“But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.” - Matthew 6:6

Facilitated by Ignatian Guide Dan Malanowski and Executive Director Michael Sanem.

Intro to Ignatian Spirituality:
Two Lenten Evenings of Prayer, Discernment, and Renewal

Lent invites us inward—and then sends us back out, changed.

Join us for two guided evenings introducing the heart of Ignatian spirituality, a centuries-old Catholic tradition that helps people pray more deeply, listen more honestly to their interior lives, and discern God’s presence in everyday experience.

Across these two evenings, we will explore how God meets us in our “inner rooms”—our memories, desires, wounds, imagination, and prayer—and how that encounter equips us to return to the world as people of compassion, wisdom, and action.

Each evening includes prayer, teaching, guided reflection, and time for personal or small-group integration. No prior experience with Ignatian spirituality is required.

March 3rd: Going into the Inner Room

Encountering God and Ourselves

We begin by slowing down and entering the interior space where God already dwells. Drawing on the life of St. Ignatius of Loyola and the words of Jesus—“Go into your inner room”—we will explore:

• What Ignatian spirituality is and where it comes from

• How God speaks through memory, imagination, desire, and emotion

• Praying with Scripture using Ignatian imaginative prayer

• The Examen: a simple daily prayer for noticing God in everyday life

The evening concludes with a guided contemplative prayer experience.

March 10: Coming Out of the Inner Room

Discerning, Healing, and Acting with Christ

From prayer, we move toward discernment and action. This evening focuses on how Ignatian spirituality helps us recognize God’s movement within us and respond faithfully in the world. Topics include:

• Discernment of spirits: consolation and desolation

• Becoming “contemplatives in action”

• Reading the signs of the times in our own lives and communities

• Being sent into the world as wounded healers with Christ

The evening concludes with a prayerful sending forth rooted in Scripture.

These evenings are ideal for anyone who longs for a deeper prayer life, clearer discernment, or a more integrated way of living faith in daily life.

This event is free and open to all.

Join the Ignatian Spirituality Center of Kansas City as we welcome Fr. Michael Rossman , SJ

Saturday, April 18th, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Mass at 2:30 in the Chapel

Alvin Brook Center for Faith Justice, Rockhurst University

A Deeper Yes: Discernment, Limits, and the Courage to Focus on What Matters Most

We often hear the Ignatian magis as a call to do more, give more, stretch more. But in a world of constant demands and chronic busyness, that instinct can leave us exhausted and scattered. What if the more God desires is not more activity, but more depth? What if the most faithful response to God’s call isn’t adding more, but courageously narrowing our focus?

This day-long retreat invites you to reimagine the Ignatian magis—not as a mandate for endless activity, but as a call to depth over breadth, to significance over scattering. Drawing on Ignatian spirituality and the realities of modern life, we will reflect on how God works not despite our limits, but through them.

Fr. Rossman will lead us through a series of talks, guided prayer, and time for personal reflection and shared conversation, participants will explore the freedom of well-chosen boundaries, the spiritual power of discernment, and the grace of letting go. Together we will examine where we may be stretched thin, where God is inviting us to go deeper, and what needs to be pruned so that what truly matters can flourish.

Come discover how to move past the “good” to embrace the “great”—how to say a holy “no” in order to give a deeper yes, and to live with greater focus, freedom, and joy, for the greater glory of God.

The day will end with Mass in the Mabee Chapel at The Alvin Brooks Center for Faith Justice, Rockhurst University at 2:30 p.m.

Ignatian Day Registration - $50 (Scholarships Available)

Fr. Rossmann is the author of The Freedom of Missing Out and Online Pre-Evangelization. He gives talks and retreats across the Midwest and around the world. Active on social media, Fr. Rossmann is the creator of the “One-Minute Homily” and “One-Minute Jesuit” video series. He posts a weekly reflection at amdg.substack.com.