Afternoon Workshops
Please be aware that the topic of Workshop 304 has been changed from "Peter Faber" to "Consolation: the "main Rock" of Spiritual Discernment".
All workshops, except 109, 209, 309 & 310 are conducted in English and with simple simultaneous interpretation into Mandarin and Cantonese.
Day 1 - 28 Nov 2014
Workshop 101: (Full)
Transformational Leadership and the Personal Vocation
– by Bernadette Miles ...more
Workshop 102: (Full)
Living from the inner springs of life - The interplay of the Two Standards in our Life
– by Cecil Azzopardi ...more
Workshop 103:
A comparison between St. Ignatius and Sidharta Gautama the Buddha
– by Javier Melloni Ribas ...more
Workshop 104:
Consolation: the “main Rock” of Spiritual Discernment
– by José García de Castro ...more
Workshop 105: (Full)
Imagination, imaginative prayer and narrative
– by Marlene Marburg ...more
Workshop 106: (Full) (for spiritual directors only)
Models of spiritual directors
– by Monty Williams ...more
Workshop 107: (Full)
Making Choices Together with Christ
- Ignatian Discernment for Beginners
– by Elton Fernandes ...more
Workshop 108:
The First Spiritual Exercises
– by Australian Nationsl First Spiritual Exercise Team ...more
Workshop 109: (Full)
Spiritual Exercises Through Drawing
– by Monica Wong (conducted in Mandarin only) ...more
Day 2 – 29th Nov 2014
Workshop 201:
Transformational Leadership and Spiritual Direction
– by Bernadette Miles ...more
Workshop 202:
Living from the inner springs of life - The interplay of the Two Standards in our Life
– by Cecil Azzopardi ...more
Workshop 203:
A comparison between Spiritual Exercises and the Yoga path
by Javier Melloni Ribas ...more
Workshop 204:
Women and First Jesuits
– by José García de Castro ...more
Workshop 205:
Imagination, imaginative prayer and narrative
– by Marlene Marburg ...more
Workshop 206: (Full) (for spiritual directors only)
Paradigms of spiritual direction
– by Monty Williams ...more
Workshop 207:
Ignatian Prayer for Daily Life - A Guided Experience of Ignatian Contemplation and Meditation
– by Elton Fernandes ...more
Workshop 208:
The First Spiritual Exercises
– by Australian National First Spiritual Exercise Team ...more
Workshop 209: (Full)
Personality Dynamics and Ignatian Spirituality
– by Catalina Yin (conducted in Mandarin only) ...more
Workshop 210:
Lay Ignatian Spirituality
– by Éadaoin Hui, Seán Ó Cearbhalláin, Jennie Chor & Joseph Chor ...more
Day 3 – 30th Nov 2014
Workshop 301:
Transformational Leadership and The Two Standards and Discernment
– by Bernadette Miles ...more
Workshop 302:
Living from the inner springs of life - The interplay of the Two Standards in our Life
– by Cecil Azzopardi ...more
Workshop 303: (Full)
A comparison between Spiritual Exercises and Zen
– by Javier Melloni Ribas ...more
Workshop 304: (Full)
Consolation: the “main Rock” of Spiritual Discernment
– by José García de Castro ...more
Workshop 305: (Full) (for spiritual directors only)
Self-supervision for spiritual directors after a puzzling personal encounter
– by Marlene Marburg ...more
Workshop 306: (Full)
The Dynamics of Grace in the Second Week of the Exercises
– by Monty Williams ...more
Workshop 307:
I Am God's Beloved - A Taste of the First Part of the Spiritual Exercises
– by Elton Fernandes ...more
Workshop 308:
The First Spiritual Exercises
– by Australian National First Spiritual Exercise Team ...more
Workshop 309:
The Practice Of Discernment Of Spirits – A Way Of Life With Christ Jesus, the Risen Lord
– by Suzanna Yeung (conducted in Mandarin only) ...more
Workshop 310:
The Characteristics of the Society of Jesus—An Ignatian Point of View
– by Stephen Tong, Stephen Chow & John Tang
(conducted in Cantonese only) ...more
Workshop 311: 
Interior Tai Chi and Ignatian Spirituality
– by Mr. Gong Yan ...more
Workshop 101: (Full)
Transformational Leadership and the Personal Vocation
– by Bernadette Miles
Today’s changing world requires creative leaders, capable of inventing new and original ways of seeing reality, creating new energy and life into the organisation. In this workshop we will explore the concept of ‘Personal Vocation’ and how when this is enabled through spiritual direction, charismatic and creative leadership can also be enabled. Transformational leadership enhances the motivation, morale, and performance of followers through a variety of mechanisms including connecting the follower's sense of identity and self to the project and the collective identity of the organisation.
This workshop is 50% presentation, 25% experiential and 25% discussion.
Workshop 102: (Full)
Living from the inner springs of life - The interplay of the Two Standards in our Life
– by Cecil Azzopardi
From the very early stages in the process of his conversion, Ignatius started to become aware of two distinct movements within him; while one left him “dry and discontented” (Autobiography 8) the other left him “content and happy” (Auto.8). He thus, “began to marvel at the difference and to reflect upon it. … Little by little he came to recognize the difference between the spirits that agitated him, one from the demon, the other from God,” (Auto. 8).
Eventually as Ignatius matured in his awareness of the interplay of these two movements he also came to realize the subtle ways in which these two movements / powers operate. This he presents in the exercise of the ‘Two Standards’ in the Spiritual Exercises, (136-147). It is interesting to note that here Ignatius refers to Lucifer as “the mortal enemy of our human nature,” (136), and to Christ as the one who offers us “insight into genuine life,” (139).
Participants will be gently lead to come to an experiential awareness of the presence of these two movements in their life and to sense deep within them the root that blocks them from life and the source that opens them to ‘genuine life’.
The workshop is 50% presentation, 40% experiential and 10% discussion.
Workshop 103:
A comparison between St. Ignatius and Sidharta Gautama the Buddha
– by Javier Melloni Ribas
In spite of their distance in time and space and although their cosmic visions are radically different, surprising coincident trends can be established between these relevant figures for the religious history of the mankind. Very similar aspects can be recognized in their life (both had noble origins, both had their enlightenment at the middle of their life, both founded a religious order, etc.) and similar elements can be identified in their spiritual doctrine: awareness, detachment, wisdom/discernment and compassion/love, etc.
We shall go into their biographies and in their teachings in order to discover these similitudes between Ignatian Spirituality and buddhisme, and also to clarify their differences. The underground of this workshop is that fecund interfaith dialogue can be made through the spiritual path of each Tradition.
The workshop is 75% presentation and 25% discussion.
Workshop 104:
Consolation: the “main Rock” of Spiritual Discernment
– by José García de Castro
Among the many definitions we can offer about Spiritual Exercises, we can say they are a “conversation with God” or, maybe better, “a conversation of God with us, with me”. Through the critical analysis of thoughts and feelings, Ignatius started to develop in Loyola a method to understand the “Grammar of God”. He called this Grammar, “spiritual discernment” and during his whole life he worked intensely trying to understand better the message of God in order to do His Will. In the heart of this universe of spiritual “motions”, God appears under the experience of consolation.
Consolation was the first impulse that pushed Iñigo to leave his family place. From Loyola to Rome Ignatius grew in familiarity with God, that is, in familiarity with consolation. For Ignatius, Consolation is the hermeneutic element to discover Gods position in the soul and the best reference for a “health and good decision”. The Autobiography talks often about consolation provoked by different reasons; from the letters we can also widen the meaning of consolation and in the Spiritual Exercises [316] we find the definition that will illuminate the exercitant in his/her personal searching of God. By the way… what is it of Consolation without previous Cause [Sp Ex 330]?
The workshop is 60% presentation and 40% discussion.
Workshop 105: (Full)
Imagination, imaginative prayer and narrative
– by Marlene Marburg
Can you trust your imagination and your interior movements in prayer? Discuss the application of imagination to prayer. Develop your awareness of what happens in your imaginative gospel prayer. Begin to write your own narrative of your imaginative contemplation.
This workshop is 20% presentation, 60% experiential and 20% discussion.
Workshop 106: (Full) (for spiritual directors only)
Models of spiritual directors
– by Monty Williams
Most directors have a default mode of practicing their craft. They can broaden their competence and effectiveness by becoming aware of other models. This workshop will examine several of those models — their positive and their negative attributes —by dealing with the question common in direction: I am confused. Some of the models examined will be the guide, the coach, the teacher, the mirror, the warrior, the midwife, the companion.
The format of this workshop will be a presentation of each model followed by a discussion and a question and answer period. If time permits participants will be invited to role-play some of these models.
This workshop is 40% presentation, 30% experiential and 20% discussion.
Workshop 107: (Full)
Making Choices Together with Christ - Ignatian Discernment for Beginners
– by Elton Fernandes
How can I hear Christ’s voice in my life more clearly? When making decisions—small or large—how do I know what Christ is inviting me to choose? How do I discover what I am called to do? This workshop introduces the basics of Ignatian discernment. Essential principles will be explained, practical methods for discernment will be given and participants will have time to prayerfully reflect on Christ’s voice in their lives.
The workshop is 30% presentation, 40% experiential and 30% discussion.
Workshop 108:
Tasting the First Spiritual Exercises
– by Australian National FSE Team
Michael Hansen has developed four retreats to be experienced fully and flexibly in daily life. He has also produced a Manual for Givers of the First Spiritual Exercises and Spiritual Conversation Guides. Together with Michael, Rachel and Frances have formed the first Australian National Team to introduce, discern and grow the ministry of the FSE. They gave a very successful and effective pilot training course in Australia 2013-2014.
The First Spiritual Exercises are truly a Pilgrim's exercises. They mirror the earliest ministry of Ignatius, engaging in spiritual conversation and giving exercises for the most ordinary people and places. So too the First Spiritual Exercises highlights the essential Ignatian vision of a God who desires to grace each one with a relationship of mutuality and friendship in service of others and the Gospel.
The workshops will be experiential, with guided exercises from the First Spiritual Exercises retreats, spiritual conversation in small groups, presentations the team in regard to the applications of the exercises and the training for future givers. The approach is simple, clear and practical. Already these retreats and exercises have been running in Australia and Asia with an amazing array of receivers: many different cultures, the deaf, mentally ill, prisoners, ordinary parishioners, schools, youth clubs, Christian Life Community groups, and key people in various Ignatian religious orders. These exercises are for parishioners, young and senior, individuals, couples, partners, parents, grandparents, ministry teams, committees, students, colleagues, friends. For everyone!
The workshop is 20% presentation, 50% experiential and 30% discussion.
Workshop 109: (Full)
Spiritual Exercises Through Drawing
– by Monica Wong (conducted in Mandarin only)
In this workshop you will be invited to travel your inner journey, with the light-hearted and carefree spirit of a child. Under the light of the Spirit, let your wavering feelings, movements and your deep desires express in a way like doodling. Through contemplating the colors, lines, shapes and space, you will notice God speaking to you. This way of prayer is particularly applicable to your practice of Lectio Divina, Gospel Contemplation, Examen of Consciousness and discernment.
The workshop is 20% presentation, 50% experiential and 30% discussion.
Workshop 201:
Transformational Leadership and Spiritual Direction
– by Bernadette Miles
In this workshop we will explore the role of spiritual direction in supporting transformational leadership that can inspire positive energy that will enable and sustain change. We will look at the Four Weeks of the Spiritual Exercises as a framework for exploring the spiritual direction dynamic.
This workshop is 50% presentation, 25% experiential and 25% discussion.
Workshop 202:
Living from the inner springs of life - The interplay of the Two Standards in our Life
– by Cecil Azzopardi
From the very early stages in the process of his conversion, Ignatius started to become aware of two distinct movements within him; while one left him “dry and discontented” (Autobiography 8) the other left him “content and happy” (Auto.8). He thus, “began to marvel at the difference and to reflect upon it. … Little by little he came to recognize the difference between the spirits that agitated him, one from the demon, the other from God,” (Auto. 8).
Eventually as Ignatius matured in his awareness of the interplay of these two movements he also came to realize the subtle ways in which these two movements / powers operate. This he presents in the exercise of the ‘Two Standards’ in the Spiritual Exercises, (136-147). It is interesting to note that here Ignatius refers to Lucifer as “the mortal enemy of our human nature,” (136), and to Christ as the one who offers us “insight into genuine life,” (139). Participants will be gently lead to come to an experiential awareness of the presence of these two movements in their life and to sense deep within them the root that blocks them from life and the source that opens them to ‘genuine life’.
The workshop is 50% presentation, 40% experiential and 10% discussion.
Workshop 203:
A comparison between Spiritual Exercises and the Yoga path
– by Javier Melloni Ribas
The Ignatian Exercises can be compared with the sadhana in the hinduisme. In this workshop we shall proceed, first, presenting the fundamental features of the yoga pathway according the Pantajali Sutras, and the three classical ways according the Bhagavad Gita: Bhakti Way (vehicle of devotion), Jnana Way (vehicle of knowledge) and karma Way (vehicle of action). After that, we shall compare its dynamics with the Spiritual Exercises, pointing out the divergent and convergent points to attain the final goal: the Christic transformation in one side and the absorption of soul in the Absolute (yoga means “union”) in other side.
The aim of this presentation is to discern the conveniences or inconveniences of incorporate yoga elements in the Ignatian Exercises (body awareness, breathing, etc.), paying attention to each person in their concrete moment.
The workshop is 60% presentation and 40% discussion.
Workshop 204:
Women and First Jesuits
– by José García de Castro
When Iñigo decided to leave his family house at Loyola, he started his pilgrimage towards Jerusalem and Rome. In different places and circumstances Íñigo met different people. Many of them were women. In Barcelona and Alcalá de Henares women were the first supporters and friends of Íñigo and also the first people in receiving his recent spiritual experience. Spiritual conversations and the first “drafts” of spiritual exercises seemed to fit well in the soul of those women who started a deep relationship to the pilgrim. Some of these women helped Ignacio and his Companions during their years at Sorbonne University (Paris) and years later, a small group of three women decided to leave Barcelona to join in the Society of Jesus. Ignatius and the First Jesuits developed new ways of proceedings in pastoral activities with women, a new style that was not easily accepted by other groups inside the Church of XVI century.
Even though the importance of all these women, the Ignatian sources do not talk much about them. Who where they? What had they discovered in Ignatius spiritual experience? Why were so interested in following Ignatius and his charisma? What happened with those “First Women Jesuits”?
The workshop is 60% presentation and 40% discussion.
Workshop 205:
Imagination, imaginative prayer and narrative
– by Marlene Marburg
Can you trust your imagination and your interior movements in prayer? Discuss the application of imagination to prayer. Develop your awareness of what happens in your imaginative gospel prayer. Begin to write your own narrative of your imaginative templation.
This workshop is 20% presentation, 60% experiential and 20% discussion.
Workshop 206: (Full) (for spiritual directors only)
Paradigms of spiritual direction
– by Monty Williams
In spiritual direction the dominant paradigm is the psychological. But there are other equally useful and effective templates to understand this process. This workshop will look at several others including the communal, the ecological, the liturgical, and the artistic. Depending on the numbers signed up the workshop will be presentations, with a question and answer period, small group discussions and praxis.
This workshop is 50% presentation and 50% discussion.
Workshop 207:
Ignatian Prayer for Daily Life - A Guided Experience of Ignatian Contemplation and Meditation
– by Elton Fernandes
If you could sit down and talk with Jesus, what would you say to him? Does Jesus have anything to say to you? This workshop offers participants a guided experience of Ignatian contemplation and meditation using Scripture. Participants will learn about the theory behind these two types of Ignatian prayer as well as how to practice them in daily life. No prior experience of Ignatian prayer is required.
The workshop is 25% presentation, 50% experiential and 25% discussion.
Workshop 208:
The First Spiritual Exercises
– by Australian First Spiritual Exercise Team
Michael Hansen has developed four retreats to be experienced fully and flexibly in daily life. He has also produced a Manual for Givers of the First Spiritual Exercises and Spiritual Conversation Guides. Together with Michael, Rachel and Frances have formed the first Australian National Team to introduce, discern and grow the ministry of the FSE. They gave a very successful and effective pilot training course in Australia 2013-2014.
The First Spiritual Exercises are truly a Pilgrim's exercises. They mirror the earliest ministry of Ignatius, engaging in spiritual conversation and giving exercises for the most ordinary people and places. So too the First Spiritual Exercises highlights the essential Ignatian vision of a God who desires to grace each one with a relationship of mutuality and friendship in service of others and the Gospel.
The workshops will be experiential, with guided exercises from the First Spiritual Exercises retreats, spiritual conversation in small groups, presentations the team in regard to the applications of the exercises and the training for future givers. The approach is simple, clear and practical. Already these retreats and exercises have been running in Australia and Asia with an amazing array of receivers: many different cultures, the deaf, mentally ill, prisoners, ordinary parishioners, schools, youth clubs, Christian Life Community groups, and key people in various Ignatian religious orders. These exercises are for parishioners, young and senior, individuals, couples, partners, parents, grandparents, ministry teams, committees, students, colleagues, friends. For everyone!
The workshop is 20% presentation, 50% experiential and 30% discussion.
Workshop 209: (Full)
Personality Dynamics and Ignatian Spirituality
– by Catalina Yin (conducted in Mandarin only)
On the basis of integration between psychology and spirituality, this workshop will help participants see how the dynamics between “the ideal self” and the “real self” influence our choices and actions to follow Christ. We will explore issues such as “values” vs “psychological needs”, “ego observing” vs “ego experiencing”, and “the true self” vs “the false self”. The process of self-discovery will help participants identify the source of their disordered attachments and the root of their unfreedom in their endeavour to serve the Lord. It will prepare a fertile ground for formation work in Ignatian spirituality and bring about integration between the different dynamics in the personality, hence shaping the person to “love and serve in all things”.
The workshop is 20% presentation, 40% experiential and 40% discussion.
Workshop 210:
Lay Ignatian Spirituality
– by Éadaoin Hui, Seán Ó Cearbhalláin, Jennie Chor & Joseph Chor
Ignatian Spirituality is essentially a spirituality for mission and service. Already in Ignatius’ time it was understood, at least in Ignatian circles, that responsibility for the mission and ministry of the Church did not rest with the clergy and religious alone. Although there already in existence “confraternities” of lay people, generally based on trade or professions, several of Ignatius’ companions started groups of lay people, usually called “congregations”, more dedicated to the spiritual and apostolic formation of the members. The most enduring and wide-spread of these “congregations” was the one founded by Jean Leunis in the Roman College in 1563, called the Sodality of Our Lady, or “Marian Congregation”.
This workshop will illustrate the theme of this Ignatian conference, with reference to lay people in the church, by describing the spirit, formation, and apostolic involvement of the Sodality of Our Lady in its modern form, namely “The Christian Life Community” [CLC].
The workshop is 50% presentation, 20% experiential and 30% discussion.
Workshop 301:
Transformational Leadership and The Two Standards and Discernment
– by Bernadette Miles
In this workshop, we will explore how the invitation given to us by Ignatius’ to live by the Standard of Christ is key to developing integrity in individual and effective corporate leadership. High integrity organizations are characterized as organizations that are collaborative, constructive, innovative, transparent, with high employee morale, valued customer loyalty, and strong partnerships. They build teams and create value. The ongoing process of discernment is essential in maintaining integrity in organizations.
This workshop is 50% presentation, 25% experiential and 25% discussion.
Workshop 302:
Living from the inner springs of life - The interplay of the Two Standards in our Life
– by Cecil Azzopardi
From the very early stages in the process of his conversion, Ignatius started to become aware of two distinct movements within him; while one left him “dry and discontented” (Autobiography 8) the other left him “content and happy” (Auto.8). He thus, “began to marvel at the difference and to reflect upon it. … Little by little he came to recognize the difference between the spirits that agitated him, one from the demon, the other from God,” (Auto. 8).
Eventually as Ignatius matured in his awareness of the interplay of these two movements he also came to realize the subtle ways in which these two movements / powers operate. This he presents in the exercise of the ‘Two Standards’ in the Spiritual Exercises, (136-147). It is interesting to note that here Ignatius refers to Lucifer as “the mortal enemy of our human nature,” (136), and to Christ as the one who offers us “insight into genuine life,” (139). Participants will be gently lead to come to an experiential awareness of the presence of these two movements in their life and to sense deep within them the root that blocks them from life and the source that opens them to ‘genuine life’.
The workshop is 50% presentation, 40% experiential and 10% discussion.
Workshop 303: (Full)
A comparison between Spiritual Exercises and Zen
– by Javier Melloni Ribas
Proceeding like the precedent workshop, the Ignatian Path will be compared with the Zen path. For that, it will be put in relation the dynamic of the four Weeks with the Ten Pictures of the Bull. The search for and capture of the bull by a peasant serves as a metaphor to show the steps through which the practitioner of Zen must pass, so as to attain illumination. We shall discuss different issues: is it possible to combine Zen meditation (pointing to Sunyata) with Ignatian meditation (which is Christo-centric)? Can Zen become a previous practice as training towards ‘interiorization’? Zen (and Yoga) can dispose the person to be free from the attachments of the ego. Once this liberty and this interior landscape have been achieved, one can undergo the experience of the Exercises which dispose one to be free for the discernment of a vocation and a mission. Both liberties (free from and free for) need and enrich one another. All these questions will be discussed during the workshop.
The workshop is 60% presentation and 40% discussion.
Workshop 304: (Full)
Consolation: the “main Rock” of Spiritual Discernment
– by José García de Castro
Among the many definitions we can offer about Spiritual Exercises, we can say they are a “conversation with God” or, maybe better, “a conversation of God with us, with me”. Through the critical analysis of thoughts and feelings, Ignatius started to develop in Loyola a method to understand the “Grammar of God”. He called this Grammar, “spiritual discernment” and during his whole life he worked intensely trying to understand better the message of God in order to do His Will. In the heart of this universe of spiritual “motions”, God appears under the experience of consolation.
Consolation was the first impulse that pushed Iñigo to leave his family place. From Loyola to Rome Ignatius grew in familiarity with God, that is, in familiarity with consolation. For Ignatius, Consolation is the hermeneutic element to discover Gods position in the soul and the best reference for a “health and good decision”. The Autobiography talks often about consolation provoked by different reasons; from the letters we can also widen the meaning of consolation and in the Spiritual Exercises [316] we find the definition that will illuminate the exercitant in his/her personal searching of God. By the way… what is it of Consolation without previous Cause [Sp Ex 330]?
The workshop is 60% presentation and 40% discussion.
Workshop 305: (Full) (for spiritual directors only)
Self-supervision for spiritual directors after a puzzling personal encounter
– by Marlene Marburg
This workshop focusses on noticing and recording interior movements, assists a spiritual director to self-supervise after a puzzling spiritual direction session.
This workshop is 30% presentation, 50% experiential and 20% discussion.
Workshop 306: (Full)
The Dynamics of Grace in the Second Week of the Exercises
– by Monty Williams
The Path to becoming a companion of The Christ. This workshop looks at the education of one who is called by God through the series of guided contemplations which makes up the body of the second week. Those contemplations are set out in a deliberate narrative fashion by Ignatius to bring to light and to dissolve the blocks which stops one from a full fidelity to the Father. The format of the workshop will be two presentations, two question and answer periods, and two small group discussions.
This workshop is 50% presentation and 50% discussion.
Workshop 307:
I Am God's Beloved - A Taste of the First Part of the Spiritual Exercises
– by Elton Fernandes
It is said that the longest road in the world is from the head to the heart. Sometimes we desire to more than simply know, but to actually feel that we are loved by God. The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius offer retreatants a chance to interact directly with the Creator who loves them. This workshop offers participants a prayerful experience of the first part of the Spiritual Exercises (drawing from Disposition Days and Week 1). The material will invite participants to enter into a deeper experience of God’s love as well as notice obstacles to God’s love in their lives. No prior experience of Ignatian prayer is required.
The workshop is 30% presentation, 40% experiential and 30% discussion.
Workshop 308:
The First Spiritual Exercises
– by Australian First Spiritual Exercise Team
Michael Hansen has developed four retreats to be experienced fully and flexibly in daily life. He has also produced a Manual for Givers of the First Spiritual Exercises and Spiritual Conversation Guides. Together with Michael, Rachel and Frances have formed the first Australian National Team to introduce, discern and grow the ministry of the FSE. They gave a very successful and effective pilot training course in Australia 2013-2014.
The First Spiritual Exercises are truly a Pilgrim's exercises. They mirror the earliest ministry of Ignatius, engaging in spiritual conversation and giving exercises for the most ordinary people and places. So too the First Spiritual Exercises highlights the essential Ignatian vision of a God who desires to grace each one with a relationship of mutuality and friendship in service of others and the Gospel.
The workshops will be experiential, with guided exercises from the First Spiritual Exercises retreats, spiritual conversation in small groups, presentations the team in regard to the applications of the exercises and the training for future givers. The approach is simple, clear and practical. Already these retreats and exercises have been running in Australia and Asia with an amazing array of receivers: many different cultures, the deaf, mentally ill, prisoners, ordinary parishioners, schools, youth clubs, Christian Life Community groups, and key people in various Ignatian religious orders. These exercises are for parishioners, young and senior, individuals, couples, partners, parents, grandparents, ministry teams, committees, students, colleagues, friends. For everyone!
The workshop is 20% presentation, 50% experiential and 30% discussion.
Workshop 309:
The Practice Of Discernment Of Spirits – A Way Of Life With Christ Jesus, the Risen Lord
– by Suzanna Yeung (conducted in Mandarin only)
When we think of Discernment of Spirits, the first thing that comes to mind may be “What option should I choose in this particular situation? How do I know the will of God for me and whether I have taken the right decision etc.” All these are of course valid and important. But at the heart of any Christian decision-making is one’s personal relationship with Jesus Christ the Risen Lord from which a felt-sense of Christ’ sentiments and values become the foundation of our day to day discernment and decision.
The workshop is 40% presentation, 30% experiential and 30% discussion.
Workshop 310:
The Characteristics of the Society of Jesus—An Ignatian Point of View
– by Stephen Tong, Stephen Chow & John Tang (conducted in Cantonese only)
Ignatius and his companions founded the Society of Jesus in 1540. In the last four hundred & seventy years, her charism has attracted many followers to dedicate their lives for the service of the Church and the world. Jesuits have excelled themselves in various areas in depth, such as education, science, academics, arts, social justice, philosophy and theology, spirituality and pastoral works, etc.
In this conference, we would like to reflect on our understanding of this Jesuit charism related to Ignatian spirituality and the contemporary concerns. If you are interested in knowing more this least Society, please come to join us and reflect together.
The workshop is 60% presentation and 40% discussion.
Workshop 311:
Interior Tai Chi and Ignatian Spirituality
– by Mr. Gong Yan
The concept of Interior Tai Chi is based on the unity and incarnation of love of the Holy Trinity, combined with the idea of Tai Chi in Chinese I Ching. It is an attempt of inculturation to understand the spirituality of the Church by our Chinese way of thinking and language that leads to a concrete practice of prayer for the Church in China.
To structure our inner world into eight levels corresponding to the eight steps of prayer, the interior Tai Chi forms the spiritual hexagrams. It automatically coordinates the mind to achieve the state of oneness.
This Workshop is to introduce the prayer tool - Tai Chi Mind Compass - and its use, which intuitively presents the balance of yin and yang in prayer, and the dynamic process of transformation and unity. This tool is for personal use, and as an aid in spiritual companionship as well.
Interior Tai Chi (Prayer) and Ignatian Spirituality have much in common, such as to notice feelings and internal movement, to discern movements of different Spirits, to do the Examen, to let desire as our guide, and to choose our actions in response to God's love.
The workshop is 20% presentation, 60% experiential and 20% discussion.