St Ignatius of Loyola’s feast day is coming up on the 31^stJuly and here at Faber we plan to celebrate with some enjoyable conversation over a simple lunch.

In this era of screen communication,  how long is it since you had a satisfying face to face conversation with someone? The sort of conversation that leaves you consoled and energised.

For me, one of the great gifts of Ignatius has been his transformation of an ordinary everyday human activity such as conversation into a powerful way of praying and interacting with others. St Ignatius was reputed to have been a master of conversation and  I have found his advice remarkably practical even in this day and age.

I have learned to be more intentional in my conversations such as always endeavouring to put the best possible interpretation on another’s views, engaging with whatever a person is interested in, no matter how trivial initially, before expanding the conversation, and not trumping people with clever arguments.

Finally, I love the way prayer as conversation, begins to permeate all the other conversations in my friendships, work and family life.

Happy St Ignatius feast and I hope you enjoy a meaningful conversation on the day.

Liz Kerr

(Image from Pixabay by aitoff)