Tag Archives: Ignatian Sprititual Exercises
Joyful Mysteries and Silent Dreams
“Let there be Esther,” I heard God pronounce, speaking right into my life-long struggle to exist. During the Ignatian prayer retreat I was leading last week, I had a chance to pray with one of my “joyful mysteries.” As I … Continue reading →
Being Counted
“I talked to a nurse practitioner about my gastric reflux,” I said to my spiritual director. “I changed my diet, don’t eat after supper and raised the head of our bed. And that’s not all I’ve been doing to care … Continue reading →
The Prodigal Daughter
“Be gentle with yourselves,” Erik, our director, told us as we began our 8-day silent retreat. After a few more instructions, he sent us off to pray with scriptures that spoke of God’s enduring, present, and attentive love for us. … Continue reading →
Yes
“I tell people you need to pray as long as it takes to get to YES, a foundational yes–yes to reality, to the moment, to God present in the grass, to God present in you and in me,” Richard Rohr … Continue reading →
A Holy Place
Of course I told my spiritual director what happened, and she listened compassionately as I talked and cried. She asked me to name my feelings and notice how they felt in my body. I told her that I felt betrayed, … Continue reading →
Silently Blooming
It’s this time of year, when the nights are long and the days cold and rainy, that I begin to accompany people through the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises Retreat in Daily Life. These retreatants embark on a nine-month journey with Christ, asking … Continue reading →
Living Out of Our Stories
“We live out of our stories,” Monty Williams, SJ said to our little group of Ignatian directors. We listened intently to this wise, amiable priest who was born in Guyana seven decades ago. Father Williams explained that each of us … Continue reading →
Sin, Hell and Roller Derby
“I’d like you to pray with #50 in the Spiritual Exercises: the sin of the angels,” my director instructed on the third day of my eight-day retreat. He also assigned three more prayer periods focussing on sin and hell, mine … Continue reading →
Wide and Deep
I finally received my first royalty cheque from Amazon over a year after I published Stories of an Everyday Pilgrim. The amount? One hundred dollars and seventy-five cents. Humbling. I always wanted to write a book. Praying the Ignatian Exercises as … Continue reading →
Rescued
As I looked back on my eight-day retreat, I saw the through-line of a story. It began with God’s whispers of love and a gentle awareness that I had been guarding and protecting my heart from God. At the beginning of the retreat, … Continue reading →