Update on the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises Retreat via Podcast

Saint Ignatius of Loyola

The Ignatian Spiritual Exercises Retreat via Podcast began tonight (also see earlier post) and I found out a bit more about how this is going to work. The audio will be available at 8pm Eastern and 7pm Central Monday through Friday nights via BlogTalkRadio. You can listen to or download the file at BlogTalkRadio (here’s the link to the Spiritual Exercises Kickoff Show), subscribe to the show’s RSS feed, or subscribe to the iTunes podcast. But the audio will be available immediately at BlogTalkRadio;  it’ll show up on the iTunes feed generally about a day later. (Of course, after I posted this, I found that iTunes does have the first show up already at 9:48pm CT. Oy.) Gary keeps the file size small enough to make it easy to download but large enough for pretty good quality. (It’s spoken word so you can get away with that.)

I listened to the first part of the retreat while grabbing a quick dinner (at a place with wifi) on the way home from a few hours out on the sidewalk in front of Planned Parenthood today. Now I’m home and as soon as I post this update, I’m going to finish listening and do the meditations, which aim at helping us discern God’s will in and for our lives. And, as they say, that’s just what the doctor ordered. Doctor of souls, that is.

After that, it’s beddie-bye time for me. I promised the dogs we’d go to the park in the morning before Mass, then it’s back to the sidewalk and 40 Days for Life. (Good thing I got new walking shoes today. My feet feel so much better!)

Treat Yourself to an Ignatian Retreat During Lent via Podcast

Saint Ignatius of LoyolaI’ve been wanting to make a retreat for some time now with the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, but have not been able to be away from home for as long as a month or even a week. And I just missed a weekend Ignatian retreat in a nearby town, didn’t find out until it was over. Plus there’s that little matter of not being able to afford to give even a small stipend to the retreat center for the great gift of the Exercises. But I really want to do this. I’ve never made a retreat of any kind and I know I need to do it.

Gary Zimak to the rescue! Gary, of Following the Truth, has decided (and was prompted by the Holy Spirit) to offer the Spiritual Exercises through his podcast via iTunes or BlogTalkRadio during Lent, starting Monday, Feb. 27, through Good Friday. (See promotional YouTube video below.)

Problem solved! And no excuse either. I don’t need to go anywhere, I can just download the podcast and listen on my iPod or computer, any time and as many times as I want to. For free. And I can keep these podcasts and make a retreat a month from now or next year or five years from now.

This is a God-send. A real God-send! Thank you, Gary! I’m looking forward to this. God is so good!