Setting Captives Free: The Spiritual Exercises & America's Original Sin
St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises have traditionally been known as ways to help individuals grow in their relationship with Christ and his mission. Fidelity to that purpose has led to recent efforts to adapt the Exercises to enable participants, assisted by God’s grace, to engage prayerfully and specifically in confronting racism and white privilege.

Fr. Brian McDermott, S.J., Dr.Theol.
Fr. Brian McDermott, S.J. is a member of the USA East Province of the Society of Jesus. He is currently a special assistant to the President of Georgetown University. He received his doctorate in systematic theology from the University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands, in 1973. From 1973 to 2000, he was a member of the faculty of Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, MA, now the School of Theology and Ministry at Boston College. Fr. McDermott is the author of two books, What Are They Saying About the Grace of Christ? (Paulist Press) and Word Become Flesh: Dimensions of Christology (Liturgical Press), and numerous articles, book reviews and audio CDs. He has been a spiritual director for almost fifty years and a community superior for eighteen. For nineteen years he was a member of Georgetown’s Board of Directors. From 1996 to 2012 he was the director of tertians for the Maryland and New York provinces of the Society of Jesus. He is currently engaged, in collaboration with Ms. Martina O’Shea, with training spiritual directors and givers of the Spiritual Exercises.

The Dahlgren Chapel Sacred Lecture Series
The early Jesuits instituted a practice called sacred lectures, popularizing and significantly amplifying a tradition that existed before the founding of the Society of Jesus. Sacred lectures were distinct from their ministry of preaching within the context of a liturgy. The lecturer sat in a chair or bench in the main body of the church, and did not stand at a pulpit as if preaching a sermon. Sacred lectures were not strictly academic exercises. Seeking to instruct, edify, and challenge, the Jesuit lecturer applied the content of the lecture to the daily life of lay people who usually composed the audience. In purpose and style, the sacred lectures today would be called adult education or adult faith formation. We have adapted this tradition for the current times seeking out diverse voices of wisdom in our midst.