A refreshing book that I will come back to again and again. It is friendly and helpful and open. Taking the time to work through everything in this book has helped to strengthen my faith.

"Habits of Freedom" by Christopher S. Collins, SJ, is a compact and impactful book that brings the timeless Ignatian philosophy and prayer practices to life with accessible and practical tools. The author, a Jesuit priest, presents five effective techniques with memorable insights, resonant metaphors and terms, and essential Biblical references to guide readers in their spiritual journey.

The author expertly ties together the scriptural basis of Ignatian spirituality through the two connected Bible stories of Jesus' baptism in the Jordan and his temptation in the wilderness. He encourages readers to visualize themselves in the scene of Jesus' baptism, experiencing the love of God and the call to resist Satan's distractions.

Collins' personal anecdotes add depth to his teachings and demonstrate the application of discernment. He emphasizes the importance of staying in the present moment and rejecting Satan's lies, while engaging in community and acting in love. He also provides a clear explanation of the concept of "holy indifference" or detachment as a worthy goal.

Overall, "Habits of Freedom" offers a simple and effective approach to Ignatian spirituality that is both concrete and practical.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ave Maria Press for the electronic copy in exchange for a honest review!

Christopher Collins presents the teachings of St. Ignatius of Loyola in a way that helps shape his five tools for clearing your mind and resting daily in God. It's a brief read, and yet it makes you stop to think of how you can implement these tools into your life. Christopher presents five tools as follows: 1. Allow Disruption
2. Remember Who I am and Whose I am
3. Reject the Lie
4. Talk it Out
5. Go on Offense
Within these tools, Christopher expands on the titles to extrapolate what he means and examples of how he has implemented this in his own life. A great resource for all.
*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. This review is my own opinion*

Habits of Freedom: 5 Ignatian Tools for Clearing Your Mind and Resting Daily in the Lord by Christopher S. Collins, SJ, is a powerful little book of less than 100 pages that it distills the tradition, history and timelessness of Ignatian philosophy and prayer practice into approaches that are both accessible and practical. This Jesuit priest presents a real gift to readers: a handful of memorable insights, just a few resonant metaphors and terms, and the most essential Biblical references, all of which support his explanation of just five tools.

Many times I’ve been attracted to Ignatian philosophy and have tried the Daily Examen in my prayer practice, only to be distracted by other methods that seemed more meaningful. But thanks to Fr. Collins’s uncluttered explanations, I am finally able to recognize how and when the enemy endeavors to move me away (desolation) from my natural state as God’s divine daughter (consolation) using doubt. The author focuses tightly on the scriptural basis of Ignatian spirituality by connecting just two related Bible stories--Jesus’s baptism in the Jordan, followed by his temptation in the dessert.

Collins first encourages readers to inhabit the scene of Christ’s baptism (a common Jesuit approach to prayer is visualization), standing alongside Jesus in the waters of the Jordan, then being brave enough to descend into the water with Him, only to emerge to hear what God says not only His son, but to each and every one of us, His creations: He loves us as much as He loves Christ. When we doubt that love, when we get lost in speculation and regret, the Evil One manipulates us away from that divine loving relationship. “The Father just told Jesus that he is his beloved Son,” Collins observes. “Period. But the enemy tries to distract by introducing a variable, a conditional question…’If you are the Son of God, then turn this stone into bread.’”

With just a handful of personal anecdotes (evidence of his humility), Collins also demonstrates application of discernment. “It is crucial to keep these two scenes, the baptism and the temptations, together, when considering our own challenge in discerning spirits. To deliberately come back again and again to the present is definitely the way forward. God speaks in the present. The enemy usually tries to get us stuck in the past or paralyzed by the future.” Such simple and unforgettable advice!

The unfussiness of the Habits of Freedom—allowing disruption, remembering who I am and whose I am, rejecting the lie (of Satan), talking it out (in community), and going on the offense (acting in love)--makes Ignatian spirituality both concrete and practical. Thanks to Collins’s straightforward explanation of how detachment is a worthy goal, what he calls “holy indifference,” I have returned to a more enthusiastic and informed practice of the Daily Examen.

That leads, however, to my only criticism of this book. I expected to find in the appendix a likewise distilled guide to the Examen, one reinforced by the language of the 5 Habits. But alas, it seems the publisher has left readers to find this in other titles by Collins or by other Jesuit authors. Instead I happily recommend a smartphone app I discovered as a result of this deficiency: Reimagining the Examen is available for free in the app store and Google Play.

I believe there is a longing deep within the human heart for freedom. The trouble is, we humans often have a profound misunderstanding of what true freedom is all about.

To the rescue comes Christopher Collins, SJ, with his fine book entitled Habits of Freedom: 5 Ignatian Tools for Clearing Your Mind and Resting Daily in the Lord.

In this important work, Fr. Collins offers a prescription for what ails our spirit: leaning into the Ignatian disciplines that can provide us with real growth on a spiritual plane.

The key to a happy life may lie in developing good discernment, which Fr. Collins describes as "a way of discovering pathways that lead to greater love, to full flourishing as a person in community, and to greater freedom to live out one's vocation to love and to serve."

Fr. Collins has performed a valuable service in crafting this book. It is a vital resource for the spiritual life, helping the reader to form a greater bond with the Holy Spirit in the pursuit of a fulfilling life.

I think most of us remember the start of the Covid lockdowns and the stresses of those early days of not knowing what was coming and the feeling of impending isolation. We were forced to figure out how to find opportunities for community an in environment many of us had never experienced before. Habits of Freedom took me back in some ways to those early days and offered a vision for how Ignatian spirituality can offer us moments for freedom and reflection in inhospitable times.

Habits of Freedom is a success because it realizes that it doesn't need to offer anything new and instead leans into what Brother Íñigo gave us centuries ago. It is grounded in Ignatius's Exercises and offers it's readers a new opportunity to reflect on those and revisit them in the chaos of the present. Fr. Collins uses personal anecdotes and writings from other scholars such as Pope Benedict to create an atmosphere where this is possible and ultimately has created a remarkable and useful text for aiding us in the process of finding freedom in the stresses and anxieties of our daily lives.

I think this book would be helpful in both personal and group devotional settings, both Catholic and Protestant. I found myself trying to figure out how to use these for in my college age Sunday School class in a protestant Weslyan denomination and found that I think it could be adapted to that setting with very few alterations. This is one of those books that I truly wish I had a physical copy of.

I highly recommend this book and am thankful to the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.