Tag: mercy
The Spiritual Neuroscience of Revenge: Choosing Freedom Over Retaliation
by andyotto | Jun 26, 2025 | Awareness, Mercy, Spiritual Practices | 2
Neuroscience research reveals that revenge activates the same reward circuits in our brains as addictive drugs, keeping us trapped in what Ignatian spirituality calls the “false self.” Faith-based practices like prayer and meditation literally rewire the brain for mercy over retaliation, offering a path to the spiritual freedom that comes when we choose forgiveness over the ego’s demand for revenge.
Read MoreBinding and Loosing: A Fresh Look at Jesus’ Words
by andyotto | May 27, 2024 | Discernment, Scripture Reflections | 1
Was Jesus truly giving permission to retain sins? Was his mission not all about unbinding, forgiving, and setting free?
Read MoreForgiveness is a Means to Freedom
Forgiveness is a way that God seeks to lift the burdens from us that prevent us from the freedom to love and live fully.
Read MoreLove Doesn’t Make Sense
by andyotto | Feb 18, 2019 | Scripture Reflections, The Tough Questions | 3
The way Jesus radically loves doesn’t make sense if you use the criteria of this world.
Read MoreIncomprehensible Mercy
I’d like to share with you a workshop I presented last month at Ministry Days, a conference...
Read MoreGod’s Google Map of Your Life
by guest | Mar 3, 2016 | God In All Things, Mercy, Prayer | 1
A meditation on the Incarnation, using Google Maps.
Read MorePointing Mercy Inward
by guest | Feb 29, 2016 | Mercy, Spiritual Practices | 3
This Year of Mercy it’s worth being merciful to ourselves.
Read MoreA Bearing of Gentleness
Why are we uncomfortable with vulnerability and gentleness when God’s encounter with us often happens in those moments of meekness and softness?
Read MoreInfinite Mercy, Even After Death?
by andyotto | Jan 11, 2016 | Mercy, The Tough Questions | 7
If we’ve rejected God in life, does God give us another chance after death? Who’s in hell? Why do we picture heaven as a “reward”? Can God’s infinite mercy mean no one is in hell?
Read MoreA 21st Century Incarnation
Jesus entered this world in poverty. Imagine the mercy of God breaking into the grittiness of 21st century poverty.
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This guide will offer you a process and framework for discerning a particular decision using the approaches and prayer methods in the Ignatian tradition.