Our next series begins today.   My mission is to help people cultivate space for God in their daily life.  This next series will focus on the unique way St. Ignatius taught us how to pray with scripture.  It is called Ignatian Contemplation or Imaginative prayer.

I am titling this series Healing Through Imaginative Prayer.   Over the next four weeks I will offer you four guided imaginative prayer reflections using one of the beautiful moments in scripture where Jesus heals someone.   I hope these audio reflections offer you a model and guide for praying with scripture using Imaginative prayer.

St. Ignatius invited us to use our imaginations to enter the scene from scripture.  Through the use of our imaginations we contemplate the scripture using not just the words we read, but the visual images, feelings, sights, sounds, that come to mind.  Ignatian Contemplation or Imaginative prayer helps us notice what God is offering us through Scripture about our own lives.

Introduction to Guided Imaginative Prayer:

Listen here.

Steps of Ignatian Contemplation or Imaginative Prayer (Adapted from Busy Lives & Restless Souls) 

1. Select a Scripture: Pick a passage from one of the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke or John.  
2. Read:  Read the passage several times slowly so that you almost know the story well enough to share with another person.  
3. Imagine the Scene:  Close your eyes, and imagine the scene. Imagine what the scene looks like.  Who is in the scene? What are they doing? Where are they located? What do you notice about the environment?  What smells are there? What sounds? Let the Holy Spirit guide this unfolding in your mind for you.
4. Put yourself in the scene:  As the scene begins to take shape in your mind, put yourself in the scene.  Notice where you are.
5. Notice what happens:  Let the story unfold in your mind.  Stay with it until you feel nudged to move to reflection.  
6. Respond and Rest:Share with God what you noticed and experienced.  Then rest in God and let God speak to you.
7. Reflect: Reflect back on what you experienced in prayer.  What did you learn about Jesus? About God? About another character in the scripture?  About yourself?

Cultivating Space for God Together:

Taking Stock:  Living Our Greater Yeses

As women, we are skilled at multi-tasking. Sometimes life might feel like we are trying to tend to multiple boiling pots on a stove that all need our attention simultaneously.   Being pulled in many directions can cause us to neglect our own spiritual lives and feel like we have little left to give to our main priorities.

Join us for a day of reflection on Saturday, July 21,2018 from 9:00AM-2:30PM as we pause and take stock of our lives.  Learn ways to nurture your relationship with God so that your spiritual life guides your commitments.  Leave renewed with a clearer focus of how to live your greater yeses and make sure the pots on your stove are the ones God is actually inviting you to tend.

Register here!

Women’s Ignatian Silent Retreat: Joy of the Encounter

Join us for a Women’s Ignatian Silent Retreat from August 23-26, 2018 focused on the Ignatian Exercises. Stop and enjoy a weekend of reflection, rediscovery, and refreshment. The Spiritual Exercises are a compilation of meditations, prayers, and contemplative practices developed by St. Ignatius Loyola to help people deepen their relationship with God. Click here to learn more!

Becky Eldredge

Becky is an Ignatian-trained spiritual director, retreat facilitator, and writer. She is the author of the Busy Lives and Restless Souls (March 2017, Loyola Press) and The Inner Chapel (April 2020, Loyola Press). She helps others create space to connect faith and everyday life through facilitating retreats and days of reflection, through writing, and through spiritual direction. With nearly twenty years of ministry experience within the Catholic Church, Becky seeks to help others discover God at work in the every day moments of people’s lives by utilizing St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises and the many gifts that our Catholic faith and Ignatian Spirituality provide.