Claudia Weiland

When I first became curious about the Spiritual Exercises, it was as if Jesus said to me, “Come and see!”. I had yearned to spend 1h in prayer. And I had tried… But on my own, it had run dry again after a few months. I needed some structure, some help, some content, and even some justification (can you believe it?). I also needed companions!

Entering into the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises was life-changing and wonderful!
I had experienced friendship and closeness (even dancing) with Jesus in very special but very isolated moments before. Now, the 9 months "Retreat in Daily Life" invited me to open up to a whole new dimension of experiencing being with & enjoying Jesus every day. Scripture came to life!
Consistently spending that much time with Father, Son and Holy Spirit is truly transformational as you come home to the Father's Heart again and again and again and again…

For the past 3 years now, it’s been a great joy & privilege to also accompany others on this beautiful Ignatian journey of deepening friendship and intimacy with our triune God.
Bill Zuelke, in one of our teaching videos for the Spiritual Exercises, says this about Ignatius of Loyola: “His deepest desire was to evangelize! He wanted to invite people into a real, authentic, immediate, deep, personal relationship with God in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.” And I want to invite you, too. 😊

One of my favorite images for spiritual direction is sitting together at a kitchen table: you & I and Jesus. Right in the heart and center of the home, a kitchen table - perhaps full of crumbs, cutting boards and newspapers - is often busy. Even messy. A beautiful reflection of life lived - unfiltered and raw. You don’t first dress up before you take a seat here, you come just as you are.
Praying through the 19th Annotation of the Ignatian Exercises, the "Retreat in Daily Life", has transformed my own kitchen table into a beautiful place where Heaven and Earth come together in the day-to-day: a Holy of Holies in the center of my home. It is right here at this imagined, figurative (and sometimes literal) kitchen table that I love to offer sacred space: listening deeply to another - and together beholding the One beholding us. With His loving gaze on you!