Merle Marie Troeger will be the spiritual director for Group Spiritual Direction Shaped by Ignatian Practices. The group will meet by Zoom from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. on the 3rd Monday of each month from October 2024 through June 2025.
This group is designed for people who have prayed the Spiritual Exercises in any format. It is also for people who have experience in small faith-sharing groups and/or spiritual direction. Some familiarity with Ignatian spirituality centered in “finding God in all things” will be very helpful.
This group is limited to 4 participants. (If necessary, additional sections will be added on another day). Participants are expected to commit to attending all meetings throughout the year, so that members can get to know one another and build trust. We are asking for a contribution of $200 for the year. We are grateful to the many people who contribute, and there is sufficient scholarship money for everyone who needs it.
More details about this retreat:
If you have made an Ignatian Spiritual Exercises Retreat (in any format) you will remember that a central theme of the retreat was “the discernment of spirits.” As you meditated through the Spiritual Exercises and prayed the Examen, you probably began to notice inner emotions, both positive and negative. Ignatius referred to these as “good and evil spirits.” He saw that these spirits were central to the way we respond to our life- world. With your spiritual director, you spent time identifying where these spirits came from and where they were leading you. With experience, you began to understand where you found “genuine happiness and spiritual joy” or “persistent deceits.” (SE 329).
In group spiritual direction, the same discernment of spirits goes on. We begin with a short period of silence, making intentional room for the Spirit. Each participant brings to the conversation a significant interior movement for reflection. The others prayerfully listen and then respond, usually followed by more silence. When a group has coalesced, the depth of sharing may surprise you. The process requires a level of trust you may not experience in other groups. Yet this trust is not dependent on shared theological stances, similar personalities, or mutual interests. It is grounded in God’s desire that we become more aware of the consolations that impel us to praise, love and serve God and the disordered attachments that get in the way of loving God, others, or ourselves.
If you desire to continue the discernment of spirits that began during your Ignatian Retreat, if you feel ready to open your spiritual journey to the prayerful response of others, and if you are prepared to accompany others in their spiritual journey through reflective listening and responding, you may wish to join this spiritual direction group.