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Last year’s commencement speaker Rev. James Martin, S.J. will return to campus to headline the Inspired Writer Series, which will kick off on Tuesday, March 29 at 7 p.m. in the Egan Chapel of St. Ignatius Loyola with a free conversation centered around his book, Seven Last Words , an exploratory work examining Jesus’ last words on the cross.

Fr. Martin, a New York Times bestselling author, will bring the pages of his book to life as he discusses how deeply Jesus understands our struggles and why we can turn to him completely — in mind, heart and soul. Stemming from his homilies at New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Good Friday 2015, each meditation in Seven Last Words reflects on one of seven traditional sayings:

"Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing."  "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise." "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"  "Woman, here is your son. . . . Here is your mother."  "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit."  "I am thirsty.” “It is finished.”

Fr. Martin uses these sayings to convey not only the importance of Jesus’ last words from the cross, but also the deep connection to the human struggle that Christ so deeply understood.

Because of Fr. Martin’s clout as an authority in Catholic studies, Rev. James Bowler, S.J., director of the Center on Ignatian Spirituality, is excited to have him speak as part of the Inspired Writer Series.

"Fr. Martin is perhaps the most popular Catholic author in the English speaking world today," said Fr. Bowler. "His newest book on THE PASSION  offers rich insights based on contemporary Biblical scholarship as well as how the Passion of the Christ is alive in today’s world."

A prolific writer, Martin is not only the author of 10 books, which include recent titles such as Jesus: A Pilgrimage and Between Heaven and Mirth: Why Joy, Humor, and Laughter Are at the Heart of the Spiritual Life , he is also editor at large of America magazine, the National Catholic Review. Fr. Martin’s books have such a global reach that they’ve been translated into Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Polish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Swedish and Slovenian. His works have received numerous accolades, including three Christopher Awards, a First Place award from the Catholic Press Association and places on Publisher’s Weekly ’s “Best Books” list and the New York Times Bestsellers List . His work has also earned him several awards and honorary degrees from a variety of colleges and universities in the United States.

In addition to being published in Catholic publication such as America, Commonweal, U.S. Catholic and The (London) Tablet , Fr. Martin has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer, O Magazine and other newspapers and websites, including Slate.com, The Huffington Post and The New York Times’ and The Washington Post’s websites. Fr. Martin also employs his expertise across other media platforms as well, commenting on religion and spirituality on outlets such as National Public Radio's "Fresh Air with Terry Gross," NPR’s “Weekend Edition” and "All Things Considered," PBS’s “Newshour,” Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report” and Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor," as well as on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, PBS, The History Channel, the BBC, National Geographic TV, Voice of America and Vatican Radio.

The event is co-sponsored by The Center for Ignatian Spirituality, The Inspired Writer: The Distinguished Author Series of ������ý��Ƶ�����ƹۿ�’s MFA in Creative Writing, Campus Ministry, the College of Arts & Sciences and the Center for Catholic Studies.

To reserve a seat, contact Elizabeth Hastings at ehastings@fairfield.edu.

By Nicole Funaro ’17