The first Chapter focuses on the spirituality for North Americans and a theological reflection on it. The second Chapter explains a methodology towards an understanding, interpretation and application of the Spiritual Exercises; 'To understand a text is not only to reconstruct the mens auctoris but to translate past meaning into the present situation. Our understanding of the text is rooted in the present and has been shaped by the past'. This methodology is then applied to the interpretation and application of the Annotations.