Church of the Holy Spirit Lenten Mission

Five Hard Truths That Will Set You Free

The forty days of Lent are a time of great spiritual formation and preparation. It is a time for an earnest spiritual reordering when Catholics make the conscious effort to examine their lives in order to let go of bad habits and inordinate attachments. This Lenten retreat will look at five hard truths or realities that are part of our living, and by doing so, it will provide us an opportunity to pause and ponder our mindsets, motivations, and behaviors. When we delve into these realities we can find ways in which we can overcome the attitudes that hold us back from more freely experiencing God‘s grace.

Lent is the Church‘s great retreat and the goal of any retreat is to grow in grace and to become freer and more authentically the person that God created us to be. By examining each of these truths we can discover more of the way in which God is calling and inviting us, especially now, to become that authentic person, so that we will grow more and more into the image and likeness of him who has destined us for Paradise. By examining these truths it is hoped that the retreatment will walk away with a new and fresh perspective in order to gain a deeper experience of God’s love grace, and mercy.

Reverend James R. Mattaliano, S.J.
Fr. James R. Mattaliano, S.J., is a native Arlington MA. He attended the University of Massachusetts in Amherst where he completed two degree majors – one in psychology and the other in communication disorders. Upon his graduation in 1979, he entered the Society of Jesus. During his years of formation and studies, he attended Loyola University of Chicago to complete his philosophy studies and earned a graduate degree in counseling. He later attended both Regis College in Toronto and Boston College in Chestnut Hill, MA where he received Masters Degrees in Divinity and Spirituality respectively. He was ordained a priest in 1990 and served as chaplain and counselor at Bishop Connolly High School in Fall River, MA for three years. Upon completing his final year of formation living and working in Nairobi Kenya, he pronounced his Solemn Vows and served as Associate Pastor at St. Ignatius Church in Chestnut Hill, MA from 1994-2002.

Long interested in the fields of pastoral counseling, spiritual direction, sacramental ministry and retreat work, Fr. Mattaliano joined the retreat team at Campion Center in Weston, MA in 2002. He became its Director in 2007 and served in this capacity for ten years. During this time, he led retreats all across the United States and Canada, and led pilgrimages throughout the world. In July of 2017, Fr. Mattaliano was appointed Executive Vice President of Campion Center and served as the Minister of the Jesuit Community overseeing its temporal needs. In 2020 his term ended and he began a sabbatical which will conclude this summer.