Seeing God in all things: Faith, belonging and the practice of noticing

‘Finding God in all things’ – anyone who has encountered the story of St Ignatius Loyola will be familiar with this phrase, but listening to Veronica on the Things I Wish I Knew podcast might give you a new way to think about that tenet of Ignatian spirituality. ‘To see God in all things is not to romanticise every situation but to trust that God remains present even when circumstances are strained.’

What does it mean to see God in all things when everything around you feels unfamiliar? For many young adults today, faith is lived not in settled routines but in movement, uncertainty and transition. Questions of belonging, purpose and spiritual rootedness often emerge most sharply when life takes us far from what we know.

These questions surfaced powerfully in a recent conversation on the Things I Wish I Knew podcast, in which Veronica, a member of a Jesuit young adult community, reflected on her experience of moving continents and learning to recognise God’s presence in the ordinary moments of daily life.

At just 25, Veronica moved to London, carrying with her experiences of life in Argentina and Canada, as well as the hopes and anxieties that come with starting again in a big, bustling city. Like many who arrive in the capital, she was struck by its energy and possibility, but also by its capacity to make one feel invisible. Excitement sat alongside loneliness, and the freedom of independence was matched by a longing for connection.

It was in this context that the importance of community became clear. Veronica found herself living with other young adults in a convent run by religious sisters. The arrangement was not something she had initially imagined, but it became formative. Shared meals, prayer and the simple act of returning each day to a place where she was known gave her a sense of stability. In a city where relationships can feel fleeting, this daily rhythm offered something quietly countercultural.

From an Ignatian perspective, this attentiveness to where life is being sustained is significant. St Ignatius encourages us to notice the movements of the spirits, the moments of consolation and desolation, the places where life feels more deeply rooted and the places where it drains away. For Veronica, the convent community became a space of consolation, not because life was suddenly easy, but because she was not carrying it alone.

A further turning point came through her encounter with Farm Street church, a Jesuit parish in central London with a thriving young adult community. Attending the young adult Mass, Veronica discovered a form of worship that spoke to her experience, and a group of people navigating similar questions about faith, work and identity. What began as a chance visit developed into a spiritual home.

Belonging here was not only social but sacramental. Gathering around the eucharist with others who were seeking, doubting and hoping allowed Veronica to experience faith as something shared rather than solitary. In Ignatian spirituality, God is often encountered through relationships, through the body of Christ made visible in community. Farm Street became a place where that insight was lived rather than taught.

The arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted these patterns, as it did for so many. Physical gathering was no longer possible, and familiar structures fell away. Yet Veronica reflected that this period also revealed the resilience of the community she had come to rely on. Online prayer, shared reflection and small acts of care helped sustain connection. Faith did not disappear in isolation but adapted, finding new forms.

This adaptability points to a deeper spiritual insight. To see God in all things is not to romanticise every situation but to trust that God remains present even when circumstances are strained. The pandemic sharpened this awareness, inviting a more intentional noticing of grace in small gestures, quiet perseverance and mutual support.

Throughout her reflections, Veronica returned to the idea that God is often encountered in the ordinary and unexpected. She spoke of chance conversations, moments of kindness from strangers and encounters during pilgrimage that opened her to new ways of seeing. These were not dramatic revelations but subtle invitations to attentiveness.

Such stories echo Ignatius’s insistence that God labours in all things. The task of the believer is not to search for God only in explicitly religious moments but to cultivate the habit of noticing. This requires patience and humility, especially in seasons of transition when life feels fragmented.

Veronica’s journey is not unique, yet it is deeply resonant. Many will recognise the tension between independence and vulnerability, the desire for meaning amid busyness, and the quiet hunger for a community where faith can be named honestly. Her experience suggests that seeing God in all things is less about clarity and more about practice. It is learned over time, through relationships, reflection and a willingness to remain open.

Ultimately, this is an invitation rather than a conclusion. To see God in all things is not a finished achievement but an ongoing way of living. It asks us to pay attention to where we feel drawn, where we find ourselves sustained, and where love quietly insists on making itself known, even in the most ordinary places.

Veronica’s reflections emerge from a wider conversation with Julia Corcoran on the latest episode of Things I Wish I Knew, which offers a more extended account of her journey and the spiritual insights it has shaped.

Listen to ‘Things I Wish I Knew About Recognising God’; and to get all of our new episodes and catch up on our back catalogue, subscribe now >>

You can follow us on Instagram @tiwik_pod.