Community Programs

Each year we offer a number of programs for parents and the community to engage our mission of faith and service.
Wednesday Morning Prayer with St. Ignatius
Held in the Prep Chapel each Wednesday at 8:45 AM, this program invites parents to pray in the Ignatian tradition. Each 15-20 minute session introduces participants to an Ignatian form of prayer, including the Examen, gospel contemplation and Lectio Divina. Please register here if you plan to attend.
- Living in Faith Podcast
- Forum on Faith
- Wednesday Morning Prayer with St. Ignatius
- Parent Faith & Fellowship Committee
- Advent
- Lenten Programs
- Formation for New Faculty & Staff
- Companions in Mission
- Other Faith & Service Events
- Faith Doing Justice Summit
- Summer Ignatian Pilgrimage
- Ignatian Heritage Week
- The Ignatian Year
Living in Faith Podcast
Our bi-weekly podcast shares insights and reflections from members of the Prep community on how to live in faith and hope during challenging times.
The first series for the 2021-22 Academic Year is Religious Studies teacher Brian Pinter:
Why Ignatius Loyola Still Matters - Wisdom in the Wound
Ignatius lived 500 years ago, yet his approach to spirituality continues to inspire and transform lives, a sign that he discovered something archetypal that touches the human soul. This episode explores how Ignatius' early life and experience of being wounded teaches us how God works in and through our feelings.
Listen here.
Forum on Faith
Building A Hope-Filled Future: A Conversation about Promoting Dignity, Belonging and Justice
Featuring:
Gloria Purvis
Rev. Christopher Devron, SJ
Moderated by: Maurice Timothy Reidy ’93, Deputy Editor in Chief of America
Gloria Purvis has appeared in various media outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, PBS Newshour, Catholic Answers Live, and EWTN News Nightly, and hosted Morning Glory, an international radio show. She is Our Sunday Visitor’s Catholic of the Year for 2020. She is currently the creator, host, and executive producer of The Gloria Purvis Podcast in collaboration with America Media. The podcast discusses current news and complex issues at the intersection of church and society and creates space for those voices and perspectives not often given a platform. She is dedicated to promoting the sanctity of human life, racial justice, and the dignity of the human person. Rev.
Christopher Devron, SJ is a Jesuit priest of the USA East Province of the Society of Jesus. His pastoral ministries since entering the Jesuits in 1993 include working with inner city youth in the Inner-City Teaching Corp in Chicago, Gonzaga Middle School in Harlem, The REACH program at Regis and as the founding president of Christ the King Jesuit College Preparatory School on Chicago’s West Side. In 2013, Fr. Devron was appointed the president of Fordham Preparatory School. He has served on the numerous boards of directors and civic committees and has led workshops and retreats on school diversity and inclusion for the Jesuit Schools Network and the New York State Association of Independent Schools. He has also served as a guest on Fox Business Network to comment on current events in religion. Articles authored by Fr. Devron have been published in America magazine, the New York Daily News, the Tablet, the Journal of Popular Culture and BustedHalo.com.
Submit a question for the panelists
Sunday March 6, 2022 at 3-5pm
The Leonard Theatre
Past Years
Wednesday Morning Prayer with St. Ignatius
This program invites participants to pray in the Ignatian tradition. Each session introduces participants to an Ignatian form of prayer, including the Examen, gospel contemplation and Lectio Divina. During the 2020-21 school year our prayer will be broadcast live from the Prep chapel at 9 AM each Wednesday.
January 27, 2021 January 20, 2021 January 13, 2021 January 6, 2021
2020
December 16, 2020 December 9, 2020December 2, 2020
November 18, 2020 November 4, 2020
October 28, 2020 October 21, 2020 October 14, 2020 October 7, 2020
September 30, 2020 September 23, 2020 September 16, 2020
Parent Faith & Fellowship Committee
Our Parent Faith and Fellowship Committee (PFFC) supports the work of the Office of Mission and Identity by bringing together parents and alumni to share faith and fellowship together.
A Conversation with New York Times Bestselling Author Joe Drape about his new book The Saint Makers
February 24, 2021 at 7pm on Zoom
Register here
The Saint Makers: Inside the Catholic Church and the War Hero Inspired a Journey of Faith is part biography of Medal of Honor awardee Father Emil Kapaun, part detective story about the saint making process as well as an exploration of Joe's Jesuit education and his journey of faith.
“Drape’s latest is a feel-good account of the campaign to canonize the Rev. Emil Kapaun...The book is at its most thrilling in its tales of the priest’s wartime heroics....Fascinating.” ―The New York Times
In his new encyclical letter, “Fratelli tutti on Fraternity and Social Friendship,” Pope Francis suggests ways in which we can build a more just, peaceful world, one in which we recognize each other as brothers and sisters of one human family. The Parent Faith and Fellowship committee invites parents and alumni to join us for a panel discussion on the encyclical, led by:
- John Neary, Prep Class of 1987 and former chair of the Prep Board of Trustees
- Dave Fitzgerald, Prep class of 1987 and parent class of 2021
- Wendy Gittings, past parent '14, '15, '18 and former President of the Mothers' Club
- Paul Homer, Religious Studies Teacher and Director of Christian Service
On Monday, November 9 at 7 PM. To register, click the button below.
Advent
Throughout the Advent season, Fordham Prep will sponsor various community events.
Advent Supper - Sponsored by the Parent Faith and Fellowship Committee
Thursday, December 2nd at 7PM
Parents and alumni are invited to come together at the Prep to celebrate the beginning of the Advent season. Fr. Vinny Marchionni, SJ will offer this year’s reflection entitled “Pray like St. Ignatius this Advent”.
Daily Advent Reflections
Advent reflections are emailed each day to the Prep community and also can be found here.
Monday, December 20, 2021
Advent - Known by what we do
Christ, and all of us, will be known by what we do. We will not be judged ultimately by the sky we were born under, the family that raised us, the raiment that adorned us, the treasure we gathered, the vegetation that surrounded us. We will be reduced, essentially, to a bundle of declarative sentences about how we lived life.
Will evangelists one day report that we followed our deep seraphic dreams; that we obeyed our conscience over a death-dealing law; that we welcomed into our fearful lives the most outrageous and dazzling creature known to mankind? Will they tell the world that we, quite simply, loved others in word and deed, and let ourselves be loved? Or that we didn’t?
- Joe Hoover, SJ, America Media
Sunday, December 19, 2021
Advent - Mary’s role in salvation
In Luke's Gospel the Holy Spirit helps reveal Jesus' identity as God to those who believe. Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and sings Mary's praise because she bears the Lord. We sing these words of praise to Mary in the Hail Mary. Even John the Baptist, the unborn child in Elizabeth's womb, is said to recognize the presence of the Lord and leaps for joy.
It is appropriate in this season of Advent that we consider the role of Mary in God's plan of salvation. Elizabeth describes Mary as the first disciple, as the one who believed that God's word to her would be fulfilled. Mary's faith enabled her to recognize the work of God in her people's history and in her own life. Her openness to God allowed God to work through her so that salvation might come to everyone. Because of this, Mary is a model and symbol of the Church. May we be like Mary, open and cooperative in God's plan for salvation.
- Loyola Press
Read More
Saturday, December 18, 2021
Advent - Family
Let me highlight just two figures from Jesus’ family. First, Ruth, who was not an Israelite but rather a Moabite, a foreigner. Some of you reading this feel like outsiders, not part of the “in” crowd, looked at askance by others. Well, the Messiah came forth from Ruth the foreigner and was pleased to be her relative.
Then there is Rahab, a prostitute living and working in Jericho. Are there people reading these words who feel like Rahab? Who think that their whole lives have been sunk in sin? Well, the Messiah came forth from Rahab the prostitute, and he was pleased to be her relative. The good news of Christmas is that God himself pushed into the dysfunctional and ambiguous family of man.
Think about your own family’s “dysfunctions and ambiguities.” Where have you seen God work through these issues? How does the ancestry of Jesus give you hope for your own family?
- Bishop Robert Barron
Read More
Friday, December 17, 2021
Advent - Actions, not Words
Scripture is a constant reminder that God is especially for those who are poor. God is relentlessly in the corner of the meek and those the world has trampled over or overlooked. The Gospel today speaks of two brothers, both called by their father to work in the vineyard. One verbally refuses, but does what he is asked in the end. The other verbally agrees, but ultimately ignores his father’s wishes. Jesus uses the story to remind his readers that it was actions, not words, that allowed the will of the father to happen.
- Catholic Health Association of the United States, Advent Reflections
Thursday, December 16, 2021
Advent - The Yes of Presence
This year has offered a profound invitation to examine and ponder what is in my heart. Covid-19, the overwhelming racial injustice that has been silent for too long, the polarization of our church, our country – all of these are the realities in which we live, in the midst of our deep desire for human touch, to be with those we love, to be together again, to feel safe. The “yes of presence” invites me to reflect on where I stand. Where do I stand, and what is the cost of where I stand?
There is a great cost with yes. There is sacrifice, self-reflection (sometimes revealing parts of ourselves we try hard to hide), facing who we are, what we represent, and sitting with our understandings, our revelations, our deepest insights. And so, if this year is unprecedented, a year like no other in our lifetimes, let’s continue to accept the invitation this Advent and reflect in prayer on who we are. Let us reflect on our yes. Let us reflect on where we stand.
- This an excerpt from a talk given by Sr. Mary Catherine Redmond, PBVM, a Presentation Sister working as a physician assistant at a small Bronx hospital at the epicenter of the Covid-19 outbreak, at last year’s Advent Supper. Read the complete talk here.
Wednesday, December 15, 2021
Advent - Undercurrent of Healing
When Jesus came to Earth, he represented a great change in the world’s currents. What was divided could now come together. What was sin could be made into righteousness. What was angry and hostile could be converted to contentment and peace. What was wounded could be healed. And so we sense in Advent a powerful undercurrent of healing.
The divine energy that created the universe courses through our own souls and makes it possible for us to take the raw materials of life and turn them into beauty and goodness. That power that brought human and divine together in Jesus of Nazareth fuels our hearts and minds to bring together what is broken apart. We are meant to be creators. Even more, we are meant to be healers.
What are the raw materials of your life during this Advent season? What can you use to make something beautiful? Your talents? Your money? Your friendships? Your prayers?
- Vinata Hampton Wright, Loyola Press
Read More
Tuesday, December 14, 2021
Advent - Prayer and Serenity
Kingdom dwellers anchored in the Prince of Peace are capable of navigating stormy waters without fear. In reality, every human being is grounded—centered—in God who created us and sustains us. Unfortunately, our awareness of this groundedness fluctuates in the face of life’s turmoil. The result is the loss of peace and contentment.
A key to maintaining this peace and contentment is prayer—especially contemplative prayer, which takes to heart the Scriptural exhortation, “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46) Prayer does not create a bubble around us to prevent bad things from happening, but rather helps us to place our trust in God who will uphold us through the moments of turmoil. We do not pray to escape reality but rather to remain in touch with a deeper reality.
- Joe Paprocki, Loyola Press
Monday, December 13, 2021
Advent - A Habit of Hope
As St. Paul reminds us, “Hoping for what we cannot see means awaiting it with patient endurance” (Romans 8:25). Each Advent, as I wait for the Child who brought us the hope that never fades, I give thanks.
-Joan Wester Anderson, Loyola Press
Sunday, December 12, 2021
Advent - Gaudete Sunday
Our week begins with “Gaudete Sunday.” Gaudete means “rejoice” in Latin. It comes from the first word of the Entrance antiphon on Sunday. The spirit of joy that begins this week comes from the words of Paul, “The Lord is near.” This joyful spirit is marked by the third candle of our Advent wreath, which is rose colored, and the rose colored vestments often used at the Eucharist.
We prepare this week by feeling the joy. We move through this week feeling a part of the waiting world that rejoices because our longing has prepared us to believe the reign of God is close at hand. And so we consciously ask:
Prepare our hearts
and remove the sadness
that hinders us from feeling
the joy and hope
which his presence
will bestow.
Each night this week we want to pause in gratitude. Whatever the day has brought, no matter how busy it has been, we can stop, before we fall asleep, to give thanks for a little more light, a little more freedom to walk by that light, in joy.
Saturday, December 11, 2021
Advent -Our Lady of Guadalupe
While tomorrow is the 3rd Sunday of Advent, it is also celebrated by many as the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The feast commemorates the apparition of the Blessed Mother to Juan Diego, a 57-year-old Aztec Indian peasant. Our Lady appeared to Juan as an indigenous woman and spoke to him in his own indigenous language. She appeared to Juan Diego four times between Dec. 9 and 12 in 1531 on Tepeyac Hill located just north of Mexico City. Juan Diego, whose feast day is Dec. 9, was canonized by St. Pope John Paul II in 2002.The feast day is one of the most popular religious celebrations in Mexico, Latin America and the United States. St. Juan Diego is the first indigenous saint from the Americas and holds a special place in the hearts of the Mexican people.
Our Lady of Guadalupe holds such a special place in the hearts of the Mexican people and many others throughout the world because she is a symbol of faith, hope and consolation. In 16th century Mexico, the apparition and message of Our Lady of Guadalupe offered a message of hope to the oppressed indigenous peoples of Mexico and a reconciliation with their Spanish rulers who treated the indigenous as outcasts.
Today, Our Lady of Guadalupe continues to be a symbol of faith, hope and consolation. Her apparition as an indigenous woman to the peasant Juan Diego indicates that God cares for those who are marginalized and struggling everywhere in the world. From the message of Our Lady to Juan Diego in 1531: “Listen, put it into your heart, my youngest and dearest son, that the thing that frightens you, the thing that afflicts you, is nothing: do not let it disturb you. Am I not here, I who am your Mother?”
- Todd Carpenter, OFM
Lenten Programs
Lenten Longings Evenings
These evenings of prayer, hosted by a Fordham Prep parent, offer parents the opportunity to pray together using the Sunday scripture readings during Lent. Each evening includes time for reflection, prayer and faith sharing.
Living Lent Daily
Living Lent Daily is a daily e-mail series from Loyola Press designed to help you grow in friendship with God. Each day’s message includes a brief reflection by William A. Barry, SJ that will help you enter into a personal and genuine Lenten prayer practice. To receive the daily messages from Ash Wednesday through Easter Sunday please register below.
Lenten Wednesday Morning Prayer with St. IgnatiusOur Wednesday morning prayer during lent invites participants to journey through Lent with Ignatian Contemplation on the daily scripture readings. The live broadcast, each Wednesday at 9AM can be found here.
Each year our annual Lenten Mission Drive benefits two Jesuit Schools in Micronesia - Xavier High School and Yap Catholic High School. Xavier and Yap provide an outstanding education for kids who otherwise would have little opportunity for a quality education. Our support through the Lenten Drive each year helps to make that possible.
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Formation for New Faculty & Staff
Fordham Prep provides new faculty and staff a comprehensive five-year program which enables them to animate our Ignatian mission to form young men to be transformative leaders in faith, scholarship and service. Through reflection and discussion on the life of St. Ignatius, the beginnings of Jesuit Education, foundational Jesuit documents, the Spiritual Exercises and resources from the Jesuit network faculty and staff are invited to deepen their commitment to the mission of Fordham Prep and their personal appropriation of Ignatian spirituality.
Themes
Year 1: Introduction to Jesuit Education and Ignatian Spirituality
Year 2: What Makes a Jesuit School Jesuit? Key elements of Ignatian Spirituality
Year 3: The Spiritual Exercises
Year 4: Ignatian Spirituality Experience
Year 5: Ignatian Leadership
Readings
How the First Jesuit’s became involved in Education, John O’Malley, SJ
A Simple Life-Changing Prayer, Jim Manney
Human Excellence
The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything, James Martin SJ
What Makes a Jesuit School Jesuit?
Discovering a Sacred World: Ignatius Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises And Its Influence on Education, John J. Callahan, SJ
A Purposeful Path, How Far Can You Go With $30, A Bus Ticket, and a Dream, Casey Beaumier, SJ
God of Surprises, Gerard W. Hughes
The Call to Discernment in Troubled Times, New Perspectives on the Transformative Wisdom of Ignatius of Loyola, Dean Brackley
My Life with the Saints, James Martin, SJ
The God Who Won’t Let Go, Peter van Breeman, SJ
The Holy Longing: The Search for a Christian Spirituality, Ronald Rolheiser
God and You: Prayer as Personal Relationship, William Barry, SJ
Companions in Mission

Fostering a sense of common mission and companionship among the first Jesuits was a key priority for St. Ignatius. Despite often being separated by great distances, the early Jesuits were bound together by their mission to share the good news of the gospel with those to whom they ministered. It is that same mission that animates the work of Jesuit educators today and invites us into greater companionship with one another.
The Companions in Mission (CIM) program provides opportunities for Prep faculty and staff to reflect on this mission and deepen relationships with their companions in the ministry of education.
CIM programs include:
Companions in Mission Book Club
The book club selects a book related to our Ignatian mission to read each year. The group gathers 4-5 times during the year to reflect on the book and pray together.
Companions in Mission Conversations
Once per quarter faculty and staff are invited to gather after school for a conversation about topic related to our Ignatian mission. These conversations might be focused around an article, video, or presentation from a member of the faculty, staff or Jesuit community.
Companions in Mission Mass and Meal
On select dates, faculty and staff are invited to attend mass together (on campus or at a local parish) and share a meal after at a restaurant of the groups choosing.
Companions in Mission Spiritual Direction
Spiritual direction is “help given by one Christian to another which enables that person to pay attention to God’s personal communication to him or her, to respond to this personally communicating God, to grow in intimacy with this God, and to live out the consequences of the relationship.” (William A. Barry and William J. Connolly, The Practice of Spiritual Direction)
For interested faculty and staff, the Office of Mission Identity can match people with a spiritual director from the Fordham University Jesuit community or the Province’s Office of Ignatian Spirituality.
Companions in Mission 19th Annotation Retreat
Also known as the Spiritual Exercises in everyday life, the 19th annotation retreat affords retreatants the opportunity to experience the Spiritual Exercises over the course of 36 weeks. Participants dedicate 30 minutes to personal prayer each day and meet with a spiritual director approximately once per cycle.
Other Faith & Service Events
Faith Doing Justice Summit
Today our prime educational objective must be to form men and women for others; men and women who will live not for themselves but for God and his Christ - for the God-man who lived and died for all the world; men and women who cannot even conceive of love of God which does not include love for the least of their neighbors; men and women completely convinced that love of God which does not issue in justice for others is a farce.
-Fr. Pedro Arrupe, SJ, twenty-eighth Superior General of the Society of Jesus
The Faith Doing Justice Summit, a collaborative effort of the Office of Mission and Identity, Campus Ministry, Christian Service and the Diversity, Global Education, and Social Justice Committees, aims to help form our community as people committed to a faith that does justice. The summit encourages our community to assess critically issues of justice through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching and Ignatian spirituality. Through unified efforts of all our Ignatian Ministries, the Summit will bring a specific justice issue to the consciousness of our community in order to foster dialogue and appropriate action.
2021-2022 Summit: Dignity, Belonging and Justice: Building a Hope-Filled Future
The Universal Apostolic Preferences of the Society of Jesus, invite all Jesuit institutions to consider how to best accompany young people in the creation of a hope-filled future.
We are living through a period of change from which will emerge a new humanity and a new way of structuring human life in its personal and social dimensions. Young people are the bearers of this new form of human life that can find, in the experience of encounter with the Lord Jesus, light for the path toward justice, reconciliation, and peace.
- Fr. Arturo Sosa, Superior General of the Society of Jesus
The 2021-2022 Faith Doing Justice Summit invites the Fordham Prep community to consider how the promotion of Dignity, Belonging, and Justice in our community supports the building of this hope-filled future.
Dignity helps our community recognize all people are made in the image and likeness of God and so possess an equal and inalienable worth. This understanding leads us to treat each other with love, respect, and compassion while working actively to challenge and respond to bias, harassment, and discrimination.
Belonging ensures our community is a place where differences are welcomed, all perspectives are respectfully heard, and where every individual feels a sense that she/he is a valued member of the community.
Justice inspires our community to engage in serious conversation with all our brothers and sisters and to act when we see inequity. It empowers us to be advocates for and with those who hunger and thirst for justice.
The following programs will be part of this year’s Summit:
Diversity Dialogue
Sponsored by the Diversity Alliance
(Date in March to be determined)
The Diversity Alliance, a student-led organization, will hold a dialogue to discuss our world’s evolving understanding of gender and its implications in the FP community as we strive to promote greater dignity, belonging and justice.
Faith Doing Justice Summit Assembly
Sponsored by the Social Justice Committee
March 8, 2022
Keynote Address by Fr. Bryan Masingale, STD
Fr. Bryan Massingale is one of the world’s leading Catholic social ethicists and scholars of African-American theological ethics, racial justice, and liberation theology. Fr. Massingale joined the Fordham University theology department in the fall of 2016. Before coming to Fordham, Father Massingale was a member of the faculty at Marquette University, where in 2009 he received that institution’s highest award for excellence in teaching. He has served as president of the Catholic Theological Society of America and convener of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium, and holds two honorary doctorates. He has written over 80 articles, book chapters, and book reviews for publications, including Theological Studies, New Theology Review, Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics, Philosophy and Theology, Journal of Religion and Society, The National Catholic Reporter, and Catholic Peace Voice. His book, Racial Justice and the Catholic Church (Orbis Books, 2010) won a first place book award from the Catholic Press Association.
Refugee Simulation and Assembly
Sponsored by the Global Education Committee
March 29, 2022
Keynote Address to sophomores by Mr. Josh Utter, Outreach Officer for Jesuit Refugee Services/USA
Josh is the Outreach Officer of Jesuit Refugee Service/USA. He assists with JRS/USA’s effort to grow and mobilize a diverse and active constituency dedicated to defending the rights of refugees and displaced persons, and to advocate on behalf of U.S. policies that support refugee needs. Before joining JRS/USA in 2018, Josh taught English to high school students in Sierra Leone as a Peace Corps Volunteer and spent time in discernment with the Jesuits. Josh is originally from Madison, WI, and is currently based in Phoenix, AZ.
Josh will present to sophomores at their assembly on March 29, 2022. He will speak about Jesuit Refugee Services in general, and more specifically on the impact and implementation of a refugee simulation project. The assembly will be followed by a refugee simulation event in April.
We look forward to engaging the community in dialogue about these important issues as we strive to become men and women ever more “committed to doing justice” (Profile of the Graduate at Graduation) and to promoting dignity, belonging, and justice.
2020-2021 Summit: Care for our Common Home
In the encyclical Laudato Si’, Pope Francis reminds us that all human beings share responsibility for care of creation, considered by many peoples "mother earth". “This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her.,”
"The damage done to the earth is also damage done to the most vulnerable, such as indigenous peoples, peasants forced to emigrate, and the inhabitants of urban peripheries. The environmental destruction being caused by the dominant economic system is inflicting intergenerational damage: not only does it affect those now living on earth, particularly the very young, but it also conditions and jeopardizes the life of future generations.
We resolve, considering who we are and the means that we have, to collaborate with others in the construction of alternative models of life that are based on respect for creation and on a sustainable development capable of producing goods that, when justly distributed, ensure a decent life for all human beings on our planet.”
- Fr. Arturo Sosa, SJ, Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Universal Apostolic Preferences of the Society of Jesus, 2019-2029
The 2020-2021 Faith Doing Justice Summit invites the Fordham Prep community to consider what it means to “collaborate for the care of our common” as we share in the universal mission of Jesuit schools “to be companions of reconciliation and justice with God, within humanity and with creation (General Congregation 36, Decree #1).
On Monday, March 8th the Social Justice Committee will hold our annual Faith Doing Justice assembly through a zoom webinar. Our panelists for the assembly will be Dr. Nancy Tuchman, Dean of Loyola University's School for Environmental Sustainability, Matt Lorentz, a student from the School of Environmental Sustainability, and Lee Zappas, the regional in-house environmental manager for UBS in the Americas. Students will participate in the panel discussion in their classrooms at the end of the first block and remote students will receive a link to participate from home. A recording will be made available after the program.
In addition to the assembly, our student-led Environmental Sustainability Task Force launched an education and awareness campaign this semester to help our community learn more about environmental issues, church teaching on this topic, and what we can do to be a more environmentally sustainable community at the Prep. They have shared information on the Prep website, Schoology, the Commons screens, and a new Instagram account @fpenvironmental. Also, students in our Global Scholars program will be running an awareness campaign the week of March 15th.
We look forward to engaging the community in dialogue about these important issues in the coming weeks as we strive to become men and women ever more “committed to doing justice” (Profile of the Graduate at Graduation).
2019-2020 Summit: Walking with the Excluded
Sent as companions in a mission of reconciliation and justice, we resolve to walk with individuals and communities that are vulnerable, excluded, marginalized, and humanly impoverished. We commit ourselves to walk with the victims of abuse of power, abuse of conscience, and sexual abuse; with the outcasts of this world; with all those whom the biblical tradition knows as the poor of the earth, to whose cry the Lord responds with his liberating incarnation.
We confirm our commitment to care for migrants, displaced persons, refugees, and victims of wars and human trafficking. We also resolve to defend the culture and the dignified existence of indigenous peoples. Consequently, we will continue to help create conditions of hospitality, to accompany all these people in their process of integration into society, and to promote the defense of their rights.
We accompany the poor, inspired by our faith in God the Father of mercy who invites us to embrace reconciliation as the foundation of a new humanity.”
- Fr. Arturo Sosa, SJ, Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Universal Apostolic Preferences of the Society of Jesus, 2019-2029
The 2019-2020 Faith Doing Justice Summit invites the Fordham Prep community to consider what it means to “walk with the excluded” as we share in the universal mission of Jesuit schools “to be companions of reconciliation and justice with God, within humanity and with creation (General Congregation 36, Decree #1). Through dialogues, assemblies and curricular connections we will reflect on this mission, the plight of marginalized people in our world, and explore ways we can accompany them on the road to liberation.
The following events are planned for this year’s Summit:
Monday, February 10, 2020
Junior Assembly
Topic: Refugees
Guest speaker: Miriam Ford
Sponsored by Social Justice Committee
Monday, March 2, 2020
Red Chair Campaign Sophomore Assembly
Topic: The Right To Education
Guest speaker Kevin Hacket ‘68 ,
sponsored by Global Education Committee
Sunday, March 8, 2020
3-5 pm in the Leonard Theatre
Fordham Prep and America Media present
Fr. Greg Boyle, SJ, founder of Homeboys Industries,
the largest gang intervention program in the world.
(open to parents, alumni, students, faculty, staff, and the public)
Register at www.fordhamprep.org/march8
Monday, March 9, 2020
Faith Doing Justice Assembly with Guest Speaker Fr. Greg Boyle, SJ, author of the best-selling books Tattoos on the Heart and Barking to the Choir, and founder of Homeboy Industries, the largest gang intervention program in the world.
Leonard Theatre
(students only)
Date TBA
Diversity Dialogue on Gangs and the Criminal Justice System,
sponsored by the Diversity Committee
Resources:
The Universal Apostolic Preferences- Fr. Sosa’s letter
Universal Apostolic Preferences Website
2018-19 Summit - Criminal Justice: Reconciliation and Redemption
I offer encouragement to all those who are convinced that a just and necessary punishment must never exclude the dimension of hope and the goal of rehabilitation.
- Pope Francis, to U.S. Congress
The theme selected for our inaugural Summit is “Criminal Justice: Reconciliation and Redemption.” During the Summit week and throughout the school year, we will, as a community, look at various justice issues connected to the criminal justice system from the perspective of Catholic Social Teaching and our Ignatian worldview and values. Among the topics covered will be reform in the criminal justice system, the death penalty, restorative justice, equity, racism and migrant incarceration.
Tuesday, November 6
Faith Doing Justice Assembly with Guest Speaker Sr. Helen Prejean, author of the best-selling book, Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty.
VIEW SR. HELEN'S ADDRESS TO THE PREP COMMUNITY HERE
Leonard Theatre
10 am to 11 am
Wednesday, November 7
Showing of the documentary 13th followed by dialogue on race and equity in the criminal justice system.
2 Minute Preview of 13th
Room 232-233
3 pm to 5 pm
Monday- Friday, November 5- 9
Classroom lessons and activities by various teachers. See a list of classses and topics here
Additional events will be added throughout the year.
Resources
Sr. Helen Prejean on misconceptions about death row
Sr. Helen Prejean interview on MSNBC
Vatican News: “Pope Francis: ‘death penalty inadmissable’”
Bryan Stevenson TED Talk: “We Need to Talk About an Injustice” - Human rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson shares some hard truths about America's justice system.
Pope Francis’ Address to the International Association of Criminal Law
Catholic Social Teaching
Ignatian Solidarity Network
The Migrant Caravan through the eyes of Catholic Social Teaching, America Magazine
Justice for All? Challenging Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System- American Bar Association
Summer Ignatian Pilgrimage

Celebrate the Ignatian Jubilee Year with a Pilgrimage to Spain!
For the upcoming Ignatian Jubilee year, commemorating the 500th anniversary of St. Ignatius' own pilgrimage to Manresa, we invite parents and alumni of Fordham Prep to an enriching journey to Spain in 2022. The Prep draws on a rich heritage tracing back to a young man in northern Spain who, in the 16th century, began to respond to inner stirrings to respond to the challenges of his age. St. Ignatius of Loyola formed one of the most influential religious orders of the Roman Catholic Church. His vision had a profound impact on the development of education – particularly schools that inspire young men and women to develop minds, spirits, and souls in extraordinary ways.
The program includes visits to places that were pivotal to St. Ignatius’ own journey – Loyola, Xavier, Montserrat, Manresa, and Barcelona. Our program weaves together historical, cultural, and religious sites and activities with time to explore and savor the land, customs, and food of this majestic land.
Approximate cost: $3500-3700 (not including airfare)
Please complete the interest form so we can update you on our plans and let you know when official registration opens.
Questions? Please contact Brian Carney.
Ignatian Heritage Week
Ignatian Heritage Week 2022
Seeing All Things New in ChristThe year’s Ignatian Heritage Week is an opportunity to continue our celebration of the Ignatian Year, marking the 500th anniversary of the conversion of St. Ignatius, with the theme of Seeing All Things New in Christ. During the week we reflect on the life of St. Ignatius, the experience of being part of Jesuit education and how we each called to “see all things new in Christ” this year.
The week will feature the following programs:
- Virtual Ignatian Pilgrimage: Ignatian Heritage Week will kick off a semester-long Virtual Ignatian Pilgrimage. Through our Monday AM prayer, which will be broadcast live from the Prep chapel, our community will be invited to walk in the footsteps of St. Ignatius through the moments that led to his transformation from Ignatius the soldier to Ignatius the pilgrim and ultimately the founder of the Society of Jesus.
- Talking All Things Ignatian with Fr. Marchionni: In a student-led interview, Fr. Marchionni shares about the Ignatian year, the life of Ignatius and his own vocation to the Jesuits. The interview will air on social media on January 28th and be viewed in an upcoming mentoring period.
- Essay Contest: What does it mean to you to be a student at a Jesuit School? Answer this question in no more than 250 words to be eligible to win a $200 gift card and have your essay published in the next issue of Ramview. Enter here.
- Trivia Contest: Enter an online trivia contest for a chance to win a $50 gift card. More details will be provided next week.
Resources
The following resources are recommended for your own prayer and reflection:
Virtual Ignatian Pilgrimage: AM Prayer
The Ignatian Year
During this school year, Fordham Prep, along with Jesuit institutions and works around the world, celebrates the Ignatian Year, marking the 500th anniversary of the conversion of St. Ignatius. On May 20, 1520, Ignatius the soldier was struck by a cannonball which shattered his leg. During his long convalescence, he had only two books to read--The Lives of the Saints and The Life of Christ. Ignatius began to experience an inner stirring to dedicate his life to Christ and live a life modeled after the saints. The Ignatian year invites our community to be inspired by the conversion of St. Ignatius to “see all things new in Christ”.
Some special programs the Prep has planned for the Ignatian Year include:
Living in Faith Podcast (Click Here)
The most recent podcast episode by Religious Studies teacher and Assistant Campus Minister Brian Pinter is entitled "Why Ignatius Still Matters: Wisdom in the Wound". Listen here for this and additional podcasts on St. Ignatius.
Ignatius Loyola - Mentor and Companion On the Spiritual Journey - Wednesdays, November 3 & 17, 7 p.m. on Zoom
Presented by Brian B. Pinter, Religious Studies teacher and Assistant Campus Minister.
Though Ignatius lived 500 years ago, his gift to the church - the Spiritual Exercises - continues to be a doorway to transformation for countless people. Our presentations will offer an overview of the Exercises and Ignatius' life. Together we will explore how his wisdom, insights, and approach to friendship with God can inspire and nurture us. Register here.
An Ignatian Pilgrimage to Spain - June 2022
Parents are invited to join us for an Ignatian Pilgrimage to Spain during the summer of 2022. The pilgrimage (by coach bus) will follow in the footsteps of St. Ignatius, stopping in San Sebastian, Azpeitia, Montserrat, Manresa and Barcelona. Learn more and register here.
About the Ignation Year 2021-2022
"All through his life he converted, [...] he put Christ in the center. And he did so through discernment.
Discernment is not about always getting it right from the start, but it’s rather about navigating, about
having a compass to be able to set out on the road which has many twists and turns, but always
letting oneself be guided by the Holy Spirit who leads us to an encounter with the Lord."
Pope Francis