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‘Cultivating compassion’ at Union Chapel

David Marcotte, S.J., Ph.D. will preach about “Cultivating compassion in a fear-filled world” at Union Chapel in the Grove on Sunday, Aug. 18 at 10:30 am.

Father Marcotte is a Jesuit priest and clinical psychologist who teaches at Fordham University. He recently returned from South Africa, Botswana and Eswatini where he delivered a series of lectures on the subject of happiness: “How to live a happy life: The spirituality and psychology of well-being.”

He is one of the developers of “Spiritual Self Schema Therapy,” which he describes as “an empirically supported treatment that integrates modern cognitive psychology, meditation practice and an individual’s spirituality to reduce addictive behaviors and the use of harmful substances.” Father Marcotte has done empirical studies on the concept that meditation and contemplative practices are an essential part of well-being.

He was born and raised in Los Angeles, Calif., with two brothers and a sister. He attended St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, Calif., for undergraduate studies in philosophy and the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley for theological studies. He became interested in psychology during his theology studies after working as a chaplain at San Francisco General Hospital in an HIV unit. He did his doctoral studies in clinical psychology at The New School For Social Research in New York City and did post-doctoral work at Yale Medical School. During and after his doctoral studies, he specialized in substance-abuse treatment for HIV-positive individuals.

Father Marcotte is also a member of the Psychology Coalition of NGOs at the United Nations where he represents the Institute for Multicultural Counseling and Educational Services.

Music for the service will be performed by chapel organist Linda Betjeman and a guest musician.

Join us at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 18, for this non-denominational service. Everyone is welcome.