Moments to Remember

This book offers a faith perspective for reflecting on the experience of aging, drawing especially upon the wisdom of St. Ignatius of Loyola. It provides the reader with a context for understanding their spiritual journey and a variety of reflection questions aimed at deepening their gratitude and hope. The book uses poetry and quotations of well-known people to affirm the reader’s reflection process.

Reviews

Moments to Remember: Ignatian Wisdom for Aging is a very practical book, with many questions for reflection by its readers. Carol Ann Smith and Eugene Merz use scripture and quotations from a wide range of figures to be of help in making sense of life.

Church Times

Endorsements

This wonderful book provides encouragement and insight to those who are aging like no other book that I have read. Moments to Remember will be on my shelf and in my heart for years to come.

Martin Sheen

Actor and Social Activist

Moments to Remember provides nourishment not just for the individual but also points to the deeper truth that a reflective life nourishes the whole. In an individualistic age, we are in dire need of encouragement for communal wisdom which Smith & Merz provide. At its heart, this is a communal process creating wisdom for the common good.

Sr. Simone Campbell, SSS

Executive Director, Network Lobby

In Moments to Remember, Sr. Carol Ann Smith and Fr. Eugene F. Merz bring the riches of Ignatian spirituality to bear on the aging process. Their thoughtful, grace-filled book invites readers to contemplate the mysteries of growing older alongside the Christian mysteries of faith, and to find God in all things – even aging. This is a book to be savored and shared.

Colleen Carroll Campbell

Journalist and Author of My Sisters the Saints: A Spiritual Memoir

What appears to be a simple little book actually, on further exploration, turns out to be well-constructed and more complex. Sister Carol Ann Smith of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus and Father Eugene F Merz, of the Society of Jesus, bring the fruits of their own experience of spiritual accompaniment and retreat-giving to a wider audience… I would recommend this book for those who would like a little treasure trove of questions to ponder, readings on which to reflect, and inspiration to explore one’s spiritual journey – both that already experienced and that which is yet to come.

Judith Lampard

Local preacher in the London Forest circuit.

About the author

Carol Ann Smith, SHCJ and Eugene F. Merz, SJ

With a shared love of The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, Sr. Carol Ann Smith, SHCJ and Fr. Eugene Merz, SJ have collaborated in ministry to various groups with the hope of empowering leaders with the wisdom of the Ignatian tradition of Christian spirituality. While ministering at the Center for Ignatian Spirituality at Marquette University, Sr. Carol Ann and Fr. Merz, co-authored two books: Moment By Moment: A Retreat In Everyday Life, (2000) and Finding God In Each Moment: The Practice of Discernment in Everyday Life (2005). Both books have been used in a variety of ways by individuals, married couples and communities as well as in settings such as educational institutions, parishes, retreat centers, prisons, CLC groups and by spiritual directors.