Four Gifts of Ignatian Spirituality
Highlighting Ignatian spirituality these last few weeks has been so fun! (If you’ve missed some of our content, head on over to our Instagram page to check it out, like our post on the Ignatian Exercises or the prayer of examen.)
We are so grateful for what Ignatian spirituality can bring to our faith–it’s overflowing with gifts for our life in Jesus! I wanted to touch on four of them: rootedness in God’s love, finding God in all things, knowing Jesus more deeply, and living a practical, integrated spirituality.
Rooted in God’s Love
One of the most significant experiences I had while walking through the Ignatian Exercises a couple of years ago was encountering God’s love in ways I hadn’t before. Much of Ignatian spirituality beckons us to return to the truest thing about each of us as human beings: that we are created in love, that we are God’s beloved.
When Ignatius first designed his Spiritual Exercises, he actually had people start with the theme of sin: recognizing the reality of sin in the world, in others, and in ourselves. It didn’t take him long to learn that starting there led people down a dark spiral of shame and despair, including himself! He then developed what are called the “preparatory exercises,” and changed his retreat in daily life to begin with our identity as the beloved. Understanding and confessing our brokenness in a way that leads to transformation, according to Ignatius, can really only happen on the foundation of our belovedness. I found this to be true in my experience through the Exercises, and it continues to be true. God didn’t send Jesus just to rescue me from sin and death, but also to restore me to my belovedness in him. (You can read a bit more about my experience with this here.)
Finding God in All Things
Both Bryan and I have been convinced that God is always speaking, always moving, always beckoning us to deeper life. The beautiful thing is that he doesn’t stop speaking just because we have trouble listening–rather, he’ll keep speaking to us until we hear it! Ignatian spirituality shares this belief–that God is at work in all things. Any moment, any experience–even the most mundane daily thing–is fodder for encountering God himself.
Ignatius believed that we simply need to develop greater discernment, that we need to grow in our ability to discern what is of God and what isn’t. The Holy Spirit showed him how to reflectively notice God’s presence throughout his day, which Ignatius developed into the prayer of examen.
We’re not just invited to notice God, though–we are invited to respond to him. What is he speaking to me, what is he inviting me to, and how will I respond to his invitation? How will I participate in his work of transformation in my life and in the lives of those around me?
Knowing Jesus More Deeply
Jesus is utterly captivating. As I journeyed through the Ignatian Exercises, I was so transfixed by him. Ignatius designed his Spiritual Exercises to walk with Jesus from his birth through his death and resurrection, and fifteen weeks of my nine-month journey was spent just in the stories of Gospels every day. Kevin O’Brien, S.J., wrote that in this particular part of the Exercises, “we seek not scientific or biographical facts about Jesus, but a knowledge more akin to knowing a friend in mystery and depth–a heartfelt knowledge” (The Ignatian Adventure, p. 129). We go from Jesus meeting us in our lives to meeting him in his life, in his mission and heart.
There were so many moments of being drawn in wonder to the complexity of who Jesus is. I was surprised by him, challenged by him, delighted in him, perplexed by him, changed by him. Even nearly two years after beginning the Ignatian Exercises, I am still struck by Jesus’ compassionate presence. And yet there is so much more of him to know!
A Practical, Integrated Spirituality
It’s easy to compartmentalize our lives and to separate it into fragments: work, family, inner life, friendships, church/prayer life, etc. I had a professor in seminary who used to say, “everything is spiritual.” Our spirituality is attached to every part of our lives and isn’t just relegated to times of prayer or attending church. God isn’t limited to working out our transformation only in times of prayer. Ignatius wrote in his Principle and Foundation (a statement that undergirds the theology of his Spiritual Exercises” that “Our one desire and our one choice should be this: I want and I choose what better leads to God’s deepening life in me.”
Knowing God’s love, knowing Jesus, and discerning his presence and voice in the world ought to–and will–change us and how we encounter the events and surprises of the day, how we see and interact with others. We are invited to participate in his work of transformation, of restoring us to our belovedness, of healing and caring for those in our midst. His love should be integrated into our whole being, our whole living. How will God’s love and life within us impact our daily moments, choices, and interactions?
Ignatian spirituality offers so many gifts–these are only a few! If you’ve walked through the Ignatian Exercises, what would you add to this list?