“Obedience is the foundation to authentic humility. But when you truly love someone, you want to do as much for them as possible rather than only what is required.” – Debra Black
“St. Ignatius tells us that when we’re committing sin, Satan will try to keep us enslaved to ongoing sin by making it look attractive or feel good.” – Megan Hjelmstad
“Saint Ignatius created the Rules of Discernment for us as a sort of spiritual ‘flare’ or night vision device to cut through the fog.” – Megan Hjelmstad
“As motives continue to be examined, the retreatant prays an exercise known as the Three Classes of Men. The purpose of this exercise is ‘to choose that which is better’ (Sp. Ex. 149).” – Debra Black
“(St. Elisabeth of the Trinity) understood the connection between renunciation and praise — Praise is the radiance of the splendor of God in a soul, the showing forth of His attributes in the world. In her thought, renunciation creates a precondition that allows such a collaboration with God to be realized.” – Anthony Lilles
“The retreatant takes an honest look at the worldly things that capture his/her fancy and upon which they have built their identity. In prayer, they are led to consider materialism and all the ‘stuff’ in their life from the honest perspective of how they see themselves with that stuff.” – Debra Black
“Wealth, poverty, illness, and health are neither good nor bad. What determines their goodness or badness is our intent and use of these.” – Debra Black
“When you pursue, with all your heart, a life of prayer, then you are following the plot of the story God is telling in your life.” – Glenn Dickinson
“This is not the dull path of obligation. It is an adventure, into a wild freedom.” – Glenn Dickinson
“The saint’s insight is that aridity is not a sign of backsliding but of progress; it is exactly that process by which God draws the soul away from childish pleasures to the hard work of purification.” – Glenn Dickinson