Companions of Christ: Ignatian Spirituality for Everyday Living

by Margaret Silf

Are you bogged down in your spiritual journey? Does church seem to hinder more than it helps? Here is a welcoming and realistic guide for all who may be feeling spiritually jaded. Whatever your circumstances, Companions of Christ will show you how to embark on a journey of the heart, starting wherever you happen to be and no matter how unfit for the journey you may feel.

In Companions of Christ popular British writer Margaret Silf unearths the gold mine of spiritual wisdom to be found in the legacy of Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits. Ignatian spirituality sets out an engagingly down-to-earth vision of connecting with God in everyday life. Neither a recipe for a privatized spiritual life nor an agenda imposed by someone else, the Ignatian vision is centered on companionship, which means literally to "share bread" with another. It latches onto God's presence in stories, in other people, in the created universe, and even in God's apparent absence.

Perfect for those whose faith in God or patience with the church is flagging, Companions of Christ contains very practical teaching on great Ignatian themes -- imaginative scriptural meditation, spiritual discernment, and honest prayer. Incorporating helpful spiritual exercises throughout, Silf shows both tentative and seasoned believers how to keep faith despite the odds.

Genres: Spirituality, Nonfiction

130 pages, Print on Demand

First published June 15, 2005

Reviews

[Bill Kupersmith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was looking for simple guide in contemporary idiom to Saint Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises and found this book wouldn’t work for me. (Jim Manny's turned out to be just what I needed.) But comparison made me appreciate Silf’s strengths. This is not so much a guide to the Exercises as a guide to using the Exercises in one’s personal life. We might call it Ignatian living. How to use the categories of discernment and detachment in evaluating the choices we have to make. It is not necessary to be a Christian or even a theist. We can replace Ignatius’ original God and Satan or angels and demons with opposites such as life-giving and life-denying or life-threatening. I especially liked her illustration of Ignatius’ concept of detachment as being like trying to board an aircraft with too much baggage. For anyone who is serious about finding how spirituality can transform and simplify one’s own life, Silf is an agreeable and useful companion for the journey.

[Bo Majors · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who has made an Ignatian thirty-day retreat, this is one of the best introductions to Ignatian spirituality I have ever read, and I have read many. Margaret Silf is intuitive, creative and liberating in her introduction to Ignatian spirituality. She begins with of course, St. Ignatius and speaks about his leg being shattered and draws parallels between his life and ours to ask, "where is our Manresa?" Where are the dark areas, where are the light areas, are they leading us to new growth. She speaks about in Ignatian spirituality we nurture an intimate relationship with Jesus and try through prayer to connect our own stories with the events of the life of Jesus. Letting contemplation turn into action. To turn our discoveries into real and practical action. She then moves on to bring out how the Lord "shimmers" in our everyday experience and life. Primarily we see and understand this through Ignatius' practice of the Examen prayer. She goes on to speak of the fidelity of Jesus in living out his fidelity to God as the "axis of life" and shows us what it is the live in harmony with neighbor, creation and God. Through prayer; namely, the prayer of imagination and lectio divine we take on the attitudes and values of Jesus. The disciples, being those who are sent out are always living. The be a disciple we can go out in the power of the Holy Spirit. She moves on to speak of toolkit of discernment in trying to live out the First Principle and Foundation of Ignatius. What is the Lord's dream for us? Where are the "quicksands" of our life and where is the "solid rock". The movements that we experience in our soul, whether creative or destructive do not matter as how much we react to them. Here she introduces Ignatius' concepts of consolation and desolation. Using the "Two Standards" of Ignatius, we can stay focused on the rock of our being: our relationship with Jesus Christ. She has an excellent reflection on the Transfiguration of the Lord to explain this. She goes on to explain how prayer "works," perhaps not in the way when we first hear this but rather, working for His kingdom. By listening to God, accompanying those who are in need and hurting and embodying the values and attitudes of Jesus in our circumstances and our place and time. I will not spoil the last chapter but say that she has a conversation as though Ignatius was speak to us to bring his spirituality all together in the conversation Ignatius has with the reader. I feel as though I do not do justice to this book, it took me some time to read it, short as it is, to digest it and I took copious notes. If you ever want to read one book on Ignatius, this is it. If I ever directed someone in the thirty day retreat, I would have them read this first and give them an overview of how they will meet the Lord in the Spiritual Exercises, I know I did!

[Jennifer Derksen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silf has a unique way of explaining the Spiritual Exercises. I appreciated the way she incorporated the life of St. Ignatius into the book. She highlights 3 key themes of the Exercises: 1. nurturing intimacy with God 2. contemplation into action 3. spiritual companionship

[Melanie Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read with some perceptive ideas, especially on 'treading lightly' and 'discernment'.

[Carrie Munsch · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5