The meeting of 17 Jesuits in Fichermont (Belgium) from 17-19 March: 10, Belgian((8 Francophone & 2 Flemish), 3 French, and  1 each from  Germany, England, Switzerland  and Ireland, began with a sharing of experiences. Rather than describe our various ministries, as per the catalogue, we were invited to share one recent experience of consolation in our ministry within the context of the Renewal. Not easy to summarise, but what stood out was: the Lord giving surprising fruit – joy beyond expectations at a prayer meeting, a coming to terms with one’s family history, a conversion, a healing from depression or other illness during a retreat.

The theme of our gathering was healing, deliverance and exorcism. Two of the group had been recently appointed as diocesan exorcist. One of them shared on this work: the many requests for help; often a desire for some healing or deliverance from something occult passively received. Rather than send them directly to a psychiatrist, it seems right to listen and allow them speak at length  inviting them to play an active part in their healing through prayer with others or a retreat. It can happen that someone who thinks they have been put under a curse or have had some magic spell cast by someone, discovers that they have a deep seated jealousy towards the said person. Indeed, there are few “possessions” in the strict sense, but more “infestations” following recourse to occult practices.

Another issue that came up was the presence in Belgium of preachers from outside the country coming with a reputation for healing. One of the group who had attended one such meeting shared his ambivalent feelings towards what he saw and heard: from being initially moved, he then became reticent with their emphasis on physical healing and fundamentalist interpretations of scripture. And yet he could not deny the presence of physical and spiritual healings by the end of the meeting. In our discussion which followed, several themes emerged: it was through miracles that Jesus began his ministry which drew the crowds and in this way sought to lead them to further graces and conversion. For us, Jesuits, we felt the need to discern such experiences, recognise the place “spiritual struggle” and facilitate a spiritual journey towards a more mature faith.

A sister from the “Verbe de Vie” community in whose convent we were staying invited us to share among ourselves “an experience of being evangelised”: to briefly share a personal experience of the Lord and his working in our lives, such that we could witness to. This led to an excellent sharing of our own spiritual journey at different moments of our life in the Society.

To conclude our weekend, we formed into groups of four to pray over or with one another, each one bringing his own concerns before the others. An experience of fraternal support that we all look forward to, as well as sometimes receiving a “word of knowledge  or a prophetic image”.

Our next meeting will take place in Paray-le-Monial from the 6th (evening) to 8th  (afternoon) April 2018.