Joe Laramie v4

Father Joe Laramie, SJ, Brings It All Back to the Sacred Heart
Devotion to the Sacred Heart is at the very core of Jesuit Fr. Joe Laramie’s life, and he joyfully
shares that devotion with others through his ministry.
Father Joe – as he prefers to be called – is the national director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer
Network (formerly the Apostleship of Prayer) and has published two books based on his
experience as a retreat leader. His dual ministries of retreat leader and author are inspired by his
desire to be united fully with the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Father Joe’s work as national director of the Worldwide Prayer Network takes him all around
North America, where he interacts with all kinds of people wishing to be brought closer to Jesus.
This presents an opportunity for Fr. Joe to reach out to retreatants, showing them how they can
be ambassadors of hope in today’s uncertain religious climate.
“Jesus is always showing us examples of how to shepherd His people,” Fr. Joe says. “A big part
of my ministry is asking how Jesus is talking to the sheep in front of me – youth, older men, my
retreatants – and moving me to guide them toward His Sacred Heart.”
Father Joe’s time as a retreat leader naturally led into his work as a writer. “At first, I was hoping
to become a sportswriter,” he says with a laugh. “But a problem arose – I wanted to write things
that would leave a lasting impact and have some deeper meaning than just, ‘Who won the game
last night?’ So, I looked at my time as a retreat leader and reworked nine of my best retreat talks
into a written form, had other Jesuits read over the drafts, shopped it around to publishers – those
talks are what ultimately became my first book.”
Father Joe’s books encourage an approach to faith through the lens of contemplation, guiding
readers and other participants on the path of prayer that appeals to the imagination.
This Ignatian approach to prayer dominates Fr. Joe’s work as he leads the Spiritual Exercises in
the never-ending quest for unity with the Sacred Heart.
“The retreats on which the books are based are no small thing; I’m reaching 50–75 people at
once,” Fr. Joe explains. “The books were my response to an internal question, ‘Who isn’t here on
this retreat that might benefit from knowing about and growing closer to the Sacred Heart?’ In
this way, I brought Ignatian Spirituality into my writing, and with it a message of hope for the
whole world. I’m basically living the Jesuit life that Ignatius strove for through my words and
my books.”
On a personal level, Fr. Joe feels blessed to be in a ministry in which he strengthens his
relationship with the Sacred Heart through his work. He sets out daily to achieve a deeper
understanding of his personal relationships through the mental, emotional and spiritual impacts
he creates in the lives of his retreatants. He shares a memorable retreat experience:
“One guy at one of my retreats said, ‘Father, you made me laugh, you made me cry, you made
me think – you’re a good Jesuit.’ Ever since hearing that, I’ve realized that that’s really what
Jesus is trying to tell us: life has joy, so let’s celebrate; life has sorrow, so let’s acknowledge that
and bring it to Christ; life has moments of silence, so we might as well think a little bit. That’s
Jesuit life summed up – and really the life of a Christian in a nutshell.”
Of course, this philosophy will always circle back to Fr. Joe’s foundational love for the Sacred
Heart of Jesus.
“I didn’t think anything like the ministry I’m in now existed,” he says. “I consider myself very
blessed. But my aspirations aside, everything we say, do, see – it all comes back to Jesus. If I can
unite myself to the Sacred Heart, and in doing so unite others to that same Heart, then that is
enough for me.”
Father Joe Laramie, SJ, is the author of Abide in the Heart of Christ: A 10-Day Personal Retreat
with St. Ignatius and its sequel, Love Him Ever More: A 9-Day Personal Retreat with the Sacred
Heat of Jesus. For more information on Fr. Laramie and these books, check here.

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Father Joe Laramie, SJ, Brings It All Back to the Sacred Heart

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