Category Archives: Prayer

Stories of an Everyday Pilgrim is available!

Posted on October 9, 2015 by Esther Hizsa

I am excited to announce that my book, Stories of an Everyday Pilgrim, has been published and is available! To celebrate this long-awaited moment, today’s post is the first story in the book. Here’s more about how you can get a copy. … Continue reading →

Posted in Childhood, Homelessness, Popular Posts, Prayer, Stories, Stories of an Everyday Pilgrim | Tagged Bowen Island, Burnaby Task Force on Homelessness, Esther Hizsa, Homelessness Action Week, Psalm 84:5, Regent College, retreat, Rivendell, spiritual direction, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Stories of an Everyday Pilgrim, Wanda Mulholland | 2 Comments

When We Don’t Receive the Grace We Asked for

Posted on May 22, 2015 by Esther Hizsa

One more thing I want to share with you about my eight-day retreat. Following Ignatius’s example, Sylvester, my spiritual director for the week, encouraged me to ask God for the particular grace I wanted to receive from God in each … Continue reading →

Posted in Ignatian Spirituality, Prayer | Tagged Esther Hizsa, Garrett Charles, hand in Wild Grass, I've Got Nothing, Ignatian prayer, Ignatian retreat, lloyd Morgan, Matthew 6:25-33, Matthew 6:33, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Sylvester Tan | 2 Comments

Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop

Posted on May 15, 2015 by Esther Hizsa

I can’t spend a whole week on retreat with a holy God and not be confronted with my sins, I thought. Yet every time Sylvester assigned scriptures for me to pray with, it never came up. I started to believe I was going … Continue reading →

Posted in Ignatian Spirituality, Poverty of Spirit, Prayer | Tagged Esther Hizsa, Ignatian retreat, Ignatian Spirituality, John 13;1, Julian of Norwich, prayer, sin, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Transformation | 2 Comments

My Soul Speaks

Posted on May 8, 2015 by Esther Hizsa

Jesus kept his promise. During my eight-day retreat, he showed himself to me as I prayed with biblical stories and imagined myself as Hannah, the woman by the well, a child playing with Jesus, and the apostle Peter. “When you pray, ask … Continue reading →

Posted in Ignatian Spirituality, Prayer, Praying with the Imagination | Tagged 1 Samuel 1-2, Esther Hizsa, Guercino, Ignatian retreat, Ignatian Spirituality, John 4; 1-26, Luke 22:54-62, Matthew 18:1-5, Samaritan woman, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Sylvester Tan, woman at the well | 8 Comments

Eight Days Alone with God

Posted on May 1, 2015 by Esther Hizsa

After a long kiss goodbye, Fred drove off. I brushed off my nervousness and unpacked my things. It didn’t take long–just clothes, knitting needles and yarn, my Bible, notebook and a copy of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises. No computer, no other … Continue reading →

Posted in Ignatian Spirituality, Prayer | Tagged Dennis Wong, Esther Hizsa, Ignatian Spirituality, Ignatian Sprititual Exercises, Ignatius of Loyola, Isaiah 55, John 14, Miwok, Neil Gallop, prayer retreat, Redemption, retreat, silent prayer, silent retreat, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Sylvester Tan | 7 Comments

Returning to the Well

Posted on March 13, 2015 by Esther Hizsa

After the Samaritan woman talked with Jesus at the well, her life changed dramatically. From then on, I bet she kept an eye out for him whenever she went to get water. I can even imagine them having more conversations that weren’t recorded in scripture. In … Continue reading →

Posted in False Self, Ignatian Spirituality, Lent, Prayer | Tagged approval, attachments, control, Esther Hizsa, false self, Ignatius of Loyola, John 4, living waters, Photine, Rezi, Samaritan woman, significance, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Spiritual Exercises, Vulcan Stream, woman at the well | 2 Comments

The Invisible Gardener

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Esther Hizsa

What feelings emerged for you when you read last Friday’s post? Perhaps you were drawn to that idyllic picture of God and prayer, yet frustrated because it’s nothing like your experience. Perhaps for you, prayer is as dry and unattractive … Continue reading →

Posted in Poverty of Spirit, Prayer | Tagged Dixieroadrash, Dormant Fern Garden, Esther Hizsa, Hebrews 11:1, Jay Pastore, Matthew 28:20; Philippians 4:5, Psalm 139:7, Rae Allen, Sower and the seed, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Sprout, vege garden | 2 Comments

The Gardener

Posted on February 6, 2015 by Esther Hizsa

How powerless the soil is to produce anything on its own. I am praying with Jesus’s parable of the sower and the seed. I can relate. No matter how hard I try, those three unreceptive soils are in me, impeding … Continue reading →

Posted in Mystical, Popular Posts, Poverty of Spirit, Prayer, Praying with the Imagination | Tagged Burnaby, dependence on God, helplessness, Madison Murphy, Mark 4:1-20, Michael Cook, Night Prayer, Noon Prayer, parable of the soils, SoulStream, SoulStream noon prayer, Sower and the seed, Sower with Setting Sun, spiritual director, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Vancouver, Vincent van Gogh | Leave a comment

In the Shelter of God’s Wings

Posted on January 16, 2015 by Esther Hizsa

I imagine myself in the shelter of God’s wings, safe and warm. Angels relieve me of my duties. I can hang up the worries of my day, click off my brain, and rest. Be still, I tell myself, close your … Continue reading →

Posted in Popular Posts, Prayer, Stories, Stories of an Everyday Pilgrim | Tagged Burnaby, centering prayer, feather 1, Jim Champion, Mennonite Herald, Psalm 91:1, Psalm 91:4, spiritual director, spiritual director Burnaby, Stories of an Everyday Pilgrim | 1 Comment

On This Mountain

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Esther Hizsa

Last week I talked about deadlines closing in on me. One of them was SoulStream’s Living from the Heart course. It would be my first time co-facilitating a six-day intensive in spiritual formation, and I wanted to prepare well for it. Shortly before I … Continue reading →