About Esther Hizsa
Esther is a writer, spiritual director, and cofacilitates contemplative retreats and courses. She lives in Vernon, B.C. with her husband, Fred.
I know I shouldn’t compare myself with others. There’ll always be someone who is kinder, wiser, and taller than I am. But it’s not so easy to let go of comparisons when it seems like I’m the only one in … Continue reading →
Posted in Reflections, Rob Des Cotes
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Tagged Birds on a Wire, Esther Hizsa, false self, Immortal Diamond: The Search for the True Self, John O'Donahue, Julie Falk, Mayor Corrigan, Measuring Up, Richard Rohr, Rob Des Cotes, spiritual director, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Tony Robbins, true self, woodleywonderworks
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Soon after my eight-day retreat, I queued up the last five blog posts so they would be published while I was away on vacation. It felt good to know I didn’t need to have another post ready until August 24. … Continue reading →
Posted in Ignatian Spirituality, Prayer, Reflections, Stories
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Tagged Alex Rossi, Blues, Brews and BBQs, Esther Hizsa, Foggy Beach, Habitat for Humanity, Harrison Street, jen, Living from the Heart, Mike Maguire, Miss Myra and the Moonshiners, Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church, Prism, Ron Frehner, SoulStream, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver
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My Eight-Day Retreat: Part 5 Father Roshan picked up on the theme of finding the lost and assigned me the story of Zacchaeus for one of my prayers. I took the despised tax-collector’s place. However, in my story, everyone was … Continue reading →
Posted in Ignatian Spirituality, Mystical, Prayer, Praying with the Imagination, Reflections
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Tagged 8 day retreat, Chris Chiu, Divine Union, Eric Magnuson, Esther Hizsa, John 14:20, John 17:20-21, JSAV, SoulStream, spiritual direction, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, St. John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, The Dark Night of the Soul, The Open Door
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My Eight-Day Retreat: Part 4 On Day Five of my eight-day retreat, Father Roshan invited me to pray with a few “Joyful Mysteries.” In the first, I relived a wonderful visit with our now 36-year-old son and his wife. In … Continue reading →
Posted in Ignatian Spirituality, Prayer, Reflections
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Tagged 1 John 4:18, Esther Hizsa, Good Samaritan, Luke 10:27-35, Luke 15:11-31, Prodigal Son, Renaud Camus, spiritual direction, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Thomas Hawke, William-Adolphe Bouguereau
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My Eight-Day Retreat: Part 3 On the fourth day of my eight-day retreat, Father Roshan asked me to pray with three “Sorrowful Mysteries.” The first memory that returned to me was the day our son, who was sixteen at the … Continue reading →
Posted in Ignatian Spirituality, Prayer, Praying with the Imagination, Reflections
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Tagged 8-day prayer rereat, Angel of Healing, Anne Davis, Archangel Michael, Esther Hizsa, Guido Reni, Hebrews 13:5, Ignatian prayer retreat, Sorrowful mysteries, spiritual direction, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Susan Lordi
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My Eight-Day Retreat: Part 2 “I don’t enjoy praying for a whole hour,” I admitted to Father Roshan on the third morning of my eight-day retreat. His eyes widened for half a second. But he didn’t question me. He just … Continue reading →
Posted in Ignatian Spirituality, Prayer, Praying with the Imagination, Reflections
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Tagged abide, Daniel Ladinsky, Esther Hizsa, God's love, Hafiz, Just Sit There Right Now, Luke 12:22-31, Luke 7:36-50, prayer retreat, spiritual direction, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver
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Hi fellow pilgrims, In the next five posts, I will share with you some of what I experienced on my eight-day retreat. I will be posting them on Mondays and Fridays from now until August 17. As you begin, I … Continue reading →
Posted in Ignatian Spirituality, Prayer, Reflections
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Tagged 8-day prayer rereat, God with us, Ignatian prayer retreat, Isaiah 43:1-3, Nan C. Merrill, Psalm 139, Psalm 23, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver
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Today I am on the last day of my eight-day retreat. So I offer you this post from 2015 which illustrates the loving God I am retreating with. “You can’t catch the Macdonald bus here,” a man says to me at … Continue reading →
Posted in Mystical, Poetry, Popular Posts, Stories
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Tagged #22 Macdonald, Advent, Creation of Adam, Daniel Ladinsky, Esther Hizsa, He Desired Me Sio I Came Close, Love Poems from God, Sistine Chapel, spiritual direction, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Teresa of Avila
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Last week’s post reminded me of a previous post I wrote a few years ago. Here it is again. Fred and I have been attending an Anglican Church in our neighbourhood. For Lent we joined a group that has been … Continue reading →
Posted in Reflections, Stories, Wednesday Lunch Club
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Tagged Anne Yungwirth, Blueberry, Brian McLaren, Burnaby, Esther Hizsa, freedom, Hannah Nieman, Matthew 23:20, Shame, spiritual director, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, St. Stephen the Martyr Anglican Church, We Make the Road by Walking, Whitney Thore
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God is in all creation–including us–just by virtue of the fact that we were created by God and of God. In the beginning, there wasn’t anything else but God to create us with. We were made in the image of … Continue reading →
Posted in Creation, Reflections
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Tagged compassion, Esther Hizsa, Eve Chan, Najat, Philippians 2:13, sexual abuse survivors, spiritual director, spiritual director Vancouver, sunflower. sunflower sprouting, wholeness
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