Meet the Spiritual Directors
Our Spiritual Directors have each made the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius and discerned a call to train as spiritual directors. The Formation Program consists of three years of classroom instruction plus supervised practical experience serving as a spiritual director and guiding others in the Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life (SEEL). Formation is complete once the student has satisfactorily completed all three years of study and has guided at least two retreatants through the SEEL.
Jim Broderick King
Jim has been with the Ignatian Spirituality Program of Denver since joining the first spiritual director formation class in 2007. In that time he has enjoyed general spiritual direction with a wide variety of people, has led many individuals through the Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life, has led many group retreats in different formats as well as silent retreats, and has facilitated several cycles of formation for new spiritual directors in the Ignatian tradition. As an adult convert to Catholicism, he enjoys directing Catholics and non-Catholics alike. He spent most of his professional career in Jesuit high schools as teacher, administrator and director of Ignatian spirituality and formation. Currently he works for the Ignatian Spirituality Project, an international organization which provides retreats and spiritual accompaniment for people recovering from homelessness and addiction. He is a husband and father of two adult daughters.
John Craig, SJ
Fr. John has been a Jesuit for 51 years. He taught high school in St. Louis during most of that time, teaching English, Theater, Speech, and Dance. He has directed over a hundred shows. He is very interested in the relationship between the arts, theology, and spirituality. He worked with the Institute for Spiritual Leadership in Chicago teaching mime. He has directed individuals in the Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life. Through the Program, he offers spiritual direction and leads retreats.
Mary T. McEnany
Mary T. McEnany Mary T. McEnany is a Denver native and a cradle Catholic educated through high school at St Francis de Sales Parish in South Denver. She attended the University of Colorado through medical school, graduating in 1976; she finished residency in 1984. She has been a member of St. Ignatius Loyola Parish since 2005 and through the parish became interested in Ignatian Spirituality. For 34 years she was a staff physician at Denver VA Medical Center where she was involved in treating veterans of the armed forces as well as teaching residents and medical and nursing students. Retired in 2018, she now serves in multiple capacities at Loyola Parish. She trained in the Ignatian Spirituality Program of Denver. Her involvement as a Volunteer at Roxborough State Park since 1993, taught her to see God in all things. In her work as a spiritual director, she invites others to experience the beauty of the physical universe and to grow in relationship with Christ as a personal friend.
Joe Lagan
Joe first encountered Ignatian Spirituality while earning his Master of Divinity degree from Weston Jesuit School of Theology. He has found great freedom through the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius and welcomes the opportunity to support others on their own spiritual journeys through spiritual direction and the Exercises. Prior to taking his position as Director for the Ignatian Spirituality Program, Joe taught high school theology for 12 years and served as a college campus minister at several universities. He was trained through the Ignatian Spirituality Program of Denver and completed the post-master's certificate in spiritual formation at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. Joe offers spiritual direction through the Program and coordinates the Program’s offerings. He is a husband and father.
Lyn Tran
Lyn was born and raised in Vietnam before successfully escaping from the Communists and coming to the United States in 1990. She was raised Catholic but only found her true Catholic roots and graced identity through Ignatian Spirituality in 2004. After that powerful, life-changing experience, Lyn devoted her life to helping others in their spiritual quests. She actively ministers to her Vietnamese community, especially young adults, giving workshops and retreats. She holds a bachelors degree in Religious Studies and a masters degree in Ignatian Spirituality. She completed the Spiritual Exercises and her training in spiritual direction through the Ignatian Spirituality Program of Denver, and she accompanies individuals in spiritual direction and the Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life. She is a wife, mother, and grandmother.
Kathy Gill
Kathy Gill enjoys the hopeful nature of Ignatian spirituality and finds encouragement in seeing how God works in the life of each person. Since embarking on her own journey with an Ignatian focus, she has witnessed the effects of God’s generosity in her life and in the lives of those she encounters in spiritual direction. Kathy has served in parish ministry as a director of adult faith formation /RCIA and has also taught in Catholic schools. She is a graduate of the Denver Catholic Biblical School and the Archdiocesan Catechetical School. She completed her formation as a spiritual director and guide for the Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life (SEEL) with the Ignatian Spirituality Program of Denver. Kathy is married and is the mother of two adult children. She loves reading poetry, tending plants, and listening to both friends and strangers.
June Ewell
June Ewell June Ewell has been a spiritual director with the Ignatian Spirituality Program of Denver for five years following a lifetime of work grounded in Christian service. June decided to specialize in Ignatian Spirituality after positive experiences with Ignatian retreats and spiritual directors, and thus completed the ISP-Denver training program for directors. She leads people through the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius and provides one-on-one direction to individuals from a variety of faith backgrounds. Along with her husband, Bob, she serves on part-time staff with The Navigators, a global ministry that helps people “know Christ, make him known, and help others do the same.” A retired nurse, June and Bob have four grown children. She holds a Registered Nurse diploma from Wheaton College and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Regis University.
Pam Watson Korbel
Pam has been a spiritual director for 5 years and is part of the Ignatian Spirituality Program of Denver at Regis University. She earned a Certificate in Soul Care from Denver Seminary as well as training with ISP Denver to specialize in the Ignatian tradition. She facilitates the Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life as well as providing spiritual direction to individuals and groups. For over 30 years, Pam worked as an organizational development consultant and is a certified coach in emotional intelligence and the Enneagram. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Creighton University, Omaha
Sr. Peg Maloney, RSM
Sister Peg Maloney, RSM is a Sister of Mercy and a native of Denver CO. Prior to professing final vows in the 80’s. Peg experienced the full Ignatian 30 day Spiritual Exercises Retreat and found that to be a major transformation in prayer and her relationship with Jesus Christ as a Sister of Mercy. Peg has been engaged in spiritual direction and directing retreats for over 20 years. Peg taught Religious Studies and worked in Mission Advancement at Regis University for 15 years, and prior to that worked in the Diocese of Colorado Springs and the Archdiocese of Denver. Much of that work included working with Catholic Social Teaching and the responsibility we have to act justly and compassionately in our world. Most recently, Peg served on the Leadership Team of the Sisters of Mercy of the West Midwest for 3 years in Omaha, NE. She also teaches in the Christian Spirituality Summer Program at Creighton, educating and training new spiritual directors. Peg has a B.A. in Sociology and an M.A. in Community Leadership with an emphasis in Spiritual Direction from Regis University.
Simon Caddick
Simon is a native of the United Kingdom who came to Denver in 1997 and has since naturalized as a US citizen. In the early 2000’s Simon studied as a spiritual director in the Benedictine tradition (with the Benedictine Spiritual Direction Program run by Benet Hill Monastery in Colorado Springs) but he has always been influenced by Ignatian spirituality since his first silent retreat with the Jesuits in Liverpool in the 1980’s. In 2014-2015 he undertook the Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life and subsequently trained with the Ignatian Spirituality Program (Denver). This year Simon will complete a graduate certificate in the Ignatian Tradition from Creighton University. Raised in the Church of England and an active member of his Episcopal parish, as a spiritual director he has companioned Christians from the Roman Catholic, Reformed and Anglican traditions.
Richard A. DeBlasio
For his entire professional career as a social worker, Rich has focused on ending Veteran homelessness. As both a social worker and as a Catholic who attended a Jesuit University, he has developed a deep love for Ignatian spirituality. Currently, Rich is in the Ignatian Spirituality Program where he receives training in spiritual direction. Rich has a passion for accompany others regardless of their current views on religion because of his own journey of faith that has grown outside of organized religion. Rich enjoys meeting people where they are at and not where one thinks they should be. He is a husband and father of two daughters.
Jason Thomas
A rare Colorado native and an aging millennial, Jason is completing his training to become a spiritual director through the Ignatian Spirituality Program. After working in politics, healthcare and higher education, Jason is still deciding what he wants to be when he grows up. But one thing he is certain is that doing the Spiritual Exercises was an incredibly powerful and transformative experience for him in discerning his vocational identity and direction after converting to Catholicism in his 20s. Jason is hoping to pay that forward and help accompany other people in hearing God’s call in their lives. He is passionate about making spiritual direction more available to young people and people of color who might not otherwise seek the opportunity.
Emilie Epard
Emilie's experience of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius (the 19th annotation, or Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life) introduced unexpected vibrancy, surprising insights, and unparalleled peace into her life; and made her relationship with Jesus come alive, real-time. This brought renewal to the everyday and mundane, and ignited an exciting new vision for her future. She is currently in formation with the Ignatian Spirituality Program of Denver, and excited at the prospect of accompanying others as they lean into their relationship with God.
After a brief career in communications for a Fortune 500 company, Emilie has spent nearly the last two decades as a stay-at-home wife and mother. She continued to nurture her love of writing, largely by creating content for her church. Currently, she is working on multiple personal writing projects related to her faith experience.
Emilie's greatest joys are her faith, family and friends. She enjoys nothing more than connecting with people in unpretentious, authentic conversation and friendship. She's an extrovert who craves periods of solitude. She loves to laugh, story-tell, travel, garden and read.
Ann Cohen
Ann was drawn to Ignatian Spirituality as a repeat attender of the Ignatian Spirituality Program (ISP) of Denver’s retreats and as a listener of fellow retreatants’ prayer experiences. ISP Denver formed her as a spiritual director. As a service corps member of the Ignatian Volunteer Corps (IVC) – Denver, she serves as the development coordinator at SAME Café. Ann is a Registered Dietitian (RD) and leads continuing education programs for RDs. She earned a BS from Creighton University and an MS from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Ann is the mother of three and grandmother of five – from toddler to teens.
Christine Sullivan
Chris has been practicing spiritual direction professionally for a decade, sensing a call in the lifelong experience of being someone others are drawn to confide in. She has had formal training in the Benedictine and Ignatian traditions, but knows her best instructors are the women and men she has been privileged to accompany. Chris’s experience includes over ten years as a leader in an inter-denominational Christian women’s ministry and a stint as the Director of Adult Formation and Christian Initiation at a Catholic parish. She has led retreat groups, large and small, as well as working with people one-on-one.
In describing her approach to spiritual direction, Chris says, “I am here to support you with loving compassion and challenge as you traverse the adventure that is your life. I trust that paying attention to all of life, including the hard parts, is how we become ourselves-in-Christ. I have traversed some of the dark places myself, and witnessed others who have traveled their own challenging terrain. Together we can come to know the Love and Wisdom that accompanies each of us, and discover that every experience, considered in God’s light, can reveal paths to deeper joy and purpose.”
Hermina Gutierrez
Mina spent over 17 years in a variety of ministries at her home parish, Our Lady Queen of Peace in Aurora. During that time, Mina worked in the Evangelization school, the heart of the Charismatic Movement, focusing on weekend retreats. For the past five years, Mina has facilitated Bible studies on the four Gospels. She has also worked on the team facilitating retreats for the Hispanic community held at Sacred Heart Retreat House in Sedalia.
Out of a need to help her community and in response to her love for the Gospels, Mina completed the Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life through the Ignatian Spirituality Program of Denver. She is currently enrolled in the formation program for spiritual directors at the Ignatian Spirituality Program at Regis University. She also continues her studies through the Archdiocese of Denver’s Biblical School. Mina speaks both Spanish and English and would love to help others know and love Jesus in everyday life. Mina is the mother of three adult children.