FR. MARK CHAMBERLAIN

It was in 2011 in Manresa, praying in the Cave where Ignatius began writing what we now have as the Spiritual Exercises, that I sensed the invitation of Jesus to return to New Zealand and dream, pray and work with others to establish Ignatian Spirituality New Zealand. We have done so and I am so grateful for how this venture continues to be blessed by God. We are each on a human journey and the gift of Ignatian Spirituality provides both the resources and allows a way of living with Jesus in this land we name as home. My one passion has always been Jesus. I am fascinated by him as much now as I was when I was a child growing up on a farm in Western Southland. Ignatian Spirituality helps me to listen to Jesus and recognise his persistent invite to live more deeply his way. It does this by giving me ways in my humanness to pay attention to my inner world. Ignatian Spirituality resources us practically in differing ways of how to sense the Spirit working in our inner reservoir of a life long relationship with God. So on this human journey what occurred in a Manresa cave supports our companionship with Jesus here and now.

KEVIN GALLAGHER

Ignatian spirituality is for me a means to an end. An holistic and inclusive spirituality at the heart of which are the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius. These formative Exercises are the best means I know to learn to see and actually experience Christ in the heart of everything that exists.

Ignatian spirituality for me is a way of life, a school of prayer and discernment and a way to freedom, interconnectedness and interrelatedness with Creator, Creatures and Creation.

ANNE POWELL

When I went to Pittsburgh in 1971 to begin my novitiate as a Cenacle Sister, I was strongly and warmly introduced to Ignatius. I fell in love with him. From then on, I’ve felt blessed to live Ignatian spirituality as an integral part of our Cenacle heritage, since our beginnings in 1826.

I love The Pilgrim’s Testament- the Autobiography. Parts of it I know by heart. The humanity of Ignatius and the movement of God in his life, encourage me. I see The Autobiography, the Spiritual Exercises and the Gospels as parallel pathways unveiling the mystery and reality of God, in Jesus Christ, at work in life, in the world, in my journey.

Over many years, I’ve prayed each day the great prayer for grace SP Ex #104, expressing that yearning for intimate relationship with Jesus in order to follow him. Sometimes I sing it. The translation might change but the desire stirs the heart of me, as does the purposeful desire to share this relationship with others through spiritual accompaniment, retreats and formation. As I grow older, I enjoy how spiritual conversations open up.

I enjoy how the key experiences in Ignatius’ life are each linked to a specific place. And I love how significant place is in the movement of the Exercises: prepare the place, imagine the place, consider the place, put yourself in the place.

Overlooking Waikanae Beach where we live, there’s a place that draws me most days. I like to sit there. It’s a holy place, a place of interior stillness (even in stormy weather), a place of application of the senses, of colloquy, of that felt knowledge of the presence of God.

Recently, I had surgery for breast cancer. Through all this ongoing journey runs the deep river of Ignatian spirituality. I lived and prayed from the depths of my humanity, through tears and fears, intimacy and acceptance. The Rules for Discernment are a wise guide and reminded me to live that deep choice to be turned continually towards God. And I lived my humanness with its doubts and turmoil. Through one of the hardest seasons of my life, I experienced the consolation of intimacy and encounter with Jesus.

Ignatian spirituality is a wonderful teacher of how to live a full human life.

For me, Ignatian spirituality is a school and an invitation to relationship, to continual deepening, to inner freedom for accompanying Jesus in my everyday life.

Ignatian spirituality is a way of life.

MARY J KAY rc

“One of the things I really love about Ignatian Spirituality is the great gift Ignatius has given us in his wise understanding that we encounter God each in our own way. When I was 19 years old, full of desire to make Jesus known and loved, I led a Twilight Youth Group Retreat. During the day we went to work, and at night came together to share a meal, pray, and reflect on our day. Each day we took a Gospel story and made an imaginative contemplation.

When I was 21, I entered the Cenacle Sisters and have since been on a journey to live and explore the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius. Ignatius’ courage to trust the call and movement of God in his life, to write his experience, and to initiate spiritual conversations has deeply influenced me. At 78, I find myself deeper in love with Jesus, relishing the Rules for Discernment, the application of the senses, the Colloquy, the Principle and Foundation, and the Contemplatio.

In an interview for Tui Motu in 2011, I said, ‘I find that with people who come for spiritual direction, the challenge isn’t to make them take a lot of time out to pray but to create simple habits that throughout their day, to notice a blossom they’re passing, to savour the GOODNESS.’ This still rings true today.”

LYN GALLAGHER

What Ignatian Spirituality means to me: The Christian path at its depth recognises the ‘Heart of Christ poured out in love in all peoples and all things’. For me the spiritual exercises of Saint Ignatius provide a framework of support, wisdom and transformation on the journey of deepening awareness of how loved we are, and how we are invited into deeper intimacy with Jesus, and ultimately to experience his love poured out in our lives and into the whole of creation in and through a reciprocal relationship of love. As companions of Jesus Christ we are called and invited to live Jesus’ invitation and to follow his example, in our daily lives. Supported in the company of friends and companions of the way. I marvel at the beauty and wonder of how God has worked so uniquely and individually in my life through the exercises, so ancient – and yet relevant as a contemporary pathway.

CLARE O’CONNOR

“Ignatian Spirituality, our taonga. What I love about Ignatian Spirituality is that it encourages us all to meet Jesus in the midst of our daily life. Ignatius reminds us that a deeper relationship with Jesus is possible. We are invited to ask for the grace we need, to see Jesus more clearly, love him more dearly, and follow him more closely each day.”

ALAN JAMIESON

Ignatian spirituality is for ‘contemplatives in action’. I am drawn to that mix. The juxtaposition of a rhythm of contemplation ( inner life) and active engagement in daily relationships and issues. A google search tells me – “ Being a contemplative in action means staying grounded in our beliefs, purpose, and vision while we fight for justice on the ground” I need that groundedness in God and I need to come back again and again to the vision of God to take on the needs and opportunities of the day. It has been a life giving privilege to grow an inner capaciousness through following the ways of Ignatius as he followed Christ. Alan Jamieson

JO KRYSA

“Ignatian spirituality for me is the key to life; it is a gift which helps us taste and savour the mystery of God. How? Because it opens up space for silence, sacred silence which helps us tune in and hear the whisper of the Divine. It encourages us to notice and breathe in God’s love, inviting us to openness in intimacy with Jesus. St Ignatius walks with us and guides us, always deeper and deeper into the Mystery and Love of Jesus the Christ.”