How Ignatian Spirituality Can Heal Victims of Trauma

On last week’s episode, we talked to Australian Jesuit Fr. Michael Hansen about the First Spiritual Exercises – otherwise known as the 18th Annotation Retreat – and dug into how this seemingly forgotten form of the Exercises can transform our thinking and approach to Ignatian Spirituality. Think of this week as “part 2”. Fr. Rob McChesney discovered the 18th Annotation Retreat only recently. He’s just back from three years working with the Jesuit Refugee Service in Amman, Jordan, and he’s reflecting on how the Jesuits might better minister to victims of trauma: refugees, war veterans, survivors of sexual abuse, and others. For Rob, the light bulb went off when he came upon Fr. Hansen’s work on the first spiritual exercises. Today's conversation is about applying Ignatian spirituality in general and the 18th annotation in particular to meet the needs of some of the most vulnerable members of our human family. Hopefully it gives you something to chew on, especially as you consider ways to put your own Ignatian contemplation into action. You can find more great spirituality resources at Jesuits.org/spirituality. And if you're interested in getting in touch with Fr. Rob to learn more and help him with his work, contact him at rmcchesney@jesuits.net.