SEEL | Growing Our Gratitude through the Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life
A Weekly Ignatian Prayer Group for Adults
January 15, 22, Feb 5, 19, Mar 5, 19, Apr 2, 16, 30, May 14, 28, Jun 11, 25, 2027
Summary
Growing our Gratitude through The Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life
will be offered online from January 15 to June 25, 2027, through Bellarmine Jesuit Retreat House. St Ignatius thought that ingratitude is the most detested sin which leads to all other evils. Melody Beattie wrote: Gratitude turns a house into a home, a meal into a feast, a mistake into an opportunity. Brother David Steindl-Rast called gratitude the path to world peace because if you are grateful, you are not fearful, you are not violent. Fr. Bill Creed, SJ has noted that when we look into the face of our enemy with gratitude in our hearts, we see our sister and our brother. Gratitude is personal, interpersonal, social and systemic.
Note: Retreatants are encouraged to arrange regular spiritual direction independently to support this journey.
View a sample syllabus here before registering.
Description
Fr. Bill Creed, SJ and Mark Blancke have developed a syllabus and will facilitate the retreat experience with the assistance of Fr. Kevin O’Brien’s The Ignatian Adventure through the Spiritual Exercises and Brother David Steindl-Rast’s writings on gratefulness, and many other sources, e.g. Fr. Greg Boyle SJ.
Every retreatant will be called to follow St. Ignatius’ advice in Annotation #15: to allow the Creator and the retreatant to be in their unique relationship.
We will gather 13 times online from 7:30am to 8:45am CT from January 15 to June 25, 2027. On January 15, we will have an orientation to our retreat experience and on January 22 we will initiate our process. Between our sessions together, we will read and pray the parts of the suggested syllabus which seem to fit you in your unique journey. Then two full days before our session together we will post what seems appropriate to share our response to any one of the questions in the syllabus in our written personal reflection. When we gather, we will proceed through the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius both in large group where our focus will be on one aspect of the Exercises each session and then in small groups of five for sharing and discussion, (all retreatants will have a voice about with whom they will be in a small group) and then in large group process of prayer and discernment - all aimed to sort out personally: what particular gift is God asking me to “accept and act on” in my unique situation? This retreat fits veteran spiritual journeyers and beginners.
The cost is $500 (scholarships are available) payable to Bellarmine Jesuit Retreat House at the time of registration. Please register by December 15, 2026.
Retreat Leaders
Fr. Bill Creed, SJ
Fr Bill Creed, SJ has multiple academic degrees in theology and spirituality, in law and in counseling. His doctoral project focused on the parallels between the Twelve Steps of Recovery Programs and the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius Loyola. He is a Jesuit priest from Chicago who is the co-founder of the Jesuit Renewal Center, chaplain and co-founder of the Ignatian Volunteer Corps in Chicago, founder of the Internship in Spiritual Direction in the Ignatian Tradition, and chaplain and co-founder of the Ignatian Spirituality Project for those experiencing homelessness and addiction. He has published a practical commentary on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius and many articles on spirituality. He offers spiritual direction accompaniment and teaches Spiritual Direction Formation Programs, an Advanced Internship in the Spiritual Exercises, and online seminars on approaches to the Spiritual Exercises through Bellarmine Retreat House.
Mark Blancke
Mark Blancke is a theology graduate student at the Jesuit School of Theology, Santa Clara University. Mark has 6+ years of spiritual direction experience - four years in spiritual direction internships, one year as a co-director of a spiritual direction internship program, one year leading a group in Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises in San Quentin prison, and during all 6+ years, providing individual spiritual direction. Mark was formed as a Jesuit for 9 years before discerning out, during a 30-day retreat. Mark practiced as a nurse, serving hospital patients, people with developmental disabilities, and elderly Jesuits. Immediately before his theology studies, he served as the Assistant Superior of a Jesuit infirmary in Clarkston, Michigan. Mark enjoys contemplative ecology, social justice work, poetry, and gardening. Mark has Bachelor's Degrees in Health Science and Nursing, a Master’s in Social Philosophy, and is working on two Master’s Degrees in Theology (with a certificate in Ecological & Social Justice).