Shemaiah Gonzalez
  • The Latest
  • Bio
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  • Undaunted Joy

Shemaiah Gonzalez

  • The Latest/
  • Bio/
  • Publications/
  • Speaking/Workshops/
  • Writing Coach/
  • Undaunted Joy/
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Shemaiah Gonzalez

The Latest

Shemaiah Gonzalez

  • The Latest/
  • Bio/
  • Publications/
  • Speaking/Workshops/
  • Writing Coach/
  • Undaunted Joy/
October 21, 2019

To Give and Not Count the Cost

October 21, 2019/ Shemaiah Gonzalez
To Give and Not Count the Cost

My heart always sinks at the line in the Prayer for Generosity, “to give and not to count the cost,” because if I am truly honest with myself, I know I am always calculating the cost.

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October 21, 2019/ Shemaiah Gonzalez/ Comment
community, faith, ignatian spirituality, strangers
August 13, 2019

Sharing a Moment with a Stranger on Vacation

August 13, 2019/ Shemaiah Gonzalez
Sharing a Moment with a Stranger on Vacation

Entering Westminster Abbey on vacation with my 10-year-old son, I overheard a man with an American accent ask, “Can we take photos?”

“No, sorry, sir,” the docent apologized.

I remembered being disappointed my last visit when I realized no photos were allowed.

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August 13, 2019/ Shemaiah Gonzalez/ 1 Comment
faith, ignatian spirituality, strangers, travel
June 13, 2019

Four Hidden Places I’ve Found God

June 13, 2019/ Shemaiah Gonzalez
Four Hidden Places I’ve Found God

In my practice of looking for God, it’s rarely in the spotlight moments that I find him. It’s in the small, hidden places that God chooses to reveal himself. Here are a few I noticed.

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June 13, 2019/ Shemaiah Gonzalez/ Comment
faith, housekeeping, ignatian spirituality, poetry
April 15, 2019

Lamentation: The Weight of Grief

April 15, 2019/ Shemaiah Gonzalez
Lamentation: The Weight of Grief

There is no way to prepare for the visceral images of six life-sized terracotta sculptures mourning over Christ’s body. The grief is palpable as viewers find themselves nearly frightened of the masterpiece. This grief is not quiet.

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April 15, 2019/ Shemaiah Gonzalez/ Comment
church calendar, art, faith, ignatian spirituality, travel
February 09, 2019

Waving to a Stranger

February 09, 2019/ Shemaiah Gonzalez
Waving to a Stranger

Do you wave to strangers? I do!

Well, not all the time.

Read about an experience I had while in Sabbatical in Italy over at Ignatian Spirituality.

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February 09, 2019/ Shemaiah Gonzalez/ Comment
faith, ignatian spirituality, loyola, strangers
October 19, 2018

Imaginative Prayer: Lunch With Christ

October 19, 2018/ Shemaiah Gonzalez
Imaginative Prayer: Lunch With Christ

“As a child I felt God’s presence strongly. I remember digging in my sandbox with Jesus or reading a picture book with him. It seemed every good thing was a delight God had left just for me to discover. I felt assured of God’s love as I felt his presence close.”

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October 19, 2018/ Shemaiah Gonzalez/ Comment
faith, ignatian spirituality, walking
July 11, 2018

Finding God in the Birds

July 11, 2018/ Shemaiah Gonzalez
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My reflection for Ignatian Spirituality on Finding God in All Things...even birds. Read my reflection here.

July 11, 2018/ Shemaiah Gonzalez/ 1 Comment
faith, dreams, ignatian spirituality

Shemaiah Gonzalez

May 01, 2018

How Finding a Spiritual Director Changed My Life

May 01, 2018/ Shemaiah Gonzalez
How Finding a Spiritual Director Changed My Life

“Who do you imagine as a spiritual director?” Carla, the coordinator at my local Ignatian Spirituality Center asked. I started to laugh as the image of Don Porter, the actor who played Sally Field’s father on the television show, “Gidget” flashed in my mind.

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May 01, 2018/ Shemaiah Gonzalez/ 1 Comment
busted halo, faith, ignatian spirituality
May 01, 2018

Catholic Voices - Make a joyful noise!

May 01, 2018/ Shemaiah Gonzalez
Catholic Voices - Make a joyful noise!

It doesn’t matter what you sound like, just sing to God with the voice God gave you

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May 01, 2018/ Shemaiah Gonzalez/ Comment
faith, family, ignatian spirituality, music, nw catholic
April 09, 2018

The Light of Grace is Always Shining

April 09, 2018/ Shemaiah Gonzalez
The Light of Grace is Always Shining

Poet Chris Anderson speaks of the Examen in this way: “The light of grace is always shining, it’s always pouring down, through it’s refracted and scattered and easy to miss, and so one way to pray is to look back on the moments of our day and recall when we saw the light breaking through.”

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April 09, 2018/ Shemaiah Gonzalez/ Comment
writing, ignatian spirituality, strangers, inspiration, faith
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Shemaiah Gonzalez

Thrives on moments where storytelling, art and faith collide. 

The Latest

Featured
St Francis Xavier and Avoiding Spinning
August 28, 2026
St Francis Xavier and Avoiding Spinning
August 28, 2026

If we keep our eyes on Jesus, small acts of service and love, like those lived out by St. Francis Xavier, will reap more rewards than we could ever imagine.

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August 28, 2026
The Wheel and the Clay: The Inner Lives of Christian Artists
August 18, 2026
The Wheel and the Clay: The Inner Lives of Christian Artists
August 18, 2026

I must pinch myself that I am part of this collection from Ignatius Press ! It comes out next month but is available for preorder now.

How easily we forget that we are, at every moment, shaped with care by a Creator. Artists, however—who know intimately the blood, sweat, and tears of the creative process—can help us sense how marvelous it is to be created: the patience, the detail, the joy. In this essential collection, thirty-one Christian artists from various disciplines, from music to poetry to film to sculpture, offer personal essays on the strange experience of following God’s lead by making beautiful things.

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August 18, 2026
Review: Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
August 17, 2026
Review: Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
August 17, 2026

Goldberg is much more practical than many of the texts that I have read.  She gives you much to hold onto.

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August 17, 2026
Finding God in an Art Gallery
July 8, 2026
Finding God in an Art Gallery
July 8, 2026

If you know me, you know I love encounters with strangers. Here is one that left me encouraged.

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July 8, 2026
Theology of the Body and the Reality of Our Mortality
July 8, 2026
Theology of the Body and the Reality of Our Mortality
July 8, 2026

First time writing for Catholic World Report. I have wanted to tell this story for a long time. Read my essay on the theology of the body as it pertains to our last moments here on earth.

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July 8, 2026

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