Jesuit Spirituality
Each of the great religious families in the Church (e.g., Benedictine, Dominican, Franciscan, etc.) has its own distinctive way of responding to the Holy Spirit. Jesuit spirituality was developed over the course of many years by St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus
Jesuit spirituality is described as an active attentiveness to God joined with a prompt responsiveness to God, who is ever active in our lives. The characteristics of Jesuit spirituality are the characteristics of Ignatius’ spiritual life:
- an awareness of being created and redeemed by God’s love,
- the understanding that Jesus initiates this redemption within the ordinariness of the world, demonstrating that the world is a good place to live and work,
- a desire to work as a companion of Jesus to continue this mission in the world,
- the practice of continual prayer and discernment to discover how God speaks to the soul,
- the discovery of the presence of the Spirit in community.