Happy Feast Day of St. Ignatius Loyola! 

Unlike most of the practicing Catholics in my sphere, I’ve never had a formal connection to the order of priests founded by St. Ignatius – the Society of Jesus, aka the Jesuits. I didn’t attend a Jesuit high school, college or graduate school, like many of my best friends. I didn’t serve for a year through the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, like my parents or sister. And I don’t attend a Jesuit parish, like my cousins who live in Boston and Chicago. 

And yet, I feel a deep connection to the 16th-century Spanish knight turned saint, and that’s because Ignatian Spirituality – the Catholic tradition rooted in the experiences of St. Ignatius – speaks to me, and more than any other devotion or charism, I’ve made it a part of my daily life. This has been true on a personal level for over a decade, and it’s been becoming true on a familial level in the past few years. 

In honor of St. Ignatius’ feast day today, I’d like to share a few ideas on how to integrate Ignatian Spirituality into family life. 

Help your children find God in all things

A central tenet of Ignatian Spirituality is that God can be found in all things. In other words, God is active, present, and accessible in every detail of daily life—not just in church, but in our work and play, relationships, and nature. 

I like the idea of replacing the sometimes stale “what did you do today?” dinner table question with one inspired by Ignatian Spirituality: where did you see God today? I will admit that when I’ve tried this with my own family, a certain one of my children gives the same answer everyday: God is in her favorite stuffy. Myself, I try to model the ability to find God in a variety of contexts: the beauty of a blooming tree, the tenderness of a conversation with a struggling patient, the joy of jumping into a cold pool on a hot day. Then again, who am I to judge where a five-year-old finds God?! If she finds God in the comfort and joy that her well-loved and ragged toy flamingo brings her, good for her. 

Pray the Examen as a Family

The Daily Examen, popularized if not founded by St. Ignatius (I find decidedly mixed information on this one), is a meditative practice of prayer that St. Ignatius prescribes for his order and that has become a spiritual practice for many. It involves reflecting on the events, emotions, and experiences of your day to recognize God's presence, notice where you fell short, and look forward to tomorrow with renewed intention.

I’ve prayed the Examen alone for years, usually with the help of my trusty journal, but there’s no reason it couldn't be prayed communally as a family. This might look like sharing aloud your consolations and desolations, or it might look like one person reading the Examen prompts and creating space for all the family members to individually pray in silence, though in a communal setting. 

Look for ways to serve others

The Jesuit leader Pedro Arrupe called individuals informed by Ignatian Spirituality “men and women for others,” a phrase that expresses a deep commitment to social justice and a radical giving of oneself to others. I believe that this concept is captured well in one of St. Ignatius’s most famous prayers: 

Lord, teach me to be generous.
Teach me to serve you as you deserve;
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labor and not to ask for reward,
save that of knowing that I do your will.

I can think of a few ways to integrate this way of life into a family culture. One is to volunteer outside the home together, such as serving at a soup kitchen, shoveling a neighbor’s driveway, or picking up trash in the park. Another is to open your home to others, hosting dinner parties and backyard barbecues for friends and acquaintances. Another is to make explicit to your children – for pedagogical reasons, not for the sake of bragging – the ways that you share your resources, be it through tithing at church, donating to causes you support, or helping out people you know who are in need. 

Whether today on his feast day, or any other time in which the spirit moves you, consider leaning into Ignatian Spirituality within the realm of family life. I have no doubt that it will bring good things to you.