Handing on the Fire: Making Spiritual Direction Ignatian

by Joseph A. Tetlow, S.J.

Ignatius of Loyola composed the Spiritual Exercises as a pathway to God. He guided others through the Exercises in order to help ordinary women and men grow truly free in seeking and finding what God wishes for their lives. He believed that God wanted every person to live lives of holiness, growing steadily in grace, and spreading divine love. The fire in lay spirituality has spread remarkably since the Second Vatican Council. The beginning of these movements have left mature disciples wanting to deepen their interior lives in prayer and discernment, and to hand on these experiences to others. Many dedicated believers seek out training in spiritual direction with the hopes of formally handing on this fire of the Holy Spirit. However, this training sometimes has the feel of handing on a technical skill rather than sharing a deeper spiritual formation. Handing on the Making Spiritual Direction Ignatian contributes to this deepening spiritual formation—both for those who are already offering Ignatian spiritual direction, and for those aspiring to give it. In this book, Tetlow lays out the theology in action that must inform Ignatian spiritual the principles, norms, and practices that characterize the robust experience of Ignatian spirituality in everyday life.

145 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2021

Reviews

[Brian Hohmeier · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was just a poorly done book and truly hard to get through. Ranging, anecdotal and only pretending to follow some kind of organization to tie together its poorly edited two- to three-page chapters, _Handing on the Fire_ takes the longest possible route for a 120-page book to not really answer with any clarity what "makes spiritual direction Ignatian."

Tetlow is a legend, so more than anything, this book just disappoints me—from its lack of clear direction over the course of its chapters to its awkwardly constructed sentences and glaring typos. It's not enough to have something to say, as Tetlow surely does in his decades of wisdom and stories, if it's not carefully and thoughtfully crafted to a clear purpose. But sadly, this may simply be a hurried work rushed to press in Tetlow's own final chapter.

In the end, every chapter concludes with four or so bullet points that restate its key takeaways (even though Chapter 16 repeats one for good measure), so in all honesty, you could just read those and get there a lot faster.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book wasn't written in the easiest to read format, but it does contain nuggets of wisdom. I particularly liked the simple encouragement to "respond, not react" as a spiritual director. This clearly articulates my desire to create space to hear from the Holy Spirit instead of reacting out of my own experiences.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the Examen of Gifts at the end of the book and plan to practice it for a few weeks or months.

I do wish Tetlow had been offered a better editor. This book is repetitious in places, which does a disservice to the overall message.

[Janell Downing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tetlow is not a great writer, but he did capture the framework of Ignatian spiritual direction in a way that's easier to absorb and teach. More of a manual for me. But lacking in inspiration.