Forty Weeks: An Ignatian Path to Christ With Sacred Story Prayer

by William M. Watson

Forty An Ignatian Path to Christ with Sacred Story Prayer (classic art edition) is the parish version of the new Ignatian Examen as detailed in the Sacred Story—An Ignatian Examen for the Third Millennium . Designed as a parish spiritual renewal program/resource for pastors, parishioners, adult faith formation directors and RCIA programs, it also serves as a self-guided prayer experience for the individual user.
Forty Weeks will be a life-changing annual program to introduce congregation members to a heart-felt personal relationship with Jesus in daily prayer, spiritual discernment and a regular and fruitful practice of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. All in all, about twenty years’ worth of reflection, study, testing, feedback, and refinement have gone into this updated version of St. Ignatius’ powerful Examen prayer.
Forty Weeks is a perfect program of solid, classic spirituality updated for the third millennium to promote the new evangelization first described by Pope John Paul II early in his papacy, continued by Pope Benedict XVI and now strongly proclaimed by Pope Francis.

Genres: Catholic, Prayer, Reference

320 pages, Paperback

First published September 16, 2013

About the author

Fr. Bill Watson, S.J. specializes in building enduring Ignatian-based programs that stand the test of time. The Encounter program at Jesuit High School in Portland, Oregon will turn 40 in 2019 and has transformed the school. The 5-Day Ignatian Retreat at Georgetown University will have its 30th anniversary in 2017 and the Georgetown Freshman ESCAPE retreat celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2016.

Many evangelization programs have a shelf-life or become the victims of unplanned obsolesce. The evangelization programs of Sacred Story Institute, based on Fr. Watson’s past track record, will become part of your faith community and endure in their relevance and effectiveness for decades to come. Invest in programs that will carry your faith community forward, built on the time-tested spirituality of St. Ignatius Loyola.

Reviews

[Les]

I would recommend it to anyone.
I think you have to be at the right place in life.
Maybe this particular approach was ideal for me and maybe not for others; still I think it would be helpful at least. I found it life altering...but that was also in conjunction with my life altering from external circumstances too.

For me it was the right book at the right time. At the conclusion of the 40 weeks I felt a little drift for a couple weeks and then pulled out of that feeling.

[Emily Anne]

I found the pace of this book to be far too slow. I have done the Spiritual Exercises twice before and I thought that this spent too much time hashing and rehashing sin and past hurts. I did really enjoy the affirmations for each week, but wished there was more scripture and substance to the meditations.

[Gerry]

This is a book about Jesuit spirituality. It started off well enough, but I became turned off by the author's saying things implying that I wouldn't finish it and implying that the devil or something would make me stop.
I have a pretty good prayer-life - I was open to something new, but that guilt stuff got to me. So I stopped.
Maybe the devil won. But I don't think so.

[Rigo Cabezas]

This is very good stuff

I strongly recommend following this book for your spiritual wellbeing, I was uplifted as it made examine myself & my faith

[D.L. Beddoe]

My first exposure to the Examen.

[Damien Rappuhn]

I got eleven weeks in before shelving it. It's not for me, but it may be for you. I found it incredibly useful for getting into deep conversation with God on those areas that run deeper in your spirit than just the surface. Having a background in Ignatian spirituality is helpful if you intend to go this book alone, but it appears to me that this book is made for groups led by an experienced spiritual director. This book is also directed to lay people and seems to be broad enough for those who are just returning to the faith as well as those who have been Catholic for a few years.

[Ian Bayley]

Nearly gave this 3 stars but upped it to 4. Forty weeks following through daily exercises is a lot of commitment and there were certainly times when I considered quitting. However, whilst there were some areas of theology I might not completely agree with (I'm baptist not Catholic) I did overall find benefits in following the programme and looking back over this whole period have found some spiritual practices that are useful to me in my everyday spiritual life. if you can commit to following this programme then it's worth it but don't skim or skip or give up, follow it to the end!

[Sean]

Some helpful material but i found it hard to engage with.

[Mary]

Hard. Need to read this again. A retreat book. I was able to get through it but really just skimmed the surface of the St. Ignatia path.

[John]

A journey everyone should take! Recommend taking it was a spiritual director to lead and guide you.