What Do You Really Want?
What Do You Really Want?
St. Ignatius Loyola and the Art of Discernment
Jim Manney
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Every reasonable effort has been made to determine copyright holders of excerpted materials and to secure permissions as needed. If any copyrighted materials have been inadvertently used in this work without proper credit being given in one form or another, please notify Our Sunday Visitor in writing so that future printings of this work may be corrected accordingly.
Copyright © 2015 by Jim Manney. Published 2015.
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All rights reserved. With the exception of short excerpts for critical reviews, no part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without permission in writing from the publisher. Contact: Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., 200 Noll Plaza, Huntington, IN 46750; 1-800-348-2440; [email protected].
ISBN: 978-1-61278-796-1 (Inventory No. T1602)
eISBN: 978-1-61278-365-9
LCCN: 2015932828
Cover design: Amanda Falk
Cover art: St. Ignatius of Loyola (oil on canvas), Italian School, (17th century) / © Rochdale Art Gallery, Lancashire, UK / Bridgeman Images
Interior design: Dianne Nelson
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Endorsements for What Do You Really Want?
Jim Manney has a profound grasp of Ignatian spirituality and an uncanny ability to make it available to readers of our age. This book will help you to make decisions that bring more profound satisfaction and put you on God’s side in the great work of bringing about God’s kingdom. Like Ignatian spirituality itself this book can’t just be read; it has to be lived.
— William A. Barry, S.J., author of The Practice of Spiritual Direction and Letting God Come Close
Jim Manney’s What Do You Really Want? asks what is probably the most important question in the spiritual life, the question that pushes us to go deeper than what the noise of the world tells us we must do if we are to be happy, wealthy, or admired. Spend some time with this book, written by a canny guide to the spiritual life who is happy to remind us that he is on the shoulders of giants. If you are new to prayer, this book will help you understand more about how it makes us practiced in the art of making life choices. If you are experienced, you’ll appreciate the clarity that Manney brings to deepening your discernment, using St. Ignatius as a guide.
— Tim Muldoon, author of The Ignatian Workout and The Ignatian Workout for Lent
What Do You Really Want? translates the nuances of Ignatian spirituality into an understandable and practical guide for anyone seeking to live a spiritual life. Jim Manney’s explanations of Ignatian discernment and decision making offer new insights and cultural translations to 500-year old wisdom of the Spiritual Exercises.
— Lisa Kelly, Ignatian Associate, dotMagis blogger
This straightforward yet highly nuanced and comprehensive text will reward the reader rich guidance for prayer and discernment, no matter their level of spiritual practice. God comes alive in these pages for a reader seeking to initiate or deepen their love for their creator and sanctifier. Take up and read, and may Jesus bless your journey.
— Ben Hawley, S.J., director of Catholic Campus Ministry, University of Michigan
Jim Manney has written a concise, balanced, and wise set of reflections on Ignatian discernment and decision making. This is a study that will prove most helpful either as an introduction to the tradition or as a stimulating review to those more familiar with the art of discernment. Besides a sure understanding of the Ignatian practice of discernment, Manney constantly casts a keen pastoral eye on its significance in trying to live a full Christian life today.
— Howard Gray, S.J., special assistant to the president, Georgetown University
Jim Manney distills the essential lessons of Ignatian discernment in a way that is both faithful to the tradition and applicable to the present day. He writes clearly, concisely, and passionately about a subject he loves. This book will be a great help to people who are striving to root their decision making in their faith.
— Kevin O’Brien, S.J., vice president for Mission and Ministry at Georgetown University and author of The Ignatian Adventure: Experiencing the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius in Daily Life
Contents
Great Desires and Disordered Attachments
How Do I Know This Is from God?