St. Ignatius believed that we can find God in all things, at every moment, even in the most ordinary times. To do this, we must take time to reflect on our experience, to look at the data of a day and discern their meaning.

Ignatius recommended a five-step method of prayer called the Examen to help us find God in all things. The Examen encourages us to look back over a period of time and pay attention to what is happening in and around us. Then we look ahead, to what comes next, so that we can act in a way worthy of our vocation as Christians.

​These are the five steps of the Examen:
  1. Pray for God’s help.
  2. Give thanks for the gifts of this day.
  3. Pray over significant feelings.
  4. Rejoice and seek forgiveness.
  5. Look to tomorrow.
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Prayer to Find God in All Things​

Under a leaf, in a snowflake
In a blade of grass, in a raindrop
All parts of nature

In your parents’ loving embrace
In the phone call from your grandparents
All family relationships
In working and sharing with others

In helping the unfortunate
All volunteering jobs
Where are you able to find God?
Lord, help me to find you in all ways and walks of life.

Amen.
​
-Jared Kiley

God is always with us. But often time we have a hard time truly seeing him. The following resources are designed for us to continue to look at where we can see every day holiness, and his graces all around us:

Discovering God in Ordinary Places - Podcast

Finding God in the Everyday - Blog
Finding God in everyday life
 
There are 4 key elements in finding God in our everyday lives.
  • The realization, the conviction, that God is there.  After that, it is all very easy.
  • A belief in the Good News - that Jesus won a victory over sin and death by his dying and rising for us.
  • Dying to Self.
  • Careful practice.
God is there. 
Once I really realize God is there, and become convinced of it, my heart hungers to find God there.  Once my appetite is whet, I desire to find God in a much different way than I look for my car keys.  What I'm really desiring is intimacy with God.  I want to know I'm not alone in my life.  I want to be connected with God.How is God there?  Or, "who am I connecting with?"  God made this whole world and gave life to each and every one of us who lives in it.  God made us with purpose - that we be happy with God forever.  So, we are not looking for or connecting with a God who is distant or indifferent.  Our God is passionately engaged in drawing us to the fulness of life we were created for.  We are seeking to find a God who loves us and is always seeking intimacy with us.  It is simple.  A sense of absence vanishes when I am open to a sense of presence.
Living in the Good News. 
I can hardly go through a single day without encountering the reality of sin and death - in me and in the world around me.  One way to cope is to join in our culture's denial of the reality of sin and death.  Our faith gives us another way.  We have come to believe that Jesus is Lord, most especially where sin and death seem to prevail. We have come to believe that we can open our eyes and act fearlessly in the face of death.  We have come to believe we have nothing to fear.  We have come to believe that it is precisely in the places where we encounter the greatest darkness or brokeness or confusion that we will find God.  There we discover our Savior.  There we experience the Good News.  It is in those everyday places  - where we taste frailty, unreliability, emptiness - that we find God's love is most powerfully present.  Attentive faith finds the gift being offered in every human situation: a love and a peace the world can not give.
Less Self-absorbed. 
When I don't fear death as much, I am less afraid of dying to myself.  It sounds so obvious.  When I'm absorbed with myself - my needs, how much attention I'm getting, doing things my way, everything in reference to me - it is pretty difficult to find God.  The "space" inside of me is pre-occupied.  However, as my openness to and hunger for a loving presence grows, I am de-selfished and freer.  Often my self-pity or self-focus comes out of a fear that I won't have "enough."  I fear any "emptiness" so I "fill" it quickly.  However, when I ask to be emptied, I discover an empowering fulness.  When I become more and more focused on how very much is being offered me in the loving presence of Jesus, discovered in every part of my day, I discover the power of Augustine's prayer:  "O Lord, Our God, you have created us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in you."
Practice, Practice, Practice. 
Practice makes the difference.  What did we ever "get good at" that didn't involve lots of practice?  Changing my patterns, my habits, my routines may be difficult, but I know that I am very resilient and quite resourceful when I really want something.  Choice is the key.  Making the choice to adopt some new patterns  allows it to happen.  God is always choosing to be with me, in any way, in any situation I will be open to.  The choice to get better at meeting God there is all mine.

​-Creighton University

Put this Bible on your Christmas list or TREAT YOUR SELF! We are all looking for an adventure and this guided bible will walk you through the adventure salvation history and the promises of Jesus Christ. Get a group of friends together to walk through this Bible together. 

The Great Adventure Bible