By: Joshia Stahl

This Thursday, Xavier’s Year of Faith Series will come to an end with the Setting World on Fire. This event features a panel that represents the Xavier community discussing how everyone can serve God in real, concrete ways. The panel is comprised of Provost and Chief Academic Officer Dr. Scott Chadwick, Dr. Steven Frankel, and Xavier Senior Michael Petrany.

Setting the world on fire is all about “moving out of ourselves and into the world,” said James Riordan, who has been planning this event. This is also the end of the series on Ignatius Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises. These exercises are a four week journey designed for Christians to meditate on their faith in order to understand and apply God’s will.

The first week of these exercises guides those who participate to reflect on human sin and the unending love of God. The second week focuses on the birth and life of Jesus and the will of God. The third week centers on the death of Jesus and the Last Supper. Finally, the fourth week ends the exercises by studying the resurrection of Jesus and tells followers how to serve God in the world.

The Year of Faith series started after Pope Benedict XVI declared a Year of Faith on October 11, 2012. This Year of Faith has been meant to encourage believers to renew their faith and deepen their relationship with Jesus. Setting the World on Fire is to be the grand finale of this series to celebrate the Year of Faith here at Xavier.

The event is to be held Thursday, September 12, in the Conotan Board Room, starting at 4:00 PM and ending at 5:00 PM. Xavier encourages anyone who is interested in learning about serving God in the world to attend this free presentation.