norbert College in De Pere, WI. A proud native of Louisville, Kentucky, he received his B.A. from Bellarmine University in Louisville, his M.Div. and M.A. degrees from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, and his Ph.D. in Christian Ethics from the University of Notre Dame.
He is the author of several books, including Friendship and the Moral Life; Becoming Friends: Worship, Justice and the Practice of Christian Friendship; Happiness and the Christian Moral Life: An Introduction to Christian Ethics, revised 4th edition; and Living Vocationally—The Journey of the Called Life, co-authored with Charles Pinches. He has published articles on Christian theology, ethics, and spirituality in both scholarly and popular journals.
Paul is an active member of the Passionist Family of Holy Cross Province. Paul and his wife Carmella live in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
 

Some Virtues We Should Never Be Without

View outline for today's session [PDF]

Reflection questions:

1. What makes compassion such an essential virtue for becoming “good at being human”? Why do you think Thomas Aquinas said that God is most powerful when God is compassionate and merciful?
2. How would you explain why kindness matters? And why might acquiring the virtue of kindness be more difficult than we initially suspect?
3. What does it mean to speak of hope as both a gift and a virtue? Why do you think so many people seem to be losing hope? What could you do to help a person regain hope?

  

Paul Wadell is Professor Emeritus of Theology and Religious Studies at St. Norbert College in De Pere, WI. A proud native of Louisville, Kentucky, he received his B.A. from Bellarmine University in Louisville, his M.Div. and M.A. degrees from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, and his Ph.D. in Christian Ethics from the University of Notre Dame.
He is the author of several books, including Friendship and the Moral Life; Becoming Friends: Worship, Justice and the Practice of Christian Friendship; Happiness and the Christian Moral Life: An Introduction to Christian Ethics, revised 4th edition; and Living Vocationally—The Journey of the Called Life, co-authored with Charles Pinches. He has published articles on Christian theology, ethics, and spirituality in both scholarly and popular journals.
Paul is an active member of the Passionist Family of Holy Cross Province. Paul and his wife Carmella live in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Virtues: Learning How to Live Wisely and Well

View outline for today's session [PDF]

Reflection questions:

1. How would you explain what a virtue is and why they matter? Why is it that we cannot “become good at being human” without them?
2. How would you explain what a virtue is and why they matter? Why is it that we cannot “become good at being human” without them?
3. How would you explain the “cost” of developing vices? What would you see as some of the more destructive vices in persons and societies today?
4. Can you think of a time in your life when you really needed the virtue of courage? Why do we tend to think of courage more as perseverance than daring or attack? 

Thursday, June 19—“Some Virtues We Should Never Be Without”

1. What makes compassion such an essential virtue for becoming “good at being human”? Why do you think Thomas Aquinas said that God is most powerful when God is compassionate and merciful?
2. How would you explain why kindness matters? And why might acquiring the virtue of kindness be more difficult than we initially suspect?
3. What does it mean to speak of hope as both a gift and a virtue? Why do you think so many people seem to be losing hope? What could you do to help a person regain hope?

  

Paul Wadell is Professor Emeritus of Theology and Religious Studies at St. Norbert College in De Pere, WI. A proud native of Louisville, Kentucky, he received his B.A. from Bellarmine University in Louisville, his M.Div. and M.A. degrees from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, and his Ph.D. in Christian Ethics from the University of Notre Dame.
He is the author of several books, including Friendship and the Moral Life; Becoming Friends: Worship, Justice and the Practice of Christian Friendship; Happiness and the Christian Moral Life: An Introduction to Christian Ethics, revised 4th edition; and Living Vocationally—The Journey of the Called Life, co-authored with Charles Pinches. He has published articles on Christian theology, ethics, and spirituality in both scholarly and popular journals.
Paul is an active member of the Passionist Family of Holy Cross Province. Paul and his wife Carmella live in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Finding A Story Worth the Gift of Our Lives

View outline for today's session [PDF]

Reflection questions:

1. Is it helpful to think of the moral life as a “story” or “narrative”? What are the advantages of this approach? What might be some possible disadvantages
2. How have the different narratives of your life shaped you and your outlook on life? Has listening to another person’s story ever made you examine your own?
3. What would it mean for you to choose life over death each day? Did you ever feel stuck in a “tom” and someone helped you come out of the tomb and back to life?
4. How might the virtue of magnanimity help us “become good at being human”? Can you think of some examples of magnanimous people?

 

 

Paul Wadell is Professor Emeritus of Theology and Religious Studies at St. Norbert College in De Pere, WI. A proud native of Louisville, Kentucky, he received his B.A. from Bellarmine University in Louisville, his M.Div. and M.A. degrees from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, and his Ph.D. in Christian Ethics from the University of Notre Dame.
He is the author of several books, including Friendship and the Moral Life; Becoming Friends: Worship, Justice and the Practice of Christian Friendship; Happiness and the Christian Moral Life: An Introduction to Christian Ethics, revised 4th edition; and Living Vocationally—The Journey of the Called Life, co-authored with Charles Pinches. He has published articles on Christian theology, ethics, and spirituality in both scholarly and popular journals.
Paul is an active member of the Passionist Family of Holy Cross Province. Paul and his wife Carmella live in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Moral Authority and the Passionist Charism

Reflection Questions

1.  If the prophetic tasks of the Church are to A) exxpose the wrongs or the shadow side of society, and B) to offer a vision of hope in the future — who might be a contemporary prophet for you?

2.  Can you resonate with the concept of "ars moriendi" (the art of dying) or the inevitability of decline?  Where does this lead?

3.  With which of Richard Rohr's "Counterfeit Programs for Happiness" can you currently identify? (the need for A) security, B) approval, C) power, D) belonging to a tribe).  What works for you as a kind of an antidote?

Reference Books:

Bernardin, Joseph, The Gift of Peace, Loyola University Press, Chicago, 1997.

Gaillardetz, Richard, While I Breathe, I Hope, Liturgical Press, Collegeville, 2024.

McMickle, Marvin, Where Have All the Prophets Gone? Reclaiming Prophetic Preaching in America, The Cleveland Press, Cleveland, 2006.

Rohr, Richard, Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 2011.

Rolheiser, Ronald, The Holy Longing, Doubleday, New York, 1999.

Jack was born and raised in Chicago near the Passionist Immaculate Conception Monastery and Church. He earned a social psychology degree from DePaul University in Chicago, professed Passionist vows in 1973, earned a MDiv from Catholic Theological Union and was ordained 1976. His various ministries include itinerant preacher, campus minister, vocation director, retreat center preaching team member at our retreat centers in Houston, Texas, and Citrus Heights, California, and pastor of St. Agnes in Louisville. Presently, he is local superior at St. Vincent Strambi community in Chicago. His hobbies include the arts and cooking.

Revitalizing and Transmitting the Charism

Reflection questions:

• What does the Passionist Family value and want to transit?
• How do you partner with lay men and women in the transmission?
• What do the people of God need from the Passionists Family?
• What do people of God need from you -  individual Passionists and partners?

Maria is a member of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, Brentwood, NY. After her advanced degrees from Pontifical Biblical Institute in 1986 and the Gregorian University in 1997 in Rome, she taught at two diocesan seminaries (Saint Joseph’s, Dunwoodie, and Immaculate Conception, Huntington, NY). Since then she was professor of biblical studies at the University of San Diego, associate dean at the Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, associate editor of the Catholic Biblical Quartet and presently director of Spirit Alive, The CSJ Institute for Faith Inquiry and Education to provide adult believers and seekers with solid educational opportunities to enhance their faith and navigate an increasingly complex world.

Charism: A Journey into the Heart of God - Center of Love in our World

Faith Offman is married to Steve,  and has two children and five grandchildren. Faith has a Masters of Divinity, is a licensed social worker and a Spiritual Director. She has worked in the Archdiocese of Detroit for over 30 years in parish work, diocesan work and community work. She has served on the Board for St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat Center and has been Associate Director of Ministry at St. Paul’s for 12 years. Faith relaxes with golf and sewing.

Gerald was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pa. He holds a B.A. in philosophy, an M.A. in theology (St. John’s University), an M.A. and extended studies in Church History (Catholic University), and studies in spiritual direction (Jesuit School of Theology). Ministries include religious formation and education, teaching, county-wide parish ministry in West Virginia, preaching, and spiritual direction. He served as director of novices, in local and province leadership, in Mission Fulfillment, and as retreat director in Pittsburgh.

Happiness? The Answer May Surprise You

View outline for today's session 

Reflection questions:

1. Does it make sense to you to envision the Christian moral life as ongoing formation in learning “how to be good at being human”? What is appealing about this approach? What might make it more challenging than other approaches to morality?
2. What struck you about the path to happiness Jesus outlined in the Beatitudes? Did anything surprise you? Anything make you uneasy?What struck you about the path to happiness Jesus outlined in the Beatitudes? Did anything surprise you? Anything make you uneasy?
3. Have you ever, like Augustine, feared happiness? How did you respond to Augustine’s analysis of the nature of true happiness? Have you ever, like Augustine, feared happiness? How did you respond to Augustine’s analysis of the nature of true happiness? 

  

Paul Wadell is Professor Emeritus of Theology and Religious Studies at St. Norbert College in De Pere, WI. A proud native of Louisville, Kentucky, he received his B.A. from Bellarmine University in Louisville, his M.Div. and M.A. degrees from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, and his Ph.D. in Christian Ethics from the University of Notre Dame.
He is the author of several books, including Friendship and the Moral Life; Becoming Friends: Worship, Justice and the Practice of Christian Friendship; Happiness and the Christian Moral Life: An Introduction to Christian Ethics, revised 4th edition; and Living Vocationally—The Journey of the Called Life, co-authored with Charles Pinches. He has published articles on Christian theology, ethics, and spirituality in both scholarly and popular journals.
Paul is an active member of the Passionist Family of Holy Cross Province. Paul and his wife Carmella live in Green Bay, Wisconsin.