by Lisa Hastings

Forty spiritual directors gathered in central Massachusetts from Jan. 10 through 13, 2019, to participate in a four-day seminar focused on giving the 19th Annotation of the Spiritual Exercises to others. The purpose of the seminar was to offer trained spiritual directors who had made the Spiritual Exercises an opportunity to explore the dynamics of being a spiritual director for this experience. 

Facilitated by Rev. Jim Bowler, S.J., former director of the Center for Ignatian Spirituality at Fairfield University and instructor at the Jesuit Centre in Guelph, Ontario, the seminar was structured in a retreat format, including periods of discussion, prayer, silence, and the Ignatian dynamic of individual reflection and group conversation. Among the participants were eight Jesuits, several participants in their 30’s and 40’s, and the group was a nearly even split between men and women. Jesuit apostolates represented included the University of Scranton, College of the Holy Cross, Fairfield University, Canisius High School, St. Francis Xavier Parish in Manhattan, St. Ignatius of Loyola Parish in Chestnut Hill, St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Charlotte, and Jesuit communities in Raleigh and Buffalo. 

The seminar was offered by the Office of Ignatian Spirituality as a pilot program in response to the need across the East Coast Jesuit provinces for more training in giving the Exercises.