What Is Ignatian Spirituality, According to Jesuits.org?

Jesuits.org describes Ignatian spirituality as a way of encountering God in all things and witnessing to the joy of the Gospel. In the site's own framing, it calls people to go into the world as "contemplatives in action," discerning God's desire for their lives "here, now," and then acting on that invitation. This answer reflects the site's introduction to the topic; for the full treatment, the site points readers to its dedicated "Ignatian spirituality" section and related resources.

The Core Idea: Finding God in All Things

The central claim on Jesuits.org is that God is not confined to a church or a retreat house. Ignatian spirituality "challenges us to encounter God in all things"—in work, relationships, ordinary decisions, and the wider world. That is why the site pairs the phrase with "witnessing to the joy of the Gospel": the encounter is meant to be lived out publicly, not kept private.

Contemplatives in Action

The site uses a compact formula: "We go forth into the world as contemplatives in action." Two movements are packed into that phrase:

• Contemplative — attentive to God's presence and desire, cultivated through prayer and reflection.
• In action — the fruit of that attention is concrete action in the world, not withdrawal from it.

The order matters. Discernment comes first ("discerning God's desire for our lives here, now"), and action follows ("acting on God's invitation"). Ignatian spirituality, as presented here, is not a passive spirituality of ideas.

Discernment as the Method

The site repeatedly ties Ignatian spirituality to discernment—the practice of prayerfully working out what God is inviting a person to do in a specific situation. Two signals on the page show how central this is:

1. The site's weekly reflection series is literally titled "discern this" and is described as "an award-winning weekly reflections series sent straight to your inbox."
2. The first of the Jesuits' four Universal Apostolic Preferences is "To show the way to God through the Spiritual Exercises and discernment."

So if you want to understand the concept in practice rather than in definition, discernment—and the Spiritual Exercises that train it—is the place to start.

Where It Fits in the Jesuits' Mission

Jesuits.org places Ignatian spirituality alongside three other Universal Apostolic Preferences that guide the Society of Jesus' mission:

This table is useful because it shows that Ignatian spirituality is not presented as a standalone devotion. On Jesuits.org it is the first preference and the animating method behind the other three—discernment is what directs the work for justice, youth, and creation.

How the Site Suggests You Engage With It

Jesuits.org does not present Ignatian spirituality as a closed body of doctrine to read through once. It offers entry points:

• A "Learn More" link in the Ignatian spirituality section, for the fuller explanation.
• "discern this", the weekly reflections newsletter, for ongoing practice (the site invites visitors to subscribe).
• "Find a Jesuit Parish" and "Find a Jesuit Retreat Center", for in-person contexts—retreats being the natural setting for the Spiritual Exercises.
• Jesuit education, which the site connects to the same vision, quoting Pedro Arrupe (Superior General from 1965 to 1983) that the goal is to form "men and women for others, men and women who will not live for themselves but for God and his Christ."

A Practical Example

Suppose you are weighing a job offer that pays more but leaves little time for family and service. An Ignatian approach, as the site frames it, would not begin with a pros-and-cons spreadsheet alone. It would begin with prayerful attention—"discerning God's desire for our lives here, now"—and then move to action on whatever invitation emerges. The point is not to escape the decision but to make it as a contemplative in action.

What to Keep in Mind

• The description above is the site's own summary language; the "Learn More" page is where the fuller explanation lives.
• The site mentions newsletter subscription but does not state terms, pricing, or login requirements for it, so check the sign-up page directly if that matters to you.
• For anyone researching the topic, Jesuits.org is a primary source from the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the U.S., which makes it a reasonable starting point before moving to the Spiritual Exercises themselves.