Book reviews

Book Review: The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life by James Martin, S.J. Harper One

Posted on September 25, 2026, tagged as

James Martin is a Catholic priest and a member of the Jesuit order. Some Catholics and most non-Catholics are not well-acquainted with the Jesuits. There is a general awareness that they are educators, and that some of their universities including Georgetown and Gonzaga are quite accomplished in basketball. Father Martin’s primary interest in writing this book was not so much to explain who the Jesuits are, although he does do this. He is more interested in explaining what he calls Ignatian spirituality. St. Ignatius (1491-1556) was the founder of the Society of Jesus (S.J.). They are more commonly known as Jesuits. He developed a practice now called the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius, a four-week course in spiritual development designed to help the practitioner establish a spiritual foundation for living. It may be of interest to AA members that the meeting between Bill Wilson and Father Ed Dowling occurred because a copy of the Big Book found its way to Father Dowling, a Jesuit priest in St. Louis in 1940. Father Dowling found the twelve steps to have basically the same spiritual foundation and impact as the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, and he wanted to meet the man who wrote the book. He had a profound effect on Bill Wilson, and became Bill’s spiritual advisor and, in effect, his sponsor. (Glenn Chesnut has written an excellent biography, Father Ed Dowling: Bill Wilson’s Sponsor, that I will review in a subsequent newsletter. And, until he met Father Ed, Bill Wilson had not heard of St. Ignatius or the Spiritual Exercises.)

Father Martin has an easy-to-read writing style. He intersperses his explanations with stories and humor. There is no indication that he is interested in promoting Catholicism or even Christianity per se. He is motivated by a desire to help people discover their spiritual selves. He does use some stories from the Bible to illustrate points that he makes.

In my journey I have found certain beliefs to be foundational to my spirituality. First, that God is incomprehensible— that we are incapable of thinking about God as God is. This idea was held by many great spiritual writers including St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Maimonides, and Joseph Campbell. Second, that the first move in the relationship between myself and God was on God’s part— that God is seeking me, and that I am wired to hear (or feel) God’s call. Third, that by cultivating the qualities of gratitude, compassion, and lovingkindness I can discover my soul and by so doing experience the reality of my spiritual self. All these concepts are foundational to Ignatian Spirituality. I do recommend this book for anyone who is seeking spiritual guidance on their journey through life.