Poetry and story can tell the deepest truths about who we are as human beings. In Living the Story, Joe Cassidy explores how Ignatian spirituality can help us discover the power of story in the scriptures. An essential tool in spiritual direction and personal prayer, Ignatian spirituality asks us to enter the Gospels imaginatively to make their stories come alive. It leads us through the life of Christ from incarnation to resurrection and beyond, revealing Christ’s presence in all creation. Its goal is to foster an intense love of Jesus, a willingness to follow as a disciple no matter the cost, and to make human choices that help us most to praise, love, and serve God so that grace spills over into our whole lives. A Jesuit priest who became an Anglican, Joseph Cassidy offers a warm and practical introduction into a way of prayer that has nurtured faith and hope in countless people for 500 years. He completed most of this work before his death. It has been finished by Ann Loades, who has drawn on his other unpublished writings to complete this work.

Joe Cassidy was a Jesuit priest in Canada, but moving to England to become a lecturer in ethics and spirituality, he became an Anglican and served as a priest in the Diocese of Salisbury and subsequently as Principal of St Chad’s College Durham. He died in 2015. Ann Loades is Professor Emerita of Divinity at the University of Durham and a respected author.