The Spiritual Work of Racial Justice: A Month of Meditations with Ignatius of Loyola

Labeled one of the 50 best spiritual books of 2021 by Spirituality & Practice, and a Catholic Media Association award-winning book for 2022.

Antiracism is essential to becoming all that God calls us to be.

Using the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola as the framework for exploring the ways Christ calls us to the work of antiracism, author Patrick Saint-Jean, SJ weaves together stories from his own life, from the life of Ignatius, and from Black history. He writes that antiracism is not an optional aspect of the spiritual life. The goal, however, is not that we will reach a state of antiracist perfection, for this is an ongoing process to which we must commit ourselves, an intentional aspiration we work toward each and every day.

The book is designed to be used over the space of a month, with a reading for each day, followed by a journaling exercise and a prayer—but it adapts easily to group use, and it can be read at whatever pace is best for the reader. It works well for book groups, adult Sunday school classes, and Advent or Lent reading groups.

"The Spiritual Work of Racial Justice is a meaningful and practical resource for our times. Through Ignatian Spiritual Exercises, Patrick Saint-Jean, S.J. offers an opportunity to continue the pursuit of racial justice as a necessary component of faith. Each meditation includes relevant history and grounded spiritual practices. The book is refreshing and accessible to all."
—Barbara Holmes, author of Joy Unspeakable: Contemplative Practices of the Black Church and Liberation and the Cosmos

"For more than 150 years, legislation has led the peoples of the United States in a clever and deceitful, serpentine path from genocide to reservations, from enslavement to terrorism, from segregation to discrimination, and back again and again. Legislation may make the healing of our fractured racial-ethnic relations possible, but only love can heal us. Jesuit Patrick Saint-Jean offers us a way to heal our battered souls and bereaved hearts, using reflection, journaling, and reading in openness, humility, and prayer to lead us to concrete acts of love for our neighbors. Saint-Jean coaches us along this road and uncovers the necessity of spirituality in the work of racial justice."
—M. Shawn Copeland, author of Enfleshing Freedom: Body, Race, and Being

"Saint-Jean’s book beautifully weaves together several threads: the author’s personal experience as a Jesuit in formation who is both an immigrant and a Black man; poignant reminders of the long history of race-based violence; calls for racial justice; and the perennial wisdom of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, with their focus on examining our sin so that we are free to love God and neighbor. The end result is an invitation to the interior work necessary to deepen our commitment to racial justice."
—Very Rev. Brian G. Paulson, S.J., Provincial Superior, USA Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus

Patrick Saint-Jean, S.J., PsyD, currently teaches in the psychology department at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, where he is also a psychotherapist. He enjoys jazz, traveling, and learning new languages; and he plays the guitar, harmonica, and drums.