Gonzaga off to a busy start

Gonzaga University hit the ground running this semester. I can hardly keep up with its jam-packed calendar. I’m guessing you can’t either, so here a few events you may want to take note of. Sept. 26-30 –the university’s Catholic Studies Program will celebrate Jesuit Heritage Week. This will include a series of events to celebrate Gonzaga’s Jesuit and Catholic heritage and to commemorate the anniversary of the founding of theSociety of Jesus, which occurred Sept. 27, 1540. All events are free and will take place at University Chapel located on the third floor of College Hall. Here are the event details:

• 5 p.m., Sept. 26.Most Rev. Blase Cupich, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Spokane, will discuss two documents: A letter written in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyola concerning the importance of the work of education and the more contemporary document, “Communal Reflection on the Jesuit Mission in Higher Education,” written in 2002 at the direction of the U.S. Jesuit Conference.
• 5 p.m. Sept.27: Rev. Michael Maher, S.J., will present an examination of the Spiritual Exercises and how they provide an important framework and trajectory for Jesuit education.
• 5:10 p.m., Sept.28:The Gonzaga University Jesuit community will celebrate its monthly Mass with the larger Gonzaga community (faculty, staff, students, alumni and benefactors). The homilist will address a theme specific to Gonzaga’s Jesuit heritage.
• 5 p.m., Sept.29:Rev. Claude Pavur, S.J.,translator and commentator of the 1599 “Ratio Studiorum” from theInstitute of Jesuit Sources in St. Louis, will examine this text in light of how it can help identify the classic features of a Jesuit education.

Event details:

• Sept. 21 –The movie “A History of Violence” (2005) at 7 p.m., at theMagic Lantern Theatre[http://www.magiclanternspokane.com/], 25 W. Main Ave. A discussion with Gonzaga philosophy faculty Brian Clayton, David Calhoun and Richard McClelland will follow this event, which is sponsored in conjunction with theSpokane International Film Festival[http://www.spokanefilmfestival.org/]. Admission: $7 for adults; $5 for students. Contact the Spokane International Film Festival at(509) 720-7743.
• Sept. 28 –Lecture by scholar Catherine Tkacz (pronounced Tuh-Kotch) titled, “Let Justice Roll Down Like Waters: The Mystery as Affirmation of Justice” at 7 p.m. in the Jepson Center Wolff Auditorium at Gonzaga. Tkacz is a research associate of Bishop White Seminary at Gonzaga.
• Sept. 29 –The Gonzaga University Socratic Clubfeatures a lecture by independent scholar Daniel McInerny, a writer and CEO of Trojan Tub Entertainment, titled “Sucking the Life from Our Children: Hollywood and the Romance of the Living Dead,” at 3 p.m., in Room 006 of the Jepson Center at Gonzaga. Also, lecture by Daniel McInerny titled, “On Mysteries and the Higher Mystery,” 7 p.m., Robinson Teaching Theatre in Weyerhaeuser Hall at Whitworth.
• Sept. 30 –Lecture by Michael Foley, professor of philosophy and theology at Baylor University, titled: “The Mystery: Christian Heir or Nemesis?” The event begins at 7 p.m. in the Jepson Center’s Wolff Auditorium at Gonzaga.

Tracy Simmons

Tracy Simmons is an award-winning journalist specializing in religion reporting and digital entrepreneurship. In her approximate 20 years on the religion beat, Simmons has tucked a notepad in her pocket and found some of her favorite stories aboard cargo ships in New Jersey, on a police chase in Albuquerque, in dusty Texas church bell towers, on the streets of New York and in tent cities in Haiti. Simmons has worked as a multimedia journalist for newspapers across New Mexico, Texas, Connecticut and Washington. She is the executive director of SpokaneFāVS.com, a digital journalism start-up covering religion news and commentary in Spokane, Washington. She also writes for The Spokesman-Review and national publications. She is a Scholarly Assistant Professor of Journalism at Washington State University.