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About Us - Ignatian Spirituality

Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC) was founded in the charism of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). The founder of the Jesuits is St. Ignatius of Loyola, whose spirituality - or way of living out his faith in God - invites us to become more deeply aware of our experiences in every day life, discovering the Divine in all things. As we do this, we become more conscious of God's presence with us and more aware of how we might act in a God-centered way, especially in service to others. We are encouraged through Ignatian Spirituality to be "Contemplatives in Action."

Jesuit Volunteers (JV) are given opportunities to learn and share elements of Ignatian Spirituality during retreats, community gatherings and optional spiritual guidance sessions. Two forms of Ignatian Spirituality that are emphasized are the Examen, a simple daily prayer practice to listen for God's voice in our hearts, and the Spiritual Exercises, a brief set of meditations, prayers and mental exercises written to enhance and strengthen one's faith experience.

As founders and supporters of JVC, the Jesuits provide support and act as resources to many JV communities.

Some resources to learn more about Ignatian Spirituality include:

The Jesuit Connection

The following is an article written by Joseph Carver, SJ, who served as a Jesuit Volunteer (JV) in Seattle from 1993 to 1994.

Enough Time? Enough Stuff? Enough Already!
Joseph Carver, SJ

Almost 15 years ago, I was asked to sign a contract that invited me to live by the four values of Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC): community, social justice, spirituality and simplicity. At the time, I bristled at the idea that all my complex desires to work and serve could be reduced to only a few words on a piece of paper. "Simplicity" was obviously already part of the deal, as I had agreed to live on $40 a month and had already traded in my beaten-up Subaru wagon for a bicycle, which I intended on riding to work each day. As a new JVC community, we offered up our "simplicity" through electricity fasts and went days without our favorite shows on TV. We also agreed to make our own Christmas gifts and survived on a lot of boxed macaroni and cheese.

As a community, I thought we were doing all right, but something about my understanding of simplicity began to shift toward the end of the year. I began to look forward to simple pleasures, like timing the lights just right for that long downhill run from Boren to the I-90 turn in Seattle, or having a laugh with work mates as we compared leftovers. Living simply became about learning to be generous in new and creative ways, keeping a phone call short because another wanted to use the phone, or writing real letters to family and friends instead of sending Hallmark cards or Farside Birthday Greetings.

This movement also affected how I felt in my placement. I began to appreciate the challenges of those I worked with and my heart was joyful for this treasure that I had not explicitly desired, but now found so integral to my idea of service. "Simplicity" was no longer chiefly about the limitations of my stipend or the restrictions of giving things up. Its value came to be located in the potential of my own desires.

As a Jesuit, I grapple with my religious vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. A big part of the struggle is remaining faithful to a daily examination of the potential of my heart. Experience has taught me that an openness to being generous in new and creative ways is a self-offering and an entry into the Living Mystery, who is already incarnate in God's desire for us to be open to him through a love of his people. St. Ignatius taught that to be with Christ, poor occasions a conversion of heart. This is the very definition of who Christ is to us as Christians. A conversion of heart finds us in intimate contact with the poor, as it is the poor who disarm us with the immediacy and simplicity of their needs.

To live simply is to accept the challenge of examining each day. It is only in this kind of reflection that we will find our answer and the strength to live out the gospel's call to simplicity. We must listen to our daily review for Christ's invitation to creativity, boldness, Christ invitation to know that "his love and his grace are enough for us."

In my placement, as I recognized new dimensions of simplicity in the lives of those who had so little, my heart was challenged, but more importantly, my heart was joyful. I began to understand that conquering my own desires was the way of living the invitation to simplicity. Simplicity was becoming far more than living on the small stipend; it meant I had to give my time and creative energy. It meant looking critically at my day, my possessions; slowly through this daily examining, my definition of enough was changing.

So does living simply mean to struggle to make space for quiet, to put away my laptop or cell phone, to add my voice to protests of conspicuous consumption? Perhaps. Or perhaps to live simply is to live the potential of our hearts as opposed to limitation of our possessions, knowing the opportunity of being free from things rather than the restriction of giving up. To examine my room, my calendar, my inbox, and my search history and allow this daily review to ask why this or that possession or commitment; examining each day to see how I was feeling when I mindlessly bought something, or said yes or no without conscious thought while all the while asking for the grace to understand what is enough.

Years after my volunteer experience, I still grapple with my vows as a Jesuit, examining daily what I am being invited to be freed from. Simplicity isn't easy and simplicity isn't poverty, but both invite daily self-examination. Living my vows means I accept St. Ignatius' invitation to enter into the heart of the complex and oftentimes disconcerting reality of our world and find out what is enough. It means daring to ask God what God expects. The answer repeatedly is that our self-offering is more than enough when we combine it with God's desire for us. Living simplicity is allowing our self-offering to enter into the Living Mystery who is already incarnated. Simplicity lived in this way is never defined by setting limitations; instead it always defines itself in terms of what is possible. It is realized when our offering is self-gift, the very definition of who Christ is for us as Christians. Ignatius taught his followers to ask to be with Christ's poor; this self-gift always first involves a conversion of the heart. This conversion necessarily involves being in intimate contact with the poor, as they will shift our priorities and disarm us with their bold questions and stark reality.