Ignatian Wisdom #1: A Radically Lay Spirituality

August 16, 2011

One of the new sections of my blog will be bits of wisdom from Ignatian Spirituality that I find helpful in my daily life.  The first comes from a recent book I read Making Choices in Christ: The Foundations of Ignatian Spirituality

“Ignatian Spirituality is not only a worldly spirituality but also a radically lay spirituality.   It rose from the experiences of a layman and was developed for the sake of those who were busily engaged in everyday life.”

One of the many reasons I am drawn to Ignatian Spirituality is due to the fact that Ignatius’ core beliefs, foundations, and prayer tools are all easily lived out in my daily life.  It is not a spirituality that invites us to live a cloistered life, but rather a spirituality that invites us to live in our worlds as we are.  Its roots are to empower service of God in the marketplace (Tetlow).  Obviously, there are many in our world that are called to live a cloistered life, but that call is not for most of us. 

For instance, my call is to live in the community of my family, to live out my call in my marriage and as a parent, and to live out my call in my professional life.  In each of these aspects of my life, Ignatian Spirituality invites me to find God present and active; while at the same time, I am being invited to participate in the sharing of the Gospel through my daily interactions.

How can we live out the call that Ignatius offers us and God offers us in the reality of our day to day life? 

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.

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