Place Me With Your Son: Ignatian Spirituality in Everyday Life : The Spiritual Exercises Arranged As a 24-Week Retreat in 4 Phases

Rating:
Summary: Ignatius For Anyone
Review: "Place Me With Your Son " is a book I have used to make my own retreat. It easy to use. I have led almost a thousand directed retreats and used this book hundreds of times with retreatants. It has enhanced my work as a retreat director because it gives me more time to listen to the one making the retreat. Its simplicity of format is wonderful. There is little that needs to be explained.

This is not a book to be read. It is a faithful application of the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius which is one of the Great Books of the World. A person could make the mistake of just reading it and wondering why it is supposed to be so special. The reason is simple. It is meant to be prayed. In the best possible use of it, one goes through a real experience of Christ with a Spiritual Director.

In the normal experience of its use, it takes about thirty weeks to go through this experience without rushing or forcing one's experience of it. While it is possible to do it alone, it is better done with one who has the experience of leading others in a retreat. In a non-retreat use, one can pray it along with the liturgical cycle and reap great benefits from it. It is an experience worth repeating every year with the return to favorite meditations. Most Jesuits in this country have used this book or some form of it each year for all their life as a Jesuit. Spirituality is an attempt to put on the mind and the heart of Christ, and these meditations give one a real insight into how Christ loves one. I consider it the best tool I have ever had for my work as a Spiritual Director.

Rev.Joseph McCloskey, S.J. 19Eye St., N.W. Wash.,D.C. 20001 [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: Spirituality for everyone
Review: I used to think that the spiritual exercises were only for "really, really" religious people with a lot of time on their hands. I got this book several years ago when my three children were all in high school. My husband and I began using it together. We spent time alone with it in prayer and came together to share our experience and prayer. It not only became a source of great spiritual growth but brought us even closer as a couple. Both our spirits and our marriage have been enriched and we often go back to this book.