This post is inspired by An Ignatian Prayer Adventure. My father was my first hero, strong and powerful; he seemed invincible, and I worshipped him as a little boy. Then there was Robin Hood, who stole for the poor, Wonder Woman, the compassionate truth-seeker, and Aragorn, the king in waiting in The Lord of the […]
What do you do when you are scared? Do you face your fears head on? Or do you run for the hills? One of my boys has always been scared of getting shots. He used to work himself up over them weeks before they happened. So one year we decided not to tell him until […]
The words of the Psalmist in Psalm 62 echo with reminders of the comfort and strength that come from God: “In God alone is my soul at rest. God alone is my rock. My hope is in God.” These words speak to the depths of my heart and give me clarity on where I find […]
This post is based on Week Three of An Ignatian Prayer Adventure. The image of life as a journey of exile and return home has always appealed to me. Like many Irish people, I’ve moved around a lot. Brought up on a farm in Northern Ireland, I couldn’t wait to get away from it. Later, […]
While on vacation, I found myself praying before a tremendous sunrise. I was sitting in a chair on an old wooden deck, huddled against the morning’s cool breeze, watching as the reds, oranges, and pinks of the rising sun slowly stretched across the open water like a warm and welcoming hand. The dock began to […]
Our world needs compassion. How do we encounter and offer compassion today amid the suffering we experience and see? Join Becky Eldredge for an online Lenten reflection. Drawing from the wisdom of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Becky will invite us to reflect on the grace of compassion and how: Christ offers […]
This post is based on Week Two of An Ignatian Prayer Adventure. There is a dramatic conical mountain on the west coast of Ireland called Croagh Patrick, where St. Patrick is said to have defeated the druids. Now a popular pilgrimage destination, it is a testing walk up a steep mountain with often wild and […]
A while ago I decided to stop trying to make big changes. They were too hard. I thought I’d concentrate on making small changes, but much of the time this was even harder. The big changes were things like writing a novel, learning how to play the piano, becoming a master gardener, and becoming the […]
Throughout Encounter Grace: Moments of Hope, Joy, and Peace, Becky Eldredge includes questions for reflection. To kick-off our Lenten read-along, we invited Loyola Press authors and friends to respond to two of those questions: How has your recipe for prayer changed over the course of your life? What has remained constant? Enjoy their responses. Asking […]
This post is based on Week One of An Ignatian Prayer Adventure. There’s something special about a grandmother’s love. My mother was incredibly busy with a full-time teaching job and looking after the household. My grandmother, however, was always around, eventually coming to live with us on the family farm. Initially, however, she lived in […]
Whether you’re participating in the Lenten read-along or looking to incorporate journaling into your prayer practices, the Encounter Grace Journal can be a helpful companion. The downloadable resource features quotes from Becky Eldredge’s Encounter Grace: Moments of Hope, Joy, and Peace. Click the image below to download the journal. There’s still time to join the […]
Until I dive right into a situation, I will never understand how to love the people who live there. As a writer, I could talk poetically about love and compose moving essays on love. But unless I walk into the real life of someone who needs my love, I won’t have a clue. Because I’m […]
February is the month in which many people celebrate Valentine’s Day, and while romantic and spousal love are important to celebrate, it made me think about love more widely as a vocation for all of us. We might wonder, for example, How can we best love God? In St. Augustine’s work, On the Trinity, the […]
The trick to lighting a fire is to start by burning something small. In fact, you need lots of small things, preferably ones that catch fire easily: cardboard, sticks, broken branches, small bits of wood, and fire starters (storebought chunks of wood-like cylinders that catch and burn nicely). You need all these things, plus the […]
A colleague stopped me in the hallway. “Gretchen, glad I caught you! I’ve been invited to make dessert for the gathering this week, and I wanted to check with you,” she said. Before she finished speaking, I knew exactly what she wanted to check: my food allergies. Those who know me well know I would […]
I do a lot of listening. I listen in my home, my work, in the market, and in my ministry of spiritual direction. Wherever I go, I am hearing fear and concern. Hearts are troubled. We feel compassion for the suffering in our nation and in the world, yet we are at a loss about […]
I got to know St. Ignatius many years ago, at about 5:30 a.m., when a sopping wet Examen card was stuck to the side of the washing machine. Annoyed at myself for not staying up late to change loads nor checking pockets before doing laundry, I peeled the laminated card from the washer drum, wiped […]
We develop gratitude by paying attention. We make a point to review a day or a lifetime to identify all for which we can be grateful. In fact, with practice we can identify thankworthy things in the middle of sad or stressful situations. It’s almost as if gratitude were its own radio frequency. When we […]
Ash Wednesday is February 18, 2026, so today we’re highlighting just a few of the many Ignatian-inspired features designed to help you observe Lent. Encounter Grace Lenten Read-Along Join in the annual Lenten read-along with Loyola Press. We’ll be reading Encounter Grace by Becky Eldredge. Becky offers gentle, heartfelt reflections grounded in Ignatian spirituality, each […]
We all have specific gifts given to us by God. These are Our Treasures Within. Inspired by the book of that title by Pope Francis and Peter H. Reynolds with Paul A. Reynolds, pray the Treasures Within Examen. Take a deep breath, and notice God’s presence. As you inhale and exhale, thank God for these […]
