Foreword by Pope Francis
Drawing on the wisdom of Pope Francis and the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola, Austen Ivereigh has written a captivating spiritual guide for our turbulent age. Designed as an eight-day Ignatian retreat, First Belong to God serves as a roadmap to deeper discipleship. It does this by focusing on the three foundational forms of belonging: to God, to creation and to others.
Structured around the core principles of St Ignatius's Spiritual Exercises, First Belong to God encapsulates the key aspects of the Francis pontificate: * the essence of being "God-belonging" entities * the way God's mercy challenges our self-reliance * the journey to building the Kingdom in the footsteps of Christ * heeding the cry of the earth and the stranger * striving for fraternity by championing synodality.
Whether you're embarking on a solitary spiritual expedition or a journey with like-minded individuals, First Belong to God offers the next best thing to a personal retreat with Pope Francis: a full-soul immersion into his wisdom via the classic Jesuit retreat that shaped him so profoundly.