Exercises in everyday life

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Exercises in everyday life are spiritual exercises that are intended to motivate and guide the participants in everyday life to deepen their understanding of their faith , their relationship with God and the Bible .

Basic idea

Retreats as a spiritual exercise to withdraw with your own faith, God and the Bible in a protected setting, often in a monastery or an educational center , for a period of time from a few days to several weeks, go to St. Ignatius von Loyola (1491–1556), the founder of the Jesuit order , returned. St. Ignatius recommended that even people who could not free themselves from obligations for such a period of time should make an offer that would enable them to carry out retreats in their everyday life. Nevertheless, for a long time the retreat was held as a multi-day event, mostly in a retreat house.

implementation

Since around 1980, retreats have been rediscovered in everyday life and are becoming increasingly important. Especially on the part of the Jesuits and the youth association of the Community of Christian Life (GCL), retreats were offered in everyday life for all classes of the population. Soon parishes and institutions in the Catholic Church , later also in the Protestant Church, took over this idea and began to develop concepts and carry out exercises in everyday life .

The process is very similar in each case:

  • An information evening enables those interested to familiarize themselves with the concept and to register for the retreat.
  • A weekly meeting looks back on the past few days and how the participant fared with his exercises. In addition, impulses are given for the coming days.
  • Participants are encouraged to spend a few minutes each day in prayer and scripture, and to consciously reflect on the day.

The exercises in everyday life are often offered during the times of penance ( Advent and Lent ) but also outside of these times. They are led by clerics , religious as well as interested and trained church workers and parishioners. There are exercises in everyday life on various key topics.

Online retreats

In “online retreats”, like in retreats , the participants live at home in everyday life and go about their normal activities. For four weeks, they will receive a short impulse every day by email that is short enough to keep them busy during the day. In the evening there should be time for a brief review of the day, and once a week the participant corresponds with his companion of the retreat. The companions are Jesuits and other theologians. Joint meetings are not planned.

literature

  • Anselm Grün : Exercises for everyday life. Vier-Türme-Verlag, Münsterschwarzach 2009, ISBN 978-3-89680-424-2 .
  • Michael Hettich: Practicing faith in everyday life. Genesis and criteria of the Ignatian retreat in everyday life. Echter, Würzburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-429-03109-1 .
  • Günther Lohr (Ed.): Exercises in everyday life. Spiritual exercises for Advent, Lent and other occasions of the year. Kösel, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-466-20432-1 .
  • Annegret Meyer (Ed.): Arrived on the way. Exercises in everyday life. Bonifatius-Verlag, Paderborn 2013, ISBN 978-3-89710-562-1 .
  • Hermann Josef Spital : Exercises in everyday life. Johannes-Verlag, Leutesdorf 1992, ISBN 3-7794-1252-7 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alex Lefrank: Exercise, III. Exercise Movement . In: Walter Kasper (Ed.): Lexicon for Theology and Church . 3. Edition. tape 3 . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1995.
  2. ↑ http://www.bistum-eichstaett.de/exerzitien/exerzitien-im-alltag Diocese of Eichstaett
  3. ↑ http://www.heribert-graab.de/online-exerzitien/index.html Jesuits: Online retreats