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Spirituality is Just a Click Away

By Andy Alexander, SJ and Maureen McCann Waldron

In our 10-year journey of using the Internet as a tool for helping busy people find intimacy with God, in the Ignatian tradition, we have discovered a number of things.

• People are very hungry for ways to grow in their relationship with God.
• There were 21 million hits on one or other of the 3,000 pages on our Online Ministries Web site from over 120 countries last year.
• The Internet is a wonderful means for offering help.
• We have also learned that the Spirituality of St. Ignatius works wonderfully to serve people today, whose lives don’t lend themselves to much quiet time for prayer.

Ignatius of Loyola founded the Society of Jesus in 1540, after a 20-year personal discovery of God and experience of great growth in his own relationship with God, with Jesus whose companion he was in God’s mission. Ignatius went through this spiritual growth, his education, and his early pastoral ministry of sharing the exercises as a lay person.

The ministry of the early Society of Jesus was to place themselves at the service of the Church to do whatever was "for the Greater Glory of God and the service of others. " The ministry of helping people pray and grow in their relationship with God was always central to whatever they did, as the Society grew to respond to the needs of the Church around the world.

Ignatius had learned that everything in the spiritual life is about our relationship with God. To pray was not about simply “saying prayers.” Prayer is the special means of communication in that relationship. For Ignatius, there are lots of ways of communicating with God. That communication involves our whole being, just as it does in our relationships with each other. And, Ignatius learned that we can become aware of how God communicates with us.

Though Ignatius guided others in retreating from the world briefly for an in-depth, transforming encounter with God, his day-to-day spirituality was fit for a busy life of service to others. Ignatius didn’t encourage his followers to practice long hours in prayer. He preferred finding intimacy with God "in all things. "

Ignatius gave shape to a new spirituality without the walls. And here the World Wide Web fits in perfectly with Ignatian Spirituality.

In Latin, Ignatius called it Contemplativus, simul in actione, Prayer for Busy People Spirituality is just a click away Fr. Andy Alexander, SJ and Maureen McCann Waldron have been helping people pray online for more than 10 years. By Andy Alexander, SJ and Maureen McCann Waldron We found space and time for prayer, where there didn’t seem to be any space and time. Jesuit Journeys – Fall 2007 29 being a contemplative, while at the same time being in action. Ignatius’ spirituality offers us the opportunity to learn how to be busy people, giving ourselves away in lives of service to others, while at the same time growing in intimacy with God.

We discovered in our own busy lives that this Spirituality works. While building the Online Ministries Web site, and while encouraging collaboration in ministry at Creighton, we experienced the complexities of raising children, taking care of ailing parents, as well as the challenges of the deaths of our parents. With Ignatius’ encouragement we practiced keeping a lively relationship with our Lord active in the midst of our daily life and service. We recognized that the “background” of our day – the "consciousness " that seemed to be full of anxiety, worries, arguments, even a song – could be filled with an ongoing dialogue with God, even a consoling sense of God’s presence within us. We found space and time for prayer, where there didn’t seem to be any space and time. We discovered that these small background times, though often brief, were significant. They provide a focus to our day. They allow our day to never be alone, but to be consciously for others, in communion with God.

Since we began our Online Ministries 10 years ago, thousands of websites have developed around the world. Here are 10 of our favorite partners in ministry online, offering a variety of resources and voices for prayer and reflection.

Sacred Space: The Irish Jesuits Center for Liturgy Sunday Web Page Pray-as-you-go: The English Jesuits Orientations for Spiritual Growth:
Canadian Jesuits Daily Prayer Online: The Australian Jesuits The Daily Word of God: The Jesuits of Singapore Jesuit Saints and Martyrs: The Jesuits of Singapore The Apostleship of Prayer The Good Word: America Magazine Blog

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