Author on Aging and Ignatian Spirituality to Lead Florida Retreat

“Discipleship does not age,” says Barbara Lee, author and spiritual director who will lead the 2019 Annual Florida Retreat of the Federal Association at Amelia Island, Florida April 5-7.

Ms. Lee is a living example of her statement. After almost 20 years as a government lawyer, as a partner in a large law firm, and as a solo practitioner, followed by 8 years as a U.S. Magistrate judge for the Southern District of New York, she became the caregiver for her mother and thereafter a volunteer with the Ignatian Volunteer Corps in New York City, teaching English as a second language.

During her spiritual formation in the Corps, she discerned a vocation as a spiritual director and finished an intensive Christian spirituality program at Creighton University, earning a certificate in spiritual direction and retreats. In the course of her studies, Ms. Lee wrote a paper on “Ignatian Spirituality for Aging,” which was ultimately published in America magazine and became the core work for her book “God Isn’t Finished with Me Yet: Discovering the Spiritual Graces of Later Life.” The book, which is a quick read full of fascinating insights on the topic, even has a chapter on the spiritual discernment of “downsizing.”

“The goal of our retreat is to give retreatants an opportunity to better understand what God is calling them to right here and now, and how they might respond to his call,” Ms. Lee said in a recent interview. As we age, she explains, it can be all too easy to focus on the past and to think of the future with fear. But we are alive in the present and no matter how long or short our life span, we live our spiritual life in the present and we should find new ways of responding to God’s call. Prayer, always a constant in a God-centered life, can become even richer with the experience of years.

All are invited to share the experience of this thought-provoking and enlightening exercise. For further information see the link which appears elsewhere in the Malta Moment or write to Jerry Weedon gww@marksgray.com.