It aims to bring people closer to God and more deeply into the world — with gratitude, passion, and humility — not away from it. Ignatius called on the Jesuits to be “contemplatives in action.”
Today, Jesuits and their partners work with people in many walks of life, such as education. They help develop a sense of “men and women for others.”
This encounter with a loving God is at the heart of our mission as we reach out to others and live the gospel. Our spirituality is grounded in the conviction that God is active in our world. The spiritual path laid out by Ignatius helps us discern God’s presence, to find God in all things, reaching out to a diverse, grace-filled yet imperfect world.
We bring this spirituality into the wider human context as we strive for social justice, peace, and dialogue. Being a contemplative in action means that our active life feeds our contemplative life and our contemplative life informs our active life.
The Jesuits have a handbook for this search. It is The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola, composed by the saint before he was even a priest. Often described as Ignatius’s greatest gift to the world, these exercises unfold a dynamic process of prayer, meditation, and self-awareness. The basic thrust is to make us more attentive to God’s activity in our world, more responsive to what God is calling us to do. Ignatian spiritual directors accompany or guide people through the exercises in retreat houses, parishes, and other settings. The goal of the Spiritual Exercises is to help people develop their attentiveness, their openness, and their responsiveness to God.
One of the most popular Ignatian exercises is the Daily Examen. It’s a spiritual self-review that involves prayerfully recollecting moments during the day and reflecting on how God was present at those times, followed by a decision to act in some way. The Examen is concrete. It focuses the mind on segments of time (no more than a day, preferably), and the feelings that stirred within you, at those specific moments. Walk through the five steps of the Examen.
Place yourself in God's presence. Give thanks for God's great love for you.
Pray for the grace to understand how God is acting in your life.
Review your day — recall specific moments and your feelings at the time.
Reflect on what you did, said, or thought in those instances. Were you drawing closer to God, or further away?
Look toward tomorrow — think of how you might collaborate more effectively with God's plan. Be specific, and conclude with the "Our Father."
Speaking to us in the ordinary and practical details of our lives. It is a key gift that St. Ignatius brought in the Spiritual Exercises. By trying always to listen to the Spirit, without being attached to our own desires and ideas, Jesuits wish to find where the Spirit of God is leading and respond with humility and joy.
There are a number of outstanding resources devoted to Ignatian spirituality. Sacred Space is a popular prayer site run by the Irish Jesuits, and Jesuitprayer.org was created by the Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus to provide daily online prayers and facilitate prayer requests.
In addition, The Jesuit Post, founded by a group of Jesuit scholastics (those in the process of religious formation), provides a contemporary look at Jesus, politics, and pop-culture in our secular age.
If you wish to make a donation by direct bank transfer please contact Fr Paul Hamill SJ treasurer@jesuits.africa. Fr Paul will get in touch with you about the best method of transfer for you and share account details with you. Donations can be one-off gifts or of any frequency; for example, you might wish to become a regular monthly donor of small amounts; that sort of reliable income can allow for very welcome forward planning in the development of the Society’s works in Africa and Madagascar.
Often it is easier to send a donation to an office within your own country and Fr Paul can advise on how that might be done. In some countries this kind of giving can also be recognised for tax relief and the necessary receipts will be issued.
