Our Mission
The John Main Center offers a contemplative sacred space in the heart of the Georgetown University campus. Through regular meditation sessions and special events, offered in a spirit of friendship and openness to all, the John Main Center shares the gift of the contemplative path with the Georgetown Community and beyond.
Contemplatives in Action
Our Response to Racism and Racial Injustice
Now a full and active component of Campus Ministry, the John Main Center seeks to become more deeply engaged in the spiritual and intellectual life of Georgetown—offering a comprehensive, campus-wide approach to the teaching and practice of meditation that is consistent with its Jesuit identity and Ignatian values.
In light of the signs of these unprecedented times and in order to uphold the Jesuit value of being “Contemplatives in Action”, the JMC shares this crucial and timely message from Georgetown University Campus Ministry.
Dear friends,
Current events serve as a powerful reminder of the persistence of racism and racial injustice in our communities. The tragic death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, MN, amid so many others, has evoked deep memory of our history of racial oppression. We are overcome with grief for the oppressed and for our own complicity in systems of oppression.
This moment gives fresh urgency to the call to be “people for others,” in the words of Pedro Arrupe, S.J. — people “completely convinced that the love of God which does not issue in justice for others is a farce.”(1) As a Catholic and Jesuit institution, we uphold the words of the 32nd General Congregation of the Society of Jesus, that “the promotion of justice is an absolute requirement” of the “service of faith.”(2) As people of diverse religious and non-religious backgrounds, we affirm that these words speak to a deeper, universal call — the call to care for the wounded among us, to seek understanding, and to dismantle the causes of all forms of violence. We commend all those who have responded to this call.
Georgetown University continues to atone for its participation in the sin of slavery. We lament that all of our traditions have at one time or another throughout history been complicit in raising up some at the expense of others. We who bear the privileges of these systems must reflect on our participation and root out the seeds of racism from our communities. Otherwise, these tragic patterns will persist.
As religious leaders at Georgetown University, we commit to name, address, and dismantle the structures of racism and white privilege in our own midst. We will do this by:
- Deepening our own formation around race and white privilege through honest, ongoing examination of the way they function in our personal and professional lives
- Examining and addressing the ways in which race, power, privilege, and their intersections function in the operations of Campus Ministry, and in our religious communities
- Working with our campus partners to include a racial justice lens in all our student programs, and creating programs that specifically address racism, and anti-racism awareness, competency, and action
- Continuing this work well into the future, and not just in this moment in history.
In unity, we add our voices to those who are calling for racial justice, and vow to begin with ourselves. We seek to be who we all came to the Hilltop to become: people for others.
Respectfully,
The Chaplains and Staff of Campus Ministry at Georgetown University
(1)https://ignatiansolidarity.net/men-and-women-for-others-fr-pedro-arrupe-s-j
(2)https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/our-mission-today.html
space
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Spring Meditation Offerings
Please indicate which meditation session you would like to attend and Request Zoom Link by emailing the JMC at meditationcenter@
All times below are Eastern Standard Time.
Daily Monday-Friday
12:30 p.m.-1 p.m. Request Zoom
Host: JMC Director
Monday-Friday Morning Meditation
9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. Request Zoom
Tuesday Christian Prayer & Meditation
Tuesday Bedtime Meditation
9:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. Request Zoom
New! Alumni & Graduating Hoyas Meditation Tuesdays
5:30-6:00 p.m. Request Zoom
For the McDonough School of Business (MSB) Community Wednesdays
11-11:30 a.m. Request Zoom
Host: JMC-MSB Team & Director
WCCM (World Community of Christian Meditation)
Sundays 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. Request Zoom
Dr. Gene Bebeau
Thursdays 6:15 – 7:15 p.m. Request Zoom
Prof. Dennis McAuliffe – djm2@georgetown.edu
Our JMC Leaders Welcome YOU to a Spring Semester 2021
of Stillness, Silence & Simplicity!
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On April 14 author and Jesuit @FrJamesMartin will talk with Berkley Center Senior Fellow Paul Elie about the challenges in writing about the interior life and the notion of writing itself as spiritual practice.
This event is hosted by the Office of the President and the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University in partnership with the Office of Mission & Ministry, Office of Campus Ministry, and the John Main Center for Meditation and Interreligious Dialogue.
RSVP: bit.ly/MartinAtGU
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Christian Prayer and Meditation
Every Tuesday
9:00pm – 9:30pm (EST)
Request Zoom
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MSB Meditation
Every Wednesday
11 – 11:30am (EST)
Request Zoom Link
JMC-MSB Meditation Team
Rashan Prailow (MSF ’21)
Emily Oler (MBA ’21)
Rohan Shamapant (MBA ’21)
Will Loyd, (MBA ’21)
Michaella Mentu (MiM ’21)
Jackie Powell (MBA ’22)
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Alumni & Graduating Hoya Meditation
Every Tuesday
5:30pm – 6pm (EST)
Request Zoom & Sign Up Here!
Join your fellow Alumni and Graduating Hoya meditators for a half-hour of stillness, silence and simplicity.
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Undergraduate OnlyGainz Meditation
Every Thursday
8pm-8:30pm (EST)
Sign Up Here!
This group is reserved to be a space for Hoyas who identify as men and want to join a fitness accountability group!
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Remembering the Remarkable Legacy of Anne Marie Becraft
Our JMC Leaders Celebrate Anne Marie Becraft
in honor of Black History Month!
https://www.instagram.com/
@johnmaincenter
I stumbled across the Anne Marie Becraft Hall while on campus recently and it gave me joy. The space, virtually and physically reminds me of the places where I felt safe, grounded and in community with those around me. My undergraduate experience at a women’s college granted me several opportunities to dig deeper within and find my true self. Joining the online weekly meditation sessions with the John Main Center, connects me to my true self in similar, newer ways, while also connecting me with Georgetown students, faculty, staff and community members. I appreciate the fact that there is a designated space to the legacy of Anne Marie Becraft, particularly because she is remembered for establishing an academy for Black girls and I’m a Black girl/woman at this institution. This space reminds me that my Blackness & woman-ness belong here at Georgetown and it is precious to me for this reason.
Michaella Mentu
Master’s in Management ’21
Georgetown University MSB
The Meditation House (as I called it) was my favorite place on campus, well before I knew its history or that the university was considering changing its name. The building was once named after a former Georgetown leader who was involved in the sale of 272 enslaved people. To have the place where folks are invited to communally meditate and reflect be named after a Black woman, a woman of service through education, is inspiring. Anne Marie Becraft accomplished so much before passing at 28; I, at 29, hope to create positive, lasting change through my work as well. The space [JMC – my addition] feels more inviting and is somewhere I went (pre-COVID) to bask in the energy of someone like Anne Marie Becraft as a Black woman who serves through education.
Jaime Brown
Associate Director,
Center for Student Engagement
MBA ’23
Georgetown University MSB
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“For three years, I resisted going into John Main Center because the idea of meditating and being in silence for more than 2 minutes was the most daunting of concepts. However, my curiosity got antsy and propelled me to try what the media crowned the newest wellness fad– meditation. Over the course of my senior year, I not only was able to discover and deepen my meditation practice but I also became part of such a special community. The center pulls together people from all corners of campus and the world to come together with the common interest of meditation. A simple and profound connection proved to build a foundation for a community so welcoming and loving. So, while it once used to be just that tiny building across from New South, now the John Main Center serves as both an oasis and a home. “Katherine Altman C'19
“The John Main Center has been instrumental for the wholeness of my Georgetown experience. Not only has it become a space of peace and calm but also it has helped me grow spiritually and emotionally. I feel like having the Meditation Center on campus can be a great addition to any student — whatever it is the faith tradition that he or she comes from. Being part of the JMC is an opportunity to each day enhance our lives personally, spiritually, physically, and academically.”Gabriel Donato Gonçalves C'19
Partners
We are grateful for the support of the following:
