News & Updates | January 2026 | | | |
On a recent retreat I was reminded that St. Ignatius in his Spiritual Exercises encourages people to ask for this grace: “I ask God for interior knowledge of all the good I have received, in order that, stirred to profound gratitude, I may become able to love and serve the Divine Majesty in all things.” (Annotation 233)
In a similar spirit and purpose, co-founder of the Society of Jesus and skilled spiritual director, St. Peter Faber began by challenging those in direction with him to pause and consider how God looks upon them with love in this moment and to ask the question, “How do I know from personal experience that God is good; where have I known true goodness in my life?”
This can be a wonderful, life-giving prayer activity at the start of a new year, too. Instead of reviewing our whole lives, we can consider this past year. Similar to looking in the rearview mirror of a car when we drive, we can witness God’s activity in our lives in the immediate past more easily when we look back. God’s active care and companionship becomes more apparent in hindsight. Blessings overlooked or taken for granted come into view. Events that were unsettling at the time are now seen as resolved. Moments of challenge have yielded unanticipated wisdom, which has both fortified us for our lives and so we can accompany others with greater love and insight in the future.
From this felt-knowledge of God’s activity in our immediate past, we can turn our attention to the “landscape” of our lives right beside us and observe with clearer eyes where God is present: through a kind gesture of a stranger, an intimacy shared with a loved one, or a weakening of the power of an old resentment or vice over us. Grace unfolds; healing is underway; love is known.
With such a foundation of greater trust in God’s goodness and exuberant love for us, we can “drive” towards the unknown horizon of our lives with a blessed assurance of God’s love, not because all will turn out as we desire but because we know our God to be the Living God, the Emmanuel who is with us, in and through all things.
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long.
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long.
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Holly Hoffmann
Spiritual Director, the Retreat in Everyday Life
PhD Student in Formative Education, Boston College
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Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine
Heir of salvation, purchase of God
Born of his Spirit, washed in His blood
This is my story, this is my song
Praising my Savior all the day long
This is my story, this is my song
Praising my Savior all the day long
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Perfect submission, perfect delight
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight
Angels descending bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love
This is my story, this is my song
Praising my Savior all the day long
This is my story, this is my song
Praising my Savior all the day long
Praising my Savior all the day long
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A Prayer for a New Year
from Guerrillas of Grace by Ted Loder
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Patient God,
This day teeters on the edge of waiting,
And things seem to slip away from me,
As though everything is capricious.
Help me to not let my life slip away from me.
O God, I hold up my life to you now,
As much as I can,
As high as I can,
In this mysterious reach called prayer.
Come close, lest I wobble and fall short.
It is not days or years I seek from you,
Not infinity and enormity
But small things and moments and awareness,
Awareness that you are in what I am
And in what I have been indifferent to.
It is not new time I seek
But new eyes,
New heart I seek,
And you.
Amen.
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Please join the entire Ignatian Maine community as we continue to pray for our Retreatants journeying through the Spiritual Exercises and for each other as we head into a New Year...
We send you our heartfelt prayers.
From the Members of the Ignatian Partnership of Maine
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With a mission to keep you connected with the Spirit and each other, Ignatian Maine works to be a clearing house for opportunities to be together. See below for our current list of happenings.
Join us as you can and please invite those who need to share the joy with us.
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Evening Mass at St. Pius X Church, Our Lady of Hope Parish
Tuesdays, 6:30 PM
Our Lady of Hope Parish (St. Pius X Church)
492 Ocean Ave., Portland
Attending a weekday mass can be a beautiful way to continue the Sunday celebration and bring the joy and blessings and community of the liturgy into our everyday lives. In response to parishioners unable to fit the 9:00 a.m. Mass into their schedules, OLH has added an evening mass on Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. Join us!
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Our Lady of Hope Parish Book Reads
This winter and spring, Fr. Paul Sullivan, SJ, and Fr. Larry Smith, SJ, will be guiding us through the following two books. (You may register for either by emailing ourladyofhope@portlanddiocese.org.)
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Taking Flight: A Book of Story Meditations
by Rev. Anthony De Mello, SJ
with Fr. Larry Smith, SJ
Every other Wednesday, 1-2pm
Jan. 28 - April 8
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Fr. De Mello was a Jesuit priest known for his writings and spiritual conferences.
This book contains over 250 stories grouped under themes of Prayer, Awareness, Religion, Grace, Saints, Self, Love, and Truth.
These story meditations are meant to be stepping stones toward a spiritual life based on self-knowledge and understanding.
"Both what you run from and what you yearn for are within you." - Anthony De Mello, SJ
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Come Forth: The Promise of Jesus's Greatest Miracle
by Rev. James Martin, SJ
with Fr. Paul Sullivan, SJ
Tuesdays, 6:30pm-7:30pm
Feb. 10 - March 24, April 14 & 21
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Fr. Martin is a Jesuit priest, editor at large of America magazine, and a consultor to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication. We recently read his book Jesus: A Pilgrimage.
In this wise and compassionate book, Fr. Martin, explores the story of Jesus’s greatest miracle—the raising of Lazarus from the dead—and what Jesus means when he calls each of us to “come forth.” Meditatively and carefully, Martin leads us verse by verse, offering profound reflections on Jesus’s lessons on love, family, sadness, frustration, fear, anger, freedom, joy.
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Showing the Way to God
A Conference for Practitioners of the Spiritual Exercises: clergy, women religious and others who are offering the exercises in various formats and settings
June 13-15, 2026
Fairfield University
In response to the need for deeper formation in the Spiritual Exercises, the Murphy Center for Ignatian Spirituality of Fairfield University, will host a two-night, three-day conference for practitioners of the Spiritual Exercises on June 13-15, 2026, at Fairfield University. Showing the Way to God: A Conference for Practitioners of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, promises to be a stimulating few days of sharing new perspectives, best practices, and creating networks of support.
Keynote Speakers
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Rev. Kevin O’Brien, SJ - Vice Provost, Executive Director, Fairfield University Bellarmine
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Erin Cline, PhD - Paul J. and Chandler M. Tagliabue Distinguished Professor of Interfaith Studies and Dialogue, Georgetown University
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Damian Zynda, ThD - Assistant PASE, Executive Ignatian Formation, UEA Province of the Society of Jesus
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Rev. Brian O. McDermott, SJ - Special Assistant to the President, Georgetown University
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Sr. Joan McCarthy, CSJ - Spiritual Director, Gonzaga Retreat House
To find out more about the conference and to register, please click here.
Those who register by January 31, 2026, will receive a 10% discount. Please consider joining us for this formative conference!
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Eastern Point Retreat House
Welcoming people of many faith traditions; giving them a place to pray, to step away from the distractions of daily life, and have an encounter with Jesus Christ.
Currently offering the full, 30-day Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius; numerous shorter silent, directed retreat opportunities (for 3, 5, or 8 days); days of reflection; and guided retreats.
| | If you know someone who might be interested in any of our offerings, please share! | | This message was sent by the Jesuits East Office of Ignatian Spirituality (OIS) on behalf of the Ignatian Spirituality Partnership of Maine. OIS is pleased to provide communications support to Ignatian Maine. | | | | |
