Philip Shano, SJ has many years of rich and varied experience working with Ignatian spirituality: teaching, writing and using it in his ministry. He resides in the Jesuit community in Pickering, Ontario.
581 posts
"I'm more concerned about the question of personal commitment on the part of the believer. The scholars can discuss who Jesus is. But, as a person who helps people to actually pray, I hope that the pray-ers can make a personal connection between the life of Jesus and how we actually live our lives."...
Our experience of God's grace is not always overwhelming. It often comes to us in scraps and crumbs, rather than neat and tidy slices. . .. I'm sure that the elements that we bring to our prayer in an examen are scraps and crumbs from the day."...
"A natural question is about how we expect God to appear to us. My experience is that God usually surprises us. God will not announce God-self and draw arrows and offer bright lights to say, look here. It is me, God. We have to discern. We must ponder the prayer experience in the context of life and the situation of our culture."...
"This Sunday in Ordinary Time falls on the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. Today is also the anniversary of the Second World War bombing of Hiroshima, and, a few days later, Nagasaki. The Church invites us to pray for peace at this time."...
We are forever searching for the immediate solution to our personal and social woes. We are not stupid, so we know that there are not usually instant solutions that can be fully trusted. But we live in hope....
How do we need the Spirit? There are the seven traditional gifts of the Holy Spirit (wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and a sense of wonder). I've written previous posts about each of these gifts. But my mind today is closer to home. What do I need?...
How do we speak about evangelization in our pluralistic and politically correct culture? More and more, we have to be extremely careful about language and assumptions. Recent discussion about cultural appropriation offers a helpful reminder about the need for caution before we open our mouths and utter words that we will come to regret, words that hurt or are, at the very least, insensitive....
The post for this 6th Sunday of Easter takes us into the meaning of today's gospel words that the Spirit "abides with you."...
We celebrate Mother's Day. I'm present with my own mother today, spending time with her as I prepare for major surgery in a few weeks. We are both spending easy time together. I occasionally go out with friends for a visit or to see icebergs (this is Newfoundland after all), but generally we are at home. We sit and read, chat and spend time with family and friends....
