BookLife Reviews
04/08/2024
Ivereigh draws on Pope Francis’s teachings and the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola in this spiritual guide intended to be a “retreat with Pope Francis.” The text—initially built from an eight-day spiritual retreat Ivereigh led in 2020—has been adapted to include a wider range of Pope Francis’s teachings, including Desiderio Desideravi and Fratelli Tutti, among others. Ivereigh structures the guide as usable lessons and meditations for individuals or groups, confronting the “crisis of nonbelonging” that plagues contemporary society, as he declares “We are living in an age both of decomposing bonds and identity fundamentalism.”
Ivereigh’s writing specifically urges readers to “recover deeper belonging” by following the core principles of the Ignatian exercises, from considering God’s mercy and human sin to meditating on Jesus’ Incarnation to contemplating his death and, lastly, his resurrection. First and foremost, Ivereigh points out the importance of “know our Maker,” an integral step for readers seeking to understand God’s plan in their lives; he goes on to remind readers of their weaknesses, counterbalanced by God’s grace, as a prompting of how God has rescued them from worldliness—“To fall into worldliness is to forget our weakness, believing in our autonomy and power, and also to forget our dependence on God’s power and gift” he writes.
The material is rich with meaning and hands-on exploration for readers, as Ivereigh, who co-authored Let Us Dream with Pope Francis, inserts several reflection points and spiritual exercises for each of the retreat’s eight days. The text is heavily cited, with Ivereigh including his own translations where Vatican English translations are not available, making this an intense but revelatory study; the chart added at the end is a particularly helpful overview. At the root of this profound retreat is the concept of belonging to God and to one another—“a direct experience of God’s love and mercy.”
Takeaway: Revelatory guide to a spiritual retreat with Pope Francis, based on the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises.
Comparable Titles: André Ravier’s A Do-It-At-Home Retreat, Pope Francis’s Through the Year with Pope Francis.
Production grades Cover: A- Design and typography: A Illustrations: N/A Editing: A- Marketing copy: B+
From the Publisher
In First Belong to God, Austen Ivereigh brings together three rich treasuries of spiritual and moral insight — the Exercises of Saint Ignatius, the retreats of Jose Maria Bergolio as a priest and bishop, and Francis' teachings as Pope. In doing so, he powerfully illuminates the themes of grace, mercy, joy, and solidarity that lie at the heart of the renewal taking place in our Church. Using a retreat format that can be utilized by both individuals and groups, First Belong to God invites women and men to discover that amidst our global crisis of individualism and nonbelonging the pathway of authentic humanity lies precisely in belonging — to our Creator, to creation and to the whole of humanity. -Cardinal Robert McElroy
“the book I've needed to read … a compelling summary and application of Francis’ theology … this book urged me to step into hope." -National Catholic Reporter Book Review
Kirkus Reviews
2024-02-05
A Catholic author rediscovers traditional Jesuit Spiritual Exercisesthrough the writings of Pope Francis.
TheSpiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola have been the cornerstone of Jesuit meditation and prayer for half a millennium; they were designed especially for Catholics in religious retreats who seek to discern the will of God. At the peak of the 2020 Covid-19 lockdowns, Ivereigh—the lead organizer of a retreat for the British Province of the Jesuits—moved his group to a virtual setting where participants were “linked by screens and fellowship and the vulnerability we were feeling at that time.” This book’s eight chapters parallel the topics of that eight-day event, which particularly focused on the 21st century’s “crisis of nonbelonging”: “Restless, anxious, and insecure, people find it hard to build community.” The author emphasizes that isolation extends well beyond the context of pandemic-related social distancing, and he highlights the social ills of self-interest and the marginalization of migrants and refugees. The book draws heavily on the writings of Pope Francis, who, as the first Jesuit pope, has a special connection to the Spiritual Exercises, having served as “a formidable Ignatian spiritual director” in his pre-Vatican life. As the author of two biographies of Pope Francis, as well as co-authoring a bestselling book with him (2020’s Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future), there’s perhaps no better expert on the philosophy of Francis than Ivereigh. This well-researched book, which includes more than 20 pages of sources and bibliographic entries, offers readers excerpts from Pope Francis’ writings, many of which are presented here in English translation for the first time; the book even features a foreword by the pope himself that effectively contextualizes the Spiritual Exercises and retreats as one of the Catholic Church’s “channels of grace.” Designed for personal or group use, the book offers easily replicated retreat activities, replete with prayers, discussion questions, and readings for contemplation. The book’s backmatter provides a handy “User Guide” and other helpful materials to facilitate an event.
A well-designed guidebook with pragmatic instruction for spiritual retreats.
