Finding Christ in the World: A Twelve Week Ignatian Retreat in Everyday Life
Authors: Joseph A. Tetlow, S.J., and Carol Atwell Ackels
Product Overview from Jesuit Sources: Finding Christ in the World invites the reader to “let God show you where and how He concretely breaks into your life.” A 12–week prayer experience framed by the Spiritual Exercises, the book is of particular help to faith communities such as Bible study and prayer groups. But individuals can also use it as a means of prayer. The instructions for retreat invite a “conversion of heart from a tight focus on one’s self to a graced focus on God–with–us.” The book includes questions and prompts for reflection (for example, “When I think about God listening to me, I want to tell him…”), and guidelines for reviewing each week of prayer.
In March of 2020 the world effectively shut down because of the Covid-19 global pandemic. We as a global community were forced into isolation and we spent most of our days sheltering in place. For the most part, our physical human interaction was with our immediate families. We were told to keep our distance from other humans and wear masks in public. These days were also spent working remotely and our children experienced school virtually if at all. I can remember these days at home as being taxing on their spirit and the body. In the midst of such challenge I discovered a retreat that was being organized by the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies at Boston College.
The “12 Weeks in Manresa: Spiritual Exercises for our Times”, a self-guided Ignatian retreat in daily life based on the Spiritual Exercises, used a text offered through Jesuit Sources: Finding Christ in the World: A Twelve Week Ignatian Retreat in Everyday Life, by Joseph Tetlow, S.J., and Carol Atwell Ackels. This book became my daily prayer book, Bible and journal all wrapped in one text. The text contains deep and meaningful reflections; wonderful journal prompts as well as examples of Ignatian prayer methods. In addition to the book the other key component of the experience was the small group conversations and reflections that occurred on Zoom every other week during the 12 weeks that summer. I was a small group facilitator and grew close to my group of six people who were from all up and down the East Coast (from Boston to Florida to Rochester, NY). During our Zoom gatherings, we shared about our hopes, dreams, and even fears for the future. We shared our experiences of prayer and our journal reflections. It is an experience that still bears fruit for my life today.
After that experience I made the decision to see how I might be able to use this text and retreat format with our adult community here at Fairfield Prep. I have used this retreat here at Fairfield Prep since Fall 2021. We have had over 30 people experience the retreat. The book especially is an excellent resource for those exploring the spiritual exercises. It presents such rich content for this 12-week experience. It gives the retreatant much to pray and reflect on. The format is easy to follow and having the prayer material and space for journal writing all in one is convenient. It has everything you need right in front of you to help have a meaningful retreat experience. I highly recommend this resource to my colleagues who are looking for a way to bring the Exercises to their community in which people may not be ready for the full 19th annotation retreat experience.
Some questions for reflection:
- Have you participated in a small group adaptation of the Exercises? If so, what resource did you use and can you imagine utilizing that resource to create meaningful retreat experiences for others?
- If you are a spiritual director or someone who has been a directee in the Exercises, what guides did you use? What did you like about them? What parts of them did not resonate with you? Reflect on why.
- Is there a particular source for giving the Exercises or participating the Exercises that you are drawn to? How can you share that source with others so that they may benefit from engaging with it as well?
