Tim Muldoon, who blogs here at dotMagis, has published an excellent article on sexuality and Ignatian spirituality in The Way, a journal published by the British Jesuits. Here’s a taste:
To imitate Christ and to feel as Christ would feel—these constitute the method the Exercises prescribe for deepening union with God. They amount to a discipline of all of one’s senses and emotions, so that these faculties may be put at the disposal of Christ and used for God’s greater glory. Ignatius’ rules for the two types of discernment (the first, of God’s will in an election; and the second, of spirits or movements of the soul) are illustrative, because they focus attention not only on the complexity of often competing emotions and desires, but also on the fruit of the right ordering of affection. One cannot exactly ‘demand’ to feel a certain way, but one can, according to Ignatius, train the senses in a way that allows for the fruitful unfolding of love and for the eventual consolation that follows from a life ordered solely towards the praise, reverence and service of God.
