Each month, an Ignatian spiritual director offers their hope as our way of offering inspiration to pilgrims of hope engaged in the ministry of spiritual direction. This month’s reflection is offered by Michelle Cimaroli, aci (she/her). Michelle has been a Handmaid of the Sacred Heart of Jesus for fifteen years and is currently serving as the Director of St. Raphaela Center outside Philadelphia. She is finishing a two-year spiritual direction formation program at the Murphy Center for Ignatian Spirituality at Fairfield University. Michelle is passionate about synodality, encouraging women's pastoral gifts and leadership, and creating spaces of safety, belonging and justice.
Each month, an Ignatian spiritual director offers their hope as our way of offering inspiration to pilgrims of hope engaged in the ministry of spiritual direction. This month’s reflection is offered by Christina Leaño, who is a retreat leader, spiritual director, and meditation teacher with over 15 years of experience facilitating spiritual and contemplative programs to diverse audiences. She is in an Ignatian Spiritual Direction Formation Program co-sponsored by Loyola Jesuit Center of Morristown, NJ and St. Joseph’s University of Philadelphia, PA. Christina serves as Associate Director of the Laudato Si' Movement mobilizing the Catholic family worldwide to turn Pope Francis’ encyclical letter, Laudato Si’: On Care for our Common Home into action for climate and ecological justice. She received a M.A. in Systematic Theology from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA and lives in the New York City area with her daughter.
Each month, an Ignatian spiritual director offers their hope as our way of offering inspiration to pilgrims of hope engaged in the ministry of spiritual direction. This month’s reflection is offered by Edgardo Lugo, who works as the Director of Bereavement Services at Calvary Hospital in the Bronx. He is a member of St. Francis Xavier Church in Manhattan, and serves on the parish’s leadership team of Ignatian Spirituality and Everyday Life, which offers spiritual direction, the 19th Annotation of the Spiritual Exercises and other spiritual formation programs. Edgardo serves as a Supervisor for the St. Francis Xavier Spiritual Direction Formation Program and for the Spiritual Direction Training Program at Fordham University. He is pursuing a M.A in Christian Spirituality degree with a Concentration on Spiritual Direction at Fordham University.
Each month, an Ignatian spiritual director offers their hope as our way of offering inspiration to pilgrims of hope engaged in the ministry of spiritual direction. This month’s reflection is offered by Rev. Joe Tetlow, SJ, who was ordained in 1960 and whose decades of ministry include serving as a professor at St. Louis University and as a Dean at Loyola New Orleans. He served on the staff of America Magazine for a number of years and was the assistant for Ignatian spirituality in Rome to Superior General Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach for nine years. He is a spiritual director who directed the Montserrat Retreat House in Dallas. Choosing Christ in the World, his handbook for making the full Spiritual Exercises in everyday life, has been translated into a number of languages. His recent books include Handing on the Fire: Making Spiritual Direction Ignatian and Becoming an Easter People.
Each month, an Ignatian spiritual director offers their hope in the spirit of this Jubilee Year of Hope, our way of offering inspiration to pilgrims of hope engaged in the ministry of spiritual direction. This month’s reflection is offered by Lauren Morton. Lauren is a spiritual director and the founder of Bee at Peace, a program that creates spaces for Black women to encounter God by exploring the intersection of faith and femininity, experiencing peace and wholeness, and journeying through the uniqueness of being a Black woman. Lauren is also the academic program manager of the Clark Scholars Program and Dean’s Scholar’s Program at Georgia Tech and a doctoral candidate for the Doctor of Ministry degree at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary with a concentration in spiritual direction. Her areas of interest are Black women and emerging adults.
The urgency of Laudato Si’ is clear. The crises of climate change and social inequality are deeply connected, and they disproportionately harm the most vulnerable among us. Welcome to Care for Creation: Laudato Si' in Action, a reflection series connecting us to our individual and collective call to ecological justice. This reflection was written by Vanessa Rotondo, the Deputy Chief of Staff in the office of the President at Fordham University.This reflection was narrated by Elise Gower, former associate director for Contemplative Leaders in Action.
"In Laudato Si’, Pope Francis encouraged ecological conversion, naming the “nobility in the duty to care for creation though little daily actions” (211). The four years I spent at Bethlehem Farm helped me to practice daily care for creation. It also taught me that caring for creation is more easily accomplished in community with others." Welcome to Care for Creation: Laudato Si' in Action, a reflection series connecting us to our individual and collective call to ecological justice. This reflection was written by Molly Sutter. Molly served as a Caretaker at Bethleham Farm in West Virginia and is now pursuing a Masters in Appalachian Studies from Shepherd University. This reflection was narrated by Elise Gower, former associate director for Contemplative Leaders in Action.
In Laudato Si’, Pope Francis brought attention to the deep connection between environmental degradation and human displacement...articulating how the ecological crisis is not merely an environmental issue but a deeply human one, affecting the lives, dignity, and survival of individuals and communities. Welcome to Care for Creation: Laudato Si' in Action, a reflection series connecting us to our individual and collective call to ecological justice. This reflection was written by Clara Sayans, the Outreach Officer at Jesuit Refugee Service/USA. This reflection was narrated by Elise Gower, former associate director for Contemplative Leaders in Action.
The promulgation of Laudato Si’ 10 years ago was a breath of fresh air, as we felt that the Holy Spirit, through Pope Francis, was confirming and deepening our conviction that the sustainable path was essential to the Christian life. Welcome to Care for Creation: Laudato Si' in Action, a reflection series connecting us to our individual and collective call to ecological justice. This reflection was written by Eric Fitts. Eric is the Executive Director of Bethlehem Farm, a Catholic community in Appalachia that transforms lives through serving with the local community and the teaching of sustainable practices. This reflection was narrated by Elise Gower, former associate director for Contemplative Leaders in Action.
In "Laudato Si’", Pope Francis issued a challenging invitation, encouraging us to pay attention to “those questions which are troubling us…and which we can no longer sweep under the carpet,” so that we “become painfully aware” of “what is happening to our planet” and its people. Welcome to Care for Creation: Laudato Si' in Action, a reflection series connecting us to our individual and collective call to ecological justice. These are the stories that make us painfully aware of the truths of climate change. This week’s reflection was written by Bryan P. Galligan, SJ. Bryan is a Jesuit scholastic of the East Province and was assigned to the Jesuit Justice and Ecology Network Africa where he led advocacy efforts on food and climate justice and engaged in research on the sustainability of small -scale fisheries. This reflection was narrated by Elise Gower, former associate director for Contemplative Leaders in Action.
Each month, an Ignatian spiritual director offers their hope in the spirit of this Jubilee Year of Hope, our way of offering inspiration to pilgrims of hope engaged in the ministry of spiritual direction. This month features Luz Marina Díaz, the Director of the Spritual Direction Practicum at Fordham University.
We have arrived at Holy Week. As we conclude and make our final preparations for Easter, recall your journey over these past 40 days. Where did you begin? How have things shifted? What might your feelings be telling you? Take a moment to open yourself once more to God’s Transformational Love...
This month’s reflection is offered by Rev. George Bur, SJ, a spiritual director who serves as University Chaplain and Special Assistant to the President at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. His long life of ministry has included serving as a pastor, school president, retreat director and superior of the Jesuit Center for Spiritual Growth at Wernersville. Within all of these ministries, his service as a spiritual director has enriched his life.
As we enter into prayer today, think about any tension, distractions, or desires that may pull you from being fully present right now. Put those things aside as we ponder one person's experience of “Seeing and Walking with Christ on an Ignatian Pilgrimage.” Welcome to the 5th Week of “Transformational Love,” a Lenten reflection series to help us all prepare for Easter.
We must take to heart the father’s words to his elder son, and hear in them God speaking directly to us: “My [child], you are here with me always; everything I have is yours.” We're halfway there! This week begins with Laetare Sunday, the halfway point of our Lenten journey. Welcome to the 4th Week of “Transformational Love,” a Lenten reflection series to help us all prepare for Easter.
The Gospel for the Third Sunday of Lent seems to offer only stark options: repent or perish. At the end, however, a patient and merciful gardener offers some hope to the threatened fig tree. I wondered, "How did the fig tree feel?" Welcome to the 3rd Week of “Transformational Love,” a Lenten reflection series to help us all prepare for Easter.
"I’ve encountered many people who have had challenges within the church, and I sometimes notice that this boxes in their understanding of how God works and shows up in their everyday lives and in the world. And as we know the spirit of God cannot be boxed in." This month’s reflection is offered by MaryAnne Davey, a spiritual director, retreat facilitator and founder of Body & Soul Ministries, a spiritual accompaniment ministry in Southeastern Massachusetts. MaryAnne holds a certificate in spiritual direction from the Spiritual Direction Internship Initiative and has over eleven years of experience as a spiritual director. She serves as a guest spiritual director at various retreat centers in Massachusetts and is a guest facilitator and educator with the Spiritual Direction Internship Initiative Program.
"One of my favorite stories of St. Ignatius of Loyola is the Cardoner River vision, in which he received a sort of enlightenment from God, illuminating his spiritual senses as though all things were new. When I place myself alongside Peter, John, and James in witnessing the transfiguration of Jesus, this is what I imagine." Welcome to the 2nd Week of “Transformational Love,” a Lenten reflection series to help us all prepare for Easter.
Welcome to “Transformational Love,” a Lenten reflection series to help us all prepare for Easter. We follow Christ through the darkest parts of his story: the agony in the garden, his betrayal and abandonment by his friends, the humiliating march up to Golgotha, and finally his lonely, degrading death. We’re invited to look up at the cross, to see love and hope and goodness hanging limp and lifeless. And we’re asked: even now, can we say that God is good?
"Spiritual directors are companion people that allow our directees to be seen and heard and known in the deepest ways possible with the love of God." The Ignatian Spiritual Direction Initiative's Nancy Small speaks with Marcy Dolan Haley, the Associate Director for the Murphy Center for Ignatian Spirituality at Fairfield University about her hopes for spiritual direction in these trying times.