Those Who Stayed: An Ignatian Retreat for Palm Sunday Weekend

So much of Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises are spent praying with the life of Jesus in order to grow in love and friendship with him. As we step into Palm Sunday and the threshold of Holy Week, this retreat offers a meaningful way to deepen that friendship by accompanying Jesus in his passion.

Rooted in Ignatian spirituality, we will reflect on the humanity of Jesus - “how the divinity hides itself,” as Ignatius says - and the very human need for companionship in moments of suffering. We will consider those who stayed with Jesus in his final hours, both the ones named in the Gospels as well as those overlooked, and allow their courage and compassion to guide our own prayer. Who are we being called to accompany today? How might our friendship with Jesus shape our friendship with a hurting world?

Paula Whatley Matabane is a spiritual director and ordained itinerant elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME). She is minister of prayer and visitation, andcoordinator of church archives at Turner Monumental AME in Atlanta. She researched and wrote an expansive history of that church. Paula’s experiences in ministry include teaching and preaching, evangelism in East and South Africa, practicing contemplative prayer, working with homeless women, seeking racial reconciliation and social justice,producing films on the Black presence in the Bible. Paula is professor emerita of the Howard University School of Communications, and director of publications for the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society. One of her great loves is researchingfamily history and genealogy, which has led to genuine friendships with descendants offormer enslavers of her ancestors. Paula holds the M. Div. degree from the Howard University School of Divinity and the Certificate of Spiritual Direction from Springhill College. The Atlanta native has one daughter, Mashadi, who is an educator andwriter. Paula enjoys biking, hiking, swimming, fishing, gardening, reading, cooking, travel, family reunions, southern history and culture. She loves cats and getting to really know people outside her usual circles. Her favorite scripture is Romans 11:29 – The gifts and call of God are irrevocable.

Rev. Bill Noe, SJ, the youngest of eight brothers, is a native of Racine, Wis. Before entering the Society of Jesus in 2003, Fr. Bill lived in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area for several years, where he worked as an electrical engineer. Fr. Bill has enjoyed long associations with St. Anselm’s Abbey, a Benedictine monastery, and Bethlehem House, a community formed for people with an intellectual disability – both in Washington D.C. During his formation as a Jesuit priest, Fr. Bill was trained in catechesis, comparative theology, and interreligious dialogue. Fr. Bill began his ministry of spiritual direction at St. Ignatius Retreat House in Manhasset, N.Y., in 2005 and has served as a spiritual director in New York, Chicago, Bolivia, and the United Kingdom. From 2015 to 2019, Fr. Bill served as director of Ignatian Spirituality at Loyola on the Potomac, a Jesuit retreat house in Faulkner, Md. He recently received an MA in Pastoral Mental Health Counseling from Fordham University.

Sarah Otto, M.Div., is a Jesuit-trained retreat director and spiritual director who completed her Master of Divinity at Boston College. She studied theology as both an undergrad and graduate student. Her passion has focused on the intersection of faith and justice, which led her to study in El Salvador. Sarah spent a year in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, serving men and women experiencing homelessness in Portland, Ore. Sarah has worked as a hospital and prison chaplain and most recently worked in college campus ministry for five years, both at Providence College and as director of a Newman Catholic Center in Chico, Calif. As a mom, Sarah is particularly passionate about ministering to women and families but continues to enjoy helping people discern how to live a faith that does justice, as well as discovering the unique and creative ways God works in everyone.