What is Ignatian Spirituality
“…For it is not knowing much, but realizing and relishing things interiorly, that contents and satisfies the soul.” St Ignatius (Spiritual Exercises, {2}).
1. Seeing God in all things, all things in God. We deepen our relationship with God by discovering, interiorly, that God is in all the ordinary circumstances of our life. God wants to be intimate with us. He desires a relationship with us. Everything God creates helps us to know him and is to be used in service to God and our brothers and sisters. God is always at work, creating and recreating.
2. What is the meaning of “One foot raised?” Being a contemplative in action, St Ignatius believed that prayer should lead to action. We co-labor with God to bring about the kingdom using the gifts and talents God gave us.
3. What are disordered attachments and why do we care? Unfreedoms or disordered attachments get in the way of our love response to God.
4. What is Discernment of Spirits and why is it important? St Ignatius was a soldier. He realized interiorly that the good spirit and the bad spirit have different attributes The evil one, the enemy of human kind, is deceitful. He is the father of all lies. He can fool us into thinking that something “good” and consoling is from God. On the other hand, he can mislead us into believing that something that causes desolation is not from God. We can find ourselves in the enemy’s camp.
5. Discernment/Decision making- God calls. We respond. Ignatius has a method for discerning God’s will and understanding when we receive God’s confirmation of his will for us.
6. Why was Ignatius so in touch with his feelings? He discovered that paying attention to his feelings told him a great deal about what was from God and what was from the enemy of human kind. He noticed that when he felt “consoled” he was most often moving toward God and when he felt “desolation” he was being led away from God.
7. The importance of desire. Jesus was always asking, “What do you want me to do for you?” Ignatius believed that God places his desire/dream in us and gives us the gifts and talents we need to carry it out. When our desire aligns with God’s desire for us, our dream becomes God's dream for us. It becomes “our” mission as we co-labor to bring about his desire for us and the world. We assist God with bringing about the kingdom.
8. The importance of detachment. Ignatius aimed for radical detachment. “We should not fix our desires on health or sickness, wealth or poverty, success or failure, a long life or a short one.” We have to be free to follow God - To live God’s dream for us. God’s grace is what frees us.
9. The Examen- An Ignatian prayer that Ignatius thought was more important than almost anything else. We place ourselves in the presence of God. We ask God to illuminate our day. We gather the graces of the day and give thanks. We ask God to help us notice where we failed to love. We ask God to remove our unfreedoms, the things that keep us from loving God, ourselves and others. We notice where God was active in the ordinary and where we were moving toward God and give thanks. We ask God for our desire for the day ahead. We end with the "Our Father."
10. At the heart of the Spiritual Exercises we ask, “What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What should I be doing for Christ?”
11. Ignatian spirituality is a way of being in the world. We are people for others.
12. Cura personalis - The “care of souls”. Ignatius adapted the Spiritual Exercises to the person’s unique circumstances, lived experience and respect for the diversity of God’s creatures.
13. Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam- “For the greater glory of God.” A way of looking at everything through the lens of what leads to the greater glory of God.
1. Seeing God in all things, all things in God. We deepen our relationship with God by discovering, interiorly, that God is in all the ordinary circumstances of our life. God wants to be intimate with us. He desires a relationship with us. Everything God creates helps us to know him and is to be used in service to God and our brothers and sisters. God is always at work, creating and recreating.
2. What is the meaning of “One foot raised?” Being a contemplative in action, St Ignatius believed that prayer should lead to action. We co-labor with God to bring about the kingdom using the gifts and talents God gave us.
3. What are disordered attachments and why do we care? Unfreedoms or disordered attachments get in the way of our love response to God.
4. What is Discernment of Spirits and why is it important? St Ignatius was a soldier. He realized interiorly that the good spirit and the bad spirit have different attributes The evil one, the enemy of human kind, is deceitful. He is the father of all lies. He can fool us into thinking that something “good” and consoling is from God. On the other hand, he can mislead us into believing that something that causes desolation is not from God. We can find ourselves in the enemy’s camp.
5. Discernment/Decision making- God calls. We respond. Ignatius has a method for discerning God’s will and understanding when we receive God’s confirmation of his will for us.
6. Why was Ignatius so in touch with his feelings? He discovered that paying attention to his feelings told him a great deal about what was from God and what was from the enemy of human kind. He noticed that when he felt “consoled” he was most often moving toward God and when he felt “desolation” he was being led away from God.
7. The importance of desire. Jesus was always asking, “What do you want me to do for you?” Ignatius believed that God places his desire/dream in us and gives us the gifts and talents we need to carry it out. When our desire aligns with God’s desire for us, our dream becomes God's dream for us. It becomes “our” mission as we co-labor to bring about his desire for us and the world. We assist God with bringing about the kingdom.
8. The importance of detachment. Ignatius aimed for radical detachment. “We should not fix our desires on health or sickness, wealth or poverty, success or failure, a long life or a short one.” We have to be free to follow God - To live God’s dream for us. God’s grace is what frees us.
9. The Examen- An Ignatian prayer that Ignatius thought was more important than almost anything else. We place ourselves in the presence of God. We ask God to illuminate our day. We gather the graces of the day and give thanks. We ask God to help us notice where we failed to love. We ask God to remove our unfreedoms, the things that keep us from loving God, ourselves and others. We notice where God was active in the ordinary and where we were moving toward God and give thanks. We ask God for our desire for the day ahead. We end with the "Our Father."
10. At the heart of the Spiritual Exercises we ask, “What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What should I be doing for Christ?”
11. Ignatian spirituality is a way of being in the world. We are people for others.
12. Cura personalis - The “care of souls”. Ignatius adapted the Spiritual Exercises to the person’s unique circumstances, lived experience and respect for the diversity of God’s creatures.
13. Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam- “For the greater glory of God.” A way of looking at everything through the lens of what leads to the greater glory of God.
