Latino Ignatian Team (English)

We are a group of men and women who through reflection on our problems and our common anxieties, have wanted to use our own resources and Ignatian spirituality to help others.

This group came about spontaneously: we noticed that the parents who took their children to Sunday school waited in their cars until catechism was over. We asked ourselves why not invite them in for a meeting while their children were with their Sunday school teachers. Some accepted the invitation and little by little the meetings that had started in the Sacristy went on to get stronger and more consistent until becoming our current group. In the first meetings our only objective was to share our worries and problems. That is why at first we were nicknamed the “group of complainers”. This group of complainers would soon become the Latino Ignatian Team of Boston.

We currently meet every Tuesday from 6:30 to 8:30 pm in our parish of Saint Mary of the Angels in Roxbury, Massachusetts. We begin by asking for God’s presence among us; then we talk about what is happening in our lives and we try to discuss it according to the Gospel and Ignatian spirituality. We end by giving thanks to God for the good things that we have received and ask that He light our way in situations that are still obscure and need further discernment.

As a group we set simple goals and always work towards achieving them. We attend conferences and retreats such as the most recent Ignatian retreat in Cohasett, Massachusetts. We also counsel constantly with our Jesuit friends. The fact that we have grown spiritually and that this has helped us reach our goals encourages us to go forward, each time setting more objectives. We use that spiritual growth that we experience to help, listen to, guide and communicate to others that they are priceless to God and to society. For example, one of the members in the group is a medical assistant who works with pregnant adolescents. She brings her worries to the group, we all discuss them and she says that she has learned to better manage many of those situations, and to not be afraid to help them discover and find the presence of Jesus even in those difficult moments. Also, in my specific case, in spite of my limitations, I try to bring a message of encouragement to my coworkers and clients in my beauty salon even acknowledging their religious diversity (Jewish, Christians, and occasionally Muslims).

Many of us have learned to confront life more actively and at the same time more relaxed. More actively because now we know better where and in what ways we can use our time. And more relaxed because we can choose priorities in our lives. We understand that our ministry as Christians is not just go to church on Sundays, listen to the mass and return home, but also to try to share with others, watch out for each other because we are part of one same body and that we owe each other the great love that Jesus gave us.

We cannot deny that we live in a world of an immeasurable number of things that bring us great worries. For example the violence among our youth, the incomprehension between parents and children, the immigration problem and the challenging reality that we have not found a pastor to replace the one we have when he retires. These things lead us to be in plain and constant communication with God through the people with whom we live every day.

María Chávez

121 Glendower Road

Roslindale, MA 02131

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