“. . . a knowledgeable director, always providing answers to my questions and different options that allowed me to explore the path that God had for me . . . “
Testimonials
Ignatian Spiritual Direction
Testimonials
"Any worries I had about finding the time or appropriate spiritual director disappeared once I had my first meeting with Tom via Zoom. The format generally leaves me frustrated but Tom immediately put me at my ease.
I met in Tom the equivalent of Dante’s Virgil, the ever-patient director. In a very gentle way, my director led the way designed by St. Ignatius so many years ago but it all seemed designed for me. Whenever I needed to look up, reach out, pause my director was attentive, listening, and truly present".
Fr Andrew
Diocesan priest, Alberta Canada
"Tom did a fantastic job guiding me through the Spiritual Exercises. I have never done the 19th annotation before, and he was a knowledgeable director, always providing answers to my questions and different options that allowed me to explore the path that God had for me over these 9-10 months. . . I think my expectations were exceeded.
Zoom was perfect. I almost prefer it to meeting in person due to the convenience of it. . .The worksheets were incredibly helpful for me in processing what I read. . . . Allowing flexibility in how the worksheets were done was fruitful for me.
The silences were helpful. Tom let me think about my answers and didn’t prod too much unless I asked for clarification . . . Giving introverts time to think silently is very helpful. And Tom was not afraid to make me dig a little deeper if he thought my answers were too vague."
Parish Director of Youth Ministry and RCIA, Phoenix
"Everyone should take the Spiritual Exercises. They arrived at a moment in my life when I was ready to deepen my faith in ways I don't think I could have done on my own. While I was following the Exercises I felt like I was blessed with a great gift, one that continues to inspire me today. Tom Cashman was the spiritual director and guide I'd been seeking for many years."
Chuck Appleby
California
"I approached the SE with no expectations. I simply wanted to improve my prayer life and that was WAY MORE accomplished. The material gleaned to fashion my curriculum was extremely helpful. . . I specifically appreciated your coaching me with Christ's Passion. . . God's earthly creation, Jesus's birth and the surrounding family dynamics of raising Him, His ministry, Passion, Death and Resurrection were seen and digested with new eyes due to the 8 months of my prayer and reflection. [The] daily exercises became the cornerstone of the time I spent being coached by you. Overall, I was able to cultivate a reverence and sacredness to people, places and things!"
Michael
San Jose
Retreats, Classes, Contemplative Reflections
I just wanted to say what a really lovely experience I had at the retreat last weekend.
I got exactly what I both wanted and needed from it.
Pentecost program retreatant
Belfast Ireland, UK
I wanted to send our sincere thanks to you for taking the time to make the long trip across to Ireland and for the wonderful work you did in guiding us through the retreat. . . .It was a joy to spend that time with you and my husband and I benefitted so much from your kind and gentle guidance and the insights you shed on so many aspects of faith to support our development. May God bless you for doing his work. We do hope you’ll come back to Ireland.
Anne, Pentecost program retreatant
Belfast Ireland, UK
"Presentation was excellent in every way".
"Quite lovely, helpful for contemplation provoked self-examination".
"I am visual so the art helped us to think about what was going on in the parables".
"Thank you for a beautiful class. I am a better person for taking this.”
"Exceeded my expectations. Appreciated your in-depth knowledge and multi-layered perspectives on each parable. The background research provided a path to broader discovery of interpretation and meaning".
"Loved the art work illustrating the readings . . very thought-provoking".