January 18th Essay: More Prayer, More Intimacy
Meeting Christ in Prayer is famously practical—Jesuit practical. (There’s a familiar joke about a Franciscan, a Dominican, and a Jesuit when the church lights go out: the Franciscan praises simplicity, the Dominican preaches on divine light, and the Jesuit goes to the basement to fix the fuse.) That spirit of practicality shapes the entire program.
The eight-week series meets over Zoom on Wednesday evenings from 7 PM–8:30 PM. Each participant receives a workbook with a day-by-day guide. Even with a full life (including a toddler, two preschoolers, and a job), I found the program manageable and deeply enriching.
One of the highlights of Meeting Christ in Prayer is St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Examen, a daily prayer of awareness. The Examen unfolds in five steps: noticing where you are, recalling what you are grateful for, reviewing the day, asking for forgiveness, and preparing for tomorrow. Over time, something subtle yet profound begins to happen.
You start to recognize God’s steady presence in the ordinary moments of life—missed trains, bedtime meltdowns, successful meetings. St. Ignatius urged his companions to “find God in all things” by paying closer attention to everyday experience.
During our eight weekly meetings, we pray together, engage in guided meditation, and share honestly in a confidential setting. These faith-sharing moments foster genuine intimacy, with one another and with God.
After the final week, we attend Mass together. It was the first time I met my co-facilitator in person, and my one-year-old son gravitated toward him throughout the Mass—an unselfconscious openness that felt like a small parable. That openness stayed with me. At Christmas, while waiting to receive Communion, I recognized another participant I had known only through Zoom. We embraced immediately.
Ignatian spirituality invites us to be “contemplatives in action,” carrying what we receive in prayer outward into generosity, humility, and service. Since participating in Meeting Christ in Prayer, I’ve returned to Scripture through Lectio Divina, begun reading more deeply, and even started practicing the Examen with my children at bedtime. Together, we slow down to notice where God showed up during the day.
Jesuit theologian Walter Burghardt described this spirituality as “a long, loving look at the real.” That is what this program offers—not a retreat from everyday life, but a deeper awareness of God’s presence within it.
For me, Meeting Christ in Prayer has been a reminder that seeking intimacy with God and others through prayer—both privately and in community—is something I am capable of undertaking. In one of the last things he wrote before his death, Pope Francis said, “Believe in love, believe in God, and believe that you are capable of taking on the adventure of a love that lasts a lifetime.”
I hope you will consider joining us beginning February 4 at 7:00 p.m.
To register, click here.
— Julia King Pool