Magis Mary: Exploring Feminine Images of God

Presenter: Pamela McGinnis is Mission & Renewal Associate for Maryland Province Jesuits. She assists in leading and coordinating Ignatian retreats: Ignatian Leadership for Mission (week-long retreats for faculty and staff of Jesuit institutions) and Magis (an Eighteen-month program for lay Ignatian formation). Formerly, she worked in management and technology including senior positions in financial services industry. She has been married 19 years and is the mother of a 12-year-old son.

The workshop begins with an examination of the predominant use of male images in society and a comparison to the limited use of female images, in order to understand the impact on both genders, individually and to society. Through reason and faith, this discourse breaks open the topic of images in five parts: (1.) exploring various observations that form argument as to why this subject is important; (2.) a focus on educating about the psychological, historical, and theological aspects of the making of God-images; (3.) raising awareness of one’s own or another’s image of God, as discovered through prayer and helping relationships; (4.) moving from reason to faith, in order to experiment with new images of God; (5.) Through retreat discussion/reflection (the heart of the presentation), the focus shifts to remembering, naming, and embracing feminine images of God (specifically, praying with Mary), through the use of the Spiritual Exercises.