Week Seven, Exercise Two: Reflecting On Our Mission To Follow Christ Using The Insights of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.

This exercise should be experienced between February 1 and February 4.

Having experienced the grace given by meditating on the baptism of Jesus, we now consider how Jesus calls us to a life-giving mission. The life that Jesus calls us to involves healing, teaching, trusting, loving and risking. Are we up to the task? What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus in the twenty-first century? Does it mean rejecting the material world and living as an ascetical hermit? Or does it mean discerning the promptings of the spirit of Christ in our everyday world, whether we be teachers or investment bankers, preachers or politicians, ministers or members of a labor union?

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin found that he could find Christ in the secular pursuits of scientific research. He writes that we are all called to build the kingdom of God, whatever our secular vocation. As a matter of fact, Teilhard taught that it was very possible to find God in any secular pursuit. An excellent analysis of and presentation of the writings of Teilhard is found in Ronald Modras' book Ignatian Humanism. I recommend the whole book. Here is Modras' explanation of Teilhard's wisdom:

"[Teilhard's book] The Divine Milieu was completed in China in 1927 and directed, he wrote, not only to believers but also to those who waver in their faith or who think they have grown beyond it. Teilhard tried to convince them of the intellectual validity of Christian faith in the modern age. He assured his readers that those who listen to the "voices of the earth" have reason to follow the gospel path of Christianity.

The Divine Milieu specifically addresses readers who are aware that "the physical sciences are endlessly extending the abyss of space and time" (13). Confronted by such immensity, many question whether human beings still matter, or whether the Christ of the Gospels and his ancient Jewish God have not been eclipsed by a universe grown dazzlingly vast. Teilhard understood their feelings of anxiety or fascination, but he also felt he could teach them "how to see God everywhere," including in all that is most hidden, most solid, and most ultimate in the world" (15).

Like Ignatius in the Spiritual Exercises, Teilhard encouraged his readers "to see things as they are and to see them really and intensely." He calls it a "salutary exercise" to realize that the roots of our spiritual being go back into an unfathomable past. It has required the entire history of the universe for matter to become spirit, a spiritual history reflected in each one of us. Creation was not completed in the distant past but continues today in our work and actions. For those who see aright, nothing we do is devoid of spiritual significance. Our most natural and human labors are continuing creation and building the Kingdom of God (35).

God can be found in the most profane activity--and in our passivity as well. Another "salutary exercise" is to plumb the abyss that is our self and realize the depth and universality of our dependence. Teilhard drew here from his Ignatian spirituality, specifically the contemplation to attain love: all we are and have in life is a gift. What lies at the core of our being, the power to will and to love, is not of our making. Even before the long decades of discussion over nature versus nurture, whether genes or cultural upbringing affect us more, Teilhard insisted to his readers that our identities, who we are, depend less on the work of our own hands than on what has been given to us (49). None of us is self-made. But then he went on to assure his readers that our receiving, be it from nature or nurture, does not imply passive resignation, whether to suffering or evil in the world.

Teilhard argued strenuously that Christian asceticism has nothing to do with detachment or flight from the world. Jesus revealed a kingdom within us, here and now, slowly transforming and unifying the hearts of humankind (107). The enchantments of earth do us no harm, any more than human endeavor and progress compete with God (137). Rather, God's presence and action in the world occur in us and through us. (Modras, Ignatian Humanism, 191-193)

Now consider: 1) How can I continue God's creative activity in my work or my studies? 2) What does it mean to build the Kingdom of God? 3) Consider examples of actions of peace and progress that have transformed and unified human hearts. What made them peaceful? Progressive? 4) Can I remain detached from worldly anxiety while I help transform a beautiful but suffering world into a world with even more beauty and even more justice? 5) How is Jesus calling me now?

Week Seven, Exercise one: The Baptism of Jesus

During the Baptism of Jesus, it is entirely possible that the religious experience that Jesus had was an interior experience. The dove then is a symbol. The dove's hovering over the water helps us recall God's spirit hovering over the waters in the creation account in Genesis. The synoptic evangelists (Matthew, Mark, and Luke)are then saying that God's creativity continues in and through Jesus.

Did others near Jesus hear the voice that came from heaven? Do we definitively know? Please remember that heaven is a symbol for the transcendence and presence of God. Also recall our Ignatian understanding that God is in all things and all situations. Heaven is as present "on earth" as it is "in the sky." The voice from heaven is then a voice Jesus hears in his concrete historical situation of accepting baptism.

What we do know is that Jesus hears the voice "You are my beloved son; with you I am well pleased." He may have told his disciples about this experience later.


Pray with Luke 3:21-22. Imagine Jesus' hearing the voice of the Father/Mother. What does he feel in his heart?

Now imagine yourself hearing God tell you "You are my beloved son/daughter. With you I am well pleased." Do you believe it?

Ask for the grace that you need.

Week Six, Exercise Two: The Three Types of Persons

This exercise should be experienced between January 25 and January 28.

It is meant to help towards my freedom of choice in relation to God's call to me.

I have borrowed the following from David Fleming's translation of the Exercises (except for the Colloquy which I have adapted myself).

Ask for the grace that I may be free enough to choose to follow wherever God may be inviting me.

The Setting: This prayer period is devoted to a consideration of three types of persons. Each of them has come to have quite a few possessions--not always acquired in the most honest way or with the best of motives. In general, each one is a good person who would like to serve God, even to the extent that if these possessions were to come in the way of being open to God's invitation, each type of person would like to be free of them.

The first type--"a lot of talk but no action.". This person keeps saying: "I would like to stop being so dependent on all the things which I possess and which seem to get in the way of my giving my life unreservedly to God."
This type of person has all kinds of good intentions, but always remains so busy about all the "things" that fill up life that death finds such a one still thinking about making a bigger place for God in life.

The second type--"To do everything but the one thing necessary." This person says: "I certainly would like to be free of all attachments which get in the way of relating to God. I think maybe if I just work harder or I say more prayers or give more money to charity that would do it."
This type of person will just about do anything but face the block that hinders an availability to God's gracious invitation. It is as if this person is negotiating with God, trying to buy God off. So this type may do a number of good things during life, all the time avoiding the honest way of facing the real issue.

The third type--"to do God's will is my desire." This person says: "I would like to be rid of any attachment which gets in the way of God's invitation to a more abundant life. I am not sure what God is asking of me, but I want to be at a point of balance so that I can more easily move in the direction of God's call. My whole effort is to be sensitive to the movements of God's grace in my life and to be ready and willing to follow God's lead."
This type of person makes efforts neither to want to retain possessions nor to want to give them away unless the service and praise of God our Lord is the God given motivation for action. As a result, the graced desire to be better able to serve God becomes clearly the motivating factor for accepting or letting go of anything.


Colloquy: I ask Mary to pray for me, that I might be drawn to spiritual poverty so that I might freely follow God's lead in my life. Another way of saying this is that I am asking for spiritual freedom. Then I speak with Jesus, asking for the same grace.

I reflect and ask myself: what is my most significant attachment? Which type of person do I identify with? I speak honestly to Jesus about my attachments.

Then I turn to God the Father/Mother and speak honestly with God about my attachments. I ask for the grace I need.

I close with a prayer of gratitude for the insight I am gaining.

Week Six, Exercise One: The Strategy of Jesus, A Meditation With Thomas Merton

This exercise should be experienced between January 21 and January 25.

Thomas Merton is a well known American Catholic writer. A good deal of his writing deals with the distinction between the false self and the true self. The false self is created by us so that we can fit in to society, imbibing whatever aberations may exist in society. The true self is our self as we are known by God. This is similar to Ignatius' understanding of the two standards: the Dark Lord attempts to encourage us to labor with him by enticing us with riches, honor and pride, objects which all societies over value in various ways. That is, the Dark Lord encourages us to think that our false self is the only self that exists. Jesus invites us to labor with him by encouraging us to develop our true selves through meditation, prayer and acts of charity and justice. Recall how he does this--by motivating us to accept a spiritual poverty that leads to humility.

The following quotation was originally written by Merton in a book called New Seeds of Contemplation (New York: New Directions, 1972). I am grateful to have found it in Robert Inchausti's Seeds: Thomas Merton, page 3.

"All sin starts from the assumption that my false self, the self that exists only in my own egocentric desires, is the fundamental reality of life to which everything else in the universe is ordered. Thus I use up my life in the desire for pleasures and the thirst for experiences, for power, honor, knowledge, and love to clothe this false self and construct its nothingness into something objectively real. And I wind experiences around myself and cover myself with pleasures and glory like bandages in order to make myself perceptible to myself and to the world, as if I were an invisible body that could only become visible when something visible covered its surface."

Why are we afraid to just be our true selves, the mysterious reality we are before our mysterious God?

Why do we feel the need to construct a false self?

What are my most powerful egocentric desires? Can I feel the presence of the Dark Lord in those desires?

What would it take for me to live from my true self?

Now, what do I want to ask from Jesus?

Week Five, Exercise Two: The Strategy of Jesus/"The Two Standards"

This exercise should be experienced between January 18 and January 21. The purpose of the exercise is to engage the whole person of the exercitant (retreatant) and guide the exercitant through a meditation that reveals how the dynamic of Jesus undermines the dynamic of evil. The exercise engages not just our rational minds but also our imaginations as we associate evil personified (Satan) with darkness and terror and Jesus with light and joy.

David Fleming has translated this exercise into modern western terminology. If you have access to his version of the Exercises (Draw Me Into Your Friendship), I highly recommend it.

Pay attention to the strategy of the Dark Lord. He attempts to entice us with riches so that we then bask in glamour and honor. Becoming a slave of honor, we then become ensnared in pride. A person then ends up thinking "I am such and such" or "We are such and such." The strategy of Jesus is the opposite: he attracts us to the highest spiritual poverty. Spiritual poverty is not necessarily the same as actual poverty although one may ask to actually become poor through spiritual poverty. Spiritual poverty is the ability and willingness to let go of all possessions if God asks this of us.

Having been given spiritual poverty, one is then attracted to peaceful living in the face of the contempt of others. Once again, it is not exactly desiring contempt, but being willing to face contempt should God ask it of us. In this case, I think in particular of John Lewis and his fellow freedom riders--white and black. Finally, having become spiritually poor and willing to suffer contempt, we become humble. Becoming humble, we become spiritually free. All of this follows the activity of Jesus: laid in a manger, an oppressed carpenter, an itinerant preacher open to all (rich and poor), dying on a cross.

One other note: a standard is a banner

Here is the text of Ignatius:

MEDITATION ON TWO STANDARDS

The one of Christ, our Commander-in-chief and Lord; the other of Lucifer, mortal enemy of our human nature.

Ask for the grace to become spiritually free.

[SPEX137]
First Prelude. The First Prelude is the narrative. It will be here how Christ calls and wants all under His standard; and Lucifer, on the contrary, under his.

[SPEX138]
Second Prelude. The second, a composition, seeing the place. It will be here to see a great field of all that region of Jerusalem, where the supreme Commander-in-chief of the good is Christ our Lord; another field in the region of Babylon, where the chief of the enemy is Lucifer.

[SPEX139]
Third Prelude. The third, to ask for what I want: and it will be here to ask for knowledge of the deceits of the bad chief and help to guard myself against them, and for knowledge of the true life which the supreme and true Captain shows and grace to imitate Him.

[SPEX140]
First Point. The first Point is to imagine as if the chief of all the enemy seated himself in that great field of Babylon, as in a great chair of fire and smoke, in shape horrible and terrifying.

[SPEX141]
Second Point. The second, to consider how he issues a summons to innumerable demons and how he scatters them, some to one city and others to another, and so through all the world, not omitting any provinces, places, states, nor any persons in particular.

[SPEX142]
Third Point. The third, to consider the discourse which he makes them, and how he tells them to cast out nets and chains; that they have first to tempt with a longing for riches -- as he is accustomed to do in most cases -- that men may more easily come to vain honor of the world, and then to vast pride. So that the first step shall be that of riches; the second, that of honor; the third, that of pride; and from these three steps he draws on to all the other vices.

[SPEX143]
So, on the contrary, one has to imagine as to the supreme and true Captain, Who is Christ our Lord.

[SPEX144]
First Point. The first Point is to consider how Christ our Lord puts Himself in a great field of that region of Jerusalem, in lowly place, beautiful and attractive.

[SPEX145]
Second Point. The second, to consider how the Lord of all the world chooses so many persons -- Apostles, Disciples, etc., -- and sends them through all the world spreading His sacred doctrine through all states and conditions of persons.

[SPEX146]
Third Point. The third, to consider the discourse which Christ our Lord makes to all His servants and friends whom He sends on this expedition, recommending them to want to help all, by bringing them first to the highest spiritual poverty, and -- if His Divine Majesty would be served and would want to choose them -- no less to actual poverty; the second is to be of contumely and contempt; because from these two things humility follows. So that there are to be three steps; the first, poverty against riches; the second, contumely or contempt against worldly honor; the third, humility against pride. And from these three steps let them induce to all the other virtues.

Finish with the triple colloquy (Mary, Jesus, God the Father/Mother) or with another suitable prayer.

If you have time, repeat this exercise on another day. Perhaps you can let yourself daydream about it. Engage all of your senses in imagining Jesus and the Dark Lord.

Week Five, Exercise One: The Hidden Life of Jesus Continued

This exercise should be experienced between January 15 and January 18. It is not technically part of the Exercises of Ignatius, but it is completely consistent with Ignatian Spirituality.

Ask for the grace to know Jesus more fully.

Imagine Jesus as a teenager. He is continuing to learn the trade of carpentry from Joseph. How do they speak to each other? How well do they listen to each other? Can you see the expression on the face of Joseph when Jesus does something well? Can you see the expression on the face of Jesus while he listens to Joseph teach him?

How does Joseph react when Jesus makes a mistake? Remember Jesus learned. Are there any parenting lessons here?

Jesus learned how to speak from Mary and Joseph. He must also have learned how human beings love.

What other lessons did Jesus learn from Mary and Joseph? Imagine Jesus coming home with stories about other people his age. How would Mary and Joseph have responded?

We know from Luke 2 that Jesus sat in the temple listening to the teachers and asking them questions. Did this conversation continue with the rabbis in Nazareth? Imagine Jesus in the synagogue at Nazareth learning Hebrew so that he might read the scriptures. He would have learned Aramaic from his parents and Hebrew from his rabbi.

What is the reaction of his rabbi as he listens to the teenage Jesus' passion for his faith? Is Jesus grateful to his rabbi for the time his rabbi devoted to teaching him?

We all imitate our teachers in certain ways. How did Jesus imitate his Jewish teachers?

Imagine Jesus as he interacts with people in Nazareth. How does he conduct himself in his business relations?

All of Jesus' learning and living prepared him for the enlightenment he received during his Baptism.

We continue to walk with the Lord as we contemplate his life.

Week Four, Exercise Two: Jesus Goes to The Temple at Age 12

This exercise should be experienced between January 11 and 14.

Ask for the grace to know Jesus more fully.

Consider how Jesus grew up. He worked with Joseph as a carpenter and learned from Mary and Joseph about their Jewish faith. In understanding Jesus, it is important to make a distinction between knowledge (scientia) and wisdom (sapentia). He was not born with perfect knowledge of all of the scientific and historical truths of the world. For example, he would not have had knowledge of Einstein's work on relativity theory (E=mc2). However, as the son of God, he would have had wisdom way beyond his chronological years. That is, he would have fully understood that God is love and that he too was constituted by love.

Even so, he grew in this wisdom as Luke 2:52 tells us: "And Jesus advanced [in] wisdom and age and favor before God and man."


Prayerfully read Luke 2:41-52. What occurs to you? Can you imagine yourself in the scene? Imagine being awed by the knowledge of this wise 12 year old. What is it that he is saying. Can you feel his love for God as he speaks? Does it evoke love from you?

If Jesus is totally aware of his eternal origin from God, what does that say of our origins? What does that say our destiny?

What wisdom does God seek to give us?

What questions do you have for Jesus? Did he feel the same wonder and the same insecurities that each of us has felt as a 12 year old?

Pray as you have prayed this whole retreat. Close in a way that reverences our Messiah who grew up and felt what we felt at the age of twelve.

Week Four, Exercise One: Jesus Meets Us Where We Are

This exercise should be experienced between January 8 and 11.

As we continue in Phase Two of the Exercises, we recall how Jesus came to us in the form a vulnerable child. Take a moment to relish those Christmas graces. How amazing for God to come to humanity in the poverty, beauty, and neediness of a human child. It makes us think of the gentle way that God communicates. He does not hit us with the taskmaster's rod. He reveals himself as vulnerable as we are vulnerable. This truth is expressed in a very insightful way by Ignatian spiritual director and author Margaret Silf. In the twelfth chapter of her book Inner Compass, she writes:

My old school had the Gospel words interpreted by Chaucer as its motto: "And trouthe shal set thee free."

I lived with them for some years, emblazoned on my uniform and resounding out of every end-of-term assembly when we sang the school song. Gradually they insinuated themselves into my heart and sat there like an egg waiting for fertilization. It took over thirty years for that egg to come to ripeness, but when that finally happened, it took on a life of its own, as eggs do.

I knew all this when I began to think about these questions, and I knew, too, how central they are to any exploration of our inner landscape. But it was a bleak November evening when something clicked into place that helped me to take hold of the scale of the question, and it had to do with the matter of the gap. Let me explain.

The words that triggered my understanding that evening would have seemed trite, had they not been spoken by someone who had obviously found them in the depths of his own experience.
God comes to us, he said

*not where we should have been if we had made all the right choices in life,
*not where we could have been if we had taken every opportunity that God has offered us,
*not where we wish we were if we didn't have to be in the place where we find ourselves,
*not where we think we are because our minds are out of sync wtih our hearts,
*not where other people think we are or think we ought to be when they are attending to their own agendas.

I had heard this kind of wisdom often enough before. That God meets us where we really are is, after all, commonplace throughout our journeying. We all know that with our heads, but that evening I suddenly grasped the truth of it with my heart, and that moment of truth brought me a new degree of freedom--just as Jesus had said it would! (134-135)


As we contemplate Silf's words and continue along the path of contemplating the life of Christ, let us ask

*Where am I at this point in my life? Am I stuck in any situations that foster unfreedom and attachment? What does Jesus want to say to me in this situation?

Also, let's just soak in the truth that God meets us where we are in the person of Christ (or if we are not Christian, God meets us where we are in my own spiritual tradition). What does it mean that God does not meet us where we wish we were or where other people think we should be? What does it mean that God meets us where we are? Can we feel the freedom of that? Do we need to ask God for the freedom this truth gives?

Spend some time with the Lord. Perhaps just let the Lord put his arm around your shoulders and let him tell you: "I am here with you now, in the situation you are in now. I do not reject you. I accept you as you are, now!"

What do we want to tell the Lord now?

Consider these truths as we move into the hidden years of Jesus and into his public ministry.

Close with a prayer in your tradition.

Continuing Along the Path of Phase Two

According to St. Ignatius, the purpose of the Spiritual Exercises is to help the exercitant (retreatant) to make decisions free from disordered attachment. We reflected upon some of this as we meditated upon sin and mimesis in Phase One. We will find that the same theme reemerges in Phase Two, this time within the context of contemplating the life of Christ.

Attachment occurs in a variety of ways, mimesis being one of the most powerful. The genius of Ignatius was his ability to reflect on the nature of attachment and detachment as he contemplated the way of being and teaching of the one whose living was free from attachment and who liberated others from attachment. Consider the case of Matthew, the tax collector, and how the Lord freed him through fellowship.

In this vein, St. Ignatius developed meditations that are not strictly Biblical: meditations like the Two Standards, the Three Kinds of People, and the Three Kinds of Humility. St. Ignatius also developed rules of discernment for this phase and guidelines for making important life decisions.

In all of these meditations, let us pray for the availability to be open to the Lord's insights and to understanding the movements of consolation and desolation. In all of this the Lord is offering to guides us to make truly intentional decisions.

Finally, each of the great religious traditions has methods for reflecting on attachment and detachment. I trust each of us to find the method that best works for us.

Peace!

Phase Two, Week Three, Exercise Two: Baby Jesus is Revealed to the World

This exercise should be experienced between January 4 and January 7.

Pray with Matthew 2:1-15. Recall that Matthew is a Jewish Christian writing to a Jewish Christian community. The magi, wise men, come to visit the Christ child. They symbolize Gentiles who have been entering Matthew's community.

Use your imagination to enter the scene. With whom do you identify? Through whose eyes do you see the scene? In a way, we all are strangers to Christ? We can all know him better. In other ways, he is never a stranger to us. Our hearts recognize him as our best friend.

As a stranger and as a friend, how do we see Jesus? When do we recognize him? Are there voices like Herod's inside of us that would like to do away with what Christ reveals to us? Do we have our own inner Joseph and Mary who nurture Christ's revelation inside of us?

The colloquy may continue with Joseph and Mary as we learn of the devotion and care of the two who nurtured the child Jesus.

Phase Two, Week Three, Exercise One: Baby Jesus Is Revealed to the World

This exercise should be experienced between January 1 and January 4.

Ask God for the grace that I might have an interior knowledge of Jesus' love for all people especially the poor and of the devotion that Mary had for Jesus.

Pray with Luke 2:15-38. Note the devotion of the poor shepherds. Note verse 19 that Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. If you are so moved, allow yourself to contemplate Mary as the most devout disciple.

Note that Mary and Joseph offer a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons out of their poverty.

In your colloquy, converse with Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, or whomever else your heart is drawn to. How is Jesus revealed to you? Can you see the baby's face? What other details do you want to share in your colloquy?

Phase Two, Week Two, Exercise Two: Matthew's Account of the Birth of Jesus

This exercise is to be experienced between December 28 and December 31


Ask for the same grace that you asked for when you prayed with Luke's account of the birth of Jesus. If the consolation moves you, add another grace: ask for the gift to imagine the love that Jesus, Mary and Joseph have for each other.

Pray with Matthew 1:18-25. Use your imagination to enter into the scene. Consider the following only if it is helpful: pray to feel the feelings that Joseph has when he finds out that Mary is pregnant. How do those feelings change when the angel appears to him in a dream? Enter into a colloquy with Joseph or Mary. Have we ever found ourselves in a difficult situation that was beyond our control? How did the Holy Spirit helps us out? Can we understand Joseph's situation a little better now?

Have there been dreams that have given us life? If we are parents, how have our children expanded our dreams?

Pray with the passage again. Attempt to take note of all of the details. What is the expression on the face of Joseph when he first holds God's son? What is the expression on the face of Mary?

What gives us insight or peace?

A Child my Choice

Fr. Skehan uses the following poem by Robert Southwell, S.J. in his version of phase two of the Exercises in Daily Life (63). It is a beautiful second phase poem.

A Child my Choice

Let folly praise that fancy loves, I praise and love that child,
Whose heart no thought, whose tongue no word, whose hand no deed defiled.
I praise him most, I love him best, all praise and love is his;
While him I love, in him I live, and cannot live amiss.

Love's sweetest mark, laud's highest theme, man's most desired light,
To love him life, to leave him death, to live in him delight.
He mine by gift, I his by debt, thus each to other due.
First friend he was, best friend he is, all times will try him true.

Though young, yet wise, though small, yet strong; though man,yet
God he is;
As wise he knows, as strong he can, as God he loves to bless.
His knowledge rules, his strength defends, his love doth cherish all;
His birth our joy, his life our light, his death our end of thrall.

Alas! He weeps, he sighs, he pants, yet do his angels sing;
Out of tears, his sighs and throbs, doth bud a joyful spring.
Almighty Babe, whose tender arms can force all foes to fly,
Correct my faults, protect my life, direct me when I die.

Phase Two, Week Two For Non-Christians: the Gift of Incarnation and Life

For most of the second, third and fourth phases of this retreat, my focus will be on the prayer experience of Christians. I am not discriminating against non-Christians. I am just being realistic about my own training. I pray that non-Christians themselves can learn to adapt the Spiritual Exercises to their own spirituality. Nonetheless,when I sense inter-religious possibilities, I will explore them.

As Christians ponder the birth of Jesus as the birth of the son of God, non-Christians may want to ponder the birth of a great prophet and teacher. There is another possibility: it may profit all people to contemplate the reality of incarnation. As a Christian, I believe that the second person of the Trinity became incarnate in the person of Jesus. There are Christians whose Christology may use language a little different from my own. I respect that, but let's contemplate the reality of incarnation. We are all incarnate. We have bodies. As a Christian, I believe that the holiness of my incarnate condition is tied in an integral way to the incarnation of Jesus, but incarnation is a reality I share with non-Christians.

If you are not a Christian, it may be profitable to take some time to contemplate what it means that the holy is found in the material. The holy is found in the tender skin and fragility of a baby. It may help to use Ignatius' method of finding God in all things--what Howard Gray describes as attentiveness leading to reverence which leads to devotion. Allow yourself to be attentive to the birth of any child: let the scene become itself. Do not force an identity on the scene. A mother laboring. A child is born. The child lies there. What do you see? What do you hear? When you touch the child, what do you feel? What do you smell? There's nothing like the smell of a baby.

Next, accept and esteem what you are noticing and feeling. Find the good of holding that baby. Accept the experience.

You are then moved to devotion--the way that God is working in the birth of that child.

I hope this helps! May the God we all worship through our acts of prayer and meditation enlighten all of us to respect the beauty, truth, and goodness of human life! May we all respect children and labor to deliver them from warfare, terrorism, famine, injustice, exploitation, and all evils that currently oppress children!

Peace! Namaste! Shalom! As-Salamu Alaykum!

Phase Two, Week Two, Exercise One: Luke's Account of the Birth of Jesus

Merry Christmas! This exercise should be experienced between December 25 and December 28.

As always, find a very quiet place to pray.

Ask God the Father-Mother for "a more intimate knowledge of Jesus who became one of us; a more personal experience of his love for me so that I may love Him more tenderly; and a closer union with Jesus in His mission of bringing salvation to people" (Skehan, 57).

Now prayerfully read Luke 2:1-20. Imagine the Christ child laying in the manger--a symbol of his poverty. If Jesus were to be born today, where would he be born?

Use your imagination to enter into the scene. What resonates with you?

Pray with your imagination one or two more times.

Now enter into a colloquy (conversation) with whomever your heart tells you to converse: perhaps you want to ask Mary what she felt when she first saw her son. Perhaps you want to express words of gratitude to Jesus for becoming one of us. You can converse with any saint or any person of the Trinity you feel drawn to. If the triple colloquy works, then use it.

If you are not Christian and you do not feel like praying with this text, then ponder the literary elements: why is Jesus depicted as laying in a manger? Does it symbolize his solidarity with the poor? I do not want to dictate to non-Christians how to pray or ponder the text so I will leave the rest open.

Peace and joy to you as you contemplate this mystery!

Prayer In Daily Life Phase Two, Week One, Exercise Two: Contemplating The Child Jesus In Mary's Womb

This Exercise should be experienced between December 21 and December 24. It isn't technically in the Spiritual Exercises, but I find it helpful. I hope you do too.

If you are a mother, it may help to recall your own pregnancies during this exercise.

Ask God for the grace to have an intimate knowledge of Jesus as an unborn child so that you may love Him more tenderly. Also ask for a more personal experience of Jesus. Finally, ask for insight into what it means that Mary carried the Messiah in her womb and that, through this mystery, she is able to love all people on the earth as if they were her own children.


Imagine Mary pregnant with Jesus. She is six months along. Jesus is living in the amniotic sack in his mother's womb. He can hear sounds from the outside world. Mary's body is nurturing him. All of the nutrition that his body receives comes from the food that Mary eats and the drink that Mary drinks.

The two are bonded in a sacred union. At times, Mary and Jesus feel together.

The Mothers and Fathers of the Eastern Church taught that Mary was the greatest theologian because she taught Jesus what it meant to be a human being totally in love with God. That process began while Jesus was in her womb. Imagine what Mary felt when Jesus moved in her womb. What tender words did Mary use to comfort her child when she felt him move? How did she gently touch her side so that she could communicate with him? Imagine you are Mary. Apply your senses. What do you feel and see? What words do you want to use to communicate with Jesus in the womb?

Consider the tenderness that Mary feels for Jesus. If your tradition encourages you to do so (and the Catholic and Orthodox traditions do), imagine the tenderness that Mary learned holding Jesus in her womb. She has that tenderness for you right now.

At this point, I would like to introduce a method of prayer that Ignatius called the triple colloquy. I want to introduce it at this point because it involves Mary.

A colloquy is a conversation. It isn't a method of prayer in which a person just recites words. In the colloquy you pray to God or to a saint and then you listen with your heart and imagination. In the triple colloquy, you begin by talking with Mary. You ask Mary to ask Jesus for the specific specific grace that you seek. Then you converse with Mary. You may want to ask her what it was like to feel Jesus inside her. You may then want to ask her if she might show you the joy she felt carrying Jesus. Then after the colloquy with Mary, you converse with Jesus. Ask him to speak with the Father/Mother for the specific grace you seek: to have an intimate knowledge of Jesus as an unborn child so that you may love Him more tenderly. Also ask for a more personal experience of Jesus. Finally, ask for insight into what it means that Mary carried the Messiah in her womb and that, through this mystery, she is able to love all people on the earth as if they were her own children.

The third colloquy is with the Father/Mother. Ask for the same grace we mentioned above and then sit back and listen. You may be given a specific image in your imagination. There may be a sense of freedom around a particular idea. Follow the thoughts and feelings that lead you to be more charitable and/or that give you insights into the love God has for humanity.

Close with an Our Father, a Hail Mary, or another prayer that gives you peace.
Write down your reflections in your journal.

Phase Two, Week One, Exercise One: The Annunciation

This exercise should be experienced between December 18 and 21.

We are now entering into phase 2 of the retreat during which we will contemplate the life of Jesus. As I mentioned earlier, if non-Christians feel moved to do so, you can contemplate the life of Jesus as a great spiritual teacher. Obviously, Christians will contemplate the life of Jesus, the Messiah and God-man.

First, ask God for the grace to feel Mary's courage and joy as she trusts God's invitation to bear God's son.

Read Luke 1:26-38.

Read the passage again using your imagination to enter into the scene. For this prayer period, I will leave the direction open and let the Holy Spirit give you the pointers.

Note moments of insight (consolation) in your prayer journal.

Close with your own prayer.

Please note that Week 6, Exercise 2 is below Exercise 1.

Just a quirk with my blogging software.

Phase One, Week Six, Exercise One: A Sinner Loved By God

This exercise should be experienced between December 11 and 14.

Last week we concluded our contemplation of the reality of personal and collective sin and disorder. This week we will devote one exercise to the wonder and healing of the forgiving love that God gives and that God is.

We will be contemplating that surprising and joyful parable of the Prodigal Father (usually called the Prodigal Son). I am borrowing the title "Prodigal Father" from a Jesuit friend of mine named Henry Haske. Henry has a knack for reminding us just how bountiful God's love is. In using the title "Prodigal Father" he is reminding us that our heavenly Father gives without ceasing.

If you find that you have a desire for more prayer this week, then consider praying with Isaiah 40:1-11 (the first reading for the Second Sunday of Advent).

The second exercise this week I will title The Call of the Eternal Coach/Teacher/Leader. I will give more details about this in a few days.

The grace of Exercise One that I seek: Paraphrasing the words of Fr. Skehan, I ask for the gift of experiencing myself as a loved sinner and to purify my mind so well that I may experience a growing desire for conversion, a new insight into the tactics of God's enemy, and a renewed enthusiasm to follow God.

In the parable of the Prodigal Father, the younger son demands his share of
his inheritance. He squanders his share and ends up feeding pigs which symbolizes apostasy--that he has totally rejected his Jewish faith. At the time, the Jewish refusal to eat or deal with pigs was not just a dietary law. It was an important religious boundary. It helps to remember that just 200 years earlier, Jewish martyrs were willing to be killed rather than eat the pig's flesh that the Seleucid Hellenists (the Greeks from Syria) tried to force them to eat. Jesus' audience would have remembered the sacrifices of these Jewish heroes and would have been disgusted by the son's sleeping with prostitutes and rejection of the Torah.

It is in this context that the Father's actions reveal that God's love is unconditional. In the words of Fr. Skehan, "how can we doubt the reality of God's love for the sinner, the God who looks to the horizon day and night longing for the sight of his beloved son returning home?" (44)


Now, use your imagination to enter into Luke 15: 11-32. Can you feel the Father's joy when he sees his son returning? Can you feel the acceptance and joyful surrender when you feel the Father embrace you?

Prayer In Daily Life, Phase 1, Week 6, Exercise 2: The call of the Eternal Coach/Teacher/Leader for Christians.

This exercise can be entered into in three ways. Chose the one most relevant for you. It should be experienced between December 14 and 17.

1. Call of the Eternal Coach. Ask God for the grace that you might respond to his call with generosity.

Recall a good coach who coached one of your sports teams. Recall how he brought out the best in you—athletically and personally. How did he foster teamwork and mutual respect among the people on your team? How successful was he? Why was your team so successful?
Would you allow yourself to be coached by this coach again? Why? Do you feel a sense of devotion to this coach? Has it lasted until the present moment?

Now imagine that coach coaching. What is he doing? How does your heart feel about what he is doing? Now imagine Jesus, the eternal coach. How has he nurtured you? What do you want from him? What has he done to attract people to join his team? What are his greatest successes?
Savoring the devotion you feel toward your temporal coach, ask God for the grace to feel even more devotion to follow Jesus, your eternal coach.

Close with an Our Father or other appropriate prayer.

2. Call of the eternal teacher. Ask God for the grace that you might respond to his call with generosity.

Recall a teacher who made a difference in your life. What qualities did he/she have? What knowledge did the teacher give to you? What skills did you learn? Did the teacher help your thinking to become more critical and more clear? Do you have a desire to learn from him again?

Now consider Jesus. Consider his way of being and teaching. What is it about him that attracts you? What qualities does he have? What spiritual and emotional skills can he teach you? Does his message of unconditional love and justice inspire you? As you felt a desire to learn from the temporal teacher, how much more do you want to learn from Jesus, the eternal teacher? What specific words does he use as he calls you to join in his movement?

Now, in your own words, express whatever feelings of devotion you feel toward Jesus. Are you grateful that he has called you to join his movement, knowing that with Jesus victory is assured? Close with an Our Father or other appropriate prayer.

3. Call of the eternal leader. Ask God for the grace that you might respond to his call with generosity.

Consider a temporal leader who inspires you. Reflect on how he or she takes a stand for freedom and justice. Is he or she charismatic? Does she have a good sense of humor? Is she a good orator? Recall some of the temporal leader's moving speeches. How did you feel listening to those speeches?

Now consider Jesus, the eternal leader. What is it about Jesus' way of being and leading that attracts you? Consider how devoted you are to following the temporal leader. How much stronger should your devotion be to following Jesus, the perfect leader?

Ask the Lord for the grace to be completely devoted to following him. Ask him for the grace to draw insight and inspiration as we contemplate the mysteries of his life. Close with an Our Father or other appropriate prayer.