Category Archives: Ignatian Spirituality

My Suffering

Posted on April 21, 2023 by Esther Hizsa

Sadness crept closer with each chapter I read. Then it slipped in beside me when the father left too. It was still there the next day and the day after that. Sadness kept coming in through the tiny crack of … Continue reading →

Posted in compassion, Easter, Ignatian Spirituality, Mindfulness, Poetry, Prayer, Reflections, Stories | Tagged Bloomst, Esther Hizsa, fiction, Heather Ruce, Ignatius of Loyola, Jeena Paradies., Leuchtturm81, Ofjd125gk87, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, suffering, Third degree of humility, tree | Leave a comment

Let Me Tell You Again

Posted on March 31, 2023 by Esther Hizsa

In that light-blindingmountaintopmoment,you heard Me say,“You are My beloved,”and you believed it. You held itclose,felt itthumping against your chestall the waydown. But oh, My love,here in the valley,where the traffic’s jammed with red lights,you get that look of disappointment,the day … Continue reading →

Posted in Ignatian Spirituality, Lent, Poetry, Songs | Tagged Beloved Is Where We Begin, Cale Woodley, Deuteronomy 31:6, Drudgery, Esther Hizsa, Ignatian retreat, Isaiah 43:1, Jan L. Richardson, lent, Madras91, Matthew 17:1-13, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Time | 4 Comments

That’s What Love Does

Posted on February 17, 2023 by Esther Hizsa

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became bright … Continue reading →

Posted in Ignatian Spirituality, Lent, Prayer, Reflections | Tagged 1 John 4:8, Deuteronomy 31:6, Ephesians 3:14-21, Esther Hizsa, Henri Nouwen, I love my father, Lenten Prayer Practice, Luke 15:11-31, Luke 19:11-27, Matthew 17:1-13, Matthew 7:7-11, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Yvette T. | 7 Comments

Love Is Found Here

Posted on February 10, 2023 by Esther Hizsa

For love and freedom are only found when one enjoys each note as it arises,then allows it to go, so as to be fully receptive in the notes that follow.–Anthony de Mello, Stop Fixing Yourself, 130. Each note–this lovely one,that … Continue reading →

Posted in Ignatian Spirituality, Mindfulness, Poetry, Reflections | Tagged Anthony de Mello, David L. Fleming SJ, Dr Wendy Longo, Esther Hizsa, I Am Here., I am Home., Insight Timer, Ivan Rigamonti, Moments, Sarah Blondin, Soul of Christ, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Stop Fixing Yourself, Zurich Moments | Leave a comment

If I Believed That

Posted on February 3, 2023 by Esther Hizsa

On that day you will realize that I am in my Father,and you are in me, and I am in you.— John 14:20 (NIV) What if that day was today,and today, I woke up and realized this is true? What … Continue reading →

Posted in Ignatian Spirituality, Mindfulness, Poetry, Reflections | Tagged Cat-Bliss, Esther Hizsa, Etolane, Finding God in all things, Funkybug, John 14:20, Joy Is Measurable, Sister Anne Arabome, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver | 2 Comments

Before the Miracle

Posted on January 20, 2023 by Esther Hizsa

I close my eyes, enter into my imagination, and arrive at the wedding in Cana. I take it all in–joyful chatterolives and garlicky hummusdangling earrings and earnest facesfreshly baked bread and wafts of perfumethe earthen goblet in my hand. Who am … Continue reading →

Posted in compassion, Ignatian Spirituality, Prayer, Reflections | Tagged Esther Hizsa, Frans Francken the Younger, Ignatian prayer, Jan Evans, Lenten retreat, Nheyob, Psalm 139:7-8, Rembrandt, Saint James the Greater Catholic Church, SoulStream, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, The Return of the Prodigal Son, The Wedding at Cana | Leave a comment

Advent 4: Silence

Posted on December 16, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

As I began my four-day retreat last week, I became aware of how uncomfortable I was with the silence–especially in the evening when it was dark, and I couldn’t go for walk or gaze at the sea. I wanted something … Continue reading →

Posted in Advent, autism, Christmas, compassion, Ignatian Spirituality, Prayer, Reflections, Stories | Tagged abide, Carrie Newcomer, Christopher Jamison, Esther Hizsa, Extraordinary Attorney Woo, Fr Richard Soo, Frank hb, Ignatian Sprititual Exercises, John 15:1-15, O come o come Emmanuel, Parée, Parker J. Palmer, retreat, Silence, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver | 2 Comments

Smug Mode

Posted on September 16, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

So we got to climb one more mountain after all. And not just any mountain–Black Tusk. Bagging this peak is not just a walk in the (Garibaldi) Park. You have to backpack 9.5 kilometres and up 900 metres to a … Continue reading →

Posted in Creation, Ignatian Spirituality, Reflections, Stories | Tagged Black Tusk, Esther Hizsa, Garibaldi Lake, Living from the Heart, Mary Oliver, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius | 7 Comments

Are You Coming?

Posted on March 11, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

I loved the look of satisfaction on Jesus’ face. We just fed five thousand men, plus women and children, with one boy’s lunch of bread and fish. The scene continued to unfold in my imagination as I prayed with this … Continue reading →

Posted in compassion, Ignatian Spirituality, Lent, Mindfulness, Mystical, Overeating, Prayer, Praying with the Imagination, Reflections, Stories | Tagged 1 Corinthians 10:5, Esther Hizsa, John 6:1-24, limiting beliefs, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, The Internship | 3 Comments

The Sannyasi’s Gift

Posted on October 8, 2021 by Esther Hizsa

After my playful summer, I had literally hundreds of unread emails to clear. One thing led to another, and I ended up on Groupon. In my history, I found an expired coupon a couple of years old worth three hundred … Continue reading →