Timothy M. Gallagher > Quotes

“Everything in discernment of spirits is directed toward action: toward firmly accepting what is of God and equally firmly rejecting what is not.”
― Timothy M. Gallagher, The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living

“If we could lift the veil and if we watched with vigilant attention, God would endlessly reveal himself to us and we should see and rejoice in his active presence in all that befalls us. At every event we should exclaim: “It is the Lord!” —Jean Pierre de Caussade”
― Timothy M. Gallagher, The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living

“in time of desolation never make a change, but be firm and constant in the proposals and determination in which one was the day preceding such desolation, or in the determination in which one was in the preceding consolation.”
― Timothy M. Gallagher, The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living

“But what is so utterly foreign to many is the experience of falling in love with God. Religion, for them, is an intellectual exercise rooted in the individual conscience, rather than a response to a God who holds out a hand to say, ‘Let’s have an adventure!”
― Timothy M. Gallagher, The Examen Prayer: Ignatian Wisdom for Our LivesToday

“To notice and resist the stirrings that would turn us aside from God’s purpose in our day? What will happen in our spiritual lives if we do live with such spiritual awareness, understanding, and action? What will happen if we do not?”
― Timothy M. Gallagher, The Examen Prayer: Ignatian Wisdom for Our LivesToday

“As John of the Cross writes so simply: “On this journey, we must always continue to walk if we are to arrive.”
― Timothy M. Gallagher, The Examen Prayer: Ignatian Wisdom for Our LivesToday

“All God wants us to do is to ask him what he wants us to do, and then do it.”
― Timothy M. Gallagher, Discerning the Will of God: An Ignatian Guide to Christian Decision Making

“in persons entrenched in serious sin the enemy ordinarily works on the imagination. He fills such persons’ imagination with images of “sensual delights and pleasures” awakening, consequently, an attraction toward these “delights and pleasures” which confirms them all the more in their “vices and sins.” This is the action of the enemy in the young Augustine: “In my youth I burned to get my fill of evil things.” A great energy is stirred in Augustine, an energy that leads him away from God and toward “sensual delights and pleasures.”
― Timothy M. Gallagher, The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living

“Simply in focusing our attention on the “enemy” Ignatius is rendering us a great service. To be unaware that we can expect resistance when we seek the Lord, or to be aware of this resistance only abstractly and very occasionally, if at all, in the actual living of our spiritual life, greatly increases the likelihood of encountering unexpected spiritual struggles. What is unexpected and finds us unprepared is difficult to overcome and can easily lead to discouragement.”
― Timothy M. Gallagher, The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living

“Open, Lord, my mouth to bless your holy name; cleanse my heart from all empty, evil, or distracting thoughts; enlighten my mind, enkindle my heart, that I may recite this Office worthily, attentively, and devoutly, and may merit to be heard in the sight of your divine majesty. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.” Latin”
― Timothy M. Gallagher, Praying the Liturgy of the Hours: A Personal Journey

“Only when we learn experientially the truth that there is a “light that shines in the darkness” (John 1:5), and that to be “within” is above all to encounter the personal presence, the love and healing of our Savior, does this resistance begin to diminish.”
― Timothy M. Gallagher, The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living

“First Rule. The first rule: in persons who are going from mortal sin to mortal sin, the enemy is ordinarily accustomed to propose apparent pleasures to them, leading them to imagine sensual delights and pleasures in order to hold them more and make them grow in their vices and sins. In these persons the good spirit uses a contrary method, stinging and biting their consciences through their rational power of moral judgment. Second Rule. The second: in persons who are going on intensely purifying their sins and rising from good to better in the service of God our Lord, the method is contrary to that in the first rule. For then it is proper to the evil spirit to bite, sadden, and place obstacles, disquieting with false reasons, so that the person may not go forward. And it is proper to the good spirit to give courage and strength, consolations, tears, inspirations, and quiet, easing and taking away all obstacles, so that the person may go forward in doing good.”
― Timothy M. Gallagher, The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living

“To hear God’s call clearly; to follow that call faithfully, without addition or diminution; to love and to serve in the place and in the way that God truly desires: this is indeed the “delight” of persons in the second spiritual situation.”
― Timothy M. Gallagher, Spiritual Consolation: An Ignatian Guide for Greater Discernment

“In rule 2 it is now the enemy who stirs up an unsettling “biting” movement in the hearts of those seeking God.2 Such dedicated people will not easily succumb to sin, nor will the enemy begin by attempting to move them to sin. His tactic in such persons is rather a biting, gnawing action that triggers a sense of anxiety, diminishing their peace, and undermining their delight in God’s service. And this approach is effective. If they—and we—are not aware of, do not understand, and do not reject this “biting” action, it will in fact diminish our energy in “rising from good to better.” Further problems may ensue as well if we continue to yield to this troubling action of the enemy.”
― Timothy M. Gallagher, The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living

“This time of spiritual desolation is a trial. Consider this difficult experience on the level of faith, where its truth is revealed. Your spiritual desolation this day, this evening, in this time of prayer, at home, at work, is a trial that the Lord, who loves you and whose providence guides your life, has permitted you to undergo (see Acts 14:22). Reflect that this burdensome time has meaning within God’s loving design for you, that it is not useless pain.”
― Timothy M. Gallagher, Discernment of Spirits in Marriage: Ignatian Wisdom for Husbands and Wives

“An Outline of the Examen This outline is based on Ignatius’s presentation of the examen in the Spiritual Exercises (no. 43). I place it here as an introduction to all that follows; it may also serve, once the content of this book has been assimilated, as a practical tool in praying the examen. Transition: I become aware of the love with which God looks upon me as I begin this examen. Step One: Gratitude. I note the gifts that God’s love has given me this day, and I give thanks to God for them. Step Two: Petition. I ask God for an insight and a strength that will make this examen a work of grace, fruitful beyond my human capacity alone. Step Three: Review. With my God, I review the day. I look for the stirrings in my heart and the thoughts that God has given me this day. I look also for those that have not been of God. I review my choices in response to both, and throughout the day in general. Step Four: Forgiveness. I ask for the healing touch of the forgiving God who, with love and respect for me, removes my heart’s burdens. Step Five: Renewal. I look to the following day and, with God, plan concretely how to live it in accord with God’s loving desire for my life. Transition: Aware of God’s presence with me, I prayerfully conclude the examen.”
― Timothy M. Gallagher, The Examen Prayer: Ignatian Wisdom for Our LivesToday

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you” (Jer. 1:5).”
― Timothy M. Gallagher, Discerning the Will of God: An Ignatian Guide to Christian Decision Making

“Do not look back so often, because one who looks back cannot run.”
― Timothy M. Gallagher, Overcoming Spiritual Discouragement: The Wisdom and Spiritual Power of Venerable Bruno Lanteri