480 South Batavia St
Orange, CA 92868-3907
714-997-9587, 714-997-9588 (fax)
office@loyolainstitute.org

Staff

Rev. Stephen Corder, S.J.

Fr. Corder has been the executive director of the Loyola Institute for Spirituality since June 2008. A member of the California Province of the Society of Jesus since 1990 and a priest since 2001, he holds the doctorate of ministry specializing in spirituality from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, Illinois. He also completed the licentiate in sacred theology in the area of spirituality at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley along with training in the art of spiritual direction. Fr. Corder was born in San Diego, California, on December 28, 1968 and met the Jesuits while an undergraduate student at Stanford University where he studied Spanish and psychology. He has taught at Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, California, and has worked at the University of San Francisco in the division of University Life. He has ministered in multicultural parish communities and in other countries including Mexico, Uruguay, and the Philippines. Fr. Corder offers retreats, spiritual direction, and conferences on Ignatian spirituality in both English and Spanish.

Sr. Barbra Ostheimer, S.N.D.

Sister Barbra Ostheimer, a Sister of Notre Dame, completed nine years of spiritual formation ministry at the International Union of Superior Generals in Rome in December 2005 and has a full and remarkable background in every aspect of spiritual development. She worked for many years at Spiritual Life Ministries in Ohio before going to Rome. She holds a Masters degree in spirituality from Gonzaga University. Her expertise is in the area of design and coordination of formation programs. In addition Sister Barbra enjoys giving retreats, days of prayer, workshops, and doing spiritual companioning and teaching. She joined the LIS team in April 2006.

Bro. Charles Jackson, S.J.

Br. Jackson was born and raised in San Francisco. Upon graduating from St. Ignatius High School in 1960, he entered the Society of Jesus as a brother. After serving as a printer, a carpenter and a cook, he completed a B.S. in computer science at the University of San Francisco and a M.S. in computer science at the University of California - Irvine. For almost twenty years he taught mathematics and computer science and coached cross-country and track at St. Ignatius College Prep in San Francisco and at Bellarmine College Prep in San Jose. In the late 1980s he served three years as Province Director of Studies in Los Gatos. In the mid-1990s he served two years as Secretary for Formation at the Jesuit Conference, the national offices in Washington, DC (during which he was a delegate at the Jesuits’ 34^th General Congregation), and then five years as Undersecretary of the Society of Jesus and special advisor for matters pertaining to brothers at the General Curia in Rome. After returning to California, he served four years as Province Vocation Director.

Br. Jackson has read, written, and spoken widely on the topic of Ignatian spirituality. His published writings include the article, “Vocations and Vocation Discernment”, and the monograph, “‘Something that happened to me at Manresa’ – The Mystical Origin of the Ignatian Charism.” During the summer of 2005, he completed the four-week Internship in the Art of Spiritual Direction at Mercy Center in Burlingame, CA, and has recently completed the first year of the three-year Pierre Favre Program (a program to train directors in the Spiritual Exercises) at the Jesuit Retreat Center in Los Altos. He enjoys distance running, reading and listening to music.

Rev. Felix Just, S.J.

Soon after Felix was born in Berlin, Germany, the Just family emigrated to Tucson, Arizona, where he graduated from Tucson High School and studied Mathematics at the University of Arizona (B.S. 1978; M.S. 1980). He entered the California Province of the Society of Jesus in 1980 and was ordained a priest in 1991. His Jesuit training included attending the Jesuit Novitiate in Santa Barbara, CA, studying at the Hochschule für Philosophie in Munich, Germany (Bakk.Phil. 1984), teaching mathematics and German at Jesuit High School in Sacramento, CA, and studying theology at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, CA (M.Div. 1990, S.T.L. 1994).

Fr. Just did his doctoral studies of the New Testament in the Dept. of Religious Studies at Yale University, New Haven, CT, culminating in a dissertation entitled, “The Social Role of Blind People and Attitudes toward the Blind in New Testament Times” (Ph.D. 1998). His other research interests include the Gospel and Letters of John, the Book of Revelation and Apocalyptic Literature, the Roman Catholic Liturgy, and the Lectionary for Mass.

He is currently the Director of Biblical Education at the Loyola Institute for Spirituality in Orange, CA, through which he offers and directs a variety of adult biblical education programs. Prior to moving to Orange County, he taught theology and religious studies at Loyola Marymount University (Los Angeles), the University of San Francisco, and Santa Clara University. He was also the Director of the Center for Religion and Spirituality at LMU, and has worked extensively with the Campus Ministry and Ecclesia programs of Mount St. Mary's College, Los Angeles. He is an active member of the Catholic Biblical Association and the Society of Biblical Literature, and tries to keep up his working knowledge of several ancient and modern languages. He frequently gives public lectures, workshops, and retreats for parishes and dioceses on a wide variety of biblical, liturgical, spiritual, and theological topics. Fr. Just is the author of "The New Testament: A Guided Tour" (an Audio CD program from Now You Know Media), and he also maintains a large internationally acclaimed website with a wide variety of biblical and liturgical materials (http://catholic-resources.org).

Rev. David C. Robinson, S.J.

Fr. Robinson was born and raised in Billerica, Massachusetts, in the historic shadow of Lexington and Concord. After completing undergraduate studies at Boston University, he went to UC Berkeley for graduate work in English Literature. His spiritual journey then led him to migrate ‘across the road’ to the Jesuit School of Theology and the Graduate Theological Union, immediately north of the Cal campus, where he commenced an odyssey of exploration in varied areas of philosophical studies, biblical literature and languages, systematic theology, and the sociology and anthropology of religion. After entering the Society of Jesus in 1982, he began a decades-long connection to ministry in the Latino community, as well as pursuing advanced studies in music. He earned his Ph.D. in Theology and the Arts from the Graduate Theological Union in 1995.

On the professional front, he spent nearly fifteen years at the University of San Francisco at the College of Professional Studies, in the areas of Interdisciplinary Studies, Academic Administration, and Educational Mission and Spirituality. From 2007 to 2009, he was Director of the Nestucca Sanctuary Spirituality Center on the Oregon coast. His ministry at the Loyola Institute for Spirituality includes liturgical work with the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange, support for Latino community groups, Ignatian pedagogy workshops for professors at Jesuit Universities, and spirituality and the arts projects focused on music, photography, and website development. On the personal front, he considers himself a work-in-progress—mingling interests in music, tennis, media, and global networks with an ongoing connection to international Jesuit educational ventures (especially online), organizational spirituality, and the impacts of complex-systems theory on contemporary models for learning and communication.

Mr. Wini Chuidian

Wini was born in Manila, Philippines, in March 1947. He attended Ateneo de Manila University, the premier Jesuit school in the Philippines, from prep to college, graduating in 1969 with a degree in Business Management and a minor in Corporate Accounting. After earning his degree he migrated to the island of Guam where he began a career in banking working for Bank of Hawaii. He then transferred to California to work for Xerox Corporation in El Segundo in 1973. He managed various accounting departments from fixed assets, payroll, general ledger to policy and audit. Wini finished off his Xerox career after 23 years as the West Coast Accounting Services Controller. He then went into business for himself as an accounting system consultant serving small to medium sized businesses. From 2001, his client base became predominantly from the faith based industry serving a number of Churches and schools in the Diocese of Orange.

Wini’s attachment to the Jesuits led him to accept the management of Loyola Institute for Spirituality’s finances in June 2007. He married Chelle Ysmael in 1970, has two children and four grandchildren. Aside from his business, Wini serves as the Finance Ministry Director for Couples for Christ Foundation for Family & Life, a board member of AMDG Solutions Group, Inc. and Synergy Business Group, Inc. He is also active with the Ateneo de Manila University Alumni Association of California where he served as President and is currently a consultant for the non-profit AdMUAAC, Inc.