· web viewultimate desire is to know and serve god, then the choices he makes – from the...
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Christine Valentine-Owsik (215) 230-8095 [email protected]
HUNTINGTON, Indiana, June 2, 2015 – Though a new Pew Research study this month shows religiosity in America as waning, people still want to know why they exist and what their purpose is. They may not admit it or seek advice, but it’s a collective longing – minute to minute, year to year – in every culture.
This quest yields one of two results – contentment and self-actualization, or anxiety and inner chaos – depending on whether one is assured of his path.
Because the deepest desires of a person’s heart are placed there by God, says Jim Manney, author of What Do You Really Want? St. Ignatius Loyola and the Art of Discernment (Our Sunday Visitor, 2015), each must reconcile his own wants with God’s will for his life. When he realizes this, he has joy and peace regardless of external circumstances.
Five hundred years ago, after St. Ignatius of Loyola suffered a serious battle injury that ended his cherished military career, he wrestled with the difficulty of finding direction for his life. When he ultimately discovered it, then reflected on how it was revealed, he had a stunning insight. God had granted him his deepest desires: incredibly, what Ignatius wanted, God wanted for him, too. This personal discovery lies at the heart of Ignatian discernment – the wisdom that enables one to see how God is leading him through his own inclinations.
Writing for the faithful of any spiritual level, Manney gives a basic framework for acquiring the essential gift for making decisions congruent with God’s will. Ignatius saw the ability to discern God’s intent as one of the most important skills a Christian can have. He paid great attention to it, developing a discernment style still regarded as the most attuned of its kind.
“Ignatius’ key insight was that God speaks to us through the shifting sea of feelings, insights, leadings, and intuitions of our lives,” says Manney. “Though our deepest desires are of particular importance, we are often led astray by ‘disordered attachments’ – distractions that mislead and crowd out our truest promptings.” If everyone’s ultimate desire is to know and serve God, then the choices he makes – from the incidental to the critical – affect whether he fulfills that desire.
Expert on St. IgnatiusMaps Path to God
What Do You Really Want? guides the faithful in genuine Ignatian discernment – the ability to separate what’s imperative in life from what’s irrelevant or distracting. In the book, Manney explains the facets of right judgement, like:
why every choice matters, determining the good in every situation, ascertaining God’s will, knowing God personally, prioritizing love for God above all, reconciling one’s preferences with God’s, deciphering the language of the heart, putting prayer and gratitude first each day, being accountable for failure, rooting out disordered attachments, identifying good and evil spirits, persevering through periods of consolation and desolation, and confirming the soundness of each decision.
“What Do You Really Want? asks what is probably the most important question in the spiritual life, the one that pushes us to go deeper than what the noise of the world tells us we must do if we are to be happy, wealthy, or admired. This book is written by a canny guide to the spiritual life who is happy to remind us that he is on the shoulders of giants. If new to prayer, it will help you understand more about how it makes us practiced in the art of making life choices. If you are experienced, you’ll appreciate the clarity that Manney brings to deepening your discernment, using St. Ignatius as a guide.”
— Tim Muldoon, author of The Ignatian Workout and The Ignatian Workout for Lent
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For an interview with Jim Manney, please contact Christine Valentine-Owsik at: (215) 230-8095 or [email protected]
ABOUT OUR SUNDAY VISITOR
The world’s largest English-language Catholic publisher, Our Sunday Visitor serves millions of Catholics globally through its publishing, offertory, and communication services. Established in 1912, Our Sunday Visitor publishes a wide range of books including Bibles, biographies of the saints, books by Pope Francis, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, children’s books, devotionals, bible studies, inspirational works, and curriculum. Our Sunday Visitor is a not-for-profit organization, returning a portion of net earnings back to the Catholic community through the Our Sunday Visitor Institute. For more information, visit www.osv.com.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jim Manney is a best-selling author and editor of Ignatian spirituality books, including A Simple Life-Changing Prayer, God Finds Us, and An Ignatian Book of Days. Recently retired from Loyola Press where he was editor of many books on Ignatian spirituality, including writing five of his own, he lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.